Of Progressive Democrats, the Mainstream Media, and the War on Terror

Cross-Posted at the local League of Pissed-Off Voters' blog. Sorry it took me so long, but Cletus was absolutely right. Also, the mindless mumblings of Michael Barone and Kathleen Parker in today's (8-17) Post is relevant to what I wrote about Broder.
The distinction between Broder and this terrible twosome? Broder is just senile, Barone and Parker are outright liars.

In today's (8-14) Post-Disgrace, David Broder's syndicated column talked about why he thinks anti-incumbency has come into play.
I would like to ask Mr. Broder this: do you even KNOW what you're talking about? Have you even talked to any REAL progressives about this issue?
Before I get into a full-blown rant, let me show you exactly what I'm talking about:

The usual political torpor of August was shattered this week by the news that three congressional incumbents had lost their races in a single day. There were special forces at work in the contests that saw the defeats of two Democrats, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney, and Michigan Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz. But taken together, they are the strongest signal yet of voter dissatisfaction with the status quo in Washington.

Now we'll skip the paragraph about Ms. McKinney and Mr. Schwarz because neither of these races have truly national implications caoncerning progressives. They're just in there to muddy the waters.
The race that matters is the Lieberman defeat:

Lieberman had 18 years of Senate seniority and long service in state government, a reputation for personal integrity, prominence on both foreign and domestic issues, and the active support of his party leaders from Bill Clinton on down. But when I went to Connecticut three weeks before the primary, it was evident that he was going to be overwhelmed by the passion to "send a message'' through Lamont of frustration with the war in Iraq, the Bush presidency and Congress.

-snip-

Now, with former Lieberman supporters such as Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro closing ranks behind Lamont, the novice candidate will have an opportunity -- and an urgent need -- to moderate his stance and attempt to broaden his base.

DeLauro told me that Lamont has to be "more than an anti-war candidate,'' and said that he has to balance his calls for an early withdrawal from Iraq with other positions that demonstrate that he and his party understand the need for a robust military and a commitment to oppose terrorism. The Democrats simply cannot afford to be "McGovernized'' by the GOP charge that they would abandon the fight against those who have targeted the United States.

McGovernized. Pfft.
What, is Broder on the RNC payroll? Maybe the DLC's?
See, here's the thing about the "anti-war" wing of the Democratic party. We're really not 100% anti-war. Now, some are, some aren't, but the majority of progressive Democrats, the bloggers and other people that went to help Ned Lamont (and locally Jeff Smith and Maria Chappelle-Nadal) are anti IRAQ war.
Most of us were for the eradication of Osama bin Ladin, Al Queda and the Taliban. And, despite what Fox News says, Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with any of these organizations. The fact of the matter is that George Bush "cut and ran" from Afghanistan, let Osama, Al Queda and the Taliban get away because he wanted to redeploy the military for the Iraqi invasion. Had W. captured Osama, Al Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and the rest of the thugs oppressing the people of Afghanistan (and of course, the REAL culprits behind 9/11), George Bush's approval ratings would not be in the mid thirties and Joe Lieberman probably would be the Democratic nominee for the Senate race in Connecticut.
Instead, pro Iraq war Democrats and many Republicans are in danger of losing their seats because the war on terror should have never allowed to encompass Iraq. Also, the London terror plot probably would have never been planned, Hamas would have never taken over the Palestinian parliament, Iran would not be in a position of strength as they are now.
Sure, these are hypotheticals. However, you can't deny that if Bush hadn't cut and run from Afghanistan, America would at least have the credibility and sympathy of the world like we did immediately after 9/11. he could have claimed the legacy of Ronald Reagan in the lexicon of republican presidents. Instead, he gets his favorite Democrat beaten in Connecticut.
This is just one reason why Bush's presidency is a collosal and utter failure. It's definitely why his foreign policy is in shambles and he has to resort to using a phrase like "Islamic Fascists". (Which, by the way, is a horrible term. It accomplishes what Bush does best; it alienates more people and creates more terrorists)
There would be no Islamic Fascist movement if he had gotten the job done in Afghanistan.
David Broder, you must be going senile...

Arch City plays the "derrr" idiot card

Lucas, Lucas, Lucas,
You're a good writer, and you have some decent journalistic instincts, but you failed to recognize the Forest from the Trees. Here's what I mean.
Part 1:

The only thing Cupples didn't have, at least at the podium, were African-Americans. Everybody speaking, or even congratulated at the microphone for participating or funding the loft experience was white, except for (of course) the maintenance guy. I find this same scenario at just about every loft opening or rededication/revitalization/ribbon cutting/ground-breaking ceremony I attend downtown, or anywhere particularly close to the downtown area.

Is this their fault? No. Is this unique to their lofts? No. Is this some racist plot? No. Do they have beautiful lofts I would love to move into? Yes.

This just speaks to the larger issue of African-American involvement in the revitalization of downtown St. Louis, and the ciy in general.

Not really. While you're right that an actual "racist plot" exists, you ignore why most African Americans are not lining up to rent a loft. Part 2:

1 Bedroom/1 Bathroom Lofts - $687.00

2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom Lofts - $826.00

OK, the two bedroom *might* be affordable to a two income houehold. However, $700 for a single bedroom loft? Why, when you can more bedrooms and space by renting a 4 family flat a few miles away?
It's cost prohibitive, and that makes all these lofts (which ARE beautiful) inaccesible to many St. Louisans, regardless of their color.
What, you want me to spend HALF of my monthly income on RENT? Are you nuts?
This is what I call the delusions of bourgouis yuppie mentality.
What, you think money grows on trees?

Jim Ellis, RIP

I posted this over at Daily Kos. It started as a tirade on the New Republic, but turned into something...more...
From the point of digression:
Anyway, that's not important right now. What is important is Jim Ellis' Life:
(...)I was going to Broadcast Center at he time, which was basically a radio trade school. The MSM talking heads and mouthpieces of St. Louis were the teachers.
(BTW, condolences to Jim Ellis' family, whom I heard today died of a heart attack Saturday. Worked for KSHE 95 in StL just before they took AM Drive satellite. He was the only teacher that wore a "do rag. RIP, Jim, you are missed already)
Anyway, back to the message. This I when I "edu-ma-ca-ted" myself on HOW media frame(ing) issues.
As far as I'm concerned, TNR has always been one of the main sources of what we now know as "spin".
And this was in the early 90's. And I'll be frank, (this is why) my radio career flopped. Why? Because I saw the influence on media advertisers had.
(THEY WERE THE CENSORS!!!)
I talked about Jim Ellis before. I was just remembering that one of the "issues of the day" were when I was attending BC:
The Telecom Act of 1996. The bill that gave the MSM a green light to "consolidate".
It also gave Rupert Murdoch the exemption he needed to fully fund FOX NEWS.
Unfortunately, Jim Ellis and our instructors bought the corporate line. (They weren't union, so what do you expect? But I digress), and I mentioned before, Jim was THE LAST LOCAL LIVE HOST ON KSHE's MORNING SHOW. Oh, he did fight for his job, but it was too little, too late. I tried to convince him it was a bad bill, that would kill jobs (and more importantly, independent voices) and possibly HIS job.
After the Telecom bill, Jim reluctantly agreed with me. He was working up north, along the Canadian border. (I'm trying to remember, just not coming to me: Ysplanti, Int. Falls, Saginaw?)
He had remembered our arguments. He cussed a lot when we ate his crow, too.
Can you blame him? I don't. the same thing that killed his radio career was the same reason as mine: Deregulation of media ownership.
I almost think that bitternes about it caued his death. He died of a heart attack, after all.
But I don't know for sure (what he wa thinkinng)what he was thinking (these past few years). I just know Jim doesn't have to worry about it anymore...

Message to Crane Durham...

Yo,
If you're so passionate about fighting an occupation in Iraq, then why are you still here? Why don't you pick up an M-16 and enlist?
There's a name for people like you: CHICKENHAWK! Or a Tennis coach!
For someone who claims to be a "student" of American History, you sure didn't learn much from it's reading. You know, accusing other people of your own transgressions is the sign of a dishonest coward. Then again, the whole staff over at 97.1 could be accused of the same thing.
Remind me to burn the flag in front of your studio when Congress criminalizes it.

LEE'S LIES, Part 1

This is the kind of CRAP that burns my gaskets:

TALK OF THE DAY

Anything you wouldn’t do on June 6, 2006?
By Kurt Greenbaum
06/05/2006 5:06 pm
Much has been made of Tuesday’s date: 06/06/06. Six-six-six. The so-called “mark of the beast.”

I did a Google search looking for some stories related to Tuesday’s date. I’d heard, for example, that some women in England were timing their deliveries to avoid the date. My Google search — for “666″ — yielded 116 million returns. Better try again, eh? So here’s the story from The Sun.

Post-Dispatch reporter Tim Townsend found no such hysteria in his story on Sunday. Instead, he reports that in fact, the number 666, “the number of the beast, has absorbed meanings its author (of Revelation) never intended.” It isn’t necessarily a satanic symbol.

Still, none of that has stopped the producers of The Omen remake from releasing the movie on Tuesday (look for our review of the movie here when it’s available).

How about you? Does 666 mean anything to you? Will it stop you from doing anything? Will it cause you to do something you wouldn’t normally do?

THIS IS NOT NEWS. IT'S CRAP.
What's worse is that the Editorial staff at the Post Digrace chose to put this "Story" ON THE FRONT PAGE OF SUNDAY'S NEWSWATCH SECTION. No, there was no analyis of say, the Enron conviction, the 2006 election cycle, Taum Sauk, Blunt's lobbyit ties or Paul Harris leaving his staff, etc.
In other words, NOTHING RELEVANT TO REAL PROBLEMS.
Well, I guess I shouldn't expect TOO much from this hack company that doesn't realize the Post is supposed to be a major metropolitan newspaper instead of a podunk panderfest...
LIES.

The Elephant in the Room...

I got up this morning to see what the Sunday talk shows and the Post Dispatch would have on the Enron convictions. Now, I knew that the focus would be on the military since it is Memorial Day. However, I was shocked when just one (ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos) of the Sunday shows even mentioned Enron, Ken Lay, or his connections to the Bushies. Of course, the panel on This Week glossed over the whole scandal by calling an abberation and some law & order mumbo-jumbo that "if you going to steal, you're going to jail".

Pfft. Corporations will lie, cheat and steal until they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar. That's the nature of American capitalism; you're bad only if you GET CAUGHT.

Which leads me to the local angle and the Post-Disgrace. The Lee Enterprises-owned paper has covered the Enron trial (primarily in the Business section) with some consistency, FAILED to use it's higher Sunday circulation to inform the public of the ramifications of the verdict. They failed to position the story on the front page.

That is, except for their on-staff corporate apologist, David Nicklaus. His headline, and a couple of dumb statements in the article:

Convictions in Enron case mark end to shameful era
By David Nicklaus
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/28/2006

...Last week's convictions of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, the former Enron bosses, marked the symbolic end of that era...

Nicklaus does his usual blah-blah-blah, talking about cosmetic changes and new regulations that don't go far enough, and some so-called "expert" quotes from people in the business. The article ends with this piece of inexplicible pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking:

So we've clearly fixed some of the biggest flaws in American-style capitalism, and we've convicted most of the malefactors who exploited those flaws. For investors, a shameful era has ended on a hopeful note.

What a load of fecal matter. I mean, seriously. Nicklaus needs to get out from under his rock, because the Abramoff scandal is going to make Enron look like a bush league outing.

Pun intended.

This is the problem with mainstream corporate media; they won't talk about corporate malfeasance in any critical manner because they fear the loss of ad revenue. It's funny too, because every time the corporate media has to publish a story about corporate corruption, the corporation in question will often take out full page ads in an effort to repair their sullied reputations. The supermarkets did this during the 2003 strike, Boeing did it when it was revealed that they were engaged in price fixing, and Wal Mart bought sponsorships on National News broadcasts when their criminal acts started coming to light.

So, the question is, if a corporation reacts to bad press by buying ads in the outlet that reports said bad press, then why do we need apologist like Nicklaus? Quite simply, because corporations kiss other corporations' asses. The corporate media has a vested self interest in protecting the corporate culture of corruption. If a news outlet actually investigated corporate wrongdoing instead of just waiting until they can no longer ignore a corporate scandal, they would be labeled "anti business" and advertisers would run from the news outlet as if they had the Plague.
Which is why the parent corporations forced their news operations to "pay for themselves".
The result has been "VNR" reports, paid pundits who don't reveal who conflicts of interest, and outright propaganda published to misinform populations.

Over, David Nicklaus? No, it's only just begun.

Alvin Reid is sitting in McClellan's chair.
1st topic: NSA wiretaps. AT&T's involvement. Brennan is pro Big Brother state. Arguing irrelelvant points to confuse the situation.
Yeah, big surprize. And Duggan trusts a Private Corporation more than the Government, even though taking sides is a moot point.
The issue is collusion. The real debate is really about "Do you like the idea of the Private and Public institutions working together, combining their power to act a Overlord over our society?"
Topic #2: Kirkwood School Districts' current dilemma. And Wendy Wiese advocates vigilanteism. Too funny.
And Ray, I love ya, but why did you sell the RFT? What toilet paper it is today...
Now we're on the column on Ozzie and how he doesn't like La Russa.
THIS IS NOT NEWS. THIS IS A DISTRACTION. It's a non-issue. There are a half dozen other more pertinent topics to discuss. How about Overland, or the recall effort against Jennifer Florida? Stop pandering, people.
And finally, Con-gress, and how our representatives resent having their offices searched if a warrant is issued.
A lackluster episode, and far short of DonnyBrooks' normal standards.
PS: Veltre saves the day...

Greetings from the new blog! I hope to have a lot of fun ripping apart the conventional wisdom that permeates through what is called journalism in St. Louis.
This site is about accountability about the local broadcast outlets in the St. Louis Metro area. I will point out the good with the bad, and I will decode and analyze what they do and how they do it.
Of course, we all have pre conceived notions about how the media may or may not act in deceptive ways. Rush Limbaugh made a career out of lying about who was responsible for the lies made to the general public.
You got it folks; The Limbaugh Liberal Media HOAX. Sure, there are some liberals in the media and they're in papers who cater to the liberal point of view. However, there are two facts you have to be aware of. First, there are as many conservative media outlets out there as liberal, if not more in rural areas. Secondly, even the liberal media outlets are still corporations, and the last thing corporattions want you to hear about is corporations doing bad things, or (gasp) holding them accountable for those bad things.
You know, bad things like the Fox News "Talking Points" memos, or Jack Welsh's freak out in 2000 when he learned W was really losing Florida. Full recount: 3 votes, Gore wins.
Ain't that a flashback?
How's this one: The Bush administration changed the way the unemployed were officially counted when they took office so the percentage of recorded as unemployed is only the number of people collecting unemployment. If you don't find a job, and your unemployment runs out, you are no longer counted. In other words, we really don't know how many people are under or unemployed altogether. Yet, the local and national news outlets use phrases like, "lowest unemployment since 1997" or liken it to the Clinton record, when the assertion is a lie on its' face because how the government compiles the numbers are hopelessly flawed.
And Leisa Zigman does a story on "safe tanning" for sweeps. No study on the local job market, no fancy scmancy polls from USA Survey, no stories on the street about the effects of this "policy change" from six years ago.
Yet the Post Dispatch publishes columns from Michael Barone telling us how great the economy is doing. Liberal Media? RIGHT.
Try Corporate Media.
A Corporate media run from the sales office and not a newsroom. You wanna get CBS off your back, Wal Mart? Buy airtime on the CBS Evening Report or the NBC Nightly News!
Oh wait, that's what they did. Not only did Wal Mart by airtime, but they use the airtime to plub their new food outreach program.
Ironically, Fox 2 news had a story about a St. Charles Food Bank closing a couple of months ago. Where' Wal Mart to send her food to keep it open? They don't need to care about a county that votes the way Jack Welsh does.
Then again, that was Fox News before the Emmon Burns chase and the new set. Oh, and the Geraldo lead in.
We know what you're up to, Rupert. Wanna Foxify Channel 2? TOO BAD.
If you had forgotten, the public owns the airwaves. If you're going to use them, then We will hold you accountable to what you put on our airwaves.
To put it succinctly: Bring it on. I got your number.