Dueling Headlines
It seemed funny the other day, when Harry Reid courageously shut down the Senate to press the case for patriots against neocons, that the headlines in the 'mainstream media' were bizarrely diverse.
The wonderful Knight-Ridder had: "Democrats force Senate into rare closed session." Pretty factual. It was Democratic leader Harry Reid that called for the session, and it was both closed and rare.
The New York Times had: "Partisan Quarrel Forces Senators to Bar the Doors." Sure - it was partisan, in the sense that one party has tried to hide a vital truth and the other side has taken measures to expose that truth. One side is pushing for American democratic freedoms, and the other is trying to drown them in the brackish water of fascism. Still, the doors were barred and there was partisanship. Fine.
Reuters had: "Democrats close Senate doors in Iraq protest." Key words: Democrats, doors, closed. Plus, Reuters actually gave the cause for the kerfuffle: the Republican cover-up of the Iraq War lies. Of course, they don't say "lies" in the headline. It's sort of implied.
Which brings us to the Washington Post. Their headline read: "GOP Angered by Closed Senate Session." Huh? Where are the Democrats? Who closed the session? Elves? So the Republicans threw a hissey-fit - is that the news? I must be getting old faster than I thought - I can remember back to when a paper like the WaPo would report what happened, not who got their nose out of joint about it.
And it wasn't until today that it really struck home, because the same thing happened on a different story. See, Ken Tomlinson - the homunculus neocon who's been trying to destroy public television as the chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting - got investigated and tossed out on his keister. Yes - I said 'keister.'
But there seems to be some disagreement on the method of his departure.
Washington Post: "Kenneth Tomlinson Quits Public Broadcasting Board." Okay. New York Times? "Broadcasting Ex-Chairman Is Removed From Board." Once again: Huh? Quit or removed? There's a big difference.
What is the WaPo's interest in all this? Isn't the Times Judy Miller's paper? Shouldn't they be carrying the water for the Junta these days?
What's the truth in all this? Apparently, Tomlinson was investigated for his duplicitious and overty political leadership of the CPB.
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the former head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, was forced to step down as a member of its board on Thursday evening.
The move came after the board began reviewing a confidential report by the inspector general of the corporation into accusations about Mr. Tomlinson's use of corporation money to promote more conservative programming.
They included Mr. Tomlinson's decision to hire a researcher to monitor the political leanings of guests on the public policy program "Now" with Bill Moyers; his use of a White House official to set up an ombudsman's office to scrutinize programs for political balance; and secret payments approved by Mr. Tomlinson to two Republican lobbyists.
That's pretty clear: "forced to resign." So where does the WaPo get "quits?"
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who sparked controversy by asserting that programs carried by public broadcasters have a liberal bias, resigned yesterday from the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a day after the agency's inspector general delivered a report apparently critical of his leadership.
Resigned after being nailed by an inspector generals report. One could argue whether that equals "forced to resign" (but it would be no stretch - what else does "forced to resign" mean?).
But how does it equal "quits?"
Georgie Exits Country in Disgrace
The Junta's on a road show to South America - just one of the many regions in the world where he is entirely unwelcome. In his wake, he leaves not only scandal, death, and ruin, but his worst ever polling numbers.
The new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that other than the stone illiterate rednecks and the corporate fatcats who have had to buy new tophats and spats to stuff the big heads and feet into, nobody likes this guy.
Approval: 39% (other polls have shown an approval rating as low as 35%)
disapproval: 60%
Honest and Trustworthy: 40% (down 13%)
Doubts Honesty: 58%
rove to Resign: 60%
Bad Ethics: 67%
Ethics have risen under Bush: 17%
Ethics have fallen: 43%
Country on the Wrong Course: 68%
Optimistic for the Country: 30%
High Level of Confidence in Bush: 30%
Once again, this is a president who was purportedly re-elected one year ago exactly. It says two things about our broken democracy. First, that the media hype machine can be so manipulated by bad political actors that the entire news apparatus can be turned into a political advocate for a party of liars. But you knew that.
These numbers indicate, second, that it wears off. The Darth Rove approach over the last four years has been to be in constant campaign mode. At the time, the approach was questioned: 'you won, so stop campaigning.'
But this is what happens when the campaigning stops. The lies and the liars become exposed. People go to jail (hopefully). Without Rove's voice whispering in their ears, people start to trust the official message less and their 'own lying eyes' more.
It's up to the Democrats to do something with this. I think there are good strong messages coming out of the party, but whatever they say is constantly denigrated by the media. The neocon spin machine is so integrated into media the conscience, their talking points drown out any positive Democratic message.
I can't wait until the US is a democracy again!
The wonderful Knight-Ridder had: "Democrats force Senate into rare closed session." Pretty factual. It was Democratic leader Harry Reid that called for the session, and it was both closed and rare.
The New York Times had: "Partisan Quarrel Forces Senators to Bar the Doors." Sure - it was partisan, in the sense that one party has tried to hide a vital truth and the other side has taken measures to expose that truth. One side is pushing for American democratic freedoms, and the other is trying to drown them in the brackish water of fascism. Still, the doors were barred and there was partisanship. Fine.
Reuters had: "Democrats close Senate doors in Iraq protest." Key words: Democrats, doors, closed. Plus, Reuters actually gave the cause for the kerfuffle: the Republican cover-up of the Iraq War lies. Of course, they don't say "lies" in the headline. It's sort of implied.
Which brings us to the Washington Post. Their headline read: "GOP Angered by Closed Senate Session." Huh? Where are the Democrats? Who closed the session? Elves? So the Republicans threw a hissey-fit - is that the news? I must be getting old faster than I thought - I can remember back to when a paper like the WaPo would report what happened, not who got their nose out of joint about it.
And it wasn't until today that it really struck home, because the same thing happened on a different story. See, Ken Tomlinson - the homunculus neocon who's been trying to destroy public television as the chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting - got investigated and tossed out on his keister. Yes - I said 'keister.'
But there seems to be some disagreement on the method of his departure.
Washington Post: "Kenneth Tomlinson Quits Public Broadcasting Board." Okay. New York Times? "Broadcasting Ex-Chairman Is Removed From Board." Once again: Huh? Quit or removed? There's a big difference.
What is the WaPo's interest in all this? Isn't the Times Judy Miller's paper? Shouldn't they be carrying the water for the Junta these days?
What's the truth in all this? Apparently, Tomlinson was investigated for his duplicitious and overty political leadership of the CPB.
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the former head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, was forced to step down as a member of its board on Thursday evening.
The move came after the board began reviewing a confidential report by the inspector general of the corporation into accusations about Mr. Tomlinson's use of corporation money to promote more conservative programming.
They included Mr. Tomlinson's decision to hire a researcher to monitor the political leanings of guests on the public policy program "Now" with Bill Moyers; his use of a White House official to set up an ombudsman's office to scrutinize programs for political balance; and secret payments approved by Mr. Tomlinson to two Republican lobbyists.
That's pretty clear: "forced to resign." So where does the WaPo get "quits?"
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who sparked controversy by asserting that programs carried by public broadcasters have a liberal bias, resigned yesterday from the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a day after the agency's inspector general delivered a report apparently critical of his leadership.
Resigned after being nailed by an inspector generals report. One could argue whether that equals "forced to resign" (but it would be no stretch - what else does "forced to resign" mean?).
But how does it equal "quits?"
Georgie Exits Country in Disgrace
The Junta's on a road show to South America - just one of the many regions in the world where he is entirely unwelcome. In his wake, he leaves not only scandal, death, and ruin, but his worst ever polling numbers.
The new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that other than the stone illiterate rednecks and the corporate fatcats who have had to buy new tophats and spats to stuff the big heads and feet into, nobody likes this guy.
Approval: 39% (other polls have shown an approval rating as low as 35%)
disapproval: 60%
Honest and Trustworthy: 40% (down 13%)
Doubts Honesty: 58%
rove to Resign: 60%
Bad Ethics: 67%
Ethics have risen under Bush: 17%
Ethics have fallen: 43%
Country on the Wrong Course: 68%
Optimistic for the Country: 30%
High Level of Confidence in Bush: 30%
Once again, this is a president who was purportedly re-elected one year ago exactly. It says two things about our broken democracy. First, that the media hype machine can be so manipulated by bad political actors that the entire news apparatus can be turned into a political advocate for a party of liars. But you knew that.
These numbers indicate, second, that it wears off. The Darth Rove approach over the last four years has been to be in constant campaign mode. At the time, the approach was questioned: 'you won, so stop campaigning.'
But this is what happens when the campaigning stops. The lies and the liars become exposed. People go to jail (hopefully). Without Rove's voice whispering in their ears, people start to trust the official message less and their 'own lying eyes' more.
It's up to the Democrats to do something with this. I think there are good strong messages coming out of the party, but whatever they say is constantly denigrated by the media. The neocon spin machine is so integrated into media the conscience, their talking points drown out any positive Democratic message.
I can't wait until the US is a democracy again!
posted by fiduciary at 8:29 AM
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