Today’s Quote of the Day:
It’s not about the fact that the mainstream media makes mistakes
Archives for 2004
Polls
According to this CBS/NYT poll, Bush leads Kerry 50-41. I am sure there are other polls that have it closer, others that have it farther apart.
My question- why don’t the Democrats learn? They have gotten nastier and nastier in the last few weeks, and every time they knock the vitriol up a notch, they get rewarded with a swift kick in the polls. They pulled this shit in the last few weeks of the 2002 election (remember the Wellstone memorial), and got hammered. They simply are not fit to govern.
With Friends Like These
I guess websites like this are what they are talking about when they say Kerry’s core supporters are soft:
John Kerry Is A Douche Bag But Im Voting For Him Anyway.Com
It almost goes without saying that there are a few things wrong with this country right now. There is one thing in particular, though, that seems to be the root of all of these problems. I’ll give you a hint: it starts with a ‘G’, and ends with an ‘eorge W. Bush’. Did you figure it out? Millions of Americans already have.
This, of course, brings us sharply to a point: we need new leadership in this country, and we need it badly. I am not one who is known to meddle in politics, or, in all honesty, prior to this election year, vote. However, I feel so strongly that the fate of this great nation, and indeed even the modern world as we know it, hinges solely on this election, that I felt compelled to put my thoughts to word. And those thoughts are…
John Kerry is a douchebag, but I’m voting for him anyway. Well, not really. That is to say, he’s not actually a douchebag, or not nearly as much of one as what the media, George W., and even perhaps John Kerry himself have made him out to be. It seemed that every time I saw, heard, or read something about Kerry, his doucheness factor increased. It wasn’t until I did just a little research on my own that it became clear that most of these occurrences could be explained as lies, deception, media excess, or simply poor campaigning strategy. It is beyond vital that we all overlook these minor blemishes and unpleasantries, and unite in electing John Kerry to be the next president of the United States of America.
Heh.
The Non-Statement and Some Observations
Here is the non-statement from CBS:
Statement by the President of CBS News, Andrew Heyward:
“We established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate or we would not have put them on television. There was a great deal of coroborating [sic] evidence from people in a position to know. Having said that, given all the questions about them, we believe we should redouble our efforts to answer those questions, so that’s what we are doing.”
Others have already noted the presence of weasel words, using the term accurate rather than authentic, and it is clear that no one thinks the documents are authentic (except inside CBS perhaps, but I doubt even that).
I think we are now to the point where CBS is frantically trying to minimize the damage, and this statement, while it says nothing, really, is rather inciteful. It seems pretty clear to me that they understand how damaging this memogate bit has been to their reputation and their credibility. However, they have determined that revealing their sources and methodology in a forthright, open statement would be more damaging still.
I think we are going to learn, in the not so distant future, about a serious incestuous relationship between CBS News and some person, persons, or group. I also bet we will see a bit of the sausage making- and these facts terrify CBS. The only reasoning I can come up for this continued self-inflicted wound is the fear that the truth is much more damaging than the current stonewalling. Right now, they merely appear incompetent, and they have determined incompetence is better than complicit.
While they are re-doubling their efforts, perhaps they can dispatch a staffer or two to help O.J. find the real killers.
Goldberg’s CBS Prediction
Bernard Goldberg,m on the Hannity show, predicted the CBS response to memogate:
“They will grudgingly admit that the documents are fake, and that they foudn out about it on their own, rather than through anyone else. But, and here comes the but, they won’t retract any part of the story.”
Hannity refused to believe they would do that, and Goldberg responded:
“Oh yes they will. That is why my first book was called Bias and my second book was called Arrogance.”
Shrill and Stupid
Ken Layne has been shrill for several weeks, and that by itself is fine. I would still rate a shrill Ken Layne in the top three or four people I read online that I would like to get hammered with. However, to be shrill, one does not have to be stupid or deceitful, and that is the case with this post (Ken is bolded, Cheney in italics):
Cheney is now saying Russia deserved the Beslan massacre … because Russia didn’t join the latest Iraq War:
I think what happened in Russia now demonstrates pretty conclusively that everybody is a target. That Russia, of course, didn’t support us in Iraq, they didn’t get involved in sending troops there, they’ve gotten hit anyway.
What will the hateful, grave-robbing sonofabitch say next? Tune in tomorrow!
You have to be inhaling hospital grade ether to interpret Cheney’s remark the way Ken did. What Cheney was CLEARLY stating (and Ken is not forgiven for parroting Shuster’s illogic) is that regardless of what you do, free nations will be a target.
Ken is a smart fellow, and it is only his hatred of Cheney and the Iraq War that is blinding him, but there really is no other way to accurately interpret the Cheney remark. The key, of course, is this last bit:
… they’ve gotten hit anyway.
ANYWAY. Cheney is stating Russia got hit, not because they did not help us in Iraq, as Layne has mistakenly stated, but regardless of what they have done. ANYWAY.
I am sure Ken will see the light and recognize his error.
The New CBS Position
I did something tonight I do not normally do- I watched CBS news. They did not let me down.
After leveling the charges again against Bush, they then noted Laura Bush’s quotation on the issue: and that she was the only member of the White House to comment:
“You know they are probably altered,” she told Radio Iowa in Des Moines yesterday. “And they probably are forgeries, and I think that’s terrible, really.”
The voice-over continued and stated, I kid you not:
“The First Lady did not provide evidence the documents were fake.”
I choked on my root beer. Who is running CBS? Atrios? The fucking Daily KOS?
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