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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / Excellent Source

Excellent Source

by John Cole|  November 22, 20087:49 pm| 55 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008, Media, Clown Shoes

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This is pretty rich:

Media bias was more intense in the 2008 election than in any other national campaign in recent history, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin said Friday at the Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election.

“It’s the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war,” Halperin said at a panel of media analysts. “It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage.”

If there was a journalist out there who you wanted to talk to about media bias, would you start with Mark Halperin? Listening to Mark Halperin discuss media bias is like listening to Michael Brown opine on the benefits of good disaster relief. Halperin, you will remember, is the deep thinker who informed us all that McCain’s inability to explain how many houses he owned was… bad news for team Obama.

Was Howard Kurtz unavailable for comment? What about Brent Bozell? And really, being insufficiently hostile to Obama was the media’s biggest failure the past seven years? Really?

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55Comments

  1. 1.

    cyntax

    November 22, 2008 at 7:53 pm

    They’re just not used to not having the long end of the stick.

  2. 2.

    Comrade Stuck

    November 22, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    Well, we know who pulls Mark Halperin’s strings don’t we.

  3. 3.

    smiley

    November 22, 2008 at 7:56 pm

    Listening to Mark Halperin discuss media bias is like listening to Michael Brown opine on the benefits of good disaster relief.

    Or listening to Micheal Vick talk about cruelty to dogs.

  4. 4.

    oh really

    November 22, 2008 at 7:56 pm

    If there was a journalist out there who you wanted to talk to about media bias, would you start with Mark Halperin?

    Yeah, if I had a Louisville Slugger.

    Mark Halperin represents the worst of modern journalism. No doubt he’ll thrive in the years ahead, but his success is likely to reflect the utter worthlessness of the MSM and nothing more.

  5. 5.

    MikeJ

    November 22, 2008 at 7:57 pm

    What’s hilarious is how the McCain campaign went out of their way to piss off everybody who was already on the tire swing. It’s like they knew McCain had trouble with the base, the base hates the media, so they had to make the media hate McCain. Which they never *fully* succeeded in, but not for lack of trying.

  6. 6.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    November 22, 2008 at 8:01 pm

    So. . . electing Barack Obama instead of Bomby McMoosehunter was a disaster on par with the invasion of Iraq?

  7. 7.

    ppcli

    November 22, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    The complaint seems to be that the media reported more good things about Obama than about McCain. I felt the same way at the disgusting bias of the announcers during the Michigan – OSU game today. They just couldn’t shut up about "touchdown OSU", "touchdown OSU", "Michigan will have to punt", "touchdown OSU"… Michigan would have done so much better if the damn sportscasters weren’t in the tank for Tressel.

  8. 8.

    Balconespolitics

    November 22, 2008 at 8:06 pm

    Halperin probably just thinks that Newsweek should have run their "Is Obama the Antichrist?" story before election day, when it could have done some good…

  9. 9.

    JL

    November 22, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    Actually it makes sense that Obama would be in the news more than McCain. McCain campaigned against Obama’s plans and Obama campaigned for his own agenda. If McCain wanted positive coverage he could have spelled out his agenda. By the way what was McCain’s agenda?

  10. 10.

    srv

    November 22, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    The media did play a big part in this election. This very blog was filled with screams of pro-McCain bias before and after the Republican convention.

    The media clearly wanted it to be a horserace, and once they got it there, the economy stepped in and made the real difference. At that point, the powers that be made their choice and the media fell in line. Obama was clearly their safe bet, and McCain could not be counted on to reliably follow his orders.

  11. 11.

    eric

    November 22, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    the best evidence of whether a particular columnist (or even reporter) was "biased": if you think Palin is/was a "legitimate" candidate for the vice presidency then you are an idiot. Well, from where I sit, you could count on one hand the number of national opinion making figures (other than late night comedians) that mocked her for the joke she is. The fact that she still has not been laughed off the national stage is the best evidence of exactly the type of bias prevelant during the election.

    As for why McCain would have gotten more bad press: the guy ran the worst campaign ever. He never really threatened Obama and helped kill is party in Congess. All of what I have said was painfully obvious from the moment Obama and McCain engaged. Period. The media’s wilfull blindness is matched now by the deceitful mantra that this is a center-right nation. Eff em.

    The real media bias: we must protect the upper middle class, private school, professional opinion making class. Obama is a threat to that. Liberals are a threat to that because we speak of favoring different community values other than some alleged lassaiz-faire meritocracy. Blogs threaten them too because "we" call attention to thier true ignorance and the fact that they do nto deserve anything resembling an elevated position in our culture. We can and do call bullshit on the Halperins and Matthews and they do not like it.
    eric

  12. 12.

    Gwendy

    November 22, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    So, then he’s upset because he thinks that Drudge didn’t rule their world enough? Cause Drudge was in full force anti-Obama mode after the primaries (during which he was rabidly anti-Hillary).

    I admit I check out The Page regularly. It’s been more readable than Politico’s breathless transition page lately. But at the end of the day, Halperin can’t help but make his biases known.

    Oh, and note to the media: you still haven’t been held nearly accountable for your failure in the run-up to the war. Your smug obnoxious faces are still on my cable news stations constantly, without any apparent shame over how wrong you were.

  13. 13.

    JGabriel

    November 22, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    John Cole @ top:

    If there was a journalist out there who you wanted to talk to about media bias, would you start with Mark Halperin?

    One should always try to get a practitioner’s point of view…

    .

  14. 14.

    Dennis - SGMM

    November 22, 2008 at 8:11 pm

    Halperin is right. The media completely ignored McCain’s principled, high minded campaigning. They neglected to showcase his steadiness on the issues. They overlooked his wealth of innovative solutions for the nation’s ills. Worst of all, they made Sarah Palin look like an ignorant, grandstanding, self-seeking opportunist who had no business running for national office.

  15. 15.

    Joshua Norton

    November 22, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    Why on earth does this man still have a job? His latest piece of mental masturbation names Lynne Cheney as one of the most important people in American politics. The man belongs right up there with old Kristol Ball in his ability to provide honest and informed commentary.

  16. 16.

    bhagamu

    November 22, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    It’s not like the Iraq War killed million s of innocent people and displaced more, is it? Yeah, this is totally a comparison that makes sense.

  17. 17.

    pseudonymous in nc

    November 22, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    Why on earth does this man still have a job?

    Because that kind of perpetual wrongness is a rare thing, and should be rewarded befittingly.

    Actually, that’s not true at all, is it? And it’s not as if Halperin is any less of a tool to those inhabiting the mental landscape of Wingnuttia.

  18. 18.

    JGabriel

    November 22, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    OT, but…

    Dick Morris on Hannity & Colmes:

    If we lose Georgia the Republican party has zilch influence because the Democrats are going to get sixty votes. And that’s why I’m urging people who care about that to go to and independent expenditure, GOPTrust.com, GOPTrust.com and fund the effort to reelect Saxby Chambliss…

    You know you’re winning when Dick Fucking Morris is blegging for the opposition on Fox News.

    (Actually, given that the top article is in the Clown Shoes category, maybe it’s not so OT after all.)

    .

  19. 19.

    JGabriel

    November 22, 2008 at 8:38 pm

    Modereratered again.

    I’m beginning to feel like WordPress has it in for me. Personally.

    .

  20. 20.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    November 22, 2008 at 8:50 pm

    @Dennis – SGMM: True. And they also failed to point out that he was a POW and a war hero. If only the American people had had all the facts. Goddamned commie bastards.

  21. 21.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    November 22, 2008 at 8:56 pm

    Shorter Mark Hapless: Why didn’t the media look harder for the whitey tape?!

  22. 22.

    teak111

    November 22, 2008 at 8:58 pm

    Again we see the right looking for reasons thier candidate didn’t when and again they are unable to look at themselves, self critique, makes changes, move forward. Rather, its the media’s fault. Classic psychological dissociative disorder. That can’t connec the need to change with their own behavior.

  23. 23.

    J.

    November 22, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    extreme pro-Obama coverage?!

    Are you effing kidding me? Could the media (particularly the male members of the media) get any further up Palin’s arse?

    Has Halperin not heard of a little outfit called Fox News or a guy named Rush Limbaugh? As I recall, neither was particularly pro-Obama.

    And it seemed to me the media gave McCain waaaay more breaks than he deserved. Practically apologized for him, or looked the other way/turned a deaf ear. And if I heard the word "maverick" one more time, I was going to throw up.

    Yeah, you did a heck of a job, Halperinie.

  24. 24.

    o kanis

    November 22, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    Halperin is preparing the ground for what’s to come. The hacks are already hinting that there will be no honeymoon. If single payer passes, Obama will be less easy to know offstride. No Monica, for example.

    Shudder.

  25. 25.

    Josh Hueco

    November 22, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    OT:

    Iowa 27, Minnesota 0 at the half.

    Suck it, frostbacks.

  26. 26.

    cyntax

    November 22, 2008 at 9:14 pm

    @eric:

    the best evidence of whether a particular columnist (or even reporter) was "biased": if you think Palin is/was a "legitimate" candidate for the vice presidency then you are an idiot. Well, from where I sit, you could count on one hand the number of national opinion making figures (other than late night comedians) that mocked her for the joke she is.

    Well there’s an interesting distinction buried in there. I think we can assume that many reporters thought she was a joke, but that few were willing to rock the boat and actually say it. Just look at Peggy Noonan being tripped up by that open mic when she was talking to Chuck Todd. I believe the operative term in her description of Palin was "political b*llshit," funny that never quite made it into print.

    In the end, it’s not what they thought, because most of them probably knew the pick for what it was, it’s that just like so many other things, none of them wanted to say anything. They’re even more compromised than if they hadn’t known at all.

  27. 27.

    o kanis

    November 22, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    Halperin is probably pissed that Couric asked Palin what newspapers she read.

  28. 28.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    November 22, 2008 at 9:49 pm

    Halperin is a hack, there I said it. I have a toothache, right now I am mainlining on asprin, red wine and Orajel, I am not sure what else I can do seeing as going to a dentist is completely out of the question due to the cost (damn I just love this progressive country where people can’t even afford to have their teeth looked at – NOT).

  29. 29.

    dancinfool

    November 22, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    Listening to Mark Halperin discuss media bias is like listening to Charles Manson discussing child care.

  30. 30.

    Josh Hueco

    November 22, 2008 at 9:58 pm

    OT:

    Bark Rodents beat ‘Zona, 19-17.

  31. 31.

    Ron

    November 22, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    I must have missed the memo that hearing Bill Ayers’ name 10 times a day somehow constituted "pro-Obama coverage". And all those times the media talked about the Keating Scandal, err….nevermind.

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    November 22, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    Mark who?

    I thought the Piranha Brothers nailed his head to the floor.

  33. 33.

    jmbl

    November 22, 2008 at 10:41 pm

    Give the the poor dude a break. A lot of these media shills had to say things they did not want to during the election. The GOP had jumped off the cliff into 100% obvious goofball territory. I expected an announcement from the McCain campaign that 1 plus 1 equaled 4.

    So these people had to say some things they did not want to in order to avoid making themselves into complete national laughing stocks on national TV. And I mean a "just hear the name and start spontanteoulsy rolling on the floor and laughing out loud" type national laughing stocks. Jerking off on TV would be better than going along with the GOP laff lines.

    Now the those awful times are over and they have to do the drill again, or no paychecks from the brass.

  34. 34.

    burnspbesq

    November 22, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    @Josh Hueco:

    Crud.

    Now it’s all up to the webfooted birds to knock the bark rodents out of the Rose Bowl and make possible the game that all true football fans want to see, USC – Penn State.

  35. 35.

    Dennis - SGMM

    November 22, 2008 at 10:45 pm

    OT: Meh chosen for 30th anniversary of Collins English Dictionary
    We have met our new overlords and they is us.

  36. 36.

    Dennis - SGMM

    November 22, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    That’s because he transgressed the unwritten law.

  37. 37.

    Josh Hueco

    November 22, 2008 at 10:51 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Well, Jacquizz Rodgers injured his shoulder in the first quarter and should be out for the Civil War. We shall see…

  38. 38.

    Zuzu's Petals

    November 22, 2008 at 10:56 pm

    @jmbl:

    May they all have to spend eternity watching an endless loop of themselves saying, "But Alaska’s right next to Russia!"

  39. 39.

    Balconespolitics

    November 22, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    To me, it’s the "Executive Experience" thing.

    As in – Palin is more qualified than Obama because she already has executive experience.

    I note that Halperin gave Obama an A-, and McCain a B- on the first debate.

    Clearly, he was in the tank with the rest of them. Can’t be an actual objective judgement of what he watched.

  40. 40.

    Anne Elk (Miss)

    November 22, 2008 at 11:26 pm

    I thought the Piranha Brothers nailed his head to the floor.

    Dinsdale!

  41. 41.

    burnspbesq

    November 22, 2008 at 11:37 pm

    OT:

    Florida State defensive back Myron Rolle has been named a Rhodes Scholar. That is pretty stinkin’ impressive.

  42. 42.

    Faux News

    November 22, 2008 at 11:41 pm

    By the way what was McCain’s agenda?

    Using Caribou Barbie as a "Hail Mary Pass". That worked out well for him.

    McCain = Michigan

    Obama = Ohio State

  43. 43.

    timb

    November 23, 2008 at 12:07 am

    So weird that he sucks the Drudge and Limbaugh worldview, considering Morton Halperin is a decently intelligent man.

  44. 44.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    November 23, 2008 at 12:33 am

    I must have missed the memo that hearing Bill Ayers’ name 10 times a day somehow constituted "pro-Obama coverage".

    Haven’t you heard? If a news outlet runs 10 Bill Ayers/Jeremiah Wright/is Obama a socialist stories, but only 2 John McCain is a maverick stories, that is bias toward Obama. Quantity is all that matters! ! ! ! ! !

  45. 45.

    Singularity

    November 23, 2008 at 1:00 am

    It’s the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war

    Um…. When exactly did Halperin come out against the Iraq War, again? Unless he means that the media failed by not supporting it enough, then he’s completely full of shit. Especially since the candidate he claims was poorly treated by his fellow reporters was a huge cheerleader for the war, and in fact wanted to bomb-bomb Iran, too.

    Mark Halperin is a douchebag.

  46. 46.

    jmbl

    November 23, 2008 at 1:14 am

    43 timb said: …Morton Halperin is a decently intelligent man.

    39 Balconespolitics said: I note that Halperin gave Obama an A-, and McCain a B- on the first debate.
    …

    Like I said, during the election some of the pundit hacks had to say things that would be professionally unthinkable before, just to keep their heads above the water line of total public self-humiliation. Such hitherto unthinkables included reluctant nods toward common sense and obvious facts that any fool would know. The brass gave them dispensation for self-preservation for the remaining duration of the campaign after the GOP leapt past the point of no-return, stupidity-wise. If the celebrity media hacks had been frank and patent loons during the campaign, their Q’s (or whatever that media watchability rating is called) would have died stone dead forever, the end. Goodbye to the wealthy highlife on no useful means of employment for them.

    Now the emergency is over and their masters expect them to do their damn jobs again like they are paid to do.

  47. 47.

    kth

    November 23, 2008 at 1:22 am

    #7 stole my thunder, though I was going to reference OU’s beatdown of Texas Tech tonight (no doubt tomorrow’s papers will show a drastic Sooner bias). I’d be curious to hear how Halperin believed Palin’s fumbling with Charlie and Katie ought to have been covered, or McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign to intervene in the financial crisis despite his ignorance of the issue and despite pronouncing the fundamentals strong just a week earlier.

  48. 48.

    Comrade Kevin

    November 23, 2008 at 1:38 am

    Sharks 7, Capitals 2. Ovechkin? Who?

  49. 49.

    pseudonymous in nc

    November 23, 2008 at 1:48 am

    Florida State defensive back Myron Rolle has been named a Rhodes Scholar. That is pretty stinkin’ impressive.

    It is. And he’s going to get very fucking laid at Oxford, should he so desire. (Well, maybe: from experience, the Rhodes Scholars divided into two groups: incredibly outgoing, smart, unassuming ones who threw themselves into college life, and those who spent most of their time seeking out other Americans at Rhodes House.) He’s a pre-med major, and I’m pretty sure that the Rhodes Scholars can’t go to the med school, so he’ll probably do a MSc in the life sciences. And he can pick a college, and I’d urge him — not that he’s reading this — to go to one with undergrads.

  50. 50.

    Svensker

    November 23, 2008 at 9:10 am

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    If you have a toothache, there is a good chance you have an infection. Since the jaw is very close to the brain, infections in the jaw can quickly travel to the brain. Also, tooth/jaw infections are known to seriously increase heart inflammation and disease. Toothache is definitely NOT something to mess around with.

    Is there a school of dentistry near you? They will often take people for practice work (under the supervision of a credentialed dentist, obviously). If not, call your dentist and explain your situation to him/her and see if he/she can’t work out a payment plan. If not, then get on the phone and call dentists until you find one who will. There are times to worry about spending — this isn’t one of them.

  51. 51.

    Jay C

    November 23, 2008 at 5:58 pm

    Why is this particular piece of hackery surprising? Even from Mark Halperin?

    For partisan commentators, given the choice between ascribing an electoral drubbing to:

    A) A general rejection by the voting public of your party’s candidates, philosophy and adjudged fitness-to-govern; or

    B) "Media bias"

    the likely choice is obvious.

  52. 52.

    Northern Observer

    November 24, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    I would love to see this tool unemployed. Unfortunately he’s too useful for the conservative noise machine to give him up. They can always count on him to be understanding towards them; after all Mark Halperin is an ass’ ass.

    But ultimately he is helping liberals, democrats and the Obama administration by leading republicans to the wrong conclusions about why they lost and what to do about it. He’s reinforcing their error. Good.

  53. 53.

    BillB

    November 24, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Hey Cole, we wrote a nice blog post about this Halperin nonsense on our site – check it out:

    http://burningbush273.blogspot.com/2008/11/poseur-alerthave-brown-bag-handy.html

  54. 54.

    TheAssInTheHatOnMyCat(Formerly Comrade Tax Analyst)

    November 24, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    considering Morton Halperin is a decently intelligent man.

    Hack in question is Mark Halperin, not Morton.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Follow-Up to the Earlier Post on Mark Halperin « The Northstar Chronicle says:
    November 23, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    […] 24, 2008 · No Comments John Cole makes an excellent point: “If there was a journalist out there who you wanted to talk to about media bias, would you […]

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