Funny TV

Every day I watch MSNBC's The Cycle just to enjoy the looks of annoyed disbelief and ill-concealed contempt that Toure sends over to Conservative pundit S.E. Cupps every time she opens her mouth. Just like he did when she said that there is a voter fraud problem in the United States because, after last election, 73 cases of voter fraud (or some such other incredibly low number) were prosecuted. It's truly funny TV.

The Irreparably Frivolous American Newsmedia

Jason Linkins of the Huffington Post, a news organization that in many ways defines frivolous, caught another news orgnization red-handed when it comes to senseless news and polls. It really is no surprise Americans are a duped bunch, when the supposedly serious alternative to Fox News wastes its time on such idiotic pursuits.

Media News

Keith Olbermann is back! Non on TV yet, but he has his own website, called FOK News Channel (FOK = Friends of Keith). His logo looks a lot like Fox News Channel's, it'll be interesting to see if they sue him. But he is pretty smart, isn't he? So my hunch is that before putting the logo on the website he probably got good legal advice.

In other media news, Frank Rich is moving to New York Magazine after 31 years at the NYT.

Life Without Olbermann

Last night, Keith Olbermann announced that last night's Countdown was to be his last. The reasons for his departure are not known, but it was pretty obvious that his relationship with MSNBC executives, Phil Griffin in particular, had become strained to the point of rupture, which is what happened.

Where Olbermann goes from here is unknown at this point. We do know that he won't be back on the TV any time soon, due to contractual restraints. He could take a radio show, write op-eds or books, (be a guest on other shows?), or go into politics. Who knows. As far as I am concerned, I would vote for Olbermann for President. How good would an Olbermann/Maddow ticket be? Though they are journalists, not politicians, that would be precisely the source of their appeal.

All we know for now is that we have lost a voice of clarity and truth in an increasingly bullshit-chocked news panorama. It's a sad departure and it will be made sadder by the gloating of his enemies at Fox News, who will now have one less formidable opponent to worry about.

I will end this post with DarkSyde's excellent farewell, from the pages of the Daily Kos:

I know we we're all disappointed to hear Keith Olbermann announce his last show last night. And I dearly hope to see the entire Countdown production staff grace my screen again. But on the off chance he is reading this, Mr. Olbermann and the entire crew, I consider myself lucky to have been among your viewers. You have withstood years of non stop threats, ugly mis-characterizations, and abuse from the usual suspects, you battled unending internal corporate bullshit and ended the suffering of countless thousands with your focus on healthcare clinics and the injustices of for profit insurance. You stood for the middle class when few did, when it would have been so much easier, and so, so much more profitable to just go along. And sir, you did it with the satirical wit of Jon Stewart and the piercing clarity of Edward R. Murrow that made you the number one slot on your entire network. That you did all this while losing both your mother and father brings tears to my eyes but hope to my heart.

If you want to take a break for the rest of your freakin life and compile baseball stats or scout the minor leagues for talent, you have earned it many times over.

Well said. And now, good night, and good luck.

Krugman, Kos On Political Climate and Arizona Killings

Rather than acknowledging that too much toxic talk--most, in fact--comes from the right wing of the political spectrum, the righties are circling the wagons and dusting off their Bill Ayers references to demonstrate that liberals are just as violent. They are calling the shooter a madmen and rejecting any link between his actions and the inflammatory rhetoric peddled mostly by conservative talking heads and politicians.

Two important posts about Arizona's killings.

One by Paul Krugman, Climate of Hate; the other one by Kos, Manufacturing false equivalencies.

Keep these two posts in mind when you hear conservative talk about how there is no link between violent rhetoric and killings, and how both sides are guilty of inflaming the instincts of crazy people.

Journalistic Malpractice

In Fiscal Shock renowned economist and Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman calls out the media on the pass they regularly give to Republicans, who rail against deficits and yet epitomize fiscal irresponsibility.

Scathingly, Krugman writes: "Republicans have, after all, been the party of fiscal irresponsibility since 1980; the GW Bush administration confirmed, if anyone was in doubt, that unfunded tax cuts are now in the party’s DNA."

Oxy-Morons

About Faux News reporting on the supposed costs of President Obama's trip to India.



'nuff said.

FAIR, on Keith Olbermann's Suspension

As you may know, Keith Olbermann has been suspended by MSNBC for making political contributions that he failed to disclose to MSNBC.

The issue, in my opinion, is not whether Olbermann's suspension is justified or not (it probably is, as many corporations have specific disclosure rules about political contributions). The issue is the hypocrisy in this case, so thick you can cut it with a knife.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting points out that NBC and General Electric have an obvious hypocrisy problem.

You're Gonna Hear About It Anyway, So Here's The Real Story

The NY Times has recently reported that Democratic candidate Richard Blumenthal, who is in the running to fill the Senate seat which will be vacated by Sen. Christopher Dodd at the end of his term, has lied about his service record, as evidenced by a video clip from 2008 in which Blumenthal said "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." When confronted with the excerpt from the video, Blumenthal said he "misspoke."

Nevertheless, news anchors and pundits from all over the political spectrum went on to accuse Blumenthal of intentionally lying and declared his campaign all but finished. Too bad, for Blumenthal and for us, that the NY Times had gotten it wrong and that none of the unprofessional figures that amplified the original report bothered to check its accuracy. Kos at the Daily Kos has more.

Thank Your Media Watchdogs

This is a very interesting take, by Media Matters, on the Franken v. Lieberman incident, in which Sen. Franken, while holding the gavel during Senate speeches, denied Sen. Douche Evilman Lieberman the chance to finish his statement. The incident was highlighted by media all over the political spectrum as an unprecedented incident or as a way for Sen. Franken to rebuke Sen. Lieberman, who has irked many Democrats with his recent anti-health care reform behavior.

Read this, and you might be surprised by what you learn.

Not All 17 Year-Olds Are Created Equal

Jackie and David Vines are both high-school seniors.
They are both 17.
One is a dumbass. The other is smart.

After Norah O'Donnell of MSNBC put her on the spot for not knowing basic facts about Sarah Palin, whom Jackie reveres, Jackie went on to accuse (from a blog) O'Donnell of being crafty and "biased.

David Vines points out that "This notion that [reporters are] being 'crafty' and 'biased' when they correct factually inaccurate statements is ridiculous."

As I said, Jackie is a dumbass. David Vines is smart.

On Douche Lieberman's Incredible Hypocrisy

Read this excellent compendium by Marcie Wheeler on Douche Lieberman's hypocrisy and on how most of the media are credulously handling the senator's statements opposing the public option.

Never doubt the ability of one contemptible turd to spoil the party for the rest of us.

Friday Night Highlights

Tonight, Bill Moyers interviewed Mark Danner, a journalist whose work I was not previously familiar with, but whom I was lucky to "meet" on tonight's Bill Moyers Journal. His splendidly lucid analysis of Obama's Nobel Prize, the war in Afghanistan and--basically--how the 9/11 was the bait that U.S. enemies to draw the United States into a quagmire, much like they had done with the Soviet Union, is not to be missed.

Also on the Journal, a gracious look at the much maligned work of community organizers, the folks who--day in, day out--step up to the plate to make up for the gross mismanagement of our communities by the corrupt and callous politicians (like Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, the shameful opportunist featured at the beginning of the segment) who view them like fiefdoms instead.

Finally, an enlightening, urgent and moving look at the state of nursing in the United States by the always wonderful and educational Now. You can watch it below.

Friday Night Delight

Well, maybe delight is not quite the best noun to pick but, whatever you do tonight, do not miss the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS. The main topic is the financial crisis, and the fact that business continues as usual even after billions and billions of taxpayer dollars have been injected into the system, supposedly to fix it.

Now also promises to be good, with focus on health care.

So delay your Friday night rendez-vous at the local watering hole long enough to catch these two shows. You won't regret it.

Glenn Beck is Clinically Insane

So I decided to warn the White House.

Dear Mr. President:

For a painful hour, I have been watching Glenn Beck on Fox News. He has been questioning your selection of Van Jones to be the Green Job spear man, and he has been asking his audience to call the White House switchboard to "demand answers" on Van Jones's past and his past statements.

I have tried to call, and got a busy line for the entire hour, so I have decided to write to you: not to censor your choice of Van Jones, as Glenn Beck would hope; rather, to express my full support of your choice.

I also have a humble request: Please do not dignify Glenn Beck with the response he demanded. You and your aides are busy trying to fix health care, the economy, and the mess left by your predecessor. You do not have time to dignify the unfounded accusations of a man who is so obviously off the deep end as Glenn Beck is, nor the lies he continues to spread on his TV show.

Feel free to give my email to Press Secy. Gibbs. I'd be thrilled if he used my wording on Glenn Beck's insanity in a press conference. :-)

Sincerely,

Another Public "Servant" Blows the Whistle, Only AFTER the Game Has Ended

So now it's official: Tom Ridge, former Secretary of DHS, "was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over."

First of all, if this is news to you, let me quote Congressman Barney Frank for you: "On what planet did you spend most of your time?"

Secondly, what did Tom Ridge do? Did he resign rather than comply? No. He waited until 2009 to admit that he had been pressured to politicize public safety information to help a crook get re-elected, then he put the "explosive" revelation in a book that will probably finance a run for office in 2010.

Frankly, I am tired of people who kiss and wait years to tell, when the information the held secret could have helped the country change its disastrous course. People like Ridge, Scott McLellan, etc. But more than ever, I am also pissed off that cable news networks give people like them a forum where they can advertise their works and make money they do not deserve. They should be portrayed as traitors. Instead, they never go away. They get rewarded with board memberships, think tank positions, appearances on cable news channels, and--yes--book sales.

We should, but we cannot, punish them harshly for their failure to do the right thing AT THE RIGHT TIME, and not years too late. We cannot punish them because that would have a chilling effect on their willingness to come forward. But we should learn from past mistakes, and be savvy to their shenanigans, and we should learn to recognize the signs of their complicity in the havoc wreaked upon us by people in power, and we should get smart enough not to vote them in, or the people that hire them, and to vote them out when it is apparent that they are putting their self-interest ahead of their oath of office and their duty to serve the people of the United States.

News organizations are the element in our society with the highest responsibility to keep people like Ridge in check, to question them, to expose their betrayal. Instead the press is more concerned with "access" than with its institutional duty to help protect the public from crooks.

Interviewing a Ridge or a McLellan on a talk show five years after the fact makes for good entertainment, but it is not investigative journalism, which is a disappearing craft. We need more people like Seymour Hersh, Greg Palast, the Bob Woodard of Watergate--not the one of Plan of Attack. We need them as much as we have ever needed them, just as news organizations all over the country have figured out that it costs more to finance a good investigative reporter than to produce a canned segment with the help of the very people they should be keeping a watchful eye on.

As Ridge's case reiterates, our democracy is in worse shape than most of us realize.

Tonight's Bill Moyers Journal Should Be A Good One

And next week's should be even better.

Tonight:

A Conservative Take On Health Care - David Frum is calling on Republicans to come up with their own health care reform that conservatives can support. Good, someone please tell me what the Republican health care reform plan is, because no one has so far.

War Of The Words - Media message decoding from Kathleen Hall Jamieson and in-depth legislation review from Drew Altman

And next week:

Critical Condition - Tells the story of how three American families face illness without health coverage.

Tonight's Real Time Should Be A... Maddening One!

Guest list on tonight's Real Time:

Arianna Huffington, huffingtonpost.com
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Dr. David Scheiner, President Obama's former doctor

I assume David Scheiner's appearance will be a must-see. I posted a link to his appearance on yesterday's Grit TV earlier today, and he was crystal-clear and convincing on why single-payer would be the way to go.

I am also looking forward to the appearances by Darrell Issa and, particularly, Jack Kingston. While the former is just your typical, run-of-the-mill Republican hack, the latter is a veritable nut job. Some of his past exploits can be found here, here, and here, if you have the stomach and the required zen self-control. Notice how Jeremy Scahill and Robert Greenwald give the nut job a good, healthy counter-grilling.

On The Media's Subservience To Republican Talking Points

Robert Parry, on the despicable meme of the liberal media, via Alternet.

In The Valley Of Elah

Roger Ebert nails it when he says that "[t]hose who call In the Valley of Elah anti-Iraq war will not have been paying attention." The film does a masterful job to portray the effects, as predictable as they are unintended, that the war has on soldiers and their families, without shoving an anti-war message down your throat. It is a movie about real people, with real human feelings, behaving as you would expect them to behave under the circumstances. It does not overdramatize reality, there is no need to. It makes its points not by shouting about life, but by simply observing it. That is what makes it so compelling.

Perhaps In The Valley Of Elah would not have won a Best Picture award even if it had been nominated, given the strong competition of the ultimate winner, No Country For Old Men, and of the other two excellent movies in the category (the magnificent There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton). But the fact that it was bypassed in favor of Juno is to the everlasting infamy of the Academy.

With Tommy Lee Jones, once again incomprehensibly snubbed by the Academy for Best Actor, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon and Josh Brolin, among others.