Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Associated Press still not Leftist enough

According to the nutroots at FireDogLake. An AP writer actually dared to make some criticisms of Obama/Biden! Excerpt:

As recently as last year, Ron Fournier considered working for the McCain campaign. Instead he took a job as Washington bureau chief for the AP, but it looks like he's still working for McCain.

Fournier say in a new AP piece that the Biden choice demonstrates that Obama "lacks confidence," that Biden is the "ultimate insider," and that it threatens to undermine Obama's message of "change." It could've come straight off the fax machine of the McCain press shop, with no need for editing (indeed, the McCain campaign says it loves the Fournier piece). Its sentiments have been echoed all morning across cable news.

But this kind of journalistic opinionating is what Fournier likes to see in his campaign coverage. Earlier this year, Fournier outlined what his vision of new journalism is:
The journalistic ethics of old do not apply to the new guidelines over at the Associated Press. The new ethics are called "accountability journalism," and the new bureau chief, Ron Fournier, believes that the conventional press model, where both sides of an argument are entitled to equal weight, is exactly what journalists need to avoid.

Fournier believes those old journalistic ethics are what stops reporters from telling the truth as they see it.

In March, Fournier wrote that Obama is "a bit too cocky," and that he and Michelle "ooze a sense of entitlement." I guess that's "how he sees it." It's simply not acceptable that the head of the AP's Washington bureau, in charge of presidential campaign coverage, sees the AP as little more than an extension of the McCain Campaign's message...

More here

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Hate is the Democrat alternative to policy

Even Left-leaning columnist David Ignatius can see it. Excerpt:

The partisanship of the congressional leadership has been a virtue for Democrats, up to a point. By being as tough and unyielding as their GOP rivals, they won back control of Congress. But they haven't done much with their majorities these past two years, beyond bashing Bush.

Which raises a question to ponder as you watch the convention this week: Will Mr. Cool be a strong enough leader to transform the Democratic-controlled Congress from a reflexive role into a force for change? Can the Get-Even Gang become the Get-Ahead Gang? Or will Obama remain the aloof, judicious ex-professor who gives a great speech but leaves the dirty work of governing to Pelosi and Reid?

As an extra-credit assignment before this week's convention, I've been reading the recent books published by congressional leaders. And I must say, these are not works that rank with the political novels of Anthony Trollope. The titles -- Pelosi's "Know Your Power" and Reid's "The Good Fight" -- sound almost pugilistic. They reveal the mindset that has made these leaders such effective partisan brawlers.

Pelosi and Reid are each throwbacks to the muscular Democratic Party of several generations ago. It's telling that both grew up in homes that celebrated the Democratic godfather -- Franklin D. Roosevelt. Reid's mother displayed in their little home in Searchlight, Nev., an embroidered pillowcase with a quote attributed to FDR, "We can. We will. We must." Pelosi's father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., led the Democratic machine in Baltimore, serving eight years in Congress and 12 as mayor. When constituents came to ask for favors, they would walk past a large portrait of FDR.

These old-fashioned Democrats don't just oppose Republicans; they seem to actively dislike them. Pelosi describes how, as a young woman, she refused to rent a house in San Francisco because the owner was serving in the Nixon administration. Reid is almost contemptuous in voicing his antipathy toward George W. Bush, who he says "will rank among the worst presidents -- if not the worst -- in the history of our country."

Pelosi and Reid rose to leadership positions during the hyper-partisan years of Republican control of Congress, and it shows. They are the people who refused to be Swift-boated, DeLay-ed, or otherwise crushed by the Republican attack machine. They attacked back, and were as vengeful as the Republicans.

Pelosi describes with relish her strategy for trouncing Bush's plan to privatize Social Security -- which was to blast it mercilessly, without offering an alternative. The implicit message is that negotiation and compromise are for losers. The reality that Social Security is facing bankruptcy seems not to interest either Pelosi or Reid. Indeed, their memoirs are largely policy-free zones.

More here



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ELSEWHERE

When a Russian navy ship returned to port after operations against Georgia recently, it was welcomed by some Russian bikini babes. Click HERE to see the pic. I haven't got the heart to display it on this blog. (Via Ace)

Britain feels the impoverishing effects of socialism: "The study by uSwitch.com, a price comparison website, found that the figure - gross income minus taxes, social contributions and essential bills - fell 2,582 pounds, or 15 per cent, from 17,102 last year to 14,520. The average household's disposable income is just 2,491 higher than it was in 1997, according to uSwitch. The fall wipes out much of the gains made in the 11 years since Labour took office. Ann Robinson, uSwitch's director of consumer policy, said people were in "a lose/lose situation where everything is shooting up except their income". Although average pay has risen by 3.4 per cent in the past year, that has been more than wiped out by inflation in the shops and tax rises."

Coalition forces capture two key al-Qaeda leaders in Baghdad: "Coalition forces captured two suspected senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in Baghdad during recent operations, dealing AQI a hefty blow by removing experienced terrorists from the top of the extremist network. Salim `Abdallah Ashur al-Shujayri, also known as Abu Uthman, was captured during an operation Aug. 11. He is reportedly the AQI emir of the Rusafa district of Baghdad. Ali Rash Nasir Jiyad al-Shammari, also known as Abu Tiba, was captured Aug. 17. Both men are assessed to be longtime members of AQI."

Who knew--Natural gas production up and prices down?: "American natural gas production is rising at a clip not seen in half a century, pushing down prices of the fuel and reversing conventional wisdom that domestic gas fields were in irreversible decline. The new drilling boom uses advanced technology to release gas trapped in huge shale beds found throughout North America - gas long believed to be out of reach. Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, releasing less of the emissions that cause global warming than coal or oil. Rising production of natural gas has significant long-range implications for American consumers and businesses. A sustained increase in gas supplies over the next decade could slow the rise of utility bills, obviate the need to import gas and make energy-intensive industries more competitive."

For more postings from me, see OBAMA WATCH, TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, EYE ON BRITAIN and Paralipomena

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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