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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (55767)	3/12/2007 9:37:26 AM
From: MrLucky	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

According to morning local news, the 'Breck girl' has already pulled out of the Fox debate.

To: Sully- who wrote (55767)	3/12/2007 1:16:58 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

Ah, it's good to be back! And with my favorite idjit too! Message 23360729 You know, we could eliminate ALL CRIME if the human race would simply nuke itself. Or is that too logical an extension of her argument?

To: Sully- who wrote (55767)	3/12/2007 3:15:24 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

A Tale of Two Crimes By Michael Barone Townhall.com Columnist Monday, March 12, 2007 "History will be kind to me," Winston Churchill once said, "for I intend to write it." Indeed, he did. His multiple-volume histories of the two world wars are still widely read, though discounted by professional historians as incomplete and in some ways misleading. Churchill is not the only politician who has wanted to write the history of his times; most politicians and political operatives want at least to shape the way history views their actions. Some are better at this than others. In the previous century, Democrats did much better at this than Republicans. Most of us still see the events of the first two-thirds of the 20th century through the words of gifted New Deal historians like the late Arthur Schlesinger Jr., who told the story as Franklin Roosevelt hoped and expected it to be told. And, to judge from the response to two recent criminal proceedings, Democrats are doing it better in this century, too. The first of these criminal proceedings, not much noticed, was the plea bargain of former national security adviser Sandy Berger for removing classified documents from the National Archives, where he had been reviewing them under the authorization of Bill Clinton in preparation for testimony about 9/11. What he admitted to doing, after first denying it, is extraordinary. On multiple occasions he removed documents from the room where he was reading them, concealed them in his pants and socks, hid them at a construction site outside the building, took them home, and, in some cases, destroyed them. Some of these documents may have been unique and may have contained handwritten comments that could have looked bad in light of what happened on September 11. I have known Berger more than 30 years and find it unlikely that he would have done something like this on his own. Did Bill Clinton ask him to destroy documents that would make him look bad in history? I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I ask that question. But this or something very much like it seems to be the only explanation that makes sense. The Berger case was prosecuted by career staff in the Department of Justice, with little publicity. In 2005 Berger was fined $50,000 -- not a ruinous sum for one of his earning capacity -- ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, and had his security clearance lifted for three years, which means he could come back in a new administration after the 2008 election. The attempt to write, or un-write, history -- if it was that -- evidently succeeded. Berger's treatment was light compared with that of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Scooter Libby. Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald prosecuted him for perjury and obstruction of justice for making statements contradicted by journalists Tim Russert and Matt Cooper, and last week, the 11-member jury found him guilty on four counts. He could face years in jail. The case arose out of attempts by Libby and others to refute the charges of retired diplomat Joseph Wilson that the administration had manipulated intelligence before the Iraq war. Wilson is the Titus Oates of our time, a liar whose lies served the needs of a political faction. Oates's lie was that there was a "popish plot" to murder King Charles II; Wilson's lie was part of the "Bush lied and people died" mantra that has become the canonical version of history to much of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party. Wilson's story, retailed to journalists and then presented in a column in The New York Times, was that he had debunked evidence that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger and that his report had circulated in the highest levels of the administration; he suggested that he had been sent to Niger in response to a request by Cheney. In fact, as a 2004 bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee found, all those claims were false, as well as his denial that his wife had recommended him for the Niger trip. Still, the "Bush lied and people died" mantra resonates. Yet there was no lie. Given Saddam Hussein's previous use of weapons of mass destruction and his refusal to cooperate with weapons inspectors, George W. Bush had to assume he had WMDs, just as Bill Clinton had before him -- as we were reminded by Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech in favor of the Iraq war resolution. The Libby verdict in no way undercuts that. But the Republicans are running behind in the battle to write history. Michael Barone is a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report and the principal co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, published by National Journal every two years. He is also author of Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan, The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again, the just-released Hard America, Soft America: Competition vs. Coddling and the Competition for the Nation's Future. townhall.com

To: Sully- who wrote (55767)	3/14/2007 1:54:25 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

Hat tip to Brumar89: The Nevada Democratic Party Presidential Debate Satire By William Tate "Welcome to the Nevada Democratic Party presidential debate. My Name is Tim Russert and I'll be you moderator tonight--" "Excuse me, Tim." "Yes, candidate Edwards?" "As you know, Tim, we simply refuse to appear on any media outlet that doesn't present a lib... uh, a fair perspective of this election. And I'm afraid that, before we continue, we need to establish your credentials." "I'm the Washington bureau chief of NBC News and the host of Meet the Press." "All well and good, Tim, but I was referring to your background in politics." "Well, Mister Edwards, I used to work for Democratic Senator Daniel Moynhihan." "I don't know if that passes muster, Tim. Moynihan could be kind of independent. Anything else?" "I also worked for Mario Cuomo." "More like it! He's a true Democrat." "Oh, and I waived my normally sacrosanct journalistic responsibility to protect my sources in order to help convict Scooter Libby." "Well, okay. We'll let you proceed ... for now." "Thank you so much, Mister Edwards. I won't let you down. I promise. Joining me on tonight's panel is the host of ABC's This Week, George Stephanopoulos." "Good evening, Tim." "Uh, Tim?" "Yes, Mister Edwards?" "Before we proceed, I'm afraid, Mister Stephanopolous, that we need to establish your credentials to ask non-biased questions of presidential candidates." "Well, I don't really have too many journalistic credentials, Mister Edwards." "We don't care about that, George. What about your politics?" "I served as a senior advisor to President Clinton." "Is that all?" "I helped him get elected." "Hmm. I'll have to think about that." "While you're doing that, candidate Edwards, let me introduce the other member of tonight's panel, my colleague at NBC News, Chris Matthews. Chris is the host of..." "Tim?" "Yes, Mister Edwards?" "I think we need to establish--" "I know, the credentials..." "I was an aide to Tip O'Neill, you southern nitwit. You simply can't get more Democrat than that." "Just one job, Chris?" "I was a speech writer for President Carter, pretty boy." "Oh. I guess you're okay." "Unfortunately, because of time constraints, we can't make similar introductions for the rest of our unbiased panel, which includes representatives from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS, PBS, CNN, NPR, Time, Newsweek, and, at the far end down there, the one in the red dress, Helen Thomas." "George W. Bush is still the worst president ever, Tim!" "Yes, well. Thank you Helen. We'll start with opening statements from our selected candidates. The order of those statements was determined by random drawing--" "Tim?" "Again, Mister Edwards?" "I would like to make a formal protest to the results of that drawing. My campaign staff has determined that it was conducted by someone who we suspect may have once watched the Fox News Channel." "Your protest is duly noted. Now, we'll start with the opening statement of candidate Edwards." "Thanks, Tim. Let me start by stating how glad I am that we are able to have this debate in front of such an unbiased media panel. As candidates for the highest office in the land, we have an obligation to talk to everyone ... so long as they agree with us." "Candidate Obama?" "This nation is at a critical point in its history, Tim. This election presents us with a clear choice: to appear on the Fox News Channel, or not. I, for one, want to inspire America ... to avoid FNC." "Candidate Clinton." "Tim, unlike my opponents, I actually have experience in dealing with the country's problems. I have avoided Fox News Channel for years. But that's not all. I'd like to announce tonight that my attorneys have filed suit to prevent FNC from saying my name or showing my picture on air ... unless the face is blurred, and then only from the waist up." "Alright, it's time for our unbiased panelists to ask questions. George?" "This question is for all the candidates, Tim. Candidates, who do you think is more evil: Satan or George W. Bush?" "Bush." "Bush." "Bush." "Uh, Tim?" "Yes, Mister Edwards?" "Could I amend my response? Bush ... and the Fox News Channel." "Now an unbiased question from Chris Matthews." "Alright, you slack-jawed spineless substitute for real Democrats, the current administration has run roughshod over the constitution, which leads me to ask, which part of the constitution is most important to you? Senator Obama?" "All of it, Chris. But especially the part that allows senators to make money in their blind trusts." "Senator Clinton?" "Well, Chris, I have studied the constitution extensively looking for legal loopholes ... uh ... I mean, overlooked details, and I find the part that allows presidents to grant pardons to be very important." "Mister Edwards?" "Why the right to free speech, of course. William Tate is a former award-winning broadcast journalist. He is a writer and researcher who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Message 23363414

To: Sully- who wrote (55767)	3/15/2007 2:11:58 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

"Thought leader" denounces propaganda Power Line Matt Stoller is a blogger for the leftist blog MyDD. Or so I had believed. It turns out he's much more -- he's a "thought leader in the internet wing of the progressive movement." Sounds like a nice gig. What thoughts has the leader been having? For one thing, he thinks that pressuring the Democratic party to cancel the Nevada presidential debate was justified because "Fox News is not a news channel, but a propaganda outlet that regularly distorts, spins, and falsifies information." What's Stoller's evidence? Well, for one thing the head of Fox News, Roger Ailes, was a political operative who worked for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and the first president Bush. On the other hand, George Stephanopoulos, who runs ABC's popular Sunday morning show was an operative for Bill Clinton. And the owner of Fox, Rupert Murdoch, has hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. Ailes' ancient connection with Republican politicians hardly means that Fox News a Republican instrument. Stoller also cites some old memos from a Fox News executive that contain themes favorable to President Bush and unfavorable to John Kerry. But a month before the 2004 election, ABC News director Mark Halperin wrote a memo in which he instructed his news organization to "step up" and help rescue John Kerry from attacks by the Bush campaign that Halperin thought were unfair. Halperin would later tell Hugh Hewitt that "for forty years, conservatives have rightly felt that we did not give them a fair shake" (emphasis added). CBS News didn't need a memo to run pro-Kerry propaganda -- it used phony documents as the basis for a story attacking President Bush's service in the National Guard. Does this mean that ABC and CBS are propaganda organizations that are unfit to carry presidential debates? Stoller also argues that viewers of Fox News are more likely than other news consumers to hold "misconceptions" about the war in Iraq. There's little doubt that Fox News viewers are more likely than other news consumers to be favorably disposed to the war. But Stoller doesn't show that this is the result of unfair reporting by Fox. Indeed, Stoller presents no evidence that Fox's coverage of the issues in question -- for example, the likelihood that Iraq had WMD -- was appreciably different than that of other U.S. news outlets. It's a bit unsettling when political partisans organize to deny a news outlet access to news opportunities because they don't like the outlet's news content and consider its executives to be political enemies. But this is what "thought leaders" tend to do. UPDATE: At the Forum, GDLL provides examples of additional MSM mainstays with partisan political backgrounds. Bill Moyers at PBS is the president of left-funding Schumann Center for Media & Democracy, and was a key aide to Lyndon Johnson. According to GDLL, Moyers authorized the notorious LBJ "Daisy" ad in 1964 that suggested Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater would, if elected, cause nuclear war. Then there's NBC's cable guy Chris Matthews who wrote speeches for Jimmy Carter and was a top aide to Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill. And NBC's Tim Russert worked for Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo and before that was the chief of staff for Democratic Senator Daniel P. Moynihan. On the other hand Keith Olbermann, perhaps the worst of the lot, was a sports highlights presenter. To comment on this post, go here. plnewsforum.com powerlineblog.com