Sunday Chat & Chews, like a bad meal, are with you long after you think you've finished with them.
For those who can't live without the gasbags, remember Rolaids spells relief. (Turning off your TV set spells sanity.)
Over at NBC's Meet the Press, Tubby Russert's pulling a Bob Schieffer. No, he's not going to wing it! Please, he's coddled and airbrushed by a team larger than the one required to give Barbara Walters the appearance of a "natural look" each time she steps before the camera.
But last week, as Joe, Zach and Brenda noted in their e-mails, Face (as CBS' Face The Nation apparently now wants to be called) had an "indepth" discussion on Tom DeLay made up with a wide range of opinions from . . . three Republicans. Is that a wide range?
It passes for it on the Chat & Chews. That's why people shouldn't waste their times with this crap. Beltway gossip and spin isn't "public affairs" and it certainly isn't news. Programs that provide "guests" week after week but would never have you on as a guest are probably programs you shouldn't watch. You watch Orpah, there's a chance that something wonderful or sad could happen in your life and Oprah would have you on. They may call it Face (The Nation) or This Week or Meet the Press but it's all nonsense, one long -- to use Bill Keller's favorite term -- circle jerk for "insiders" and brown nosers.
Let's focus on Meet the Press. When the program started, the guest would . . . meet the press. The guest would be grilled by the press. We're talking years ago. Now that Tubby Russert hosts, no one questions a guest but Tubbs. Would Robin Wright, for instance, if she were included along with others, have an obvious question for the guest (one that Tubby will always miss)? Probably. And that's probably why they moved away from that format -- better to coast than to explore.
So Tubbs gives butt smooches and air kisses. (And as Arianna Huffington will point out, never discusses Plamegate. Aren't viewers interested in what Tubbs knew and when he knew it?) Sometimes Tubbs will growl. If, for instance, the breadsticks don't accompany the meal.
I kid, I jest. No Tubbs will only growl (away from the dinner table) if he's got a Democrat. Put a Dem opposite him and suddenly it's carb loading time for Tubbs as he chews and snarls.
Tubbs will have to practice the Zone diet this Sunday because, in discussing the Harriet Miers nomination, he can't find a Dem. (He can't find anyone of the left either but then he hasn't seen his own feet in years either so no one really expects him, at this late date, to spot an genuine lefty.) So Tubbs brings on "wild man" Pat Buchanan and Richard Land of the Southern Baptists. This will be the discussion.
In fairness to Tubbs, who does not shop at the Big & Tall stores -- he's not tall, Democrats have allowed this to happen by playing wait-and-see-what-sticks with regards to Miers. The discussion is taking place on Miers' nomination but Democrats have allowed it to take place without any input. (Unless Harry Reid's singing "My Kind of Gal" counts as input.)
Kim Gandy and other strong voices will never be on Meet the Press. Meet the Press is only interested in a gab fast that Tubbs can control and he really can't control much these days -- not the stories on the outing of Valerie Plame, not his own diet.
Large men like Tubbs get exhausted quickly. So they need soft balls. Which explains why David Broder, who's not dead -- just brain dead, pops up. Broder had an original thought . . . when Ike left office. You see Broder's name and end up looking for Doris who's not on -- which we hope doesn't mean she's either facing or about to face another charge of ripping off others in her "historical" writing. It's rare that someone is caught plagerizing and doesn't suffer for it but Doris got a pass. (Maybe everyone's scared of her husband's temper?) Instead we
get E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, Kate O'Beirne of Irrational Review (a popular rag this Sunday!) and Ron Brownstein of LA Times who meets with Tubbs' approval because Brownstein's wife works for McCain.
Let's move on to ABC's This Week and note that their programming notes (which sound like they're dictated by Steph) at least try to provide a sense of urgency and immediacy.
To diccuss the "firestorm" "ignited" by Harriet Miers, Steph will have on Arlen Specter and Patrick Leahy, defanged tabbies both of them. Stoke the fires hard, Steph, stoke the fires hard.
(Note, though weak, one is a Repube and one a Dem -- though parties of each might beg to differ.)
Bird flu leads to the need to bring on Mike Leavitt, administration "point man" -- secretary of Health and Human Services -- because it's more important to know what the administration says about bird flu then what anyone from WHO or the medical profession would. That's why it's a chat & chew, people. It's not about science, it's not about reality, it's all about the spin.
National Review just turned fifty! Are your eyes moist? Mine neither. But it's reason enough for George Will to gush over William F. Buckley, Jr. -- who left the magazine but hey, don't expect that chat & chews to keep up -- if they're discussing it, you already heard about it from the butcher two weeks prior.
I seem to remember The Progressive (with larger circulation than The National Review) having an anniversary awhile back. Strangely, This Week had no interest in bringing on Ruth Conniff or Matthew Rothschild. The anniversary? 2004 was the 95th anniversary of The Progressive. The Nation? 140 years old. I guess it's "news" that Irrational Review managed to hang around for fifty years. With all the rumors floating about the magazine's backstage dealings, maybe it's good to have it on now since it may, in the words of Janis Joplin, not be here tomorrow. Get it while you can, indeed. (Though circulation is down for Irrational, as for all the right-wingers including The New Republic, the alleged problems are rumored, not to have to do with money but to have to do with ideology, with many parties in conflict.)
Week after week, while hosts are supposed to be objective (yeah, I know), This Week gives conservative idealogue George Will a chair at the kiddie table (in a booster chair, if you will) so of course it's natural that they'll spotlight a right wing magazine, and only a right wing magazine.
To attone, Steph worries and frets, he invites Robert Reich into the sandbox that is the roundtable. Reich joins George Will and Cokie Roberts.
Cokie, Cokie, Cokie. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Apparently with no hurricane on the immediate horizon, there's no need to hide behind Mommy, so Cokie returns. And I honestly blame Elaine who lamented this week that Cokie and Sam Donaldson wouldn't be forced to moralize, as they did so often during the Clinton years, on the scandals of Plamegate.
Anyone remember when the elfish Gwen Ifell told us it was "only a summer scandal"?
Let's once again note the tune she and gal pal Condi Rice no doubt sing after home cooked meals, pushing back the couch, kicking their shoes off and letting their hair down:
Say, it's only a summer scandal
Bully Boy will soon have the handle
He's the king of the make-believe
Do you believe in me?
Yes, it's only a scandal de sum
Reporters move on if we play mum
King George of the make believe
Do you believe in me?
. . .
It's a Bully and Cheney world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
"It's Only a Summer Scandal" is cribbed from the classic song "It's Only a Paper Moon" by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. And to state another obvious, "the summer became the fall" ("Nightbird" by Stevie Nicks, off the album Wildheart) so does Ifell want to revise her "summer scandal" nonsense?
Finally we go to snooze canal, the little place on CBS that started it all, this "balance" on Repube issues discussed by Repubes only. As noted earlier, Zach, Brenda and Joe all e-mailed about last Sunday's Face. To discuss Tom DeLay's scandals, Bob Schieffer put down the martini glass to bring on three Repubes. Which is kind of like "addressing" Enron by bringing on Lay, Fastow and Cheney. Ruth notes Counterspin on that in her latest Ruth's Morning Edition Report so I'll just leave it at that.
To help solve The Riddle of Harriet, Schieffer yucks it up with Sam Brownback and Charles Schumer. Dingalings Jan Greenburg and David Brooks (the "sock puppet master" is what Lynda's calling him) join Dean, er Bob.
Can you think of a greater waste of time than the Sunday Chat & Chews?
Everyone knows to play it "safe" which means you don't challenge Republican spin unless it's something that's been debunked loudly and repeatedly for years. Otherwise, you sit on your hands and bite your tongues. Play the game and you too can be called "a historian" or get a chuckle from Tubbs. Try to have a real conversation and don't expect to be asked back.
These aren't "public affairs" programs. They're hobbies. They let Tubbs pretend he's not Mr. Maureen Orth, that plopping that ever increasing can into a chair each Sunday puts him on par with Orth and that he's actually "working."
And here's to the girls who play wife--
Aren't they too much?
Keeping house but clutching
A copy of "Life"
To Tubbs and the other boys of the Sunday Chat & Chews, let's dedicate Stephen Sondheim's "The Ladies Who Lunch." (And in Tubbs' case, who lunch and brunch and snack.)
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
sunday chat and chews
meet the press
this week
face the nation
like maria said paz
Friday, October 07, 2005
Democracy Now: Robert Dreyfuss, Phyllis Bennis: Grace Lee Boggs, Larry Johnson, Danny Schechter, Christine of Pop Politics
dn
Baradei and IAEA Win Nobel Prize
The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, have won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee said it chose Baradei and the IAEA "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.'' Washington has long been at odds with Baradei for his consistent challenge to US claims, particularly about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
US Threatens Nicaragua
The United States is threatening political groups and politicians that Nicaragua will lose millions of dollars in aid from Washington if any moves are made to bring down the US-backed president, Enrique Bolaños. In a move reminiscent of US intervention in Nicaragua in the 1980s, the US deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, is in the capital Managua this week to head off the possibility of the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, returning to power. The Nicaraguan national assembly has been debating a proposal to impeach Bolaños over campaign finance violations. He was elected in 2001. Zoellick said that $4billion in debt forgiveness and a $175million grant to Nicaragua would be withheld if Bolanos is impeached. After the 1979 Sandinista revolution, the US organized, armed and funded death squads in Nicaragua known as the Contras.
Cuba Commemorates Victims of 1976 Airplane Bombing
Thursday marked the 29th anniversary of the bombing of a Cuban airplane killing all 73 people on board. One of the men accused of involvement in that bombing remains in US custody--Luis Posada Carriles. Hundreds of people gathered at Havana's main cemetery to remember the victims, which included the entire Cuban national fencing team. Cuba and Venezuela want Posada extradited to Venezuela to face charges for the plane bombing.
The above three items are from today's Democracy Now! Headlines and were selected by Jonah, Liang and Kendrick. Democracy Now! ("always worth watching," as Marcia says):
Headlines for October 7, 2005
- Terror Plot Alleged Against NY Subway System
- ABC News: Plot Involves 19 Operatives With Briefcases
- Baradei and IAEA Win Nobel Prize
- Bush: God Told Me To Invade Iraq, Afghanistan
- Rove Faces Grand Jury for Fourth Time
- Mudslides Kill Hundreds in Central America
- US Threatens Nicaragua
- Fujimori Seeks to Return to Peru as President
Bush Announces Renewed War on "Islamo-Facism," Rejects Demands for U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Iraq
President Bush firmly rejected demands for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and tried to refocus America's attention on the threat from Islamic extremism. We speak with investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss, author of "Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam." [includes rush transcript]
Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty in AIPAC-Israeli Spy Case
Larry Franklin, a top Pentagon analyst, plead guilty to handing over highly classified intelligence to members of the pro-Israeli lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC. Franklin also admitted for the first time that he handed over top-secret information on Iran directly to an Israeli government official in Washington. We speak with investigative reporter, Robert Dreyfuss. [includes rush transcript]
UN Nuclear Watchdog ELBaradei Wins Nobel Peace Prize Months After U.S. Tries To Force Him From Job as Head of IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei have won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. We speak with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute of Policy Studies.
GE Strikes A Deal to Clean Up PCBs in the Hudson
Federal authorities and General Electric have struck a deal on dredging polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, contaminated sediment from the Hudson River. We have a discussion between an EPA administrator and an attorney from Riverkeeper.
Brandon e-mails to note Grace Lee Boggs' "Eliminate Poverty, Empower The Poor" (The Boggs Center):
"If you want to eliminate poverty, you have to empower the poor, not treat them as beggars."
This advice from Venequelan President Hugo Chavez, offered during a sitdown interview with Democracy Now while he was in New York for the UN opening, is as timely as the oil that Venequela will soon start delivering at below market prices to poor communities and schools in the U.S.
Unlike liberal Democrats and most U.S. radicals, Chavez views the elimination of poverty not as something that governments or politicians do or promise to do for people but as a participatory process through which people transform themselves and their reality simultaneously. That is also how MLK, after being confronted with the urban rebellions in the last three years of his life, began viewing the struggle against poverty.
Chavez described the process by which Venezuelans are currently struggling to eliminate poverty. In poor neighborhoods all over the country thousands of people join Urban Land Committees. These committees draft a map of their neighborhood then go house by house, family by family, assessing the problems, e.g. lack of running water, the condition of the houses, number of children, health care. Using financial and technical resources and equipment provided by the government, they interact with the technical commissions on water, energy and electrical supplies.
Wally e-mails to note Larry Johnson's "The Plame Case" (CounterPunch):
Danny Schechter goes over the "IT'S A THREAT!" "Maybe" "or maybe not" nature of Bully Boy in the News Dissector today (too long for an excerpt, worth reading). We'll note this shorter item:
Martha e-mails to note this from Thursday's News Dissector:
And actually, today's News Dissector, the framework Danny's using to explore the evaporating "PANIC! WE HAVE INFO!" cry of the Bully Boy reminds me of the opening of WMD.
Lynda's e-mail's re: Christine's noting Court TV's new list of "memorable movie journalists" in "Reporters Caught on FIlm" (Pop Politics):
Ann Mitchell always seemed, to me, to be the "everyman" (everywoman) of that Capra film. Cooper's Doe is really a blank slate but Stanwyck's Ann is in line with George Bailey. Consider it a thought to start the weekend on.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Yahoo! for Good
Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Baradei and IAEA Win Nobel Prize
The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, have won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee said it chose Baradei and the IAEA "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.'' Washington has long been at odds with Baradei for his consistent challenge to US claims, particularly about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
US Threatens Nicaragua
The United States is threatening political groups and politicians that Nicaragua will lose millions of dollars in aid from Washington if any moves are made to bring down the US-backed president, Enrique Bolaños. In a move reminiscent of US intervention in Nicaragua in the 1980s, the US deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, is in the capital Managua this week to head off the possibility of the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, returning to power. The Nicaraguan national assembly has been debating a proposal to impeach Bolaños over campaign finance violations. He was elected in 2001. Zoellick said that $4billion in debt forgiveness and a $175million grant to Nicaragua would be withheld if Bolanos is impeached. After the 1979 Sandinista revolution, the US organized, armed and funded death squads in Nicaragua known as the Contras.
Cuba Commemorates Victims of 1976 Airplane Bombing
Thursday marked the 29th anniversary of the bombing of a Cuban airplane killing all 73 people on board. One of the men accused of involvement in that bombing remains in US custody--Luis Posada Carriles. Hundreds of people gathered at Havana's main cemetery to remember the victims, which included the entire Cuban national fencing team. Cuba and Venezuela want Posada extradited to Venezuela to face charges for the plane bombing.
The above three items are from today's Democracy Now! Headlines and were selected by Jonah, Liang and Kendrick. Democracy Now! ("always worth watching," as Marcia says):
Headlines for October 7, 2005
- Terror Plot Alleged Against NY Subway System
- ABC News: Plot Involves 19 Operatives With Briefcases
- Baradei and IAEA Win Nobel Prize
- Bush: God Told Me To Invade Iraq, Afghanistan
- Rove Faces Grand Jury for Fourth Time
- Mudslides Kill Hundreds in Central America
- US Threatens Nicaragua
- Fujimori Seeks to Return to Peru as President
Bush Announces Renewed War on "Islamo-Facism," Rejects Demands for U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Iraq
President Bush firmly rejected demands for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and tried to refocus America's attention on the threat from Islamic extremism. We speak with investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss, author of "Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam." [includes rush transcript]
Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty in AIPAC-Israeli Spy Case
Larry Franklin, a top Pentagon analyst, plead guilty to handing over highly classified intelligence to members of the pro-Israeli lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC. Franklin also admitted for the first time that he handed over top-secret information on Iran directly to an Israeli government official in Washington. We speak with investigative reporter, Robert Dreyfuss. [includes rush transcript]
UN Nuclear Watchdog ELBaradei Wins Nobel Peace Prize Months After U.S. Tries To Force Him From Job as Head of IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei have won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. We speak with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute of Policy Studies.
GE Strikes A Deal to Clean Up PCBs in the Hudson
Federal authorities and General Electric have struck a deal on dredging polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, contaminated sediment from the Hudson River. We have a discussion between an EPA administrator and an attorney from Riverkeeper.
Brandon e-mails to note Grace Lee Boggs' "Eliminate Poverty, Empower The Poor" (The Boggs Center):
"If you want to eliminate poverty, you have to empower the poor, not treat them as beggars."
This advice from Venequelan President Hugo Chavez, offered during a sitdown interview with Democracy Now while he was in New York for the UN opening, is as timely as the oil that Venequela will soon start delivering at below market prices to poor communities and schools in the U.S.
Unlike liberal Democrats and most U.S. radicals, Chavez views the elimination of poverty not as something that governments or politicians do or promise to do for people but as a participatory process through which people transform themselves and their reality simultaneously. That is also how MLK, after being confronted with the urban rebellions in the last three years of his life, began viewing the struggle against poverty.
Chavez described the process by which Venezuelans are currently struggling to eliminate poverty. In poor neighborhoods all over the country thousands of people join Urban Land Committees. These committees draft a map of their neighborhood then go house by house, family by family, assessing the problems, e.g. lack of running water, the condition of the houses, number of children, health care. Using financial and technical resources and equipment provided by the government, they interact with the technical commissions on water, energy and electrical supplies.
Wally e-mails to note Larry Johnson's "The Plame Case" (CounterPunch):
Want to know one reason why the CIA has been unable to recruit spies? Just reflect on how a potential recruit would react to the outing of Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operations officer.
The investigation into which administration officials compromised Plame, wife of former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, is nearing completion. Lost in the recent spurt of press reporting, however, is the fact that the outing of Ms. Plame (and, as night follows the day, her carefully cultivated network of spies) has done great damage to US clandestine operations-not to mention those she recruited over her distinguished career.
Ms. Plame, a very gifted case officer, was a close colleague of mine at CIA. Her dedication and courage were made abundantly clear when she became one of the few to volunteer to asume the risks of operating under non-official cover-meaning that if you get caught, too bad, you're on your own; the US government never heard of you.
The supreme irony is that Plame's now-compromised network was reporting on the priority-one issue of US intelligence-weapons of mass destruction. Thus, it was made clear to all, including active and potential intelligence sources abroad, that even when high-priority intelligence targets are involved, Bush administration officials do not shrink from exposing such sources for petty political purpose. The harm to CIA and its efforts to recruit spies instinctively wary of the risks in providing intelligence information is immense.
Danny Schechter goes over the "IT'S A THREAT!" "Maybe" "or maybe not" nature of Bully Boy in the News Dissector today (too long for an excerpt, worth reading). We'll note this shorter item:
Mark Crispin Miller is circulating this:
October 6, 2005 -- After it was reported that Karl Rove had agreed to give further testimony to the Grand Jury investigating the CIA leak, Rove's attorney Robert Luskin denied his client had received a target letter from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, a formal "heads up" sent to individuals who are about to be indicted. However, it is being reported from well-informed sources throughout Washington that 1) target letters have been sent to Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Ari Fleischer; 2) Rove has agreed to testify and possibly agree to a plea bargain agreement in return for his testimony against other targets of the criminal probe; 3) Cheney and Bush may be named as unindicted co-conspirators; 4) Bush's "war speech" before the National Endowment for Democracy and a late Thursday afternoon report that "19 operatives" have arrived in New York City to place bombs on subway trains are blatant attempts by the White House to divert attention from the impending indictments against the Bush White House. The main stream media is just beginning to take notice that a "Watergate-level event" is about to occur in Washington.
Martha e-mails to note this from Thursday's News Dissector:
MY SCHEDULE
I will be screening WMD at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, NY, on Sunday, October 9, at 1 PM. The next weekend, I will be in London for a screening at the Everyman Theater in Hampstead on Sunday, October 16, at 3 PM, and the next evening at 6:45 PM at the Ritzy in Brixton. The following weekend, I'm off to the Frankfurt Book Fair to take part on a human rights panel.
And actually, today's News Dissector, the framework Danny's using to explore the evaporating "PANIC! WE HAVE INFO!" cry of the Bully Boy reminds me of the opening of WMD.
Lynda's e-mail's re: Christine's noting Court TV's new list of "memorable movie journalists" in "Reporters Caught on FIlm" (Pop Politics):
Walter Burns (Cary Grant) comes in at number 4 for His Girl Friday (1940), but Hildy Johnson, played by Rosalind Russell in the same film version, didn't make the list.
I'm disappointed there's no mention of newspaper reporter Ann Mitchell, played by Barbara Stanwyck in Frank Capra's Meet John Doe (1941). But perhaps I should just be grateful it didn't include either Sabrina Peterson (Julia Roberts) or Peter Brackett (Nick Nolte), competing Chicago newspaper reporters in I Love Trouble (1994) -- which I nominate as one of the Worst Movies Ever about journalists.
Ann Mitchell always seemed, to me, to be the "everyman" (everywoman) of that Capra film. Cooper's Doe is really a blank slate but Stanwyck's Ann is in line with George Bailey. Consider it a thought to start the weekend on.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Yahoo! for Good
Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Other items
I wasn't in the mood for the Bully Boy's latest nonsense. I see David E. Sanger's byline and cringe (he's earned his stripes in the Elite Fluff Patrol). But I try to have a little hope as I read through "10 Plots Foiled Since Sept. 11, Bush Declares" in this morning's New York Times. Surely, I wrongly think, even Fluffer Sanger won't be as willing to reach over and fluff the Bully, right?
Wrong. One of the "10 plots" is the supposed Jose Padilla case. A case that's not been heard in any of court law. To this day. And Sanger's speaking of it being "well known." (Guess his arm was tired from the fluffing he gave the Bully Boy.) (Fluff was originally used in the sense I knew the word. ??? e-mailed last week to inform me that a "fluffer" is also a term for someone on a porn shoot who helps the male remain . . . standing.) Why the Times printed this b.s. is beyond me. (Claims that they can't independently verify no matter how they kid themselves by letting an anonymice out of its cage.)
Bully Boy wants to distract us again. He's trotting out the disproven connection between 9/11 and Iraq yet again. (Fluffer Sanger doesn't note that either. His arm must have been really tired.)
Here's a tip for Fluffer Sanger. Actually, here are two tips. First, wear a white shirt in case the mountain/moehill erupts while you fluff because bleach will get those stains out easily. (Remember to wear gloves in these days of safe play.) Second, if you feel the need to repeat the Bully Boy's empty words on bin Laden, then it's probably your job to note earlier empty words -- "Dead or alive." Never happened, did it?
Bully Boy's polls continue to tank. He wants a little loving and apparently he need a little ego stroking -- Sanger's a boy happy to stroke as he demonstrates in this morning's article.
10 Plots! Bully Boy screams, 10!
One wonders why he didn't toss in his bicycle accidents and the pretzel mishap so he could reach a higher number. Then again, ten may be the highest number he can comprehend.
While Elite Fluff Patrol member Sanger's allowed to stroke the Bully Boy at length, Philip Shenon's reduced to five (check my math) paragraphs with "Outside Inquiry Sought on Prosecutor's Demotion:"
The ranking Democrats on three House committees called Thursday for an outside investigator to determine why a prosecutor in Guam was demoted in 2002 after opening a criminal investigation of Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist now at the center of a federal corruption investigation.
[. . .]
Colleagues said Mr. Black's reassignment in November 2002 resulted in the collapse of the investigation in Guam, where Mr. Abramoff had a lucrative lobbying practice. Law-enforcement officials have confirmed that the Justice Department's inspector general, the department's independent watchdog, opened an investigation in recent weeks into the circumstances of Mr. Black's demotion.
Which story is a really news? That Bully Boy staged another production of Scaring America or the Abramoff issue? If Sanger were an entertainment writer, to provide an illustation, he'd be gushing over the new season of 7th Heaven. That's how pertinent Sanger's 28 paragraphs of drippings are. (Again, check my math.)
In other real issues (yes, the Times covers a few real issues today besides Shenon's article), we'll note Eric Lichtblau and Ronald Smothers' "New Spy Case Revives Concerns Over Security at F.B.I.:"
The widening investigation into an F.B.I. analyst suspected of passing intelligence to the Philippines is raising new concerns about the bureau's vulnerabilities in protecting its secrets from internal espionage.
After the Robert Hanssen spy scandal in 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began a major overhaul of its internal security to prevent employees from pilfering secret records. Among the measures was the increased use of internal computer audits to spot employees like Mr. Hanssen who might be reading records they had no reason to review.
But Leandro Aragoncillo, hired last year as an analyst for the bureau at Fort Monmouth in Eatontown, N.J., appears to have done just that for months without being noticed, officials say. Mr. Aragoncillo is accused of improperly combing the computer system to print or download 101 classified documents on the Philippines, including 37 marked "secret," and passing the information to Manila in his native country.
Investigators for the bureau say they suspect that he may have also improperly gained access to classified material when he worked at the White House as a Marine aide to the vice president's office under Dick Cheney and Al Gore.
Billie e-mails to note Ralph Blumenthal's "Questions Linger on Role of Miers in a Contract to Run the Texas Lottery:"
To this day, partisans in Texas argue over whether Ms. Miers was seeking to stamp out corruption at the Lottery Commission during her tenure or was trying to curb Democratic influence over one of the world's most lucrative lotteries.
Mr. Bush himself, in choosing Ms. Miers for the Supreme Court, specifically cited her service on the Lottery Commission, saying that the panel "needed a leader of unquestioned integrity" and that she "delivered results." Administration officials suggested that Ms. Miers had been sent to the commission to clean it up at a troubled time.
But Charles E. Soechting, the current state Democratic Party chairman and a lawyer for Ms. Linares, said that at the time Mr. Bush named Ms. Miers to the commission, the lottery was highly regarded and at its revenue peak. "She was on a mission to clean the office of Nora Linares," Mr. Soechting said.
Questions about that period could come up at Ms. Miers's confirmation hearings. Contacted by phone in New York, Mr. Littwin said this week that under a settlement he could not discuss his case but that he would testify before the Senate if called. A Democratic staff member at the Senate Judiciary Committee said the panel was likely to talk to him and others who had worked with Ms. Miers.
B-b-b-ut, Todd S. Purdum, leading with his smelly jock, said there was no "there" there. As we noted earlier this week:
Is Todd trying to get a job at People? "It has been a long time since Ms. Miers lacked encouragement!" The first clause of the sentence screams for an exclamation point. Breathless writing?
You bet. Who can breathe when the fumes from Todd S. Purdum's smelly jock are wafting all around!
It gets better!
Ms. Miers has been a go-to person for Mr. Bush ever since, first as his appointee to the Texas State Lottery Commission, which she helped clean up; then as White House staff secretary, directing the flow of . . .
She helped clean it up!
Uh, Todd, get your fingers out of your jock and pick up the morning edition of your own paper.
Blumenthal's a little less sure than you are. Todd. Todd! Quit sniffing your fingers and read Blumenthal's article.
Well "clean it up," I mean . . . Really, considering the stench from his own filthy jock, does anyone really think Todd S. Purdum knows the first thing about "cleaning"? Come on. Blumenthal delivers the slap down for the second time this week. (He must be well out of range of the fumes de jock of Todd.)
Walk on, walkon.org.
Francisco e-mails to note Craig Aaron's "Standard Issues" (In These Times):
The Standard’s 1997 cover story, "Saddam Must Go," by Kristol and Robert Kagan, is widely credited with planting the seeds for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. After 9/11, the Standard--amplified by the megaphone of Murdoch’s media empire--started pointing the finger at Iraq. (On the very afternoon of the terrorist attacks, Kristol told NPR, "I think Iraq is, actually, the big unspoken sort of elephant in the room today.") And as late as November 2003, the Standard was still pushing a Saddam–Al Qaeda connection on its cover (headline: "Case Closed").
That’s a lot of fodder for the Standard's 10th anniversary issue, which asked a number of longtime contributors to ponder the following question: "On what issue or issues (if any!) have you changed your mind in the last 10 years--and why?" But for the most part, the Standard-bearers are staying the course.
Kagan--wondering what happened to all his fellow warmongers--scolds them with a quote from Thucydides: "I am the same man and do not alter, it is you who change, since in fact you took my advice while unhurt, and waited for misfortune to repent of it." (Kagan, though, overlooked the opening line of the quoted passage: "For those of course who have a free choice in the matter and whose fortunes are not at stake, war is the greatest of follies.")
Francisco: If this is highlighted, yesterday's visitor should note that if he or she has any problems with what is written about Robert Kagan, the person to take them up with is Craig Aaron and the publication is In These Times. If the visitor reads this, please stop wasting the community's time on things that never were said here. Thank you.
Lori e-mails to note Al Gore's "American Democracy in Trouble: It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse" (Common Dreams):
I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse. I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions.
How many of you, I wonder, have heard a friend or a family member in the last few years remark that it's almost as if America has entered "an alternate universe"?
I thought maybe it was an aberration when three-quarters of Americans said they believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September 11, 2001. But more than four years later, between a third and a half still believe Saddam was personally responsible for planning and supporting the attack.
At first I thought the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of the O.J. trial was just an unfortunate excess that marked an unwelcome departure from the normal good sense and judgment of our television news media. But now we know that it was merely an early example of a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time.
Are we still routinely torturing helpless prisoners, and if so, does it feel right that we as American citizens are not outraged by the practice? And does it feel right to have no ongoing discussion of whether or not this abhorrent, medieval behavior is being carried out in the name of the American people? If the gap between rich and poor is widening steadily and economic stress is mounting for low-income families, why do we seem increasingly apathetic and lethargic in our role as citizens?
On the eve of the nation's decision to invade Iraq, our longest serving senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor asked: "Why is this chamber empty? Why are these halls silent?"
The decision that was then being considered by the Senate with virtually no meaningful debate turned out to be a fateful one. A few days ago, the former head of the National Security Agency, Retired Lt. General William Odom, said, "The invasion of Iraq, I believe, will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history."
But whether you agree with his assessment or not, Senator Byrd's question is like the others that I have just posed here: he was saying, in effect, this is strange, isn't it? Aren't we supposed to have full and vigorous debates about questions as important as the choice between war and peace?
Those of us who have served in the Senate and watched it change over time, could volunteer an answer to Senator Byrd's two questions: the Senate was silent on the eve of war because Senators don't feel that what they say on the floor of the Senate really matters that much any more. And the chamber was empty because the Senators were somewhere else: they were in fundraisers collecting money from special interests in order to buy 30-second TVcommercials for their next re-election campaign.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was - at least for a short time - a quality of vividness and clarity of focus in our public discourse that reminded some Americans - including some journalists - that vividness and clarity used to be more common in the way we talk with one another about the problems and choices that we face. But then, like a passing summer storm, the moment faded.
Lastly, check out BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week's winner:
Take for example the latest nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Bush told a news conference that she was the best person he could find for America. Well, the truth is that she was the best person that he could find to ensure the maintenance of Republican one-party rule and the Imperial GOP Presidency. He also knows that any woman that thinks he is the most brilliant person around would throw out any convictions against him or his staff.
??? e-mails to note that BuzzFlash is carrying a book by Scott Ritter (introduction by Seymour Hersh) entitled Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
new york times
todd s. purdum
smelly jock
david e. sanger
elite fluff patrol
ralph blumenthal
harriet miers
al gore
ronald smothers
eric lichtblau
Wrong. One of the "10 plots" is the supposed Jose Padilla case. A case that's not been heard in any of court law. To this day. And Sanger's speaking of it being "well known." (Guess his arm was tired from the fluffing he gave the Bully Boy.) (Fluff was originally used in the sense I knew the word. ??? e-mailed last week to inform me that a "fluffer" is also a term for someone on a porn shoot who helps the male remain . . . standing.) Why the Times printed this b.s. is beyond me. (Claims that they can't independently verify no matter how they kid themselves by letting an anonymice out of its cage.)
Bully Boy wants to distract us again. He's trotting out the disproven connection between 9/11 and Iraq yet again. (Fluffer Sanger doesn't note that either. His arm must have been really tired.)
Here's a tip for Fluffer Sanger. Actually, here are two tips. First, wear a white shirt in case the mountain/moehill erupts while you fluff because bleach will get those stains out easily. (Remember to wear gloves in these days of safe play.) Second, if you feel the need to repeat the Bully Boy's empty words on bin Laden, then it's probably your job to note earlier empty words -- "Dead or alive." Never happened, did it?
Bully Boy's polls continue to tank. He wants a little loving and apparently he need a little ego stroking -- Sanger's a boy happy to stroke as he demonstrates in this morning's article.
10 Plots! Bully Boy screams, 10!
One wonders why he didn't toss in his bicycle accidents and the pretzel mishap so he could reach a higher number. Then again, ten may be the highest number he can comprehend.
While Elite Fluff Patrol member Sanger's allowed to stroke the Bully Boy at length, Philip Shenon's reduced to five (check my math) paragraphs with "Outside Inquiry Sought on Prosecutor's Demotion:"
The ranking Democrats on three House committees called Thursday for an outside investigator to determine why a prosecutor in Guam was demoted in 2002 after opening a criminal investigation of Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist now at the center of a federal corruption investigation.
[. . .]
Colleagues said Mr. Black's reassignment in November 2002 resulted in the collapse of the investigation in Guam, where Mr. Abramoff had a lucrative lobbying practice. Law-enforcement officials have confirmed that the Justice Department's inspector general, the department's independent watchdog, opened an investigation in recent weeks into the circumstances of Mr. Black's demotion.
Which story is a really news? That Bully Boy staged another production of Scaring America or the Abramoff issue? If Sanger were an entertainment writer, to provide an illustation, he'd be gushing over the new season of 7th Heaven. That's how pertinent Sanger's 28 paragraphs of drippings are. (Again, check my math.)
In other real issues (yes, the Times covers a few real issues today besides Shenon's article), we'll note Eric Lichtblau and Ronald Smothers' "New Spy Case Revives Concerns Over Security at F.B.I.:"
The widening investigation into an F.B.I. analyst suspected of passing intelligence to the Philippines is raising new concerns about the bureau's vulnerabilities in protecting its secrets from internal espionage.
After the Robert Hanssen spy scandal in 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began a major overhaul of its internal security to prevent employees from pilfering secret records. Among the measures was the increased use of internal computer audits to spot employees like Mr. Hanssen who might be reading records they had no reason to review.
But Leandro Aragoncillo, hired last year as an analyst for the bureau at Fort Monmouth in Eatontown, N.J., appears to have done just that for months without being noticed, officials say. Mr. Aragoncillo is accused of improperly combing the computer system to print or download 101 classified documents on the Philippines, including 37 marked "secret," and passing the information to Manila in his native country.
Investigators for the bureau say they suspect that he may have also improperly gained access to classified material when he worked at the White House as a Marine aide to the vice president's office under Dick Cheney and Al Gore.
Billie e-mails to note Ralph Blumenthal's "Questions Linger on Role of Miers in a Contract to Run the Texas Lottery:"
To this day, partisans in Texas argue over whether Ms. Miers was seeking to stamp out corruption at the Lottery Commission during her tenure or was trying to curb Democratic influence over one of the world's most lucrative lotteries.
Mr. Bush himself, in choosing Ms. Miers for the Supreme Court, specifically cited her service on the Lottery Commission, saying that the panel "needed a leader of unquestioned integrity" and that she "delivered results." Administration officials suggested that Ms. Miers had been sent to the commission to clean it up at a troubled time.
But Charles E. Soechting, the current state Democratic Party chairman and a lawyer for Ms. Linares, said that at the time Mr. Bush named Ms. Miers to the commission, the lottery was highly regarded and at its revenue peak. "She was on a mission to clean the office of Nora Linares," Mr. Soechting said.
Questions about that period could come up at Ms. Miers's confirmation hearings. Contacted by phone in New York, Mr. Littwin said this week that under a settlement he could not discuss his case but that he would testify before the Senate if called. A Democratic staff member at the Senate Judiciary Committee said the panel was likely to talk to him and others who had worked with Ms. Miers.
B-b-b-ut, Todd S. Purdum, leading with his smelly jock, said there was no "there" there. As we noted earlier this week:
Is Todd trying to get a job at People? "It has been a long time since Ms. Miers lacked encouragement!" The first clause of the sentence screams for an exclamation point. Breathless writing?
You bet. Who can breathe when the fumes from Todd S. Purdum's smelly jock are wafting all around!
It gets better!
Ms. Miers has been a go-to person for Mr. Bush ever since, first as his appointee to the Texas State Lottery Commission, which she helped clean up; then as White House staff secretary, directing the flow of . . .
She helped clean it up!
Uh, Todd, get your fingers out of your jock and pick up the morning edition of your own paper.
Blumenthal's a little less sure than you are. Todd. Todd! Quit sniffing your fingers and read Blumenthal's article.
Well "clean it up," I mean . . . Really, considering the stench from his own filthy jock, does anyone really think Todd S. Purdum knows the first thing about "cleaning"? Come on. Blumenthal delivers the slap down for the second time this week. (He must be well out of range of the fumes de jock of Todd.)
Walk on, walkon.org.
Francisco e-mails to note Craig Aaron's "Standard Issues" (In These Times):
The Standard’s 1997 cover story, "Saddam Must Go," by Kristol and Robert Kagan, is widely credited with planting the seeds for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. After 9/11, the Standard--amplified by the megaphone of Murdoch’s media empire--started pointing the finger at Iraq. (On the very afternoon of the terrorist attacks, Kristol told NPR, "I think Iraq is, actually, the big unspoken sort of elephant in the room today.") And as late as November 2003, the Standard was still pushing a Saddam–Al Qaeda connection on its cover (headline: "Case Closed").
That’s a lot of fodder for the Standard's 10th anniversary issue, which asked a number of longtime contributors to ponder the following question: "On what issue or issues (if any!) have you changed your mind in the last 10 years--and why?" But for the most part, the Standard-bearers are staying the course.
Kagan--wondering what happened to all his fellow warmongers--scolds them with a quote from Thucydides: "I am the same man and do not alter, it is you who change, since in fact you took my advice while unhurt, and waited for misfortune to repent of it." (Kagan, though, overlooked the opening line of the quoted passage: "For those of course who have a free choice in the matter and whose fortunes are not at stake, war is the greatest of follies.")
Francisco: If this is highlighted, yesterday's visitor should note that if he or she has any problems with what is written about Robert Kagan, the person to take them up with is Craig Aaron and the publication is In These Times. If the visitor reads this, please stop wasting the community's time on things that never were said here. Thank you.
Lori e-mails to note Al Gore's "American Democracy in Trouble: It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse" (Common Dreams):
I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse. I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions.
How many of you, I wonder, have heard a friend or a family member in the last few years remark that it's almost as if America has entered "an alternate universe"?
I thought maybe it was an aberration when three-quarters of Americans said they believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September 11, 2001. But more than four years later, between a third and a half still believe Saddam was personally responsible for planning and supporting the attack.
At first I thought the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of the O.J. trial was just an unfortunate excess that marked an unwelcome departure from the normal good sense and judgment of our television news media. But now we know that it was merely an early example of a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time.
Are we still routinely torturing helpless prisoners, and if so, does it feel right that we as American citizens are not outraged by the practice? And does it feel right to have no ongoing discussion of whether or not this abhorrent, medieval behavior is being carried out in the name of the American people? If the gap between rich and poor is widening steadily and economic stress is mounting for low-income families, why do we seem increasingly apathetic and lethargic in our role as citizens?
On the eve of the nation's decision to invade Iraq, our longest serving senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor asked: "Why is this chamber empty? Why are these halls silent?"
The decision that was then being considered by the Senate with virtually no meaningful debate turned out to be a fateful one. A few days ago, the former head of the National Security Agency, Retired Lt. General William Odom, said, "The invasion of Iraq, I believe, will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history."
But whether you agree with his assessment or not, Senator Byrd's question is like the others that I have just posed here: he was saying, in effect, this is strange, isn't it? Aren't we supposed to have full and vigorous debates about questions as important as the choice between war and peace?
Those of us who have served in the Senate and watched it change over time, could volunteer an answer to Senator Byrd's two questions: the Senate was silent on the eve of war because Senators don't feel that what they say on the floor of the Senate really matters that much any more. And the chamber was empty because the Senators were somewhere else: they were in fundraisers collecting money from special interests in order to buy 30-second TVcommercials for their next re-election campaign.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was - at least for a short time - a quality of vividness and clarity of focus in our public discourse that reminded some Americans - including some journalists - that vividness and clarity used to be more common in the way we talk with one another about the problems and choices that we face. But then, like a passing summer storm, the moment faded.
Lastly, check out BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week's winner:
Take for example the latest nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Bush told a news conference that she was the best person he could find for America. Well, the truth is that she was the best person that he could find to ensure the maintenance of Republican one-party rule and the Imperial GOP Presidency. He also knows that any woman that thinks he is the most brilliant person around would throw out any convictions against him or his staff.
??? e-mails to note that BuzzFlash is carrying a book by Scott Ritter (introduction by Seymour Hersh) entitled Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
new york times
todd s. purdum
smelly jock
david e. sanger
elite fluff patrol
ralph blumenthal
harriet miers
al gore
ronald smothers
eric lichtblau
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)