Please don't crawl

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_090615.htm

The right wing noise machine is at it again. This time there target is Leon Panetta, who quite accurately stated that Cheney sounds like he wants the US to be struck by terrorists so he will be proved right. Perhaps not the most politic of statements, but certainly had the ring of truth. If you scan down headlines, all strangely from Fox, the read along the lines of McCain thinks Panetta should apologize, Panetta owes Cheney and apology, etc. Why is it that the right can say the most outrageous things, but no one calls them to account. Last night Letterman said that he had heard Mark Sheilds saying on the Jim Leher show that he had made an outrageous joke. Now you have Mistress Sarah saying that Letterman is a pervert and can't be trusted around young girls, but that is OK. But Mark Sheilds can waste time on an evening news program discussing a stupid joke by a late night comic. Just wait, there will be an increasing hue and cry over Panetta, but hopefully he will not crawl

Michelle Ma Belle

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033003332_2.html?sid=ST2009033103841

An interesting phenomena is afoot. During the primary and run up to the election, the MSM constantly asked the question was Michelle Obama too angry, too black, not black enough, etc? Guess what, she is incredibly popular. This article in the Wapo makes out that she used to be barely tolerated but now she is loved. I am not sure that she was ever so unpopular, but I do grant that she is extremely well liked, no thanks to the MSM. Remember the flap over whether or not she should wear sleeveless dresses? The end result of that idiotic press meme is that now everybody want Michelle arms. Remember when she was portrayed as an Angela Davis wannabe? Turns out, most people's point of reference is Claire Huxtable not Angela D. Remember when she was excoriated for saying that for the first time she was proud of her country (not the exact quote, but how it was reported)... After having endured eight years of having a buffoon and a master criminal in the White House, those words might have some relevance to many. What I wonder, is has the MSM lost its ability to create a lasting meme? After a fair amount of pounding in the press Barack has high approval ratings, while Congress/Wall Street/Auto Industry see their approval steadily sinking. Poor Al Gore, even though he invented the internets, they came too late to save him.

Who, Me?

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Stewart_to_Cheney_Shut_fk_up_0319.html

I didn't watch the John King and Dick Cheney love fest - my stomach is not strong enough, but I did see this clip from the Daily Show. Old Dick says something like "...we ended up with two wars and Hurricane Katrina..." He spoke as though the Repugs had no agency towards any of these events. Huh, now who started those two wars? Who was in charge of preparing for Hurricane Katrina and dealing with the aftermath? Oh right, it wasn't Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Starting two wars was not an act of God and neither was failing to rescue the residents of New Orleans.

The theater of the ridiculous

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/terrorism/first-read-joins-chorus-rapping-robert-gibbs-for-being-mean-to-cheney/

The other day when Chip "the Democrats rear the ugly heads" Reid had the temerity to chastise Robert Gibbs for being disrespectful of former Vice President Cheney, I thought the rest of the press would split their sides laughing. So it is not disrespectful of Cheney to say that Obama has made us less safe and that he has used the economic collapse for political gain by expanding government, but if Gibbs says anything about Cheney it is not OK? Cheney is a war criminal who according to Sy Hersh ran an extra legal assassination squad, who directly approved torture, who had zero respect for the Constitution or any branch of the government other than himself, is deemed worthy of respect. Under the Bushies it was considered unpatriotic to question anything, now these same supine reporters question Gibbs for making an off hand remark joking that Rush might have been busy and that the White House was not about to take economic advice from Dick Cheney. The press echo chamber within the Beltway is in high dudgeon. Ridiculous.