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Henry Rollins and Paul Waldman Spurn the Media's Love for McCain
Posted by Robert Greenwald, Meet the Bloggers on September 6, 2008 at 11:43 AM.
The corporate press has been in bed with John McCain for years. What's more, whenever the GOP smells the slightest whiff of objectivity from the media, they immediately cry foul. That was the discussion of this week's Meet the Bloggers, in which punk rock icon, actor, and spoken word artist Henry Rollins filled in admirably for Cenk Uygur, who was at the Republican National Convention. Rollins led a charged, insightful conversation with bloggers Jonathan Kim (FOX Attacks!), Liliana Segura (AlterNet.org) and Paul Waldman (Media Matters) about the ridiculous bias we've seen from FOX News and the mainstream media throughout this election.
Waldman, who co-authored Free Ride: John McCain and the Media with David Brock, talked about all the ways in which the McCain campaign and the GOP have manipulated the media. If you need any proof, just watch the heated exchange between CNN's Campbell Brown and McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds featured in this segment. As Rollins and Waldman pointed out, Bounds jumped down Brown's throat when she asked him to name one instance of real foreign policy experience from McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin. Once Bounds exhausted his talking points, he went on the defensive, accusing Brown of belittling Palin. But as Waldman concluded, Brown was simply doing her job, something not enough journalists are doing these days.
Of course, the worst perpetrators of media bias are the folks at FOX News. What sparked the idea for yesterday's show was Brave New Films' latest video, FOX Attacks Obama Just Like Kerry, which documents all the ways in which FOX has been reusing the same smears and distortions of John Kerry from 2004 to malign Barack Obama. Jonathan Kim, who runs our FOX Attacks! blog and created this latest video, talked with Rollins about the "FOX effect."
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Bush's White House Spying on Iraqi Prime Minister
Posted by Amanda, Think Progress on September 5, 2008 at 3:41 PM.
Excerpts from investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008,” reveal that the White House has conducted an “extensive spying operation” on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, supposedly one of the Bush administration’s strongest allies.
Today in the press briefing, reporters gave White House Press Secretary Dana Perino a chance to deny the allegations. Perino refused to do so, however, adding that she wouldn’t even comment on the book:
Q To follow up on that Dana, why are you not simply denying the allegations in Woodward’s book?
MS. PERINO: Why am I not denying what allegations?
Q Denying that there is — that spying –
MS. PERINO: I didn’t deny it. I said I declined to comment on it. And I will decline to comment on it.
Watch it:
The Iraq government reacted sharply to the allegations today. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Baghdad plans to press the Bush administration for an explanation. “It reflects also that the institutions in the United States are used to spy on their friends and their enemies in the same way,” al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind also recently revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies had tapped the phones of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last year.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
GOP Vetting Emporium and Taco Stand
Posted by Brave New Films, Brave New Films on September 5, 2008 at 3:24 PM.
The GOP vice-presidential vetting process. Come for the vetting, stay for the tacos. Now with experience check included. From the Public Service Administration.
The “P” in “POW” Does Not Stand for “President”
Posted by ZP Heller, The Real News Network on September 5, 2008 at 11:12 AM.
If the Republican National Convention revealed anything it’s that John McCain is hellbent on overplaying his POW card to the bitter end. In the last few months alone we’ve seen the McCain campaign overuse McCain’s POW story to justify everything from his healthcare policy to forgetting how many houses he owns, from cheating at the Saddleback forum to his love of ABBA. Each time McCain and the GOP invoke his past in vain they diminish the story’s potency and cheapen its respectability. Such a political ploy compelled fellow former POWs like Dr. Phillip Butler to come forward and declare that this experience does not qualify McCain to lead, which Brave New PAC featured in its recent video that received over 190,000 views in the last few days.
Even the corporate media have grown weary of McCain trotting out his POW story. Andrew Sullivan channeled Joe Biden to dub McCain, “A noun, a verb, and POW.” And Newsweek’s Howard Fineman said, “I think they are going to it way too many times.” These pronouncements ought to have served as a cautionary sign for the McCain campaign, considering how deeply enamored the media has been with McCain throughout this election. But judging from the RNC this week, McCain and the GOP just can’t help themselves.
While the Democrats made economic populism the central theme of their convention, the Republicans used their convention primarily to pay tribute to McCain’s military record. On Tuesday night, the single charged moment in President Bush’s otherwise uninspired, unconvincing televised speech came when he referred to McCain’s POW past. “Fellow citizens,” Bush said. “If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will.”
When the crowd applauded, two things became clear: 1) Republicans are willing to stoop so low as to depict the left as merciless Vietcong captors (ironic, considering it was Republicans like Bush and McCain who approved of torturing suspected terrorists); and 2) The Republicans can’t make this race about issues because they would lose.
A raging class war? Rising unemployment? Soaring gas prices? Unaffordable healthcare? A recession brought on by an unpopular war? These are all crises courtesy of Bush and backed by McCain, who has virtually voted lockstep with the president. Why bring up these subjects when you could be playing on your audience’s sympathies by touting your nominee’s time in a Vietnamese prison over thirty years ago?
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
FOX Using the Same Attacks on Obama They Used Against Kerry
Posted by Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films on September 5, 2008 at 8:20 AM.
Did you see Barack Obama go on The O'Reilly Factor last night—right into the belly of the beast? While we didn't want Obama to appear on FOX initially, he wisely chose the same night John McCain delivered his RNC speech (the same night FOX received some of its highest ratings) to make an appearance. Talk about stealing the GOP's thunder!
Obama was no doubt trying to appeal to conservative voters, since 88% of FOX viewers voted Republican in 2004. But FOX won't let their conservative base go without a fight. That's why O'Reilly needled and interrupted Obama, trying to get him to simplify many of his answers—a far cry from the softballs O'Reilly lobbed at many prominent Republicans like Rudy Giuliani in the past. And that's why FOX has been attacking Obama with the same relentless smear tactics that they used against John Kerry four years ago. Watch them use the exact same attacks.
Don't let FOX repeat its history of distortions. Send this video to everyone you know! And get a copy to networking sites like Digg as soon as possible. Make sure everyone knows that FOX is always willing to distort, slander, and smear—whatever it takes to advance their conservative agenda.
And for more on how damaging FOX and the corporate media have been, tune into Meet the Bloggers today at 1pm ET/10am PT. Our guest host, punk rock icon Henry Rollins, will be joined by bloggers Jonathan Kim (FOX Attacks!), Liliana Segura (AlterNet.org) and Paul Waldman (Media Matters) to discuss the media's overt bias.
Check out Michael Moore's Newest Documentary for Free!
Posted by Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films on September 4, 2008 at 7:12 PM.
No one can make a documentary with as much political savvy, humor, and creativity as Michael Moore. And no one is as willing to tackle our elected officials with the same tenacity. After unleashing Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and SiCKO in recent years, Moore has set his sights on the Bush administration and our nation's voter turnout in his latest film, Slacker Uprising, which chronicles his 62-city swing state tour of college campuses just prior to the 2004 election.
Here's the best part. To maximize the reach of his message and as a thank you gift to his fans, Moore is adopting a novel approach to distributing this film. He's teaming up with Brave New Films to distribute the movie online, completely free of charge. Sign up now on http://slackeruprising.com and you will be notified when the film is available for free download on September 23.
You can also buy the DVD for $9.95, which will start shipping on September 23 and features extras like: Special Guest Joan Baez – America the Beautiful, Why People Like George Bush?, My Pet Goat, The O'Reilly Factor for Kids, Just Add Water and Heat - More Ramen and Clean Underwear, and more. Or should I say, Moore!
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Black Republican Gets Enraged Over Katrina at RNC
Posted by Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks on September 4, 2008 at 12:54 PM.
The Young Turks have been broadcasting all week long from the Republican National Convention. We have had some really interesting interviews with Duncan Hunter, Heather Wilson, Bob Barr, Sen. Dan Coats, Rep. Bob Latta, Joe Klein, Michael Medved and the list goes on (you can check out a lot of these interviews on our You Tube Channel here).
Although there were great disagreements in many of these interviews, none of them got out of hand ... except one. The founder of HipHopRepublicans.com took exception when I suggested that George Bush might have been late in responding to Hurricane Katrina. He said he was shocked that I would suggest that late response might have cost some people's lives.
He proceeded to knock my mike down and then hit our camera on his way out. He also got within inches of my face as he stood over me.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Jon Stewart Thrashes Rove, O'Reilly For Palin Hypocrisy
Posted by Staff, Huffington Post on September 4, 2008 at 10:31 AM.
Wednesday night on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart hit Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly with damning evidence of their hypocrisy regarding Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
While Rove recently praised Palin's experience as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Stewart showed video of Rove trashing Virginia Governor -- and former Richmond Mayor -- Tim Kaine's executive experience, listing all the cities that are bigger than Richmond and calling such a pick "political."
Then, after recent video of O'Reilly describing Bristol Palin's pregnancy as a family issue, Stewart showed a clip of the Fox News host blaming Jamie Lynn Spears' parents for her teenage pregnancy.
Finally, after showing video of Dick Morris complaining about the rampant sexism in the media coverage of Sarah Palin, Stewart unveiled a clip of Morris saying that Hillary hides behind the sexism defense, and that anytime "the big boys" pick on Hillary, "she retreats behind the apron strings."
"In Dick Morris' defense," Stewart said, "he is a lying sack of sh*t."
Palin Was for Highly Controversial "Bridge to Nowhere"
Posted by ZP Heller, The Real News Network on September 4, 2008 at 8:00 AM.
Sarah Palin is not the reformer that she, John McCain, and the GOP are making her out to be. In fact, she once supported one of the biggest pork barrel projects of all time: the now infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." Huffington Post has all the details on Palin's flip-flop. And TPM Muckraker has the truth about Palin's so-called reformist credentials.
Scarborough, Buchanan Completely Reverse Positions On Palin In Just Five Days
Posted by Ali, Think Progress on September 4, 2008 at 5:53 AM.
Yesterday, Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan enthusiastically endorsed Gov. Sarah Palin, praising her experience compared to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) and slamming criticism of her as sexist attempts to “destroy this woman”:
BUCHANAN: Maybe she doesn’t have the foreign policy experience to be president now. But she’s a great asset, and she’s not DC, so they want to kill her. They are trying to destroy her in a way. […]
SCARBOROUGH: How can Barack Obama’s campaign criticize an inexperienced number two on the Republican side when Democrats have picked, I would say, probably the most inexperienced person to run for President of the United States in the Democratic party probably in a century?
Watch a compilation:
What a difference five days makes. Awaiting McCain’s VP announcement on Friday, Scarborough and Buchanan sang a very different tune, declaring Palin too inexperienced and pointing out that Obama “validated himself with 18 million votes”:
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Caught on Tape: Top GOP Pundits Call Palin "Political Bullsh*t"
Posted by ZP Heller, Talking Points Memo on September 3, 2008 at 4:32 PM.
From HuffPo:
Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser, Time columnist, and MSNBC contributor Mike Murphy were caught on tape disparaging John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.
"It's over," Noonan said.
When Chuck Todd asked her if this was the most qualified woman the Republicans could nominate, Noonan responded, "The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives. Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and that's not what they're good at, they blow it."
Murphy characterized the choices as "cynical" and "gimmicky."
(Full transcript after the flip.)
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Michael Moore Fires Back at Lieberman for RNC Comments
Posted by Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com on September 3, 2008 at 1:23 PM.
(Last night, during his primetime speech from the podium at the Republican National Convention, Senator Joe Lieberman made the following statement: "... if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I'm Michael Moore's favorite Democrat. And I'm not. And I think you know that I'm not.")
Dear Joe:
John McCain IS just another partisan Republican -- so that must mean you ARE my favorite Democrat!
But how can you be my favorite Democrat when you are no longer a Democrat? This is very confusing. I was in the middle of taking out the garbage and, all of a sudden, there you were, trash-talking me in front of thousands of cheering (mostly) white people on TV.
What is it with you and your Republican friends always bringing me up? Can't you stop thinking about me? It's starting to sound like a fetish! Stop it! Four years ago at the last Republican Convention, John McCain, in his convention speech, also trashed me, calling me a "disingenuous filmmaker" because I called all of you out in "Fahrenheit 9/11." The crowd at Madison Square Garden went berserk. McCain didn't know I was sitting above him in the press box, and the crowd wouldn't stop screaming at me, so I flashed them the "Big L" loser sign and, well, nine of New York's finest had to help me get out of there alive.
With all the problems facing the world, why is valuable time being wasted reviewing a movie and attacking a filmmaker? And now you, Joe, tonight. Do you think you're energizing the "base" by attacking me? Better take a look at the scoreboard. While your side has spent years trying to make me the boogeyman, let's see how it's worked:
Do you see the trend?
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! Producers Recount Their Harrowing RNC Arrest
Posted by Democracy Now!, Brave New Films on September 3, 2008 at 11:40 AM.
More than 280 people were arrested here in St. Paul Monday, the opening day of the Republican National Convention. Among them were several journalists covering the protests in the streets, including three of us at Democracy Now! Amy was detained trying to question police officers about the arrests of Democracy Now! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar.
Watch part 2 of this segment here.
Hookers and Blow: Welcome to the RNC
Posted by Brave New Films, ABC News on September 2, 2008 at 10:55 AM.
From thedailyphosdex:
Thanks are in order to RawStory.com for bringing to the world's attention and enlightenment this ABC News item about a rather lurid and tasteless party in connection with the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities as is attracting the ire of "Secular-Progressive" bloggers.
Let RawStory.com elaborate thus:
Despite John McCain's request over the weekend that the Republican convention be toned down in light of the threat posed by Hurricane Gustav, Republican delegates and their lobbyist friends continued to party the night away -- and Democratic bloggers were delighted by the spectacle.
ABC correspondent Brian Ross reported on several of the more flamboyant revels, including one Saturday night GOP party in honor of the convention president where pink spotlights, pink boas, and pink wigs were the order of the day. When Ross tried to corner Republican officials and ask them about the appropriateness of partying as Hurricane Gustav threatened New Orleans, they either fled, hid behind their pink boas, or simply shrugged and said, "Everybody goes through hard times."
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Anti War Protester Offering Flower to Police Brutally Attacked
Posted by Staff, Information Clearing House on September 2, 2008 at 10:53 AM.
More overreaction from the police force at the RNC. Watch for the second spray, when the woman is clearly hurt and walking away from the police.
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