Tommy & Howie/Boob of the Day

Posted by Evan on February 7, 2005 @ 8:57AM

Sometimes it's better to just step aside and let an exchange like this one speak for itself. That said, I won't resist the urge to point out a couple of morsels as the Times's Tom Friedman and the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz all but sing Cumbaya to the US press, the Iraqi elections and each other.

In this genteel conversation you'll see:

• Kurtz echo the mysterious mindset of "red-state America" and its shaky grasp on reality...without correcting that misperception!
• Friedman trumpet his own nation's propaganda campaign without the faintest reservations adopting its preferred nomenclature: Good Iraqis = "Iraqis"; Bad Iraqis = "Insurgents"!
• Kurtz forget to inform Friedman and the audience that media election projections are woefully inaccurate!
• Friedman suggest charity for the press's mistakes; it's too darn dangerous for the press to be expected to know just how well democracy is spreading! And anyway, he says, we beat the pants off the Arab press...

KURTZ: But let me just say this, because there are a lot of people out there in red-state America who are saying, liberal press opposed this war, can't stand George Bush, and is all too happy to depict this as a quagmire, and that perception, though, turned a little bit on election day.

FRIEDMAN: Right. I think that is true. I think that, first of all, I think we have to acknowledge the Iraqi themselves were a little bit surprised by what happened. You know, there was a wonderful advertisement that the U.S. put on Iraqi TV, I don't know if you saw it, where these two insurgents are in an alley, and they're confronting an Iraqi, and then another Iraqi comes out and another Iraqi, and they kind of stare them down. And in a way, that's what happened. I think the Iraqis surprised themselves.

Now, as someone who wanted there to be elections, who also believed that there would be a good turnout, I wasn't surprised. But I was hopeful. I mean, I didn't know what was going to happen. I'm glad it happened. But I'd be charitable with the press there.

I'll tell you who I think really got it wrong, much worse than the American press, the Arab press. Because they could circulate much better. And if you watched Al Jazeera, if you watched or read the Arab media, OK, these guys completely missed what was going on.

Boob of the Day:

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), a new member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was at last week's meeting on a bill restricting class-action suits. "You know," he said, "I immediately thought about silicone breast implants and the legal wrangling and the class-action suits off that. And I thought I would just share with you what science says today about slicone breast implants. If you have them, you're healthier than if you don't. That is what the ultimate science shows...In fact, there's no science that shows that silicone breast implants are detrimental and, in fact, they make you healthier."

« Previous entry Conan (and Fox) v. the Nurses

Next entry » Blogosphere targets journalist

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from MediaCulture! Sign up now »