Media

Operation Chaos: Rush Limbaugh dreams of riots at Denver convention

Filed under: Media

The round mound of rightwing scorn delights in the idea of human suffering being visited on the people of Denver, simply because they had the temerity to host a Democratic political convention.

Don't miss our sister paper Denver Westword's article on Rush Limbaugh's recent publicly-expressed glee over the idea of people rioting at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Money quote:

Within minutes of these words, however, Clear Channel Denver put out a press release claiming precisely the opposite. "A review of the full transcript... shows that Limbaugh

was not advocating violence in Denver at the Democratic National Convention," the document stated — and indeed, Limbaugh did say that "I am not inspiring or inciting riots" at one point. But this comment represented the briefest of asides amid a rambling, discursive take filled with observations like "Riots in Denver at the Democrat convention would see to it we don't elect Democrats — and that's the best damn thing that could happen for this country."

This is bile of the same sort as the McCain supporter who thinks the devestation of New Orleans was punishment for a sinful lifestyle. If Obama's ex-preacher said this, there would be a national scandal.

Here's a YouTube clip of Keith Olbermann on the controversy:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at May 6, 2008 3:05 PM | Comments (2)

 

GOP vs. YouTube: The Uptake gets booted by crabby Republicans

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The Uptake -- the winners of City Pages' "Best Citizen-based Media Outlet" -- have just posted a video of themselves getting kicked out of many Elephant gatherings.

Take the jump for the play by play ...

-- First we see Gavin Sullivan getting ejected by an old lady in a shiny gold hat, backed up by a fat dude in an orange vest. Sullivan narrates as he is thrown out by the "Republican thugs."

-- Then frequent CP punching bag Michele Bachmann barking into the microphone,

-- Some long, tedious stories about getting kicked outta places. Might wanna fast forward here.

-- Michael Brodkorb, a Republican blogger, gives props to the DFL for being open and allowing him to attend their conventions. Nice touch.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at May 1, 2008 7:13 PM | Comments (3)

 

ABC roundly panned for Philly debate questions UPDATED WITH VIDEO

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I don't know if Obama or Hillary won the debate, but I know who lost: ABC.

The network is being booed all over the Internet for ignoring serious issues like Iraq and the recession in favor of asking "gotcha" questions about flag pins on lapels, imaginary sniper fire, and ... the Weather Underground?

Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher called it, "perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years." Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic called it "a travesty" and quipped, "Don't you miss the League Of Women Voters?" Huffington Post uploaded a video clip of the audience booing hosts Charles Gibson and a sampling of viewer feedback from the ABC website which as of this posting had over 7,000 comments, almost universally negative. DailyKos noted that "it took 52 minutes to get to a question about Iraq" and posted ABC's phone number if you want to call the network to complain (212-456-7777).

Probably the weirdest question of the night was when George Stephanopolous asked Obama about his alleged relationship with a member of the Weather Underground, a group which hasn't posed a threat to the United States in decades. It turns out Stephanopolous got the question from Sean Hannity when he appeared on his show earlier this week.

Pitiful.

UPDATE: Here's a video of some of the more ridiculous questions.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 17, 2008 5:52 PM | Comments (8)

 

Anonymous sources run amuck

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As a journalist, I recognize that it's sometimes necessary to use anonymous quotes, but they should be used rarely, and carefully. Which is why I was stunned to read this paragraph in a piece on Obama's foreign policy experience in the new issue of Newsweek:

Even some Dems who'd favor him in any contest against McCain also worry that Obama is overplaying his experience. "I don't know whether he's drinking his own Kool-Aid," says a former senior member of the Clinton administration who is not backing either Democratic candidate but would talk only on condition of anonymity because of his private-sector job. "I'm all for talking to the Cubans, or to the Iranians. I'm just not sure he's the guy to do it. The biggest administrative job he ever had was collecting articles for the Harvard Law Review."

Emphasis added. The idea that this source is "not backing either candidate" even though he worked for Hillary's husband stretches credulity--especially in light of the harshness of the quote. ("I don't know whether he's drinking his own Kool-Aid ... The biggest administrative job he ever had was collecting articles for the Harvard Law Review.").

Let's imagine if the shoe was on the other foot:

"I don't trust Hillary Clinton," said a anonymous source who used to work for Michelle Obama but is not supporting either candidate. "Didn't she just get caught lying about sniper fire?"

The thing is, the anonymous quote about Obama doesn't add anything to the article, except nastiness. It could easily have been excised, and should have been.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 16, 2008 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

 

Obama Makes Fox News Eat Itself

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So, Fox News' Chris Wallace goes on Fox and Friends, the network's version of a vapid morning show, and calls them to task for "two hours of Obama bashing" over the candidate's comment that his mother thinks like "a typical white person."

They try to interrupt him a few times, but Wallace is pissed enough that he's clipped Obama's quote from the newspaper and, accusing his colleagues of cutting Obama's statement off mid-sentence, reads it in its entirety.

"...who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences and [doesn't] go away and sometimes comes out in the wrong way. And that's just the nature of race in our society."

Continues Wallace: "Frankly, I think you're somewhat distorting what he had to say."

To summarize, then: Obama gives a speech on race that expects people to actually digest the whole thing. And here, in the belly of the beast, an on-air personality has shown himself equal to the task. He's living Obama's dream. It's a small moment in itself, but, to borrow a phrase, a hopeful one.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at March 26, 2008 12:45 PM | Comments (5)

 

Ohio reporter mistakes PR flack for Hillary Clinton

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Reporters don't get much more boneheaded than John Goodall of Ohio's Tribune Chronicle. According to a correction published by the paper today:

Reporter John Goodall, who was assigned to the story, spoke by telephone with Hillary Wicai Viers, who is a communications director in U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson’s staff. According to the reporter, when Viers answered the phone with ‘‘This is Hillary,’’ he believed he was speaking with the Democratic presidential candidate, who had made several previous visits to the Mahoning Valley.

It appears as though the newspaper has pulled the content off its website, but you can find a cache version here.

Among the quotes falsely attributed to Hillary Clinton:

‘‘It was great. We had an unbelievable turnout,’’ the presidential candidate said of the Canfield session. ‘‘There were 85 people in that small office.’’

Clinton said residents voiced their views on jobs, taxes, energy costs and the local “brain drain.” They were very concerned about the economy in the Mahoning Valley, she noted. ‘‘He’s holding these sessions because these are tough economic times,’’ Clinton, D-N.Y., said of Wilson.

‘‘Think of these as town hall meetings where you do more of the talking than I do,’’ Wilson said of residents. ‘‘Many of these sessions are scheduled over lunch. Pack a lunch bag, please join me and tell me your stories.’’

/Hat-tip Romenesko

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at March 19, 2008 3:17 PM | Comments (0)

 

Why it is a terrible time to be a Republican

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It's a good time to be a Republican, MinnPost's Steve Berg asserted on Friday. Sure, he allows, the economy's in the toilet and George W. Bush's approval ratings are below 20 in some polls. Indeed, conventional wisdom holds that the Democratic candidate will win in November.

"So why all the smiles," Berg asks rhetorically, "on the Republican side?"

This is a wonderful place to start a piece if the writer is prepared to produce any evidence that there are, in fact, smiles on the Republican side. Of course, Berg is not so prepared. And as a new piece from the center-right Washington Post makes clear, that's because most Republicans think they're on a stomach-churning doom ride.

Don't take my word for it. Ask one of the Republican legislators who have said that the "thought of [McCain] being president sends a cold chill" down their spines. Or just check out a few of the quotes from the story:

"It's no mystery," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.). "You have a very unhappy electorate, which is no surprise, with oil at $108 a barrel, stocks down a few thousand points, a war in Iraq with no end in sight and a president who is still very, very unpopular. He's just killed the Republican brand."

Note that this man is not even smiling in his campaign photo. Keep on not smiling, Rep. Davis! The nonpartisan types are with you:

Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan analyst of congressional politics, said: "The math is against [Republicans]. The environment is against them. The money is against them. This is one of those cycles that if you're a Republican strategist, you just want to go into the bomb shelter."

Let's recap what's been happening to the GOP in recent weeks. The party has:

* Lost former House speaker Dennis Hastert's seat in a special election, despite the Republican National Campaign Committee's pumping $1.2 million into the race (in a district once thought a GOP stronghold);

* Discovered that the former RNCC treasurer may have embezzled as much as $1 million from the group's campaign war chest;

* Seen approval ratings for their party's standard-bearer sink to 19 percent. Among registered voters, that number is a staggering 18 percent, among the lowest levels in U.S. history;

* Failed to field a candidate to oppose a Democratic senator in swing state Arkansas;

* Saw potential Republican candidates evaporate in New Jersey and South Dakota as well.

This is all horrifying news for Republicans -- and that's without considering that the GOP presidential candidate wants to ramp up a dreadfully unpopular war and go against the country's wishes on critical issues like reproductive rights and health care. Or that he's chosen to hitch his wagon in the public eye to a guy (Bush) that most Americans dislike and mistrust.

But none of that probably matters, writes Berg, because Barack Obama is a black guy, and Hillary Clinton is a woman, and they're campaigning against each other, and sometimes that campaigning involves discussing race and gender. Also, he notes, one poll shows that -- eight months before the election -- a to-be-determined Dem may be running behind an already-chosen GOP candidate in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania!

Yes, the preceding paragraph really sums up the support for Berg's argument. Maybe he's just frustrated by the candidates bickering. But that's no justification for a story with no "there" there.

Maybe, argues Berg, "the more people get to know the Democratic candidates the less they like them," even though that is nearly certain to be false for both candidates. Hillary Clinton has been a national figure for two decades, and for better or for worse, people know how they feel about her. Also, it is positively dumbfounding that one could make that charge about Obama, given that his campaign has taken precisely the opposite trajectory Berg suggests.

As for McCain, his biggest problem doesn't show up in the polls. It's that the hard-right Republican base so critical to beating John Kerry likely won't turn out for him.

His biggest asset? That McCain's own base -- the media -- will treat the longtime Arizona senator with kid gloves not extended to his eventual opponent.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 17, 2008 5:00 AM | Comments (3)

 

Drop the baby and maybe I'll vote for you

Filed under: Media

I love babies. There, I said it.

But I don't give one shit-soaked diaper whether or not a presidential candidate looks comfortable - caring even - with a limp and brand new miracle-of-life in her or his arms.

Apparently, I am alone. There are a host of photo galleries posted to the webernet that attempt (sometimes, I admit, with humorous results) to gauge the worth of a candidate by their ability to appear gracious and and at ease whenever somebody shoves some crying kid into their arms in the midst of the most exhausting, excruciating time of their political lives.

All the same, there has to be a winner.

I've studied Darren Garnick's Slate photo project he calls "The Baby Primary" where he put his 5-month-old daughter Dahlia into the arms of as many presidential candidates as possible (and Chuck Norris) at the height of the New Hampshire primary frenzy.

It's a tie. But that's boring. So I'm gonna sort of invent a winner:

HILLARY NORRIS

Here's why: Hillary has the hold down, man. She's got the neck and butt just right (and though Garnick admits later to passing a damp baby her way, Hillary says nothing). With that hold, you get the sense that some worthless asshole with an "Iron my Shirt!" sign could check her from behind and little Dahlia would be fine.

The Norris win is just as easy: When he takes Dahlia, he's got a smile wide as Huckabee's study bible.

A good hold and a good smile. That's a candidate I might be able to get behind.

Shit, I've been tricked.

Look, before I had a kid of my own, I held babies like I was the worst president ever. And this baby thing - a joke to some, I know - is too much of the personality obsession Americans seem to have at race time. You show me somebody who can get the job done and I don't care if they drool and crap their pants like the babies they can't hold, I'll back 'em.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at January 14, 2008 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

 

Undecided? Take the CosmoGirl! Quiz

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Still undecided on which presidential candidate is right for you? Though it may be months away, it’s never too early to start your research. That’s why I turn to CosmoGirl!, the leading source in political coverage.

Not that enthusiastic about researching? Then skip right to the quiz. That’s right, the makers of "Are You Superstitious?" and "What Sandwich are You?" (I’m a grilled panini) have created a "Who Should I Vote For?" quiz, meaning you are just six questions away from knowing which candidate you can commit to. A sample question: "What is most important to you: Getting national health care, ending the war in Iraq, cutting federal taxes, defending the United States against terrorism." Think hard and choose wisely--you can only click one answer! Once you’re done you can go back to filling out memes on MySpace knowing you're up on the issues. Click here to meet your dream candidate!

Posted by Jessica Armbruster at January 11, 2008 2:22 PM

 

Early results: Britney beats Huckabee!

Filed under: Media

On a day when voters in New Hampshire are going to the polls to decide the fate of our nation, the Associated Press issues a memo to editorial staff on the most pressing issue of the day: Britney Spears.

Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal. That doesn't mean every rumor makes it on the wire. But it does mean that we want to pay attention to what others are reporting and seek to confirm those stories that WE feel warrant the wire. And when we determine that we'll write something, we must expedite it.

Hat tip: Romenesko

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at January 8, 2008 1:44 PM | Comments (0)

 

The UpTake focus their lenses on the Republican National Convention

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If you happened to catch the CNN-YouTube Democratic debate last week—and with Minnesota's caucuses more than six months away, who didn't?—you may have noticed one of the video questions from a somewhat excitable Minneapolis man named Marcus Benson, who asked if the candidates would raise his taxes.

That national coup was the handiwork of the Uptake, a new nonprofit devoted to citizen journalism. As one of their first public efforts, the Uptake solicited man-on-the-street questions to the candidates, then sent the videos to the YouTube debates. (You can see the selected question and others at www.theuptake.org.)

But that's only a prelude to their real ambition—to train as many as 100 amateur video reporters to cover the Republican National Convention next year in St. Paul, plus the Democratic convention in Denver and the Iowa caucuses.

The Minnesotans behind the Uptake are well-known players in new media and DFL activism: Executive Director Jason Barnett, a St. Paul sculptor and political activist, and partners Chris Dykstra, who blogs on the New Patriot Web site; Chuck Olsen, creator of the popular Minnesota Stories video blog; Mike McIntee, producer of the Inside Minnesota Politics podcasts; and Bridget Cusick, the team's marketing expert and former communications director for Keith Ellison's congressional campaign.

Their video journalism venture was spurred by the upcoming Republican soiree, and by a general frustration with the way traditional media cover such events.

"We thought it was time to put some of the new-media energy into video and tell real journalistic stories," Barnett says.

The plan is to train video-equipped ordinary Joes to cover three aspects of the convention: the Republicans and their sponsors, the stories behind the protestors, and how traditional media cover the event.

Despite many of the group members' past ties to the DFL, Barnett says the Uptake will be "absolutely nonpartisan."

So what happens if a citizen journalist captures video of—oh, let's say—a DFL leader knocking over a liquor store? Will Uptake put that on its Web site?

"I can't see why we wouldn't," Barnett says.

Posted by Matt Smith at July 30, 2007 4:01 PM