Reactions to story from The New York Times

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  http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/minitruths-and-big-li...
  192 days ago in Hullabaloo · Authority: 1,622

  "Minitruths" And Big Lies by digby Gabor Steingart in der Spiegel online has been an interesting observer of the presidential race. I haven't always agreed with him, but he brings a different perspective than most journalists and is

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    The media needs a mirror

    http://www.linkmeister.com/blog/archives/002898.html
    192 days ago in Linkmeister · Authority: 36

    And Digby provides one.And there is nothing much more substantial going on anywhere else. The endless obsession with process, the horse race, the "math," what they're eating, what they're wearing, what they're playing, runs on and on as if it
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  All He Has To Do To Win....

  http://thestoppedclock.blogspot.com/2008/05/all-he-has-to-do...
  192 days ago in The Stopped Clock · Authority: 12

  In a column by Maureen Dowd that you'll be shocked to know, isn't really worth reading, she shares this insight:Charlie Peters, the legendary former editor of the liberal Washington Monthly who ran Jack Kennedys campaign in Kanawha County, W. Va., said
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  Making Coal Even More White

  http://badattitudes.com/MT/archives/2008/05/making_coal_eve....
  192 days ago in Bad Attitudes · Authority: 68

  Making Coal Even More White Maureen Dowd today: Obama breezed through West Virginia, the state he couldnÂ't charm even wearing a flag pin and promising to invest in Â"clean coal.Â" Jimmy Carter was an expert at this sort of thing, too. His Secretary of
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  Don't miss this about the "hillbilly" vote

  http://legalruralism.blogspot.com/2008/05/dont-miss-this-abo...
  185 days ago in Legal Ruralism · Authority: 11

  This article in Salon by Dee Davis is terrific, and the headline alone merits attention: "Why don't those hillbillies like Obama?" Davis says that the issue is not just Obama's "Appalachia problem," it is the Democratic Party's wider "rural problem." He notes that Hillary has attracted 55% of rural voters, Obama 38%, across all the primaries to date. What does this portend for the fall, when rural voters, who Davis suggests have something significant in common across regions, may decide who becomes President? Of course, Maureen Dowd suggested last week after the W. Virginia primary was that the problem is Appalachia's, and it is race. She's not the only one. But an eloquent college student from Whitesburg, Kentucky responded in an NPR audio essay this afternoon, rejecting the idea that Appalachia is rejecting Obama on the basis of his race . . . Stay tuned.
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  Mo and Barry

  http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blog/topics/2008/05/mo-and-...
  186 days ago in Blogs @ herald-dispatch.com: Hot Topics · Authority: 4

  One of these days, this blog will let me post new material again. I'll keep posting until that day. I don't usually enjoy the writings of Maureen Dowd of the New York Times except that she can turn a phrase that makes me want to say, "I wish I'd written that." Here is her description of how Barack Obama blew off West Virginia. Obama breezed through West Virginia, the state he couldn’t charm even wearing a flag pin and promising to invest in “clean coal.” Fast Barry shot some pool Monday afternoon at Schultzie’s Billiards in South Charleston, including prophetically sinking an eight-ball in the pocket, and then fled from Hillary territory to pursue white, blue-collar workers in battleground states and convince them not to vote for John McBush. Obama is acting the diffident debutante, pretending not to care that he was given a raspberry by a state he will need in the fall. He was dismissed not only by the voters Hillary usually gets, but was also edged out in blocs that usually prefer him — the under-30 set, college graduates and affluent voters. Her entire column is here.
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  Sunday's NYTs Op-eds: The Drive-by Edition

  http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/news/sundays_nyts_oped...
  188 days ago in mediabistro.com: FishbowlNY · Authority: 665

  Wonder what Frank Rich would do with a severed horse head? "The biggest gift President Bush has given his party this year was to keep his daughter's wedding nearly as private as Connie Corleone's. Now that his disapproval rating has reached the Nixon nadir of negativity, even a joyous familial ritual isn't enough to make the country glad to see him. The G.O.P.'s best hope would be for both the president and Dick Cheney to lock themselves in a closet until the morning after Election Day." Pssst. Have you heard? Tom Friedman is talking Barack and Israel. Give Violence a Chance: "We think the Dalai Lama has been too peaceful...there is a big discussion now about whether we should turn to violence." MoDo is off this week-end. Latest Hillary incarnation to be determined. New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media
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  Wednesday Rundown

  http://for-president.info/?p=5400
  188 days ago in For President · Authority: 1

  News The New York Times: Clinton Beats Obama Handily in West Virginia “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton arranged to meet with uncommitted superdelegates on Wednesday following her lopsided win in the West Virginia primary, as her supporters argued that her appeal to some traditional Democratic voting blocks may change some opinions despite the continued long odds that she can secure her party’s nomination. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a supporter of Mrs. Clinton, said “superdelegates have to have second thoughts” after West Virginia, speaking in an interview Wednesday morning on CNN. But Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico minimized the impact of the West Virginia, saying the state was “tailor made” for Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Richardson a supporter of Senator Barack Obama, said the continuing contest between the Democratic candidates was becoming harmful to the party. Also speaking on CNN, he said “We have to unite behind the nominee.” Mrs. Clinton defeated Senator Obama Tuesday in a primary where racial considerations emerged as an unusually salient factor.” The Wall Street Journal: Obama Has to Start From Scratch in Michigan “Barack Obama unofficially kicks off his campaign against John McCain Wednesday in Michigan, a state the Democrats have barely held onto in recent years and where they start at a big disadvantage. Because Sen. Obama, who appears close to wrapping up the Democratic nomination, didn’t compete in the Michigan primary, he needs to build from scratch the kind of political operation he has been assembling for months in other states. He also faces a state party that is sharply polarized, behind schedule and hamstrung by an ill-timed lawsuit. “Every Democratic party in the country benefited from the primary and caucus season” except Michigan and Florida, said Amy Chapman, a Democratic activist in Michigan who has managed several statewide campaigns. “It’s going to make for a much tougher race in the fall.”” The Washington Times: Rumor mill keeps Obama on defense “Sen. Barack Obama says he is well-prepared to battle false smears and Republican attacks on his religion and patriotism, but various rumors have permeated so deeply into the electorate that they present a general election challenge for the likely Democratic presidential nominee. From state to state, voters who support Mr. Obama’s rivals regularly cite information gleaned from e-mails that falsely claim that he is a Muslim or that he doesn’t respect the Pledge of Allegiance. “His name scares me, his background scares me,” said Terri Knowles, a grandmother from Tippecanoe County, Ind. She voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last week and said that if Mr. Obama wins the nomination, she will sit out the November election.” Los Angeles Times: In Michigan, Obama says he has better job ideas than McCain “Democrat Barack Obama, one day after being routed by rival Hillary Rodham Clinton among blue-collar workers in the West Virginia primary, took his campaign to the battleground state of Michigan today, unveiling a $150-billion “clean technologies” fund for manufacturing so that Detroit remains a powerhouse in a restructured automobile industry. “I’m running for president so the cars of the future will be made where they’ve always been made, right here in Michigan,” he told workers at a town hall meeting in Warren, in Macomb County, often a bellwether in national elections. He also toured a Chrysler plant in Sterling Heights, another stronghold of so-called Reagan Democrats critical in the fall campaign. Pushing for innovation and a green energy sector to “bring our automobile industry into the 21st century” and create jobs “that pay well and can’t be outsourced,” the Illinois senator said he wants the auto industry to “have a partner in Washington.” To applause from the crowd, which included Michigan superdelegate Debbie Dingell, Obama said, “You won’t have to wait one year, two years . . . you’ll meet with me in the first one month I’m in office.”” Opinion Maureen Dowd: Raspberry for Barry Harold Meyerson: McCain’s America Carol Marin: Obamas have a golden opportunity
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  Coal Miner's Daughter

  http://www.egghead22.com/2008/05/coal-miners-daughter.html
  190 days ago in Translating the Planet · No authority yet

  Coal Miner's Daughter In grim times, a bitter Hillary clings to bitter voters who in grim times supposedly cling to guns, religion and antipathy to people who aren’t like them. ~ Maureen Dowd Derek Zoolander Barry's secret weapon. Everyone knows the tragic, but heroic story of Derek Zoolander. Derek, a native West Virginian, moves away to New York and hits the bigtime in the male modelling industry. But later, his demise comes at the mocking hands of those who think he might be just a little bit dumb. As a result, Derek has to move back to West Virginia. He returns to the coal mines where his father Spencer and brothers work, but soon even finds himself rejected by his own family and finds himself desperately out of place as a male model in a hardscrabble coal-mining town. Evermore dejected, Derek is lured out of his West Virginian semi-retirement by an evil man, who plans to make Derek assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Derek foils this dastardly plot, saving the Prime Minister's life, but most importantly, gaining his coal mining father's respect. Buoyed by that, Derek forever retires from modelling and creates "The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good And Who Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too." This story should serve as a reminder to some Hillary supporters: All of us are worthy citizens of America. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May 14, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist Raspberry for Barry By MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON In grim times, a bitter Hillary clings to bitter voters who in grim times supposedly cling to guns, religion and antipathy to people who aren’t like them. Mining that antipathy, the New York senator has been working hard to get the hard-working white voters of hardscrabble Appalachia so she can show that a black man can’t yet be elected president. Obama breezed through West Virginia, the state he couldn’t charm even wearing a flag pin and promising to invest in “clean coal.” Fast Barry shot some pool Monday afternoon at Schultzie’s Billiards in South Charleston, including prophetically sinking an eight-ball in the pocket, and then fled from Hillary territory to pursue white, blue-collar workers in battleground states and convince them not to vote for John McBush. Obama is acting the diffident debutante, pretending not to care that he was given a raspberry by a state he will need in the fall. He was dismissed not only by the voters Hillary usually gets, but was also edged out in blocs that usually prefer him — the under-30 set, college graduates and affluent voters. Interviews with West Virginians leaving the polls showed some profound weaknesses that could haunt the Illinois senator in the fall. More than half said they would be dissatisfied if Obama was the nominee. Half believe he shares the views of the Rev. Wright, and more than half said he does not share their values. More than half also said that he is not honest and trustworthy. Just under half of the Clinton voters said they would not support Obama in the fall. Obama may have started the primary season with an inspiring win in 94-percent-white Iowa, but he is winding it up with a resounding loss in 94-percent-white West Virginia. “As the song says, ‘Almost heaven,’ ” Hillary said at her Charleston victory party, hailing herself as “the strongest candidate,” the one who can win swing states, and urging again that Michigan and Florida votes be counted. “You know I never give up,” she said, with a W.-strength denial of reality. Two in 10 white voters said race was important in how they voted, and more than 8 of 10 of these went for Hillary. This echoes an article in The Washington Post on Tuesday that chronicled the racism that some Obama volunteers found in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The story quoted Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, who could take only one night on an Obama phone bank in the nearly all-white Susquehanna County, Pa.: “One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn’t possibly vote for Obama and concluded: ‘Hang that darky from a tree!’ ” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote about complaints of racism after a bar in Marietta, Ga., began selling an Obama 2008 T-shirt with a picture of Curious George peeling a banana. Charlie Peters, the legendary former editor of the liberal Washington Monthly who ran Jack Kennedy’s campaign in Kanawha County, W. Va., said Obama should study how J.F.K. managed to win there despite raging anti-Catholicism. (My father, in West Virginia once on business, found his car had been flipped over by some locals furious about a sign on it supporting the first Catholic Democratic nominee, Al Smith.) “The point of West Virginia in 1960 is that you can change attitudes,” Peters, an Obama supporter, said on Tuesday evening. “But if you don’t act to change them, he could lose West Virginia and I think he could lose the country. “He has to change those perceptions of the people who think he could actually agree with the Rev. Wright.” J.F.K. bought affection in West Virginia. “The boss of Logan County said 35,” Peters recalled. “He meant $3,500, but Kennedy thought it was $35,000, so he gave him $35,000. They put out all this money and they carried the precincts.” (Hillary has been using street money more than Obama, though it is unclear how much it has helped.) West Virginia loved F.D.R. “because the Depression had been very tough for them and F.D.R. was kind to them,” Peters said. (On my father’s trip, he was threatened by a man who asked him about “rumors” that President Roosevelt was in a wheelchair and threatened to thrash any man who said so. My dad, a detective who served on protective details for F.D.R., assured the ruffian that Roosevelt was “a fine, athletic man.”) So the campaign brought down F.D.R. Jr., Peters recounted, to “say it’s O.K. to vote for this Catholic.” Because West Virginia had a lot of veterans, they distributed a little tabloid emphasizing J.F.K.’s war record, including a Reader’s Digest piece about his heroism in the Pacific. And finally, there was the beguiling Kennedy wit and smile. “Kennedy turned out to be this engaging person,” Peters said, “especially with young people, and children talked to their parents.” Peters says Obama needs imagination and a “tremendous effort” to dispel bias in West Virginia, and quickly, “because once it’s set in concrete, you’ll have a hell of a time.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/opinion/14dowd-1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print Posted by egghead is
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  http://www.alternet.org/module/email/?storyID=85463&type=blo...
  190 days ago in Media and Technology | AlterNet · Authority: 17

  Share and save this post: Got a tip for a post?: Email us | Anonymous form Get MediaCulture in your mailbox! "Minitruths" and Big Lies Posted by Digby, Hullabaloo on May 15, 2008 at 7:04 AM. Gabor Steingart in der Spiegel online has been an interesting observer of the presidential race. I haven't always agreed with him, but he brings a different perspective than most journalists and is particularly astute about the US political media. Today he pinpoints something that I don't think ever gets enough attention: A journalist's twin points of references should be the real and the important. But for months the focus of the election coverage was on trivia. Every insignificant detail got blown out of proportion, with every chipmunk becoming a Godzilla. According to a report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, over 60 percent of election coverage by the US media has been focused on campaign strategies, tactics or personalities -- but not on actual political content. Reporters focused the most attention on such pressing questions as whether Barack Obama was wearing an American flag lapel pin, whether John McCain had a mistress eight years ago or whether former first lady Hillary Clinton was incorrectly recalling her 1996 trip to Bosnia. Clinton claimed to recall hearing sniper fire as her plane landed in Bosnia. In fact, as archive TV footage later showed, Clinton was actually greeted by a young girl who recited a poem on the tarmac. That may have been embarrassing for Hillary Clinton, but it is insignificant for voters. Even the eccentric pastor from Obama's church, Jeremiah Wright, is not worth the fuss. "God damn America," he preached. So what? The priest at my Catholic church was a reactionary, while my class teacher was a communist. Perhaps the mad and the blind to the right and the left of our path through life are there simply to show us where the middle way is. The American public has not only been misled during this election campaign, but has also been fed a constant stream of irrelevant information. In one of his novels, the British writer, essayist and journalist George Orwell invented the Ministry of Truths, which he called "minitruths," with which one would try to confuse the public with small parts of the truth that even when added up do not give the whole picture. I actually think he understates the phenomenon. These "minitruths" add up to a completely distorted picture. I have watched a lot of campaigns unfold in the media and I thought 2000 was a low point for sheer trivia and misdirection. But this one is shaping up to be even worse. There are real problems in this country and around the world and yet we have spent the last four months reading and listening to an ever expanding list of celebrity blowhards pontificate for hours about braindead pop psychology and calling it political analysis. And in a new twist, the media have now openly declared themselves to be kingmakers and final arbiters of our election process. It's mind boggling. If you ever want to know which way the wind is blowing among the gasbag pundits and village scribes, look no further than the poison pen of Maureen Dowd: Read the rest of the post on the flip side » AlterNet Home » Post Tools:

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