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The MSM finally calls out McCain's lies

Its about time the mainstream media started calling out McCain on his lies.  They have for too long simply cut him slack because of his military service and gregariousness with the Washington press corps.  But even they have to admit the his recent conduct, in military terms, is behavior unbecoming of a senior United States Senator and self-pronounced gentleman and public servant.  And as much as the media want to cover for McCain's incompetence, even Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter has had to question if McCain really is who he claims to be.

From Newsweek via Crooks and Liars:

This is hardly the nastiest campaign in recent memory. But it's not shaping up as the "civil" contest that both candidates promised either. Instead, we're seeing the emergence of a "smear gap". John McCain making stuff up about Barack Obama, and Obama trying to figure out how hard he should hit back.

As usual, news organizations are deeply afraid to say that one side is more negative than the other. Doing so sounds "unfair." It's much easier, and less controversial, to say that "both candidates" are being negative. That would be "balanced", but also untrue.     

Chomsky on Society

By Peter Bauer   

The always awesome Noam Chomsky on society, mass media, freedom, and democracy in just over 2 minutes.

Is American news the reason why everybody thinks the Yanks are stupid?

By Nick Lang

   

Watching American TV is a fascinating, and immensely infuriating experience, but it does explain a lot. Yanks get a pretty hard time from almost everyone around the world at the moment, mostly for simply being bloody stupid – I feel that this is unfair (except for the 52% odd that voted for Bush, they are just stupid).

   

Watch the news on Fox, NBC, CNN and even Sky news and you realise that what has become known as American stupidity is actually nothing of the sort, but simply the result of a process of mass brainwashing; they are not stupid, but stupefied. I remember watching the coverage of Hurricane Katrina (which had the Revelationists wetting themselves with excitement) every day until a full week after the event; which was a true tragedy. I don’t think I even need to say anything about Bush’s handling of the situation, or of the wonderful job his Arabian horse-rearing drinking buddy did for the ‘folks’ in trouble, but the way the media handled it was almost as painful to watch as the actual event itself:

“Coming up on today’s broadcast; images from New Orleans that will literally move you (dramatic pause) to tears.”

   

“We interviewed this man, whose house was completely destroyed. Watch now as he becomes so overwhelmed, that he just breaks down (dramatic pause) in front of your very eyes.”

   

"Here are the EXCLUSIVE, and let me repeat that, EXCLUSIVE images of Oprah inside what has become, and I never thought I’d say this folks, an American refugee camp. We had to turn the cameras off because she was too overwhelmed (dramatic pause) to carry on.”

The Demon Within

By Rick Lucke

 

The Main Stream Media skims over the surface of Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s ties to lobbyists, and never even approaches the underlying root of the problem. McCain’s change in rhetoric regarding FISA and particularly telecom immunity presents an opportunity to examine an enemy that is attacking from within America’s own government: Corporatism. 

 

McCain was against telecom immunity before he was for it. What has changed is that now McCain is running a presidential campaign that is staffed and funded, in part, by telecom money. USA Today reports, “Of the 66 current or former lobbyists working for the Arizona senator or raising money for his presidential campaign, 23 have lobbied for telecommunications companies in the past decade, Senate lobbying disclosures show.”

Who is to blame for the failing mainstream media news?

By Rick Lucke

Journalists in today's mainstream news media are often cited as the reason for the poor quality of the information disseminated over the airwaves. On a purely academic level, it is easy to say journalists could report in the ethical fashion of their predecessors, acting on their consciences rather than toeing the line established by network producers.

Unfortunately, it is an academic argument that overlooks the reality of the way news is broadcast. The fact is, all reports ultimately pass through an editor's filter before making their way to the public sphere.

Helen Thomas regularly embarrasses a large portion of the White House press corps when she asks some of the tough questions others tip-toe around.  Helen Thomas has been conspicuously shunned by much of the media during the Bush years, (the reason why most people have ever heard of her).  When Thomas asked about the killing of innocents in Iraq, she was given this response from White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino:

Pentagon Propaganda via MSNBC

By Ben Cohen

Jeff Cohen writes an extremely interesting piece on the mainstream media's self censorship during the build up to the Iraq war. According to Cohen, MSNBC, CNN etc would only invite military experts on as analysts, excluding relief experts, aid experts and peace activists with on the ground experience of the effects of war. Also, here is an interview with Cohen on 'The Real News' on his experiences in the mainstream media, secret memos within MSNBC ostracizing anti war journalists, and his advocacy of independent media outlets:

Would The Real Chris Matthews Please Stand Up?

By Ben Cohen
(Cross Posted in The Huffington Post)

Chris Matthews manages to encompass absolutely everything right and wrong with modern politics and media news. The MSNBC talk show host can be seen on a nightly basis salivating on screen over every speech, campaign manoeuvre and dirty trick done in the name political discourse.

It is the horse race that gets Matthews' juices pumping, and he whips himself into a frenzy watching the debacle that passes for U.S politics. Matthews displays a schizophrenic attitude to politicians, allowing his infatuation with performance and rhetoric to cloud his judgment. He is an intelligent analyst when he feels inclined, sharply criticizing the neocons in the wake of the Iraq war, and more recently making an honest assessment of the Democratic Primary.

'This contest is essentially over," said Matthews to his co-hosts after the hoopla of the Pennsylvania primary.

The mainstream media gets it right

By Ben Cohen

A rare moment when mainstream media pundits talk honestly. Watch Jack Cafferty, Jeffrey Toobin and Gloria Borger discussing Hillary Clinton's baseless attacks on Obama:

Resistance to Iraq War Grows in U.S

By Ben Cohen

Those who battle against their governments complicity in war, corporate corruption and environmental crimes are cast as extremists, not representative of the majority and a burden to society. It is often hard to understand what protesters are protesting about, given the scant attention paid to them and the massive distortions in the media. Despite their growing occurrences in the U.S, the focus is usually on the disruption they cause, rather than the cause of the disruption. However, with the emergence of the internet, protesters have been able to promote their cause from their own perspective. The videos and websites are often raw and amateurish, but a hugely valuable resource in understanding a movement that grows larger by the day.

The Olympia Port Militarization Resistance (OlyPMR) is a group attempting to end their community’s participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq by stopping the US military’s use of the Port of Olympia. Here's a video of their resistance movement, with footage you certainly won't see in the mainstream media:

Hack Watch: Joe Klein

By Ben Cohen

Joe Klein is the most sophisticated of political hacks, a sharp minded analyst with no fixed values and a thirst for relevance. Apparently a Democrat, Klein has spent most of his career advocating the 'Third Way' for his party. A major player in the 90's, selling out to the business community and adopting right wing national security policies was the order of the day, and Klein reveled in lecturing Democrats on giving up their core values.

Glenn Greenwald  on Salon.com recently bashed Klein for his support for government wiretapping, provoking others in the blogosphere to hammer him for his continued dedication to triangulating on the issues.

Not to be left out, The Daily Banter did some digging on Klein, and surprise surprise, we found an even deeper commitment to political hackery.

In a brilliant expose earlier this year, Arianna Huffington took Klein to task for revisionist journalism when the political pundit pretended that he had opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. Wrote Huffington:

"While offering his Time blog take on the Sunday show appearances of John McCain, Chuck Hagel, and John Edwards, Joe Klein once again made the claim that he opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. Speaking of McCain he said: "I disagreed with him about going to war in 2003..."

"But here is Klein on Meet the Press in February 2003:  "This is a really tough decision. War may well be the right decision at this point. In fact, I think it--it's--it-it probably is." When Tim Russert presses Klein on why he thinks Iraq is "the right war," Klein responds, "Because sooner or later, this guy has to be taken out. Saddam has -- Saddam Hussein has to be taken out... The message has to be sent because if it isn't sent now, if we don't do this now, it empowers every would-be Saddam out there and every would-be terrorist out there."