The Press: The Enemy Within

This is a very interesting article by Michael Massing . Well worth a read, here is an excerpt:

As Silverstein suggests, this fear of bias, and of appearing unbalanced,
acts as a powerful sedative on American journalists—one whose effect has been
magnified by the incessant attacks of conservative bloggers and radio talk-show
hosts. One reason journalists performed so poorly in the months before the Iraq
war was that there were few Democrats willing to criticize the Bush
administration on the record; without such cover, journalists feared they would
be branded as hostile to the President and labeled as "liberal" by conservative
commentators.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18555

Moyers on Tomlinson

Broadcastingcable.com has an interview with bill in which he states "Right-wing partisans like Tomlinson have always attacked aggressive reporting as liberal." Definately worth a read.

We were biased, all right—in favor of uncovering the news that powerful people wanted to keep hidden: conflicts of interest at the Department of Interior, secret meetings between Vice President Cheney and the oil industry, backdoor shenanigans by lobbyists at the FCC, corruption in Congress, neglect of wounded veterans returning from Iraq, Pentagon cost overruns, the manipulation of intelligence leading to the invasion of Iraq.

Did you make the list?

"Spurred by paranoia and aided by the USA Patriot Act, the Bush Administration has compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies and uses those files to wage war on those who disagree with its policies."

http://www.yuricareport.com/Civil%20Rights/FBISecretScrutinyOfCitizens.html

http://www.yuricareport.com/Civil%20Rights/LawmakersCallForLimitsOnFBIPower.html

Oh, and according to the GAO report it looks like the 2004 elections were stolen.

Do you feel any safer? The terrorists hate us for our freedoms, you know.....

Kenny Resigns!

The board said in a statement: "[F]ormer chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson has
resigned from the CPB board. The board does not believe that Mr. Tomlinson acted maliciously or with any intent to harm CPB or public broadcasting, and the board recognizes that Mr. Tomlinson strongly disputes the findings in the soon-to-be-released Inspector General’s report."

It should be an interesting report....

Charles Melancon's analysis of Brownie's e-mails..

Bahamonde to FEMA Director Michael Brown, Aug. 31, 11:20 a.m.
Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water. Hundreds still being rescued from homes.

Sharon Worthy, Brown‘s press secretary, to Cindy Taylor, FEMA deputy director of public affairs, and others, Aug. 31, 2 p.m.
"Also, it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Gievn (sic) that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to get to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc.

Bahamonde to Taylor and Michael Widomski, public affairs, Aug. 31, 2:44 p.m.
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! No won‘t go any further, too easy of a target. Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants. Maybe tonight I will have time to move my pebbles on the parking garage floor so they don‘t stab me in the back while I try to sleep.

Jimmy Carter

Carter: White House Manipulated Iraq Intel

NEW YORK (AP) - The Bush Administration's prewar claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction were "manipulated, at least" to mislead the American people, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday.