So now that NBC has caved by demoting Keith Olbermann, once again we have to recognize the Orwellian quality of the American media landscape. Glenn Greenwald notes:
That’s because the Right has created a reality where anyone who isn’t explicitly Rush Limbaugh is deemed to be a “liberal” (hence, Donaldson likely qualifies) and no actual liberal ever needs to be included. That’s how we have a “liberal media” where the principal rule is that actual liberals are systematically excluded, and it’s why the ascent of Olbermann (who is, in fact, far more of a Bush critic than a doctrinaire liberal) has created such turmoil — because it violates that central rule prohibiting liberals from appearing in the Liberal Media.
This is standard operating procedure for conservative candidates and supporters up and down the ticket. If a Republican candidate for say, the Legislature is caught telling bald-faced lies, they simply blame “the liberal media” and their unthinking supporters simply don’t have to deal with the fact their chosen candidate is a flat-out liar. (And by lies, let’s be clear: every politician puts spin on things. I’m talking about just making stuff up, like fake statistics and credentials or saying one opposed a spending project when one supported it. Just for example. And no, it’s not the same as the parliamentary games Republicans are so fond of playing, where cheap procedural stunts are used with an eye to future political attacks.)
One can argue that the telling of bald-faced lies while daring anyone to call them on it is now the raison d’etre of the Republican Party. I mean, the whole “lower taxes and less spending” thing isn’t exactly working out for them, given wars and economic scandals. The more libertarian wing is just as disgusted with them as we are.
Since Democratic candidates will rarely resort to actually calling their opponents liars, as it is still somehow considered bad manners, the GOP tactic of bald-faced lies works to engage and enrage the GOP base, cow some media outlets, and neuter Democrats. The Republicans learned a savage and twisted lesson from Watergate: you can’t get away with criminality and corruption if there is an objective press. The ability to lie and get away with it is fundamental to the GOP approach.
When confronted with their lies, Republicans start screaming and hyper-ventilating about “elitism” or “bias” or whatever their baloney of the moment happens to be, whether it’s Freedom Fries or Brain Dead Women Who Smile. And far too often, the suits who hire journalists retreat into reflexive “both sides do it” excuse-making.
I know, I know. Telling the truth isn’t enough, as George Lakoff argues. But I’m not a social scientist nor am I clever enough to be framing things all the time. All I know is that in a world of two second sound bytes complex discussions stand little chance. Thus the Republicans’ moronic chanting of “drill, drill drill” as if energy policy were a football game. It’s the triumph of the Know Nothings paired with a soupçon of two minute hate.
It’s no secret that American journalism is in a bad way, and at a (perhaps final) crossroads. The GOP is daring journalists to expose the lies or STFU. It’s worth noting that there will continue to be individual journalists who rise to the challenge, but overall the traditional media has yet to recover from the yellow journalism it engaged in during the lie-up to war. But hey, first they came for the journalists and I’m not a journalist and all that.
Don’t get me wrong. When Democrats lie, obfuscate or otherwise engage in bad actions, they should be called on it. If they had been held more accountable maybe some of the outrages of the last seven years might have been mitigated a wee bit.
Sadly, General-Electric-NBC has made its position clear. Repeat the zombie lie enough and they will give in.
You have to wonder how many other outlets will do the same.
If you’re going to claim that Olbermann and Matthews were demoted because of X, can you at least give me some solid proof?
I heard they were replaced because of poor chemistry and sniping at each other.
Reason 1,346,867 why HA is not going to last.
This type of commentary is not worth the ‘salary’ Goldy promised what’s his nuts from the Stranger. Nor can this be considered journalism.
I just noticed that Goldy’s posts eventually end up as ads in the ‘margins’ on the page. There’s an ad up right now asking ‘why won’t palin talk to the press’. Yeah, because she’s not talking to ABC or anything…..
They were demoted because they are on extreme left. Even hannity doesn’t say that mcsame sends a thrill up his leg. Every one is biased, once people can tell by their reporting the unbiased charade is over.
Obama didn’t break any laws being in wright’s church. After all those years why did he have to throw him under the bus. Obama didn’t break any laws being friends with ayers, why does he have to distance himself now.
Leftist views don’t go over well in america. As proved by all democrat presidential nominees always having to abandon their principles and track towards the middle in the general election. And every time they do, the flip-flop label gets pulled out.
I cant belive how down hill this blog has went. Being a progressive is not about having slanted media to the left to cancle out the Bill O’Riles of this world but to set a better example, and take the higher road. Progressives are supose to do whats right for the progress. I use to love to watch olbermann’s show but during this election he has become so partisan any moron can tell he is just using msnbc as a soap box to fight Fox. I dont mind him doing this on a commantary show but when he is “reporting news” he should report just the facts. If progressives are truly smarter than republicans we dont need some talking head like olbermann telling us how think about todays events. The fact that he he fired some one who disagreed with his view of an obama quote is whats truly out of 1984. MSNBC is the new ministry of truth for the far left that has taken over the democratic party if you dont agree its off to room 101 in the ministry of love.
Blah, blah, blah…….Olbermann was demoted because MSNBC got their asses handed to them in the ratings…….AGAIN. Olbermann isn’t a serious journalist. He’s a sportscaster who thinks he has the knowledge and talent to do ideological commentary. He was a natural on SportsCenter…….from way downtown….BANG!!! That’s his schtick. If only he were smart enough to know it.
The immediate reaction of our paid troll in his many identities would appear to suggest Mr DeVore has hit a nerve with this one.
According to the Republicans, all media has to be “neutral”, except for Fox News. By “neutral”, they mean that nobody can say anything negative about them, because that would be evidence of “bias”. Thus when seasoned journalists with sound credentials and a long-standing record of objectivity report facts which are inconvenient for the Republicans, the Republicans no longer even try to refute the facts, they merely dismiss the reporter as being “biased” and therefore not worthy of further response.
Starting with the Republican Convention, the Republicans have been “working the refs” – accusing them daily of bias so that they will be overly defensive and reluctant to take on the Republicans when they tell their lies. Their goal is a campaign where only the Democrats are controlled, whereas they pretty much do anything they want. Even criminal violations of election laws can be gotten around as long as you win the election (as proven in Ohio in 2004).
By the way, Diebold has changed the name of the division which manufactures election machines. It seems that for some reason, they got a bad name….?
Jon – The headlines say: “MSNBC Drops Olbermann, Matthews as News Anchors”.
It fine that they are on the same level as Rush and O’Reilly as commentators but they were removed from being News Anchors. Please get your facts straight!
The Obama campaign hitting back against the lies of McSame and his lipsticked pit bull:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBtbG5xjFBY
Excellent!
Joseph P well put. Anyone here who thinks level-headed will be chastised as not being “progressive enough”.
Too bad most here think the liberal MSM was doing it’s job. Too bad most here don’t UNDERSTAND the reason Fox was created was to combat the liberal slant in the news from times past. They put on both sides. Did you see Mort Kondrake go off? He referred to Palin, as “that Wacko Right-winger” He’s a lib though so he can be mean and nasty Now they see the other side they are pizzed cuz their playbook is exposed.
How many times did you see Deeeeetroit (basketball) Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick discussed in news yet you never heard he was a Democrat? Or how about William I Freeze My Illegally Gotten Dollars Jefferson? Did you know he was Donkey too? Yet as soon as you heard Larry Craig or Mark Foley, we knew they were Republican. If you are Donkey it’s hidden until paragraph 15 while the headline tell you if you are Elephant.
Olbermann is an arrogant dick. He should just go to work for some extreme leftist group where he would fit in quite well.
Sarah Palin: the trojan MOOSE concealing four more years of George Bush
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....24867.html
The Trojan Moose! LMAO!!!
yelling loser boy@12, I decided to really look into your eye. After I navigated past the neon sign flashing “VACANCY” , I saw all the shit between the ears.
Wait a minute… the sign just changed to “Space Available Here”.
10 – More lies from the silly man who is so addicted he can’t help himself:
Faux Noise was created to PANDER to right wing shitheads who WANT right wing bullshit.
Mort Kondracke? Gets a paycheck from Faux – paid to kowtow to right wing bullshit and make liberals look bad. ’nuff said.
Kilpatrick? Jefferson? Show me one news story that didn’t have the word Democrat in the first three paragraphs.
Lies, lies and more damned lies from HA’s self-appointed king of right wing bullshit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01.....ref=slogin Try the 9th paragraph butthead.
Need to see more?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08.....troit.html Hmmm…? Not at all not even for Guvnur Granholm.
Need to see more?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08.....troit.html Hmmm…? Not at all not even for Guvnur Granholm.
Need to see more?
I chose one from the beginning of the year and one from last month. Need to see any in between yelling loser boy? I’ve been following this cuz I gots relatives in Deeeeeetroit (basketbal).
You are a moron or are you playing one for all your HA friends? Do you really enjoy being a clueless idiot?
Well so you know I have more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03.....v3D6fwa9AQ
I think you are an everyday moron!
Notice everyone I only used the NY Slimes for my argument with HAs clueless idiot; yelling loser boy vacancy eye!
Why? They are the newspaper of “liberal” record!
15 – Ok..
Here’s a story about Foley and the word “Republican” isn’t on the first page.
http://www.vanityfair.com/poli.....oley200701
Are you going to tell me Vanity Fair is a right wing publication?
And here’s a blub from the Bill Burkett school of typewrite fonts:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....3193.shtml
You’ll find democrat – in the blog!
Wow Clueless Idiot, you found an article on Foley. But his party affiliation is there. I posted ones which no one knew he was Donkey. And, you can’t see the diff. MORON!
Everyone knows Mark Foley. Do a google search.
You accused me of
Once proven wrong time and time again you try and change the subject.
yelling loser boy, you should wander the halls of a loony hospital. You’d perform a public service there.
“Leftist views don’t go over well in america.”
That’s true to a degree, and also a dirty shame.
Why? Because rightist policy doesn’t work well in America, or for that matter, anywhere else.
22 – Your paranoia about the press is just more bullshit, you shithead.
The story in the Times was about the trouble Kilpatrick was in not his politics.
And the politics of Craig and Foley are RELEVANT because they’re hypocrites – they’ve been on the record as anti-gay and THEY ARE GAY!
Olberamann is the Limbaugh of the left. He’s a blowhard. He’s a buffoon. He’s a clown. Can you imagine Walter Cronkite bashing EVERY SINGLE NIGHT David Brinkley? Always naming him the “Worst person in the world?” I don’t take Olbermann seriously. He’s not a newsman. He’s an entertainer. He’s nothing but a cheerleader for his party. I watch him when I want to watch a buffoon rant.
26 – And you’re an idiot.
Bill O’Reilly isn’t a newscaster like David Brinkley was.
Once again yelling loser boy the story is about Kilpatrick.
Spin spin spin vacancy boy, YOU DON’t KNOW HIS PARTY AFFILIATION IN THOSE STORIES
That’s Y U R HAs clueless idiot.
Waaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaaa haaa haaaa
Everyone can see you lost another argument to the facts Vacancy Eye@27. That was such a great retort!
Even leftist Wikipedia has it almost right:
“Fox News
After the announcement of Microsoft and NBC’s partnership to create an online and cable news outlet, MSNBC, taking the place of America’s Talking, Ailes left the network in February 1996 and was hired by Rupert Murdoch to create Fox News Channel for News Corporation. In addition, 89 additional employees of the NBC networks left with Ailes to help with the new channel’s creation for launch, on October 7, 1996.”
@27
You’re claiming that Keith Olbermann is equal to Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow in his skill as a newsman??
Prove to me, if you can, that Olbermann is not a buffoon and a clown.
It’s a shame that people have HOPE that they too can live the american dream and one day be rich?
If only those ignorant people would face the facts they will never do better in life than they are right now they would embrace the leftist views of life. Take from the rich and give to the poor.
If you think Wikipedia is leftist, you know absolutely nothing about it’s founders. Or you don’t care.
@32 “Take from the rich and give to the poor”
Marvin rooted for the evil and conservative Sheriff of Nottingham to run the sword through the heart of the good and liberal Robin Hood during the climactic swordfight at the end of Robin Hood.
Keith Olbermann is a pleasure to watch. He is one of the very few members of mainstream television journalists that is willing to stand up to the Republican spin machine. He’ll call a lie a lie, and understands that just because there are two sides to an issue, they don’t both deserve equal air time if one side is so nonsensical and lacking in evidentiary support that no rational person could accept that position. He counters what Jon points out above–that the media has given up any quest for truth. The most frustrating aspect of the current presidential campaign is McCain-Putin campaign’s willingness to say anything while doing the other and never getting called by the media for duplicity. Democracy is in peril in this country, and the media is assisting its demise by giving McCain and Putin a free pass.
the story is about Kilpatrick.
and the trouble he’s in. The story isn’t about his party affiliation. It’s irrelevant to what he did or didn’t do.
Why do I bother?
An idiot is generally ineducable.
they had turned into repetitive bufoons
boring
Start the David Brinkly school, please, there ARE standards, arn’t there?
@31: Idiot troll says – prove to me that Olberman is not a buffoon and clown.
Very easy – Olbermann criticizes the powers that be – Bush, the worst president ever.
He is not a Cronkite – Cronkite rarely injected his own views. However, Olbermann regularly shows that O’Reilly is a buffoon and liar – just by clipping his own words together like when he blamed Spear’s parents for a teen pregnancy but not Palin.
Faux news pretends to be “fair and balanced” but they have been caught time and again misidentifying criminal republicans as democrats, slanting the news, lying outright – everyone knows that Faux news is unfair and unbalanced and they prove it by how they frame the questions:
How did Palin do so well?
why is McCain going to win?
And other stupid slanted questions. The bottom line for this elections is that the republicans have been in charge of the economy for the last eight years, and it has been a disaster. An unnecessary war costing over trillion dollars before we are done (and over 4,000 dead and 30,000 wounded – for nothing – there will be an Islamic state allied with Iran as soon as we get out), the largest budget deficit in history (after clinton left a huge budget surlpus), cutting taxes on the rich, no health care plan, no energy plan except drilling (which will take 10-15 years to lower the price by 1-2 cents). The republicans are bankrupt of any new ideas – yet are running on the “change” platform.
What will they change? Trolls…..
@38
Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I do like watching him from time to time, as I like to hear his take on things. I think he’s right on the mark when it comes to Bush, but when he starts bashing his competitors, he just comes off as insecure. Bashing O’Reilly reflects more poorly on Olbermann than it does on O’Reilly.
32 Marvin, in a perverse way, you got it right. This will one day be regarded as the “good old days” because under continuing GOP “Robin-Hood-in-reverse” kleptocracy, for most Americans it’s all downhill from here. In fact, even if we could have a clean Democratic sweep in Congress and a fire-breathing leftist radical (which Obama is no more than Clinton was) in the Oval Office, we’re probably still in for 20 years of economic hell paying off greater government indebtedness and corporate losses…actual destruction of wealth…than were previously accrued in all the fluctuations of the American economy since the founding of our nation. As we sit here pounding off on our keyboards, Uncle Sam continues to borrow approximately two billion dollars per day and ship it out by the truckload to failing financial institutions so their senior executives can put an extra layer of gold on their parachutes, and so we beer-belching piss-ants can be kept unaware of just how bad it is until we’ve pretended to participate in another election.
Oh yeah…minor detail. How could I have forgotten to mention that in the midst of all this extravagance, we’re also buying plenty of bullets to keep killing enough people to convince ourselves we’re the Great Remaining World Power. Oh, how it makes me proud to be an American!
Excuse me…(sticks head in wastebasket)
41
Our decline as a nation during the Bush years has been dramatic. We have become, in many ways, a second tier nation. I, too, fight the waves of nausea. Yet, McCain is still in the race. Rick Davis, his campaign chair, says this election is about personalities, not issues. These fucks are so irresponsible, I do have to question their patriotism. At the same time, even if this race is about personalities, zeroes like McCain and Palin, who I’d rather piss on than share a beer with, should come in a distant second.
“Since Democratic candidates will rarely resort to actually calling their opponents liars, as it is still somehow considered bad manners, …”
This is a problem. Our candidates need to get over that. Patton knew what to do with Nazis: “Grab ’em by the nose and kick ’em in the ass.”
@39 Why shouldn’t he bash a traitor and charlatan like O’Liely? O’Liely and all the other wingnut liars need a good bashing.
A key distinction between liberals and conservatives is that liberals can make fun of themselves, while conservatives cannot. Can you imaging Marvistan, Puddybud, or Mark the Welsher singing the conservative equivalent to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3qgiNPVpSM ? Not a chance, rather they would suggest that conservatism is beyond parody. The poor bastards.
rhp6033: You haven’t paid attention. Typical, so typical
No wait a minute you have the 24 hour leftist moonbat! attention span.
Joe Biden is chosen for Donkey VEEP. 6 hours later his 2004 WikiPedia entries disappear. Why didn’t Wiki put them back?
2004 Entry now gone: “McCain urged to join Kerry ticket Biden says a joint ticket would help heal ‘vicious rift’ dividing U.S.”
But you see rhp6033 I posted the around August 25, 2008. So I know you have 24 hr cranialitis!
yelling loser boy let me break it down with small words:
When Mark Foley was being outed by Brian Ross here is what ABC News put on their web site:
“Florida law enforcement officials investigating former Republican Rep. Mark Foley”.
Notice the 7th word yelling loser boy.
I have to revive this tag line:
The Prosecution Rests
proud leftist: Campaign about personalities? Well the liberal MSM has been gushing all about Obama’s personality. In fact they stated over and over they liked his personality over Hillary’s. Remember she was “mean spirited”!
Of course you forgot that tidbit.
Since proud leftist brought it@45, I won’t be watching it.
BTW proud and rhp6033: Joe Biden’s great college grades mysteriously disappeared from Wikipedia too. Ain’t that amazing. They were there Aug 22 and missing Aug 23rd.
Why is that?
Puddybud
You remind me of too many people about our age (I suspect we’re about the same age) who had potential, but simply frittered it away. Enjoy you unconsciousness, Puddy. I suspect you’re not a bad person, just deluded beyond hope.
Thanks Proud Leftist. Reading your material does produce alpha waves. You can’t see the other side, never have never will.
Definition for yelling loser boy – Alpha waves are indicative of lack of visual processing and lack of focus: the less visual processing and the more unfocused, generally the stronger the alpha waves.
See ya.
@44
“O’Liely?”
What are you, like 5 or something?
OK, first, Olbermann is a liberal, if anyone is.
Second, it DOES NOT MATTER if he is a liberal: he has a very specific and pervasive bias, and anchors should not be biased.
Even Tom Brokaw came out and said Olbermann was terrible, because Brokaw knows that you can have your opinions, but the anchor chair is a specific role that calls for a lack of bias, and if you can’t handle that role, then make way for someone who can.
Olbermann could not handle that role.
This is not a case of Olbermann being pushed out, this is a case of Olbermann being unwilling or incapable of doing a specific job. And that’s fine, not everyone can do every job. It doesn’t reflect poorly on Olbermann or MSNBC, except that they were stupid enough to put him there in the first place, because anyone with half a brain would have known it wasn’t going to work.
But then, I thought anyone with half a brain would know Katie Couric only had half a brain, and couldn’t handle the anchor chair at CBS … I was right, but she got hired anyway …
Sorry, Puddy, but Palin’s Wikipedia entry was also cleaned up just two hours before the McCain campaign announced her as his VP pick, which indicates that somebody who knew about the pick got in early, right before it would be hit by thousands of newspaper reports and average citizes who were all thinking at the same time: “Who the heck is Sarah Palin????”
The new entries espoused her “executive experience” and touted her as a “reformer”. Gone were the controversies about her first year as Mayor and some other negative references, although recent news events may have resulted in it being updated again (I haven’t checked since the day she was annointed).
But we could play that game all day. Lots of people either edit their own Wikipedia entries, or have others do it for them.
The two founders of Wikipedia are Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger (although Jimmy Wales claims he is the sole founder, and Larry Sanger was only a salaried employee, although Sanger came up with the name and many of the interactive concepts incorporated into Wikipedia). It appears that the Wales/Sanger relationshiop was akin to the Gates/Allen relationship (Gates was the marketer with technical expertise, Allen was the real computer geek).
Jimmy Wales was caught editing his own Wikipedia entry to remove references to Larry Sanger as the co-founder and to remove references to his connection with a former romantic interest.
Wales defines his philosophy as being an “Objectivist”, a follower of Ayn Rand. With respect to politics and economics, this has been defined by Ayn Rand as
Although this smacks a bit of 19th-century european liberalism, (which is quite different from 20th century American/European liberalism), Wales dismisses any association with the current Libertarian Party, calling them “wackos”.
Before getting involved in Wikipedia and it’s predecessor Bomis/Nupedia, Wales was a stock-option traider in Chicago where he made his money. His first wife said that he considered “altruism as evil”, and therefore tried to force her to give up nursing.
Anyway, hardly sounds like a “left-winger”, or a “Democrat”, or a “liberal” in the sense that the label is commonly used today. If anything, it more resembles Republican neo-con economic philosopy (although not it’s fundamentalist-religious aspects).
Wales is currently the CEO and, for all practical purposes, the monarch of Wikipedia. Although just about anyone can edit a Wikipedia entry, Wales has demonstrated that he is willing to apply his “super-editoral” priviledge to edit Wikipedia entries any time he wishes to do so.
The other “founder”, Larry Sanger, left Wikipedia several years ago and has launched a competing website called Citizendium, which he claims corrects some of the problems of Wikipedia by having experts review articles for accuracy. He was born in Bellevue, Washington, but moved to Anchorage, Alaska when he was six or seven, and grew up there. He received his degree in Philosophy, although I haven’t been able to find a reference to any political philosophy – his interest appears to be academic, with respect to how people learn and apply knowledge, and how it is passed on:
WHO SAYS WE KNOW On the New Politics of Knowledge By Larry Sanger
There may be other articles about his personal politics, or contribution records, but since he hasn’t been involved in Wikipedia for more than six years, I didn’t think it was worth further effort to try to track it down.
So as usual, your attempt to discredit an entire organization by presuming a liberal bias is, well, either a conscious lie or a reckless disregard for the truth.
Damn, someone wants to be me so badly.
Because palin has better grades and that would make the high IQ guy look bad.
“So now that NBC has caved by demoting Keith Olbermann, once again we have to recognize the Orwellian quality of the American media landscape. Glenn Greenwald notes”
How many of you are on illegal drugs?
I will send this web link across the country to show Americans what is at stake. You Dems are nuts.
I never thought Democrats acted like this however, what do I know being God fearing Republican.