Riddle me this

[mrnoodle]

Precisely my point. Al Gore is so three hours ago. Since then we've been treated to slash pieces on every single Bush cabinet member, every Bush judge, and half the Republican senators and congresspersyns.

And Gore's a raving lunatic of Howard Dean proportions. Whether it's his environmental stance or his screaming diatribes about Bush, he's a liability to the party and is therefore fair game. Dean's next on that list, as soon as he polarizes enough Dems to make Hilary seem like a moderate choice.

The only Republican with a media get-out-of-jail-free card is John McCain. Why? Because he's fully aware that the media comprise their own political party, and he wants to be at the head of it. He knows what to say when the cameras are on, and he knows that his path to success is not through the Republican party (who he has made a career of criticizing), nor through the Democrats (who he takes on about once every 6 months as a diversionary tactic). If McCain makes president, it will be as Media Darling/Independent, and he knows it.

bleh. rambling. Taco Bell is a bad thing to eat when it's 90 degrees out.

[Happy Monkey]

Bush has had over 100 judges confirmed. Ten were disputed. 90% confirmation is excellent.

And then you propagate the media construction of Al Gore and Howard Dean as raving lunatics. Not a great support for your theory.

[mrnoodle]

The confirmation rate is fine. That's got little to do with newspeeples' lust for conservative blood. And in a sideways sort of way, you're still proving my point by suggesting that the media have a hand in selecting which candidates get confirmed.

The media had no choice but to cover HD and AG's screaming fits, that doesn't mean that the fits are constructs of the media.

Edit: and like I said, they've been deemed disposable (AG has, anyway). Howard Dean is soon to follow. Negative coverage of those two does not constitute lack of bias.

[lookout123]

Mrnoodle, i would contend that Foxnews IS blatantly right wing. that is reality, not just an insult thrown by liberals. they have grown more so over the last 24 months. sean hannity is their darling and he is a freaking joke - even limbaugh has more credibility than hannity. O'Reiley is slightly better, but they both use the same tactics. they are fair and balanced because they allow liberals on their shows. but then they shout them down in an attempt to make the liberal look weak, IMO making themselves look like asses.

watch foxnews(i do sometimes), but don't allow yourself to believe even for one moment that they are fair and balanced. fox is just as biased as CNN and the rest of the alphabet.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

The confirmation rate is fine. That's got little to do with newspeeples' lust for conservative blood. And in a sideways sort of way, you're still proving my point by suggesting that the media have a hand in selecting which candidates get confirmed.

No I didn't. The vast majority of Bush's nominations got no coverage, never mind "slash pieces". The coverage was given when there was a debate.

The media had no choice but to cover HD and AG's screaming fits, that doesn't mean that the fits are constructs of the media.

The media had no choice but to isolate Dean yelling "Yeah!" at a pep rally, filtering out the crowd noise? They simply couldn't help playing it repeatedly for weeks? It was beyond their ability to avoid labeling enthusiasm as lunacy? Where did the term "screaming fits" come from?

[lookout123]

HM - has the rest of the media ever chosen a few seconds out of longer segments of time to focus, in regards to Bush? and then played them incessantly? and then applied labels such as illiterate, hick, idiot, etc? or do you really believe that Bush fumbles and bumbles every single sentence to leave his mouth?

the media are swine, and those who believe the spiel are sheep. truth doesn't matter. ratings and customer loyalty matter. if your target viewer or listener doesn't like Bush focus on his frequent word flubbage. if your target audience doesn't like dean or gore, focus on the scream or the invention of the internet.

[mrnoodle]

Originally Posted by lookout123

Mrnoodle, i would contend that Foxnews IS blatantly right wing. that is reality, not just an insult thrown by liberals. they have grown more so over the last 24 months. sean hannity is their darling and he is a freaking joke - even limbaugh has more credibility than hannity. O'Reiley is slightly better, but they both use the same tactics. they are fair and balanced because they allow liberals on their shows. but then they shout them down in an attempt to make the liberal look weak, IMO making themselves look like asses.

watch foxnews(i do sometimes), but don't allow yourself to believe even for one moment that they are fair and balanced. fox is just as biased as CNN and the rest of the alphabet.

Fox is biased, yes. But Fox's bias is seen as a Very Bad Thing, while 40 years of leftist media bias is, what, negligible? Can't find the word I'm looking for. Fox stands out as some kind of propoganda machine because we've been so trained to accept the ABCBSNBCNNMSNBC blather that all Republicans want to be our evil overlords, starve our children and seniors, blah blah blah.

Fox's conservative slant IS equal time, to parrot a Limbaughism.

And Hannity is a commentator, not a reporter or anchor. He is packaged and sold with no pretense as a rightwinger. That's his schtick. Why is it so horrible for him and so noble for say, Al Franken?


HM -- Al's screaming fits about Bush are widely documented and easy to find. You have me on the Dean scream -- I wasn't aware there had been doctoring of the audio. But his rhetoric since becoming DNC chairman is no less hateful and untrue for its low volume.

[lookout123]

Why is it so horrible for him and so noble for say, Al Franken?

definitely not noble. franken is a fuckstick. so is randi rhodes or whatever that ridiculous biaaatch's name is. about the only one on air america that makes any sense at all is Charles Goyette (he may only be regional at this point) and even he has left his libertarian roots to become a stark raving lunatic in the name of ratings since switching to air america.

liberal media bias is obviously there. it is also obviously no more acceptable than the right wing bias found on fox. i was simply making a point that fox is just as biased as the rest.

and as far as EQUAL time? i don't want equal time - i want responsible journalism from people who report the facts of the story without spin and who at all costs refuse to become part of the story.

[SteveDallas]

Sorry I asked.

[Undertoad]

The Dean scream can only be understood in context and HM's portrayal of it removes as much context as the media.

It was the final act of the rise and fall of Dean during the Iowa primary, and Dean's ascension was largely due to media attention, along with his newly-proven tactic of using the net to raise nationwide funds. Three weeks prior to the scream, Dean was being Kinged as the new savior. His approach called for getting rough with the other side and attacking vigorously which caught the attention of everyone. Unfortunately it also had the effect of completely turning off the Iowa electorate, and his unexpectedly poor result let most of the air out of the balloon. And only THEN, YEeeaaaaagh!

The Yeagh was the least of his concerns, and the reason it was overplayed was because it was somewhat representational of his fiery attack approach being overplayed and leading to his demise. And because it was LESS damning than the REAL story, which was that Dean had dramatically failed and that his campaign had been dealt a terrible blow.

Similarly, during the 1992 election, the media made a big deal of George Bush 41 being very surprised by the newfangled technology of a supermarket scanner. The event didn't really happen as described. But the story took hold because it was such a strong analogy for what people felt about 41.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

But his rhetoric since becoming DNC chairman is no less hateful and untrue for its low volume.

What was untrue?

[lookout123]

republicans are all rich and have never worked an honest job in their lives seems a bit far fetched to me. i'm not searching for the quote, but i did hear myself - and he was speaking about why bush won. reps don't work so they have time to go to the polls. dems work hard so couldn't make it the polls. it is just class warfare at its lowest.

the republican politicians, sure - but no more so than democrat pols.

[mrnoodle]

Originally Posted by lookout123

and as far as EQUAL time? i don't want equal time - i want responsible journalism from people who report the facts of the story without spin and who at all costs refuse to become part of the story.

The very idea of this gives me a woody. But the tune was called many many years ago and all we can do now is dance to it. Eventually someone will make a serious stab at doing what you suggest, but I'm afraid they won't be able to drown out the trash peddlers.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by lookout123

HM - has the rest of the media ever chosen a few seconds out of longer segments of time to focus, in regards to Bush? and then played them incessantly? and then applied labels such as illiterate, hick, idiot, etc? or do you really believe that Bush fumbles and bumbles every single sentence to leave his mouth?

Of course they do the same to Bush. I'm not saying they give Republicans passes, as mrnoodle is claiming about Democrats.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by lookout123

the republican politicians, sure - but no more so than democrat pols.

To be fair, he said "a lot of" Republicans, not all, and it was primarily the Republicans who vehemently opposed efforts to make voting easier and more convenient. And it was Republicans who reallocated voting machines in Ohio to create the 8 hour lines. And it was again Republicans who tried to turn people away from the polls who had been waiting in line for hours when the polling time ended. Dean's quote could certainly be read as applying to rank and file Republicans, but it was obviously not aimed at them.