Category: Media

Lies and Gaffes.

Two interesting editorials in today’s Globe: Derrick Jackson wonders aloud about the GOP’s double standard on Presidential lies, while H.D.S. Greenway laments the diplomatic damage wrought by Dubya’s ill-advised “axis of evil” rhetoric. Dishonest and incompetent…the total package.

Untruth and Consequences.

Try as they might to contain it, Dubya’s role in the Iraq-Niger component of Weaponsgate continues to leak under scrutiny. Worse still for the White House, many irate columnists are examining the larger pattern of deceit that has characterized this administration. Whatsmore, the I-word is now getting thrown around. How, I wonder, will the Bushies manage to lie their way out of this one?

Friendly Fire.

William Saletan, who’s been rather unkind to Dean in the past, shows his hand – he’s for Edwards. Unfortunately, Saletan’s case here makes me less inclined to vote for him. “If Dean’s strength is speaking bluntly to the right, Edwards, like Joe Lieberman, has shown a facility for speaking bluntly to the left.” That’s exactly what I don’t want to hear.

Creeping Doubt.

This is a week old, but I didn’t see it until Meet the Press yesterday: Conservative columnist George Will tries to account for the missing WMD. “But unless America’s foreign policy is New Age therapy to make the public feel mellow, feeling good about the consequences of an action does not obviate the need to assess the original rationale for the action. Until WMD are found, or their absence accounted for, there is urgent explaining to be done.”

Sayonara, Cha-Cha.

Greetings from San Diego, where I’m on the last day of my west coast swing. Those of you located in SoCal, that sonic boom you heard was Dennis Miller screaming down the Murphometer after my reading this story. I knew he had a show coming out on FOX News, but I had wrongly assumed it was counterprogramming…I suppose I should’ve known better.

Goodnight David (and Atticus).

This Week is off the air, Atticus has left the courtroom, Ahab has gone down with the ship, and the guns of Navarone have fallen silent. Rest in Peace David Brinkley (1920-2003), one of television’s pioneering newsmen, and many condolences to his family. The same goes out to the family and friends of Gregory Peck (1915-2003), one of the big screen’s enduring heroes. They will both be missed.

Bragging Right.

Medley‘s been birddogging some interesting GOP quotes lately, and she’s found another in this article on Matt Labash, senior writer for The Weekly Standard. Says Labash of his fellow cronies in the conservative media, “We’ve created this cottage industry in which it pays to be un-objective…. It’s a great way to have your cake and eat it too. Criticize other people for not being objective. Be as subjective as you want. It’s a great little racket.” Sounds like conservative flaks are suffering from what Robert Wiebe called “the illusion of fulfillment.” As with the Norquist piece last week and as this Tom Paine article notes, it’s exactly this kind of public wink-and-a-smirk about their own fraudulent gimmicks that’ll (hopefully) help bring their “racket” to an early end.

Where’s the Outrage?

All over the press this Saturday morning: moral exemplar William Bennett is a high-roller, losing over $8 million in the past ten years at various casinos. I play a biweekly poker game and have been known to throw down some money in Vegas, so I’d be the first to argue that gambling within limits is a minor vice at worst. But then again, I haven’t made a living peddling sanctimonious garbage like The Book of Virtues or The Moral Compass either. Yes, this is gotcha journalism making entirely too much out of a mildly disreputable pastime – it’s not like Bennett is a child molester or anything. But that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy watching Mr. Virtue squirm on the petard of his own hypermoralism. Mr. Bennett, is schadenfreude a forgivable vice in this instance? Update: Mrs. Bennett drops the hammer. Update 2: Mike Kinsley weighs in, also invoking the schadenfreude angle.