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Showing posts from 2007

Scooter Libby Is No Longer Appealing

Sorry for that cheap imitation of the trite "loses his appeal" joke. "We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence," Libby attorney attorney Theodore Wells said . "However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear." Wells cites that inevitability of a re-trial if Libby were to win -- a re-trial would likely be ordered by an appellate court, but the decision to proceed would be the prosecutor's. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has said the leak investigation is closed. It does make one one wonder: why pay for something that is a cheap imitation of pardon?

Political Staccato, or It's Nice to Come Up for Air

S ome short clips since I’ve been away for so long, hunkered down on a project. With the WGA writer’s strike these ought to be salad days for people who think they’re funny, but, as the writers would concur, making money is job one: So glad Mitt Romney accepts Jesus and that the unchristian Christians from one end of a tiny spectrum may be appeased by the unchristian Christians from the other. Still waiting for the day that an atheist can run for anything or for a single candidate to have the courage to say faith informs no life decisions except whether to sleep in on Sunday. Disgusted by Romney's declaration: “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom." Actually, freedom only teaches us to tolerate religion so that our private behaviors may be tolerated in turn, as we should other private behaviors we may personally disapprove of, like a gay lifestyle, abortion ... oh. There is nothing to the argument that only religious people possess the values to govern

Does This Endorsement Make Me Look Phat?

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Winning is a Family Value, Part II I sn't it just great when people who have nothing in common get along? They didn't exactly bury the hatchet -- since they didn't exactly ever have a relationship -- but Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Guiliani looks to be about as crass a marriage of convenience as one could imagine (Nixon and Elvis is in its own category). Why does Rudy want it known that crazy grandpa likes him for the White House a year before the election? (Hoping that voters will forget by then is not one of the acceptable answers) This is the Pat Robertson who said 9/11 was was God's retribution for America's countenance of abortion (only one of a vast collection of incomprehensible positions by the televangelist). This is the Rudy Giuliani who has been married three times, lived with a gay couple for while between marriages and doesn't have a problem with dressing up in drag. It gets stranger: Giuliani, who rakes Ron Paul over the coals for 9/

Six Months Heals All Wounds

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D on Imus is back on the air. Has it been six months already? Did I miss the national conversation about race while I was out at Starbucks? As a very smart friend told me during that frenzied week that saw Imus outed, ousted and banished, this was "Bonfires of the Vanities II." Sadly, sequels are almost never better than the original. But if George Steinbrenner got back to running the Yankees a couple of years after being banned for life , I guess Imus doing morning drive time before Spring's leaves even change color is nothing. Imus's trajectory is immaterial to me . I wasn't a fan so I wasn't sad to see him go. But I did hope that this time, at least, something would somehow justify yet another pagan dance around the bonfire. Instead, Imus looks wronged and he's been paid off for his trouble. What a Difference 150 Days Make "Imus in the Morning" and the MSNBC simulcast was canceled in April after Imus referred to the mostly black Rutgers

Cold Water for Colbert

It looks like Stephen Colbert's dream ended a bit early . Pundits and bloviators will be dissecting this campaign for years, the better to establish bragging rights to the claim s/he was the first to see the cracks that would eventually cause the damn to break. Or maybe even had cast the first stone at the glass house. Or some other hackneyed cliche. The line forms here . Colbert can still apparently get on the South Carolina ballot by gathering enough signatures. The funny thing about this oddly unfunny "campaign" is that Colbert's fan base is nearly as large and at least as rabid as the right-wing blowhard he mocks, so you never know.

From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . .

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F or those of us only just recovering from the Halloween scariness of belligerent children demanding tributes and threatening to create havoc if denied, here is today's shocking news: Don Rumsfeld didn't like the media and wrote as many as 60 memos a day to uparmor his E-Ring bulwarks against assaults emanating from fronts at home and abroad. They call the flurry of these memos "snowflakes," but they are more like acid rain. Neither Europe nor the United Nations understands the threat or the bigger picture, Rumsfeld complains. In other words, the people who, prior to 9/11, had suffered close to 100% of all the world's worst terrorism just don't get it. It's probably just a media plot to deny Rumsfeld's heirs the chance to cash in on a " Write It When I'm Gone " windfall. But since the post-resignation release of his classified memo arguing for "a major adjustment" in Iraq because the war wasn't going well didn't do much

FEMA'S Philbin Has No More Explaining To Do

J ohn "Pat" Philbin, the former FEMA spokesman whose final days on that job were spiced up by a fake news briefing, has now lost his next job : director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It seemed to me too easy a punchline that the vilified Philbin was going to segue from a PR fiasco to the ultimate PR-challenged agency, even though the move had been done deal. I guess the irony was not lost on his new boss either. My full take on the briefing fiasco -- "It's OK -- I'm a Reporter!" -- is here .

Conviction Overturned, But Guilt Unaddressed?

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T he New York Times reports that the US military is in the midst of rectifying what appears to be a gross injustice against black soldiers that occurred 63 years ago. The 28 black solders were among 43 charged with starting a riot that led to deaths of an Italian POW at a base in Seattle. They were convicted despite laughable defense inadequacies and possible prosecutorial misconduct. All 43 defendants were represented by only two lawyers, who had only 13 days to prepare for trial. There is evidence that the lead prosecutor, Leon Jaworski , who would become famous 30 years later as the Watergate prosecutor, was aware of exculpatory evidence he did not share with the defense. The charges against two were dropped, and the other 13 were acquitted. So far only one of the 28 convictions has been overturned. Samuel Snow, 83, who served a year in jail, will now receive back pay and an honorable discharge. But Snow, whose pictures as a young soldier and as he is today accompany the article, i

It's OK -- I'm a Reporter!

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N ow it can be told: Almost every day in my reporting career I felt like a phony. It was easy to feel inadequate. I worked with people who got shot at -- hell, shot -- and whose gifts with even the words "to," "at" and "the" were positively Shakespearean. Without any credentials other than a wire service generalist's bravado I reported on medical breakthroughs, nuanced court rulings and world championship boxing. Let's just say the cramming skills I honed as an undergraduate served me well. But at the FEMA briefing this week I would have been the only pro in the room. Not even a genuine journalist shill was present. Real reporters could listen in on a hastily-arranged "800" line, but couldn't ask any questions. No, the only people doing any talking, the Washington Post tells us , were FEMA employees: some pitching softballs, and the other one hitting them out of the park. "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"

An Unbertable Colbert on MTP

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S tephen Colbert's fake presidential ambitions crumbled today in an appearance today on "Meet the Press." And more importantly: Strangers to Colbert -- and I presume there are more than a few who are regular watchers of MTP -- will be left wondering what is funny about this guy, which is no way to promote a funny book . This "interview" was very, very not funny, in a clear-the-room, cue-the-crickets, only-a-mother-could-love kind of way. Colbert couldn't quite figure out whether to play it straight or outrageous, and his gift for spontaneity mostly eluded him. Russert's decision to play it straight as Sunday's Interlocutor-in-Chief misfired over and over again. The lack of any live feedback was cringe-inducing; either there is nobody on the set within earshot of an open mic or none of the crew thought there was anything to laugh about either. Bert & Ernie on Phonics, Not Gay Marriage There was a lengthy answer about the pride in getting a single

Winning is a Family Value

Sam Brownback has dropped out of the Republican hunt for the presidency. He rejects evolution , but maybe believes in reincarnation? What could the so-called values voters want if such a true believer can't get any traction and leaves the table with a piddling $94,000 in the bank ? I have no sympathy with holier than thou people who presume their beliefs are more sacred than mine, and who have forgotten, or don't really care about, what freedom means . But with a buffet of candidates who talk the talk, and with some of those actually walking the walk, I'm perplexed about what the "values" wing really wants. Can it be so crass as ... a winner?

Better than President

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W hy would Al Gore want to be president? A darling of the Democratic left, Gore has now garnered the ultimate in bragging rights by winning the Nobel Peace Prize. So naturally the idle speculation about how to convert this into a late-entry presidential bid is in high gear, as if there is only one thing an ambitious, talented person would find worth buying with life's chits in the Big Box Store of America. Clever liberal pundits love joking that since Gore won the presidency in 2000 it's In short order Gore has garnered an Oscar, and Emmy and a Nobel Peace Prize. He's rich. He's young and has good hair. He is beloved by the right people and reviled by the right people. To paraphrase an old Frank Sinatra song, why would he want to go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like "I'm running." about time he starting serving out his term, and a group which seems not to be a stalking horse for the man himself took out one of those discount ( legitimately,

Craig's List

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"I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively." -- Sen. Larry Craig, Oct 4, 2007 Things to do this summer: Circle around hunky guy in stall "8" while waiting for connecting flight. Muse on how great it is to have time to kill in a city where nobody knows me -- and save money at the same time by not flying direct! Plead ignorance of solicitation to guy who doesn't seem nearly as hunky when he turns out to be an undercover cop. Give him my business card anyway. You never know In post-arrest interview with undercover cop (who I see now definitely is not a looker) don't act like I don't know what he's talking about when he says I was doing the abnormal things guys seeking gay sex with strangers in public restrooms do. Instead, tell him I was doing normal things, like picking up toilet paper off the bathroom floor Don't get any legal advice in the many weeks before I have to enter a plea. Reflect fondly on my votes for tort reform

Reuters Opinion 1.0

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R euters last week quietly ended a 156-year tradition which, more than any other, defined its character. The walls did not come tumbling down. And while for some the change might have come sooner, and for others not at all, I think it could not have come at a better time. In a blog entry Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger announced that Reuters had begun publishing commentary written by editorial staff (Reuters also announced this change with an obligatory but quaint wire advisory). The ubiquity of "debating" partisans on cable news networks and the vitriole in what is still sadly called "the blogosphere" may make this change seem less than revolutionary. Or, for that matter, not even particularly newsworthy. But for Reuters, whose dedication to the principle of unbiased reporting stems from its desire to be an honest broker of news from every boardroom and battlefield, this is big news. It comes despite an unambiguous editorial policy about the sanctity of im

Dan Rather Throws It All Away

Here's a takeway for all you journalism students trying to make sense of Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS: Don't lie. Especially on the air. I'm not referring to the story about President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, the flashpoint which led to Rather's ignominious departure from his journalistic home of 44 years. That may or may not have been a properly vetted story but it is clear that Rather believed in it at the time — and his lawsuit suggests that he still does. Being wrong isn't a capital offense in journalism. Being wrong and knowing in advance that you were wrong absolutely is one, without possibility of appeal. Ask Jayson Blair or Janet Cooke . Here is what you do when you are "instructed" to report something you don't think is true: You quit on the spot. Period. You never allow the business side to make editorial decisions. Period. You go down to the bar, order a stiff one, contact Howard Kurtz , The Col

Run, OJ — Run!

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Apparently the presidential election is over and the Iraq War has ended. Rejoice one and all! OJ is a criminal defendant on cable TV news again! But a funny thing happened on the way to the docket: All that pre-hearing blather about a battle royale between an over-zealous prosecutor and the famously cocky unconvicted criminal failed to materialize. Despite kidnapping and armed robbery charges that could potentially land Simpson in jail for life, the D.A and Simpson's attorneys got together and made nice and have nothing but sweet praise for each other. So OJ got bail. Bail that I could make. Bail that I would lend him — but only if he promised to skip out on it. OJ's gotta take it on the lam again. And this time he has to mean it. OK — OJ has to turn over his passport, so leaving the county would be a little problematic and that Mexican equivalent of Miami Beach might be a bit out of reach (note to self: check out CNN B Roll footage for video of holes in the fence). Bu

The New York Times Sets It Free

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T he New York Times' decision to stop charging for content that had been behind the "TimesSelect" firewall is good news for fans of Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and 21 of their columnist colleagues. And it is more compelling evidence that charging the customer directly for online content is not a winning strategy. TimesSelect was generating about $10 million a year, the newspaper reports, “But our projections for growth on that paid subscriber base were low, compared to the growth of online advertising,” said Vivian L. Schiller, senior vice president and general manager of the site, NYTimes.com . Even television, the epitome of an ad-supported medium, found ways to charge for some content, even things that had once been free. But TV spread like kudzu only because it was all free all the time Couple that with the announcement yesterday that AOL was moving its senior managers from Dulles, VA to New York to be closer to the ad industry -- to say nothing of its new strategy of te

At CNN, No Reuters, or bin Laden - New York Times

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T he gifted former TV Newser blogger Brian Stelter , now a New York Times media correspondent, has one of the first stories about the consequences of CNN's decision to dissolve its 27-year-old relationship with Reuters: they missed the story. I say this not to gloat, since I am not short Time Warner and neither employed by (anymore) nor a shareholder (anymore) in Reuters, but to commiserate . Because if CNN's stated reason for dropping Reuters is basically accurate there will be quite a bit more of these gaps in coverage until the cable news network realizes its goal of taking the money they have saved and putting it to work for them on the street. And there is serious reason to believe that it won't be remotely possible to replace the coverage organically. This kind of money won't go far spent a la carte. I shudder to think that CNN hopes a big part of the slack will be picked up by iReporter contributions -- but these days you never know A Few Million Bucks Doesn

Petraeus Speaks. Now, Let's Move On

The demonizing of Gen. David Petraeus was a dumb move(on.org ). We need to get to the crux of the matter: what Petraeus says is irrelevant, even if it is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Bush is running this war. Going after even the enabler-in-chief is like wasting all your ammo on the countermeasures in a dogfight. The issue isn't whether the US military can kick open a lot of doors, or keep them shut. Indeed, the question is often how not to be as ruthless as the military could conceivably be, which is especially necessary in a war zone where most of the inhabitants are innocent civilians. The issue is whether the fighting is a means to a realizable end. There is no point in continuing to fight if there is no hope that the suppressing fire will be used by the Iraqis to move into position, to reconcile and build their own nation. The general cannot speak to this. Above his pay grade. Way above. So today is just a sideshow, as far as I am concerned.

Google Special Comments

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T here has been a fair amount of discussion about Google's new news experiment by which they will publish comments on stories they aggregate from "those people or organizations who were actual participants in the story in question." The chatter has mostly been about Google's criteria: whether it is undermining journalism and/or giving a PR gift to disgruntled subjects. But I haven't seen any discussion of what I'd say is the fundamental issue: Does Google know what it is getting into? I agree with those who say that in not going far enough with the initiative -- open it up to everyone -- Google is choosing to empower a class that is already empowered, and which journalism exists to check. But why curtail comments and create a clunky infrastructure for authenticating "legitimate" comments that only seems to invite charges of favoritism? Does Google really want to take a position on publishing or not publishing pushback from entities which have not

Denial is a River in Vietnam

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E ven if there weren't so few platitudes left in the White House manual to engulf and devour public opinion on the Iraq War, a comparison -- any comparison -- by President Bush to Vietnam would seem loopy. Especially since Bush himself rejected that comparison not so long ago. Especially since books about the Vietnam War have titles like " The Making of a Quagmire ." Especially since, in a mere couple of generations, the country from which we cut and ran and left to be overrun by our enemy has emerged as a stable nation and trusted trading partner. Especially since when we stopped fighting over there the only people who followed us here were peace-seeking war refugees who have coalesced into one of the most quickly assimilated ethnic groups in this nation's history. Especially since someone so well versed in history might be expected not to start a war that could be compared to Vietnam. There is nothing left except desperate, mangled Vietnam War history lessons and h

Fear vs. Hope

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Times Square Hustle & Bustle, 2005 Y ou can't dismiss fear out of hand, because bad things do happen. I think New York Mayor Bloomberg has it exactly right: he quantifies terror threats to more common disasters and tells people to get over it. It's real, but get real, according to "I'm not a candidate" Mike. I also happen to think that Obama did make a genuine bad mistake in the uTube debate by saying he'd be willing to meet without precondition with a host of America adversaries. He fell into a trap, period. Does that disqualify him? No. But it is a demerit. On Pakistan, Obama wasn't bold, and was foolish. We all expect, no matter what our political stripe, that the president will do anything to protect us (including torturing people). Who has ever been impeached for propping up a dictator -- or taking down an elected Commie? And as Biden has pointed out, the president has the explicit authority to do what Obama threatened. But floating the balloon ha

The Incredible Shrinking New York Times

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T he New York Times, starting with today's edition, has slashed 1-1/2 inches from the width of the paper "to the national newspaper 12-inch standard," it says on a front-page box. The move save on newsprint and "in some printing press locations, makes special configurations unnecessary." The paper has retained a six-col layout and the cramped feeling of narrower columns is felt immediately; it seems as though their width is about the same as when the paper was 8-col. Fewer Letters Fit To Print The change appears most dramatic on the editorial page: editorials are the same width, which means that letters to the editor have lost an entire column. A special explanation is made here: "As you can plainly see, the available space for letters has been reduced by about one-third. There's no question that the smaller paper is easier to wield, though I suspect that the ancient technique of folding opened pages in half and reading it in quarters -- the better to t