Desperate To Smear

Anne Kornblut of the WaPo was torn between duty and honor - report the truth, or smear Palin.  Somewhat comically, she chose both [after the first pass came back from rewrite - see Ace or Bill Kristol]:

Palin Links Iraq to Sept. 11 In Talk to Troops in Alaska

By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 12, 2008; A01

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska, Sept. 11 -- Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."

OMG!  Everyone knows Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 and suggesting he did causes libs to clutch their hearts!  OTOH, Al Qaeda has made Iraq one of their central fronts since the 2003 US invasion.  Here goes Anne:

The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

In other words, it is widely agreed that these newly-deployed soldiers will have a chance to take a bite out of the people who killed thousands of Americans, just as the governor said.  Hey, Anne, where's the lead? [Bill Kristol fires away at the initial version, which omits the obvious fact that yes, there are Al Qaeda in Iraq today.]

Anne rallies nicely in covering our imminent war with Russia discussed below:

Palin continued to take a hard line on national security issues when asked whether war with Russia could be necessary if Georgia were to join NATO and Russia crossed its borders again. Palin replied, "Perhaps so."

"I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help," she said.

This completely omits Palin's emphasis of non-military alternatives to war, all permissible under the NATO treaty:

It doesn't have to lead to war and it doesn't have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

This also lacks context, since Obama also favors expanding NATO to include Georgia.

They lacked commitment on the absurd Saddam-9/11 link but it's Mission Accomplished on the war with Russia.

THIS IS HOW ITS DONE: Anne K should take a lesson from Jim Rutenberg of the Times, who tucked this in paragraphs six and seven:

At a separate event on Thursday, a deployment ceremony for her son Track and thousands of other soldiers heading to Iraq from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Ms. Palin told them they would be fighting “the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.”

The comments sounded reminiscent of the disputed connections the Bush administration once made, but no longer does, between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks. But a senior McCain campaign aide said Ms. Palin did not believe Saddam Hussein played a role in the attacks.

Well, I hope the campaign aide also pointed out that Al Qaeda is currently in Iraq (in diminishing numbers, thanks to US troops).

And since there is no real story there, other than in a desperate lib attack fantasy, the Times buried the war with Russia near the end:

Ms. Palin was particularly forceful in discussing Russia, saying its incursion into Georgia earlier this summer was “unprovoked,” a description that some foreign policy analysts have argued with. But, pronouncing the name of the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, with perfect pitch, she avoided a question that has bedeviled experts on Eastern European affairs: what the United States can or should do to “restore Georgian sovereignty” over its separatist regions.

“We’ve got to keep an eye on Russia,” she said, then repeated the phrase.

She expressed full support for the induction of Georgia and Ukraine into the NATO alliance, which has prompted strong Russian protest. The position is shared by Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama and Mr. Obama’s running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Ms. Palin acknowledged that such membership could require the United States to join militarily in defense of Georgia if Russia was to move against it again.

"Acknowledged" is good, since it was Gibson doing the warmongering.

LET'S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE:  Palin-Gibson interview here.

Comments

[MayBee]

Her son is going to war.
And they use that moment to take a cheap shot at her (and Bush).
Can't they ever just observe?

[Buford Gooch]

Look at all of the other cheap shots they have taken. Cheap shots are all they have.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I posted this in one of the earlier threads before I saw this one. Vanderleun is very harsh and:

Monsters from the Id: Good-bye to All That's Democrat

Ditto everything at the link - My answer to all trolls, media, and the left in general.

[mkultra]

Man oh man. Tom. You have been working hard tonite spinning Sarah's comments. You offer the minority, plausible interpretation. And you do it so well. Common sense be dammed.

But it is some much b*llsh*t. I hope you are getting paid.

[Mustang0302]

Coming soon, on PMSNBC..."Countdown with Anne Kilkenny."

[Topsecretk9]

ABC cleaned up for Gibson:

He [Allah] confirms: Nope, edited out of the East Coast feed too

isn't it interesting that an New Network memory holes their MISTAKES of the other half of the electorate?

How MANY times has this happened, and in the other direction have they edited for favorability when it wasn't playing well for their for preferred candidate?

LUN

[Topsecretk9]

ABC News? Airbrush...LUN

[Terry Johnson]

The way the US media is whoring for Obama and attacking Palin should be the final nail in it's rotten coffin. And how any real Democrat could vote for a party that encourages the sort of filth they are flinging at Sarah Palin is beyond me. If there is any justice in the world
the Republicans should win this election by a landslide and let the Democrats sling back to the Kos infested swamp they're created for themselves.

[Shakes The Clown]

BARACK OBAMA: In a conference call with reporters, Obama said Clinton would continue the "Bush doctrine" of only speaking to leaders of rogue nations if they first meet conditions laid out by the United States.

Looks like Barack doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is either.

http://cesspoolofhumanity.blogspot.com/

[kim]

The excesses of the press can be likened to the atrocities of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Palin has engendered an Awakening.
=====================================

[Pagar]

Good Morning to All!

Is there an honest, unbiased person left in America's media?

[Jane]

Hi Pagar,

I'm with you. I think I abhor the press more than I abhor the left moonbats.

[Jane]

(are there any other kinds of moonbats than "left ones"?) It's a typo.

[Mustang0302]

Brit Hume.

[bunky]

Carlos Slim has just picked up over 6% of the NYT common. The end of their model is near.

[Pofarmer]

More from the NYT's.

Ad on sex education distorts Obama policy

Mr. Obama voted for the bill in committee, where it passed, but it never came to a full and final vote. The proposal called for “age and developmentally appropriate” sex education and also allowed parents the option of withdrawing their children from such classroom instruction if they felt that it clashed with their beliefs or values.

In referring to the sex-education bill, the McCain campaign is largely recycling old and discredited accusations made against Mr. Obama by Alan Keyes in their 2004 Senate race.

So when are we gonna see, "100 year remark on Iraq distorts McCain Policy."

Just asking.

Asshats.

[stan]

Don't just focus on the bias and propaganda. The incompetence and stupidity of the standard MSM journalist is just as significant.

They aren't just liars and frauds, they're incompetent. When historians in future generations study the performance of our news media, the blatant propaganda won't be the only thing they notice. The jaw-dropping stupidity will be just as evident.

[Mustang0302]

About the time they yank Duranty's Pulitzer.

[Jane]

WEll When McCain wins I'd love to see the left turn on the media, for 1. not winning the election for them and 2. convincing them they had it sewn up.

Sadly I expect there will be race riots instead and all will be blamed on Sarah Palin because 1. she is the devil; or 2. she made them do it; or 3. she singlehandedly stole the election.

These people need to either grow up or die off.

[Neo]

Now it appears that Palin isn't just a problem for Obama.

[centralcal]

I abhor them equally, Jane, they are pretty much all cut from the same cloth.

I am beginning to think, however, that the media bias and propaganda is actually working in our favor and against them. Clarice cited some polls yesterday about media ratings (which are abysmal). The larger public is no longer deaf, dumb, or blind to the liberal media onslaught.

The more they trumpet their bias, the more they harm their candidate - The One.

[Porchlight]

Good morning everyone! Thanks for that link, Neo - just the kind of pleasant eye-opener I enjoy on a Friday.

[fdcol63]

Yeah, competitive Congressional races would definitely be a big bonus.

Perhaps 2 years of Reid and Pelosi have been enough.

[Porchlight]

Per Rasmussen, McCain has closed to within two points of Obama in....Washington.

Washington is the latest state to show a strong western surge for John McCain since he added Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Washington finds Barack Obama still ahead, but barely. It’s Obama 49%, McCain 47%. A month ago, Obama was up by twelve percentage points. Recent polls have shown McCain gains in Montana, New Mexico and North Dakota.

Among Democrats, Obama now attracts 83% of the vote, down six points from last month. However, the big change comes among unaffiliated voters who now favor McCain by a 48% to 43% margin. In August, before the two parties held their conventions, Obama led by twelve among voters not affiliated with either major political party (see demographic crosstabs).

[fdcol63]

Hopefully, the MSM and the Dems are experiencing the consequences of their own groupthink.

More and more people are realizing that the same people who have championed the benefits of "diversity" didn't practice what they preach.

[kcom]

"...the blatant propaganda won't be the only thing they notice. The jaw-dropping stupidity will be just as evident."

Agreed.

If the news media were a defense lawyer in a court of law they would be routinely toasted by any half-competent prosector. Every single one of their clients would go to jail. They are intellectually lazy, undereducated and so lacking in the concept of due diligence they must not know it even exists. It's a shame we don't get to vote some of them "off the island" like we can with politicians.

[Christopher Fotos]

The comments sounded reminiscent of the disputed connections the Bush administration once made, but no longer does, between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Which Administration officials? Not Bush! I don't have time for link searches but this was a major, repeated subject of misreporting, now, unsurprisingly, coming back to life. Both the NYT piece and the WaPo story this morning imply connecting the two was a standard Administration line until BushCo finally saw the light. Not true. I think there is one example of his spokesman suggesting that in one press conference, later corrected.

Here is an old WaPo story that I submit for perusal even though it is co-written by Dana Milbank.

[fdcol63]

A better knowledge of history would be a plus, too. LOL

[steve sturm]

As I posted here, all it takes is an understanding of the English language and some common sense to know that Palin wasn't saying what Kornblut alleges she did.

Our troops aren't now going to Iraq to fight Hussein or his government or his supporters, the enemies our troops are going to fight are the terrorists who have come into Iraq since we invaded... and these terrorists are indeed connected to the ones who planned and celebrated the 9/11 attacks.

usually the Post does a better job of their hatchet work on conservatives. This story was remarkably amateurish.

[Jane]

Gerard Baker is fantabuloso today. LUN

[Bruce]

I think we need to elect McCain - Palin just to tick off the Obamedia.

[Barry Dauphin]

Notice how she didn't say that Saddam was behind 9/11. The game is to ask questions in such a way, so that the answer can be interpretted as saying what the journos want to hear (after all they've got a story written before the do the interview or read the transcripts).

[Jane]

I am beginning to think, however, that the media bias and propaganda is actually working in our favor and against them

WEll not well enough in my book. My 82 year old mother faithfully reads (and trusts) the NY Times and listens to Charlie Gibson and Charlie Rose who she believes are pretty conservative.

I'm quite confident that this morning in the East Coast old age home she is positive that Sarah Palin is a hubris ridden bible thumping idiot who doesn't even understand the Bush doctrine.

[boris]

usually the Post does a better job of their hatchet work on conservatives

When they have to rush to deconstruct the conservative in a few weeks, instead of perfecting the narrative over years, like they managed with Reagan and GWB, it shows.

[bad]

Kornbutt does know Hussein is dead-right?

[hrtshpdbox]

Washington state, I've mentioned it here before, for me that's a real bellweather; if there's a Palin-by-proximity effect in Washington, and Obama has to devote time and resources there - that would be incredibly sweet(and if there's a similar outreach to "rugged Americans" in Maine then it's just all over).

[Michael Chaney]

Did Bush ever claim that Iraq was involved in 9/11? I know some of the more clueless conservatives did, but I don't think Bush did.

[drjohn]

I guess it wasn't enough to throw 30 Democrat lawyers at Palin. The left wing media has to come to their aid.

Do any of them ever read any of this and see just how stupid and dishonest they look?

[Extraneus]

Gibson Pushes Palin to Concede Global Warming 'Man-Made'

But she didn't cave.

[Banjo]

"Seven out of 10 voters (69%) remain convinced that reporters try to help the candidate they want to win, and this year by a nearly five-to-one margin voters believe they are trying to help Barack Obama."

-- The Rasmussen Report

Where do people get these outlandish ideas?

[centralcal]

Great link, Jane. Baker is always a good read.

[Jane]

He's rapidly becoming one of my favorites Centralcal.

[Moptop]

If you check the 911 report, which Biden was prominent in producing, you can read that Mohammed Attah met with the Iraqi Secret Police once, for certain, and probably twice, in the year before the attacks. I am sure that Attah was probably working on other affairs as he planned and trained for the suicide mission.

I would love to see this argument re-opened, but it appears that McCain has chickened out, and probably rightly so from a political point of view.

[Pofarmer]

Do any of them ever read any of this and see just how stupid and dishonest they look?

Let's hope not for a while at least.

[Moptop]

" know some of the more clueless conservatives did"

Care to debate a "clueless conservative" on the matter?

[Moptop]

Never mind, I don't really have time for that, but if you check the 911 report, what it says was that Iraq provided "no operational support" for the hi-jackers. That is a funny turn of phrase isn't it? It is a lot different than "had absolutely nothing to do with it" as is so often repeated. Ask Biden if Iraq had "absolutely nothing to do with 911" I think this would be an interesting question, because his own report would force him to answer that "Yes, Iraq was involved, at least tangentially, in 911" Does this mean they planned it? I doubt it, but Attah took the risk of meeting with them while this operation was in the planning stages for some good reason.

[kim]

Extraneous, Palin is going to school McCain about global cooling. It's pretty obvious that she's on to skepticism, the code word for we skeptics is 'natural cycles', but it's also obvious that she knows the time is not right to spring it on the world. Energy and taxes on carbon will be plenty for now.

Spencer Weart, one of the gurus of the global warming movement, has recently put up a guest post at Real Climate admitting that the climate sensitivity to CO2 is unknown. There is short, but astute, commentary on his post at Roger Pielke, Sr's site climatesci.org

Oh yeah, melting in the Arctic is nearly over and ice extent now is 400,000 square kilometers ahead of last year at this time. This year's melt will not be extensive as last year, and if I'm right about the globe cooling(I am) then the Arctic will slowly and progressively freeze back up over the coming decade.

This will be a wonderful issue in a few more years. The paradigm has developed cracks, widening daily.
===================================

[kim]

Basically, the message is that the global climate models are inadequate at present to predict the future. We've been sold a pig in a poke, and the lipstick smeared on the pig is not just on his lips.
==========================================

[RichatUF]

Michael-

I know some of the more clueless conservatives did...

Then you must have been asleep throughout the Clinton Administration. Not sure many neo-cons were in the Clinton Administration when that article was written. Their are plenty of other articles from 1995-2000 in the msm and specalist press.

[Extraneus]

But check this out. (Hint: It's dishonest.)

Palin's climate remarks conflict with past views

[Sam]

John Hinderaker comments:

What's happening here is that America's least respected, least talented and least honorable interest group, our reporters and editors, are trying to ram their choice for President down our throats. The AP directs
its "news" account, which might as well be an Obama campaign press release, toward the ignorant, that is, those who weren't able to see or read the interview, or otherwise judge for themselves. Will the media's effort to force the election of Barack Obama work? It's hard to say. There is no precedent for this sort of mass mis-reporting of the news.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Do these morons ever read the news for comprehension?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 = The U.S. military has intercepted a letter in which senior Al Qaeda operatives reveal their fury over militants' failure to keep up with the campaign against U.S.-led forces in Iraq, U.S. General David Perkins told FOX News Wednesday.

The letter, dated March 6, 2008, has been reproduced with select quotes in English.

It was found on the body of Abu Nizar, believed to be the go-between between Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, his leader in Iraq.

Nazir was killed by Coalition Forces in Baghdad on April 24.

The letter blasts Al Qaeda in Iraq for failing to maintain communication and for poorly-planned attacks. Al Qaeda leaders also slam operatives for sending fighters into battle alone, without direction.

Al-Zawahiri also criticizes them for posting videos online using archive footage of violent attacks, yet presenting them as new evidence of their success.

The letter reads, "[Aby Ayyub al-Masri]... is not strong enough to bear this great great responsibility, and is weak at [...] decision making. He is weak [...] he is totally isolated [..] this is affecting his grip on reality."

The United States military said Al Qaeda in Iraq responded to the criticism with claims of being financially cut off, and unable to recruit capable new members.

Perkins told FOX News the communications show that Al Qaeda in Iraq is "psychologically bankrupt,” and that it cannot raise meaningful support within in the country. He added that the numbers of Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq are a third of what they were previously. When asked what those levels were, Perkins would not release numbers.

[RichatUF]

damn it. Their->There

[Sue]

Jane,

That was an awesome Baker article. It should, if it hasn't already, be sent all over the place. Where is larwyn?

[M. Simon]

Worried - Not Panicked.

I think it will take another week for panic to set in.

[M. Simon]

Sam,

About 40% or more get their news from the inet. It ain't going to work.

[M. Simon]

kim,

Warming scepticism is outrunning belief in the USA by at least 3:2.

[kim]

Extraneous, the media is so trapped in the echo chamber of coastal elites that they have no idea of the rise of skepticism nationwide. It is a mass movement, just not a huge one yet, and it is one that will inevitably reveal the failure of a false narrative.

We are cooling, folks; for how long, even kim doesn't know.
======================================

[RichatUF]

Porchlight-

The Washington link is impressive. If a McCain-Palin ticket is competitive there, now, I wouldn't be surprised to see House and Senate Dems attacking Obama in the coming weeks to save their hides.

Also, has Obama made his speech in NH yet, I'm in a "bubble" today and wanted to get the JOMers take.

[clarice]

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows John McCain up by three points, his largest lead since Obama wrapped up the Democratic Presidential Nomination. For most of the past several months, Obama has held a modest lead with McCain slipping ahead by a single point on just three of the past hundred days. McCain now attracts 48% of the vote while Obama earns 45%. When "leaners" are included, it’s McCain 49%, Obama 46%. Yesterday, the candidates were tied (see recent daily results).

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I can't say for sure, but I would lay odds that Sarah Palin has ideas about glow-bull warming similar to me and many others. I don't dismiss that man has contributed to environmental problems, i.e. acid rain, LA smog, etc. But, common sense and a modicum of understanding of natural forces tells us that the earth has a way of cleansing herself and that climate cycles are documented back to the beginning of time.

We have more evidence right now that the glow-bull warming climate models are not holding up and that legit. scientists have debunked them rather thoroughly.

No one says we shouldn't be good stewards, but to continue to cry wolf and make it into some kind of hair pulling/hand-wringing crisis just turns people off completely.

[M. Simon]

According to

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

NH is a battle ground state (it is not solidly blue).

However if ∅ is fighting for their few EVs he is in big trouble.

[Extraneus]

link

It is unusual to find a three-point jump in one day on the tracking poll. Daily tracking results are collected via nightly telephone surveys and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. Today’s gain for McCain comes partly from a good night of polling last night and partly from the fact that a good night for Obama on Monday is no longer part of the sample.

[Extraneus]

Rasmussen Markets data now shows gave McCain to be a slight favorite for victory in November. These figures are updated on a 24/7 basis by market participants and currently give McCain a 52.0% chance of victory. Expectations for Obama are at 46.9%. Prior to this past week, expectations for a Democratic victory had generally been in the 60% range.

[ian cormac]

The Wahhabi scourge; in the same vein as Genghis or Attila. has been the bane of the tribes of Anbar/Dulaimi, Salauddin, et al.
One fellow of the Ilkwan Otaibi clan, which I've referenced before, in accounts going back to Doughty in 1889. 'reported for duty' in Iraq but left and was blown up in Afghanistan. It seems shameful that Kornblut would follow this line but she is a former NY Times reporter after all.

Larry Rohter's an ok guy all told, he rooted for the Colombian govt over the guerillas,something the likes of Narco News weren't able to deal with; but he has shown signs of flakiness over time. He didn't know the historical significance of the day of the BTR shootdown; Feb 24th, as a day equivalent to Paul Revere's ride, El Grito de Yara. He teamed up on a story with the Nina Burleigh of Cuba reporters, Anna Bardach on a supposed assasination plot that embarassed the feds, when they had
to acquit the suspects. So now he's been
reduced to covering campaign ads on obscure health policy in Chicago, that's gotta smart. That's one step above the obituary beat, right next to David Kirkpatrick's
anthropology of the rare species 'homo conservatus'; a beat that is catching with
the News Weak cover 'Palintology' get it it's a pun on her names, referring to fossils. As Beldar has pointed out it admonishes Sarah for having the nerve to consider the dismissal of this 'fine upstanding trooper' Wooten. It includes another behind the scenes look at the Taliban new kidnapping scheme; by Moreau and Yusufzai. also throws is the librarian canard; among everything else. Question, what do you do with books
that are essentially flawed; like Van De Mark's plagiarized profile of the Manhattan project, Bellesiles falsified gun records,
that 'explosive' Bush biographer,Hatfield, which aptly ended up being an attempted murderer; after his death, that hackjob
was republished in Spanish, with additional
commentaries by Nobel prize Moonbats like
Fo and Saramago; as "Bush; Nero of the New
Century" I swear I'm not making this up. It'll probably be in the endnotes toStones' W' screed. As my history professor friend says, "history is a lie"

[M. Simon]

kim et. al,

There is a tiny spot today. Soon to be gone. Catch it while you can.

BTW 60% of Brits think GW is propaganda for taxing schemes.

[M. Simon]

ian cormac,

I used to be an avid follower of Narco News. I was corresponding with their main guy on a regular basis. They do have a point on how enmeshed the Drug War is with the American Economy.

OTOH I never bought in to their communist agenda.

We could cut the legs off all those bastards by ending the drug war.

[Enlightened]

Hey turnabout is fairplay.

Palin's next in-depth interview should be with Fox and Sean Hannity. I see no reason why Hannity needs to be fair and balanced since there clearly is no such thing. Time for Palin's supporters to come out with guns blazing and report and edit the news - which in Palin's case means merely showing the full context, the full clip, quoting her accurately and no lying recaps or stealth edits. Fox and Co. just need to pitbull the news cycle a little.

And since Fox is more watched than any other news - more people will get the true story of Sarah Palin.

She did fine, and now she knows what she's up against from these f--ers. Steady as she goes and do not back down. The American people are getting bullcrap news about her every day - and just who is drawing record crowds in spite of it?

The MSM and Team Obama are sadly mistaken if they think most of the nation are so in touch that they can lie and distort at will.

And the Bush Doctrine? You mean ChimpyMcHitlerBushCheney doctrine? The one the left has been utterly deranged about for 8 years, the same one that the deranged left has been implying a McCain/Palin ticket is McSame?

Next interview she will be expected to have "studied up" and the minute she more clearly defines the Bush Doctrine she becomes - McSame. I hope Team McCain sees that. Next time she merely needs to indicate that "this is a trick question, because if I answer that I do know it, a doctrine that has been skewered by the Democrats for 8 years,then I'm four more years of Bush, and if I don't, I don't know enough foreign policy." So I will merely say I know of the Bush Doctrine, and that in a McCain/Palin presidency we will govern using every remedy at our disposal.

Keep moving those goldposts losers. Pretty soon someone will be able to fly a few more planes right through them.

[M. Simon]

ian,

What is the BTR shootdown?

[Neo]

This bitch has gotten me so mad that I’m gonna do something I haven’t done in two decades .. send a check to a politician .. and a politician I really didn’t like at the beginning of this primary season, at that.

Go McCain — Palin

[M. Simon]

Enlightened,

Rephrase it don't talk about it:

"I believe in the McCain doctrine. 'We win. They lose.'"

[ian cormac]

Brothers to the Rescue; Feb 24th, 1996; which prompted the Helm/Burton Act. It was the 101st anniversary of the call to uprising against the Spanish; probably close to July 4th, now that I think about it. The Revolutionary govt, turned it into
a day of carnival, to obscure it's counterrevolutionary inpact. After all, we can only have one day to inspire the proletariat. They'll probably make it Obama's birthday.

[PeterUK]

"Put on your red dress, baby
Ya know we're goin' out tonight
Put on your red shoes, baby
Lord, we're goin' win this fight
And-a bring along some boxin' gloves
In case some fool might wanna fight

Put on your high-heel red shoes, lordy
Wear your bangs on your head
Put on your high-heel red shoes, child
Sweep your hair up on your head
Ya know you're looking mighty fine, baby
I'm pretty sure you're gonna knock Dems dead".

[GMax]

Did not read the whole thread. Obama down strong today on Intrade. at about 46 right now. Similar to RAS markets, he was up nearly 2 to 1 not very long ago. If BS walks, then money is talking.

When it hits 39% he can shake hands with McGovern!

[Sue]

You know, as much as I dislike Hillary, I hope she is smiling today.

[SWarren]

Posted this on other thread, should have put it here.

From John Batchelor at Human Events
Obama's Plumbers

~snip~

There is a substantial independent report from a major Democratic source that confirms Diamond's suspicions. The source confirms the unit is led by Bill Ayers himself and likely includes Tom Hayden and other members of "Progressives for Obama." Most critically, the Democratic source says this unit has direct access to media adviser David Axelrod of the Obama-Biden campaign.

LUN

[fdcol63]

When we see evidence of global warming on Mars, Jupiter, and other bodies in the solar system, which (as far as I know) man has not yet corrupted, then I think we can suggest that some external force other than man could be causing this phenomenon.

At the very least, there ought to be some serious scientific research into it.

[Neo]

But, if you were really savvy, you'd "manipulate" the media into a stampede of lurid drivel deriding her as a Stepford wife and a dominatrix, comparing her to Islamic fundamentalists, Pontius Pilate and porn stars, and dismissing her as a dysfunctional brood mare who can't possibly be the biological mother of the kid she was too dumb to abort. Who knows? It's a long shot, but if you could pull it off, a really cunning media manipulator might succeed in manipulating Howie's buddies into spending the month after Labor Day outbidding each other in some insane Who Wants To Be An Effete Condescending Media Snob? death-match. You'd not only make the press look like bozos, but that in turn might tarnish just a little the fellow these geniuses have chosen to anoint.

[SWarren]

GMax, interesting surge in Washington State also from Ras.

Washington is the latest state to show a strong western surge for John McCain since he added Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket.The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Washington finds Barack Obama still ahead, but barely. It’s Obama 49%, McCain 47%. A month ago, Obama was up by twelve percentage points. Recent polls have shown McCain gains in Montana, New Mexico and North Dakota.

[Rick Ballard]

Sue,

Chappaqua police have been responding to neighbors complaints about "shrill, maniacal cackling" coming from Hariworts at all hours of the night. I think it safe to assume that some smiling was involved.

Quite an infestation of Axelrod Astroturfers here last night and this morning. The weeping and gnashing of teeth is delightful.

[bad]

SWarren

Diamond's Global Labor site is inaccessable right now.

That is an astounding article and I would like to read Professor Diamond's research from which the Human Event's article came.

[SWarren]

Yeah, Bad. I tried to go GL too.

[Barney Frank]

John Batchelor's article is excellent except for one small flaw. He says that CAC was not on the [inter]net prior to Aug 11 08 except for Steve Diamond's blog.
But we know our TM was all over CAC like a bullpup on a soup bone long before that.

[PeterUK]

"the enemies our troops are going to fight are the terrorists who have come into Iraq since we invaded... and these terrorists are indeed connected to the ones who planned and celebrated the 9/11 attacks."

al Qaeda will have been moving into place after Senator Rockefeller D went round the Middle East telling them to prepare for war.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was already in position in Iraq before the invasion.

[bgates]

Gabriel just posted on another thread a note that Steve Diamond had nothing to do with the Human Events story.

[Barney Frank]

The weeping and gnashing of teeth is delightful.

Long as they don't start rending their clothes.
Suggest we place a bucket of ashes and a pile of sackcloth on the doorstep. Might keep them out altogther.

[JJ]

"glow-bull warming"

lol

Hope McCain keeps the pressure on. To see conservatives firing back is so nice.

I predict that the biggest, most bogus October Surprise is coming.

[bad]

WARNING: The link from SWarren is wrong. John Batchelor took Professor Steve Diamond's hypothetical quotes and used them as if they were actual quotes.

Steve Diamond's blog has been changed to "invitation only". I have not heard back from him on why it is this way.

This is what he posted today that is behind the access wall.

A story has been posted tonight on Real Barack Obama authored by John Batchelor. It alleges the existence of a Plumbers Unit inside the Obama campaign that is aimed at blocking public access to the records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) at the University of Illinois and Brown University.

The story relies heavily on inaccurate and made up quotes from me. I never provided Real Barack Obama these quotes, I never spoke to John Batchelor for a story to be written for Real Barack Obama, I did not even know he was writing a piece for that website and I turned down an interview with him for the right wing magazine Human Events. (The email I sent to Batchelor is copied below.)

I have asked Batchelor to pull the story and remove the quotes and to only quote clearly and directly from Global Labor so that it is clear that I was not, in fact, interviewed by him.

If you see the Batchelor story referenced anywhere, PLEASE provide this correction. This is going to make the CAC story a non-story if this is profligated.

Posted by: Gabriel Sutherland | September 12, 2008 at 11:38 AM

[Porchlight]

Gabriel Sutherland posted a disclaimer on the other thread from Steve Diamond re: the Human Events CAC story - something about inaccurate quotations.

The comment is here if you want to check it out.

[bad]

Barney Frank

Oh yeah

[Porchlight]

John Batchelor's article is excellent except for one small flaw. He says that CAC was not on the [inter]net prior to Aug 11 08 except for Steve Diamond's blog.

Not only that, but the link to the CAC finding aid (or at minimum a shortened version of it) was active on the UIC site as of August 9 08. I sent a link to the Google cache to Stanley Kurtz after his access was shut down, but the same link now says "as of Sept 9 08" so it's useless as evidence. I think I have a saved screenshot on my home computer.

[Steve]

fdcol63,

There has been warming on Mars. The argument is over whether the same process is in play here and there (Mars' atmosphere is too thin for a greenhouse effect to be significant).

[Neo]

It's really a problem for the media when former Hiliary supporters start sounding like Republicans in regard to the media.

CBSNews.com: Your former colleague Howard Wolfson argued that you all unintentionally paved the way for Palin by exposing some of the unfair media coverage that Hillary Clinton received. And, therefore, a lot of the media may now be treating Sarah Palin with kid gloves. Do you agree with that?

Mark Penn: Well, no, I think the people themselves saw unfair media coverage of Senator Clinton. I think if you go back, the polls reflected very clearly what "Saturday Night Live" crystallized in one of their mock debates about what was happening with the press.

I think here the media is on very dangerous ground. I think that when you see them going through every single expense report that Governor Palin ever filed, if they don't do that for all four of the candidates, they're on very dangerous ground. I think the media so far has been the biggest loser in this race. And they continue to have growing credibility problems.

And I think that that's a real problem growing out of this election. The media now, all of the media — not just Fox News, that was perceived as highly partisan — but all of the media is now being viewed as partisan in one way or another. And that is an unfortunate development.

CBSNews.com: So you think the media is being uniquely tough on Palin now?

Mark Penn: Well, I think that the media is doing the kinds of stories on Palin that they're not doing on the other candidates. And that's going to subject them to people concluding that they're giving her a tougher time. Now, the media defense would be, "Yeah, we looked at these other candidates who have been in public life at an earlier time."

What happened here very clearly is that the controversy over Palin led to 37 million Americans tuning into a vice-presidential speech, something that is unprecedented, because they wanted to see for themselves. This is an election in which the voters are going to decide for themselves. The media has lost credibility with them.

[SWarren]

Gabriel,
If you see the Batchelor story referenced anywhere, PLEASE provide this correction. This is going to make the CAC story a non-story if this is profligated.

The Batchelor article was posted at Lucianne.com which is where I got it, and probably why it has traveled all over the net. Maybe Diamond should ask Lucianne to pull it.

[M. Simon]

Senate Energy Summit Today.

[PeterUK]

Kim,
It is cold here,there have been two really shit summers in a row,the blackberries are not ripening,the geese are flying South,the government is talking about loft insulation.

[RichatUF]

Steve-

Mars' atmosphere is too thin for a greenhouse effect to be significant...

Mars' atmosphere is 95% CO2.

[bad]

SWarren

Clarice's instints were much better than mine. I was dying to read Diamond's post but noted the Human Events story had no links. Should have been a clue... DUH

We find gross errors in the media every day and still I am astounded. WHACK WHACK WHACK

That hurt

[M. Simon]

Neo,

Go check out No Quarter (Larry Johnson) if you want to see tons more of that. I'm amazed.

Those guys have lots of left connections so it will infect that whole side of politics.

[nlcatter]

we are not fighting AQ in iraq, we are fighting Sunni and Shiite milita
and Iran surrogates