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Addresses of the Stranger Staff:
Columnist:
LARRY MIZELL
2620 CHERRY ST
SEATTLE, WA 98122 (206) 325-3149
Christopher Frizzelle
Writer
The Stranger
906 E JOHN ST
Seattle WA
Editors:
CHARLES MUDEDE
4524 35TH AVE S
SEATTLE, WA 98118
DANIEL K SAVAGE
1203 ALLEN PL
SEATTLE, WA 98103
DAVID L SCHMADER Born Nov 1968
152 20TH AVE
SEATTLE, WA 98122
Publisher:
TIMOTHY KECK
5043 15TH AVE NE
SEATTLE, WA 98105
Ad Sales Manager:
LAURIE H SAITO
3903 42ND AVE SW
SEATTLE, WA 98116 (206) 937-1080
News Editor:
JOSHUA A FEIT
121 14TH AVE E
SEATTLE, WA 98112 (206) 709-9711
Posted by: The Watchmen at November 01, 2008 08:55 AM (EegTB)
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I hope they get sued into bankruptcy, and that the hipster-doofuses (doofi?) behind this cowardly and irresponsible act face criminal charges for incitement and voter intimidation.
Posted by: Mike at November 01, 2008 12:19 PM (3dXbO)
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And the horse you rode in on. And the boat you came over on, Azmat.
Posted by: Darrell at November 02, 2008 09:00 AM (WLXEf)
New Media-Vetting Site!
A new site is being put together by a colleague of Ace of Spades to keep track of reporters who do not fact-check their stories adequately, who display undue bias, or who go after less-newsworthy targets (e.g., Jodi Kantor serving up warmed-over gossip about Cindy McCain as "news").
The project is very likely too late to affect this election, and is most certainly not soliciting funds. ("Give to the McCain campaign, or to a 527," it recommends right now.) But it will provide an invaluable resource in the years ahead, so we can keep track of the most aggressive purveyors of slime against people such as the Palin family, and (most egregiously, of course), Joe the Plumber.
After the election the project will be needing researchers, data-entry people, and writers.
In retrospect, we've needed a mediapedia for a long time, and it's exciting to see this finally happening.
Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword.
I'm normally against anything that smacks of blackmail, but, like Ace, I'm getting tired of the media getting a "pass" while they slime private citizens.
Just as (like Instapundit always insists) citizens should have a right to videotape cops who are videotaping them, journalists who essentially put people on trial for asking questions of politicians should themselves be "vetted."
I mean Joe the Plumber vetted. I mean Paula Jones vetted.
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I don't know about this. I try to live by the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. I wish I had a better solution to put pressure on a out-of-control media.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at October 17, 2008 07:59 PM (leFtu)
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I'm usually with you, but to be fair I AM having an Angry Day . . .
I'm fighting hard, but I can't wait until this thing is over, even if it means I'm wrong about the outcome. I feel like I'm getting sucked into the vortex here. [Fine, fine, boys: make your jokes. But you know what I mean.]
Posted by: Attila Girl at October 17, 2008 09:53 PM (TpmQk)
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"I wish I had a better solution to put pressure on a out-of-control media."
How about putting them on the job market by canceling all those subscriptions, never sampling their 'product?' The 'one ideology' media is the most dangerous disease to afflict democracy there has ever been. The marginal media of a few thousand readers can never compete with the 50 million that sample the mainstream Kool-Aid.
Posted by: Darrell at October 17, 2008 11:14 PM (XHJjx)
Sheesh.
I had no idea I was going to have to run this video. This debate was either a draw, or a slight win for Palin--very close; both Palin and Biden did quite well.
But it's being spun as a win for . . . Biden? Come on.
I guess that means that after the Republicans win this election again, it will have been stolen. Retroactively. 'Cause no one could possibly vote for McCain; not after he brought Mayor Bimbo on board.
Via Goldstein, who reads the mainstream shit so I don't have to. Read his entire analysis.
Posted by: Attila Girl at
09:32 AM
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Let's Not Be Silly.
Men can have private meetings with foreign leaders, and it's okay.
If women have private meetings with foreign leaders, and there are no reporters to supervise, they might just start gushing blood out at them—like gory firehoses—and it takes a good pressman to smooth a situation like that over.
Actually, Palin just didn't want reporters in on these meetings because Charlie Gibson wasn't available, and it made her sad.
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Why does the Press have to be there? Can't they just make up shit on their own like they've been doing?
Pravda and Izvestia are thinking about suing. Or adding a bit of truth now and then to differentiate themselves from the pack.
Posted by: Darrell at September 24, 2008 01:31 PM (Hu8qW)
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Yeh but meeting alone with Karzai? now that is scary!
You know what Karzai is telling his friends, he is gonna be in power for the rest of his life.
Posted by: azmat hussain at September 24, 2008 03:01 PM (ZVMDn)
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I'm sure you and your friends are doing your best to make that as short as possible, Azmat. Did you get those discount coupons I sent you for the Islamabad Marriott? Lots of goodies if you hurry.
Rush met with Karzai alone. You have to remember Azmat that your allies are the free world's enemies snd vice versa. I'm sure she would be packing if she met with Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn. They are folks from Barack's 'hood, you know.
Posted by: Darrell at September 24, 2008 03:19 PM (Hu8qW)
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I found this picture that reminds me of Ms. Palin
www.pugbus.net/artman/uploads/wilbanks.jpg
Check it out, Darrell just for your eyes only.
Posted by: azmat hussain at September 25, 2008 11:34 AM (ZVMDn)
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Yes, Azmat, I know you think that all women are the same. On another note, I hear that Canada has an excellent mental health system. You should check it out.
Posted by: Darrell at September 25, 2008 02:49 PM (n8ZIL)
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Darrell, you have to recognize that there is a problem first, isn't that the first step to any recovery.
Now I have to say this and I will be quiet after that.
What is happening to the democratic process when Ahmedinijad will answer reporters' questions and Sarah Palin won't?
Maybe we need an extension on this election till the future VP is fully briefed.
Posted by: azmat hussain at September 25, 2008 03:36 PM (ZVMDn)
Even when I disagree with him, he's excellent. I know that because I start to bristle in just the right way—that is to say, I realize he's just made a nice case for the other side on the handful of issues we disagree on—mostly related to sexuality and gender roles, natch. I think I once boycotted him for three months due to some remark he made that appeared to paint women with just too broad a brush [so to speak]. I heard later that he was devastated—Devastated!—that I was absent from his listening audience.
Dennis on that awful Charlie Gibson ambush of Governor Palin:
I want to assume that people of good will on both sides can still be honest about what transpires politically. And in this instance what transpired was that Gibson intended to humiliate Palin.
It wasn't even subtle. Virtually everything Gibson did and virtually every question he posed was designed to trap, or trick, or demean Gov. Palin. There are views of his face that so reek of contempt that anyone shown photos of his look would immediately identify it as contemptuous.
But one series of questions, in particular, blew any cover of impartiality and revealed Gibson's aim to humiliate Palin.
GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?
PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?
GIBSON: The Bush -- well, what do you -- what do you interpret it to be?
PALIN: His worldview?
GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.
When he asked Palin whether she agreed with the Bush Doctrine without defining it, he gave the game away. He lost any pretense of fairness. Asking the same unanswerable question three times had one purpose -- to humiliate the woman. That was not merely partisan. It was mean.
I couldn't answer it -- and I have been steeped in international affairs since I was a Fellow at the Columbia University School of International Affairs in the 1970s. I have since been to 82 countries, and have lectured in Russian in Russia and in Hebrew in Israel. Most Americans would consider a candidate for national office who had such a resume qualified as regards international relations. Yet I had no clue how to answer Gibson's question.
I had no clue because there is no right answer. There are at least four doctrines that are called "Bush Doctrine," which means that there is no "Bush Doctrine." It is a term bereft of meaning, as became abundantly clear when Gibson finally explained what he was referring to:
GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that -- the right to preemptive attack of a country that was planning an attack on America?
That's the Bush Doctrine? "The right to preemptive attack of a country that was planning an attack on America?"
Isn't that just common sense? What country in history has thought it did not have the right to attack those planning to attack it? I learned the "Bush Doctrine" when I was a student at yeshiva in the fourth grade, when I was taught a famous Talmudic dictum from about 1,800 years ago: "If someone is coming to kill you, rise early and kill him."
And preemptive attack is exactly what happened in June 1967, when Israel attacked Egypt and Syria because those countries were planning to attack Israel. Would any American president before George W. Bush have acted differently than Israel did? Of course not. Did they all believe in the Bush Doctrine?
That is how Gibson added foolishness to his meanness.
All the interview did was reconfirm that Republicans running for office run against both their Democratic opponent and the mainstream news media.
Yup. But this time, they really are overplaying their hand.
And Prager isn't even taking the selective video-editing and the camera-angle trick into account.
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I am not in politics, nor am I a journalist, nor am I even an especially rabid news junkie.
But I could have defined the Bush Doctrine off the top of my head. I could have said it was propounded in 2002, based largely on the PNAC principles laid out in 1999 or so, that it was laid out before Iraq, and that it set up the invasion of Iraq. The Bush Doctrine, I would have said, is a notion of pre-emptive strikes against those who are perceived to be enemies of US security... or US business interests abroad.
If Sarah Palin couldn't say that much off the top of her head, that really does strike me as odd.
Couldn't you have said as much (perhaps with a different spin, but no fewer details) off the top of your head? Honestly.
Posted by: rin at September 17, 2008 02:07 PM (RcTyt)
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oh, and ps, Iraq wasn't planning to attack us, nor had it attacked us in the previous decade. A little sabre-rattling aside, it was a paralyzed country full of rusty rifles and hungry children, not a threat to the US in any meaningful way. Nor was it in cahoots with AlQaeda, Bin Laden, or 9/11.
Just for the record.
Posted by: Rin at September 17, 2008 02:09 PM (RcTyt)
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Okay--so AQ just moved in after we invaded?
And those meetings between Hussein and AQ were just dalliances? Innocent cups of tea?
And we should have known that Hussein was only acting guilty re: weapons inspectors in order to be macho?--despite putting his life and his regime at risk in so doing? We should have rolled the dice on him developing nuclear weapons?--played the odds rather than the stakes?
And we shouldn't care that he harbored those involved in pre-9/11 assaults on the U.S. by AQ?
And there is nothing more unstable about dictatorships vs. democracies in volatile regions of the world?--just another way to go about business?
And all would be well if we only hadn't invaded, and foisted democracy on those now-unhappy Iraqis?
And . . . screw the Kurds?
Posted by: Attila Girl at September 17, 2008 02:36 PM (TpmQk)
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Rin, the fact that you and Charlie Gibson have the same stereotypes in your heads is cold comfort when the scholars, such as Prager and Charles Krauthammer--who actually coined the term "Bush Doctrine"--agree that there are several meanings for that phrase.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091202457.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
We don't want a VP whose approach to foreign policy is based on cartoons; we want one who is well-versed in the issues, and understands the complexities involved.
Posted by: Attila Girl at September 17, 2008 02:41 PM (TpmQk)
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Keepin' my opinions concerning progressive thinking to myself this time, since you didn't like it the last time I aired them, Attila.
But I have to say, I always thought the 'Bush Doctrine' was a bit more complex than just 'gittem afore they's be a-gettin' us, ar!' After all, 'doctrine' is always much more complex, no?
Posted by: Gregory at September 17, 2008 05:01 PM (cjwF0)
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AoSHQ and the Moronosphere aren't the only blogs I read, as you can see from my blogroll. They're only the first ones I visit.
I take your point on maintaining real-life relationships. I blog under my real name. Not that many people read it, but I get the idea.
Ah. Education. That explains... well, pretty much everything, really.
Darrell: How do Lefties all say the same thing? Isn't it obvious? Leftism can be boiled down to several simple, catchy phrases. You don't even have to really learn them. It's always the same old tired easy, sleazy stuff. You could imitate the exact tones of leftism no problem. The only difficulty is in swallowing your distaste, is all.
Although, I concede, not trollish behaviour. That's far, far harder. But then, I haven't seen too many of 'em on this blog.
Here's the thing, Rin. I, and I daresay quite a number of conservative-leaning folk, happen to believe that the drive to conservatism is innate in everyone, but it is hard to achieve. This is because while you have to work at conservatism, being a socialist requires next to no thought.
Which, btw, is why the left has worked so hard to insinuate itself into the Western education system and poison it from within. Don't say the lefty elites are stupid, even if they sometimes seem so. They understood that much.
Heck, I blogged about this.
btw, painting women with a broad brush? That's easy! I could do that with both eyes wide open! I'd volunteer anyday! No need to pay me anything. Won't even have to be real paint either - chocolate will do just fine.
Oh, you meant his remarks! But that's easy too... that I could do with my eyes shut. All women blame bitchiness on PMS - awfully convenient, innit? We should never have given women the vote - now they all uppity and goin' Democrat. Women are always too durned emotional, and their standards of cleanliness are too high. And what's with the plastic sexuality? Women touchin' and feelin' theyselfs in public places aint no two men gonna do and they're supposedly straight? And you gotta wonder what they up to in them washrooms, always goin' off in groups, takin' Lawd knows how long to piss.
Ooh, I could go on and on and on. Easiest thing to do ever. It does not take a man of Prager's stature to do this.
(Hmph, even *women* find this sort of thing easy - witness the old biddies turning on Gov Palin like sharks. Go Sarahcudda!)
Well, that and stuffing my face. Speaking of which, it's 5.30pm and time for me to go home and eat dinner. And fork out some money to Chris. I promised to do it anyhows.
Posted by: Gregory at September 18, 2008 01:38 AM (cjwF0)
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People who want to troll over here usually drop by and call me something like "slut," or "ugly." Which makes me yawn.
Posted by: Attila Girl at September 18, 2008 09:46 AM (TpmQk)
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to answer Darrell's question from above, while I agree, sadly, that teachers do mark down sometimes when students have different worldviews, I try very very very hard not to do that. If a paper is well written, a position well articulated, I give it a good grade even if I hate its position. And vice versa. Really.
I don't think I could give a Nazi an A, but I've given quite decent grades to students arguing against choice (which I'm reluctantly for) and access to birth control (which I'm enthusiastically for).
what I really mark down for is abject dumbness, like students who explain that Gandhi got his ideas of passive resistance from MLK. You have no idea how ignorant our students are!!! And it's gotten worse over the past 8 years.
As for AlQaeda, sure there was a non-zero presence in Iraq, just as there was in Germany and England and Indonesia and Pakistan and the US, before 9/11. Bin Laden was vocal in his contempt for Hussein, a secular Muslim, and I don't believe there was meaningful collusion between the two.
Attacking someone who's literally about to attack you (a guy coming toward you with a visible weapon) is legitimate. Attacking someone who wishes you ill, and wishes he had a weapon, is different. And as the last 5 years have shown, Iraq didn't have much in the way of WMDs or even conventional weapons. They resort to handmade roadside bombs because their arsenal is old and crappy.
And the Democracy for Iraqis argument, while appealing, raises disturbing questions. Are we going to bring democracy by force to every repressed people on earth? China? Saudi Arabia? Myanmar? How, when, and why? It's a pretty vision, but not practical... and a little presumptuous.
Posted by: rin at September 18, 2008 09:58 AM (f8xXa)
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ps, I'll hold your hand any time, babe!
you are a goddess and a brilliant woman, and your sass is the 8th wonder of the world!
you're a true friend too, and I hope we can have brunch again soon.
xo Rin
Posted by: rin at September 18, 2008 10:14 AM (f8xXa)
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I have no horse in this race as both candidates favor open borders which will inflate our population and put even more strain on oil, water, infrastructure and housing resources. All more pressing than figuring out which nit wit is the best exquipped to steering our ship of state into the next iceberg.
Political parties exist only to win elections. If it won elections the Republicans would support roasting babies on pitch forks and the Democrats would still be in favor of slavery.
People who object most to Palin seem to have accomplished much less in their lives or owe their position to a rich husband or a rich father or both. Palin and Obama had neither. The argument consists of calling a spade a kettle and crying over spilled sour grapes, the facts and logic are so jumbled as to be ridiculous.
The Democratic party is a coalition of interest groups unfortunately the extreme left of those interest groups is wagging the dog to advance their socialist agenda and using the words of well meaning folk to do it. The extreme left is a minority in the Democratic party like the religious right is in the Republican party but as the Bolsheviks showed in Russia the majority doesn't always rule in the face of an amoral, unprincipled, violent minority that believes the end justifies the means.
Posted by: Sejanus at September 03, 2008 03:56 PM (qfsKL)
The Politics of Selling Magazines
It is utterly impossible for me to look at the new New Yorker magazine cover as doubly ironic: that is to say, as meant only to make fun of some of the silliy ideas floating around out there about Senator Obama. (That he is secretly Muslim, that he and his wife hate America, etc.)
And because I'm unable to entertain the idea that the pubishers of The New Yorker are anything but staunch Democrats, I find myself somewhat confused.
Certainly the The New Yorker may publish what it likes, because (1) this is America, and (2) Obama isn't a Muslim. (And Mohammed is not present in the caricutature. Also missing: dogs and pigs.)
So to the first question that crossed my mind last night, as I toggled back and forth between being offended myelf, ("they've crossed a line this time, and for no real good reason") and childish partisan glee ("this cannot hurt McCain"), the answer seems to be "yes." There is nothing about political figures in this country that are sacred; there is no taboo against doing what the New Yorker did, and therefore no reason to do it just for the hell of it, just to make a point about what speech is and is not permissible in this country.
So did the folks at The New Yorker do this simply to . . . sell magazines? Just to get those of us who rely for our news and opinion on this internet thingie to march down to a magazine stand and ask for a copy of the print version of their little rag?
Oh, yes. Hell, yes.
It isn't that "New York Money Men" don't like guys whose middle names are Hussein. It's that New York Money Men find that they have a strange desire for . . . well, money.
It's not yellow journalism! It's journalism that's been color-corrected for what used to be a blue-ish tint.
The Obamas burn a flag in the Oval Office under a picture of Osama bin Laden, while unwinding in their favorite leisure wear: Muslim garb, military-style fatigues, a 'fro for Michelle, and an AK-47. No scare tactics here
Obviously, the New Yorker wanted to go for satire, poking fun at what they see as the image of the Obamas among conservatives. Just as obviously, the editors of the New Yorker showed very poor judgment in approving this cover. A satirical cartoon on the inside would have been more appropriate, but having this on the cover shouldnÂ’t just offend the Obamas, but also conservatives who have a number of substantial issues with Barack Obama.
This makes the third bigoted attack from the Left on Obama. Two weeks ago, it was Ralph Nader acting as the arbiter of black authenticity, and last week it was Jesse Jackson wanting to castrate Obama. One side in this cycle certainly seems obsessed by identity politics, but so far it isnÂ’t the Republicans.
Update: “Third bigoted attack” was tongue in cheek, people. Get a clue. The New Yorker is attacking conservatives, but Obama’s the one taking offense (and for good reason). Obama warned that the Republicans would obsess over his ethnicity, but so far only the mainstream Left has made it an issue.
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It looks accurate to me. I believe obama is a muslim and therefore the rest is accurate. I want to see his birth certificate.Not the phoney he posted on his website. ai believe he was born in Kenya.
Posted by: Don Reagan at July 14, 2008 07:31 AM (y+pmo)
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Ha! They may be trying to poke fun at the conservative image of Obama, but by illustrating it thus, they've gone a long way toward spreading that view.
Posted by: Desert Cat at July 14, 2008 08:28 AM (6go9w)
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A multi-purpose demonstration of just how clever the Left thinks they are.
1.) How can we be seen as absolute supporters of Leftist candidates when we produce stuff like this?
2.) A continuation of the meme that's been running for about a month or so that ALL right-wing blogs/news organizations are spreading these lies non-stop. Corollary: BO was born free of original sin and has remained pure. There is no valid criticism of the Obama-Messiah.
3.) Inoculation. Sure, you are going to find out before November that there have been many revisions to the BO personal history. For example, the business with his birth certificate. I believe he was born in Hawaii, but the original shows that his parents weren't married legally. He did already have one wife--possibly two-- when he met BO's mom. Show me a State where polygamy is allowed. And we all know that even if you lie, the marriage would still be invalid and viewed as if it never took place. And a divorce would not be necessary. My guess is that they decided not to lie and not to bother. Either that, or you'll see they did lie because the marriage was surely invalid (he did have at least one additional wife by that time). Sure the 'birth certificate' that was shown on the Daily Kos is a lie. But that doesn't mean you'll find much when you capture the red herring.
4.) Misdirection. Concentrate on that Muslim stuff that wouldn't matter anyway because what child has a choice in the matter? Forget about tracing his Socialist roots/connections/recorded statements.
Posted by: Darrell at July 14, 2008 11:22 AM (dL/Yh)
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Is there a way to send a confidential email to Little Miss Attila?
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I am a right wing "type", in that I don't march in lock step and agree with everything that Democrats demand but even simple old me saw the cover as satire. Does anyone recall "General Betrayus," now that was satire.
This controversy just shows how humorless leftist are, and how they demonize anything they don't understand. Right wing types are never just people they disagree with, they are evil people and the fit subject for any sort of vituperation and billingsgate they care to hurl. I'm sure they'll demand censorship and set up committees of vigilance to enforce good taste and outlaw insensitive "Hate Speech". In the old days it was lynch mobs and now its called peoples justice and they hold meetings in room 101. Good luck Winston Smith.
In defense of the left, The New Yorker hasn't published anything remotely funny in years, including their cartoons. Humor is of course subjective and leftist like bad parodies of Bill O'Reilly, Mr. Hanky and anything that mocks their opponents world view. (Although I hear many enjoyed Freakazoid, Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. Tragically they were too busy going to demonstrations to bring attention to issues they didn't care enough about to work at solving to save those fine programs or the WB for that matter.)
I suppose that Satire has become hopelessly connected to humor although I don't suppose "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathon Swift ever had them rolling in the aisles. Jonathon Swift by the way was an Anglo-Irish writer that they never read in college because he was dead, white and male.
Posted by: Eric Blair at July 14, 2008 01:34 PM (m21y+)
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Ask a question once and get an answer. Ask the same question again and one questions the motive.
Seek the answer where you first posed the question.
(Hint: Three posts down...AQ)
Posted by: Darrell at July 14, 2008 01:53 PM (dL/Yh)
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But Swift's "Modest Proposal" seemed to have a point. The New Yorker cover is suggesting that . . . people shouldn't make fun of Obama? It just seems odd. Unless what they are really making fun of is the aura of invincibility that surrounds him, or the sensemany people have that they aren't supposed to make fun of him at all.
Posted by: Attila Girl at July 14, 2008 02:54 PM (1q/ac)
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"...That The Obama is a Lightworker was adopted into the articles of ideology of each religion by acclamation: "He will lead the people out of the bondage of Capitalism and into the Pure Light of a new consciousness, where all things are held in common, where all sickness will be cured by caring doctors and compassionate public health service nurses. The Wealthy shall give to the poor, until there is no wealth. The artificial borders that separate the peoples of the Earth will be nullified, and the Earth herself will begin to heal. The waters shall recede, the sun shall smile on a green and fertile land."
Read it all--
http://thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=2056
Posted by: Darrell at July 14, 2008 04:11 PM (dL/Yh)
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Satire you have to explain...well, it didn't work...
Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie at July 15, 2008 09:14 AM (1hM1d)
He's Not Just a Kennedy; He's Ted.
And he's still here.
It feels as if everyone's pulled out their file obituaries, changed some tenses, grabbed a few fresh quotes, and run with that. I don't want to read about the man's brothers; I want to read about him. I don't want Camelot and the tragedy of John-John or Joe or anyone else. What is it about the "K" word that makes journalists insane?
There's too much fiddle-faddle going on.
My heart goes out to the Kennedys, but the coverage of Ted's illness seems almost as absurd as everything else written about this troubled family. Here's a random quote from the WaPo article:
Theodore Sorensen, JFK's speechwriter and alter ego, observed yesterday: "Only the Adams family in the earliest days of the republic had the kind of stature, respect and impact on public life as the Kennedys."
Wasn't there a family in the late nineteenth century and early 20th century that had an even larger impact on public life? Name started with an "R," if I recall. Pure silliness, and one more blurring of the man with the "dynasty."
And, yes: I'm still upset about the wind farm dealio, but today isn't the day for that. Today is for prayer. Respect for the good that the man did (and tried to do) by his own lights. And hopes that he'll stick around—that the news isn't as bad as it appears to be right now.
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I'm puzzled as to what Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, Uncle Fester, Grandmama, and Cousin Itt have to do with anything. Although I would gladly prefer a choice between Gomez or Morticia this November, that's for sure.
Posted by: Darrell at May 20, 2008 10:35 PM (lJn0q)
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I find myself curiously indifferent to this event. This is merely the time and the manner in which Kennedy dies, and not, as some appear to think, an event that cuts off a life that otherwise would have continued indefinitely.
I hope that the Democrats have the decency to not turn Ted into a Cancer Martyr.
Posted by: John at May 21, 2008 04:02 AM (mM272)
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Prayers for Ted Kennedy and his family in their hour of need.
Posted by: Darrell at May 21, 2008 09:00 AM (l06B9)
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I'm gonna go with a quote I stole from fark.com here:
Randi Rhodes out at Air America. 40% of America says "Randi who?" - 59% of America says "Air what?"
Posted by: the Pirate at April 10, 2008 07:19 PM (Rn9mY)
Posted by: Darrell at April 10, 2008 08:08 PM (d3j5t)
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Maybe she should concentrate on providing services at a level where someone will pay her for it?
Nah, that's too much like work...
Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie at April 11, 2008 08:36 AM (1hM1d)
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it troubles me that the comments at the linked site were more about Rhodes' appearance than her ideas.
ad hominem arguments are always weak, and these -- like aspersions cast on Hillary's looks instead of her policies -- are troublingly mean and shallow, not to mention unfeminist.
Just as attacks on Linda Tripp's looks took precedence over the fact that she was a vile and manipulative tool of a preposterous witch hunt. (Oh, sure, Clinton had his faults, but having sex with plump brunettes was not worth that much taxpayer money, and the Starr Report demeaned American politics.)
As it so wisely says on this site, above each comment in progress,
Attack ideas, not people.
Dudes!
Will someone out there who isn't television-impaired tell me whether the hundreds of FBI files that the Clinton Administration collected "by accident" —which contained raw data, interviews, unsupported allegations, and plenty of true/untrue dirt on people—got nearly as much news coverage as someone peeking at the current candidates' passport fies, and thereby potentially getting hold of their social security numbers (which is not a small thing, but certinly orders of magnitude away from what we saw wholesale in the 1990s under Bill Clinton)?
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Because Hillary creating a "database of the cast iron fist" (over 1500 files of raw FBI data, last I heard)was a malicious and overtly unlawful act. (Witness Nixon era Chuck Colson admitting to having one file and going to jail) But this seems to be for curiosity or possible financial gain selling tidbits to tabloids by nonpolitical employees. But Dems think they can smear Bush and the Republicans with it, so their douche rag MSM will make this a Plame game of the episode.
Posted by: Darrell at March 22, 2008 06:51 PM (/zh8q)
2
There's was plenty of coverage. They even covered the Congressional investigation hearings. The passport flap is already old news.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at March 22, 2008 07:32 PM (IpB84)
3
Maybe it's time to rethink the haste--
"The third employee, who has not been fired, worked for The Analysis Corporation (TAC), which is headed by John O. Brennan, a former CIA agent who is an adviser to Mr. ObamaÂ’s presidential campaign on intelligence and foreign policy.
The TAC employee is the only individual to have accessed both Mr. ObamaÂ’s and Mr. McCainÂ’s passport information without proper authorization, a State Department spokesman said. That employee, who was not named, triggered an electronic alarm system, officials familiar with the probe said."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/NATION/243762495/1001
Posted by: Darrell at March 22, 2008 11:20 PM (/zh8q)
It Turns Out . . .
that sometimes journalists only skim the summaries in the reports they are supposed to be reading.
Shockingly, that means they get it wrong sometimes.
Even more shockingly, those with axes to grind often write the summaries, to spin the reports in one direction or another. And the media generally buy what the bureaucrats are selling.
It's 3:00; Do You Know Where Your Newsgatherers Are?
Sean's got both of the "3:00 a.m." ads—Senator Clinton's, and the response ad from Senator Obama. The timeframe is impressive, in terms of the Obama ad. But if I had video-editing software on this computer (and knew how to use it), I'd do the parody of both:
"It's 3:00 a.m., and your children are in bed and safe. There's a phone ringing in the newsroom.
Who do you want to answer it?—the mainstream-media reporters, who keep normal hours and sleep at night, or the crazy night-owl bloggers, who never drop off until the rosy-fingered dawn is poking at their bedcovers?
Your web traffic will determine who answers that call, and how soon you read about this supposedly important-fucking news item—and how quickly it gets disseminated over the internet.
I know what you're thinking. But, for crying out loud: if we're going to complain about consolidation of power, can't we start somewhere logical? Let's begin with Google, and/or the gubmint.