I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Good idea.
Smash!!
I have one, but don't watch it much.
But, you are missing a killer sale on QVC my friend.
When do we see the house? Or at least the cats lounging in the house?
Atrios is speaking in code. I don't think he could stomach all the tributes to the greatest journalist ever to walk the earth...
Nor can i...
That's what I've been saying.
Go outside or have yourself a "Lost" marathon.
PUMPKIN SMASH!
That's never a bad idea, but it's a matter of survival today.
I'm glad I'll be at work... hope I don't go off on anyone.
but the Celtics play again this wekend
who needs a teevee when there is the puter
Good idea, Atrios. Enjoy your new four walls.
Kraphammer:
We did not go into Iraq to fight al-Qaeda. The war had other purposes. But al-Qaeda chose to turn it into the central front in its war against America. That choice turned into an al-Qaeda fiasco: Al-Qaeda in Iraq is now on the run and in the midst of stunning and humiliating defeat.
What were these "other purposes," Krappy? Could you spell them out, please?
Still searching for the second cup of coffee but the bitterness just boiled over: why the fuss for this Russert guy? I really thought him to be an apologist for the Republicans at best and a tool of the rich at his worst. He certainly never represented the voice of Americans in his endeavors. He was constantly obsequious to the elite and contemptuous to anyone who tried to confront the lies that permeate our national discourse. In fact, he may have been the leader of the contempt brigade that is trotted out to heap scorn on anyone who even approaches telling the truth about the economic and political realities in this country.
fie. More coffee!
Marcellina-- Replied to your question on Dulles transport on thread below
Atrios is wise in the ways of journamalism.
Marcellina -- i posted a possible route for you in the thread below.
Hi, sidhra! 
Atrios can shop for caulk today instead.
I have one, but don't watch it much.
sidhra
I was down to 2 shows I would stop doing something else to watch: The Daily Show & Colbert Report. But for the past 6 months, even those are too much for me & I have literally not watched anything.
why is there not crying icon? why crying? Don't they come home? I've been googling this and can only get info on the trucks and stuff- not the personnel.
imbrite
No, national guard troops assigned overseas do not come home for local disasters. They come home on their regular schedule, regardless of circumstances at home. And when they come home, they usually leave almost all of their equipment overseas. And that equipment is not replaced, at least not expeditiously.
Atrios can shop for caulk today instead.
trifecta
I hope his wife doesn't find out.
Thanks you 2, I'll run back downstairs...
deadened:
If the GOP really makes this election in part about the Supremes, they can kiss goodbye the Hillary voters
i think it will be a cocktail of shmear obama, call the dems assholes for not drilling in ANWR to lower oil (which it won't) and fear fear fear
SteveLG, I am flying into DC on July 1st.Friends in B'more have offered to pick me up, but suggested we stay to have dinner there( meaning airport) due to that it's right at peak rush hour. I don't want to make them do that if airport parking is pricey.
So, how can I get from Dulles to Union Station?
I may have asked this before but I've forgotten the answer.
Marcellina
Airport parking is very pricey.
At Dulles take the Washington Flyer shuttle (nine bucks, approx--much cheaper than taxi, even shared) to the West Falls Church Metro, thence to Union Station (transfer from Orange/New Carrolton to Red/Glenmont at Metro Center).
Piece of cake.
why the fuss for this Russert guy?
Self-involved TV talking heads with overly high opinions of themselves and their profession.
Atrios can shop for caulk today instead.
trifecta
GWPDA had a pallet drop-shipped to him.
why the fuss for this Russert guy?
those on GENBC called him boss, he was a workaholic; worked himself to death.
USA! USA! USA!
nd when they come home, they usually leave almost all of their equipment overseas. And that equipment is not replaced, at least not expeditiously.
iirc, the equipment is left overseas and the state governments are then charged with buying new equipment-another way that the Bush administration fucks over local governments.
iirc, the equipment is left overseas and the state governments are then charged with buying new equipment-another way that the Bush administration fucks over local governments.
leibniz leibkins ♘☮
Note to states: Also, don't forget to fulfill all your unfunded Department of Vaterland Sekuritat obligations! Good luck!
IN YOUR RESIDENCE
CAULKING WITH THE PRESIDENT
Thanks,all, and SteveLG, that's just what I needed. The collective mind of Atriots is truly an amazing thing!
I figure, someone will tell me all this at the airport, but knowing in advance is always a good thing when there's jet lag involved.
Alex Witt is off, Mika and Joe are holding down the fort.
I dont think the passing of Mother Teresa got so much air time.
Linda Chavez:
One of the most important jobs of any president is to make appointments -- and Obama's record so far doesn't inspire confidence. He's already botched the process for selecting his vice president. The next test will be whether, even with his flawed committee, Obama can come up with a vice presidential pick who is beyond reproach. He can't afford to flunk this one.
Someone like Big Dick Cheney, perhaps?
I dont think the passing of Mother Teresa got so much air time.
Chairman Mo
She didn't smoke cocktail weenies.
There's much more archival footage of Timmeh than most people.
I dont think the passing of Mother Teresa got so much air time.
Chairman Mo
I was dreading something more along the lines of Reagan. Which, by all accounts, is what's for dinner.
Being famous is the most important thing. Iconic.
It makes life in this perverse culture of ours seem almost worth living.
Retching uncontrollably over this headline on Drudge. (Medically an enlarged heart is usually due to inactivity and a piss-poor lifestyle and genetics, asshole)
DIES FROM A BIG HEART
McCain seen as best choice for economy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's tax policies have given him an edge as the better man for the economy, various Wall Street experts said at this week's Reuters Investment Outlook Summit.
But, against a backdrop of job losses and deteriorating home values, Wall Street is backing McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama with cold, hard cash.
McCain plans to extend the Bush administration's tax cuts, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slash corporate taxes. Obama, who has derided the Arizona senator's plans, has pledged to raise taxes on the wealthy and introduce a broad range of refundable tax credits.
"My personal opinion is I would argue that McCain is probably the better candidate for the economy and that is more or less because of his tax policies," James Caron, head of global rates research at investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York, said at the Reuters Summit this week.
...and so begin the lies; told by asshles out of touch with average americans, but if teh MSM makes it a headline, what are folks to believe?
Until Labor Day I am only watching Yankee Baseball and the occassional very good movie on TCM.....OTOH, that's mostly what I watch anyway plus Bill Moyers as my regular watching habits.....so keep telling me what I'm missing
Linda Chavez has no sense of irony, I see.
I dont think the passing of Mother Teresa got so much air time.
Chairman Mo
She serviced poor people, silly. He serviced the rich: big fucking difference.
even with his flawed committee
Every committee ever formed has been flawed. They have to be judged by their results, not by their composition.
How ya feeling, Gromit?
Tim was more than a man, he was a symbol. He personified the power and reach of the media elite, and was the mascot of the cesspool known in these parts as the "Village," where there is little distinction between political elite and media elite. TOgether, they work hand-in-hand, they run the country and they set the agenda, democracy be damned.
Tim will always be remembered as the guy who changed the rules for D.C. journalists and who presumptively treated every statement made by a politician as being confidential and off the record.
May he rest in peace.
I dont think the passing of Mother Teresa got so much air time.
Good point. Media Matters should go back and look.
Lunch time; have good morning, peeps.
Doug, what Digby said on sexism:
(Katie Couric apologia: "as the Clinton campaign fell behind, it exploited a few glaring examples of sexist coverage to whip up a backlash and to try to create momentum for Mrs. Clinton."
Journalism is at such a disadvantage today. During the Cronkite years, you expected to hear facts. Today the reporting is on spin and reporters are expected to add an entertaining twist, and along the way reflect their organization's political bias.
Maybe not overt sexism, but just the confusion
of the crossover between facts and entertainment.
Andrea Mitchell really cried.
How ya feeling, Gromit?
plantsman
I'm good, thanks. Out for walks, and the brain is mostly defogged from the anaethesia. Five little scars around the belly from the laparoscopy. Not needing the pain meds, so will save the Dilaudid for future migraines.
Hi V! I gotta go. Regatta today.
I do not own one (TV)
I do not want one
I have not had one for over 22 years
It has stunted my growth
I do not speak survivor or dancing with the stars or american idol, so it has limited my cocktail party/blind date repertoire
i read poetry though
and i am grateful tot he brave souls who have to watch it to call out the bs...i would not be down for that...
In a couple days I predict some close friends of Russert's will claim to have seen him walking amongst them, before seeing him whisked off to heaven in a cloud.
Sorry, I'm just sorta ... tired of the coverage already.
Andrea Mitchell really cried...
she wouldn't realize it tho with all that Botox she has injected into her...old dried up skank
I gotta go. Regatta today.
Is it a Regatta Regalia?
(old "Friends" joke)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's tax policies have given him an edge as the better man for the economy, various Wall Street experts said at this week's Reuters Investment Outlook Summit.
------------------------------
That is because the experts giving that opinion are the exact people who would benefit from John McCain's tax policy's!!!! Duh!!!! Just another favor for the rich guys from "maverick" (in that he talks tough about lobbyists, but there isn't one yet that he wasn't willing to work for) "straight talking" (in that he changes his opinions from day to day, week to week, year to year, and will lie about it straight to your face) John McCain.
Experts have lost a lot of credibility over the past 7 1/2 years.
Andrea Mitchell really cried.
plantsman
FWIW, every time I see her on TV pushing the agenda of the media/political elite I do too.
About twenty years ago, I turned off my TV and haven't watched it since. I put a tank of fish where the TV was. For entertainment, try BBC 7 instead--actual radio shows: drama, comedy, and suchlike. And no barrage of advertising every five minutes. Or there are these things called books. I've never tried one myself, but I've read about them.
Hey Escariot..you're missing out on what it means to be a true Merkin..
political elite and media elite. TOgether, they work hand-in-hand, they run the country and they set the agenda, democracy be damned.
they run it like middle-managers; it's the 'owner-class' who run the country and set the agenda of us eating cake and liking it...
as chris rock said: "shaq is rich, the dude signing his check is WEALTHY"
I gotta go. Regatta today.
Is it a Regatta Regalia?
(old "Friends" joke)
Southern Beale
Regatta Gala, actually 
Experts have lost a lot of credibility over the past 7 1/2 years.
Yup. And now they cry the loss of one of their own. Nothing as self-involved as the media whores who rule our discourse.
No, they are not mourning Tim, they are praising themselves and reaffirming their power and Righteousness. This is all about them. Tim is just a rotting corpse at this point...
Wow, the moral superiority this morning is really stultifying. Enjoy your utter perfection.
In a couple days I predict some close friends of Russert's will claim to have seen him walking amongst them, before seeing him whisked off to heaven in a cloud.
Sorry, I'm just sorta ... tired of the coverage already.
Southern Beale
--------------------------
Tim was a big guy. I'm not sure whisking would be the right term. Perhaps something with a block and tackle.
But then I'm being mean.
I was relieved when I picked up my morning paper and there was no blaring Fuss for Russ headline. There was a little square up at the top, and with my blurry morning eyes I thought it said "Newman, Tim Russert dies." It was the grammar mistake that made me do a double take--it said Newsman. Hang in there, Paul!
I don't watch TV so I've never seen this *american icon*, Tim Russert. I haven't seen any of them and often am confused in here which one is pumpkinhead, whose tweety, etc.
Regatta Gala
Oh, that doesn't rhyme nearly as well.
PEMBERTON, N.J. - Senator John McCain, transforming a recent Supreme Court decision into a campaign issue yesterday, blasted the court's ruling, which established that foreign terrorism suspects held in detention at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay have the constitutional right to challenge their detention in civilian courts.
more stories like this"The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country," McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said at a town hall meeting in this southern New Jersey town adjacent to McGuire Air Force Base.
You're not a goddamn lawyer, McStain.
How dare you question a decision of the Supreme Court?
When you've completed "Lawyering for Dummies," then you can voice an opinion.
oops: who's, not whose (no one would probably claim him)!
re: BACKGROUND and VALUES
The pollsters note that pluralities of white male voters say they don't like Sen. Obama and don't relate to his background and perceived values. In contrast they express positive views of Sen. McCain and identify with his background and values.
ok, what do background and values REALLY MEAN?
Maybe, real men eat beef?
Oh, that doesn't rhyme nearly as well.
Southern Beale
Don't blame me - I didn't write the script
This is all about them.
Yes, exactly. Self-involved media whores might not be the right description. Self-involved media circle jerk might be closer to it.
ok, what do background and values REALLY MEAN?
Lime jello and cottage cheese. Duh.
Okay, the way this is being handled, I expect the nation to be shut down for one solid week when Cronkite goes.
Today show currently having a live performance of Xandadu.
Okay, the way this is being handled, I expect the nation to be shut down for one solid week when Cronkite goes.
Attaturk
No, see comment re: Mother Theresa
I haven't seen any of them and often am confused in here which one is pumpkinhead, whose tweety, etc.
ina, dessicated divinty
Part of that confusion will clear up shortly, I'm thinking
'morning, you!
I haven't had television feed for more than a year, and don't miss it. We do have quite a collection of classic television shows on DVD, and we enjoy those. But I don't have to put up with one commercial, and I get to watch what I want when I want. I don't think I will ever go back. Even if that dish lady keeps calling and telling me that she can save me money. I tell her I'm spending $0.00 right now, so how is she going to beat that.
Haven't most of the guys at Guantanamo now been held prisoner longer than McCain was?
Sorry, "Xanadu"
Although the young woman is singing "Bare Necessities"
You're not a goddamn lawyer, McStain.
How dare you question a decision of the Supreme Court?
Why doesn't holding people for 6 years without a hearing compute with people? At stake: the entire premise for a free society.
Hey, Atta! Just looking at the levee breach on the north side of town. (Register photos)
BTW, Attaturk, your lime green jello and cottage cheese is FAMOUS! Damn! An American Iconic figure! Delicious, eh?
Heh. I learned a new phrase:
Nutpicking.
In which wingnuts troll liberal blog's comments sections looking for proof that liberals are really unhinged radicals.
Which kinda proves the opposite, if you think about it.
Is the wake still going on?
.
Gotta walk dogs. Laterz.
Cronkite embarrases them.
Mr. McCain was one of the chief architects in the Senate of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
I guess the Supremes weren't supporting him- but the act was for the executive branch and he is not there yet.
they express positive views of Sen. McCain and identify with his background and values.
let's see: war family, warmonger himself; now advocates more war.
community organizer is EEE-vil; you know, caring about the least fortunate...ewwww!
Why doesn't holding people for 6 years without a hearing compute with people? At stake: the entire premise for a free society.
el
And this is John McCain, of all people, as mentioned above.
(in the fifteen minutes of coverage I watched last night out of deference to my house guests I did notice David Gregory, Chris Matthews, and Keith all vying to be the NEXT Pumpkinhead. . . Wonder who did the best audition?)
Lime jello and cottage cheese. Duh.
sorry, my bad, of course
When you've completed "Lawyering for Dummies," then you can voice an opinion.
Lime Rickey
He doesn't need to be a lawyer. WPE isn't a lawyer, and he's got that whole fear-as-political-motivator thing down to a T.
I'm actually delighted that McLame thinks this is going to get him votes, because I think most Americans *get* how wrong this shit is, and that the fear card has been played OUT.
attaturk
http://icanhascheezburger.files....-rain-
flood.jpg
How are we suppose to heal the wounds that divide this nation when Atrios keeps on posting new Wankers of the Day? I'm sure that you all think it's cute but that's exactly what those Rwandan bloggers thought too.
Hey, Atta! Just looking at the levee breach on the north side of town. (Register photos)
V for Virginia, discouraged
Yeah, Capital side of the river, mostly parkland and older homes...some of them very nice. Opposite side of where my office is, well away from where I live.
Must localized and limited, the local stations are showing national programing.
Part of that confusion will clear up shortly, I'm thinking
'morning, you!
V for Virginia, discouraged
Mornin'!
Well, yeah, pumpkinhead will go back to referring to toddlers (and I don't mean 'N')!
Mr. McCain said he would not go so far -– at least not yet –- to support a constitutional amendment narrowing habeas rights, as some lawmakers have suggested.
Instead, he said, “We ought to exhaust our legislative options,” starting with legislation that he said would limit frivolous lawsuits.
“Our first effort is going to be to narrow the scope so that not anybody can sue under any circumstances.”
Hmmmm, not anybody
They come not to bury Tim, but to praise him and in doing so, also to praise themselves.
I can't speak for Atrios, but I believe that when those wankers quit wanking, he will no longer post Wanker of the Day.
BTW, Attaturk, your lime green jello and cottage cheese is FAMOUS! Damn! An American Iconic figure! Delicious, eh?
DWD
Well, that's more the work of generations of Lutherans in the midwest.
http://obama.senate.gov/speech/0...arks_of_sena_9/
v, heh, clicked on your link
Safari can’t open the page “http://!!!!!!!!!!”. The error was: “Cannot show URL”
Safari can get very emotional at times
True Confessions: I have been craving that lime-jello with cottage cheese thing ever since this came up.
I think I'm actually going to make some today -- with pineapple and nuts (sugar-free jello -- never tried it).
Well, that's more the work of generations of Lutherans in the midwest.
Attaturk
No, I am of the same background, and I did not make that connection. The wonder of creativity is that we all have the same set of information but some of us are able to cross the wires in a certain way to create a spark of brilliance.
And that was one hell of a spark - it boggles the mind because it takes the ordinary and exalts it.
I had to reboot my iPhone . . . again.
McCain runs his affairs the way the GOP runs America:
Mr. McCain and his wife had at least $225,000 in credit card debt...The bulk of the McCains’ obligations stemmed from a pair of American Express credit cards that are held in Cindy McCain’s name. According to the disclosure reports, which present information on debts in a range rather than providing a precise figure, Mrs. McCain owed $100,000 to $250,000 on each card.
Another charge card, held by what was described as a “dependent child,” had also accumulated debts of $15,000 to $50,000. In addition, a credit card held jointly by the couple was carrying $10,000 to $15,000 in debt, the filing indicated, at a stiff 25.99 percent interest rate.
Meanwhile, the Obamas:
In July invested $100,000 to $250,000 into college savings accounts for each of their two daughters, who are in elementary school. The Obamas have often noted on the campaign trail that they had only recently paid off their own college loans.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25154267/
so that not anybody can sue under any circumstances.”
average americans don't know proper grammar; which proves mclame is an average american
el -- I had the EschaCon auction link in there and haloscan wouldn't let it go until I put something else in the field
I had to reboot my iPhone . . . again.
Snow (WF-SC)
It's a bug in the NSA software. They're working on it.
Snow -- I've only had to do that once. Skeered me -- I thought a software update had broken it.
so that not anybody can sue under any circumstances.
Since I just woke up, I won't jump to any conclusions. So why shouldn't people be able to sue?
True Confessions: I have been craving that lime-jello with cottage cheese thing ever since this came up.
I have to say I have spent years being repulsed by it.
I like lime jellow, I like it with any fruit...but cottage cheese?
It's about on the same level as "head cheese"
Meanwhile, over on the rigint board, people are referencing this:
"He's talking at a rapid clip to his NBC colleague Tim Russert, the host of Meet the Press, about the exclusive Roosevelt Room meeting they just had with President George W. Bush. This was the plan: Williams and Russert and their network peers (Gibson, Couric, Schieffer, Stephanopoulos, and others) would get the president's perspective on the troop surge he was scheduled to announce in a few hours, and no quotes would be allowed to emerge without approval. But some doozies, like the one Williams and Russert are kibitzing about, slipped out of the president's mouth. When this happened, Williams recalls, he looked around at the ashen faces of White House aides, who quickly imposed a retroactive lockdown on that tidbit, whatever it was."
http://www.mensvogue.com/busines.../
brian_williams
there are 3 headlines on google news about McCain 'slamming' the supreme court ruling on Gitmo...you go media, catapult the rightwing propaganda lies
McCain has admitted to not knowing about economics, but has he ever even read the Constitution? Has he ever taken a history class? Does he understand the principles on which this country was founded?
Like someone said the other day, the prisons are filled with people who had the right of Habeus Corpus, so the system does work.
This is frivolous lawsuit crap? So the impossibility of prevailing in a frivolous lawsuit and the sanctions imposed for bringing them is not sufficient enough for McCain?
For the last time from me:
RIP, Timmy
Condolences Russert Family.
But this TV overkill, complete w/ High Masses in High Broderism, reminds me of a classic Soc of Law article by Espeland & Halliday. They demonstrated that the 1900s Chicago Bar adopted an explicit policy to eulogize dead lawyers to the hilt. They wrote full page obits. They went way overboard extolling the genius & all around wonderfullness of lawyers not as a tribute to the fallen one, but as a PR effort to make all lawyers seem more god-like. I think the MSM wankers are doing the same thing now w/ Russert--because they can.
When this happened, Williams recalls, he looked around at the ashen faces of White House aides, who quickly imposed a retroactive lockdown on that tidbit, whatever it was."
Niiiiiiiiiiice.
CBS: "The last thing any reporter would want is to become part of the story, but Tim Russert changed changed the way politics is covered in America."
uh-huh
Linking frivolous lawsuits with habeas is plain ignorant. A habeas petition is not a lawsuit; it is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
why the fuss for this Russert guy? I really thought him to be an apologist for the Republicans at best and a tool of the rich at his worst.
------------------------------
Because it allows all the other apologists and tools to remind us how important they are.
Don't get me wrong. I think it's a shame he died so young. I'm sorry for his family. I'm sorry for their families, too:
http://icasualties.org/oif/prdDe...x?hndRef=6-
2008
Linking frivolous lawsuits with habeas is plain ignorant. A habeas petition is not a lawsuit; it is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Snow (WF-SC)
New McLame slogan: Not quite as stupid as the incumbent.
Russert's eulogy should be offset against quotes he or the speaker have said in the past.
CBS: "The last thing any reporter would want is to become part of the story,
False!
but Tim Russert changed changed the way politics is covered in America."
Tragically true.
Russert's eulogy should be offset against quotes he or the speaker have said in the past.
Attaturk | Homepage | 06.14.08 - 9:11 am | #
Photos of maimed iraqi children would do nicely.
Excerpts from a biting analysis of the SC "habeas decision" this week (repost from early, early this am).
“It was disturbing,” writes the newspaper, “that four justices dissented from this eminently reasonable decision.” The Times, as always, puts the mildest interpretation on the event and fails to investigate the socio-political significance of the fact “that habeas hangs by a single vote in the Supreme Court of the United States,” i.e., that one vote separates the American political machinery from an open endorsement of police-state rule.
“the notion of a state of exception ... underlies the whole architecture of Bush war on terror policies. Simply put, these policies argue that while the Executive is limited by the checks and balances of the American constitution during peacetime and at home, all those shackles fall away when war erupts and when he acts outside the nation’s territory.”
For the past seven years, Americans have witnessed an effort to engineer a ‘state of exception’ to the American constitution.”
Scalia and the other extreme right-wingers on the Supreme Court, not to beat around the bush, represent a fascistic element, who hold democratic rights in contempt and in whose theory of jurisprudence the interests of the state take precedence over everything else.
Shamelessly, Scalia argues that had the military not been assured by Bush administration legal advisers that Guantánamo was outside the jurisdiction of the federal court system, it would not have transported the detainees there, “but would have kept them in Afghanistan, transferred them to another of our foreign military bases, or turned them over to allies for detention. Those other facilities might well have been worse for the detainees themselves.”
The court majority in its ruling, claims Scalia, “elbows aside” not only the military, but “Congress and the Executive—both political branches,” which “have determined that limiting the role of civilian courts in adjudicating whether prisoners captured abroad are properly detained is important to success in the war that some 190,000 of our men and women are now fighting.”
The media frequently refers to “the brilliant Antonin Scalia,” in an attempt to endow a veneer of intellectual respectability to a legal “philosophy” that draws its inspiration from the religious obscurantism of the Inquisition and the political aims of extreme reaction. It is well known that Scalia’s approach to legal issues is unprincipled and cynical. Scalia decides his cases on the basis of political convictions, which are rabidly antidemocratic, and then works backward to concoct a sophistical justification for the objective he has decided on in advance.
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em!
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights . . . "
I would like for Train Wreck to explain to me which part of that quote he disagrees with and why.
But this TV overkill, complete w/ High Masses in High Broderism, reminds me of a classic Soc of Law article by Espeland & Halliday. They demonstrated that the 1900s Chicago Bar adopted an explicit policy to eulogize dead lawyers to the hilt. They wrote full page obits. They went way overboard extolling the genius & all around wonderfullness of lawyers not as a tribute to the fallen one, but as a PR effort to make all lawyers seem more god-like. I think the MSM wankers are doing the same thing now w/ Russert--because they can.
tomdurk
---------------------------
Well I have the feeling it is going to be just as annoying as the weekend that John Kennedy Jr died. The only difference is there won't be helicopters circling the water where the plane went down. A sudden death of a famous person is good for an entire weekend of handwringing, eulogizing, public mourning, and fatuous annoying commentators telling us the same thing over and over again struggling through the thesaurus to make it sound different.
I'm glad I don't have television.
After hours of nonstop Russert hagiography, CNN lets a news story break through--floods in the Midwest--while MSNBC continues as if nothing in the world is happening.
Russert, Russert, Russert, please, that man was NOT a journalist.
I remember when it came out that the Bush administraton was sitting on the August 6th briefing - Russert immediately went into full blown White House damage control – no questions could be asked, or would be asked and Russert insisted loyally that Dick Cheney was the noblest politician ever. It wasn't journalism - Russert was acting as an extension of the press secretary's job.
Hopefully the new guy will NOT be such a partisan hack. I don't know what Meet The Press's ratings were prior to Russert's heart attack - but if Keith Olbermann's ratings are up - I can only imagine that Russert's ratings were down and Russert would never have be able to make the transition into a bona fide journalist - and partisan entertainment has certainly lost it's luster as the media takes a noise dive for ever having succumb to FOX news style of "nothing but spin" rat race.
From the vogue article on williams
Katie Couric has brought nothing if not innovation to her broadcast at CBS, where her "Hi, everyone" replaces the industry's standard intro of "Good evening."
innovation!
The Geneva Conventions apply in wars between two or more states. Article 5 of the GCIII states that the status of a detainee may be determined by a "competent tribunal". Until such time, he is to be treated as a prisoner of war. After a "competent tribunal" has determined his status, the "Detaining Power" may choose to accord the detained unlawful combatant the rights and privileges of a POW, as described in the Third Geneva Convention, but is not required to do so. An unlawful combatant who is not a national of a neutral State, and who is not a national of a co-belligerent State, retains rights and privileges under the Fourth Geneva Convention so that he must be "treated with humanity and, in case of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular trial".
Morning all.
Sorry for the pathetic repeat blogwhore, but over at Box Office I offer the odd specatacle of Groucho Marx smashing the patriarchy!
Seriously!
http://boxoffice.com/blogs/steve...ania-spec-
6.php
As always, if you could see your way to leaving a comment, it would really get me in good with management. Plus, I'll buy you an adult beverage if we ever meet.
Hopefully the new guy will NOT be such a partisan hack.
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He will be. Look at the owners of the network. Neocons all.
Sheets!
Katie Couric has brought nothing if not innovation to her broadcast at CBS, where her "Hi, everyone" replaces the industry's standard intro of "Good evening."
innovation!
rootless-e, reweird
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Yes, she's brought the depth of valley girls to news broadcasting. "I mean ewwwwww".
He can talk about it with Russert and anyone else who was in the room, but no one on the outside, not even his wife, Jane, herself a savvy onetime TV news producer. "I call them 'go-to-the-graves,'" Williams says, tallying about a half-dozen he maintains for Bush alone. Williams hastens to add that today's just-between-us moment was not meant to shield the president from a trifling embarrassment, but instead to preserve the United States' options for multifront warfare.
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So Little Boots blurted out national security secrets to the stooges in the press corps. It's like Geraldo Rivera is president. Without the intellect.
IFC, the independent film channel is great during times of great crap being thrown.
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NEWS FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD:
Ireland Kills Lisbon Treaty
The Eurocrats are already conspiring with the Taoiseach to have himself and/ or the Dail rubber-stamp the treaty. It'll be the end of his government if he does, if not his Party. But that's the only way it can be passed anywhere: Most western European electorates have nixed it, only to be over-ruled by their governments.
The Irish, like most of Western Europe, don't want to live under a U.S.-style superpower, with Walmart-workers rights, no health-care, and endless Imperial wars. Things are actually pretty good in Europe now, they feel they've got it about right; especially in Ireland, the most prosperous country in the E.U. It's just those power-mad Eurocrats and their corporate masters who want to Bushify.
More on the issues here.
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Everyone who is a boomer (including me) is freaked by Russert's death because frankly we don't want to think that overwork and "going for it" have consequences. I always balked when Tim talked about how wonderful the "Greatest Generation" was--I thought it was code for praising conservative traditionalism. But one thing that generation did that we should follow suit on is they knew when to slow down, smell the roses and turn the reins over to someone younger. This is a hint for John McCain too, even though he's not a boomer.
Tom Reynolds was on the local news talking about Russert. "don't think about Reynolds helping Mark Foley and embezzling 500k. watch him gravy train off Tim instead"-local news
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