He's still lying. Can you believe it?
notjonathon |
01.20.06 - 9:31 pm | #
Jane,
someday you're going to have an investment banker come to you and promise you one godsmacking amount of money. Make them think you'll take it, but have a better offer.
MarcLord |
01.20.06 - 9:32 pm | #
I was never first anywhere ever, so I bolted a bit. Sorry Marc.
This is the other bookend to Matthews. Obfuscatory coverups go wild.
It almost seems like the uber marionettist writes the lines AND pulls the strings.
Truth is gone. Just gone.
Alison |
01.20.06 - 9:32 pm | #
"fever swamps" .....Huh?? I don't feel ill. Do you feel ill?
meta |
01.20.06 - 9:32 pm | #
I have never been called a Nutter before!
susan |
01.20.06 - 9:33 pm | #
why do they all hate america?
they ask - why are we so unhappy?
umm, because the america we believe in is being pissed away more each day, and those who could shed light don't.
Urban Pirate |
01.20.06 - 9:34 pm | #
The only proper response from the WaPo would be: "We apologize for characterizing as bipartisan a scandal that is clearly 100% Republican."
All the rest of this behavior from them is crap.
Semblance |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 9:35 pm | #
some days you feel like a nutter, some days you don't ...
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 9:35 pm | #
Continuing with the discussion from last thread. P. Lukasiak informs me that only one publicly available email shows Abramoff "directing" contributions to Democrats.
In this email that we have all seen, exactly $2000 is directed towards Democrats, of which only $500 was actually shelled out.
So the next question is whether any reporter at the WaPoo saw other similar emails directing contributions to Dems. There are several reporters to ask---we should hit them all.
Luka also mentions that the Indians had other lobbying representatives, giving even less reason to infer Abramoff's involvement in contributions to Dems.
I think we can do a lot better than force a retraction from Howell---I think we can knock this one out of the park. It sounds like EVERY version of the "Dems got Abramoff money" is simply a lie.
marky |
01.20.06 - 9:36 pm | #
Sorry I was going to do a little victory dance tonight about the huge buy they did on Kate's book on Amazon that bumped it up momentarily to no avail (it went sliding right back down again) and getting under KJ Lopez's skin, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. This was more important.
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 9:38 pm | #
"...it was phrased in a way that made it seem like he was personally giving money to the Democrats"
Because she flat out stated that he gave money to Democrats. No wonder it was phrased that way.
"...using words that I didn't even know existed."
Perish forbid. I think we have a case of the vapors here. Do they still make smelling salts?
Roger Bigod |
01.20.06 - 9:38 pm | #
Alison, and I've never been Fitz here before, and the truth is never gone. Which I think is what yelling Fitz! means.
An empire has never died a natural death yet, though Britain came close. They go out broke and plundered. In the process preceding that death, the powers that be in the Empire undergo fits of massive denial. That's what's going on here.
MarcLord |
01.20.06 - 9:38 pm | #
What "documents" reference directing donations to Democrats? Are there any other than the one lone email I've seen mentioned?
I saw a truly confusing graphic that attempted to show Abramoff targeted Democrats and Republicans. Is that part of their "proof" this is a bipartisan scandal?
TR |
01.20.06 - 9:42 pm | #
"some days you feel like a nutter, some days you don't ..."
We are all Nutters now.
susan |
01.20.06 - 9:42 pm | #
God bless the great General and all of the little soldiers in the WaPo.
Dick Durata |
01.20.06 - 9:43 pm | #
Brady: he did direct contributions to Democrats, which is undeniable. There's lot of documents that show that.
wtf!!! Why does he keep defending this piece of nonsense? This is so f*ing infuriating! Who in their right mind would think that J*off would have done that? Or am I really missing something here?
Wilson, check back for a comment I left you EUP last thread. Just some kudos.
-
Valley Girl |
01.20.06 - 9:44 pm | #
If Hewitt would actually READ the comments it would be very clear why the "clarification" wasn't acceptable to "them". As the commenters ask over and over again, where is the PROOF that Abramoff directed his clients to contribute to democrats, and how is it that some or many of those clients contributed to democrats long before Abramoff came along? There are plenty of comments that express this more succinctly and clearly than can I, but that is the essential point. The fact that the Post is clearly doing everything in its power to maintain the fiction that this scandal affects both parties when everyone damn well knows better is what is so infuriating and maddening. Furthermore, if the RIGHT were screaming and crying about a factual error the Post would turn over Howell's head on a fucking platter, gift wrapped, and then when the righties put it on a pike and canoed it up and down the Potomoc, they would print the photos on the front FUCKING (oops...how uncivil of me) page. Twits.
ohdave |
01.20.06 - 9:45 pm | #
Here’s what immediately followed Lou Dobbs “don’t blog me, that’s the truth” comments earlier today:
Dobbs: And poor "Washington Post" ombudsman not being able to deal with reality on their own blog. Frightening, scary. They shouldn't shut it down. Should they?
Joining me now here, Joe Klein, columnist for "Time Magazine," the eminent columnist for "Time Magazine," Jeffrey Toobin, our eminent legal analyst and in Boston, Massachusetts, former ambassador to four presidents, yes equally eminent, David Bergen.
Good to have you all here. Well, let's start with "The Washington Post" shutting down a blog for crying out loud, Joe Klein, because the ombudsman is assailed personally?
JOE KLEIN, COLUMNIST, TIME MAGAZINE: Well, I vow to nobody in my disdain for bloggers. You know, they are all opinions and very little information. But this is freedom of speech, and it's "The Washington Post," the great defender of freedom of speech. It's ridiculous.
We may not like where they are yet, but both of them heard us and they were amused.
In one of today’s afternoon threads, annxburns quoted my favorite Ghandi:
First they ignore you.
Then they make fun of you.
Then they fight you.
And then you win.
I think it’s great if they’re laughing at us…that’s excellent progress.
RBG |
01.20.06 - 9:46 pm | #
....and they were very, very nasty,
Can we get this editor a thesaurus?
...using words that I didn't even know existed
And a dictionary?
In Need of Surveillance |
01.20.06 - 9:47 pm | #
"...using words that I didn't even know existed..."
That line cracked me up.
susan |
01.20.06 - 9:49 pm | #
MarcLord | 01.20.06 - 8:30 pm
Given your background, what do you suggest we do? I've wondered whether we shouldn't start an investment pool, buying into specific targeted companies a few shares at a time, enough to get on their mailing lists so that investor relations sends us their filings, and enough shares to be a pain in the ass for annual meetings or to file shareholder complaints with the board of directors.
I can't help but think of the clout of CalPers; they can tank a stock based on comments about a firm's performance. We could use some of that kind of cred.
Rayne |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 9:49 pm | #
You know, Brady seemed kind of reasonable, maybe a bit clueless, but reasonable. But this smarmy back and forth with Hewitt, of all people, should put to rest any notion that he's a part of any solution to what ails the WaPoo.
JWR |
01.20.06 - 9:49 pm | #
Well, you've just named the two central islands in the fever swamps. So I'm not surprised
Now, I have never allowed comments simply because of the threat of libel, of the threat of trademark copyright. But I also want to protect my audience against abusers' vulgar...the sadistic and nutty people. How is the Post going to cope with the fact that on both ends of the political spectrum, there's one percent which are nutters?
Well now! We wouldn't any name calling now would we?
maybe it is time to send poor quasi-literate Jim Brady an unabridged dictionary? or one of those "a word a day" desk calendars? or a reprint from Readers Digest of "it pays to increase your word-power" columns?
i do find it difficult to believe that anybody with a past career of sports journalism would have been sheltered from the widest spectrum of adult profanities...
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 9:54 pm | #
JB: "...censorship is a pretty strong word to use."
cen·sor n. - A person authorized to examine books, films, or other material and to remove or suppress what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable.
Strong and accurate, unlike so much of the Washington Post.
joejoejoe |
01.20.06 - 9:56 pm | #
"it was phrased in a way that made it seem like he was personally giving money to the Democrats, of which there isn't proof of that at this point."
Therein lies the POINT, and they haven't dealt with it.
Cozumel |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 9:56 pm | #
IMO, the point of attack tomorrow should be on getting the WaPoo to produce the documents which buttress their claim about Abramoff and Democrats. If that is not possible for some reason, explain why not, and list the number of documents as well as the total dollar amount which Abramoff "directed" to Dems.
I do believe the Senate testimony has more examples of such donations---which do exist; however, the enlightening thing about the Senate testimony is that it makes clear that the Democrats were not aware of Abarmoff's involvement, to say nothing of them being co-conspirators.
marky |
01.20.06 - 9:57 pm | #
Jane
Sorry I was going to do a little victory dance tonight about the huge buy they did on Kate's book on Amazon that bumped it up momentarily to no avail (it went sliding right back down again)
My guess is that this is what is really driving them crazier than the WaPoo thing. we actually were able to affect the outcome!!!
Now, that we proved we can get their goat we need to start going after the things that will have significant impact. There are, after all elections after all.
How can we affect things in a positive way as well.
Kathi |
01.20.06 - 9:57 pm | #
If Hewitt would actually READ the comments it would be very clear why the "clarification" wasn't acceptable to "them"
ohdave, we're talking about Hugh Hewitt here. He's been a tool for so long I'm amazed Sears hasn't put his sig on a monkey wrench.
JWR |
01.20.06 - 9:57 pm | #
If any of you have not gone over there and read the second of the screen shots (first one was posted by Jane), then I urge you to do so immediately! It is more than hilarious. It is truly memorable. I don't normally do the netspeak thing, but really, I was near to ROFLMAO! Keyboard in jeapordy.
-
Valley Girl |
01.20.06 - 10:00 pm | #
First up, was this part Freudian?
"This actually all started on Sunday when the ombudsman of the newsman,"
Isn't she the ombudsman for the READERS?
Anyway, I guess it involves what you mean by "directed " and what evidence there is. In my mind, there is a huge big difference between budgeted (allocated $ that they wanted spread around) and directed (give them this, they'll give you that). IOW, payment that would not have been a part of normal tribal campaign donation budgeting is different than a call that says - you need to get a check for xyz to abc and he'll do what we need.
For example, I can see budgeting for people who are on board with tribal issues consistently. But when I see $$ (100,000) to something like CREA, I wonder.
You left out the:
HH: The central fact which seemed to upset the critics of the column, is that the Post has reported that between 1999 and 2004, Jack Abramoff's Indian clients contributed to 195 Republicans and 88 Democrats, tens of millions of dollars to both, correct?
******Ok, well, Brady knows that is not what it was about, it was the statement about who Abramoff gave money too, so he will correct that statement, and BTW - did Dems get 10s of millions - certainly not from the WaPo graphic I saw, but anyway, Brady will straighten it out, right?********
JB: Correct.
*********
WTH?
IN any event, everything blurs the issue.
1. People were upset bc she lied; there is no question but that her statement was a complete falsehood which took Rest of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wed, to THUR to fix - despite being corrected over and over on Sun.
2. GUESS WHAT - IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Abramoff is not going to jail because of to whom he and his wife gave FEC reported straight up contributions.
Who he "gave" to or not is not what is putting him in jail. He is not going to jail bc of Tribal campaign contributions to guys who supported tribal issues over many years, whether he directed them "?" or whether they were already a part of the budget.
3. He's going to jail for actual bribes, not regular "directed" or rudderless contributions. He's going to jail for quid pro quo transactions, and everyone speculating about who got what in campaign contributions is missing the boat - lots of folks give or "direct" campaing contributions; most of them are not about to do time. Tarring everyone who go the money, Dem or Rep, is wrong. Some of the other matters, trips, sky box, fundraisers, looks worse to me, but even some of it may be ok, if not tied to actions. But look at the staffers who were placed and the money laundering aspects and the weird contributions, like to Ney, who is not a typical campaign contribution recipient.
Lots of facts and circumstances before the tarring and I'm pretty sure there won't be a lot of Dems in the final tally. But if there are, so be it. TO imply everyone who ever got a campaign contribution from an Abramoff or Abramoff firm lobbying client is tainted is jumping the gun.
Mary |
01.20.06 - 10:06 pm | #
Rayne and MarcLord: What we are needing, ISTM (it seems to me) is an old fashioned FDL investing club. Or maybe a "Bloggers Fund" where we could put our $100 and gather enough of us to buy some of those media stocks.
I am telling you, attending some of their yearly meetings with some good friends would be better than sending emails to them. That would make me a happy grandma.
GrandmaJ |
01.20.06 - 10:07 pm | #
Sola mia - you have a right to be defensive, from what I heard (I used to live in Richmond years back) it was about the roughest campaign going - I am glad to hear you worked it and worked it hard
Chalk one up for the good guys.
Mary |
01.20.06 - 10:07 pm | #
Mary,
Of course you're right that it doesn't matter, but since it appears that the WaPoo is lying or distorting the very small ties between Abramoff and the Democrats, there's no harm in getting this corrected.
Most people are not going to follow the finer distinctions of the story. If they read "Dems got Abramoff money" that will work very well for the GOP.
marky |
01.20.06 - 10:11 pm | #
Very significant that traditional media is reeling and squealing like a stuck pig.
(No offense to pigs)
I imagine Obi One Kenobi saying something to the effect, "trust in the force and follow the squeal with your heart"
The arrogance of the traditional media is unbounded and should be showcased in the blogasphere as evidence in near future proceedings.
I think of the blogs as Madame Lafarge with techno chops.
That should scare the holy crap out of learned members of the Post Toasties.
A public record that can not be erased.
True fear and loathing for the well heeled classes.
The Waterloo of the WaPoo.
.
Blogs will be in the first row of the Circus Maximus Media Trials.
.
Gentleman Jim |
01.20.06 - 10:12 pm | #
It is becoming abundantly clear that the MSM is scared to death of blogs.
Ultimately, they will lose the war. Why don't they make an effort to co exist peacefully? Maybe we would send them some business. ;)
Recently, I took an informal survey to find out how many of my friends' adult children (all well educated) subscribe to newspapers. The answer: not one. Everyone gets their news on the 'net.
The WaPoo is afraid... very afraid.
susan |
01.20.06 - 10:13 pm | #
Update: Wilson46201, from the comments: "Maybe it is time to send poor quasi-literate Jim Brady an unabridged dictionary? Or one of those "a word a day" desk calendars? Or a reprint from Readers Digest of "it pays to increase your word-power" columns? I do find it difficult to believe that anybody with a past career of sports journalism would have been sheltered from the widest spectrum of adult profanities...
Kathi,
Pach reminded me in a previous thread that, much earlier in the week, some of us were talking about carrots and sticks.
We are learning how to use the sticks, but you are abslutely correct that we need to find ways to give them carrots too. Pach could no doubt describe it much better, but its all about some Russian guy and his dogs.
The Murtha for Dems reponse to SOTU was intended to be a carrot. That effort fizzled because, less than 12 hours later, the Dems announced for Kaine. There are more carrots out there, we just need to be vigilant in finding them.
RBG |
01.20.06 - 10:18 pm | #
The Post is damned either way. If, as usual, they shill for the GOP--we get mad and let them know it.
Or, they tell the truth and the Right Wing Echo Chamber goes after them.
My preference is to lock them in to the point where they realize that telling the truth and only pissing off the Rat Wing is the most pain free way to go.
After all, part of why the Right Wing Media got to be that way is because of pressure.
Now, it's our turn. We must keep after them and when they shill like lil Debbie did--they pay a price. Up until this incident, the Right Wing Media hasn't had to pay a price for their distortions--THAT HAS TO END.
I saw that Kyra Phillips piece today. It reminded me that Nancy Pelosi was right on the money when she said to the effect: Kyra, if you want to shill for the administration, go work for them directly.
Ron Russell |
01.20.06 - 10:18 pm | #
Kabuki. It's Brady's neocon coming out party.
I do think left blogistan has gotten a little overheated lately (somehow, when Duncan came out with 'whiny-ass titty baby,' everyone else started cursing and using caps a lot more). Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I like cooler heads/sharper scalpul approach myself, and appreciate when talented and sharp writers slice rather than slash.
Anyway, my point is: wow, has HH been to right blogistan lately? The fever is running WAY higher over there. Much more sound and fury. But that's the point, of course. Perpetrate and accuse; it's the black heart of their evil plan.
That's partly why I prefer the almost courtroom demeanor on the better left sites (like FDL). This a war of ideas (well, and surveillance, apparently), and it needs to be fought passionately, and yes we're all enraged and no it's not fair (it hasn't been for a long time, if it ever was). But I think we make a more bulletproof argument when we're all razorly and ice-like.
Just some late night b.s. Keep up the good work, everybody.
Peace. No, really. Peace.
B. Batson |
01.20.06 - 10:18 pm | #
Cocktail weenies for him....hmm, I was thinking more like a Sneeze cocktail...."Very Committed", what does that mean?? : When Rove ALLOWS ? or if Asskissing the White Castle allows ?
"These names" hs says that they ( ahem meaning us...were rude , called people "Names" ) Yet the comments that were left most of them, ones that I have seen were Extremely Polite compared to Troll Messeges that most of us have gotten.
I have a Question has Anyone thought to FOIA the Commerce Dept or the Lincoln Group and see if the Wapo ( or the NYT ) has Contracts for the WH- I am very serious- esp. considering the Wapo had their Snit fit the Same day that Libby's Lawyers said that they are going to suponea MANY Media folks....( Interesting Coincidence).
I also think that the Google issue is interesting...you all do realize that GONZO is going to try to use his "Child Safety Act" to protect the world ( thugs at WH) from BLOGS...
( HAS YOUR BLOG- any or you, BEEN LABELED QUESTIONABLE MATERIAL BY BLOGGER OR GOOGLE- GOOGLE YOURSELF AND SEE... Mine has...I am sure that has put me on yet Another list...)
Now that being said- I think THEY - the WH and WAPO are Terrified- readerships are down, advertizing is down...and their online subscription numbers are down- becuase they are overpriced , but they want Someone to Blame it on- Bloggers....
But since Katrina- they are Scared Shitless...
I think personally we should think about getting some 1st Amendment lawyers strolling by here and participating in these discussions....I don't know any Constitutional Lawyers...but if I did...
Jane& Reddhead and all of FDL- you are doing a great job---
( I Still think an Ad in the LA times about the First Amendment and the Power of Bloggers....would be very Interesting...and maybe we should start pressuring ALL papers to have Guest Blogs and Bloggers....jus' an idea)
enigma4ever |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 10:20 pm | #
WAIT ,.....WAIT....BETTER IDEA.....JANE- PUBLISH FIREDOGLAKE..."BEST OF"....WONKETTE IS DOING GOOD RIGHT? ...THAT WOULD GIVE THEM BIGGER KITTY FITS...
enigma4ever |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 10:22 pm | #
susan,
"The WaPoo is afraid... very afraid."
It's not just the print media IMO (who needs to deal getting rid of the "paper" itself that accumulates)?
Which bring us to "cable news", and the latest, breaking news and SHOCKING (Rita Cosby) update (more of the same murdertainmemt) about Aruba Girl or...
Cozumel |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 10:24 pm | #
On the authenticity of the Bin Laden audio tape--it sounded strange to me from the beginning, but after the Matthews Bin Laden=Michael Moore statement, comes this from Wayne Madsen (I know, tinfoil hats, but he's on to something here).
On the tape, Bin Laden suddenly veers from being a traditional right-wing Wahhabi fanatic to the right of the House of Saud to a leftist progressive. The tape by Bin Laden was quickly verified as "authentic" by a CIA that is now firmly in the grasp of neo-cons under Porter Goss.
However, the tape is an obvious fake being used by the Bush administration to scare Americans into believing "Al Qaeda" is making plans for another attack and an attempt to link Bin Laden to Democrats.
The reason the tape is as phony as Niger yellowcake documents and Saddam's weapons of mass destruction is as plain as day. Bin Laden quotes from the introduction of a book written by long-time Washington, DC progressive author and journalist and a friend of mine, Bill Blum. Bill was once an editor and contributor to Covert Action Quarterly, a magazine devoted to exposing CIA operations like the arming, funding, and training of Bin Laden and his mujaheddin guerrillas during the Afghan-Soviet war.
.....
Bin Laden quotes the following passage from Blum's book, Rogue State: "If you (Americans) are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book Rogue State, which states in its introduction: 'If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all.'"
Can you imagine that Bin Laden is out there in the wilderness, on the run, carrying his dialysis equipment with him, and reading the works of a progressive Washington critic of the Lush administration? No, this one has the initials KR all over it.
notjonathon |
01.20.06 - 10:24 pm | #
Look, I hope the WaPoo (washington post online) succeeds---we need their reporting. I don't want to see the NYtimes and Wapoo destroyed. I want to see them adapt and improve their reporting practices.
marky |
01.20.06 - 10:25 pm | #
I think it's about time we started taking these right-wingers on in terms they understand.
9th Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Works for the bad WMD intelligence in Iraq; works for the lies about Democrats and Abramoff; works for the Swiftboaters.
Oh, and if the indictments for Scooter are true, he broke the 3rd commandment.
This long-time reader, first-time poster, humbly submits that we need to hammer on this.
DownunderGirl |
01.20.06 - 10:26 pm | #
3. He's going to jail for actual bribes, not regular "directed" or rudderless contributions. He's going to jail for quid pro quo transactions, and everyone speculating about who got what in campaign contributions is missing the boat - lots of folks give or "direct" campaing contributions; most of them are not about to do time.
So true, Mary (10:06). And the "he gave money to" theme is a hack diversion from the actual crimes for which Abromoff is probably goig to jail, and from the K Street corruption...a real hack triumph in tarring both parties with the same brush.
Thrasyboulos |
01.20.06 - 10:29 pm | #
Maybe I spent too much time over at Whatreallyhappened in my formative years but I automatically assume that ALL these tapes are either totally bogus or reruns of old intel.
JWR |
01.20.06 - 10:29 pm | #
They should have stopped digging, instead they sent for a JCB...
Steve Kelso |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 10:31 pm | #
They have one shot with the SOTU to get Bush numbers up that stay up, and the only way they can do it is with fearmongering. This tape plays right into their task.
The other is to permanently scare Democrats off criticizing Bush on FISA and Iraq, so Rove comes out and says "security" will be the midterm issue.
(01/19/06 -- DURHAM) - A Duke professor says he is doubtful about Thursday's audiotape from Osama bin Laden.
Thrasyboulos |
01.20.06 - 10:39 pm | #
"You know, they are all opinions and very little information."
-Joe Klein
First of all. Read that Klein line and realize that he is not talking about FOX News, or Oxy-Rush Limbaugh, or Dildo Bill O'Reilly or Fraulein Ann Coulter. Klein is talking about the net. That is fucking hilariously funny.
This struck a bell. Then I remembered the former House Majority Leader:
"And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous."
-Tom Delay
That was Delay referring to Justice Kennedy doing his research on the internet, and he found that "outrageous". I am pretty sure Justice Kennedy was sticking to researching his cases and not checking out the latest reality website dedicated to "facials" Mr. Delay. No wonder you are in legal jeopardy, you are a dope.
These people have no idea that they are being left behind in the new world. Do they(Klein, Delay, Wapo) think that their future lies in young folks picking up a newspaper for their information or perhaps buying the Encyclopedia Brittanica for info?
No, just like with Matthews, he doesn't realize how effective this tool is. They really think it is a bunch of 20 somethings looking at titties and writing bad words.
I realized a short while ago just how ahead of the news cycle one can get by using the net. You can spot that story that is going to make it big and watch it grow into the big news story. All while you say, I read about THAT days ago.
So, look, let us move forward from here realizing that this is the new medium and all else will end up falling in line. Like it or not the web will begin to drive much of the news media.
So ye pioneers, ye wranglers, ye wildcatters. Our time has come.
Yup. Just goes to show you how desperate they are.
Now, if they (print and electronic media) would just present the news in a straight forward, honest manner, no telling how many people might tune in on a regular basis. What we need is a BBC model. But, the media corporations would nix that real fast.
Too bad for all of us.
susan |
01.20.06 - 10:42 pm | #
Think Progress has an exchange between Matthews and scarborough up in which they carry on even more with the OBL = MM crap. Nothing on Moore's site, but isn't the above referenced conversation bordering on slander?
JWR |
01.20.06 - 10:44 pm | #
It's sad how inept the post has become. When the likes of Howell and Brady are trying to master a task they just are incapable of understanding. Too bad there aren't rafts full of people in the blogsphere easily available for consultation and advice...
Its amateur hour at the Post, apparently.
patience |
01.20.06 - 10:44 pm | #
What I would like to see, if somebody has access to the records, is how much money the Abramoff client Tribes gave to Democatic candiates *before* they hired Jack. And how has the percentage of Dem vs. Repub changed pre- and post- Abramoff.
TheMadBrewer |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 10:46 pm | #
Joe Klein was the first hack to slime Gore, in the pages of the New Republic, some eighteen months before the election.
Slug slime in my garden is a higher life form than Klein.
Thrasyboulos |
01.20.06 - 10:47 pm | #
One carrot I think we should send is thanks to Google for refusing to cooperate with the feds - I know they are saying it is to protect trade secrets, but everyone else caved (Yahoo, etc) and on Nightline, Google said they would fight this all the way and apparently when they talked about this at a meeting of employees, the employees all cheered. In my line of work, we talk a lot about supporting and encouraging companies to become more socially responsible - even if they decide to do it for profit reasons - the more they move forward, the better for everyone. So ... let's send happy notes to Google - I'd suggest emailing press@google.com with a note in the subject line that the message is for Elliot Schrage VP of Global Communications and Public Affairs since he has responsibility for the company's social responsibilities - and he has a good history of concern on such responsibilities.
siun |
01.20.06 - 10:47 pm | #
has 42 comments that WaPoo deleted---found by comparing screen shots, and several of them are mine. There was no profanity in my posts at all.
marky |
01.20.06 - 10:47 pm | #
"...very, very nasty, using words that I didn't even know existed. "
---
Can we get a list of the nasty words that a Washington Post Editor didn't know existed?
Enquiring lexicographical minds want to know.
Move aside Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual Words.
Steve Nichols |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 10:48 pm | #
"As the commenters ask over and over again, where is the PROOF that Abramoff directed his clients to contribute to democrats, and how is it that some or many of those clients contributed to democrats long before Abramoff came along?.....The fact that the Post is clearly doing everything in its power to maintain the fiction that this scandal affects both parties when everyone damn well knows better is what is so infuriating and maddening."
as soon as I started reading this comment at 9:45 by ohdave, I realized the reason they can't adjust and admit their mistakes is because the whole thing is ideological and irrational. in the larger sense of the word - in other words, the facts Don't Matter. it's like with paranoia, the basic world-view-background is irrational, and nothing can convince the patient that there isn't someone out to get them.
the msm Has To Believe that they are objective, open-minded and report the facts. fair and balanced. and now after all these years of them playing by the rules of the republicans, and being scared of them and the right wing fundamentalist nuts, the blinders are on and they don't get It, meaning, Reality. (though some of them did get a glimpse of Reality when new orleans went under. that shook a lot of them up.)
michael72 |
01.20.06 - 10:51 pm | #
Sorry, that should be Klein started sliming Gore in the pages of the New Yorker, eighteen months before the election.
Thrasyboulos |
01.20.06 - 10:51 pm | #
Man, they are in a panic. It reminds me of a line from the venerable Arnold Schwarzenegger classic PREDATOR:
"It bleeds. We can kill it."
mercury |
01.20.06 - 10:53 pm | #
Marky--Very impressive, that research.
karen allen |
01.20.06 - 10:54 pm | #
As I suspected, "hate speech" means a demand that Howell be fired.
marky |
01.20.06 - 10:54 pm | #
Good evening Karen,
What's the latest on Ney?
marky |
01.20.06 - 10:55 pm | #
Marky--Next you should research the tribal contributions to politicians before and after Abramoff, as
TheMadBrewer | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 10:46 pm | #
just suggested.
karen allen |
01.20.06 - 10:56 pm | #
Another interesting article from KOS on Abramoff and the Northern Mariannas, including new information:
This one definitely leads to the White House, for the prosecutor in the Mariannas was reassigned after he began investigating Abramoff.
notjonathon |
01.20.06 - 10:57 pm | #
Looking at those archived posts at Kos reminds me---someone at the Maryland Moment said that Okrent got a big fat contract from a right wing group when he quit the times. I asked for followup, but never got any. Does any of you know what Okrent did after he left the NYtimes?
marky |
01.20.06 - 10:57 pm | #
So ye pioneers, ye wranglers, ye wildcatters. Our time has come.
Poetically put, GSD!
In Need of Surveillance |
01.20.06 - 10:58 pm | #
I think we need to pause for a moment and realize what an accomplishment this already is - in a few short weeks, Jane and the bloggy folks have actually put WaPo on notice, caused them to have innumerable meetings and conference calls and such worrying over how to deal with us - and gained notice on several MSM outlets. This is more ongoing notice and visible pushback than any other recent campaign - recent demonstrations on the streets of DC have gotten less press coverage than this action.
Coordinated campaigns like this have more power than we realize - and we need to keep them up - and use them wisely.
just celebrating here at the development of a good tactic ... cheering for our victories (even the small ones) is important if we want to keep going for the long haul.
siun |
01.20.06 - 10:59 pm | #
Ney is presenting old receipts of the times he paid for meals at J-off's restaurant to prove that Abe never comped his meals.
However, employees and others have sworn testimony that Ney got free meals there all the time. Ney's staff is getting rather testy when I call them and tell them Ney should get it over with and resign before he's indicted.
Howard Dean came to Ohio and held a press conference right outside the door to the Repub governor's office. Great moxy, that.
karen allen |
01.20.06 - 10:59 pm | #
Of course "hate speech" on the right is generally rewarded with cable program and visits from the Vice President.
Ooh, you're brave karen.. I hope you don't live in a glass house!!
heheh
marky |
01.20.06 - 11:01 pm | #
I think Shez had data comparing pre- and post-abramoff donations by tribes to Dems and the total amounts were down significantly.
btw - Mary - if you're around - your post on the thread earlier today about folks and fatigue is brilliant - thank you!
siun |
01.20.06 - 11:02 pm | #
Go back a thread or two and look for P. Lukasiak's posts on Abramoff and his clients.
He had some good stuff.
marky |
01.20.06 - 11:03 pm | #
No glass house. And tomorrow, another MeanJean encounter.
karen allen |
01.20.06 - 11:03 pm | #
Jukeboxgrad at DailyKos has a post up with the 42 deleted comments. Go over and judge their trollishness for yourself and give the diary a recommend while you're at it, it would be great for people to see this on the "fever swamp" of DailyKos.
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 11:05 pm | #
Does Ney have the reciept for that horrendous toupe' he wears? I hope that wasn't a lobbyist gift from the Fisher Cat Pelt Hunters of America.
-GSD
I am such a softy I feel sorry for poor Bob. He is going to be hugging his wife and weeping in front of a camera soon enough. They never seem to know when the end really is nigh, or is that Ney?
Granite State Destroyer |
01.20.06 - 11:05 pm | #
Karen,
Have you spoken to Mean Jean in person? I bet you are tempted to throw water on her when you get close, to see if she melts.
marky |
01.20.06 - 11:05 pm | #
Looking for a comparison of the tribes donations before and after Abramoff?
"So: Indian tribes usually give most of their money to Democrats, while Abramoff clients — and only Abramoff clients — give most of their money to Republicans. Coincidence? I think not."
Kevin Drum
pablo |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 11:06 pm | #
Jane,
I assume you noticed that yours truly was honored by the WaPoo axe several times.
marky |
01.20.06 - 11:06 pm | #
Karen, can you tell Mean Jean not to burn the Scarecrow again. I hate it when she does that.
I know what is so enraging about this... not just the lying, pathetic as it is, it's the way Howell and Brady have used the Rovian playbook, to whine and slime.
Whine and slime. I like that.
Steve Kelso |
01.20.06 - 11:17 pm | #
Newsweek is reporting that Alito is the newest justice. Calls it a victory for Bush.
Isn't this a bit premature?
Could this turn out to be a Thomas E. Dewey headline...that turns into a whoops?
Should we run out and buy the mag? Might be a collector's item!
susan |
01.20.06 - 11:19 pm | #
Wish I could get fired from my job. I always wanted to work at Harvard. Hey, Stephen Greenblatt (noted Shakespearean scholar) even abandoned Berkeley for Harvard.
notjonathon |
01.20.06 - 11:22 pm | #
I thought that the exchange between Brady and Hewitt was a hoax written by FDL! When I saw all the silliness, and evasions and outright lies highlighted in bold, the awful truth dawned on me: it' true, it's true!
Suggestion: turn up the heat. Do what some other commenters have suggested: produce the analysis, produce the e-mails, produce the witnesses, produce the testimony. Produce something to back up the assertions. We say they are factually false. Show us that we are wrong.
Glad to hear Joe Klein don't punch any stock in them fact free blogs. I do remember Joe Klein was the fact free gasbag with all the fact free analysis of the Bush social security non-plan earlier this year. You might remember what he said over and over again without one fact or number or statistic: Bush's plan, whatever it was, was SO information age, and new and cool and now and “in”, and the current plan that the Dino Democrats like, is SO industrial age, and old and logy and “out” -sort of like bucket of stewed prunes for nasty people with “old person” smell.
Give me a break.
As for blogs being fact free, I find more reliable facts, and more links to informative news stories on lefty blogs than I do in whole reams of stories by certain Post and NYT reporters. And I figure that experience is the oracle of truth (actually Alexander Hamilton said that, and I better attribute or will give insane lefty blogs a bad name.)
Keep the pressure on the shills that are ruining big press, FDL. And turn up the heat on those who are also giving the good reporters who are left a bad name.
ALL I WANT is good reporting of a factual story line about what happened. Now here is an example that might shock the Post. Since Abramoff's main business was running a GOP money laundry, if there were any Democratic office holder vile and traitorous enough to deal with him in any way, I damn well want to know about it so I would be able to run that rat out of office. Wouldn't all you nice kids want to know that too? So you could help such a hypothetical Democratic rat out of office? I think you would want to know.
Same with any Dem who sold votes.
But, as grat work by marky and lukasiak, and others in this thread and ones below, there is actually very little evidence that, if there were any crooked Democrats in on the Casino deals at all, that they had anything at all to do with Abramoff. And everyday there is more evidence that the DoJ is chasing down the money laundry and extortion scheme, the big cheese. (Hope FDL and commenters have good sources in Hong Kong).
I also hope FDL keeps the spotlight on the patently racist use of Indian tribal contributions. Abramoff was swimming in money from many sources. As I said in previous mail, how come we don't hear about all the dirty Tyco money, or dirty Marianas sweatshop money? Because those folks are in the rich man’s club, and to mention thatm would make the very idea behind the Indian tribe contribution smear laughable. So better to use a group that can be easily stereotyped and stick with it without any explanation or rational argument, or response or deviation whatever. Just repeat repeat repeat, catapult the propaganda, which is just what they are doing.
I think some folks in the mainstream media who have been bad actors are going slightly mad. They have been gaming the distorting the news for years now. The scandals about to blow are like dead bloated animals ready to explode, and emit a truly memorable stench. Some folks have been sitting on that dead game for so long, they have become semi-attached, and they don't know what to do. We'll see in a few years where the stench leads. I think it will lead to quite a few con artists in the press.
anon_1 |
01.20.06 - 11:34 pm | #
What we need is a BBC model. But, the media corporations would nix that real fast.
Susan, my darling, we call that NPR.
Thesaurus Rex |
Homepage |
01.20.06 - 11:36 pm | #
Karen - Watch out for flying monkeys !
Gosh, you are brave, and we want a full report on Jean.
-
TeddySanFran |
01.20.06 - 11:44 pm | #
Clarification. I am typing while kind of giddy from the grim humor and dizzy from disgust at what happened, so my comment a little frenzied in places:
Suggestion: turn up the heat. Do what some other commenters have suggested: ASK THEM TO produce the analysis, produce the e-mails, produce the witnesses, produce the testimony. Produce something to back up the assertions. We say they are factually false. Show us that we are.
************
I am serious. This is the time to turn up the heat and follow up. Some commenter had a good idea. We take up an FDL collection -eople chip in maybe $25, $50 or $100 and entrust to FDL or one of commenters to collect and collate what we know. What we know is, a lousy $500 directed to Dem, who might have gotten more if Abramoff hadn't been there directing as much as possible to GOP.
And also list of all organizations who contributed to Abramoff.
And a summary of published evidence on the K-street project.
Send it to the Post and say "a little present from the fact free blogs, buddy. You posted a factually false statement in your paper. You didn't even have the guts to retract, and a few days later your editor is spinning variations on the falsehood. Show us the evidence that your statement is true. In fact, we think you whole take on the Abramoff story is factually wrong and that you, major important, glorious press institution, got it wrong. Show us the evidence that this scandal is mainly about an straightforward equal-opportunity bipartisan vote buying operation. Show us it is not mainly about the K-street project, extortion and money laundering. We want your d*mn story with the who what when where how and why. And we want it now."
Maybe Daily Kos would want in too.
anon_1 |
01.20.06 - 11:47 pm | #
The failure and refusal of the WaPo to acknowledge the difference between "Abramoff directing clients' contributions to Democrats" and "Clients of Abramoff choosing to donate to Democrats, in many cases as they did before they became Abramoff clients" is maddening. Where is the proof that Jack(Abram)off directed the contributions to be made?
neurophius |
01.20.06 - 11:49 pm | #
siun, I'll have to check my files to see if I remembered to bookmark a page that showed the differences, but it was someone else who put up the link. I'm getting ready to crash for tonight so I'll look tomorrow.
Is Mrs. K8 around? I have a little gift for her.
Shez |
01.20.06 - 11:59 pm | #
Susan, my darling, we call that NPR.
Dearest Rex,
NPR is but a pale imitation of its British cousin.
While it is forbidden to ask follow-up questions, the feisty BBC goes straight for the jugular almost every time.
Whipping the Post
Under an avalanche of hate mail, the Washington Post ombudsman defends her assertion that crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff "directed" money to Democrats. Critics say she is still skewing the story.
By Farhad Manjoo
Thrasyboulos |
01.21.06 - 12:02 am | #
Mrs. K8, if you get here in the morning, FDL has been scooped:
On the other hand, they probably wouldn't mind having the movement grow.
notjonathon |
01.21.06 - 12:02 am | #
The weenie Dems have just been called out!
Molly Ivins: Not. backing. Hillary.
Friday, January 20, 2006; Posted: 9:18 a.m. EST (14:18 GMT)
AUSTIN, Texas (Creators Syndicate) -- I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.
Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.
The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.
If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. In 1968, Gene McCarthy was the little boy who said out loud, "Look, the emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Bobby Kennedy -- rough, tough Bobby Kennedy -- didn't do it. Just this quiet man trained by Benedictines who liked to quote poetry.
What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.
The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?
.....................
You sit there in Washington so frightened of the big, bad Republican machine you have no idea what people are thinking. I'm telling you right now, Tom DeLay is going to lose in his district. If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to OWN the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely.
...................
Bush, Cheney and Co. will continue to play the patriotic bully card just as long as you let them. I've said it before: War brings out the patriotic bullies. In World War I, they went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that dachshunds were "German dogs." They did not, however, go around kicking German shepherds. The MINUTE someone impugns your patriotism for opposing this war, turn on them like a snarling dog and explain what loving your country really means. That, or you could just piss on them elegantly, as Rep. John Murtha did. Or eviscerate them with wit (look up Mark Twain on the war in the Philippines). Or point out the latest in the endless "string of bad news."
Do not sit there cowering and pretending the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can
susan |
01.21.06 - 12:06 am | #
I posted a link to a KOS diary early, about Bush and TANG. The author is just beginning,but in this comment he explains more:
This is a comment I made on an other post but I think it adequately covers what youre asking
Bush's discharge has more holes in it than a graveyard.
GEORGE BUSH WAS DISCHARGED COMPLETELEY UNQUALIFIED WITH NO MEDALS AT ALL AFTER OVER 5 YEARS "SERVICE."
Look at the military qualifications box: "NONE" N-O-N-E!!??? Our Commander in chief was discharged completely unqualified to do anything in the military, not even paint rocks white!! But the better way of saying it is Bush was DISqualified from doing anything in the military! He was qualified to fly jets aat one time but ass this discharge PLAINLY indicates he was stripped of those qualifications.
AND HOW ABOUT HIS COMPLETE LACK OF MEDALS?? Look in the Awards and dcorations box: ZERO!! TAFCS AND TAFMS are NOT medals! They stand for , respectively, Total Accumulated Federal Civilian/Military Service. There should be a colon and a number after them indicating total days spent in category--AND THERE'S NONE!!
George Bush was discharged COMPLETELY UNQUALIIFIED and WITHOUT ONE SINGLE MEDAL!! not even the medals a 6 month trainee has.
Yet even though Bush was discharged completelly unqualified, with no medals at all after completeiong only 5 years 4 days and 5 months towards a 6 year enlistment.
There is also evidence that this discharge has been altered!! Look at the remarks box. Look at the marks of a previous entry thhat has been whited out, like the little lettters up in the right coorner, the marks on the uppper left side. Look at the way the maargins are different thaan the rest of the pagee, the way the lines run at a different angle. THIS HAS BEEN WHITED OUT AND RETYPED!!!
Despite the absolute dropdead facts that Bush was, ACCORDING TO HIS OWN DISCHARGE, discharged stripped of ALL his quaalifications and medals and only completed 5 years 4 months andd 5 days of a 6 year commitment, the cowardly Americcan media lets bush's people slander other peopless medals with giving Bush's record one single look.
This is the greatest example EVERE of hiding cchickenshit in plain sight by calling it chicken salad, a tactic the Republicans have perfected lo these past 5 years.
For the truth about Bush's record see: http://www.dailykos.com/.... Use this information whenever you can to counter the Republicans scurrilous atttacks on Democrats well deserved medals: WE"RE LED BY A MAN WHO GOT NO MEDALS AT ALL AND WAS DISCHARGED COMPLETELY UNQUALIFIED TO DO ANYTHING IN THE MILITARY!! Not even paint rocks white!! Don't take my word for it, read it right off his discharge!!
INVESTIGATE THE CBS PAPERS!!! THEY ARE FEDERAL DOCUMENTS!! Don't let Bush win WITHOUT PROVING A THING!
Our friend, Steve, will need a cool, dark room and meds if Molly's pov gains traction.
susan |
01.21.06 - 12:15 am | #
Susan,
There is one particular reason I don't buy Steve's approach anymore, which can be summed up in one word: Iran.
Bush is planning to make war with Iran. It's plain as day.
With a different President in power, I could listen to appeals for military action, but the Iraq fiasco should caution everyone that Bush cannot be trusted to do ANYTHING competently.
marky |
01.21.06 - 12:18 am | #
Damn, I got to the bottom of that Kos diary and found Paul Lukasiak saying it was bunk.
We'll see. The guy is going to post more.
marky |
01.21.06 - 12:18 am | #
As important the theme of Republican
Corruption is in the war to defeat them in
06 we all would be making a mistake in not
also going after Rove's strategy in 06 of
running on the theme of Security and Fear
of Terrorism. We cannot wait for Fitz to
indict the bastard and hope he will go away.
Just a note to pay attention to Rove's
election strategy now. Soon all this may be
overshadowed by the Iranian issue. Time
is of the essence in the next 6 weeks.
Sam |
01.21.06 - 12:26 am | #
I believe it would be very effective if the Democrats ridiculed Bush more severely.
The Medicare D fiasco gives a perfect opportunity---something like "Of course it failed---it was Bush's plan" "Have you heard of Medicare D+? Bush is planning to fight diseases over in Iraq so seniors don't have to fight them here" or "Bush's bottom line isn't so good when there's no Arab sheik to bail him out----like the guy who later gave to Bin Laden"
Bush seems like such a ripe target now, in a way he wasn't before. Bush's personal and business failures didn't resonate with the public in the past, but now that he looks like a major fuck-up as President, a tie-in would work very well.
Don't you think so?
marky |
01.21.06 - 12:32 am | #
"Bush is planning to make war with Iran. It's plain as day..."
Marky, I have a new neighbor who just retired from the Navy. He spent his career in intelligence and did 2 tours in Afghanistan.
He told me on Wednesday that Bush can't go to Iran because there aren't any troops to deploy. I asked him about air strikes, and he said that they wouldn't be effective because the nuclear material is well hidden and protected.
He thinks the saber rattling has more to do with druming up support for the 06 elections. Rove kinda hinted at that today when he gave his speech implying that we still need to be very afraid.
Oh, also, my neighbor told me that on TWO occasions he and his team were within 1/2 hr of getting Osama, but the DoD called them off. BinLaden is far more valuable to Bush alive than dead....The team was FURIOUS!!!
The guy is extremely bright, well educated. Don't know if he will be right in his assessments, but he thinks Bush has all but wrecked the military. He also does not see the possibility of a draft.
However, until the U.S. makes serving in the military mandatory, he thinks we will continue to have more of these wars of "choice."
susan |
01.21.06 - 12:35 am | #
Susan,
Bush was told he didn't have enough troops for Iraq, and that didn't stop him.
Your friends comments on the depth of Iran's nuclear facilities ties in with my worst fear, which is that Bush will use nuclear weapons---bunker busters---to do the job. I don't know if those exist, and whether they do may be classified information, but why don't you run that by your friend?
marky |
01.21.06 - 12:38 am | #
I love the irony of all these talking heads explaining how 'liberal' the media is from their National TV shows.
owlbear1 |
01.21.06 - 12:47 am | #
"bunker busters"
I have shared your feelings about Iran for a long time. However, my neighbor maintains that it won't happen. He has also been telling me to watch the Able Danger stuff. He thinks Lou Dobbs needs to find another hobby. He says it will go nowhere.
I will run the bunker busters by him. My guess is that he would like to drop a few of them on Bush. Man, is he MAD at the prez.
I sure hope somehow someone could get
through to the Iranian theocratic leaders and
tell them to cool it in all ways and have Russia
enrich their uranium. Did anybody notice
the King of Saudi Arabia is going to China for a
few days. Sure as hell not to eat some sweet
and sour pork. How about to reassure the
Chinese that in the event of Iran being bombed
into the stone age Saudi Arabia would direct
oil to China. Sure hope the Saudi's have a way
to protect their oil infrastructure.
This looming crisis with Iran is fraught with
such peril. It will play directly into Bushco
solidifying his "unitary" (dictatorial) powers.
Sam |
01.21.06 - 12:54 am | #
OPEN LETTER TO WASHINGTON POST --
"L'affaire Debbie Howell" represents a serious problem at the Washington Post -- not with its readers.
Deborah Howell printed blatant falsehoods in your paper. Jack Abramoff never gave one red cent to Democrats or to the Democratic Party.
To pretend, to insinuate, to print anything contrary to that true fact is to fabricate, to prevaricate, and to do steno-spin for the Bush Administration and the Republican Party.
Howie Kurtz, Jim Brady, and now Jim Vandehei are doing cover-up for Deborah Howell's partisan and demonstrably false words printed in your paper. Ms. Howell's and the Post's defensiveness and hubristic arrogance in this matter are astounding.
I suppose this shouldn't be surprising since the Washington Post has been a cheerleader for Bush's War on Iraq since it was begun -- on demonstrably faulty and "twisted" intelligence and deliberate and false insinuations that Saddam was somehow connected to 9/11.
This "Howell-Abramoff" matter is a much smaller arena for fertilizing and fomenting false information, but it is indicative of the Post's attitude (since the halcyon days of Katharine Graham and Watergate) about telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth in your paper.
Bristling defensively, rationalizing away the blatant falsehoods propagated by Ms. Howell, and then shutting down a website because a few people have uncivilly cursed her is a rather jejune response to criticism, don't you think? Besides, most of the criticism seems to me to be valid, even if some of it was "inartfully worded" -- as Howie Kurtz described Ms. Howell's reporting.
And after all, you people are supposed to be the "grown-ups" here, the "adults" with access to the arcane knowledge of the world inside the Beltway, aren't you? Now, because someone in the stands calls a member of your team bad names, you're going to pick up your ball and go home to Mommy?
Sorry, but to me it sounds like a storyline out of Peanuts, not the Washington Post.
radlib1 |
01.21.06 - 1:07 am | #
marky (if you're still here),
several good points above. thanks for the link to the revisiting of Bush's military files at dailykos.
I owe Jane an apology for coming out so negative about writing reviews of O'Bierne's book if one hadn't read it. I'm sorry.
Jane and others raised the point at that time that by attacking like this (I did write to WaPo on Howell's Abramoff column, and politely to boot), and in the volume our input is achieving, we're bringing out weaknesses in the right wing attack machine. This is becoming increasingly obvious over the past week.
I'm hoping you blog strategists are coming up with some schemes to hit them at the seams between their major deployed units. We'll never get anywhere though, unless we have a hardened, mobile strike force ready to follow through any breeches we make in their front.
Maybe this panzer warfare analogy isn't asymetrical enough to hack it in the post-Rumsfeld world of media warfare, but - hey - his plans don't seem to be working so hot, do they?
Edward Teller |
01.21.06 - 1:28 am | #
Re Iran:
Won't happen. The biggest danger was the macho matchup between Sharon and Netenyahu in the runup to the March Israeli election. That's over.
Iran is way too hardened. Their air defenses are being constantly updated in hardware and software. The only way to bust in would be with theater level missiles and bunker buster nukes.
The Israelis don't have many, and if the few they have didn't do the job, they'd be tempted to use their few neutron bombs (which they developed with the South Africans in the late 70s-early 80s), all of which would leave them totally isolated in the world economy for decades.
We might be nuts enough to do it with our nukes if we had one more airborne division to go in and occupy the mess. But we don't. Bush needs all the extra troops he has right here in case the worm really turns.
Syria, on the other hand.........
Edward Teller |
01.21.06 - 1:39 am | #
Having said nice things to Google, I think I'll round out my late night by cutting and pasting the Molly Ivins column (with attribution and link) into an email and send it off to te DLC ... just in case they missed it.
and I pasted it into the form and clicked "Question about Donation" - added the following at the top:
Molly speaks for me! No money, no votes, no volunteer time until you learn to stand for something - filibuster Alito, impeach Bush, support Murtha.
...............................
felt good ... think I'll send them little weekly greetings ... each time I look at their site with it's advice to ignore the polls and stay in Iraq, or "if diplomacy doesn't work we'll have to use a military solution on Iran" or love notes to Joe Lieberman ... it positively inspires me!
siun |
01.21.06 - 1:53 am | #
OT -
went to check kate's rank and found this lovely missive from one of the keyboard kommandos complaining that there was a VLWC in place (me - to counter their 5 star reviews that got it a decent rank in the first place...)
*************************
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
A lot of people should buy this...., January 20, 2006
Reviewer: snakelizard2099 "snakelizard2099" (The Amazonian Forest) - See all my reviews
Refuse to buy this book and you WILL be sorry.
Come to this site and submit and negative review on it,
and you will be SORRIER.
*****************
not on the front page, but comes up 5th when you click through to "see all reviews"
they're sweet at that age, aren't they?
BQ |
01.21.06 - 2:13 am | #
Jim Brady claims that "[Abramoff] did direct contributions to Democrats, which is undeniable. There's lot of documents that show that."
Okay, when is he going to show us those alleged documents?
He's a journalist, he knows the importance of sourcing a claim. I want to see the docs at the WaPo's website, and further, proof that if such contributions were made on Abramoff's orders, that they were illegal.
Otherwise, Brady can't be taken seriously by anyone with half a brain.
Gideon Starorzewski |
Homepage |
01.21.06 - 2:29 am | #
How did I live before I found this blog? Thanks Jane.
Mademoiselle Cri De Guerre |
01.21.06 - 3:10 am | #
I know this is off topic but I suspect that FDL readers may be interested in Michael Moore's response to Chris Matthews...
You trust fund baby.
Mr.Murder |
01.21.06 - 5:05 am | #
The post.blog has restored comments that they say meets their standards for commentary. Well, I found mine, or what was left of it:
"contributions from the tribes to democrats DECLINED after the the tribes became clients of abramoff."
That is a snippit that makes no sense and leaves out all the other context. I did not have an obscene post. That is like blacking out every other word in some FOIA requests.
The Post is really messing this up.
They treat commentors like a gang when actually it is simple a collection of like minded people registering discontent, as one does with petitions, signing on letters of objection and so forth. The immediacy and the fact that people can write in their own voice does not shield the recepient from white hot anger. That has shocked the Post and they have decided they do not like unhappy readers.
Some Guy |
01.21.06 - 5:14 am | #
As Martin Luther King said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter."
LindyH |
01.21.06 - 5:32 am | #
Jane,
Thanks for infecting us all with "truth malaria".
You are the truest sort of patriot.
I think JG could draw up a map of all the "HH" islands in the fever swamp, so we could make sure to visit them.
McBug |
01.21.06 - 5:49 am | #
The Post can forget it now. Except for Froomkin, I'm never reading even their online edition. Howell prints a falsehood and Brady goes running to the protective arms of the right wing? If we already didn't need WMD, Woodward and the editorial board to show what side they are on.
F**k the MSM. They will cheerlead us blithly into the next war if they could ....
break |
01.21.06 - 5:57 am | #
Wapo finally got part of it right this morning.
The deluge, which overwhelmed the Web site's screening efforts, began after Howell wrote in a column published Sunday that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties." That is incorrect. As Howell noted on Thursday morning in a short piece on Post.blog, Abramoff did not make direct contributions to Democrats but directed his lobbying clients to do so.
Also this.
Despite the harsh tone of the comments she received, Howell said she did not ask the Web site to shut down the blog. "It's a free country," said Howell. "I'm a First Amendment freak."
The critical postings appear to have been generated by a group of liberal Web sites that began criticizing Howell not long after her Sunday column appeared. This group includes MediaMatters.org, Dailykos.com, FireDogLake.blogspot.com and Atrios.blogspot.com, according to Jamison Foser, a senior adviser to Media Matters for America, which describes itself as a progressive media watchdog organization. The group is partially funded by insurance magnate Peter Lewis, a major contributor to Democratic candidates and party organizations.
"I certainly understand that readers can get out of hand," said Foser, whose own organization has dealt with a flood of virulent comments in the past. On the Media Matters Web site, he said, "we try to make clear the importance of dealing with substantive [issues] and not personal insults. Those kinds of comments are not encouraged by us and we do not approve of them."
At the same time, he said, news organizations shouldn't "throw the baby out with the bath water" by permanently shutting down a channel for general expression. "We hope The Post puts the appropriate comments back online and figures out a way" to keep the dialogue going, he said.
(also posted at americablog, but relevant here in light of Reid's acknowledgement that these clowns are in the agbay:)
Okay, now can we talk about a cable boycott? Everyone cancel or suspend service for a month, giving the reasons why. We still get news from our friends here, Crooks and Liars, other sources, and we let all forms of media know we're doing it. Advertisers too. Demand that the punditocracy/journamalists do their damn jobs like grownups.
Jen in Brooklyn |
Homepage |
01.21.06 - 6:07 am | #
Wapo report on blog closure, quoted above.
ecoast |
01.21.06 - 6:07 am | #
Brady needs a nickname. Here's the comment that he seems to find most offensive:
Cache Valley, Utah: if ya can't stand the heat...
Publish partisan lies and not expect a backlash? Get real pal!!!
Fire that f***ing b**** forthwith and all's well that ends well, no? Otherwise, batten down the hatches, pal, 'cause there's a storm a brewin' and it's gonna be nasty.
Respectfully yours.
Nothing all of us don't deal with every day -- for free.
The single asterisk is reserved, of course, for His Royal Lieness.
lambert strether |
Homepage |
01.21.06 - 6:20 am | #
Well, if they are going to report that contributions by Indian tribes to Dems occured due to Abramoff's directions, let's see them prove it.
Pachacutec |
01.21.06 - 6:21 am | #
Frankly, I am sick of being insulted by the Washington Post. First I get called a nutter. Then I get told I am profane. Then it is insinuated that I'm some sort of Democratic party operative.
Sorry. I'm just pissed. I'm pissed the MSM responds to the right wing noise machine and doesn't report what is true. I am heartsick that 2000+ of our soldiers died with NO ONE in the MSM even ASKING questions. I'm pissed about the direction of my country. I'm pissed that cable news and radio is a swamp of spin from the Bush administration, and I'm pissed the WP buried any contrary evidence to WMD on page 34.
So who do I go to see about that?
break |
01.21.06 - 6:22 am | #
You know, I have to say that I enjoy reading the posts here - it's the highlight of my day. And I think it's perfectly fine to use all the bad language you want here, but when the readers of FDL take their anger (as I do regularly) and go out to the Washington Post, and CNN, or wherever, and use foul language with these MSM outlets, it brings us all down and lessens our credibility. It just gives them a reason to censor us and to veer away from the real message. So why do it? Why can't we be adult about this?
Rob |
01.21.06 - 6:50 am | #
Power to the bloggers! Keep getting the truth out. People are paying attention.
bekkieann |
01.21.06 - 6:50 am | #
A newspaperman complaining about foul language? What universe is he from?
My mother worked as a newspaper proofreader (back when they still proofed papers) and later as a technician in an oil field. She had stories about the men going out of their way to use foul language around her work area. Didn't stop her. I really don't see why the Post would have a problem. And I would suggest, if they're using Moveable Type, that they get a disemvoweller.
P J Evans |
01.21.06 - 6:56 am | #
That diary of deleted comments at kos is very, very interesting.
They are harshly critical, and they accuse Howell generally of being a hack, incompetent, a liar, on the take, a GOP operative, and the Post of being a GOP propaganda shop. But they are not profane.
The only non-FCC approved word is "bullshit" calling Howell's statement bullshit (good on you, paul lukasiak!). There is one other reference to "b. s."
There is one broad brush metaphor of lipstick on a pig, but the reference does not clearly call Howell or anyone a pig. It could be a reference to the badly written original column as a metaphorical pig, or to the Post itself, or the Post's credibility. . . it's impossible to say given the actual text.
That's it.
The Post deleted harsh criticism, including calls for Howell to resign. And including detailed refutations of Howell's "reporting."
Now, where exactly are these words Brady has ever heard before? What a sheltered life he's led. How did he get a job in DC, live here, and never hear the word "bullshit?"
He's lying. They are covering up. They were too embarrassed to have those attacks and those facts on their own site. This was a corporte PR decision, pure and simple, based on the idea you don't give a megaphone for your own screw-ups. Guess they never counted on how this would just blow up on them further and get more attention placed on the posts of their harshest critics.
Pachacutec |
01.21.06 - 6:59 am | #
"One carrot I think we should send is thanks to Google for refusing to cooperate with the feds - I know they are saying it is to protect trade secrets, but everyone else caved "
How about google-bombing "heroic" or "heros" to Google itself?
Sky-Ho |
01.21.06 - 7:12 am | #
I still have one from 2002. I don't think Jim will notice the difference.
Now, explain to me again how "proving" the Democrats are as corrupt as the Republicans can make the GOP look any better? It's an unworkable strategy even for the purposes of conspicuous relief.
jurassicpork |
Homepage |
01.21.06 - 8:10 am | #
Its also interesting that Brady can talk about the particulars of the original dispute with Hewitt (Brady: "...he (Abramoff) did direct contributions to Democrats, which is undeniable.") yet in his response to a reader's question about Howell's accuracy yesterday, he ducked. (Brady: "Just to be clear on the issue of the column itself, that's not my domain. I am the executive editor of the web site, not the newspaper, so that's a question that you'd need to take up with them. What I'm looking to do here is to answer your questions on the decision made to shut off comments on post.blog, and make sure the people reading this discussion can see some of your takes on the decision." Coward.
Bren |
01.21.06 - 8:13 am | #
Hello,
Let's stop muddying the waters with direct contributions from Abramoff, "directed client funds", etc.
Focus on the laundered money and the people Abramoff hired and worked with. This is the scandal. Focus people!
"Capital Athletic Foundation, a charity run by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff now at the center of an influence-peddling investigation on Capitol Hill, told the IRS it gave away more than $330,000 in grants in 2002 to four other charities that say they never received the money."
...
"We've never received a $300,000 gift, not in our 28 years," a surprised Rabbi Burton Jaffa, P'TACH's national director, told the Austin American-States- man. "It would have been gone by now. I guess I would have been able to pay some teachers on time."
...
"The discrepancy also follows e-mails between Abramoff and members of his lobbying team that say then-House Republican Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land wanted to raise money through Capital Athletic for an unspecified purpose. In one of those e-mails, Abramoff announced a $200,000 fundraising goal."
...
"But around the time Capital Athletic's tax form was filed in fall 2003, listing the $300,000 donation P'TACH says it didn't get, a DeLay-created charity called Celebrations for Children was begun with $300,000 in seed money."
This is where the story is. Money raised through fake charities for children funneled to a fake GOP charity for children.
anotherpawn |
01.21.06 - 8:17 am | #
If the shoe was on the other foot and Howell was trying to tie Republicans to an obvious Democrat scandal, she'd be run out of town on a rail.
We'd see so much astro-turfing and calls for boycotts from the likes of Dobson and every fake GOP 501 (c)(3) group and GOP PAC it would make the progressive blogosphere reaction look tame by comparison.
Leonard |
01.21.06 - 8:19 am | #
Lead article in today's"Salon" by Faroud Majeed taking Debbie's side.
No surprise, as Joan Walsh is (needless to say) a major whore -- who sicced her staff on me when I dared to out Sully's barebacking.
David Ehrenstein |
Homepage |
01.21.06 - 8:25 am | #
The first time I heard the phrase "lipstick on a pig" was in the stock bubble of the late 90's. Some shaky companies were being brought to market and there was a skit or ad in which one of the promoters says to another "Let's put some lipstick on this pig." I've never heard it used in a way that suggests that the pig is a person. The pig is usually some project or idea that is glaringly unattractive on first glance.
Roger Bigod |
01.21.06 - 8:35 am | #
Obviously the whole Abramoff debacle is in the Republicans' laps. They're not doing themselves a favor by trying to deflect it.
But, come on, calling Atrios and Kos "the two central islands in the fever swamps" isn't much of a slime. Particularly in the context of the enthusiastic and inventive name calling that goes on all the time here at Firedoglake. And in the context of Hewitt's biases it passed by Jim Brady as exactly what it was: unremarkable.
Jane's right, however, in that by disabling comments and removing existing comments the WaPo did a spectacular job of extending this minor kefuffle (I always wanted to use that word) beyond its natural four minute life span.
John Pearley Huffman |
01.21.06 - 8:45 am | #
Sad, really, that WaPo Editor Jim Brady is being interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, the man who, in 1990 as director of the Nixon Library, proposed banning Washington Post writer Bob Woodward from the facility "because he's not a responsible journalist."
A couple of things spring immediately to mind here -- they've probably already been said more eloquently by others, but just in case:
-- one, under Abramoff's astute "directing" of the poor injuns (who, no doubt, have to be told what to do, because otherwise, well, they'd do nothing, dontcha know) more monies were directed toward Republicans than Democrats (and the dems who benefited most from the Indians were, in fact, known quantities to the Indians, who had proved themselves helpful to them in the past)
-- two, Brady says, regarding Howell's stenography that "[it] made it seem like he [Abramoff] was personally giving money to the Democrats, of which there isn't proof of that at this point..."; well, okay then, the inference that seems obvious to draw is that there are Dems just quaking in their wingtips all over the place because they've benefited from Abramoff's largesse ... and given that Abramoff is a life-long Republican with an agenda that has consistently benefited one party only (guess which one!), how credible is a statement like that?
The Washington Post, the NYT, and all the big media outlets are owned by even bigger business concerns. It is in their best interest to parrot the Republican talking points, because the current administration benefits big business at the expense of the regular Joes & Judys (you know, the citizens of the United States who have seen their buying power and quality of life dwindle under Republican rule). Ultimately, though, the ruinous economics of the current regime will collapse upon itself, and big business will be hurt the only place it has a heart : its pocketbook.
In the long run, this strategy of theirs to parrot the talking points of the regime is woefully short-sighted.
zhak |
Homepage |
01.21.06 - 1:12 pm | #
Maybe, at some future date, the 'calling out' of WaPo will be labeled 'the end of opportunism politics in America'. Of course, along with opportunism goes Conservatism.
I don't take everything Molly Ivins says as gospel, but she is a Texan, so the truth tends to slip out in an unguarded moment of irrational exuberance.
If you combine the end of opportunism politics with the poll numbers she cited it inexorably leads to the political center shifting, over towards where all the people are. That it's been far from spot on indicates who whacked out our whole political system has been (not that anybody reading this blog needs to be told). But, the mere possibility that this could be straightened-out is exciting.
MarkH |
01.21.06 - 9:34 pm | #
