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20080122

Newspaper - Politics - Los Angeles - California - Illinois - "Editor Fires Parting Shot at His Chain." ... "The ousted editor of The Los Angeles Times [based in Los Angeles, California] on Monday offered a scathing critique of the newspaper industry and specifically his longtime employer, the Tribune Company [national media conglomerate based out of Chicago, Illinois], arguing that cost cuts, a lack of investment and an aversion to serious news was damaging the business." ... "The editor, James E. O’Shea, left after he refused to carry out another in a series of newsroom budget cuts sought by the publisher in Los Angeles, David D. Hiller — 15 months after Mr. Hiller fired the previous editor over the same kind of dispute." ... "The current showdown and Mr. O’Shea’s parting comments made for a remarkable statement by an editor who was seen as a Tribune loyalist and was sent to Los Angeles to calm a rebellious staff." ... "“I disagree completely with the way that this company allocates resources to its newsrooms, not just here but at Tribune newspapers all around the country,” Mr. O’Shea wrote in a memo to the newspaper’s staff, echoing farewell remarks he made Monday morning in the newsroom." ... "The chairman and chief executive who took control of Tribune a month ago, Samuel Zell, sided with Mr. Hiller." ... "[Mr. O'Shea asserted:] "“Even in hard times, wise investment — not retraction — is the long-term answer to the industry’s troubles,“ he wrote, while suggesting that Tribune executives have been unable to see the logic of anything but budget cuts." -By Richard Pérez-Peña -NYTimes

20080121

Newspaper - Los Angeles - California - Illinois - "L.A. Times editor fired, "significant changes" ahead." ... "The editor of the Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, California], James O'Shea, has been fired over a budgetary dispute only 14 months after he took over the post, the newspaper said on Sunday." ... "O'Shea, a veteran of the Chicago Tribune [Chicago, Illinois] who was hired by the Times in November 2006, was fired by publisher David Hiller after he refused to carry out some $4 million in cuts, said the newspaper on its Web site, citing an unnamed source." ... "O'Shea's firing comes one month after the paper's parent, Tribune Co, completed an $8.2 billion buyout led by Chicago real estate tycoon Sam Zell." (1, 2) -By Alexandria Sage with contributions by Paritosh Bansal and Kim Coghill -Reuters

20080113

Tim Russert - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Civil Rights - History - Politics - 2008 Election - Illinois - "Russert falsely claimed to show "exactly what President Clinton said," aired truncated quotes from both Clintons." ... "Summary: After falsely asserting that he was showing viewers "exactly what [former Democratic] President Clinton said," referring to January 7 comments Bill Clinton made about [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama, Tim Russert played a truncated quote from Clinton. In addition, Russert read a quote from The New York Times that truncated [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton's statement about civil rights, omitting her reference to President Kennedy." -MediaMatters.org

20080111

Hillary Clinton - Language - Race - Civil Rights - Law - History - Media - Politics - 2008 Election - "New York Times Keeps Running Truncated Version Of Hillary's Quote About Martin Luther King." ... "For the second time, the [The New York Times] paper has run a truncated version of something [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton said about Martin Luther King that has become a major campaign issue -- even though the full transcript has been available for days." ... "But as Josh [Marshall, editor and publisher of TPM Media,] pointed out on TPM the other day, here's Hillary's actual quote from the interview:

"I would point to the fact that that Dr. King's dream began to be realized when [Democratic] President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that [Democratic] President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the President before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done. That dream became a reality, the power of that dream became a real in people's lives because we had a president who said we are going to do it, and actually got it accomplished."

Now, fair minded people can disagree as to whether the truncated version constitutes a distortion, as Josh argues. It's a very close call. But it seems clear that the truncated version changed the tone, if not the substance, in a key way that made it more attention grabbing." -By Greg Sargent

-TalkingPointsMemo.com

Matt Blunt - E-Mails - Politics - Missouri - Computer - Archives - Media- "Governor Blunt Lawsuit." ... "A new lawsuit claims that some of [Missouri Republican] Governor Blunt's top aides instructed staffers to delete e-mails so that damaging information could not be released." ... "Blunt's former deputy counsel Scott Eckersley filed the suit Wednesday. Blunt fired Eckersley last September after he repeatedly told Blunt's aides that the governor's office was deleting e-mails in violation of state law." ... "The suit alleges that Blunt's aides repeatedly told general counsels to destroy e-mails so they could not be turned over to the media and the public." ... "The suit says "All emails should be deleted to ensure they did not have to provide such damaging evidence to the news media or the public in the future". It says Eckersley informed Blunt's aides that "E-mails were stored for a period of several years after deletion by the individual user and were available even if deleted by that user."" ... "The suit then claims that Blunt and his aides "Ordered that all these back-up e-mail computer tapes be destroyed"." -By Erika Thomas with contributions by Wale Aliyu -KOMU.com

20080110

John McCain - Law - Investigation - Ralph Reed - Jack Abramoff - Grover Norquist - Tom DeLay - Secret - Corporate - Religion - History - Georgia - New Hampshire - 2008 Election - Television - Politics - Opinion - "Ralph Reed's New Role." ... "Eighteen months ago, the political career of Christian right golden boy [Republican] Ralph Reed came crashing down, a casualty of his role in the [Republican] Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. This week, Reed has found a new calling. He appeared on CNN during its New Hampshire primary coverage and again last night, labeled as a "GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican] political analyst."" ... "Reed sounded none too bullish about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's prospects going forward despite his big New Hampshire win. That's perhaps not surprising, given the long history between the two." ... "McCain, as chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, launched an investigation of Abramoff's tribal lobbying that turned up a mountain of e-mails, including some between Reed and Abramoff." ... "The e-mails revealed Abramoff's corrupt dealings with politicians, as well as conservative religious and advocacy groups. Reed often participated in Abramoff's business schemes, telling him in a 1998 e-mail after stepping down as head of the Christian Coalition: "I need to start humping in corporate accounts!"" ... "E-mails and testimony before McCain's panel showed that Reed, who once branded gambling a "cancer" on society, reaped millions of dollars in tribal casino proceeds that Abramoff secretly routed to him through various non-profit front groups. Abramoff, a lobbyist for the tribes, paid Reed to whip up "grassroots" Christian opposition to prevent rival tribes from opening casinos." ... "Abramoff sometimes routed his money to Reed through a group called Americans for Tax Reform, run by conservative anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist. Norquist lately has been attacking McCain's record on taxes, placing robo calls to voters in New Hampshire." ... "Reed's much-publicized role in the Abramoff scandal cost him the 2006 Republican primary for Georgia lieutenant governor--the first rung on what was widely expected to be a climb into national politics." ... "Former House majority leader [Republican] Tom DeLay, who left Congress and is still under investigation by the Justice Department in connection with the Abramoff probe, predicted to MSNBC's Chris Matthews that McCain won't fare well with conservatives in the South." -By Susan Schmidt -WashingtonPost

20080109

Matt Blunt - E-Mails - Politics - Missouri - Computer - Archives - Reporters - "Suit alleges illegal destruction of state e-mails." ... "Scott Eckersley, a lawyer fired from [Missouri Republican Governor] Gov. Matt Blunt's office, filed a suit today that accuses several top Blunt aides of ordering the illegal destruction of state e-mails to prevent potentially damaging messages from being turned over to reporters." ... "The suit contends that Eckersley was fired for repeatedly pressing Blunt aides with warnings that such orders violated state record-retention and open-records laws. Eckersley's firing violated state law protecting whistle-blowers, according to the lawsuit." ... "Filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, the suit names Blunt, three former or current top aides and the deputy Office of Administration commissioner, Richard AuBuchon." ... "The suit includes allegations about a meeting convened last summer by Blunt's general counsel at the time, Henry Herschel. At the meeting, the suit contends, Herschel told lawyers for all departments under the governor that e-mails about state business "would not have to be turned over in response to Sunshine Law requests if they were destroyed and not retained."" ... "The suit also contends that Blunt's chief of staff at the time, Ed Martin, ordered all staff members to make sure they were deleting e-mails. Martin and other top Blunt aides also are accused of orchestrating the destruction of the state's computer backup system for such e-mails." -By Jo Mannies -STLtoday.com

20080108

Kevin Jeffrey Martin

Corporate

Government

Politics

Investigation

Media

Communications

Broadcast

Radio

History

Electronic

E-Mails

"House panel launches probe of FCC practices." ... "Bipartisan leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee launched an investigation of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, three weeks after the agency's controversial vote to ease media ownership restrictions." ... "In a letter sent to [Republican President Bush's] FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the committee asked that all electronic records and personal e-mails related to FCC work be saved." ... "Martin, a Republican, was sharply criticized by lawmakers from both political parties for insisting that the agency hold a vote to change media ownership restrictions, particularly heading into the final full year of the Bush administration." ... "The December 18 vote by FCC commissioners, which was 3-2 along party lines, eased a 32-year-old ban on the ownership of a newspaper and broadcast outlet in a single market." (1, 2) -By Julie Vorman with contributions by Gary Hill

-Reuters

Kevin Jeffrey Martin

Corporate

Government

Politics

Investigation

Media

Communications

Broadcast

Radio

Historical

E-Mails

"House Launches FCC Investigation; Warns Against Destroying Documents: House Energy & Commerce Committee Looking Into Federal Communications Commission's ‘Regulatory Procedures and Practices’." ... "[House Energy & Commerce] Committee leaders advised [Republican President Bush's Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin] Martin Tuesday that they expect FCC staffers to cooperate and ordered the agency to start preserving all documents and e-mails, adding for emphasis that no historical records "shall be destroyed, modified, altered, deleted, removed, relocated, or otherwise negligently or intentionally handled so as to make them inaccessible to the committee."" ... "The investigation followed complaints externally and internally about how items were brought to a vote, information that was leaking to some lobbyists and not to others and complaints about Martin's resolve to vote on modifying the ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership -- which passed [2007 December] Dec. 18 -- despite attempts to stop or delay the vote by members of FCC oversight committees in both Houses." -By John Eggerton -BroadcastingCable.com
Ron Paul - Race - Gay - Politics - Media - History - 2008 Election - "Angry White Man: The bigoted past of Ron Paul." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Ron] Paul's newsletters have carried different titles over the years--Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report--but they generally seem to have been published on a monthly basis since at least 1978. (Paul, an OB-GYN and former U.S. Air Force surgeon, was first elected to Congress in 1976.) During some periods, the newsletters were published by the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a nonprofit Paul founded in 1976; at other times, they were published by Ron Paul & Associates, a now-defunct entity in which Paul owned a minority stake, according to his campaign spokesman. The Freedom Report claimed to have over 100,000 readers in 1984. At one point, Ron Paul & Associates also put out a monthly publication called The Ron Paul Investment Letter." ... "Of course, with few bylines, it is difficult to know whether any particular article was written by Paul himself. Some of the earlier newsletters are signed by him, though the vast majority of the editions I [James Kirchick] saw contain no bylines at all. Complicating matters, many of the unbylined newsletters were written in the first person, implying that Paul was the author." ... "But, whoever actually wrote them, the newsletters I saw all had one thing in common: They were published under a banner containing Paul's name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him--and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics." -By James Kirchick -TNR.com

20080105

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Corporate - Media - Politics - Iowa - New Hampshire - 2008 Election - "Elizabeth Edwards To Chris Matthews And Rest Of Media: Ahem -- John And I Are Still Here." ... "One of the things I'd been wondering was whether [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards' slim victory over [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary [Clinton] for second-place in Iowa would shift the media dynamic of the race and get people to cover it as more of a three-way contest. In general terms, it's already obvious that the answer is No." ... "First, Elizabeth [Edwards] was asked whether John would be able to survive if [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama won both Iowa and New Hampshire. She observed that John had come in second in Iowa in 2004, that he had gotten short-shrifted in coverage then, and that this was happening again[.]" ... "Now, I recognize that news orgs have a dilemma on their hands in deciding whom to cover and how to apportion resources. And I also realize that the candidacies of Hillary and Obama are both historic in ways that Edwards' effort isn't. But in a general sense there's no question that the media's treatment of the Edwards campaign has really been an ugly failure on many levels." ... "Though Edwards had all along been very competitive with Hillary and Obama in Iowa -- a state in which victory is supposed to be hugely important, according to the pundits themselves -- Edwards's campaign was never treated with anywhere near the same scope or seriousness that the others were. The coverage has often been tinged with a snide dismissiveness. This hasn't palpably changed with Edwards' second-place finish in Iowa. " -By Greg Sargent -TalkingPointsMemo.com
Ron Paul - Duncan Hunter - Rudolph W Giuliani - Corporate - TV - Politics - Censorship - New Hampshire - Iowa - Texas - California - 2008 Election - "New Hampshire G.O.P. Backs Out of Fox Forum." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul raised nearly $20 million in the last quarter, likely more than any of his rivals. He garnered 10 percent of the Republican vote in the Iowa Caucuses, surpassing [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudolph W. Giuliani. And he’s in New Hampshire this weekend on the airwaves and the campaign trail before the Jan. 8 primary." ... "But the Texas congressman and presidential contender won’t be getting a seat and the table at Sunday’s Fox News Republican candidate forum." ... "On Saturday the New Hampshire Republican party expressed its disappointment with the decision to exclude Mr. Paul and Representative Duncan Hunter of California by severing its partnership with Fox." ... "“We believe that it is inconsistent with the first in the nation primary tradition to be excluding candidates in a pre-primary setting,” said Fergus Cullen, chair of the state G.O.P. [Grand Old Party=Republican] party. “All candidates regardless of how well known they are or how much money they’ve raised should be treated equally here.”" -By Michael Falcone -NYTimes

20080104

Obama - Edwards - Clinton - Huckabee - Romney - McCain - Thompson - Iowa - 2008 Election - Media - "Iowa....Once Again Shaping A New Political Reality." ... "Let's put things in perspective." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama just won 18 delegates to the Democratic Party's national nominating convention. A total of 2025 are needed to become the party's presidential nominee. [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards just won 17 delegates. [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton won 16." ... "On the Republican side, if Iowa apportions according to yesterday's vote, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee will get 14 delegates. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney will get 10. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates] John McCain and Fred Thompson will get 5 each. A total of 1191 delegates are needed to win the Republican presidential nomination." ... "The way people get nominated for president is to win the majority of delegate votes at national conventions. Measured against the number of delegate votes needed, what happened yesterday was a small blip on the scoreboard. Obama won 2 more delegates than Clinton. Huckabee won 4 more than Romney." ... "But Iowa happens to be in the center ring of a gigantic media circus. And so it becomes the main act, well beyond what all rationality and common sense would dictate." -By Joe Rothstein -EinNews.com

20080101

John Edwards - Iowa - Manufacturing Plant - Jobs - Peoples - Kids - 2008 Election - - Ad - Money - Journalism - Opinion - "Laid-off worker voices Edwards themes." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards, pressing his populist anger [?editorial opinion masquerading as journalism via Foon Rhee and the BostonGlobe, Watch the TV ad] in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, is returning to a familiar tale in a new TV spot and newspaper ad -- layoffs at the Maytag [manufacturing] plant in Newton, Iowa." ... "The TV ad is to begin airing Wednesday, while the newspaper ad appeared in today's Des Moines Register. They both feature Doug Bishop, who lost his job in September 2004 and who relates his story of meeting Edwards." ... ""This is something I'll never forget -- he grabbed my seven-year-old son by the hand, he dropped to one knee, and he looked him straight in the eye and he said, 'I'm going to keep fighting for your daddy's job, I promise you that.'" ... ""You know, that stuff sticks with you," Bishop continues. "That's the kind of thing we need in a leader in this country. Not somebody that's going to go to a big fund-raiser and say, 'Write me a check for $2,300, and I'll let you know you have my support.'" ... ""I want a guy that's going to sit down and look a seven year-old kid in the eye," Bishop says, choking up, "and tell him, 'I'm going to fight for your dad's job.' That's what I want."" -By Foon Rhee -BostonGlobe

20071231

Dennis Kucinich - Joe Biden - Chris Dodd - Ron Paul - Duncan Hunter - Television - Politics - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - "FOX, ABC to reduce debate fields." ... "This weekend’s [New Hampshire] presidential debates and forum will not include some nationally-known candidates, and the chairmen of the state Republican and Democratic parties are not happy." ... "Fergus Cullen and Raymond Buckley say the decisions by ABC News, WMUR and, in Cullen’s case, FOX News, are inconsistent with the New Hampshire primary’s tradition of providing a level playing field for all candidates." ... "ABC News and WMUR-TV (Channel 9) confirmed today that they have established performance-based criteria for Saturday night's pair of presidential debates. Those rules could leave several relatively well-known candidates on the outside looking in, including [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates] Democrats Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd." ... "And Cullen confirmed that FOX News has invited only five presidential candidates to a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] forum scheduled for Sunday night, leaving out [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates] Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter." ... "GOP candidate Paul has said that FOX News is “scared of me” and has called the network “propagandists for this (Iraq) war, and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”" -By John Distaso -UnionLeader.com

20071229

Ron Paul - Television - Politics - New Hampshire - Iowa - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - "Paul: Fox News is 'scared of me'." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him." ... ""They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."" ... "Paul, the Republican Texas Congressman, was wrapping up his final day of campaigning in New Hampshire until the Iowa Caucuses on Thursday." -By James Pindell -BostonGlobe

20071219

John Edwards - Ron Paul - Mike Huckabee - Noteworthy - Journalists - Politics - Corporations - Legislation - Telecom - Money - 2008 Election - "Media hostility toward anti-establishment candidates." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Ron] Paul and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee are obviously disparate in significant ways -- ideologically, temperamentally, and otherwise. But there is a vital attribute common to those three campaigns that explains the media's scorn: they are all, in their own ways, anti-establishment candidates, meaning they are outside and critical of the system of which national journalists are a critical part, the system which employs and rewards our journalists and forms the base of their identity and outlook. Any candidate who criticizes and opposes that system -- not in piecemeal ways but fundamentally -- will be, first, ignored and, then, treated as losers by the press." ... "It is very striking how little Edwards' substantive critique of our political system has penetrated into the national discourse. That's because the centerpiece of his campaign is a critique that is a full frontal assault on our political establishment. His argument is not merely that the political system needs reform, but that it is corrupt at its core -- "rigged" in favor of large corporate interests and their lobbyists, who literally write our laws and control the Congress. Anyone paying even casual attention to the extraordinary bipartisan effort on behalf of telecom immunity, and so many other issues driven almost exclusively by lobbyists, cannot reasonably dispute this critique." ... "Yet because that argument indicts the same Beltway culture of which our political journalists are an integral part, and further attacks the system's power brokers who are the friends, sources, and peers of those journalists, they instinctively react with confusion, scorn and hostility towards Edwards' campaign. They condescendingly dismiss it as manipulative populist swill, or cynically assume that it's just a ploy to distinguish himself by "moving left." In the eyes of our Beltawy press, the idea that our political system is "rigged" or corrupt must be anything other than true or sincerely held." ... "As Digby notes [**], Ron Paul is going to raise more money than any Republican candidate this quarter; he just topped the record for most money raised in a single day; and has now exceeded Howard Dean's 2004 quarter total when Dean was at the peak of his online fundraising prowess. Huckabee is now tied for the lead in national polls and is leading in several of the key early states. Yet our establishment media stars continue to sneer at these anti-establishment candidates as though they are aberrational jokes, and there is virtually no serious effort to understand the meaning of their success." ... "Worse, whenever these candidates are discussed, it almost never entails any discussion of the critiques they are making. Is Edwards right that corporations and lobbyists dictate legislation in Washington and that this state of affairs is profoundly anti-democratic and corrupt? Are Paul's criticisms of our bipartisan imperial policies and his warnings of resulting financial unsustainability (and increasing anti-Americanism) accurate? Is Huckabee's claim true that the GOP has obliterated the economic prospects of its own middle- and lower-middle-class followers?" -Glenn Greenwald -Salon

20071218

Kevin Jeffrey Martin

Corporate

Government

Politics

Media

Communications

Broadcast

Radio

"FCC Loosens Newspaper-Broadcast Cross-Ownership Limits: Federal Communications Commission Voted Along Party Lines; Copps Expects Rule to Be Overturned." ... "To cries of " unfair" and "this vote is a sham" from a handful of protesters, the Federal Communications Commission voted along strict party lines Tuesday to loosen its newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule." ... "Democratic commissioner Michael Copps was the first commissioner to weigh in with a public statement in advance of that vote, saying that the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] was "just inking up a rubber stamp for another round of consolidation."" ... "[Republican President Bush's] FCC chairman Kevin Martin called it a relatively minor change that may help to "forestall erosion of local news coverage" and only loosens the rules where there are many voices and competition." ... "The move sets up a showdown with mostly Democratic senators who have pledged to nullify that vote, and the deicison will likely be taken to court by media activists opposing any more consolidation, or even broadcasters arguing that it has not gone far enough -- no other ownership rule was loosened, in contrast to the 2003 rule rewrite, the remand of which by a court the FCC is wrapping up." ... "The commission will presume that newspaper-broadcast combinations in the top 20 markets are in the public interest so long as eight independent voices, including newspapers, remain and the stations are not among the top four in the market. It will also allow newspaper-radio combinations but require no voices test." ... "Newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership would also be presumed to be in the public interest in markets smaller than the top 20 so long as at least seven hours of local news is added to a station that did not do it before, or if the station or newspaper is in financial distress." ... "The latter is defined as a station or newspaper that has gone dark at least four months before a waiver is filed for, or a station that has less than 4% of the audience, where there has been negative cash flow for at least three years (newspaper or station) and where no out-of-market buyer wants it." ... "Copps called the ruling a shiny gift for big media and a lump of coal for the rest. "Happy holidays," he said, adding that the change won't pass muster with either Congress or the courts." ... "Citing the congressional pushback, Democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said the FCC "has never attempted such a brazen act of defiance against Congress. Like the Titanic, we are steaming at full speed despite repeated warnings of danger ahead. It might yet sink. We should have slowed down rather than put everything at risk."" ... "Adelstein said three out of five unelected bureaucrats should not be able to overrule the American people, whom, he added, weighed in passionately in public hearings against consolidation. "They danced, they sang, they read us poems," he said, as well as providing expert opinions." ... "Both Adelstein and Copps said Martin made last-minute changes to the proposal late Monday night and they indicated that the commission was now granting waivers to 42 combinations in the dark of night." ... "Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, issued the following statement: "FCC chairman Kevin Martin is ignoring the public will and defying the [United States] U.S. Senate. His decision to gut longstanding ownership rules shows once again how the largest media companies -- with their campaign contributions and high-powered lobbyists -- are corrupting the policymaking process at the expense of local news coverage and independent voices."" ... "He continued, "Martin's FCC relied on slanted research and a rigged process to reach today's preordained outcome -- local media wrapped in a bow for Tribune, News Corp., Gannett and all the rest."" -By John Eggerton -BroadcastingCable.com

20071208

John Edwards - United States - Canada - Mexico - Working - Families - Multinational - Corporate - Media - Government - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - "Edwards Condemns NAFTA." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Saturday he wants to replace the empty promise that NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] would create millions of jobs with his own promise to be a tough negotiator on trade deals." ... "On the 14th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Edwards condemned the deal that lowered trade barriers between the United States and Canada and Mexico, arguing that it has paved the way for a series of deals that put the interests of multinational corporations ahead of working families." ... ""NAFTA was sold to the American people with promises that it would grow the economy and create millions of new jobs. But today, we know those promises were empty," he said. "In all three countries, it has hurt workers and families while helping corporate insiders."" ... "He also told voters in Derry [New Hamshire] that those corporate powers are in danger not only of controlling what comes out of government but the election process itself. Responding to a woman who said she resented media conglomerates trying to dictate the outcome of the presidential campaign, Edwards said the concentration of media ownership has become unhealthy for democracy." ... ""This all goes back to the same problem. Are the big corporate interests in Washington going to decide what's going to happen with your democracy and what's going to happen with your government? You can't let them decide what's going to happen with your elections," he said. "Then, they're not only controlling your democracy, they're controlling your elections."" -AP via -CBSNews

20071125

Hillary Rodham Clinton - TV - Company - Politics - 2008 Election - Iowa - New York - "In Iowa, Clinton Is Pressed on Murdoch." ... "The curious relationship between [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton, presidential candidate, and Rupert Murdoch, media baron, flashed briefly before the eyes of Iowans on Saturday night during a Clinton campaign event." ... "A woman in the audience rose to ask Mrs. Clinton about Mr. Murdoch’s ownership of multiple media outlets (Fox News, The New York Post, soon The Wall Street Journal, and various other organs), and also whether Americans would “lose out democracy” if one person is in control of the media." ... "And Mrs. Clinton played both sides in her answer, responding sympathetically to the woman’s concern about media consolidation, but also making clear that she wasn’t singling out “any company in particular” for condemnation." ... "Mrs. Clinton, as a senator from New York, has built a relationship with Mr. Murdoch over the years – not only due to his role as an employer in her home state, but also because, as the hands-on owner of the Post, he can make life easier or harder for her (and for her husband, who has been a target of the tabloid’s gossip pages at times.) And Mr. Murdoch has reciprocated, throwing a fundraiser on Senator Clinton’s re-election campaign in 2006 and participating in Mr. Clinton’s annual philanthropic conference. " -By Patrick Healy -NYTimes
Fred Thompson - TV - Business - Politics - 2008 Election - Tennessee - New Hampshire - South Carolina - "Thompson charges Fox News is biased against his campaign." ... "Former [Tennessee Republican Senator and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that Fox News is biased against his campaign, charging that the network highlights commentators who have been critical of his run for the presidency." ... "In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace pressed Thompson on how some conservatives have lambasted Thompson's campaign and showed clips of Fox conservative commentators Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes criticizing the former senator." ... "Thompson said, "This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth." He noted that other conservatives have praised his bid for the GOP nomination and took issue with a Fox promo that focused on polling in New Hampshire, where Thompson is registering in the single digits." ... "He said he is running second in national polls and has been leading or tied for the lead in South Carolina for "a long, long time."" ... "Thompson, in a firm, but measured tone, scolded Wallace: "...for you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, kind of skew things a little bit. There's a lot of other opinion out there."\" -By Bob Cusack -TheHill.com

20071121

US - Pakistan - Emergency - Law - Journalists - Human Rights - Del - Joseph R Biden - 2008 Election - "Bush More Emphatic In Backing Musharraf: He Says Leader 'Believes in Democracy'." ... "[Republican] President Bush yesterday offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."" ... "Bush spoke nearly three weeks after Musharraf declared emergency rule, sacked members of the Supreme Court and began a roundup of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. Musharraf's government yesterday released about 3,000 political prisoners, although 2,000 remain in custody, according to the Interior Ministry." ... "Several outside analysts and a key Democratic lawmaker expressed incredulity over Bush's comments and called them a sign of how personally invested the president has become in the U.S. relationship with Musharraf." ... ""What exactly would it take for the president to conclude Musharraf has crossed the line? Suspend the constitution? Impose emergency law? Beat and jail his political opponents and human rights activists?" asked [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del. [Delaware]), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a presidential candidate. "He's already done all that. If the president sees Musharraf as a democrat, he must be wearing the same glasses he had on when he looked in Vladimir Putin's soul."" ... "Bush was asked in the interview if there is any line Musharraf should not cross. "He hasn't crossed the line. As a matter of fact, I don't think that he will cross any lines," Bush replied, according to an ABC transcript." -By Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright -WashingtonPost

20071115

Bernard Kerik - Rudolph Giuliani - Media - TV - Business - Politics - Police - Government - New York - History - 2008 Election - "Regan opens Fox's can of worms: Judith Regan's lawsuit against Fox sets up the possibility of some very interesting disclosures, says Richard Aregood." ... "Her most recent fame came from her role as the paramour of the former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, meeting him for assignations in a city apartment intended to provide respite for 9/11 rescue workers." ... "News Corporation owns, among other properties, the New York Post, the 20th Century Fox movie studio, DirecTV, the Fox Network, Fox News and the recently acquired Wall Street Journal." ... "The Fox News chief, Roger Ailes, is a long-time Republican activist dating back to the days of the [Republican President] Richard Nixon administration, and a close associate of former New York mayor and [2008 Eelction] Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani." ... "Ailes managed Giuliani's first and unsuccessful race for mayor in 1989, and Giuliani later officiated at Ailes's wedding. When Fox News was a start-up, then-Mayor Giuliani pushed so hard to force cable networks such as Time-Warner to carry it that a federal judge hearing a subsequent lawsuit blocked the mayor's plan to put Fox on a city-owned channel, calling it "special advocacy" to "reward a friend and further a political viewpoint". Guiliani was a highly visible tablemate and guest of Ailes and Fox at the most recent White House Correspondents' Dinner." ... "Regan's 70-page filing, in spite of its frustrating lack of elaboration on its most spectacular allegations, paints a picture at considerable variance from the 24-hour news network's "fair and balanced" slogan." ... "Her central point, which might seem credible to anyone who has seen a Sean Hannity-Giuliani televised lovefest, is that Fox's coverage of the presidential race is determined by its desire to promote Giuliani. In fact, she alleges in court papers that "a senior executive" had advised Regan to "lie to, and withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik"." ... "Indeed", it adds, "another News Corp. executive similarly advised Regan not to produce clearly relevant documents in connection with the government's investigation of Kerik"." ... "This "senior executive", she says, tried to go beyond withholding facts from federal investigators that might hurt Guiliani or Kerik, his partner in the security consulting firm Giuliani Partners. "In fact", the suit says, "as is typically done when Fox News on-air talent and commentators receive their 'talking points', this executive attempted to influence any information that Regan might be asked to give regarding Kerik"." -Guardian.co.uk

20071114

Rudolph W Giuliani - Bernard Kerik - Media - Company - Politics - 2008 Election - Publisher - New York - Police - Government - "Regan says she was told to lie to protect Giuliani: In a lawsuit against News Corp., the former publisher alleges that she had to keep quiet on an affair with the mayor's top cop." ... "Former publisher Judith Regan filed a $100-million defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and other defendants Tuesday, alleging she was asked by company officials to lie to federal investigators in order to protect [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential bid." ... "Amid a flurry of allegations, the one most likely to cause a stir is Regan's charge that News Corp.'s political agenda was to protect the campaign of former New York Mayor Giuliani, especially when it came to the controversies over former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, whom Giuliani had recommended for the post of Homeland Security secretary. Regan said she confided to company executives as early as 2001 that she had been having an affair with Kerik, whose memoir, "The Lost Son," she published shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "After [Republican] President Bush nominated Kerik for Homeland Security secretary in 2004, Regan alleges in her suit, one executive "advised Regan to lie to, and to withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik."" ... "The company then launched a campaign to discredit her, because it feared that she might disclose information that would be politically hurtful to Giuliani, the suit said. Kerik subsequently withdrew his name from consideration amid a cloud of legal questions over his past behavior and fitness for office; he was indicted last week on federal charges, including tax fraud." -By Josh Getlin -LAtimes

20071111

Ron Paul - Tom Tancredo - Duncan Hunter - 2008 Election - Media - Texas - Colorado - California - Iowa - "Iowa GOP inundated by irate calls from Ron Paul fans." ... "The Iowa Republican Party put out an advisory Tuesday setting standards for participation in a Dec. 4 debate it is sponsoring with Fox News. The phone has been ringing off the hook ever since." ... "That's because the sponsors said participants need to average 5% support among Republicans in recent national or Iowa polls -- and so far, Texas [Representative and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rep. Ron Paul is one of the candidates not making the cut." ... "Colorado [Representative and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rep. Tom Tancredo and California [Representative and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rep. Duncan Hunter also fall below the 5% threshold at this point." -USATODAY

20071109

Photo - Media - Intelligence - Politics - California - Wildfire - Emergency - "Just Who Was At That Fake FEMA Briefing? CBS News Obtains A Photo Of The "Press" Gallery Full Of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] Staffers." ... "CBS News has obtained this photo of the now infamous fake FEMA press conference held during the California wildfires. The photo, taken by a FEMA employee, is one of the only known photos of the press gallery of that event." ... "The gallery is not filled with members of the press but with high-level agency employees." ... "At the podium on the left is Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson, the second in command at FEMA." ... "It was announced Thursday that an internal investigation had found that FEMA's press secretary encouraged, and in some cases instructed, employees to pose as reporters and ask questions at the fake news conference." ... "Since the briefing [former director of public affairs at FEMA, John "Pat"] Philbin - who, at the time of the news conference, already had accepted a job at the office of the director of national intelligence - lost his new post before he even started because of the incident." -CBSNews
Hillary Rodham Clinton - Internet - Politics - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Clinton Gets an Instant Chance to Wield a New Weapon." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign on Thursday introduced a Web site dedicated exclusively to the instantaneous rebuttal of charges or news reports it deems offensive or wrong." ... "And the day offered a perfect opportunity for the campaign, with a potentially embarrassing mini-scandal: a waitress’s report that Mrs. Clinton had failed to tip after eating at a Maid-Rite diner in central Iowa, an assertion that ricocheted around the Internet on Thursday." ... "After NPR broadcast the report, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign responded by saying the candidate and her aides had in fact left a tip: $100 on a $157 check at the diner." ... "[The waitress] Ms. Esterday said she did not understand what all the commotion was about." ... "“You people are really nuts,” she told a reporter during a phone interview. “There’s kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now — there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.”" -By Jim Rutenberg with contributions by Sarah Wheaton -NYTimes
http://Facts.HillaryHub.com

20071029

US - Iraq - Military - Government - Politician - EMail - 2008 Election - Computer - Web - Hacking - "Gen. Petraeus' Spokesman Denies Sending Angry Email -- Plot Thickens." ... "A disturbing email allegedly sent by a top U.S. military spokesman to a leading blogger at Salon.com this past weekend is just starting to draw mainstream attention. Howard Kurtz at The Washington Post mentioned it today, for example. It requires a good deal of background information to fully appreciate it, so I will provide a link to Glenn Greenwald’s blog page at Salon where he offered extensive postings (and updates) Sunday [*] and today [*] about the email purportedly from Army [Colonel] Col. Steven Boylan. But E&P has its own correspondence from Boylan, and I want to focus on that." ... "The long and short of the Greenwald postings: For months the popular blogger -- a former attorney and author of the recent bestseller "A Tragic Legacy" -- has criticized the growing “politicization” of the military attached to Iraq, starting earlier this year and peaking around the appearance of [General] Gen. David Petraeus before Congress (and the media) in September. This was even before William Safire declared, this past weekend, that the general ought to be considered as a running mate for a [2008 Election] Republican candidate for president next year." ... "In the past, Greenwald had received, and printed, emails from Boylan, a public affairs officer and chief spokesman for Gen. Petraeus, denying this trend and/or defending the general. So when he received an angry email from Boylan yesterday, he posted much of it on his blog (and linked to the entire message), while asserting that the views and language in it proved his point about “politicization.”" ... "Then it got really interesting. Boylan in another note to Greenwald seemed to deny that he wrote the email, while denouncing Greenwald for publishing it. But he did not state this clearly and refused to respond to Greenwald’s subsequent request for clarity. Meanwhile, various purported computer experts compared past and present emails from Boylan to Greenwald and suggested (to the latter) that they did seem to come from the same military email address. But no one was certain and, at the least, it raised troubling questions about someone "hijacking" the email account of Gen. Petraeus's chief spokesman. " -By Greg Mitchell -EditorAndPublisher.com

20071018

Media - Business - Politics - Television - Radio - Telecommunications - Illinois - New York - "Plan Would Ease Limits on Media Owners." ... "The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city." ... "[Republican] Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months — a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates." ... "Among them are Samuel Zell, the Chicago [Illinois] investor who is seeking to complete a buyout of the Tribune Company, and Rupert Murdoch, who has lobbied against the rule for years so that he can continue controlling both The New York Post and a Fox television station in New York." ... "The proposal appears to have the support of a majority of the five commission members, agency officials said, although it is not clear that Mr. Martin would proceed with a sweeping deregulatory approach on a vote of 3 to 2 — something his predecessor tried without success.In interviews on Wednesday, the agency’s two Democratic members raised questions about Mr. Martin’s approach." (1, 2) -By Stephen Labaton -NYTimes

20071017

Mitch McConnell - Media - Surveillance - Intelligence - Politics - Children - Health - E-Mails - Kentucky - "McConnell knew staff encouraged media to look at boy's background." ... "Senate Minority Leader [Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell knew his staff had sent e-mails encouraging reporters to look into the background of a boy recruited by Democrats to support expansion of a children's health-care program - even as he denied involvement by his aides, a newspaper reported Wednesday." ... "The Kentucky Republican told a WHAS-TV reporter last Friday that his staff had not been involved in trying to push reporters to look into the financial situation of the 12-year-old boy's family." ... "But McConnell spokesman Don Stewart told The Courier-Journal of Louisville [Kentucky] that he informed McConnell about the Oct. 8 e-mails sometime around Thursday, the day before the interview with the television reporter." -AP via -Kentucky.com
Mitch McConnell - Children - Health - Politics - E-Mails - Media - Radio - Ad - Money - Kentucky - Maryland - "McConnell knew of e-mails about boy: TV interview included denial." ... "Senate Minority Leader [Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell knew last week --at a time when he was denying it -- that his staff had sent e-mails encouraging reporters to look into the background of a 12-year-old boy used by Democrats to support expansion of a health-care program." ... "In an interview Friday with WHAS-TV reporter Mark Hebert, the Kentucky Republican said his staff had not been involved in trying to push reporters to look into the financial situation of the boy's family." ... "But McConnell's communications director, Don Stewart, said in an interview Monday with The Courier-Journal that he had told McConnell about the Oct. 8 e-mails sometime around Thursday, the day before the interview with Hebert." ... ""The initial e-mails sent by Stewart were aimed at alerting reporters that bloggers were raising questions about the boy, Graeme Frost of Baltimore [Maryland], and his family's financial circumstances. He backed off that claim in his subsequent e-mails, he said, based on a report from a blogger whom he respected." ... "Stewart said he informed McConnell of his personal role in the matter around Thursday." ... "The next day, Friday, Hebert asked McConnell about the e-mails. The exchange was broadcast Sunday night and again last evening." ... "Hebert asked the senator whether his office was attempting to get reporters to look into Frost's background." ... ""No," McConnell answered." ... "The senator was then asked, "What was the deal with the e-mail from your staffer?"" ... "McConnell replied: "There was no involvement whatsoever."" ... "The boy and his family's circumstances became an issue after he was recruited by the Democrats to respond to [Republican] President Bush's Sept. 29 radio address regarding the expanded health program, which Bush vetoed Oct. 3." ... "Graeme and his sister, Gemma, suffered severe injuries in a 2004 car crash and were beneficiaries of the insurance program." -By James R. Carroll -Courier-Journal.com

20071010

Racism - Radio - Politics - "Gibson knew school shooter was white because "[b]lack shooters don't" shoot themselves; "they shoot and move on"." ... "On the October 10 broadcast of his nationally syndicated Fox News Radio show, while discussing 14-year-old Asa H. Coon, who earlier that day shot four people at his Cleveland high school before killing himself, Fox News host [Republican] John Gibson asserted that "because the school is very heavily African-American, I did leap to a conclusion" that "the shooter might have been African-American." Gibson went on to say that he "knew this was not a classic hip-hop shooting" once he learned Coon killed himself. Gibson continued: "Hip-hoppers do not kill themselves. They walk away. Now, I didn't need to hear the kid was white with blond hair. Once he'd shot himself in the head, no hip-hopper." Gibson later stated, "I know the shooter was white. I knew it as soon as he shot himself. Hip-hoppers don't do that. They shoot and move on to shoot again." Gibson added: "I know there's a few of you who want to call me racist. But when you do, remind -- let me remind you, African-Americans are dying in major cities because people won't face this problem."" ... "After a commercial break, Gibson repeated his assertion: "All right, it turns out, though, the kid in Cleveland who did the shooting today -- three teachers, three students -- white." Gibson added: "And I could tell right away 'cause he killed himself. Black shooters don't do that; they shoot and move on."" -MediaMatters.org

20070918

Howard Krongard - Karl Rove - Kenneth Tomlinson - Media - Politics - Calif - "Waxman: State Department IG tried to shield Bush administration from embarrassment." ... "House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman [Democratic California Representative] Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will investigate allegations that State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard “interfered with ongoing investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.”" ... "The lawmaker said that former assistant inspector general for investigations John DeDona and former deputy assistant inspector general Ralph McNamara both have contacted his office. Waxman added that both individuals resigned from their posts because Krongard “repeatedly halted or impeded investigations undertaken by their office.”" ... "The lawmaker also alleges that the inspector general “interfered with an on-going investigation into the conduct of Kenneth Tomlinson, the head of Voice of America and a close associate of Karl Rove, by passing information about the inquiry to Mr. Tomlinson.”" -By Klaus Marre -TheHill.com

20070914

Edwards - Military - Family - US - Iraq - Newspaper - Ad - Opinion - Des-Moines - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Elizabeth Edwards criticizes MoveOn.org ad." ... "MoveOn.org should not have labeled [General] Gen. David Petraeus “General Betray Us” in a controversial newspaper ad, Elizabeth Edwards said in Des Moines [Iowa] Friday." ... "“Someone who’s spent their life in the military doesn’t deserve ‘General Betray Us,’” said Edwards, wife of [2008 election] Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards." ... "Elizabeth Edwards spoke in an interview after a Des Moines campaign appearance. She noted that her father was a career naval officer, and she grew up on Navy bases, so she said she respects military service." ... "Elizabeth Edwards said the group could have made its point by simply using Petraeus’ own previous words about purported good news in Iraq without insulting him personally." -DesMoinesRegister/News
Read MoveOn.org's Controversial Petraeus Ad

20070911

Larry E Craig - Gay - Politics - Minnesota - Airport - Police - Idaho - Newspaper - "Craig Asks Court to Let Him Withdraw His Plea of Guilty." ... "Lawyers for [Idaho Republican] Senator Larry E. Craig filed court papers yesterday asking that he be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport sex sting." ... "In an affidavit, Mr. Craig said that he was “deeply panicked” in the aftermath of his arrest June 11 on suspicion of soliciting a plainclothes officer in a men’s room at [Minnesota's] Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and that, with an Idaho newspaper already investigating his sexuality, he signed a guilty plea on Aug. 1 to try to keep the arrest from being disclosed." ... "The [police] officer said Mr. Craig had peeped into his stall, entered the adjacent stall, touched the officer’s foot with his own and made hand signals known to be silent code for soliciting sex in the restroom." -By Duff Wilson -NYTimes

20070909

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Iran - Military - Media - Marketing - Intelligence - Politics - Ill - "Among Top Officials, 'Surge' Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting." ... "For two hours, [Republican] President Bush listened to contrasting visions of the U.S. future in Iraq. Gen. David H. Petraeus dominated the conversation by video link from Baghdad [Iraq's capital], making the case to keep as many troops as long as possible to cement any security progress. Adm. William J. Fallon, his superior, argued instead for accepting more risks in Iraq, officials said, in order to have enough forces available to confront other potential threats in the region." ... "The polite discussion in the White House Situation Room a week ago masked a sharper clash over the U.S. venture in Iraq, one that has been building since Fallon, chief of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, sent a rear admiral to Baghdad this summer to gather information. Soon afterward, officials said, Fallon began developing plans to redefine the U.S. mission and radically draw down troops." ... "One of those plans, according to a Centcom officer, involved slashing U.S. combat forces in Iraq by three-quarters by 2010. In an interview, Fallon disputed that description but declined to offer details. Nonetheless, his efforts offended Petraeus's team, which saw them as unwelcome intrusion on their own long-term planning. The profoundly different views of the U.S. role in Iraq only exacerbated the schism between the two men." ... "Fallon, who took command of Centcom in March, worried that Iraq was undermining the military's ability to confront other threats, such as Iran. "When he took over, the reality hit him that he had to deal with Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and a whole bunch of other stuff besides Iraq," said a top military officer." ... "Fallon was also derisive of Iraqi leaders' intentions and competence, and dubious about the surge. "He's been saying from Day One, 'This isn't working,' " said a senior administration official. And Fallon signaled his departure from Bush by ordering subordinates to avoid the term "long war" -- a phrase the president used to describe the fight against terrorism." ... "To Bush aides, [defense secretary Robert] Gates did not seem fully on board with the president's strategy, either. As a member of the congressionally chartered Iraq Study Group before his selection to head the Pentagon, Gates embraced proposals to scale back the U.S. presence in Iraq. Now that he was in the Cabinet, he kept his own counsel." ... "Another new arrival in the [Republican President Bush's] West Wing set up a rapid-response PR unit hard-wired into Petraeus's shop. Ed Gillespie, the new presidential counselor, organized daily conference calls at 7:45 a.m. and again late in the afternoon between the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad to map out ways of selling the surge." ... "From the start of the Bush plan, the White House communications office had been blitzing an e-mail list of as many as 5,000 journalists, lawmakers, lobbyists, conservative bloggers, military groups and others with talking points or rebuttals of criticism. Between Jan. 10 and last week, the office put out 94 such documents in various categories -- "Myths/Facts" or "Setting the Record Straight" to take issue with negative news articles, and "In Case You Missed It" to distribute positive articles or speeches." ... "Petraeus was doing his part in Baghdad, hosting dozens of lawmakers and military scholars for PowerPoint presentations on why the Bush strategy had made gains." ... "Some visitors suspected a skewed picture. "We only saw things that reinforced their message that the surge was working," said [Illinois Democratic Representative] Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Peter Baker, Karen DeYoung, Thomas E. Ricks, Ann Scott Tyson, Joby Warrick and Robin Wright with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

20070828

Germany - China - Human Rights - Journalists - Religious - Sports - Global - "Germany's Merkel prods China on rights." ... "German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pressed China to improve human rights and take on greater international responsibilities as its global influence grows." ... "China has been criticised by many in the West for its treatment of journalists, minority and religious groups, a subject that has gained weight in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games next year." -Reuters via -Guardian.co.uk

20070820

US - Iraq - Military - Television - Radio - Online - "PEJ Study: War Coverage Down, Campaign Reporting Up." ... "Coverage of events related to the Iraq War decreased during the second quarter of 2007, but remained the top news issue, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which noted 15% of stories across print, broadcast and online dealt with Iraq-related issues." ... "That is down from 22% during the first quarter of the year. As in the first quarter, the Fox News Channel devoted roughly half as much coverage to the war (8%) than its rivals, CNN (18%) and MSNBC (15%)." ... "The PEJ study focused on 48 different outlets from five sectors of the media -- newspapers, broadcast television, radio, online, and cable." -By Joe Strupp -EditorAndPublisher.com
US - Canada - United Kingdom - Government - Reference - Business - Media - Online - Library - Computer - Technology - "A Quest to Get More Court Rulings Online, and Free." ... "The domination of two legal research services over the publication of [US] federal and state court decisions is being challenged by an Internet gadfly who has embarked on an ambitious project to make more than 10 million pages of case law available free online." ... "The project is the latest effort of Carl Malamud, an activist who founded public.resource.org in March, with the broad intent of building “public works” accessible via the network, and with the specific plan to force the federal government to make information more publicly accessible." ... "Last week, Mr. Malamud began using advanced computer scanning technology to copy decisions, which have been available only in law libraries or via subscription from the Thomson West unit of the Canadian publishing conglomerate Thomson, and LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier, based in London [United Kingdom]." ... "The two companies control the bulk of the nearly $5 billion legal publishing market. (A third, but niche, player is the Commerce Clearing House division of Wolters Kluwer)." ... "The Public Resource effort is one of several attempts to make the nation’s laws more accessible. One project, AltLaw (altlaw.org) is a joint effort by Columbia Law School’s Program on Law and Technology and the Silicon Flatirons program at the University of Colorado Law School to permit free full-text searches of the last decade of federal appellate and Supreme Court opinions." -By John Markoff -NYTimes

20070819

Rudy Giuliani - Media - Politics - Opinion - - Radio - Marketing - Ohio - New York - 2008 Election - "Giuliani's Fox-y pal cash flap." ... "It's no secret that Sean Hannity, the conservative Fox News commentator, has helped to raise [2008 election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's profile - but now he's helped the former mayor [New York City, New York] raise money, too." ... "In a little noticed event this month, Hannity - co-host of Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" and host of a popular WABC radio show - introduced the Republican front-runner at a closed-door, $250-per-head fund-raiser Aug. 9 in Cincinnati [Ohio], campaign officials acknowledge." ... "In so doing, some believe that Hannity - while clearly a commentator paid to express his opinions -crossed the line from punditry into financial rainmaking for a presidential candidate whose bottom line is now better for it." ... ""Fox's in-kind contribution to Republican politicians in the form of softball coverage is one thing," said Steve Rendall, senior analyst at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a left-leaning media watchdog group. "But this is the first time they have crossed this line into fund-raising."" ... "More independent observers said Hannity's appearance underscored the blurring lines between news and advocacy and could be interpreted as a kind of endorsement." ... "The Hotline, a political journal, has noted that through July 15, Giuliani had enjoyed 115 minutes of free face time on Fox - more than half of that on "Hannity & Colmes." His airtime on Fox was 25% higher than any other Republican candidate, data show." -By David Saltonstall -NYDailyNews.com
US - Iraq - Military - Political - Press - Religion - Terrorism - Police - Money - "The War as We Saw It." ... "Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)" ... "The claim that we are increasingly in control of the battlefields in Iraq is an assessment arrived at through a flawed, American-centered framework. Yes, we are militarily superior, but our successes are offset by failures elsewhere. What soldiers call the “battle space” remains the same, with changes only at the margins. It is crowded with actors who do not fit neatly into boxes: Sunni extremists, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen, criminals and armed tribes. This situation is made more complex by the questionable loyalties and Janus-faced role of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army, which have been trained and armed at United States taxpayers’ expense." ... "A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families." ... "As many grunts will tell you, this is a near-routine event." (1, 2) -By Buddhika Jayamaha, Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, Edward Sandmeier, Yance T. Gray, and Jeremy A. Murphy -NYTimes
Karl Rove - Christopher Shays - Government - Money - Political - Media - Marketing - Employees - Hatch Act - Law - 2004 Election - 2006 Election - Connecticut - "How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains: [Republican President] Bush Adviser's Effort to Promote the President and His Allies Was Unprecedented in Its Reach." ... "Thirteen months before President Bush was reelected [in the 2004 election], chief strategist Karl Rove summoned political appointees from around the government to the Old Executive Office Building. The subject of the Oct. 1, 2003, meeting was "asset deployment," and the message was clear:" ... "The staging of official announcements, high-visibility trips and declarations of federal grants had to be carefully coordinated with the White House political affairs office to ensure the maximum promotion of Bush's reelection agenda and the Republicans in Congress who supported him, according to documents and some of those involved in the effort." ... ""The White House determines which members need visits," said an internal e-mail about the previously undisclosed Rove "deployment" team, "and where we need to be strategically placing our assets."" ... "Under Rove's direction, this highly coordinated effort to leverage the government for political marketing started as soon as Bush took office in 2001 and continued through last year's congressional elections [2006 election], when it played out in its most quintessential form in the coastal Connecticut district of [Republican Representative] Rep. Christopher Shays, an endangered Republican incumbent. Seven times, senior administration officials visited Shays's district in the six months before the election -- once for an announcement as minor as a single $23 government weather alert radio presented to an elementary school. On Election Day, Shays was the only Republican House member in New England to survive the Democratic victory." ... "The U.S. Office of Special Counsel and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee are investigating whether any of the meetings violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from using federal resources for election activities." (1, 2, 3) -By John Solomon, Alec MacGillis and Sarah Cohen -WashingtonPost

20070817

US - Iraq - Internet - Media - Intelligence - "Army Reports Brass, Not Bloggers, Breach Security." ... "For years, the military has been warning that soldiers' blogs could pose a security threat by leaking sensitive wartime information. But a series of online audits, conducted by the Army, suggests that official Defense Department websites post material far more potentially harmful than anything found on a individual's blog." ... "The audits, performed by the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell [Wired.com article] between January 2006 and January 2007, found at least 1,813 violations of operational security policy on 878 official military websites. In contrast, the 10-man, Manassas, Virginia, unit discovered 28 breaches, at most, on 594 individual blogs during the same period." ... "The findings stand in stark contrast to Army statements about the risks that blogs pose." ... ""Some soldiers continue to post sensitive information to internet websites and blogs," then-Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker wrote in a 2005 memo. "Such OPSEC (operational security) violations needlessly place lives at risk." That same year, commanders in Iraq ordered (.pdf [at Wired.com]) troops to register their blogs "with the unit chain of command."" -By Noah Shachtman -Wired

20070815

US - Iran - Iraq - Dick Cheney - Media - Politics - Intelligence - "Cheney urging strikes on Iran." ... "[Republican] President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues." ... "[Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iran run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy." ... "The debate has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of allegations about Iranian meddling in Iraq from U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media. It isn't clear whether the media campaign is intended to build support for limited military action against Iran, to pressure the Iranians to curb their support for Shiite groups in Iraq or both." ... "Nor is it clear from the evidence the administration has presented whether Iran, which has long-standing ties to several Iraqi Shiite groups, including the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr and the Badr Organization, which is allied with the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, is a major cause of the anti-American and sectarian violence in Iraq or merely one of many. At other times, administration officials have blamed the Sunni Muslim group al Qaida in Iraq for much of the violence." ... "Maliki is on a three-day visit to Tehran [Iran's capital], during which he was photographed Wednesday hand in hand with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." -By Warren P. Strobel, John Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef -McClatchyDC.com

20070814

Don Imus - Racism - Money - Radio - Media - Job - Civil Rights - Sports - Women - Politics - "Don Imus Sued by Rutgers Basketball Player." ... "Don Imus is facing his first lawsuit from a player on the Rutgers Women's Basketball team for derogatory comments that cost him his job as a radio host in April, ABC News has learned." ... "Of the networks that aired "Imus in the Morning," the lawsuit alleges that they "wrongfully, intentionally, willfully ... created, tolerated and maintained an atmosphere in which the making of outrageous statements and comments was acceptable, encouraged, and/or rewarded for many years prior to this occurrence and/or overtly encouraged the statements made."" ... "The lawsuit alleges that use of the slanderous terms was intentional and motivated by greed and financial gain: In using insults against otherwise innocent people, Imus would get higher ratings, making more money for him and his employers. Among other infractions, the suit alleges that Imus violated the players' civil rights." ... "Earlier today, The Associated Press reported that Imus had reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with former employer CBS over his firing. ABC News has learned that Imus could be back to broadcasting as early as January, and is being courted by major media outlets. That settlement, said [attorney Richard] Ancowitz, rewards Imus while leaving little justice for the women of the Rutgers basketball team." (1, 2) -By Lara Setrakian with contributions by Michelle Ruiz and Lauren Pearle -ABCNEWS.com
Government - Army - Scientist - Lawsuit - Journalist - Enforcement - Anthrax - Terrorism - Privacy - Politics - "5 Reporters Ordered to Testify About Government Sources." ... "Five reporters must testify about their law enforcement sources in a former Army scientist’s lawsuit against the Justice Department, a federal judge in Washington ruled yesterday." ... "The suit, filed by Steven J. Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert, contends that the government violated the federal Privacy Act by providing journalists with information about him in the F.B.I.’s investigation of the deadly anthrax mailings in 2001." ... "“Denying civil litigants access to the identity of government officials who have allegedly leaked information to reporters would effectively leave Privacy Act violations immune from judicial condemnation,” Judge Walton wrote, “while leaving potential leakers virtually undeterred from engaging in such misbehavior.”" -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes

20070814

China- Sudan - US - 2008 Election - Oil - Military - Manufacturing - Journalists - Human Rights - Sports - Illinois - New Mexico - "China Is Becoming an Issue in 2008 Race." ... "When [2008 election] Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said in a recent debate that ``the center of gravity in this world is shifting to Asia,'' he had one nation clearly in mind." ... "``China is rising and it's not going away,'' said the senator from Illinois. ``They're neither our enemy nor our friend. They're competitors.''" ... "More than a year before the 2008 election, China - occasionally as partner, more often as adversary and potential vote-getter - is also rising as an issue among the candidates for president." ... "Many of the comments, however, have been complaints, as candidates work to connect with voters increasingly worried about China's huge military buildup, its flood of goods into the U.S., its ability to influence violence in Sudan's Darfur region, its repression of minorities, dissidents and journalists." ... "A recurring theme has been that China must do more to use its oil-buying leverage with Sudan to end rape and murder in Darfur." ... "In a June debate, [2008 election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, suggested that if China does not put more pressure on Sudan, ``we say to them, maybe we won't go to the Olympics.''" -By Foster Klug-AP via -Guardian.co.uk

20070810

Pete Hoekstra - John Boehner - United States - World - Intelligence - Secrets - Politics - Media - Mich - Ohio - "Are GOP Leaders Leaking State Secrets?" ... "For the second time in as many weeks, a senior House Republican may have divulged classified information in the media." ... "In an opinion article published in the New York Post Thursday, [Michigan Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., reported the top-secret budget for human spying had decreased -- the type of detail normally kept under wraps for national security reasons." ... ""The 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill cut human-intelligence programs," Hoekstra wrote in the piece, in which he also criticized "leaks to the news media."" ... "Formerly the chairman of the intelligence committee, Hoekstra is now its highest ranking Republican." ... "Secrets are apparently hard to keep these days. On July 31, House Minority Leader [Ohio Republiacan Representative] John Boehner, R-Ohio, allegedly disclosed a secret court ruling during a television interview with Fox News' Neil Cavuto." ... ""There's been a ruling, over the last four or five months, that prohibits the ability of our intelligence services and our counterintelligence people from listening in to two terrorists in other parts of the world where the communication could come through the United States," Boehner said." ... "Government officials have since confirmed to reporters that Boehner was discussing classified information, although the GOP leader denies it." -By Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com

20070809

Music - Entertainment - Webcast - Artists - Free Speech - Communications - Media - Net - Corporate- Politics - Seattle - Washington - Illinois - "Pearl Jam protests censoring of Lollapalooza webcast: AT&T says the deleting of Vedder's anti-Bush lyrics was a 'major, major mistake.'." ... "Pearl Jam is alarmed that an AT&T concert website pulled the plug on their stage politics, but an official with the communications giant today called the incident "a major, major mistake" that runs counter to the company's policy." ... "The Seattle [Washington] rock band closed the three-day Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago [Illinois] last weekend, with AT&T's Blue Room handling the live webcast. But when lead singer Eddie Vedder sprinkled one song with some disparaging lyrics about [Republican] President Bush, a content monitor chose to hit the equivalent of a mute button." ... "The band, on its official website, called that decision an example of Corporate America putting a chill on free speech." ... ""This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media," the band said in the statement. "AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media."" -By Geoff Boucher -LAtimes

20070807

Global - Climate - Politics - Fuel - Financed - Opinion - Media - Environment - "Gore: Polluters manipulate climate info." ... "Research aimed at disputing the scientific consensus on global warming is part of a huge public misinformation campaign funded by some of the world's largest carbon polluters, former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday." ... ""There has been an organized campaign, financed to the tune of about $10 million a year from some of the largest carbon polluters, to create the impression that there is disagreement in the scientific community," Gore said at a forum in Singapore. "In actuality, there is very little disagreement."" ... ""This is one of the strongest of scientific consensus views in the history of science," Gore said. "We live in a world where what used to be called propaganda now has a major role to play in shaping public opinion."" ... "He said Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, is one of the major fuel companies involved in attempting to mislead the public about global warming." -By Gillian Wong -AP via -Yahoo

20070804

Alberto R Gonzales - Karl Rove - Sara M Taylor - Political - Federal - Employees - Media - Markets - California - 2004 Election - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - "Gonzales Now Says Top Aides Got Political Briefings." ... "Justice Department officials attended at least a dozen political briefings at the [Republican President Bush] White House since 2001, including some meetings led by Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, and others that were focused on election trends prior to the 2006 [election] midterm contest, according to documents released yesterday." ... "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that he did not believe that senior Justice Department officials had attended such briefings. But he clarified his testimony yesterday in a letter to Congress, emphasizing that the briefings were not held at the agency's offices." ... "Internal guidelines forbid partisan meetings at the Justice Department and sharply restrict the ability of employees to participate directly in election campaigns or other political activities, a Justice official said yesterday." ... "[California Democratic Representative Henry] Waxman is investigating whether the meetings violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity on federal government property." ... "Top ambassadors in early January learned from Rove and [Sara M.] Taylor the top 36 targets among House Democratic incumbents in the 2008 [election] races, while State Department employees at a White House meeting in 2001 learned what the most critical media markets were for Bush's reelection in 2004 [election]." -By Dan Eggen and Paul Kane -WashingtonPost
California - Newspaper - Law - "7 Arrested in Death of Oakland Newspaper Editor." ... "A day after a prominent newspaper editor was shot to death downtown [Oakland, California], the police here on Friday arrested seven men and seized several weapons that they suspected were used in his killing and those of two other men." ... "Oakland police officials said they suspected that the men were part of a group operating “a very violent criminal enterprise” out of a neighborhood bakery." ... "The arrests came after a predawn raid by SWAT teams at the bakery, the Your Black Muslim Bakery, and three bakery-owned properties, where the police found several firearms, including the gun they believe was used to kill the editor, Chauncey Bailey, of the weekly Oakland Post." -By Jesse McKinley with contributions by Carolyn Marshall -NYTimes

20070803

Noteworthy - Media - Terrorism - San Francisco - California - Illinois - Connecticut - 2008 Election - "Dodd, Talk Show Host Exchange On-Air Jabs." ... "[Rupert Murdoch's Foxnews Host] Bill O'Reilly told [2008 election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Connecticut Senator] Chris Dodd, "I don't have any respect for you" and "if I were Joe Lieberman, I would never talk to you again."" ... "Dodd fired back that the talk show host says "a lot of things [that] are vile on a daily basis" and that studies show O'Reilly says something derogatory about people or groups once every 6.8 seconds." ... "Dodd's presidential campaign has been itching for the confrontation all week. "Support Chris Dodd's strong stance against partisan media," says the front page of the Dodd campaign website. The site urges viewers to "stand up" against O'Reilly by contributing." ... "O'Reilly set the tone early in the five-minute interview. He told listeners about his distaste for the liberal blog Daily Kos and this week's convention, called Yearly Kos, in Chicago [Illinois]. The convention is expected to attract most of the Democratic presidential candidates, including Dodd." ... "[Dodd to O'Reilly,] "You ought to be far more candid with your viewing audience here and tell them your real objection here is the ideology of Daily Kos," the senator said." ... "On the argument went, with Dodd noting that in 2005, O'Reilly suggested he wouldn't mind seeing San Francisco's [California] Coit Tower blown up by al-Qaida." -By David Lightman -Courant.com

20070802

Global - Media - Editorial - Massachusetts - "News Corp. pledged $2.5 mln to DJ watchdog's group." ... "Dow Jones & Co (DJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it did not know that one of the people named to protect its editorial independence after it becomes part of News Corp (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) runs a foundation that received a donation pledge of $2.5 million (1.2 million pounds) from News Corp." ... "Rupert Murdoch's global media conglomerate selected Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Nicholas Negroponte to be part of the five-member special committee that will oversee the editorial independence of Dow Jones's news operations including the Wall Street Journal." ... "Creation of the committee and agreement on who would be on it was part of News Corp's $5.6 billion deal to buy Dow Jones." ... "In an e-mail interview with Reuters in May, Negroponte described Murdoch as a personal friend and a key backer of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) foundation that makes inexpensive laptop computers for poor children." ... ""If in fact Nicholas' foundation is receiving money from News Corp, that creates the perception and, quite possibly, the reality of a conflict," said Louis Ureneck, chairman of the journalism department at Boston University [Boston, Massachusetts]." ... ""Is a person truly independent if a decision he makes puts at risk a significant grant to his foundation? It strikes me that there is a conflict," Ureneck said." (1, 2, 3) -By Jim Finkle and Kenneth Li with contributions by Robert MacMillan and Svea Herbst-Bayliss -Reuters
Rudolph W Giuliani - 2008 Election - Media News - Corporation - History - New York - "In Fox News, Giuliani Finds a Friendly Stage." ... "[Republican media strategist and Fox News President] Roger Ailes and [2008 election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudolph W. Giuliani have been pulling for each other for nearly two decades." ... "Mr. Ailes was the media consultant to Mr. Giuliani’s first [New York] mayoral campaign in 1989. Mr. Giuliani, as mayor, officiated at Mr. Ailes’s wedding and intervened on his behalf when Mr. Ailes’s company, Fox News Channel, was blocked from securing a cable station in the city." ... "This year, they were tablemates at the White House correspondents dinner, which Mr. Giuliani attended as a guest of Fox’s parent company, the News Corporation [owned by Rupert Murdoch]." ... "Now these allies and friends find themselves on largely uncharted political turf. Mr. Giuliani, 63, is a leading Republican candidate for president. Mr. Ailes, 67, is head of Fox News, the pre-eminent media outlet for likely voters in a Republican primary." ... "So far this year, one political journal found, Mr. Giuliani has logged more time on Fox interview programs than any other candidate. " ... "For much of his career, Mr. Ailes’s job was to counsel politicians. He worked as the media consultant to three [Republican] presidents: Richard M. Nixon, Mr. Reagan and the current president’s father, George H. W. Bush." ... "“Roger explained that every time a candidate is given a microphone, he’s getting $100,000 worth of publicity,” Mr. Giuliani wrote in his book." (1, 2) -By Russ Buettner -NYTimes
TV - Media - Politics - 2008 Election - John Edwards - "Edwards assails rivals over News Corp.." ... "[2008 election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards criticized Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday for taking more than $20,000 in donations from News Corp. officials, arguing that the company's Fox News Channel has a right-wing bias and Democrats should avoid the company." ... "Edwards led the Democratic candidates' boycott of Fox's plans to host a Democratic presidential debate. Now he is objecting to News Corp.'s purchase of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. and highlighting the relationships that Clinton and other rivals have with the company's executives." ... ""The time has come for Democrats to stop pretending to be friends with the very people who demonize the Democratic Party," Edwards said in a statement." -By Nedra Pickler with contributions by Michael R. Blood -AP via -Yahoo

20070801

Media - Politics - "The Dow Jones Deal: View From The Inside." ... "Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's successful Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal takeover has generated considerable anxiety about whether the owner of FOX News and scores of tabloids will respect and preserve the Journal's integrity. The New York Times (subscription), Financial Times (subscription), and Slate, among others, questioned the wisdom of the deal as it developed." ... "Today's WSJ article on the buyout details in dramatic fashion the tortuous negotiations between Murdoch and the Bancroft family, who have owned the paper for a century and have expressed concerns that Murdoch would "import the brand of sensationalist journalism found in some of his properties such as the New York Post."" -By Deron Lee -NationalJournal

20070717

Karl Rove - Sara Taylor - North Carolina - Political - Sheriffs - Government- Drug - Media - 2006 Election - "Drug czar's visit questioned." ... "A visit from the White House drug czar to western North Carolina last year has raised questions in a congressional investigation into the politicization of the national drug policy office." ... "Drug czar John Walters met with [North Carolina Represenative] Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry and [North Carolina Republican Represenative] Charles Taylor in their home districts in August." ... "The meetings, each with local sheriffs, were held behind closed doors but highlighted in local newspapers at the time." ... "According to a memo and e-mails obtained by a House oversight committee, the visits appeared to be part of a larger program to have officials from the Office of National Drug Control Policy visit districts of vulnerable GOP [Republican] members of Congress [before the 2006 election]." ... "The memo, authored in part by White House political affairs director Sara Taylor, describes 31 suggested or completed visits by Walters to Republican districts around the country." ... "In a follow-up e-mail, a White House official passed along praise from Karl Rove, [Republican] President Bush's top political advisor, for the work of Walters and his deputies." -By Barb Barrett -NewsObserver.com

20070714

Pat Tillman - Secret - Government - Military - Media - Politics - Sports - People - "White House Denies Request for Documents in Ex-NFL Player's Death." ... "The [Republican President Bush] White House has refused to give Congress documents about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, with White House counsel Fred F. Fielding saying that certain papers relating to discussion of the friendly-fire shooting "implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests."" ... "The military at first concocted a heroic story about how Tillman, a specialist posthumously promoted to corporal, had been killed in a fierce firefight with the enemy, despite obvious evidence that he had been shot by his own men at close range." -By Josh White -WashingtonPost

20070713

Mexico - Drug - Terrorism - Texas - American - Journalist - "Journalist along Texas-Mexico border receives threat: Gulf drug cartel reportedly targets reporter." ... "Government officials and journalist organizations expressed concern Friday about a reported threat against an unnamed American reporter working on the Texas-Mexico border." ... "Members of the Gulf drug-trafficking cartel were said to have originated the threat, and it seemed to focus on a journalist operating in Nuevo Laredo [Mexico], across the Rio Grande from Laredo [Texas]." -By Dudley Althaus -Chron

20070706

Secret - US - Foreign - Government - Intelligence - Surveillance - Journalists - Academics - Telephone - Internet - Civil Liberties - Law - Politics - Michigan - "Court orders dismissal of U.S. wiretapping lawsuit: A divided appeals court says plaintiffs weren't harmed by surveillance program." ... "A U.S. appeals court has ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit against the U.S. National Security Agency for a wiretapping program because it said the plaintiffs haven't been hurt by the agency's actions." ... "A divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled today that the lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of journalists, lawyers and academics, be sent back to a district court judge to be dismissed. In August 2006, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled the NSA program, which monitored telephone and Internet communications without court-ordered warrants, was illegal." ... "Judge Ronald Lee Gilman disagreed with the two-judge majority, arguing that the NSA program violates FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court], which establishes wiretapping procedures, including warrants. "When faced with the clear wording of FISA ... the conclusion becomes inescapable that [the program] was unlawful," he wrote." ... "The appeals court ruled that the plaintiffs could not sue because they can't prove they were affected by the program, and at the same time, ruled that details about the program, including who was targeted, are state secrets." (1, 2) -By Grant Gross -Computerworld

20070628

Television - Terrorism - Media - 2008 Election - Edwards - "Edwards defends her call to Coulter: She confronted the pundit Tuesday about insults aimed at her husband." ... "Elizabeth Edwards said Wednesday that she hopes other Americans will do what she was trying to do when she confronted [Republican] conservative pundit Ann Coulter on national television this week." ... "Edwards, wife of [2008 election] Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, said in an interview that it's time to put the brakes on the hateful speech spewed by people like Coulter. "It may take a while, but if we don't start, it'll take forever," she said." ... "The confrontation came Tuesday while Coulter was appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball." Elizabeth Edwards called the show and asked Coulter to refrain from using insulting language. Coulter laughed and accused Edwards of telling her to stop speaking." ... "Among other things, Coulter has referred to John Edwards as a "faggot" and recently said she wished he had died in a terrorist attack. In her call to the show, Elizabeth Edwards said Coulter once wrote that John Edwards probably had a bumper sticker on his car saying, "Ask me about my dead son." That was a reference to the Edwardses' teenage son, Wade, who was killed in a traffic accident." -DesMoinesRegister

20070627

Terrorism - Media - 2008 Election - John Edwards - "Ms. Edwards Asks Coulter to Stop Attacks." ... "Elizabeth Edwards pleaded Tuesday with [Republican] Ann Coulter to "stop the personal attacks," a day after the conservative commentator said she wished Edwards' husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, had been killed by terrorists." ... ""The things she has said over the years, not just about John but about other candidates, lowers the political dialogue at precisely the time we need to raise it," Edwards said by phone on MSNBC's "Hardball" program, where Coulter was a guest." ... "Elizabeth Edwards said she did not consult her husband before confronting Coulter on the air, adding that she felt the pundit's remarks were "a dialogue on hatefulness and ugliness."" -By Mike Baker -AP via -SFGate.com
WATCH - Karl Rove - Media - Terrorism - 2008 Election - John Edwards - "John Edwards: Coulter's 'crazy'." ... "A day after his wife Elizabeth called in to MSNBC’s “Hardball” to confront conservative commentator Ann Coulter, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards made his own appearance on the show." ... [Watch Video] "MATTHEWS: OK. Did you talk with your wife, Elizabeth, beforehand about this, her decision to call in to the program?" ... "J. EDWARDS: Elizabeth made this decision on her own to call in, I guess based on what she was hearing from Ann Coulter and I think something Ann Coulter had said a couple of days before." ... "MATTHEWS: Right. Well, what is your reaction to what you heard last night and heard today about what happened last night?" ... "J. EDWARDS: I applaud Elizabeth. I think that when people like Ann Coulter -- and it's not just her, unfortunately, it's her and people just like her, Karl Rove and all those people. I mean, when they engage us in this kind of hatemongering, you have to stand up to them. You have to stand up to them. They start this fight, but we have to be willing to be strong and to fight back. Because if we don't, Chris, what happens is all the important things: men and women dying in Iraq, those who don't have health insurance, et cetera, their issues don't get heard. Instead, it's this -- it's this low-level dialogue with this name-calling, which is what we see." ... "MATTHEWS: Well, what do you make of the role of trash talk in politics generally, this willingness on the part of partisans to enrage the other side by going over the top? I mean is that a smart tactic? Does it work? Does it debase the politics?vJ. EDWARDS: Oh, it clearly debases the politics. There's no doubt about that. It makes it very difficult to talk about issues that affect people's day-to-day lives. And it's why when this kind of hatemongering and this hate language is used -- and I just, I feel the need to point out, this woman didn't just use it against me. I mean, the things she said about Senator Obama; the things she said about Senator Clinton -- they all fall in the same category. And they're calculated to create an emotional response. They're calculated to make people hate. And if you don't speak out against it, then that means you're tolerating this kind of language, and it means you think it's OK. It's not OK." ... "MATTHEWS: What do you make of someone who's a person who writes a column, went to Michigan Law School, has a fine education, apparently, from what I can tell, who is quite a writer, a good writer, uses comments like, "I hope that the terrorists kill this guy," things like that. What do you make of that stuff? Where does it come from?" ... "J. EDWARDS: Well, it means a couple things. Number one, she's smart enough to know better. She knows exactly what she's doing. She's not alone. I mean, if you look at what she's doing and you look at what's happened in the past; for example, the Swift Boating of Senator Kerry, I mean, I think a lot of this is very coordinated, very calculated. They intend to create a result. And what they hope is that we won't say anything; we'll just let them continue this hateful dialogue, and we'll try and hope that the country will hear us talk about important things, issues that affect the lives of Americans every single day. But we have to fight back, Chris. We have to be strong. We have to speak up. That's what Elizabeth did yesterday. And I'm proud of her for it." -MSNBC

20070626

TV - Advertisements - Journalism - Health - Portland - Oregon - "TV Stations Blur The Line Between News And Ads." ... "Recently on Oregon Considered, we brought you a story about weekly medical reports on Portland's CBS affiliate, KOIN-TV. Providence Health Systems sponsors the health segments, and nearly all of them feature medical experts from Providence. That kind of commercialism is fairly common in local television stations, according to a new study by the University of Oregon's School of Journalism. Colin Fogarty spoke with a lead researcher in the study." ... "Jim Upshaw: "Stealth advertisements are, of course, commercial messages intended to promote in some fashion a product or service that are clothed in some other garment than the normal commercial."" ... "Jim Upshaw is a professor of Journalism at the University of Oregon. His article on commercialism in TV newscasts is published in the June edition of the journal of Electronic News." -By Colin Fogarty -OPB.org -OregonConsideredvia -PublicBroadcasting.net

20070625

Mitt Romney - Jay Garrity - Police - Politics - 2008 Election - Reporter - Car - Surveillance - New Hampshire - Massachusetts - "Fortune reporter: Garrity pulled me over, too." ... "After New York Times reporter Mark Leibovitch reported on June 16 that an aide to [2008 election Republican Presidential candidate] Mitt Romney -- later identified as Jay Garrity, Romney's director of operations -- had ordered him to stop following Romney's car on a campaign trip to New Hampshire, Romney's campaign denied that Leibovitch's car was ever pulled over." ... "Now another reporter is saying she had an experience similar to Leibovitch's account. Marcia Vickers, a senior writer with Fortune magazine, said that while trailing Romney in New Hampshire on Memorial Day for a forthcoming magazine piece, Garrity instructed her at one point to stop tailing Romney's car." ... "The incident with Leibovitch, in which Garrity, by Leibovitch's account, also told him he had run his license plate number, has prompted an investigation by the New Hampshire attorney general's office. State law prohibits private citizens from accessing license plate databases or pulling over fellow citizens. Garrity is now on paid leave amid an investigation by Massachusetts State Police into whether he impersonated a state trooper in a May 13 phone call to a Wilmington [Massachusetts] company." -By Scott Helman -Boston/Globe

20070622

Mitt Romney - Jay Garrity - Political - Police - Car - Massachusetts - Company - New Hampshire - Databases - Reporter - Privacy - 2008 Election - "Romney aide is the focus of probe: Allegedly acted as State Police trooper." ... "State Police are investigating one of [2008 election Republican Presidential candidate] Mitt Romney's top campaign aides for allegedly impersonating a trooper by calling a Wilmington [Massachusetts] company and threatening to cite the driver of a company van for erratic driving, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the probe." ... "Jay Garrity, who is director of operations on Romney's presidential campaign and a constant presence at his side, became the primary target of the investigation, according to one of the sources, after authorities traced the cellphone used to make the call back to him" ... "The New Hampshire attorney general, according to the Associated Press, has also opened an investigation into a report that a Romney aide, later identified as Garrity, pulled over a New York Times reporter in New Hampshire and said he had run his license plate." ... "New Hampshire law prohibits private citizens from accessing license plate databases or pulling over fellow citizens." ... "In 2004, the Globe reported, Garrity was cited and fined for driving a Crown Victoria with red and blue lights mounted in the grill, a siren, a PA system, and strobe lights; and for having a nightstick and identification showing a State Police patch that read "Official Business."" -By Stephanie Ebbert and Scott Helman with contributions by Suzanne Smalley, Andrea Estes, and Jonathan Saltzman -Boston/Globe

20070615

Mike Elston - US Attorneys - Law - Reporter - Arkansas - "Another Justice Dept. Official [Michael Elston] Resigns." ... "At one point, [Mike] Mr. Elston compiled a list of prosecutors for possible removal, but his principal involvement came after the firings in February when he exchanged e-mail messages with H. E. Cummins III of Arkansas, one of the ousted United States attorneys." ... "Mr. Cummins testified later to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he regarded Mr. Elston’s message as a veiled threat to retaliate against any ousted prosecutor who spoke to a reporter." -By David Johnston -NYTimes

20070605

TV - Race - Politics - William J Jefferson - Louisiana - Michigan - "Fox News apologizes for tape goof." ... "Fox News Channel apologized on-air Tuesday for running tape of a different congressman while reporting Monday on the indictment of [Louisiana Democratic Representative] Rep. William J. Jefferson on bribery charges." ... "The network ran footage of House Judiciary Committee Chairman [Michigan Democratic Representative] John Conyers of Michigan instead of Jefferson. Both congressmen are black." ... "The apology apparently wasn't accepted by Conyers." ... ""Fox News has a history of inappropriate on-air mistakes that are neither fair, nor balanced," he said Tuesday. "This type of disrespect for people of color should no longer be tolerated. I am personally offended by the network's complete disregard for accuracy in reporting and lackluster on-air apology."" -By David Bauder -AP via -Yahoo
I Lewis Libby - Dick Cheney - Karl Rove - US - Iraq - Government - Military - Intelligence - Media - Politics - "Libby sentenced to 30 months in prison." ... "I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators looking into the leak of a CIA operative's identity." ... "[Republican] President Bush "has not intervened so far in this," [Deputy White House Press Secretary Dana] Perino said." ... "The case involves statements Libby made to the FBI and a grand jury during their probe into how the covert identity of CIA operative [Valerie] Plame Wilson was leaked." ... "Plame Wilson's name became public when Robert Novak named her in his column on July 14, 2003. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had openly questioned the Bush administration's basis for invading Iraq." ... "Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has admitted he disclosed the information to a reporter. Novak pointed to another "senior administration official" -- Bush political adviser Karl Rove -- as the second source for his column." -Contributed to by Paul Courson, Brianna Keilar, Jeffrey Toobin and Brian Todd -CNN

20070604

Media - US Immigration - Politics- History - "The great right-wing fraud to repudiate George W. Bush." ... "The great fraud being perpetrated in our political discourse is the concerted attempt by movement conservatives, now that the Bush presidency lay irreversibly in ruins, to repudiate [Republican President] George Bush by claiming that he is not, and never has been, a "real conservative." This con game is being perpetrated by the very same conservatives who -- when his presidency looked to be an epic success -- glorified George W. Bush, ensured both of his election victories, depicted him as the heroic Second Coming of Ronald Reagan, and celebrated him as the embodiment of True Conservatism." ... "This fraud is as transparent as it is dishonest, yet there are signs that the media is nonetheless beginning to adopt this theme that there is some sort of epic and long-standing "Bush-conservative schism." But very little effort is required to see what a fraud that storyline is." ... "One of the few propositions on which Bush supporters and critics agree is that George Bush does not change and has not changed at all over the last six years. He is exactly the same." ... "And none of the supposed grounds for conservative discontent -- especially Bush's immigration position -- is even remotely new. Bush's immigration views have been well-known since before he was first elected in 2000, yet conservatives have devoted to him virtually cult-like loyalty and support. Just logically speaking, Bush's immigration views cannot be the cause of the flamboyant conservative "rebellion" against Bush since those views long co-existed with intense conservative devotion to Bush." ... "There is really only one thing that has changed about George W. Bush from the 2002-2004 era when conservatives hailed him as the Great Conservative Leader, and now. Whereas Bush was a wildly popular leader then, which made conservatives eager to claim him as their Standard-Bearer, he is now one of the most despised presidents in U.S. history, and conservatives are thus desperate to disassociate themselves from the President for whom they are solely responsible. It is painfully obvious there is nothing noble, substantive or principled driving this right-wing outburst; it is a pure act of self-preservation. " -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

20070529

Dick Cheney - I Lewis Libby - Political - Secrecy - Media- Government - Intelligence - Employment - Law - Opinion - "Fitzgerald Again Points to Cheney." ... "Special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald has made it clearer than ever that he was hot on the trail of a coordinated campaign to out CIA agent Valerie Plame until that line of investigation was cut off by the repeated lies from [Republican] Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby." ... "Libby was convicted in February [correction: March] of perjury and obstruction of justice. Fitzgerald filed a memo on Friday asking U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who will sentence Libby next week, to put him in prison for at least two and a half years." ... "Despite all the public interest in the case, Fitzgerald has repeatedly asserted that grand-jury secrecy rules prohibit him from being more forthcoming about either the course of his investigation or any findings beyond those he disclosed to make the case against Libby. But when his motives have been attacked during court proceedings, Fitzgerald has occasionally shown flashes of anger -- and has hinted that he and his investigative team suspected more malfeasance at higher levels of government than they were able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt." ... "In Friday's eminently readable court filing [PDF], Fitzgerald quotes the Libby defense calling his prosecution "unwarranted, unjust, and motivated by politics." In responding to that charge, the special counsel evidently felt obliged to put Libby's crime in context. And that context is Dick Cheney." ... "Libby's lies, Fitzgerald wrote, "made impossible an accurate evaluation of the role that Mr. Libby and those with whom he worked played in the disclosure of information regarding Ms. Wilson's CIA employment and about the motivations for their actions."" ... "It was established at trial that it was Cheney himself who first told Libby about Plame's identity as a CIA agent, in the course of complaining about criticisms of the administration's run-up to war leveled by her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson. And, as Fitzgerald notes: "The evidence at trial further established that when the investigation began, Mr. Libby kept the Vice President [Dick Cheney] apprised of his shifting accounts of how he claimed to have learned about Ms. Wilson's CIA employment."" ... "The investigation, Fitzgerald writes, "was necessary to determine whether there was concerted action by any combination of the officials known to have disclosed the information about Ms. Plame to the media as anonymous sources, and also whether any of those who were involved acted at the direction of others. This was particularly important in light of Mr. Libby's statement to the FBI that he may have discussed Ms. Wilson's employment with reporters at the specific direction of the Vice President [Dick Cheney]." (My [Froomkin's] italics.)" ... "Not clear on the concept yet? Fitzgerald adds: "To accept the argument that Mr. Libby's prosecution is the inappropriate product of an investigation that should have been closed at an early stage, one must accept the proposition that the investigation should have been closed after at least three high-ranking government officials were identified as having disclosed to reporters classified information about covert agent Valerie Wilson, where the account of one of them was directly contradicted by other witnesses, where there was reason to believe that some of the relevant activity may have been coordinated, and where there was an indication from Mr. Libby himself that his disclosures to the press may have been personally sanctioned by the Vice President [Dick Cheney]." (My [Froomkin's] italics.)" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Dan Froomkin -WashingtonPost
I Lewis Libby - Dick Cheney - Political - Media - Secret - Government - Intelligence - Employee - Law - "Plame was ‘covert’ agent at time of name leak: Newly released unclassified document details CIA employment." ... "An unclassified summary of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame's employment history at the spy agency, disclosed for the first time today in a court filing by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, indicates that Plame was "covert" when her name became public in July 2003." ... "The summary is part of an attachment to Fitzgerald's memorandum to the court supporting his recommendation that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, [Republican] Vice President Cheney's former top aide, spend 2-1/2 to 3 years in prison for obstructing the CIA leak investigation." ... "The unclassified summary of Plame's employment with the CIA at the time that syndicated columnist Robert Novak published her name on July 14, 2003 says, "Ms. Wilson was a covert CIA employee for who the CIA was taking affirmative measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States."" ... "Plame worked as an operations officer in the Directorate of Operations and was assigned to the Counterproliferation Division (CPD) in January 2002 at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia." ... "The employment history indicates that while she was assigned to CPD, Plame, "engaged in temporary duty travel overseas on official business." The report says, "she traveled at least seven times to more than ten times." When overseas Plame traveled undercover, "sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias -- but always using cover -- whether official or non-official (NOC) -- with no ostensible relationship to the CIA."" -By Joel Seidman -MSNBC
"Read Plame employment report (pdf)." [Legal document recognizing Valerie Plame's secret government intelligence employment.] via -MSNBC

20070502

Los Angeles - California - US Immigration - Children - People - Civil Righs - Free Speech - TV - Radio - Photo - Journalist - Censorship - "Cop Tactics At Immigration Rally Draw Ire: L.A. Police Seen Firing Rubber Bullets Into Crowds That Included Children. " ... "Police Chief William J. Bratton said Wednesday some of the police tactics to clear immigration protesters from a park were "inappropriate," as numerous news videos showed officers striking people with batons and firing rubber bullets into crowds that included children." ... "After a peaceful day of immigration marches, Los Angeles police say a small group in a downtown park pelted them with rocks and bottles, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker. Police responded with force." ... "The Radio and Television News Association of Southern California called for an investigation." ... ""There is evidence that officers knocked reporters to the ground, used batons on photographers and damaged cameras, possibly motivated by anger over journalists photographing efforts by officers to control the movements of marchers," the group said in a statement." -AP via -CBSNews

20070424

Scott J Bloch - Government - Employee - Politicizing - Law - Media - Censorship - "Inquiry on Political Influence." ... "The agency in the Justice Department [NYT correction: the Office of Special Counsel is not part of the Justice Deoartment] that handles complaints about political influence in the Civil Service will investigate whether the White House has improperly tried to use government agencies for political purposes, its spokesman said Tuesday." ... "But the head of the Office of Special Counsel, Scott J. Bloch, is himself under investigation by the inspector general of the Office of Personnel Management over accusations of politicizing his agency." ... "A group of employees who work for Mr. Bloch has filed a complaint saying he tried to dismantle the agency, illegally barred employees from talking to the news media and reduced a backlog of whistle-blower complaints by simply discarding old cases.Debra Katz, a Washington lawyer representing the employees, said it was obvious that Mr. Bloch was trying to use the investigation to divert attention from his own problems." -By Neil A. Lewis -NYTimes

20070416

Noteworthy - Analysis - US - Iraq - International - Military - Energy - Business - Politics - Intelligence - Marketing - Psychology - "Iraq: American public opinion vs. a "small but powerful group"." ... "In his important Washington Post Op-Ed this morning, Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Sheehan -- in the course of explaining why he asked not to be considered for the new post of "war czar" in the Bush administration -- has become the latest military expert to warn the country that our military and war policy in Iraq is destined to fail, because it is being controlled by a small band of propagandists who have no coherent strategy for ever leaving Iraq:"

"What I found in discussions with current and former members of this administration is that there is no agreed-upon strategic view of the Iraq problem or the region. . . .

There has to be linkage between short-term operations and strategic objectives that represent long-term U.S. and regional interests, such as assured access to energy resources and support for stable, Western-oriented countries. These interests will require a serious dialogue and partnership with countries that live in an increasingly dangerous neighborhood. We cannot "shorthand" this issue with concepts such as the "democratization of the region" or the constant refrain by a small but powerful group that we are going to "win," even as "victory" is not defined or is frequently redefined."

[-By Retired US Marine Corps General John Sheehan. Emphasis by Greenwald]

...

"As always, for the dead-ender pro-war propagandistis, the sun is starting to shine in Iraq. Things are improving. Victory is in sight. We just need to stay longer, keep occupying Iraq, doing what we have been doing, and glorious triumph will be ours. It is the same exact song, with slightly modified lyrics ("Surge"), which they have been singing for four straight destructive years."

...

"And the same Beltway elite which bears a substantial portion of the guilt for driving this country into the disastrous invasion of Iraq continues to impede any efforts to extricate ourselves from this war. That is because staying forever is the only way they have to avoid the ultimate day of reckoning, when it is conclusively revealed -- beyond even the protective reach of the Kagan/AEI/Weekly Standard propagandists -- just how disastrous this invasion was for the United States and just how barren their judgment and integrity are."

...

"The "Surge" is nothing more than a crass marketing gimmick, concocted by war propagandists who have been lying to the country for the last four years about Iraq, to justify to an anti-war populace why we must continue our occupation."

-By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

20070414

Russia - Government - Police - Law - People - Journalists - Politics - "Russian Police Arrest Kasparov, Opposition Protesters (Update1)." ... "Russian police arrested opposition leader and former world chess champion Gary Kasparov today along with more than 100 supporters and several journalists at an unsanctioned protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow [Russia]." ... "Thousands of riot police swarmed streets around central Moscow's Pushkin Square, the historical focus of democracy protests, after the city's authorities pledged the same display of police force that greeted the last protest in the capital, in December." ... "Kasparov, who leads a loose coalition of opposition groups called The Other Russia, was arrested minutes after the rally was to begin, said his spokeswoman, Natalya Morar. The Other Russia hopes to field candidates in the nation's parliamentary elections in December and presidential election next March." ... "``We demand free elections, not imitations or farces,'' Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister who has turned against the Putin government, said in a brief speech at Turgenev Square, an alternative site that was sanctioned for the rally." ... "Opposition leaders charge that Putin is forcing Russia into a controlled system where the two main parties will both be supporters of the Kremlin -- United Russia and Fair Russia.-By James Brooke and Henry Meyer -Bloomberg

20070413

Imus - Racist - Gay - Woman - Journalist - Politician - Radio - Business - University - Women's - Sports - Opinion - "[Howard] Kurtz: "Imus made fun of blacks, Jews, gays, politicians. He called them lying weasels. This was part of his charm"." ... "On April 12, during a report on the controversy sparked by Don Imus' remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, ABC's World News aired comments by Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, in which he said: "Over the years, Imus made fun of blacks, Jews, gays, politicians. He called them lying weasels. This was part of his charm." Kurtz's quote aired shortly after CBS Radio announced it would discontinue broadcasting Imus in the Morning." ... "Despite Imus' propensity for incendiary remarks, Kurtz has previously been a guest on the Imus program, a fact he acknowledged in his April 12 Washington Post column. Kurtz wrote: "Journalists like me who have gone on Imus's show have done so because we enjoyed the opportunity to talk about politics and media without the stuffiness of so many other programs. And it's probably true that too many of us looked the other way when he went over the line with some of his cruder comedy bits." Yet, as Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting documented, Kurtz wrote in his 1996 book, Hot Air (Crown) that "Imus's sexist, homophobic, and politically incorrect routines echo what many journalists joke about in private."" -MediaMatters.org

20070412

Radio - TV - Business - Opinion - University - Women's - Sports - People - Gay - Religion - Politics - Don Imus - "It's not just Imus." ... "On April 11, NBC News announced that it was dropping MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning in the wake of the controversy that erupted over host Don Imus' reference to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." The following day, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves announced that CBS -- which owns both the radio station that broadcast Imus' program and Westwood One, which syndicated the program -- has fired Imus and would cease broadcasting his radio show. But as Media Matters for America has extensively documented, bigotry and hate speech targeting, among other characteristics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity continue to permeate the airwaves through personalities such as Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, and John Gibson." -MediaMatters.org

20070411

John Edwards - Free Speech - 2008 Election - Don Imus - Media - Entertainment - Business - Politics - Language - Women - University - Sports - "Edwards On Imus Spat: 'I Believe In Forgiveness: Presidential Candidate Stays Mum On Future Imus Appearances." ... "Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards' spoke exclusively to CBS 2 on Wednesday morning about the Don Imus and Rutgers University controversy, and though he feels Imus deserves a second chance, he wasn't so sure about his future on Imus' popular radio show." ... ""I believe in redemption, I believe in forgiveness," Edwards said of Imus, who was suspended earlier in the week after calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy headed hos."" ... "Unlike candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, who say they will continue to appear on Imus' radio show, Edwards says he hasn't seen enough from the shock jock to make that decision just yet." ... ""What he said is wrong because it's wrong. It has to be condemned, we have to speak out when people use this kind of language," Edwards said. "This is a very serious matter, it should be taken very seriously."" -By Marcia Kramer -WCBStv.com
2008 Election - Don Imus - Media - Television - Humor - Business - Employee - Language - Censorship - Politics - Women - University - Sports - Daughters - Human Rights - People Illinois - "Obama: Fire Imus: [Illinois Democratic Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate] Obama [is] First White House Contender to Call for Imus' Firing Over Racial Slur." ... "In an interview with ABC News Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for the firing of talk radio host Don Imus. Obama said he would never again appear on Imus' show, which is broadcast on CBS Radio and MSNBC television." ... ""I understand MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus," Obama told ABC News, "but I would also say that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude."" ... "Obama said he appeared once on Imus' show two years ago, and "I have no intention of returning."" ... ""He didn't just cross the line," Obama said. "He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America. The notions that as young African-American women — who I hope will be athletes — that that somehow makes them less beautiful or less important. It was a degrading comment. It's one that I'm not interested in supporting."" ... "Tuesday, the basketball team held a press conference." ... ""I think that this has scarred me for life," said Matee Ajavon. "We grew up in a world where racism exists, and there's nothing we can do to change that."" ... ""What we've been seeing around this country is this constant ratcheting up of a coarsening of the culture that all of have to think about," Obama said." ... ""Insults, humor that degrades women, humor that is based in racism and racial stereotypes isn't fun," the senator told ABC News." ... ""And the notion that somehow it's cute or amusing, or a useful diversion, I think, is something that all of us have to recognize is just not the case. We all have First Amendment rights. And I am a constitutional lawyer and strongly believe in free speech, but as a culture, we really have to do some soul-searching to think about what kind of toxic information are we feeding our kids," he concluded." (1, 2) -By Jake Tapper with contributions by Clayton Sandell -ABCNEWS.com
2008 Election - Don Imus - Politicians - Journalists - NY - Ariz - "Rudy, McCain say they forgive and support." ... "Embattled radio host Don Imus is getting support from many of the politicians and journalists who frequently grace his show - including presidential hopeful [Republican] Rudy Giuliani." ... "Despite many calls for the shock jock's resignation, Giuliani said he would again appear with Imus, and after talking to him on the phone he believes Imus "understands that he made a very, very big mistake."" ... "[Republican Presidential candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a frequent guest whose campaign Imus has backed, said he would continue to appear with the cranky commentator." ... "[Democratic Presidential candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), however, said Imus' cracks just confirmed her opinion." ... ""I've never wanted to go on his show and I certainly don't ever intend to go on his show, and I felt that way before his latest outrageous, hateful, hurtful comments," she said." -By Jonathan Lemire -NYDailyNews.com

20070406

John Edwards - 2008 Election - Media - TV - "Edwards drops from second Fox debate, says network is biased." ... "[2008 election] Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday pulled out of a second debate co-hosted by Fox News Channel, saying the cable network has a conservative slant." ... ""We believe there's just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform to advance the right-wing agenda while pretending they're objective," said Jonathan Prince, Edwards' deputy campaign manager." ... "It's the second time Edwards has decided to skip a debate because of its affiliation with Fox News. " -By Mike Baker -AP via -MyrtleBeachOnline.com

20070405

Media - Politics - US - Syria - CA - "Tell CNN to get the facts right on Pelosi trip." ... "For much of the past week, CNN and its White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux have offered a steady stream of inaccurate and incomplete coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) trip to the Middle East and her April 3 meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad." ... "Please join Media Matters for America in demanding that CNN and Malveaux stop misinforming viewers about Pelosi's trip and present all the facts." ... "Since April 2, Malveaux has wrongly and repeatedly claimed that Pelosi had no "standing" and was not acting in an "official capacity," has attacked the trip as "political theater" and a "political stunt," and has parroted the Bush administration's attacks on Pelosi for going to Syria while ignoring the fact that a Republican-led delegation met with Assad on April 1. Most recently, Malveaux asked whether Pelosi's trip was a "big wet kiss to President Al-Assad."" ... "Other CNN personalities have joined in as well. Lou Dobbs devoted an entire segment to "Pelosi's bad trip," while the April 3 edition of Anderson Cooper 360 featured a segment on Pelosi's trip titled "Talking to Terrorists."" ... "After several days of inaccurate, one-sided coverage, it's time to tell CNN enough is enough. It's time to take action."

CNN's contact information:

One CNN Center, Box 105366, Atlanta, GA 30303-5366

Phone: 404-827-1500

Fax: 404-827-1906

"When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future."

-MediaMatters.org

20070402

Newspaper - TV - Consumer - Internet - Ads - Illinois - Sports - "Tribune takes Zell's $8.2B buyout offer." ... "Tribune Co. spent six months searching for the best way to boost its lagging stock price." ... "In the end, the solution was barely a mile from the media company's Gothic headquarters on the Chicago River [Chicago, Illinois]." ... "After a board meeting that lasted until almost midnight, Tribune announced Monday morning that it would go private, selling itself for $8.2 billion, excluding debt, to Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell." ... "Zell, who earned a reputation for reviving undervalued properties, is now charged with turning around the fortunes of the nation's second-largest newspaper company, which like much of the industry is losing readers and advertisers to the Internet." ... "Among his first acts? Sell the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team and use the proceeds to pay down debt." ... "Opponents of media consolidation predicted a staunch fight with regulators in Washington, especially regarding Tribune's cross-ownership of TV stations and newspapers in the same media market." -By Ashley M. Heher with contributions by Dave Carpenter and Wiley Hall -AP via -BusinessWeek

20070401

BobPerry

Political

Money

Elections

People

"The Money Guy: Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on writing about political donor Bob Perry." ... "texasmonthly.com: What led you to write about Bob Perry?" ... "S. C. Gwynne: As the largest individual political contributor in America, he is a highly visible and extremely powerful person. He is also extremely private, and relatively little is known about him. This seemed like exactly the sort of story I like to do. There was lots of room for original reporting on a subject that ought to be of interest to anyone who likes politics." -Interview by Emmet Sullivan -TexasMonthly.com

20070309

TV - Media - Terrorism - Business- 2008 Election - Online - Illinois - Nevada - "Nevada Democrats cancel candidate debate co-hosted by Fox News." ... "The Nevada Democratic Party has canceled an August debate that was to be co-hosted by Fox News Channel, citing comments by the network's president rather than an online protest launched by activists and bloggers who believe the channel is biased." ... ""Comments made last night by Fox News President Roger Ailes in reference to one of our presidential candidates went too far. We cannot, as good Democrats, put our party in a position to defend such comments," state Democratic Party Chairman Tom Collins and Nevada Sen. Harry Reid wrote in a letter sent Friday to Fox News." ... "Ailes reportedly made a comment playing on the similarity of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's name to Osama Bin Laden." ... "MoveOn.org Civic Action, a network of liberal activists, called on the state Democratic Party to drop partnership with Fox, which the group calls "a mouthpiece for the Republican party," two weeks ago." ... ""We hope this sets a precedent for all Democrats, that Fox should be treated as a right-wing misinformation network, not legitimized as a neutral source of news," Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, said in a statement." -By Kathleen Hennessey -AP via -LasVegasSun.com

MoveOn.org

20070308

Nevada - TV - Media - Business - 2008 Election - John Edwards - "John Edwards To Skip Nevada Debate: Liberal Activists Protest Fox News' Role In Presidential Candidate Forum." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards won't participate in a debate co-hosted by Fox News and the Nevada Democratic Party, his campaign said, as party officials tried to settle a dustup over their partnership with the cable network." ... "Edwards' campaign said the involvement of Fox News, which is often accused by liberals of having a conservative bias, was part of the decision to pass on the Aug. 14 debate in Reno." ... ""There were a number of factors and Fox was one of those. We're already planning to participate in a jam-packed schedule of debates across this country ... we can't attend every single debate and forum," the campaign said in a statement." ... "The two Democratic presidential frontrunners, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, have not indicated whether they will attend the Nevada debate. Fox boss Rupert Murdoch threw a Senate fundraiser for Clinton, and is said to have a good relationship with the former first lady." ... "Online activists and bloggers quickly hailed Edwards' decision as a victory in their campaign to urge Nevada Democrats to drop Fox News as a partner." ... "MoveOn.org Civic Action says it has collected more than 260,000 signatures on a petition that calls the cable network a "mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel."" -AP via -CBSNews

20070306

Libby - Cheney - Secret - US - Iraq - Government - Military - Intelligence - Journalist - Politics - Law - "Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case." ... "A federal jury today convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of lying about his role in the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, finding the vice president's former chief of staff guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice, while acquitting him of a single count of lying to the FBI." ... "Libby, 56, was the only person charged in a three-year federal investigation that reached the highest echelons of the Bush White House. The central question in the probe was whether anyone in the administration illegally disclosed classified information during the late spring and early summer of 2003, when they told several journalists that an early critic [Joseph C. Wilson IV] of the Iraq war was married to undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame." ... "No one was ever charged with the leak, but the results of the investigation, led by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, ultimately tarnished both the administration and the Washington press corps." ... "It [the trial] also portrayed Cheney as more intimately involved in orchestrating the campaign to disparage Wilson than was previously known." ... "Testimony and evidence revealed that the vice president dictated precise talking points he wanted Libby and other aides to use to rebut Wilson's accusations against the White House, helped select which journalists would be contacted and worked with Bush to declassify secret intelligence reports on Iraqi weapons that he believed would contradict Wilson's claims." ... ""There is a cloud over what the vice president did," Fitzgerald told jurors in the prosecution's closing arguments. "That's not something we put there. That cloud is not something you can pretend is not there."" (1, 2, 3) -By Amy Goldstein and Carol D. Leonnig -WashingtonPost

20070226

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - People - Brain - Health - Families - Government - Politics - Jim Nicholson - Journalist - "Bob Woodruff: Turning Personal Injury Into Public Inquiry: The ABC News Anchor Returns With a Candid Look at Brain Injuries and Veteran Care." ... "From chilling accounts of the roadside attack in Iraq that nearly took his life to a shocking investigation into the plight of military families dealing with injuries to their loved ones, Bob Woodruff returns to ABC News Tuesday night with a hard-hitting look at the human cost of war." ... "Amid highly personal stories of tragedy and triumph, Woodruff delves into the crisis of care faced by so many injured soldiers and their families, uncovering important new information about veterans suffering from brain injuries and the care the U.S. government provides. Woodruff meets soldiers who, after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, must fight bureaucratic red tape before receiving the treatment they need, and others who may not even know they're injured, as traumatic brain injury can go unrecognized." ... "Many of the families Woodruff met with across the country express frustration at the lack of care TBI [traumatic brain injury] patients receive once they leave specialized rehabilitation centers and return home. Woodruff asks Secretary of Veteran's Affairs Jim Nicholson about the ability of local VA hospitals to care for brain-injured servicemen. "We have organized the VA with this priority for these combatants returning back," Nicholson says." ... "While the U.S. Department of Defense says that there have been about 23,000 nonfatal battlefield casualties in Iraq, Woodruff discovers -- through an internal VA report -- that more than 200,000 veterans have sought medical care for various ailments, including more than 73,000 diagnoses for mental disorders." ... "Nicholson plays down those figures, telling Woodruff, "A lot of them come in for dental problems. … We're providing their health care."" ... "Woodruff reports that even these numbers may not tell the whole story: According to unreleased data from the Department of Defense, at least 10 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may have sustained a brain injury during their service." ... "The ABC News anchor reports: "That could mean that of the 1.5 million who have served or are now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 150,000 people could have a brain injury that may be undiagnosed and unrecognized by the casualty numbers from the Department of Defense."" ... "While everyone with symptoms of a brain injury may not need extensive treatment, Woodruff learns that the Department of Defense is not screening all returning soldiers, despite recommendations from the Defense Department's own Defense and Veteran's Brain Injury Center." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Nancy Chandross with contributions by Bob Woodruff -ABCNEWS.com

20070219

Secret - Libby - Cheney - Government - Military - Intelligence - Media - Politics - Enforcement - "The Libby-Cheney Connection: Libby Testimony Raises More Questions About Cheney's Role In The CIA Leak Case." ... "In the fall of 2003, as a federal criminal probe was just getting underway to determine who leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to the media, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the-then chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, sought out Cheney to explain to his boss his side of the story." ... "The explanation that Libby offered Cheney that day was virtually identical to one that Libby later told the FBI and testified to before a federal grand jury: Libby said he had only passed along to reporters unsubstantiated gossip about Plame that he had heard from NBC bureau chief Tim Russert." ... "The grand jury concluded that the account was a cover story to conceal the role of Libby and other White House officials in leaking information about Plame to the press, and indicted him on five felony counts of making false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice." ... "At the time that Libby offered his explanation to Cheney, the vice president already had reason to know that Libby's account to him was untrue, according to sources familiar with still-secret grand jury testimony and evidence in the CIA leak probe, as well as testimony made public during Libby's trial over the past three weeks in federal court." ... "Yet, according to Libby's own grand jury testimony, which was made public during his trial in federal court, Cheney did nothing to discourage Libby from telling that story to the FBI and the federal grand jury. Moreover, Cheney encouraged then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan to publicly defend Libby, according to other testimony and evidence made public during Libby's trial." ... "If Libby is found guilty, investigators are likely to probe further to determine if Libby devised what they consider a cover story in an effort to shield Cheney. They want to know whether Cheney might have known about the leaks ahead of time or had even encouraged Libby to provide information to reporters about Plame's CIA status, the same sources said." -By Murray Waas -NationalJournal

20061222

Opinion - Politics - "Most outrageous comments of 2006." ... "How extreme were conservative commentators in their remarks this year? How about calls to nuke the Middle East and an allegation that a "gay ... mafia" used the congressional page program as its own "personal preserve." Right-wing rhetoric documented by Media Matters for America included the nonsensical (including Rush Limbaugh's claim that America's "obesity crisis" is caused by, among other things, our failure to "teach [the poor] how to butcher a -- slaughter a cow to get the butter, we gave them the butter"), the offensive (such as right-wing pundit Debbie Schlussel's question about "Barack Hussein Obama": is he "a man we want as President when we are fighting the war of our lives against Islam? Where will his loyalties be?"), and the simply bizarre (such as William A. Donohue's claim that some Hollywood stars would "sodomize their own mother in a movie"). Since there were so many outrageous statements, we included a list of honorable mentions along with the top 11, which, if not for Ann Coulter, we might have limited to 10." -MediaMatters.org

20061211

US - Israel - Palestine - Book - Media - "Carter says criticism has led to more attention Israeli policy." ... "Former President Jimmy Carter says the criticism aimed at his latest book is a sign that its take on Israeli policy is generating more interest in the plight of the Palestinians." ... "Carter said Monday he expected the backlash against his top-selling book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."" ... ""The premise of this country concerning what's going on in Palestine is so deeply ingrained, so deeply rooted that it's not surprising to me that any contradiction of that has aroused a strong reaction," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview." ... "Part of the reason, he said, is that Americans often see no counterbalance to pro-Israeli viewpoints in the news media." ... ""All they really read or hear is really one-sided, where the Israeli point of view is put forward," he said. "Very rarely do you see any expression or concern of the horrible plight of the Palestinians in their own land."" -AP via -IHT.com

20061109

US - Afghanistan - Military - People - Law - Investigation - Journalism - "AP: Startling findings in Tillman probe." ... "The latest inquiry into Tillman's death by friendly fire should end next month; authorities have said they intend to release to the public only a synopsis of their report. But The Associated Press has combed through the results of 2 1/4 years of investigations — reviewed thousands of pages of internal Army documents, interviewed dozens of people familiar with the case — and uncovered some startling findings." ... "Investigators are looking at who pulled the triggers and fired at Tillman; they are also looking at the officers who pressured the platoon to move through a region with a history of ambushes; the soldiers who burned Tillman's uniform and body armor afterward; and at everyone in the chain of command who deliberately kept the circumstances of Tillman's death from the family for more than a month." ... "Military investigators under Gimble's direction this year visited the rugged valley in eastern Afghanistan where Tillman was killed. It was a risky trip; the region is even more dangerous today than it was in 2004." -By Scott Lindlaw and Martha Mendoza -AP via -Yahoo

20061107

US - Iraq - Military - People - TV - Money - Oil - Politics - Japan - New York - "Rupert Murdoch -- who once predicted Iraq war could lead to $20/barrel oil --described war casualties as "minute"." ... "On November 6, News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch reportedly said at a conference in Tokyo [Japan] that U.S. casualties in Iraq, "by the terms of any previous war are quite minute," as the weblog Democratic Underground noted. He further stated: "I believe it was right to go in there. I believe that certainly the execution that has followed that has included many mistakes. But that's easy to say after the event." Murdoch, whose conservative media empire includes Fox News Channel, the New York Post, and The Weekly Standard, vocally supported the war in 2003, citing potential economic benefits. As of November 3, according to CNN, a total of 2,836 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003." -MediaMatters.org

20061031

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Government - Media - Terrorism - Politics - "Statement of John Kerry Responding to Republican Distortions, Pathetic Tony Snow Diversions and Distractions." ... "Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:" ... "“If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did." ... "I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have." ... "The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor." ... "Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut and run policy in Afghanistan and a stand still and lose strategy in Iraq.”" -JohnKerry.com

20061013

Abramoff - Norquist - Rove - Money - Government - Newspaper - Op-Ed - Politics - "Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff." ... "Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "appear to have perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued yesterday." ... "The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff funneled money from his clients to the groups. In exchange, the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or news releases that favored the clients' positions." ... "Officers of the groups "were generally available to carry out Mr. Abramoff's requests for help with his clients in exchange for cash payments," said the report, issued by the Senate Finance Committee." ... "The Senate report released yesterday states that the nonprofit groups probably violated their tax-exempt status "by laundering payments and then disbursing funds at Mr. Abramoff's direction; taking payments in exchange for writing newspaper columns or press releases that put Mr. Abramoff's clients in a favorable light; introducing Mr. Abramoff's clients to government officials in exchange for payment; and agreeing to act as a front organization for congressional trips paid for by Mr. Abramoff's clients."" ... "The report bolstered earlier revelations that Abramoff laundered money through the nonprofits to pay for congressional trips and paid Norquist to arrange meetings for Abramoff's clients with government officials including White House senior adviser Karl Rove." (1, 2) -By James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost
Secret - US - World - German - Syrian - Military- Terrorism - Torture - Prisons - Politics - Journalist - Book - "Inside the CIA's Secret Prisons Program: An explosive new book provides a rare glimpse into the full extent of the agency's controversial terror renditions — and the curious coalition of partners who helped the U.S. pull them off." ... "In December of 2001, U.S. agents arranged to have a German citizen flown to a Syrian jail called the Palestine Branch, renowned for its use of torture, and later offered to pass written questions to Syrian interrogators to pose to the prisoner, according to a secret German intelligence report shown to TIME on Wednesday. The report is described in the new book Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program by British investigative journalist Stephen Grey. The complex arrangement was part of the CIA's sprawling practice of extraordinary renditions, the secret transfer of terror suspects to hidden prisons across the world — which has involved the aid of numerous foreign governments and the knowledge of key Western European allies, according to the book, which was shown to TIME by the author. After U.S. officials long refused to confirm the CIA's secret detention of terror suspects abroad, President Bush last month admitted that terror suspects had been transferred abroad to secret CIA facilities, but U.S. officials continue to deny that such prisoners have been tortured, saying that foreign governments assured them that they would be treated fairly." ... "The cooperation between an unlikely coalition of intelligence agencies did not end there. The intelligence report gives a rare glimpse into the favors exchanged between governments during the CIA renditions. One day after Germany learned that the Syrians were holding Zammar, the CIA offered the German foreign-intelligence agency BND the chance to put written questions to their prisoner. The intelligence report doesn't make clear whether CIA interrogators had direct physical access to Zammar. In June 2002, Syrian officials offered German interrogators access to Zammar in prison, according to the 263-page report by the BND, marked "Geheim" (Secret). That same day, the BND chief asked Germany's federal prosecutors to drop their charges against Syrian intelligence agents who had been arrested in Germany for allegedly collecting information on Syrian dissidents." (1, 2) -By Vivienne Walt -TIME.com
Weldon - Pennsylvania - Media - Market - Military - "Navy Vet Sestak Coming Closer to Sinking Weldon in Pa. 7." ... "The Democratic nominee is Joe Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral whose well-financed campaign in a strongly Democratic campaign year ranks him as the biggest threat yet to [Pennsylvania Republican Curt] Weldon’s continued incumbency." ... "Sestak’s campaign has been buoyed by fundraising strength that ensures him visibility in the pricey Philadelphia media market, and an independent poll showed the race is a dead heat." -By Greg Giroux -CQPolitics.com via -NYTimes

20061004

Shimkus - Foley - Hastert - Teen - E-Mail - Photograph - Media - Illinois - Florida - Lawmakers - "Defiant Shimkus says he'll keep post." ... "[Illinois Republican] Rep. John Shimkus mounted an intense media offensive Wednesday, saying he has no intention of resigning from the House Page Board and angrily lashing out at the press and Democrats who have questioned him about his role investigating [Florida Republican] ex-Rep. Mark Foley's contact with former House pages." ... "Shimkus said he had no knowledge of and no comment on new reports that Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, told House Speaker [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert's office three years ago that Foley had improper contact with House pages." ... "Shimkus, R-Collinsville, serves as head of the board that oversees the page program, and he has said he confronted Foley last year about a set of e-mails that Foley, R-Fla., sent to a former page. In a telephone interview Wednesday with the Post-Dispatch from his Collinsville office, he maintained his actions were sufficient." ... "The news that Fordham may have alerted the GOP leadership to Foley's conduct more than three years ago raised new questions about both Hastert's and Shimkus' role in the scandal. On Wednesday, Hastert's chief of staff said he had no such warning from Fordham." ... "And the two Illinois lawmakers said that they only knew about one set of e-mail messages, in which Foley asked a former page how he was doing, what he wanted for his birthday, and for a photograph of the teen." -By Deirdre Shesgreen -SLTrib.com

20061002

Government - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - History - Politics - Reporting - Book - "Records Show Tenet Briefed Rice on Al Qaeda Threat." ... "A review of White House records has determined that George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda, a State Department spokesman said Monday." ... "The account by Sean McCormack came hours after Ms. Rice, the secretary of state, told reporters aboard her airplane that she did not recall the specific meeting on July 10, 2001, noting that she had met repeatedly with Mr. Tenet that summer about terrorist threats. Ms. Rice, the national security adviser at the time, said it was “incomprehensible” she ignored dire terrorist threats two months before the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "Mr. McCormack also said records show that the Sept. 11 commission was informed about the meeting, a fact that former intelligence officials and members of the commission confirmed on Monday." ... "When details of the meeting emerged last week in a new book by Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, Bush administration officials questioned Mr. Woodward’s reporting." ... "Now, after several days, both current and former Bush administration officials have confirmed parts of Mr. Woodward’s account." ... "Officials now agree that on July 10, 2001, Mr. Tenet and his counterterrorism deputy, J. Cofer Black, were so alarmed about an impending Al Qaeda attack that they demanded an emergency meeting at the White House with Ms. Rice and her National Security Council staff." ... "According to two former intelligence officials, Mr. Tenet told those assembled at the White House about the growing body of intelligence the Central Intelligence Agency had collected pointing to an impending Al Qaeda attack." -By Philip Shenon and Mark Mazzetti -NYTimes

20060914

GOV - TV - Media - Telecom - Business -Law - "Media ownership study ordered destroyed: FCC draft suggested fewer owners would hurt local TV coverage." ... "The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says." ... "The report, written in 2004, came to light during the Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin." ... "Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last piece" of the report be destroyed. "The whole project was just stopped - end of discussion," he said. Candeub was a lawyer in the FCC's Media Bureau at the time the report was written and communicated frequently with its authors, he said." ... "The report, written by two economists in the FCC's Media Bureau, analyzed a database of 4,078 individual news stories broadcast in 1998. The broadcasts were obtained from Danilo Yanich, a professor and researcher at the University of Delaware, and were originally gathered by the Pew Foundation's Project for Excellence in Journalism." ... "The analysis showed local ownership of television stations adds almost five and one-half minutes of total news to broadcasts and more than three minutes of "on-location" news. The conclusion is at odds with FCC arguments made when it voted in 2003 to increase the number of television stations a company could own in a single market." -AP via -MSNBC

20060908

TV - Media - Business - Terrorism - History - Politics - "ABC Gets More Pressure to Toss 9/11 Film." ... "ABC faced growing pressure Friday about its planned miniseries on the buildup to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Former Clinton administration officials, historians and a Democratic petition with nearly 200,000 signatures urged the network to scrap the five-hour drama." ... "The network said the movie, scheduled to air commercial-free on Sunday and Monday, is being edited to deal with concerns that it distorts history. ABC had no response to the calls to abandon it." ... "A group of historians, including Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Princeton University's Sean Wilentz, wrote to ABC parent Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger, urging him to scrap the series. They said that permitting inaccuracies to heighten drama is "disingenuous and dangerous."" ... ""A responsible broadcast network should have nothing to do with the falsification of history, except to expose it," they wrote." ... "Harvey Keitel, one of the actors in "The Path to 9/11," also said he had questions about whether some of the material was accurate." ... ""When I received the script, it said ABC history project," Keitel said in an interview with CNN Headline News' "Showbiz Tonight." "I took it to be exactly what they presented to me, history. And that the facts were correct. It turned out not all the facts were correct, and ABC set out trying to heal that problem. In some instances it was too late because we had begun."" ... "The controversy is reminiscent of the one that erupted over a 2003 CBS miniseries about President Ronald Reagan. In the face of political pressure over that film's accuracy, CBS canceled it, and it later aired on the Showtime cable network." -By David Bauder -AP

20060829

Political - Government - TV - Media - "Inquiry Criticizes U.S. Broadcasting Official Over Hiring." ... "State Department investigators have concluded that Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the head of the federal agency that oversees most government broadcasts to foreign countries, improperly hired a friend on the public payroll for nearly $250,000 over two and a half years, according to a summary of their report made public this afternoon by Democratic Congressional staff members." ... "They also said that Mr. Tomlinson, whose job puts him in charge of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, used his government office for personal business, including running a “horse racing operation” in which he supervised a stable of thoroughbreds he named after leaders from Afghanistan, including President Hamid Karzai and the late Ahmed Shah Massoud, that have raced at tracks across the United States. They also said that Mr. Tomlinson repeatedly used government employees to do his personal errands and that he billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit." ... "Mr. Tomlinson was ousted from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting last year following a separate inquiry that found evidence that he had violated rules meant to insulate public television and radio from political influence. His renomination by President Bush to another term as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors is pending before the Senate." -By Stephen Labaton -NYTimes

20060819

Law - Intelligence - Privacy - Media - Politics - "The Bloggerati response to Judge Taylor's ruling in the NSA Case." ... "When a presidential program that wouldn't have been exposed at all but for leaks that the administration is trying not just to plug but to prosecute is manifestly lawless in the most fundamental respects; when that program challenges constitutional as well as statutory constraints on executive authority; when it is promulgated by an executive branch in the hands of characters who care little about the rule of law, much less about legal nuance; and when the lawmakers who are posturing as the program's critics have in fact engineered a statutory "fix" that amounts to little more than a whitewash in the offing -- when all these things are true, it's not costless to harp on the details of a basically correct legal denunciation of that program to the point of ridiculing the motives and capacities of the judge delivering the blow. Taking that tack is likely to play into the hands of the administration that was caught red-handed." ... "My point isn't that judges who play the role Judge Taylor did should never be held to account for the shoddy quality of their legal analysis; of course they should, especially in the context of sober second thoughts offered in law reviews and other scholarly venues. But It's those with constitutional blood on their hands who deserve to be chastized most insistently in the public press, and it seems to me something of an indulgence to spend so much time complaining in the media that the judge who called foul used some ill-chosen rhetoric, and that she stuttered and sputtered a bit more than necessary, when the principal effects might well be to underscore one's own professional credentials and one's cleverness and even-handedness and fair-mindedness at the expense of distracting the general public from the far more important conclusion that the nation's chief executive has been guilty of a shamelessly unlawful power grab." -By Laurence Tribe -Balkininzation

20060817

Secret - US - International - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Law - Free Speech - Privacy - Telephone - Internet - Civil Righs - Journalists - Educators - Michigan - "NSA eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional: Justice Department says it will appeal judge's decision." ... "A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the U.S. government's domestic eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately." ... "The Justice Department said it would appeal the ruling, saying the program was "a critical tool that ensures we have in place an early warning system to detect and prevent a terrorist attack."" ... "In a 44-page memorandum and order, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, -- who is based in Detroit, Michigan -- struck down the National Security Agency's program, which she said violates the rights to free speech and privacy. (Read the complete ruling -- PDF)" ... "The defendants "are permanently enjoined from directly or indirectly utilizing the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) in any way, including, but not limited to, conducting warrantless wiretaps of telephone and Internet communications, in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Title III," she wrote." ... "She further declared that the program "violates the separation of powers doctrine, the Administrative Procedures Act, the First and Fourth amendments to the United States Constitution, the FISA and Title III."" ... "She went on to say that "the president of the United States ... has undisputedly violated the Fourth in failing to procure judicial orders."" ... "The lawsuit, filed January 17 by civil rights organizations, lawyers, journalists and educators, "challenges the constitutionality of a secret government program to intercept vast quantities of the international telephone and Internet communications of innocent Americans without court approval."" -With contributions by Bill Mears and Andrea Koppel -CNN
US - World - Government - Intelligence - Free Speech - Privacy - Civil Liberties - Journalists - Scholars - Michigan - "Judge nixes warrantless surveillance." ... "A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it." ... "U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit [Michigan] became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution." ... ""Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion." ... "The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves wiretapping conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries." -By Sarah Karush -AP via -HoustonChronicle.com

20060815

Secret - Reporters - Business - Sports - Drugs - San Francisco - California - "Reporters must testify over Bonds leak." ... "A federal judge told two San Francisco Chronicle [California newspaper] reporters they must comply with a subpoena and tell a grand jury who leaked them secret testimony of Barry Bonds and other elite athletes ensnared in the government's steroid probe." ... "The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White means reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada must appear before a grand jury investigating the leak unless a higher court blocks the ruling. The pair have said they would not testify and would go to jail rather than reveal their source or sources." ... "The Hearst Corp., owner of the Chronicle, argued that the reporters should be immune to testifying because of a combination of factors, including the First Amendment." ... "Hearst said the leak doesn't involve national security and that a lot of good has come from the writers' reporting." -By David Kravets -AP via -USATODAY

Search the case: <United States v. Fainaru-Wada, 06-90225> via <Google-[News]>

TV - Telecom - Marketing - Industry - Media - Consumer - Wisconsin - "FCC questions TV stations on 'fake new