Elizabeth Edwards: "The Cliff Notes of the news"

“Did you, for example, ever know a single fact about Joe Biden’s health care plan? … But let me guess, you know Barack Obama’s bowling score.”

Ouch!

You go there, Elizabeth, you go girl!

Man, something like this today has the thought creeping into your mind that, maybe, the wrong Edwards was running for President.

We speak of Elizabeth Edwards' NYT Op-Ed, "Bowling 1, Health Care 0"

Mrs. Edwards rips into the MSM, for covering the silly, the pap, and not being the beacon bulldogs of a robust democracy.

Why? Here’s my guess: The vigorous press that was deemed an essential part of democracy at our country’s inception is now consigned to smaller venues, to the Internet and, in the mainstream media, to occasional articles. I am not suggesting that every journalist for a mainstream media outlet is neglecting his or her duties to the public. And I know that serious newspapers and magazines run analytical articles, and public television broadcasts longer, more probing segments.

But I am saying that every analysis that is shortened, every corner that is cut, moves us further away from the truth until what is left is the Cliffs Notes of the news, or what I call strobe-light journalism, in which the outlines are accurate enough but we cannot really see the whole picture.

She laments that lack-of-coverage for all the candidates, people like Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, whose good policy plans went, virtually, unnoticed.

Or, as she questions "who decided that Fred Thompson was a serious candidate."

I’m not the only one who noticed this shallow news coverage. A report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy found that during the early months of the 2008 presidential campaign, 63 percent of the campaign stories focused on political strategy while only 15 percent discussed the candidates’ ideas and proposals.

Watching the campaign unfold, I saw how the press gravitated toward a narrative template for the campaign, searching out characters as if for a novel: on one side, a self-described 9/11 hero with a colorful personal life, a former senator who had played a president in the movies, a genuine war hero with a stunning wife and an intriguing temperament, and a handsome governor with a beautiful family and a high school sweetheart as his bride. And on the other side, a senator who had been first lady, a young African-American senator with an Ivy League diploma, a Hispanic governor with a self-deprecating sense of humor and even a former senator from the South standing loyally beside his ill wife. Issues that could make a difference in the lives of Americans didn’t fit into the narrative template and, therefore, took a back seat to these superficialities.

The essay is on-the-money and a good read.

And it has generated (for the most part; There's a few in the RWFS out there dissing it) good kudos.

Kevin Hayden: Strobe-light journalism: the ADD of campaign 2008

Bang The Drum: Elizabeth Edwards, I’d Vote for YOU

Mark Halperin: Elizabeth Edwards Points Finger at News Media

Take some time and read Elizabeth Edwards' "Bowling 1, Health Care 0"

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard Last Evening At The Iowa Caucuses

News Item: Obama stuns Clinton in Iowa while Huckabee shows his strength over Romney

10. Pass the word ... Alan Keyes is going around, trying to pass himself off as Barack Obama

9. It's the writer's strike ... Only reason I'm here is cuz' I'm tired of watching reruns

8. Bill Clinton's going around, complaining, none of the caucus sites had any donuts

7. I heard Huckabee screwed up again ... Flying back from The Tonight Show, he flew into Idaho, instead of coming here

6. There's a guy outside, selling padded SUV sunroof handles

5. Look, someone is going around dressed up like New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain ... Oh, wait a minute, that's John McCain!

4. Is Fred Thompson the guy with the wide stance?

3. Geez, those Ron Paul kids don't give up ... They're running fundraising car washes outside all the GOP caucus sites

2. I heard that the Romney campaign, if you vote for him, will give you a DVD of his faith speech

1. She should have gone with the cleavage ... Could'a been worth 5-points, easy

Bonus Iowa Caucus Links

Greg Sargent - Edwards: From Here On Out, It's Me Versus Obama

Barry Crimmins: Hog Futures Tumble in Iowa

John Ellis: A Hard Loss for Romney

David Corn: McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"

Don Frederick: Ron Paul gets some revenge

'They Shoot Iowa Caucuses, Don't They?

Rachel Maddow: Hillary Apologist and Obama Basher

No Wait, It's Not Thompson Who's Going To Save The Country, It's Now Michael Bloomberg ...

Or, Bipartisanship: Conservatism In Bloomberg Clothing

We're less then 24-hours away from Iowa, giving us, and the world, the first glimpse in our 2008 Presidential Pageant, and who our next leader may be (before moving on to that other metropolis, New Hampshire), but the waves of discord are already crashing on the shores.

With Fred Thompson's ship never really leaving the dry dock, the rightwing (and, perhaps, the middlegrounders) are in a tizzy over the sad state of affairs our politics are.

They continually site "partisan politics"rather than come out and point to the nightmare and disaster the Bush Grindhouse and Regime has wreaked on, not only this country, but nearly the entire globe we live on.

And they had willing accomplices - the Republican Majority - and still have them, even in their minority status, to browbeat and smear the Congressional Democrats into whimpering pussies (and trust me, that is purely the Dems fault. As we have pointed out, they are the ones running the Blank Check Club)

So, instead of putting it in the proper context, it's not a repudiation of the Republican policies, the one Uber Party Rule, the corrupted Department of Justice, the failed response to hurricanes, a revision of the raped environmental and energy policies, the secret, shadowy government, the fix is to come from further browbeating, the operative word being "bipartisanship"

And, somewhat suddenly, New York City Mayor Micheal Bloomberg (perhaps, his hold of that office is the reason he's not described as a "media mogul"; Or, as Chris Bowers refers to as Aging Wealthy White Men for National Unity Under Billionaire Media Moguls - AWWMNUUBM for short) is being hoisted on shoulders as the flag carrier for the new day.

If you want a good view of a bipartisan country under Mayor Media Mogul, here's three Must Reads that should keep you off that purple brick road;

Glenn Greenwald: Michael Bloomberg: Trans-partisan savior

Digby: Bipartisan Zombies

Barry Crimmins: Turd Party

Oh, please, spare me ... Spare us!

It's bad enough we have one NYC Mayor running for President, we certainly don't need another, even if it is Hizz Honor, Mayor Media Mogul.

Bonus Bipartisanship Enlightenment

The Carpetbagger Report: Bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship

Sandy Levinson/Balkinization: Will They Ever Connect the Dots?

Tristero: Actually, It's Not That Hard














Rare photo of Mayor Media Mogul receiving a Bipartisanship lesson from one of the legendary masters of it, The Commander Guy

Top Ten Cloves: Things About Fred Thompson Participating In His First Republican Presidential Candidates Debate

News Item: Thompson survives his first debate

10. Very surprised, since CNBC and MSNBC were televising the debate, they didn't throw in the 'Law & Order' sound effect every time he spoke

9. Prepared by taking a nice, long nap

8. Was relieved, seeing the all the other candidates on the stage, that he didn't mistakenly show up at a Black College

7. Was overly-conscious of tapping his foot

6. Kept his cellphone on, hoping his wife would call during the debate

5. Had trouble stifling the urge, to report back to former Nixon Administration staffers, dirt on the other candidates in the debate

4. Lobbied before the debate to allow him to have his red pick-up truck parked behind him on-stage

3. Forgot to give some of his answers in the persona of SNL's Darrell Hammond, doing his imitation of himself

2. Sweating bullets, hoping none of the other candidates caught the news of the Nixon Tapes, and start asking him if he really is "Dumb as Hell"

1. Tired ... Expended too much energy beating away Debate Moderator Chris Matthews, who was drooling, asking if he could lick the Aqua Velva off his neck

Bonus Links

Michael Scherer: What you missed while watching "Oprah"; Salon watches the latest Republican debate (economy special) so you don't have to. Chevron down! Alcoa up! And Fred Thompson goes public.


SNL Skit On Fred Thompson

Leave Freddie Alone, He Knows His Symbolism - As Good As The Red Paint On An Old Pick-Up Truck

Well, he is an actor, and he does know how, and when, to hit his marks.

The Aqua Velva Man, in all of one day of being - finally - an official candidate for the Republican nomination for President, poked a stick into The Commander Guys', as well as the entire right-wing freak show, beehive, on the latest videotape from the still-hanging-on-the-wall Wanted Poster, Osama bin Laden, by characterizing it as;

"Bin Laden is more symbolism than anything else," Thompson said while campaign in Iowa Friday. "I think it demonstrates to people once again that we're in a global war."

WOW!

That's enough to get kicked out of the RNC, and have your bathroom stall privileges revoked.

But they need to lay off Freddie.

He's a pro at symbolism ... Just ask'em about his red pick-up truck...

Bonus Big Guy Links

Media Matters: Wash. Post, CNN reported on Thompson's pickup truck without noting it was a leased campaign prop

Glenn Greenwald: Chris Matthews on Fred Thompson's sexiness and smells

Boston Globe: Not all would put a heroic sheen on Thompson's Watergate role

Breaking News! Thompson Responds To FEC Charge, Claiming He's Now Moving Into "Testing Executive Privilege" Phase; Also Invokes "The Cheney Principle", Saying "He's Not Part of The Campaign"

Juan Cole: Bush's incompetence gives al-Qaida new life

Newsweek: The Ongoing Hunt for Osama bin Laden; Into Thin Air

The Aqua Velva Man

Breaking News! Thompson Responds To FEC Charge, Claiming He's Now Moving Into "Testing Executive Privilege" Phase

Also Invokes "The Cheney Principle", Saying "He's Not Part of The Campaign"

"They can't lay a debutante's glove on me," growled Fred Thompson, former Senator and actor.

Reporters caught up to Thompson this evening, just as he had parked his red pick-up truck, and was about to climb into his sweet silver luxury sedan, asking for a reaction to the Federal Election Commission complaint filed against him today, by blogger and activist Lane Hudson.

"They got spit", bellowed Thompson, as the gaggle of reporters spoke over each other, while the former Nixon snitch buffed his cowboy boots with a $100 bill.

Lane's complaint, filed yesterday, alleges that Thompson, and his Fred Thompson for President Exploratory Committee, have violated, at minimum, 11 FEC statutes dealing with "testing the waters" provision of FEC law.

The charges include violations of fund raising, advertising, and the securing of property for campaign headquarters.

"They might be swinging their lassos, but they won't be roping this bull", snorted Thompson.

Thompson indicated he was confident of getting the Republican nomination and even more confident of being elected President, so "why don't just everybody stop pissing in the chicken coop".

Thompson related that "his people" will be filing paperwork with the FEC in the morning, claiming that "FTPEC" is will now be "testing Executive Privilege", which will "moot" any actions the FEC may be able to take against Thompson.

"They just can't touch it ... It's off limits ... They won't be allowed to issue any subpoenas."

Thompson said that in addition to the claim of "testing Executive Privilege", he will also cite the "Cheney Principle".

"I'm not really part of the campaign," said the possible candidate. "Well, the job of exploratory candidate is an interesting one, because you have a foot in both the campaign and not in the campaign.

Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride confirmed the Thompson position.

"We are confident that Thompson is conducting his campaign properly under the law," McBride said.

MSNBC 'Hardball' host Chris Matthews says "He'll beat this rap."

"He's a big, beefy guy", chortled Matthews. "He's a big, beefy, mature guy, with sex appeal... Those types don't get tripped up in these little dust-ups ... He's Big Daddy ...Ha! ... He walks into the court, or the hearing room, or whatever and the judge, the commissioner ... Whoever ...They smell the English Leather on this guy ... The Aqua Velva ... That mature man's shaving cream ... With a little bit of cigar smoke mixed in ... Ha! ... You know the type ... He walks out of there without a scratch ...

Matthews was filling in for Thompson advisor, Mary Matalin, who the campaign hasn't quite solved how to utilize Matalin's experience, but without scaring the bejeezes out of everybody.

More as this story develops

"They might be swinging their lassos, but they won't be roping this bull", snorted Thompson

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves 18 March 2007

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said that the 4th anniversary celebration of the war in Iraq "should pay for itself"


Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton indicated he may toss his hat into the ring, to become the next Attorney General once Crony General Gonzales is fired or leaves, saying, "They want to fire some attorneys? I'll fire them alright! I'll boot their asses out the door so hard they'll have my shoe imprint for months!"
















Rita Cosby, recently let go by MSNBC, called a news conference to announce that she'll be "super live and real direct" if she ever catches Dan Abrams in a dark alley


Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced he plans on sitting with his arms folded, "for as long as it takes" until Google gives up the names of persons using copyrighted material on Google Video and YouTube








Former Senator and actor Fred Thompson dismissed criticism of his possible run for president, saying "it takes a big pair of brass ones to be President and I got'em"










Thompson then immediately said that one of his rivals, Congressman Duncan Hunter "doesn't have'em!"

























Said by White House insiders that she is still bitter over her aborted Supreme Court nomination, Harriet Miers is fighting to hold back emails in the U.S. Attorney Firing investigation, as there may be a few where she is said to have explored the options on firing President Bush