Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard In President's Limo, with Cokie Roberts Aboard, Going To See The Pope

News Item: Reporter's Notebook: Bush on Pope Benedict - President Discusses Pope's Influence During Unprecedented Ride to Greet Him


10. President badgered her, to see if she had any dirt on the Pope

9. President said ride in limo was a reward, for sticking up for big labor

8. President asked her is she's ever been to the Vatican, and if she stole any of the towels

7. President badgered her, having her help him to get on Imus's show

6. President kept teasing Roberts, calling her "Kookie"

5. President asked if it was okay to greet him as "Pope Benny"

4. The First Lady, since she doesn't watch television anymore, didn't know who she was

3. Roberts offered limo ride, due to her support of McCain and Graham, and believing we have to stay in Iraq

2. Teased her some more, whistling the theme to '77 Sunset Strip' (Ed "Kookie" Byrnes)

1. He harped, the whole ride, on Sam Donaldson

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

21 April 2006... On The Garlic

White House Flooded With High Tension, As President Undecided Today

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Queen Elizabeth Plans On Celebrating Her 80th Birthday


21 April 2005... On The Garlic

Bush Weighs Move To Texas for Sadam Trial; Backs Iraqi Calls For Execution; Swift Delivery of Death Sentence If Guilty Guaranteed

Egypt Protests New U.S. Use of Pyramids

Top Ten Cloves: New Pope's Pet Peeves

McCain Waves The POW Flag

Since you are the odds-on favorite at this point, to win the nomination, all I have to say is Watch Out, Barack Obama!

You start hitting Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain too hard, or with facts, or just strong opinion and he's going to go to his ace-in-the-hole ...

His POW status.

He'll whip that POW Flag out and start waving it in your face!

Today, on ABC's 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos' (you remember him, don't you? ... From the debate the other evening...), Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain wasn't getting all love pies from Little Georgie.

And it seemed, at times, early on in the interview, that Little Georgie had to hold back, pull his punches, when they were discussing SB John's lunatic Tax Plans... It's seemed like Little Georgie just wanted to shout back at him "You're absolutely a mad man, these plans are impossible!", or worse, smack him around.

So it wasn't smooth sailing when Little Georgie brought the conversation around to healthcare, and brought up Elizabeth Edward's criticism of SB John's plans.

Since we couldn't find the ABC transcripts, we give a nod to Crooks and Liars, for their "This Week: Bringing Up McCain’s Life-Long, Federally-Provided Health Care Is “A Cheap Shot”;

STEPHANOPOULOS: What’s wrong with government — what’s wrong with government-run health care?

McCAIN: And we continue to have these debates — what’s wrong with it? Go to Canada. Go to England and you can find out what’s wrong with it. Governments don’t make the right decisions. Families make the right decisions.

STEPHANOPOULOS: One of the points Mrs. Edwards made in the Wall Street Journal, she said that your whole life, you had government health care. You were the son of a Naval officer, a Naval officer, now a member of Congress. And her point is, why shouldn’t every American be able to get the kind of health care that members of Congress get or members of the military get?

McCAIN: It’s a cheap shot, but I did have a period of time where I didn’t have very good government health care. I had it from another government. (LAUGHTER) So, look, I know what it’s like in America not to have health care. We know that Americans are hurting there as well. We’ve got to make health care affordable and available. The difference, again, between myself and the Democrats, and with all due respect, Mrs. Edwards, I want the families to make the choices. They want the government to make the choices. That’s a fundamental difference, and we will continue to debate that issue.

Did you catch that?

"It’s a cheap shot, but I did have a period of time where I didn’t have very good government health care. I had it from another government. (LAUGHTER)"

It was an awkward laugh SB John let out with ... Like he expected everyone in the studio to fall over in hysterics, and when they didn't, he awkwardly continued with his answer.

So, that's how you're going to play there, hey, SB John?

When it gets too tough, when the questions get to hard, or (and you better get used to this), when people throw your plans back at you as idiotic, you're gonna wave the POW flag?

Are you trying to establish, that since you were a POW, you don't have to explain yourself, your policies, should the entire country go into brain freeze and actually elect you?

When Barack Obama, either on the stump, or in a debate, starts calling you out, running down your statements, punching holes in your policies, are you just going to respond in some glib, chippy manner, as you did today, and wave your POW flag?

Yeah, you got a bad deal in Vietnam - as did hundreds-of-thousands of other kids that got forced into going there ... Not to mention the 50,000-plus that didn't come home.

No doubt, you, and the RNC are going to exploit it six-ways-from-Sunday in the general election campaign, deafeningly echoed by the Right Wing Freak Show, in a blizzard of Flag Lapel Pins, but don't you dare start hiding behind it during this campaign, when it comes time to explain your policies and positions.

And we haven't even brought up that you - dismissively - called the questions of a woman suffering from incurable cancer a "cheap shot"?

Way to go there, SB John, that shows a lot of class ...


More Madcap McCain Riffs

Steve Benen: Senator Hothead

Washington Post: McCain: A Question of Temperament

Nicole Bell/C&L: Notice Anything? John McCain doesn’t wear an American flag pin on THIS WEEK

Melissa McEwan/Shakesville: McCain: At Least He Doesn't Throw Punches!

Perrin On McCain, Clinton and Pornographic Ringtones

John Amato/C&L: McCain bashes Obama on Ayers but stands by his association with anti-Catholic pastor Hagee

Cirque de Military Analysts

Back in the early 1980's, during my brief period of performing stand-up comedy, we are at a Open Mike Night, at The Comedy Store, up on Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood, CA.

A young ventriloquist got his time on stage and up he went, with his dummy, taking a moment to move the stool and get himself situated - and placing the dummy in front of the microphone.

A small wave of titters and laughs went about the room, believing, as one could easily at the moment, that this was part of the routine ... The ventriloquist began his set, barely audible for the packed room and soon, the small titters and laughs stopped ...After a few more moments, it became clear, that the ventriloquist was keeping the dummy in front of the microphone.

Some in the crowd began shouting at him, telling him, quite directly, to move the microphone, to use the microphone ...He continued, through the seemingly never-ending five-minutes without moving the dummy away from the microphone

To be kind, it wasn't part of the act.

Not totally unlike the blockbuster news broken last night by the NYT, with the Cirque de Military Analysts being mouthpieces for the Pentagon and Bush Grindhouse.

Dummies, up in front of the microphone, pouring out the words of their masters.

We riffed on this late last evening and, in the light of day, rereading the article, as well as all the blowback out on the WWW and Blogosphere, it leaves a more disgusting aftertaste.

While we, and others touched on it, it really is colossal, that the overarching goal of the Bush Grindhouse, and the likes to Torie Clarke and Rumsfeld, wasn't that welfare of the soldiers being sent into this blunder (or the lives of the innocent Iraqi citizens), but whether or not they could control the message, control the media.

That was what was most paramount.

Hell, they planned (and executed) on which military man would speak on which network, and give this message or that message, better than anything they planned on the ground in Iraq.

They were more upset of a General speaking out-of-turn, speaking truth, than whether-or-not our soldiers were safe, that they had the proper training, equipment and armor.

It was Wag The Dog, Director's Cut!

While this is wrong on so many levels, (including the NYT publishing this, perhaps as a Mea Culpa, being they were, perhaps, the biggest cheerleader as to WMD's and going into Iraq), that retired military people engaged in this, with total disregard, abdicating, even, in retirement, the moral equivalent, of protecting their soldiers.

Much like a bevy of other Bush Cronies, they simply were looking to cash-in on it.

Larisa Alexandrovna, on her blog At-Largely, has a good post, in which she offers clear vision;

"An excellent article in the NYT today illustrates our continued march toward the marriage of corporate and state interests, otherwise known as fascism ..."

As does Greg Mitchell, out on the HuffPo;

"But to get you started, a few points to keep in mind:

-- The article has at least three tracks: One, the Pentagon deploying the analysts (some 75 in number) and the TV outlets happy to run with them; two, the analysts' further conflict-of-interest in being tied to defense contractors with billions of dollars invested in the war effort; three, the complete lack of interest by the TV outlets in either of the first two connections, or ignoring what they did know. In fact, the networks raised no objections to the Pentagon paying for trips by the analysts.

-- The effort began in "selling the war" -- going where even Judy Miller feared to tread -- and there are some startling admissions by some team members that they knew they were being sold a fairy tale on WMD, but went along with it anyway. The moral bankruptcy is truly disgusting."

And Libby, over on Newshoggers speaks for many;

No surprises here. Simply more proof that we have more to fear from our own government than we do from terrorists.

Haven't seen or heard the three major candidates weigh in on this yet.

And, likely, for at least two of them - Hillary and Obama - we won't hear anything, being it's two-days out from PA voting (and if they have the balls to call this repugnant, or such, Christ, make sure they're wearing a Flag Lapel Pin when the do it ... We don't want to further stress out Nash McCabe).


Some More Links

Praire Weather: "We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you... "

Steve Benen: Puppets of the Defense Department

Mustang Bobby/Shakesville: The Puppetry of the Pentagon

Think Progress: Pentagon uses military analysts as ‘puppets’ to push talking points


"I'm sorry, can you lie a little louder"

It's Only April, What's Card Selling?

Well, this is a pleasant surprise ...

Surfing around, and then, rather suddenly, espying this story and zeroing in on it;

Andrew Card Now Afraid Of One Party Rule

What?

The P.T. Barnum of the Bush Grindhouse back in the headlines ... One of the seminal members of the WHIG cronies, who set the standard for any-and-all future administrations, when they want to initiate a campaign of lies and falsehoods, offering;

Not long after, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card was asked why the administration waited until after Labor Day to try to sell the American people on military action against Iraq. Card replied, `From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August.'

It's April, so what's up with this?

From C&L's Nicole Bell;

At the America Small Business Summit 2008, former Bush White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card laments what the potential abuses Democrats might commit if they hold the majority in both houses of Congress and the White House. Funny how that didn’t seem to be an issue when the Republicans were in charge.

"But I worry, if we have a president that gets elected with significant momentum and his or her party is sharing the possibility of running Congress with overwhelming majorities that there would be a rush to do stupid things in the first hundred days. And the first hundred days could produce a lot of mistakes that would take years and years to undo. So that’s something I think we should be cautious about or thinking about. Not just who the next president is, but what will our government look like when they take the direction that the president has to offer. I actually kind of like having a deliberative process in the House and the Senate that causes people to work really hard to get legislation passed to change some of the things happening in our economy. It’s good and it’s bad. It’s frustrating when it doesn’t happen on the good side fast enough, but sometimes, it’s a blessing when bad things don’t happen because we woke up to recognize the consequence of the action."

Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican.

Whatever it is, whatever he is offering, whatever he is selling, speak in their language, from one of their icons ...

Just Say No!


Bonus Andy Card

Timothy Noah/Slate: Is Andy Card an Idiot? Esquire sure makes him look like one

Ken Rudin/NPR: Andy Card Leaves a Stacked Deck

SilentPatriot/C&L: Jon Stewart to Andy Card: “Come to the light side..”

Bolton: Card Had White House In Coma; White House Shake-Up Causes Bolton Snafu; Fiery UN Ambassador Thought Bush Reaching Out To Him; Lambastes Card and “that little bean-counting pansy”


My Pet Andy

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

20 April 2007... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Most Likely Graffiti Tags That Will Soon Appear On New Baghdad Wall


20 April 2006... On The Garlic

Bolten Wielding Hammer In Shaping New White House; More White House Bombshells - New Chief of Staff Takes Rove’s Place In WHIG, WHIIG; Longtime Bush Aide Said “Devastated”; After Shouting Match, Left Way To Get Back In By Performing Special Task

Top Ten Cloves: Things Bush Administration Will Do About Valerie Plame Attending White House Correspondents Dinner


20 April 2005... On The Garlic

Brady To Retire From Patriots; SNL Offers Long-Term Contract; "Only Downhill" As QB Left

Justice Dept. Moving on Red Sox Incident; Considers Terrorist Charges, Special Rendition For Interfering Fans

Top Ten Cloves: What ABC Will Replace Monday Night Football With

Empty Suits ... “I felt we’d been hosed" ...

Power comes from lying ... Lying big and getting the whole damn world to play along with you ... Once you got everybody agreeing with what they know in their hearts ain't true, you get them by the balls

Senator Roark, from “Sin City - That Yellow Bastard”

Yes, we've used this opening quote before.

How the hell, with the Bush Grindhouse, could you not want to use every single day!

I mean, look over the last seven years ... Christ, these guys must have a small, laminated card they keep in their wallets with this on it ...

It's a morning ritual ... A Daily Prayer ... A mantra ... Any one of the Bush Grindhouse cronies tells more lies before 9AM, then you do all day ...

And, in an article that will appear in the New York Times tomorrow (Sunday), a whole lot of rubes are going to be terribly disappointed;

Message Machine - Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

Holy Corrupted Captains, Batman! ... Are you saying that retired Military officers got paid to carry the Bush Grindhouse lies?

It's a pretty detailed account of how a whole bunch of retired military people (those talking heads you seen trotted on your television screens, on both, MSM, and Cable, news programs) have been in the pocket of the Bush Grindhouse, from the get-go, to sell the war, sell all that great progress we've been told about, to beat down criticism, and to sing pretty songs before bad news is allowed to squeeze through and reach the general population.

Not exactly earth-shattering, but it is pretty astonishing, just how easily the Bush Grindhouse cronies went about the business of setting this up.

Like riding a bicycle ...

Want a taste?

Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the campaign amounted to a sophisticated information operation. “This was a coherent, active policy,” he said.

As conditions in Iraq deteriorated, Mr. Allard recalled, he saw a yawning gap between what analysts were told in private briefings and what subsequent inquiries and books later revealed.

“Night and day,” Mr. Allard said, “I felt we’d been hosed.”

The Pentagon defended its relationship with military analysts, saying they had been given only factual information about the war. “The intent and purpose of this is nothing other than an earnest attempt to inform the American people,” Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

Boy, you know this must be serious ... Bryan Whitman, Pentagon spokesman, had to defend it with two lies, presumably, using a face so straight, you could cut paper on it.

Before we move on, I have to say, when I first saw and read this article, the first thing that came to mind, the very first thing was ...

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

It was just a few months ago, in January, that Rummy popped out from underneath is rock, and wistfully proposed an official Propaganda Agency;

Leave It to Rumsfeld ... There's Not Enough Lying Going On!

What cosmic forces came together, what asteroid-sized dice rolled a seven, to have former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld come out - the day a quantified and detailed report was released (and with a searchable database) on laying out the Bush Grindhouse's documented lying - and make a call for a new, U.S. Propaganda Agency, ostensibly, to win the hearts and minds of people who, presently, don't like us very much?

So many logistics to work out.

Would this compete with, or augment, the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) and White House Iraq and Iran Group (WHIIG)?

When will this be launched - August is out, per the razor-sharp thinking of Andy Card?

Hmmm ... Maybe Rumsfeld's wishful, and wistful, statement, is a ruse? Maybe it's already in action and Rumsfeld is just out there to throw people off the scent?

And this is what was coming out of Rummy;

We need someone in the United States government, some entity, not like the old USIA . . . I think this agency, a new agency has to be something that would take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that exist today. There are multiple channels for information . . . The Internet is there, pods are there, talk radio is there, e-mails are there. There are all kinds of opportunities. We do not with any systematic organized way attempt to engage the battle of ideas and talk about the idea of beheading, and what's it's about and what it means. And talk about the fact that people are killing more Muslims than they are non-Muslims, these extremists. They're doing it with suicide bombs and the like. We need to engage and not simply be passive and allow that battle of competition of ideas."

This wasn't some item on a wish list ... Or lamenting about "the army you may want ..."

Now, unless dementia is settling in, Rummy, pretty much, laid out exactly the program he, and Torie Clarke ran at the Pentagon!

Yes, the Little Lying Pixie (her official title was "Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs"), Torie Clarke (who had the guile to title her book "Lipstick on a Pig: Winning In the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game").
















Oh, Little Lying Pixie Torie (Friend of Mary Matalin, if that doesn't clinch it) knew how to spin, spin like a top and she certainly knew how to play the game.

Torie Clarke, the former public relations executive who oversaw the Pentagon’s dealings with the analysts as assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, had come to her job with distinct ideas about achieving what she called “information dominance.” In a spin-saturated news culture, she argued, opinion is swayed most by voices perceived as authoritative and utterly independent.

And so even before Sept. 11, she built a system within the Pentagon to recruit “key influentials” — movers and shakers from all walks who with the proper ministrations might be counted on to generate support for Mr. Rumsfeld’s priorities.

Other administrations had made sporadic, small-scale attempts to build relationships with the occasional military analyst. But these were trifling compared with what Ms. Clarke’s team had in mind. Don Meyer, an aide to Ms. Clarke, said a strategic decision was made in 2002 to make the analysts the main focus of the public relations push to construct a case for war. Journalists were secondary. “We didn’t want to rely on them to be our primary vehicle to get information out,” Mr. Meyer said.

From the start, interviews show, the White House took a keen interest in which analysts had been identified by the Pentagon, requesting lists of potential recruits, and suggesting names. Ms. Clarke’s team wrote summaries describing their backgrounds, business affiliations and where they stood on the war.

“Rumsfeld ultimately cleared off on all invitees,” said Mr. Krueger, who left the Pentagon in 2004. (Through a spokesman, Mr. Rumsfeld declined to comment for this article.)

From their earliest sessions with the military analysts, Mr. Rumsfeld and his aides spoke as if they were all part of the same team

So, let's get this straight.

Before September 11th, before the official launch of The Commander Guy's life dream, to invade and occupy Iraq, the Little Lying Pixie Torie Clarke, and her boss, Rummy, looked at retired military officers, not as towers of experience and wisdom, but mere puppets, to spoon-feed lies to, and have them carry those lies to the media, who, in turn, understood to follow their marching orders (under no circumstances, question anything) and pass those lies on to the American people.

For one thing, that's overlooked in the article, this clearly shows, how, early on, the deep, soul-clutching commitment the Bush Grindhouse had to supporting the troops.

Yesiree Bob, one big, heartwarming, fucking Norman Rockwell painting there.

And the Golden Boy, General Petraeus?

Two weeks ago General Petraeus took time out from testifying before Congress about Iraq for a conference call with military analysts.

Mr. Garrett, the Fox analyst and Patton Boggs lobbyist, said he told General Petraeus during the call to “keep up the great work.”

“Hey,” Mr. Garrett said in an interview, “anything we can do to help.”

Go out and read Message Machine - Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand.

If not new news, you will find it breathtaking, the detail of the un-American behavior and practices these people undertook.

And, as you watch the news in the coming weeks, during the campaign, see how much the news programs cut back on using retired Military people on their programs, now that the cat is out-of-the-bag, so publicly, (they should require these guys to disclose that they are lying greedheads; Maybe they should put candy bars, and real scrambled eggs on their uniforms, from now on).

And I may not be posting tomorrow after this.

I think I will be busy, very busy, putting poxes on all of them!


Bonus Link

David Neiwert: When Sock Puppets Rule Our Media

Pale Rider: When the Generals Chose Lies Over Their Soldier's Lives...

Think Progress: Pentagon uses military analysts as ‘puppets’ to push talking points

Kovie: Matthews Tore Torie Clarke New One on Hardball Tonight!

IPS News: Rumsfeld Flees France, Fearing Arrest

“They’re coming here for the American experience”; Rumsfeld Weighs In On Immigration Battle; Won’t Tie It To War With Iran
Suggests Army Recruiting Woes Could Be Solved With Mandatory Service By Illegal Aliens

"He is Iraq's Katrina itself"

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

19 April 2007... On The Garlic

Breaking News! Gonzales To Shift Testimony, Has New Excuse; AG To Cite 'Circuit City' Policy, Claim Replacement Attorneys Costing DOJ Less; Fired USA's Can Reapply in Ten Weeks


19 April 2006... On The Garlic

Breaking News! McClellan Points Finger At Bolten, Says Rough Period Ahead For White House; McClellan Surprised Resignation Accepted; Miffed No “Vigorous Defense” From President; Guesses “You Have To Screw Up A War” To Be Protected: Rove Moved, Will Concentrate Fulltime On Smearing

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons John McCain Is Cozying Up To President Bush and Jerry Falwell


19 April 2005... On The Garlic

Gingrich To Bump Delay, Retake Top House Role; Loophole in warranty of his Contract for America Gives Edge; Never Cancelled

McDonalds Celebrates 50th Birthday; Introducing New Finger Food Menu

Top Ten Cloves: If Detroit Free Press Had Mitch Albom Cover The Boston Marathon

ABC Plants Its Flag

Sadly, we already used the hysterical Eddie Izzard "Flag" routine video recently, in another post.

And there was a great video up, briefly, yesterday, called "In Memoriam - George Stephanopoulos", mocking the diminutive politico/news reader and, as we described him the other day, the "former staff member of the husband of one of the participants in this so-called debate", in the same production style as on his weekly Sunday morning thingy (it was "This video has been removed by the user." which means either YouTube gave him shit, or ABC gave him shit ... Likely, both).

Which brings us to today, and, if the ABC suits thought, hey, it's Friday ... Almost the weekend ... The worst is behind us ... Well, they had a little surprise.

From Josh Marshall's "Hmmm";

Remember that woman from the debate last night who the moderators showed videotape of asking whether Barack Obama "believes in the flag"? Her name is Nash McCabe.

I remember thinking it was sort of odd to have a couple one-off uses of ordinary voter questions when it didn't really seem like it was part of the format. But I was too distracted by the general inanity of the debate to focus on this issue too closely.

Well, it turns out TPM Reader JL did give it some thought. And he came up with something very interesting (see JL's post at the DrexelDems blog). He did a little googling and found out Nash is pretty popular with the traveling press now in Pennsylvania. It turns out McCabe was featured in an April 4th story in the Times which begins like this ..."

What an incredible coincidence!

What an incredible stroke of unbelievable good luck?

Shoot, Norville Barnes, a recipient of a boatload of dumb, good luck as any, pales in comparison into the pot-o-gold ABC stumbled upon.

This woman, Nash McCabe, just happened to be out there ... Just happened to live in Latrobe, PA ... And an ABC producer, wandering around the vast state, looking for the one voice, the one golden voice, who could epitomize the burning issue, that buzzed about item at every dinner table, the linch pin to this years' election ...

Who could ask Barack Obama about the Lapel Flag Pin?

Where was this All-American John or Jane Doe?

Who could ask;

Senator Obama, I have a question, and I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I am not questioning your patriotism, but all our servicemen, policemen and EMS wear the flag. I want to know why you don't.

The always insightful and entertaining Attytood had puzzlement, as well;

As I watched her question, what I wondered -- and I imagine many other viewers wondered as well -- was where on earth did ABC find this representative of my home state. As a journalist, I kind of assumed that ABC sent a film crew to western Pa., and then culled the most provocative questions from the people that they found. Silly me. In fact, ABC News found Nash McCabe the old-fashioned way -- they read about her, and her thing with the American flag, in the New York Times earlier this month:

LATROBE, Pa. — Ask whom she might vote for in the coming presidential primary election and Nash McCabe, 52, seems almost relieved to be able to unpack the dossier she has been collecting in her head.

It is not about whom she likes, but more a bill of particulars about why she cannot vote for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

“How can I vote for a president who won’t wear a flag pin?” Mrs. McCabe, a recently unemployed clerk typist, said in a booth at the Valley Dairy luncheonette in this quiet, small city in western Pennsylvania.

Greg Sargent, of TPM Election Central interviewed Stephanopoulos the other day;

In an interview with me moments ago, Stephanopoulos strongly defended his handling of the debate. He dismissed criticism that it had focused too heavily on "gotcha" questions, arguing that they had gone to the heart of the "electability" that, he said, is forefront in the minds of voters evaluating the two Dems.

Forefront in the minds of voters ...

The NYT interview with Nash McCabe was published back on January 4th ... Meaning it was taken a day, or more before that ...

That's over three-months ago!

From Attytood again;

So Nash McCabe wasn't located at random at all. Instead, someone at ABC News decided that they wanted to go after Obama on the patriotism issue, and they actively sought a Pennsylvanian who they knew wanted to bring it up. I assume they thought it would sound better if "a typical voter" asked the question instead of Charlie Gibson. "You see, we're only raising the issue the voters really care about," they can claim.

I have to wonder, if off-air (we already know what he did on-air), Sean Hannity coached Stephanopoulos to beat down Obama on the Lapel Flag Pin as well ...


It's 11PM, Do You Know Where Your Lapel Flag Pin Is? Links

D-Mac: Sen. Obama, Are You The Devil?

Steve Benen: About that flag-pin question…

Digby: Tiddly Winks

dday: We're marching on ABC/Disney in Burbank today - armed with flag pins!

The Nation: Journalists Slam ABC Debate Tactics; In an open letter to ABC, journalists and media analysts condemn the network's poor handling of the April 16 Democratic presidential debate

OOPS! ... Hillary's At It Again!

Maybe, she's hearing the voices, again ...

Or there's much more, and longer-lasting, stress from ducking all that sniper fire.

More Bush Grindhouse behavior from Hillary, playing out her version of "Either you're with us, or against us"

Hillary Clinton Attacks MoveOn

I've tried to stay out of the pie fights of late, but as a long-term defender of MoveOn and other progressive organizations -- this is completely unacceptable.

"MoveOn opposed military action in Afghanistan" is a Republican talking point, articulated specifically and purposefully by Karl Rove

The Huffington Post has the Audio;

"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."

And, she was for MoveOn.Org, before she was against them;

The comments also contradict Clinton's previous statements praising this year's elevated Democratic turnout in primaries and caucuses, and appear to blame her caucus defeats on newly energized grassroots voter groups that she has lauded in the past as "lively participants" in American democracy.

"You've been asking the tough questions," Clinton said in April of last year at a MoveOn-sponsored town hall event. "You've been refusing to back down when any of us who are in political leadership are not living up to the standards that we should set for ourselves... I think you have helped to change the face of American politics for the better... both online, and in the corridors of power."

From The Raw Story;

Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org, which officially endorsed Obama's candidacy this February, released the following statement to Huffington in response to the report:

Senator Clinton has her facts wrong again. MoveOn never opposed the war in Afghanistan, and we set the record straight years ago when Karl Rove made the same claim. Senator Clinton's attack on our members is divisive at a time when Democrats will soon need to unify to beat Senator McCain. MoveOn is 3.2 million reliable voters and volunteers who are an important part of any winning Democratic coalition in November. They deserve better than to be dismissed using Republican talking points.

Oh Boy ...

Is a good cry coming up next (say, Sunday or Monday, just before PA votes)?

Reich - "Obama for President"

On his own blog today, the former Clinton Administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has come out today and endorsed for President ...

Barack Obama!

The formal act of endorsing a candidate is generally (and properly)limited to editorial pages and elected officials whose constituents might be influenced by their choice. The rest of us shouldn't assume anyone cares. My avoidance of offering a formal endorsement until now has also been affected by the pull of old friendships and my reluctance as a teacher and commentator to be openly partisan. But my conscience won't let me be silent any longer.

I believe that Barack Obama should be elected President of the United States.

It's a short post, but worth giving it a read-through.

And, Mr. Reich, keep your head up - James Carville will probably come gunning for you, soon

And in case you missed it ...

Robert Reich: "Old Politics ... Old Media Are Irrelevant Now"

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

18 April, 2007... On The Garlic

The Laura Bush Bummer Bombing-of-the Day; Warning - Bypass this post if you don't want to be discouraged

Top Ten Cloves: Ways President Bush Can Sweeten The Offer To Secure A New War Czar


18 April, 2006... On The Garlic

President, forcefully, announces “I’m the decider”; White House Stumbles, Late Providing Wagons To Circle Around Rumsfeld; President Said To Be Irate With Paperwork Snafus, Vendor Shortages; FEMA Asked To Appropriate Katrina Trailers

Top Ten Cloves: What Would Be Different If Rumsfeld Was A Dog, But Still Secretary of Defense


18 April, 2005... On The Garlic

Steinbrenner Calls In FBI To Hunt For 'Real' Yankee's'

Sideways Team Uncorks Again; Begin Shoot on Sequel, Rightside-Up

Top Ten Cloves: Reason People Filed Their Taxes Late

Charlie and George Go To A Debate ...

Just a little follow-up on the debate last evening ...

Charlie and George ...

Not quite in the same league, but, after the outrage (and disappointment) an equal amount of laughs could be had, as if the debate was presented as a corporate, white-collar version of "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle".

Which has me thinking; How did ABC miss it?

They were in Philadelphia ... They had two-hours to play with ... It would be only 1.6 miles (approximately 8-minutes) to travel from the National Constitution Center... If they didn't want to pack that time with commercials, they could have let the off-screen, voice-from-the-heavens, riff some more on the Constitution

To really cap off their tabloid, junk, "Gotcha" debate-producing/debate-moderation-strategy, they could have taken Barack Obama to Gino's Steaks and have him order a cheesesteak, using quick-cut close-ups, overhead shots, maybe even have a camera from the POV of the grill ... A little tune softly in the background, building up the drama, putting the pressure on Obama to order it the correct way (and in English) ...

Maybe cut to Hillary, or use a double-screen shot, so we can hear her tell the audience of the great cheesesteaks subs her grandfather used to make (including shooting the cow, with his second-amendment-granted-right-to-own-a-gun), and how it's a tradition and her grandfather was never bitter about making cheesesteaks subs ...Then a quick cut to Hillary eating a cheesesteak sub, washing it done with shots and beer ...

And then, George Stephanopolous will ask a question, given to him by Sean Hannity, or some other dittohead, righwingnut, if Obama likes the same cheese on his cheesesteaks that William Ayers likes ... Didn't he and William Ayers share a cheesesteak once, or both order and eat cheesesteaks at the same place?

Then, the MSM, and the Right Wing Freak Show, can start a whole new meme, about Obama, still being an elitist, but now trying fake working-class roots, of being a brown-bagging-lunch-carrying common man, question the veracity if he's ever eaten a cheesesteak, or that he likes to put French cheeses on it, maybe even a little arugla.

Hillary will jump on it too, saying that she has the experience to handle a cheesesteak, that she's dealt with, and eaten, all the cheesesteaks thrown her way for the past 16-years, and that, obviously, Obama isn't ready to handle a chessesteak ...

Hillary could get up at 3AM and make a perfect cheesesteak, Obama couldn't...

And, during the commercial breaks, ABC, instead of the Constitution, will have that off-screen, voice-from-the-heavens give the history of, and recipes to ... Cheesesteaks!

Hmmm ... I think I'll stop here ... Why give ABC a free gameplan ...

Okay, pretty absurd, but, in reality, not too far off the reservation on how the debate played out last evening (you can go to my bleary-eyed-written-post "Boy, And We Thought Russert and Williams Sucked") for more 411 on this fiasco.

And if you think this is harsh, or off-the-mark, the World Wide Web and Blogosphere is bursting with similar and comparable disgust.

As we noted last evening, it was a Leonard Pinth Garnell-type night, all the way.

Perhaps the best, the winner for title-and-post goes to Robert Elisberg, over on The Huffington Post, with his "What If ABC Held a Debate, but Forgot to Show Up?";

This was topflight journalism at its worst. This was ABC's old, flimsy history with threadbare sizzle packaged as news. It was a tabloid debate with tabloid questions. Matt Drudge come to life on a respectable stage. From what I subsequently discovered, they actually, eventually got around to real issues -- after over an hour. But watching it for a mere 45 minutes made me feel almost seedy. I wanted to shower to get the smarm off. I love news, I admire professional journalists, I cherish the Mainstream Media, even when they flounder, because it is the core of democracy. But this was embarrassing. This was pathetic. This was just a cheesy press conference with cheesy questions.

A tie, or by-a-hair, second, was Will Bunch, on his Atttytood blog, "An open letter to Charlie Gibson and George Stephanapoulos";

With your performance tonight -- your focus on issues that were at best trivial wastes of valuable airtime and at worst restatements of right-wing falsehoods, punctuated by inane "issue" questions that in no way resembled the real world concerns of American voters -- you disgraced my profession of journalism, and, by association, me and a lot of hard-working colleagues who do still try to ferret out the truth, rather than worry about who can give us the best deal on our capital gains taxes.

But I'm not ready to make nice. What I just watched was an outrage. As a journalist, you appeared to confirm all of the worst qualities that cause people to hold our profession in such low esteem, especially your obsession with cornering the candidates with lame "trick" questions and your complete lack of interest or concern about substance -- or about the American people, or the state of our nation. You embarrassed some good people who work at ABC News -- for example, the journalists who worked hard to break this story just last week -- and you embarrassed yourselves. The millions of people who watched the debate were embarrassed, too -- at the state of our political discourse, and what it has finally become, at long last.

And this morning, Tom Shales, television critic of the Washington Post, rings in with "In Pa. Debate, The Clear Loser Is ABC";

When Barack Obama met Hillary Clinton for another televised Democratic candidates' debate last night, it was more than a step forward in the 2008 presidential election. It was another step downward for network news -- in particular ABC News, which hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances.

For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.

At the end, Gibson pompously thanked the candidates -- or was he really patting himself on the back? -- for "what I think has been a fascinating debate." He's entitled to his opinion, but the most fascinating aspect was waiting to see how low he and Stephanopoulos would go, and then being appalled at the answer.

Also making its way into the discussion this morning is the wistful longing of debates past.

Libby, over on Newhoggers, harks "It's time to bring back the League of Women Voters or some neutral entity, whose agenda has nothing to do with ratings and promoting their overpaid media stars, to run these events again" and Marty Kaplan, on The Huffington Post reaches for the same, begging "Would someone please get the networks out of the presidential debate business? ... But I do blame the candidates, the campaigns and the parties for being complicit with the corporate politainment circus. The first ten people in the phone book could do a better job of asking candidates questions that voters care about."

And, perhaps the best, head-slapping, suggestion, comes from Markos, on his Daily Kos;

"I honestly don't understand why Democrats haven't learned to ignore the bullshit substance-less questions and simply say, "Okay, that's a dumb question. Let's talk about something people care about, like the housing crisis."

Just bypass the idiotic questioners and talk about the things that the Democratic primary electorate actually want to talk about.

Trust me, they'll get brownie points, and the idiot questioners will look like idiots in the process."

Last nights' dredge should put a bullet in any more Democratic debates, since the primary is nearly over, so we get a respite, of sorts.

Just enough time, maybe, to unremember this fiasco, and to start dreading the General Election debates


More Links!

Barry Crimmins: The ABC/HUAC Democratic Inquisition

Think Progress - AUDIO: Hannity Feeds Stephanopoulos Debate Question On Weather Underground

Attaturk/Firedoglake: On reflection

Lynn Sweet: Obama's toughest grilling to date at Thursday debate. William Ayers becomes a factor

Steve Benen: Worst. Debate. Ever

Greg Mitchell - Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Gaffes, Flag Pins and '60s Radicals

This Date ... On The Garlic

Garlic History - On This Day

17 April 2006... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At The White House Easter Egg Roll

Garlic Poll - Bush Declassifying Results