Archives for the 'media' Category
Propaganda Victory!
Published on 7 May 2009 at 11:51 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, media, military.
As a career newsman, I can assure the last thing any reporter worth his salt wants to do is let sticky, unresolved questions and facts mess up the story line. That’s why a professional sometimes employs the time-honored device known as “burying” them. Much as the evidence was buried in Afghanistan. AP:
All You Need Is Love
Published on 5 May 2009 at 8:41 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
Yesterday we saw mapped out the well from which the president of the United States draws his deep thot on foreign policy. An aging fat whiny Brit of weak vertebral constitution with an unhealthy Palin obsession, also known as Andrew Sullivan. We’ve also seen this week the instruments of his wrath: The attack foo-foo dogs of the White House Press [...]
Bush Lied, People Were Waterboarded
Published on 22 Apr 2009 at 9:21 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq, al qaeda, media, pols.
Great hit for the left! McClatchy-Tribune has the details … some of them, anyway … that among other things, Khalid Sheikh Muhammed and Abu Zubaydah were asked about Saddam-al-Qaeda operational ties during their dunkings. McClatchy and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., are delighted to report no evidence of operational ties emerged from the sessions. But this is the [...]
Read ‘Bush Lied, People Were Waterboarded’
NYT Combat Embed
Published on 20 Apr 2009 at 9:45 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Afghanistan, media, military.
In the Korengal Valley. An account of combat, loss, and some of the complicating factors in this corner of the Afghan war. More like this, please. Great photo gallery at the link.
This is a relatively tight focus on a single incident, that doesn’t in itself offer extensive insight. But combat embeds give reporters, media organizations and the public [...]
Beloved Competition
Published on 17 Apr 2009 at 9:56 am.
9 Comments.
Filed under Boston, media.
Recently, my newspaper’s reporters forced the Boston Globe to acknowledge what it had not told its rank-and-file employees, and what Globe union leaders had neglected to tell their members, that the New York Times had demanded that the unions at its vassal property come up with $20 million in cuts or face closure within a month. I took the [...]
Stop Making (AP) Sense
Published on 12 Apr 2009 at 9:24 am.
No Comments.
Filed under media, money.
AP Chairman Dean Singleton squawks tough about going after the Internet. Politico mulls the issue, reports the speculation is they want to shake down Google and Huffpo, other search engines and news aggregators. Politico reports some confusion over this among observers, as the engines and aggregators already have licensing deals, and anyway, are just using headlines [...]
Re The Power Of Being Dead Already
Published on 12 Apr 2009 at 8:43 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 12-15 and after:
But I told my buddy Mike Kirsch, a CBS Miami reporter who would know what I meant, that I was losing the power of being dead already, and I hated it.
That and hanging with the looting party.
Read ‘Re The Power Of Being Dead Already’
Statue Toppled
Published on 9 Apr 2009 at 10:28 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 9, 2003:
Late in the afternoon, I called up the Boston Herald to dictate the day’s story. Deputy Managing Editor James MacLaughlin told me there was big news on CNN. The Marines had just liberated Baghdad. They were in front of the Palestine Hotel, where they pulled down a statue of Saddam. Did I know [...]
200 Of These Things Look A Lot Like The Others
Published on 9 Apr 2009 at 10:26 am.
No Comments.
Filed under media.
Never mind the lefty bloggers. This advocacy group has the newspapers shilling for them. Director Blue on the curious case of the echoing headlines. 200 across the nation virtually same-same, a universal health insurance shill pushed by the “progressive” advocacy group Families USA.
Read ‘200 Of These Things Look A Lot Like The Others’
“A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood”
Published on 8 Apr 2009 at 1:09 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
That went badly wrong. April 8, 2003:
The Gold Platoon Bradleys advanced up Haifa Street, engaging the bunkers in the park and snipers in surrounding buildings heavily with their 25 mm cannons and machine guns.
“I love you, Gold,” Wolford said over the radio. “I love you, baby! I love you, Gold!”
…
The Gold Bradleys dropped their ramps [...]
Read ‘“A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood”’
“Peace Be With You” Seemed Like A Good Start …
Published on 7 Apr 2009 at 12:56 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 7, 2003:
… We could still hear a lot of gunfire in several directions, but none of it was in our vicinity and we ignored it. By early afternoon, we were getting comfortable in the intersection by the big melodramatic July 14th memorial – a bronze statue depicting one Iraqi soldier slumped dead, two looking [...]
Read ‘“Peace Be With You” Seemed Like A Good Start …’
Double Personal Jinx
Published on 6 Apr 2009 at 11:18 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Bush, Islam, Obama, media.
On Obama, in Turkey, for repeating Bush again. AP:
“Let me say this as clearly as I can,” Obama said. “The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical … in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject.”
The [...]
On Getting Killed And Not Getting Killed
Published on 6 Apr 2009 at 8:49 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Memory Lane takes a pit stop south of Baghdad. April 6, 2003:
The Bradley would be carrying a Psyops soldier who would play pre-recorded Arabic messages from loudspeakers mounted on top of the armored vehicle. When I got back, the Bradley crew was watching as a Psyops team sergeant addressed three or four of his men. He [...]
Read ‘On Getting Killed And Not Getting Killed’
Many Years of Tabloid Happiness
Published on 6 Apr 2009 at 8:36 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under celeb, guns, media.
I dunno how much of a career either of these people has left, but they may have, for tabloid purposes, transcended the need for one. I have a feeling the tabloids of America and the world could be happily selling papers off this lovely celeb couple for years to come. They may, in their own small [...]
Read ‘Many Years of Tabloid Happiness’
Achtung Baby
Published on 4 Apr 2009 at 1:00 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 4, 2003:
Baxter and I were sitting on my cot, backs against the Bradley’s skirt plate, eating MREs for breakfast and talking about Sgt. Lustig. He was the tough platoon sergeant who didn’t talk much and always meant exactly what he said. He was the one with “ACHTUNG BABY” stenciled on his tank’s gun tube. His [...]
“This War Is Gay!”
Published on 3 Apr 2009 at 12:30 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Re the sexual orientation of war. April 3, 2003:
We crossed the Euphrates around noon. I was asleep in the back and missed it. Another brigade, bounding ahead of us, was responsible for all the wreckage around the bridge.
Baxter was bored and annoyed that someone else was getting all this action. He began bitching about the [...]
Whither Print
Published on 3 Apr 2009 at 10:14 am.
5 Comments.
Filed under media.
UPDATE: Boston Globe’s NYT corporate management gives the Globe unions a month to come up with $20 million in giveback, or close. Boston Herald.
I hope this remains a two-newspaper town. I’ve enjoyed the vigorous competition over the past 15 years that I’ve been a part of it. It is an increasingly rare privilege in American journalism. [...]
Events In The Night Sky
Published on 2 Apr 2009 at 1:15 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Remarked upon. April 2, 2003:
Around midnight, a longer stop, again in the desert. We got out, pissed at the side of the track. We decided to do some housecleaning and threw some empty MRE boxes off to one side of the road. Baxter, Smitty and I shared a couple of butts by the track. We [...]
Read ‘Events In The Night Sky’
Cousin Rusty
Published on 31 Mar 2009 at 10:26 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under media.
Julie Limbaugh on being related. It’s a touching read, though the girl needs to start telling off the rude people she encounters. Nod to allahpundit.
“That Bitch Just Froze!”
Published on 31 Mar 2009 at 8:15 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Personal anniversary, March 31, 2003:
We came out of the desert at dawn. The tanks kicked up dust by mud hut farms, their skull-and-crossed-saber guidons whipping in the wind.
“This all looks so ancient … Nothing has changed here in 2,000 years,” said the LT, up in his turret hatch. There were people in the doorways of the [...]
Read ‘“That Bitch Just Froze!”’
Afghanistan Made Easy
Published on 25 Mar 2009 at 10:00 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, media, military.
To get, not to do. Enough with the hysteria/doom-and-gloom mongering. War correspondent Robert Kaplan, who has been around the block a couple of times in Afghanistan and with the United States military, with a note of reason on the evolving campaign, what that campaign is fundamentally about, why we can win it, and why we have to. Excerpts [...]
Cruel Mockery Of The Day
Published on 22 Mar 2009 at 12:19 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Obama, media.
Via Reynolds, who rounds it all up. More from Gateway, Malkin. I dunno, that may be selling Baghdad Bob a little short. Credit where credit is due. Bob was actively denying undeniable facts, which puts him ahead of the American media on this.
Surber: Two protests, guess which got more coverage.
Read ‘Cruel Mockery Of The Day’
Special Olympics Presidency
Published on 20 Mar 2009 at 9:34 am.
9 Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
Tard jokes are in with America’s new “hip” admin. How long before we as a society advance beyond our unhip hangups about ethnic, racial humor? Treacher cruelly explores the possibilities. All I have to say is, good thing it wasn’t a bungled chimp joke. He’d really be in trouble.
Read ‘Special Olympics Presidency’
Gorenalists Nabbed By NKs
Published on 19 Mar 2009 at 11:07 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Korea, media.
Sounds like something from “Team America: World Police,” but it’s real, and given North Korea’s history of bizarre abductions and holding people for decades, it’s potentially problematic.
AP: Two Americans working for warmal laureate Al Gore’s Current TV seized by Kim Jong Il’s regime. They were ordered to stop shooting on the China-North Korea border and didn’t. [...]
Read ‘Gorenalists Nabbed By NKs’
Echoes Of JournoListism
Published on 19 Mar 2009 at 10:31 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under media.
Maguire thinks he hears something echoing out of the secret clubhouse: The same dismissive line on AIG bonuses from several guys who know the secret handshake. I liked this bit from New Republic Senior Editor/JLister Noam Scheiber, though:
I have to say, I’m starting to find the obsessive “what did Geithner/Obama know and when did he know it” line of questioning a [...]
Read ‘Echoes Of JournoListism’
Kindle Afire
Published on 18 Mar 2009 at 10:11 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under Internet, books, geekism, media.
Future of newspapers? Maybe in some form. That’s the Kindle buzz. A variety of reviews follow, including one from a pal who is a reader here. No techno-geek, he’s a crusty old Vietnam vet.
Deference Denounced
Published on 17 Mar 2009 at 10:16 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Cheney, media.
The Gumby-like self-adulator also known as Glenn Greenwald has worked himself into a multiply updated state because some media members were taken aback by White House flak Gibbs’ snide remark about Cheney … ”I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy.”
Hyperventilating highpoints:
Learning Moment
Published on 17 Mar 2009 at 10:15 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under McCain, Obama, media.
For Obama as McCain declines to engage in an exchange of insults with a talkshow host. Think Progress seems to think it’s a failure on his part.
Lefty Media Kabalists
Published on 17 Mar 2009 at 10:14 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under media.
Say it’s not a kabal. Though as Goldfarb notes at the link, it sounds creepy. Politico re JournoList, where lefty scribblers, profs, etc., gather virtually to bash the GOP and admire the finer points of Obamism. It’s all off the record but sooner or later someone’s going to get hoisted on that petard.
A Nation’s Loss
Published on 12 Mar 2009 at 12:01 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Israel, Obama, media.
Broder: Dissing my Israel-bashing, China-loving breakfast pal was a grievous error. Your loss, America. (With slightly unhinged-looking Freeman art).
Andrew Sullivan likes the part where Broder likes how Freeman understands how our adversaries think. Sullivan tuts:
But some opinions - those that might actually see how the US-Israel alliance looks to all those countries we need to engage diplomatically - [...]
NYT Rite
Published on 12 Mar 2009 at 9:10 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under media.
Ross Douthat gets Kristol’s slot. Ambinder at Douthat’s old gig, The Atlantic, sings his praises:
It’s one step back for the Atlantic, but an order of magnitude forward for the country: my colleagues and I learned today that senior editor Ross Douthat will, in short order, become an opinion columnist for the New York Times.
Ross is [...]
Crazy …
Published on 11 Mar 2009 at 11:58 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under media, military, moronocy.
Crazy for repeating this guy’s crap. Crazy … Raw Story with more nonsense from Hersh. If you’ve every attended an event where he is speaking, you know that he blathers, gets excited, essentially makes things up, starts saying all kinds of things that will never see ink. Much like this, for example:
Mob Vs. Snob
Published on 10 Mar 2009 at 10:21 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under media, pols.
Will Collier makes a couple of points, if hurtfully, overstates a couple more, more hurtfully, as he spanks my cousin David in Tea Party Conservatives vs. Dinner Party Conservatives. I’m with the mob re the spendfest, but otherwise staying discreetly neutral in this particular hearts/minds struggle, that exercise in tabloid shorthand up there notwithstanding. Politics and the blogosphere are harsh arenas, [...]
Shark Jumped
Published on 10 Mar 2009 at 11:05 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under media, pols.
I hope, in a stupid fight that essentially serves the Dems, the media, and Rush. Politico: Newt and Rush, now going at it.
There’s a bit of bizarre irony as Rush disparages people in the media who think they’re in politics, but he goes on to explain that his strength comes from his audience, not elections, so I guess that [...]
Rush Judgment
Published on 8 Mar 2009 at 2:27 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under media, pols.
David Frum* slams Rush at Newsweek. A lot to ponder and dicker over his view of the future of the party and whether Rush is part of it. Basic point, does anyone actually think Rush is going to be the leader of the Republican Party or want him to be, including Rush? Raise your hand if [...]
“Audacity Of Hype”
Published on 5 Mar 2009 at 10:05 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
It never gets old. Because Hope/Change rhetoric mockery gets a regular refresh in the era of new politics. Amy Holmes at the Corner with an update on Dem storyline preferences and media compliance.
Debate Now!
Published on 5 Mar 2009 at 1:03 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
Rush to El Heraldo: It ain’t me. But thanks for the attention.
“The Republican Party and the conservative movement are two different things. I have nothing to do with the party,” Limbaugh said yesterday in an e-mail. “Clearly, the GOP has no ‘leader’ right now, and they won’t until a viable presidential candidate surfaces. I have no [...]
Fly Pleased With New Spider Trap
Published on 4 Mar 2009 at 11:03 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under media, pols.
It looked for a minute like the diabolical plot had been exposed. But Politico reports that top Dems think they hit gold with the Rush-smear strategy to undermine the GOP. As a shiny object, it’s great. Very fascinating and attractive to the eye.
Read ‘Fly Pleased With New Spider Trap’
New Media + Old Military = New Military
Published on 3 Mar 2009 at 9:49 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under media, military.
And New Military + Old Media = New Media, but I’ll get to that. First, Dave Dilegge at the superlative media-military battlespace known as Small Wars Journal has gathered some thoughts on the new media … this thing of ours … and how it is affecting the military’s lessons-learned process and reshaping the battlefield. He’s [...]
Read ‘New Media + Old Military = New Military’
End Of The Story
Published on 1 Mar 2009 at 9:27 am.
No Comments.
Filed under media.
Paul Harvey, 90, won’t be down to breakfast. I was never a regular, but “The Rest Of The Story” was part of the soundtrack over the years, echoing out of AM radios in machine shops, garages and pressrooms.
News via CNN. Appreciations from Malkin, Outside The Beltway, Redstate, Moderate Voice. MacsMind:
Before there was Rush Limbaugh, there was Paul [...]
Cast In Stone: War Consigned To History
Published on 27 Feb 2009 at 7:56 pm.
10 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, Obama, media, military.
I’m trying to figure out which is more absurd. Obama committing himself to a troop withdrawal by August, 2010, or this AP Peace in Our Time gushfest on his speech:
Read ‘Cast In Stone: War Consigned To History’
Palestinian Industry
Published on 22 Feb 2009 at 8:20 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Palestinians, media, terrorists.
Hamas boots Al-Arabiya reporter from Gaza for reporting on tunnels, missile factories. Too bad the Bush admin never did the same back when NYT was giving big heads up to al-Qaeda. Any, via MEMRI, the tunnel script is a hoot, and along with the missile factory script, an eyeopener. Too bad the Palestinians haven’t figured [...]
Amateur Hour
Published on 21 Feb 2009 at 6:37 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
Continues as the White House keeps up the debate with guys on soapboxes. First it was Obama vs. Limbaugh … now its PressSec Gibbs vs. Santelli. That guy must have struck a nerve. Politico:
Statement Published
Published on 20 Feb 2009 at 7:32 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under media.
At arm’s length, nose held, NYT brings you, “Statement From Iseman’s Lawyers,” shoved back in “Media and Advertising.” The Gray Lady’s disdainful treatment almost makes that Post non-apology for the faux scandal over the chimp thing look gracious.
All The News That’s Fit To Infer
Published on 19 Feb 2009 at 9:07 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under BS, media.
Via ChiTrib’s Swamp:
A Washington lobbyist who said the New York Times implied she had an improper relationship with Sen. John McCain will drop her defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, which today said it never intended that readers conclude the two were having an affair.
I’m not sure how it is possible to read the offending article and not conclude [...]
Read ‘All The News That’s Fit To Infer’
Chimp Shots
Published on 18 Feb 2009 at 10:51 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Bush, Obama, apes, media.
Comparing the president of the United States to a chimp would be pretty bad, especially a dead one. It could have pretty vile racial overtones, though in fairness, presidential chimp comparisons seem to have transcended race. Where was the deep sense of shock the last time someone compared the president of the United States to a chimp? A little [...]
Miracle Cure?
Published on 15 Feb 2009 at 3:22 pm.
11 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media.
Anti-war scribbler goes to Iraq, starts to get it. Fascinating, if foul-mouthed “Open letter to a craven reporter in Iraq” at Huffington Post denounces a lefty darling’s agenda-driven reporting, praises the military’s practical approach, talks about some harsh facts on the ground, and speaks out for doing the right thing by the Iraqi people. Sort of [...]
Important Earnestness
Published on 11 Feb 2009 at 11:27 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
Weird photo essay at Boston.com, the Boston Globe’s site, explains how dictators are threatened by Obama, who is “killing them with kindness.”
Of Tight Lips, Bleeding Hearts and Leakage
Published on 10 Feb 2009 at 10:34 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Bush, Obama, media.
Hopefully the Obama admin will be as tightlipped as the Bush admin was, Rove says. The lefty outrage is an indicator they’re off to a good start. LA TImes with Rove’s Loyola Marymount speech first:
Read ‘Of Tight Lips, Bleeding Hearts and Leakage’
More New Openness, Please
Published on 10 Feb 2009 at 9:47 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Obama, media.
Forget “ready to govern.” How about “ready to meet the press.” Then there’s the question of whether the press is ready to meet him.
