Richard Cohen, say what?
By John Amato Tuesday Jun 24, 2008 5:50pm
Was this guy ever an actual liberal? I mean, he gets to write for the Washington Post, a very prestigious job----something that all the Villagers would like to have someday and he's supposed to be a liberal. What does that even mean to him? Steve wrote about him earlier today. Anyway, he actually gets honest about the press and their crush on John McCain. He spells it out for you plain as day and if you get all excited about some of the new polls coming out, well I wouldn't just yet. McCain's Media hasn't begun to fire their engines yet. They are now.
In some recent magazine articles, I and certain of my colleagues have been accused of being soft on McCain, forgiving him his flips, his flops and his mostly conservative ideology. I do not plead guilty to this charge, because, over the years, the man's imperfections have not escaped my keen eye. But, for the record...
Cohen then lists all of McCain's flip flops to prove he's actually been awake during the process, but then leaves this very scary "warning sign" on the sign post up ahead.
But here is the difference between McCain and Obama - and Obama had better pay attention. McCain is a known commodity. It's not just that he's been around a long time and staked out positions antithetical to those of his Republican base. It's also - and more important - that we know his bottom line. As his North Vietnamese captors found out, there is only so far he will go, and then his pride or his sense of honor takes over. This - not just his candor and nonstop verbosity on the Straight Talk Express - is what commends him to so many journalists.
Gavin writes: "But guess what? McCain’s flip-flops demonstrate that he has more character than Obama does!"
Aren't the candidates running on a platform of issues and ideas that we then use to decide who we will vote for? Then we can take on the task of (If Obama wins) starting to repair the damage that Bush and the Conservative movement have done to our country. It will take a long time to clean up the wreckage they have created and John McCain has been a big part of the problem. Not Richard. He's all into personalities instead of principles. This is what they want. A clash between Titans. The war hero maverick against the elite country club fruitcake drinking a martini and smoking a cigarette. Get used to it people. It's all they could ask for
And if you need any more evidence of Richard's wankery---here's a reminder of Cohen-2000. What liberal would ever write something like this? via Digby:
For instance, the liberal Richard Cohen, who saw where the wind was blowing back in November 2000 and wrote:
Given the present bitterness, given the angry irresponsible charges being hurled by both camps, the nation will be in dire need of a conciliator, a likable guy who will make things better and not worse. That man is not Al Gore. That man is George W. Bush."
Please email Cohen and tell him to write about principles---not---personalities. Our country is at stake.
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Cohen is another useless "journalist..pundit" that thinks that his pee pee will seem like raindrops to us!
Fire that useless moron!
Can anyone explain to me what the fuck makes Chimpy so "likable???"
A spoiled, jealous, thick skulled frat boy who loves to hang demeaning nicknames on people who can't fight back.
Sounds like one hell of a great guy.
He's about as liberal as Tom Friedman. Sure he has character. Ask his first wife or Charlie Keating.
Thanks for highlighting this schmuck. I read his entire column, and it reeks of D.C. Villager elitism, which to sum up says, "Trust us. We know best." Why this guy gets published is a mystery.
Yes, he should be mocked and ridiculed. But wasting my time to email him? No thanks.
it's idiots from WaPo day on C&L!!!
Weisman and Cohen, manufacturing opinion and consent in real time for the military industrial congressional mediatainment big pharma insurance complex.
Cohen is basically saying McCain deserves a pity fuck because he was a P.O.W.
Only in this case he gets to fuck the whole country.
And the country is already pretty sore from the last guy.
WTF!!!?? A known commodity?! Yeah, that's the problem. The rest of us non-pundit peasants need to keep hammering away at the lies with truth. Websites such as The Real McCain and Vietnam Veterans against John McCain can give you all that you need about this phony would-be presnit. BTW Shrubya's approval rating just hit 23%. Which means that it's probably closer to 13%.
"Given the present bitterness, given the angry irresponsible charges being hurled by both camps, the nation will be in dire need of a conciliator, a likable guy who will make things better and not worse. That man is not Al Gore. That man is George W. Bush.”
Is this guy fucking serious??? I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Welcome to the United State of AmeriKa, Bizarro Land indeed.
I'd rather send a message by not reading Cohen or the Washington Post. Get it WaPo?
Comodity or commode?
Has this journalist bothered to listen to what McCranky has said or done lately? Say, something not forty years or a decade old? Just seems like another journalist who whored out, and is going to let the McCranky machine "throw shit at the wall and hope it sticks" get a pass.
Richard Cohen, same as Joe Klein, are not real Liberals, they are only paid to play the role. Their purpose is to manage public opinion in such a manner that limits the parameters of political debate to that which does not threaten or undermine elite Washington consensus.
I think Cohen is a CIA plant.
BS is a "known commodity" as well, that doesn't mean It's a good investment.
Why he won't vote for Mcain
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html
RE: Refusing early release.
Richard The Lyin' Hearted Bush, now McBush...
Earl Scheib paints a right-on picture...I would rather not waste my time at writing to Mr. Cohen. I am hoping that the profitmedia will succumb to it's demise rather more quickly owing to the talents of Mr Cohen and those like him. ( Kristol comes to mind) Hardly any of these pundits ever get anything right. Ever!
Hey Cohen, we're moving away from your hero Bush and we don't need another one. So please, STFU!!
Richard Cohen, Washington Post, Feb. 6, 2003, on why, after Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N., he now supports invading Iraq:
This is where Colin Powell brought us all yesterday. The evidence he presented to the United Nations -- some of it circumstantial, some of it absolutely bone-chilling in its detail -- had to prove to anyone that Iraq not only hasn't accounted for its weapons of mass destruction but without a doubt still retains them. Only a fool -- or possibly a Frenchman -- could conclude otherwise.
Cohen has been so far off so many times on the big issues, why should anyone lend any credibility to what he has to say now?
Pardon my crudity, but to borrow a line from Shaquille Oneal,
"Richard, tell me how their (Bush and McCain) ass tastes."
Media Concepts @ 19:
How can anyone lend any credibility to anything in the news?
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." - former CIA Director William Colby
Cohen is definitely part of the National Security apparatus, just as much as Judy Miller is. These people are trained propagandists planted in the media. If you think I'm paranoid, check out Operation Wurlitzer named for the CIA's ability to play the American press like an instrument. There used to be some good articles about it on the web, but I can no longer find them. Odd that.
my email to cohen...
"But here is the difference between McCain and Obama -- and Obama had
better pay attention. McCain is a known commodity. It's not just that
he's been around a long time and staked out positions antithetical to
those of his Republican base. It's also -- and more important -- that
we know his bottom line. As his North Vietnamese captors found out,
there is only so far he will go, and then his pride or his sense of
honor takes over. This -- not just his candor and nonstop verbosity on
the Straight Talk Express -- is what commends him to so many
journalists."
You get paid for writing this?
No matter how many articles are written by so called journalists like
yourself, McCain is going to lose, and lose big.
Write that down old man.
Also remember that we the people are done with mainstream media hacks
that manufacture opinion and consent. You and Cokie Roberts and the
others
who spew corporately homogenized bullshit into the air and unto the
pages of newspapers and on the screens of online readers are finished.
Done. You are a dinosaur.
The monopoly of the pulp propaganda peddlers is over.
Retire.
Soon.
jwf @ 13:
Dick the Penis Fly Trap?
jwf @ 13:
Wouldn't surprise me one bit. The budget of the Pentagon and Defense in general is staggering. They could pay anything to anyone, or figure out how to get to them in other ways as well. Straight from the horses mouth as far as I'm concerned is the following quote... how else are they getting away with this fraud.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." - former CIA Director William Colby
Snowball @ 23:
Operation Mockingbird could be mentioned as well. Google still works so far.
Why is it that every so-called Washington Pundit such as Cohen or Broder prostitute themselves for the GOP? Simple - they are paid to be, and that rates them as whores in anyone's book.
The Washington cocktail circuit, of which Chris Matthews and these other MSM whores are charter members has got to hold the Olympic record for political ass-kissing. They care not whether the American people are given honest journalism and the facts, they are too busy schmoozing to keep their perks and connections. Thank God for the internet or they would still be jamming the do-no-wrong frat boy Prez down our throats.
They stabbed Michael Dukakis in the back, they stabbed Howard Dean in the back and it's directly due to them that we got eight years of this fucking idiot in the White House instead of an educated, informed President willing to deal with the nation's and the world's problems with intelligence instead of bombing the hell out of countries that never attacked us.
Thanks a lot, ya shitheads.
How can anyone lend any credibility to anything in the news?
Ron, I don't get your point in this context, but my blog focuses more on that question than nearly anything else. If you're saying that Cohen is part of the news media, and that his credibility should therefore be very low all the time, I probably wouldn't argue. I was supplying even more evidence on why that is the case as to him.
If Larry Flint could find out more about the dead madam's black book, I bet we would know the answers.
Well, he is consistent, I'll give him that.
Consistently full of CRAP!
"As his North Vietnamese captors found out, there is only so far he will go, and then his pride or his sense of honor takes over."
I read very recently that McCain himself has admitted that his Vitenamese captors went easy on him compared to everybody else as they knew he was the son of an admiral.
Operation Mockingbird it is then:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird
Media Concepts @ 29:
How can anyone lend any credibility to anything in the news?
Ron, I don't get your point in this context, but my blog focuses more on that question than nearly anything else. If you're saying that Cohen is part of the news media, and that his credibility should therefore be very low all the time, I probably wouldn't argue. I was supplying even more evidence on why that is the case as to him.
My point is they print or broadcast BS and don't focus on what's really news around the world. They will cover natural or man made disasters but don't cover the disasters this administration created. Are they covering much on Iraq or Afghanistan? No, because they want to keep the occupation out of the news. They vilify legitimate governments such as, Venezuela that is more democratic than the U.S. Do I need to go on?
For chrissake, what a simpering twat.
I much prefer Gaulois.
And one day imported Vichy oxygen for my oxygen mask.
Dammit, this sort of stupidity is what one expects out of a media like the PRC media or the DPRK media, not a supposedly free media in a republican state (the US is not, and never has been, democratic. Just ask gays now, blacks about their past, and women). If I wanted to read a propaganda piece for a campaign, I'd look at a website. I expect better from a national newspaper.
25 Proud2bHumble Says: jwf @ 13:
I think Cohen is a CIA plant.
Dick the Penis Fly Trap?
________________________________________________________
Sung to the the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon.
Mike the Riverine @ 28:
Well put. You can slap a "sold" sign on the foreheads of 90% of our so-called journalists and I think I'm being pretty generous with that percentage.
According to Mr Cohen, McSame's sense of honor will take over?! When, where, how low will he go. We've seen him support Bush's warrentless wiretapping, torture, scare politics, "surges", permanent bases, pandering, etc. What sense of honor?
Gretchen @ 39:
"There's really five companies that control 90 percent of what we read, see and hear." - Ted Turner
John McCain was the POW on the radio in Hanoi reading anti-American statements written by the North Vietnamese. I don't hold it against him. I would of done the same if I had a gun to my head. I just don't understand why their is this Hollywood, bambo under the fingernails, you can't break me, myth about John McCain.
Does this guy remind you of Colonel Sanders?
Dear Orville Redenbacher...
Aren’t the candidates running on a platform of issues and ideas that we then use to decide who we will vote for? Then we can take on the task of (If Obama wins) starting to repair the damage that Bush and the Conservative movement have done to our country. It will take a long time to clean up the wreckage they have created and John McCain has been a big part of the problem.
*long, hard laughter*
Ah heh heh heh, hoooooo...I'm sorry, that's just hilarious coming from one of the blogs that preferred having Bush in office to Gore, then Kerry ("Vote Nader or stay home for a clean conscience! Because it's all about you!"), and has now thrown everything it has behind the Obama Nebula (who is currently trying his level damndest to catch up to McCain in the flip-flopping and sexist-asshole departments). Hee hee hee.
At least they're not Clinton, right? Anybody But Clinton!!
Get real. This is what the right-wing fascist party is out to do.....make their rank and file DETEST Obama.
My older sibblings "can't even stand to watch the man", as my oldest self-centered, rich bitch sister said to my mother. Why?...because the right-wing machine is out to make the Obama's look like something awful.
Nevermind what the outlook of America will be versus a mcAncient/Bush III. It's whether or not they "can even stand to see them on the tv". They totally shut them out without even listening to the message.
So, this scum bucket knows of mcAncients hypocritical history...but he hates Obama even more. Bottom line....anything but a Democrat. Can't argue with such blind logic. Just let them die out slowly over the years....as the repug party has.
Hulk @ 46:
Agreed. As someone who who voted for Hillary Clinton, I was unsure about Obama. It wasn't until I read the beltway "geniuses" like Cohen, Robert Samuelson, David Broder and hacks like David Brooks and Kathleen Parker all claim he's an "empty suit", that I was convinced that he was legitimate. These guys are wrong on everything and are scared of the grassroots enthusiasm Obama has generated.
BIG MEdia will support the Status Quo.
Cohen might as well start wearing a FLAG PIN.
MSNBC has ONE HOUR of OBERMAN... and THE REST OF THE DAY with the likes of morning jo(k)e and Soft Ball with Tweety. CNN still has that Wolf in sheeps' clothing on... and the ONLY thing worth watching on the networks is 60 Minutes. (Love Leslie's hair! and that Aussie reporter has her head on straight most of the time.)
Sad times for print media and TV... but Reich Ring Radio is really bangin' along on all twelve cylinders. A couple of weeks ago I could get Hannity's afternoon program ON SIX AM CHANNELS AT THE SAME TIME here in Austin. THAT's pretty impressive. Jeez... he must make a lot of money.
Complaining to the Washington Post about Ricahrd Cohen would be like complaining to Exxon about one of their *pro-environment* ads.
Who the fuck would waste a single minute of their precious time on earth reading Richard Cohen, Joe Klein, Maureen Dowd, David Brooks, David Broder, etc etc?
My note to Mr. Cohen:
Who said," Given the present bitterness, given the angry irresponsible charges being hurled by both camps, the nation will be in dire need of a conciliator, a likable guy who will make things better and not worse. That man is not Al Gore. That man is George W. Bush.”
Now you're saying basically the same about McCain.
Maybe once in a lifetime we have a chance to elect someone with intelligence, humility and grace.
We had two,Gore and Obama and it looks like for some reason you're trying to sabotage Obama as you did Gore.
Shame on you!
Robert Etzler
San Francisco
Yes, please write that idiot, good idea. Here is how I closed my letter:
When did running a country have anything to do with being a POW? Is that why the press fawns over him, because of his supposed macho toughness?
You people ALL are doing this country a great disservice, your kowtowing to the neocons are responsible for over 4000 U.S. deaths and a half a million Iraqi dead. And still the "war hee-row" angle makes your heart go all aflutter as a man campaigns on the promise to keep the killing going for another 4 years.
You people should be ashamed. Seriously
Mike @ 49:
Dont complain to the Post, complain to him. Remind him why he is wrong.
so DICKKK just made it clear that he's pro-mcC*nt and Obama better take notice.
fuck him.
Richard Cohen just fellated McCain with words. Considering his age, Richie, McCain will be 'spent' way before election day. you may have to keep doing it. i imagine you will, and on and on. idiot.
Nah, just tell Richard Cohen to take a f*cking hike.
What is interesting/telling (and I haven't read the whole article yet, sorry) is that last line:
He is telling us he is in the tank, journalists are in the tank for McCain and
that it is ok for the media to slant stories (or ignore stories) for those they like.
It reminds me of a couple of "journalists" pundits during the primary whining about Hillary Clinton... Tucker carlson said as only he, in his silver spoon, fratboy manner can that the Clinton's "earned the enmity of the media" and so they shouldn't be surprised at how the media is treating her now.
huh?
And just a weekk or two ago Jonathon Alter was on Verdict and said that yes, iof course their was bias against Hillary but theri was no enmity, we just wanted them gone, we were tired of them, we wanted a new story we've been covering them forever... and thenm proceeded to get red in the face and hot under the collar expressing lots of enmity!
I thought they would have to call EMT's for Dan Abrams and Lisa Cavuto whose eyes were bugging out of their heads and jaws were bouncing on the floor they droppped so far so fast.
It was quite a display.
Basically if we don't like you we are going to screw you and too effing bad... or if we like somebody more we're going to prop him up... no offense, nothing personal.
ahhh, the fourth estate.
So Cohen told the truth, so did Tucker (oddly) and Alter and there were a few others who said some of this stuff... but its never covered because they won't out each other.
more beltway smartitude referring to fictional maverickitude
most americans in their hearts are imperialists
many ie mc war supporters are out and out war mongers
americans have not learned their lessons yet
give them time even england needs to learn their lessons over again
harsh very harsh economic decline will take time to teach americans the price of imperialism
americans love being the super power in the world ie ego thing
the only industrialized country in the world without universal health care for its people
that says it all about religious america
like smoking 50% of americans will have to be without health insurance before we will have a gov system of health care like our state colleges
americans if nothing else are selfish individualists
47 million without health care does not faze most americans
high gas prices faze them but no health care for their fellow american no big deal.
we are a self centered war mongering nation and until we americans look into a mirror and see that nothing much will change in america
Pundits, writers, newsreaders, "journalists" have been coopted by celebrityhood and wealth. They are members of the status quo who have a vested interest in preserving that status quo. The American media will do all they can to assure a McCain victory to protect their positions of status, access and wealth. McCain may be slightly behind in the polls but by November the corporate media will have erased any advantage Obama may have had.
#60 I don't think so because the economy will be so bad by then that no Republican will be reelected unless he lives Wyoming or something.
Basically hacks like Cohen are professional ad writers who can turn a phrase into a column(or a book like Friedman--"free trade is great"). So if you believe everything you see or are told on TV, you can swallow everything and anything press whores like Cohen spew out.
Goggle: Richard Cohen, picture
Click on 1st picture upper left hand corner, then scroll down to the 3rd picture, stopping briefly at the 2nd picture for a quick belly laugh
Who's Richard Cohen?
We know know his bottom line?!?! WTF does that mean? Johnny's bottom line is he will change his mind as long as it gets him elected. All the antithetical positions that old goon staked out have been completely reversed and he's forgotten every holding those ideas.
Hey, Karl Rove. The nasty guy holding the drink at the country club and saying snide things about everybody sounds just like George W. Bush to me. Got that Turdblossom
Someone needs to topple McCain's war hero pedestal. How does having been a POW 36 years ago qualify him for anything, let alone public service and especially the presidency? Lots of guys came home from Vietnam who actually were heroes. Many of them discovered they weren't considered qualified to even beg for handouts on street corners. But then their daddies weren't admirals and they didn't marry beer heiresses after dumping a damaged spouse. Nobody should kiss this "heroes" ass.
More like Richard Hoehen for McGrumpystinkyadultdiaper.
I agree with most of the comments, but I did e-mail him as you asked. I was polite...I think.
I said "if you must speak, speak to the issues" and I also mentioned that I'd rather he not recommend the guy with whom he'd like to have a beer at the back yard cookout in Sedona.
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