DOWNLOADS: (664)

PLAYS: (644)

Embed

Bill O'Reilly was all giddy last night about the news that in the wake of the seat-shuffling that followed Helen Thomas' departure from her front-row seat at White House press conferences, Fox News has managed to nab a front-row slot (the AP was awarded Thomas' coveted spot).

BillO even implied that he'd be coming down and making things rough on Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Ho ho ho ho hah.

But as Lynn Sweet's report notes, Fox was awarded the spot over two other superb news organizations: NPR and Bloomberg. Indeed, both are at least legitimate news organizations and not the brazen propaganda outlet that Fox News has become.

If you want a clear example of just how openly Fox now propagandizes, check out the house ad it was running all day yesterday, touting speculation about what strategy is most likely to hurt Democrats and help the GOP:

DOWNLOADS: (466)

PLAYS: (919)

Embed

Fox has been able to get away with being a propaganda organ while pretending to do real "news" because of the cowardice of real working journalists, who have simply failed in their supposed role as the profession's "internal policing" mechanism.

This was exemplified, really, by the White House press corps' craven surrender to Fox's campaign to get that front-row seat, even though every working journalist in that room knows that at the end of the day, even a semi-decent guy like Major Garrett has to answer to Roger Ailes. Every one of them knows, too, that Fox churns out right-wing propaganda as a 24/7 operation.

But they will never do anything about it.

Continue reading »

See that empty seat front and center? That was Helen Thomas' official seat in the White House press pool, the only such designation in the press room. It was given to her in honor of her 57 years of covering presidential press conferences.

In the wake of her resignation, three news services are vying to take Thomas' seat: Fox News Channel, Bloomberg and NPR.

But let's be honest: giving Fox News Channel--the same outlet that elevated Breitbart's ACORN and Sherrod scandals to national prominence, that continues to push the NBPP non-story, that employs that inciter of insanity, Glenn Beck--the seat is a slap in the face to any American who actually cares about news.

Credo Action is asking progressives to contact the White House Correspondents Association and ask them to not award Fox News Helen Thomas' seat. From an email sent to members:

We need help.

There's a new front where we can chip away at the perceived legitimacy of FOX as a news organization.

The White House Correspondents Association is scheduled to decide in a Monday meeting which news outlet will get the White House press briefing room front row seat vacated recently by Helen Thomas. (we're trying to confirm reports that this meeting has been moved up a day to Sunday. more on that when we get better info.)

Three organizations are vying for this seat: FOX, NPR and Bloomberg News. [..]

We need your help. CREDO launched a campaign yesterday morning to call attention to this and already 140,000 people have signed our petition. We are faxing and working on petition deliveries to the board members and executive director of the organization in advance of their meeting. The petition is here: http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/fox_or_npr/

"Joe the Voter" at OpEd News has a boilerplate letter that you may want to use to send in your name:

White House Correspondents' Association
600 New Hampshire Avenue, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20037
202-266-7453 (v)
202-266-7454 (f )
Julia Whiston, Executive Director.

Do not give Helen Thomas' seat to FOX !

They are NOT news...they are a politically motivated racist organization who lie, distort and deceive viewers to promote a specific political agenda. They have FCC complaints filed against them for using their "news" status contrary to federal rules against bias and distortion in the news. The recent scandals where Fox assisted in slander and personal attacks against blacks such as Shirley Sherrod, Van Jones and Acorn all indicate their inability to present news using accepted and honorable journalistic standards.

Putting FOX in that chair would be a black mark on your organization as it would amount to an acceptance of their extreme distortions as being the equal of your other distinguished members.

Respectfully,
[ Add your name and fax or email from their web site http://www.whca.net/contact.htm ]

Robert Gibbs opened up his daily briefing today with a frank confession that the administration had made a decision on Shirley Sherrod's speech without all of the facts, and offered an apology to her directly.

QUESTION: And to a lot of people trying to follow this story, they see a government employee who ends up losing her job because of comments posted on a videotape that appears to be taken out of context. It just looks bungled. Is that a fair way to put it?

GIBBS: Well, Ben, I think this is one -- I think this is a fair way to put it: members of this administration, members of the media, members of different political factions on this, have all made determinations and judgments without a full set of facts. I think that is -- that is wholly and completely accurate.

I think, without a doubt, Ms. Sherrod is owed an apology. I would do so certainly on behalf of this administration.

I think if we learn -- if we look back and decide what we want to learn out of this, I think it is, as I said, everybody involved made determinations without knowing all the facts and all of the events.

When pressed on the reason for the rapid-fire response, Gibbs had a reply that should have made everyone in the room step back and offer their own apology, but instead it just fired up the machine louder, because if there's anything the mainstream White House press hates, it's being held accountable.

GIBBS: I can't speak for everybody involved. But I think we live in a -- I think we live in a culture that things whip around, people want fast responses, we want to give fast responses and I don't think there's any doubt that if we all look at this, I think the lesson -- one of the great lessons you take away from this is to ask all of the questions first and to come to that fuller understanding. I say that, again, from the perspective of this administration, I say that from the perspective of those that cover this administration, and those that are involved in the back-and-forth in the political theater of this country.

And more:

QUESTION: It does sound like you've spoken to the president about this. If so, does he think she was a victim of a rush to judgment?

GIBBS: Again, I don't think I'd be out here, Matt, giving you the answers that I just gave to Ben without having those reflect the feelings of the president and the feelings of the members of this administration.

True to form, questions revert back to the horserace mentality so pervasive in Washington DC:

QUESTION: What if any concern is there within the administration that this handling of Ms. Sherrod could hurt the president and the Democrats as well in the elections?

GIBBS: Your question encapsulates a little bit of what I was talking about a minute ago. I know there is a -- we have this society and this culture now that's pervasive in this town where everything is viewed through the lens of who wins, who loses, how fast, by what margin?

You know -- look, a disservice was done, an apology is owed. That's what we've done. This administration has never looked at -- I think if you go well back into the campaign -- never looked at a scoreboard at the end of each day to figure out where we stood.

I'm no Robert Gibbs fan, but I don't think he could have done a better job keeping the message focused on the wrong done to Shirley Sherrod and the White House message of apology and conciliation, despite every effort to deflect it.

Continue reading »

I'm assuming the new requirements are geared at preventing another ecological disaster - but you can never underestimate the ability of multinational corporations to find ways to cut corners and save money:

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration, facing rising anger on the Gulf Coast over the loss of jobs and income from a drilling moratorium, said Monday that it would move quickly to release new safety requirements that would allow the reopening of offshore oil and gas exploration in shallow waters.

Gulf Coast residents, political leaders and industry officials said delays in releasing the new rules, along with the administration's six-month halt on deepwater drilling—both issued amid public pressure—threatened thousands of jobs.

Well-owner BP PLC, meanwhile, faces penalties "in the many billions of dollars," for the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster that has been spewing an estimated minimum 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The costs of the spill will "greatly exceed" the amount BP could recoup by selling any of the captured oil on the market, he said Monday.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who heads the federal response, said BP's latest emergency containment system is on track to capture as much as 15,000 barrels of oil per day, which is the maximum amount of oil the drill ship on the surface can process. BP's latest update on the rate of recovery late Monday implies that the containment procedure is approaching that limit. Any leakage beyond 15,000 barrels per day will continue to go into the sea until a second ship arrives, likely in mid-June.

The oil industry is awaiting new safety regulations from the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which canceled some offshore drilling permits last week and has had others on hold since early May. Administration officials say new rules for shallow water oil and gas drilling could be released as soon as Tuesday.

Gosh, if you want to deflect a conversation away from the real issues into invention and stirred-up righteousness, I guess one way to do it is for a career hardhead like 89-year old Helen Thomas to say something incendiary, regret it, apologize for it, and have her colleagues throw her right under that bus waiting outside the White House press room.

Let's start with what she said:

OFF-CAMERA: "Any comments on Israel?"

HELEN THOMAS: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, not Poland."

OFF-CAMERA: "so where should they go?"

HELEN THOMAS: "Home. Poland. Germany. America. And everywhere else."

As Squareboy on Daily Kos said, it's hurtful to hear that. She should apologize.

And she did. Here is her full apology:

"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon," she wrote.

ADL rejects her apology because it does not "go far enough". Craig Crawford and her agent dump her. Lanny Davis, always right in front whenever possible, condemns her. Ari Fleischer cries "Off with her head! (And her job)." Rick Lazlo piles on. Joe Klein wants her sent to the back of the bus room. Sarah Palin tattoos her as racist. A local high school replaces her as their graduation speaker. Red State froths. NewsMax has a field day. Winger blogs everywhere are blessed with outrage and attendant traffic. The din is so loud everyone misses her apology. The right continues to bearhug anti-semitic Pat Buchanan, who is routinely applauded for his support of right-wing causes. He doesn't have to apologize.

Meanwhile, Hearst has not made a decision on whether she will keep her place as part of the White House press corps.

I am not going to defend what she said. I understand that it is hurtful and offensive to many. However...

She apologized, folks. This pile-on looks to me to be opportunistic and driven by RedStaters and Freepers out there who have a long-standing hate on for Helen.

I just did a little search here on Crooks and Liars. I found references made by Fox News personalities to her as the "wicked witch" (no apology). Tony Snow paints her as a representative of Hezbollah. No apology. Ann Coulter called her an "old Arab" and scrubbed her website of all reference when it was caught. No apology.

Helen Thomas is the one who asked the tough questions of the Bush Administration about why we're in Iraq, why torture was sanctioned by Bush appointees, why it was okay for President Bush to dismiss the bloodshed in Iraq as a comma, and the White House's support for Tom Delay when he was charged with money laundering.

So ask yourself. Is this about an insult to Israel or an opportunity for wingnuts to USE an insult to Israel as a way to squelch Thomas' first amendment rights?

When you consider that question, also remember this was said in the context of an informal interview. She didn't say it in the press room; she answered a question as a citizen with an opinion. Her opinion may not be acceptable, but does she not have the right to one?

UPDATE: And the inevitable happens: Helen Thomas announces she is retiring, effective immediately.

Awww, poor Dana Milbank. He's a little bit peeved about being left out of the Nuclear Safety Summit, and he thinks we should all feel vewy, vewy sorry for him as we shake our fists at the man who just led an historical meeting with several significant breakthroughs.

In the middle of it all was Obama -- occupant of an office once informally known as "leader of the free world" -- putting on a clinic for some of the world's greatest dictators in how to circumvent a free press.

The only part of the summit, other than a post-meeting news conference, that was visible to the public was Obama's eight-minute opening statement, which ended with the words: "I'm going to ask that we take a few moments to allow the press to exit before our first session."

Reporters for foreign outlets, admitted for the first time to the White House press pool, got the impression that the vaunted American freedoms are not all they're cracked up to be.

My heart bleeds for him. The utter inability of mainstream reporters -- especially White House reporters -- to get even the simplest facts down with even a semblance of accuracy speaks volumes to the wisdom of the President's decision.

Does Milbank imagine reporters bearing witness to the discussion leading to the agreement with China to pressure Iran? What role does he think he or any other reporter could have played in creating an atmosphere where good-faith decisions and discussions about one of the most important global issues of our time could be made?

And while I'm at it, where was Milbank when our economy was melting down? Was he out interviewing financial executives, listening in on the meetings taking place on Capitol Hill? Why isn't he more outraged about the closed-door meeting Senator Mitch McConnell had with Wall Street honchos this morning? Does he imagine that to be something we might care about?

Yet, for Milbank, not being admitted into the inner sanctum of high-level international brainstorming sessions is akin to having his freedom stripped. Maybe he should earn that right with some real reporting instead of relying on snark and whining for his page views.

Paul Krugman hits the nail right on the head. Now what are we going to do about it?

The truth is that given the state of American politics, the way the Senate works is no longer consistent with a functioning government. Senators themselves should recognize this fact and push through changes in those rules, including eliminating or at least limiting the filibuster. This is something they could and should do, by majority vote, on the first day of the next Senate session.

Don’t hold your breath. As it is, Democrats don’t even seem able to score political points by highlighting their opponents’ obstructionism.

It should be a simple message (and it should have been the central message in Massachusetts): a vote for a Republican, no matter what you think of him as a person, is a vote for paralysis. But by now, we know how the Obama administration deals with those who would destroy it: it goes straight for the capillaries. Sure enough, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, accused Mr. Shelby of “silliness.” Yep, that will really resonate with voters.

After the dissolution of Poland, a Polish officer serving under Napoleon penned a song that eventually — after the country’s post-World War I resurrection — became the country’s national anthem. It begins, “Poland is not yet lost.”

Well, America is not yet lost. But the Senate is working on it.

There's been a titanic shift in the way MLB and the players are attacking the stain that has attached itself to the game of baseball since Jose Canseco outed the massive use of performance enhancing drugs that permeated Baseball since the late 1980s. And since the outing came, the MLB has not been sure how to respond to the public at large. I mean, we all know players cheated in the end to get massive paydays from the owners in the end and be the best they could be, right? Jason Giambi came out in 2005 and said he was sorry to the fans, but he really didn't say what he was sorry for.

Giambi could have been a child finally summoning the courage to tell the truth to his father. But he kept his composure, and continued. "I accept full responsibility for that, and I'm sorry," he said. What he did not fully say, however, was what he was sorry for.

{}

Still, he did not directly admit to steroid use. "I know the fans might want more," Giambi said. "But because of all the legal matters, I can't get into specifics. Someday, hopefully, I will be able to."

ARod's presser was almost a complete disaster, and his admission was bizarre, but at least he didn't say that steroids had nothing to do with his performance. With a ton of names out there still waiting to be leaked to the media identifying players who have tested positive for PED's, something had to be done. Enter the ex-Bush communications man Ari Fleischer. He stood in front of the White House press corps and answered questions day in and day out for the troubled Bush administration. Recently he joined forces with the powerful IMG

Here's a little about Ari's new venture:

IMG, the world's premier sports, entertainment and media company, and Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary and leading sports industry communicator, today announced the formation of a new joint venture: Ari Fleischer Sports Communications.

The New York-based consultancy company will offer management advisory services, including media training and interview preparation, image management, crisis management and media relations to a wide range of athletes, coaches and high-profile sports industry executives. Fleischer will serve as the company's President. Sandy Montag, Senior Corporate Vice President of IMG Sports & Entertainment, will serve as COO of the company.

It's not a coincidence that IMG has Major League Baseball as a client and why McGwire went on the MLB Network to break his story. I first saw a new approach taken by the players with David Ortiz. After it was leaked to the press that Big Papi failed MLB's drug testing in 2003, Oriz used a different method to try and protect his legacy. What Ortiz did differently is question what substance he actually was busted for taking and since that information was not available to the press and possibly to the leaker it gave him some room to try and deny that he was a serious user.

In a statement, Ortiz insisted he only learned of his 2003 positive test on Thursday - and claims he does not know what the substance was.

Instead of denying that he took PED's, he questioned the substances that might make a player test positive. It's a joke to believe that an elite athlete has no idea what he or she put in their body as it relates to any form of drug or vitamin because they make their living off of it, but that's the line he was able to use to draw some sympathy from the sports media. And to an extent it did work, but now a new stage of the game is being orchestrated by Ari. McGwire, while admitting that he took steroids for a decade played the victim card and said he wished he never played during the steroid era (poor him) and then went on to say that it didn't help his performance at all.

It was brought to my attention that it was going to help me heal faster, make my body feel back to normal."

Asked repeatedly by Costas if he believed that his statistics and records were legitimate in light of the disclosure, McGwire did not budge.

"Absolutely," he said. "I truly believe so. I was given this gift by the man upstairs. My track record as far as hitting home runs ... my first at-bat in the league was a home run. They still talk about the home runs I hit in high school. They still talk about the home runs I hit in [American] Legion. They still talk about the home runs I hit in college [USC] -- I led the nation in home runs. They still talk about the home runs I hit in the Minor Leagues.

Is he serious? No, I'd say delusional. Many baseball players and writers backed up Big Mac after he came "clean" (so to speak) and some people even think McGwire should still go into the Hall of Fame. If you had the chance to see ESPN's Baseball Tonight on Mac's big day or MLB's Hot Stove, you would have been shocked by the reaction of the players and pundits who were so happy for him that he finally got the monkey off his back.

But now we are seeing a new narrative come forward: That players were already so talented and gifted by the man upstairs that steroids really had no impact on their careers or their statistics. Barry Bonds was an excellent player before he took 'roids so why would you think he couldn't have hit 73 f*&king HR's without them? Any player that tells you PED's didn't help their performance should be laughed out of sight. It makes you stronger, faster, bigger and heal quicker after injury. Take a look at the stats of Sosa, Palmiero, Bonds and McGire and see what they look like after steroids kicked in.

Ari Fleischer's plan has just started to take form. It's the players who are the victims of their times, and their talent is the only thing that counts no matter what your own eyes tell you. If McGwire thinks steroids didn't help him perform, then why did he apologize to the Maris family for breaking the single-season HR record?

Goose Gossage is a lone wolf out there saying what all baseball players and pundits should be saying. Gossage wants dopers barred from Hall of Fame:

Baseball Hall of Fame reliever Goose Gossage says there should be no place in the hall for Mark McGwire or any other player who used performance-enhancing drugs.

“I definitely think that they cheated,” Gossage said on Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “And what does the Hall of Fame consist of? Integrity. Cheating is not part of integrity.”

Gossage was reaction to McGwire’s admission on Monday that he used steroids in the 1990s to break the single season home run record in Major League Baseball.

For Gossage, Hank Aaron still holds the career record of 755 home runs and Roger Maris owns the season record of 61. The Goose tosses out the fantastic figures posted by Barry Bonds(notes), McGwire, Sammy Sosa(notes) as part of a “cheating era.” He equated them with Pete Rose, barred from the Hall ballot because of his lifetime ban for betting on Cincinnati while managing the team. “The integrity of the Hall of Fame and the numbers and the history are all in jeopardy,” said Gossage, inducted two years ago. “I don’t think they should be recognized. Here’s a guy Aaron, we’re talking about the greatest record of all records. And he did it on a level playing field. He did it with God-given talent. And the same with Maris, absolutely. These are sacred records and they’ve been shattered by cheaters

It's real simple. If you get caught cheating with steroids you cannot be voted into the HOF. It's that easy. Forget the numbers and who else cheated.

I hope America isn't fooled by Ari's PR campaign to salvage these cheaters. McGwire came forward now because he wanted to get back into baseball and the statute of limitations ran out so that he can't be prosecuted in a court of law. The Cardinals had a major investment in Mark and want to be able to recoup what they can, and any player who has cheated wants to find a get-of-jail-free card as the years move forward.

Fleischer has helped dupe the American people into much worse situations than this while being part of the Bush White House. (You may remember the Iraq war.) I only hope that the American people and the sports media won't get duped again.

DOWNLOADS: (611)

PLAYS: (2633)

Embed

Well, well, well...Michael Steele is a paid shill after all. He's been raking in the bucks in speaking fees at a clip of at least 10k a shot. That's not bad for an RNC chairman.

White House spokesmen Robert Gibbs made fun of him during a recent presser.

The White House quickly pounced after news broke that Michael Steele was charging up to $20,000 in speaking fees in addition to his official gig, mocking the RNC chairman for delivering criticisms of the health care bill for profit and calling his reasoning '"delusional."

Pressed about a remark Steele made Monday, in which he insisted Democrats were "flipping the bird" to the public in the form of health care legislation, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs asked how much money Steele was paid for "that interview." Later when a cell phone ring interrupted the briefing, and someone cried out that Steele was on the line, Gibbs insisted it would cost $30,000 to answer that call. The quips were both delivered with a Cheshire-cat smile. On Tuesday morning the Washington Times reported that Steele, who earns $223,500-a-year in his RNC post, was charging roughly $10,000 to $15,000 for appearances at "colleges, trade associations and other groups." The moonlighting was condemned by former RNC chairmen Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. ("Holy Mackerel!") and Jim Nicholson. But Democrats also gleefully jumped on the news -- in addition to going after the substance of the RNC chairman's latest round.

He's such an easy punch line. Steele has no integrity and I wonder if his new teabagger allies will appreciate his cash cow endeavors while they struggle to survive because of the principles they believe in.

DOWNLOADS: (748)

PLAYS: (2089)

Embed

Ex-White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told Greta Van Susteren last night on Fox that she wished President Obama would stop making those unpleasant allusions to her old boss, George W. Bush. Because, you know, Bush has not been taking shots at Obama.

Oddly, nary a mention of Dick Cheney was heard.

Perino was upset that Obama, in his interview for 60 Minutes, referenced Bush's military triumphalism:

Obama: And one of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war.

There was a tendency to say, "We can go in. We can kick some tail. This is some glorious exercise." When in fact, this is a tough business.

But Van Susteren at least pointed out that when George W. Bush was president, there was no shortage of blaming the previous administration:

Van Susteren: When President Bush 43 took office, was he critical in a similar way of President Clinton, his predecessor? Because one of the things I think we all want to think about, is we want our presidents having greatness about them and not getting petty.

Perino: I wasn't there at the beginning, and I think there is a certain amount of comparison that has to go on at the beginning. But almost everyone -- the left, right, and center -- columnists, even late-night talk-show hosts, are suggesting to President Obama that he lay off.

Well, no, Dana, you weren't around in the early years of the Bush administration. So maybe you weren't there for the endless list of things that Bush blamed Clinton for -- some of which included the following:

In 2002, he blamed Clinton for the recession.

Also in 2002, for the mess in the Middle East.

In 2004, for manufacturing job losses.

Also in 2004, for a shortage of flu vaccine.

In 2005, for "running from terrorists" and generally causing 9/11.

In 2006, for Bush's own failures in containing North Korea.

In 2008, for the soaring deficit.

But the best part came when she suggested Obama should not blame Bush for anything because Bush has been nice and quiet since the election and not criticized Obama:

Perino: Look, I think the other thing that you've seen is that President Bush has been an incredibly gracious post-president during the transition, and he said, 'President Obama deserves my silence.' and I would daresay that he deserves a lot more respect than he's getting right now.

Sure, Bush has been "gracious" because all Republicans have to do is send out Bush's surrogate thug, Vice President Cheney -- who in fact probably had at least as much to do with the direction of policy matters in the Bush administration as Bush himself did -- to do the dirty work for him.

Just last week, Cheney told the nation that the Obama administration was committing treason.

Before that, Cheney accused Obama of "dithering" on Afghanistan. He attacked Obama's decision to investigate torture policies under the Bush/Cheney regime. And he criticized Obama's Iraq withdrawal plans.

Yeah, pretty freaking gracious, those Republicans.

It's important to remind the public just how we got in this mess, and to remind them that the people who got us here want us to forget that fact. Their only hope is to cover their tracks, and Dana Perino is in the business of doing that.