Questions for The Diane Rehm Show News Roundup, Friday October 17, 2008

Desperately Seeking Qualifications

This morning I received an email from Mark Crispin Miller, the NYU Professor of Media, and Election Protection author/activist, with a letter from Melissa Lammey to MCM, introducing a petition she’d created after watching one of his recent talks on youtube, in which he suggests that Palin was selected to provide an excuse for a surprise election win by Senator McCain, which, in fact, would be the result of election theft.

One way, of course, to blow that Palin excuse is to simply reveal and reveal and reveal all we learn about the Governor, so that her appeal deflates, as well it should, when knowing more about Governor Sarah Palin. Then, as the strange pair, The-Old-Man-Who-Will-Not-Reveal-His-Medical-History-But-Can’t-Stop-Revealing-His-Decreasing-Faculties, and She-Who-Will-Not-Testify-Answer-Read, are in the spotlight, and her supporters can recognize the dangers of such puppets, brought together on this ticket by the RNC Puppetmasters who seek to stay in power, they can choose to stop those who have brought so much lying and destruction over the last eight years.

As I say in my personal info at OpEdNews.com (initially regarding George W. Bush, but applying, as well, to Sarah Palin):

"I continue to write about the hypocrisies I study, believing that what the Bush administration has done goes far beyond partisan disagreement and should be known. I've learned that it isn't that hard to discover the bit of information that puts the news we see into a much greater perspective. I don't need to bash. I don't even need to convince. I simply need to reveal what is going on behind the tap dancing."

So, in agreement with Melissa Lammey’s "Petition to Alaska Governor Palin to Voluntarily Release Her College Grade Point Average!" I went to the website and signed, adding this personal comment:

If Governor Palin is the right person for this extremely important job that requires full-time character, dedication, wisdom, integrity, intelligence, willingness to learn, humility, patience, honor, compassion, and more...

Then her qualifications will be evident not only in the person we see today, but also throughout the history of her work experience and higher education.

So far, we have learned that in her work experience, she has abused her power. She has, from her very first national appearance at the Republican convention, demonstrated her willingness to lie to the people she wants to vote for her and to continue to spread lies that are already publicly exposed, which is an insult to her supporters and a significant indication of her methodology should she be trusted with power.

She has also demonstrated a Mastery of Disguise. She presents herself with a face value of friendliness, feminist, loving mother and wife, middle-class folksiness, and gutsiness, with executive skills and independence.

But a bit of Googling reveals a woman who uses her husband to provide the pressure when she doesn't get what she wants, who manipulates the system in every way possible to make the state pay for her family's life, whose management skills as Mayor caused a threat of a recall unless she brought on a functioning administrator to clean up the problems she'd already caused, who has strong ties to anti-American separationists who proudly claim to be above U.S. law, who has been happy to allow permanent irreparable damage to the land, air and water that are the essential elements that support the lives of her own large family, as well as all the people of Alaska, whose understanding of Christian faith clearly lacks its most significant lessons -- the Golden Rule and the Beatitudes, whose recent speeches appear to aim at getting the least intelligent to act on their deepest, ugliest fears, and finally, who has completely sold out her family and the people of Alaska to the Rove/Cheney Neoconservative and Corporate Imperialists who descovered her, all for the sake of appearing to be in Power.

If this isn't true, we need to see the evidence.

It should be there in her college records. I would think that Governor Palin, if she is the right person for this job, would have lots of documented evidence of the qualities of her character and intelligence, starting with her GPA.

I would think she would be delighted to have an opportunity to show off. That is something we do know about her.

I wholeheartedly support the "Petition to Alaska Governor Palin to Voluntarily Release Her College Grade Point Average!"

I also wholeheartedly thank Melissa Lammey for having the courage and follow-through to start this petition based on what she'd learned from paying attention, and Professor Mark Crispin Miller for his dedication to teaching all who are wanting to know more.

Palin: My, Wasn't She a Fast Talker

A theory on the Handler's solution. . .

* * * * * * *

With Sarah Palin's other recent appearances in mind, my instant reaction to her first response to a question at the Vice Presidential Debate was:

They've put her on SPEED!

Ritalin, that is. Adderall. Methylphenidate.

(Okay now, for those who remember the theme song from The Beverly Hillbillies, reread from "Ritalin" on like "Oil, that is. Black Gold. Texas Tea." Actually, given her drive to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, either lyrics work for Sarah Palin. But I digress...)

Come on. Think about it. Have you ever seen her zoom through her talking points like that? Without notes, without a teleprompter, and without enough pauses for wires to be effective?

And let's review: McCain campaign advisor Steve Schmidt is from the Bush administration (he worked closely with both Rove and Cheney),Bush has shown all the signs of a man on antidepressants, with occasional variations in his twitches appearing to indicate shifts in his medication strengths or combinations. and Mr.

Her handlers must have been desperate -- so needing to yell at her and so aware of what it would mean if she bolted and told the world -- and she just might do that if they pushed too hard...

She certainly had the will and ambition to do the lying, twisting, and sarcastic attacks they needed her to do...

But it was those gaping pauses when her mind hadn't yet found the way to bulldoze the question and move on to her talking points that was the problem.

The media can easily forgive blabbering and illogic and untruths and gibberish. Both the audience and the professionals are used to politicians not making sense.

Given the credibility gap when politicians have to say what is necessary to sell themselves to a majority of voters (to say nothing of the lies everyone knows they must tell to stay true to the deals they've made with big-money donors) . . .

And given the way that the corporate mainstream media, so in debt to the Bush administration, has facilitated the dumbing down of America by conditioning its audience to respond to the quick-and-shiny, and shift focus willingly-- on command--when faced with nuance, complications, hard truths, and deeper examining. . .

And given the hordes of political pundits, some more bought than others: some interested in discovering what may be behind the words that are said and what that will actually look like in that politician's policies, while others are clearly there to emphasize partisan talking points regardless of what was said, there to claim victory above and beyond logic. . .

THE MAJORITY OF THE AUDIENCE IS BARELY LISTENING TO THE WORDS.

But they do notice gaps. Fumbling for words. Big pauses. Uhhhhhhhhhh.

And not having an answer. Any answer, dammit! Gobbledygook, for God's sake! Something!!!

Name ANY newspaper or magazine! Can't you think of one dang title? Time? The Anchorage Daily News? Hell, what about Sports Afield! The Oil & Gas Journal!!!!

Sorry boss, but when asked by Katie Couric what newspapers and magazines she used to read "to stay informed and to understand the world", she could not name one.

"I've read most of them. . ." Specifically? "Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years." Name a few? "I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news."

Nope, can't let that happen again, at least not in the debate. Gotta spew out paragraphs full of bla-bla and smile pretty all the while, and never--NO NOT EVER--get caught looking like you can't come up with something--SOMETHING to regurgitate oops--I mean "say".

"Quick!" barked the Handler to his Igor. "Call PHARMA (actually PhRMA, but that's hard to say) and see what'll do the job best! Noooowwwwww!"

As Igor pulled out his Blackberry, the Handler pulled his own bottle of samples out of his pocket and popped two--no, make that three. He was glad there was someone he could still get at--and something he could swallow that would hold him back from yelling at (taking a deep breath) that woman.

Besides, he thought, the speed's right up her alley. Keeps her bikini-worthy. Keeps the men attracted. And Cindy's just gonna have to get used to it.

Friday Questions for The Diane Rehm Show News Roundup, October 3, 2008

On the front page of last Sunday’s New York Times was a huge story on John McCain’s gambling problems, citing both his own personal risky high-rolling gambling habits, as well as his and many of his top campaign staff’s financial ties to the gambling casino industry. It was an extraordinary story. Yet I have heard nothing about it since on NPR.

Has Steve Schmidt managed to muffle the media on this?

Frenzy over Rumor Helps Palin Avoid the Baby Story that Deserves Spotlight

To those who ran with the rumor that Trig Palin was not Sarah’s child, but her daughter’s – without any more solid evidence than a couple of photos where Bristol’s tummy isn’t perfectly flat:

You provided Sarah and her Rovian consultants the escape route they so desperately needed.

Now, we have the media trumpeting Obama’s response to the pregnant Bristol story -

I have said before and I will repeat again: I think people’s families are off limits. And people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off of these kinds of stories.

To Obama’s credit, that would be a fair response – IF that was actually the basis of the concerns being raised. But it’s not!!
Today, two of NPR’s top programs, The Diane Rehm Show, and Talk of the Nation talked about Governor Palin, and while the pregnancy issue was addressed at length, they didn’t get anywhere near the original, very strange story. The most daring caller merely questioned the apparent effectiveness of the Governor’s policy of abstinence education over birth control.

They’ve gotten completely off track of where this entire thread began – April 17th, 2008, in Texas, where the water was flowing.

So, it is our responsibility, as citizen journalists, bloggers, commentors, and political junkies – to push forward the real story - which is a big enough story WITHOUT having to resort to Mother-swapping rumors.

The voters need to know about – and publicly discuss – what is the significance of what happened on the day before her son, Trig, was born:

1. Sarah Palin had her water break while she was in Texas on the morning of April 17th, but she chose to continue to participate in an "energy forum", including giving her own 30 minute speech that afternoon. Then, despite the danger of infection and imminent labor, she chose to go to the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport and board an Alaskan Airlines plane for a very long flight back to Anchorage – at least 9 hours, according to the airline’s current schedule – and even then, upon landing, chose to drive to a hospital another 43 miles from the airport. Why did she make those choices? Would she have been this careless if the baby were not already known to have Down Syndrome? What kind of prioritizing is this?

2. This under-reported, and vaguely defined "energy forum" on April 17th, that Sarah Palin was dedicated to, was a gathering that consisted of nine Republican governors and six energy industry CEO’s, hosted by Texas Governor Rick Perry, according to The Austin American Statesman. Why was the event not on the Governor’s website? What was the theme of Ms. Palin’s "keynote" speech there. Will it turn out that Ms Palin was chosen for McCain because she is already selling out her state and its people to industry?

So, let us choose to take Sarah Palin at her word – about that day, and about that pregnancy. And let us then ask the pertinent questions about the strange decisions she made that day, and why.That, too, would be a very fair response – which has nothing at all to do with the candidate’s children or family, as Barack wishes.

It does have a lot to do with this politician who is put before us -- her wisdom, leadership, and, most important, the company she keeps.

NPR's Robert Siegel Irresponsible

Hours before Obama spoke, NPR's Robert Siegel interviewed "GOP media strategist" Stuart Stevens for his perspective.

What a pro this man is. With a history of building illusions of decency where there is none. His 2001 book, written after twisting the truth for the 2000 Bush/Cheney campaign, is called The Big Enchilada: Campaign Adventures with a Cockeyed Optimist from Texas who won the Biggest Prize in Politics.

So, with the Democratic Convention providing inspiring, intelligent speeches one right after another, this "spinner" had to play his response carefully.

Stevens started with flattery, calling Michelle Obama's speech "fantastic" - but then moved right into the never-explained criticism of "confusing agenda every night" and "the passion of a Unitarian wedding" - the kind of comments that make listeners question their perceptions, not actually addressing any real issues.

Then Stevens dropped the real and constant RNC weapon - FEAR.

The setup was that this was a convention that wasn't really designed for Obama, but for Hillary, so that's supposed to explain some imaginary discomfort.

See how Stevens slipped a phrase in, as follows (my emphasis):

The Obama campaign really ran as an anti-establishment candidacy, an insurgency candidacy, and a convention by definition is the ultimate establishment event.

GOAL!!

He pinned the label "insurgency" on Barack Obama. You know, the enemy, the ones killing our troops, Al Quaeda, 9/11 - and so he planted the seed of terrorism into the ears of NPR listeners.

And Robert Siegel failed to bust him for this atrocious manipulation.

Terry Gross would have caught it. Diane Rehm, too.

That would be the work of a journalist.

There again, a journalist would have known more about the man he was interviewing. On that main page at Amazon for his 2001 paint-Bush-pretty book, under Editorial Reviews, Stevens is said to have as "his primary goal in designing [Bush's] TV spots was to make the Gore campaign "squeal like Ned Beatty in Deliverance.'"

So, this is the guy NPR chooses to talk to? This is a sick man, and this is the kind of media manipulation that has lead to the heartless, immoral crimes of the Bush/Cheney/Rove administration.

Shame on you, Robert.

Desperate NeoCon Turns to Porn

What else could he do? As former editorial page editor of the Washington Times, a Visiting Senior Fellow in National Security Communications at the Heritage Foundation, Executive Vice President at the Washington Edelman public relations firm, co-host of KCRW's Left, Right & Center, and frequent contributor on MSNBC, it was Tony Blankley's mission to provide talking points against Obama on "the morning after" that glorious speech in Berlin.

So there he was last Friday, on NPR -- where the audience is often more informed than most.

Worse yet, he was on The Diane Rehm Show -- which earned the honor of being the only other public broadcast, along with Now with Bill Moyers, to so threaten the Bush administration that Rove's buddy Kenneth Tomlinson, Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, authorized a secret investigation into their liberal bias.

Sitting next to Blankley was David Corn, Washington Bureau Chief for Mother Jones Magazine, co-author with Michael Isikoff of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War. Worse again, Corn is also the author of the 2003 book daringly titled The Lies of George W. Bush, now and forever more a must-read for those who want to understand what the hell happened.

On Blankley's other side was Jeanne Cummings from Politico, with whom he shares an awkward history. In 1997, she won a National Press Club Award for her groundbreaking coverage in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution of Newt Gingrich, the lobbyists and think tanks that backed him, and the House Ethics Committee investigations that culminated in his downfall. For the seven years leading up to the January 1997 reprimand and $300,000 fine by the Committee, it was Tony Blankley, as Gingrich's Press Secretary, putting the spin on his deeds, until it was clearly time to jump ship.

Blankley was surrounded -- by intelligent, attentive people -- who had already proven they were on to his bull. The only saving grace for him was that at least Diane was out of town, and Susan Page from USA Today, sitting in for her, was far less likely to confront him. Ironically, it was her innocence that pointed out his smut. HA HA HA HA. But I digress. . .

So, what could he possibly get away with saying?

After a brief, unavoidable admission that McCain was fortunate that Obama drew so much media attention and that McCain didn't get more coverage than he did that week, with his golfing with Old Man Bush and overheated rhetoric against Obama, it was time for Blankley to do his duty for the NeoCons.

Lacking legitimate logic, he aimed low, shifting into a slimy salacious suggestion: "On the other hand, I'm not convinced that the fellatic coverage that the media is giving Obama will in the long term. . ."

Susan Page interrupted. "I don't know what that word means."

Uh-oh. How did that happen! Nobody ever says that!! Oh, no! A light was shining on the naughty word!

"Oh, based on the word 'fellacio'. I believe we used to talk about the media giving wet kisses to... media," he stumbled. "It's got worse with Obama."

[NOTE THE PRISSY MISPRONUNCIATION OF THE WORD FELLATIO (WordPerfect/Oxford University Press Dictionary: noun, oral stimulation of a man's penis, from the Latin fellare "to suck") -- so condescending and elitist, from a man who just accused the press of having a whore-ish blowjob relationship with Senator Barack Obama].

David Corn tweaked "Oooh."

Jeanne Cummings stuttered but quickly gained her composure: "I, I, I'm going to stand up for my industry here."

And soon after a caller got through and nailed Blankley for his crude insults, forcing Blankley to apologize.

But those of us who heard, got it. The conservative pundits are stuck when it comes to Obama, and the only thing they know how to do at those times is play dirty.

And when those white male pundits are threatened by an intelligent black man, they apparently fall into to old jealousies and fears, revealing their true impotent selves.

I'm reminded of another black man who had earned a position of leadership in a world usually run by whites: Sheriff Bart (played by Cleavon Little) in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. Introducing himself to the townspeople of Rock Ridge, he stands before them and reaches into his pants, "Excuse me while I whip this out" -- And the crowd screams and pretends to look away, as he simply retrieves the documentation showing his new assignment as their Sheriff from his pocket.

Oh, such simple people we are.

So, Mr. Blankley, let us put it this way -- in the context you have chosen -- the language you understand:

Senator Barack Obama IS bigger, stronger, firmer, more long-lasting, and yes, a lot more fun, and even worth bragging about.

Oh, and I'm simply talking about his policies. . .

So, move over. There are a lot of us -- both here in the U.S. and, yes, across the world -- who are quite ready for this kind of good time for all.

Shining the Blues -- With Diligence

It is actually more possible than ever before for this kind of whole-nation response.

All that is needed is:

1. Thorough reporting on the hypocrisy, lies, and damages of this Republican Bush Cheney administration, and how the same people and entities are working to put McBush, er, McCain in the front-man position (and crushing any of the maverick tendencies that once gave him credibility).

2. Diligent attention to make sure that all eligible voters are allowed to vote and that their votes are counted. This means that we not only need to make sure voters are registered AND that there are frequent checks in every state to make sure that voter registration lists include all new registrations and that no names are removed without documented evidence that the voter is no longer a legal voter in that precinct.

It's that simple. If the people know the truth about who has taken over the Republican party, and how they have thwarted the principles Americans believe make this country great -- and the election results reflect the choice of the majority of this informed citizenry. . .

All 50 states will shine BLUE next November.

So, now we know our job, right?