Your liberal media:
The Swift Boat line of attack went along the info-news conveyor belt from some limited paid media and a book, to right-leaning earned media, to cable news, to the broadcast networks and major print publications. So far, that hasn’t happened with the Obama attack (on Bain). New media allows the Democrats on their own to spread the message through literally hundreds of platforms, but that doesn’t mean it will take over big-time earned media and dominate the campaign discourse, the way Swift Boats did.
Made-up bullshit about a war hero: lots of media time.
Facts about vulture capitalsim (at a time when outsourcing is a big issue): media meh.
When the revolution comes…
delphi_ote
A bunch of mindless jerks…
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
How soon before they’re checking the kerning on Obama’s tweets?
pragmatism
so where’d ya get your information from huh?
you think that you can front when revelation comes?
dmsilev
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the very model of the modern major media figure.
schrodinger's cat
Mark Halperin is a toad.
ETA: My apologies to all toads.
Hunter Gathers
There isn’t a single chicken on the entire planet that Mark Halperin would not fuck in order to get his tax cut.
frapalinger
shorter Halperin: “I’m not reporting it, so it’s not news. Vote Romney ’12!”
Of course, Bain, Bermuda, and Banks of all the offshore variety were discussed at length on Mouse Circus hier matin. I keep reading story after story about Bain adds hurting Romney in Ohio in the big papers. So, what the fuck is that stupid asshole talking about?
David Hunt
“When the revolution comes…”
I don’t think that revolution is going to come, but if it does, some of these assholes’ best hope is to be close to the back of the line. I figure about half-way through, the wall that these people are being put up against will have fallen over due to the number of bullets fired into it. They can hope that the bloodlust of the mob will have been sated at that point. Because revolutionary mobs are known for getting tired of mass executions…
geg6
If there is one motherfucker in the world (besides Dick Cheney) who I would not be able to control myself should I ever run into them, it would be this dick. One blow to the balls and then one to the neck. The best sex I’ve ever had wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying.
Hill Dweller
Pew released their study of media coverage during the Obamacare debate/passage, and it illustrated the media’s willingness to spread the wingnuts’ lies and supplement their $300 million propaganda campaign.
The MSM is bought and paid for.
General Stuck
My bullshit detector is humming on all cylinders these days, detecting a mountain of capitalist piggery stowed snugly in sekret holdings and numbered accounts, around the world under the name of Mitt Romney. It might be in a maze of shadow companies and corporate shell games, but they are there.
And is why the nutters and Romney camp are in full panic mode right now. Nothing is like a vetting for the real thing of a presidential election, with thousands of prying eyes dedicated to searching every nook and cranny for scandal. And the msm won’t shy away, or enough of them, cause deep in their little ambitious hearts, they love to see the mighty fall. Republican of Democrat. It is the flip side to the corporate media, they like their profits, and dirt on politicians is like manna from heaven in that department, especially in the stretch run of a POTUS election. The suits won’t be able to scrub all of it. And Halperin is correct on one thing, there are thousands of ways to get your message out these days.
qwerty42
Well, duh, it’s Halperin. I mean, really, what do you expect? He is beltway conventional wisdom, with no understanding of what goes on outside.
Litlebritdifrnt
My wish list of things Obama says to Romney at the first debate (or any of them)
“Governor Romney you have repeatedly said on the stump and in television interviews that I have gone around the world apologizing for the United States – please give me one single example”
Repeat this for each lie Romney has told and has not been called on. It would be wonderful to watch the Romney bot have to come up with some proof of his bullshit on national tv.
NonyNony
But to be fair it doesn’t have to. People already have a deep-seated bias against corporate pirates who swoop in, drain a company dry, fire everyone from the company, and leave a dessicated husk behind.
It took a coordinated media push to get anyone but disgruntled right-wing Vietnam vets and a handful of political journalists to care about Kerry’s war record at all. And frankly I’m skeptical that in the end anyone really did care one way or the other, except that the campaign continued to entrench the idea to the Gen Xers and those younger than them that we will never, ever be allowed to get past 1969 in our public discourse.
Comrade Dread
Let’s play which of these is more likely:
a. successful in overthrowing the corrupt corporatist architecture and reclaiming our Republican government.
b. we’ll be quickly massacred from the skies by drones owned by private military corporations employed by the upper class.
c. we’ll be quickly massacred from the skies by drones owned by private military corporations employed by the upper class and our next of kin will receive a bill for the spent ordinance it took to vaporize us and be thrown into debtor’s prison and indentured servitude when they cannot pay the bill.
Sometimes I depress myself.
Violet
@dmsilev:
This sort of piece is nothing but meta about the media and politics. No real info about anything that actually happened. Just looking at how it all happened, even if half of it was lies. Both sides do it! No one’s at fault!
Valdivia
From the Dept of you can’t make this shit up: Romney to start calling Obama a liar in response to the truthful statements in the attacks on his offshore accounts and Bain.
Shoot me now.
Calouste
@Litlebritdifrnt:
You think there will be a debate like that? Instead of Romney being given the opportunity to spout talking points in response to fluffball questions?
Maude
@Valdivia:
Don’t worry, Romney will contradict himself within a few days.
MattF
True, one doesn’t expect Drudge/Halperin to be running with the Bain/Offshore story any time soon. On the other hand, I did see another bunch of column-inches in the WaPo about the FLOTUS cookie recipe. But, somehow, scandalous though it may be, it’s just not taking hold.
lamh35
@Valdivia:
that is too funny, maybe in response the Obama camp should check out Steve Benen’s list of Romney lies and untruths. And throw the “liar” meme back at them.
Plus doesn’t this just reek of desperation?
Mr Stagger Lee
@David Hunt: I think there is an revolution against big media to some extent. Let’s face it Chuck Todd and others are being laughed at, maybe not by a majority, but enough that it is bothering them, look at the sacking of David Gregory at Press the Meat(yeah I said it). Hell it does bother them that a large number of Americans who think, believes Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert are more journalists than they are. I do believe the water is a little more warmer than comfortable with these Yahoos
Valdivia
@Maude:
I know. It’s the fucking gall of a guy who has been lying non stop since he started running from President to call the other guy a liar for telling the truth about him. This guy is just projection central on steroids.
Violet
@Mr Stagger Lee: I think the new Sorkin show, “The Newsroom” is also part of it. People are actually looking at the media and criticizing the media and how they’re doing they’re job. Beltway and other MSM types don’t like it. At all.
Violet
@Valdivia: I think the GOP in general is nothing but projection. Look about what they say about Obama and the Democrats and it reveals much more about them than it does the Dems.
Valdivia
@lamh35:
yeah I hope they hit them back with both barrels.
@Violet:
they’re not even being coy about it anymore. it drives me bananas!
Litlebritdifrnt
@Calouste:
If there is a way to do it within the framework of the debate you can bet POTUS will figure it out.
Rome Again
Shorter Halperin: ‘I think presidential candidates hiding their assets in offshore accounts is perfectly fine.’
Rafer Janders
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Off-topic, but I hate this habit of referring to former office-holders by their office. Romney is governor of nothing now — he should be addressed solely as Mr. Romney. The only governor of Massachusetts currently existing is Deval Patrick. What are these, titles of nobility that you get to keep until death?
rikyrah
when I read punk ass bitch stuff like this…
I know Team Obama is hitting it out of the park.
gnomedad
@delphi_ote:
Sirius Cybernetics Corp. allusion noted.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Rafer Janders:
Yeah it bugs the piss out of me too, I posted something about it on my blog with the question “didn’t you guys fight some sort of war to get rid of that bullshit titles for life stuff?”
Litlebritdifrnt
@Rafer Janders:
Yeah it bugs the piss out of me too, I posted something about it on my blog with the question “didn’t you guys fight some sort of war to get rid of that bullshit titles for life stuff?”
Redshift
Yeah, ’cause that stuff just happens (or not) by some mysterious process. It’s not like media figures like Halperin have anything to do with it.
It’s infuriating how even the “better” people in the political media often blather about how “the media” will probably do this or that. That’s you, idiot!
scav
OT Query to the Readers: Have the local Circus Dogs thought to cover this?
Florida closes only tuberculosis hospital amid worst US outbreak in 20 years
Severity of Jacksonville outbreak never explained to politicians who voted to close only hospital dedicated to treating the illness
Redshift
Yeah, ’cause that stuff just happens (or not) by some mysterious process. It’s not like media figures like Halperin have anything to do with it.
It’s infuriating how even the “better” people in the political media often blather about how “the media” will probably do this or that. That’s you, idiot!
JenJen
God help me, I just read a Mark Halperin piece. DAMN YOU TO HELL DOUGJ.
But this was an interesting passage:
“For all we know”? Seriously? Mark reads the polls and knows full well that the Bain, Outsourcing, et al attacks are actually working, and should have written that sentence to reflect that. Instead, he makes up an entire theory about how no matter what, he is STILL RIGHT JUST LIKE HE SAID ON MORNING JOE.
Hope I get to run into Halperin here in Ohio in the fall, as I did a handful of times in 2008. This time, I’m not going to just point and laugh, I’m actually going to approach him to tell him what a douchecanoe he is.
JenJen
God help me, I just read a Mark Halperin piece. DAMN YOU TO HELL DOUGJ.
But this was an interesting passage:
“For all we know”? Seriously? Mark reads the polls and knows full well that the Bain, Outsourcing, et al attacks are actually working, and should have written that sentence to reflect that. Instead, he makes up an entire theory about how no matter what, he is STILL RIGHT JUST LIKE HE SAID ON MORNING JOE.
Hope I get to run into Halperin here in Ohio in the fall, as I did a handful of times in 2008. This time, I’m not going to just point and laugh, I’m actually going to approach him to tell him what a douchecanoe he is. I swear, this jackhole bothers me more than anybody in media and has for a damned long time now.
JenJen
God help me, I just read a Mark Halperin piece. DAMN YOU TO HELL DOUGJ.
But this was an interesting passage:
“For all we know”? Seriously? Mark reads the polls and knows full well that the Bain, Outsourcing, et al attacks are actually working, and should have written that sentence to reflect that. Instead, he makes up an entire theory about how no matter what, he is STILL RIGHT JUST LIKE HE SAID ON MORNING JOE.
Hope I get to run into Halperin here in Ohio in the fall, as I did a handful of times in 2008. This time, I’m not going to just point and laugh, I’m actually going to approach him to tell him what a douchecanoe he is. I swear, this jackhole bothers me more than anybody in media and has for a damned long time now.
scav
As soon as I post this, not doubt my original OT query will instantly reappear. OT v2.0. Any of the local circus dogs report on this incident in our health care and funding hoe-down?
Florida closes only tuberculosis hospital amid worst US outbreak in 20 years
Severity of Jacksonville outbreak never explained to politicians who voted to close only hospital dedicated to treating the illness
JenJen
Holy crap, the comments section went whacky and I kept getting an error message. My apologies for the triple post. Mark Halperin makes me triple-stabby.
burnspbesq
DougJ:
Riiiiiight.
Tony J
Interesting question. I’ve always assumed that it was along the same lines as refering to former senior military officers by the last rank they held. It was something they’d earned, so they got to keep it even after retiring/leaving office. Kind of a counter-balance to the tradition that the highest elected official in the land, Head of State no less, is called – Mister – President.
scav
@scav: OK, v1.0 reappeared, waiting for try 2.0 to bounce into view.
Kane
Ask those workers whose jobs were destroyed and outsourced courtesy of Romney how their emotions are. Ask voters what their emotional response is to the notion of an actual presidential candiate who bet against the U.S. and the Americans people. Ask people what their emotional response is to the fact that Romney profited from abortion and the disposal of aborted fetuses.
Southern Beale
A kickstarter for political ads … hmmm …. interesting idea. The idea that such a thing can compensate for the oceans of secret corporate cash flooding toward Republican candidates is ludicrous, but you know, their messaging is all focus-grouped and tested and basically drained of any resonance. On a message level this kickstarter idea might be superior.
John
A) If Mark Halperin says something is not working, it is working.
B) Dems need to make Romney’s adult children an issue. Contrast the experiences of the never-have-to-worry-about-anything Romneys with experiences of everyone else’s kids. I know it pisses me off that my kids will have a harder time in this world because of vulture capitalists. Just put a picture of Tagg and Reich or whatever their names are, and label it “Mitt Romney put made sure your kids can’t work so his kids won’t have to.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
for a long time I thought Halperin was viewed and even self-ID’d as a conservative leaning reporter, if not a pundit, that “THe Page” was supposed to be balance for the “liberal” Swampland, because Joe “Teachers Unions are the problem” Klein went to Andy Sullivan’s wedding and once worked for Rolling Stone. That made more sense than the notion that he’s supposed to be a journalist.
The Moar You Know
@JenJen: It took a long time and a lot of public mockery, shaming, and direct threats (and make no mistake, the thugitude of the right got a lot more done than the whining and bitching did) for the press to assume their current posture of utter submission to the right.
What worked for them can work for us.
Cris (without an H)
Halperin:
Yes, there’s no emotion in a soulless capitalist offshoring all the good jobs, especially for the people who lost those jobs. Fuck you, dick.
Calouste
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Funny thing of course is that the BBC, who know a thing or two about the proper use of titles, never refer to Romney as Governor, unless it has the word former preceding Governor.
Other than that, IOKIYAR. Mostly because, unlike the GOP with its loser fetish, in the Democratic Party people who are not currently holding office are not considered Presidential material.
Uncle Ebeneezer
When the revolution comes…it will sound like this:
Wendy?
Yes Lisa.
Is the water warm enough?
Yes Lisa
Shall we begin?
Yes Lisa
David Hunt
@Uncle Ebeneezer:
You made me look outside to check the color of the rain that is currently falling here
Rafer Janders
@Tony J:
But it’s not the same, because military officers are never actually retired, because they are always technically subject to being recalled. But R-Money is never going to be called back into service as Governor of Massachusetts. He served one term, it was a failure, he couldn’t get re-elected, that’s it.
It’s a modern invention, frankly, this obsession on the part of failed politicos to hang onto their titles, part of our slow drift back towards feudalism.
Ash Can
@John: B will never happen. No way would Obama condone going after Romney’s family, even if other Dems were willing.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ash Can: one of Romney’s kids, I think the doctor, went birther a while back, so AFAIC, all bets are off, but given the media we have, I think you’re right. But the Mittlets’ trust fund is if anything shadier than the IRA, and I think that is/should be fair game.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ash Can: one of Romney’s kids, I think the doctor, went birther a while back, so AFAIC, all bets are off, but given the media we have, I think you’re right. But the Mittlets’ trust fund is if anything shadier than the IRA, and I think that is/should be fair game.
22over7
@Mr Stagger Lee:
Good point. Also too, remember that these guys are from the same rarefied air (Dana Milbank is Skull and Bones, for chrissake) and it must be embarrassing for them to have to report on such utter dumbassery coming out of the GOP. Maybe.
El Cid
If Mitt Romney in a debate declared that the nation’s first Moon landing took place when Ronald Reagan was President and that he, Mitt Romney, had been the first astronaut to set foot on the Moon and had planted the American flag and the American dollar on the Moon, our Halperin style media would report that “some critics” dispute Romney’s account.
Cris (without an H)
@David Hunt: @Comrade Dread: @burnspbesq:
You people gotta realize, this phrase is not meant to be taken literally. It’s like when somebody says “when I win the lottery, I’m going to buy you an exotic pet.” Or when you get an invitation to a bar mitzvah that says “to be held in Jerusalem, or if the Messiah doesn’t come, at the community center in Newton.”
Roy G.
Speaking of bought and paid for media, anybody heard anything from the MSM about the LIBOR scandal? Me neither. It only affects a few hundred trillion dollars of deals, and billions skimmed by the banksters. But that would undermine confidence in our ‘Free’ Market System, which is the greatest thing since Jesus, so, presto silencio.
Patricia Kayden
I guess I don’t understand Halperin’s article. Obama’s ads are working, as Balloon Juice noted before.
http://www.wcvb.com/news/politics/Obama-leads-Romney-in-swing-states/-/9848766/15442740/-/11c8tutz/-/index.html
kindness
Unfair DougJ! One, you made me link through to Time Magazine for God sakes. Now I feel unclean. Second, it’s a Time bamboozlement written by Mark Halperin who by god of all that is Trolls, Mark needs no additional introduction.
Shame on you Doug. Shame shame shame.
Now go to your room and don’t come out of there until you have that funny look on your face that makes us wonder what it is that you’ve been doing in your room all this time.
Cris (without an H)
@Patricia Kayden: Halperin’s perspective from inside the corporate media bubble is “if we don’t report on it, nobody is listening.”
Rafer Janders
@Roy G.:
It’s huge, huge news in Britain. Can’t think why it’s not here. Maybe we’re just inured….
The Moar You Know
@Roy G.: One little reference a few days ago. Given that the monies being discussed are orders of magnitude higher than the US deficit, one might think that these shenanigans might be worthy of some public discussion.
Tony J
@Rafer Janders:
You may well be right, but it’s something I’d like to know the facts about without going to the extreme of actually looking them up. If there’s one thing you can be sure of about BJ, it’s that someone here will know the answer.
Then someone else will disagree with them.
And then someone else will point out that whoever is right, it’s still good news for (insert GOP head-tool here).
Cris (without an H)
One thing about Halperin’s third point:
Supposing that’s true, I’m not sure this is a bad thing. If Romney is “unfazed” and doubles down on being proud of the greed-is-good methods he used to secure his fabulous wealth, it only makes him look like more of a sociopath.
Rafer Janders
@Tony J:
So let’s go to the experts!
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/03/newt_gingrich_speaker_of_the_house_politicians_who_cling_to_their_old_titles_are_pretentious_incorrect_and_un_american_.single.html
jwb
Ha, our rightwing establishment media is beginning to lose its shit because all that money being dropped in ads and all the tilted news coverage so far has been completely ineffective.
Tony J
What, exactly, does Halperin mean by “big-time earned media”? As in, WTF did the Swiftboaters actually do to “earn” all the coverage they recieved in 2004 that the Obama campaign’s Bain attacks haven’t done? Other than be obviously fraudulent, I mean.
Shit goes in, shit comes out, the Ororoborus of Fail has no end.
WereBear
@schrodinger’s cat: Toads can at least be licked for hallucinogens. What has Halpern done for anyone?
trollhattan
@JenJen:
That’s okay, JenJenJenJenJenJen, it’s happened to us all. It’s a WordPress thang(tm).
Emerald
@Rafer Janders: They still have a Fourth Estate in Britain.
Tony J
@Rafer Janders:
No one expects the Protocol School of Washington!
You make a good point. I will now adopt in in future arguments. TYFT
Tony J
@Emerald:
We just about, barely, have a functioning Fourth Estate in Britain. Murdock blazed a trail here as well, though his route was via domination of the print media rather than TV News.
Remember, the BBC allowed Tony Blair to lie just as badly as George Bush about the justification for invading Iraq and was just as spineless as American media outlets when it came to covering stories exposing how and why he’d lied. Our coverage of American politics might be fractionally better, but as a Brit who follows those same stories on American sites I still see a massive amount of DC conventional wisdom coming out of even the most “Liberal” British media sources. Even the Guardian has me pulling my hair out most days.
Maude
@Tony J:
BBC is doing well with the Barclay coverage.
American politics is almost impossible for Brit news people to understand. It is confusing.
Bush and Blair got away with lies in the run up to the Iraq war. Shame on both medias.
TMLutas
On the technical end of things, Kerry was in trouble because he went to Vietnam, came back and did the anti-military schtick and then turned 180 again and “reported for duty”, highlighting his military service. Show me how Romney swerved and weaved and spent some time as an anti-capitalist and then the disparate treatment would start to be offensive. Kerry tossed medals over the fence. Sometimes he said they were his medals, other times somebody else’s.
Kerry’s hypocrisy on being in the military was pretty obvious if you looked at the issues that the swift boaters raised but Romney’s actually been pretty straight about being for capitalism and getting rich. Why wouldn’t there be a difference in how the two campaigns are received by the public?
Rafer Janders
@TMLutas:
Yeah, at least Romney never threw away his medals. Which he didn’t have. Because instead of volunteering to serve in combat in Vietnam as Kerry did, even though Kerry opposed the war and Romney supported it, Romney actually spent his war years hiding out at a mansion in France.
So no hypocrisy on Romney’s part, apart from, that is, not serving in a war he claimed to support, while letting others who didn’t support it serve in his stead.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@Rafer Janders:
Fear not. Once the GOP/MSM figure out a way to blame Barclay and LIBOR on Obama, we shall all be suitably informed.
(He said, glibly, wishing he were wrong…)
Tony J
@TMLutas:
Dude, please. You can lick it like it’s an ice-cream and suck it until your cheeks hurt, but at the end of the day someone like you will never, ever, get to park – your – porche in their driveway.
They’re just not that into you.
David in NY
Not fair. No warning it was Halperin.
Rafer Janders
@TMLutas:
You’re aware, right, that all his massive other instances of hypocrisy aside, on this one particular issue we’re not actually attacking R-Money for being a hypocrite — we’re attacking him for always, consistently, having been a selfish, money-grubbing, greedy jerk.
David in NY
@Cris (without an H): That explanation should have been unnecessary, but thanks anyway. It’s never too late to learn, I suppose.
Ed.: Oh, and nicely put.
JenJen
@trollhattan: Thanks, man. :-)
Maude
@TMLutas:
Knock it off. Your post is unacceptable.
David in NY
@TMLutas: @Rafer Janders: I hope he’s capable of understanding that, but I sort of doubt it.
You know, TMLutas, by the way, that it is perfectly consistent for a man to be brave enough to enlist, brave enough to win a silver star, and brave enough to oppose the very war he fought in. By the way, go look up the actual criteria for earning a Silver Star, which the by-God US Navy bestowed on Kerry. It is nothing less than fucking impressive. I assume you did not win one.
This is one thing about which Kerry was not hypocritical, dammit.
Omnes Omnibus
@TMLutas: Aw, bullshit. You can cram your hypocrisy comments up your ass.
Hugely
@Litlebritdifrnt: I can think of a couple of occasions:
1) Attacks on Pakistani Army in 2011
2) any numerous incidents of US military peeing on corpses, burning qurans, bombing wedding parties etc
just sayin’
note – I think its wholly appropriate to apologize for the US in some cases – its called leadership. RMoney is just being a dick / dog-whistling when he says that shit
slag
@dmsilev:
Of course not, Mark Halperin. Why would you ever do something like that? Just put them out there as two sides of the same coin…we’ll get the message. You’re so great at what you do already, you don’t need to do any of that extra work on our behalf. You’re like a post-JustForMen David Broder.
Hugely
@Hugely: though it may have been SoS Clinton that apologized
Turgidson
@TMLutas:
This comment stood out from your steaming pile of rhino shit comment. The word hypocrisy – I’m not sure you know what it means.
The Swift Boaters alleged, without evidence of any kind, that Kerry’s heroism in a war zone was a myth. They were bald-faced liars. There was no broader commentary on Kerry’s anti-war stance after he came home. So, even if there was any hypocrisy involved (there wasn’t), the Swift Boaters’ lying smear campaign had nothing to do with it.
Also, I know that chickenhawks can’t understand this, but people who actually served in a war have more moral authority to later oppose it than…well, pretty much anyone else. Also too, sometimes, seeing that the “cause” you were sent to fight for is a massive fraud leading to the unnecessary deaths of millions of people (Vietnamese civilians are people too, doncha know) will do that to a person.
El Cid
@Turgidson: If you serve heroically in a war and risk your life to defend and save your fellow soldiers, and then later are given medals, it means that you love war and always will love that war and want to marry it forever and ever and ever.
Lex
Of the many heaping helpings of suck in that piece, this might be the biggest, suckiest suck of all:
Of course not. Because 1) that would be actual, you know, journalism, which Mark Halperin simply Does Not Do; and 2) the conclusion inevitably resulting from such an adjudication would leave Romney screwed. In fact, I think it would be fair to say that he would be, if I may quote one of America’s foremost pundits, “running in an environment so brutal that he can’t win an up-or-down referendum.”
OzoneR
Obama should use the bully pulpit. If Obama used the bully pulpit, the media would report it.