Clipmarks | masbury's 'news' clips

McCain aide: If we talk economy, we lose

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:20:56 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: He wants us to put him in charge of it, but his ideas aren't good enough to sell his candidacy?

Clip Source: sage

As a result, the McCain campaign has issued a new strategy: just don’t talk about the economy and instead attack Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) character — as a top McCain aide explained to the New York Daily News:

“It’s a dangerous road, but we have no choice,” a top McCain strategist told the Daily News. “If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose.”

Indeed, on Saturday, the Washington Post quoted another top McCain adviser acknowledging that McCain needs to shift away from the economy:

“We are looking for a very aggressive last 30 days,” said Greg Strimple, one of McCain’s top advisers. “We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama

Even McCain’s top surrogate Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) last week noted that talking about the economy is bad for McCain, saying that passing the bailout package “will be good for John McCain”

Tags: mccain, economy

NYT: Obama in significant lead for first time

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:00:44 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: CBS News has him up by 9 nationwide; his favorable rating is the highest it's been. McCain's unfavorable rating is at its highest since 1999.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Poll Shows Obama, for First Time, Has Significant Lead

With the first presidential debate completed and both candidates grappling with the turmoil on Wall Street in Washington, Senator Barack Obama is showing signs of gaining significant support among voters with less than five weeks left until Election Day, while Senator John McCain’s image has been damaged by his response to the economic meltdown.

A CBS News Poll released Wednesday that Mr. Obama’s favorability rating, at 48 percent, is the highest it has ever been in polls conducted by CBS and The New York Times. At the same time, the number of voters who hold an unfavorable view of Mr. McCain — 42 percent — is as high as it has been since the CBS News and The Times began asking the question about Mr. McCain in 1999, the first time he ran for president.

Mr. Obama has a 9 percentage-point lead over Mr. McCain – 49 percent to 40

the first time that Mr. Obama has held a statistically significant lead over Mr. McCain this year

Tags: polls, politics

AK Senate Pres (R): She's not prepared to be governor!

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:43:02 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Lyda Green, from Wasilla, where Palin was mayor: “She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?” “Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

The Anchorage Daily News reports that the state’s leading Republicans are expressing shock and bewilderment over John McCain’s selection of their governor as his running mate:

State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news.

“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?” said Green, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. “Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?” […]

State House Speaker John Harris, a Republican from Valdez, was astonished at the news. He didn’t want to get into the issue of her qualifications.

“She’s old enough,” Harris said. “She’s a U.S. citizen.”

Tags: palin, mccain

Colbert/Stewart viewers most news-literate

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:29:44 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: See who's "not so much." Only 53% were able to correctly identify which party now controls Congress."

Clip Source: sage

The results of the new Pew Survey on News Consumption (taken every two years and released this afternoon) suggest that viewers of the "fake news" programs The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are more knowledgeable about current events (as judged by three test questions) than watchers of "real" cable news shows hosted by Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly and Larry King, among others -- as well as average consumers of NBC, ABC, Fox News, CNN, C-SPAN and daily newspapers.

The national average for answering the three questions was only 18%. But 34% of The Colbert Report fans got them right, with 30% of The Daily Show viewers doing so

Coming in behind the two fake news show on the test were consumers of :

News magazines 30%
O'Reilly Factor 28%
Lou Dobbs Tonight 27%
MSNBC 25%
C-SPAN 24%
Daily newspaper 22%
NBC News 21%
Letterman/Leno 20%
Larry King Live 19%
ABC News 19%
CNN 19%
Fox News 19%
CNBC 17%
Personality magazines 13%
Religious radio 12%
CBS News 10%
National Enquirer 9%

Tags: media, news

Doonesbury "reports" on Iraqi Christians

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 06:35:07 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: A genocide?

Clip Source: blog.christianitytoday.com

Doonesbury 'reports' on Iraqi Christians

Gary B. Trudeau’s Doonesbury, which newspapers publish either with the comics or the editorial cartoons, just wrapped up a series about Iraqi Christian refugees. Roland (in this series a Fox News correspondent) is trying to cover the story of an Assyrian family in a way that is flattering for the Surge. Doonesbury treats the imaginary Iraqis with a great deal of dignity. Fox News doesn’t fare so well.

some churches in Iraq have no members left. Christians can be identified by their names and ID cards, and they are often targeted for violence. The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) is calling it genocide.

AINA divides Assyrians up into five groups: Chaldeans (of the Chaldean Catholic Church) at 45 percent, Syriac Orthodox at 26 percent, Church of the East at 19 percent, Syriac Catholic at 4 percent, and other groups at 6 percent. In 2005, 2 percent of Iraq's population was Christian, according to the World Christian Database.

Tags: iraq

Real McCain 2 video is #1 on YouTube, #2 on Digg

Fri, 23 May 2008 05:19:31 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: More viewers than cable news shows. Will corporate media be shamed into returning to journalism?

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Since The Real McCain 2 launched this past Sunday, over 1 million people have seen it! It's been the #1 most viewed video on YouTube

For the last seven years, the mainstream press has sacrificed its objectivity and courage in a pathetic attempt to appease conservatives, lest they be painted left-leaning.

We need to continue spreading videos

until our pleas for unbiased, hard-hitting journalism are heard by the corporate media.

especially when the presumptive GOP nominee can't get his basic facts right on Iran. Especially when the press is obsessed with Jeremiah Wright but won't go after McCain's endorsements (which he sought) from the viciously anti-Semitic Rev. John Hagee or the deeply bigoted Rev. Rod Parsley

[Video]

Tags: mccain, media, elections, politics, news

White House used FoxNews to shape public opinion

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:48:27 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Hannity, O'Reilly implicated. "Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow point out that in the US, the government is forbidden to propagandize the public. Fox Cable News head Roger Ailes (a former Republican Party official) and other high executives routinely sent memos to the newsrooms instructing them to spin stories in particular ways"

Clip Source: www.juancole.com

Scott McClellan admits on Hardball that the White House fed Fox News hosts talking points. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow point out that in the US, the government is forbidden to propagandize the public.

It has long been known that Fox Cable News head Roger Ailes (a former Republican Party official) and other high executives routinely sent memos to the newsrooms instructing them to spin stories in particular ways. And one always suspected that the talking points actually came over from Bush's and Cheney's offices. Now McClellan confirms it.

[Video]

Tags: foxnews, media, war on terror, bush

"He said it first" - satire on McCain's c-word whack on Cindy

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:40:48 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Mock news crew discusses why it won't be on TV

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

[Video]

Tags: mccain

Dobson: 189; Pew on tolerance of people of faith: 8

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:31:34 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: James Dobson's attack on Barack Obama was all over the news yesterday. A new Pew Survey “documenting the diversity and tolerance of people of faith and the growing consensus around issues like poverty and the environment” was mentioned only 8 times.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

According to research done by Faith In Public Life, James Dobson’s attack on Barack Obama was mentioned a total of 189 times on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News yesterday. By comparison, a new Pew Survey “documenting the diversity and tolerance of people of faith and the growing consensus around issues like poverty and the environment” was mentioned only 8 times.

Tags: media, religion

Fox News struggles to keep up

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:11:21 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: During 1st quarter of 08: CNN up 90%; MSNBC up 68%; FoxNews up 12%. CNN wins for an entire quarter for the first time.

Clip Source: www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com

Fox News ratings struggling to keep up

Following up on an item from the other day, I thought it was worth noting that all three cable networks have seen their ratings go up during the presidential primaries, but among the “money demo,” Fox News is falling behind. (via TP)

The political season continues to be very good to CNN, which will officially announce on Tuesday that for the first time since 2001, it managed to beat the Fox News Channel in prime time for one quarter of the year in the category of news viewers most desirable to advertisers, according to Nielsen.

CNN’s ratings in prime time for viewers 25 to 54 were up 90 percent

Fox, which had 438,000 viewers, up 12 percent

MSNBC also had a strong quarter in prime time, growing 68 percent to 329,000 viewers

CNN has done especially well on the nights of contested primaries

except one, the Florida primary on Jan. 29. That was the only night when the Republican race was of higher interest than the Democratic one, and Fox won that night.

Tags: media

Clarke to McClellan: I think I can forgive you now

Fri, 30 May 2008 21:28:57 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Now under fire, McClellan got the job of blasting Clarke when Clarke wrote a book similar to Mc's in 2004.

Clip Source: thelede.blogs.nytimes.com

In 2004, Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser, was criticized by Mr. McClellan for writing a scathing book against the Bush administration. Now, the shoe is on the other foot — as Mr. Clarke noted earlier this week. The reversal was not lost on Mr. McClellan when he ran into Mr. Clarke this week in Manhattan. From ABC News:

“I should have known how personal it would get when they went after me, well, I mean, after what I said about you,” Clarke says McClellan told him in the lobby of New York’s Essex House.

“I think I can forgive you now,” Clarke says he replied.

“I’d like to ask you to,” McClellan reportedly answered.

Tags: bush, clarke, mcclellan, news

Hillary summits Mt. Giveitarest

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:33:54 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: political cartoon

Clip Source: content.cartoonbox.slate.com

Tags: cartoon, humor, politics, clinton, elections, news

Porky Pig confronts Bill and Hillary

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:35:35 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: (political cartoon)

Clip Source: content.cartoonbox.slate.com

Tags: humor, cartoons, politics, news, clinton, elections

Hillary Python

Sat, 10 May 2008 02:36:25 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "It's just a flesh wound!"

Clip Source: illiterateelectorate.blogspot.com

Tags: clinton, obama, elections, humor, news

ABC: Bush, Cheney, top leaders explicitly OK'd torture

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:19:15 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: First report of a direct link to the White House

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

ABC News is reporting senior Bush administration officials personally discussed and approved how top al-Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the CIA. The group agreed on controversial interrogation techniques including physical assault, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding.

included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

One top official

quoted Ashcroft as saying, “Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.”

Condoleezza Rice is said to have provided decisive support, reportedly telling CIA officials, “This is your baby. Go do it.”

Tags: torture, news, iraq