Over the holidays, one of my relatives (who could no longer stand my righteousness in criticizing Bush as a terrible Republican) adopted an interesting coping strategy: if only the media would lay off Obama, because they have been so cruel to Bush over the last 8 years.

On a side note, Bush deserves far harsher treatment than to merely be “criticized.”

…but back to the story: I was unaffected by these appeals, because it was completely obvious that not a second would be lost before Obama would be scandalized by the same crowd that had previously deified and idolized that golden mule named “W.”

The following video is, by no means, the first example… but Fox has no shame. Absolutely none.

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgtN-CtU_BU

Well, she’s the “expert”, I guess she must know what she’s talking about.

I rest my case.

RTFA: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/10/0218…

I’m not familiar with columnist Orson Scott Card, but his open letter to journalists is must reading. It appeared first in The Rhinoceros Times of Greensboro, North Carolina. Via InstaPundit:

This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans. …

… back to Power Line’s editorializing:

But the mainstream media–which is to say, most reporters and editors who work for “mainstream” news organizations–have no honor and are not interested in truth. They are, as Card says, “the public relations machine of the Democratic Party.” It’s time to accept that fact and move on. Our existing news organizations–the New York Times, the Associated Press, [FOX], NBC, CNN, CBS, and so on–can’t be reformed, they can only be ignored. It is time for conservatives, libertarians, moderates, and normal citizens who are interested in straightforward reporting of the news to build their own news organizations in competition with the corrupt ones that now exist.

(emphasis mine – and I added another mainstream news organization)

Listen: I read power line all the time, and I usually consider their work to be pretty rigorous. However, this is unbelievable! Orson Scott Card is the author of Ender’s Game, one of the most notable science fiction books of all time!

From Wikipedia:

Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951)[1] is a bestselling American author, critic, political writer and speaker. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender’s Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the only author to win both of science fiction’s top prizes in consecutive years.

It’s hilarious, too, that the context of Card’s article involves the disintegration of the mainstream media. Talk about fact-checking: how do you start off a piece with the disclaimer that you have no idea who Card is? I’m not going to step up for bloggers and amateur journalism in this debate; Card has a point, but it’s clear that bloggers don’t have the complete solution. There are exceptions, but Power Line isn’t exceptional with their coverage of Card’s article.

There’s a common saying about “living in a glass house” – so I’ll stop here and do some backtracking: the reason RTFA is called RTFA comes down to a single promise: I read the articles I post, and I put the link first so that you will read the article too. I need some help from you: post a comment when the source is bad. If my analysis is bad, post your analysis. Any link to any post on RTFA includes the comments – they’re part of the content.

Regarding Card’s article, it’s definitely interesting. I want to know more about the subprime lending crisis, and I want someone who has the time to really research the issue. I’m skeptical that Card has the facts straight – in criticizing the MSM, he makes a bunch of unsubstantiated claims. However, I am pretty sure some of his claims are solid (e.g. that this financial crisis can be blamed on Democrats too, citing Senators Dodd and Frank).

*sigh* In the words of McCain, we’re angry. Angry. And scared. And Angry! Rabble rabble rabble. Is the solution a new news organization? …or is it more a matter of the signal to noise ratio? We’re angry. And LOUD. Rabble rabble rabble!

RTFA: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10brooks…

The Republicans have alienated whole professions. Lawyers now donate to the Democratic Party over the Republican Party at 4-to-1 rates. With doctors, it’s 2-to-1. With tech executives, it’s 5-to-1. With investment bankers, it’s 2-to-1. It took talent for Republicans to lose the banking community.

Conservatives are as rare in elite universities and the mainstream media as they were 30 years ago. The smartest young Americans are now educated in an overwhelmingly liberal environment.

This year could have changed things. The G.O.P. had three urbane presidential candidates. But the class-warfare clichés took control. Rudy Giuliani disdained cosmopolitans at the Republican convention. Mitt Romney gave a speech attacking “eastern elites.” (Mitt Romney!) John McCain picked Sarah Palin.

Palin is smart, politically skilled, courageous and likable. Her convention and debate performances were impressive. But no American politician plays the class-warfare card as constantly as Palin. Nobody so relentlessly divides the world between the “normal Joe Sixpack American” and the coastal elite.

She is another step in the Republican change of personality. Once conservatives admired Churchill and Lincoln above all – men from wildly different backgrounds who prepared for leadership through constant reading, historical understanding and sophisticated thinking. Now those attributes bow down before the common touch.

And so, politically, the G.O.P. is squeezed at both ends. The party is losing the working class by sins of omission – because it has not developed policies to address economic anxiety. It has lost the educated class by sins of commission – by telling members of that class to go away.

I can hardly believe I’m reading David Brooks here. And yet, there it is. He’s really saying these words.

(more…)

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7hlLQoayc

McCain declares that a strong Iraq is good for a strong Saudi America.

During the 2007 Iowa Debates, McCain “slips up” while answering a question about occupying Iraq. He actually says we’re in Iraq for the Saudis. From his own mouth. …then he corrects himself, and says it’s for Iraq and the US.

RTFA: http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/02/26/mccain-…

“I want to disassociate myself from any disparaging remarks that may have been said,” McCain said at the top of a media availability after the rally. “I have repeatedly stated of my respect for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, that I will treat them with respect that I will call them Senator. We will have respectful debate as I have said on hundreds of occasions. I regret any comments that may be made about these two individuals who are honorable Americans…it will never happen again.”
McCain added that he also believes it is inappropriate to make use of Obama’s middle name for political purposes.
During his remarks, Cunningham said Obama has gotten overly easy treatment from the media and stated his hope that they will “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.”
“At some point, the media will quit taking sides in this thing and maybe start covering Barack Hussein Obama the same way they covered Bush, the same way they covered Cheney and the same way the cover every Republican,” he said, also mockingly describing Obama’s foreign policy when he gets into the White House.
“Obama just came back from meeting Ahmadinejad, he’s got a meeting the next week with Kim Jong Il of North Korea. Then he’s going to saddle up next to Hezbollah, they’re going to have a little cookie and cream party,” Cunningham said.

This is a tricky, layered piece of information. I’m issuing a “no-conclusions” warning, and elevating the disinformation alert scale to Violet.