Dan Froomkin, a consistently independent anti-torture voice and critic of the Bush White House at the Washington Post, has been fired.
The Post's editorial voice has taken a sharp neoconservative turn becoming effectively a propaganda vehicle for the American rightwing, purging critical voices for not "giving readers the most value... ."
When the Republicans get a talking point fed to them, they do recite well.
But today's GOP talking points are so dynamic (and not credible) that even when the current talking point veers into McCarthyism, its life is mere seconds.
From Crooks and Liars, a GOP talking point aimed at a less-than-brilliant segment of the viewership in a market in Florida has "Joe Biden (sitting) down for an interview with Florida television anchor Barbara West (last) Thursday," getting hit "by a barrage of Sean Hannity's talking points."
Interviewer: You may recognize this famous quote: 'From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.' That's from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?
Biden: Are you joking? Is this a joke?
Interviewer: No
Biden: Is that a real question?
Interviewer: That's a real question.
Before asking 'who the hell is Florida television anchor Barbara West and can she really be that stupid', consider this truism from polls measuring American pulbic opinion:
(The) belief in the basic moral principles of traditional socialism is surprisingly high: to mention merely one example, almost half the population consider the phrase 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' to be such an obvious truth that they attribute it to the U.S. Constitution, a text taken to be akin to Holy Writ. - Noam Chomsky
I can't find a cite for that often quoted illustration of the political ignorance of the American public, but it's not controversial. [I think I first read it in Right Turn: The Decline of the Democrats and the Future of American Politics (1987)by Thomas Ferguson and Joel Rogers.]
The foolish GOP talking point aside, there does exist quasi-Democratic-socialistic sentiments among the American population. I mean look at the popularity of Social Security and Medicare, and national health care.
And the fact is that the injection of $100s of billions into the high-tech private sector that has been a staple of the American economy for many decades combined with the more naked bailouts likely had more than a few people scratching their heads over the GOP branding Obama as a socialist, Marxist, or whatever.
America has been and is a mixed socialized system; its resources just have not been aimed at the masses so very much.
Truly exciting times we live in, and as Molly Ivins would point out: Great for a laugh, and that goes triple for Florida television anchor Barbara West.
[Note: Shot is of Joe McCarthy's grave in Appleton, Wisconsin and the writer paying his respects.]
Cozying up to Cuban-American extremists in South Florida has been a part of American political culture for decades. It is an unseemly ritual that has nevertheless persisted because of the dysfunctional peculiarities of our Electoral College that grants Florida 27 votes, exactly 10 percent of the electors needed to win the White House.
Just a weekend word on the power of the net and a story pursued on this site.
Here at MAL Contends, I have focused effort on veterans' concerns and one Wisconsin persecuted veteran in particular, Keith Roberts, among other political news and commentary.
Uppity Wisconsin (Steve Hanson's site that is pushing the story hard), connected to MyDD and Juan Cole makes any Roberts piece literally a click away from potentially 1,000,000s of readers. Combined with the power of veterans' online journals and other blogs like Daily Kos ... you get the picture.
Experiencing the commitment and intelligence of writers and Net techs is both humbling and inspiring.
This week, I want to recognize the work of the site, Crooks and Liars, a great political site that recognizes the PTSD issue and the Roberts case in particular:
PTSD: Given the underplayed, staggering numbers on veteran suicides, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries and the like, it seems like awfully bad form to prosecute and imprison a veteran for pushing for PTSD benefits. While some innovative approaches for treating PTSD seem effective, replacing the VA’s ‘criminally negligent’ leadership might also help.
John McCain for instance, when convenient, right until 1987, supported Arizona's fight against establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday, and now McCain offers what many see as insincere apology now that he is running for president.
(Yesterday), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) apologized for voting against a 1983 bill creating a holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In fact, McCain also supported former Arizona governor Evan Mecham in 1987 when Mecham rescinded the holiday in the state. On MSNBC (yesterday), (Rep. John) Conyers (who authored the MLK Day Holiday Act) took McCain to task for apologizing decades later — the midst of his presidential run:
Well look. I’m happy. That was in 1983, he didn’t make any apology, he didn’t make any apologies in 1987, so I guess I’m thrilled and forgiving that finally when he’s running for President he remembers to apologize. No, that’s great. C&L has the video and story.
Update: Iowa's not over, but gearing up for South Carolina, the GOP is sliming its own. Crooks and Liars reports: A holiday card that falsely claims to be from “the Romney family” and highlights Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith was anonymously sent to Republican mailboxes across South Carolina earlier this week.
On to Iowa predictions:
From the Evans-Novak Political Report:
Republicans
1st Place: Mitt Romney 2nd Place: Mike Huckabee 3rd Place: Fred Thompson 4th Place: John McCain
Democrats
1st Place: Barack Obama 2nd Place: John Edwards 3rd Place: Hillary Clinton 4th Place: Bill Richardson
MAL's Prediction
Republicans
1st Place: Mike Huckabee 2nd Place: Mitt Romney 3rd Place: John McCain 4th Place: Fred Thompson
Democrats
1st Place: Hillary Clinton 2nd Place: John Edwards (tie) 2nd Place: Barack Obama (tie) 4th Place: Bill Richardson
After being arrested, but not charged, on July 4, 2004 for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts at a rally for President Bush, Nicole and Jeffrey Rank of Corpus Christie, TX sued the federal government. Last week, they settled with the government for $80,000.
The Ranks appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball last night, arguing that “civil liberties continue to be in jeopardy” and that they “didn’t realize it until it happened to us.” Crooks and Liars has the video here. ###
