If you ever doubted AP bias, this will cure you...

[babylonsister]

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/07/simply-marvelou.html

Simply marvelous stupidity

I'm almost at a loss for words about Liz "Donuts for McCain" Sidoti's utterly and hilariously idiotic analysis of the political impact of Iraq timetable issue on the presidential campaign. I mean, this is one of the the four or five stupidest things you may have the pleasure of reading during the entire campaign. Sidoti's thesis:

A new U.S.-Iraqi agreement raising the possibility of a withdrawal timeline...could undercut one of the Democrat's signature issues — opposition to the war — as he prepares for a high-stakes trip to the region.

She continues with an oh-so-objective description of Obama and McCain:

Obama, with no military experience and a thin foreign policy resume ... McCain, an ex-Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who has long specialized in national security issues ... The line between the two could blur now that Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have agreed to force reduction language.

And for the core of her argument about how this could hurt Obama's campaign:

Indeed, the U.S.-Iraqi agreement reinforces Obama's argument that troops should start coming home, for it's hard to argue against some timeframe when both countries have endorsed such an approach. However, the accord also could end up diluting one of Obama's core issues. If there are signs that the war is ending, would that dampen the enthusiasm and urgency felt by voters initially drawn to his anti-war stance?

That is of course silly, on two counts. (1) Obama's judgment is being confirmed by all this. It's a huge win for his argument that he has had a better plan all along. (2) To the extent that "national security" issues are taken off the table, it's a massive political victory for Obama, who enjoys a huge advantage over McCain on domestic issues.

Already, Sidoti's article is pure inanity. But it gets better with a tortured explanation for the political opportunity this opens up for John McCain:

On the other hand, sticking with his objection to any timetable would allow him to distance himself from an unpopular president

Seriously? This may be the dumbest thing ever written by an AP reporter. The notion that opposing one of the very few popular policy positions embraced by Bush would generate enthusiasm for McCain is...not even worthy of The Onion.

[jenmito]

1. "On the other hand, sticking with his objection to any timetable would allow him to distance himself

from an unpopular president."

Yeah-he ALSO distances himself from the will of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi PM! Unbelievable spin.

[Enthusiast]

30. Contortion that would make a

pretzel jealous. Incredible.

[H2O Man]

2. Nominated.

Outrageous.

[Sparkly]

3. Some of them aren't even trying anymore!!

They've become more and more audacious. I don't understand how editorial control of the wires works, but some -- not all -- AP writers have gone over the top.

Nedra Pickler was the first one. I'll never forget her snide remarks about Kerry in supposedly objective articles. ("John Kerry, a rich man,"...)

I recently saw AP EDITORIALS on the Yahoo news page. AP writers, only writing opinion pieces. I don't know when that started, but they seem to be blurring the lines a lot lately.

I'm hoping Reuters keeps it objective.

[w4rma]

34. Reuters is British-based. (nt)

[Kutjara]

4. This kind of crap would be laughable if...

...I didn't know I'd be hearing regurgitated versions of it from my workmates next week. Just about any insanity the MSM cares to spew comes flowing from my colleagues' mouths as if it is unassailable truth. This election cycle really has been an education for me in the depths human stupidity can plumb.

I've always been a cynic, but I now see that my problem is that I'm not cynical enough.

[EFerrari]

5. I knew the AP was full of it when, they ran a story with pix

about riots at the Ohio statehouse on Election Day night 2004 when Ohio was stolen AND ran a story about how their chairman was in Los Angeles telling journalism students that they needed to be more like the internet AND then claimed the internets were full of conspiracy nuts AND then scrubbed the original story about the riots.

Did you follow that?

The AP is not the friend of anyone looking for information. That's been very, very clear for years now.

They are presstitutes in respectable media drag and that's all they are.

[newmajority]

6. I figured out AP's bias months ago, thanks to their radio division

(which tragically is carried by both Air America and Nova M for their "hourly newscasts").

One of their announcers has referred to our nominee as "Osama" more than once, several of them obviously have a pro-McLoon slant, and their White House correspondent is so in love with Bush, that he should sign off his reports with "I'm Mark Smith, in Chimpy's pants."

I don't know why two liberal networks continue to air this crap.

[glitch]

19. Oh no, not Nova-M too! I was looking forward to them once I get broadband again

How can they be such idiots? There are better radio clip services. I had to stop listening to Air America because I was tired of lunging for the muter every time AP Radio "News" came on. That plus AAR's talent isn't as good as it used to be, except Thom Hartmann.
But AP Radio says such pathetic crap and what's worse they speak like they are on a kiddie show! Their cadence is so annoying.

[babylonsister]

7. Explanation here: AP is now encouraging 'opinion' or 'accountability' journalism:

Is Fournier saving or destroying the AP?
By MICHAEL CALDERONE | 7/14/08 4:44 AM EST


snip//

In the stories the new boss is encouraging, first-person writing and emotive language are okay.

So is scrapping the stonefaced approach to journalism that accepts politicians’ statements at face value and offers equal treatment to all sides of an argument. Instead, reporters are encouraged to throw away the weasel words and call it like they see it when they think public officials have revealed themselves as phonies or flip-floppers.

The new approach was on display in a Liz Sidoti news analysis written earlier this month with the lead, “John McCain calls himself an underdog. That may be an understatement.”

Last week Beth Fouhy’s dispatch on her feelings about the end of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign began, “I miss Hillary.”

Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said on Friday that she “loved” Fouhy’s column, and stressed that she saw it not as an opinion piece but as political analysis from a reporter who spent 18 months covering the Clinton campaign — despite the fact that it’s written in the first person.

Fournier himself, shortly before taking the job as bureau chief, wrote several models for what he’s called “accountability journalism.” A January lead declared that “Obama is bordering on arrogance.” A month later, he began a column with “The Democratic nomination is now Barack Obama's to lose.”

Fournier and other critics of the conventional press model, especially those on the left, have said that being released from the tired conventions of news writing is exactly what journalism needs.

more...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11716.html

[Joe Bacon]

23. From Media Matters--Fournier's GOP bias

http://mediamatters.org/items/200804140006

Summary: During the Associated Press annual meeting luncheon, Ron Fournier repeatedly asked Sen. John McCain whether he believes Sen. Barack Obama is an "elitist," citing comments Obama recently made. When McCain replied at one point, "I don't know, because I don't know him very well," Fournier asked, "You served with him for a couple of years. Did you ever see elitist behavior from him?"

Yet another PRE$$TITUE who cant go to the bathroom without asking permission from Rove. :puke:

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hoof Hearted]

39. That's some extremely ugly fucking misgyistic bullshit language you just used there.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[librechik]

9. Wrong-Way Cheney couldn't have written it better

totally reveals their clumsy tactic of pretending Obama's long held popular position is the same as BushMcCainCo's

[Diane R]

10. Last week they ran a headline, "McCain warmly received at NAACP". ....

....A long article about McCain's appearance at the NAACP. Third to last paragraph they stated Obama had spoken there, too.

[SoCalDem]

11. John McCain, the foreign policy "expert"..

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts)Fri Jul-18-08 01:46 PM

Original message

John McCain, the foreign policy "expert"..

People keep telling us how smart he is, how well-versed in foreign policy he is,....but is he really??

Just "being there" for 24 years is not enough.. I'd be willing to bet that MOST of what he "knows" is what OTHERS have researched, and given him the Cliff Notes on , for speeches.

We already KNOW that most (and probably Ole Johnny-boy too) senators/congresspeople do NOT read the legislation they vote on.

John has bragged for years that the was chairman of the Commerce Committee ...and it was his primary focus..

He's spent decades schmoozing with media, cracking jokes, drinking with and entertaining them, so when have we EVER gotten the full story about him?.

He tells us gleefully that he finished next to the bottom of his only real "educational years"..and those years were in the mid 1950s.. I'm betting that since then, he's not actively studied ANYTHING.

After graduation (who would flunk-out Adm McCain's boy?..sound familiar??) his military career consisted of mainly drinking, partying and crashing the occasional plane, until he was shot down.. He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner..

Once freed, he more or less immediately set out to get himself some women and some party time..Apparently he hooked up with Miss Cindy while still married to the faithful wife who waited for him. Miss Cindy's money allowed him to buy his way into government, where he has comfortably languished since then.

He has been on the government dole since he was born in 1936, in a hospital that was built in 1941 (Coco Solo hospital ...see wiki)...He's always had government-provided benefits...his whole life...and has the millionairess' money to fill the gaps.. He does not NEED to "know" much..

His speechifying on the floor of the senate has always contained falsehoods and myths, as have all the other speeches by all the rest.. they cover for each other..regardless of party, so the actual veracity of all those years of charts, graphs & statistics are never actually challenged.. Who KNOWS what he "knows".

This is why so many senators have stumbled when they run for president.. the press can find the errors in all those speeches, if they take the time to look.. John's cozy relationship with them , is why he's gotten so many "chances" and free passes. He says the stupidest things, and it's shrugged off as "Just John, being John"..

Well , We have had almost 8 years of George, just being George, and that's 8 years TOO LONG.. We cannot afford another "Shoot from the Lips" guy running the show.

McCain's formal "learning" was sub-par, and he's spent 24 years in office, using his POW experiences and his yuk-yuk personality as his twin crutches, carrying him along.

He's admitted that he was a terrible student, during the only educational time he had (a half-century ago), he was not that great of a pilot, and he's been involved in scandal..

He has shown courage, he has a rich wife & he's lucky..

Are those 3 things enough to bestow the presidency upon him??

[bbgrunt]

12. as long as they repeat it enough, it will be considered the truth

regardless of its inanity

[1Hippiechick]

17. along the lines of "perception is reality"...... n/t

[number6]

13. The AP they suck !

:thumbsdown: :(

[uponit7771]

14. K & R

[Thrill]

15. McCain has " has long specialized in national security issues" ????

This shit is Hilarious.

[LTR]

16. The AP is as biased as any of the various media organizations that own it

It is not merely a single entity. It is a collective owned by newspapers, television stations and networks, etc. Meaning that any article appearing in an AP-member paper, for example, is carried by the AP network.

Therefore, a Washington Times article could circulate as an AP piece.

I don't believe that the AP has any particular bias. Given how it runs, that would be impossible. Best to check where the story originated, who wrote it and for what media property.

[glitch]

20. Not impossible - they do make editorial choices on what they allow on their "wire"

News organizations submit articles to the AP wire, but whether or not they are picked up and run on it is a decision that gets made by humans. Which humans is where the bias creeps in.

[babylonsister]

33. It's an AP article, written by Liz Sidoti for AP:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iO901X7dj4cEOGEZrWZowb1HfdJwD920H14G0

See post #7 about AP's new 'policy'.

[Martin Eden]

18. How dumb do they think the American public is???

Sidoti's pretzel logic can't be swallowed no matter how many grains of salt are sprinkled on it, right?

Oh, I forgot. This is the same American public who cast enough votes for Bushco to steal two elections.

They'll believe almost any nonsense repeated often enough.

[glitch]

22. Did the American public really cast enough votes for Bushco to steal two elections?

Who told you that?
:evilgrin:

[Martin Eden]

42. The elections were stolen, right?

Could the elections have been stolen if only a very tiny percentage actually voted for chimpy?

The exit polls (among other things) are very strong evidence the election was stolen. But those exit polls also show dim son capturing mid-40's or better. I personally know quite a few people in my blue state of Illinois who cast their vote for the criminal occupant in 2004.

[glitch]

46. Absolutely they were stolen!

I have taken my mistrust one step further - I believe the polls are manipulated as well, giving a false impression of more support than they actually had.

Just my logic, but if I were going to go to all the trouble of stealing an election I would cover all the bases, and that would include manipulating the polls to cover the theft. I don't think they did a good enough job of it because people still got suspicious, but they created enough chaos to bury it in 2000. And they really messed it up in 2004 by underestimating the turnout for Kerry, so the polls had to be continuously manipulated throughout the night.
I know I know, that can't possibly true because Rove's a genius. :P

Furthermore, since I don't trust the corporate media at all, I don't necessarily believe their poll reporting either. That's what I meant by "who told you that?". It was tongue in cheek.

I know some bushvoters too, even family. But just because we know some doesn't mean the votes weren't stolen and the polls weren't manipulated to try and hide the theft. I just happen to think it's quite possible far more were stolen than even those of us who do believe the elections were stolen suspect.

So, I take a bit of comfort in believing that somewhat LESS than 50% of American voters are morons. Who knows what the actual percentage is, but it sure ain't a majority. :)

[NYC_SKP]

21. I've never seen this much "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't" from MSM.

It's a good thing he decides based upon objective reality and his principles!

:kick:

[stark6935]

24. This is insane

The MSM turns everything into little Obama is so naive, and Mr. McCain can't be criticized because hes a fucking war vet. One of his own surrogates even described his recent, and past gaffes on foreign knowledge as innocent... Aren't innocent mistakes reserved for the new naive, unwitting, unexperienced people like Obama.....?

[NYC_SKP]

29. It's amazing and pathetic. nt

[truedelphi]

25. Remembering the John Kerry campaign, none of this comesas much of a surprise to me

Kerry made his service in Vietnam an important part of the "character" plank of his platform.

For that he was lambasted so intensely that when he appeared on Jon Stewart's show, Stewart said, "So Senator, you never really even were in Vietnam, were you Sir?"

The best thing to do about mainstream media is to ignore them. The dirty little secret is that they have steadily been losing about 15 % of their audience every year, and the four people out there that really believe them are not ever gonna convert to the Democratic ticket anyway.

[BrklynLiberal]

26. IT is another example of EVERYONE in the media and politics assuming the public is made up of total

idiots.

[Faygo Kid]

27. Here's another Sidoti gem: "Analysis: Obama chose winning over his word"

The conclusion in an "analysis" of Obama opting out of public financing:

"Obama blamed his decision in part on McCain and "the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups." But he failed to mention that the only outside groups running ads in earnest so far are those aligned with Obama — and running commercials against McCain.

So much for being a straight shooter."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080619/ap_on_el_pr/obama_money_analysis

If she isn't on the McCain payroll, she sure should be. One of the worst reporters out there.

[ikojo]

28. Doesn't Pat Robertson own the

AP?

[Enthusiast]

31. There has never been

Such a concerted effort by a media to discredit a candidate as we now see with Obama. The amazing thing is how well he is doing under such an amazing array of lies and mischaracterizations.

[NewJeffCT]

40. No, Rev. Moon owns the UPI

which used to be a respected news organization.

[GeorgeGist]

32. Lest you forget ...

the foundation of Judeo-Christian tradition is clearly revealed by the 'book of genesis' censure of knowledge.

[GreenTea]

35. I've been screaming about AP lies and bullshit for many years...it drives me fucking crazy! And...

the fuckers at AP don't have the balls to make each writers email available for comment....they just print their shit and then one has to sit there and seethe afterwards!

[geckosfeet]

36. On the other hand, black is white, up is down and democratic campaign positions are defused

because I say so.

So once the war is not longer an issue - what do we? Look at the economy and explain how it's all the dems fault?

[bjobotts]

37. McCain depends on the ignorance of voters & Sidoti tries tio confuse them to make them ignorant

[bjobotts]

38. Note to Sidoti" Iraqis, Maliki and the American public all endorse Obama's plan

Only McCain and Bush oppose it....But they are pretty much the smae person anyway...hahaha. I guess when your a sexual reject donuts will have to do huh? "Give me access and I'll make sure you have sprinkles for life." Shameless behavior for a so called journalist.

[LynneSin]

41. So in 2000/2004 it was ok to have no military experience and thin foreign policy

and bash those who ran for office who did have strong military background and one that was a decorated war hero.

But I guess it's 2008 so now it's opposite now

:grr:

[inna]

43. AP goes after bloggers

they're copyright Nazis, too - in case if someone missed this:

Associated Press goes after bloggers for copyright violation

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Associated Press (AP) news agency has come under fire from the blogging community after issuing a number of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices against bloggers who have used extracts from AP articles.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Associated_Press_goes_after_bloggers_for_copyright_violation

[MiaCulpa]

44. This may actually be a gift.

" McCain, an ex-Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who has long specialized in national security issues "

Statements like this are the opening to question how, exactly, being a prisoner of war is a plus when it comes to dealing with national security issues.

Just my 2-cents.

-Diane

[barack the house]

45. I think you are likely to get these partisan righties everywhere. It's mostly unbiased really.