Oops, finally an open thread

Sorry, I was busy taping DemsTV, then ran to dinner with a friend. Read the rest of this post...

Anyone have some concrete answers?

Someone just posted a great coment:

Serious question here ---

I have seen the reference a few times similiar to:

"And anyone who doesn't see parallels - quite ironically, considering the target of this smear - to the early years of Nazi Germany, is deluding themselves"

I don't remember a lot of the specifics, and would like to read up about this, to see for my own educations the parallels.

Does anyone have any recommendations? A web site to read or a book to get about the rise of the Nazi's in pre WW2 Germany.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

America's Taliban wants to know:

Are you, or have you ever been, a member of the American Muslim community?

Read the rest of this post...

Why do silly Muslim-Americans think they're REAL Americans?

From the religious right:

...An author and terrorism expert hopes his new book will be a wake-up call to all Americans. Investigative journalist Paul Sperry claims Washington, DC, has allowed radical Muslims to penetrate the U.S. military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security. Sperry is a media fellow at the Hoover Institution. His book is called Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington. The author believes political correctness has allowed Muslims to gain access to all of the major U.S. security agencies. "They've penetrated our institutions, but we have not penetrated theirs -- and that is a scary proposition," he says. "This book is a wake-up call to Americans across the country. We've been played for suckers about this Islamic threat. We've been lulled into a false sense of security." Sperry says his book will make readers "hustle-proof," providing them with "cold, hard, politically incorrect facts and truths you have not heard since 9-11, and you deserve to hear without the PC spin out of Washington." Another area of concern Sperry points out is America's prison system, which he says has become the top recruiting ground for al Qaeda. And now, the author warns, terrorist recruiters have worked their way into U.S. public schools as well.

First they came for the gays... And anyone who doesn't see parallels - quite ironically, considering the target of this smear - to the early years of Nazi Germany, is deluding themselves. It's time the American Muslim community started making some friends on the left, with gay groups, civil rights groups, lefty bloggers, and others. You're not just "next" - you're now. Read the rest of this post...

Good, let them draft YOUR sons

The religious right is upset that apparently there might be growing pressure to open the military up to more recruits, women, gays, etc. Hey, with this administration in power, you can keep the military exclusively for the straight men for all I care. There's a draft coming, and nothing would make me happier than to let the children of the religious right lead the way into a series of needless and poorly-planned wars while my buddies and I sip cosmos at the beach.

...A retired U.S. Marine officer and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense says America's armed services are not like the civilian world, where everyone should be given an equal opportunity to participate. In fact, he contends, there are thousands of reasons why the military uses the phrase "selective service." As the U.S. armed forces continue to try to win the war against Islamofascism abroad, the Pentagon is continuing to deal with what some critics view as the liberal social engineering agenda in Washington, DC. But despite what many of the equality proponents protest, Colonel (Ret.) Ronald Ray points out that there is no inherent right to serve in the military, and many things can disqualify people from eligibility to serve. For example, he notes, "Today if you have three speeding tickets, they view that as an indication of your lack of subordination. They can keep you out of the Marine Corps. And obviously you don't have blind pilots, obviously you don't have disabilities -- flat feet, hernia." Although equal opportunity may work well in academia and in terms of civilian employment, the colonel asserts, "in the military, all service is selective service -- even the draft was called the 'Selective Service Act.' There is no right to serve your country in peacetime or in war time." The military has standards, Ray adds, and in a time of war, he feels they should go up rather than down.

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Open thread

Well, the anger is growing over this National Press Club farce. Stay tuned. Chat away about whatever you like. Read the rest of this post...

CORRECTION: The National Press Club *IS* a big MSM whore

UPDATE: E&P; now reports that GannonGuckert thinks he's on the panel as a blogger!

Gannon told E&P; he "thinks it is a good opportunity for me to speak to issues related to bloggers." He also added that he was, "trying to stay out there where people can see me."

E&P; has now confirmed it.

It's the National Press Club itself that is hosting Jeff Gannon and Wonkette as either mainstream journalists or serious political bloggers (as we had reported earlier today).

Gannon, of course, is neither, and the same goes for Wonkette. He's a male prostitute who parroted GOP press releases, and she writes a humor blog about sex in politics that focuses mainly on ass-fucking jokes. Neither of them is a serious political journalist (and I don't believe Wonkette, whose site I love, even claims to be), and most certainly neither of them is your first choice for a panel about how serious MSM journalism differs from serious BLOG journalism.

Oh, but it gets better.

Now the Press Club says the panel is REALLY about (in contrast to what they SAY it's about on their own Web site) looking at the Gannon issue and how it reflects on journalism:

"The panel came together because we wanted to discuss some issues that came about from the Gannon case," said Mike Madden, a Gannett News Service reporter and a member of the Press Club's Professional Affairs committee, which is organizing the free event. "So we thought, 'why not try to get him?'"

Uh huh. So you invite Gannon, a woman who jokes about butt-fucking on her blog (and we do love her butt-fucking jokes, but again, how this has to do with a serious discussion on Gannon's credentials, color me confused), and someone from Congress Daily.

Not a single actual journalist-blogger is even on the panel that will be discussing blogging-journalism, and most certainly not anyone representing the "other" side of the GannonGuckert credential issue.

Look who's on the panel:

1. Gannon, who thinks he's an acceptable journalist.
2. Wonkette, who thinks we should err on the side of accepting him as a real journalist, per her own quotes to Howard Kurtz in the Wash Post, and
3. Then there's Congress Daily, whose sister publication, the Hotline, wrote a scathing editorial against our role in the GannonGuckert story.

So, the august National Press Club is holding a panel on the issues surrounding the GannonGuckert story and the only person they invite who was actually involved in the story is GannonGuckert himself.

AND EVEN BETTER, the Press Club invites 3 sources - ALL OF WHOM have already said that GG is a-okay as a journalist. Has anyone at the National Press Club taken Journalism 101? Or don't mainstream journalists even bother to pretend anymore about seeming fair and accurate when discussing progressive political blogs and politics?

National Press Club = Big. Fat. Media. Whore.

Who do you have to sleep with at the Press Club to get a one-sided panel like that?

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

More DemsTV taping tonight... Read the rest of this post...

National Press Club is the MSM's latest whore (this is a GannonGuckert story)

UPDATE: Someone just noted that it is possible this event isn't being hosted by the Press Club, but rather by another organization that is simply renting out the Press Club. We're investigating - stay tuned.



There's an upcoming panel at the National Press Club about the differences between bloggers and journalists and they invite GannonGuckert to be on the panel as, what? He's not a blogger - his so-called "blog" launched a mere 3 weeks ago, and it's hardly much of a blog. And he's most certainly not a journalist, even by the National Press Club's own definition on their Web site:

"You may qualify for Active membership if you fit into one of the following groups:

Work as a:

Reporter, editor, writer, publisher....

For a publication, news service, broadcast outlet or news Internet site that is:...

• Regularly issued
• Supported by advertising or paid subscriptions or published or funded by a non-profit organization Operated with editorial independence from any political, governmental, commercial or special interest
• Not a house organ of any organization or movement"

So what is GG even doing on the panel? The other blogger invited is Wonkette, who, for the record, I adore, but who isn't a political/journalist blogger at all - she's a humorist, and that's great, but to put her opposite John Stanton of Congress Daily seems a bit inappropriate (not to mention, I can't wait till she starts talking about butt-fucking).

And in any case, what is GannonGuckert doing there at all? Like he's an expert on the difference between blogging and journalism? How so? He thinks journalism means parroting press releases and transcripts. As for blogging, again, he started a so-called blog 3 weeks ago and now he's representative of all bloggers? Is he even a blogger at all? Some standards the Press Club has there. They couldn't even get any REAL political bloggers on the panel? Did they even try?

But we really shouldn't be surprised, this is part of a larger ongoing trend, from the LA Times to the Brookings Institution, where bloggers and blogging are distilled and belittled to their most extreme fringe elements - a sex humorist (who again, we love) and a male hooker who isn't even a blogger or journalist at all. Neither is representative of political journalist blogging.

Yet again, the mainstream media is all about selling tickets and belittling the competition rather than addressing a topic seriously. Wonkette sells sex, and sex sells. And GannonGuckert, well, he's literally a whore, so res ipsa loquitor.

Stay tuned as we investigate who the actual sponsor is of this whore-fest. Read the rest of this post...

Sex Offenders for Terri Schiavo

Gee, the Asscociated Press screws up again. Read the rest of this post...

Wall Street Journal slams Tom DeLay

So long, farewell, la la la la goodbye... (I'm too groggy to look up, well, you know, that German phrase).

From the DCCC, quoting the WSJ:

Whether Mr. DeLay violated the small print of House Ethics or campaign-finance rules is thus largely beside the point. His real fault lies in betraying the broader set of principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him out.

Yikes. And this right after his Terri Schiavo grandstanding. That man is toast. Read the rest of this post...

Ok, I got up late - YOU try doing four hours of radio...

Ok, I'm alive. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Starting the week... Read the rest of this post...

Why we need to hold Republicans AND Democrats accountable

From David Sirota:

...it is so important for progressives to not only go after the GOP when they ignore average Americans, but also hold those who undercut the Democratic Party accountable. Doing that is GOOD for the party, and the progressive cause in general. Because when these wavering lawmakers are held accountable, we can hope for a day that they don't undercut the party, the party starts winning these battles, and the progressive cause is advanced.

Read the rest of this post...