I'm bored and wanted to know who people most dislike among the pundits...you know, the inside-the-beltway crowd.

This is going to be a short diary, so forgive me, but this is getting too pathetic, seeing everyone convinced we're gonna lose. It's sad when I see Michael Moore and Bill Maher and the Huffington Post go into panic mode as well. It's even sadder that some find it so gosh-darn difficult to do a little volunteer work for the campaign, but it's much easier to scream and cry as if you all were Corporal Hudson from Aliens.

It's become very aggravating to come on here or Huffington and see headlines about how we're all screwed and whatever the hell else.

Has anyone forgotten that our lives are at stake here? This isn't sports standings. This is our futures, and we have to work for it as if those were the stakes here.

Name that show. Right here. Let's give MSNBC smart advice from their key demographic: Liberal Spenders. And give Rachel (she's a "Only One Name Needed" now, isn't she? Oprah, Cher, Keith, Rachel...) the "help" she actual soliticted on last night's Countdown. Here's a start:

"Counter Balance" - Where you only hear the real side of the news. All facts, no echo chamber,

"URL" - - Facts, Film, Investigations, Uncoverings and Truth-Telling straight from the blogoshere to you

More ideas after the jump...

 I think that we have reached a time of maximum density as far as the ridiculousness of our politics, the parties involved in it, and the media covers it.  

 As I see it, here is the current state of affairs in our politics and this political race.  See if you can make any sense of this, because I sure as Hell can't.

Coverage of the Saddleback for all the networks precisely was to put McCain back in the saddle. After all, this was his audience, his to win and Obama's to lose. According to all three networks, Obama's was thoughtful, but not forceful, tepid borderline boring, not quick Mcdraw with his answers,he stammered, the same rehashed MSM yada yada. I thought this was billed as a referendum of their faith, although I disagree with this type forum, I kind of understand why he did it. It was a slim and marginal gain for Obama. Do we even know what McCain's faith is? I know he doesn't want any of the liberal supreme court justices he voted for. And bear DNA spending 3 million is wasteful, but not the billions being spent in Iraq, and 5 mil income a year is the new rich. He was playing for disgruntled Hillary's supporters or the PUMA republicans  with Roe vs. Wade dissent, and we will defeat evil! Huh?

So I was up this morning and had the misfortune of listening to the Nice Polite Repulicans' Morning Edition. Lynn was doing the particularly lame media reporting on the media's reaction to a "best seller" story on Jerome Corsi's widely debunked piece of shit Obama Nation. So I called her up. more after the jump.

Of late there has been much chat here about the inequities and inadequacies of MSM. I tend to think the critiques are written largely by unhappy consumers of media, and not by those of us who sometimes work in that world. And I am reminded of the wisdom [sic] of a sports talk radio host, who, exasperated, told a listener that if he didn't like the way the national TV crew covered the local team, he should turn off the sound and listen to the homers on the radio, who are compensated by the local team.

That's not my point. My point is simply to draw attention to a fine series of articles unfolding in the Everett Herald, which are to be found here: http://www.heraldnet.com/...

Though I think no further explanation necessary, if you'll jump across our metaphorical fold, I'll provide a little context.

Just another example of how much the MSM wants little Johnny Boy to win (can someone please explain why??)  I just watched a clip of the CBS evening news talking about "changes" in the McCain campaign, where they showed Joe lieberman's famous little speech at a McCain Rally:

In my opinion, the choice could not be more clear, between one candidate John McCain who's had experience, been tested in war and tried in peace. Another candidate who has not.  Between one candidate, John McCain who's always put the country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate who has not.

digg video link

I am a news junkie.  I'm one of those people who is always interested in what's going on in the world.  Because of this, I always bought the morning paper to read, and watched the news shows on television.  When CNN appeared on the scene, it was almost a gift from heaven - news all the time, any time.  I won't say I was the best-informed person in the world, but I felt I was well-informed about what was happening in the world.

I use the past tense for a reason.  While I'm still a news junkie, and regard myself as fairly well-informed about the world, I no longer buy the daily paper, or watch the national or cable news programs.  

If I'm such a news addict, why don't I watch them, or buy the paper anymore?  One reason is that I can get more news via the Internet than by the traditional means.  But the principal reason is that for over the past decade, the "news" is now about entertainment and profit, not about informing the public.

We are on tour at the moment, but we recorded this little song in our van about the MSM's nonstop coverage to the affair of someone who doesn't hold public office and isn't currently running for one -- and their lack of attention to Ron Suskind's revelation that the Vice President ordered a forged memo to provide a false Iraq/Al Qaeda link to help start a war that has killed over 4,000 Americans. Great job, press folks!

Enjoy "Antiseptic", and forgive us for being more lo-fi than usual.

So I was watching CNN International, and there was a promo for their election coverage, but what made me do a double-take was when they said "CNN takes you to the biggest events of the election, the Democrat and Republican Conventions!" No "ic" on the end of that, they used the favored terminology of the Wingnuts. I thought I might have misheard so I replayed it multiple times and confirmed it. I wish I had a link to the promo, but stay tuned to CNN/CNN International as I'm sure it will be replayed ad nauseum.

I blasted Cokie Roberts in yesterday's weekly, "This Week With Barack Obama" because she deserved it.

She put that red-herring, smoking gun word usage out that Obama is vacationing in some "exotic" place, called Hawaii and that he needs to go to Myrtle Beach, which implies "more American".

I have held my tongue on the media using this word exotic, coding for "Obama is not American" enough, but not anymore.

I have absolutely no intention of writing a diary about a certain former senator from the southeast because, like most of you, I'm pretty tired of reading them (or actually, to be more precise: seeing them, since I really stopped reading them right after Elizabeth's).  But if you will indulge me, I would like to articulate another take on something tangential to the whole business.  It's not really about Edwards.  Honest.

The notion is not original.  How could it be in this age of instant self-gratifying ego-stroking via internet self-publishing?  But it's at least worth a moment of consideration.  I'd had it before my husband spoke to me, but his usual conspiracy-theory mind framed it in such perfectly Machiavellian terms that I could no longer ignore the thoughts nipping at the back of my mind:

What if, he asked, Obama knew Edwards was going to admit his infidelity and orchestrated it for right now to put attention on McCain's own past faithlessness?

Admittedly this is pretty small on the scale of things but this type of thing bothers me and I think we should call out the MSM when we see it happen.

Washington Post:  Obama Tax Plan Would Balloon Deficit, Analysis Finds

Follow me below the jump for an explanation of why this headline is misleading and the article is unfairly biased against the Obama camapaign.

Quick update: Rec list on my 2nd diary...thanks, everybody! I'm proud I was able to bring attention to this in a way that has resonated.

Daily Kos is not only a progenitor of new media, it is a force in that field. Memes started here have weight and power, and this forum is open to one and all. It's as close to a meritocracy as we've seen in media since, forever. The only requirements to entry are literacy and access to a computer --not a given for all people, but quite accessible.

We're becoming the mainstream media, and i think we need to be clear in our terminology. After all, words have power. As we move into the mainstream, what do we call the heretofore MSM? A bit of surfing in Glenn Reynold's land of Instapundit and i found a term i like a lot: Legacy Media.

Well, it should come as no surprise. Give the mainstream media a sordid little story and their inner tabloid is bound to come out. I expect so little of that cast of talking heads, but was aghast yesterday no less to watch pundit after pundit carving poor John Edwards up.

John Edwards does not hold a public office, he is not running for President and he had an affair.  This us such an ...ummmm... moment for me.  Don't let me forget ... and.

What a load of crap.  This MSM sucks the big one.  The really big one. I don't even know why I bother to watch them...even for the weather.  They are useless.