The McCain campaign responded to questions about his gaffe on the CBS Evening News on the timeline of the Sunni Awakening and it was reported by Ed Henry on AC 360 tonight.

The surge strategy that was supported by John McCain and opposed by Barack Obama was responsible for the reduction in violence we have all seen over the last year and a half. If Barack Obama had had his way, the Sheiks who started the Awakening would have been murdered at the hands of al Qaeda, and the US forces would have already left Iraq in defeat.

Watch the panel at AC 360 try to spin this one in the video below the fold.

The real story of media accountability is how the tracking ability of internet advertising is re-shaping the editorial decision-making of the mainstream media.

I was just watching The Verdict on MSNBC, and Dan showed a clip of Anderson ranting about Access Hollywood getting the interview with Obama and the rest of his family, saying (paraphrasing)"...being that it was Access Hollywood the interview wasn't hard hitting...".

What type of "hard-hittin'" questions would you ask Obama in front of his daughters, Anderson?

ANDERSON: Obama, can you tell me how your life as a gay, muslim, black extremist who doesn't where lapel pins influences your daughters?

Gosh, Anderson, go get your nails done, and calm down.

Last night on AC 360, Cliff May, member of the Iraq Study Group, said that KOS members want to lose the war in Iraq.

Anderson had Al Sharpton, Roland Martin and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on AC360 to talk about Dobson's comments and ended up facing a personal attack.

"None of us leaves our personal convictions or religious feelings at the door," Sharpton told Cooper during a panel discussion, "but we also respect the fact that everyone doesn't have to have those same convictions in the public marketplace."

"I may have some very conservative personal feelings, but I feel you have the right to live your life differently.

"I might think what you do, Anderson, is going to put you in Hell, but I'm going to defend your right to get there."

"I'm going to try to keep you from going there," added Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.

One grip we have with the Traditional Media is that they are sometimes too complacent and don't do their jobs. This was the case in the lead-up to the Iraq War and continues to be the case. But fear not fellow Kossacks not all these media members are like this. Some do their jobs and are pretty cool. Here are a few who I think rock.

Wow, my mouth is still hanging open after what I just watched and I only caught the last few minutes.

Tonight's edition of Anderson Cooper 360 featured a piece called 'The Obama Style of Politics'.

Don't know if you caught this, but Politico's Michael Calderone runs the video of Jessica Yellin breaking astounding news to CNN's Anderson Cooper: Apparently corporate media executives pressured the White House reporters to kill negative stories on Bush, especially when Bush's approval ratings were high.  (I know!  Unbelievable!)

(Let me know if this has already been diaried.)

What was most amusing to me, though (aside from Cooper's naivete), were the right-wing commenters on the Politico, who figured the only censorship imaginable was probably to take out Yellin's inate liberal bias and "Bush hatred":

"Where in the MSM have we EVER seen positive stories about this administration or the war?? Its just not there."

"Maybe her stories were already biased by her hatred of Bush and her editors were trying to balance the story...which she found objectionable."

Yeah, that must be it.  Link and pull-outs from Yellin are below the fold.

On CNN's Anderson Cooper last night, the discussion centered on Scott McClellan's new book What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception. In the book McClellan accuses the media of dropping the ball in the run up to the Iraq War. This has caused somewhat of a defensive reaction from those in the media. Here's Charlie "The crowd's turning on me" Gibson:

I think the questions were asked. I respectfully disagree with the gentle lady from the Columbia Broadcasting System [group giggles]. I think the questions were asked. . . . I can remember getting in trouble with administration officials for asking questions they didn't feel comfortable with.

It was just a drumbeat of support from the administration. And it is not our job to debate them; it's our job to ask the questions.

Last night's CNN late-night coverage of the Indiana primary was more than bad; it was the lamest, most assinine, petulant, and stupid cable news coverage in a primary season filled with lame and stupid coverage.  

When I was a young man, I fancied myself an actor. I worked in a community theater, had some small parts, one large one, and enjoyed the work, the camaraderie. While building sets, painting flats and hanging lights, the topic of conversation would often turn to past performances and experiences. A staple of those sessions were tales of the ‘missed cue’. Sometimes, one actor would get lost in elliptical or repetitive dialog, say the wrong line and then a cue would get missed. Or, one actor would repeat a cue in hopes that the missed cue would get picked up and the performance could continue. There were also countless stories about cues that were inappropriately repeated by someone trying to reset the performance and get it back on track.

CBS must ask two very different questions. The obvious: who should replace her? The more difficult: should we even bother?

Backing down from an avalanche of bad publicity led by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, Wal-Mart has decided not to pursue its $470,000 judgment against a brain-damaged former employee.

I'm sick and tired of this crap.

A friend just sent me a "Sorry to see Barack imploding" email.  Is this a bad news cycle for Barack Obama, you bet it is.  Is it an implosion?  Well, no.  Explosion of the media, yes.  But on a deeper level, we all have seen the battle lines being drawn in this country over race, even within the Democratic Party.  Why?  Is the generational gap just as big of a player in all of this?

On 360 this evening Anderson Cooper attempted repeatedly to associate Obama with the comments of the Reverend Wright.  

Miracles never cease.  On 360 last night, Anderson Cooper himself couldn't seem to wrap his head around why they are put in the position of trying to attack Barack Obama's pastor/religion.  He also seemed like he wanted to take a shower after having to report any of it, and some of the panel was concurring.  I can't quote exactly, but the gist of what he said was is that there more important issues in this election than this, real issues.  Real issues that the people want to hear about.  

Albuquerque businessman, entrepreneur, and community activist Michael Padilla entered the race for State Senator in District 11.  "It is more important than ever that State Senate District 11 has a hard working and experienced leader that gets things done," said Michael Padilla, a thirty-five year old life-long democrat.  "Our district needs a leader willing to fully commit the time, energy and courage to make sure we are well represented in the state legislature."  

Padilla went on to add, "I will provide solid leadership that can stay ahead of public safety trends, economic changes, educational requirements, environmental impacts, and desperately needed infrastructure enhancements."

Padilla concluded by saying "Our families in Westgate, the South Valley, and Los Padillas have been paying taxes for over 100 years, and we have been forgotten and ignored, I will stop this immediately and make sure we get our fair share."