I admit I struggled with whether to write this because I kind of feel like paying attention to the bullshit about John Edwards' "affair" may just draw more into buying the spin . . .

But my local paper has an opinion piece today that just had me reeling.  I couldn't help myself.

Here's the piece Rennie's republican spin

after the fold:

Lookee what Forbes is reporting:

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting 'a reliable source'.

The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army 'were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,' the radio's French-language channel said.

Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million.

The UK's Daily Mail also mentions this.  

UPDATE: Per Davefromqueens -- the London Times sez BushCo paid the ransom!

Just a Good Dog
By David Glenn Cox

We run as if we can outrun our shadows, but to no avail. The next logical step is to pretend that it really doesn’t exist, to live our lives as a series of endless summer days. Pretending, praying the sickle of fate will fall on someone else and leave us be, we live in a solitary cocoon where such things happen only to others.

.
THE MEDIA ARE NOT THE AUTHORS OF REALITY

I Believe It's Someone Called God, In The Popular Mythology

Even if he's dead, he still has more believers than the media.
But he has lightning, too.

Whatever the source of our quotidian reality; supernatural beings, natural laws, scientifically divined phenomena, pure randomness, whatever; it definitely ain't FoxNews. Or ABC or the BBC or NPR or Rush Limbaugh; nor Newsweek, Time, the Times of London, NY, LA or the Straits. The best they can do, for all their chattering, is comment on reality, and try to influence it after the fact (or our perception of it).

Update: 3:29am - Scroll past the fold for some major caveats and clarifications based on info in the comments.

You've gotta love the accuracy of the trio of CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel. CNN & MSNBC are just as bad as fox at times.  This moment just after 2am is one of those moments.

They are all reporting a 10 point lead for Hillary Clinton at 99% of precincts in when that is over a full percentage point off according to the actual results.

Pennsylvania SOS Results Site:
The actual results, right now:
With 98.91% reporting:
Clinton 54.3
Obama 45.7

So it's a single-digit victory for Clinton right now with just about 1% left to report, right?   A 8.6% margin of victory for Clinton?   Simple math, right?  That's what you'd think.

According to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, you don't know how to do simple math.   They're apparently glad to help you learn the new math.

It doesn’t matter what particular news story  is going through a specific ‘news cycle’, the formula is always the same. The only variable is the ‘journalist’ that is reporting it.

More Details Below The Fold ---

Much of politics is theater, as has been noted before.  The timing of the decisively 1-2 punch of Ferarro's boneheaded, if not blatantly racist remark comes the same day that New York state governor Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign due to a still smolderingly sex scandal.  Both horrific mistakes should serve as cautionary tales for all politicians and people in power:  what you do, as well as what you say, can and will come back to haunt you.  

What the hell. I mean, what the hell Keith? Olbermann has continually belittled the Obama win here tonight. How exactly he has done so after the jump.