"Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom."
- Toni Morrison
Shouldn't Dr. Maya Angelou be part of Hillary's dialog on race?
Some have wondered why there are blacks who consider Dr. Maya Angelou a 'traitor' to her black race. I don't know if I put her there just yet. But her past words create questions as to why she has not spoken up about her friend Hillary Clinton's need to inject racism and Reverend Jeremiah Wright into this campaign in the many ways Hillary has.
Here, she is speaking to the American Academy of Achievement in January, 1997. She covers many topics still relevant to today, so as you read through this interview, remember it's eleven years old.
This list ncludes some media contact information, because I've been hearing some want to let it be known how they feel about how the media has handled this issue. It is far from complete, of course. More a sample of what is out there.
The biggest offense in the Wright tapes - when played in longer segments than Fox or ABC (which supposedly played it before Fox or CNN) or any other outlet has played them - is no one has captured the sentiment around the words beyond the Noise Level. Wright is talking to a community that feels like America has left them behind - economically, politically, socially, demographically. As Jimmy Boegle put it, "Why do you think it's impossible to love your country, yet still be ashamed of it?" Which a poster on Reddit added "I remember Trent Lott saying something like "It's possible to support troops while opposing the president." Which are variations of exactly what Wright was saying in the 'God Damn America' speech. Using the quote of a Reagan appointee.
NBC News had a segment last night on the secretive, elite influence network, "The Family," featuring an interview with Jeff Sharlet, whose book by that title, will be published next month.
The segment also featured dramatic video of the elite fundamentalist "Family" leader Doug Coe preaching about the "covenant" that he says made Hitler among others, powerful -- commanding loyalty among his followers. The program transcript states:
Tim Russert, Williams, NBC shows the SC poll and the white/black split.
Polls show WHITE vote as:
Obama: 20%
Clinton: 39%
Edwards: 28%
Tim says, "Obama in third place amongst whites..."
A Race Assumption...
Tim says, "If John Edwards was not in this race, every indication would be, it would be very good news for Hillary Clinton, getting more white voters in her camp."
What!?
How can NBC-Tim assume 1) that 28% of Whites are making 'race' a driving concern and 2) that this 28%'s second choice would be driven by race, not issues or CHANGE (the natural assumption given WITH DATA)
Did NBC create an assumption OPPOSITE to the DATA...WITHOUT THEIR OWN DATA?
The NBC logic I hear: Whites switching from Edwards would make their second choice based on RACE, not CHANGE
All the prior data was 'change-based' and 'progressive or union-based', not 'race'. Did NBC flip this upside down without the data? If they did, then they just re-framed.
The one thing I dislike about Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" segment is that he never takes on NBC News or MSNBC personalities. From Tucker Carlson to Chris Matthews, there's a lot of stupidity at that network too, but whether because he's told not to or because he doesn't want to wage internal war, Olbermann never mentions it—the Imus battle a notable exception.
That's why you won't see NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams listed for tonight's Worst Person in the World, a spot he justly deserves for this report slipped in after a standard wank piece about MoveOn.org and news that Barry Bonds will do something else next year:
Tonight, NBC News provided a positively Orwellian report on the Iraqi government's decision to kick Blackwater out of the country.
NBC's top Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski actually said "there's no talk about pulling Blackwater out of Iraq" without mentioning that the Iraqi government had ordered the company's mercenaries to leave the country.
Meanwhile, ABC News delivered a reasonably good report. Watch the clip below for highlights of both:
That's the question I had after reading the Denver Post's dispatch today about Sen. Clinton coming to Aspen to rake in big money from a who's who of the the corporate and political Establishment.
Watch closely as this "trusted" News Team of "Laurel and Hardy", er, I mean "Williams and Russert", set the stage for the next Left-Right Battle-line scrimmage, in the all too familiar Talking Points Wars:
As you know by now, Anthony Charles Lynton 'Tony' Blair is set to resign as Great Britain's Prime Minister on June 27th. Barring a major surprise, Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is expected to replace him as leader of the Labour Party and become the new PM.
In his final visit as PM to the United States, Blair was interviewed tonight by Brian Williams, the Anchor of NBC Nightly News. The interview will be shown on NBC's newscast tomorrow evening.
Leaked by unnamed sources at NBC News, Blair discussed a wide range of topics covering his 10 year-tenure as PM and elaborated on his role as "George W. Bush's Poodle" in this interview.
NBC News' coverage of last Thursday's GOP debate restricted the use of its video on the web, prompting widespread cries of, "Meh, that sucks, but who cares about the Republicans, anyway?"
Well, that's not exactly true, of course. Bloggers, both Republican and Democrats alike, have called on their respective parties to insist that debate footage be freely usable on the web.
So by way of update, I bring you this, from CNN:
Media Advisory
For Release: May 5, 2007
CNN to Make Presidential Debate Footage Available without Restrictions
As previously announced, CNN will team up with Hearst-Argyle’s WMUR-TV and the New Hampshire Union Leader to host two presidential debates to be held in America’s first primary state. The debate featuring Democratic candidates will be held on Sunday, June 3, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the Republican debate will be held on Tuesday, June 5, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the historical nature of presidential debates and the significance of these forums to the American public, CNN believes strongly that the debates should be accessible to the public. The candidates need to be held accountable for what they say throughout the election process.
The presidential debates are an integral part of our system of government, in which the American people have the opportunity to make informed choices about who will serve them. Therefore, CNN debate coverage will be made available without restrictions at the conclusion of each live debate.
We believe this is good for the country and good for the electoral process. This decision will apply to all of CNN’s presidential debates, beginning with the upcoming New Hampshire debates in June.
And in yet more good news, another presidential candidate joins the call. This time, it's Chris Dodd, joining Obama and Edwards.
Thanks to all the candidates who are seeing the light on this.
This has not been Keith Olbermann's best week. I have two complaints to lay at his feet today, both of them related to the Virginia Tech killings: 1) His comments about how Americans react to deaths in Iraq vs. deaths in Virginia; and 2) His wall-to-wall coverage of the VT killer's so-called "manifesto".
Well, it seems as though many got what they wanted out of the Virginia Tech tragedy.
The gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, garnered the notoriety he desired, (like Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris at Colombine, whom Cho admired) having pictures of his face plastered in news headlines, and the media freely displaying his maniacal diatribe.
NBC got the scoop, receiving the package containing exclusive video clips and pictures of the mass murderer, and did not hesitate to air the ramblings of a madman. Their excuse:
'We want to know why. We need to know what was in his head, what drove him to do this.'
In a "below the fold" on the NY Times online is a story on 9 US troops dead from blasts north of Baghdad.
For quite a while now troop deaths - coming in drips and drabs of 1 or 2 every day or so - have been hiding below the fold. It's nothing new, and it's not like it surprises me. The numbers of US troops dead is usually "unimportant" until we hit some watermark.
I was bored one day last week and emailed MSNBC my thoughts of some "dream shows" I have for their network. You could also say I wasn't pleased with their 24 hour, all Anna Nicole, all the time news coverage, to say the least. It's that displeasure that really got me thinking about my fantasy shows. It's that same frustration which is forcing me to write this diary!!
I've included the list from that letter as it got me thinking it might make a good diary on it's own.
Well anyway, CNN used to be my choice for news until I started watching Keith Olbermann on Countdown. He and he alone is why I gave MSNBC a shot.
NBC Nightly News did a piece on the Giuliani story today, and the piece was very telling--not just about the media's love of Rudy, but of their truthiness in general. The bit that caught my ear the most?
"Other polls show [Giuliani] doing well against leading Democrats"
Ah, yes, doing well against leading Democrats. And by doing well, we mean losing, of course. Like the Michigan poll that has Giuliani losing to Edwards 49-38, to Obama 45-38, and to Hillary 46-42, released on Friday. Or the Quinnipac that shows him losing to Hillary in Ohio?
See, to the Media, "Doing Well" means losing, but not losing terribly. It's like how Iraq is going well. Or how George Bush's approval rating does well when it reaches the mid 30s. Or how our economy is doing well, despite the increasing poverty and crime across the country. We're doing well!
our buddy echidne of the snakes, one of the great guest bloggers working over at eschaton these days (duncan who?), has a modest proposal, with which we concur:
because it is the era of new bipartisanship, at least based on what i hear from the right of the political aisle, i have a very minor request:
would it be too difficult for all you conservatives to stop dropping the "ic" at the end of the democratic party? it's like that obama-osama thingy. probably just an oversight, but as we are now all civil and courteous, how about fixing this little irritation?
we go even further. in light of brian williams, national anchor for nbc news, constantly saying "democrat party," why not email him to request that he revert back, in the spirit of new bipartisanship, to the traditional term "democratic party?"
