On the PBS nightly News Hour, they reported on Obama's overseas trip and had two "experts" comment on the news coverage.  One Brit said that it was not a "coronation." (Thank you very much)  The other quoted percentages for unbalanced weighted press coverage for Obama over McCain. Then follows the weekly dialogue with Mark Shields and David Brooks.

It was truly disgusting and more of the good ole boy racism in action (yes, they were all white men.)  Let me count the ways:

This is how main German media comment on Obama's speech.

Interesting report from The Manchester Union Leader via TVNewser.com about McCain's arrival in New Hampshire last night.

The subtitle Why you can not understand 21st century politics with an 18th-century brain seems exceptionally appropriate in this case!  I know there has been much already written on this, but a careful analysis from Lakoff's perspective may help us sort through some of this stuff.  I'll give it a try.  I have been writing in parallel with Lakoff for some time now trying to recast some of his ideas in the context of complex systems theory applied to understanding the mind and how it operates in terms of world views.  There is much overlap between our ideas since much of what I have put together stems from the interplay of Lakoff's teachings and the complexity theory of Robert Rosen.  The best place to get a taste of Rosen's revolutionary approach is his book:Life Itself: A Comprehensive Inquiry into the Nature, Origin, and Fabrication of Life (Complexity in Ecological Systems) (Paperback) published by Columbia University Press in its "Complexity in Ecological Systems" series.  Look below the break and I will give you a quick synthesis and apply it to the infamous cartoon.

This is not a FISA diary, it is a common sense diary.  This week has seen some disturbing things happening in our government and in our country overall.  The attack on our constitution and on our way of life continues, and the person who is our hope for the future seemed to jump on that bandwagon.  I question the logic of the decisions made by those congresspersons who voted for the new FISA bill, but I know that I do not have all of the pertinent information to make an educated judgment of the true reasons for their votes.  

So we've all been complaining for months that the press is giving John McCain pass after pass after pass in the news. He says stupid, inane things and no one catches them or cares to talk about them (save the "100 years in Iraq" nugget of gold he gave us all). We (Kossacks and netizens, etc) all watch him closely, listen to what he actually says - and bellow from our supposedly lonely mountaintop that McSame "is a dipshit" - "is senile" - "is flip flopping like a live salmon in a dry boat" ad nauseum.

But something I have been noticing lately, in the news outlets I do pay attention to - and Fox Spews is not one of them - that Obama has been getting all the air time. By a wide margin, everything Obama does and says is covered, and McSame's name is mentioned, but footage of him is not aired, pictured of him are not featured.

David Corn has a great blog post up asking if the McCain camp is screening it's confrence calls.

http://www.motherjones.com/...

This goes to the heart of the issue with John McCain and the press coverage that he has garnered as of late: from Iraq to the economy he has not recived any scrutiny and has put out plans that would be laughed in oblivion had any other candidate attempted a similar tactic. But with McCain, this never happens.

I don't know if the press has become disillusioned with Obama or the end of the primary means they need a new villian and instead of Clinton it's the democrat in the race, Obama.

Who knows?

But the fact is the online community has demonstrated a unique ability to  harness a message and push it virally into the national conversation; something that has only ever happened before with talk radio. It's exciting and it's an opportunity we should not dismiss.

That's what I want to talk about today.

The last few media creations are far more troubling than those of which I am previously aware. This is because I consider them to be wholly fabricated. Where misinterpretation, deliberate misinterpretation, exaggeration, ignorance and misunderstanding have been the modus operandi of the press, we have moved into new territory. And it is the ease with which it has been done that is frightening. And I am not talking about the blogosphere or the realm of think tanks or the unrepentently biased wing of the media. Some may say it has been this way all along, but I perceive quite a shift. The most recent stirs have been the refine my policies flap, the nonexistent mortgage story, the Wesley Clark remarks and the campaign financing issue. The way the MSM has addressed these stories is beyond disturbing.

My dad used to have this old boat my grandfather has used to troll for shrimp.  On the back it had a little Johnson 75 hp motor, which is perfect for trolling, but not very great for water skiing.  After we would fish or troll, my dad would let me and my brother out the back for some ski time.  Because of the little motor, getting up on skis involved being dragged for about 80 yards underwater before the motor had enough power to get you on top.  With our media today, let me warn you, that's what this summer is going to be like.

Like anything in life, perspective is important.

Friday's opinion page features at least two items of note.

Also in the A section, a well done piece on why the GOP has had to shift gears in dealing with the Obama campaign.

It does indeed seem we're seeing a shift in campaign coverage. On the part of, at least, NYT.

Since announcing his retirement as executive editor at The Washington Post yesterday, Leonard Downie, Jr. has received plaudits from colleagues and peers and TV pundits.  He is coming off a six-Pulitzer season -- including the Walter Reed probe-- and, before that, Dana Priest's "black sites" revelations and more.  And I often remind my friends, he had no control over the paper's editorial page.

That said, I also have to mention the greatest stain on his record: The Post's tragically poor performance in the run-up to the Iraq war, and Downie's failure (as far as I've seen) to fully admit that. His paper, given its influence, stands out as a "complicit enabler," in Scott McClellan's phrase.

  An article on Huffington Post today discusses a letter sent from the Washington Bureau Press Chiefs to the Obama campaign complaining about lack of access.  The article was written by Jason Linkins and has lots of reader comments.
 
A couple of sentences from the letter:

Our joint mission is to cover the candidate on behalf of our millions of worldwide viewers and readers. Those individuals expect truthful and fair coverage from us. Your campaign expects nothing short of that from us as well. Surely we should expect the same from you. We sincerely hope we can expect a relationship based on mutual trust in the coming months of coverage.

Today, the major American oil companies came back into Iraq by getting ... you guessed it ... no-bid contracts! In fact, the four major oil companies that were thrown out by Saddam Hussein 36 years ago made their triumphant return to occupied Iraq.

Former chief executive of Exxon, Lee Raymond, explained the history behind it. "There is an enormous amount of oil in Iraq," he said. "We were part of the consortium, the four companies that were there when Saddam Hussein threw us out, and we basically had the whole country."

Well, congratulations, you now have it back! Mission accomplished!

Neither coal nor a nuclear reactor can power our cars. At least, I've never seen such a car. But the press and politicians keep pushing policy as if we can just shovel coal into our cars and, VOILA, oil problem solved! This short post is definitely on wonkish end of things, but it's important to understand this stuff when oil is such a major issue.

Now that we have mourned the all-too-early loss of Tim Russert, we need to think about what would be the best course for NBC News in picking his replacement on Meet The Press.

This could be used as an OPPORTUNITY by NBC to enhance the journalistic standards of their news division.  Not saying that Russert didn't have good standsrds.  He certainly did, and had a well-earned reputation.  However, the problem with MTP in recent years is that it was too (for lack of a better term) "elitist".    

In a recent The Atlantic blog post, blogger Matt Yglesias inexplicably writes he "100% agrees with" a Jonah Goldberg recommendation to turn Meet The Press into a panel-show hosted by Chuck Todd.

A Matt Yglesias commenter (in a comment typical of those on the thread) writes: "I think Chuck Todd would be a great choice. Cerebral, likeable, not overtly ideological, not a blowhard, projects competence."

But Chuck Todd is a typical corporate media shill who uses his position in the mainstream-media to trim the facts presented to the public and to promote Republicans!

In an interview with Newsweek, John McCain tries to back away from his recent criticism of the media:

Q: Want to back up a little bit and talk about press coverage. One of the things that you mentioned in your speech in New Orleans was that you felt that the media hadn't recognized or had overlooked some of the attributes that Hillary Clinton had brought to the race. And I wondered—

MCCAIN: I did not [say that]—that was in prepared remarks, and I did not [say it]—I'm not in the business of commenting on the press and their coverage or not coverage...I can't change any of the coverage that I know of except to just campaign as hard as I can and try to seek the approval of the majority of my fellow citizens.

It is something that the American people will judge, and I won't complain about it and I won't praise it. I will just run my campaign and hope that the American people will make a judgment.

The problem is, he did say it (video from redlasso):

Senator Clinton has earned great respect for her tenacity and courage.  The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes receives.

Oh, he'll complain about it.  Then he'll just lie about it.  The question is, will the media notice?  

(h/t to Atrios)

I only say "you" because I am not a registered Democrat....I am a Republican.
But this is how Barack will lose...

And how will Hillary and the Democratic Party respond to these words?

Please view below: