Archive for the ‘media’ Category

Is a story a story if everyone already knows it?

Posted: August 26, 2010 by datechguy in media, oddities
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The Ken Mehlman “coming out” story raises an interesting question about when a person is considered gay.

Mehlman was “outed” several years ago, and the reaction of people was pretty much the type of reaction that I would get if I told people I was fat. A total lack of surprise.

Since this was apparently something everyone knows it leads to the following questions about sexuality:

1. Is a person only considered a homosexual if they acknowledge it?

2. If a person comes out, is that considered forever, for example if a person announces later they they are in fact straight are they considered straight?

While these are interesting philosophical and or sociological questions, this doesn’t explain why the Mehlman story is so big? Of course it’s a great excuse to not report Tea Party/Sarah Palin wins Tuesday, but if we have to have the real answer Stacy McCain provides that for us.

There is nothing new under the sun, you see. There were gay people working for Republicans in 1967 and there are gay people working for Republicans today. What has changed is that gay-rights activists have turned sexuality into an identity-politics racket, so that any gay person who doesn’t share their agenda is made to feel inauthentic, a traitor to The Cause. And, as Marc Ambinder explains in his report at The Atlantic, this is now being used as a “wedge issue” by the Left

It is the attempt peel away conservatives that is the goal here and if this story can help the cause then it will be promoted by the media.

So as long as this is the case it will remain on top of memeorandum

Update: Via Glenn Ann Althouse nails it. It is all about becoming relevant , watch the MSM start using him as a goto guy when talking about republicans in the future.

Morning Joe on the car attack

Posted: August 26, 2010 by datechguy in media, politics
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They report his background, (not specifically mentioning his support to park 51) but since they can’t directly attach him to opposition to the mosque they still play the Gingrich card. You can see them trying to hold back, unable to make the direct connection so it is all a question of “climate”.

I would think the irony of his attachments would be the big story, but I think it is disgraceful that they attempt to link Gingrich here or opposition to the mosque here when the facts are exactly the opposite. Since the guy supports the mosque how does the “climate of hate” connect to the attack? The only climate that mattered was the climate of alcohol in his system.

I haven’t been making it up early enough today to catch the first hour so I don’t know if they hit the Carnahan story but it would be nice.

Then again they have been very balanced looking at the president and noting that he is again being treated differently that Bush would have, noting the double standards.

That’s the thing about this show, compared to every other show on MSNBC they are not afraid to look at reality. They even pointed to Sarah Palin’s success today and acknowledged it.

I wonder if MSNBC tolerates them because a morning show by nature attracts people outside the clique?

Cripes they just played the Rubio Ad. It’s awesome!

Accentuate the positive (Alaska) vs the negative (AZ)

Posted: August 25, 2010 by datechguy in congress, elections, internet/free speech, media, opinion/news, tea parties
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Well Arizona voters decided that John McCain deserves another terms in the senate and took Quayle the younger over the superior Vernon Parker.

Like Barbara Espinosa (Have you caught her blog talk radio show BTW) I preferred both Hayworth and Parker but the voters have spoken and it’s up to us to keep both of those seats in the R column.

In once sense it is not a surprise as if the Senate could flip the state might have wanted to keep the seniority that McCain brings, but if you see an amnesty bill next year, be assured that John McCain will be on board bigtime.

Meanwhile in Alaska Stacy McCain reports the MSM is still in full denial mode concerning Joe Miller:

Traditional media, however, continued to hold out hope for Murkowski, a pro-choice Republican who voted for the unpopular TARP bailout and had been labeled one of the ”Top 10 Senate RINOs” (Republican In Name Only) by Human Events.

In its headline, Roll Call described Murkowski as merely “imperiled,” and an Anchorage Daily News reporter named “Sean” said the incumbent was “battling for her political life.” The New York Times said she was “in a surprisingly tight race.” But Republican sources in Anchorage were more blunt, declaring Murkowski “toast” and employing obscene terms to describe just how completely she had been defeated.

Even funnier is this bit from MSNBC’s first read:

If 2008 was about “hope,” then 2010 might be about “fear” — with Republicans running on fear of Obama/Dems, while Dems will be running on fear of returning to Bush/GOP policies.

*** Why McCain won and Murkowski is in trouble: In fact, this explains why someone like John McCain cruised to victory last night in Arizona and Murkowski didn’t. McCain

Oh conservatives won because of fear. No media bigotry there. Gee what else could they have in common? I’ll give you a clue, it’s someone who sells books, is hated and ridiculed by the media and has odd shaped hips.

Robert Stacy also credits WooHooYoo and people like her for getting him involved and the hard work that made things happen.

Miss Sharon — her Twitter name is WooHooYoo – isn’t famous or influential. She’s just someone who has stopped asking, “What can I do?” and started doing what she can. (Good advice.)

I am looking forward to being able to say the same in November when talking about Bill Gunn here in MA-01.

Maybe by then the media will call the race for Miller.

Pure Goldberg

Posted: August 25, 2010 by datechguy in culture, media, opinion/news
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Jonah Goldberg writes a column in the LA times the once and for all proves that there are lies, damn lies and statistics:

According to the FBI, hate crimes against Muslims increased by a staggering 1,600% in 2001. That sounds serious! But wait, the increase is a math mirage. There were 28 anti-Islamic incidents in 2000. That number climbed to 481 the year a bunch of Muslim terrorists murdered 3,000 Americans in the name of Islam on Sept. 11.

Now, that was a hate crime.

Roll that number around your head. There are 300+ Million people in the US and 50 states in the country and in 2001 “hate crimes” a population out for revenge doesn’t even hit one a month per state?

Regardless, 2001 was the zenith or, looked at through the prism of our national shame, the nadir of the much-discussed anti-Muslim backlash in the United States. The following year, the number of anti-Islamic hate-crime incidents (overwhelmingly, nonviolent vandalism and nasty words) dropped to 155. In 2003, there were 149 such incidents. And the number has hovered around the mid-100s or lower ever since.

Sure, even one hate crime is too many. But does that sound like a anti-Muslim backlash to you?

So we are talking vandalism and nasty words? Lets look at the post 2002 numbers for a sec, The fabulously intolerant Americans that Andrea Mitchell is lecturing concerning sensitivity managed less than one “incident” per season per state since 9/11? And these “incidents” are apparently vandalism and nasty words? This again in a population of 300+ million?

Read the whole thing including that the number of anti Jewish incidents are 6 times higher and anti-islamic ones in the US over the same period.

Maybe if the MSM wants to find bigotry it should look in the mirror and ask themselves why they think the American people are a bunch of hate mongers. Then perhaps their ratings wouldn’t be in the toilet

And finally lets drop this whole “hate” crimes nonsense anyway. It criminalizes thought. Prosecute a rock through a window because it’s a rock through somebody’s window. Justice and law should be color blind.

memeorandum thread here

Update: I would have given a parody example of the MSM’s way of thinking but I couldn’t do better than Alex Pareene’s actual column for salon today. It is almost impossible to parody the left wing media.

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