Archive for the ‘media’ Category

Gay rights groups are apparently hitting the WSJ over the softball picture.

Pat Buchanan talked about what playing softball meant, I guess I AM a naif, I’ve never ever heard of Softball=lesbian. This is Massachusetts, Baseball and the Red Sox are practically the 8th sacrament.

Oh and Joe agrees with me, I like the batting stance.

I’m looking at the gay rights groups response over that photo, left and right, I say the various groups were waiting for a chance to be “out-raged”

On the left you hear it:

“Personally I think the newspaper, which happens to have the largest circulation of any in the U.S., might as well have gone with a headline that said, ‘Lesbian or switch-hitter?'” grumbled the Dallas Voice’s John Wright.

On the right they are using the photo to hit the administration

“I fully expect the White House to push back and claim Kagan never played softball and that it’s a smear to insinuate she did,” emailed a founder of the conservative gay group GOProud, Chris Barron.

The response of the WSJ was classic and Morning Joe read it:

“If you turn the photo upside down, reverse the pixilation and simultaneously listen to Abbey Road backwards, while reading Roland Barthes, you will indeed find a very subtle hidden message,” said Journal spokeswoman Ashley Huston.

I don’t know what the Journal pays Ashley but she deserves a bonus, that was awesome.

I still never heard a thing about the Softball stuff, I’ll have to take Pat’s word for it, but then again I didn’t see the Spongebob connection either until a gay friend told me either.

Of course there is this report from Dan Riehl

Today on Morning Joe they were talking about movies and the statement was made concerning war movies that Americans Just didn’t want to see them.

They are missing the point. Americans don’t want to see war movies painting our troops as either evil villains or victims and that is what Hollywood has offered us.

Joe & company did make the point that heroes were not being promoted but that’s not because the Bush administration and the army didn’t decorate people. It’s because the media didn’t support the war and decided that people like Paul Smith who was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor were not worthy of a story since telling it might promote military service or been seen as support for the evil George W. Bush.

This is the reality and it needs to be expressed more often.

…but I’ve never heard playing softball being a sign of being a lesbian.

If that is the case then there are a bunch of lesbian leagues in Massachusetts that a bunch of guys are playing on.

But between the politico article and Sullivan’s latest I must conclude that this is all about making it a cause, suddenly we have to support her because those nasty conservatives are making hay of her orientation. That way the White House can be only reluctantly dragged into the conversation.

It would be a good plan, except for the fact that the American Media have lost the ability to con the American People that they once had. Kagan has to stand or fall on her record.

She will likely stand.

Update: I actually like the picture in question it is a good baseball stance and there is nothing more American than a person at the plate.

I took it very ill at the short that Mika took at the Pope this morning but after seeing this story at the memeorandum I am even more upset:

“Today we see in a truly terrifying way that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies, but is born of sin within the Church,” the pontiff told reporters on a plane bound for Portugal.

His comments were his most direct response to press questions, and some of his strongest words yet on the abuse scandal, says the BBC’s Vatican Correspondent, who is travelling with the Pope.

Benedict said the Church has “a very deep need” to acknowledge that it must do penance for its sins and “accept purification”.

However, he added that forgiveness should not be a substitute for justice.

MSNBC portrayed the pope’s remarks saying that the scandal represents the greatest persecution of the church but didn’t mention the rest of the quote saying that its origin is from within, that is: the scandal.

I very much hope that Mika was not aware of the rest of the quote and is a question of a producer giving her incomplete information. If she was aware and she is not ashamed as a journalist she ought to be.