What's Newsworthy And What's Not

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This week's hot blog topics: "They're on the run" - but then again, so is chlamydia; "Suck it" Republican has the (cough) decency (cough) to resign; Bush decides free press is not a 'cornerstone' of democracy; media hairdos ignore reports of a diaper-wearing U.S. Senator... who might have sired a love child... who resides in Alexandria, VA; who actually tried to filibuster and why is the media so damned confused?; what are BushCo bigwigs really good at? (Hint: nothing); and DUers trof, autorank and fasttense tell it like it is. All this, plus College Republicans (With Health Problems) Gone Wild. Enjoy!

Remember when every single Clinton rumor was grist for the cable news mill 24/7? Vince Foster's "murder," Clinton's supposed "love child," and Hillary's "lesbian lust?" Fast forward to today, where we hear the positively deafening sound of Republican/corporate media crickets chirping. Oh, I forgot. Silly moi. Bush says our free press isn't a cornerstone of democracy.

Free Press Schpree Press

From Think Progress:

Bush decides free press is not a 'cornerstone' of democracy.

A Reuters photographer yesterday took a picture of President Bush's speech welcoming journalists to the new White House briefing room. As On Deadline notes, "As you can see, the speech has been marked up and includes a large ‘X' through this section: ‘And there's no truth to the rumor some of those new seats can be ejected by pressing a button at Tony's podium.'"

Here's the ?CLICK">same photo, enlarged.

There you have it. Any questions? Of course there are. If Reuters publishes the photo, that makes it newsworthy, doesn't it? Yet, 63,900 Google hits on "Vitter Diaper," but media crickets are still chirping? Hmmm. Maybe if the fetishist wore a blue dress...

At least the Republican who exposed himself and told a female staffer to "suck it" has resigned. AlterNet blogger Howie Klein has the sordid details:

Republican Rep. Exposed Himself to Female Employee, Chased Her Screaming, "Suck It"

At least this one, North Carolina Rep. David Almond had the decency to resign almost as soon as word of his inappropriate behavior came out. The North Carolina House Republicans are trying to keep his transgression a secret, but they did force him to resign. An insurance agent, Almond was serving his second term in the House. Impeccable DWT sources tell me he exposed himself in front of a female employee and chased her around the room yelling "Suck it, baby, suck it." It is unclear whether or not there was physical contact. She filed a personnel complaint.

Decency? Of course, Mitch McConnell would say, "Boys will be boys."

Morning In America: Bob Schieffer Finally Wakes Up

From talex at Daily Kos:

I am still not sure that I believe it: The Iraqi parliament is going on vacation during the month of August.

The White House offers the lame excuse that, after all, Baghdad is hot in August - sometimes 130 degrees.

May I ask a follow-up?

How much hotter do you suppose it is if you are a wearing a helmet, full body armor, carrying ammunition and walking foot patrols through Baghdad?

The last I heard, that is how American troops are spending their August in Iraq.

For me, this does it.

About time, Bob. Meanwhile, back in Vitterland...

Vitter's Done It Before & Might've Sired An Heir

New Orleans blogger Your Right Hand Thief has the entire Vitter sex scandal history. Here's a snippet:

A trusted source for YRHT claimed that Vitter was indeed a client at Canal Street, and that he was into diapers, among other unusual fetishes. Noladishu also posted about Vitter's "sick fetishes", and linked to a blog reporting that one of Vitter's commercial romances was "blessed with issue", and that he has a child living in Alexandria, VA.

There's so much more at the link, and Your Right Hand Thief continues to update as new developments surface. Of course, this is not news. So stop reading those silly blogs. But if you can't control the bloggers, there is a way to control the comments...

Troll, Troll, Troll Your Blog

From lunkhead at Daily Kos:

Rent a Trolls!!! They've Got F&^%ing Rent a Trolls?

For this campaign season, it looks like someone is offering the services of trolls and sock puppets for hire.


(This is just an image. No way am I driving traffic to this moron's site) Does anyone know anything about Advangage Consultants? They appear to be Republithug from their home page

We all know they're out there. And most of us know not to feed them, even if the urge to do so is sooo strong. Sometimes it's impossible to ignore them. While we're on the subject of ignoring stuff right in front of us...

Corporate Media Ignores Republican Filibuster

First off, the Dems aren't filibustering. The Republicans are the ones filibustering. Major kudos to mcjoan at Daily Kos for noting the best question asked by Media Matters:

Is Diane Sawyer Really this Stupid?

During the July 17 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, co-anchor Diane Sawyer falsely claimed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "vows to filibuster, talking all night to close out all topics besides a vote on Iraqi troop withdrawals." Sawyer was referring to Reid's plan to hold an all-night Senate debate prior to the July 18 cloture vote on a Democratic proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq. However, by planning to extend the Senate session throughout the night, Reid is not "vow(ing) to filibuster," as Sawyer reported. Rather, he is highlighting the Republicans' blocking of an up-or-down vote on the proposal; in other words, it is the Republicans who are filibustering the withdrawal proposal by requiring that 60 senators vote for the amendment in order for it to pass.

Media Matters has the video, and yes - Diane Sawyer is that stupid. After all, Dick Nixon loved her. While several notables live-blogged the Republican filibuster of '07, BobGeiger.com focused on the important stuff, namely the mind-numbingly stupid catch phrases. Here's an amuse bouche from Bob:

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)

Desperate Buzzphrase Count:
"Cut and run" 6
Kit Bond (R-MO)

Freudian slip in describing the alleged dangers of a troop withdrawal: "If we were to leave Iran without finishing the job..." said Bond.

Yikes.

Desperate Buzzphrase Count:
"Retreat and defeat" 3
"Cut and run" 2
"Run and leave" (See "Cut and run") 1
"Embarrass the president" 1
Jim DeMint (R-SC)

DeMint referred to Democrats as the "minority party" until Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) jumped in to correct him.

Meanwhile, over at The Agonist, Sean-Paul Kelley writes:

bull

How can a party argue about a subject when the majority is against them?
Is Bush that good?
Or is he that strong?
Or are his lies that strong that his followers will follow him anywhere he goes?

Finally, here are some choice words from Rising Hegemon:

They're good at one thing...nothing
"They're on the run" ... But then again, so is Chlamydia

(snip)

We have to make 'em over there, so we can fight 'em over there so we can establish that we will have to also fight them over here.

Speaking of fighting them over there, guess who's all for it but won't go over there to fight?

College Republicans With Health Problems Gone Wild

The Huffington Post's Max Blumenthal has the goods on this newest batch of Karl Rove Wannabes:

In conversations with at least twenty College Republicans about the war in Iraq, I listened as they lip-synched discredited cant about "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." Many of the young GOP cadres I met described the so-called "war on terror" as nothing less than the cause of their time.

Yet when I asked these College Repulicans why they were not participating in this historical cause, they immediately went into contortions. Asthma. Bad knees from playing catcher in high school. "Medical reasons." "It's not for me." These were some of the excuses College Republicans offered for why they could not fight them "over there." Like the current Republican leaders who skipped out on Vietnam, the GOP's next generation would rather cheerlead from the sidelines for the war in Iraq while other, less privileged young men and women fight and die.

Wait! There's more! During Blumenthal's video of the convention (view at the above link), disgraced and indicted Tom DeLay told future fascist College Republicans:

"I contend (abortion) affects you in immigration," DeLay told the Washington-area gathering. "If we had those 40 million children that were killed over the last 30 years, we wouldn't need the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that they are doing today. Think about it."

Yep, that's a great quote, but Blumenthal trumps the bug man and notes the "curiously large number of health problems" which prevent college Republicans from fighting them over there. And the corporate media sees no story there. Go figure.

Thank A DUer!

Thanks to trof for posting this timely "Chertoff Gut Feeling" graphic:


Many thanks to autorank for posting this illuminating Bush red state not-so-much-approval poll:


And thanks to fasttense (at the same link) for pointing out:

And the TV pundits would have you believe

the south is the bushes base. I think his base ain't much. Even in the South they have that old saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, hum, well you just can't get fooled again.

Thanks, DUers! You keep me sane.

Heavy sigh. Have you noticed how the corporate-owned media always changes its tune when Dems take control? Suddenly, rumor and innuendo (aimed at Republicans) are like message board ignore function buttons. Obsessed with salacious Clinton sex, cable news hairdos are now acting like Republicans having any kind of sex is nothing more than a vicious Internet hoax.

Our corporate media is a joke. Sure, we love to dump on Katie Couric, but she's just the easiest in a long line of ducks in a row. Every time they lie, misrepresent, cover for Republicans, fall back on their stupid double standard and/or ignore stories we want to know more about, we should all let them know how outraged we are. Every cotton-picking time, y'all. The tightie righties control the message... only as long as we let them.

-- Delilah Boyd

[AwakeAtLast]

1. Somehow I've missed BlogBox!

I don't know how I did it, but I'm glad I didn't miss this one!

Thanks! :hi: