Stiletto Democracy -- MoDo nails it. Today's NYT. Must Read

[SpiralHawk]

kskiska  posted this in Editorials, but I though we should see it in GD, too. MoDo really nails it with this one.

This why she got cut off on TV today (Meet the Press?). This just makes it too freaking clear what is going on.

The BushCo Propaganda Machine cannot tolerate this kind of clarity and comprehensiveness.

Discuss among yourselves.


MoDo: W.'s Stiletto Democracy
Maureen Dowd

It was remarkable to see President Bush lecture Vladimir Putin on the importance of checks and balances in a democratic society.

Remarkably brazen, given that the only checks Mr. Bush seems to believe in are those written to the "journalists" Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Karen Ryan, the fake TV anchor, to help promote his policies.

The administration has given a whole new meaning to checkbook journalism, paying a stupendous $97 million to an outside P.R. firm to buy columnists and produce propaganda, including faux video news releases.

The only balance W. likes is the slavering, Pravda-like "Fair and Balanced" coverage Fox News provides. Mr. Bush pledges to spread democracy while his officials strive to create a Potemkin press village at home.

This White House seems to prefer softball questions from a self-advertised male escort with a fake name to hardball questions from journalists with real names; it prefers tossing journalists who protect their sources into the gulag to giving up the officials who broke the law by leaking the name of their own C.I.A. agent.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/opinion/27dowd.html?h...  
 

[robbedvoter]

1. The original article has more bite:

Putin loses his smile after lecture from Bush on democracy
http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=614535&host=3&dir=73
By Andrew Osborn in Bratislava

25 February 2005

Putin loses his smile after lecture from Bush on democracy

Taras Chaban: Europe's leaders must start standing up to Putin

Leading article: The lesson of George Bush's tour is that Europe needs to pull closer together

President George Bush subjected Russia's Vladimir Putin to a public lecture on the fundamentals of democracy yesterday, injecting a chill into a relationship that has - until now - been characterised by bonhomie.

Meeting in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, Mr Bush emerged from a three-hour meeting with the Russian President joking and smiling and full of warm words. But his frequent references to "Vladimir" and the "fella" were peppered with targeted criticism of the state of democracy in Russia with which the more hawkish members of his administration are said to have lost patience.

An unsmiling, visibly irritated Mr Putin squirmed as he listened to Mr Bush tell a press conference he had been told that Washington had "concerns about Russia's commitment in fulfilling" the "universal principles" of democracy. "Democracies always reflect a country's customs and culture, and I know that," Mr Bush said. "Yet democracies have certain things in common; they have a rule of law, and protection of minorities, a free press, and a viable political opposition."

But I do like MoDo's last sentence
The president loves democracy - as long as democracy means he's always right.

[ohtransplant]

10. One more kick to keep the ball in the air.

Excellent editorial.

The emperor's naked!

[ixion]

2. Hey MoDo

remember when you slammed gore incessantly for being 'boring' and helped to put the Boy King in the WH in the first place?

I guess you're feeling pretty stupid about that right about now, eh?

[KharmaTrain]

11. Nah...She'd Bitch If It Were A Democrat

As Bartcop says about Mo Do..."she hates everybody".

I agree...I don't trust this lady beyond the ink on the paper. She's finally right on a subject after years of making this regime look good by making Democrats looking "immoral" or inept. And it took her 4 years to come to this realization about this regime? Well, welcome to Planet Earth, Maureen.

This is a great editorial if she didn't try to make Judith Miller look like a victim. Instead Dowd should be calling her out for her non-stop misinformation that all but decapitated the NY Times from speaking out against the Iraq invasion or investigating this regime.

I'm so tired of the "holier-than-thous" who sat silent when this regime stole elections, launched a war for profit and pillaged the treasury...and now seem to have some great revelation.

Plus where does Mo Do's voice go? You sure won't be seeing her on the talk shows (thank goodness...she's iritating to watch/listen to) or her words won't be echoed on talk radio. More words to fill space for what barely suffices for bird cage liner these days.

[Cleita]

3. Thanks for posting or I would have missed this.n/t

[NV Whino]

4. Hope MoDo stays out of small planes

She really let loose on this one.

[qanda]

5. I just read it

And came here to see if anyone else had posted something on it. I was prepared to start a thread. It is absolutely one of the best editorials I have read in a long time.

[SpiralHawk]

6. That she who wrote some truth might not be overlooked

kique

"People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history." - - - Dan Quayle

[SpiralHawk]

7. Because the Sun is setting

this thread merits a kick for the evening.


"President Bush has said that he does not need approval from the UN to wage war, and I'm thinking, well, hell, he didn't need the approval of the American voters to become president, either." -- David Letterman

[SpiralHawk]

8. Because the Sun has risen

and this fine NYT article is disappearing all too quickly, I am giving it one final Monday Morning Kick (MMK).


"The last temptation is the greatest treason. To do the right thing, for the wrong reason." -- T.S. Elliot

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Wow. Keeping this kicked.

[Just Me]

12. OMG she really rips 'em a new one!!!

*LOL* That's as strong language and characterization as I've ever seen on DU (excepting our angry curses and whatnot).

I hope this is a sign of the pendulum swinging back towards center.