Monday, December 15, 2008

Our DISinformed Electorate

Knowledge survey conducted after election shows "disinformed electorate"-- courtesy of FactCheck.org. Here's the Obama "Mediscare" ad attacking McCain with a dubious figure.

Worst Campaign News/ Weirdest Ads

Here are some noteworthy ads selected by the poor folks at FactCheck.org who have to analyze this stuff.

MSNBC's 10 most ridiculous campaign stories, many of which MSNBC spent time hyping.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Fox News "Off the Record"

Fox's Carl Cameron, with the anonymous sources trashing Palin, says "I wish I could have told you back at the time but all of it was put off the record until after the election."

Monday, November 10, 2008

Thursday, November 6, 2008

DON'T BE LIBERAL

One of many examples of middle-of-the-road journalists/outlets warning Obama against liberal change. But is that what voters voted for?

Polling data on specific issues suggest that the American public may not be "center-right" as Newsweek and other outlets keep insisting.

If Hell Exists...

... do the makers of this "Godless" ad belong there?

Had GOP Won, Would This Have Been Reported?

Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron offers juicy details -- from anonymous McCain campaign aides who dislike Palin -- about the VP candidate's ignorance and "tantrums."

Nader vs. Fox News

Newly sensitive about racial issues, Fox News anchor Shep Smith challenges Ralph Nader's language in goading Obama.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Is America "center-right"...

...as so many mainstream pundits keep telling us or are they afraid of the "change" that so many voters thought they'd be getting if they supported Obama?

And if Obama was running in favor of socialism a few days ago as Fox News and others claimed-- why is Rove now saying on Fox that Obama ran as a "center-right" candidate?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I'm Credible

A website called NewsCred that I never heard of until now has found me to be 100 percent credible.

Couric asks questions of Obama & McCain

Candidates get up to 90 second answers to personal (and some policy) questions on CBS Evening News.

Monday, November 3, 2008

The Masses Speak: Both Sides

American News Project hears from McCain supporters at a McCain rally in Columbus, Ohio: "If Obama Wins...Conservatives Panic, Pessimistic."

And fromObama supporters at an Obama rally in Columbus: "If McCain Wins, Obama Supporters Predict..."

Newsweek Pushes Back Against Dems

Was this the beginning of a mainstream media drumbeat warning Democrats against actually implementing change if the voters vote for change? Newsweek cover story (Oct 27):
CAMPAIGN 2008
It’s Not Easy Bein’ Blue
America remains a center-right nation
—a fact that a President Obama would forget at his peril.

Similar mainstream media anxiety was expressed in Nov. '06 when voters put Dems in control of Congress -- according to exist polls -- to get U.S. out of Iraq. If media are "liberal," why do so many of them seem to fear liberalism?

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Voter suppression -- racial minorities

People for the American Way 2004 report on voter suppression of racial minorities: Long Shadow of Jim Crow"

Electronic machines misfire

Early voting, same old problems with electronic voting machines.

Suprressing the Student Vote?

Misinformation and disinformation that could discourage student voting.

Rachel Maddow's take on it.

Anger over press questions

This interview of Biden has made this Florida TV host a hero on Fox News. Obama/Biden campaign reacted angrily (threatened to deny station further access) -- leading to criticism of Obama campaign.

Here is Sen. McCain reacting angrily to a reporter BEFORE she asks her question.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Rev. Wright after 9/11

"I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday did anybody else see or hear him? He was on FOX News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the FOX News commentators to no end, he pointed out, a white man, an ambassador, he pointed out that what Malcolm X said when he was silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true, he said Americas chickens, are coming home to roost."

"We took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache, Arikara, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism.

"We took Africans away from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism.

"We bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel.

"We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenage and toddlers, pregnant mothers and hard working fathers.

"We bombed Qaddafi's home, and killed his child. Blessed are they who bash your children's head against the rock.

"We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hard working people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they'd never get back home.

"We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye.

"Kids playing in the playground. Mothers picking up children after school. Civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.

"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff that we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost.

"Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets terrorism. A white ambassador said that y'all, not a black militant. Not a reverend who preaches about racism. An ambassador whose eyes are wide open and who is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised. The ambassador said the people we have wounded don't have the military capability we have. But they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them. And we need to come to grips with that."

Thursday, October 23, 2008

GOPer denies saying "liberals hate real Americans..."

Tip of the hat to Alyssa Z. Politcian denies saying: "Liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God." Serious reporting proves he said it.

Couric asks questions of Obama & McCain

"Each week until Election Day, the CBS Evening News is planning to show you the answers to questions of politics and character that CBS News anchor Katie Couric posed to the two men vying to be the next Commander in Chief."

Clever get-out-the-vote video

Viral video from pro-Obama netroots powerhouse MoveOn.org offers creative, personalized take on your vote matters with email subject line "You're in this video"

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Defending feminism

On CNN's Crossfire debate show a dozen years ago, a once-famous male TV pundit defends feminism in discussion with conservative Robert Novak.

Hillary Clinton's cleavage

This image drove some in mainstream media, beginning with Washington Post, to fits of analysis.
Video from Fox News.

Limbaugh charges "sexism"

Rush Limbaugh has scoffed at charges of sexism for decades, but has finally found a genuine victim: Sarah Palin.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

McCain supporters challenge bigotry

This video cuts against the image of McCain/Palin supporters as intolerant. Inspiring McCain campaign staffer confronts Muslim-basher.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Colin Powell on Muslim-baiting in campaign

At 4:35 (to 6:05) Powell clearly confronts Muslim-baiting against Obama -- more clearly than Obama campaign ever has.

ACORN "Destorying Fabric of Democracy"

Michael Winship, chief writer for Bill Moyers' Journal, questions the charges against ACORN in "A Mighty Hoax from ACORN Grows."

Vivid TV Report -- Palin Supporters on Obama

This is the kind of network TV report that gets viewers talking -- based on interviews with Palin supporters after a rally in Ohio. Unfortunately, it didn't run on a US TV network. Just Al Jazeera.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

"Who Is the Real Barack Obama?"

Brave New Films video short accuses McCain/Palin campaign of stirring up hatred.

Is Obama/Osama "a guy of the street"?

Prominent McCain supporter urges Obama to admit that he "was a guy of the street."

Chair of Virginia Republican Party, with a Time magazine reporter present, compares Obama to Osama (bin Laden):
He climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points — for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he said. "That is scary." It is also not exactly true — though that distorted reference to Obama's controversial association with William Ayers, a former 60s radical, was enough to get the volunteers stoked. "And he won't salute the flag," one woman added, repeating another myth about Obama. She was quickly topped by a man who called out, "We don't even know where Senator Obama was really born." Actually, we do; it's Hawaii.

ACORN Responds to Vote Fraud Charges

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) issues a response to charges it is seeking to commit vote fraud.

Monday, October 13, 2008

"The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama"

That's the headline of Sunday's Frank Rich column in the New York Times.
At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.

And more from Rich column.

Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies...

That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.

We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.

TV Ads: "Harold, Call Me" & Obama/Britney/Paris

Republican National Committee ad attacking African American Harold Ford, the '06 Democratic candidate for US senate from Tennessee.

McCain ad comparing (linking?) Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton

Drudge Undermines Hillary Clinton

According to Politico, Drudge "almost single-handedly elevated" Hillary Clinton's RFK assassination reference "into a campaign crisis." The comment -- made in a taped interview with an Iowa newspaper -- was pounced on by the Obama campaign, Obama-friendly websites, and MSM.

Journalists and Bias

Due to conventions of reporting -- professionalism, objectivity, reliance on expert sources, etc -- the private political leanings of journalists may not impart partisan bias into the actual coverage.

FAIR's 1998 survey of the Washington press corps -- a rare survey focusing on journalists' private views on economic issues -- found the press corps to be more conservative than the public on economics, not more liberal.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Two great web resources

For "following the money" behind candidates: Center for Reponsive Politics, aka OpenSecrets.org

For factual disputes: Annenberg Political Fact Check, akaFactCheck.org

Worst Debate Ever

Two veteran mainstream reporters in Politico, John Harris and Jim Vandehei, declare last night's Obama/McCain debate the Worst Ever and long for a Ross Perot or independent to be on the stage. But they seem clueless about the main culprit: the BI-partisan (not "non-partisan," as mainstream outlets call it) Commission on Presidential Debates. They write:
The problem is the commission that has been invested with pseudo-constitutional status to run the debates but, in fact, weakly defers to candidates and clings to antiquated formats. No serious candidate would skip a debate. So the commission should use its leverage to insist that the debates are interesting to voters, rather than safe for candidates.
This misses the point. No one except the TV networks and mainstream media vests the CPD with "pseudo-constitutional status to run the debates." As I pointed out in 2000, the commission was set up by the two major parties to make the debates "safe for candidates" of the two major parties. The League of Women Voters and other truly nonpartisan groups or college campuses would be happy to sponsor debates but the TV nets are wedded to the CPD.

Email & Fox News Warn of Obama's Radical Muslim Upbringing

Brilliant hosts of Fox News morning show discuss Obama and Madrassa.

Jon Stewart ridicules tabloid-oriented TV news for warning public about Internet hoaxes.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Are Conservatives Working the Ref?

Gwen Ifill, tonight's debate moderator, has a book coming out in January on black politicians, with Obama in the title. If Obama wins, the book -- even if it's a totally neutral account -- is more relevant and will get higher sales. The existence of the book has been known about for a couple months. Only in the last two days have GOP supporters raised a fuss in blogs, talk radio and Fox News. Apparently the McCain campaign itself is not making a fuss. Are these folks working the ref, hoping to get softer treatment for Palin tonight, or tougher treatment of Biden?

Ifill has long been known as a totally neutral -- even bland and non-aggressive --interviewer. But the choice doesn't reflect well on the process or the secretive Commission on Presidential Debates.

A piece from CJR on the topic.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

"John McCain is Aware of the Internet"

At Personal Democracy Forum in June, a gathering of folks across the spectrum who use new communications technology in politics, a disagreement erupted on one panel between the deputy inernet director of the John McCain campaign (young man toward left of screen) and his counterpart on the John Edwards campaign (young woman toward right of screen.) It stemmed from the fact that McCain does not use a computer.

Bill Clinton Caught on Tape.

Citizen-journalist Mayhill Fowler, in rope line unidentified as a reporter, elicits choice words from Bill Clinton on a "sleazy" and "slimy" and "dishonest" reporter in particular -- and general "bias of the media for Obama."

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Palin/McCain Interviewed by Couric

On CBS News this week, Palin and McCain sit down side by side for interview with Katie Couric.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Two 1964 TV Ads

1964 ad from Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater: Strength will protect us from our communist enemies.

And one of the most famous attack/smear ads in history from Democratic President and '64 candidate Lyndon Johnson: Who will protect the world from Goldwater?

Swift Boat Ad

The original ad from "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." This 2004 ad, repeatedly calling Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry a liar over his wounds and medals from Vietnam, added the verb "swiftboated" to the political vernacular, as a synonym for "smeared." Kerry commanded a Swift Boat in Vietnam and won five decorations. It was a powerful ad to viewers unaware of the Republican campaign operatives and donors behind it or that the accusers had not served on Kerry's boat and that several had severely contradicted themselves.

The ad ran as a paid ad in only three battleground states -- but was aired hundreds of times on national TV, perhaps elevating in viewers' minds the seriousness of the claims. At the time, Sen. John McCain said: "I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat he commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire."

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Obama ad linking McCain to Limbaugh

Obama ad in Spanish aimed at Latinos smearing McCain by linking him to Limbaugh comments he had nothing to do with.

"They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance," in Spanish as a picture of Rush Limbaugh appears onscreen with quotes of him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out." "They made us feel marginalized in a country we love so much," the ad continues. "John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote and another, even worse, that continues the failed policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families."

McCain ad about immigrants as symbols of hope. Not typical Republican view on immigrants; one wonders in what select areas this ad will actually run.

Nader Wants Into Debate

A Ralph Nader video -- showing that Obama and McCain say similar things on many big issues (more troops to Afghanistan, keeping embargo on Cuba, nuclear power, etc.) - argues for opening up debates to another voice.

1988 VP Debate: "You're no Jack Kennedy"

During 1988 debate, Democrat VP candidate, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, utters his famous (and somewhat demagogic) put down of Republican VP candiate, a youngish Sen. Dan Quayle. See 1-minute video "Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine."

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

McCain Asked about Viagra/Birth Control

McCain's response when asked by a reporter about a comment by one of his top spokespersons (at the time) and his vote on insurance companies covering Viagra but not birth control.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Jokes about Iran off-limits?

Given that the two major-party candidates choose their debate questioners, can we expect hard-hitting questions?

I'm not holding my breath, for example, waiting for one of the hand-picked journalists to ask Sen. McCain something like: "Given the volatile state of the world and of strained relations between our country and a number of Muslim countries, is it helpful to make jokes about bombing or killing Iranians?"

Friday, September 19, 2008

Debate: Why Private? Why Secret?

Pro-democracy and reform groups call on the private, corporate-funded Commission on Presidential Debates to make the secret Obama/McCain debate contract public.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Palin: Raisng gender AND race issues?

The inclusion of Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket has renewed debate about alleged sexism in media coverage and our outlooks. But it has also raised racial issues, as well. A commenter on a blog post cited on Huffington put it this way:
"If you are biracial and born in a state not connected to the lower 48, America needs darn near 2 years and 3 major speeches to "get to know you." If you're white and from a state not connected to the lower 48, America needs 36 minutes and 38 seconds worth of an acceptance speech to know you're "one of us."
This piece by well-known white anti-racist author Tim Wise of Tennessee -- "This is Your Nation on White Privilege" -- has soared around the Internet virally.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Conservative says "liberal smears" go unchallenged

In arguing that "liberal smears" against Republicans get overlooked by mainstream media, leading right-wing media critic Brent Bozell in June cited several ads by left or liberal groups attacking McCain or Republicans.

Such as this MoveOn.org ad referencing McCain's comment about Iraq.

And this satirical short, "I'm voting Republican."

And this one about McCain and a Senate vote on insurance and birth control.

Later, a daily reporter asked McCain about his birth control vote?

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Obama: Wrong for Your Family

McCain ad claiming Obama for sex ed for kindergarten.

Editorial asks: "What's the Pig Deal?"

Washington Post editorial blames McCain campaign for diversions; but is that campaign getting the frontpage news coverage it wants?

Does this reporting help voters, or confuse?

USA Today seeming to be "balanced" by giving credence to claims (about lipstick remark being about Palin) that it probably knows to be false.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Jon Stewart on Gibson/Stephanopoulos "Moderating" of Debate

Stewart goes after ABC hosts of crucial Obama/Clinton Pennsylvania debate for elevating sideshows/gaffes/flag pins above issues.

"Macaca": The video that helped end a political career

This obscure racial slur made by incumbent Senator George Allen (R-VA) -- and its posting on You Tube -- may well have decided that extremely close 2006 Senate race, and which party held the majority in the U.S. Senate.

Outfoxed

Robert Greenwald's documentary critique of Fox News.

Charlie Gibson on taxes

College crowd laughs at Gibson during a Democratic debate in New Hampshire when he says that "a family of two professors, here at St. Anselm, they're going to be in the $200,000 category that you're talking about lifting the taxes on." (at part 9, 2:30)

Do Facts Matter?

From Washington Post report by Jonathan Weisman: "As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone"

John Feehery, a Republican strategist, said the campaign is entering a stage in which skirmishes over the facts are less important than the dominant themes that are forming voters' opinions of the candidates.

"The more the The New York Times and The Washington Post go after Sarah Palin, the better off she is, because there's a bigger truth out there and the bigger truths are she's new, she's popular in Alaska and she is an insurgent," Feehery said. "As long as those are out there, these little facts don't really matter."

For now, there appears to be little political reason to back down. A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken Sept. 5 to Sept. 7 found that 51 percent of voters think Obama would raise their taxes, even though his plan would actually cut taxes for the overwhelming majority of Americans. Obama has proposed eliminating income taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 a year, but 41 percent of those seniors say their income taxes would go up in an Obama administration.

Matt Taibbi on the Obama Press Plane

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/22805322/obama_on_the_trail/print

The technology of campaign propaganda has advanced to such a degree that the concept of campaign-trail "journalism" is now indistinguishable from corporate PR. The wall that once separated campaign staff from the press corps has broken down completely; those paid by the candidate and those covering him might as well be two different shifts on the same factory ship, working together to bring the world frozen fish patties by the ton. On the shimmering 757 that Obama uses to jet around the country, reporters have plastered the press section in the rear of the plane with cheery, offbeat photographs of themselves captured with campaign staffers in various goofy scenes (clowning with boom poles, quaffing beers, drooling while asleep on buses). The collage seems lifted straight from a high school yearbook; the press might as well have titled it "Our Cool Campaign." Read more . . .

Conservative says: Dems can't break Maverick McCain narrative

Conservative pundit Fred Barnes on Fox News yesterday:
"Look, it is very difficult for the Obama people to break the idea that McCain is a maverick. This is an image that has been, I think, deeply rooted over the years. It's one the media has bought. Now it's one that he's trying to sell. I think it is very hard to uproot that now, very difficult."

Monday, September 8, 2008

Questions of bias

McCain's Favorite Network Anchor? asks Greg Sargent of Talking Points Memo/Election Central

Olbermann, who wears his biases on his sleeve, pulled from anchor seat, NY Times reports.

Critique of Obama-Clinton coverage

Interesting video wrap up after Hillary Clinton dropped out. From a former ABC reporter now at Al Jazeera English. June '08



Saturday, September 6, 2008

Sermon at Palin's church: Israelis punished by God for not being Christian

Given the intense media attention paid to controversial statements from the pulpit of Obama's church (usually when Obama was not in attendance), why so little coverage so far of a bizarre statement about Israeli Jewish deaths at Palin's church just two weeks ago (with Palin present)?

According to reporter Ben Smith in Politico , citing a transcript on the Church's website, a leader of Jews for Jesus named David Brickner gave the guest sermon Aug 17 at the Wasila Bible Church. Jews for Jesus is a group that seeks to convert Jews to Christianity.
Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.

"Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It's very real. When [Brickner's son] was in Jerusalem he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment — you can't miss it."

Palin was in church that day, Kroon [Palin's minister--jc] said, though he cautioned against attributing Brickner’s views to her.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Maverick No Matter What

Was selection of Palin a courageous choice of bold Maverick McCain or weak appeasing of the Republican Religious Right base that McCain needed to placate? Most in corporate mainstream media portrayed it as fitting in with their "McCain as maverick"storyline, according to the media watch group FAIR (which I founded).

Why the media should apologize

Media unfair to Palin? Sarcastic piece in Politico by longtime mainstream media correspondent/columnist.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

What They Really Think: 2 Leading Conservatives Think They're Not Being Recorded

Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy, thinking their words not being recorded, discuss Palin choice. Noonan calls it "political bs" and Murphy says it reflects "cynicism" on McCain's part.

Conservative Writers Raise Doubts about Palin Selection

Ramesh Ponnuru: "Palin has been governor for about two minutes."

David Frum: "But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?"

Shannen Coffin: "if John McCain has said that a year plus of statewide office (plus some small town politics) is good enough, why isn't state legislature and a couple of visits to the floor of the U.S. Senate?"

Jonah Goldberg: "Downside: She may not be ready for primetime. The heartbeat-from-the-presidency issue is a real one."

All from rightwing National Review Online. There were plenty more questions from conservatives. It's hardly "liberal media bias" to ask questions of a VP candidate.

Journalists & Activists Detained and Arrested

In the land of the First Amendment, a major story in Minnesota that has largely eluded mainstream media attention so far is law enforcement overheatedly/roughly arresting, detaining and invading the homes of journalists and activists. This release links to some of the footage, and victims.

Monday, September 1, 2008

"Pray for Rain" against Obama: Religious Right Attempt at Humor

"Pray for Rain" video from Focus on the Family leader in this Daily Kos post.

McCain Distorting Obama's Comment on Iran?

Is this ad misleading?

Timid headline in "he said/she said" mode.

Stewart & Colbert on Choice of Palin

Comedy Central Hosts offer their take on McCain's choice for VP.

Fox News Co-Host on Gov. Palin's Foreign Policy Knowledge

Steve Doocy on "Fox and Friends" explains Palin's foreign policy knowledge.

ABC News Producer Arrested While Covering $ to Dems

At 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver, news producer roughly arrested while doing his job on public street.

Gore Vidal-Bill Buckley Debate ABC News 1968

During tumultuous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, ABC features regular debates between Gore Vidal and Bill Buckley, advocates for America's Left and Right. This famous

debate got overly heated. Unlike today's "TV liberals," Vidal defended antiwar protesters and more. Vidal/Buckley represents a broader debate than on today's mainstream TV, which tends to feature predictable surrogates and spin artists from elites of two major parties.


Sunday, August 31, 2008

Police Raid Protesters & Indy Journalist before RNC in Minnesota

Glenn Greenwald reports on SWAT-style raids on young peoples homes in Minnesota.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hey, ma, I'm blogging. . .

and linking to cool websites like this one.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

SYLLABUS- Covering the National Election

Click here for original syllabus -- so you can easily click on assigned readings.

Student Blogs

Tracey Casseus
David Durrett

Julie Gadomski
Jessica Grunenberg
Jennifer Konerman
Josh Mellman
Ben Nasta
Edon Ophir
Hannah Perkins
Norah Shipman
Jackie Simone

Zachary Tomanelli
Carly Willsie
Alyssa Zahler