break ... iv. to make a way through, or lay open by breaking; to penetrate; to open up. 16. b. to solve (a code or cipher); to decipher.

04 September 2005
an interesting trend to follow: the reawakening of the mainstream press. the administration has been v. clever in finding ways to neuter the media's ability to question their policies, vide the plame case and newsweek's koran-flushing story. the end result has been an erring on the side of caution that directly contradicts the idea of submitting facts to a candid world. this year, the new york times has apologized for not asking tough questions about the iraq war; the ap admits to "dropping the ball" on the downing street memos, and usa today expressed regrets over the same.

it began w/ cindy sheehan, but this was a correction and was therefore liable to overcompensation. now, though, they've found their issue; they've found something that stinks of things far worse than partisan politics, something that the american people can get behind: katrina. anderson cooper gave it to mary landrieu (cooper was the only mainstream media person i saw ask sheehan about some of her more radical statements); jack cafferty tore everyone involved a new one; even the conservative union leader (never mind the name) attacked bush for his "aloofness" and tony blankley, of all people, wrote a critical editorial of the administration in the washington times on friday. this morning, tim russert laid into michael chertoff. it is a righteous anger, targeted on the katrina response but fuelled by something deeper, something beyond ideology--the realization that they've been asleep at the wheel. something, in other words, i will be keeping an eye on this wednesday.

posted by fred [link] 10:53 AM 0 comments
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all text, unless otherwise noted, (c) 2005 fred solinger. please do not use without permission.

my name is fred solinger. on wednesday, september 7, i will provide running commentary on seventeen straight hours of running commentary, opinion, and straight news from a variety of radio stations and television networks. my objective is to be objective ... beyond that, i'm not quite sure, but hopefully it'll be more lucid at 4am, when all of this is over. one thing is for sure: i won't be lucid at that hour.

links to the monitored programs, arranged ideologically*, in alphabetical order, lest i be charged w/ bias:

the fair & balanced:
all things considered
countdown w/ keith olbermann
the daily show w/ jon stewart
dayside w/ linda vester
factcheck.org
hannity & colmes
hardball w/ chris matthews
the newshour w/ jim lehrer
nightline w/ ted koppel
the o'reilly factor

the left:
the al franken show
the majority report w/ sam seder & janeane garofalo
media matters
the randi rhodes show
springer on the radio

the right:
media research center
the rush limbaugh show
the savage nation w/ michael savage
scarborough country w/ joe scarborough
the sean hannity show
the situation w/ tucker carlson

*that is, when the host has an avowed political position; otherwise, they are assumed to be independent. this is as applicable to bill o'reilly, who leans right, as it is to jon stewart, who leans left.





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