CBS Commits Actual Journalism Re Palin Vetting & Her Problems

by: Paul Rosenberg

Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 01:02


Experts Warn: It's One Of The Signs Of The Apocalypse

Amazing! It's almost like TPM did it.

I have to admit, I don't watch network news.  But this is real, actual journalism.  Not breaking any news that folks here don't already know about.  But certainly telling a national audience things that they don't know.  And no pussyfooting about it.  No, "Dems claim that water is wet.  Reps say that Dems are."

Maybe I'm mistaken, and maybe this is just a one-time thing.  And, like I said, I don't watch network news.  But this truly strikes me as pre-Florida-2000-style reporting.  It strikes me as a watershed.  Good-bye to all that.  Could it possibly be?  Could truth be making the most improbable of comebacks?
Paul Rosenberg :: CBS Commits Actual Journalism Re Palin Vetting & Her Problems

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CBS Commits Actual Journalism Re Palin Vetting & Her Problems | 44 comments
I think this is part of the McCain luster fading (4.00 / 5)
The Palin pick and lack of vetting has gotten to the MSM types.

He isn't the McCain they thought they knew and it is making them look at him and her more closely.  

And they don't like what they are seeing.

Welcome to the real world journalists...

Agreed (4.00 / 3)
But I'm still astonished.  Even with the change of heart, I seriously didn't know they had it in them to do this kind of reporting anymore.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
copying the blog (4.00 / 2)
It looks to me like they are doing this kind of reporting because it is now easy for them.  All they have to do is visit the blogs and the story is virtually written for them.  Not that there's anything wrong with that :-)
[ Parent ]
More specifically (4.00 / 4)
The John McCain love affair is directly making mainstream media folks look stupid. They're happy to push the maverick myth and all that as long as it's remotely plausible, but these folks by and large have no interest is sacrificing their careers over John McCain. And continuing to roll over for him makes these folks look increasingly ridiculous. He's too far out in the public view now to cover up his absurdity and the media is jumping ship as a result.

John McCain opposes the GI Bill.
[ Parent ]
Kyra Phillips of CNN (4.00 / 1)
reporting on location from Alaska couldn't stop gushing about how much the locals love Palin and how much she herself would love to have a beer with her.

I hope this isn't a sign that McCain's refusal to go on Larry King tonight has chastened CNN's nascent foray into objectivity.  

Kyra Phillips is an idiot--literally (4.00 / 3)
She's barely fit to do celebrity entertainment news, let alone real news. She's wont to say cringe-inducing things like "You go, girl!" and giggle randomly. She's the female counterpart to Rick "Ya ya that taser sure hurts man" Sanchez. Ech. She needs to be assigned to follow Jeannie Moos around. Her perky shtick would do better there.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton
[ Parent ]
Hard not to be cynical (0.00 / 0)
and read this as rebranding the product.  Bottom of the ratings, MSNBC seems to be doing well by tilting left, let's give their approach a try.

I appreciated Biden's "Children are off-limits."  My bet is Palin is going to come out swinging tomorrow night and defending her daughter and son-in-law's right to privacy.  It's a theme (persecution by the "elite" "liberal" media) that may resonate with young white lower-income voters who already feel threatened by the idea of an AA president.  

I have the nasty feeling that we've been played, starting with the announcement of Bristol's pregnancy.  Assuming Palin and the Republicans try to focus all attention tomorrow night on the pregnancy issue, we'll see if the media just follow the bouncing ball as usual, or continue to bring up Troopergate and AIP.

The fact that we're no longer talking about issues is to some extent already a success for the Republicans.

Nonsense! (4.00 / 8)
The fact that we're no longer talking about issues is to some extent already a success for the Republicans.

The last several years of polling show conclusively that the GOP has lost on the issues.  Character assassination is the name of the game.  And now they're losing on that front, too.

You need to read Glenn Greenwald's Great American Hypocrites.  As long as we fight on the issues, and they fight uncontested on character, we'll just keep losing over and over and over again.

This is exactly what the Democrats need.  We just have to keep reframing it as all about McCain's judgment, integrity, temperament, and overall fitness to lead, and not about the Palins in particular, hapless though they may be.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
We've had a good five days (4.00 / 1)
With the help of Palin's Jerry Springer lifestyle, we've been able to frame her negatively and to keep McCain off-balance. We've temporarily silenced the Republican noise and slime machines. I suspect, however, that Palin will stage a comeback with her speech. She's beautiful, and she has a really good speaking voice. You just want to look at her and listen to her.

So the fight will soon enter a new phase, in which our side isn't necessarily winning every day. We've got to double down on character, McCain's and Palin's. The issues--no choice for rape victims, no contraceptives for anyone, little help for planet Earth, no health care for the poor, no end to war--go to their character. We need to keep repeating that McCain and Palin are just too extreme and dangerous to be elected.

[ Parent ]
That's not the Obama way and it's not going to happen (0.00 / 0)
His style is jiu-jitsu, not direct confrontation and attack. And while it might not work as president, as a candidate, it's worked quite well, I'd say. Plus, I think that the John & Sarah Comedy Hour has done a pretty good job on its own of tearing down the McCain mystique about character and judgement. He looks like a fool with this, and that's not going to change with a speech. Reality is trumping words these days--at least on the right (why do you think they ordered Bush to stay the hell away?). Let them hoist themselves on their own petard, while Obama & Biden keep doing what they're doing so well--looking presidential and vice-presidential, while staying focused on the issues (and subtly hinting about McCain's poor judgement if not character here and there). McCain's just a noun, a verb, and POW.

Hah!

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton

[ Parent ]
Forget about Bush - where's Cheney? (0.00 / 0)
He was supposed to speak in StP, too.  He stayed away because of Gustav, too.

But, at least, Bush made a show of going to TX to "oversee" the relief effort - where was Cheney?  If he wasn't doing anything of consequence for the victims of Gustav - why didn't he have time to come to StP?

Even the hard-working Bush managed to take some time off from his handling of Gustav relief to appear via video - where's Cheney?  Guess they don't have video cameras in the undisclosed location, eh?

While we're on the hurricane issue - what about Hanna?  Isn't it unseemly for the Republicans to be partying while Hanna takes a swipe at the southeast? Or, does that only apply to hurricanes that might hit NOLA?

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
Maybe they couldn't secure the rights to the Darth Vader theme (4.00 / 1)
to cue up when he arrived, so they scrapped the whole idea.

Or, more likely, they're not quite as stupid as we'd like to believe that they are, and told him to stay the hell away lest he scare away swing voters and small children. Plus, I think I read that he's doing damage control in Georgia (i.e. securing long-term no-bid contracts for his M-I buddies the "protect" our Georgian "friends" from Russian "aggression").

Cheney as shadow president has been sort of like Gotti in charge of the mob. A thug to the end, in his case of the beaurocratic sort. Another Beria, basically.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton

[ Parent ]
Well, he WAS on the schedule until Gustav put him off (0.00 / 0)
Now, he's in central asia.

Lots of M$M talk about the "lack" of GWB, but no one seems to notice that the sitting VP is nowhere to be seen.  And, yes, I agree no Cheney is good for McCain and the GOP

How would Sarah Palin look in contrast?

actually,

how does Cheney look in contrast?

Best not to put them together and risk a photograph inviting the comparisons.



"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
So, which Central Asian despot (0.00 / 0)
is he trying to strong-arm/bribe into granting Halliburton an exclusive contract while allowing US bases and ABM sites to be positioned on their land? I imagine that he gets his model for courageous leadership from these thugs. Too bad he had to miss the big pow-wow.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton
[ Parent ]
I think he's on a tour (0.00 / 0)
Started in Azerbijan (sp).

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
That's the Caucases, not Central Asia (0.00 / 0)
But given that they have oil and gas there too, I'm sure it's on his itinerary. The man is a big energy/neocon tool who literally cannot think except in terms of money and power. People are just numbers on paper to him, no different from barrels of oil or missles. What a creep.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton
[ Parent ]
I said "we," not Obama (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Jerry Springer lifestyle? (0.00 / 0)
WTF?
[ Parent ]
Fighting on character (0.00 / 0)
This is a troubling dynamic.  If fighting on the issues loses, and the fight is truly about character, then everyone loses, but most especially anyone who cares about issues.  If character trumps issues, then in the end the winners will be people who by definition don't care about policy.

Character is a crap shoot.  No one can be certain of winning and the results are essentially random.  Obama might have chosen Edwards, and the Democratic convention could have been plagued by the same problems the Republicans now have.  McCain did choose Palin - and somehow this is claimed to reflect on his judgment and temperment.  I would say it reflects mostly on his ability and the talents of his managers to conduct a campaign.  That isn't a reflection of his possible skill as President.  

Character arguments always favor the vacuous and the inexperienced.  When policy isn't chosen on whether it is wise or even popular, but whether it looks strong, patriotic, compassionate, etc., we favor candidates who are weak on policy.  When we pretend that we can evaluate "judgment" or "temperament" on the basis of cherrypicking votes or campaign tactics we drive out the most experienced out of contention - the more decisions someone has made, the easier it is to claim they've used bad judgment.  

That's why we have Bush, Palin, and Obama - because more experienced candidates are being driven out by this nonsense "judgment" and "character" talk.  I don't know what the answer is, but if this inanity can't be fixed, there isn't any point to the minimal democracy we have.  We might as well save the money and aggravation, and just alternate between the two parties on a set schedule, or flip a coin.

[ Parent ]
might as well have one party, (0.00 / 0)
it takes too much effort to flip a coin.  and unless the coin is shiny, new, and sparkly....it would be pretty boring anyway.  
[ Parent ]
We didn't start this culture war, they did. (4.00 / 2)
Likewise, we never wanted to fight over "character," they did. But it isn't a fight we should shirk because it is a fight we can win. Our people actually have character.

Montani semper liberi
[ Parent ]
Our people have character? (0.00 / 0)
Like Bill Clinton did?

John Edwards?

Eliot Spitzer?

William J. Jefferson?


[ Parent ]
Time for a cynicism realignment and tuneup (4.00 / 2)
because the "liberal media" and "family values" memes just aren't resonating the way they used to. This peaked in '04, if not several years before that, and has been declining since. Sure, the fundies will eat it up, but who cares, they were NEVER going to vote for a black Mooslim terrorist who will force your daughters to have sex and then perform an abortion on them, and reality-based approaches are wasted on them.

But the center isn't buying it, and this drip drip drip of revelations about Palin, and his overall suckiness on just about all issues except national security, appears to be hurting hurting hurting McCain. And if he can't win over the center, he can't win, period.

McCain is teh suck.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton

[ Parent ]
Important question that is missing (4.00 / 6)
'Senator McCain, you called Governor Sarah Palin a "soulmate". Mrs. Palin is against abortion in all cases, no excemptions allowed, even when a woman has been raped. Do you support that stance with your heart and soul?'
There are a lot of questions missing (4.00 / 4)
because McCain and Palin aren't taking any questions! They're just giving press releases and speeches.

McCain won't even go on Larry King for crying out loud. The houses gaffe came out of an interview, then he did the interview with Time and tried to be very tight-lipped and clipped in his answers and that earned him a "prickly" label.

They're just going all-surrogate all-the-time and are hoping that the moderators at the debates don't have the balls to bring up any of the pertinent question as you just posed.  

[ Parent ]
does anyone else think? (0.00 / 0)
The McCain camp is looking for ways to dump her gracefully and name a new VP candidate by the end of the convention.  I dont know any other reason why they are in lock down mode, Palin in seclusion, unless this is being seriously considered.  I remember when Clinton named Zoe Baird att gen, and then the nanny gate scandal occurrred, and everyone went into lock down exactly like this.  One of my friends was working at the hotel where Baird was staying and brought her her newpapers every morning.  He had some funny stories, a al the sword of Damocles.  

She can address the convention as a brimstone evangelical and explain that for family reasons she has decided she is unable to leave her positional as governor of alaska.  And thank you very much.

A little embarrassing for McCain, but in broader terms it does show his base that he wants to get cozy with the extreme right wing, and he can end up with someone better.

I wonder who would replace Palin.  Crist is out.. he is gay.  Lieberman is pro-choice.  Romney is LDS.  Huckabee is pro-tax.   My guess would be Bobby Jindal, the redstate folks love him, or Pawlenty, as default.  I wonder if Rice was vetted.  What about Kay Bailey of Texas, or Martinez of florida.  Awful choices, but all fare better for McCain than the weight of Palin on the ticket.  

[ Parent ]
Fred Thompson (0.00 / 0)
If Palin gets yanked then Fred Thompson seems most likely to me. He's got that grandfather thing going for him, seems safe, and just gave the Republican Convention warm-fuzzies with his speech.
[ Parent ]
And, if they suspect the debate moderator will ask uncomfortable questions (4.00 / 1)
they'll back out of the debate.


"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
Palin (4.00 / 6)
What ticks me off is the fact that pundits are saying all she has to do is give a good speech at the convention and she is good to go.  I cannot say how much that pisses me off.  The woman has not gone through a real interview or press "avail" to date.

Let me hear Palin in her own words on random questions, please.

Right (0.00 / 0)
It's the difficulty of encompassing this sort of typical brain-dead, spoon-fed narrative in the same media universe with the actual journalism in the CBS clip above that's boggling my mind right now.

Like I said, sign of the apocalypse.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
Fine with me (0.00 / 0)
Everyone that slams Obama KNOWS that speechifying is not enough, so I don't see how this can play for very long.

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
Response to Lieberman (0.00 / 0)
This may not be the right spot to post this but, what the heck.  I sent this E-Mail to Mr. Lieberman tonight.

Presidential Preference.  I have never been so disappointed in my life than seeing you up there during the REPUBLICAN Convention giving a speech trashing Mr. Obama.  Mr Lieberman, this party gave its all to you in 2000 and you decided to have giggles with the RNC.  This is just amazing to me.  I knew it could happen but, I am still disappointed.  

The Republicans (including McCain) will fall in November and you will to.  You can argue all you want about security but, that is BS and you know it.  You made your choice and you will fail.

Hugs and Kisses.

That really was not my signoff but, you get the point.

Palin (4.00 / 1)
Actually, this election is simple:

Sarah Palin = Pat Robertson.  End of story.

Three points (4.00 / 2)
One, such serious and honest reporting actually still takes place, even on the 3 networks (which I too rarely watch, but occasionally), albeit much less than it should and could. Lara Logan is an obvious example, but also Brian Ross every blue moon (when he's not letting himself be a GOP tool), and others whose names escape me.

Two, the media appears to be losing its love for all things GOP. It's not ideological but a combination, I'm guessing, of the shift in public support from the GOP to Dems, the Obama "cool" factor, and management's strategic decision to swing its support to the left, for purely business reasons. Plus, Repubs are just boring, boring, boring. So they're now fair game.

Three, McCain's team seriously sucks at "handling" the media, compared to either Obama or Bush. Palin is just the latest example of how truly awful they are at understanding how the media works, and how to make it work for you, and not against you. This flyboy is still strickly seat of the pants. Except his pants don't fit. Or something pantaloonous.

I think you need to be old enough to remember a time before the early to mid 80's, when the media wasn't anywhere near as solicitous to the right, to realize that it wasn't always this way, and needn't always be this way. They absolutely loathed Nixon, and were extremely dismissive of Reagan. But St. Ronnie worked them over through both public charm and private arm-twisting, won reelection in a landslide, and everything shifted rightward.

We appear to be going back to an ante-Reagan era, media-wise. I mean, who wants to side with losers? Which is what the GOP is and what McCain will be bwahahahahaha!

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything...Mankind are forever destined to be the dupes of bold & cunning imposture" -- Alexander Hamilton

I still don't trust them. (4.00 / 3)
I believe their bias for the GOP is not ideological or emotional so much as it's financial. The Republicans deregulated the media so their cronies could buy all the outlets. That hasn't changed yet.

Montani semper liberi
[ Parent ]
Vetting? We're talking about vetting? (0.00 / 1)
No voter is going to care.  If Sarah Palin holds her own on the trail and in the debates, she'll be fine.

A McCain/Palin "Mavericks for Change" campaign would be very formidable.  

"Could truth be making the most improbable of combacks?" (0.00 / 0)
Yeah, just in time for the Obama administration.  

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain
i've noticed this trend too (4.00 / 1)
i think it's because the craziness no longer serves the interest of the market.  which leads to an important question:

"Could truth be making the most improbable of comebacks?"

Whose truth? :)

"the interest of the market" (4.00 / 2)
Exactly right. The National Enquire-like nature of the Palin biography makes it too good to pass up despite the MSM's infatuation with McCain. There's just so much potential for audience interest here that it outweighs the McCain "maverick" narrative. And with CBS's ratings problem and competitive pressures from cable, it has to do something edgier to keep advertisers appeased.
[ Parent ]
Don't jump to conclusions (0.00 / 0)
One good story doesn't mean that CBS is back in the news business.

Palin ain't gonna quit. She's here to stay. If they were gonna admit the error and retrench, it would've happened by now. They've decided to pull out all the stops, bring on the village idiot who fathered the baby, and court the white trash with all their might. Palin will have a deadlock on the lower income, lower educational level, fundamentalist crowd, and that was the reason for selecting her to start with. She's got the pond stirred up, and the pond scum is rising to the surface and agitated like they were the first time they elected one of their own, 2000 and GHWB. McCain is thinking "mission accomplished". Now it's a battle of organization and excited bases, a true us versus them.

The McCain campaign has lost a few voters, that's true. White Trash Barbie ain't gonna play well with middle class voters. BUT, McCain's "patriotism" and experience does mean a lot to these middle of the road supporters. AND, Palin is the PERFECT candidate for firing up the "I ain't voting for no ni***r" crew, and as sad as it is in 2008 America, there are still a whole lot of racists out there.

The left HAS to hammer in the stake of the Alaskan Independence Party thing, secessionism will hurt them big time, and go after her inexperience and less than stunning intellect without being overt about it. Battle's just starting kids, it's a long 8 weeks left.

No, But... (0.00 / 0)
One good story doesn't mean that CBS is back in the news business.

It means they could be.

Which was astonishing, really.

Sort of like seeing an ad for Rocky XXXIV.

Talk about comeback kids.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
The fundamentalist crowd is in fact, (0.00 / 0)
split. Remember the Bible says a woman shall not have dominion over a man? So how's that supposed to work with a female VP? Isn't that giving her dominion over many, many men?

The lower income, lower education crowd is the one that has been hurt the most by the Conservative reign of terror. They're the ones who have lost their jobs and now their homes. Some of the white ones are still kept in the GOP fold by the politics of hate, but they weren't going anywhere anyway.

And some of us white trash are Democratic.

Montani semper liberi

[ Parent ]
Katie v Charlie & Brian (0.00 / 0)
It's also worth noting that when all three networks were getting a lot of grief about using the Pentagon's Propaganda Generals, both Gibson and Williams defended their work.

Katie Couric was the only one who said they had not done as good a job as they should have. Then they froze her out.

I won't watch ABC or NBC now, but I'll make an exception for CBS, if for some reason I can't get the NewsHour tuned in. (No cable here.)

A joke: (0.00 / 0)
What does the traditional media say after committing journalism?

"I'm so sorry. It will never happen again."

Montani semper liberi

CBS Commits Actual Journalism Re Palin Vetting & Her Problems | 44 comments
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