Monday, October 25, 2004
You Can't Rule Anything Out
Paranoia, part I: Journalist Wayne Madsen reported last week that the October Surprise is going to be an attack on Iran. I dunno. I think the window is probably closed for something as blatant as that, but you can't rule anything out. The story about John Kerry's meeting with members of the U.N. Security Council before voting on the Iraq war in 2002 was touted by the wingnuts as a potential race-breaker, but there's nothing to it. Much bigger is the story of hundreds of tons of high explosives that went missing in Iraq following the invasion. Whether it gets the play it deserves--as evidence of the utter failure of postwar planning and evidence of the bankruptcy of Bush's claims to have made the world safer--remains to be seen. But I doubt it. (The Surprise that gets traction, if there's to be one at all, will probably be a juicy personal scandal, something easy for the lazy, gullible media to flog and for half-tuned-in voters to grasp. But if it doesn't break in the next 72 hours, it will be too late.)
Paranoia, part II: On the subject of Christian Reconstruction, which came up in this space last week, ICH News relinked to piece written last spring in the wake of the introduction of the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 in Congress. This might be the most Orwellian bill title yet out of the GOP-led Congress, given what it would actually do if it became law. It "would acknowledge God as the sovereign source of law, liberty [and] government' in the United States. What's more, it would forbid all legal challenges to government officials who use the power of the state to enforce their own view of 'God's sovereign authority.' Any judge who dared even hear such a challenge could be removed from office." Nobody is entirely sure whether a Republican-dominated Congress in a second Bush term would be likely to pass it. The House would do so eagerly. The Senate would be less likely to pass it even with a GOP majority, but you can't rule anything out.
Paranoia, part III: The Associated Press is the largest provider of news content in the world. Even the tiniest radio station in West Podunk can generally afford AP wire service, and its stories are published everywhere, from one-sheet newspapers to the New York Times. Because of the AP's size and reach, there's a perception that it's utterly evenhanded and generically fair, but like many other perceptions we have, it ain't necessarily true. During the Democratic primary campaign, reporters Nedra Pickler and Calvin Woodward occasionally put baldfaced editorializing into the leads of their stories. Several high AP officials have connections to conservative newspapers, so journalist Lynn Landes wonders, with the AP serving as the sole source of raw vote totals on Election Night: Can we trust the AP's accuracy? Her story seems a little bit thin, but you can't rule anything out.
Recommended Reading: The Gadflyer imagines what it would be like if John Kerry dissed Texas the way Bush has been bashing Massachusetts.
Recommended Viewing: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog from Late Night With Conan O'Brien covered the third presidential debate in his inimitable style. You'll need a fast connection for the video, but it's worth it. Click here and scroll down to "Triumph: Poop Valhalla."
Paranoia, part I: Journalist Wayne Madsen reported last week that the October Surprise is going to be an attack on Iran. I dunno. I think the window is probably closed for something as blatant as that, but you can't rule anything out. The story about John Kerry's meeting with members of the U.N. Security Council before voting on the Iraq war in 2002 was touted by the wingnuts as a potential race-breaker, but there's nothing to it. Much bigger is the story of hundreds of tons of high explosives that went missing in Iraq following the invasion. Whether it gets the play it deserves--as evidence of the utter failure of postwar planning and evidence of the bankruptcy of Bush's claims to have made the world safer--remains to be seen. But I doubt it. (The Surprise that gets traction, if there's to be one at all, will probably be a juicy personal scandal, something easy for the lazy, gullible media to flog and for half-tuned-in voters to grasp. But if it doesn't break in the next 72 hours, it will be too late.)
Paranoia, part II: On the subject of Christian Reconstruction, which came up in this space last week, ICH News relinked to piece written last spring in the wake of the introduction of the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 in Congress. This might be the most Orwellian bill title yet out of the GOP-led Congress, given what it would actually do if it became law. It "would acknowledge God as the sovereign source of law, liberty [and] government' in the United States. What's more, it would forbid all legal challenges to government officials who use the power of the state to enforce their own view of 'God's sovereign authority.' Any judge who dared even hear such a challenge could be removed from office." Nobody is entirely sure whether a Republican-dominated Congress in a second Bush term would be likely to pass it. The House would do so eagerly. The Senate would be less likely to pass it even with a GOP majority, but you can't rule anything out.
Paranoia, part III: The Associated Press is the largest provider of news content in the world. Even the tiniest radio station in West Podunk can generally afford AP wire service, and its stories are published everywhere, from one-sheet newspapers to the New York Times. Because of the AP's size and reach, there's a perception that it's utterly evenhanded and generically fair, but like many other perceptions we have, it ain't necessarily true. During the Democratic primary campaign, reporters Nedra Pickler and Calvin Woodward occasionally put baldfaced editorializing into the leads of their stories. Several high AP officials have connections to conservative newspapers, so journalist Lynn Landes wonders, with the AP serving as the sole source of raw vote totals on Election Night: Can we trust the AP's accuracy? Her story seems a little bit thin, but you can't rule anything out.
Recommended Reading: The Gadflyer imagines what it would be like if John Kerry dissed Texas the way Bush has been bashing Massachusetts.
Recommended Viewing: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog from Late Night With Conan O'Brien covered the third presidential debate in his inimitable style. You'll need a fast connection for the video, but it's worth it. Click here and scroll down to "Triumph: Poop Valhalla."
