Cuts to the core of a bizarre situation.  Vital stuff.

--S.

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/333336.php

"there is no possible ideological grounding"

September 30, 2012

If you haven't seen this -- or emailed it to others -- then watch it, and then email it to others.

Especially noteworthy is Ayaman Al-Zawahiri, the current "Spiritual Leader" of Al Qaeda, calling for vengeance in Libya for the death of one of its operatives there, just days before the vengeance occurred.

And the administration didn't evacuate the embassy, or send Marines, or even give it security more effective than door locks.

Krauthammer calls out his liberal colleagues, including Nina Totenberg and Mark Sheids, to their faces, and Nina Totenberg literally chuckles it off.

Let me explain why this is different than previous bias.

Previously, the press has been both biased in a partisan way and an in an ideological way, but usually the partisanship was driven by ideology. As you may have noticed, the press are great fans of gay marriage and abortion, and they shape their coverage to put the best possible face on these positions, and the worst possible face on opponents. (To the extent they feature contrary voices at all.)

That's bias, of course. We've gotten used to that.

But in the Benghazi debacle, there is no possible ideological grounding to explain their bias. There is, I trust, no ideological movement that advocates for intelligence failures and the deaths of good-guy diplomats. There is no ideological movement in favor of reckless incompetence bordering on malice in providing security for consulates abroad (which, as a legal matter, are considered US territory).

There is no ideological movement -- or at least there was not before -- championing the government's right to lie to the public about its failures in order to avoid accountability.

There is no room here where one can say, "Ah well, they can't help but be pulled a bit to the left by their own beliefs." Because no one champions the right of government to let people be murdered and then lie about it.

This isn't ideological bias, then. This is pure advocacy for a political party. Obama's embarrassment is not an ideological issue -- or should not be. I hope we can all agree that a president should attend security briefings -- especially as 9/11 approaches -- and provide adequate warning and security for US government personnel. I hope we can all agree that the government does not suddenly gain a Right To Shamelessly Lie about its failures, simply because it finds it politically advantageous to do so.

But, as Nina Totenberg's chuckle indicates, the press now in fact believes exactly these things -- so long as the president we're talking about is Democrat, and Obama in particular.

WaPo: Security Was Lax. Welcome to two weeks ago, WaPo. But kudos for finally starting to do your job.

Pat Caddell: The Media Has Become The Enemy Of the Public. @johnekdahl posted this last night; it's worth a repost too.

This is absolutely true. Obama is empowered to lie -- and worse -- because he knows the media will spin for him.

This is dangerous. This is how democracies die.

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September 30, 2012

A.O. Scott detects a political agenda in the drama about trying to improve schools and gain escape from a corrupt and failing school system.

He's especially rankled at how Hollywood -- get this! -- uses a "for the children" hook to sell a message.

Even though in this case it is undeniably for the children.

Meanwhile, another reviewer detects no such partisan edge to a documentary about Occupy.

"Won't Back Down" appears to deserve some box office.

« Surprise: NYT Pans Anti-Teacher-Union Drama "Won't Back Down;" Loves Occupy Wall Street Puff Documentary | Main | Fundraising Deadline Tonight »

September 30, 2012

Might want to consult your cable guide now to find which channel Univision is.

It'll have English subtitles. Apparently It Doesn't Have Subtitles: Ah, well.

« Univision's Report on "Fast & Furious" Airs Tonight at 7 PM Eastern | Main | Report: Today's "Green On Blue" Attack In Afghanistan Involved An Entire Afghan Army Unit »

September 30, 2012

Homestretch time. You know what to do.

"The Roman Republic fell, not because of the ambition of Caesar or Augustus, but because it had already long ceased to be in any real sense a republic at all. When the sturdy Roman plebeian, who lived by his own labor, who voted without reward according to his own convictions, and who with his fellows formed in war the terrible Roman legion, had been changed into an idle creature who craved nothing in life save the gratification of a thirst for vapid excitement, who was fed by the state, and directly or indirectly sold his vote to the highest bidder, then the end of the republic was at hand, and nothing could save it. The laws were the same as they had been, but the people behind the laws had changed, and so the laws counted for nothing." 
- President Theodore Roosevelt

Get involved.

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September 30, 2012

Today a US Army Soldier and an American contractor were killed in an attack by our "allies" in the Afghan National Army. The fallen soldier is the 2,000 American killed in the war.

What seems to make this attack different is a report of a firefight between an entire Afghan National Army unit and an America convoy.

We can't get out of that shit-hole fast enough.

Our men and women accomplished the mission they were sent there to do long ago. Helping to make that Godforsaken place part of the civilized world isn't a job for the military. Quite frankly, I'm more than happy to let them roll around in their squalor.

I hope our exit plan is accelerated and mostly I hope if involves arming every tribe with enough weapons to keep them busy killing each other for a long, long time.