Friday, September 24, 2004
ON THE BOOKS
Not our usual reference, but this website, or blog actually has something either funny or insidious -- or perhaps both on its pages....seems union workers at borders may have decided to take a bit of their anger out on some books - specifically Unfit to Command. The writer claims to have taken some of these comments off a union website...
Not our usual reference, but this website, or blog actually has something either funny or insidious -- or perhaps both on its pages....seems union workers at borders may have decided to take a bit of their anger out on some books - specifically Unfit to Command. The writer claims to have taken some of these comments off a union website...
Another says: "You guys don’t actually HAVE to sell the thing! Just ‘carelessly’ hide the boxes, ‘accidentally’ drop them off pallets, ‘forget’ to stock the ones you have, and then suggest a nice Al Franken or Micheal [sic] Moore book as a substitute. I don’t care if these Neandertals [sic] in fancy suits get made at me, they aren’t regular customers anyway. Other than ‘Left Behind’ books, they don’t read. Anything you can do to make them feel unwelcome is only fair. And they would censor your speech, your books, your music in a heartbeat, so give them a taste of it? Don’t get mad, get even!"h Wow -- one can't condone that kind of censorial behavior, but one can certainly understand it. OK -- it never pays to censor any kind of book, not the Swift Boaties book, not Mein Kampf, not Harry Potter, not Left Behind. Nothing, never a good move there.
Other Borders bookseller said: I want to get just one copy so I can tear it to shreds in front of one of these old grumpy men bent on conspiracy [sic] theory. I wish they really knew how little respect I have for them."
LET'S TALK CBS...
I have to take a stab at this, I can’t resist and you might find it strange if I didn’t write something about it. I’ve had question about “memogate” and Dan Rather this week, and I’m imagining it has something to do with my regular job as a television news anchor. At the risk of talking, shall we say “family business” outside the confines of a television station; I’ve decided to weigh in on this one.
You ask, “What do you think about Dan Rather?” “Should CBS fire him?” All I can tell you is that this story makes me shudder and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on-end.
After all, if the man who took the helm from the legendary Walter Cronkite could make such a big blunder, how far could the rest of us fall in the TV news business?
Perhaps Mr. Rather can provide those of us miles below his stature with object lessons in both humility and attention to detail.
He really messed things up for all of us.
The day after Rather apologized on the CBS evening news, local and national television news outlets started the self-flagellation ceremonies. CNN asked whether “Rathergate” had indeed ruined the credibility of the mainstream media with the national audience.
Local stations wanted to find out what journalism students thought about the story – would any of them change their choice of career?
Who knows what drove Dan to the brink.
Maybe the sagging viewership and a hyper-competitive nature.
Partisans think he simply has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to both Republicans and this President in particular.
Regardless, Mr. Rather got caught in probably the biggest “flip-flop” of this political season, and you won’t even see his name on the ballot. So, a victory for bloggers (who claim to have rapidly rooted out the flaws in the documents) and a victory for Mr. Bush and at least Fox News, if not NBC and ABC News and newspaper editorial cartoonists.
But what about the story?
True journalists won’t do what a prosecutor or jury would do – we won’t follow the herd mentality and simply let the story go just because one part of it has fatal flaws.
You can bet your money the CBS team, or some other intrepid group of media snoopers will do their best to find documents with a respectable pedigree. You can bet they’ll have heard the Rather apology, but tried to sniff out the ‘real’ story in all of this. Something about the 60 Minutes debacle still caught my attention. The network tried, detrimentally to its pr efforts, to explain the whole thing.
Mr. Rather got in touch with a woman who used to serve as secretary for the military honcho who (never?) CBS would have had us initially believe wrote those documents critical of Mr. Bush and the Air Force brass.
82-year-old Marian Carr Knox worked for Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian. She told Rather she thinks the memos are fake.
But she also said this to the Dallas Morning News; “The information in here was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones. ... I probably typed the information and somebody picked up the information some way or another.” Other military associates of Col. Killian have essentially said the same thing, on the record.
So, CBS made the entirely inadmissible assertion (but only in a court of law) that the documents used to impugn the president may have been fakes, but the content of the story was true.
Much to Dan Rather’s chagrin, you can’t use that one to win the argument. But it does a lot to fuel more questions about Mr. Bush’s military record (or records in this case.)
So does a recent report in U.S. News and World Report in which writers Kip Roane and Edward Pound cite White House records, which show Mr. Bush failing to fulfill his military obligation to drill with the National Guard.
He needed to attend 44 drills in the years between 1972 and 1974.
His own records show he only attended 36 in 1972 and 12 in 1973.
Again, if you’ve followed Mr. Rather’s fall from grace, you may have caught that his tarnished story now has independent confirmation from other sources.
Perhaps Rather got it right, but the way in which he handled the story will forever allow those who would profit from static and misinformation over it to successfully prevent reporters from discovering the real truth and widely disseminating that information.
I’m not translating here, I’m just looking for facts, something CBS might try a little more often, if they still have a news audience for their national program. Just don’t expect to see anyone let this story die.
I have to take a stab at this, I can’t resist and you might find it strange if I didn’t write something about it. I’ve had question about “memogate” and Dan Rather this week, and I’m imagining it has something to do with my regular job as a television news anchor. At the risk of talking, shall we say “family business” outside the confines of a television station; I’ve decided to weigh in on this one.
You ask, “What do you think about Dan Rather?” “Should CBS fire him?” All I can tell you is that this story makes me shudder and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on-end.
After all, if the man who took the helm from the legendary Walter Cronkite could make such a big blunder, how far could the rest of us fall in the TV news business?
Perhaps Mr. Rather can provide those of us miles below his stature with object lessons in both humility and attention to detail.
He really messed things up for all of us.
The day after Rather apologized on the CBS evening news, local and national television news outlets started the self-flagellation ceremonies. CNN asked whether “Rathergate” had indeed ruined the credibility of the mainstream media with the national audience.
Local stations wanted to find out what journalism students thought about the story – would any of them change their choice of career?
Who knows what drove Dan to the brink.
Maybe the sagging viewership and a hyper-competitive nature.
Partisans think he simply has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to both Republicans and this President in particular.
Regardless, Mr. Rather got caught in probably the biggest “flip-flop” of this political season, and you won’t even see his name on the ballot. So, a victory for bloggers (who claim to have rapidly rooted out the flaws in the documents) and a victory for Mr. Bush and at least Fox News, if not NBC and ABC News and newspaper editorial cartoonists.
But what about the story?
True journalists won’t do what a prosecutor or jury would do – we won’t follow the herd mentality and simply let the story go just because one part of it has fatal flaws.
You can bet your money the CBS team, or some other intrepid group of media snoopers will do their best to find documents with a respectable pedigree. You can bet they’ll have heard the Rather apology, but tried to sniff out the ‘real’ story in all of this. Something about the 60 Minutes debacle still caught my attention. The network tried, detrimentally to its pr efforts, to explain the whole thing.
Mr. Rather got in touch with a woman who used to serve as secretary for the military honcho who (never?) CBS would have had us initially believe wrote those documents critical of Mr. Bush and the Air Force brass.
82-year-old Marian Carr Knox worked for Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian. She told Rather she thinks the memos are fake.
But she also said this to the Dallas Morning News; “The information in here was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones. ... I probably typed the information and somebody picked up the information some way or another.” Other military associates of Col. Killian have essentially said the same thing, on the record.
So, CBS made the entirely inadmissible assertion (but only in a court of law) that the documents used to impugn the president may have been fakes, but the content of the story was true.
Much to Dan Rather’s chagrin, you can’t use that one to win the argument. But it does a lot to fuel more questions about Mr. Bush’s military record (or records in this case.)
So does a recent report in U.S. News and World Report in which writers Kip Roane and Edward Pound cite White House records, which show Mr. Bush failing to fulfill his military obligation to drill with the National Guard.
He needed to attend 44 drills in the years between 1972 and 1974.
His own records show he only attended 36 in 1972 and 12 in 1973.
Again, if you’ve followed Mr. Rather’s fall from grace, you may have caught that his tarnished story now has independent confirmation from other sources.
Perhaps Rather got it right, but the way in which he handled the story will forever allow those who would profit from static and misinformation over it to successfully prevent reporters from discovering the real truth and widely disseminating that information.
I’m not translating here, I’m just looking for facts, something CBS might try a little more often, if they still have a news audience for their national program. Just don’t expect to see anyone let this story die.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
CHECKING IN
I enjoyed the program this weekend, and both candidates in the House 95 race were incredibly well mannered. However, the Hogs managed to pretty much hose us for the night. We'll see if we can get things going again this weekend. Quick question to the fans out there, I'm trying to get the "shop" back up and running -- anyone in the market for any of the following: Arkansas Tonight T-shirts, hats or bumper stickers? Just curious...I've got a couple of designs and I want to stock the shop with these and start giving some away. Heck, if I can get them printed up, I'll pass them out on the street at Bikes, Blues and Barbecue.
I took a week off from the Newspaper, just got overwhelmed and it's getting tougher to whack people over the head as the election gets closer -- people get a lot more sensitive. However, I've added a paper -- this one in Siloam Springs, pretty much cementing the fact someone will burn my house down before long.
Also, I think Mr. Bush is taking it on the chin in terms of the Iraq story this week. Did you see the faces of the UN reps? Wow, now that told a story.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
COMING THIS WEEKEND...
On the schedule for this Saturday night: House 95 candidates Robbyn Tumey and Timothy C. Hutchinson talk politics, issues and answer your questions. Also, a Benton County school teacher who lost her sister on the first American Airlines plane to hit the World Trade Center joins us to talk about why she decided to publicly support the Kerry-Edwards campaign - and, senate candidate Jim Holt draws the ire of the state Democratic party. Also, your thoughts on the CBS document fiasco and our usual kvetching about the media, bias and politics. Join us Saturday night 6-8 p.m. CDT on Newstalk 1030 KFAY-AM, and here at ArkansasTonight.com and on Paltalk.com for this week's political roundup!
On the schedule for this Saturday night: House 95 candidates Robbyn Tumey and Timothy C. Hutchinson talk politics, issues and answer your questions. Also, a Benton County school teacher who lost her sister on the first American Airlines plane to hit the World Trade Center joins us to talk about why she decided to publicly support the Kerry-Edwards campaign - and, senate candidate Jim Holt draws the ire of the state Democratic party. Also, your thoughts on the CBS document fiasco and our usual kvetching about the media, bias and politics. Join us Saturday night 6-8 p.m. CDT on Newstalk 1030 KFAY-AM, and here at ArkansasTonight.com and on Paltalk.com for this week's political roundup!
Sunday, September 12, 2004
GREAT SHOW!
Many thanks to Mitch DWorkin of Dallas and Dan from Michigan for joining us on the program last night for more than an hour! Both men represent Republicans for Kerry. Also, our thanks to Jed Legum of the Center for American Progress a Washington, D.C. think tank. And, where would we be without you, our listeners? We had the phone lines completely tied up last night with a 6-way roundtable discussion of the national campaign, a very enlightening and entertaining discussion. At one point, we had one independent moderator (yours truly), a registered Democrat voting for the President and two registered Republicans voting for Mr. Kerry. Could it get any more confusing? Also, our thanks to those of you who joined in on Pal-Talk, and apologies, because we seemed (again) to have some problems there with the transmission -- we're working on it.
Many thanks to Mitch DWorkin of Dallas and Dan from Michigan for joining us on the program last night for more than an hour! Both men represent Republicans for Kerry. Also, our thanks to Jed Legum of the Center for American Progress a Washington, D.C. think tank. And, where would we be without you, our listeners? We had the phone lines completely tied up last night with a 6-way roundtable discussion of the national campaign, a very enlightening and entertaining discussion. At one point, we had one independent moderator (yours truly), a registered Democrat voting for the President and two registered Republicans voting for Mr. Kerry. Could it get any more confusing? Also, our thanks to those of you who joined in on Pal-Talk, and apologies, because we seemed (again) to have some problems there with the transmission -- we're working on it.
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT RECORDS
I served my time on active duty in the U.S. Navy, so I don't know all that much about National Guard service, but this sounds like our President has some drills to complete. No longer needing any kind of "questionable memos" from CBS, this piece from US News and World Report would seem to show the White House may have a new problem to deal with.
I served my time on active duty in the U.S. Navy, so I don't know all that much about National Guard service, but this sounds like our President has some drills to complete. No longer needing any kind of "questionable memos" from CBS, this piece from US News and World Report would seem to show the White House may have a new problem to deal with.
A review of the regulations governing Bush's Guard service during the Vietnam War shows that the White House used an inappropriate--and less stringent--Air Force standard in determining that he had fulfilled his duty. Because Bush signed a six-year "military service obligation," he was required to attend at least 44 inactive-duty training drills each fiscal year beginning July 1. But Bush's own records show that he fell short of that requirement, attending only 36 drills in the 1972-73 period, and only 12 in the 1973-74 period. The White House has said that Bush's service should be calculated using 12-month periods beginning on his induction date in May 1968. Using this time frame, however, Bush still fails the Air Force obligation standard.Your thoughts?
Saturday, September 11, 2004
TONIGHT ON THE SHOW
Again, tonight we 'compete' with the University of Arkansas. But not until 7:45 p.m. CDT. The Texas Longhorns and the Razorbacks meet up to play in Fayetteville tonight, and the city's population has about doubled from the 72,000 plus football folks who have come in for the game. Dickson Street looked like the Las Vegas strip last night.
TONIGHT'S GUESTS: For the first half hour, we'll be joined by Judd Legum from the Center for American Progress, a Washington DC think tank, to talk about media bias, and how the mainstream media have really taken the bait from the DC establishment. For the second half hour, we'll talk to members or a nationwide organization called "Republicans for Kerry." These folks say they've voted for Republican candidates since the early 1980s, starting with Ronald Reagan, but not this year. some even voted for George Bush, the younger, but have now changed their minds, we'll find out why.
As always, you can take part in tonight's show by calling our toll free phone number if you live outside the 479 area code. That number is toll free 1-877-247-2138. The local phone number is 479-521-KFAY or 479-521-5239. The show streams live here from the website, and you can join us at wwww.paltalk.com for an interactive chat and listen to the program where you'll have a chance to speak with other listeners as well.
Again, as we are always strapped for cash, and we're trying to take the show to air on satellite, and yes, we still need that laptop, we'd ask you to visit our contribution spot on the right side of this page, and give as little as $5.00. You can help fund moderate and progressive radio in America.
Again, tonight we 'compete' with the University of Arkansas. But not until 7:45 p.m. CDT. The Texas Longhorns and the Razorbacks meet up to play in Fayetteville tonight, and the city's population has about doubled from the 72,000 plus football folks who have come in for the game. Dickson Street looked like the Las Vegas strip last night.
TONIGHT'S GUESTS: For the first half hour, we'll be joined by Judd Legum from the Center for American Progress, a Washington DC think tank, to talk about media bias, and how the mainstream media have really taken the bait from the DC establishment. For the second half hour, we'll talk to members or a nationwide organization called "Republicans for Kerry." These folks say they've voted for Republican candidates since the early 1980s, starting with Ronald Reagan, but not this year. some even voted for George Bush, the younger, but have now changed their minds, we'll find out why.
As always, you can take part in tonight's show by calling our toll free phone number if you live outside the 479 area code. That number is toll free 1-877-247-2138. The local phone number is 479-521-KFAY or 479-521-5239. The show streams live here from the website, and you can join us at wwww.paltalk.com for an interactive chat and listen to the program where you'll have a chance to speak with other listeners as well.
Again, as we are always strapped for cash, and we're trying to take the show to air on satellite, and yes, we still need that laptop, we'd ask you to visit our contribution spot on the right side of this page, and give as little as $5.00. You can help fund moderate and progressive radio in America.