Category Archives: Media Criticism

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Fresh Scapegoats

92 Comments

…in the Benghazi blame game:

President Obama’s top spokesman — and Vice President Joe Biden, in last week’s debate — have been busy pointing fingers of blame at State and the IC.

It won’t work. Neither Foggy Bottom nor the intel community’s legion of spooks, analysts and secret-keepers is likely to go quietly.

Indeed, State has already started the pushback. It has pointedly released the transcript of an Oct. 9 media briefing in which Brad Klapper of the Associated Press asks what “led officials to believe for the first several days that this was prompted by protests against the video?”

Someone described only as “Senior State Department Official Two” answers, “That is a question you would have to ask others. That was not our conclusion.”

I don’t think they’ll be able to contain this internecine war until November 6th. I sure hope they can’t.

[Update a while later]

Rudy Guliani: “The White House is trying to run out the clock.”

Plus this: “Am I debating with the president’s campaign?…If this weren’t a Democratic president, I think you people would be going crazy.”

No kidding.

[Update a few minutes later]

You know, per Rudy’s comments, if this were a Republican administration, I’d be just as outraged. In fact, I’d be even more so, because I’d have higher expectations. But the usual suspects come along in comments to pathetically try to defend the indefensible, and blame the Republicans.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Respect

Thoughts from some Tigers on Derek Jeter. I wanted Detroit to win, but it was very sad to see him carried off the field like that. I don’t tend to worship sports heroes, but it sounds like he’s a class act, despite the fact that he’s a Yankee. Here’s hoping that it’s not a career ender.

Meanwhile, unless the Yankees can pull off a miracle in Detroit, it’s looking like it may be another Tigers-Cards World Series. But the latter still have to wrap up their pennant.

Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

The Soft Bigotry

18 Comments

…of low expectations:

Nothing works to destroy self-esteem quite like telling a black child he will be held to a far lower standard than whites, Asians, or Hispanics. Recognition that poverty plays a role in lower test scores is one thing; codifying that difference by telling students that you are expected to underachieve compared to other children is tantamount to surrender. The problem is too large and too complex to solve so we will hide our failure by simply dumbing down the standards by which we judge our own progress.

The bigotry actually isn’t all that soft.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

“Politicized Benghazi”

5 Comments

…distracts from Big Bird. A must-read from Mark Steyn:

“There’s only one candidate in this race who is going to continue to fight for Big Bird and Elmo, and he is riding on this plane.”

She’s right! The United States is the first nation in history whose democracy has evolved to the point where its leader is provided with a wide-body transatlantic jet in order to campaign on the vital issue of public funding for sock puppets. Sure, Caligula put his horse in the Senate, but it was a real horse. At Ohio State University, the rapper will.i.am introduced the President by playing the Sesame Street theme tune, which, oddly enough, seems more apt presidential walk-on music for the Obama era than “Hail To The Chief.”

I can’t figure out who’s the bigger embarrassment to the Dems, Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz, or Stephanie Cutter.