Just on the phone with a friend of mine who works for an E. Coast paper...

[LowerManhattanite]

...(with it's Eastern Bloc Muckety-Muck). We were discussing the campaign and the Sh*tVet revelations of the last few days. I asked, "what's got everybody digging up all the dirt on 'em?" He said, "Bush f*cked up. He went and p*ssed off the press. Reporters are p*ssed at McLellan for the way he's openly dissing them at the press gaggle every day--they feel insulted by being given what they know to be lies every day. AND they're really p*ssed about the pressure calls they're getting basically threatening them with no access if they take even a little bit of an adversarial tack. Plus, the reporters are getting back at the RW blog-floggers who are trying to wrest control of stories away from them." The last thing he said was telling though...

"The press hasn't really toppled a president over election issues since Nixon--and everybody wants to be '04's Woodward & Bernstein with the sloppy illegality shown over the last few days. Add that to the anger, the disrespect and the jealousy they're feeling and you'll see what you're seeing. Wait'll Seymour Hersh drops his next bomb on Bush in the next 60 days. You ain't seen nothin' yet!"

Interesting....

[KittyWampus]

1. Threatened With No Access?

Note: this mini-rant is aimed at the Press and not you or your source of info..


If the NYTimes and LATimes and WPost didn't show up at White House press briefings or report on Junior

WOULDN'T IT BE OBVIOUS THAT THEY WERE LOCKED OUT?

Don't the major networks, cable news programs and newspapers of record have a huge megaphone that our Founding Fathers gave them- that they could ALL use to expose just such behavior?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Yeah, if Talon News and NewsMax and the Wash Times are the only

dudes asking questions, it will mean the Bushes have moved their timetable for media/speech control up by several years.

[LowerManhattanite]

21. He was talking about "special" access beyond the norm...

Helen Thomas has access to the gaggle every day, but is routinely dissed and is denied the "extras" that the toadies get, i.e. access to the campaign bus, special junkets et. al. sadly, reporters thrive on those things. But now...these guys are feeling sh*t on---publicly. And even though it seems to be for the most selfish of reasons, they're starting to take the boy emperor on. He marked the swing as taking place over the "sensitive" remarks last week. "A lot of papers didn't let that lie. They reported on Bush's using the same word in the same context too".

He said that folks in the press started really talking about that and how they knew the spin was bullsh*t, considering they remembered Bush saying it too.

[Cha]

27. Thanks for this explanation..I find this

fascinating..like a dream come true.

[blondeatlast]

50. Helen helped topple Nixon. Never afraid to ask the hard questions.

She's so well-respected within the profession, why don't they get up in arms over this?

[Cha]

8. I know..ironic, isn't it?

I've heard this "no access" line for about 3 years now.

[blondeatlast]

45. I've been saying that for eons when people excuse the press for not

doing their jobs.

[Sporadicus]

2. Very Interesting

I wish every journalist who wants to be the next Woodward or Bernstein the best of luck!

[Cha]

3. Yes! That was Interesting!

Thanks, LowerManhattanite!

It sounds so like it could be exactly what's happening.

And when I read it ..I realize what a time bomb all this intimidation must have wrought!

[cidliz2004]

4. What bomb is Seymour Hersh going to drop?

I hope that the press keeps smelling the fresh blood. This has been due for near 4 years.

[nyhuskyfan]

12. Must be Abu Ghraib...

Seymour Hersh claims to have seen video of some pretty awful stuff there (children sodomized while their mothers watched) that the Pentagon is covering up.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

31. You think that is all he has on them?

As Will would say" "pfzzzzzzzzz".

You can bet your last dollar that Hersh hasn't shown his hold cards, or even mentioned them.

[maine_raptor]

6. Very Interesting

Add that with the fact that there are undoubtly some CIA/Intelligence folks that are pissed off at the way the Bushies have tried to blame the lack of WMD on "Bad Intelligence" and folks I think you have a serious case of re-inventing Watergate.

So the question now becomes:

Is the Gainsville SBVT flyer 2004's version of the "masking tape on the door"?

[cally]

7. I wish

I've seen no evidence of this...yet.

[Chichiri]

9. That being the case . . .

When is the dirt going to really start breaking out in the mainstream media? So far I'm seeing sporadic mentions of it, but that's it. Someone needs to come out and flat-out say that Bush lied.

[faithnotgreed]

13. hi chichiri - welcome to du

[volosong]

10. THEY ONLY JUST NOTICED?

Come on... Bush has been F'ing up and jerking the press around since to seized power.

How come they suddenly had a revelation?

Like I've said all along, the media are the worst cowards who act like hyenas. They tend to follow the "lion." Good news, Kerry must be looking more viable to them.

Now if we submit enough letters and comments, we can use them as a weapon against Putsch.

http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. "Wait'll Seymour Hersh drops his next bomb in the next 60 days"!!

[farmbo]

40. Get yer New Yorker subscription now...best $28 bucks I ever spent

Seymour absolutely rocks! (Or at least discos)

[Beetwasher]

14. No Acess? No Difference

They might as well already have no access. The bullshit they're being fed by the admin. is WORSE than nothing at all...The press has NOTHING to lose anymore. If that threat is carried out, they lose nothing.

[geek tragedy]

15. You may want to edit--you just outed your source. n/t

[indie_voter]

17. Yes, my thoughts exactly. You posted some great stuff

Nobody wants your friend to get in trouble for this.

[LowerManhattanite]

29. Good lookin' out folks! Fixed it!

My zeal nearly got the best of me. :)

[Hamlette]

16. Hersh's book is due out September 13, is that the bombshell?

or do we have to wait longer? (Your source said 60 days.)

[NightOwwl]

18. But something is off...

"Reporters are p*ssed at McLellan for the way he's openly dissing them at the press gaggle every day--"

That still doesn't explain the alleged sudden change of attitude. Ari Fleischer was worse then McLellan. Why did it take so long for reporters to get pissed? What was the straw that broke the camel's back?

[nyhuskyfan]

20. Timing, perhaps

The media became lap dogs during the post 9/11 era and the drumbeat to war, when spin was consistently taken at face value. The aftermath of the war has seen a slow and steady build-up of more and more media people realizing that they didn't ask questions when they should have, and now are asking more questions.

The lack of press conferences can't be helping Bush, either.

[texasmom]

28. They were lapdogs

for bush during the 2000 election. 9/11 just cemented it. They have not been doing their job for a very long time.

[bobbieinok]

35. AND during the Monica, impeachment thing........96/97/98 on

also they were extremely anti Clinton after inaugural......constant attacks on nominations, etc.

It was so bad I decided they 'helped' Clinton in 92 (no anti-dem spin) with the plan they'd immediately go on the attack and someone would become the 'new Woodward-Bernstein' and bring down a president.

[Walt Starr]

22. If Bush loses, it doesn't matter right now, plus it's an election season

Bush needs the press now more than the press needs Bush.

[Hamlette]

23. sudden change of attitude is because they know they control the election

they can rid the country, and themselves, of Bush...if they want to.

If they give Bush a pass, they get 4 more years of Scottie.

[Keirsey]

24. pardon me, but I am media-challenged*

What do reporters get by having access? With all the scripting, is there anything really to report?



*my main source of news is the internet - no tv or newspapers

[LowerManhattanite]

25. My guess is that they semi-respected Fleischer...

...who would often times "tongue-in-cheek" the spin. McLellan day in and day out seem to show outright contempt. His coming across as a grumpy little shlub doesn't help either.

[ItsMyParty]

19. Do you remember that way in the beginning of this administration

when all the wheels were falling off before 9/11 these were the threats they were issuing to the press??? Interesting that they are jacking up the threats again. Also, which network or cable reported that the media has given up following him around to these Town Hall "Ask Bush" propaganda appearances because they are so staged and contain, therefore, no news. Of course, it has also been reported years ago that any reporter who got to close the the BFEE truths ended up unfortunately committing suicide, being killed in crashes, etc.

[welshTerrier2]

26. the great WMD con

they made poor old helen thomas sit in the back of the room at bush's press conference ... from day one, the press has been on notice that they had better play ball ... we don't like what you write and poof ... no more access for you ...

after 9/11, the press got swept up in a broad tide of nationalism ... if they didn't dance to "the president's tune", they risked being labelled traitors ... the press bent over backwards helping bush make his WMD case for invading Iraq ... it seemed almost un-American to question the president ...

the animosity is clearly in place ... what is not clear is whether individual journalists are free to respond to the suppression of the press ... american media have become increasingly centralized in the hands of a few very wealthy owners ... and the boston globe, which was specifically mentioned in the base post, has been no great friend of Kerry's ...

so, we'll see what we'll see ... let's hope the press has finally decided to tell the truth ... only the next few months will tell ...

[grasswire]

30. all of which is why (ahem)

...the country needs a Citizens Bill of Rights for White House/Media Transparency so that access to the WH briefings are guaranteed and so that the power to credential correpondents is returned to the peer journalists and removed from the press office. (It was taken away from the journos after WW2.)

See the proposed Bill of Rights at http://webdems.blogspot.com. (scroll to bottom)

[welshTerrier2]

32. peer journalists ??

well, i'm all for increased transparency in the press ... i support the goals of the Citizens Bill of Rights for White House / Media Transparency ...

but i'm not sure i like granting the power to credential correspondents to peer journalists ... clearly, such power should not rest with the White House press office ... that's the worst possible situation ... but if excessive media consolidation is a problem now, i don't see how allowing the largest and most powerful media outlets the right to decide who does, and does not, gain access improves the situation ...

the objective is good; just not sure about the solution ...

[REVOLT823]

33. This definitely jives with what I have noticed in the

past few weeks. The media has definitely changed its attitude toward this administration. LowerManhattanite, thanks for the info, always good to hear good news from someone on the inside. As someone else said, I hope all our fledgling Woodwards and Bernsteins the best of luck.

[canuckybee]

39. I agree

I have been noticing a difference also. Cautiously, optimistically, watching each day to confirm my suspicions. But after watching Hardball the other night, I am ready to believe.

As I type, CNN just had a commercial announcing Woodward & Bernstein will be on Larry King tomorrow night...how's that for a coincidence?

[UTUSN]

34. They Haven't Toppled Since NIXON? What Did They Do to GORE?

And if they are hankering to be a WOODWARD-BERNSTEIN, they need for Shrub to stay in office to get the job done. If he's out in November, he'll be old news after that, no WOODSTEIN glory.

[Cha]

37. You're right! They did do it to Gore.

And since they've been being paid back by being toadies for bush.

[LowerManhattanite]

41. Gore was different...

..granted, he was an incumbent--but he was not the President. The guy they sort of tried to take down was the Big Dog, Gore's boss. But...they DID sort of get off on Bill's resilency and liked reporting on his bounce-backs. In spite of their slight awe of him, Clinton faced far more slings and arrows than Gore ever did.

Plus, while there was a lot of partisan hackery, Clinton never dissed/shut out/pressured and held the press in as much contempt as the Smirk has---thus engendering a lot less out and out antipathy.

[Cha]

44. Sorry, I see your point but...

I was looking at Gore as our President. Some of us think he was the elected President and was therefore brought down by the press!

And afterwards they covered up the facts that he actually won in Florida.

Two ways to look at that one.

[Sugarbleus]

36. Hmm, interesting indeed. Can't wait to see what happens next. eom

[DU GrovelBot]

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[DemBones DemBones]

42. It's time for reporters to

BRING IT ON!!!

[progressivebydesign]

43. And.. I believe Journalist is a job title screwed over by the Bush OT Laws

I'm certain I saw that as one of the new classifications of people not able to earn overtime! That would piss me off.. add to that the total disregard for the journalist's lives in Iraq. Not a pretty picture.

[Joanne98]

46. yay Seymore Hersh the October surprise.

[CBHagman]

47. McClellan alone should be run through the wringer.

Hell, the little twit got up there and intoned that the 527 organizations were "shadowy groups." Almost as he was speaking, the world was reading the NY Times account of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth links to the Bush family and campaign, and the GOP in general and the 2000 smear against McCain specifically.

I hope to God someone asks McClellan if Merrie Spaeth, Ken Cordier, and Bob Perry are "shadowy" figures.

[a kennedy]

49. I hate that little shrimp's smirk.....

McClellan, the twit with the spin. *gag* *choke* *gag*

[PROGRESSIVE1]

48. Can you confirm that the Press wants to topple *?

CNN/FOX/ABC has been so evil and I need something to show that this is IN FACT TRUE!