Earth to John Kerry, come in John...(merged)(again) (1 Viewer)

[tomwaits]

Its hard to put the magical smoke back into the electronics.

 

[SoonerJim]

Olberman uses the word sir too much and it annoys me so I end up turning him off.

Actually, I seldom turn him on but it's because his mixture of comedy and news annoys me. It's like he's trying to be a semi-serious version of Jon Stewart and he's just not that good at it. Then suddenly he breaks into a rant and I'm supposed to take him completely serious. Doesn't work for me. I keep waiting for the (lame) punchline when he's ranting.

The National Review two weeks ago had an article on Olbermann citing his practice of juxtaposing political stories against "news of the wierd". It is intentionally marketing the show that way, much as a horror movie mixes jokes and slaughter in equal measures. As Julie andrews sang, "a little sugar makes the medicine go down".

Olbermann is not the most slanted commentator on television. That honor goes to Lou Dobbs, who traded his career as CNN's business correspondent into a character channeling Howard Beale from "Network". In a fractured viewing market, you can happily live in the fantasy of choice.

And TPS, I am one of the Neyland stadium-sized national viewing audience for Olbermann. He had Mike Stark, not the hippie homosexual activist of the French Quarter thirty years ago, but something much worse- a law student. He harassed George Allen's entourage last week, asking him about crimes committed* and whether Allen had spit on his first wife. Olbermann soft-shoed or avoided the questions and instead focused on what wounds the portly Stark had endured on his face when he was unceremoniously thrown against one of Richmond's finest plate glass windows. Olbermann's concern over the red facial marks constituted new heights of man-love, since I was slightly inebriated that evening and in my reptilian state, cut to the chase.

*- forgetting to pay parking fines and fishing without a license. This also was not brought out in the interview

 

[Inkspot47]

>>I'd love anyone who has mentioned his name in this thread or put up a stupid picture of militaristic comedy banners to stand up and either critique the actual piece or give some type of rebuttal.


TPS

............

 

[dajmno]

TimesSelect is free for the week:

November 3, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Insulting Our Troops, and Our Intelligence
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

George Bush, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld think you’re stupid. Yes, they do.

They think they can take a mangled quip about President Bush and Iraq by John Kerry — a man who is not even running for office but who, unlike Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, never ran away from combat service — and get you to vote against all Democrats in this election.

Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, “They must think I’m stupid.” Because they surely do.

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/0...Opinion/Editorials and Op-Ed/Op-Ed/Columnists

 

[DadsDream]

Uhhhh, dajmno, hate to tell you and the NYT this but Bush volunteered for Vietnam.

CBS's internal investigation revealed that producer Mary Mapes had documents which proved Bush volunteered for Vietnam, but she suppressed them as not relevant to the story she and Dan Rather were working on.

Bush volunteered, but was passed over.

No, I'm not making this up. It was in the CBS internal investigation report.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

Uhhhh, dajmno, hate to tell you and the NYT this but Bush volunteered for Vietnam.

CBS's internal investigation revealed that producer Mary Mapes had documents which proved Bush volunteered for Vietnam, but she suppressed them as not relevant to the story she and Dan Rather were working on.

Bush volunteered, but was passed over.

No, I'm not making this up. It was in the CBS internal investigation report.

Then why did Bush himself say he didn't on Meet the Press? Here's the transcript:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/

 

[DadsDream]

I dunno. Here's an exerpt from CBS's own investigation:

Mapes had information prior to the airing of the September 8 Segment that President Bush, while in the TexANG, did volunteer for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots. For example, a flight instructor who served in the TexANG with Lieutenant Bush advised Mapes in 1999 that Lieutenant Bush "did want to go to Vietnam but others went first." Similarly, several others advised Mapes in 1999, and again in 2004 before September 8, that Lieutenant Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam but did not have enough flight hours to qualify.

http://www.ratherbiased.com/memogate.html#27

 

[RebSaint]

I dunno. Here's an exerpt from CBS's own investigation:

Mapes had information prior to the airing of the September 8 Segment that President Bush, while in the TexANG, did volunteer for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots. For example, a flight instructor who served in the TexANG with Lieutenant Bush advised Mapes in 1999 that Lieutenant Bush "did want to go to Vietnam but others went first." Similarly, several others advised Mapes in 1999, and again in 2004 before September 8, that Lieutenant Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam but did not have enough flight hours to qualify.

http://www.ratherbiased.com/memogate.html#27

President Bush: I supported my government. I did. And would have gone had my unit been called up, by the way.

Russert: But you didn't volunteer or enlist to go.

President Bush: No, I didn't. You're right. I served. I flew fighters and enjoyed it, and provided a service to our country. In those days we had what was called "air defense command," and it was a part of the air defense command system.

>>>Uh. So Bush is lying here? Seems pretty clear to me. Russert asked him if he volunteered or enlisted to go to Nam, and he answered no. :dunno:

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

And TPS, I am one of the Neyland stadium-sized national viewing audience for Olbermann.

.......:_rofl:

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

>>>Uh. So Bush is lying here? Seems pretty clear to me. Russert asked him if he volunteered or enlisted to go to Nam, and he answered no. :dunno:

...+1... I'll take it straight from the horse's-*** mouth....... And Dads, please stop defending Dubya- it makes you look silly, and you're way too smart for that........

 

[Saint by the Bay]

So there's no documentation just what people said? OK, well the guy who got Bush into the National Gaurd despite subpar scores on the pilots test said he was asked to by his father and did it as a favor to keep him out Vietnam (he was LT. Gov. of Texas at the time he got Bush in). So it's a big he said she said mess that only matters to the most extreme elements of either side.

I'll take Bush's word for it. I've always said he seems like an honest and trustworthy guy. If he says he didn't volunteer I'll just go ahead and believe him.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

DD, I also see you cut out the first two sentences of the paragraph you used as a teaser. As I'm sure that was an over-sight I'll quote them for you:

The clear inference from this excerpt is that President Bush was in the TexANG to avoid service in Vietnam. Bush did state in his 1968 TexANG application that he did not volunteer to go overseas.

Hmmm... so again more documented evidence he in fact didn't volunteer.

Once again not that it matters but to me it's clear he had no intention of going which just makes him exactly like 99% of America at the time but to the rabidly partisan on both sides the facts must be skewed to infinity to prove their point... whatever that is.

 

[RebSaint]

Once again not that it matters but to me it's clear he had no intention of going which just makes him exactly like 99% of America at the time but to the rabidly partisan on both sides the facts must be skewed to infinity to prove their point... whatever that is.

Yep. But the partisans spin and twist the facts to conveniently fit the agenda--which is getting and holding on to power.

We were always at war with Oceania...

 

[DadsDream]

Y'all go sign up and log 300 flight hours in a Mach II fighter, then get back with me.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

Y'all go sign up and log 300 flight hours in a Mach II fighter, then get back with me.

What does that have to do with anything?