All Things Probama

[Balta1701]

he's a horrible journalist. i'll just leave it at that.

Strictly in terms of his journalistic abilities...I'll grade him as excellent...but a lot of that comes from his work back in the 90's, when he started working with the "channel one" program beamed to a number of schools across the country (Including mine). They had a habit of constantly trying to kill him. They sent him a fair number of places that no other network was sending people, like the middle of the Bosnian war, I think he hit up Rwanda although I could be mistaken, etc.

[mr_genius]

They had a habit of constantly trying to kill him. They sent him a fair number of places that no other network was sending people, like the middle of the Bosnian war, I think he hit up Rwanda although I could be mistaken, etc.

 

Ah yes the Geraldo Rivera award. Anytime you almost get yourself killed you are a great journalist. He's a complete idiot, his reporting is terrible and you can just tell that he's dumb as a rock when you see him on tv.

 

And yes Bmags, he tells a narrative, which is a shameful technique in covering the news. Any journalist that goes out and cherry picks stories to coincide with their political narrative, while completely ignoring relevant important stories which may contradict that political narrative, is a hack.

 

I could go on and on about this, but I will no longer hijack the Obama thread. Maybe I'll go post a rant in the GOP only thread.

[Jenksismyhero]

 

"Hi"

 

 

Nope, not even close. Cable news has ruined nearly everything. Bush may be a close second, but the ramifications of shoddy journalism and extremism in the news far outweighs whatever negatives Bush has/will bring to the country.

[bmags]

Ah yes the Geraldo Rivera award. Anytime you almost get yourself killed you are a great journalist. He's a complete idiot, his reporting is terrible and you can just tell that he's dumb as a rock when you see him on tv.

 

And yes Bmags, he tells a narrative, which is a shameful technique in covering the news.

 

oh, he's a liberal in your mind. Gotcha. Well no turning that around.

 

And narrative means something different than the way you use it. It's not making events fit your story, it's the way you tell a story. The language and order are different.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Nope, not even close. Cable news has ruined nearly everything. Bush may be a close second, but the ramifications of shoddy journalism and extremism in the news far outweighs whatever negatives Bush has/will bring to the country.

 

Did you really keep a straight face while you typed that?

[Balta1701]

Ah yes the Geraldo Rivera award. Anytime you almost get yourself killed you are a great journalist. He's a complete idiot, his reporting is terrible and you can just tell that he's dumb as a rock when you see him on tv.

 

And yes Bmags, he tells a narrative, which is a shameful technique in covering the news. Any journalist that goes out and cherry picks stories to coincide with their political narrative, while completely ignoring relevant important stories which may contradict that political narrative, is a hack.

 

I could go on and on about this, but I will no longer hijack the Obama thread. Maybe I'll go post a rant in the GOP only thread.

Well, in response I'll say that I really haven't watched his show in recent years because I'm working 2 jobs & never home at that hour, so on that interpretation I'll leave it up to you. I'll still say he did solid work in the 90's.

[StrangeSox]

good lord look how dumb our TV media is...

 

http://www.veracifier.com/episode/TPM_20080701

 

 

More proof that cable tv news is the worst thing to happen to the world in the last 25 years.

 

That was painful to watch.

[NorthSideSox72]

Nope, not even close. Cable news has ruined nearly everything. Bush may be a close second, but the ramifications of shoddy journalism and extremism in the news far outweighs whatever negatives Bush has/will bring to the country.

Hmmmm. Interesting question you pose here. Which will end up being worse? Bush's Presidency, or crappy journalism? I could see some good arguments either way. This is almost worthy of a seperate thread and discussion.

 

[Balta1701]

Hmmmm. Interesting question you pose here. Which will end up being worse? Bush's Presidency, or crappy journalism? I could see some good arguments either way. This is almost worthy of a seperate thread and discussion.

The problem is, it's a chicken and egg problem. We'd never be having to ask this question if crappy journalists hadn't decided that which candidate you'd like to have a beer with was a valid way of deciding who should occupy the most powerful position in the world, but his time in office has surely helped enhance the worst of those tendencies (i.e. the invasion of Iraq)

[HuskyCaucasian]

D'OH!!!

This from this morning...

Q: You have admitted that you’re not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy and many have said –

 

McCAIN: I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not. I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military. I’m very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent.

 

 

This from last December-

"The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book."

 

This from January 2000-

Seeking to explain his shift on economic issues, McCain claimed: “I didn’t pay nearly the attention to those issues in the past. I was probably a ’supply-sider’ based on the fact that I really didn’t jump into the issue.”

[BigSqwert]

D'OH!!!

This from this morning...

Q: You have admitted that you’re not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy and many have said –

 

McCAIN: I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not. I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military. I’m very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent.

 

 

This from last December-

"The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book."

 

This from January 2000-

Seeking to explain his shift on economic issues, McCain claimed: “I didn’t pay nearly the attention to those issues in the past. I was probably a ’supply-sider’ based on the fact that I really didn’t jump into the issue.”

 

If only he understood what the Internet is and that people can pull up video of him contradicting himself.

 

[kapkomet]

D'OH!!!

This from this morning...

Q: You have admitted that you’re not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy and many have said –

 

McCAIN: I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not. I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military. I’m very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent.

 

 

This from last December-

"The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book."

 

This from January 2000-

Seeking to explain his shift on economic issues, McCain claimed: “I didn’t pay nearly the attention to those issues in the past. I was probably a ’supply-sider’ based on the fact that I really didn’t jump into the issue.”

That flip flopping BASTARD! How dare he MAYBE get educated on something from 8 years ago that he didn't understand well enough?!? Asshole! BURN HIM! HANG HIM!

 

I'm so tired of this sort of journalism and "GOTCHA" questions.

[lostfan]

Do you guys really think McCain is so retarded that he's going to stick to saying he doesn't know anything about the economy? Of course he's going to deny he said that or act like that's not what he meant.

[kapkomet]

Do you guys really think McCain is so retarded that he's going to stick to saying he doesn't know anything about the economy? Of course he's going to deny he said that or act like that's not what he meant.

Exactly. No one is an "EXPERT" at the economy, but they can learn over time. But, that's flip-flopping from McCain and an oversight by Obama.

[HuskyCaucasian]

what a bunch of whiners...

 

McCain: Obama should go to Iraq.

Obama says he'll go to Iraq

McCain: Obama's trip is just Political Theater

[HuskyCaucasian]

Ok, this just made me laugh:

Senator McCain's pitch for campaign funds

I just received a letter, calling itself an "EMERGENCY TELEGRAM", from John McCain. Actually, it was addressed to my uncle, who died three years ago, and I figured that he would not mind my opening it. Here are some excerpts....

 

Telegram?? He doesn't know how to use a computer and he is "aware" of the internet. So, instead of e-mail, apparently he has chosen the telegram route.

 

Is he trying to make the "Old Man McCain" jokes that easy???

Edited July 2, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[southsider2k5]

Ok, this just made me laugh:

Senator McCain's pitch for campaign funds

 

 

Telegram?? He doesn't know how to use a computer and he is "aware" of the internet. So, instead of e-mail, apparently he has chosen the telegraph route.

 

Is he trying to make the "Old Man McCain" jokes that easy???

 

FYI, A telegraph does not send telegrams.

[HuskyCaucasian]

FYI, A telegraph does not send telegrams.

oops. thanks for catching that. thought one... typed the other.

[Jenksismyhero]

Did you really keep a straight face while you typed that?

 

Here's how I know I'm right:

 

"Swiftboating" has become a verb.

 

And couldn't you all agree that cable news put Bush into office the second time? Both sides made it happen - the right and foxnews polarized everyone in the middle to think we were getting attacked tomorrow if Kerry became president. And the left and CBS, using shoddy journalism and $$, allowed the whole swiftboat thing to happen (by talking about it for approx 18 months, non-stop, as if it was the greatest issue in the history of the world).

 

But really the effects of cable news started before Bush. It started with OJ and grew with Clinton getting his winky whacked in the oval office. Ever since our lives have been completely changed for the worse because the news has been sensationalized and butchered to death. I'm not saying before cable news everything was peachy and the news only covered important issues, but it certainly wasn't mainstream journalism to talk about Britney's va-jay-jay for 2 weeks.

 

It's simple: there's just not enough things that happen in a day to warrant 24/7 coverage. So to keep viewership up, you get talking heads who blabber on about nothing and polarize positions that needn't be polarized. The news then becomes entertainment and anything important that we as a society should be learning/understanding is lost. This has far greater ramifications than anything Bush has/will do. He could bomb Iran tomorrow, we could go to another war, and in 50 years we'd still be worse off because our society would still be listening to Rush Limbaugh/Al Franken/every other moron out there who's like them, and use them to educate ourselves about what's actually going on in the world.

 

(and i don't think everyone here fits this mold, but unfortuntately, i'd say our types represent about 5% of the voting population)

[HuskyCaucasian]

Video's a b****:

[Balta1701]

Got one to outsource to Nate Silver...

It took more than four months, but something finally beat out the Vicki Iseman story for its sheer chutzpah and utter irresponsibility.

 

The culprit is this piece from the Washington Post, which alleges that Barack Obama received a "discount" on his 30-year home mortgage when he purchased his house in Hyde Park in 2005. Obama's mortgage rate was 5.625 percent; the Washington Post cites databases stating that the average rate on comparable properties was 5.93 percent.

 

So Obama's rate was 30 basis points better than the average. However, the amount of the loan and the nature of the property are not the only factors that determine a mortgage rate. Another major consideration is the creditworthiness of the borrower. According to current rate quotes from myFICO.com, a borrower with very good credit can expect a mortgage rate about 30 basis points better than someone with pretty good credit, and a borrower with excellent credit can expect about a 50 basis point discount.

 

Unless the Washington Post has access to Obama's FICO score -- and unless it has rented an apartment to him, it probably doesn't -- it is missing a pretty important piece of information on what Obama's mortgage rate ought to have been. What was Obama's FICO score? I don't know, but considering that...

 

* Obama had just gotten a $2.27 million book deal from Random House -- about $1 million more than the value of the mortgage.

* The Obamas each had exceptionally secure jobs that paid them a combined annual salary of about $500,000 per year.

* The Obamas had just sold their condo, on which they had realized a $137,500 profit.

* The Obamas were prominent public figures whose political futures depended in part on maintaining a reputation for responsibility and trustworthiness.

* The Obamas are known to be relatively thrifty and have no credit card debt but substantial savings.

 

...I would think that the Obamas were exceptionally creditworthy. So indeed, Obama received a "discount" -- the same discount that any borrower in his position would have received.

[BigSqwert]

And McCain is labeling Obama as the elitist? The average American doesn't gamble away thousands at a time.

[HuskyCaucasian]

And McCain is labeling Obama as the elitist? The average American doesn't gamble away thousands at a time.

I think his strategy on Iraq shows he's an "all in. go for broke" kind of guy while Obama thinks it out and plans carefully.

Edited July 3, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[HuskyCaucasian]

Well, John McCain is ready to roll out a new talking point: Jobs First

 

Senator McCain on Monday will announce a JOBS FIRST economic plan as he kicks off a five-day economic tour that will take him to Colorado, Pennsylvania Ohio, Michigan; Virginia and Wisconsin.

 

It's not confirmed if he will be talking about Jobs first in the USA, or jobs first in Mexico, India, and China. His full throttle support for NAFTA and free trade would seem to suggest the latter.

[HuskyCaucasian]

John McCain's Press Release on Barack Obama's Iraq policy.

The holes in it dont even warrant explaining. It's one whole page of completely inaccurate and FALSE assumptions.

 

"Since announcing his campaign in 2007, the central premise of Barack Obama's candidacy was his commitment to begin withdrawing American troops from Iraq immediately. He campaigned in Iowa, New Hampshire and across the country reaffirming this pledge to the American people.

 

"Today, Barack Obama reversed that position proving once again that his words do not matter. He has now adopted John McCain's position that we cannot risk the progress we have made in Iraq by beginning to withdraw our troops immediately without concern for conditions on the ground. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind when the facts on the ground dictate it. Indeed, the facts have changed because of the success of the surge that John McCain advocated for years and Barack Obama opposed in a position that put politics ahead of country.

 

"Now that Barack Obama has changed course and proven his past positions to be just empty words, we would like to congratulate him for accepting John McCain's principled stand on this critical national security issue. If he had visited Iraq sooner or actually had a one-on-one meeting with General Petraeus, he would have changed his position long ago."

 

Best Line of the Night:

For the McCain campaign to put out a memo to reporters claiming that Obama has adopted McCain's policy only shows that his advisors believe that a sizable percentage of the political press is made up of incorrigible morons. And it's hard to disagree with the judgment.

 

Edited July 4, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000