CNN.com today lists 25 of the most dangerous cities and what are termed safest cities in the U.S. More precisely, the latter list comprises the 25 cities least dangerous as reflected in official crime statistics. There is no such thing as a safe city or a safe neighborhood, defined as a place where you do not have to stay alert about safety issues, and thinking the contrary just leads to more women victims going missing.

 

Setting that aside for now, these lists are still a handy reminder of the limitations of political advertising. Ads being aired for Gov. Robert Ehrlich, ...   more »

[CNN on Bush's first inauguration day. Demonstrating once again the gulf between White House secret aims and public perception, including media perception, of the new administration:]

 

“CROWLEY: Let me ask you a couple of quick questions about some things that are out there: California electricity. They have had, you know, half-a-million people in the sort of rolling blackouts. Is there something that the federal government ought to be looking at in the short term in terms of helping California? Is that purely a state problem? What is your current take on that?

BUSH: Well, to the ...   more »

You go Uruguay and I’ll go mine. Why are the Bushes buying property in Paraguay?

  

This from Catherine Austin Fitts, HUD Assistant Secretary in the Reagan administration and one of a handful of persistent publishing attorneys interested in what happened on 9/11.

 

Excerpted and passed along from Fitts’ newsletter:

 

“According to the Sidney Morning Herald, "the Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has called on East Asia's central bankers to "telegraph" their intentions to diversify out of American investments and ensure an orderly adjustment. Central banks in China, Japan, Taiwan, South ...   more »

The most recent television commercial for George Allen, presumably aimed at women, contains this reverse blurb: [female voice-over]   more »

Sad history lesson. January 18, 2001, Inauguration Day, George W. Bush

 

[from LexisNexis transcript of CNN Inside Politics]

 

“(APPLAUSE) [clip of speech]

BUSH: I will treat the office with care, never take it for granted, and always remember to whom it really belongs.

The presidency does not belong to any one person, but to all of us. It belongs to the American people. As Vice President-elect Cheney has said, every inaugural continues the oldest commitments of our country, to the rule of law and the enduring power of our Constitution.

At the same time, a new administration ...   more »

Talking heads today amply demonstrated what is left of administration public relations. 1. Omit key topics of danger. 2. Euphemize whatever cannot be omitted. 3. Rely on the major media outlets to go along with you on 1 and 2.

1. Thus there was no mention of war profiteering, so far as I know, on any of the networks, by any commentator. As per usual, there was specifically no mention that relatives of George W. Bush himself number among individuals who have reaped immense financial benefit from the Iraq war. Also omitted were Halliburton, Bechtel, Raytheon, the loss of at least $100M ...   more »

Following up on the last. Professional ties connecting Viacom, parent company of CBS Television, and Reed Smith LLP, law firm of the father of one of the Duke lacrosse players accused of sexual assault, are too numerous to list in a single post. 

 

Here is a good article by Ken Stier and Mark J. Magyar, on legal matters involving several companies including Viacom, on one hand, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Natural Resource Damage program on the other.

Viacom, Reed Smith and chemical companies versus NJ and the environment.

 

Most viewers appreciate seeing environmental ...   more »

60 Minutes last night did not provide context or perspective on the Duke lacrosse sexual assault allegations. CBS did not mention, literally did not mention, the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and in college housing; the previous offenses by the Duke lacrosse team; or the clout of college athletics, including lacrosse at Duke, on high school coaches and athletes and in the professional world, which largely has a vested interest in protecting the defendants.

 

CBS also did not disclose its own connections to the topic. The segment did not mention ties between CBS and Reed Smith LLC, ...   more »

Tomorrow night, October 15, CBS is going to air a segment on 60 Minutes about the Duke lacrosse rape allegations. The network promos do not promise well, but forewarned is forearmed. Here are some elements to look for. If they come up missing, then 60 Minutes will come up short.

 

1. Rape is an ongoing problem in our universities and colleges, largely unreported by institutions desperate for tuition and federal and state funding. Every institution of higher learning of significant size has its share of sexual assaults on campus or assaults in the campus vicinity, often by male students, with ...   more »

Today CNN.com announces that Condoleezza Rice is to appear on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, and invites viewers to send in their questions for her. Since Dr. Rice has given numerous interviews since the 1980s, with several friendly biographies available, most of her positions are clear. As is typical for administration personnel, however, the sanctioned biographies tend to lack rigorous questions regarding potential conflict of interest or breach of security.

 

Here are some questions that it is to be hoped she will be asked, in chronological order.

 

1. Dr. Rice, you were admitted to the University of Denver ...   more »

[Here is part of the transcript of the Chris Matthews Show yesterday, with a panel including Tucker Carlson discussing the most recent scandal.]

Copyright 2006 National Broadcasting Co. Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NBC News Transcripts

SHOW: The Chris Matthews Show Various Times NBC

October 8, 2006 Sunday

LENGTH: 3972 words

HEADLINE: Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, Andrew Sullivan of The New Republic and MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Tucker Carlson discuss Foley scandal, war on Iraq, woman like Hillary Clinton as American president and their scoops and predictions

ANCHORS: CHRIS MATTHEWS

REPORTERS: TUCKER CARLSON, NORAH O'DONNELL

BODY:            ...   more »

The Sunday morning talk shows today, October 8, 2006, included some refreshingly frank or realistic discourse, for a rarity.

 

Probably most attention tomorrow will be devoted to Bob Woodward narrating how Vice President Cheney used the bullshit word and hung up on him. Possibly some attention will go to the congressional tin ear from Illinois, GOP Congressman Ray LaHood, talking about the Foley scandal: “The real disservice was done to the speaker.”

 

But for my money, the real jaw dropper this morning was Tucker Carlson finally saying publicly what millions of us have known for years: ...   more »

There should be no further mischaracterization of messages from resigned Congressman Mark Foley to teenaged pages as innocuous or merely over friendly. Ample supporting material posted at ABC News, reader discretion advised, and elsewhere demonstrates the nature of the correspondence. In other words, any individual in the political or media heap who claims that the correspondence was innocuous, or a Democratic plot, or somehow the fault of the high schoolers themselves, is using false propaganda.

 

For the record, it was a Republican Capitol Hill employee who transmitted the messages.

 

Three main points. 1. The ...   more »

[Excerpt from an article titled How to Date a Congressman, by Sallie Motsch as she skims through social encounters with several eligible bachelors from the Newt Gingrich Contract w/ America class including, of course, Mark Foley.]

 

 

“IT'S THE 5 O'CLOCK COCKTAIL hour, and I'm mounting the steps to Le Mistral, the congressional power eatery.

"Sallie?" I hear behind me.

"Congressman Foley?"

Running up the steps, Mark Foley extends a hearty handshake.

Ooh la la . This congressman is a blast of exuberance. Tall and solid with sparkling blue eyes and subtly coiffed hair, his wire-framed glasses lend authority ...   more »