The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Through a Plate Glass Window’: How Liberal Media De-Legitimize Dissent

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 27 Comments

Patterico did a post yesterday about the “Accuse the Accusers” strategy that I meant to link and discuss at length, but I didn’t get around to it because new outrages were piling up quicker than I could keep track. In just the past couple of days:

  1. Stephen Crowder got sucker-punched in the head by Michigan union goon Tony Camargo;
  2. Hot dog vendor Clint Tarver was called the “n-word” when the Americans for Prosperity tent in Lansing was attacked by allies of the same goons who punched Crowder; and
  3. The son of Virginia Democrat Rep. Jim Moran pleaded guilty to an assault charge after police say Patrick Moran broke his girlfriend’s nose and fractured her skull during an argument outside a D.C. bar.

Perhaps you see a pattern here: Democrats and their political allies engaging in thuggish violence which no one could possibly defend or endorse. And in each case, liberals used a variation of the same distracting “Accuse the Accusers” defense: Whatever wrong was done by Democrats was minimized or dismissed as irrelevant in comparison to some greater wrong that liberals alleged had been done by the conservatives involved in calling attention to these incidents.

Call it “Wheelerization,” in tribute to the way Marcy Wheeler deliberately smeared Crowder as having somehow faked his own beating, simply because . . . well, James O’Keefe! Breitbart!

This magic incantation automatically de-legitimizes any story. Also, “selective editing,” as if there is such a thing as non-selective editing.

Today, the Left decided that Patrick Moran’s brutality toward his girlfriend was not a legitimate story because . . . Ace of Spades!

Leftwing Blogs Discover The Real Culprit
Behind Pat Moran’s Woman-Beating: Me

This Wheelerization of the Moran story was expertly performed by the ridiculous Tommy Christopher:

It’s a horrible story that highlights an important, serious issue, but shortly after the news was reported, Michelle Malkin‘s Twitter repository, Twitchy.com, had decided that the real villains were Rachel Maddow, Sandra Fluke, the media, Rep. Moran, and, somehow, me, while using Ms. Hoffman’s injuries as inspiration for pop-culture riffs. . . .
Finally, the folks at Twitchy chose to highlight a series of tweets that featured domestic violence-related riffs on Meadowlark Lemon, Star Wars, and even the headline from one of my columns.

Seriously, notice how this works: The story is not about the heinous brutality of Patrick Moran or the preposterously lenient sentence handed down to the son of a Democrat congressman (who, of course, has his own lengthy history of brutality). Nor is the story about the hypocrisy of liberals who routinely ignore or excuse such misconduct by Democrats while simultaneously accusing Republicans of being anti-woman.

Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.

Because the story can never be about the wrong done by Democrats, when Democrats do wrong, the media need some excuse to ignore it, or some pretext to make Republicans the bad guys: “Ken Starr is on a witch hunt! Everybody lies about sex! McCarthyism!”

And, unfortunately, Fox News functions as a foil for this tactic: As soon as Media Matters, Crooks & Liars, Firedoglake, DailyKos and others in the merry band of disinformation blogs find some connection between a story and Fox News — “Crowder and Malkin are both hired stooges of the Murdoch empire!” — then no journalist at CBS, NBC, ABC or the New York Times can possibly treat the story as serious and important, or else his inbox/Twitter feed will blow up with angry messages accusing him of betraying the cause by repeating right-wing lies.

Did I ever mention that studies have shown journalists vote Democrat by margins of at least 7-to-1? And that most reporters, editors and producers are therefore emotionally predisposed to tell stories that favor Democrats and avoid stories that favor Republicans?

This is why, in the Patrick Moran case as in so many other cases, the Left endeavors to distract from the facts of the story by focusing on the political orientation of those telling the story: “Twitchy is run by Malkin and Malkin works for Fox — not a legitimate story!”

Also, Twitchy quoted Tweets by Ace of Spades in which he made sarcastic reference to Tommy Christopher, and therefore Tommy’s a victim, because conservatives hate Legtimate Journalists.

Logic so sharp it could split atoms.

We are watching the Spencer Ackerman idea of smashing conservatives “through a plate glass window” — never mind the truth, just win.

This brute-force approach to Narrative Management is astonishingly successful. Allahpundit is in such a fugue of despair about it that he has resorted to linking me to prove his case:

If you’re a reporter and you’re taking conservatives seriously, you’re doing it wrong. [Chris] Matthews goes so far as to identify Romney’s utterly benign aside in the second debate about “binders full of women” as one of the reasons the media should move, en masse, even further to the left. That’s not a serious critique; it’s a fig leaf of outrage designed to apply pressure towards the desired political outcome. And it works.

You should read the whole thing because, after all, it’s not every day year I get linked by Allahpundit. Meanwhile, returning to the original model of Wheelerization, Patterico recounts this colloquy:

Wheeler: You said Crowder shouldn’t report the assault!
Me: Except I didn’t say that. Prove I did!
Wheeler: Incredible that an ADA doesn’t think crimes should be reported!
Me: Except I didn’t say that. Prove I did!
Wheeler: Wow. I think I’ll tell your boss that you don’t believe in reporting crimes.
Me: Except I didn’t say that. Prove I did.
Wheeler: Sheesh. A law enforcement officer saying crimes shouldn’t be reported. Can you believe it?
Me: Except I didn’t say that. Prove I did.
Wheeler: Looks like it’s time to ask your boss why their ADA thinks crimes should not be reported.
Me: Except I didn’t say that. Prove I did.
Wheeler: [more of the same, ad infinitum]

Marcy Wheeler’s narrative involved the argument that Crowder should have filed an assault charge against his attacker before reporting it as news, and she got it in her mind — an idée fixe — that Patterico had somehow discouraged Crowder from filing charges. Because he is by trade a prosecuting attorney, it might somehow be construed as wrongful for him to be “saying crimes shouldn’t be reported,” and so Wheeler began repeating this allegation as if the repetition proved it was true, and as if Patterico had an obligation to prove himself innocent.

“Accuse the accusers,” see?

As for Marcy Wheeler’s absurd claim, let me offer this example: Hunter S. Thompson was once brutally stomped by the Hell’s Angels, and never reported it to the police. Thompson was a journalist writing a book about the Hell’s Angels, and it might not have been altogether ethical for him to be trying to put several of them in jail for assault as a complainant while he was also being paid to tell their story.

And let’s face it, Thompson was on shaky ground from a legal standpoint, because he witnessed a good deal of other criminal behavior by the Angels that he never bothered reporting to police.

The story you’re covering is more important than whatever hassles you suffer as a consequence, and if those hassles involve getting your head bashed in — well, hey, that’s part of the coverage, too. In that sense, Crowder’s big day in Lansing was totally gonzo.

Speaking of hassles and important gonzo stories, I was intrigued yesterday by that Pastebin file in which Ron Brynaert mentioned Marcy Wheeler in connection with Neal Rauhauser and Patterico and SWATting and the Anthony Weiner scandal. Just happened to find that when, on a crazy hunch, I Googled “Marcy + Wheeler + Rauhauser.”

Maybe just a coincidence. Maybe not.




 


Category: Ace of Spades, Crime, Fox News, Labor Unions, Media Bias, Michelle Malkin, Patterico, Twitchy

World’s Youngest Blogger: My Cuteness Outweighs Being A Chocolate Snob?

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 5 Comments

Category: World's Youngest Blogger

United States Denied Analytic Acumen Of Susan Rice As Head Of Dept. Of State UPDATE: SECSTATE Kerry,
SECDEF Hagel?

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

Via preciseBlogs, Rock Center reports:

Embattled U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state after months of criticism over her Benghazi comments, she told NBC News on Thursday.
“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama, saying she’s saddened by the partisan politics surrounding her prospects.
“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country…Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time,” she wrote in the letter obtained by NBC News.

This is kind of a shame, as I’m sure she bought that position fair and square.
This seems to re-open the door for the Senator who isn’t always clear on which state he’s mooring in:

To Democrats worried that a possible secretary of state nomination for John Kerry would clear a path for Republican Scott Brown to run for his Senate seat: Keep worrying.
Brown, beaten by liberal darling Elizabeth Warren on Nov. 6, certainly seemed to hint on Wednesday that he won’t be gone long—even as he gave what officially was his farewell speech.

This blogger just hopes that whoever relieves Hillary reinstates RSM as the Potential Future Ambassador to Vanuatu. Or at least Bulungi.

Now a Memeorandum thread

Update: via Drudge, the Examiner has:

The growing possibility of President Obama naming Democratic Sen. John Kerry as secretary of State and former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel to run the Pentagon is being embraced by Senate Republicans who predict confirmation.
“I think both of them will be questioned vigorously but confirmed,” said a top GOP Senate aide, meaning the GOP won’t put up a fight in the Democratically-controlled chamber. That will be a key selling point as Obama considers his choices.
Reports emerged Thursday that Hagel, a Vietnam vet from Nebraska, was the frontrunner to replace exiting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

This doesn’t put the DoD in a good position for the Battle of Super-Orbital Ridges.

Category: Uncategorized

Naked Celebrity News Update (Or, the Parable of the Prodigal Upskirt)

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 32 Comments

Because I’m trying not to offend the Pope — he’s on Twitter now, and I’m still hoping to get a “Follow Friday” shout-out — I resisted the temptation to headline this item “Anne Hathaway Upskirt,” although I decided it wouldn’t hurt to use that as the URL. It seems that at this week’s premiere of Les Misérables, Anne accidentally displayed for paparazzi what the New York Daily News calls “the Full Hathaway”:

“I was getting out of the car and my dress was so tight that I didn’t realize it until I saw all the photographers’ flashes,” she told Vanity Fair writer Ingrid Sischy.
“It was devastating. They saw everything. I might as well have lifted up my skirt for them.”

If this incident was important enough to be reported by the New York Daily News, why shouldn’t a Hayekian public intellectual notice it? Meanwhile, in important news from the tech sector, Google has made it somewhat more difficult to search for porn photos, including the suddenly popular “Anne Hathaway Upskirt” photo. (No, that link won’t show it. I’m just linking back to this post to Google-bomb myself.)

Here’s my thought: Guys are going to be searching for that photo anyway, and why shouldn’t some percentage of that traffic lead to my site, where maybe these sick freaks will be inspired to feel some twinge of regret for wanting to see what Anne Hathaway’s naughty parts look like.

Because the Pope’s on Twitter now, guys, and don’t you feel ashamed that you have nothing better to do with your pathetic lives than to Google “Anne Hathaway Upskirt” photo? Read more

Category: Catholics, Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Scandal, Sex

On Journalism and Walter Duranty

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 12 Comments

Jennifer Rubin, who used to be “just a blogger” with PJMedia, is now a journalist with the Washington Post, and interviews her former boss, Roger Simon, about the new play he and his wife wrote about infamous New York Times reporter Walter Duranty:

Big business is always portrayed as evil in Hollywood, but mainstream journalism (which is run by big companies) gets glowing portrayals. Why?
That cuts to the very heart of the question of bias. We start with an assumption that the goal of “big business” is to make money. And from that in a kind of shorthand, we draw all sorts of negative connotations. The stated goal of journalism is to tell “the truth.” That also leads us to make a series of positive assumptions. There remains a widespread, though diminishing, belief that journalism can be objective, when, by its very nature, it requires a selection of which facts to report and what level of importance to give to these facts.

You can and should read the whole thing. The idea that “big business” is inherently evil because its goal is to make money overlooks the obvious fact that the goal of small business — and of just about everybody, really — is also to make money. “Big business” is just more successful at it.

Wal-Mart was not a demonized villain when Sam Walton was running a single five-and-dime store in Arkansas, nor when Walton’s company grew into a relatively minor chain of discount stores, mostly located in small Southern and Midwestern towns. There were larger and better-known discount chains in the 1970s and ’80s, when most of the Left’s anti-commercial rage was still focused on shopping malls.

It wasn’t until Wal-Mart’s innovative methods and super-low prices made them the nation’s largest retail firm that the Left decided to forget about shopping malls and make Sam Walton’s erstwhile five-and-dime operation the hated symbol of Corporate Greed it is today.

Have you ever heard any left-winger railing against, say, Dollar General? No, you haven’t, even though Dollar General runs a nationwide chain of more than 10,000 discount stores with annual revenue of nearly $15 billion. For some reason, Wal-Mart is demonized and Dollar General is ignored, which tells you something about the irrationality of the Left’s selective outrage, as does the lack of leftist outrage against Big Media.

NBC/Universal, CBS/Viacom, ABC/Disney, CNN/Time-Warner — the highly profitable conglomerates that run Big Media are seldom called out by the lefties that rant deliriously against “Wall Street.” And whatever the idealism of their employees, there is something quaintly naive in the notion that the goal of Viacom is to tell the truth.

No, the goal of Viacom is to make profits for their stockholders, and they do so handsomely, turning more than $2 billion in profit last year on revenues of about $15 billion. If the executives at Viacom ever lose sight of that goal — if they start piling up losses and bleeding capital — then the high-minded idealists in the newsroom of CBS are liable to find themselves out of a job.

Most journalists never think of their jobs in terms of profitability. They don’t think of what they do in terms of “value-added” or consider how easily they could be replaced, if their productivity and efficiency don’t meet the cost/benefit standards of their profit-oriented employers.

When Walter Duranty was filing his dishonest dispatches about Stalin’s regime in the Soviet Union, the profitability of the New York Times was a factor he could afford to take for granted.

No more — earlier this month, the Times announced its fourth round of staff cutbacks in five years, and times are tough all over in the news business. Newsweek is also reportedly preparing to lay off staff, and employees of the Washington Times are reportedly braced for another round of layoffs. (When I quit the Washington Times nearly five years ago in January 2008, some of my co-workers thought I was crazy; most of them have since been laid off, and several have subsequently told me I was smart to get out while the getting was good. It’s looking like a very gloomy Christmas at 3600 New York Avenue this year.)

The anti-“Big Business” attitudes of some journalists are directly related to their inability to think of their jobs in terms of practical economics, because so many of them are insulated from the realities of competition. That insulation has been fraying — New Media erodes the profit margins and increases the scramble for the big scoop — but most people inside the Old Media tent still don’t have any real appreciation of the emerging entrepreneurial model of journalism.

Profit? Isn’t that a bad thing?

Screw ’em. They’ll learn, sooner or later.

 

Category: Journalism

Mad Scientist Calls for ‘Murderous Rampage’ Against Watchdog Group

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 24 Comments

“I gotta be me, as the douchebag credo goes.”
— Ace of Spades

In November, the Franklin Center’s Tori Richards and Earl Glynn did a Colorado Watchdog report on National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Richards and Glynn revealed the exorbitant salaries paid to top officials of this little-known Carter-era “green energy” boondoggle:

NREL’s top executive, Dr. Dan Arvizu, makes close to a million dollars per year. His two top lieutenants rake in more than half a million each and nine others make more than $350,000 a year. . . .
NREL’s taxpayer-funded management company has seen its budget more than double since 2006. That’s when one of its most ardent supporters, Rep. Ed Perlmutter D-Lakewood, was first elected to Congress. The lab sits in the middle of his district.

Read the whole report. This exercise in investigative journalism did not please 34-year-old NREL employee Kerrilee Ann Crosby, who used her Twitter account (@crosbolicious) to make disturbingly violent suggestions about the organization that published the report:

“Have you ever felt like going on a murderous rampage? Start at @WatchdogCO‘s offices. They perpetuate lies like this,”  Kerrilee Ann Crosby tweeted last month while working at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
“You guys are f***ing retarded. You are the Fox News of blogs. At first I thought I was reading The Onion, but no not the case,” Crosby continued. . . .
Crosby started working at NREL two years ago and now has a job in the technology department where she is a faculty member. . . .
“The person who wrote the tweets in question is employed at NREL in a non-supervisory staff position,” NREL spokesperson George Douglas acknowledged in an email to Watchdog.org. “Her opinions do not represent those of the Laboratory. She has been found in violation of NREL’s policy on social networking and appropriate action is being taken.” . . .
[Crosby’s] Twitter feed is filled with dozens of tweets per day that appear during the business hours. They detail graphic sex, love of alcohol, and the Denver music scene, and bemoan her lackluster dating life. . . .
[S]he posted this about her job at NREL: “In our weekly meetings I play this lil game called How Much Can I Fart In This Leather Chair And Get Away W/ It. Works best with a hangover.”
Crosby did not respond to requests for an interview and has since deleted her Linkedin profile and set her Twitter page to private.

Read the whole thing. This civil servant is employed with your tax dollars. Her Twitter account is still online, if you’d care to send greetings:

(Hat-tip: Gateway Pundit.)


Category: Colorado, Environmentalism, Science

LIVE AT FIVE: 12.13.12

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Syrian Loyalists Fire SCUD Missiles At Rebels

SCUD missile preparing for launch

Firing of Soviet-made ballistic missiles a sign of desperation by Assad regime?

Elections Begin In Gujarat State
Will Keshhubai help Congress beat back the BJP?

RTW May Put Michigan Back On Business Map
A game-changer for the Wolverine State?



POLITICS
Menendez Intern Was Illegal Alien, Sex Offender

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

DHS denies AP report that they stalled deportation proceedings until after the election


NBC Poll Claims 65% Want Compromise On Fiscal Cliff (Video)


Panetta Denies Medal Of Honor Upgrade To Marine

NY State AG Adds Rules For Non-Profits

Gun Sale Website Sued In Connection With Woman’s Death

Quinn, Emanuel Blast Court’s Right To Carry Decision

What’s Next For Hillary Clinton?

Boehner Warns House GOP Not To Make Christmas Plans

Mass. Cabinet Shakeup Coming Amidst Scandals



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Rises As Fed Commits To More Stimulus: NYMEX $86.77, Brent $109.50
Fed Ties Interest Rates To Unemployment
Abe, LDP Set To Inherit Worst Economic Gloom Since 2010
Berkshire Hathaway Repurchases $1.2 Billion In Stock
Tokyo Stocks Hit Eight-Month High On Weak Yen, US Stimulus
Why Investors Shrugged At Costco’s Solid Quarter
Google Bids To Retake iOS Mapping With New SDK
Juniper Buys SDN Startup Contrail For $176 Million
Sprint Reportedly Pitches Partnership To Dish
@Pontifex Sends First Tweet, Blessing Followers
Google Image Search: Now With Less Porn



SPORTS
NOW IS THE TIME ON THE WARRIORS WHEN WE DANCE

Golden State Warriors celebrate upset of Heat

Streaking Golden State stuns Miami for fifth straight win on rookie’s layup, 95-75

Celtics Escape With Win Against Mavericks Despite Miscues

Goodell’s Authority Takes A Hit

Clippers Extend Winning Streak To Eight Against Bobcats

Jazz Beat Spurs With Three-Pointer At Buzzer

Nyets End Skid Against Raptors With 94-88 Road Win

Davey Johnson Honored By DC Chamber Of Commerce, Still Hoping For LaRoche Deal By Christmas



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Gillian Anderson Returns To TV After Ten Years On “Hannibal”

Gillian Anderson

Will play Hannibal Lecter’s psychiatrist

Spice Girls Reunite For Opening Of Their Musical “Viva Forever”

Police: NM Men Plotted To Kill, Castrate Justin Bieber

Anne Hathaway On “Devastating” Wardrobe Malfunction: “They Saw Everything”

Drew Barrymore Introduces Daughter Olive

Lindsay Lohan’s Probation Revoked

Brooke Burke Cancer-Free After Thyroid Surgery

Paul McCartney To Replace Kurt Cobain In Nirvana Reunion

Amanda Seyfried Gets “Pretty Drunk” On Late Show With Letterman



FOREIGNERS
Japan’s Elections: A Guide To The Perplexed
Berlusconi Offers To Back Monti As PM
Sanctions, Further Isolation Likely Results Of Nork Missile Launch
Chavez’ Successor: Who Is Nicolas Maduro?
Japan Scrambles Fighters After PRC Violates Airspace Over Senkaku Islands
Abbas: Hamas Leader Approved Agreement Recognizing Two-State Solution
Putin Promises To Strengthen Russian Economy, Military In State Of The Nation Speech
De Silva Report On Finucane Assassination Turns Spotlight On MI5
Egyptian Opposition Rejects Boycott, Calls For Vote Against Charter
SecDef Panetta Holds Talks In Kandahar



BLOGS & STUFF
Valley Of The Shadow: Battle Of Michigan Echoes Milo v. Clodius
Forbes: Republicans Should Let Obama Take America Off The Cliff
Weasel Zippers: Obama Predicts GOP Will Cave On Tax Hikes
NRO Corner: Amash Warns Boehner – You’re Not Welcome In My District
American Glob: Left Responds To Michigan Union Violence By Blaming The Victim
Vodkapundit: Why Progs Are Inherently Vile, Reason #1,000,006
Althouse: Gawker Tells Stephen Crowder To “Stop Whining”
Ramesh Ponnuru: New Data On Republicans And Hispanics
Michelle Malkin: Shocked Face – DHS Delayed Arrest Of Menendez’ Illegal Alien Sex Offender Intern Until After Election
Bryan Preston: Exposing Joseph Stalin’s Media Apologist
Hit & Run: When RTW Is Wrong And Un-Libertarian

Category: Live at Five

Does Belafonte Think Conservatives Should Just ‘Smell The Glove’?

Posted on | December 12, 2012 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

Via Daley Gator, Harry Belafonte seems bent on disproving the notion that people mellow with age:

Tell us how you really feel, Harry: should conservatives just assume the position?

Category: Uncategorized
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