Post-Debate Spin

I'll try to be as objective as I can even though I'm a big Bush backer who has already called the race for him.

The only winner tonight was the American voter who got to hear the differences between Bush and Kerry. Since this debate was on foreign affairs one would have expected the President to dominate. That didn't happen. John Kerry talked tough and pointed out the contrasts of the candidates. While looking Presidential he made some outrageous statements. He called the Iraq War a "colossal error of misjudgement." Kerry said Bush "made a mistake in invading Iraq" even though he voted for the war. He insulted the Brits, Aussies, Poles, and other members the alliance in Iraq.

Kerry has a plan to "win the peace" in Iraq. The only specific part mentioned was a summit to get allies to commit troops and funds. He still has the delusion that France and Germany will go into Iraq after some Kerry sweet talking. It won't happen, Kerry knows it, but has no Plan B--which should really be Plan A. And he complains of the Bush administration's lack of planning.

There was substantial back and forth on North Korea. Kerry practically blamed Bush for North Korea new nuclear weapons. No mention was made of the Bill Clinton's and Jimmy Carter's failed agreement. A difference between the candidates was Bush's multilateral talks versus Kerry's bilateral talks (along with multilateral).

Kerry criticized backing down in Fallujah, but you know he would have been the first to complain had the marines gone in and suffered tremendous causalties along with the deaths of untold Iraqi civilians.

Kerry did some pandering by mentioning Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin (twice).

He talked about tax cuts for the rich even though the debate was about foreign policy. He said, "We didn't need that tax cut." If Kerry Edwards wants to stop talking about Iraq and talk about taxes, fine by me.

Kerry had some weird moments. Only one of the candidates made reference to Ronald Reagan, and it wasn't President Bush. I guess Kerry thinks there are some disgruntled conservatives out there who'd want to vote for him if they could be convinced Kerry was strong on defense.

There was an obligatory Halliburton reference that only kooks and hard-core Bush haters would understand. Also kooky was was the claim that the U.S. is building 14 permanent bases in Iraq. Where did that come from?

The Massachusetts Senator mentioned weapons of mass destruction crossing borders but didn't say which borders. Iraq? The U.S.?

Kerry also announced the President had the right to engage in pre-emptive attacks. Deaniacs and Kerry's anti-war supporters must have just cringed when hearing that. I bet the wish the Dean Scream never happened.

But the strangest comment from Kerry was his idea of U.S. military intervention passing a "global test." Does that mean France has veto power over future wars that are in the U.S. interest? Does that mean U.N. Security Council is needed before U.S. troops step foot in a foreign land? Does Kerry really care about national sovereignty? Those two words bring up a whole host of questions. Kerry's goal was to sound firm and steady, but such a nebulous concept sounds like a foundation made of sand.

The slouching President did a fine job of reiterating his stump speech points. If you heard his acceptance speech at the GOP convention earlier this month or been to one of his campaign rallies you know what he said. "Steady leadership" and "hard work" were mentioned over and over and over. Too much for my blood, but then the President wasn't trying to win over a Bush-backing political junkie like me.

The President defended his Iraq War decision by saying that in a post-Sept. 11 world a leader can't sit back and react to an attack. He said he went to the U.N. to give Saddam one last chance. In the President's mind Saddam failed his last chance and had to go.

To use a football analogy Bush played a soft zone not allowing Kerry to make the big play. The President could have blitzed more often and hammer at Kerry for voting for the $87 billion military package before he voted against it. He only mentioned it once allowing Kerry to reply that he sometimes messed up his words. The problem wasn't the words, it was the action of voting against the aid. Bush go after him for that.

Another example is when Kerry offered Iran nuclear fuel and a test to make sure it was only being used for peaceful purposes. Bush should have went after him by questioning why a petroleum-rich country needed a nuclear reactor. A country with a history of sponsoring terrorism cannot have a nuke. Bush just let the comment pass.

There was something that bothered me about both candidates. When asked what the #1 foreign policy issue is Kerry said nuclear proliferation while Bush said WMD in the hands of terrorist networks. They're both wrong. The #1 issue is defeating the Islamist ideology. WMD are just tools to attack. Like Communism Islamism is an America-opposing ideology. Islamism is the root of al Qaeda and the Sep. 11 attacks. Destroy (or marginalize) the Islamists and WMD proliferation becomes less consequential though still important.

The final result is a draw which prolongs Kerry's campaign. If Bush was trying to make a final kill it didn't happen tonight.

The MSM spin is Kerry looked Presidential, that he energized his base by going toe-to-toe with the President on Bush's top issue, and the polls will narrow because of the debate. Well, the polls will narrow if the MSM decides a closer race would get viewers more interested in news coverage. Recall the newly-named TAM's first rule of thumb of news consumption: News is entertainment.

Allah is collecting blogospheric reaction and expect updates when I find interesting post-debate commentary.

UPDATE:

• Taegan Goddard declares Kerry the winner.
  
• Judicious Asininity wrote, "Kerry did better than I expected and concealed his lies and deception well."
  
• Most of the time I find live weblogging (I refuse to call it "liveblogging") a waste of time. Daniel Drezner is the entertaining exception.
  
• I'm not going to beat on Kerry for this flub, but it's funny. Oh what can happen on live tv.
  
• Read the transcript to your heart's content.
  
• The Chinese think Bush is right and Kerry is wrong.
  
• Oliver Willis claims the President had a moment that was "childish, mean, and nasty." Since he didn't say anything mean or nasty nor did he look childish I guess he thinks Kerry didn't win.
  
• Erick Erickson calls Kerry the "Urban Legends Candidate." Why didn't Kerry mention the draft? Bush was waiting for it.
  

TAM's Debate Coverage

I tried to insert the Bush-Cheney live debate spin feed, but it was messing up the weblog. Sorry. You'll just have to stick with the campaign websites.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)

The Pre-Debate Score

On the Iowa Electronic Markets President Bush is leading Sen. Kerry, but the lead has narrowed over the last few days. Traders must think Bush was overvalued at the $0.74 level. Tune into TAM tomorrow to see if the debate effected this prediction market.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)

Preventing Voter Fraud

I received an e-mail from a reader asking me what can be done now to prevent the theft of the Wisconsin election. There's zero chance the laws can be changed to require photo ID before getting a ballot. However, I have some ideas.

First, concerned citizens have to be aware of what's happening at their polling place. If the place is packed and filled with brand new voters, red flags should spring up in their minds. Local and state election officals need to be contacted and given as much information as possible so they don't think the citizen is just a partisan crank.

The second thing is for citizens to put pressure on their District Attorneys to fully investigate and prosecute those accused of vote fraud. McCann's a lost cause, but the prosecutors in Racine should know that the public won't stand for a lax defense of the vote.

Third, suspicious citizens should call local media. Like contacting election officials they should have good, plausible information to back up their suspicion that individuals or groups are attempting to rig the election. Initial contact may not cause a story to get into print or on the air, but it may inspire further investigation. If no reporters listen then contact a weblogger, like me, or start one up yourself. The New Media revolution offers many more ways to get a story out.

These ideas were just from some brief thinking. E-mail me or leave a comment if you have some of your own.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 06:43 PM | Comments (0)

Political Innovaton

Stolen Honor, the documentary "how John Kerry's actions during the Vietnam era impacted the treatment of American soldiers and POWs" is available for sale and also pay-per-view on the internet. You would have thought Michael Moore would have thought of this.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 06:23 PM | Comments (0)

This Means War

The new $50 might be a French conspiracy.

"This Time the Treasury has Gone Too Far"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)

Alone in the Wilderness

The Boston Globe almost got caught up in a forgery about the forged Killian memos. A few jobs may have been saved by this Wizbang post.

That's all well and good, but why are the same webloggers who went gung-ho after CBS News letting USA Today off the hook for their role publicizing the memos? For daily TAM readers this is old news. The paper relied on CBS News' "journalism" and the White House's lack of a denial to run with the story a day after the 60 Minutes II airing. Only after the blogosphere and some MSM questioned the memos' authencity did USAT have experts look at the documents. USAT reporters have a history with Bill Burkett and have spent months trying to dig up dirt on President Bush's National Guard service.

Webloggers aren't the only ones missing this angle. USAT's own media reporter, Peter Johnson, wrote about how conservatives think Dan Rather and CBS News lean Left. Not one mention is made that his employer also ran a smear story on Bush based on forged documents.

Not all webloggers following the Killian memo story have ignored TAM's investigation. Thanks must be given to them for publicizing USAT's role.

This isn't about me trying to break a big story. This is about holding media organizations accountable for bad journalism. USAT editor Ken Paulson sees nothing wrong with how his paper covered the story. There's no contrition and no apology to readers and President Bush. You'd think such arrogance would receive heaps of scorn from the blogosphere. Well, there's at least one person is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

[To read my on-going critque of USAT's Killian memo coverage read here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 05:31 PM | Comments (2)

News as Entertainment

Television news isn't about information dispersal. It's about entertainment. Years ago, an economics professor (can't remember his name) at an IHS conference bestowed this insight on me, and I have never watched television the same since.

The CBS News draft story is a mini-movie. There's the protagonist, Beverly Cocco who's "absolutely scared" and "petrified" about an impending draft. There's the villian, President Bush who's sent troops to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq and who vows to continue waging war on America's enemies. With the villian is his lackey. Here, it's the Selective Service Director Jack Martin who admits a draft could begin six months after a law was passed. (Neither Kerry nor Bush have said they will reinstate the draft.)

Now, CBS News could have put in the much-needed fact that the e-mails scaring people about the draft contain dubious information at best. They didn't, not because of some anti-Bush or anti-government bias but because it would tone down the story's tension. Viewers wouldn't have a "wow" moment if the story was about a military draft that no one of any significance says will happen. Such a story would just make Beverly Cocco look like a paranoid kook. Putting paranoid kooks on the evening news is not good for rating (but do it on Jerry Springer and you have a hit).

The evening news isn't just the only place where news is entertainment. There are the talking head yap fests like Crossfire, Hannity & Colmes, and Hardball. After watching Crossfire for a few years I realized the point of the show wasn't to inform the viewer. The guests have their talking points they stick to and all participants just try to make their ideological foes look like extremist wackos. That's not news, it's professional wrestling in front of a Washington, D.C. backdrop.

For those if us news junkies news is entertainment. We have an unsatiable desire to be in the know and up to date with all that happening around us. We click on Instapundit and Drudge many times an hour to keep up. Many of us have gone so far as to write weblogs to quench our thirst for news.

What I'm getting as is news as entertainment isn't inherently bad. It just means the viewer or reader needs to maintain an assumption when consuming media: sometimes the story is more important than the substance; there's usually more than meets the eye.

P.S. Here's what Google thinks when you type in "television news entertainment." I know it's only the result of an algorithm so take it with a grain of silicon.

"INDC Interviews the CBS Evening News" [via JustOneMinute]

UPDATE: I don't know if Glenn Reynolds has ever explicitly dubbed news as entertainment, but this quote makes me think we're of like mind:

Unless Kerry melts into a puddle on the floor, the media spin will be that he did well and helped his campaign. This is for two reasons. One is, as Newsweek' Evan Thomas remarked, that the press "wants Kerry to win."

The other, of course, is that they want the race to remain interesting -- which is to say, a race -- for another month, and it'll be hard to do that if everybody's pronouncing Kerry doomed after tonight.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)

Lights, Camera, Complain

Kerry Edwards aides want signal lights removed from the lecterns before tonight's debate. Captain Ed calls it a "temper tantrum." (Gee, was there a Teresa sighting?) I wonder how many viewers would have even noticed them. Now, the press will point out focus of the pre-debate scuffle. More will pay attention to the lights. If the Kerry Edwards' strategy was for Kerry get away with being long-winded then the complaining aides made a boo-boo.

"Debate Panel Nixes Kerry Campaign Request"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2004

Voter Fraud Central

Bill Hobbs is collecting voter fraud information. The first pattern I'm noticing is there's plenty of activity in the battleground states of Ohio and Wisconsin. Bush definitely need Ohio, while Kerry has to have Wisconsin.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 07:19 PM | Comments (1)

Our Money is Pink!

Behold, the further "wussification" of our money. The Treasury Department should just go all out and put Hello Kitty on the bills. It's one thing to make currency tougher to counterfeit, but it's another to do it in such an aesthetically unpleasing way. Before messing with the $10 bill bring over the crew doing the nice new nickels.

"New $50 Bill Begins Circulating"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture at 06:26 PM | Comments (3)

September 28, 2004

The Fix is In

In today's Journal Sentinel is a front page story on how important the youth vote is in the election. The story is rather hum-drum. Much more interesting is a caption to this picture:

New Voters Project volunteers gather to be deputized as city registrars. Wisconsin is one of six states targeted by the non-partisan group, which says it has already added more than 100,000 young adults to the rolls here.

New Voters Project is about as non-partisan as Rock the Vote. NVP is a project of the State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) and George Washington University. The PIRGs are nothing more than Leftist political outfits. More importantly the New Voters Project now has the ability to commit massive vote fraud that could swing Wisconsin and the election toward John Kerry. The Wisconsin Campus Director is Jessy Tolkan. She's had experience with election fraud.

The dirty little secret about registering in Wisconsin is a voter can do so at the polls on Election Day. There is no need to register beforehand. Registration drives only make local officials spend time finding first-time registrants and ask for identification. After that no indentification is needed. Thus a first-time registrant who showed a town clerk their ID does not have to show it again before voting.

There's even a big loophole in same-day registration. The registrant doesn't even need to show any idea if someone who lives in the same municipality vouches for the person.

In some cases NVP workers have been deputized to register voters. In other localities they haven't. Those deputized can register voters without local officials checking IDs. They are simply added to the voter rolls.

Because of Wisconsin's lax voting rules here is a plausible scenerio to steal a Kerry victory:

Here’s the method to the New Voter Project madness. In Wisconsin, you can register to vote at the polls on Election Day. You have to produce identification when you register. But sending in a phony registration in advance puts you on the voter list before the election. Already-registered voters don’t have to show any identification. By putting perhaps thousands of fake names on the voter lists, it will be possible for fraudsters to show up at the polls and simply claim to be the person who was already "registered."

Or how about this: I, being a big Bush backer, get deputized by my town clerk to register voters. I could be legit and have people fill out the proper form and check their ID to make sure they are who they claim to be. Or I could take names out of the phone book, fill out the paperwork, lie that I saw the ID, and put them onto the rolls. While illegal these nefarious actions wouldn't themselves affect an election. There would just be a bunch of false names on the voter rolls.

Now, suppose I falsely registered 20 new voters, then had people from outside the community vote. My cohorts may have already voted somewhere else and are now voting again. That is voter fraud. Wisconsin's attitude that Illinois-style shenanigans could never happen here make the Badger State a defenseless target. When you combine that with it being a battleground state in a close election, then the potential for vote fraud rises significantly.

The PIRGs, George Washington University, and the Pew Charitable Trusts must answer why someone with Tolkan's background is (presumably) being paid to register voters.

What can be done for this election is for Bush supporters to keep a close eye on the polls. Lots of strange, new people coming to the polls should trigger red flags. For future elections, state law has to be changed to require voters to show ID before getting a ballot.

"At 25 Million Strong, Young Adults Coaxed to Flex at the Polls"

"'That St. Louis Dog'"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 09:21 PM | Comments (3)

Prediction Markets

Slog through the posts below because if you're interested in the potential power of prediction markets like the Iowa Electronic Markets these posts will help you understand some of the strengths and weaknesses of these devices.

• "On the Predictive Power of Markets"
  
• "The Predictions of Prediction Markets"
  
• "Candid Admission Time: What does TradeSports Tell Us?"
  
• "What Do IEM Prices Actually Mean?"
  
• "An Update on Manski, TradeSports and Predictive Markets"
  

While the Manski paper argues there is a weakness in the market-derived probability, Steve Vernon points out that the movement of the probability and the Manski bounds can tell us something about what market participants think will happen.

UPDATE: I just found this Tyler Cowen post. Here's a key paragraph:

The very virtue of prediction markets now becomes their cost. If you hear rumors, in the absence of prediction markets, you can ignore them and pretend they are not true. With asset markets, however, your forecast moves into equality with that of the market, otherwise you would trade. It is precisely this "forcing quality" that makes prediction markets so useful, but also so potent. Price movements are materially and psychologically harder to ignore. The very feature of prediction markets that mobilizes information also mobilizes coordinated social reactions to the embodied information, and not always for the better.

"Prediction Markets: Need We Fear Price Variance?"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)

Hamm's Day in Court

Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm endured 11 1/2 hours of a hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport over whether he will keep his medal. The Americans felt they said what they needed to say. A decision is expected within two weeks.

"Gymnastics Fight Hits Sports Court"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 06:16 AM | Comments (0)

Attanasio Buying Brewers

Should Major League Baseball approve, Mark Attanasio is become the next majority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Los Angeles investor is reportedly paying more than $180 million while a local sports radio yapper believes its closer to $200 million. The sale could be finalized in November.

"Brewers Accept Offer from L.A. Investor"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 06:13 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2004

Drinkin' With Voters

Karl Rove may have started his victory dance too early. John Kerry may have finally gotten the message and figured out how to connect to average Joes:

Susan Lampert Smith, a columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, was sprawled on her couch in Mount Horeb on Sunday afternoon, like so many others in her state, watching the Green Bay Packers and looking forward to a nap.

Suddenly, as she tells it, the phone rang and her friend Mary was on the line. "John Kerry's at the Main Street Pub watching the Packers," Mary told her.

"I just thought she was pulling my leg," Smith told E&P Monday. Smith had written a column for that day's State Journal challenging the pointy-headed Kerry to visit a small-town Wisconsin beer joint, watch the Pack and buy a round for the bar, because, as she sees it, he's "got to start acting more like a regular guy. Bush is really good at acting like a regular guy even though he's not."

Then Smith heard some chanting in the background. Suspecting there might be some truth to her friend's story, she headed to the pub, where she found gawkers, cops and Secret Service types.

Sure enough, Kerry himself emerged, waving and shaking hands as he made his way up Main Street to Schubert's café. Apparently Kerry picked up a chocolate malted there and then left town, after the 40-minute stopover.

When Smith entered the tavern, a place she and her family frequent for Friday night fish fries, she spotted a copy of Sunday's State Journal on the bar. She was told that Kerry came for the kickoff, bought a round, and split. "It was a little freaky," she told E&P. "I have no power in real life; I can't make my kids do anything, but I can make a presidential candidate buy a beer."

Kerry even has some good taste in beer. He neither went for the home state Miller or the enemy brew Budweiser. Instead, he drank a full-flavored, Chippewa Falls Leinenkugel's.

Underestimate Kerry's campaigning skills at your peril.

"In Wisconsin, Columnist Suggests, Kerry Complies"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 09:18 PM | Comments (1)

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I missed this Killian memo timeline put together by USA Today reporter Mark Memmott. I want to point out the items involving USA Today.

Wednesday, Sept. 8

...

6:45 p.m.: Bartlett tells USA TODAY White House reporter Judy Keen, "President Bush met his military obligations and rightfully received an honorable discharge (from the Guard). While the official records show the facts, no one can read the mind of a dead man (Killian) who wrote memos to himself 32 years ago."

...

9:15 p.m.: USA TODAY reporter Dave Moniz meets with former National Guard lieutenant colonel Bill Burkett, who will be revealed later as CBS' source for the memos and whom Moniz had dealt with on previous stories related to the National Guard. Burkett gives Moniz copies of the same documents he gave CBS. Moniz faxes them to USA TODAY's Washington bureau. Copies are also faxed to USA TODAY headquarters in McLean, Va.

USA TODAY editors, as they plan the next day's story and discuss how much weight to give the documents, rely in part on 60 Minutes' reporting and on Bartlett's comment about "a dead man who wrote memos to himself." USA TODAY faxes the documents to a person familiar with Guard personnel practices and files. She says it was not unusual for Guard commanders to write such memos, but could not offer additional authentication.

...

Friday, Sept. 10

Daybreak:The New York Times runs a story (on Page 17) headlined, "Commander's Son Questions Memos on Bush's Service." TheWashington Post headlines a front-page article, "Some Question Authenticity of Papers on Bush." USA TODAY publishes a five-paragraph story headlined, "Officer's son questions Bush memo." Rather says on CNN: "The story is true. The story is true." That day, USA TODAY editors assign reporters to expand the story and investigate the memos' authenticity.

...

Monday, Sept. 13

Daybreak: USA TODAY, pulling from the work of six reporters, publishes a lengthy look into the documents' credibility. "Two retired FBI forensic document examiners who studied the memos at USA TODAY's request said Sunday that they probably are forgeries," the story says. The story also notes that some other experts said that typewriters in use in the early 1970s might have been able to create such documents.

...

Wednesday, Sept. 15

Daybreak: Knox is prominent in newspaper stories across the country, on blogs all over the Web and in TV and radio reports. USA TODAY, which tried but failed to reach her the night before, reports what she's been saying and says her son Pat Carr, whom the newspaper reached, confirmed her comments.

...

Thursday, Sept. 16

...

Afternoon: Moniz and USA TODAY reporter Kevin Johnson begin a series of interviews with Burkett over five days. Burkett provides additional details on the condition that the newspaper's earlier promise of confidentiality be maintained, saying he expects CBS to identify him in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday. No interview is broadcast, and he waives that confidentiality agreement with USA TODAY on Monday.

Let's get into the substance of how USA Today put together their Killian memo story.

One hour and fifteen minutes after the 60 Minutes II story aired, Dave Moniz received copies of the forged memos from Bill Burkett. Presumably this was in Bozeman, Montana.

USAT editors admit that they ran with the story based on the CBS News airing and a woman who knew about National Guard practices and files. No document expert was consulted. Two days later and only after webloggers inspire some MSM to question the memos' authenticity does USAT "assign reporters to expand the story and investigate the memos' authenticity."

On 09.12.04 (three days after running the initial story), USAT shows the memos to document experts. Two say they're fakes while other experts say 1970s technology could produce such documents. They publish this story the next day.

Three days later on 09.15.04, reporters Dave Moniz and Kevin Johnson begin five days of interviews with Bill Burkett. The story is published on 09.21.04.

Now, let's see how many of my questions have been answered:

• "Will they acknowledge Bill Burkett as the source of the memos?"
  Yes they have and have gotten him to claim Lucy Ramirez is the source of the memos.
  
• "Why did they run the memo story the day after the 60 Minutes II airing?"
  They used the airing as well as the White House's distribution of the memos as an alternative to verifying their authenticity.
  
• "Was their any discussion between Moniz and Drinkard and CBS News staff or between USA Today and CBS News regarding the story?"
  There is no indication the two news organizations coordinated their stories.
  
• "Why didn't they have experts authenticate the memos before running with the story?"
  CBS News used the memos first and the White House never claimed they were fake. Because of this USAT Editor Ken Paulson does believe the paper erred.
  
• "Did USA Today use the 60 Minutes II airing as an excuse to not question the memos or their source?"
  Clearly, the show's airing eased editors' misgivings. See above.
  
• "What deals (if any) were made with Burkett in exchange for the memos?"
  No deals appear to have been made. This looks like part of a long-time relationship between Burkett and USAT reporters.
  
• "Was the Kerry Edwards campaign contacted with regards to the story?"
  There is no indication.
  
• "When will the reporters and the paper admit to being duped?"
  They only continue to investigate.
  
• "Will their be an internal investigation as to how and why the paper was duped?"
  No internal investigation has been made public.
  

The paper should be praised for not allowing Dave Moniz or Jim Drinkard to continue covering this story. A new reporter not only prevents any conflict of interest but allows for an outside perspective.

Unfortunately for the paper, the comments of Ken Paulson show the paper admits to no wrong. He uses CBS News and the White House as excuses for not authenticating the Killian memos.

Finally let me toot my horn. Editor & Publisher finally noticed USAT's role in this story on 09.14. They called it "widely overlooked." If they were reading TAM they would have realized the paper's role on 09.13. Sure it's one little day, but TAM scooped "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry."

"Scoops and Skepticism: How the Story Unfolded"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

Ditching Dan

Doug Forrester takes on Dan Rather and gives himself some publicity. He's starting a campaign to kick the CBS News anchor off the air.

"GOP Businessman Forrester Seeks Dan Rather's Ouster"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2004

Wrong!

John Kerry didn't advocate pre-emption against Iraq in 1997, and the Washington Times biffed it. Sloppy journalism is bipartisan.

"Kerry Circa '97: Corrected Edition"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

The Next Hip Tech

This AP story is the first from the MSM I've read about wikis. I guess the Killian memo story and notice of weblogs on cable news and in magazines like Time, the MSM needs to find the next-big-thing.

"'Wikis' Offer Knowledge-Sharing Online"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Tech at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

Pack Loses Shootout; Legendary Performance

Defense? What defense? That was the question in Indianapolis today. Brett Favre and Payton "Favre, Jr." Manning combined for nine touchdown passes and oodles of offense.

The Colts owned the first half tearing apart the Packers depleted secondary. Favre and the gang kept pace. In the second half, the Packers fought their way back. Late in the fourth quarter, the Packers were within seven points of the Colts and driving. Then Javon Walker coughed up the ball with a great Colts strip. Indianapolis then scored on a Edgerin James run to seal the 45-31 victory.

To those betting types, if you need help with Packers games check out Lisa's prediction then bet the other way.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 07:00 PM | Comments (1)

Colonel Ed Morrisey's Claim

President Bush volunterred to go to Vietnam? With anything that happened 30+ years ago, we need something more than one man's word. Did Bush sign anything? Has he made that claim? Have others publically said something similar?

"Retired Colonel: Bush Volunteered for Vietnam" [via Instapundit]

UPDATE: Because of Penraker's good hunting we now know that Col. Morrisey's claim backs up Bush's assertion that he volunteered for Palace Alert. Morrisey didn't mention the program but the reasons Bush wasn't accepted matches Morrisey's reason of why Bush didn't go to Vietnam.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 06:40 PM | Comments (1)

Desparate Language

The words from Kerry Edwards and Nancy Pelosi aren't those of a party that believes they're winning voters' hearts and minds. Kerry Edwards released an add decrying the Bush campaign's "despicable politics." It was in response to a 527 ad showing Mohammad Atta, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein then asking, "Would you trust Kerry against these fanatic killers?"

In the Democrats weekly radio address, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the Iraq War a "grotesque mistake." Does that mean she would prefer Saddam still brutalizing Iraqis while waiting for U.N. to melt away so he can rebuild his WMD stockpile? Unlike Kerry, Pelosi didn't vote for the Iraq War resolution or the $87 billion supplemental.

"Kerry Ad Labels Bush Politics 'Despicable'"

"Pelosi Calls Iraq War 'Grotesque Mistake'"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 03:44 AM | Comments (0)

Jumping on the Pile

Even NFL.com is ripping Dan Rather:

Before Monday night's kickoff in Philadelphia, Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens compared his matchup with Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss to one between Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

Now, on the very next weekend, the NFL gets another of those dream matchups that is so authentic, Dan Rather couldn't make it up.

"Favre and Manning in Another Dream Matchup"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 03:04 AM | Comments (0)

What Money Will Get You

Oh to be in Boston and know a few rich conservatives.

"Donate to the RNC, Get Your Photo with Hotties"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 02:52 AM | Comments (1)

September 25, 2004

A Rainbow and a Weirdo

There were a couple oddities during Bush's Wisconsin visit yesterday:

At one point during the speech, a rainbow appeared over the crowd, although there had been no rain in the area during the afternoon. Beth Mueller, 57, of Caledonia took it as a sign that Bush would be re-elected. "He's electrifying," she said after the speech.

In Kenosha County, a man dressed in women's clothing, armed with a .38 caliber revolver and a small knife, was arrested as he sat in a parked car in Paddock Lake near the route of Bush's motorcade. The Kenosha County Sheriff's Department said the man, identified as John R. Waldron Jr. of the Town of Trevor, was arrested on one count of disorderly conduct and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon. Waldron told authorities he was there only to take a picture of Bush.

"Bush Back in State, on Attack"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 01:51 AM | Comments (1)

September 24, 2004

Flames! Fire! Smoke!

For your Bonfire of the Vanities fix, Daly Thoughts is the place to be.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Bush Defends Allawi

President Bush was back in Wisconsin again. In Janesville, he told his audience, "This brave man came to our country to talk about how he's risking his life for a free Iraq, which helps America. And Senator Kerry held a press conference and questioned Mr. Allawi's credibility. You can't lead this country if your ally in Iraq feels like you question his credibility."

[Notice the AP gave a byline to the story in contrast to the "boo" story when Bush was in West Allis.]

"Bush: Kerry Wrongly Questioned Allawi"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 07:43 PM | Comments (2)

A Knock Against the Twins

A little bit of my heart broke when I read these words from Barbara and Jenna:

We were excited to get to Minnesota—not only is there a HUGE effort to re-elect our Dad in this state, but it is also the home of the Vikings. We are both new Viking fans because one of our friends from Texas is the long snapper for the team.

Don't they realize the Vikings are evil? They're the #1 enemy of America's most beloved team, the Green Bay Packers.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

I'll get over it, but it might require a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 07:37 PM | Comments (5)

An Explanation Please

Vice President Cheney should explain how his thinking has changed in the 12+ years since the Persian Gulf War. (Calling John Edwards.) Why are 1000+ American casualties tragically acceptable today when a few more than the 146 weren't in 1992? Does he regret not trying to topple Saddam back then? These questions would be perfect for the VP debate.

Despite Oliver's valliant attempt, it's a little late to paste the flip-flop label on Cheney. First, no one votes for the VP. Second, he had to find something said 12 years ago. In contrast, Kerry has stood on both sides of an argument in the same sentence.

"Cheney's 'Major League' Flip-Flop on Iraq"

P.S. Oliver, the idea that Glenn Reynolds is one reason France and Germany aren't in Iraq is just plain goofy. The man's a law professor in Tennessee.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in War at 07:30 PM | Comments (5)

Blogosphere is Hayekian

I always like posts that reference F. A. Hayek. King's is no different. I wonder if anyone has published a Hayekian analysis of the blogosphere? If not, someone should. Or how about getting the Pope to declare Hayek the saint of the blogosphere?

"Forming Different Information Flows"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 07:08 PM | Comments (5)

Redstone Endorses Bush

Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone is doing some CYA when he endorsed President Bush in Hong Kong. The self-proclaimed "liberal Democrat" told an audience that "I look at the election from what's good for Viacom. I vote for what's good for Viacom." He noted that "Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on.... [W]e believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company."

Since one division of Viacom, CBS, is in hot water for using forged memos to attack the President, Redstone certainly may feel that doing something to get on the administration's good side is good for Viacom.

"Guess Who's a GOP Booster?"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)

The Return of Sen. Zoop!

Wizbang's latest caption contest reminds me of Kerry's "Zoop!" moment:

He folded his lanky frame, sat on the floor and opened "Abiyoyo" by Pete Seeger, a book about a giant tamed by an African boy and his father, whose magic wand makes the giant disappear. Mr. Kerry, whose daughters are long since grown, kept neglecting to show the children the pictures.

Luckily, he was sitting at the feet of a former first lady.

"John, make sure he can see that," Mrs. Clinton prompted at one point.

"John, turn it around one more time," she said later, asking the children, "Can you see?"

Mr. Kerry obliged, but still seemed to have politics on the brain as he narrated the story of the magic wand — "Zoop!" — making things disappear.

"I could go zoop! and Republicans would disappear," he said.

A few moments later, Mrs. Clinton provided a graceful exit.

"We have to disappear," she told the boys and girls.

Right now, I'm sure there's quite a list of people Kerry would like to zoop:

• John O'Neill and the SwiftVets
  
• Bill Burkett
  
• Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, and CBS News
  
• Karl Rove
  
• Zell Miller
  
• John McCain
  
• Rudy Guiliani
  
• Teresa Heinz Kerry whenever she opens her mouth
  

Anyone else?

[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

Burkett Accuses Lockhart

Bill Burkett claims ex-Clintonists, now Kerry operative Joe Lockhart wanted the documents. Be very very skeptical of anything Burkett says. First, he passed on phony documents to smear the President. Then, when called on it he claims a woman named Lucy Ramirez gave them to him. Ramirez hasn't been found.

If Burkett's claim is true that would put a black mark on Kerry Edwards, but would exonerate them as the prime movers of the forgeries. Why would Lockhart want the documents if the campaign was already behind the forgeries?

"Controversial Texas Rancher Defends Release of Documents to CBS" [via PrestoPundit]

UPDATE: Captain Ed doesn't buy Burkett's story.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 12:17 AM | Comments (1)

Roe v. Wade: "Exercise of Raw Judicial Power"

U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones has guaranteed she will never meet the approval of Senate Democrats. Do we know for sure she isn't related to Antonin Scalia?

"Judge In Norma McCorvey Case Blasts Roe v. Wade Abortion Decision" [via Opinion Times]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture of Death at 12:02 AM | Comments (2)

September 23, 2004

What a Relief

The political book run is almost over. I can't wait. No more dealing with crazy people of all political stripes who see publishing conspiracies that don't exist. Unfortunately, I'll be seeing many of these political titles in bookstore remainder sections for years to come.

"Season for Political Books Nears End"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Books at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

Election Cheating Has Begun

There's this instance near Cleveland. Then there's this Wisconsin example discovered by radio yapper and columnist Mark Belling:

An outfit called the "New Voter Project" claims to be nonpartisan but is being bankrolled and staffed by leftists. The organization is already active in Wisconsin and already involved in trouble. Thousands of "voters" registered by this group in the last few weeks have submitted registration forms without the legally required proof of identification. This has forced village and city clerks all over the region to send out notices asking for the information. Why would so many of these forms be filled out without identification?

You tell me.

There’s more. The director of the Wisconsin branch of the New Voter Project is Jessy Tolkan. She’s already been involved in election fraud! Tolkan ran for the Madison Common Council in 2001 and was elected. She gave up the seat under pressure and a pending investigation after allegations were made that she lied about her address on her nomination papers and was not a resident of the district in which she ran. Tolkan’s father, an attorney, has threatened to sue me in a lame attempt to get me to stop reporting on his daughter and the slimy activities of the New Voter Project.

Virtually none of the forms sent out by the local clerks to the shady registrants have been responded to. The only plausible explanation for that is that the "voters" not only aren’t voters but aren’t real people, either.

Here’s the method to the New Voter Project madness. In Wisconsin, you can register to vote at the polls on Election Day. You have to produce identification when you register. But sending in a phony registration in advance puts you on the voter list before the election. Already-registered voters don’t have to show any identification. By putting perhaps thousands of fake names on the voter lists, it will be possible for fraudsters to show up at the polls and simply claim to be the person who was already "registered."

One former employee of the New Voter Project has told me that many staffers simply took names out of the telephone book to fill out their daily quotas. He quit his job in fear there’d be a criminal investigation.

I'm predicting a Bush win. Nevertheless, Bush backers have to work hard to get as many people to vote for the President as possible. As Hugh Hewitt's book puts it, "If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat."

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 09:33 PM | Comments (1)

Rove, Cork It!

What's Karl Rove thinking? He was bragging to the Washington Times on how the Bush campaign is taking battleground states off the board and how the battle is being pushed to states considered safe for John Kerry.

This cocky attitude could make the Republican base complacent. Those Bush supporters who back Bush solely because of foreign policy (i.e. pro-war libertarians) may may vote for someone else (besides Kerry) or not show up a the polls knowing Bush is a lock to win.

We haven't even had one debate and Rove is dancing on Kerry Edwards' grave. This race is still close, and turnout will be the key to victory. That means Rove should find more ways to keep people excited about President Bush instead of bragging to reporters.

Or this is a complex plot by the man some call an "evil genius."

"Rove Touts Bush Headway in Key Areas"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 09:20 PM | Comments (2)

Carter's Taxonomy

Joe Carter put together a short taxonomy of the media world. He then applies it to the Killian memo story and the debate over Michelle Malkin's new book. Carter's thinking is sound, and can be applied when analyzing how a story flows in the media world and how to encourage flow.

Carter's taxonomy explains why USA Today's role in the memo story has garnered little attention. [The paper's role in the story is why I don't call it "Rathergate."] TAM is merely a T5 media source. Until someone on a higher tier picks it up I will continue to be a lone wolf.

"Information Flow and the Gatekeepers of the Media"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)

Kerry Blasts Allawi

If John Kerry were elected President his demeaning comments on our allies will certainly hamper his ability to execute his foreign policy. He's called our allies in Iraq the "so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought and the extorted." Today, he practically called Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi a schill for the Bush administration to put the "best face" on the situation in Iraq. What didn't he just call Allawi "Bush's Puppet" and get it out into the open?

Kerry expounds often that as President he would get international help to stabilize Iraq and fight the Islamist War. But all he's said is that he'll get international support. He doesn't acknowledge the help that already exists, but also won't explain what he will do when France and Germany tell him to jump into the Mekong Delta because Iraq is America's mess. On foreign policy, he has no Plan B and a very sketchy Plan A.

More importantly, Kerry has insulted the allies we do have. I thought President Bush was the cowboy. A Kerry Presidency would leave the U.S. quite isolated in the world.

"Kerry: Allawi's Take on Iraq Unrealistic"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 06:34 PM | Comments (5)

"The Center of the Political Universe"

The Journal Sentinel's Alan Borsuk has a great story on how the Presidential campaigns are trying to get local with Wisconsin voters and whether it works.

"Wooing Wisconsin"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 02:21 AM | Comments (0)

Bush Leading In Wisconsin--Maybe

New Badger Poll results are out. Bush tops Kerry 52% to 35% in a survey of eligible voters. Right there we see a flaw. Who cares about eligible voters if they aren't even planning on voting? What's more important are surveys of likely voters. ABC News recently did a poll giving Bush a ten-point lead among likely voters.

There's an even more important flaw. 36% of those surveyed called themselves Republicans while only 29% called themselves Democrats.

Also, to get a better sense of the total picture you should look at multiple polls. By doing that the Journal Sentinel comes to this conclusion:

That would put the race about where some outside analysts see it: a Bush advantage, perhaps mid-single digits, but one that is hardly etched in stone.

The Badger Poll's internals bode ill for the challenger. Kerry has a 36% favorable rating, but a 48% unfavorable rating. Bush has a 37-point advantage on the terrorism issue. And the flip-flop label has stuck. Only 16% of those surveyed think Kerry has a consistent record on the issues.

If the political distribution of those surveyed weren't so skewed I'd say this is very bad news for Kerry. It's not good enough for him to just get all the states AlGore did in 2000. Due to demographics, if he only did that Bush would win by a larger margin in the Electoral College. For Kerry to stand a chance of winning he must win Wisconsin. This poll has too many flaws to draw any concrete conclusions. But expect the local radio yappers to jump on this today.

"On Average, Bush Leads State, but Poll Numbers Vary Widely"

[OTB readers should read this post so as to not get too excited about Wisconsin.]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 02:14 AM | Comments (0)

More Young Criminals

Three teens were arrested for shooting an 82-year old woman. While not as young as the swine who raped and terrorized an elderly woman, this is another instance of Milwaukee young people doing truly awful things.

"Woman Shot After She Answers Her Door"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 01:53 AM | Comments (0)

Missing the Forest and the Trees

Kevin's rant at "mainstream media carpetbaggers" allows me to again remind you of USA Today's role in the Killian memos story. The newspaper ran a story on the fake memos the day after the 60 Minutes II airing. It also has a history of working with Bill Burkett and an obsession with President Bush's National Guard service. CBS News actually had experts look at the documents--they just ignored the conclusions that didn't fit the story they were looking for--USAT had experts examine them days after their first story. To make it worse reporters Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard continue to report on the story. This gives them the opportunity to focus the story solely on CBS News' mistakes.

So while some newspaper columnists try to give their employers credit for exposing CBS News--nothing would have happened without the webloggers--they continue to miss a lack of self-reflection at one of their own.

[I will give USAT some credit. They got Burkett on the record. They also broke the important Mape-Lockhart story. What the paper hasn't done is apologize to its readers and investigate what went wrong in their newsroom.]

"Mainstream Media Carpetbaggers"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 01:25 AM | Comments (0)

The Source

We know Bill Burkett gave CBS News the fake Killian memos. But where did Burkett get them? Does Lucy Ramirez actually exist, or did Burkett create them himself. Steve Gilbert compares the memos to book that examined President Bush's National Guard record and thinks Burkett is the lone gunman.

"Where Did the Forgeries Come From?" [via Betsy's Page]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 01:07 AM | Comments (1)

Sizzling

Won't this be a waste in the movie since she's suppose to be invisible?

"Jessica Alba is The Invisible Woman"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)

Oddities

What should we make of a Guiness commercial prominently proclaiming the number of calories (125) in a bottle of their beer? "BRILLIANT!?!" I don't think so. At least they didn't declare the stuff low-carb.

---

Lost has piqued my curiosity. I don't know if it's an adventure show, a disaster flick shrunk for a smaller screen, a Jurassic Park-like sci-fi series, or some bizarre Twilight Zone program. There were moments of terror, suspence, but also introspection. It looks like the only show I'll be watching until 24 returns.

---

A business recently closed in Madison. The Scoop ended it's three-year run as a source for ice cream and legal advice. How did they last that long?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2004

Kerry's Smart Move

In finding a place to prepare for the upcoming Presidential debates, John Kerry decided not to go to any of his vacation homes. He's not going to Idaho, Nantucket, or even France. He'll be spending four days in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

This is smart because 1.) Wisconsin is a battleground state Kerry has to win; 2.) he won't have to worry about the media taking any pictures of him windsurfing.

"Kerry Plans Pre-Debate Spring Green Stay"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 06:56 PM | Comments (5)

Hamm Hearing Next Week

Next Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear Yang Tae-young's appeal that the International Gymnastics Federation strip Paul Hamm of his Olympic gold medal and give it to him. The South Korean wants another gold medal to go along with the one the Korean Olympic Committee gave him.

"South Korea Gives Gold-Medal Treatment to Olympic Gymnast"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 06:44 PM | Comments (1)

Bushes Everywhere

President Bush will be back in the state Friday. His stops include rallies in Janesville and Racine. The Janesville event is already full and 8,000 are expected in Racine. A local Bush organizer is estatic because both cities have lots of union voters. "Typically, you stay away from those," said Sue Jacobson. Bush drawing that many people in Democratic areas of the state is bad news for Kerry Edwards.

Laura Bush will be in Wausau tomorrow.

"Full House for Bush Speech"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 06:38 PM | Comments (0)

More Democrat Desparation

Why do the work when Kevin's done it for me? By the way, the Dems' tactics were so pitiful a week ago that I declared the race over. It's now like watching a NASCAR race with the leader two laps ahead of everyone else. You still watch to see if someone crashes into the wall.

"Desperation Time"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 06:28 PM | Comments (0)

Why Thornburgh?

CBS News has appointed a committee to investigate the Killian memo story. One member is Dick Thornburgh. Professor Bainbridge brings up a possible conflict between Thornburgh and Bush political czar Karl Rove. Did CBS News biff it again by appointing someone who might have an ax to grind against Rove? Thornburgh has some explaining to do for this investigation to win public credibility.

"Breaking News: CBS Names Independent Panel"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

Milwaukee's Child Criminals

Milwaukee received another black eye when an 11-year old was arrested for raping a 79-year old woman. The punk kid, along with a 12- and 13-year old were "terrorizing" the woman for days.

Add this to the list of horrific juvenile crimes in the city in the past few years. Most infamous is the mob beating of Charlie Young in 2002.

"Boy, 11, Charged With Rape of Woman, 76"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 05:34 PM | Comments (0)

Which Ever Way the Wind Blows

Bush-Cheney's latest ad is hard-hitting, yet funny. It goes after John Kerry's voting record and mocks his love of windsurfing.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)

Cybill is Sexy No More

This is what happens when age catches up with you, and you don't let a hair and make-up person do their thing.

She was on the July/August cover of AARP Magazine.

I thought she looked like Rosemary Clooney. Cybill still looks like a Rosemary Clooney, a dead Rosemary Clooney.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2004

Stocking Stuffer

I don't want to think about the Christmas season yet, but Scott "ScrappleFace" Ott's new book would make a great gift.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Books at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

Latest SwiftVet Ad

The SwiftVets don't pull any punches. At the end of their latest ad bold letters declare that Kerry "Betrayed His Country."

[via PrestoPundit]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in John Kerry at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

USA Today Reporter on C-SPAN

Can anyone verify seeing a USA Today reporter on C-SPAN this morning. My computer and the Real player don't get along so I can't watch it. Who was it? Did the reporter actually say that even though the memos were forged the attack on President Bush would continue because documents like them did exist (like CBS News' "fake, but accurate" claim)?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

Less Space, Same Price

I figured a slimmed-down PS2 would also have a slimmed-down price. Nope. The new design will run for $149.99, exactly what you'd spend for the bulkier version. I see no real benefit unless the older versions drop down in price on eBay.

But I played Star Wars Battlefront today at Best Buy. Oh, wow! That game could seriously cut into quality weblogging time. Here's a hint: if you can't stand TAM you could set me up and not hear from me for weeks.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Tech at 10:16 PM | Comments (1)

Other Memo Coverage

When we're right in the middle of the story (or the story as some became) members of the blogosphere can forget there's over 90% of the public that do not get their news from weblogs. How many big regional newspapers ran stories on the Killian memos, I don't know. I don't even know how extensive the story was covered in the small papers that are owned by giants like Gannett. If the Baltimore Sun is an example, the non-weblog reading public who gets much of their news from newspapers is receiving an old, convoluted story. At least the Sun is trying. My Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finally got around to putting a Washington Post story in today's paper.

"How One Big-City Newspaper Covered Rathergate" [via Dean Esmay]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

Smaller PS2 Coming

Guess I'll be waiting a few months before thinking about getting one of these. I like my GameCube, but too many games are being made for PS2 and X-Box only.

"Sony to Launch Smaller PS2 Console Around Year-End"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Tech at 02:49 AM | Comments (2)

USAT Does Some Actual Reporting

USA Today got Bill Burkett to talk publicly about his role in the Killian memo story. He doesn't admit to being the source of the memos. Instead, someone named Lucy Ramirez is supposedly the source. Burkett claims to have received a phone call from her in March. That led to him getting the documents later that month while in Houston. Burkett never met Ramirez and USA Today hasn't been able to locate her. Initially, George Conn was named by Burkett as the memos' source.

This story has shed light on how the story got into the newspaper. About an hour after the 60 Minutes II story aired, Burkett gave the newspaper the memos. It also mentions Burkett's role in previous USA Today stories. The paper admits they took the memos at "face value."

The focus of the innacurate reporting remains on CBS News. Also, while a few questions are answered, many remain. Plus, additional ones must be asked: Was there a pre-arrangement for Burkett to give USA Today the memos after the 60 Minutes II airing? Who said what to whom to arrange Burkett to give a reporter (neither Moniz or Drinkard) in Bozeman, MT?

Most importantly, the paper still has issued no apology to President Bush or their readers. The intent of the fraud was to damage President Bush and swing the election to John Kerry. By reporting the memos as true and authentic, USA Today was part of a dirty trick plot of historic proportions.

It would be nice if USA Today's Peter Johnson would actually point the figure at his employer for shoddy journalism instead of just lumping the paper in with other scarred media organizations.

"CBS Backs off Guard Story"

UPDATE: Paul at Wizbang goes off on Burkett and his latest story.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 02:37 AM | Comments (2)

Out of the Crosshairs

Maybe I'm overreacting, but USA Today does it again. Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard, along with Kevin Johnson, continue to cover the Killian memo story even though Moniz and Drinkard used the memos as a basis for their own story.

I'll let others [and here] examine the appropriateness of a news organization helping a campaign go after a political opponent--Burkett wanted to give Kerry Edwards advice on how to fight back against Bush. I'm interested in how one of America's most-read newspapers is getting away with journalism (and I'm using the term lightly) less comprehensive than CBS News.

A timeline will help put this angle of the Killian memo story in context.

• 1997: Bill Burkett tried to expose "ghost soldiers" in the Texas National Guard.

• 2001: Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard use Burkett as a source for series of reports exposing ghost soldiers across the country. Kevin Drum reports Moniz considered Burkett as a credible source. The series appeared in late 2001 (although a date of one of the stories is 2002).

• 02.10.04: Moniz and Drinkard write a story on released Bush pay records.

• 02.11.04: Moniz and Drinkard write a story on Burkett's claim that Texas officials discussed "cleansing" Bush's National Guard records. [via Kevin Drum]

• 02.12.04: Moniz and Drinkard write a story about Bush's driving record and how it could have affected his enlistment in the Air National Guard.

• 02.15.04: Moniz and Drinkard write a story upon the release of Bush National Guard documents. Their big question is why Bush stopped flying in 1972.

• 08.04: Mary Mapes "told her bosses that she had finally tracked down a source who claimed to have access to memos written in 1972 and 1973 by the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian."

• 08.23.04: Moniz and Drinkard write a story about the unanswered questions about President Bush's service in the National Guard.

• 09.03.04: Mapes gets memos from Burkett.

• 09.08.04: CBS News interviews White House communications director Dan Bartlett about the memos. Bartlett doesn't say they're fakes but doesn't say they're real either. Mary Mapes considers that authentication. That night, the story airs on 60 Minutes II.

• 09.09.04: USA Today publishs a story by Moniz and Drinkard about the memos. There is no mention whether the newspaper made any attempt to prove their authenticity. Moniz's and Drinkard's only support was that Dan Bartlett didn't "dispute the documents' authenticity."

• 09.12.04: USA Today finally has document experts examine the memos. In the same story, the paper admits they "obtained copies of the documents independently soon after the 60 Minutes segment aired Wednesday, from a person with knowledge of Texas Air National Guard operations."

• 09.14.04: Moniz and Drinkard write a story on Marian Carr Knox, Jerry Killian's secretary. She calls the memos forgaries. The reporters again state the paper obtained the memos independently of CBS News.

• 09.15.04: Peter Johnson and Jim Drinkard interviewed Dan Rather. One brief mention is made that the paper also ran a story based on the memos. No mention is made that Drinkard had a share of the byline for the story.

• 09.20.04: Dan Rather apologizes and names Bill Burkett as the source of the fake memos.

[Much of this timeline was taken from a 09.19.04 Washington Post story.]

What can we gleen from this? Burkett was not only the source for CBS News but also for USA Today. Moniz and Drinkard have at least a 3-year relationship with him. Burkett was a source for the pair's National Guard series so it's not a stretch to believe the reporters gladly accepted Burkett's documents. No matter how well a relationship they had with Burkett, Moniz and Drinkard shouldn't have taken the memos on their face without someone looking them over. Yet they ran the story accepting the memos as fact. They waited days until experts finally looked at them with mixed opinions.

Now, Moniz and Drinkard have plenty of incentive to aim the story's flow squarely on CBS News. It draws all the attention away from themselves and onto the sloppy, possibly partisan journalism of CBS News. Time didn't put the two reporters on the cover of their magazine. So far, only Congressman Chris Cox as mentioned CBS News and USA Today in the same breath. Even if Moniz and Drinkard aren't covertly spinning the story allowing them to continue to cover it without self-examination damages their credibilty further.

Since Moinz and Drunkard have so many questions about Bush's National Guard service, I have some questions for them:

• Will they acknowledge Bill Burkett as the source of the