WashPost
Democrats Struggle To Seize Opportunity;
Amid GOP Troubles, No Unified Message
News about GOP political corruption, inept hurricane response and chaos in Iraq has lifted Democrats’ hopes of winning control of Congress this fall. But seizing the opportunity has not been easy, as they found when they tried to unveil an agenda of their own.
Democratic leaders had set a goal of issuing their legislative manifesto by November 2005 to give voters a full year to digest their proposals. But some Democrats protested that the release date was too early, so they put it off until January. The new date slipped twice again, and now House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) says the document will be unveiled in “a matter of weeks.”
Some Democrats fear that the hesitant handling is symbolic of larger problems facing the party in trying to seize control of the House and Senate after more than a decade of almost unbroken minority status. Lawmakers and strategists have complained about erratic or uncertain leadership and repeated delays in resolving important issues.
The conflict goes well beyond Capitol Hill. The failure of congressional leaders to deliver a clear message has left some Democratic governors deeply frustrated and at odds with Washington Democrats over strategy.
VOTE DEMOCRAT IN 2006: WE STAND FOR SOMETHING! JUST DON’T ASK US WHAT
After an 18 month absence, one of our favorite bloggers, Dean Esmay from Dean’s World, joined us last night on Pundit Review Radio.
We talked about the AP Katrina correction, the Bush administrations PR problems, some of our favorite TV pundits and more. It was a blast. Thanks Dean!
The show is also available as a Podcast at iTunes and Podcast Alley. To subscribe to the Pundit Review Radio podcast, click here.
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin & Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. This unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening at 8pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Leader. You can check out their blog daily at PunditReview.com. The blog was a finalist for a 2005 Weblog Award in the media/journalist category.
On Pundit Review Radio last night we had a spirtited debate on the issue of gay adoptions, and we also took a look at the politics of this issue, which had Gov. Romney moving to the right to help his chances with GOP primary voters and Lt. Gov. Healey moving left to position herself for a statewide campaign in Massachusetts.
We also had some fun recalling great moments in political pandering.
Hard to keep up with the media lies…
First the AP issues a misleading story, written by a former 60 Minutes 2 producer, alleging that Bush was warned the levees would fail.
At 10pm on Friday evening, when nobody was looking, the AP issued this correction,
WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a March 1 story, The Associated Press reported that federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees in New Orleans, citing confidential video footage of an Aug. 28 briefing among U.S. officials.
The Army Corps of Engineers considers a breach a hole developing in a levee rather than an overrun. The story should have made clear that Bush was warned about floodwaters overrunning the levees, rather than the levees breaking.
The day before the storm hit, Bush was told there were grave concerns that the levees could be overrun. It wasnâ??t until the next morning, as the storm was hitting, that Michael Brown, then head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Bush had inquired about reports of breaches. Bush did not participate in that briefing.
The Boston Globe editorial page obviously read the correction, yet stuck to the big lie theme anyway, in their Sunday editorial,
The Lie of the Storm
Three days after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Bush went on television to defend his handling of the crisis, saying: ”I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees.” That may be technically true. The weather specialist who delivered part of the video briefing only expected some water to wash over the levees, but cautioned that worse was possible.
So how then, three days later, is Boston Globe columnist James Carrrol allowed to publish this?
Bush, lies, and videotape
By James Carroll | March 6, 2006
IF GEORGE W. BUSH were a character in a novel or a play, last week might have been the turning point in the narrative. He was shown on film being explicitly warned, just hours before Hurricane Katrina hit, that the levees in New Orleans were vulnerable.
But everyone knows that after the levees broke, he denied having been warned that such a thing was possible. The broadcast of the film amounted to a terrible epiphany: The president seemed caught in a lie.
Actually James, it is you that’s lying isn’t it. If you read the AP correction, or watched the tape yourself, you would know that. And what about the Boston Globe? Don’t they employ editors? How is a three day old correction from the AP completely ignored on your editorial pages? I’ve asked the omdudsman of the Globe for an answer, and you should too,
E-mail ombud@globe.com or call 617-929-3020.
To leave a recorded message, call 617-929-3022.
Congratulations to Howie Carr, his new book on the Bulger Brothers has cracked the top ten on NY Times list.
If you’re not from Massachusetts, you may be wondering who they are. You simply won’t believe that this could actually happen. It sounds too Hollywood to be true.
This fresh account of Massachusetts+sinfamous Bulger brothers unveils a stunning criminal alliance, and with its dual biography format, goes deeper than the New York Times bestselling Black Mass.For the first time, journalist Howie Carr reveals the -real+ story behind the infamous Bulgers-twobrothers from South Boston who grew up to control a state. With political corruption on one side and deadly force on the other, the Bulgers shared a diabolic and destructive alliance for decades. James Whitey Bulger, the bad son, blazed a murderous trail to become Boston’s most feared mobster and remains one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. William Billy Bulger, the good son, wielded the gavel as president of the Massachusetts State Senate and the University of Massachusetts, but was eventually forced from bothpositions. The parallel stories of these two brothers, rich in anecdote and shocking in their revelations, read like an unholy hybrid of All the King+s Men and The Godfather.
Check out Howie’s Whitey Watch web site for more details.
Sunday evening we are very pleased to announce that one of our favorite bloggers is coming back on Pundit Review Radio after an extended absence. Dean Esmay of Dean’s World will be our guest in the 9pm est hour.
The 8pm hour is pre-empted by a Boston Celtics game, so the show will start around 9pm. As always, you can stream the show live at WRKO and you can reach us toll free at 877-469-4322.
You can listen to Dean’s previous, pre-WRKO, appearance on Pundit Review here.
Don’t Forget: You can sign up to the Pundit Review Radio Podcast at iTunes or Podcast Alley
Do you recall last fall during an Oklahoma football game with 80,000 people in the stands a suicide bomber killed himself just outside the stadium? The story was followed closely by blogger Mark Tapscott, who never bought in to the official version of events,
According to University of Oklahoma president David Boren, although Hinrich had â??emotional difficulties in the past,â? there is â??certainly no evidence at this point which points to any other kind of motivation other than his personal problems.â?Â
We wondered at the time if bloggers were sniffing out another huge story. We even had the pleasure of interviewing Mark on Pundit Review Radio to get his thioughts on the investigation, the school’s official story and the role of the MSM and blogs in covering it.
Mark is back today with an update on the investigation. The developments certainly justify his initial skepticism.