The déjà vu from the reaction of certain media to the Occupy series of protests has been utterly predictable. Anyone who was publicly active in the peace movement of the 1980s (I imagine much the same occured in the 1960s but I have no direct experience of that) will recognize the tawdry sensationalist fascination with demonstrators’ toilet habits, their appearance, their projected lack of cleanliness, the focus on supposed hypocrisy in their ranks because they haven’t eschewed every trapping of modern capitalism while existing in a major conurbation, the cries of “Get a job!” coupled with contradictory implications of lack of commitment to the cause.
So it’s no surprise to see my favorite organ of the yellow press, the Daily Mail, trumpeting a “gotcha!” about the Occupy London campaign that’s been gladly seized on by the usual suspects, complete with—you couldn’t make this up—thermal imaging camera “evidence”:
These are the damning images that prove the anti-capitalist protest that has closed St Paul’s Cathedral is all but deserted at night.
Footage from a thermal imaging camera taken late at night reveals just a fraction of the makeshift camp was occupied.
An independent thermal imaging company, commissioned by the Daily Mail, captured these pictures after similar footage from a police helicopter found only one in ten tents were occupied after dark.
Chilly: The images were taken at 11pm on Monday night, when most activists could be expected to have been curled up in their tents keeping warm
Yup. The Daily Mail expects everyone to be in their pajamas and tucked up in their sleeping bags by 11pm, even in the hubbub of a city center during a protest. It’s the British way.
Big Journalism has learned that the Occupy Washington DC movement is working with well-known media members to craft its demands and messaging while these media members report on the movement. Someone has made the emails from the Occupy D.C. email distro public and searchable. The names in the list are a veritable who’s who in media.
Journolist 2.0 includes well known names such as MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, Rolling Stone’s Matt Tiabbi who both are actively participating; involvement from other listers such as Bill Moyers and Glenn Greenwald plus well-known radicals like Noam Chomsky, remains unclear. The list also includes a number of Occupy organizers, such as one of the Occupy Wall Street main organizers Kevin Zeese.
As John Cole observes, this news is as earthshattering as the fact that Breitbart himself is an opportunist maniacal asshole (I paraphrase):
Has anyone at Breitbart HQ watched so much of five minutes of Ratigan over the course of the last two years? Read any Taibbi? They aren’t secretly doing anything- Dylan Ratigan has been screaming about this stuff for years. Hell, Taibbi just publicly gave advice to #OWS.
I am shocked—SHOCKED, I tell you—to think that some in the media might help a protest movement to foment unrest. So are the commenters at Big Journalism, as you can see if you don your knee boots and gasmask and tread warily into the mire (and may I say, you look quite fetching in them, even on a Monday morning):
Petroglyph 14 hours ago
This is seditious and treasonous. There is no other definition which I can think of to describe people who have turned on America and wish to destroy it. They should be treated as such. We ARE under attack.
There’s much more like this over at the link, where the commie Ratigan and his ilk are taking a pasting:
Charm2 14 hours ago
Good work Big Jornalism! I look forward to seeing how the commie apparatchiks deal with this revelation.
Lord help me, I’ll post anything to forestall Strange polluting the blog with more wacky wingnut wimmin today (Hillary being the exception that he’ll no doubt cower behind to prove some sort of rule or other), but the odd case of Ron Paul’s Eyebrow With A Life Of Its Own escaped me in the flurry of fluff that was the GOP New Hampshire debate.
It escaped me, but apparently not the approximately 1,990,000 benighted souls who’ve discussed this issue over the past couple of days.
“African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view,” Godfather’s Pizza executive Herman Cain said on CNN’s “The Situation Room” in an interview airing Wednesday between 5-7 p.m. ET. “I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it’s just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple.”
Cain went on to explain that his interactions with African Americans led him to be optimistic about his own chances with the demographic.
“This whole notion that all African-Americans are not going to vote for Obama is not necessarily true,” Cain said.
He continued, “I believe a third [of African-Americans] would vote for me, based on my own anecdotal feedback. Not vote for me because I’m black but because of my policies.”
I’ll happily go on record right now as saying that among the things I don’t give a damn about when it comes to Palin is who she’s allegedly slept with in the distant past. I barely give a damn about the “babygate” stuff that’s been doing the rounds of certain blogs since 2008, (a) because I have no way of establishing the truth of any allegations myself, (b) I’ve grown more and more impatient with the way it’s been trundling on and on and on for so long and has taken up a lot of people’s time who might be better employed elsewhere, and especially (c) even if she’s ever proven an outright liar about any of this, it probably won’t change that many people’s minds one way or another about her fitness for office or her role as a pundit anyway. Her words and public conduct have done that in spades, and if they don’t convince you, I doubt anything else will.
I’ve no idea what the grand strategy is behind this formal warning letter, beyond providing cover in the face of the challenge from some quarters that if the allegations were untrue, Palin would sue. There’s no injunction in the pipeline as far as I know, and through my work I’m familiar with how excruciatingly careful publishers’ legal departments are over potential libel, especially with predictably explosive subjects like Palin. I’ve actually read more allegations from the book about Palin on Breitbart’s site than I have anywhere else. I haven’t read detailed excerpts of McGinniss’s book, and I probably won’t bother as a lot of it’s beyond snark by this stage, much of it has already been around as rumor over the past three years or so, and my tolerance for things Palin beyond marveling at her continuing status as a punchline for the follies of fame and fandom in politics has steadily dwindled.
But if it does ever go to court, hold onto your hat because there’ll be a daily stream of allegations and revelations, happily broadcast by the media of every political stripe.
I’ll note before I go any further after the fold that Palin’s living in a glass house (suspiciously similar to a certain public building in Wasilla built around that time, but that’s by the by ...), given, among other things, her attempts to smear McGinniss as a peeping tom and pedophile during his time as her next door neighbor. Now that’s what I call slander and libel, but she gets a free pass for that every time she does something similar.
The story so far: On an ESPN radio show in Las Vegas, world-renowned brain-case Mike Tyson made some pretty heinous observations regarding Sarah Palin’s alleged date with basketballer Glen Rice. Tucker Carlson posted a clip and transcribed extracts from the show on his Daily Caller news site. Wingnut blogger Dan Riehl promptly accused Carlson of being a sexually-inadequate sissy-boy. Greta Van Susteren followed up by calling Carlson a “pig” on her Fox blog. A frenzy of angry Twittering ensued, culminating in last night’s Greta/Tucker slap-fest.
And, somehow, this is all the fault of media Liberals.
News Hounds kindly points out Greta’s rather spotty record of defending other female celebrities who don’t sign paychecks to her husband.
I’m a mite jumpy since Josh Marshall’s dependable news site, Talking Points Memo, ran a few mugshots of Internet hackers this morning and promptly underwent a DDOS attack. As of right now, 11:23PM, they’re still down.
I’ve been a fan of the work Anonymous has done sticking it to Xenu, but attacking a news organization for using the FOIA because it’s your ox being gored? Not so~~
~~~did I say “Xenu?” No, no, heh heh, I meant to type “Zena!” Polly? Rumproast? There’s nobody by that name here!
Sorry, I’ve been offline all day so I’ve no idea why Jane Hamsher’s being so snippy but reasonable in the clip above, but I’m sure it’s just a storm in a teacup.
There is still no August Surprise. Because it’s no surprise that it’s August, bears relieve themselves in the wood, the Pope still hasn’t converted to Islam, and that Daily Mail hack Tamara Abraham—more usually seen covering the Karl Lagerfeld—Victoria Beckham spectrum of political discourse—has discovered yet another mole inside the White House ready to spill the beans on Michelle “Marie Antoinette” Obama. Again. Here’s Abraham’s breathless report from yesterday:
The Obamas’ summer break on Martha’s Vineyard has already been branded a PR disaster after the couple arrived four hours apart on separate government jets.
But according to new reports, this is the least of their extravagances.
White House sources today claimed that the First Lady has spent $10million of U.S. taxpayers’ money on vacations alone in the past year.
Branding her “disgusting” and “a vacation junkie”, they say the 47-year-old mother-of-two has been indulging in five-star hotels, where she splashes out on expensive massages and alcohol.
Egad. The White House sources for this stunning revelation?
The “top source” told the National Enquirer: “It’s disgusting. Michelle is taking advantage of her privileged position while the most hardworking Americans can barely afford a week or two off work.”
Ah. In the course of translation, those “sources” seem to have become singular, grown some “scare quotes,” and stem from a publication that may be the go-to place for information on the comings and goings of aliens on Earth, but can sometimes be a little, shall we say, inventive in its coverage of other issues. Nothing to see here, then?
Of course, Memeorandum duly plonks this pile of poo in its listings, numerous ludicrous righty American blogs echo it, and next thing you know, their commenters flood the Mail‘s comments stream, partying down like it’s 2009. Or 2010. Or earlier in 2011. Or whenever was the last time one of the British media played this neat trick of turning crap into gold by feeding right-wing America exactly what it wants to hear and counting the clicks.
The dust is going to take some time to settle on the stupidest scandal since the last one. But while it does, some interesting information is emerging from and about the myriad networks and individuals involved in hunting down Anthony Weiner’s pecker.
The Smoking Gun leads the way with a fascinating delve into correspondence between the “Twitter Twins” largely responsible for hounding Weiner over the past few months:
In a series of e-mails exchanged on May 25, Mike Stack and his Twitter sidekick “Dan Wolfe” discussed a Tumblr posting by the high school student that they believed showed she was having “private conversations” with Weiner. Wolfe, who noted that he had made screen captures of the girl’s Tumblr blog, exclaimed, “This is MAJOR!”
...
After Wolfe told Stack about making the screen captures from the girl’s Tumblr page, Stack suggested how they could release the information: “I think that since we have the stuff screencapped we call or email his office. But cc a whole bunch of people asking for a comment.” But Stack then noted, “She is underage, however. Let me email Darrell Issa press sec.”
Stack, e-mails reveal, was referring to Seamus Kraft ..., press secretary and “director of digital strategy,” for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is chaired by Issa, a California Republican. Issa, who has called the Obama administration “corrupt,” is effectively the leading congressional investigator.
In an e-mail to Wolfe, Stack wrote, “This guy Seamus Kraft is awesome.” Stack noted that he was referred to Kraft by a woman who had recently worked for Issa’s committee. The female staffer, Stack said, “thought I would be good at keeping Seamus and Mr. Issa up to date with ethics and BHO ... issues around the clock.” Stack then remarked, “They have proven to be great allies,” adding that Wolfe should “Follow mr Issa at @darrellissa.” ...
I’ll move on from the ludicrous contortions of the Underpants Gnomes smear I touched on yesterday, to check out one reason why Anthony Weiner may have been the target of a desperate attempt by a bunch of idle gossiping vindictive shitheads to send up a smokescreen over the weekend (and coincidentally target a number of young women as objects of their revolting fantasy life just because they followed Weiner on Twitter). From Stephanie Mencimer at Mother Jones:
Following an old Washington tradition of dumping required but embarrassing information on a Friday night before a major holiday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas finally released the details of his wife’s income from her year or so working for the tea party group Liberty Central, which fought President Obama’s health care reform law. His new financial disclosure form indicates that his wife, Virginia Thomas, received $150,000 in salary from the group and less than $15,000 in payments from an anti-health care lobbying firm she started.
The disclosure was apparently prompted in part by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), who had been needling Thomas (including on Twitter) for months to disclose how much money his wife earned from Liberty Central. That’s because challenges to Obama’s health care reform bill are likely to end up before the Supreme Court sooner rather than later, and if Thomas and his wife benefited from her income working against the bill, the justice has an enormous conflict of interest in hearing any legal challenge. Thomas had failed to disclose Virginia’s income on his financial disclosure forms for 20 years, and under pressure from Weiner and others, he had recently amended old ones to reflect hundreds of thousands of dollars she had earned working for the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, which also opposed Obama’s health care plan.
But Thomas had not disclosed how much money his wife made from her controversial venture into Liberty Central.
...
Justice Thomas finally released the details of her compensation Friday night, but the disclosure, and Weiner’s triumphant press release announcing the move, were largely overshadowed by Weinergate.
NOTICE: FR DOES NOT AND WILL NOT SUPPORT ABORTIONIST, GAY RIGHTS PUSHING BIG GOVERNMENT STATISTS FOR PRESIDENT!!
This message is intended for those posters on FR who seem to have missed my prior statements in this regard and insist on advocating for these bastards.
I’d rather shut the place down than be involved in any effort to install abortionist/gay rights pushing RINOS like Romney or Giuliani into the White House!!
Do NOT push this crap on FR. Take your business elsewhere!! And I don’t care how long you’ve been here!!
Because, gawdammit, an America where gay people can have abortions won’t be worth saving.
Welcome to Monday morning on Rumproast. I won’t detain you long as you sluggishly slurp your coffee and come to terms with the week ahead.
But since everybody else on the Internons seems to be discussing this storm in a Y-front, it would be remiss not to comment on the outrage du weekend—the Anthony Weinergate Twitter account hacking would-be “scandal” pumped up by Underpants Gnomes Andrew Breitpart, Lee Stranathing, and one patriotusa76, a.k.a. the clairvoyant Dan Wolfe (motto: “Conservative Reagan Republican. No Obamacare, socialism, sharia. Proud of the USA & Proud to be an American with NO apologies. No elitists need apply.”), the only living witness to the atrocity that saw a twitpic of somebody’s suspiciously gray underwear swathing a rather modestly proportioned gherkin allegedly dispatched to an unwitting and quite possibly unwilling recipient.
Dan Wolfe clairvoyant? Well, we’re all about evidence here at Rumproast, and—somebody disinter Arthur C. Clarke if you can get near his spinning remains—here it is:
Don’t bother looking for it now, as this is what will greet you:*
Only confirmed followers have access to @patriotusa76’s Tweets and complete profile. You need to send a request before you can start following this account.
By the evidential standards currently in play, I think that counts as a truly damning admission of guilt.
From all accounts, the best timeline of events surrounding this drama can be found at stef’s post over at GOS. However, exercising my graphic forensic skills, I have managed to isolate the original twitpic before Wolfe doctored it. To preserve your breakfasts, I will place it after the fold.
Ah, the path of love. Cobbled, as ever, with the fragments of dashed dreams.
You fall for a handsome guy. He’s smart, he’s cute, he’s even-tempered. However, his tendency to imitate a doormat taxes your patience.
So you push a little. Test him by trying to take advantage of his good nature. React, damn you! Nada. He’s not rising to it. But then he finally does ...
Right-wing pundits have been driven to tear-sodden cris de coeur in the wake of the Washington Examinerhackjob article decrying the president’s decision to deliver some home truths in person to tragic Munster clone Paul Ryan, then compound the offense to Ryan’s whole family by doing the same into an “inadvertently” open mic. The brute.
Why oh why is Obama being so cruel all of a sudden? Well, it’s the ancient story. An old flame from the past you thought he’d gotten over has been rekindled. Your ever-faithful friend Newsbusters has revealed all about your paramour:
This past week’s big story in Kosland was the midweek shift in tone in posts about President Obama. Before Wednesday’s budget speech, Kossacks portrayed Obama as a wimp, a Reaganite ....
That’s him! That’s what he’s like! *sniffle* Or so I thought ...
After the speech, he was their savvy, aggressive, progressive hero.
The two-timing bastard!!!! I thought we had a civil union!!!! Boohoohoohoohoo
