Mark A. Kilmer (the weblog)

Out of respect for the good and honest reporters at our smaller papers, which are arguably a part of the “mainstream,” I’m directing this at “Big Media.”

1. First all-Democrat Congress in over a decade.

Yes, the Democrats seize control of the House and the Senate from Mark Foley and the Republicans. Nancy and Harry triumphantly pledge and plan to knock down Republican totems, kill Republican ideas, and end the war in Iraq by a date certain, following a congressionally defined timetable. When push comes to show, of course, they cave, but big media applauds the Democrats for their supreme triumph.

2. Iraq, the progress, David Petraeus, the road to victory. Thirty-thousand additional troops and the new, counter-terrorism strategy of General David Petraeus have given the Iraqis a clear path to victory. The big media first dismissed the surge as another Bush lie and then, when it proved successful, stopped talking about it.
3. The early 2008 Presidential campaign. The big media is fickle. They love Romney then they love Rudy then they love Romney then they love Huckabee then they love Romney then they love McCain then they love Romney. Back and forth from Hillary to Obama then it becomes media-hip to trash Hillary. John Edwards peeps that he’s not left the building, but not one hears. Or cares.
4. Mortgage crisis, housing bubble. It’s the subprime thaang. Subprime lenders went bankrupt and borrowers defaulted, and big media knew that they had found the further collapse of the Bush economy. But they refused to walk into the soup kitchen.
5. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigns. Disgraced and corrupt, big media tells us, Gonzales is forced to quit after a lifetime of cronyism, corruption, and ineptitude. He fired those U.S. attorneys/media darlings, and it ticked bid media off bigtime, as it interrupted their chants of: “LAME DUCK! LAME DUCK! LAME DUCK!”
6. Anna Nicole Smith kicks it. And big media went wild, paying big money for exclusive rights. Big media made stars out of all the “heroes” of the Anna Nicole saga: Larry Birkhead, Florida circuit court Judge Larry Seidlin, Howard “K” Stern, Kato Kaelin, etc. CBS News, through Viacomm, bought exclusive rights for their Entertainment Tonight and The Insider shows.
7. Defective toys from the Peoples Republic of China. Political prisoners in the PRC, lost in the lao gai prison system, are forced to manufacture toys with whatever the PRC government gives them, including materials laced with lead. Big media calls for the United States government to inspect every toy and take care of people but for gawdsakes, leave the lao gai alone!
8. Who is funner, Lindsey, Britney, or Paris? Big media cannot decide, so it sends photographers to follow all three in-and-out of clubs, prisons, and rehab facilities.
9. Thirty-two people, not including gunman Seung-Hui Cho, are killed in a two-part shooting at VA Tech. And big media races to get footage of the gunman reciting his diatribe for a video camera. NBC wins and ratings soar! ‘T is a big, big day for TV Journalism, as NBC airs and reairs this choice footage of a homicidal jerk.
10. Republican Senator Larry Craig and his weird signals. Larry Craig is arrested for sending strange, coded signals with his gestures at a Minnesota airport. Craig responds that he did not actually ask the undercover cop for… oh, whatever… and that he merely has a “wide stance.” Big media runs cover stories on GOP hypocrisy, berating Senator Craig for his allegedly projected orientation.

Do they teach this stuff in journalism school? I’m afraid I wouldn’t know.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

On FNS, Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson seemed to predict a strong third place showing in Iowa, stating the the RCP average which put him a distant third included an outlier. Asked about Mike Huckabee, Thompson pointed out that Huckabee has a “blame America first” mindset. Asked about Mitt Romney, Thompson offered that Mitt changes his philosophy as the wind blows and that it is “hard to pin Mitt down on what he actually believes.”

Next on FNS, David Yepsen said that Romney’s negative advertising could work for him in Iowa.

On TW, Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton declared that she played a major role in Bill Clinton’s Administration but promised that he would not play a major role in hers. She boasted that she was given access to classified material when he was President despite the fact that she lacked the requisite security clearance.

Next on TW, Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain defended himself against Romney’s attacks in response to his attacks in response to Romney’s initial attacks by pointing out that he was merely quoting the Concord Monitor stating that Mitt Romney is a “phony.” He would not there call Romney a phony, saying that this was something the voters will decide.

On MTP, Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee covered a list of what he said were Romney mischaracterizations of him and his records. He was effective here, and he did not slip when defending his foreign policy or his faith.

Next on MTP, Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama talked about a “we” who had to fix things in Pakistan. I’m assuming that he meant the United Nations rather than the United States. Russert suggested that Benazir Bhutto was shot as a result of our invasion of Iraq, and Obama disagreed.

On FTN, Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards spouted that corporate greed and corporate power have a hold on the soul of our democracy. He boasted that when he calls the ambassador and demands a call back from Pervez Musharraf, Musharraf calls back.

And on CNN’s Late Edition, Fred Thompson told host Wolf Blitzer that it would not surprise him if he came in second place in Iowa. As for his campaign, he promised to keep doing what he’s doing: “There will be on change in Fred.”

Next on LE, Hillary stressed curtailing monetary assistance to Pakistan because Musharraf is not reliable. She wants an “independent, international investigation” of Bhutto’s death, as she doesn’t trust Pakistan.

The show-by-show review is over at RedState.com.

For Sunday, January 30, 2007

FOX News Sunday (FNS): Host Chris Wallace spends this last Sunday morning before Iowa™ interviewing Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson.

Meet the Press (NBC): Tim Russert talks to 2008 Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee and 2008 Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

This Week (ABC): Host George Stephanopoulos talks to 2008 Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and 2008 Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain.

Face the Nation (CBS): Host Bob Schieffer talks to 2008 Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards.

Late Edition (CNN): Host Wolf Blitzer talks to Senator Chris Dodd and 2008 Democratic Presidential hopeful Joe Biden; Sam Nunn; and Clinton (Bill)’s last SecDef, Bill Cohen.
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There was a time, my friends, when the final talk shows of the year were wrap-ups and predictions, and I would do something else. This year, however, we have scads of Presidential hopefuls seeking time on the air.

That Wallace is hosting Thompson (FNS) means either we should expect something big from him on Tuesday or it might be a gesture of some sort. Russert takes Huckabee and Obama because they’re poised to upset the erstwhile “front runners.” Steph’s guest on TW, Hillary and McCain, are the two probably most looking forward to New Hampshire.

Blitzer’s primarily concerned with international stuff, so his Presidential wannabe guest, Biden, is the chairman of Senate foreign relations. As for FTN, Schieffer took the only “major candidate,” aside from Romney, remaining.

I just heard Mort Kondracke of Roll Call utter these words on FNC’s Special Report:

“I don’t know where Romney stands on anything. I don’t know how anybody could.”

His campaign should have started this season with a Mitt Romney’s Manifesto, a paper explaining just what he believes about America and the events and issues which affect us. They should have put a muzzle on him when it came to extemporaneous creation of personal history, such as endorsed by the NRA, hunter all his life, saw his father march with Martin Luther King Jr., got tough on meth, etc.

Right now, it looks like his campaign is all but finished.

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is dead, shot at a political rally.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting “Dog, Musharraf, dog,” referring to Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf.

Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears. Top party leaders were outside the hospital, crying.

One man with a flag of Pakistan People’s Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

Sen. Babar Awan, Bhutto’s lawyer, said, “The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred.”

The term “martyred” brings to mind the issuance of fattawa and the declaration of jihad against… oh, the United States. And against Musharraf as our puppet. That’s how they do things there.

This is from last weekend, but I’ve really just spotted it:

“Welcome to Mitt Romney’s bizarro world, in which everyone is guilty of his sins. He didn’t support Ronald Reagan. He didn’t support President Bush’s tax cuts. He raised taxes in Massachusetts by $700 million. He knows John McCain is gaining on him so he does what any small varmint gun totin’, civil rights marching, NRA endorsed fantasy candidate would do: he questions someone else’s credibility. New Hampshire is on to you, Mitt. Give it a rest. It’s Christmas.”

That’s from senior McCain adviser Mark Salter.