The News is Abominable: UPDATE 1

     UPDATE 1: Add third paragraph
     I watched some Fox and CNN last night. Even NY1 news was pretty bad.  NY1 ran a segment on Gillibrand, who, instead of the entirely and wholly unqualified Caroline Kennedy, will be appointed Senator for New York by the Governor.  Instead of teaching us anything but a sentence about Gillibrand, NY1 took time out of New Yorker's lives to ask them if they knew anything.  Naturally, like myself, they didn't.  One person said she was very smart and knew her stuff.  I know some people don't think that matters, but for me, this is essential!  If she is smart, and knows her stuff, THREE CHEERS FOR GOVERNOR PATTERSON.

     Except, of course, that he felt constrained to pick someone based on which reproductive organs they were born with.

     NY1 calls Gillibrand a "conservative" Democrat.  She is, according to VoteView, a centrist, the most centrist of all NY Congresscritters, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, and to the right of all but about 20 House Democrats.

One Upsmanship

     CNN is covering the media attention on Sarah Palin.  I'll be covering CNN's coverage.

    

CNN Most Trusted Television News

But no one breaks 50%.  How did Fox spin it?  They mentioned they had the most "balanced" group of viewers (closest Dem to Rep percentage).  Pew Study Synopsis.

CNN: Georgian Propaganda Station?

The last confirmed appearance of Russian troops in Georgia proper was yesterday morning (US/Eastern time).  CNN, this morning, regularly runs a chiron that suggests maybe Russia is breaking the ceasefire.  Of course, technically, that is accurate.  Maybe Uzbekistan is flying to the South Pole.

What CNN did was show yesterday's footage of Russian troops movement, clearly labelling it "Wednesday."  That was great.  I'd wanted to see it, honestly.  But then they got dishonest.  They removed the date logo, and if someone tuned in late, they'd have no choice but to believe these were contemporary pictures.

Maybe I'm over-reacting.  I've certainly seen plenty of similarly shady stuff before on FOX.

Keeping Ya Stupid: CNN tells you about troop deaths

What does the text say at the bottom of the screen while Wolf Blitzer talks to a General in Iraq?

U.S. Troop Deaths at Lowest Ever

That includes when we aren't fighting any wars, I guess.  Ever is a long time, and has to include when we didn't believe in standing armies.

Deteriorating Security Situation in Afghanistan: The Cable News Response (UPDATE 1)

UPDATE 1: MSNBC now running oil (Pres. Race, Congress + Drilling) story.

The Brave Leaders who run CNN, MSNBC and Fox News are shoring up the walls of American ignorance by keeping news of Afghanistan out of our dear little heads.  How can we thank them enough?

But in the last hour, two of three networks discussed the oil industry, massive profits of the oil companies this quarter(CNN), the high price of gasoline (CNN+Fox), the drilling and spilling question (Fox).  MSNBC, which often is sometimes more newsy than its competitors, was pure fluff during the monitored period.

But, if there is any truth to the allegations that Iraq was about oil one could guess that Fox and CNN are subtly reminding us of our Asian adventures.