Dean had this to say, “Our party has been a no-majority party for a long time. The fact is that the Democratic Party is made up of lots of different people” and “If you look at folks of color, even women, they’re more successful in the Democratic Party than they are in the white — excuse me — in the Republican Party.”

And here are Dean’s words recorded for posterity’s sake: (more…)

Notice anything missing in the list of moderators chosen for the upcoming presidential debates? Each campaign had a veto. And they agreed on three debates and three moderators: Jim Lehrer of PBC, Tom Brokaw of NBC and Bob Schieffer of CBS.

Who’s not here? You guessed correctly if you said: ABC. McCain has no motive to exclude ABC. What about Obama? What would his motive be? Is there a pattern of Obama shutting out news organizations and correspondents who have raised inconvenient questions or reported facts he wishes were not dug up?

On Obama’s foreign trip, his campaign excluded The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, unable to find him a seat, after he wrote a lengthy factual account of Obama’s story in Chicago that depicted a young man in a hurry, willing to ride roughshod over even those helping him up the ladder, ambitious to a fault, never staying in a job long enough to accomplish anything.

Then, Keith Olbermann, host of “Countdown” on MSNBC, the chief Obama cheerleading section, in effect fired Dana Milbank from his show. Milbank, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a regular on Olbermann’s program for four years, had committed the unpardonable sin of criticizing Obama as “presumptuous” and citing some of his arrogant statements. For suddenly breaking with the pack, Milbank was removed.

About Milbank’s purge, questions hang in the air. Did Olbermann act entirely on his own in firing him? Or did he discuss the move beforehand with members of the Obama campaign? (more…)

Also, as a follow up to last week, I’m posting the highly revealing Sally Quinn article published in the Washington Post the month before the House voted to impeach that offers a fascinating picture of the Washington press corps and their demented Clinton hatred.

Those arguments have been done to death and I’m not going there.

However. There was an interesting article in the American Prospect back on July 9. While I hardly think this article is the genesis of the “Obama = vapid celebrity” meme, it certainly predates the McCain ad.

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Reporters who have covered Obama’s biography or his problems with certain voter blocs have been challenged the most aggressively. “They’re terrified of people poking around Obama’s life,” one reporter says. “The whole Obama narrative is built around this narrative that Obama and David Axelrod built, and, like all stories, it’s not entirely true. So they have to be protective of the crown jewels.” Another reporter notes that, during the last year, Obama’s old friends and Harvard classmates were requested not to talk to the press without permission.

It’s clear that Obama’s Orwellian campaign is airbrushing the fairy tale for popular consumption. Thing is, most voters see through “tall tales.”

Then I popped over to Memeorandum.com, and saw this monster list of stories:

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Today’s youth are witnessing history unfold before their eyes. This historical event will not be documented in textbooks or logged in our country’s archives. Yes, we are in a big election year, one which thus far, is unlike no other I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. However, the history in the making which I’m referring to is not the election or its results. It is the demise of investigative journalism.

Election Year 2008 marks the end of the true investigative journalism which has uncovered scandals and corruption, exposed unethical people and illegal activities, and contributed to keeping political and corporate leaders honest. These investigative journalists were known as the watchdogs over local, state, and federal governments, businesses, and prominent leaders, institutions, and organizations.

The media is a powerful entity. It has the capability to make or break careers, expose criminal activity, or wreak fear in persons when the slightest whisper of wrongdoing is detected. But that is the media of yesterday. True investigative journalism has disappeared, along with young boys holding the latest edition of the breaking news on city corners, shouting “Extra, Extra, read all about it,” drawing masses of people to their side as they sought to learn the latest breaking news. (more…)

So now comes this disturbing piece of news:

The Austin American-Statesman caved to pressure from the Daily Kos-Netroots Nation and pulled an article from the newspaper’s website that poked fun at the liberal convention being held in Austin last weekend.

The article, entitled Gore’s Surprise Visit Highlights Netroots Conference was published on the front page of Sunday’s paper.

It was written by feature writer, Patrick Beach–meaning the article was not a straight news piece (think Dana Milbank.)

Greg Mitchell, a writer for Editor & Publisher who blogs at the Daily Kos, attended the conference as a panel speaker.

He brought attention to the article by posting about it at Daily Kos. Mitchell says that Austin Kossacks, who claimed to know people at the American-Statesman, promised to “work their magic” on the paper.

By Monday the article was pulled from the American-Statesman’s website, with the message: “The page you’ve requested is not available.”

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– David Gergen, CNN’s AC 360, July 21, 2008

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