BartBlog

– How the Big Media Does It, Language Lesson Part 984 in a Long Series: Listen closely to the BM newscasts — Bush is always “turning up the heat” or “strongly challenging Congress” on Iraq War spending bills; the Dem majority is always trying to “bring the president to the negotiating table” or “find a way out without looking weak on terrorism,” even though a majority of Americans are against Junior and his war. “Keeping the heat on,” “strength” and “challenge” versus “negotiating” and “weak on terrorism” — loaded language, and it’s straight out of Frank Luntz’s propaganda playbook. Of course, the softly-recumbent, non-combative styles of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid don’t help either.

– Surprise, Surprise: What a shock that The Weekly Standard, the neocon rag that has goosed lackadaisical Fred Thompson’s campaign Death March from before the word ‘go,’ thinks he won the GOP debate Dec. 12th, and Mitt Romney came in second. All this demonstrates is the thinking — or lack of it — of the Interior Beltway Neocons, the slyly laconic Bill Kristol types who flatter themselves as conservative intellectuals while they’re really just well-paid carnival barkers for the Rupert Murdoch’s of the world: Either Thompson or Romney is acceptable to our Corporate Overlords — they’ll do what they’re told by the WTO Club. Giuliani used to be a ‘contendah’ but his personal life is just way too messy. Huckabee they haven’t quite figured out yet, but the money will be there to greet him should he start winning big, and, judging from Mr. Mike’s Arkansas past of shaking down small merchants for freebies as Governor, he won’t turn it down.

– More Evidence Matthews is a Fathead: On his “Hardball” show Dec. 12th, Chris Matthews, who may soon need a drool cup, had on a pair of ‘body language analysts’ to give their takes of the GOP debaters. He thought their statements of the bleeding obvious — Huckabee was open, personable and accessible; Giuliani was defensive, hunched and nervous, etc. — were “brilliant” and “wise” and he planned to have them on again. What’s next for Tweety’s voyage off the edge of the media universe? Numerologists? Palm readers? Goat entrail interpreters? “I see by this intestinal curve that Mr. Thompson may get a slight rise in the polls in South Carolina…” “Hah! Brilliant! You are soooo wise!” P.S.: Incidentally, stop kissing The Weekly Standard’s Matthew Continetti’s ass on the air — it’s embarrassing to your two-dozen viewers who are paying attention.

[Note: Your Tattlesnake wrote this before he heard Randi Rhodes do a similar rundown of Matthews on her AAR show Dec. 13, 2007. Ah, great minds think alike. (Insert winking smiley face here.)]

– Finally: CIA head Gen. Michael Hayden and Karl Rove — separated at birth?