By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only.

Media Matters documents this. I am sure I am just being hysterical here in seeing this also. Nah, I am a man. I can not be hysterical. But I am a hot head. Latino man. Check. That description works.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only.

Josh Marshall and John Cole write as if they just discovered what Republicans do. Cole cites Marshall thusly:

Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can’t.

But that’s not the core. The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American, BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty thrown in, but we’ll have to see. The details and specific.

Um, duh? But they miss the bigger point -- to withstand this onslaught Obama will need to retain his Media Darling status. NOW we see Marshall is worried about NBC. After spending months defending NBC for its outrageous bias against Hillary Clinton. As Bob Somerby regularly notes about Marshall and TPM, it is a little late to get religion on the outrageous work of NBC.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only.

Debate Transcript:

MR. WILLIAMS: A lot has been said since we last gathered in this forum, certainly since -- in the few days since you two last debated. Senator Clinton, in your comments especially, the difference has been striking. And let's begin by taking a look.

SEN. CLINTON: (From videotape.) You know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored. (Cheers, applause.)

(From videotape.) So shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your -- (cheers, applause).

MR. WILLIAMS: Senator Clinton, we're here in Ohio. Senator Obama is here. This is the debate. You would agree the difference in tone over just those 48 hours was striking.

More . . .

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only.

Bob Somerby:

Let’s hope last night is the very last time. Let’s hope the Democratic Party never lets NBC run another debate. In a word, the first half hour of last night’s debate was stunning. To understand why, let’s think back to October 30, when Tim Russert and his trophy wife, Brian Williams, hosted an earlier Dem debate [an all out assault on Clinton.]

. . . Afterwards, pundits lined up to say something baldly inaccurate. We always treat the front-runners this way, a long line of fantasists said. . . . We Dems have a new front-runner now; we thought he was frequently brilliant last night. But the first half hour of last night’s debate was a virtual replay of October 30. Jack Welch’s “Lost Boys” were at it again. They were choosing our nominee for us.

And as Somerby further points out, they will be trying to choose our President; NBC's (Jack Welch's Boys) choice is Saint John McCain. Will the Obama supporters in the blogs be so pleased with NBC then?

By Big Tent Democrat

Digby:

The country wants change. They want Washington to stop all the partisan bickering and they want a different tone. They want their government to be serious and deal with real problems.

Can someone please explain to me how that can possibly happen until something is done about the reprehensible political press? . . .

Judging by their silly questions tonight, Russert and Williams obviously know nothing about health care policy, Iraq, Islamic terrorism, economics, global trade or any other subject that requires more than five minutes study to come up with some gotcha question or a stupid Jack Bauer fantasy. It's embarrassing.

The Ohio debate starts in 20 minutes. We'll have a live-blog going, but here's a thread to post your comments about the media coverage leading up to it and afterwards.

Who's the biggest Horses As*? Who did you like?

I do it every year. Live blog will be below the fold, hope you join in. If you want others to see your comments, put them in this thread rather than the live blog.

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By Big Tent Democrat

The Oscars are tonight. Who is going to win? Who should win? Predictions please.

Jeralyn has arrived. This thread is now closing.

In recognition of the Oscars tonight, Wayne Slater at the Dallas Morning News asks, "Which movie characters do the current crop of presidential hopefuls most resemble?"

I think the choice for Hillary is great.

Tess McGill in "Working Girl," -- she's learned the ropes and is ready to run the boardroom.

Obama: Slater narrows it to three.

1) Jefferson Smith in "Mr Smith Goes to Washington." Jimmy Stewart offers change in the nation's capital.

2) Neo (Keanu Reeves) in "The Matrix" -- Morpheus wants to know, "Is he the one?"

3) Chauncey Gardner in "Being There." To hear Hillary say it, there's more metaphor than meat in Obama's rhetoric. Was it Obama who said, "There will be growth in the spring!"

Huckabee? He asks if Gomer Pyle ever made a movie.

What would your picks be?

By Big Tent Democrat

My Eschatonesque title is due to my linking this Atrios post:

Ralph

Who cares?

.38% in 2004.

I could get .38%.

MTP had no business putting Ralph Nader on. He is not newsworthy.

By Big Tent Democrat

Jamison Foser explains:

When The New York Times ran a 2,000-word article about the state of the Clintons' marriage in May of 2006, the paper passed on gossip about Bill Clinton and a Canadian politician named Belinda Stronach. . . . Chris Matthews, among others, loved -- loved -- the article. He discussed it again and again and again on Hardball. He -- approvingly -- described it as a warning from The New York Times to Clinton that "he better watch it" and "behave himself." . . .In short, Matthews did not criticize the Times article; he endorsed it.

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By Big Tent Democrat

NYTimes Public Editor Clark Hoyt rips the McCain "story:"

The article was notable for what it did not say: It did not say what convinced the advisers that there was a romance. It did not make clear what McCain was admitting when he acknowledged behaving inappropriately — an affair or just an association with a lobbyist that could look bad. And it did not say whether Weaver, the only on-the-record source, believed there was a romance. The Times did not offer independent proof, like the text messages between Detroit’s mayor and a female aide that The Detroit Free Press disclosed recently, or the photograph of Donna Rice sitting on Gary Hart’s lap.

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