Via The Horse, we learn that The Shorenstein Center has released a new study on partisanship in newspaper editorial pages. The study was written by Michael Tomasky in the Spring of 2003. Tomasky will become the Executive Editor of American Prospect on September 1.

The study was conducted using four major liberal and conservative editorial pages in the U.S. The findings?

...Conservative editorial pages are far less willing to criticize a Republican administration than liberal pages are willing to take issue with a Democratic administration.

You can access the full report here.

This Monday (8/11) from 9-10 AM, C-SPAN will broadcast a debate between Ronald Weich,Former Counsel, U.S. Sentencing Commission and Daniel Collins, Associate Deputy Attorney General (Justice Department) on recent changes to federal sentencing laws. Tune in to watch Ron defend truth, justice and the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The 1984 Act is far from perfect, but it was way better before Congress passed the Feeney Amendment to the Amber Alert bill and before Ashcroft got his hands on it.

You can watch on television or your computer.

The Horse is back this week, with an expose of right-wing books that appear on best seller lists--check it out. If you doubt them, go to the New York Times list of best-selling Hardcover Nonfiction. Check out Book Number 4 this week. Catch the symbol (+) next at the end of the book's description. Then, scroll down to bottom where the symbol, referred to as a "dagger," is explained:

A dagger (+) indicates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders.

So it's not Jane Q. Public buying up the books, one by one, hungry for the content. It's right-wing activist groups and speakers' bureaus buying en masse and then offering the books free to those who ask for it. Even Drudge on occasion has offered the book for free . Here's another such ad, from NewsMax. Here's one from Human Events.

Credit goes to Sidney Blumenthal for speaking out about this (scroll down,) and to the Times for making the distinction.

According to Mr. Blumenthal, evidence of the "vast right-wing conspiracy" once proclaimed by Hillary Clinton can be found on The New York Times Book Review's best-seller list. "What I think the key question is for AC and all these other right-wing writers is, why is there a dagger in the New York Times best-seller list next to their books?" Mr. Blumenthal said in reference to the small symbol that appears next to Treason, which rocketed to the top of the Times list. According to the fine print at the bottom of the Times list, the dagger denotes "that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders."

"That means that someone is buying their book in bulk to put them on the best-seller list. These are bogus best-sellers," Mr. Blumenthal told The Transom. "I want to know why [AC] won't come clean and explain which rich right-wing sugar daddies are putting her on the best-seller list."

So who's buying up all these books?

"I don't know. I don't even know if she knows, but I know she's benefiting, and I know that all the other right-wing authors whose books have no merit in any way, on substance or as fact, are simply being put on there through a well-organized campaign involving vast resources of money of wealthy Republicans," Mr. Blumenthal said. "AC is a phony best-seller."

You can read Ms. C's response at the links above--we don't intend to reprint it.

The New York Times reviews John Mellencamp's July 31 performance favorably and notes that he has inserted some anti-Bush politics into his songs:

Mr. Mellencamp's new song "To Washington," with an Appalachian melody by way of the Carter Family and Woody Guthrie, showed misgivings about the current Bush administration and war in Iraq. And when Mr. Mellencamp sang Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," with its verse about a roving gambler trying to create a next world war, he made it a "Texas gambler" and altered the last lines: "Just give Donald Rumsfeld about a million guns, and have it out on Highway 61."

We've always liked Mellencamp a lot and are glad to see he's singing his politics out loud. With Willie Nelson singing for Kucinich, we hope it's the start of a trend.

Journalist David Neiwert of Orcinus investigates actor Mel Gibson today, asking whether his cozying up to conservative political pundits as part of a Washington power play to garner pre-release support for his new movie about the crucifixion called "Passion" is indicative that there is truth to the rumors that the film and Gibson are anti-semitic. No one knows what's in the movie for sure, but there are major concerns that it blames the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ.

Here's the guest list for his latest screening in Washington:

Peggy Noonan, Cal Thomas and Kate O'Beirne; conservative essayist Michael Novak; President Bush's abortive nominee for labor secretary, Linda Chavez; staff director Mark Rodgers of the Senate Republican conference chaired by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.); former Republican House member Mark Siljander of Michigan; and White House staffer David Kuo, deputy director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Neiwert explores Gibson in depth. He reprints part of a 1995 Playboy interview with Gibson which is fascinating and appalling--the man is anti-feminist, does not believe in evolution or Darwin, does not think men and women are equal, and reveals several other beliefs we find bizarre. And he uses plenty of profanity to express these views. Why should you read it? As Neiwert says,

By a vote of 400 - 21, the House today prevented the implementation of the media deregulation plan passed by the FCC on June 2.

The FCC voted to allow single companies to own TV stations reaching 45 percent of U.S. households. The House measure would return the cap to 35 percent.

``It's extremely rare to be able to reverse a regulatory decision that gives away the store to the big boys,'' said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chief sponsor of the provision to derail the FCC change.

The fight now moves to the Senate, where several lawmakers of both parties want to include a similar provision in their version of the spending bill. Broader rollback efforts also are being considered.

Grass roots efforts work.

Say hello to What Really Happened , Civil Liberties Watch and Op-Ed News. All will be on our blogroll shortly.

Also, TomPaine.com has added a blog to its feature article site. Other must-reads for us: Behind the Homefront by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Patriot Watch, dedicated to news related to the Patriot Act and similar legislation that threatens our civil liberties.