Jamison Foser writes:

To anyone who lived through the media feeding frenzy of the 1990s, during which the nation's leading news organizations spent the better part of a decade destroying their own credibility by relentlessly hyping a series of non-scandals, the past few days, in which the media have tried to shoehorn Barack Obama into the Rod Blagojevich scandal, have been sickeningly familiar.

I lived through the feeding frenzy against Hillary Clinton in the Dem primary (that one was cheered in certain Left circles), the frenzy against Al Gore in the 2000 election, through the Media feeding frenzies of the Iraq Debacle, and the various and sundry other Media feeding frenzies of the last 8 years. In my view, Obama has gotten nothing compared to that over Blagojevich. Indeed, the attempts to start the frenzy have been nonstarters for the most part.

Don't get me wrong - I admire the vigilance of Foser, Media Matters and others on the Left against the Media. We must always stand vigilant. But that vigilance was sorely lacking in the last year when the subject of the attacks was Hillary Clinton. The good news is that, by and large, President-Elect Obama remains a Media Darling and will be difficult to touch in the next year. More worrisome to me frankly is the likelihood that legitimate progressive criticism of Obama will be shouted down. We must be vigilant against that as well.

Speaking for me only

Via HuffPo, on the Daily Show last night, Hall and Oates sang goodbye to Alan Colmes who is leaving Hannity and Colmes in January. (Alan asked to leave the show and will be staying with the network in another capacity.)

Oates has a new album out, 1,000 Miles of Life, that was recorded in Nashville and includes performances by Blues Traveler’s John Popper, Bela Fleck, Blind Boys of Alabama, Steve Cropper, Bonnie and Bekka Bramlett. His home? Since the 1980's it's been Aspen, Colorado where he spends a lot of time shredding.

This is an open thread.

Congrats to Anita! Her book, The Gonzo Way, on her late husband Hunter S. Thompson, has won the Grand Prize at the London Book Festival.

She will accept the award in person on Dec. 18. Background on the book is here.

There's also a very interesting interview with Anita in the Sunday Scotsman Herald, which as a result of the final few paragraphs, has been noted by Esquire, Gawker, Britain's First Post and our local news.

As to Gonzo Way:

“The Gonzo Way: A Celebration of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson” written by his wife, Anita Thompson, is the grand prize winner of the 2008 London Book Festival.

[More...]

The nominees for this year's Golden Globe awards have been announced. Here's the list.

Some of the nominees' reactions are here and a summary is here. I haven't seen any of the nominated films yet, but I'm now looking forward to seeing Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler, Javier Bardem in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Leonard DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road.

The TV ads for Benjamin Button have me overdosed on the film already. Frost/Nixon has gotten great buzz and MILK is reportedly excellent as well. Australia, which I think will be great, isn't on the list. The Reader looks fairly promising.

Which ones look good to you?

It seems hard to believe that the question needs to be answered, but apparently so. Via James Joyner, Ed Morrissey asks:

[H]ave we become such pantywaists that we can’t tell the difference between a joke and “denigration”, “disempowerment”, and “humiliation”?

"Pantywaists" is defined as "[a] boy or man who is considered weak or effeminate." A sexist critique of sexist behavior - or, if you will, a sexist "joke." Well done Mr. Morrissey. Your "he man" status is now assured.

Speaking for me only

While I am not sure I completely agree with Bowers's critique of Tomasky, I do love that he is not afraid to deliver it. No sacred cows. Not Obama. And not fellow "progressives." If we disagree, we disagree - and we shoud say so.

Greenwald took on Atrios the other day. More of this please. We can not be afraid to disagree with each other.

Speaking for me only

As someone who was criticized for railing against the idea of John Brennan as a potential head of the CIA (I also find the idea of Michael Hayden as DNI intolerable), I do find it ironic that by and large, I am quite comfortable, pleased even, with the makeup of the incoming Obama Administration. At the same time, I am someone who has always urged people to speak their mind - to wit, if you are not pleased with the makeup of the incoming Obama Administration, it seems to me you should say so. In a NYTimes article on the subject, Markos Moulitsas is quoted as saying:

28 years ago tonight, in the middle of Monday Night Football, Howard Cosell announced there had been an "unspeakable tragedy in New York City." John Lennon had been shot. (Video here.)

This is my sixth annual blog post about that night, and how for me, it's a day of both sadness and celebration. [More...]

The NYTimes Editorial Board writes today:

Mr. Arar’s ordeal began in 2002, when he was seized by federal agents as he tried to change planes on his way home to Canada from a family vacation. After being held incommunicado in solitary confinement and subjected to harsh interrogation without proper access to a lawyer, he was “rendered” to Syria, where he was tortured. He was locked up for almost a year in a dank underground cell the size of a grave before he was finally let go.

Writing about the the "in the tank for John Brennan" reporting in the Media, Glenn Greenwald writes:

Barbara Walters names Barack Obama the most fascinating person of the year in her special tonight.

In 2005, she named Camilla Parker Bowles. In 2006, she named Nancy Pelosi and in 2007, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Also on Walters' list tonight, Rush Limbaugh, a man who got pregnant, Tom Cruise, Will Smith and actor Frank Langella who plays Richard Nixon in the new movie Frost/Nixon.

I changed the channel when she named Sarah Palin.

Who would you have named?

Josh Marshall writes:

I don't have any problem with Obama's cabinet picks so far. But it's certainly true that Democrats with a high partisan profile haven't figured prominently among his major appointments, with the notable exception of Rahm Emanuel.

I guess Hillary is in the "Hillary for New York" party. I am tempted to attribute this to CDS but that is probably not the case. He probably does not think Hillary has a "high partisan profile." After all, Republicans love the Clintons - remember all the Hillary-cans?

Speaking for me only

This is an Open Thread.

Via John Cole, HuffPo reports David "Stretch" Gregory gets the Meet the Press gig. For those keeping score, on June 16, I wrote:

David Gregory is a lock imo.

Just sayin' From Politico - "Gregory also speaks French and is an avid oenophile . . ." A great segue to this: