I think Hillary Clinton may have just burst into flames. After a contentious, 16-minute exchange over health care, Brian Williams finally moved the discussion to trade. Before she answered, she started channeling her campaign spokesman, Phil Singer, by complaining about always being asked the first question and referring to a “Saturday Night Live” skit in which Obama was portrayed as being coddled by the media. This can’t be helpful to her.
Vote early, vote often
Media Nation has been nominated in the Blog/Podcast category of the Boston Phoenix’s 2008 “Best” poll. I invite you to vote early and vote often. (Just kidding. Sort of.) Yes, I used to work at the Phoenix, and I still write for the paper occasionally. But this is a reader poll — I have no advantage over anyone else. If you visit Media Nation regularly or occasionally and like what you see, I hope you’ll make your feelings known. I’m keeping the graphic in the upper right until the polls close.
Other nominees are Universal Hub, Jon Keller, Blue Mass Group and the Allston Brighton Community Blog.
A gaffe, strictly defined
Michael Kinsley once memorably defined a “gaffe” as what happens “when a politician tells the truth.”
Barack Obama has committed a gaffe, telling Jewish leaders in Cleveland:
This is where I get to be honest, and I hope I’m not out of school here. I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt a unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel, and that can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have a honest dialogue about how do we achieve these goals, then we’re not going to make progress. And frankly, some of the commentary that I’ve seen which suggests guilt by association or the notion that unless we are never ever going to ask any difficult questions about how we move peace forward or secure Israel that is nonmilitary or non-belligerent or doesn’t talk about just crushing the opposition, that that somehow is being soft or anti-Israel, I think we’re going to have problems moving forward. And that, I think, is something we have to have an honest dialogue about.
Hillary Clinton definitely has an opening at tonight’s debate. And I’ve worked in my second Michael Kinsley reference in one day.
Media Nation on “The Agenda”
Listen here.
Another Obama breakthrough?
For the first time, Barack Obama has slipped ahead of Hillary Clinton in Texas, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average. Tonight’s MSNBC debate should be interesting — although it’s hard to see how Clinton can gain all that much from it, short of a hideous mistake by Obama.
Rumors, and rumors of rumors
Michael Kinsley mocks the New York Times’ attempts to, uh, recontextualize its John McCain story:
What I wrote was that some people had expressed concern that the Times article might have created the appearance of charging that McCain had had an affair. My critics have charged that I was charging the Times with charging McCain with having had an affair. Such a charge would be unfair to the New York Times, since the Times article, if you read it carefully (very carefully), does not make any charge against McCain except that people in a meeting eight years ago had suggested that other people eight years ago might reach a conclusion — about which the Times expressed no view whatsoever — that McCain was having an affair.
Compare Kinsley to this actual excerpt from an online conversation with readers that Times executive editor Bill Keller and other editors and reporters conducted last Thursday:
The point of this “Long Run” installment was that, according to people who know him well, this man who prizes his honor above all things and who appreciates the importance of appearances also has a history of being sometimes careless about the appearance of impropriety, about his reputation. The story cites several examples, and quotes friends and admirers talking of this apparent contradiction in his character. That is why some members of his staff were so alarmed by the appearance of his relationship with Ms. Iseman. And that, it seemed (and still seems) to us, was something our readers would want to know about a man who aspires to be president.
The similarities are striking, no?
Goose-stepping into oblivion
Adam Bond has removed his post in which he says he just can’t help but be reminded of the Nazis whenever he thinks about opponents of the proposed Middleborough casino. Now I wish I’d quoted an excerpt when I alluded to it yesterday.
Oh, wait — Bellicose Bumpkin has it here. It’s nice to know that Bond’s brilliance lives on.
Media Nation on the air
I’m scheduled to be on XM Radio’s “The Agenda” today from 7:05 to 7:25 p.m. The program is sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group dedicated to advancing gay and lesbian civil rights. I’ve known co-host Mary Breslauer for years, so it should be fun.
Josh Marshall 101
Noam Cohen profiles Josh Marshall in the New York Times following Marshall’s winning a Polk Award for his coverage of the U.S. attorneys scandal. Cohen kindly quotes me at some length.
As I noted last week in a blog post for my students, Marshall’s Talking Points Memo and related sites have pioneered a new kind of investigative reporting that combines the journalistic expertise of Marshall and his crew with the decentralized knowledge of their readers.
As citizen-journalism pioneer Dan Gillmor has memorably put it, “my readers know more than I do.” Marshall has figured out how to tap into that knowledge and make sense of it.
Hail, Tito
Red Sox fans will not get better news all year than this: Terry Francona will be here for the next three to five years. Bruce Allen wraps up the coverage.
There’s something “well, duh” about saying Francona is the best Sox manager in my lifetime. After all, he’s won two World Series, and everyone else had won none. As Francona is always quick to say, he’s benefited from a lot of great moves on the part of the people above him.
But Francona’s preparation and on-field managing skills are unparalleled. His handling of players is amazing, from his ability to keep Manny Ramírez productive year after year to having Jonathan Papelbon spring-training fresh going into the post-season last fall. He’s the anti-Belichick — I don’t think Francona loves the media, but as best as I can tell he is unfailingly polite and respectful in his dealings with other people. He’s just a good, decent human being, and that comes through every time he talks.
A couple of years ago, we were all worried that Francona’s health might not allow him to enjoy a lengthy managerial career. But he seemed to be healthier last year, and now he’s signed a long-term deal. May he continue to manage the Sox for years to come.
Photo (cc) by bunkosquad, and republished here under a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.