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Excerpt from My New Book on 2008 Campaign--And DailyKos

I thought you might enjoy a brief excerpt from my new book on the 2008 campaign, just published this week, particularly since it features a speaker (Paul Krugman) at last July's Netroots Nation...

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When I Met Bruce Springsteen...in Sing Sing Prison

When I met Bruce Springsteen back in 1972, I could not have imagined that the scrawny kid in the hooded sweatshirt from New Jersey, whose first "record" (as we used to call them) had not yet come out,...

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A 'Kos' Excerpt from My New Book 'Why Obama Won'

I ran one excerpt here a few days ago and here is another from near the end of the book when a few people, besides me, offer their assessments on "Why Obama Won." Part of the book is made up of blog...

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Excerpt from My 'Why Obama Won' Book: On Netroots Nation

I've posted a couple of Daily Kos-related excerpts here already from my new book, Why Obama Won, and here is another, something I put up here originally last July, earning recommended status for a full...

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One Year Ago Today: Obama Took First Lead in National Poll

Re-live the moment, folks.  One year ago today I wrote, "For the first time, a major poll has put Obama ahead of Clinton nationally. Today's CNN survey finds him with a 49% to 46% lead. There's some...

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My article today at 'Mother Jones' on media malpractice

I have written here often on the failures of old media, so you might be interested in my article posted today at Mother Jones on some of the most lowlights of media coverage of the 2008 campaign.As I...

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More from my 'Mother Jones' piece on media malpractice

Last night I put up excerpts here from my new piece at Mother Jones picking some of the true lowlights of "traditional" media coverage of the 2008 campaign.  It proved popular so I will put up a part...

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Bush's penis makes Broadway debut (courtesy Will Farrell)

For years, many here and elsewhere have referred to former President George W. Bush as "a dick" or "that prick." Now, if you haven't heard, Bush's penis has made it to  Broadway -- and it opened "huge"...

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Funniest Colbert/Stewart Moments in 2008 Campaign

There were, if course, far too many to count, so nominate  some of your favorites below.  Here I recall some of the high points, as captured in my new book on the campaign.  But please add your own....

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Win a prize! Identify who said wackiest lines of 2008 campaign

After the glow of the Inaugural, the early weeks of the Obama era are already turning not so fun.  So let's return to a simpler, happier time -- the 2008 campaign when all kinds of wacky things were...

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Who Will Challenge Obama as 'Antiwar' Democrat in 2012?

Okay, don't get too excited. I'm not advocating or predicting.  Just wondering, if things go as bad as many of us fear in Afghanistan (and we are still in Iraq), who might run as an antiwar Democrat...

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Coming Sunday in 'NYT': Bill Ayers on His Talk Show w/ Palin

In an interview with The New York Times appearing this Sunday in its Magazine, former Weatherman and top 2008 campaign demon, Bill Ayers, reveals that he sent Sarah Palin a note after the November...

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Exclusive: Excerpts from 'NYT' Piece on Newt G this Sunday!

A massive article by Matt Bai appearing this Sunday in The New York Times Magazine appears rather ill-timed. Titled "Newt. Again," it portrays former Speaker Gingrich as the prime idea man and rallying...

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I Will Be On with Rachel Maddow Tonight

Just confirmed my appearance tonight, talking about cutbacks at newspapers and elsewhere in the media -- and what it means, or doesn't mean, for the traditional watchdog role of the press, and for the...

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I Was On with Rachel Maddow Last Night -- Here is Video

Hello again.  If you missed my appearance with Rachel last night, I have linked to the 7-minute clip below.We talked about the sorry state of newspapers and the growing influence of new media and the...

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David Brooks Offended by Michelle Obama's Arms!

We knew David Brooks was uptight but not to this extent.  In her NYT column today, Maureen Dowd recounts a taxi ride she shared with Brooks this past week where the conversation turned to Michelle...

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Soldier Suicides Remain High--and 2 that Still Haunt Me

The military reported last week that, in the Army alone, 18 troops committed suicide in February -- down six from January's shocking high but still above what they expected.  They say they are...

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Exclusive: Transcript of Tim Geithner on Charlie Rose Tonite

I have just posted the full transcript, airing much later tonight, of the Geithner sitdown with the PBS talk show host.Geithner has a lot of 'splainin to do, for left, right, and middle -- and has been...

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Coming in Sunday's 'NYT': Uproar Over Bush 'Freedom Institute'

Exclusive: In a feature piece coming this Sunday in The New York Times Magazine, James Traub explores the uproar over the soon-to-arrive "Freedom Institute" established by former President George W....

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How a Former Rocker (Me) Got Hooked on Beethoven

Jane Fonda has just opened on Broadway, to rave reviews, in the play 33 Variations, and I saw it on Thursday night,  which kind of amazes me.  I've always been a Jane fan, and even met her back in...

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Jon Stewart Wrecked Cramer--But Did He Elect Obama?

Before he left CNBC's Jim Cramer in the dirt, Jon Stewart had pretty much knocked CNN's "Crossfire" off the air and drawn blood from Chris Matthews and Bill Kristol, among others. No, he did not elect...

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Beethoven Died on This Day 182 years Ago

On Saturday, I posted here a reflection on how I had shocked myself in the past two years (as a former editor at Crawdaddy during the 1970s) to become, at this late stage, obsessed with Beethoven....

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Amazing poll: Iraqis still against U.S. invasion, want us out

Last year at this time, I was complaining that the 5th anniversary of our invasion of Iraq was approaching with restrained media attention.  But this year makes 2008's response look like a media orgy....

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6 Years Ago on Eve of War: Paul Krugman's Amazing Column

Perhaps revealing a masochistic streak, I spent a few minutes today in The New York Times archives looking over most of the articles and columns related to Iraq that appeared there in print or online...

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Suicides Skyrocketing at 6th Anniversary of Iraq War

More than most in the media, I have followed the disturbing rate of suicides among our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and here at home for nearly six years.  Often I have hailed Mark Benjamin, who has...

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Olbermann and Bernie Sanders on Bill Maher's Show

Quite a gathering tonight, if you missed it -- or perhaps you are watching it now on the re-run.  Bill welcomed Bernie Sanders on the panel with Keith O coming on halfway through and sticking around.An...

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Get Worried:  Krugman Rips Geithner/Obama Bank Plan

Some of you may only read (if you do) Paul Krugman's regular NYT print/Web columns.  If you are not checking his blog at the paper's site every day, in these scary times (for the economy and the...

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Poll: 1 in 4 Feel Stewart/Colbert Replacing Old News Outlets

A new poll from Rasmussen confirms what perhaps you may have suspected:  About 1 in 4 (24%) of all Americans say (as Rasmussen puts it) "satirical news-oriented television programs like The Colbert...

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30,000 U.S. Sites in Iraq May Have Electric Shock Problems

I've written often here on the tragedy and scandal of the electrocution of U.S. troops in Iraq -- following the death there of a friend's son -- but there is a major new revelation tonight.Military...

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Jim Cramer Calls Andrew Cuomo a "genuine Communist"

Somehow Jon Stewart missed perhaps the most damning Jim Cramer clip of all from the CNBC archives.  A truly embarrassing, and revealing, video has been posted on YouTube for well over a year, showing...

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My First Week on Twitter: Surprisingly Great--And Useful

After four decades of writing in at least paragraph form, I finally joined Twitter last Sunday    Presto:  I already have over 300 "followers," which makes Jesus, with 12, look like a piker.   As...

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Younger folks: If you've never "gotten" Dylan, try this

I realize there are tons of young/younger/youngish or even oldish people out there who are still a bit mystified by the reverence so many of us boomer types have for Bob Dylan, even as some of us find...

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Hold on--no win in NY20 yet, given absentees and military

Yes, it was exciting to watch Murphy close the 1500 then 1100 vote gap in the final half hour, to take lead of 81 and hold on at 65 with 100% in.But Times-Union, the big Albany paper, reports 6000...

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Colbert went where 'NYT' feared to tread on Glenn Beck

Was it another Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer takedown? Another case of a faux newsman going where the mainstream media dared not go?It was shocking last night to watch the usually pro-rightwing Colbert...

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It's true: Stephen Colbert IS going to war zone, briefed today

You, and others, may have thought he was only joking three weeks ago when the Comedy Central hero hinted on his show that he would soon be going to, and taping, in or near Iraq, but it is definitely...

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Binghamton shooter threatened to kill President

A fuller picture of the mass murderer in Binghamton started to emerge this morning.  Late reports picture him as a gun nut who, after 28 years in the U.S., came to hate this country, was laid off last...

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6 Years Ago Today: Pundits Hailed 'End' of Iraq War!

Six  years ago today the U.S. media and administration officials who plotted the invasion of Iraq celebrated the fall of Baghdad while expressing few fears about the future. "We're all neo-cons now!"...

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6 years ago Today: Rumsfeld said "stuff happens" in Iraq

On a terrible week for the U.S. in Iraq -- with 5 U.S. soldiers blown up and killed yesterday and another deadly bombing today  -- it may be apt to recall and reprint the now infamous remarks of...

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Easter Sunday in the Church of Beethoven (Music and Lyrics)

I've posted previously that my only church is the Church of Beethoven and it seems fitting on this morning to link you to perhaps the greatest and most inspiring music ever, a very small part of the...

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New Pew Survey Confirms Amazing Online Impact in 2008 Campaign

"The 2008 election was the first in which more than half the voting-age population used the internet for political purposes," a new report by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life...

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Obama owes it all to you!

Well, not quite, but you get my drift.  The new survey from Pew released late yesterday (see my previous post) showed that more than half of all adults in the U.S. used the Web during the 2008 race for...

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Amazing AP Poll: Americans Feel U.S. on 'Right Track' Again

Two amazing Obama bits this morning.  I've got the issue of TIME magazine coming out tomorrow and it features cover story on Obama's first 100 days, with Joe Klein calling it the most impressive start...

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Brother of Alyssa Peterson, Torture Victim, Comments

Yesterday, at the Editor & Publisher site and at Huffington Post, I revisited the tragic case of Spc.Alyssa Peterson, who committed suicide in Iraq just days after she refused to have anything to...

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Soldier Killed Herself After Refusing to Torture: Part II

On Thursday, I posted a piece here that drew wide attention around the Web perhaps because of its tragic relevance to the current torture debate:  The story of Spc. Alyssa Peterson, who committed...

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Mother of U.S. Marine Who Was Waterboarded Rips Cheney, Others

As the usual rationalizations for  U.S. torture  (it works, it's not so bad, we didn't do it anyway) have come under increasing attack in recent days, a relatively new defense has emerged, from GOP...

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For Memorial Day: How KBR Killed U.S. Soldiers

It was good to see an editorial in The New York Times this morning blasting KBR for trying to give its people bonuses, in light of the recent revelations about its shoddy electrical work in...

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My Daughter's Chilling Account of Years at Holocaust Museum

Yesterday, as the fatal shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. unfolded, I couldn’t help recalling that my daughter, Jeni Mitchell, just out of college, worked at the museum during its...

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Part II: My Daughter's Account of Years at Holocaust Museum

Thanks to all for making yesterday's posting one of the top diaries yesterday.  I read all the comments -- and so did my daughter, over in London.  We appreciate them very much.  The story also drew...

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Mia Farrow's Brother, a Suicide, Slammed War After Nephew Died

As reported here, and elsewhere, earlier today, the actress Mia Farrow's brother, Patrick Farrow, 66, was found dead in his sculptor studio in Vermont.   It has now been declared a suicide by local...

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The Man Who Set Himself on Fire Under Robert McNamara's Window

Two of the most dramatic, and symbolic, incidents in the long life of Robert McNamara omitted from most of his obits this week were connected to citizen protest of wildly varying types.  One was a...

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