More--

In the past week, both Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have rolled out the Willie Horton ad, claiming that it marked the beginning of vicious personal attacks in politics, as opposed to what it was: The most devastatingly relevant campaign commercial in all of American history.

You can always astonish college kids by telling them the true story of Willie Horton. Among the jaw-dropping facts are:

-- In the '80s, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a prison furlough policy had to be extended to convicted murderers, who were ineligible for parole.

-- Even the Massachusetts Legislature, which contained about three Republicans, realized this was insane, and quickly passed a bill excluding first-degree murderers from the weekend furlough program. But in a desperate bid for the ACLU's Brain-Dead Liberal of the Year Award, Gov. Michael Dukakis vetoed the bill.

-- Horton, who was later released under this program, was in prison for carving up a teenager at a gas station and then stuffing his body into a garbage can. (He had already been convicted of attempted murder in South Carolina -- through no fault of his own, the victim survived.)

And more--

-- Even after Horton used his Dukakis-granted furlough to rape and torture a Maryland couple in their home for 12 straight hours, the Greek homunculus issued a statement reaffirming his strong support for furloughing murderers.

-- The Bush campaign commercial about Dukakis' furlough program never showed a picture of Horton. In fact, the actors playing "criminals" passing through a revolving door in the ad were all white.

-- Voters considered it relevant that a candidate for president was so beholden to the ACLU that he backed an idiotic furlough program that released first-degree murderers.

Every informed student of the 1988 campaign knows that the Bush ad didn't show Horton's picture. And yet in Keith's discussion of Bush's allegedly vile, racist use of Willie Horton, he used a phony version of the ad, doctored to include a photo of Horton.

I don't blame Keith personally for this blatant distortion: He gets all his research material from Markos Moulitsas and other left-wing bloggers, so he can't be held responsible for the content of his show. Keith's principal contribution to the program is his nightly display of self-congratulation and pompous douche-baggery.

Remember, Keith, like his MSNBC colleague Contessa Brewer, majored in "communications" in college, not a research-related field, such as political science. In his coursework, he learned such skills as: Dramatically Turning to Camera, Hysterical Self-Righteousness, Pausing Portentously and Gravely Demanding Apologies/Resignations From Various Public Figures.

Given this background, it's understandable that Keith will make errors. As viewers witnessed recently, he can't even pronounce the name of prominent American economist and philosopher, Thomas Sowell. (Although he did spend three weeks at a Berlitz course in Arabic honing his pronunciation of "Abu Ghraib" to razor-sharp prissiness.)

And finally--

The bloggers and Keith bring different skill sets to the game. They provide the tendentious half-truths, phony opinion polls and spurious social science, while Keith provides his booming baritone, gigantic "Guys and Dolls" suits and gift for ridiculous, fustian grandiloquence. Keith is far better equipped than, say, the pint-sized, girly-voiced, Frito Bandito-accented Markos Moulitsas to deliver the party line.

But here's the fly in the ointment: Keith has once again been victimized by left-wing blogs into thinking that the 1988 Bush ad showed Willie Horton's picture, when in fact, Horton's race was deliberately scrubbed from the ad.

Again, in fairness to Keith, he's never been a "content guy." He was a communications major. (The agriculture school Keith attended offered a degree in this field.) He lifts the material for his show from liberal blogs, overwrites it, and throws in his trademark smirking and snorts. But that's all he does because, again, he was a communications major.

With the WH going after Fox--it really is a slight of hand.

They don't want people thinking about Health care and high umemployment and cap and bull...

They want everyone talking about this shit about Fox.

...never ceases to amaze how the part of god and family values is always willing to lie and protect thiefs, murderers and rapists.......

#21 | Posted by skizziks

Repubs don't stick up for Dems...

#5 | Posted by moder8

Thanks Mod--tip of the hat for you friend...

Sure they can compete.

They won't compete--they will shut down one by one as the deck is stacked against them.

When congress can make the laws and rules to favor themselves--we are doomed.

Skizz--

You missed my sarcasm--repubs dont stick up for Dems being thieves, rapists, and murderers...(or visa versa for that matter).

The deal with the female contractor does not provide the complete picture of what went on with the female contractors case.

For criminal acts--the military has the court system, tribunals or court marshalls set up for criminal acts.

That would include the contractors--as there are some Blackwater guys who were being tried for killing Iraqi civilians.

So there has to be or should have been a way a system for this female contractor to have her day in criminal court for the military to bring her case against the perps.

The contracts with contractors also has an Arbitration Clause to decide civil matters. Franken wanted to do away with the Arbitration Clause in the contracts.

You can't go back and null a contract--you can amend it--with all parties in agreement.

But the congress is not allowed under the consitution to mess with people's contracts.

And Arbitration allows the plaintiff to have a day in court--several days even--to prove their case. It is the same as your State court proceedings except no jury. The matter is decided by the Arbitrator. But they have witnesses and attorneys and rules of evidence etc. They will award money damages (or not) at the end.

Something was missing from the story on the female contractor. It is incomplete. The military has a system for criminal acts and the Arbitration Clause is for civil matters in dispute.

Don't know why the female contractor did not avail the military criminal justice system. Something is missing in the story.

#30 | Posted by pragmatist

There is always some media outlet that gets a WH administration.

Some get totally under the skin--as Obama and Fox.

Some get a honorable mention--like Bush with NYT and printing national security secrets.

Or Kennedy making jokes about the media who were giving him a hard time.

Some media gets put on an enemies list--like Nixon.

Obama and his cohorts are going all out against Fox--and it's only helping Fox.

The latest slap in the face after Tapper's question to Gibbs was the Pool media dissing Feinberg on the interview unless Fox was included.

That's power--that was unity with the media--not seen since---ever!

Obama loses if he continues to go down this path.

Fox is on 24/7--Obama is not (Thank God).