During the 2004 election, for example, he debunked a lot of the shameless lying about Kerry, from the Swift Boaters, the right-wing pundits and the ‘mainstream’ talking heads.
He pointed out that, though Kerry voted against one measure that paid for Iraq and Afghanistan wars (because he wanted tax cuts to cover the costs), President Shrub threatened to veto the funding unless most of it was given as a grant rather than a loan. That was a point that the mainstream media never got hip to. He also debunked a lot of the noise around Bush’s Social Security ‘reform,’ the Terri Shiavo case, Dick Morris’ book on Hillary Clinton and other shameless right-wing clowning that followed the election, when the contards thought the American Enterprise Institute had become a fourth branch of government.

I don’t read him as often as I did. But I have learned a great deal from his work.

It was only after that election that I started reading more on the Web. First I came across Media Whores Online, and I couldn’t get enough. Then I found The Daily Howler. I had been one of those people Somerby described so well who had been played for a fool by the newspapers and television. He opened my eyes, and I couldn’t read enough. Bob Somerby became the first person I read each day. I also read through ALL of his archives. His writing has fundamentally changed my outlook.

Bob Somerby’s column is STILL the most eagerly awaited blog I read every day (and I read them all), and has been for the last four years.

The painstaking work exhibited in his columns should be the model all bloggers aspire to.

Hooray for Bob Somerby!

I see Somerby’s position as being that in fact the press corps of 2000 IS “the press corps today,” and the clowning will continue until they are called on it forcefully and repeatedly. (And sadly maybe even that won’t stop them, but at least the public will know about it.) We still have David Broder, we still have David Brooks, we still have Christopher Hitchens, we still have Michelle Malkin, we still have Tim Russert, we still have Chris Matthews, we still have Robert Novak…they’re all still there, those and others, who spun and twisted words and even flatly made stuff up to reinforce negative images of Gore (which got Bush close enough to the White House that he could steal the election through legal maneuvers). And this being their pattern, there is every reason to believe that they will do it again in favor of Mr. Straight-Talk McCain who is a bona fide War Hero. I think that’s why Somerby repeats his mantra over and over ad nauseam; the press WILL hand the White House to McCain (or some other cocktail-circuit Chosen One) unless the public is continually reminded that the press has manufactured consent in the past and so are not to be trusted uncritically.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. To this date, the press has not admitted its role in advancing the Republican agenda, helping tarnish the images of Gore and Kerry and maintaining Republican control of the government. Bob Somerby is using his tiny soapbox to try to get the public’s attention: “hey rubes, you’re being played the fool!” And really, isn’t that what we’re all doing?

Send Bob some love as he searches for a publisher for his can’t-miss blockbuster book.

Thet post izz un-fare!

Ah iz got know special treetment in 2000 cos I un-smart.

Ah iz not – Look! A birdie! – unfocused.

U r undermining me in tha fite ‘gainst terror. Uh izz treezon-us.

Drunkenly yours,
George W. Bush
Prez and head cheerleader.

It’s not just about the voters- it’s about our entire culture and the way we select our political leaders. This is the only country in the world where being smart is considered a detriment to your campaign chances.

Personally, I blame the Three Stooges, though in their defense we’re supposed to be laughing at them, not with them.

I have a Modest Proposalâ„¢. It’s the Ultimate Netroots Project. Everybody–and I mean everybody–in left blogistan contributes, say, $20. We then buy a large media conglomerate, the Tribune Company, for instance. We then fire the shitty motherfuckers who are most egregiously rotten, in this case Jonah Goldberg from the L.A. Times, etc., and hire the good, progressive writers floating around out there like, oh, I don’t know, Robert Scheer. And, if we’re feeling merciful, the questionable ones we just give a “shape up or else” warning to. Step 3: Profit!

Now realize that, by definition, half of everybody is even dumber than that.

Uh, not to prove your point or anything, but that statement isn’t true. Now my mind is folding in on itself…

I have a construction business and deal almost primarily with working class people. My customers are anywhere from low middle to high middle. With some exceptions to stereotypes considered here, the majority of the people I deal with are ignorant, bigoted and don’t have a clue about how government works.

Now realize that, by definition, half of everybody is even dumber than that.”

And then realise that most Americans don’t like to vote for peope they think are cleverer than them.

Long-Awaited Beer With Bush Really Awkward, Voter Reports
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/42590

a classic.

And if you really want to understand the popular appeal of W., try this (if you’re an American)….

Think about how ignorant and stupid the average person is. Give it a good, solid bit of reflection.

Now realize that, by definition, half of everybody is even dumber than that.

“I don’t want to say somebody is the winner or somebody is the loser
tonight,” said George P. Bush, the president’s nephew, and he went on to
set a fairly low bar for his uncle. “I think his main objective, apart
from not falling on the ground on the stage, which he didn’t do tonight,
was to say, look, here are my positions, and talk directly to the voters.”

(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/politics/campaign/03points.html?ex=1254542400&en=80fa771004c7e4fd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland)

I particularly liked the reminder that, against all expectations, Dubya
did not in fact fall on the ground. Then again, his grip on that podium
was pretty firm…

Brad, if only you had said this in a soothing tone….

My smallish amount of MSM experience demonstrated this perfectly. One place was a local newspaper micromanaged by an independently wealthy guy as a hobby. He once published a classic line in a column: “Speaking off the record, {So-and-So} said …” He had no idea why the editor and I were telling him it wasn’t a great idea to print that.

After that I worked at a tops-in-their-market network TV station (in the late 90s, during l’affair Monica). It’s Vacuous City over there. The egos were thicker than the makeup. Everything goes on in this make-beleive world where glitz and/or blood tops facts any day. And even when one isn’t trying to slant a story, chopping most newsworthy things down to a few disjointed phrases intoned over eight seconds of B-roll is bound to distort things.

It looks bad at home, I realize; it looks worse from inside when you see what they leave out.

1) Perceived success = success
2) Winning is EVERYTHING
3) Losing is a sin

Oh yeah, and the silly way you run your elections.