Complaints notwithstanding, the media still has its one true love

July 29, 2008

A week ago, in a striking display of chutzpah, the McCain campaign unveiled a three-minute montage, ostensibly proving that political journalists are overly fond of Barack Obama. (The web video generated plenty of attention, but was ultimately pulled for copyright reasons.) That John McCain, who enjoys more media affection than any political figure in recent memory, would start complaining about media favoritism, seemed rather ridiculous.

Just as importantly, it seemed ripe for a response. Enter our friends at the Media Matters Action Network, who unveiled this 30-second ad this morning:

Unlike the McCain campaign’s video of media criticism, the Media Matters spot is an actual commercial, and the group is reportedly spending about $100,000 to air the ad on cable stations in DC and NYC.

In a press release announcing the ad, Paul Waldman explained, “John McCain’s claim that the media is out to get him couldn’t be more disingenuous. Most politicians would sell their soul for the type of media coverage he has received over the past decade. It’s no wonder McCain has called the media his base. This ad highlights what many already know to be true — that McCain, more than any other politician, has benefited from a press corps that routinely ignores his gaffes, flip-flops, and mistakes while propping up the myth that he is some sort of an anti-Washington, straight-talking maverick regardless of facts to the contrary.”

The timing of the ad couldn’t be much better — just a few days ago, the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University issued a study documenting the fact that broadcast news outlets have been far harder on Obama than McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.

If you can’t watch clips online, here’s the script:

McCain: They love me…they love me not.

Clip: “He’s widely admired by members of the media, myself included…” (Mike Barnicle, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 6/9/08)

McCain: They love me …

Clip: “The press loves McCain, we’re his base…” (Chris Matthews, The Chris Matthews Show, 9/10/06)

McCain: They love me …

Clip: “The words maverick and McCain have become almost synonymous…” (Brit Hume, Fox News’ Special Report with Brit Hume, 11/16/06) “…the maverick McCain” (Norah O’Donnell, MSNBC’s Hardball, 6/21/06) “…Maverick” (Bob Scheiffer, CBS Evening News, 1/15/08)

McCain (rapidly interjecting): They love me, they love me, they love me …

Clip: “For the press…who I think every last one of them would move to Massachusetts and marry John McCain if they could.” (Joe Scarborough, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 1/7/08)

McCain: They love me!

V/O: Fed up? Take the pledge to hold the media accountable. Media Matters Action Network is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

Media Matters has a page set up on this project. Take a look.

Media Matters have become some of my favorite people.

  • What’s with the blue sky? Don’t they know McCain only speaks in front of ‘nauseating green’ backdrops?

    🙂

    Great ad!

  • Oh, and FWIW, it’s too pithy. They could have had 10 more of those vs the They Love Me. Just pick a petal and give a clip.

    Just my couple of cents.

  • 4. On July 29th, 2008 at 3:37 pm, MsJoanne said:
    Uhm, NYC and DC?

    Why on Earth did they pick those markets?

    I agree, I’d personally donate $100.00 to see this one go national, even just once!

  • Even when you are very aware of how obsequious the media is to Old McFuddled, there’s a Wow factor when you see a line up of video grabs like that. They do get warm and runny at the thought of him and a nice little ad like that tosses it in their faces very effectively.

    Well done. More indeed. There’s enough material for 20 or 30 more just like it.

  • If it creates a buzz maybe it will get the exposure that the MSM has so graceously extended to the nonstop replay of McCaines hate messages (fat chance)

  • Why on Earth did they pick those markets?

    Because those two cities are where 95% of the national political press lives and works.

    Airing the ad in those markets is a good way to get their attention. Just as McCain made sure to float his ad lying about Obama’s Rammstein visit in the D.C. market, airing this there will get the attention of producers and hopefully earn much more free airtime on the cable news shows.

    But more important, airing the ads in the media’s own markets will directly shame them. Even if they don’t replay it on the cable shows endlessly — and they likely won’t, because they’re as thin-skinned as they come — it’ll be in their heads the next time they hear McCain whine about his own coverage.

  • Violence decreased fr a numbe of reasons. One may be the infusion of troops. However, this does not mean the ‘surge’ worked.

    The purpose of the surge was to allow Iraqis to make progress in shaping political agreements between tribes for lasting peace. There is not much progress on this front, and will not as long as we conservatives are flipping the bill for Iraqi security.

    In anycase, it may still be true that the influx of troops did cause improved security, just coincided with it.

    Correlation is not causation.
    Just because you eat more ice cream in the summer doesn’t mean that ice cream causes you to swim in your pool more often. Correlated, but not causal.

    I would argue however that the surge had some affect. However, the cleansing of neighborhoods in Iraq into one-tribe districts played a major role in reducing violence.

    Also reducing violence is all the bribes we are paying out to would be insurgents. That should drive conservatives crazy! Paying U.S. money to insurgents to stay home. How long can we keep it up?

  • AFFIRMATIVE ACTION …
    Minority groups demand special treatment, but Equality should be equal for all Americans. We should not provide favoritism for any specific group, but we should provide equal opportunities for all. When we provide affirmative action, it’s always at the cost of someone else. In addition, when we provide millions of illegal immigrants health, education, and other services, it puts a huge drain on American citizens. That’s why California is now proposing a drastic cut in salaries to state employees. For some time now, our public schools have dumbed down their instruction to all students, in order to accommodate students who can’t keep up. This has resulted in American students ranking around 17th in academics compared to kids in other countries. The trend by the left is political correctness, which means pandering to the lowest common denominator. This doesn’t bode well for the future of America.

  • I’m not watching anymore talking head TV shows until the election is over. Except for Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart! If we all boycotted those stupid shows where the moderator tries to kick Obama around on a regular basis, while letting McCain get away with lie after lie, maybe they’d change their tactics. I’m not asking for a free ride, just an equal ride! I sure wish I could gather all the people that are sick of these tactics and boycott at least the Sunday shows! Think they might pay attention then?

  • Why on Earth did they pick those markets?

    Because those two cities are where 95% of the national political press lives and works.

    Reiterated for emphasis. This ad isn’t meant for us. This ad isn’t meant for our conservative fathers or Republican brothers or Independent sisters. This ad is targeted at the journalists and talking heads who cover John McCain and Barack Obama. They’re the ones who need to see that McCain’s claims are bullshit.

    Plus there are a few talking heads in there who might get a sense of shame at seeing their gushings in the ad. Maybe Sheiffer. Possible O’Donnell. That’s about it. I’m pretty sure Brett Hume was genetically engineered to have no sense of shame, and Scarborough had to have his surgically removed, so neither of them will feel it. And Matthews seems to have had his sense of shame damaged when his sense of decorum and his sense of decency were lost. Tragic.

  • Right, Nony. I suspect Hume was included to make the others embarrassed for sounding just like him.

  • Gina #11 – and your posting has WHAT to do with the topic of the string? (P.S. – substitute the word “Jew” for “illegal immigrants” or “minority groups”…and perhaps you might understand why you get a rise from those of us on this side of the debate. And if you don’t understand my comparison, I would suggest you study your history about Germany in the 1930’s and on until 1945).

  • Gina, thanks for your completely off-topic, totally unprompted and wildly bewildering rant.

    I can only assume you posted it here to make us all aware of how America’s schools failed horribly in your own education.

  • NonyNony, that makes sense, but if you look at it that way, do you think it’s an effective ad – if geared towards that audience?

    I’m not so sure.

    But hey, what do I know. 😀

  • For McCain to assert that because Obama didn’t support the “splurge” that he advocated for failure and defeat should be smacked down immediately but no one challenges him on that statement.
    What he is clearly saying is that those who opposed the surge wanted defeat and surrender to terrorist when the two don’t equate at all.

    Not attacking and invading is the place to begin. Then having enough sense not to un-employ the Iraq army which began the insurgency (which was preventable) is the next step. But even after these mistakes and incompetent decisions…having the sense to notice the results of the Sunni awakening being “paid”..”re-hired”…”employed” again to fight al qaeda and the criminal militias immediately brought violence down. Employing Iraqis was the key to bringing down violence and building political reconciliation…But Bush/McCain incompetency and greed told them they could escalate the troops to bring violence down and protect and enable contractor profiteering rather than letting Iraqis rebuild their own country with their own contractors…which had the effect of keeping them unemployed and prolonging the insurgency while troops continued ethnic cleansing, segregation and displacement of Sunnis.

    All that killing would have been unnecessary if McCain/Bush had decided another alternative besides the “splurge”…but it wasn’t their lives they were willing to sacrifice, not their treasure they let slip away.

    I await the day when one brave “journalist” is willing to tell McCain… opposing the surge was not a vote for defeat and a surrender to terrorists in Iraq…it was a vote to save lives and prevent further destruction occurring as a result of incompetent decision making.

    These repukes never change…dissent = treason.. The audacity of McCain characterizing Obama as demanding defeat and surrender if he disagreed with the surge strategy. We’ve had enough of snotty little bullying brats.

  • A load of negative comments at YouTube. To be expected, though: the nutjobs always seem to have time on their hands. Of course, now you can mark it as spam.

  • Many voters are concerned about John McCain’s age and health. Many wonder, and mainstream media refuses to ask, if John McCain suffers from PTSD from his the five years of captivity, including three years in solitary and torture so extreme that, as he put it, “broke” him to the point he attempted suicide several times.

    Google the news section for ‘mccain ptsd’ and you will see zero articles from mainstream media pondering this question.

    Google the news for ‘mccain mole and you will see over 600 mainstream media articles about a simple mole removal.

    One of the most important considerations with regard to medical predictions of future PTSD, is how the initial trauma was dealt with:

    In 1999, Dr. Michael M. Ambrose, director of the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies, was contacted by John McCain to conduct a mental health review. The quality of the review is a matter of dispute as some say Dr. Ambrose did a full medical exam of the patient and others say the doctor only reviewed McCain’s old medical records.

    After the evaluation was completed, John McCain’s 1999 campaign released a statement by Dr. Ambrose, which stated:

    “McCain has never been diagnosed with or treated at the center for a psychological or psychiatric disorder (The term PTSD first appeared in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980, years after John McCain’s initial military medical evaluations). He has been subject to an extensive battery of psychological tests and following his last examination in 1993, we judged him to be in good physical and mental health.”

    The McCain campaign press release included a statement by Dr. Ambrose, which reveals John McCain created a fantasy world in order to escape the reality of captivity and torture. They further stated McCain always heard the guards coming with his food, but “was often so much in his private world, that he strongly resented their coming around and bringing him back to reality by intruding. He was enjoying his fantasies so much.”

    “findings suggest that it is less what happens at the time of a trauma (e.g., disrupted encoding) that predicts PTSD than what occurs thereafter (i.e., persistent avoidance).” [John Briere, Ph.D., Catherine Scott, M.D., and Frank Weathers, Ph.D.]

    The keyword here is ‘persistent avoidance’ which was evidenced by the findings of Dr. Ambrose.

    “The presence of dissociative symptoms soon after exposure to trauma has been found to predict the subsequent development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” [Gary Tucker, MD, Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry October 9, 2002]

    “The amount of dissociation that follows directly after a trauma predicts PTSD” [American Psychiatric Association]

    “Individuals that are more likely to dissociate during a traumatic event are considerably more likely to develop chronic PTSD” [Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998). Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law.]

    “In several studies, dissociation at the time of a trauma (peritraumatic dissociation) has been found to predict symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at follow-up assessments’ [Michael W. Otto, PhD, Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry July 21, 2005]

    ” early numbing contributed to the prediction of later PTSD” [Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, Psychiatry Department, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine]

    “Peritraumatic dissociation is frequently considered to be a risk factor for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” [Doris C. Breh PhD, Department of Psychotraumatology, Psychosomatic University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany]

    Ambrose later told the Associated Press “He had a very healthy way of dealing with his experiences.” One of the examiners even noted that McCain had improved his ability to control his infamous temper due to his years of torture and captivity.

    Anyone familiar with Workers’ Compensation or personal injury cases understands full well you can pull the right strings or pay a ‘company’ doctor to say anything necessary to help your client.

    It is worth noting the 1999 McCain campaign only released a small number of redacted medical records, the pages were not allowed to be photocopied and only a few select news organizations were privy to what few medical records were made available under these conditions.

    John McCain has a consistent history of out of control outbursts of anger and even admits an adverse reaction to the sound of jangling keys. Author Robert Timberg, who McCain has said “knows more about me than I do,” calls these episodes “an eruption of temper out of all proportion to the provocation” and says they are a result of Vietnam coming “back to haunt him.”

    VA studies have shown time and again that POWs suffer a much higher risk of developing PTSD than combat veterans. Even so, to this date, mainstream media still has not pushed for full disclosure of John McCain’s military medical records and refuses to ask the one simple question:

    ‘Is John McCain emotionally fit for the most stressful job in our country, the Office of President of the United States, our Commander in Chief?”

    Journalists have a choice. They can continue to tiptoe around the elephant in the room, put a politician before country, violate the spirit of journalism and ignore the ethics that bind them, or they can do their job.

  • I used to just love Bob Schieffer until his recent blatant display of the total absence of journalistic objectivity about John McCain. That man, who I thought was the second coming of Walter Cronkite, turned out to have such contempt for the news-consuminjg public that he can’t even be bothered to conceal the fact that he’s just another corporate media shill for the GOP.

  • Last week, on NPR, I heard Robert Siegel in agonized soul searching about whether the media had neglected McCain. Where was the agonizing about John Edwards this past winter?

  • McCain may have been the media’s first true love, but they dumped him for Obama.

  • Any politician should know that, like government and fire, the press is a treacherous servant and a fearful master.

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