(Proudly cross-posted at C4O Democrats)

Did y'all see this hot mess on CNBC this morning?

OK, so that's not exactly what happened... But it's not too far off.

There's more...

Proudly Cross Posted at Clintonistas for Obama and ComputerQueen.Net

The past week has seen the mainstream corporate media continue their love affair with McBush. Ironically, this is the same media that Republicans have for years termed liberal.

Now, follow me on this one, as I'm moving quickly ...

The following block quotes are from an e-mail sent out by the Obama Campaign:

Just last week, McCain and his party attacked Barack Obama and ridiculed the idea that keeping your car tires inflated is an effective way to improve fuel efficiency and keep down the cost of gasoline. They even mailed out tire gauges as a joke.

I think the shortest response I can give is "Duh!"

Anyone who has limited mechanical experience with vehicles (or has a loved one who possesses such experience) has heard preaching ad nauseum regarding the need for properly inflated tires. This has been something known to millions for decades, but the MSM has gotten away with discounting this because McBush says it's simplistic. Sometimes the best ways for John and Jane Doe to assist with global issues, is something as simple as maintaining your vehicle properly. Not to mention it helps the pocketbook immensely.

The even more shocking thing to me, however, is that the MSM didn't call McCain or the RNC on this. All they did is laugh it off. McCain wasn't even made to eat his share of crow over such a stellar gaffe.

NEXT! . . .

Earlier this week, the McCain campaign put out an ad saying that Washington is broken.

Again, another obvious statement. The thing that the Rethuglicans don't mention is that Obama's been there 4 years ... their guy has been there 26 years. McBush has had a LOT more time to fix things, yet chooses to play the blame game. Look at McSame's voting record ... in the past 7.5 years, he's voted with Bush and the Republican Party 95% of the time. Maverick my @$$!

And again, the MSM is allowing him to make baseless claims without repercussions.

And Finally ...

Another ad uses scare tactics to claim Barack's tax policy will hurt middle class Americans.

The Media conveniently forgot that McSame's plan only helps the top echelon of wage earners. Over 100 million middle class families will take the tax burden of the upper class . . . the SAME upper class that has the ability to have people lobby for their tax loopholes, and who perpetuate the broken system that McSame talks about. Which party has spoken out against lobbyists and special interests? Certainly not the Rethuglicans!

Again and again it's painfully clear that McSame is truly the darling of the Mainstream Corporate Media ... the same media that the Right Wing-nuts loves to call Liberal!

And to hear the candidate speak to it himself:
So, how is McSame's campaign different than the normal Rethuglican faire? Where's the "Straight Talk Express"? And, lord knows if he can't campaign differently than the Republican standard of smear and fear, then how will he TRULY Govern?

Just my 2 Cents ... /me steps off the soapbox.

There's more...

I'm probably no different than most people in this country in that I'm constantly re-evaluating this presidential race, especially when I am presented with information that is new (to me at least). I don't claim to know everything about all the candidates and I probably won't know what I really need to know to make a conscious, informed decision. The truth is that I'm still finding out information about past campaigns even now.

The reason for this is because now that these campaigns are over, information that was considered damaging or would confuse voters now isn't. I believe that another reason is that in order to appeal to all of the different factions that a candidate must impress in order to win their support, certain beliefs and opinions that politicians have must be suppressed, least they alienate more voters than they gain.

This is unfortunately something that's endemic to all political campaigns. The media of the 21st century makes it even more important to guard certain items of political interest in that the lack of real content about political campaigns, and the time given to pundits to talk about the campaigns, is totally skewed. The networks only understand that the public's interest in the presidential race is their top priority, so the networks allocate a great deal of airtime to it. It's up to the individual producers of these shows to fill up the time slots with interesting content, but on some days very little news emerges, it's now up to them to `manufacture" the content they need. If they can not only succeed in producing the content they need, but they can also come up with something that grows "legs" and becomes a whole new issue, they can provide content for many more shows.

There's more...

(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

Did you all catch this in today's LA Times? If not, check it out. We actually find some real analysis of that old myth of the "liberal media" and the new rumors of a "media love affair with Barack Obama".

There's more...

You can read the early posts of this thread over the fold.

Update [2008-4-16 21:42:42 by Todd Beeton]:On gas prices, Clinton wants to investigate market manipulation. Obama wants to Q: Senator Clinton, you've said it's appropriate to use former presidents. How would you use President Bush? Uncomfortable laughter. "I'll have to give that some thought...It's a way to unify our country...I was glad President Bush asked my husband and former President Bush to help in the aftermath of the tsunami...but I'd have to give that one some real thought."

Obama: "I'd be more likely to ask the president's father than the president himself...This president himself has fed the divisions in our country."

Charlie Gibson: How are you going to make the case to the superdelegates at the convention?

Clinton: "We need a fighter back in the White House. We need someone to take on the special interests...I have a plan to give that money back in tax cuts to the middle class, who deserve it, who feel invisible and that they're not even seen anymore. We're going to tackle the problems that have been waiting for a champion to get back in the White House...It's going to be challenge but it's absolutely what we need to do. I'm ready to be the commander in chief. 35 generals and admirals believe that I am the one to take us out of Iraq, go after alqaeda and rebuild our military again. And I will turn around this economy...You can count on me. You know where I stand. You know that I will fight for you and together we will take back our country."

Obama: "When we launched this campaign, I felt that we were at a defining moment in history...The American people have lost trust in their government...The bet I was making was a bet on the American people, that they didn't want spin and PR out of their elected officials but they want an honest conversation...Change doesn't happen from the top down, it happens from the bottom up...My bet's paid off. The American people have responded in record numbers...If we're going to deliver on healthcare, improve education and deliver on the economy, we're going to need to form a new poliical coalition in this country and that's what we've done in this campaign."

There's more...