pH Reading — Wednesday, September 10, 2008
By Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
Is Trig at the Heart of Media’s Reaction to Palin?
RealClearPolitics · Mona Charen
There were basically two things known about Sarah Palin when her name was announced on Aug. 29 and the mediasphere began to shudder and pulsate: She was a recently elected governor and the mother of five children including a handicapped infant. The scorn from the mainstream press and the left-leaning blog world was both intense and instantaneous. Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic immediately began circulating rumors that Trig was not the governor’s baby — that she had engaged in a huge charade to cover up her teen daughter’s illegitimate child. The New York Times reported on the front page that Palin had been a member of the Alaska Independence Party. Eleanor Clift of Newsweek described the reaction of most newsrooms to Palin’s elevation as “literally laughter.” US Weekly rushed out a cover story picturing Palin holding her baby son with the headline “Babies, Lies, & Scandal.”…
pH Reading — Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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Palin floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee
San Francisco Chronicle · Willie Brown
The Democrats are in trouble. Sarah Palin has totally changed the dynamics of this campaign. Period…
Obama wrong to spurn Hillary, pick Biden
CNN · Ed Rollins
If Obama had done the smart thing, he would have picked Sen. Hillary Clinton for vice president. If he had, he would have united his party for sure and energized his base. He just couldn’t do it and maybe thought he didn’t need to do it. He was wrong. That choice would have meant that McCain probably wouldn’t have picked Palin. And if McCain had picked anybody else from his shortlist, the Republican convention would have been boring, and the party’s base would not have been motivated…
pH Reading — Monday, September 8, 2008
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When Barack’s berserkers lost the plot
The Guardian · Nick Cohen
My colleagues in the American liberal press had little to fear at the start of the week. Their charismatic candidate was ahead in virtually every poll. George W Bush was so unpopular that conservatives were scrambling around for reasons not to invite the Republican President to the Republican convention. Democrats had only to maintain their composure and the White House would be theirs. During the 1997 British general election, the late Lord Jenkins said that Tony Blair was like a man walking down a shiny corridor carrying a precious vase. He was the favourite and held his fate in his hands. If he could just reach the end of the hall without a slip, a Labour victory was assured. The same could have been said of the American Democrats last week. But instead of protecting their precious advantage, they succumbed to a spasm of hatred and threw the vase, the crockery, the cutlery and the kitchen sink at an obscure politician from Alaska…
pH Reading — Sunday, September 7, 2008
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Thanks, Guys: The media’s attacks on Sarah Palin backfire
The Weekly Standard · William Kristol
The editors of The Weekly Standard believe in giving credit where credit is due. The presidential race looks a whole lot better today than it did two weeks ago. For this, thanks are owed to two men–Barack Obama and John McCain–and to that herd of independent minds, the liberal media…
pH Reading — Saturday, September 6, 2008
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A Convention That Sparked the GOP
Time · David Von Drehle
There was a moment on Tuesday night when the Republican Convention looked like it just might slide right off the rails. The President had been banished from his own party. The running mate was caught in a media frenzy. And a Democrat was extolling the Republican nominee for a series of accomplishments that most delegates inside the Xcel Energy Arena deeply despise and resent. Campaign-finance restrictions, the Gang of 12 senatorial compromise on new judges, immigration reform, the acknowledgement of global warming — as Senator Joseph Lieberman ticked through the record of John McCain, it was so quiet you could almost hear the hum of the air-conditioning…
pH Reading — Friday, September 5, 2008
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Sarah Palin gets the spiteful Margaret Thatcher treatment
The Telegraph · Janet Daley
There are few sights more bloodcurdling than the liberal pack in full cry. The viciousness of the attacks on Sarah Palin is a testimony to the degree of panic her appointment has generated in Leftist circles…
pH Reading — Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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A Star Is Born?
New York Times · William Kristol
Thursday night, after Barack Obama’s well-orchestrated, well-conceived and well-delivered acceptance speech in Denver, Republicans were demoralized. Twenty-four hours later, they were energized — even exuberant. It’s amazing what a bold vice-presidential pick who gives a sterling performance when she’s introduced will do for a party’s spirits…
pH Reading — Monday, September 1, 2008
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The Audacity of Hype
The New York Times · William Safire
By choosing the venue of a vast outdoor stadium as John Kennedy did for his “new frontier” acceptance, and by speaking on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” address, Barack Obama — whose claim to fame is an ability to move audiences with his words — deliberately invited comparison with two of the most memorable speeches of our recent history. What a mistake…
pH Reading — Sunday, August 31, 2008
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Who is Prepared to be President? Nobody
RealClearPolitics · Richard Reeves
Is Barack Obama prepared to be president? No. Neither is John McCain. I have written about 12 pounds of books on the presidency over the past 22 years, three long studies that focused on the day-to-day work of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. This is the most important thing I learned in doing that, a paragraph at the end of the introduction to “President Kennedy: Profile of Power”: “John F. Kennedy was one of only 42 men who truly knew what it is like to be president. He was not prepared for it, but I doubt that anyone ever was or ever will be. The job is sui generis. The presidency is an act of faith.”…
The Daily Brief — Saturday, August 30, 2008
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Biography: Who Is Sarah Palin?
NBC11.com
Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, Sarah Palin and her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. She was elected Alaska’s 11th governor in 2006, making her the first female governor and the youngest governor in the state’s history. Palin earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho, where she minored in politics. She moved back to her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, where she became a two-term mayor from 1992-96… more»
The Daily Brief — Friday, August 29, 2008
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Oprah on Obama: ‘I cried my eyelashes off’
Associated Press
Oprah Winfrey is leaving Denver with the candidate she wanted, but reportedly without her eyelashes. The talk-show host said she was moved to tears by Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. And those must’ve been some serious tears. “I cried my eyelashes off,” she said in the bowels of Invesco Field, moments after Obama accepted the nomination for president before an estimated 84,000 people… more»
The Daily Brief — Thursday, August 28, 2008
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Economy rebounds at better-than-expected pace in the spring, mostly spurred by exports
Associated Press · Jeannine Aversa
The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government’s initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists’ expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate… more»
It’s the economy, stupid? –PH
The Daily Brief — Monday, August 25, 2008
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Obama’s choice: Good government, bad politics
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
We’re perplexed, though, by how little Biden brings to Obama politically beyond his 36 years of Washington cred. And we’re struck by how much more inviting a target Biden is than, say, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh—ex-governor, more centrist, sits on Intelligence and Armed Services Committees—or other potential running mates Obama rejected. It’s difficult to see how Biden attracts many voters who aren’t already for Obama. The rankings that assign Obama the Senate’s most liberal voting record list Biden in third place. He represents Delaware, a vividly blue state Obama couldn’t lose if he tried… more»
The Daily Brief — Monday, August 11, 2008
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In today’s Daily Brief… Al Franken draws a crowd… of one! And the mainstream media finally covers the Edwards’ affair–better late than never.
THE GOOD…
Why Are We Whispering?
Washington Post · Andrew Klavan
At a recent writers conference in Southern California, one of my colleagues on a screenwriters panel told the crowd of about 50 people that she hoped Barack Obama would win the presidency. A number of people applauded. When it was my turn to speak, I politely said that I disagreed with her politics and moved on to other topics. There was no applause for me, but several writers approached me afterward. Each dropped his voice to a whisper and, looking around to make sure no one would overhear, said, “Thank you for saying that.” Which raises a question for all conservatives in the arts: Why are we whispering?… more»
The Daily Brief — Sunday, August 10, 2008
By Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
The Daily Brief — Saturday, August 9, 2008
By Patrick Henry · 1 Comment
