pH Reading — Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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 — Saturday, September 6, 2008
September 6, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
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 — Monday, September 1, 2008
September 1, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
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…
The Daily Brief — Friday, August 29, 2008
August 29, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
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 — Monday, August 25, 2008
August 25, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
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»
