They Really Dropped the Ball..

[dissention]

Originally Posted by sparky

I'll arm wrestle Dissention for him. There's a CNN building here in LA in Hollywood.
We can add a second story to my house and build a little studio up by the pool. Forget co-op boards.

I knew one of those LiveJournal groups had a screencap:

[dissention]

Originally Posted by sparky

I would have called Bjork and borrowed the Swan dress. And Sparky don't even do drag.

The visual of that has me in such a hysterical fit right now, you can't even imagine it. Carry around an egg and you'd be all set.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

That's the American media for you. In order to get the kind of coverage that the mainstream media has been doing this past couple of weeks, you had to go online or subscribe to publications like The Nation. To see some journalists who have been nothing but glorified cheerleaders embrace their jobs for once is nothing short of miraculous.

Well, Cooper disagrees with you regarding the Iraqi War. He said journalists did do their job. He said it was just hard to go against the opinion of a former Pres., the Congress for the last 10 or so years, and the current Administration.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, Cooper disagrees with you regarding the Iraqi War. He said journalists did do their job. He said it was just hard to go against the opinion of a former Pres., the Congress for the last 10 or so years, and the current Administration.

He was on The Daily Show awhile back and said that it wasn't as good as it could have been. And it wasn't. Personally, I thought it was shameful, but that's just me.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

He was on The Daily Show awhile back and said that it wasn't as good as it could have been. And it wasn't. Personally, I thought it was shameful, but that's just me.

I did not see that one. I saw him on Maher's show.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I did not see that one. I saw him on Maher's show.

I think it was back in February, though I could be wrong. I know that he also said he wasn't sure exactly what could have been done better, which I found quite absurd and if he had only consulted me, I would have told him. Calling these "leaders" to task more for their contradictory statements would have been a start. I'm not saying that wasn't done, but it was done far less than the cheerleading was.

[amber]

Originally Posted by dissention

I think it was back in February, though I could be wrong. I know that he also said he wasn't sure exactly what could have been done better, which I found quite absurd and if he had only consulted me, I would have told him. Calling these "leaders" to task more for their contradictory statements would have been a start. I'm not saying that wasn't done, but it was done far less than the cheerleading was.

Not only cheerleading, but burying and changing important stories.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

I think it was back in February, though I could be wrong. I know that he also said he wasn't sure exactly what could have been done better, which I found quite absurd and if he had only consulted me, I would have told him. Calling these "leaders" to task more for their contradictory statements would have been a start. I'm not saying that wasn't done, but it was done far less than the cheerleading was.

Yea - I think the whole coverage of the Iraqi War was on the heels of 10 or so years of just about everyone agreeing SH had some stocked away - the extent of which no one really knew - and there was R&D agreement on this. Then, W goes to the next level after 9/11 ostensibly to ensure that SH does not attack the US like OBL did and most people were like - well SH had or has it coming. I think that general attitude stopped a lot of the bulldog press who, inter alia, did not want to crucify Clinton or the D's in the process - though it is far more complex than that. But, I agree with you mostly.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by amber

Not only cheerleading, but burying and changing important stories.

It was shocking at the time. As Lux pointed out, because they weren't doing their jobs. Many people just felt it was inappropriate to go against the president while going into war. But I thought the truth was more important than that.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Perhaps Murrow isn't turning over in his grave so much anymore. Ugh about the story above. That's atrocious.

Here's the transcript. You can click the link and read Lawson's explanation, but he admits to knowing nothing about it, so it's not even worth it.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP...12/acd.01.html

COOPER: Well the one fact that no one disputes about this bridge over the Mississippi that you see behind me is that it was closed by authorities after the worst happened in New Orleans. But as for why the bridge was closed, about that there is disagreement, angry and passionate disagreement between those who closed it and those who wanted to get to the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM SHEER, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: We walked, probably 200 people, about a two hour trek. We got to the top of the bridge. They stopped us with shotguns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police were shooting guns to keep people from crossing the bridge getting out of the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well before we talk to the police chief who was one of the people who closed this bridge, because he says there was no place in his small town for hundreds of evacuees to go. We're joined now live in San Francisco by two people who were there at the time. Lorrie Beth Slonsky and Larry Bradshaw. Appreciate both of you being with us.

Lorrie Beth, the police chief of Greta says that they sealed off the bridge because they were worried about the levees breaking there and worried about that they had no place to put you all if you came over. Did anyone say anything to you about that? Or did they give you another reason why they wouldn't let you across?

LORRIE BETH SLONSKY, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: What we were told by the deputies is that is that they were not going to allow another New Orleans and they weren't going to allow a Superdome to go into their side of the bridge Greta, and as a matter of fact --

COOPER: What did you think they meant by that?

SLONSKY: Well we can only take the direct quote from the chief himself, which is --

LARRY BRADSHAW, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: Yesterday the chief was quoted as saying if we let these people, quote unquote, in, our city would look like New Orleans, burned, looted and pillaged.

SLONSKY: So to us that reeks of absolute racism, since our group that was trying to cross over was women, children, predominantly African-American. I would say out of 100 people you could count three white folks.

COOPER: Well the chief says that his police force is pretty mixed between African-Americans and white people. But describe what you saw on that bridge? I've asked the chief about police firing over the heads of personnel. Did you personally see police do that?

SLONSKY: Yes, we absolutely saw that over our heads. And we also had guns pointed to us directly.

BRADSHAW: Anderson, we were told --

COOPER: So you were -- Ge ahead, Larry.

BRADSHAW: I'm sorry. Anderson, we were told by the commander at the police command post at Jerez (ph), that we should cross that bridge, and there would be buses waiting to take us out. So we were following the advice. We were told we can't go to the Superdome. We can't go to the Convention Center. There's no place else to go. He told us to go across the bridge, which is what we attempted to do. We never --

COOPER: So those New Orleans police officers told you to go across the bridge. They told you there'd be buses there. There weren't buses there. And as you're walking across the bridge, what do you see. You're approaching -- you're on the bridge. And what, it's blocked off by police cruisers?

BRADSHAW: Right. It's a pretty steep incline, because you're coming from the flat surface up to a pretty high bridge, as you can see. So it took a while for the group to make it up there. We had people in wheelchairs, we had people in strollers, people on crutches, so we were a slow moving group. And we didn't think anything when we saw the deputies there. Then all of a sudden we heard shooting. But that wasn't so unique, because we had been hearing shooting every day. But it was so close. Then people come running back toward us in a panic saying the police are shooting at us. And Lorrie Beth and I said that can't be right. That doesn't make any sense.

COOPER: And your crowd dispersed, but a group of you, 80 or so, I understand, decided to just kind of camp out near the bridge. And you say, then the police came and actually took food from you and took away your water? Why did they do that?

SLONSKY: Anderson, this is what was so disheartening to us, is because we were a group of like some really sick older folks and some young folks in between an encampment. And we had food that someone had stolen for us and given to us at this camp, and we had some food as well. So now we were a community that was able to have food and water, and pretty safe shelter in between the minimal traffic going through. It was at dusk time. Right at night time when the sheriff's deputy came up to us and held a gun to us and --

BRADSHAW: Jumped out of his car with the gun aimed at us, screaming and cursing and yelling at us to get the blank-blank freeway. And just, just so rabidly angry. And we tried to reason, we tried to talk. And he was just putting his gun in the face of young children and families. And --

COOPER: Do you know where this sheriff was from? Do you know what department?

BRADSHAW: It said Greta on the police car.

COOPER: All right. I appreciate both of you joining us. This is a really disturbing story. We're trying to find out answers to it. I don't think we're going to get to the answers tonight, but we want to keep following this. We want to talk to as many people on that bridge to find out from as many different perspective. We appreciate you joining us tonight.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by dissention

I knew one of those LiveJournal groups had a screencap:

Yeeehaw !

[dissention]

Originally Posted by sparky

Yeeehaw !

You should have seen him on 360 tonight. For a skinny white dude, he's got some serious junk in the trunk.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by dissention

You should have seen him on 360 tonight. For a skinny white dude, he's got some serious junk in the trunk.

What, was he in a friggin' Speedo ?

Don't make me get cable again.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by sparky

What, was he in a friggin' Speedo ?

Don't make me get cable again.

No, jeans, but it was a side shot and his ass jutted out. I was quite pleased.

[Nixxxed]

Don't mean to interrupt the Cooperporn, but just (accidentally) tuned in to Scarborough Country, and Joe Scarborough is practically screaming. Yes, screaming, about the bungled relief efforts, and the fact that "officials" all over the disaster zone are STILL refusing supplies and help from charities.

Can't wait till Crooks&Liars posts this!