From the yellowed columns of newsprint, Ms. Tucher . . . skillfully draws a contemporary moral. — New York Times Book Review
[Tucher] presents the colorful story of the early penny press with all the verve, intelligence, and humor it merits. — American Heritage
A deceptively complex book. . . . A readable, racy, and often funny study of an important aspect of antebellum social history. — American Historical Review
This well-written book is a valuable contribution to the literature on journalism in the nineteenth century. — Journal of the Early Republic
This is scholarship as solid as oak and history as timely as today’s tabloid titillation. — Bill Moyers
Product Description
Two notorious antebellum New York murder cases—a prostitute slashed in an elegant brothel and a tradesman bludgeoned by the brother of inventor Samuel Colt—set off journalistic scrambles over the meanings of truth, objectivity, and the duty of the press that reverberate to this day.
In 1833 an entirely new kind of newspaper—cheap, feisty, and politically independent—introduced American readers to the novel concept of what has come to be called objectivity in news coverage. The penny press was the first medium that claimed to present the true, unbiased facts to a democratic audience. But in Froth and Scum, Andie Tucher explores—and explodes—the notion that ‘objective’ reporting will discover a single, definitive truth.
As they do now, news stories of the time aroused strong feelings about the possibility of justice, the privileges of power, and the nature of evil. The prostitute’s murder in 1836 sparked an impassioned public debate, but one newspaper’s ‘impartial investigation’ pleased the powerful by helping the killer go free. Colt’s 1841 murder of the tradesman inspired universal condemnation, but the newspapers’ singleminded focus on his conviction allowed another secret criminal to escape. By examining media coverage of these two sensational murders, Tucher reveals how a community’s needs and anxieties can shape its public truths. The manuscript of this book won the 1991 Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians for the best-written dissertation in American history.
The GOP goes back to its ugly roots — McCain is resurrecting the GOP’s oldest tactic: Smearing Obama as a scary black terrorist sympathizer. But he may meet the same fate as Barry Goldwater. — Gary Kamiya ..[ more ]
As Obama holds a steady lead in the polls, the slime-ball McCain campaign has switched gears — and become a decrepit and segregationist “swift-boating” morass of Racism.
Fear and Smear is the new economic policy of McCain and Palin.
At a time when most Americans are really anxious about their economic future, John McCain has unleashed the “racist syphilis” in him, which is being peddled from state to state by his wicked witch - the shallow fork-tongued interlectual midget, and now, the female-bigot from Alaska, Sarah Palin.
“Our opponent … is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country,” Palin told a group of donors in Englewood, Colo. “This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America,” she said. “We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism.”
This despicable smear slyly suggests that Obama is a terrorist, scary, alien, un-American, a subversive, a traitor and a criminal….”like every other black man.”
McCain’s rallies have become HATE MEETINGS, with some braying for Obama’s life!
Last week’s VP debate, which only the “delusionally sick” believe Palin won, has emboldened Sarah the bigot.” She is now trotting around with the hardened resolve of a hardcore prostitute, squealing like a pig at feeding time.
Palin’s statement(s) seem to be the “whistle” the pack of Syphilitic Nincompoops at Fox News, led by the in-house Nazi Sean Hannity, have been waiting for.
They are trying their utmost best to portray Obama as some “Manchurian Candidate” who will sneak into the White House and then nuke every city in America. To them, Obama is from the “politically soiled and filthy culture of Chicago,” unfit to be an American — maybe he is a member of the Chicago mob, a recipe for a tragedy!
The sickest of them all at Fox news is Sean Hannity — who has repeatedly mis-characterized Obama’s “air-raiding villages” statement, among many other distortions and outright lies.
On his show, Hannity & Colmes (O’Hannity & Coward), Sean Hannity praised Gov. Sarah Palin for citing Sen. Barack Obama’s remark that more coalition forces are needed in Afghanistan “so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there.” Hannity did not note that Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently offered Afghans “sincere condolences and personal regrets for the recent loss of innocent life as a result of coalition airstrikes” and that news outlets have repeatedly reported that U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan have resulted in civilian casualties…. [ More Here ]
On his radio show(s), Rush Limbaugh (the other big right-wing scum-bag on radio) has made numerous false statements about Obama’s health-care plan, his employment history, his legislative record, his work on behalf of veterans, and whether he puts his hand over his heart during the national anthem…. [ More Here ]
McCain is using the same tactics Bush used on him in the 2000 Republican Primaries, when Bush waged a nasty smear campaign against him.
In 2008 McCain has become McBush:
“What Bush did to McCain in the 2000 S. C. primary”
Bush Supporters Called McCain “The Fag Candidate.” — In South Carolina, Bush supporters circulated church fliers that labeled McCain “the fag candidate.” Columnist Frank Rich noted that the fliers were distributed “even as Bush subtly reinforced that message by indicating he wouldn’t hire openly gay people for his administration.”
Bush Supporters Questioned McCain’s Sanity — Some of George W. Bush’s supporters questioned Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s fitness for the White House, suggesting that his five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam drove him insane at the time.
McCain Was Accused of Fathering Illegitimate Children and A Drug-Addict Wife — Among the rumors circulated against McCain in 2000 in South Carolina was that his adopted Bangladeshi daughter was actually black, that McCain was both gay and cheated on his wife, and that his wife Cindy was a drug addict.” Carl Rove (who is now working for McCain), Bush’s strategist took it further — claiming that McCain had committed treason while a prisoner of war, and had fathered a child with a black prostitute.”
The Bush Campaign Used Code Words to Question McCain’s Temper — Using the code word “temper,” a group of Senate Republicans, and at least some outriders of the George W. Bush campaign, spread the word that John McCain is unstable. The subtext, also suggested in this whispering campaign, was that he returned from 5 1/2 years as a POW in North Vietnam with a loose screw, and that he shouldn’t be entrusted with nuclear weapons.”
5. McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five - Savings and Loans scandal, which almost derailed his career. The Keating scandal is eerily similar to the financial crisis of today.
KEATING ECONOMICS: John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis
….and a lot more.
Obama being the “nice man” that he is, might not be willing to stab McCain right through the heart, but I strongly feel that he should at least kick him hard in the groin by bringing up the issue of Carol McCain — McCain’s first wife, who he dumped immediately after he came back from Vietnam, for Cindy and her “Beer Inheritance,” and because he couldn’t stand her disfigured body — after a terrible car crash in 1969.
John McCain is a sleazy, racist opportunist.
Keith Olbermann takes a shot at McCain/Palin below:
Olbermann: It’s Palin doing the Palin
The Governor needs to fact check herself before making accusations
McCain Returns To The MUD
Palin Struggles With Geography
References:
1.Will Palin’s Obama-Terrorist Speech Backfire? — John McCain occasionally looks back on decisions with regret. He has apologized for opposing a holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. He has apologized for refusing to call for the removal of a Confederate flag from South Carolina’s Capitol. When the 2008 campaign is over McCain might regret appeals such as Palin’s perhaps more so if he wins.
5.Ugly Time — There seems to be no bottom for the McCain campaign. The candidate himself joined his running mate in the gutter Monday, with a stream-of-consciousness rant against Obama in New Mexico
6.Dishonorable — McCain-Palin ad distorts Obama’s remark on Afghanistan and support for troop-funding bills.
Scenario: In 2004 John Kerry won Michigan by 165,437 votes. Since last year, roughly the same number of homes have been foreclosed in Michigan, mostly owned by low-income African Americans.
Michigan is among states leading in new home foreclosures. A record 9 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June, as damage from the housing crisis continues to mount, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Friday, September 5, 2008.
Detroit, a city with a heavy minority population has the highest home foreclosure rate in United States.
Last week it was reported that Republicans plan to use home foreclosure lists to block voters from the polls. James Carabelli, chair of the Macomb County Republican Party, told Michigan Messenger that on election day Republican volunteers will “have a list of foreclosed homes and make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses.” The Republican party will use returned mail to challenge voters based on residency.
Macomb County is part of the Detroit metropolitan area.
The Obama campaign general counsel Bob Bauer said Tuesday that the “lose your home, lose your vote” strategy, even if the challenges are unsuccessful, “creates an atmosphere of intimidation that could drive voters from the polls.” He said even people who aren’t challenged may leave without voting because lines move slower at polling places.
Obama is challenging these Republican goons. In their suit, the Obama team contends that GOP has a history of voter “caging.” The 24-page filing incorporates Michigan Messenger’s report last week that a GOP official in Macomb County cited plans to use such lists to challenge voters in November into a broader narrative based on decades of Democratic complaints about how Republicans seek to limit turnout among low-income and African American voters by compiling information about their mailing addresses.
——————————————-
Intimidation, lies, distortion and blatant racism — is the Republican “Modus operandi.“
You can bet this scheme to steal the election from the Democrats will be going on in every “nook and cranny” of GOP strongholds, all over the United States.
These morons cannot win FAIR — They have to STEAL because they have no message, just RACIST Innuendo and loads of SHIT!
BBC Documentary - How Bush Stole The 2000 Elections
How to RIG an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative
Product Description: Fresh out of grad school, Allen Raymond joined the GOP for one reason: rumor had it that there was big money to be made on the Republican side of the aisle.
From the earliest days of the Republican Revolution through its culmination in the second Bush White House, Raymond played a key role in helping GOP candidates twist the truth beyond recognition during a decade of crucial and bitterly fought campaigns. His career took him from the nastiest of local elections in New Jersey backwaters through runs for Congress and the Senate and right up to a top management position in a bid for the presidency itself.
It also took him to prison.
Full of wit and candor, Raymond’s account offers an astonishingly frank look at the black art of campaigning and the vagaries of the Republican establishment. Unlike many “architects” of the political scene, the author takes full responsibility for his actions — even as he never misses a trick.
A completely original tale of the disillusioning of a man who enters politics with no illusions, How to Rig an Election is a brilliant and hilarious exposé of how the contemporary political game is really played.
From Publishers Weekly: Republican campaign advisor Raymond achieved some notoriety when he plead guilty in federal court to jamming Connecticut phone lines in a 2002 Democratic get-out-the-vote effort-small potatoes compared to what he had gotten away with for more than a decade, vividly and hilariously chronicled in this outrageous career retrospective.
For 13 years, Raymond worked his way up the ranks of GOP operatives by smearing opponents and worse in campaigns across the country, including the aborted presidential bid of Steve Forbes.
Besides documenting such ingenious strategies as arranging for phone calls during the Super Bowl touting his candidate’s opponent, Raymond witnesses the Republican party’s rise to power in the 1990s, and the effects of that power, in both professional and personal terms. (”Bill Martini’s screaming fits were reaching exciting new heights all the time.“)
Though Raymond appreciates the depravity of his former enterprise (”if you could find two of us Republican operatives who could still tell the difference between politics and crime, you could probably have rubbed us together for fire as well“), his confession often sounds a lot like boasting; naturally, Raymond is charming enough to get away with it, taking a deliciously cynical view of everyone involved (voters especially).
For those who care about the electoral system, this look inside the sausage factory of contemporary campaigning is compelling, arguably essential, reading.
—————————————————
“For those who care about the electoral system, this look inside the sausage factory of contemporary campaigning is compelling, arguably essential, reading.” — Publishers Weekly
“Refreshingly candid about his vindictive motives, Raymond offers a damning chronicle of political hubris.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Paints a picture of the corruption of modern politics that should leave no doubt about the creativity and cynicism of operatives like Mr. Raymond or the need for tough new election-reform legislation.” — Adam Cohen, The New York Times
“Offers a raw, inside glimpse of the phone scandal as it unraveled and of a ruthless world in which political operatives seek to win at all costs.” — McClatchy News Service
“Raymond offers an insider’s look at the world of dirty campaigning and hardball politics. [A]n engaging read…the book is hard to put down.” — Nathaniel French,St. Petersburg Times
For the last couple of months all the major polls have consistently shown Sen. Barack Obama with a 4-7 point lead over Sen. John McCain. The general election is three months away, and polls are just a snapshot in time. But when all the snapshots show Obama in the lead, it’s not a good omen for the McCain camp.
McCain is desperate to close the gap, and he is clutching at straws to come up with an issue that will resonate with the electorate. The desperation of the McCain campaign is manifest in their commercial comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
Sen. Barack Obama is a Harvard educated lawyer, a brilliant orator, an accomplished author, and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. To compare Obama to the vacuous celeb twins is sinking to the gutter; McCain should be ashamed of himself.
That abominable political ad backfired — it made McCain look like a frustrated, jealous and bitter old man.
Recently Obama mentioned that if folks kept their tires properly inflated it would improve their gas mileage. That’s practical advice and it shouldn’t have caused a ripple in the political landscape, but that innocuous remark unleashed a tide of heated rhetoric from the Republicans.
McCain seized upon the “tire gauge” comment as if it were a political lifesaver. McCain has not missed an opportunity to mock Obama for his comments. You would think that Obama had advertised his tire comments as his complete energy conservation plan.
The Republican’s ally in the media, Fox News, has joined the crusade to mock Obama’s tire gauge remark. Recently FOX News listed gas saving tips, and keeping your tire pressure correct was at the top of the list.
“Florida Gov. Charlie Crist also believes keeping tires inflated is important.
Third Update: Not too long ago, NASCAR told fans, ‘With escalating fuel prices, the time is now for drivers to focus on simple things like proper tire pressure to maximize tire performance and increase fuel economy.’” — Quotation from the Carpetbagger Report/Steve Benen
How low will the Republicans sink? Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and tire gauges. Will the GOP claim that Barack Obama is responsible for the Montauk Monster?
REFERENCES:
1. Carnegie Mellon University: Save Gas, Money and the Environment with Properly Inflated Tires — Want to save hundreds at the gasoline pump? It’s easy. Instead of hunting for the best price in town, try checking the air pressure in your tires. Proper air pressure results in better gas mileage, which at $3 per gallon could save you as much as $432 per year, according to an informal study conducted by Carnegie Mellon students last spring. And if money isn’t a big enough incentive, how about helping to preserve the environment? Less fuel consumption results in less carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.
2.fueleconomy.gov: Keep Your Engine Properly Tuned — Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4 percent, though results vary based on the kind of repair and how well it is done.
3.The Obama Tire-Gauge Solution: No Joke — But who’s really out of touch? The Bush administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 barrels per day by 2030. We use about 20 million barrels per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage by 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone else did, we could reduce demand several percentage points immediately.In other words: Obama is right.
4. McCain and his surrogates are insisting, over and over again, that tire pressure is the entire Obama energy policy. Who, exactly, is supposed to believe such transparent nonsense? READ MORE
THE REPUBLICAN HATE-MACHINE — NOW HEADED BY JOHN MCCAIN
[Clockwise: Sean Hannity, James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, Glenn Beck, Greta Van Susteren]
