is a White House "reporter," not a real reporter. He has been kept in a small booth in the basement of the White House for the past six administrations. And he likes it there. He says that he gets antsy on vacation, and he can't wait to get back to that basement.

Real reporters tire quickly of the scripted environment at the White House, and ask to be transferred elsewhere. Or they do something to irritate the White House, who then ask for them to be transferred.

Being a White House "reporter" is no dishonor, and Mark Knoller does a fine job -- he's considered the most authoritative source on such questions as exactly how many vacation days each of the past six presidents has taken. He keeps tally sheets down in his booth in the basement.

Yeah, sometimes Mark Knoller even files a story where he points out that President Bush was evasive or misleading at a press conference, but mostly, he's a typical White House "reporter".

http://nytimes.com/2007/04/27/washington/27intel.html

Ex-C.I.A. Chief, in Book, Assails Cheney on Iraq
By SCOTT SHANE and MARK MAZZETTI

April 27, 2007

. . . A copy of the book was purchased at retail price in advance of publication by a reporter for The New York Times.

. . . Mr. Bush, who in 2004 awarded Mr. Tenet a Presidential Medal of Freedom, is portrayed personally in a largely positive light, with particular praise for the his leadership after the 2001 attacks. “He was absolutely in charge, determined, and directed,” Mr. Tenet writes of the president, whom he describes as a blunt-spoken kindred spirit.

But Mr. Tenet largely endorses the view of administration critics that Mr. Cheney and a handful of Pentagon officials, including Paul D. Wolfowitz and Douglas J. Feith, were focused on Iraq . . .

the SLAM DUNK episode :

During the meeting, the deputy C.I.A. director, John McLaughlin, unveiled a draft of a proposed public presentation that left the group unimpressed.

Mr. Tenet recalls that Mr. Bush suggested that they could “add punch” by bringing in lawyers trained to argue cases before a jury. “I told the president that strengthening the public presentation was a ‘slam dunk,’ a phrase that was later taken completely out of context.

Tenet wrote a book to tell the real story of "slam dunk" and explain that it was merely a promise that the CIA's creative writing team could “add punch” to the marketing to sell the Iraq war, not a statement about the conclusions of CIA analysts?

The real story makes Tenet look even worse than the fake story did. I have to admit that it doesn't make Cheney look very good, either, since he's still giving speeches saying that we went to war because Tenet said that marketing the war would be a slam dunk.

Correction. George Tenet's new story may or may not be the real story, so I should have put "real story" inside scare quotes.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/they-were-warned-by-digby-as-media.html

Daily News (New York)
Friday, September 22, 1995, page 41
POLS WHO TALK NICE AND ACT NAUGHTY

BY LARS-ERIK NELSON

Washington Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) came to the Senate floor with a look of sad concern on his face. He was deeply troubled, he said, at the vulgar, morally repugnant content of the new TV season. "We are lowering the standards of what is acceptable in our society and we are sending a message to our children," he said. He denounced an "acceptance of rude language, foul imagery and gross behavior in the entertainment mainstream."

Then, warning parents who might be watching on C-SPAN to move their little children away from the TV sets, Lieberman cited a few of the outrages: On ABC's "Wilde Again," a character asks to be called "Daddy's little whore." Another ABC program showed an upraised middle finger. CBS' "Bless This House" used the phrase "little hooters" in reference to a girl's breasts. "Profoundly disturbing," Lieberman intoned. "Sophomoric."

Funny thing: The previous morning, Lieberman had been a guest, as is his regular custom, on the Don Imus radio show on WFAN, a program that seems to get the bulk of its yuks from penis references.

If you have never heard the Imus show, listen in. It is a cross between an endless infomercial and a bunch of 8-year-olds telling doo-doo jokes into a tape recorder. It is rescued only by increasingly rare moments of inspired, hilarious brilliance.

Tune in any morning and you'll hear Imus or one of his sidekicks joking about having "lipstick on the dipstick" and much worse. This is nationwide morning radio.

Lieberman worries, on the Senate floor, that the increasing vulgarity of network TV "is lowering the standards of what we accept on television, particularly in what used to be family programing hours."

But he's talking out of both sides of his mouth. This week's moments of supposed humor on Imus, broadcast at an hour when children are rising for school, included a reference to Attorney General Janet Reno in crotchless pantyhose, an interview with Screw Magazine's Al Goldstein and a drunken woman saying "s---" over the air. Teehee.

Lieberman is alarmed that some child watching an 8 p.m. TV show might hear the word "hooters." Yet he legitimizes, by his regular presence, a radio show that will fill the child's ears with far more vulgarity, sly racist jokes, gay-baiting and all-around bad taste than the child is ever likely to hear on TV.

. . . By all means, Lieberman, Bradley, Dole and the rest should go on Imus. But if they do, spare us the sanctimonious sermons about the vulgarity of modern broadcasting.

- - Lars-Erik Nelson (1941-2000)

http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_5646643

Connecticut Post
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Lieberman stands behind Imus apology

Joe Lieberman said Wednesday that he will stand by his friend, Don Imus, despite the "deeply offensive" remarks the radio host made . . .

http://ebogjonson.com/archives/2006/09/should_i_use_bl.php
(Hint: never.)

Unless you're Chris Muir, of course.
Reasonable conserverative Jon Swift explains why it's okay for Chris Muir:
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2007/04/day-by-days-chris-muir-gives-hillary.html