A good one, Bill Owen, a good one. H/T

Before you say anything to the media you clearly establish the ground rules and then abide by them. In the course of a discussion you can ask for the ground rules to be changed and if the journalist concurs you can then follow the new rules that are established.

crap typos

I've been out moving mountains of snow from place to place.)

-- Pedinska

[Singing] You're in the army now. You're not behind the plow. So bladuneufppwenrehhyb you sonofabitch, you're in the army now!

I forgot some of the words. Thus, the garbled part. ;o)

Something about ditchdigging?

Hey the politicians hate Jeremy Paxman, just a little bit less than they hate John Humphries.

The explanation is simple -- if you do not get interviewed on NewsNight or Radio 4's Today morning program, you might as well be invisible as a politician. They all know the interview will be tough, painful even, but the alternative is to be invisible. Ever see a politician that wanted that?

Now, in english, we call that the Big Head -- bahhummingbug

I'm afraid that Herr Bolton reserves that phrase for another part of his anatomy.

I certainly hope they would ... She was "casting aspersions." However, I'm doubtful that they would have approved her sitting down to discuss Clinton's tactics and bad deeds (or someone else in the campaign doing same). I would love to hear or read that, genuinely. The Obama camp seem to be continually recycling the same laundry list of grieveances and the Clinton camp recycles theirs ... tedious. I hear word that the Clinton or Obama camp is RESPONSIBLE to this or that, but I'm not convinced there's been any proof in most of these instances ...

I've said elsewhere that I think both camps are setting themselves up to be duped viciously by someone with bogus "dirt." My interest and patience with their claims is dwindling.

I was very sorry to see Sam Power resign, but I do think it was necessary but it should be noted that there is, in fact, there is nothing to keep her from advising Obama or the campaign informally or otherwise.

Sorta OT but I thought everyone would like to know that we now have a Secretary of State, in effing Ohio, who is doing her best to fix the eff-ups left over from Blackwell's Reign of Voter Suppression. And, though she is being fought tooth and nail by the Republican legislature and the corporate news (who wish they could tell her to "Eff off!"), it hasn't slowed her down yet.

I am out of here

Thanks! No wonder that's not on "Law and Order SVU" though. It requires so much more set-up. :)

Man, I won't be talking to the press any time soon. Not only because they don't want to talk to me (reason #1!), but because I speak far too honestly--and use foul language. I don't know if I could really ever edit myself that well. No wonder public officials seem so robotic.

It causes me to wonder why anyone would want to work in politics anyway. It seems like such a half-life. No wonder most of them are such empty vessels and amoral liars.

Thanks again, R.M.P.

Yep. You're right. Nothing about 'sonofabitch' in there though. Must be some more outlandish version I've been carrying around in my head all these years.

We're in the Army now.

We’re not behind a plow.

We’ll never get rich diggin’ a ditch.

We're in the Army now.

http://tinyurl.com/39jf36

He'll be MacK..

(Now I better skedaddle, too. I done enough damage today.)

If the Obama camp was upset about anything, it would be what she honestly said about Iraq. Another Wikipedia except:

“In an interview with the BBC's HARDtalk on March 6, 2008, Power stated that Barack Obama's pledge to "have all U.S. combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months" was a "best case scenario" that "he will revisit when he becomes president." Challenged by the host as to whether this contradicted Obama's campaign commitment, she responded, "You can’t make a commitment in March 2008 about what circumstances will be like in January of 2009.... He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator. He will rely upon a plan – an operational plan – that he pulls together in consultation with people who are on the ground to whom he doesn’t have daily access now, as a result of not being the president." She concluded by saying that "what we can take seriously is that he will try to get U.S. forces out of Iraq as quickly and responsibly as possible."

I totally agree with Power that “The amount of deceit she (Clinton) has put forward is really unattractive." We don’t know what really happened when this ridiculous controversy exploded, but the Obama camp must have believed that the best way to lessen the damage was to fire Power and say we don’t resort to the tactics of the Clinton team. The Obama camp wants a higher level of discourse, but thanks to Gore and Kerry, they know they have to respond forcefully every time.

Actually I don't think any "off the record" is fair play--it's a way to manipulate people without letting them report the insight, and so the perception gets stuck within the reporter. A lesser thing, like gossip. Think for example times in life you've been told, "well don't tell anybody but.."

Usually what follows is a burden for he who has been told but can't repeat. What is allowable is deep background, i.e. a reporter agrees to talk to a source who they agree not to quote, or even indentity,

to gather information about a story--a real story not an assessment of personality but somebody like Deep Throat. I suppose a journalist could also legitimately be friends or lovers with a politician and that there would be untethered personal discussion, but it would be the exception, not the fake friendship rule which involves washing each others hands that Russert seems to have set up.