It never dawns on them that its the same person(s), the same game, the same BS, until after the election. At which time it starts all over. Neat.

"[M]indless, manipulated spouters of conventional wisdom" equals savviness. And, as has been made perfectly clear, nothing trumps that.

"[T]hey simultaneously and openly fret that they're being unfair to Republicans and too biased towards liberals..." McCain complaining, to reporters no less, that the media was focusing too much on Obama last week should be the prime example of this.

Can TNR sink any lower? At least Weekly World News was funny.

I just went and looked up the definition of uppity. Presumptuous and arrogant were the most common terms used. Really Karl, your getting lazy if we can check your work with one click...

And yes, I agree with the commenter that McCain is showing signs of dementia. The increasing frequency of incorrect name recall is truly disturbing.

Glenn did the major shaking to wake Klein up. His Swampland postings and Time articles since Glenn exposed Joke Line’s incompetence, have definitely improved. He didn’t like the spotlight and derision, so he adjusted.

Milbank may not adjust, but a similar effort on him might bear some fruit. KO and his staffers clearly watch Glenn closely. I Know from watching Countdown last night, KO doesn’t like the McRovian tactics and he might think twice about putting Milbank on his show or even better, attack Milbank. Don’t think it would have much impact on the Hardball or White House shows. However, I haven’t seen Klein on many TV shows since the assault.

If Obama doesn’t want to attack the media like McFlip-Flop has since he gave in out of desperation to dirty tactics, guess it will have to be us.

I had the displeasure of watching ABC nightly news last night. The segment on how the campaign was getting nasty, was the typical "fair and balanced" political report. They talked about McCains new ad comparing Obama to Britney and Paris. Then said how both sides are going negative, because Obama put out an ad calling defending himself. Defending oneself from lies is not being negative. But that's how the MSM show they are "fair and balanced" by calling foul on both sides. Even when only one side is actually being nasty.

That being said, Obama needs to stop this nice guy crap. You can't run a clean campaign, when your opponent lives in the gutter. McCain shows he has no problems rolling around in the sewer. IF the media is just going to mindlessly repeat what ever each campaign says, you got to use that to your advantage. Start hitting McCain below the belt. Bring up the Keating 5 scandal. Bring up his wife being a dope addict. Bring up the fact he's an adulterer. Nice guys finish last. How many times do we have to lose the presidency before we figure that out?

The difference is that the bad stuff he writes about Dems gets blasted all over the world by the RNC, while the Dems are too (timid? stupid? what? surely not too ethical?) to do likewise.

And, from The Daily Howler

"Truly, Milbank is [Maureen] Dowd with different plumbing."

I think what your describing, sysprog, (along with Glenn's interpretation of the Obama campaign strategy), is a Gordian Knot that only the electorate can cut through. There are times when I suspect Milbank and Dowd's contempt is held for the whole of the human race. I imagine them sitting in a bar together chortling over their readers who are so stupid they can't see though their self-admitted drivel. I imagine them shrugging in defiance of the fact that the RNC makes hay with their nonsense, and the electorate is led off a cliff. I imagine them to feel sufficiently insulated such that Milbank and Dowd perceive it as just some amusing game performed for their benefit. After all, it isn't their fault people are so gullible, is it? I find it obscene, nearly to the level of an intellectual pornography (e-prof can opine whether such a phenomena exists). Dowd and Milbank are the journalistic equivalents of Veblen's conspicuous consumption. Where is C. Wright Mills when we need him?

Maggie Carlson (a.k.a. Ol' Missus, Ol' Fred) was on TV last night and she was OUTRAGED! about Fredo Gonzalez, Monica Goodling, Karl Rove and the current state of the DOJ.

Yes, the same Maggie Carlson who penned the love poem to W. in 2003 entitled, "Anyone Can Grow Up", has cleared the sand from her eyes to sniff out a relevant story seven years later.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when Ol' Missus, Ol' Fred will pontificate about how the 2000 election was, ya' know, stolen from Gore and that it was, ya' know, wrong that W. commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence.

Perhaps we are going about this all wrong. Using our resources to attack people like Hoyer and Barrow will have limited, if any, direct impact, especially short-term. But....

What would happen if we focused our energies and resources on attacking bad journalism? What if we got our coalition to hammer away at these fools from all angles, with facts, with examples of syncophantic behavior, with concrete! Lord knows we have almost limitless fodder to choose from. There is so much wrong with media coverage of America's issues today that a clear, coordinated, and repetitive campaign to demand better journalism might pay more dividends than throwing ad money at safe incumbents or long-shots who just don't have the financial backing to make it right now....

Robert Greenwald does an excellent job of this at his site www.bravenewfilms.com. He has made some extraordinary documentaries, including "Iraq For Sale" and has spearheaded many attacks on Fox News for their corrupt and dishonest news coverage. What if we started there and built upon that, trying to get as much national exposure as possible?

One potential problem is the issue that plagued our cause when Comcast refused to run the Carney ads. But then, if they are going to censor us, I would think lawsuits and the ACLU would be the next logical move.

Of course I'm talking from 30,000 feet here, but wouldn't efforts to try and wake up the citizenry to the compromised, lazy, incompetent "work" of the MSM be a potentially much more profitable cause?

Or, are we too far down the road with what we're already doing, and would thus be spread too thin to make a run at this?

Just thinking out loud, but the ramifications if done well could be huge.