Comments on: Obama Administration attempts to defend its war on investigative journalism

By: Barack Obama drones on into the Heart of Darkness : Dangerous Intersection

Barack Obama drones on into the Heart of Darkness : Dangerous Intersection — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:30:46 +0000

[...] are doing the leaking, the Obama Administration is outraged, and it has been conducting an all-out war on those who feel it is important for the public to be informed, including investigative…. On the other hand, it appears that some of the leaking about the drone program has been [...]

By: Adam Herman

Adam Herman — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:14:11 +0000

The fact that Democrat Party and Teabagger are equivalents says a lot about the relative civility of the two sides. “Democrat Party” is a pretty mild epithet, it’s really not even an epithet at all if you aren’t familiar with why Democrats take offense to it. Contrast that to “Teabaggers”, “Rethuglicans”, “Conservatards”…. And conservatives take it better too! When was the last time a conservative went ballistic at being called names? But Democrats freak out when you say “Democrat party”, even if it wasn’t intentional. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:34:19 +0000

Tim: Show me the hordes of Democrats who are taking strong public stands against Obama express hostility toward meaningful journalism. I’m not playing that game. Obama has gone off the tracks in many ways, and MANY Democrats are staying quiet instead of speaking out. Most Democrats are no better than Republicans in this regard. I’m calling things as I see them, and I couldn’t care less about party politics any more. I’ve stepped off of that dysfunctional and destructive ride. It’s time for most people to join me in becoming Independents.

By: Tim Hogan

Tim Hogan — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:45:06 +0000

Erich, there is no such thing as “Democrat” hostility. “Democrat” is to Democratic Party as “Teabagger” is to Tea Partier. Perhaps you like the rhetoric of the right in criticizing actions by a Democratic administration but, control of the rhetoric means control of the framing of the debate ala Lakoff.

If one adopts the rhetoric of their opponents, they cede the framing to them and in many case have already lost the strategic cognitive high ground and the issue to the other side. More and more, precision in “languaging” will be both necessary and sufficient to merely keep the wolves at bay in this post-Citizens United world.

I strongly urge you to drop the rhetoric of the right and to keep maximum precision in your languaging.

By: Adam Herman

Adam Herman — Sun, 20 May 2012 06:53:09 +0000

It’s tough to call out your own side. I had a hard time doing it during the early Bush years, until I realized just how awful he was.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Sun, 20 May 2012 03:49:30 +0000

Adam: The self-proclaimed liberals of the U.S. are extraordinarily hypocritical in this respect. If Bush had clamped down on First Amendment rights like this, they would be screaming. As Jonathan Haidt so eloquently points out, our groupishness bind and blind us. This Democrat hostility sets a precedent for the next Republican President too. There are very few people in the media hammering this development under Obama. Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman are exceptions to the rule.

By: Adam Herman

Adam Herman — Sun, 20 May 2012 03:42:28 +0000

Wow. This actually makes the Bush administration look good. When Seymour Hersh wrote a story about covert action in Iran in 2006, nothing was done to him.