The mass hysteria from the right rolled in overnight, just two days after Wanda Sykes appeared at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and gave Rush Limbaugh a taste of his own medicine. Much like when Limbaugh would gleefully sing “Barack the Magic Negro” on a daily basis or when he rabidly, and brutally ripped into Michael J. Fox and his illness – Sykes decided to take it to the next level in her digs aimed at Rush.

Sykes, who was on fire riffed hard on Limbaugh – claiming she was the 20th hijacker on 9/11 but missed the plane because he was so strung out on Oxycontin, and that while Rush “hoped Obama failed”, she hoped Limbaughs “kidneys failed”. Undoubtedly, it was a fun routine – and with anything funny – all hell has broken loose with commentators and politicians alike chiming in on why they hated what Wanda said.

It’s shocking that right wing politicos/talking heads are taking so much (and I sense, contrived) outrage over Sykes stand-up routine. If you simply add up all things “disgusting”, “vile” or any other adjective being used to describe Sykes routine – that Rush Limbaugh has said just over the year or two you would come up with a compilation that would over shadow anything Sykes said to such a degree, it would be silly to even compare the two, and their public commentary.

Technorati Tags: Comedy News, Daily Show, Daily Show Wanda Sykes, Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart Wanda Sykes, video, Wanda Sykes, Wanda Sykes Daily Show, Wanda Sykes Jon Stewart, Wanda Sykes Rush Limbaugh, Wanda Sykes White House Correspondents Dinner

Well,   it looks like the hologram reporter on CNN reported in the earlier post was all smoke and mirrors.

Its been revealed that the image was just a 2 dimensional image superimposed onto the screen.

CBC News reported that the 3 dimensional imaging technology was produced by Norway-based Vizrt and Israel-based SportVu.

The problem was that the TV anchors were not actually seeing what we saw on the screen,  a cool hologram, but rather just a dot in an empty space.

And here I was thinking that it was like watching the coolest character out of Star Wars projected out as a hologram – ala princess Leia!

The technology for the ‘Real’ 3 dimensional imaging ‘supposedly’ is not that far away,  but I want to see some proof before I believe a word of it.

Shame on you, CNN, for making us all believe in the make-believe (there’s TV for ya)

Technorati Tags: CNN, fake, hologram

Over the past 48 hours I have heard right wing commentator after right wing commentator, as well as just about every single news outlet in general wet their pants over the latest nationwide polling numbers which show John McCain ahead of Barack Obama. The glee in their voices, and contrived aloofness (“how can this be?”) promptly followed by over analyzing every aspect the shows time slot allows them to are both annoying and petty. Unfortunately for these so called “political experts” the polls they are clamoring over are flawed in more ways then just one.

So you may be asking yourself what is it that makes the latest polls, the ones showing McCain up by a handful of points invalid? And too that my answer is simple – the pollsters conducting these lopsided studies are simply sampling a larger republican population in a way that leaves the results numerically impossible to show anything less then a McCain lead.

Earlier today Seth Colter Walls published a piece over at the Huffington Post which sheds some light on the tampering going on in regards to the pollsters overall sampling sizes which of course hinges (in a macro sense) on ones Party Identification. The pollsters (for reasons unknown by myself) are flat out oversampling Republican voters, and in some cases, are doing so at an obnoxious rate. Walls explains this phenomenon in great detail, stating:

“In a year in which Democrats have a lead of 11 million registered voters over Republicans, and have been adding to that advantage through a robust field operation, are pollsters over-sampling Republicans?

Despite a raft of advantages in the electorate for Democrats, in September’s first Gallup tracking poll, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats were surveyed (including “leaners”) from Sept. 3-5, compared to a 10-point Democratic identification advantage two weeks ago. That partisan makeup of the polling pool resulted in a 5-point lead for McCain in Sept. 5 tracking poll. Meanwhile, the new CBS poll features a 6-point swing in partisan composition toward Republicans, which plays some role in the poll’s two-point lead for McCain. Finally, the latest USA Today poll, which claims a four-point edge for McCain, was arrived at after a 10-point swing in partisan makeup toward GOP respondents.”

This practice is not new to electoral politics, however it is arguably receiving more attention, or in this case scrutiny, due to the fact people can look into the raw data taken into account for whatever specific poll is in question. The reasons they do this are simple – to create a “close race” with the dramatic “ups and downs” which subsequently leads to a peaked interest in the weekly/daily numbers which then spikes the overall demand for their product – the polls:

Norman admitted that the GOP identification in the latest survey has spiked. “The party ID in our most recent poll does show a shift away from what Gallup has been getting in earlier polls, going all the way back to 2005,” Norman said. “But previous conventions — the Republican one in 1988, the Democratic one in 1992, the Democratic one in 2000 — have also shown shifts in party ID toward the party that had the convention, and those shifts seemed to last, to greater or lesser degrees, though the election. Further, I’ve been told by Gallup that their tracking poll has shown a similar shift in party ID since the Republican convention. … I guarantee you we will be watching closely in all of our polls between now and election day to see whether there are further shifts in party ID in either direction.”

Still not convinced? Well don’t just take my word on it, here is what Adam Abramowitz, a world renound political scientist who is currently a professor at Emory University has to say about the latest gaggle of polls we saw released over the past two days:

Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz is highly skeptical of the new Gallup, USA Today and CBS polls. About the latter, which showed a statistically insignificant two point lead for McCain, Abramowitz said: “One reason for the dramatic difference between the two recent CBS polls is that the two samples differed fairly dramatically in terms of partisan composition. The first sample was 35.2% Democratic, 26.2 percent Republicans, and 38.6 percent independent. The second sample was 34.9% Democratic, 31.1% Republican, and 34.0% independent. That’s a change from a 9 point Democratic advantage to a 3.8 point Democratic advantage. That alone would probably explain about half of the difference in candidate preferences between the two [CBS] polls.”

So with the argument laid out quite clearly, I think it is important that we look at a handful of other polls, which are being released by major publications. Granted they don’t offer the same “excitement” factor the other trumped up ones do, they seem nonetheless to be a tad more accurate – at least in the sense of their sampling ratios:

• American Research Group (ARG):

• Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll:

• NBC/Wall Street Journal:

It is clear that John McCain has made up some ground in the polls, I am in no way refuting that. I am however pointing out that the grossly negligent numbers that showed McCain leading by as many as 10 points were in fact doctored to appear how they did.

So before you (and by you I am talking to the Republicans who have had a nonstop orgasm the past 2 days) go on with your gloating please take into account the fact that the polls in which you are bragging about simply overloaded the sampling with GOP voters.

Technorati Tags: barack obama, Battleground, Breaking news, Cbs Poll, doctoring the polls, ELECTION, Gallup Poll, joe biden, john mccain, John McCain ahead in polls, john mccain leads in the polls, new polls, new presidential polls, obama ahead in the polls, Politics News, Poll Madness Mccain Takes Lead, polls, President, Presidential Polls, Sarah Palin, unfair polls, USA Today Poll, Vote, ]

Sarah Palin just wrapped up her highly anticipated Vice Presidential acceptance speech at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Palin was the Convention’s second night’s main event, serving as the “cherry on top” in what turned out to be a rather ugly, substanceless and downright tacky parade of GOP maniquens. I must admit that I found it somewhat difficult to focus on what Sarah Palin was even saying, my attention kept being averted to her infant son Trig, who might I add has down syndrome, being passed around like a bowl of chips at a super bowl party.

Let’s get one thing straight – whether you are a Republican or a Democratic, if you have any sliver of common sense in your body, you would have to admit that tonight was one of the most desperate, far-fetched, and completely free of anything to do with actual policy and plans on implementing it.

• FACT: McCain/Palin reform is just … well, there’s nothing. It’s an overused phrase but it is all rhetoric. Not only has their party been in power for 8 years. But every policy pushed by John McCain is the one embraced by George Bush. Economic policy, tax policy, Iraq policy, social issues, Bush style politicking, everything.
• FACT: Sarah Palin continues to lie through her teeth about opposing the historically attrocious”Bridge to Nowhere”. Tonight, for the second time in a week, Palin stated:

“I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere.

If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged – directly to the people of Alaska.”

This is a lie. It’s really that simple – there is no truth whatso ever behind Palin’s claim. Making the lie worse is the fact that Palin worked hard to push the project through, doing whatever she could to sure up every last pork barrel cent for this callamity of a ear mark:

“Palin said Alaska’s congressional delegation worked hard to obtain funding for the bridge as part of a package deal and that she ‘would not stand in the way of the progress toward that bridge.”

How long until she gets called out for this? I mean there isn’t even a shred of truth behind her declaration of opposition – it is a bold faced lie. Yet she keeps on repeating it without any recourse or blowback. You gotta love the double standards here.

• FACT: ON Monday CNN’s Campbell Brown practically begged McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds to answer one simple question. Brown repeatedly plead with Bounds; “Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?” Bounds didn’t answer the question, and he didn’t answer for good reason – she hasn’t:

“Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?” CNN journalist Campbell Brown asked Monday while interviewing McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. “Just one?” Bounds couldn’t, because Palin has never personally ordered the state guard to do anything.

The governor has no command authority overseas or anywhere in the United States other than Alaska, said Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the service commander of the Alaska National Guard.

“When members of the National Guard are federalized, they work for the president,” Campbell said Wednesday. “It’s not just overseas. They could be federalized to go to other states or they could even be federalized in the state.”

• FACT: Keeping with the theme of regurgitating lies in an attempt to pawn them off as reality, Sarah Palin stated:

“I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.”

Again, Palin completely disregards any figment of reality. The truth of the matter is that Palin, when Mayor of Wasilla, hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation.

• FACT: Palin is under investigation by a bipartisan state legislative body for multiple instances of her abusing her power. Firing people at will, and letting family issues (her sister’s divorce) dictate decisions that affected the city she was supposed to be looking out for.

“The one moment that stays with me tonight, oddly enough, was not Palin’s speech. It was a line from Giuliani, a New York mayor with a young second third wife and gay friends, mocking a “cosmopolitan” who was brought up by a single mother. It was that Barack Obama’s rise could “only happen in America.” And it was designed to mock him, the first African-American candidate for the presidency of the United States. I won’t forget that.”

“Mitt Romney seems to use the word “liberal” in a randomly pejorative fashion. I half expect him to say “I was eating breakfast this morning, and my hash browns were all liberal. I sent them back and told the waitress to bring me some good, conservative hash browns.”

“Since her name was announced as John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin has generated more US-based internet search traffic than Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Michael Phelps and Barack Obama combined:”

Technorati Tags: Ap On Republican Convention, Associated Press On Republican Convention, Fact Check Gop Convention, Fact Check Republican Convention, Gop Convention Attacks, Gop Convention Palin, john mccain, Palin And Republican Convention, Palin Pick, Palin Vp, Piper Palin, Piper Palin Photos, Piper Palin Pictures, Politics News, Religious Right, Republican Convention, Republican Convention Attacks, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Convention Speech, Sarah Palin RNC Speech, Sarah Palin Speech Reactions, Slideshow

Fresh off what many are calling one of the better Democratic National Convention’s in recent memory, John McCain, his newly anointed Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and the rest of the GOP kicked off their week long shin dig in one half of the twin cities, St. Paul, Minnesota. Well, kinda anyways. In what had to be one of the more bizarre Labor Days in quite some time, much of the RNC Convention was canceled due to Hurricane Gustav, all the while a firestorm seemingly spilled over regarding a laundry list of issues plaguing the 72 hour old VP candidate Sarah Palin. Serving as the “cherry on top”; anti-war protesters and law enforcement clashed numerous times throughout the day, subsequently ending in violence, arrests, tear gas and more bad press for the GOP.

In what was a perfect storm of “bad press” for the GOP, one thing is for sure: They will be doing everything in their power to put yesterdays events out of sight, and out of mind – this however may be harder said then done.

With no real convention story to cover, and a fading storm out of the picture by midday the media found themselves following lead after lead regarding John McCain’s surprise VP selection, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin.

To say today was a “bad day” for Palin just may be an understatement. Here is a rundown of what TPM’s Greg Sargent appropriately titled “The Palin Melt Down”:

• Palin’s previous claim to have refused the “Bridge to Nowhere” is revealed to be a falsehood:

“Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress” and opposed federal funding for a controversial bridge to a sparsely populated island. “I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that bridge to nowhere,” Palin said Friday in Ohio, using the critics’ dismissive name of the project. “‘If our state wanted a bridge,’ I said, ‘we’d build it ourselves.’”

While running for governor in 2006, though, Palin backed federal funding for the infamous bridge, which McCain helped make a symbol of pork barrel excess. And as mayor of the small town of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002, Palin also hired a Washington lobbying firm that helped secure $8 million in congressionally directed spending projects, known as earmarks, according to public spending records compiled by the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste and lobbying documents.”

• Continuing to tarnish her “reformer” image, it is learned that Palin was heavily reliant on a earmark system that she now claims to be staunchly in opposition of:

On Friday, when McCain introduced her as his running mate, she said she “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending,” the legislative technique used to slip projects into appropriations bills without rigorous congressional review.

But under her leadership, the state of Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million in next year’s federal budget, according to the website of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

• It is learned that Palin had extensive ties to a “fringe” political outfit in Alaska whose main purpose was to push the idea of seceding from the United States:

“The Alaska Independence Party, which was formed with the goal of seceding from the union and establishing Alaska as an independent state, says that Palin addressed their 2008 convention. The AIP has posted video of what it claims is her address on its Web site.”

• We learn that Palin has just now decided to hire a lawyer in regards to her pending investigation surrounding multiple “abuse of power” cases that are currently underway in her home state of Alaska:

“MSNBC just reported that presumptive vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has hired a lawyer in relation to the Trooper-Gate scandal. Alaska State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Hollis French told TPMmuckraker that Palin has hired Thomas Van Flein, an Anchorage attorney at the law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness. French said that Van Flein has already been in contact with him, regarding the ongoing investigation of Palin.”

All of this in one day – yes, just one day. A mere 72 hours into her VP candidacy and this is what has surfaced. Of course this has everyone scratching their heads, asking themselves “how in the heck didn’t the McCain camp find any of this prior to her selection?”

• Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! host unlawfully arrested at RNC:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBjcqwQgF7Q

• Police Blast a Protester with Pepper Spray:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJZNkJbTpjA

• Police firing rubber bullets at protesters at incredibly close range:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OnnUTK7QjI

Reports coming from various news outlets late into Monday night, and carrying over to the wee hours of this morning seem to portray that the situation on the ground, between police and protesters is continuing to spiral further and further out of control.

That said, I am going to interject my personal opinion on the situation. Now I know a lot of people won’t like it, and that’s perfectly alright, so be it. The way I see it is that the protesters more often then not (they play the victims very well) are doing something against the rules whenever you see police act in the manner seen above. They are quick to claim “police brutality” and whine it up for the cameras, but for all constructive purposes they were dealt with, or became caught up in, police action that was being directed at stopping something or someone breaking the rules.

That is not to say that law enforcement officials are never to blame. Hell, half the time they are at fault for using excessive and/or inappropriate force. But you have to remember that they are facing highly emotional crowds, often which will go as far as they are physically able too without being refrained. With this mentality comes a high risk for riots, which would then in turn only produce an increase, at a huge rate none the less, of violence. It is this which makes the job of the police force somewhat difficult, and very unrewarding.

I should also mention that even though I am a proud Democrat, always have been, always will be, I have never been one who cheers on the side show antics of fringe groups on the outer realms of the left. In my opinion they do much more harm then good, and the only thing they really accomplish is the diminishing legitmacey of any argument they are trying to make.

Take a look at the “protesters” on the far left, and their irrational, and emotionalist actions throughout the 70′s. What did it produce? A whole lot of Republican presidents.

So in wrapping this thing up, I think it is fair to say Republican’s had a bad day, protesters had a bad day, and the media had a field day. That said, if Tuesday is anything like Labor Day, we are in for a ride, so buckle up, get some shut eye, and check back tomorrow – err, later today..

Technorati Tags: Amy Good, Bristol Palin, Bristol Palin Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin Pregnancy, Giuliani And Palin, GOP Convention, Levi Johnson, Levi Johnston, Levin Johnson Bristol Palin, Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell Alaska National Guard, Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell Palin, Mark Sanford Sarah Palin, Media News, Mike Wooten, Off The Bus News, Palin, Palin Brother In Law, Palin Family, Palin Giuliani Experience, Palin Trooper, Palin Troopergate, Police Republican Convention, Politics News, Protests GOP Convention, Protests Republican Convention, Republican Convention, rudy giuliani, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Daughter Pregnant, Sarah Palin John Mccain, Sarah Palin Scandal, Sarah Palin Trooper Scandal, Sarah Palin Vice President, Slideshow, St. Paul

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with an older congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues. Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.

In selecting Biden, Obama passed over several other potential running mates, none more prominent than former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, his tenacious rival in dozens of primaries and caucuses.

Obama’s campaign arranged a debut for the newly minted ticket on Saturday outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

Hundreds of miles to the west, carpenters, electricians, sound stage gurus and others transformed the Pepsi Center in Denver into a made-for-television convention venue.

Tucked away in one corner were thousands of lightweight rolled cardboard tubes, ready-made handles for signs bearing the names of the Democratic ticket – once the identity of Obama’s running mate was known.

While Obama decided against adding Clinton to his ticket, he has gone to great lengths to gain the confidence of her primary voters, agreeing to allow her name to be placed in nomination at the convention and permitting a roll call vote that threatens to expose lingering divisions within the party.

Biden slowly emerged as Obama’s choice across a long day and night of political suspense as other contenders gradually fell away.

First Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine let it be known that he had been ruled out. Then came word that Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana had also been passed over.

Several aides to Clinton said the Obama campaign had never requested financial or other records from her.

Other finalists in the veep sweepstakes were Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Texas Rep. Chet Edwards.

Among those on the short list, Biden brought the most experience in defense or foreign policy, areas in which Obama is rated relatively poorly in the polls compared with Republican Sen. John McCain.

While the war in Iraq has been supplanted as the campaign’s top issues by the economy in recent months, the recent Russian invasion of Georgia has returned foreign policy to the forefront.

In addition to foreign policy experience, Biden, a native of Scranton, Pa., has working-class roots that could benefit Obama, who lost the blue-collar vote to Clinton during their competition for the presidential nomination.

Biden was elected to the Senate at the age of 29 in 1973.

No sooner had word spread of his selection than McCain’s campaign unleashed its first attack. Spokesman Ben Porritt said in a statement that Biden had:

“denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing, that Barack Obama is not ready to be president.”

As evidence, Republicans cited an ABC interview from August 2007, in which Biden said he would stand by an earlier statement that Obama was not ready to serve as president.

Biden is seeking a new Senate term in the fall. there was no immediate word whether he intended to change plans as he reaches for national office. Biden dropped out of the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination after a poor finish in the Iowa caucuses, but not before he talked dismissively of joining someone else’s ticket.

“I am not running for vice president,” he said in a Fox interview. “I would not accept it if anyone offered it to me. The fact of the matter is I’d rather stay as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee than be vice president.”

It was his second try for the White House. The first ended badly in 1988 when he was caught lifting lines from a speech by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock.

In the decades since, he become a power in the Senate, presiding over confirmation proceedings for Supreme Court nominees as well as convening hearings to criticize President Bush’s handling of the Iraq War.

Biden voted to authorize the war, but long ago became one of the Senate’s surest critics of the conflict.

Obama worked to keep his choice secret, although he addressed the issue broadly during the day in an interview.

“Obviously, the most important question is: Is this person ready to be president?” Obama told “The Early Show” on CBS. Second, he said, was: “Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally?”

And, he added:

“I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a yes person when it comes to policymaking.

___

Associated Press writers David Espo in Denver, Angela K. Brown in Waco, Texas, Glen Johnson in Boston, Randall Chase in Greenville, Del., Bob Lewis in Richmond, Va., John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., Scott Lindlaw in San Francisco and Jesse Holland in Washington contributed to this report. Pickler reported from Chicago.

Technorati Tags: barack obama, Barack Obama Joe Biden, Barack Obama Vice President, Barack Obama VP, Barack Obama VP Pick, Biden For Vp, joe biden, Joe Biden Vp, Joe Biden Vp Pick, Obama Biden, Obama Biden 08, Obama Biden 2008, Obama Biden Ticket, Politics News

NEW YORK – Fewer Americans are reading newspapers and are instead getting their news online, but television remains the leading source of news in the country, according to a survey released Sunday. Not surprisingly, younger people tend to get more of their news on the Internet, while older folks use traditional media such as television and newspapers, the Pew Research Center’s biannual survey on news consumption habits said.

Pew said the results show an increasing shift toward online news consumption, but that there is now a sizable group of a more engaged, sophisticated and well-off people that use both traditional and online sources to get their news.

The Pew researchers referred to these people as “integrators,” and says they account for 23% of those surveyed, spending the most time with the news on a typical day.

“Like Web-oriented news consumers, integrators are affluent and highly educated. However they are older, on average, than those who consider the Internet their main source of news,” the survey said.

It is this group that advertisers typically like to target, which helps explain why newspaper publishers have seen sharp declines in ad revenues as spending shifts online.

Pew found that the largest group of news consumers – 46% of those polled – have a “heavy reliance” on television for their news at all times of the day. This group is the oldest, with a median age of 52, and least affluent, with 43% unemployed. They are unlikely to own a computer or go online for news.

Overall, among those who get some of their news from TV, fewer are watching the 6:30 broadcast network newscasts, and instead opting for cable news sources such as CNN or Fox News Channel. CNN’s audience is now majority Democratic, while 39% of Fox News viewers are Republicans, 33% Democrats, with the remainder independent or didn’t specify.

The group that relies most on the Internet for news is the youngest at a median age of 35. It is also the smallest, at 13% of those polled. Fewer than half of them watch television news on a regular basis. Eighty percent of this group has a college education and they are twice as likely to read an online newspaper than a printed version.

The emergence of this group and the shift among integrators online led to an overall decline in the percentage of people who said they read a newspaper the day before, to 34% from 40% two years ago, the researchers found. That is also reflected in a shift in the industry that has seen circulation figures slip in recent quarters.

The beneficiary of less print newspaper consumption has been other online news sources, with about 25% of the people surveyed saying they go to an Internet site for news at least three times a week. That’s up from 18% in the 2006 survey.

Pew found that consumers of online news tend to be more educated than those who get their news from traditional sources, with 44% of college graduates saying they read news online every day. Just 11% of those who topped out with a high school education go online for news.

About one-third of those younger than 25 said they get no news on a typical day, up from about 25% in 1998.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. It polled 3,615 adults 18 years or older by telephone between April 30 and June 1, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Technorati Tags: Breaking news, Media News, Millennial Generation, MILLENNIALS, News Consumption, Newspapers, online news, online news impact, online politics, TV News

The New Yorker has apparently thrown any hint of class to the wayside, this conclusion was drawn from their decision to run a tasteless (this is putting it politely) cover illustration for this weeks publication. The cartoon portrays Michelle and Barack Obama perpetuating every single slanderous right wing stereotype. With the Oval office serving as the backdrop, a huge portrait of Osama Bin Laden as well as an American Flag in flames, adjacent to the fireplace rounds up the office decor. Obama appears in full Muslim garb, fist-bumping Michelle, who is depicted as the “afro’d out wife”, dressed in the military fatigues with a machine gun and ammo draped over her shoulder.

Barry Blitt, the man behind this rather pathetic attempt at political satire, has titled the image “The Politics of Fear”. Blitt argues that he was attempting to point out the “right wing attack” machine that has been actively at work against both Barack Obama and his wife Michelle:

The illustration, by Barry Blitt,is called “The Politics of Fear” and, according to the NYer press release, “satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”

Setting aside the fact that this cartoon is not at all funny, it serves as an enabler to both the GOP smear merchants as well as some American’s inability to see the satire, or the attempt there of, behind the cover image.

“Presumably the New Yorker readership is sophisticated enough to get the joke, but still: this is going to upset a lot of people, probably for the same reason it’s going to delight a lot of other people, namely those on the right: Because it’s got all the scare tactics and misinformation that has so far been used to derail Barack Obama’s campaign all in one handy illustration. Anyone who’s tried to paint Obama as a Muslim, anyone who’s tried to portray Michelle as angry or a secret revolutionary out to get Whitey, anyone who has questioned their patriotism well, here’s your image.”

The Obama camp didn’t take long to release a statement regarding the latest cover of the New Yorker. Bill Burton, a senior ranking campaign official did not mix words, and called the illustration “tasteless and offensive”:

The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”

Unfortunately though this will undoubtedly become another media feeding frenzy of a story. I mean it is more or less common knowledge by now that anytime a chance arises to question, point out, or discuss anything that’s perceived too be a negative reflection on Obama and/or his campaign.

Can you imagine if a so-called “left wing” publication (hey, thats how FOX News refers to them) ran a cover cartoon that depicted John McCain in a way that captured each and every one of the slanderous stereotypes that have been attributed to him and his family?

“Will the New Yorker’s cover of Manchurian Candidate McCain reveal him as an angry mean spirited adulterous, brainwashed, egotistical, addlepated bottom of the barrel Naval Academy graduate, surrounded by his Keating 5 buddies and his bevy of lobbying comrades?

Will the New Yorker portray Manchurian McCain who flip-flops so much it’s hard to keep track of what he stands for; McCain who is so dishonest he will lie about everything he has ever said and done – even when confronted with the videotape to the contrary.

It’s going to be swell to see Manchurian McCain on the cover of the New Yorker and in the background a list of all of the votes that McCain has cast that have resulted in McCain getting a D rating from veterans organizations.”

FOX News’ head wold literally explode – probably on air. The Hannity’s of both television and talk radio would rip into an attack mode that would surpass anything we have seen since the Rev. Wright story first broke months go, and they would be relentless in every aspect imaginable.

But hey, it’s a Democrat on the cover, whats the big deal right? I mean why is everyone getting all hussy fussy over this thing – it’s just a joke, lighten up…

Expect to hear a lot of that from the mainstream media, specifically the individuals who I referenced as being the ones who would blow their tops on air if this was done to McCain. However it has nothing to do with a “sense of humor”, actually, its the furthest thing from it.

The reason why this “cute little image” should (but probably won’t) receive an incredible amount of scrutiny is because it only feeds to the misconceptions many on the right have and are currently shaping against Barack Obama. Moreover it comes in the form of a “cartoon cover”, utilized by a publication that like so many others in this day and age, are looked at, or claim to be “liberal” (see 99% of CNN’s on air talent) and their fevered attempt to prove to something or someone — that in all reality doesn’t even exist — that they are not “radical liberals” or part of the “fringe movement” on the far reaches of the left wing platform.

And in this attempt to prove that they are not something, they subsequently are partaking in a game that their so called “sophisticated” writers have railed against for the last several months – successfully making them not only part of the problem, but also drop dead hypocrites.

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Yesterday we covered the poignant comments made by a certain Jesse Jackson in which he used some colorful language when discussing Barack Obama. All of this took place while he was mic’d up, however Jackson was under the impression they weren’t on TV or being recorded. SURPRISE!

However the fun really started when rival news stations began reporting the story, or attempted to report the story I should say. 236.com has captured the beautiful awkwardness of watching every cable news anchor struggle to explain the story without being able to say one specific word in a delightful little vignette which is attached below.

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Good old Jesse Jackson seems to have just handed Barack Obama his “Sistah Soulja” moment on a shiny sliver platter. The incident came during an interview with FOX’s Bill O’Reilly during an “off air” conversation that Jackson thought wasn’t being recorded in fact was. Needless to say O’Reilly plans on running with this to the hills and back, while Jackson is already apologizing left and right.

Here is a rundown of what took place, this comes courtesy of CNN who was the first to report the breaking story:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson issued an apology to Barack Obama Wednesday for making what he called a “crude and hurtful” remark about the Illinois senator’s recent comments directed toward some members of the black community.

According to Jackson, a Fox News microphone picked up comments he meant to deliver privately that seemed to disparage the presumptive Democratic nominee for appearing to lecture the black community on morality.

Jackson didn’t elaborate on the context of his remarks, except to say he was trying to explain that Obama was hurting his relationship with black voters by recently conducting “moral” lectures at African-American churches.

Jackson’s apology came a few hours before Fox News planned to air the remarks.

Speaking to CNN Wednesday, Jackson said he feels “very distressed” over the comments.

“This is a sound bite in a broader conversation about urban policy and racial disparities. I feel very distressed because I’m supportive of this campaign and with the senator, what he has done and is doing,” he said. “I said he comes down as speaking down to black people. The moral message must be a much broader message. What we need really is racial justice and urban policy and jobs and health care. That’s a range of issues on the menu.

“Then I said something I regret was crude. It was very private. And very much a sound bite,” he also said.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9cyGxn-TAg

And then here is the Chicago Tribune’s own Clarence Page talking about Jackson’s “candid remarks over on their blog, “The Swamp”:

Well, Swamp fans, as Jackson explained to me by telephone, his remarks occurred during an off-air moment during a Fox New Channel interview that aired Sunday.

Jackson didn’t realize that the mics were still “hot,” as in turned on and recording when he made a few off-the-cuff remarks about Obama’s faith-based programs.

Bill O’Reilly has the story and plans to report it on his Fox program, “The O’Reilly Factor” tonight.

Even though O’Reilly has booked me and another guest to respond to the video, he is withholding a full transcript or recording of Jackson’s remarks even from me until the program airs.

So far I have only been told by a producer that Jackson criticizes Obama’s proposed faith-based programs for “talking down to black people.”

And (A warning here to younger or more sensitive readers) Jackson also says something about how the senator was “going to get his (twin objects of male anatomy) cut off.”

Jackson, who recalled his remark as, “The senator is cutting off his you-know-what with black people,” expressed deep regrets for saying it, even in what he thought was a “private conversation.”

“I want to be clear,” Jackson said. “My support for Barack Obama is unequivocal. I apologize to Barack and the Obama campaign for my crude and hurtful comments.”

Huffingtonpost.com has also put up Barack Obama’s official response regarding Jesse Jackson’s tacky to say the least comments. Here’s what team Obama had to say:

A statement from the Obama campaign: “As someone who grew up without a father in the home, Senator Obama has spoken and written for many years about the issue of parental responsibility, including the importance of fathers participating in their children’s lives. He also discusses our responsibility as a society to provide jobs, justice, and opportunity for all. He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Reverend Jackson’s apology,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

Here is video of Jackson calling into CNN and offering up his apology:

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