The CNN Tape Exclusive on Cheney's X (UPDATED)

***SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LATEST UPDATE FROM DAILY PUNDIT WHICH AUTHENTICATES THE ORIGINAL RECORDING, AND OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION FROM CNN WHO FIRES THE CNN STAFF MEMBER. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE***

UPDATE FROM DAILY PUNDIT WHO SPOKE TO THE CALLER AND HAS THE RECORDING

CREDIT FOR THE TAPE EXCLUSIVE TO BILL QUICK @ DAILY PUNDIT:

"CNN Employee On Tape answering @ the CNN Headline News desk says: " Cheney "X" Is "Freedom of Speech" - "Tell Bush And Cheney To Stop Lying".
 
LISTEN TO THE TAPE ***HERE***

Bill Quick interviewed Preska Thomas of Team Hollywood, an "international marketing company"  after Team Hollywood sent out the following press release:

U.S. Newswire : Releases : "CNN Caught Off Guard..."

  To: National Desk

    Contact: Jane Redding of Team Hollywood Inc.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following statement concerning CNN's airing of an 'X' over live video of Vice President Cheney was released today by Team Hollywood:

Monday morning, Nov. 21, 2005, at 11:00 AM, as CNN aired Vice President Dick Cheney's speech live from the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, the cable network flashed onscreen, repeatedly, a large black 'X' over the Vice President's face, while a headline at the bottom of its screen read, "CHENEY: I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS WRONG TO CRITICIZE."

Unfortunately for CNN, a large number of their demographics also participate in Internet communities and Blogs, representing a large portion of their viewership and posing a threat to news cable and newspaper subscriber's fees.

Millions from across the country telephoned CNN to alert the network about an accidental "X" over the Vice President's face, only to be told that the "X" was intentional against the present administration. CNN callers flooded the Internet and online communities with calls to boycott the network.

Likewise, the international marketing consulting firm Team Hollywood Inc., responsible for a database of over 11 million Americans, both Democrats and Republicans from across the country, was consumed with the calls. "The volume of calls to our company became an issue that could not be ignored," stated Joan Friedman of Team Hollywood. "We needed a statement on behalf of the Internet community callers and their newsworthy Blogs, so we made the call."

When the founders of the company, Preska Thomas and Kevin Finn, made contact with the network, to their surprise they were bullied and harassed in the same way by the Headline News desk. Callers were repeatedly told by CNN, "Tell the President and Vice-President Dick Cheney to stop lying." Team Hollywood's conversation with the newsdesk was recorded. When the tape is played back, amongst political statements being made by the network were the words that the "X" was intentional, as an act of free speech by CNN.

Kevin Finn said, "The Vice-President is a symbol of the United States, much like the American flag. For CNN to desecrate the image of the Vice President is the same as the Iranians burning the U.S. flag at a rally staged for the whole world via television. It is a slap in the face to all those who serve and have served in the armed forces".

A Democrat caller, Tricia Rosenberg of Beverly Hills, Calif., compared the big "X" across the Vice President's face to the markings of a serial killer's hit list. "I can't believe that CNN resorted to such a tacky object".

Preska Thomas said, "Fair and balanced? I am certain that we have all heard those words before. Not exactly smart as a FOX! News should be non-partisan."

CNN was caught off-guard at the company's headquarters in Atlanta by the recording. The statements that were made through their Headline News desk are not acceptable and there are calls on the Internet for investigation by the FCC, the FBI and the Trilateral Commission.

"Ms. Thomas played the tape she states was made of the call discussed above to CNN Headline News on the phone for me. I have not seen the actual tape itself, and have no first-hand knowledge of its authenticity."

You can listen to the tape HERE (same tape as you listened to above). Bill does however make a disclaimer and says that he has not personally verified the authenticity of the tape. Obviously any opinion I have here regarding the same does not in any way reflect on either  The Daily Pundit or  Right on The Right, who were brilliant to discover it, so please guys don't take offense.

"In it, a male voice is clearly heard to say that the X overlaid on Vice President Dick Cheney's face during the broadcast of his speech to the American Enterprise Institute on 11-21-05 was an exercise of CNN's "freedom of speech." The unidentified man added, "Tell Bush and Cheney to stop lying," as well as other inflammatory attacks on the President and the Vice President."

Ms. Thomas said the recording was made between six and seven p.m. PT on 11/21/05, and adds that the female voice on the tape is hers.

Bill Quick's attempts to contact CNN Headline News for comment were unsuccessful. SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST ON THAT.

The story is developing...and what an outrageous story this is.

For those of you that perhaps need to catch up with my original story 'X MARKS THE BIAS SPOT'

Via Real Teen @ Right on the Right , who provided the original tip to Bill Quick. 

Kevin Aylward@ Wizbang, follows Bill's lead, and so does Jay @ Stop The ACLU

JEFF HARRELL HAS THE BEST TECHNICAL EXPLANATION FOR THE ORIGINAL CNN GLITCH, AND A THOUGHTFUL POST.

I NEED TO JUST COMMENT THAT WHEN I LISTENED TO THE TAPE I NOTICED THAT THERE WERE DISTINCT BREAK CLICKS IN BETWEEN CERTAIN CRUCIAL COMMENTS SUCH AS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE CNN REPRESENTATIVE SAYING "...PUTTING THE X IN FRONT OF HIS FACE" AND A DISTINCT CHANGE IN QUALITY. WHEN THE CALLER SAYS, "WOW WOW, WAIT REWIND AND THE GUY SAYS "BRING OUR SOLDIERS HOME" YOU HEAR THAT STATEMENT RECORDED AGAIN (IT'S A CUT AND PASTE REPEAT AND SOUNDS QUITE AN OBVIOUS ONE) BUT THAT'S JUST ME....WE'LL SEE. I THINK IT'S JUST TOO WELL REHEARSED, WELL DONE BUT STILL REHEARSED.

IF THIS TAPE IS FOR REAL IT'S PRICELESS, IF IT'S REHEARSED IT'S STILL PRICELESS! EITHER WAY CNN HAS SOME SERIOUS EXPLAINING TO DO, AS THE ORIGINAL INCIDENT WAS CLEARLY INTENTIONAL.

I AM JUST DOING A TRANSCRIPT OF THE RELEVANT EXCERPTS OF THE CONVERSATION SO STAND BY, AND HERE WE GO:

CNN:  "...it was just to make a point."

CALLER:  "... you purposefully used the Vice President of the United States' speech today and put a big X over his face, am I understanding correctly so that you guys can make a point at CNN. And what was that point?"

CNN:  "...well we already made it."

CALLER  "...What was the point?"

CNN:  "...The point is to tell them to stop lying."

CALLER:  "...Tell who to stop lying?"

CNN:  "...Bush and Cheney. Can you do that?!"

CALLER  "...Wait, you guys are the Media"

CNN:  "...you tell those that you voted for to stop lying."

CALLER  "...Wo wo wo wait. Rewind. "

CNN:  "...bring our soldiers home"

CALLER  "...Wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wait. Rewind."

CNN:  "...bring our soldiers home.."

CALLER  "...Is it not CNN's responsibility ....."

CNN:  "..No.."

CALLER   ".....to report the news and allow the Vice President of the United States [..missing..silence] America listening to the speech of the President about the United States.."

CNN:  "...I put it to you like this, if you don't like it don't watch.

For more bloggers covering this check: Don't go Into The Light who has a thoughtful post and weighs the probabilities,
Project Logic mentions it in an Update, but his overall take is: "Perhaps someday we'll be putting a big black X over mainstream media outlets like CNN altogether." HEH.
Gina Cobb makes an excellent read covering the original incident and so does my friend at The Right Nation who has a great round up of the the original bloggers blogging the story.
Anti Idiotarian Rottweiler "This is good. Really, really good."
Point Five who has the Larry King X on CNN.
Hubs and Spokes has more. and so does Dan but on the techie points in the original CNN viewing..

JUST IN: CNN 'LIVE TODAY' BROADCAST WITH THEIR   DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL OPERATIONS:

    […]Joining me to explain what happened Steve our CNN director of technical operations.

    We’re putting you on the hot seat here.

    People at home are watching Vice President Dick Cheney.

    What happened?

    What were we trying to create behind the scenes?

    At the end of the speech the plan was to do, to have a CNN logo up on the screen and use that as the way of getting back from the speech back to you on camera and one of the many graphics we use here at CNN."

A CNN logo what is he talking about? When was the last time we saw a CNN logo come up after a live speech. It's time for another one of those AHEM moments....

HERE IS A DIFFERENT OFFICIAL EXPLANATION FROM CNN : "The "X" image, a place-holding marker used by technicians to cue up graphics, is not supposed to be visible to viewers but was inadvertently projected onto the screen by a malfunction in a "switcher" device, they explained."

LATEST UPDATE FROM DAILY PUNDIT WHO HAS THE RECORDING OF A CONVERSATION HE JUST HAD WITH THE ABOVE CALLER WHO ORIGINALLY CALLED CNN. SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN ON HIS PAGE TO THE SECOND GREEN BAR. HE SEEMS TO THINK THE ORIGINAL RECORDING MAY BE AUTHENTIC. THE PLOT THICKENS.......

***DAILY PUNDIT ABSOLUTE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AS OF THIS EVENING***:

"I just got off the phone with Laurie Goldberg, Senior Vice President for Public Relations with CNN. Her statement confirms the authenticity of the tape recording and reveals the actions CNN took after learning of the incident:

    "A Turner switchboard operator was fired today after we were alerted to a conversation the operator had with a caller in which the operator lost his temper and expressed his personal views -- behavior that was totally inappropriate. His comments did not reflect the views of CNN. We are reaching out to the caller and expressing our deep regret to her and apologizing that she did not get the courtesy entitled to her."

Congratulations Bill, this absolutely proves beyond reasonable doubt that this recording was authentic, as prior to any dismissal of the employee by CNN, investigation would have taken place .

I am glad and very impressed with your persistence in seeking the truth. No amount of left self gratifying echo chamber rhetoric can take that away from you. You defended a story that through no fault of your own landed in your lap, and you flew with it and had the carry through to bring it to a conclusion.

This is when the expression Hat Tip really applies! Well done. I have updated my post with the greatest of pleasure. Thank you for the story.

AND ONE DP'S COMMENTERS WHO CLAIMS TO BE FROM CNN RELATING AGAIN TO THE ORIGINAL 'CHEYNE HITS THE X SPOT' INCIDENT:

"From someone who works at CNN Operations, let me assure you that this was a technical glitch. That's all. It has to do with an effect and the way it was built, with the X being a cue point to match the key and video signals. That's it. When the effect was called up the X frame popped up, and it is something that the technical director can't tell will occur until he calls up the effect.

Besides, not one director or producer would EVER call for something like that. As a conservative, I'm embarrassed that so many of you are so paranoid as to believe this was on purpose.

(Also, CNN is not CNN Headline News. Why would you call HN?)"

AHEM....

Linked to Political Teen, Stop The ACLU,

Comments

[spiritofecstasy]

We have obligations to ourselves.

It has become Fashionable in media to invite excess. It is the new-world-show-order.

Ask the Manolo.

ASK THE MANOLO

[Alexandra]

Scott,
I understand what you are saying, but CNN has certain broadcasting regulations that it has to adhere to, and one of them is that it cannot be covert in propaganda type subtle 'pretending to be technical glitch' partisanship. It has obligations not only to the regulatory board but also to it's shareholders, who no matter what side they belong to will not be happy to loose their conservative advertisers as a result of this type of underhanded unprofessional behavior. As you know money talks, bullshit walks.

If a network for example declares that it is biased towards one political side, that is absolutely fine. But then it must do so openly and put it up everywhere so that their viewers know what they are watching. However if you claim to be as international and as culturally diverse as CNN claims to be, having correspondents covering events world wide, offices world wide, pulling this sort of stunt is counterproductive to what they claim they stand for.

Scott, if a channel is registered to be a news channel, it has certain obligations to it's viewers its shareholders and the regulatory board, it cannot suddenly be filtering news which is only complimentary to one side. Well it can, but then it had better come out of the closet, and not pull propaganda stunts that are more akin to a totalitarian country than the USA.

[Scott]

CNN has as much right to censor/comment on/etc. on Cheney's speech as the NYT/WaPo/LATimes to do the same thing in a less transparent (open? honest?) mode. The difference? I can't really see it. Same comments, just made visibly instead of on page 24, or in the opinion section.

One thing that seems missed in this tale of CNN woe: The guy that got fired was the guy who defended the action on the phone, but NOT THE GUY(S) WHO DID IT!!!! Sorry for the flame, but was this guy fired for spilling the beans that the cause was not a "technical glitch", but was CNN's comment on the Vice-President? CNN feels content to make its editorial position as cowards in the backroom, lie about the event, but only punish the guy that admitted the truth. CNN lied, but only one poor phone operator died.

I would like to get in touch with the guy that got fired (assuming that he really got fired, of course) and ask him how he feels about the response of liberal CNN to his admission of the truth. Would he consider it the same as the "lies of Cheney and Bush"?

They shall pass away as the dodo bird, spoken of but never seen again.

[Alexandra]

Gary,

I think your favorite line is still the best: 'What are you talking about?' and then I'll just repeat it several times ad nauseam as you do just for good measure, and sheer lack of inspiration of anything better to say.
You should not immediately feel slighted and succumb to the strong need to bite, simply because I am not at the computer to answer your previous comment.
And yes, I will not rise to the bait, I feel simply sorry for your inherent need to attract attention.
I wrote a very nice and actually complimentary comment on your site, you chose to be cutting for effect, (presumably looking at the traffic being brought to you by Maha's dem. site), and felt the need to perform for an audience. Mistakenly I responded, further explaining things you should have been aware of, still politely however. You chose to bite back again with the ad nausam "What are you talking about", sort of channeling a broken record. Seeing that you were neither listening nor was is it in your interest to do so, as the effect of your rhetoric was more rewarding, I stayed away, regardless of your response.

Then you woke up this morning and for whatever reason thought better of it, and wrote a polite comment (above). I did not answer immediately and you felt slighted feeling the need to bite but this time taking it some serious notches further (above). All very human emotions, but still controllable with help and the right medication.

You suggested yesterday I should take less caffeine because I challenged your knowledge of what you have exhibited on your site, including what you copy paste in your post. I was right. And what's more you still need to brush up on the Bill Quick comment about you which calls you a liberal, again on your site. You asked me where it was and I am telling you now that you'll find it at the bottom left of your side bar. You should feel lucky that anyone even bothers to look at at comments about you from an era presumably gone by, instead of being the idiot who is challenging the reader as to where it is.

It seems to me that you are a little confused, but unfortunately I don't have the time to deal with your Jekyll and Hyde psychosis. There is no one on this site who is interested in the performance. People have something to say that is on topic, and my exchange with you simply is not. You should not copy paste other bloggers comments on your post and then when they respond to you tell them you don't know what they are talking about. But then judging by our exchange you probably genuinely don't. If you have memory lapses for whatever reason, at least admit to it, and move on.

There, you had my brief attention now, I've answered you. Any of the big words above you do not understand, I suggest you help yourself to the dictionary, the English one of course not the Chinese Republic one you were using as reference yesterday as you seemed to have trouble understanding my English. But then why am I not surprised.

[Gary Farber]

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope. I saw somewhere on your blog that you're an immigrant to America, so I'll presume that the oddities of the messages you've left on my blog are a product of speaking English as a foreign language.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Mr.Glass_You Are Still Fragile]

BETTER LINKS!

Hello All and Happy Thanksgiving!

Just here to link apropos to interesting weblogs/sites but not soliciting anything else.

This came from Hugh Hewitt; "One Marine's View":

SHEPHERDAWAY

The entire page is truly interesting. This guy is "in" "the War Zone" yet he's highly aware of the behavior of domestic and interantional media. as exampled in his post:

SHEPHERDAWAY ON MEDIA

He concludes some posts as "Combat Updates." Interesting in and of themselves.

-ARE YOU SEEKING AN IDENTITY? Are you unsure about your friends and acquaintances? It is sooo easy to figure out. Read this:

Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican?

GAYPATRIOT

-IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FROM CHILDREN (No, not the one's who call CSPAN playing false pundits):

JACKandHILL

[Mr.Glass_You Are Fragile]

Hello All and Happy Thanksgiving!

Just here to link apropos to interesting weblogs/sites but not soliciting anything else.

This came from Hugh Hewitt; "One Marine's View":

http://shepherdaway.blogspot.com/

The entire page is truly interesting. This guy is "in" "the War Zone" yet he's highly aware of the behavior of domestic and interantional media. as exampled in his post:

http://shepherdaway.blogspot.com/2005/11/wrong-story-broad-main-steam-media-msm.html

He concludes some posts as "Combat Updates." Interesting in and of themselves.

-ARE YOU SEEKING AN IDENTITY? Are you unsure about your friends and acquaintances? It is sooo easy to figure out. Read this:

Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican?

http://gaypatriot.net/2005/11/21/democrat-republican-or-southern-republican

-IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FROM CHILDREN (No, not the one's who call CSPAN playing false pundits):

http://jackandhill.typepad.com/jack_and_hill_a_beauty_bl/2005/11/stalking_marily.html

[Gary Farber]

Just to note: I responded to your comment, Alexandra. I'm sorry that we seem to have such trouble understanding each other.

I wish you and yours a happy and joyous Thanksgiving, and I wish that we could all come together in our mutual respect for the ideals of our country, America, as reflected in our beloved Constitution, and the rights we stand by in it.

But, meanwhile, we can all have some turkey, unless we can't.

[jeff stiles]

God bless you for respecting the truth, Alexandra. I trust that your prayers last night result in more sunshine in your All Things Beautiful life today. Have a wonderful Thankgiving, from another romantic, optimistic, libertarian-leaning conservative . . .

[Alexandra]

I am not going to rise to the occasion Jo, and take the bait, it's Thanksgiving and I would like to say: Thank you for stopping by and hope you have a nice Thanksgiving Day.

I am just busy writing a post called 'Loyalty To The Truth On Thanksgiving', so if you are free after you have had your fill of our deliciously tasty Republican meat, pop back over and join. Don't bring your carving knife from the table though, let's have a day off from bashing against each other's heads. I have a headache from doing that with others all day yesterday. LOL!

[Joseph Marshall]

Well, I guess X marks the spot where Doofus New News stands with a lot of egg on it's face. Since DNN's most durable face is that of Wolf Blitzer, all I can say is, on him it looks good.

I doubt very seriously that it was deliberate. Even if you do have a "liberal bias" [Which I certainly do, whether CNN does or not.], there is absolutely no need to do such silly things to deliberately undermine American trust in Republican Presidents, Republican Vice-Presidents, Republican legislators, and Republican Supreme Court nominees.

They have done it so well to themselves over the past few months that we Liberals can just coast for a while and start planning for the 2006 elections. And, as the Abramoff scandal starts to snowball and gather up many prominent Republican politicians, we will have even less work to do.

Haven't heard of the Abramoff scandal, you say? Well, you will. If you'd like a sneak preview from a trustworthy Conservative source, go check out Tim F. on Balloon Juice.

I must say, however, that cancellations associated with egg on the face seem to be the fashion these days. I sincerely mourn the fact that your Open Source Media logo had to suffer such indignity. It was really quite nice and it will be a shame to see it disappear.

I presume it will disappear. I hope Simon, Johnson, & Co. are not so goofy as to wear the fresh egg on their faces indefinitely as some sort of Red Badge of Courage. Or even to wear it on their Pajamas. After all, they're going to have to start selling a lot advertising soon, and that cancelled logo will not be a strong sales talking point.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving, and, if you'll take some gratuitous advice, relax and enjoy the fact that not all who make turkeys of themselves will appear on your dining room table. Some will be on the web and some will be on the tube.

[Alexandra]

Jessie,

You are so kind. Thank you for the breath of fresh air.

I guess I am still a romantic and naive about these things. I really never thought that it was going to be possible to feel that bloggers could have so little integrity.

A lot happened to me today and most of it has not been recorded, because I had the most humongous traffic from the left side, and the abuse that went with it. I don't think I have ever felt so sad and disillusioned with blogging as I feel tonight.

Channeling Michelle Malkin who has long realized that it is fruitless to be civil to the left may be the way I will wake up tomorrow morning. But I think the best I can do is go into deep prayer which is very cleansing. I just suddenly feel a lot of compassion for her and the mean abusive comments she has had to put up with. The glimpse today of what she has to put up with constantly , makes me shudder. It must be hurtful. And there is no question it is very hurtful, I cannot deny it.

I grew up in a democratic household where freedom of speech and loyalty and honor were everything. I always understood and remembered the strength of my parents' convictions and admired them for it, hence deep down had a soft spot for the dems despite all, giving them the benefit of the doubt every time. So what has happened to these people today, to become so mean spirited and bitter, and disingenuous simply for effect, and amusement to their readers who feed like vultures on innocent meat.

I would rather die than to ever delete what anyone says, unless it is pure profanity. It would go against everything I stand for. I am appalled and very disillusioned. This has affected me, and not in a good way, I am far too sensitive to take these things lightly.

The emails of support I got were really what kept me going through the day, and the prayer is what will keep me safe tonight. I may wake up tomorrow morning to the right of Genghis Khan instead of the liberal conservative I truly am, which is sad.

As a blogger I feel very privileged to have you as an avid reader, and thank you for stepping in with your heartfelt remarks full of the intuition which you so often dispaly in your comments. I am very lucky indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too

[jess1dering]

Alexandra, The utter and absolutely shameless hypocrisy is breathtaking, isn't it? I sense your shock and horror. Be grateful for it, because it indicates that you can't imagine the lack of integrity that these people are shackled with. They are nothing really, all image, no substance. They are practioners of one of the darkest arts, the art of deliberate deceit. They, sadly, will get what's coming to them. Please don't waste a moment of your time trying to figure them out, rather be very grateful that you can't. Jot down their names and avoid them , document your experience with their crazy-making duplicity for future reference ,and warn others if the occasion arises out of genuine concern for their welfare. As for the sick deceivers, pity them. How awful to humiliate yourself publicly and not even have the modicum of decency necessary to see what you have done. Hey, I stopped by to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and to tell you that your blog is definitely on my gratitude list this year. Integrity is a rare and precious comodity these days and you have it and I thank you !! Happy Thanksgiving to you and to all of your loved ones

[The Leftist That Nobody Can See Through_SOE]

Funny thing is that cnn didn't have that X over Edwards when he made the speech after the last major Election. I think they could be biased.

Probably more obvious are the ratings. If your network was going anywhere would this event happen? If cnn was on the top of the ratings would they "allow" or "need" "mistakes" like this? No.

Through the entire history of cnn broadcasting this never happened. But by chance it happened when a political figurehead was on the air.

They could show political bias in any number of ways that would be subtle. They need ratings so they tried to maximize their effort by mixing objectives. This may be "jumping the shark" for cnn.

The pictures are all over the Interet so the adage stands: No PR is bad PR. But how long can you sell tickets on the Titanic when the ocean is also changing by the minute.

Of course the style of "mistake" reveals the stature, or lack of stature, of the mentality. They can't come up with anything else ...

Oh, Great links Alexandra!

[The Observer]

Mixed nuts.

GUCKERT /GANNON
Leftnuts: They replaced Helen Thomas with a biased gay prostitute with no credentials!
Rightnuts: Boring.
The Observer: Business as usual in D.C.

THE SUBLIMINAL X
Rightnuts: CNN hates Dick Cheney!
Leftnuts: Ridiculous.
The Observer: Business as usual in a large corporation.

RUPERT MURDOCH OWNS ALLEGEDLY CONSERVATIVE FOX NEWS AND ALLEGEDLY LIBERAL SKY NEWS
Leftnuts: Who? What?
Rightnuts: Who? What?
The Observer: A business genius who can target nut markets that are ripe for the picking. You people are food.

[Alexandra]

I notice you leave a polite comment on my blog and a rude one about it on yours. What is it with everybody. I make you a compliment and you bite on your blog for effect. Same as this Maha girl, polite here butter would not melt in her mouth, and rude to me on her own blog. Extraordinary.

To deal with your point by point comment to me on your blog (which sounds nothing like your comment here):

You have quotes from the people I mention that talk about you: Brad de Long, Judith Weiss, etc on the left side bar of your blog, and those are the people I mention in my first paragraph. Do you not remember them anymore? They are on your blog.

Bill Quick amongst them says that you are the perfect liberal, which I refer to by the by, no big deal if you are not.
The incident I am refering to with deleted comments happened on Maha's blog who you talk about prior to mentioning my quote which again relates to same. You LINK TO THAT WHOLE COMMENT SECTION ON HER BLOG AND COMMENT ON IT.
I was called a troll on her site IN THAT SECTION and since YOU LINK TO THAT VERY COMMENTS SECTION I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LINKING TO.

You say IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF YOUR POST when refering to my updates that they are update upon update upon update and that is what I refer to in my last paragraph, when I say I am far too well mannered to link to you if you do not wish to be linked to.

[North by Northwest]

Maha's behaviour unfortunately epitomizes hypocritical mediocrity.

Looking through her blog, Maha is at pains to extol the virtues of her own high moral standards and beliefs. The sad truth is however, they are just lip-service, as her own behavior does not conform to any of them.

Consider this quote from Maha's book about the Blogosphere:

"I started blogging in 2002 out of sheer frustration with the quality of what passes for political journalism these days. I wanted a diversity of perspectives. I wanted political coverage with substance. There were hard questions I wanted asked that journalists were not asking. And I thought, if the mainstream press won’t do it, I’ll do it myself. At this stage of blog evolution, blogs are not the same thing as journalism. As a rule (and this may change) bloggers do not do the information gathering and interviewing that reporters do. Rather, we supplement news media by providing context and analysis the “pros” miss.

The weblog's strength is fundamentally tied to its position outside of mainstream media: observing, commenting, and honestly reacting to both current events and the media coverage they generate. Weblogs can function as superb digests of online material. They excel at exposing and explaining flaws in media coverage. (Rebecca Blood)

Further, I think the direct, raw, and unfiltered quality of blogging gives it energy and power missing from newspaper writing."

In truth, Maha is incapable of separating her disappointments of her own personal life, which clearly left her embittered and mean spirited, from her virtuous goals she claims for herself. The irony is of course complete in so far as the debate arose over Alexandra's "...sheer frustration with the quality of what passes for political journalism these days.."; couldn't have put it any better, Maha.

Re-read your own book, Maha, breath in deeply and repeat after me: "My fellow American of opposing political persuasion are NOT my personal enemies." Aha..., isn't it..., doesn't it feel better already. Now try again. And again.

[Gary Farber]

Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog, but I'm afraid I can't make much sense of it. Did you confuse my blog and another, perhaps? Or...well, I'm not sure what else to make of your comment. [puzzledly]

[jh]

Those guys were "brilliant to discover it"? It's a freaking press release!

[Alexandra]

Whether it's true or not, this is the kind of stuff that will loose them their conservative advertisers, and at the end of the day with their dwindling figures: money talks and bullshit walks. The hysterical dem rhetoric is not going to pay their rent this month.

This technical glitch as they called it was impossible to explain as such if you read the techies explanations of what can and can't happen.

[spiritofecstasy]

We know that the CNN graphic x happened. That is provable.

The news item about phone recordings is highly suspect. Not just the fact that CNN employees couldn't possibly be that deranged (as the MSM melts down¿) to make repeated remarks as such BUT the final sentence of the article mentions investigations.

The Tri-Lateral commision is named. An organization of international bankers wouldn't do an investigation of CNN biase.

Is Ted Turner receiving advice, right now!, from Dan Rather???

We probably shouldn't be tolerant of this behavior at CNN. No wonder people watch FOX.

[Alexandra]

Well said Flying Tigress (love the name btw),

You know what I think of?

I think of Thomas Mann who said: "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.
To me censorship is a form of evil, I grew up with it as a little girl, and hate it with a passion like nothing else.

[FlyingTigress]

If correct, perhaps CNN has decided to proclaim itself to be the MiniTrue -- and engrave

Censorship is freedom of speech

Ignorance is Strength

upon CNN headquarters?

[Alexandra]

WOW!!! MAHA YOU DELETED THE TRACKBACK I SENT TO YOUR SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I OBVIOUSLY SPOKE TOO SOON.

AND NOW ALL THE COMMENTS WHERE I DEFEND MYSELF AGAINST INSULTS BY YOUR COMMENTERS. THEIRS OF COURSE YOU LEAVE IN.

You then lie to your readers and say:

"Run get daddy’s exorcism tongs.”

I’ve got her twit-filtered; you should see the stuff I bounced. Deranged. "

THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL LUCID ARGUMENTS WITHOUT THE SELF GRATIFYING ECHO CHAMBER RHETORIC THAT YOU ALL PRACTICE OVER THERE. UNBELIEVABLE. YOU CALL YOURSELF A DEMOCRAT MAHA, SHAME ON YOU. WHAT IS YOUR COMMENT POLICY? AGREE WITH ME OR I'LL DELETE YOUR COMMENTS AND LIE TO MY READERS AS TO WHAT YOU HAVE SAID?

[Alexandra]

"The Right Blogosphere is big on the trackbacking thing; the Left is not. We have a different culture on our side."

It's not the impression I have thus far, and I have certainly got links from the big blogs that consider themselves liberal and ones that are left leaning.

But look, I appreciate you coming over to say something, I just think that it is always provocative if you link this way and not make the blogger aware. It's almost more important to let the blogger that you vaguely patronise know that you are doing it, to give them a chance to respond. If you are simply blogging for yourself and only for the readers that agree with you, considering the oposing view as trolls, then fine, but reading your blog I actually liked it, and thought you were above that. I probably got offended more as a result.

[maha]

Alexandra:

!. The Right Blogosphere is big on the trackbacking thing; the Left is not. We have a different culture on our side.

2. I didn't say you, personally, believed the X story. I picked your blog post because it had a lot of links and was ABOUT the rumors.

[jeff stiles]

It's not paranoia when the "other side" is actually blatant in showing THEIR hatred toward (and total disrespect of) our Vice-President. Here was Cheney, making conciliatory gestures toward the opposition, and all the liberals can do is whine "Bush lied, Bush lied." How pathetic!!