Fox Newstach is Still Dead

On Newshounds I shared some thoughts about the ruination of Fox New's last good show, "Fox NewsWatch."

More on The Siegelman Blackout

href="http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/02/25/whnt_60_minutes/">This
is a good link which rounds up most of the pertinent info on the
blackout of theSiegelman portion of the 60 Minutes Broadcast. In Brief:

-WHNT, the station in question, is owned by the Bass Brothers, major supporters of George W. Bush.

-WHNT's original claim of "a technical problem with CBS out of New York" was denied by CBS. WHNT then changed its story, blaming the problem on CBS' receiver.

Oh,
and href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/25/60-minutes-blocked/">this
post from Think Progress is good, too.

It Can't Happen Here, But Actually It Already Did

Well, the reality based blog community is already sending out alarms about how the 60 Minutes broadcast segment about the alleged railroading of Alabama's former Democratic Governor Don Siegelman was blacked out in parts of Alabama.

The Huffington Post writes:

Tonight was something truly unseen in US history.

But, as My wife, points out, it HAS happened before.

VIDOR - With much anticipation, some Vidorians waited to see yet another television special about dealing with the stigma of its racially charged history.

Instead, Paula Zahn's program on CNN - or the lack of the relevant portion - raised eyebrows.

That's because when it came time for the Vidor segment, television screens of Time Warner Cable customers across Southeast Texas went blank for about five minutes - about the entire duration of the segment.

Fox News' Only Good Show - R.I.P.

Fox News has dropped Eric Burns, the conservative but fairminded host of Fox News Watch, the network's news media criticism show.

Fox News Watch wasn't perfect - for instance, it always seemed less likely to cover stories that looked bad for Fox --but what it did cover, it covered fairly, partially because of the diverse political views of its analysts, but mostly because it was hosted by Burns, who was first and foremost interested in hearing what people had to say. According to TVNewser, Now Burns is being let go.

It's not like News Watch is hurting in the ratings:

"Burns has hosted the show since 1998. Last weekend, Fox News Watch was the highest rated cable show in Total Viewers and was the #2 show (behind Fox & Friends Weekend) in the A25-45 demo." (From TVNewser)

"I was given no reason," Burns told Johnny Dollar. "I have no theory, none, why they are getting rid of me. Although I heard rumors, I have never heard reasons."

According to Inside Cable News, "the program will remain focused on media criticism but will be revamped with a new host and more of an eye on the evolving new media."

I don't know what that is supposed to be, but I doubt it will be a good show again.

Misremembering Reagan

This is a good article about a myth that seems to be one of the few taking on a new myth: that GW Bush is an unpopular failure because he failed to be truly conservative like Ronald Reagan.

The truth is that Bush was the true fulfillment of the Reagan promise. Reagan cut taxes, then raised them. Bush cut taxes, then cut more. Reagan invaded a postage stamp nation. Bush invaded a large one.

All of Bush's failures are a result of his right wing ideology. But the GOP wingers whink they just need MORE of a wingnut to fix things. Someone to invade Iran and Irag. Someone to cut taxes even more.

1) Eating glass is good for you.

2) My mouth is bleeding! Someone give me more glass!

Naomi Wolf Says the "F" Word on Live TV

Sheppard Smith warns her, "Don't you ever 'Fox' on me. Ever."



Hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

So Who Got the Most Votes on Super Tuesday?

That's what I kept asking.

I know it's the delegates that really determine who's ahead, but it's worth noting who's actually the popular candidate.

After much soul-searching and mucher net-surfing I found this great post by a Time Magazine blogger:

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/02/super_tuesday_the_most_interes.html

(Sorry, links are down. You'll have to copy and paste.)

So here's the part I was looking for most:

Clinton: 48.7%
Obama: 48.4%
Edwards: 2.7%
Uncommitted: 0.17%
Biden: 0%
Richardson: 0%%

Man, this is a close race!

Why Primary Delegate Counts Sometimes Go to 11

This linked article is a good rundown in the basic differences between how the Democrats and Republicans award their delegates from the primaries.

In a nutshell, the Democrats award their delegetes proportionally, while the GOP has winner-take-all primaries. This is one reason why McCain seems to be winning his race while the outcome of Obama vs. Hillary is still in doubt.

Of course, there are other wrinkles. Some GOP primaries award their delagetes proportionally, and some Dem races have bonus delegates for the winner. Then there's the Democrats' "Super Delegates," Party bigwigs who get about 20% of the delegates to awards as they choose at the convention.

And even I still can't figure out the caucuses.

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

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