Sunday Roundup

This week's campaign sleazefest brought to mind G. K. Chesterton's remark: "If there is one thing worse than the modern weakening of major morals, it is the modern strengthening of minor morals." So the media burns up hours of airtime arguing about "lipstick on a pig," while spending little or no time discussing suicide bombings in Iraq killing and wounding hundreds, the unemployment rate surpassing six percent for the first time in five years, another Wall Street institution teetering on collapse, the lack of political progress in Iraq reflected in the imminent postponement of the planned provincial elections, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declaring we're "running out of time" to get the war in Afghanistan right, etc, etc, etc. In this topsy-turvy media world, it's only fitting that the week's hardest-hitting political interview was conducted by the ladies on The View.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[Semper]

10:27 PM on 09/24/2008

Please Arianna, talk or ask your friends or discuss the bailout ASAP. Look the bailout is to cover or prevent the default on a lot of bad paper, that wall street sold overseas. Benacke even worked at the firm who was a big promoter of these products. The securities was created by wall street, the underlining assets are US real estate, The wall street guys were selling mortgages and packaged it as a security. Bush even changed the bankruptcy laws so that the mortgage holders could not walk away from the debt or do any foreclosures. They sold a lot of this stuff to China, England, almost anywhere that could sell it. They did not expect the market to drop(real estate). But payments are coming due so they have to payoff China, our biggest customer. Thats why fannie mae and ginny mae were picked up and covered. The whole a lot of this paper. We are getting our selves in some serious trouble. The future is starting to look really bad because of bailouts and backroom deals. We should not pay any of this. Also, If we pay, there is not guarantee that the problem will go away. Most investors are not rational, and I would bet that once the payments are made ,nothing changes.

[slaxx]

07:42 PM on 09/14/2008

did anyone else see the article on cnn about how palin changes her speeches depending on who she's talking to? i guess she can't use her "san francisco" line on obama anymore.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/14/palin-tweaks-stump-speech-for-different-audiences/

too funny.

[Deputy Dawg]

07:35 PM on 09/14/2008

PalinMania: much ado about nothing!
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45366,opinion,democrats-panic-in-the-face-of-palin-mania-alexander-cockburn-sarah-palin

[trix90]

07:22 PM on 09/14/2008

Right now, most attack ads from the dems are lame. I was watching morning talk shows and sadly except Debby Wasserman, everyone chickened out. This is not good. You can smell the fear and frustration. Attacking only McCain and Palin is just plain bad idea. We need to frame republican party and Bush at the same time and each time a talking head tries to get the upper hand ask him/her:
1. If McCain is so good then why did they nominate Bush in 2000 and not McCain? Even if we assume that they made a mistake in 2000 then why did they endorse him again in 2004? Everyone knew that nothing was working by then. Note that they used the similar line of attack with respect to Hillary.
2. We should also ask them why they didn't put up McCain in 2004? Why we should trust them again this time? Obviously they think Bush is better than McCain.
3. Bush made the same promise that Sarah Palin is making now - clean up Washington. He was also a governor, infact he had a better record as a governor. So, why is it going to be different this time? Why should we trust them again this time.
We really need to get RPs out of their comfort zone to win the election. Current line of attack is pathetic. Issue is that we can not trust republican establishment including McCain to deliver because they have bad judgement. They gave us Bush!!!

[booker52]

07:03 PM on 09/14/2008

Too true, the ladies of the View had the hard hitting questions this week. The rest look like loons and the silly questions and pigs with lipsticks. Nothing about the real issues. I do believe this week goes to the GOP. They said it would be about personalities and not issues. Boy were they right. How sad.

[scmucas2001]

01:42 PM on 09/16/2008

"They said it would be about personalities and not issues"

Reminds me of the Patriots players after they beat the Steelers in the playoffs a couple of years ago when they said, "The test becomes easier after you know all the answers."

The politicians with the (R) after their names just seem to be able to frame elections so much better than do the politicians with the (D) after their names. I don't know why that is. But, they made the last election about gay marriage and got the evangelicals out behind them, and they're making this one about personalities and it is again working.

I...just...don't...get...it.

[USindependent]

06:56 PM on 09/14/2008

You are right again Arianna,,,
And if you watch other interviews. You can see that the Neocons are on board with those tactics.
This is the same pattern as the ((Bush regime)).
Just like Chuck Norris and his comments and attacks.
Obviously we are not with them, so we are considered unpatriotic and the cut and run enemy.
And any personal attacks that can be though of.
Once again the NEOCONs proved they have no substance and no response to the real issues..

[pfc1369]

06:53 PM on 09/14/2008

I worked for a number of years at China's Xinhua News Agency, their Izvestia and Pravda rolled into one.

And I can report:
The Chinses and the Americans are the two most heavily propagandized people on earth.

The major difference is, most Chinese have no trouble telling s**t from Shinola.

[cart 25]

06:48 PM on 09/14/2008

hasslebeck will be off the view and on fox news within the year. mark my words.

[charlottereb]

06:34 PM on 09/14/2008

Dear Ms Huffington,

Much has been said over the last two weeks since Senator John McCain had announced that Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska would be his running mate for Vice President. Would you please remind Republicans and the American people that unless the Republicans come out and reject this cynical ploy, they implicitly approve of it.

Thank you.

[TeddyRoosevelt]

06:10 PM on 09/14/2008

The time has come for Obama to start leading his own campaign. He has all the supporting structures in place: great campaign staff, grass roots support, money, and issues. But the final necessary key ingredient is his ability to excite the 5%-10% of the electorate we need for victory. His supporters have done everything and more to make this a success. The rest is up to him. He can no longer pace in front of audiences trying to persuade with logic and the facts. He has to confront the attacks, the lies and the spin with authority, outrage and fire. He must become passionate from the gut. If he doesn't have this in him it's over, no matter how well he does in the debates. The final movement of voters to his side will come from non-spoken language of attitudes, energy, power, emotions and feelings. He has to show how he feels, that this matters to him. Not that it has to matter to voters; it must matter to him. If voters don't see him fighting for his life they will be unmoved. He has to lose his cool. Big time!

[UnknownSoldier]

06:51 PM on 09/14/2008

If he loses his cool the media will subtly play the fear of a black man card. There is a new movie set to come out starring S. L. Jackson as a Black Police Officer. The Plot of the film seems to be that the Power of being a police officer has gone to this blackman's head.

Now here is the media sending yet another Anti Obama message. Black Men don't have the experience to deal with power when it comes white people. When are they going to re-release Birth of a Nation

0bama is under attack from multiple sources.

[Paul Peete]

07:21 PM on 09/14/2008

It is time for us to acknowledge that Sen. Obama has a right to return fire when attacked with scurrilous ads like the one suggesting he wants to teach sex education in kindergarten. He could have, as a father of two young girls signaled the contempt he must have felt at that attack.

Ms. Huffington rightly indicated that righteous anger, as expressed by Sidney Potier, Morgan Freeman, and other blacks has awakened Americans to the fact that a Black man has it within him to express anger in the face of unjust assault. It is a precarious balance, but he must show that he will fight for what is right, fight for the future of America to earn the respect of those who think him too intellectual to go to bat for the country.

[WelcomeBackRegan]

05:50 PM on 09/14/2008

I love it!

Please keep it up! 51 days until you all can start hating on a new White House:)

[matthewhusseinsmith]

05:43 PM on 09/14/2008

Writing and talking about the economy doesn't make you money.
Writing and talking about Sarah Palin's juicy tidbits does.
Besides, the MSM is big business and a friend of the GOP.
In the meantime the country is falling apart, but do the rich notice or care?
And when the country is kaput, the rich will migrate to other shores.
The religious right? It'll still want to legislate religion and ethics on the deck of the Titanic.

[UnknownSoldier]

07:04 PM on 09/14/2008

The Islamic world was light years of ahead of the Western Europeans, they had Science, Art, Commerce, global trade, etc. The Europeans were fighting over who would be POPE.

1492 changed everything for both the Islamic world, and the European west. Up until the Europeans started to develop trade routes that didn't cross Muslims lands. Muslims countries had a strict separation of church and state. This allowed Muslims to trade with non muslims. In fear of the Europeans the Muslims wanted everyone to be Muslims and thus went the separation of Church and State. At the sametime Europe was coming out of its Religious Dark Ages and into the age of Enlightenment.

Now we fast foward to today and what do we have. Muslim women starting something of a rebellion against oppression in muslim countries. What do we have in America? people saying God said that equal pay for women is not a good thing.

If you think the Religious Right knows what is good for the country then you don't know history.

[matthewhusseinsmith]

12:39 AM on 09/15/2008

"If you think the Religious Right knows what is good for the country then you don't know history."

Re-read my post with care:
"The religious right? It'll still want to legislate religion and ethics on the deck of the Titanic."

There is no place for religion in government; for if there were, the question would then be: WHICH religion?

[BlackBottom]

05:42 PM on 09/14/2008

You know, Hillary warned about the Republicans. Barrack needs to stop whining as ask Hillary for her pair and fight back like a man. Sara is surely fighting like one.

[jim mcshane]

05:20 PM on 09/14/2008

I want to report some funny business with microsoft--- I am having trouble getting onto your site. when I do this comes upon the screen.... Internet Exployer cannot open the internet site: http://www.huffingtonpost..com followed by: operation aborted. then it comes upon the screen you are not connected to the internet------I have to start all over.

I have a comment too--- McCain doesn't have any solutions that the American people want to hear that is why he is putting out the bad ads about obama of course it is Carl Rove -- maybe Rove is trying to make McCain lose---- There only those who are not smart enough to see through this bad mouthing and lieing about Obama and Polins big political fetes in Alaska--- Fooled us once shame on Rove, fool us twice (again) shame on us... Some folks are dummer that a box of rocks--

[INDmind]

05:20 PM on 09/14/2008

Sounds like you were FOR the media (when they were spinning good feel stories about the inexperienced Obama) before you were AGAINST them (now that they print stuff like the lipstick story.)

Thanks to the media, we now know more about Sarah Palin in two weeks than we know about Barack Obama in 17 months.

Fair much?

[pfc1369]

06:34 PM on 09/14/2008

What? You no like good feel stories?

Speak fair English much?