Huh? He's not admitting the media is biased, mind you. He's saying unfair, biased portraits of the media in the media account for the perception the media is unfair and biased.

So the media has only one bias... against itself, apparently. On every other issue it's a straight-shooter.

I'm just getting around to reading the article, but Kevin D. Williamson's snippets are a hoot.

The jackoff concludes with a rousing call for the media to thoughtfully examine whether it demonstrates systemic bias, and take steps to remedy that tendency attack its critics:

But nothing journalists do will reverse the dark tides of popular cynicism. The wrecking balls destroying the credibility of the press cannot be stopped until we focus more attention on the credibility of those who are pulling the levers, including a public that has been conditioned, like rats in a Skinnerian dystopia, to hate us.

Correction: I attributed the post to Steve Spruiell mistakenly.

Posted by: Ace at 10:37 AM | Comments (28)
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Another reason to vote for Hillary in the primaries.

Can we change our registration real quick and vote for Hillary, the same way independents and Democrats interfere in our primaries?

Posted by: Ace at 10:25 AM | Comments (23)
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I'n sure you already know, but just for the sake of commenting:

Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two aides. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning—Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The former North Carolina senator will not immediately endorse either candidate in what is now a two-person race for the Democratic nomination, said one adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement. Clinton said Wednesday that Edwards called her to inform her about his decision.

Obama told reporters Edwards had exited the race in a "classy" way. "I think he's run a great campaign," said Obama, who aides said also spoke with Edwards Tuesday night and asked for his endorsement.

He'll make his announcement at about one o'clock.

Hat-Tip Dave In Texas. I'm sorry, I looked to see if this was on the blog already and was surprised it wasn't. I guess I just skipped over Dave's post as I was scrolling down.

Posted by: Ace at 09:52 AM | Comments (31)
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Thanks to Bill in DC.

Posted by: Ace at 09:42 AM | Comments (19)
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In between doing double shots of my own tears I found this feel-good article:

Two artificial DNA "letters" that are accurately and efficiently replicated by a natural enzyme have been created by US researchers. Adding the two artificial building blocks to the four that naturally comprise DNA could allow wildly different kinds of genetic engineering, they say.

Now where have I seen this before...oh yeah.

Now couple that with what came out a couple days ago, it looks like we will soon be playing God at a varsity level.

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:53 AM | Comments (25)
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As many of you know co-blogger Gabriel was recently involved in a car accident and is laid up with various injuries. While he’s managed a couple of posts since then, according our e-mail conversation, he’s got a good bit of time on his hands to kill.

So, I thought perhaps moron nation could chime in with some movie rental suggestions to help Gabriel pass the time.

Since my tastes run more to the classics, I am going to suggest:

Some Bogart films: Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Angels With Dirty Faces (more of Cagney film).

Two Hollywood epics: Spartacus and Ben-Hur

Of course no list would be complete without a couple of war movies: Patton, In Harm’s Way, They Were Expendable and The Best Years of Our Lives.

And since this is a moron/politics blog…Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I’ll leave it to each of you to decide whether John McCain is more in the mold of Sen. Smith or Sen. Paine.

I have no idea if he’s seen any of these but you know kids these days, no appreciation for the greats.

I am sure any suggestions to help pass the time while convalescing will be greatly appreciate by Gabe.

UPDATE [Gabe]: Thank you all very much for the movie recommendations, although some of you have appalling taste. I have added these to my list to see over the next week:

The Lion in Winter, recommended by dlm and TomJW. This is one of my all-time favorite movies. The dialog is killer.

"I even made poor Louis take me on Crusade. How's that for blasphemy. I dressed my maids as Amazons and rode bare-breasted halfway to Damascus. Louis had a seizure and I damn near died of windburn... but the troops were dazzled."

"I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody."

Some Like It Hot, recommended by Terry. Never seen it, but I've been told to see it before. Now seems like a good time.

Live Free or Die Hard, recommended by alexthechick. Didn't get to see it in theaters. I'll see about getting the unrated version.

Silverado, recommended by Harry Callahan. Pretty much the only western I like. Bruce Broughton wrote the most incredible horn fanfare for it.

Henry V, recommended by my ma. Again, with the St. Crispin Day chorus: "No nobis domine domine no nobis domine Sed nomine sed nomine tuo da glorium."

HONORABLE MENTIONs: Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan, recommended by Gunslinger. Own it. Love it.

Band of Brothers, recommended by XD45c, AytchMan, Brown Line, Timothy Watson, and Harry Callahan. Got it. Seen it a million times.

Firefly, recommended by Nom de Blog, H2U, and Harry Callahan.

Posted by: DrewM. at 08:13 AM | Comments (185)
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As many of you know co-blogger Gabriel was recently involved in a car accident and is laid up with various injuries. While heÂ’s managed a couple of posts since then, according our e-mail conversation, heÂ’s got a good bit of time on his hands to kill.

So, I thought perhaps moron nation could chime in with some movie rental suggestions to help Gabriel pass the time.

Since my tastes run more to the classics, I am going to suggest:

Some Bogart films: Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Angels With Dirty Faces (more of Cagney film).

Two Hollywood epics: Spartacus and Ben-Hur

Of course no list would be complete without a couple of war movies: Patton, In HarmÂ’s Way, They Were Expendable and The Best Years of Our Lives.

And since this is a moron/politics blogÂ…Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. IÂ’ll leave it to each of you to decide whether John McCain is more in the mold of Sen. Smith or Sen. Paine.

I have no idea if heÂ’s seen any of these but you know kids these days, no appreciation for the greats.

I am sure any suggestions to help pass the time while convalescing will be greatly appreciate by Gabe.

UPDATE [Gabe]: Thank you all very much for the movie recommendations, although some of you have appalling taste. I have added these to my list to see over the next week:

The Lion in Winter, recommended by dlm and TomJW. This is one of my all-time favorite movies. The dialog is killer.

"I even made poor Louis take me on Crusade. How's that for blasphemy. I dressed my maids as Amazons and rode bare-breasted halfway to Damascus. Louis had a seizure and I damn near died of windburn... but the troops were dazzled."

"I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody."

Some Like It Hot, recommended by Terry. Never seen it, but I've been told to see it before. Now seems like a good time.

Live Free or Die Hard, recommended by alexthechick. Didn't get to see it in theaters. I'll see about getting the unrated version.

Silverado, recommended by Harry Callahan. Pretty much the only western I like. Bruce Broughton wrote the most incredible horn fanfare for it.

Henry V, recommended by my ma. Again, with the St. Crispin Day chorus: "No nobis domine domine no nobis domine Sed nomine sed nomine tuo da glorium."

HONORABLE MENTIONs: Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan, recommended by Gunslinger. Own it. Love it.

Band of Brothers, recommended by XD45c, AytchMan, Brown Line, Timothy Watson, and Harry Callahan. Got it. Seen it a million times.

Firefly, recommended by Nom de Blog, H2U, and Harry Callahan.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:13 AM | Comments (187)
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Every four years, we go through the same routine. We're presented with a slate of candidates and all of them visit two states, maybe three. By the end of the primaries in those states, the field is winnowed down to just a few candidates and like Anwyn says, voters in states that aren't New Hampshire and Iowa are usually forced to pick from who's left instead of their first choice.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of having my choices limited by the voters of two states. It's time to fix the process and make it more representative. Voters in later primary states should have a chance to make some impact on the entire field of candidates, not just who is chosen by a small pool of voters.

My friend Joe (who lives in Indiana and for that reason says he's "never cast a meaningful primary vote") emailed me a couple of months ago with his suggestions for a more ideal primary structure. I think it's a plan with promise, and the resentment stirred by this year's primary election might just be the impetus needed for voters in 48 states to tell the party we're fed up with being controlled by the other two.

Here's the plan:

1. Have three presidential primary dates, one per month. Say, Mar, Apr, May.

2. Rank the states and DC descending by electoral votes, breaking ties to prefer states that entered the Union earlier (DC is last by the date of the 23rd amendment). So CA is 1, Texas 2, etc. The electoral votes are only a way of structuring the process. Since electoral votes are based on population, using them to split up the states is a way of dividing the country into rough thirds. Each state would be allowed to apportion delegates according to their normal process and in their regular number.

3. On the first primary, the seventeen states that are ranked 3, 6, 9, etc. hold their presidential primaries. Next month, it is 2, 5, 8, etc., and then the last month 1, 4, 7, etc.

The advantages are that no few early states are overly influential. If one candidate has managed to mathematically lock up the nomination after only 2/3 of the states have voted, then there's likely enough consensus already that the last states won't feel disenfranchised, as they do now. The reason the states are spread out over three dates is to give the small states some say. If all the states were on the same day, then just the large or undecided states would be visited and the others ignored.

Here are the lists: more...

Posted by: Slublog at 06:36 AM | Comments (78)
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Commenter Tinian noted that in Slub's Morning-After Motivation post below.

Clinton/Edwards?

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 06:12 AM | Comments (17)
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Bryan at Hot Air has a good perspective on John McCain, the new front-runner and let's admit it, presumptive nominee. Not a perfect outcome, but one that I can slowly talk myself into grudgingly accepting as an alternative to Clinton. The campaign isn't over, and if nothing else, this campaign has made a lot of people angry enough about the process to start questioning why a small group of states should be allowed to winnow the field before most of us have had the chance to vote for our first choice.

Remember, it could have been worse.

Much worse. more...

Posted by: Slublog at 05:58 AM | Comments (54)
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