• New Obama ad smacks McCain on his hypocritical NIMBY position on Yucca Mountain as a storage facility for nuclear waste:  he's for Yucca Mountain but against nuclear waste traveling through his state of Arizona to deliver the waste there.
• Charles Blow/NYT: There's no denying racial politics in the presidential campaign.
• WaPo's Presumptuousness, Revisited. WaPo's Ombudsman, Deborah Howell, belatedly addresses Dana Milbank's (and Jonathan Weisman's) hatchet jobs dated July 30th on Obama, in which they misquoted Obama to fit a narrative of Obama being "presumptuous" (previously analyzed here).
  .Buried lead: Weisman supplied the misquote to Milbank because he thought it would fit into the piece that Milbank was already writing, the thesis of which was Obama is uppity "arrogant". Howell reveals that Weisman never spoke to his source - he got an email from his source with the partial, misleading quote and quickly turned it into a "Trail" blog post from the road. The email, however, did not imply that Obama was being arrogant and others who received an identical email from the same source did not come away with the same inference as Weisman.Howell, as part of her review of the controversy, spoke to the source and learned that the source did not believe Obama spoke arrogantly at the House Democratic event. The source also didn't request anonymity from Weisman. In other words, Weisman drew his own biased inference from a partial, second-hand quote, didn't speak to the source or try to corroborate it from other sources (and others who attended the event spoke to other media on the record), and then forwarded the misquote to Milbank with his own negative spin because he thought it would fit into Milbank's "Obama is presumptuous" piece that Weisman knew Milbank was drafting. How convenient.

  Howell should have spanked Weisman more directly -- Weisman should have at least discussed the event with the source before publishing his piece and forwarding it to Milbank to confirm whether his inference was correct. That is, unless WaPo doesn't care about getting the facts right before publishing.

• The Hill: Obama slams McCain in Saturday radio address. Highlights Iraq's $79 billion dollar surplus while America spends over $10 Billion a month rebuilding and securing Iraq while America suffers from an economic downturn. His radio address can be heard here.
• Rielle Hunter's family not happy with John Edwards. They demand John Edwards take a paternity test to clear her name. This story isn't going away until the paternity issue is resolved.
• Key counties in swing states have grown more diverse in recent years, which may favor Obama's chances.

• Chicago Tribune. Profile of senior legal adviser to Obama campaign, Michael Strautmanis.
• FBI says it obtained WaPo and NY Times' reporters' phone records.
• Cheney will speak at the GOP convention.
• NY Times: The inevitable navel gazing begins - should the traditional media have avoided the Edwards story?
• Edwards brings up John McCain's adultery.
• Dallas lawyer paid for Edwards's mistress to relocate.

First, there's the "Dean" of Washington journalists, David Broder.  Fresh from his hand-slapping at the hands of ombudsman Deborah Howell for his questionable acceptance of speaking fees to various organizations, Broder rightly shines a light on gerrymandering of House districts.  This phenomenon has made most House elections a given every two years.  (it also means that the dramatic gains made by Democrats in 2006 were all the more impressive!)  As Broder points out:

In 2002 and 2006, the most recent off-year elections, about nine out of 10 congressional districts were won by more than 10 percentage points -- a clear sign that the game had been rigged when the lines were drawn in the state legislatures. In the first of those years, only eight incumbents lost; in the second, only 21.

As scholars have pointed out, the scarcity of real competition in nearly all districts has many consequences -- all of them bad. It makes legislators less responsive to public opinion, since they are in effect safe from challenge in November. It shifts the competition from the general election to the primary, where candidates of more extreme views can hope to attract support from passionately ideological voters and exploit the low turnouts typical of those primaries.

Meanwhile, over at Time's Swampland blog, Joe Klein provides a nice, balanced look at the surge.  Yes, violence is reduced.  But is that -- in and of itself -- sufficient to justify our continued presence there?

The surge has reduced violence. We should all be thrilled about that--and honored by the brilliance of those who have served in Iraq. But what we're talking about here is whipped cream on a pile of fertilizer--a regional policy unprecedented in its stupidity and squalor.

Rare moments of lucidity from these two encrusted members of the conventional wisdom-setting mainstream media posse.  Broder must have a doozy of a "bipartisanship" column ready for Sunday, and Klein is due for another one of his self-loathing Democrat screeds where he attacks what he claims is his own party for nonsensical offenses.

Letzte Woche durfte Mahmoud Zahar, starker Mann der Hamas, in der Washington Post einen Gastkommentar schreiben. Dem Blatt muss man zugute halten, dass ein hauseigener Kommentar vermerkte, man hätte sich dort die Nase zugehalten.

Aber so einfach geht es auch wieder nicht. Wenn das Blatt Zahar für den Kommentar ein Honorar gegeben haben sollte, befände sich die Post möglicherweise auf Kollisionskurs mit Bundesgesetzen, die finanzielle Transaktionen an Terrororganisationen unter Strafe stellt, so Steve Emerson (via LGF). Die Washington Post zahlt an Gastkommentatoren ein Mindesthonorar in Höhe von 200 Dollar; unter Umständen fällt mehr an. Emerson zufolge weigert sich die Post anzugeben, ob und wie viel sie für den Kommentar bezahlt hat.

Ich hatte gehofft, dass die für Beschwerden zuständige Ombudsfrau Deborah Howell sich zunehmend an der Diskussion beteiligen würde. Stattdessen beschäftigte sie sich in ihrer Kolumne letzte Woche mit Fragen, die ohne Bezug zur Israel-Berichterstattung unserer Kollegen von CAMERA stehen. In der heutigen Ausgabe geht’s um Bloggen zum Thema „Sport“.

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Watching the piteous national political media at play in so many different fields of the Lord this past week (bloggers, planes, leaks, and my fave: Gosh, there was corruption early in the occupation of Iraq! Why weren't we told?) brought to mind a somewhat tangential (but apocalyptic!) diary I had posted at DailyKos a few months back.

 The Four Postmen of the Apocalypse

First, after Grantland Rice ( the "Dean of American Sportswriters", back when being the Dean meant having a clue.)

Outlined against the troubles of a nation, the Four Writers wrote again. In Internet lore they are known as arrogance, pomposity, cluelessness and idiocy. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Broder, Woodward, Howell and Hiatt. They formed the crest of the cyclone before which the reputation of the Washington Post was swept over the precipice these past ten years as a million readers peered at the bewildering panorama spread out on their breakfast tables and computer screens.

And thence on to more Ancient Sources

9. [Broder] And I saw when the rabid lamb opened one of the links, and I heard, as it were the sound of wankery, one of the four courtiers saying, Come and read.

10. And I read, and beheld two fatuous quotes: and he that spoke them knew not his hypocrisy; and many spots on Sunday morning television were given unto him: and he went forth being arrogant, and to show all that he well and truly was a dick.

11.[Woodward] And when he had opened the second link, I heard the second courtier say, Come and read.

12. And there I read another work of stenography: and power was given to him that wrote therein to transcribe the thoughts of the mighty, and that they should flatter one another: and there was given unto him great riches for his efforts.

 13.[Howell] And after she had someone help her open the third link, I heard the third courtier say, Come and read. And I read, and lo, she that wrote it had a pair of balances in her hand.

14. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four courtiers say, A measure of column space for a Democrat, and three measures of column space for a Republican; unless the news is bad and then the measures shall be reversed; and see that thou hurt not the status quo.

15.[Hiatt] And when he had opened the fourth link, I heard the voice of the fourth courtier say, Come and read.

16. And I read, and beheld a mass of distortions and lies: and his name that wrote it was Idiocy, and The wingnuts followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the estate, to mislead with pen, and with words, and with images, and with the shameful iniquity of their lies.

But, Hey! Who's complaining? at least they're the Liberal™ Media.

JP Stormcrow

[cross-posted at Mostly Harmless]