THIS MODERN WORLD

My friends at FAIR don’t get enough respect — they were tracking right-wing media bias long before any of these Johnny-Come-Lately media activists who get all the attention these days. Anyway, they’ve just released a compilation of stupidly triumphalist punditry from the runup to and early days of the war, inspired by something Cal Thomas wrote at the time:

“All of the printed and voiced prophecies should be saved in an archive. When these false prophets again appear, they can be reminded of the error of their previous ways and at least be offered an opportunity to recant and repent. Otherwise, they will return to us in another situation where their expertise will be acknowledged, or taken for granted, but their credibility will be lacking.”

And in the spirit Mr. Thomas surely never intended, a few pundits (and publications) who clearly need an opportunity to recant and repent:

“Iraq Is All but Won; Now What?”
(Los Angeles Times headline, 4/10/03)

“Now that the combat phase of the war in Iraq is officially over, what begins is a debate throughout the entire U.S. government over America’s unrivaled power and how best to use it.”
(CBS reporter Joie Chen, 5/4/03)

“Congress returns to Washington this week to a world very different from the one members left two weeks ago. The war in Iraq is essentially over and domestic issues are regaining attention.”
(NPR’s Bob Edwards, 4/28/03)

“The only people who think this wasn’t a victory are Upper Westside liberals, and a few people here in Washington.”
(Charles Krauthammer, Inside Washington, WUSA-TV, 4/19/03)

“We had controversial wars that divided the country. This war united the country and brought the military back.”
(Newsweek’s Howard Fineman–MSNBC, 5/7/03)

“We’re all neo-cons now.”
(MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, 4/9/03)

“The war was the hard part. The hard part was putting together a coalition, getting 300,000 troops over there and all their equipment and winning. And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but it is not as hard as winning a war.”
(Fox News Channel’s Fred Barnes, 4/10/03)

“What’s he going to talk about a year from now, the fact that the war went too well and it’s over? I mean, don’t these things sort of lose their–Isn’t there a fresh date on some of these debate points?”
(MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, speaking about Howard Dean–4/9/03)

“I doubt that the journalists at the New York Times and NPR or at ABC or at CNN are going to ever admit just how wrong their negative pronouncements were over the past four weeks.”
(MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, 4/9/03)

“I’m waiting to hear the words ‘I was wrong’ from some of the world’s most elite journalists, politicians and Hollywood types…. I just wonder, who’s going to be the first elitist to show the character to say: ‘Hey, America, guess what? I was wrong’? Maybe the White House will get an apology, first, from the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. Now, Ms. Dowd mocked the morality of this war….

“Do you all remember Scott Ritter, you know, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector who played chief stooge for Saddam Hussein? Well, Mr. Ritter actually told a French radio network that — quote, “The United States is going to leave Baghdad with its tail between its legs, defeated.” Sorry, Scott. I think you’ve been chasing the wrong tail, again.

“Maybe disgraced commentators and politicians alike, like Daschle, Jimmy Carter, Dennis Kucinich, and all those others, will step forward tonight and show the content of their character by simply admitting what we know already: that their wartime predictions were arrogant, they were misguided and they were dead wrong. Maybe, just maybe, these self-anointed critics will learn from their mistakes. But I doubt it. After all, we don’t call them ‘elitists’ for nothing.”
(MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, 4/10/03)

“Over the next couple of weeks when we find the chemical weapons this guy was amassing, the fact that this war was attacked by the left and so the right was so vindicated, I think, really means that the left is going to have to hang its head for three or four more years.”
(Fox News Channel’s Dick Morris, 4/9/03)

“I will bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week. Are you willing to take that wager?”
(Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, 1/29/03)

Much more here.

HARTFORD — Anti-Iraq War sentiment heated up at the state Capitol Tuesday as 11 state lawmakers endorsed a planned rally against U.S. policy in Iraq.

State House Assistant Majority Leader David McCluskey, D-West Hartford, got so whipped up about U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman’s strong support for the war that he made a comment he quickly regretted.

“In spite of all the many good things Senator Lieberman has done, this (Iraq war) is the overriding moral issue, and if he doesn’t change his position, I cannot be with him in good conscience,” McCluskey said during a news conference to promote Sunday’s rally.

“He needs to come to Jesus on this one,” McCluskey said. A short time later, McCluskey apologized for making a comment that might offend Lieberman, a devout Orthodox Jew.

* * *

McCluskey said he thinks there will be a lot of Democratic officials who won’t show their unhappiness with Lieberman until they go to vote. “I don’t believe every public official is going to come out and support Ned Lamont. But I believe in the voting booth they will,” McCluskey said.

State Rep. J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, who also endorsed the upcoming rally, dislikes Lieberman’s position, but hasn’t decided whom he will support in the U.S. Senate race.

“I have a lot of respect for Joe on a lot of fronts,” said Sharkey, a longtime critic of the war. “I’ve been very disappointed with his steadfast support not only for the invasion but for his support for the premise for the invasion.”

From the New Haven Register. Complete story here.

Yesterday on CNN, Ed Henry gave the following update on the Feingold censure resolution :

What just happened a few minutes ago is that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the reason why there was an objection, is Frist declared he wants to bring this up for an immediate vote tonight, so it will not be a free pass. He wants to get Democrats on record here, make them decide whether they want to take what could be seen as an extreme stand and vote for a censure of President Bush.

Frist is gambling that in fact this will go down something like 85-to-15 or 90-10 because a lot of Democrats are probably saying they will not support this.

Assuming only ten Democrats end up supporting the censure resolution, where does that leave us? Well, take a look at these internals from the latest CBS poll (via Atrios) :

If only 10 of 44 Democrats are willing to stand against the President, that gives Bush a greater approval rating among Democratic Senators (77%) than among his own base (74%). Cowards.

In retrospect, it seems so obvious.

Story here.

I’m getting a number of emails from people who seem personally offended that the book tour isn’t taking me to their neck of the woods. Here’s the thing: I wish I could take an entire month off, with no responsibility other than to travel around and meet friendly people who appreciate the work I do. Seriously, it beats the hell out of actually doing the work. Unfortunately, the creative process I’ve settled into over the years just doesn’t lend itself to travel very easily. Between the weekly deadline and family responsibilities, it’s just not that easy for me to take off for extended chunks of time. I have a pretty good job, but unfortunately, I don’t have the freedom of time or movement of, say, a filmmaker or a musician.

This tour ended up focusing on the West Coast, mostly because of the parameters I set out for the publicist: I could afford to take one week off, max, and to get the most out of that time, I wanted to have a booksigning appearance every night. They were, for reasons I’m not entirely clear on, determined to send me to Los Angeles, and the rest developed from there.

Anyway, no one should feel slighted. It’s not like we had a meeting at the publisher’s office in which I sat around saying, “No way am I going to that shithole!” as various locales were suggested. When you have about 45 minutes of unscheduled time in any given city, tourism isn’t really the main consideration.