This is absolutely ridiculous they way the AP scrub it to make it a McCain fluff piece. What in the hell is going on in America?

A.P. = Always Pathetic, Always Partisan, Abysmally Poopie....

Dumbing down the news, one day at a time.

McCain must make some mighty fine barbecue to get the AP to slobber like this.

it's getting surreal how much deference they're giving him. WHY is the press so slanted towards McCain? we can joke about BBQs and letting them sit in the "special section" of the bus, but are things like that really all it is?

TPM rocks.

Clearly the 'jab' was a terrorist finger poke, and Cindy Lou is an Iranian sympathizer. It's also likely that being a Beer Baroness she has close ties with tobacco company executives and didn't want to ruffle their feathers or there would murmuring the next time she went to golf at the club.

John McCain is the worst thing to happen to American diplomacy since George Bush.

And comments like McCain's are heard around the world. One of the many well-deserved reasons why so many other world powers consider the United States so damn arrogant.

I have been writing in to TPM's email. I never get a response.

My main thrust in the last few emails is
Why do you guys insist on being surprised, and trying to explain or justify why ALL the major news orgs NEVER give a republican any trouble, yet they will take ANYTHING a democrat does and whip it into a fury?
There are no major news orgs which are not corporate in nature, owned by major conglomerates (usually of the international stripe with a defense/military flavor). They are incestuously aligned with republicans, republicans being the main front by which Corporatocracy has taken over our government.

Big Media WILL NOT cover corporate malfeasance (the biggest story of our time) and they will not cover Republican Malfeasance. Dem Malfeasance (and anything else) is the game they are hunting.

They basically spend all their time and power uncovering unfavorable things about Dems, and hiding Corporate and Repub shenanigans.

Please stop being so naive, and blaming it on REPORTERS. Stop asking WHY, WHY won't these people be fair? If your favorite American skater is going up against a panel of 8 Russian judges....should you hope for fairness? Should you expect somehow they will all come to their senses and vote properly? No, you can expect them to keep doing what they are doing.

We are in a very dangerous time now. The corporations are hardly hiding their naked hold on our govt. The media is barely even trying to maintain any semblance of fairness. What is really going on in this country is a total blackout, lockdown on real reportage of how the corporations have control of all the major reigns, and they are shaking and squeezing the life out of us. They are buying our govt, they are directing our campaigns and coverage, they are effecting/influencing/stealing elections. It is Orwell's 1984 with a big Walmart Smiley stamped on the Letterhead.

Stop whining and cringing and wringing hands. Stop expecting them to start playing nice and fair. We have to overthrow them, establish new media (which we are doing, TPM rules!)....but please stop being naive about our national press. They control our thoughts, they decide what gets presented to us, and almost more importantly....what does not. They have a good 75% of our population in their thrall. They are not going to give up that power...of deciding for us what to think. Like any masquerade it get's harder and harder to keep the mask in place, and keep the audience fooled...but if there is one thing americans are good at, it's self delusion and buying a schmarmy story instead of finding the truth and making hard decisions.

Dear American Voters, reporters, media. professionals, political parties, and our hon. Presidential Nominees,

Subject: Presidential Temperament
Please talk about and "Compare And Contrast" the " Presidential Temperament" of our Presidential presumptive nominees. I will also request and plead to the nominees themselves [ Hon. Senator McCain and Obama ].

Our nation has been applying this yard and stick tor the appointments and confirmation process of our Supreme Court Justices nominees.

Our Greatgrand Nation Foundations are as under:
Family, friends, fellows, faith, funds, fun, with fairness & freedom And without fear, favor, and failure.

It will be disgrace and shameful if the nominees and media will not look into this critical and crucial aspect under current challenging times and circumstances within our country and all around the Globe.

America wake up and the discuss the " Presidential Temperament" of our presumptive presidential nominee's [ Hon. Senator McCain and Obama].

Yours sincerely,

COL. A.M.Khajawall [Ret].
Disabled American Veteran
Forensic psychiatrist, Las Vegas, Nevada

In journalism you just don't play with your readers this way.

Reader reads, wonders, "Gee, I am sure curious as to what McCain said."

Real reporter would think, "Best way to put this little quote in... Paraphrase to make it sound like it was a bland light-hearted joke? Frunk no! Put the quote in! Quotes like that make the news spicy!"

Biased reporter who wants the good seats on the Straight Talk Express thinks, "It's obviously meant as off the record and should not be stated, according to Cindy's back-poke."

keep in mind, Mark Halpern, just signed a book deal...to talk about the 2008 election. It is in his best interest to keep drama going...more info for his book.

Right, the news here is that McCain and his wife bantered playfully -- and that McCain made a "wisecrack" about cigarettes.

Kinda makes you wonder which C word is worse doesn't it?

So I'm flipping through the channels this morning and stop at Morning Joe on MSNBC. Sitting at the table are Pat Buchanan, Andre Mitchell, Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough, and Willie Geist. Not a progressive voice in the bunch.

Anyway, they are repeating the republican talking points for the day; Obama flip-flopping etc. And then they manage to work in the McCain clip where once again he jokes about killing Iranians. Chuck Tood offers his insight, suggesting this is why people like McCain, because it makes him real and that people can have him sit at their kitchen table and know that he is one of them.

I litterally fell off my couch.

I've been complaining about the AP for some time:

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/fake-gaffe-courtesy-from-ap-ri.php

Interestingly the original AP piece is from Liz Sidoti, apparently a McCain shill, who covered up McCain's real response to Bitch-Gate, where he said "excellent question" when asked "how do we beat the bitch"

...

That's interesting. So McCain's ugly response is deliberately buried, while Obama's usual stump speech is twisted less than 48 hours prior to an election to make a "gaffe". And this woman recently wrote an article with Nedra Pickler, infamous rightwing troll of the AP.

Now I think you see what I mean.

They fabricate fake "gaffes" and "flipflops" against Dems, while actively covering up for McCain, editing out actual gaffes.