Shame On Rep. Michele Bachmann

The charges of anti-Americanism levied by US Congresswoman Michele Bachmann this past Friday on Chris Matthews' program Hardball exemplified the sort of ignorance that intelligent people usually turn away from with a polite laugh when it's articulated by a casual acquaintance, or a stranger on the street.

However, because something so utterly ridiculous was stated by a member of United States Congress who is now trying to deny she said it [despite the fact it's on video tape] demands that she be called upon to make a public apology.

McCarthyism was an embarrassment we need not repeat again.

Here's a partial transcript of what she said:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: So this is a character issue. You believe that Barack Obama may -- you're suspicious because of this relationship -- may have anti-American views. Otherwise, it's probably irrelevant to this discussion.

REP. MICHELLE BACHMANN, R-MINN.: Absolutely. I absolutely...

MATTHEWS: Do you believe that... Barack Obama may have anti-American views?

BACHMANN: Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti- American views. That's what the American people are concerned about. That's why they want to know what his answers are. That's why Joe the plumber has figured so highly in had the last few days...

MATTHEWS: OK. I just want to get off this...

BACHMANN: What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that.

Bachmann's defense: "I did not suggest the word 'anti-American," she told KMSP-TV (as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune). She says Matthews put the word "anti-American" into her mouth ... which she promptly followed with both her feet.


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Levi Stubbs — Motown Legend Dies at Age 72

Levi Stubbs 2nd from left in The Four Tops

There weren't a lot of reasons to be happy about growing up in financially depressed Detroit in the 1970s. It was a time in that city's history when it seemed everyone was leaving, including the music industry, which was relocating to Los Angeles. Nonetheless, there were still so many radio stations and friends playing the music that came out of that town in the 1960s that it dominated and brightened the soundtrack of my childhood.

Those not from Motown may not recognize the name of Levi Stubbs, but everyone knows the music he made, in their heart and head — "Baby I Need Your Loving;" "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch);" "Reach Out I'll Be There;" "Standing in the Shadows of Love;" and, of course, my personal favorite, "Bernadette." It's impossible to listen to any of those songs today without tripping back to a memory of something good about Detroit.

Stubbs died today, but the music ... it's still enjoying airplay all around the world.

From the New York Times:

DETROIT — Levi Stubbs, the gravelly-voiced, imploring lead singer of the Motown group the Four Tops, who stood out in 1960s pop classics like “Reach Out, I’ll Be There,” and “Bernadette,” died on Friday at his home here. He was 72.

His death was confirmed by the office of the Wayne County Medical Examiner. No cause was given. Mr. Stubbs had had a series of illnesses, including a stroke and cancer, that forced him to stop performing in 2000, although he briefly participated in the Four Tops’ 50th-anniversary concert in 2004, which was broadcast on public television.

Formed while its original members were in high school, the Four Tops were one of the most successful groups of the 20th century. They had more than 40 hits on the Billboard pop charts, including their first No. 1 single, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” in 1964.

Hugely popular abroad as well as in the United States, the group became a linchpin of Motown Records, the Detroit label started by Berry Gordy Jr., and was second only to the Temptations, with whom it was often compared, in popularity among its male artists. In 1990 the Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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E&P: 'Tribune Co. Gives Notice To Drop AP'

Editor & Publisher's headline deems it a "shocker" that Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co. has given notice of its intention to abandon the venerable Associated Press wire service:

Tribune Company has given a two-year notice to the Associated Press that its daily newspapers plan to drop the news service, becoming the first major newspaper chain to do so since the recent controversy over new rates began.

Tribune, which owns nine daily papers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, joins a growing list of newspapers that have sought to end AP contracts, or given notice of that, following plans to introduce a new controversial rate structure in 2009. The notice was given earlier this week.

AP Spokesman Paul Colford confirmed the cancellation notice, but said he had no more specifics. He issued the following statement about it:

"We understand that in this climate a lot of newspapers are re-examining their strategies. The Associated Press will continue to work with all members of the cooperative to ensure that we are providing the most efficient, valued and essential news service for them."

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LAO: Can Anyone Be Undecided At This Point?

"Hot or Cold" by TJ Sullivan © 2007

My new post at LA Observed:

The final 90-minute debate between US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain is set for tonight and, as a result, undecided voters are getting a lot of attention from every corner of the journalism industry, from cable networks like CNN to daily newspapers like The Des Moines Register.

The idea is to track how these undecided voters react to whatever is said tonight, and to then translate those reactions into some semblance of a performance grade for each candidate. Interesting as always, I suppose, but, in my opinion, it's hardly worth the time and effort.

The better story — the one I want to hear — is how anyone informed enough to even volunteer for an undecided-voter focus group could possibly be undecided at this point in the campaign.

We've been on this bus for nearly two years — Obama declared in Feb. 2007 and McCain announced in April 2007. On top of that, our nation is in the midst of what will likely turn out to be the worst financial disaster of any of our lifetimes, a problem to which each candidate has taken an approach opposite the other. In that and many other ways, these candidates are very different. Pick your cliché — apples and oranges, hot and cold, whatever — the choice is clear. So how could anyone who's been paying attention still be undecided?

Unless they're not really undecided.

Most Americans would surely defend any voter's right to alter his or her choice right up until their ballot is marked and sealed. But a voter who changes his or her mind is hardly an "undecided" voter. That's a "decided" voter acting within his or her right to re-decide.

At this stage it's just plain common sense to question either the honesty, or the analytical skills, of anyone who claims to be truly undecided.

I'm not saying there aren't undecided registered voters out there somewhere. I've no doubt they're there, probably far outside the reach of TV and radio waves, and nowhere near an Internet connection. But even if we rounded a bunch of them up, verified their undecidedness, and tied them down to watch tonight's debate, of what meaningful use would their opinions be?

We might as well ask them to name their favorite Beatle.

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In the Words of Howard Beale ...

Peter Finch as Howard Beale in the film "Network"

It's difficult to sum up the past week any better than the way similar sentiments were expressed 32 years ago in the script of Network (written by Paddy Chayefsky):

"I don’t have to tell you things are bad, everybody knows things are bad: It’s a depression! Everybody’s out of work, or scared of losing their job; the dollar buys a nickel’s worth; banks are going bust; shop-keepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street; nobody anywhere seems to know what to do and there’s no end to it! We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. We sit watching our TVs whilst some local newscaster tells us that 'today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes' as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be! We know things are bad, worse than bad: they’re crazy! It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore! We sit in the house and slowly the world we’re living in is getting smaller and all we say is 'please, at least leave us alone in our living-rooms - let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything! Just leave us alone!' Well I’m not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest, I don’t want you to riot, I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write, I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street – all I know is that first you’ve got to get mad! You’ve got to say 'I’m a human being goddammit! My life has value!' So, I want you to get up now, I want all of you to get up out of your chairs! I want you to get up right now, and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell 'I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!'"

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Would the LA Times Dare to Muzzle Staffers?

LA Observed posted a chilling warning to staffers at the Los Angeles Times today about some alleged managerial rhetoric that comes dangerously close to censorship — something that, were it to ever actually occur at any American newspaper, would be so hypocritical and antijournalistic as to make laughable that publication's democratic role as a watchdog.

I mean ... yeah. Absolutely it would. Wouldn't it?

Maybe this is a case of "beginner jitters," as LAO suggested. It could even be a few suits suffering too much economic stress and spouting off mindlessly, or perhaps merely a matter of a few poorly chosen words.

It's just hard to believe that Tribune Chairman Sam Zell, the man in charge, would actually condone the censorship of what his staffers say, or to whom they say it; let alone try to do so on the QT.

Though no reporters I know have called Zell anything resembling a "true friend," at the very least, so far, he seems the kind of guy whose forthcoming enough to stab people in the front (with apologies to Oscar Wilde).

As LAO has often pointed out, Zell speaks his mind in no uncertain terms, which further supports the idea that it would be out of character for him to approve of an action so cowardly as censorship.

Granted, Zell's new to newspapering, but his past talk of the First Amendment and the fourth estate have made clear his familiarity with the concepts. As LAO referenced today, a Zell e-mail to staff in January 2008 supported unfettered employee access to Internet content:

"I do not see how a member of the Fourth Estate, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, can censor what its own employees and partners can see."

Of course the same goes for what its own employees and partners can say.

To do otherwise would undermine the whole mission of the newspaper.

No reporter could ever hope to earn the trust of a whistle-blower if that reporter abided by a company policy that likened whistle-blowing to treason.

As it says in the Code of Ethics, as defined by the Society of Professional Journalists: The media must "abide by the same high standards to which they hold others."

Despite all the cuts that the journalism industry has made, it hasn't cut that, has it?

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