General Discussion

Unless you count new members of Congress, and they are very good about closed-mouthed when it suits them, or makes sense to shut up.

Other than that, they incredibly well-connected Norm Ornstein, except that what he tells me is off the record unless he says otherwise. But when he says it's OK to reveal what he says/knows in public, it's usually hugely interesting!

The media either makes shit up, or rushes to publicize what they THINK is accurate. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

Sometimes it's extremely frustrating. My most glaring case with DU was in 2008, the day Obama was set to reveal his choice for VP. Some of Biden's staff was a little overeager about the news, and was discussing it in an indoor swimming pool at 7:00 that morning. After all, there was only one other person in the pool, and he was a diminutive Asian kid who said nothing and, as far as they knew, spoke no English. Oops. That diminutive Asian kid was my 18 year old half-Japanese nephew, who was working for Matt Angle's Lone Star Project, a Washington lobby operation for Texas Democrats. He understood every word, and called me 45 minutes later to tell me who Obama's VP pick was eight hours before the announcement.

I made the stupid assumption that I could tell DU and get thanked for it. Hah! Fat chance. A couple of angry posts demanding LINK???? plus several more demanding that I tell everyone what made ME so special, and that I must have been spouting crap because why should I know and they didn't? Etc. etc. I should have just shut up and told one one. If I had said where I got the info from, and word leaked back to Biden's office (all it needed was for one person in DC to see the post, after all), and we might have gotten Biden's staffers in serious trouble on what was to be one of the most exciting days of their careers. So, I just said I couldn't say how I knew, and that only made the skeptics more furious. When the announcement was made, exactly ONE DUer posted an apology. ONE. Ever since then, I have been a little more careful what I post when the source is a personal "I can't say" acquaintance. It beats telling angry posters to go find their own goddam link, stick their anger up their you-know-what, and leave me the hell alone. They don't call D.C. the world's biggest small town for nothing.

As for media, I read the German press, although of late, they have struck a nasty anti-Democratic tone, saying why don't the Democrats DO something, etc etc. The extremist right has all three branches of government and 90% of the media in their pockets, and WE are supposed to do something? Invade and smash up the White House. The Republicans are even doing THAT before we even contemplated it (which we didn't). It hasn't been 100 years since the Weimarer Republik was dissolved in favor of the Third Reich's National Socialists. They should know better than anyone what happens if all media is in the hands of an evil force that has eliminated all opposition.

One saving grace is that much of the US media is still beholden to commercial trends rather than solely extremist right-leaning political trends.When the wind starts blowing so hard in the opposite direction that they CAN'T pretend not to notice, they suddenly notice with a vengeance. Note the coverage since Wednesday morning. The American media suddenly noticed that the USA had a strong opposition that was alive and well, and living just about EVERYwhere. Gee, look at that! Sorry Sir Rupert and Crown Prince Miller, we'll have to say a few words about that, no way around it this time.