Under normal circumstances I wouldn't be opposed to using a picture of Dr. Weird for any occasion... but I saw this little tidbit on the Asheville Citizen-Times' website this morning and noticed that the Puppetmaster was sending a little bit of Taco Island our way next week...

General turned Fox News pundit to speak

by STAFF REPORTS
published September 15, 2006 10:48 am

ASHEVILLE – A retired Air Force commander and Fox News military analyst is the guest at an Asheville luncheon next week.

The John Locke Foundation, a conservative Raleigh-based think-tank, is bringing Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney to Tuesday's noon event.

The co-author of the book "Endgame: The Blueprint for the Victory in the War on Terror" will speak about that blueprint at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel.

Cost is $25 including lunch.

When the Stagemanager at the John Locke Foundation isn't running his "multi-million-dollar opinion-manufacturing machine," he sometimes dabbles on other stages like this one where he tries to make the case that neocon pundits don't pay any attention to their patrons.

These pundits, he argues, are intellectually honest and would NEVER be bought or paid for by big donors.

At issue is a New York Times article that took rightwing opinionators to task for failing to disclose financial relationships with big-time contributors like WalMart. Hood's piece doesn't make much sense on its face, but on second reading, it's clear as a bell.

The anatomy of a John Locke Foundation report is at once complex and simple. Complex in its obfuscation of the truth, simple in its structure. A key to unlocking the code lies in the footnotes, the Achilles heel of every John Locke report. The secret lies not in the footnotes themselves but in the source from which they are cited, invariably out of context, frequently inaccessible for verification or, fabricated by the author (1).

Lance has already given a brief mention to the Public Editor's column in today's News and Observer, but there's a story inside the story that may be worth your while.

First, though, kudos to Ted Vaden for actually looking into this question. I've written him about a handful of bias issues and I fully expected him to blow this one off too. So I was surprised to learn last week that he was actually looking into the story - and I appreciate his effort.

  

There's an old saying in the world of political journalism: Never start a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. I don't know if that advice still applies in the Internet world, but for better or for worse, it's long past time to start a fight with the Raleigh News and Observer.

Why? Because the paper simply isn't doing its job properly. Along with almost every other property in the main stream media, the N&O has gotten lazy and sloppy in ways that cannot be ignored. In particular, the N&O has been entranced by the self-promotional magic of the John Locke Foundation. So instead of critical analysis and healthy skepticism, the N&O regurgitates JLF talking points and "reports" as though they actually say something worth knowing. And while that's an abomination on its face, the problem is even worse. The N&O swallows JLF content like a ten-year-old eating Sweet Tarts, while largely ignoring counter-balancing voices like the Common Sense Foundation and NC Policy Watch. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Dear Puppets.

I know you all must be giddy today. Your mission to turn the United States of America into USA, Inc., appears to be well on track.

First off, the Puppetmaster emerged victorious in Round 1 of the War on Democracy. The State Board of Elections has agreed that it's perfectly fine to sell North Carolina elections to white old rich men who lie under oath (to the best of my knowledge) and who can pay enough lawyers to obfuscate, delay, and misdirect honest discovery. Until Round 1 is overturned on appeal, "For Sale - Cheap" will be the order of the day when it comes to North Carolina electoral politics.

UPDATE: Link to WRAL coverage

Lawyers, journalists and all manner of Puppets will be descending on Raleigh today for what could be one of the most important hearings ever conducted by the State Board of Elections (SBOE). At issue is whether North Carolina will be a state in which elections are contaminated by the free flow of corporate money.

Rob Christensen in today's N&O does a decent job covering some of the issues that will be aired over the next two or three days.

THE ACCUSER: [Richard] Morgan is charging that he and his allies were picked off by a Raleigh millionaire who illegally used corporate contributions to oust Republican legislators with whom he disagrees.

THE ACCUSED: Several groups connected to former state Rep. Art Pope, a Raleigh retail executive, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars criticizing Republican House members who allied themselves on some issues with Democrats. Pope says his company's donations were legal.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe so. But here are two numbers that are also worth a thousand words:

N&O mentions of John Locke Foundation - 70

N&O mentions of NC Policy Watch - 5

The N&O relies on reports and opinion of the state's leading right wing think tank 14 times more often than it does on reports and opinion from the leading progressive think tank.

Yesterday's Friday Follies at NC Policy Watch put the smackdown on one of the oft-repeated lies of tax reformers here in North Carolina. Take a look, and put these talking points in y our pocket for the next time a free-marketeer starts blabbering about the economic costs of taxes.

The rabid right wing folks over at Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist’s group, will have some explaining to do the next they complain about tax rates in North Carolina.

ATR recently released a report on state tax policy across the nation and among the conclusions drawn from the report by a national conservative group was that “states with high tax burdens continually lose residents and their income to lower tax states.”

Norquist and his misguided disciples in North Carolina constantly claim that North Carolina is a high tax state and that tax rates are hurting economic development. Neither is true and now we have proof of that from their own report. The U. S. Census says that from 1990-2000, North Carolina grew faster than every other Southeastern state, except Georgia. From 1995-2000, it was the fifth fastest growing state in the nation and forecasters predict that growth will continue at even higher levels.

Good news paving contractors! A new "report" by an "expert" at the John Locke Foundation says the answer to the Triangle's long-range traffic problems is . . . you guessed it:

Build more roads!

Go read the silly "report" by ex-Puppet Christopher Goff and see for yourself what myopic, short-term, simplistic "thinking" looks like.