Rolling Stone takes a hatchet to McCain's utterly false "maverick" image. The title sets up a clever double play, simultaneously discrediting the narrative and referencing McCain's increasingly childish behavior;

Make-Believe Maverick

A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

Dishonest. That's almost calling him a liar. Robert Grossman's brilliant illustration reduces and captures the sad caricature that is quickly becoming the template. All the facts have been available public record since, well duh. But the corporate media isn't typically interested in facts. It's all about the narrative. Drill baby drill! Well this well is finally tapped. I'm coming around to the idea that the elite press has come to the simple conclusion that their money is simply safer under an Obama administration. But let's not discount the tremendous, tireless push back work that takes place in the blog-o-sphere and the terrific work done by real maverick journalists like Cliff Schecter and Brock and Waldman. Not to mention, McCain's own free-fall campaign has been its own worse enemy. Hearing Sara Palin go on and on about "a team of mavericks" just doesn't have that authentic "mavericky" feel now does it?

During this latest "financial crisis" there have been some fascinating images which communicate possible alternative narratives to the daily press stories. The image above from this NYT article particularly caught my attention. Here, despite whatever giveaway, formerly known as the bail-out, "rescue" the Senate may approve on Wednesday, the message in this photo seems clear. We are facing the abyss. Not only are we looking down the cliff but from this angle, we've already walked out past the ledge. This is the moment Willie Coyote realizes he's about to take a free fall into oblivion.

I also appreciate how all those electric green symbols on the giant electronic ticker are cascading down to the floor were there are more wires, screens and computers than human beings. This theft was not created by machines, but it is the machine that's been employed for all those "complex" unregulated investment instruments which lie at the center of the "crisis." The Matrix thus serves as another appropriate metaphor (borrowing from Baudrillard) as the "code" merely supports the illusion of stability.

More after the jump, click on image for better resolution.

Recently here at the Agonist we've had a few lively discussions about recent false media narratives created around both Barack and Michelle Obama. See for example Forgiven's, Machiavellian And The War of Words and my Presto, Uppity Angry Black Woman!

I know not everyone was convinced of our arguments. Fine. Let me make clear however that my purpose is not to provide partisan defense for Obama but to criticize the media and shed light on what I regard as deeply rooted racist, misogynistic and certainly anti-progressive and anti-democratic undercurrents in American culture.

On that note, for some historical perspective which compares the New Yorker cover to Bret F. Harte’s 1870 “Plain Language from Truthful James” poem see Rune Christensen's “The Heathen Obama”? The limits to satire in American politics.

rikyrah of Jack and Jill Politics has a terrific article which addresses the image as well as some of the deeper contexts to Michelle's unenviable position. As part of the guest series at Open Left see Update: Michelle Obama as Racial Rorschach Test

Michael Shaw provides an excellent deconstruction of the image here,The "What" Of What's Wrong With The Barack Osama New Yorker Cover. Shaw's analysis is important as he looks beyond the obvious surface communication and finds discourses which communicate some of the false narratives we've been discussing here.

So let me know what YOU think. And just to leave this post on a high note, THIS is satire.

Since the early 60s, Raymond Federman has been one of the most important American writers. His highly experimental fictions in works that bear such titles as Take It or Leave It, Double or Nothing, and The Twofold Vibrations, he has explored cultural and personal memory, invented intricate narrative strategies, and above all has given readers an experience that exceeds the ordinary. Creating situations that make one really think and really laugh is a tall order for any writer. But Federman did it. He is one of the few writers to truly have achieved this.

One of our contributors at the Atlantic Community, Camelia Elias, has just released a wonderful collection of essays on Raymond Federman. This open source web publication includes four scholarly articles and some previously unpublished texts by Federman. Federman, who just turned 80 is also a blogger.

For more, including links to the free download see, Federman Frenzy. Feel free to leave any comments for Camelia at the link. I'd like to arrange an online discussion with Federman so if anyone else is interested, stop by and let us know.

The only US cable and/or broadcast news I ever see comes from online sources, usually clips or segments provided as evidence on media criticism sites like Media Matters or Crooks and Liars. I was watching one such clip embedded to this post at C&L, David Broder wanks away on the McCain Town Hall meetings that Obama turned down.

Well, Broder or any other rightwing "centrist" wanking for McCain isn't anything new or unexpected, especially not the Faux News wank fest seen in the video clip in the above link.

At approximately 2:15 the video cuts from one wanking fest to another, located in the "Fox News Election HQ" revealing something ,if not unexpected (it's Fox after all), then perhaps new.

More below the fold

Michael Powell and Jodi Kantor published a piece of back-handed journalistic work in today’s newspaper of ill record, "After Attacks, Micelle Obama Looks for a New Introduction."

Never mind that the premise of the article’s title is completely false and misleading. The hiring of Stephanie Cutter as Michelle Obama’s chief of staff is about managing communications and providing defense against right-wing attacks. Michelle Obama is not looking for a new introduction.

In it, they paint Michelle Obama as the “Angry Black Woman” quoting such irrefutable sources as “Conservative columnists” and a “blogger who supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

The article begins, “Michelle Obama’s eyes flicker tentatively even as she offers a trained smile.” See the “multi-media slide show” “Mrs. Obama’s Journey” for visual representations of Michelle’s trained (read phony) smile.

In Madison, Wis., in February, she told voters that hope was sweeping America, adding, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.”

Reverend Wright?
More below the fold

"Are you somewhat upset about gas at $2 a gallon and looking forward to lower prices? Well, just remember that the Kyoto Protocol (to combat a hypothetical global warming), avidly promoted by the Clinton-Gore administration, would raise prices even higher - on a permanent basis.

As disclosed by The Washington Times, an internal memo of the Energy Department blamed much of the June price run-up in the Midwest on the rigid regulations of the EPA. Supplies of gasoline became tight because of the EPA requirement for the Chicago market, starting on June 1, for "reformulated" gasoline (blended with ethanol distilled from corn). Refiners ended up with having to supply different formulations for fuels for different areas to meet EPA rules. With no flexibility to swap supplies and with refineries operating at peak capacity, just one pipeline breakdown or one refinery fire would then cause supply shortfalls and price spikes."

NPR.org, June 2, 2008 - One of the fathers of rock 'n' roll died Monday at the age of 79. Bo Diddley was born Ellas Bates in Mississippi and grew up in Chicago, where he played guitar on street corners before being discovered by Chess Records. He leaves behind a sound that helped build a musical movement.

What made Bo's music so unique? I don't know exactly but if I had to assign to it just one adjective it would be, crunchy. Yeah, what a wonderful crunchy sound.

Bloomberg News reports (via Huffington Post) that Billionaire and Corporate Overlord Carl Icahn says, "Obama would be a terrible U.S. President!"

Sigh. Maybe Obama would be a terrible president.

But Icahn is full of the same load of right-wing garbage, throwing out the same tired corporate talking points we've unfortunately become accustomed to;

"Obama would probably go on a ``huge spending spree'' that ``the country can't afford right now.'"

Does he mean "huger" than the one Bush is on in Iraq? This crap is to be expected, and much worse.

But Icahn shows his true disturbing colors, displaying his absolute disdain for democracy.

Even worse, Icahn said, would be a Democratic president with a veto-proof supermajority of 60 Democrats elected to the Senate.

`Runaway Legislation'

``It would be devastating,'' he said. ``Then you couldn't stop runaway legislation.''

Runaway Legislation? Is that the new Orwellian doublespeak to describe the democratic legislative process?

Subtext. Let's not let a little thing like democracy get in the way of our corporate agenda. When Icahn said "you" just who was he speaking to anyways?

Does anyone really believe that a Democratic administration with a supermajority Senate would do much in the way of curbing corporate power? Absolutely not. But perhaps, some semblance of a democracy may remain if the Republicans aren't in power during the next few years. See Ian's latest post for example.

That's just unthinkable for Icahn and all his pals. The past years have apparently not been profitable enough. But when I think about Naomi Klein's latest piece in Rolling Stone it all starts adding up to some very frightening prospects.

There's a word for this kind of corporatist, right-wing ideology.

Karen Fiorito
"Hummersaurus Wrecks"

I wanted to offer this work of art as a follow on to several recent posts here at the Agonist. Stirling Newberry's recent, The Progressive Century was the first to come to mind. This also seemed rather fitting alongside Sean-Paul's, Die Beast Die. There are any number of recent posts here in which this piece could present an accompanying visual narrative. Sean-Paul also had a few interesting discussions about modernist art based on some reading about Ezra Pound here and here. These taken together led me to think more about the political role of art and the basic value of art in a democratic society. Instead of a discussion on theory I thought a brief analysis of the Fiorito piece could be instructional.

more below the fold

The New York Times has got to be kidding, right? After last night's debate, ABC's agenda became blatantly clear to anyone paying attention. Distract, distort, discredit, destroy. In a word, disgusting. So what do I wake up to in this morning's online NY Times center cover story "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Solvent" by Joyce Wadler.

more bellow the fold

This article is partially a response to Bent’s last post, Beauty and the Beast? I had originally intended on posting the Lebron Vouge Magazine photo which Bent analyzes below. I then thought I would post a reply in his thread but upon further reflection, I think an independent post is in order. I typically wouldn’t do that but I wanted to display a fair amount of images and just couldn't do that in the comments.

More below the fold...

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

Obama has just delivered a speech (which he wrote himself) for the history books. I won’t go into a full analysis but like any memorable speech from the American scene, his included the themes of; American exceptionalism, generational progress, religious freedom and tolerance, and of course, founding myths of American democracy.

This was just bizarre.

I was surfing the US Embassy's (Copenhagen) website this morning and found this article, prominently displayed on the home page;

The New Media and U.S. Politics
by Thomas B. Edsall

The Internet has become the vehicle for the mobilization of the antiwar left as an influential Democratic interest group that all candidates and congressional leaders now must treat with respect and special deference.

I just thought I'd pass this on. I can't make heads or tails of it. Any ideas?

This year I'll be celebrating my first ever Thanksgiving outside the US. I think I've been outside the US on this date at least 6 or 7 times.

Many students and faculty will be meeting on campus Thursday for our 1st (hopefully annual) Thanksgiving potluck dinner. On Sunday, my wife and I, with another Danish/American mixed (or mixed up) family will have a Turkey dinner here in Nyborg.

I came across this piece in the NY Times by Katharine Seelye, "Women, Politics and the Internet."

What really caught my attention was the mention of Momocrats, a progressive community blog of online mothers who are pooling their resources to effect political change.

Momocrats was started last month by a group of mothers who are all noted bloggers in their own right and who cross-post on each other’s blogs (CityMama, TechMama, LawyerMama, PunditMom and the Silicon Valley Moms Blog), which are generally about daily life with a dose of politics.

“We belong to this community of mothers who blog and we see the need to bridge the gap between the campaign and the community,”

more after the jump

None of the Democratic presidential primary contenders will get the endorsement they have been fervently seeking from the Service Employees International Union, an especially painful blow to John Edwards.

This is actually quite surprising. Edwards has been courting the SEIU for several years and is clearly the most pro-union candidate running. This is probably the death knell for the emerging populist movement. It was expected that if Edwards won Iowa (which was pretty likely) that the SEIU, which is the largest Union in the country, would help him through NH and Nevada. Labor has been in steady decline for 30 years.
more after the jump

John Edwards has been widely criticized by his supporters and other progressives for his suggestion that "all options were on the table" in regards to Iran. I started thinking about that again as many of the "A-list progressive bloggers" continue to insist that John Edwards is basically no different than the other candidates, especially on foreign policy. I don't agree with that, nor do I agree that the "war in Iraq" (or US foreign policy) should be the the ultimate litmus test for progressive candidates. Edwards is the only candidate who sees collective bargaining and economic democracy; ie strong unionization as the foundation to any progressive society. The front page writers here have made that point repeatedly. A quick review of modern American and Western history will show this to be accurate. However, I digress.

more after the jump

Republican Presidential Candidate Tom Tancredo told a Danish journalist that Europe Should Deport its 20 Million Muslims. This was last night on the first episode of a mini-documentary series on America, Clement in America.

This first episode dealt with the Immigration Issue. The Tancredo interview was just one of many. He was basically paraphrasing Samuel Huntington's misguided "Clash of Civilizations" when he affirmed that Europe should deport all the muslims.

Clement Behrendt Kjersgaard is a very smart journalist and I was thrilled to see him hosting this series.

Unfortunately, I don't have video from last night's show. However, Here is the website to the program which has an English page. Hopefully the videos will be provided later. Even if you don't speak Danish, which most people in the world don't, all the interviews are naturally conducted in English.

On each week’s 28-minute show, we sit down with several guests in wide-ranging interviews: in letting even the experts and the statesmen tell their own stories about America, we believe we will uncover a far more nuanced image of the nation than that which a foreign audience is allowed by the speedy stream of daily news.

I must say it was indeed the most nuanced image of immigration I've seen on either side of the pond. Very good stuff, despite losing my dinner over the little American Mussolini.

Matt Bai has a very interesting piece in the LA Times; Democrats, look West

"A new breed of 'progressives' is shifting the party's center of gravity from the South and Northeast.

This new progressive movement, which now exerts a strong gravitational pull on the direction of Democratic politics, is a national phenomenon, but much of its financing and intellectual energy comes from the West."

I think Bai is spot on with this last statement. Much of the "new progressivism" has emerged from a very tech savvy online community which has much of its roots on the West Coast. I've always considered that the early (1980's) online communities and ideologies represented two distinct traditions; libertarian and communitarian. Much of those early online political and cultural values have shaped the modern online progressive activist ideology.

A few days ago I posted about John Edwards as the Democratic Dark Horse. The main question comes at the end of the piece;

“The ultimate question may be whether the Edwards campaign manages to utilize the internet as a means to disintermediate the dominant mainstream media narratives which disparage the populist progressive movement.”

The next day I came across this piece on the “Wired Magazine” blog, which showcases an interview of JE by Joshua Micah Marshall. Stirland writes;

Edwards now leads the field with overall union endorsements, both in size and numbers.

Senator Edwards now has the largest bloc of union support of any of the presidential candidates!

Four major unions have endorsed Senator Edwards, over this past week:

*The Steelworkers, who represent 1.2 million active members and retirees
*The Mine Workers, representing 105,000 active members and retirees.
*The Transport Workers Union, who represent 200,000 members and retirees.
*The Brotherhood of Carpenters Union

Here is a pretty good recap by a citizen journalist on Edwards' labor day rally with the carpenters union.

The SEIU, Service Employees International Union, is due to announce their support for a candidate. The New York Times reports the following;

"Union officials say former Senator John Edwards has mounted a full-court press to persuade the S.E.I.U.’s top officials to endorse him, but Hillary Clinton’s camp and Barack Obama’s camp are maneuvering vigorously to try to deny Mr. Edwards the organization’s backing."

The Times doesn't mention that Edwards has been heavily envolved with the SEIU for several years. The SEIU is a major player in Nevada, which is another early primary state. If any candidate should pick up this endorsement it's Edwards. This would be a huge pick-up but one can never be sure.

None the less, Edwards still leads in Iowa (which is still the first state to caucus or primary) and is holding steady thus far in New Hamshire. Edwards needs to keep up the Union endorsements to gain momentum in other early states like Michican.

Also, "Edwards tops Texas Democrats' straw poll." This should add momentum to the recent campaign strategy of hammering the electibility argument. Edwards claims to be the most electable candidate in a general election.

More importantly, he is clearly running on a truly populist platform. The progressive political blogosphere has yet to really back Edwards (or any candidate). I believe it's a reflection of the growing influence and institutionalization within Democratic politics that has caused such hesitation. 2007 thus far does not resemble "Crashing the Gates."

The ultimate question may be whether the Edwards campaign manages to utilize the internet as a means to disintermediate the dominant mainstream media narratives which disparage the populist progressive movement. The "progressive netroots" may not be the expected ally. Can the Edwards' campaign find new and inovative ways around both the MSM and a subdued "progressive blogosphere?" Perhaps the "new media" won't, at the end of the day, matter much.

via Watching America

"Europeans overwhelmingly support Hillary Clinton in her bid to become the next US president, according to a poll published today."

This pretty much falls right in line with what I'm hearing from the Danes. I haven't done any formalized polling but everyone I've spoken with here in Denmark seems to support Hillary.

What I find most interesting is the Danish media coverage of the race. It's completely presented in a binary format. Clinton v Obama, Democrats v Republicans, conservative v liberal, etc... Of course, the US media prays at the alter of "the two sided coin". However, Danish, and European politics are multi-representational, multi-partied, multi-ideas affairs. That is also reflected in the European media.

Why does the European media follow the American binary media framing of American politics? Is this journalistic apathy which simply regurgitates dominant US media narratives? Do Europeans believe that America is somehow truly unique, representing the world's only two-dimensional society.

Politically, Hillary Clinton falls somewhere slightly to the right of Denmark's current "right" leaning ruling coalition. One would be hard pressed to find European support among the Republican field. However, if people had more information about the Democratic field, I doubt support for Hillary would be so strong.

Perhaps none of this matters. Europeans don't vote in US elections.

As an American, the relatively open and objective coverage by the European media on European politics is both refreshing and encouraging. However, the short-sided and narrow portrayal of US politics from the main stream European media is most puzzling.

What gives?

"Madeleine L’Engle, who in writing more than 60 books, including childhood fables, religious meditations and science fiction, weaved emotional tapestries transcending genre and generation, died Thursday in Connecticut. She was 88."

"A Wrinkle in Time" was one of my favorite books as a young boy. It's been years since I've thought about the book, almost forgoten it completely until L'Engle's death comes through the news wires. I'm ordering a copy now for my son. Check out the NY Times piece above. NPR has an entertaining interview with astronaut Janice Voss about the impact of L'Engle's book here.

On Thursday Chris Bowers wrote a great piece titled, “Expanding Beyond Just Partisanship.” It turns out it was to be his swan song on MYDD as he announced yesterday that he would be leaving the site, along with Matt Stoller. The two are joining up with Michael Lux, co-founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies, to form a new site dedicated to progressive activism and social justice. I for one am quite excited about the possibilities and hopefully re-invigorated focus they could provide to the modern progressive movement in America. Here are a few excerpts from Chris’ post;

“…I believe it has become increasingly apparent that working to achieve partisan electoral and media goals is not enough, in and of itself, to achieve the sort of change in America that most members of the progressive movement desire.”