Howard Fineman: It Takes a Sex Scandal

[babylonsister]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15118302/site/newsweek/

It Takes a Sex Scandal
The real world cares about the Foley e-mails. If Democrats can’t win now, they’re doomed to become modern-day Whigs.

By Howard Fineman
Newsweek
Updated: 1:24 p.m. ET Oct 3, 2006

Oct. 3, 2006 - An Iraq war that has cost us nearly half trillion dollars—and the good will of the world—might not have done it. Runaway federal spending that allowed the national debt to reach $8.5 trillion might not have done it. George Bush’s low approval ratings, the lack of comprehensive immigration reform, the historical pattern of an anti-incumbent “six-year itch” in presidencies, the cascade of stories about administration ineptitude and dissembling and congressional financial and lobbying corruption—none of these issues seemed destined to end the Republicans’ 12-year reign in Congress.

Then came the Foley Scandal. If the Democrats can’t take the Hill now, they deserve to go the way of the Whigs.

Real Americans outside the Beltway don’t look at politics the way we do here. I call Washington the Cave of the Sightless Fish: we hear everything, see nothing.

In the real world, families don’t care about abstract “investigations” into “who knew what when.” While the Beltway is trying to figure out whether Speaker Denny Hastert can save his job (he is dangling by thread), the real world is focused on children: in this case, the 16-year-old congressional pages.

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[sandnsea]

1. Sightless Fish

Yeah that's what they are, and this article is a prime example. Doesn't occur to Fineman that the primary reason this scandal has taken hold is because the media reported it, accurately and often. As opposed to the idiocy he spews about Democrats and other issues, too stupid to even respond to and Howard Fineman damn well knows he's misrepresenting the facts. Unless he can't really hear either.

[acmejack]

2. All one has to do is look at the inside of one of the major "News"

Magazines, they even have a different cover for the US. The media treats the populace here like the proverbial mushrooms, keeping them in the dark and feeding them crap. They are so ill informed they think Unions are bad, the Estate Tax is bad, workers making $35 an hour killed GM (not shitty cars), etc. We won't even get into the none too subtle bias against all things liberal...

[keta11]

3. I dont't like this guy

Everytime I listen to him, he doesn't give credit to Democrats on substantive issues. When Republicans do well he attributes it to their "strong on national security", "moral values" blah blah.

He is setting this up for when the Democrats win big, he can say they won because of Folegate rather than Iraq and Republican overreach in the last 12 years. These analysts are stupid always trying to minimise Dem. accomplishments.

He has been a shill and thinks he is smarter than the voting public.

[Skittles]

4. Fineman is and always has been a repuke whore

I'm surprised he can get off his knees long enough to ever write anything

[KoKo]

5. The DU name for him was "Howie Slimeman"....perhaps "Slitherman" might

be a better name. He contorts himself always casting blame on everything but his own Myopic Inside the Beltway Repug controlled Whore Media.

They all do it but Slimeman is one of the best at it. He can slither his way from one side to the other in the blink of an eye.