Celebrity pundits are on their way out

Between work, family, and grad school, it seem like I have no time for blogging. I came across this editorial on a link at Firedoglake. It explains some of the MSM’s response to the blogger challenge.

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Eschaton's Two Types

Aside from the underclass, there are basically two types of people/families in this country - those who live paycheck to paycheck and those who don't. Some who live paycheck to paycheck may live in an expensive home, have nice cars, etc... In other words, they have for whatever reason decided to live right up to the limit of their means, or beyond. Despite living quite well, they can still feel acutely any negative economic shock, even the relatively modest hit of having gas prices go up. They have substantial payments to make every month - cars, utilities, mortgage, credit cards, tuition payments - as well as lifestyle habits which are hard to break. They may manage to sock a few bucks away into their retirement accounts, but they have little or no liquid savings which can be readily tapped, or once it's tapped it is unlikely to be quickly replenished.The inability of much of the celebrity pundit class to understand why people can both be doing relatively well (not all people of course) and also be feeling substantial anxiety about the economy has to do with the fact that they long ago left the "paycheck to paycheck" class.

-Atrios 2:04 PM

A Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: Consevative Book Sales

Sometimes you have to read between or beyond the lines.
In this case, you have to read beyond the Kate O'Beirne battle to find a couple of nuggets concerning the war waged by the Right Wing.

In her self-described crusade against the latest incarnation of a right-wing bim, Jane at Firedoglake points out another way the Right hijacks the mainstream and pollutes it with propaganda:

1. "The right-wing book business is subsidized by wingnut welfare when conservative foundations buy large quantities of books and either give them away or charge a penny apiece, so the "sales numbers" that put them on the New York Times best seller list for example are hopelessly rigged, making them appear much more popular and influential than they actually are."

2. "Amazon itself is another boon to conservatives, since the Internet giant betrays no ideological bias in selling books....'The rise of Amazon and the chain stores has been tremendously liberating for conservatives, because these stores are very much product-oriented businesses,' observes David Horowitz. 'The independent bookstores are all controlled by leftists, and they're totalitarians--they will not display conservative books, or if they do, they'll hide them in the back.' Says Marji Ross: 'We have experienced our books being buried or kept in the back room when a store manager or owner opposed their message.' She's a big fan of Amazon and the chains."

Click and scroll,

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Rumsfeld: Memories of a Geisha

It's hard enough to believe the man actually once had a sense of humor.

Can you spell wanker?

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THE TRIANGLE: Limits of Blog Power

An influential blogger, Daou writes about the media, blogs, and the Dems missing the boat as usual. As a Red Sox fan, I can live with losing and bad decisions in the upper management, but the truth is out there.

The Dems understand the media like Pat Robertson understands Venezuela.

Click on the title for the link.

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