The honorable mentions list.
These posters made significant contributions, IMHO, to the quality of this thread. It may always look this way to the person trying to sort through these posts and pick out the top ones, but I really think this was one of the best threads we've had.
A little formatting info. I've set it up so that the links to the cited posts should be live, so you can click and go directly to what I extracted from. Where I've extracted I have used ellipses (...) to indicate that there is more of the post in that direction. I've also used them to stitch together separate paragraphs and avoid line breaks. Things in parenthesis that start with PH: are my comments.
I'm trying something a little different with this list. I'm going to group the posters by the type of posts they mostly are contributing. If you don't like it, just ignore. I don't think it will hurt much. Other that this attempt at grouping the posts are in alphabetical order by poster name
Posts Providing Background Facts
Cboldt, post #568; #581 ; #603; #701; #731; #752; #988 (PH: selections from a series of very informative posts, with links, on the port controversy)
Posts Reacting Directly to Shows
animal172, post #55 "Ouch! Wallace just nailed Bayh on the Patriot Act...";
Bahbah, post #60 "...(Russert's) not just evil, he's dumb."; #76 "...Proving for all time that (Lindsey Graham) is a complete and utter fool.";
Bean Counter, post #290 "Best MTP I've seen in ages! A few thoughts..." (PH: good catches of Mary Matalin quotes, plus a spot on shot at MoDo)
beyond the sea, post #362 "..I see now why you may think Dick Mannequin Gregory would say that..." (PH: and the man from NBC now has a new middle name... and I bet it will stick);
Carolinamom, post #455 "Will Rogers said....." (PH: great quotes and a great reminder of a truly funny and wise man);
Clara Lou, post #313 "...I still think the press, including David Gregory especially, are a bunch prissy, knicker-in-a-twist bunch of unprofessional, whining babies. As an aside, Chrissy Matthews and his silly crowd of prissy liberals are worked into an indignant snit over the power Dick Cheney has been given by the President. Delightful!! I appreciate the entertainment."
Darth Republican, post #219 "...Who's wearing the shorter skirt today?..." (PH: very funny); #350 "I don't think Muhammad Ali in his prime ever scored two KO's against two opponents in the same ring at the same time as Mary did this morning."'
dmw, post #317 "I just loved the look on MoDo's face after getting slapped silly from Mary. She just looked like, "what just hit me?" She also looked like she wanted to hide under Tim's desk after being embarrassed on national TV. Mary for President!!!";
Irish Eyes, #746 "Would love to see Alan Simpson as Press Secretary.";
maggief, post #86 "...Let me get this straight. Is Graham saying that if Congress had more information they would leak less?";
Miss Marple, post #57 "...Wallace immediately picks up on the implication that Bush is 'tough and dumb.' Asks Graham about it, and he does a commendable defense of the President."; #66 "Bayh is VERY sneaky. He talks moderate, but..."; #87 "Always remember that even if Bayh were the moderate he pretends to be, the talent pool he would have to draw from in order to appoint cabinets officials is a scary one, indeed!"; #97 "...People think (Bayh is) a Zell Miller, and he's not..."; #132 "I just love Simpson. I think Fox should give him and Zell Miller a show. We could have a contest on who used the most colorful turn of phrase each week! LOL!" (PH: I second this proposal); #276 "Wallace admitted on someone's show last week (Maybe Fox and Friends) that he has never gone hunting, and as far as he is concerned the outdoors should stay outside where it belongs. He pretty good-naturedly admitted he was a city boy and didn't know much about guns or hunting. I actually like it that he didn't try to pose as someone who knew anything about it."' #300 "That would go with my theory I put forth yesterday: the bean counters are trying to staunch the flow of red ink which the Olympics are causing (they had to make ad money to advertisers due to low ratings). Any reporter-dweeb who calls attention to himself by acting like a jerk and alienating viewers is going to come under the microscope of the higher-ups."
Mo1, post #67 "...Lindsey Graham says that he trusts Congress to keep secrets..."; #85 "...(Bayh's) a better BS'er then Edwards."; #95 "...(Bayh) and other Dems are trying to sound republican..."; #310 "...Now Chrissy is showing news clips about Adlai Stevenson (sp?) and how he shot a family friend during a hunting trip" (PH: great catch, did not know about that); #360 "Chrissy with his end of show comments is now claiming the witness (Ms. Armstrong) on Sunday morning about the hunting accident lied to the reporters... Because she said that no one saw Harry in the brush when the shooting occured .. and because the VP admitting he shot Harry... Chrissy also claims she lied because she said she wasn't aware of any drinking the day of the hunting .. but then the VP admitted in the interview he had a beer at lunch";
old_sage_says, post #274 "As you watch Gregory on MTP, look at his face and notice his mannerisms. His apology is NOT sincere, IMHO. I have an extra dime and am willing to bet he was forced to be on MTP to issue his shallow apology."; #307 "I am watching Chrissy's show, too. Howard Fineman is just too much. He says VP Cheney defines Mr Bush's Presidency. Fineman has no credibility. Zilch. Nada. Zero."
rockrr, post #342 "You could pass on MTP, (and no one would blame you!) but if you do you will miss an extraordinary butt-kicking from Mary Maitlan... She takes on both (It's my press-corps and I'll tantrum if I wanna) Gregory and the permanently PMS'y Maureen Dowdy. As we've seen elsewhere, these two extremely partisan urnalists have no intention of actually doing their jobs (unless they are ready to acknowledge that they are paid shills for the DNC), so it came as high entertainment to see Mary utterly destroy them, point by point... Paul Gigot works seamlessly as Mary's setup guy and between the two of them show the leftists as the clueless, classless droolers that they are... Did I actually see terrible timmy quaver and ask an unbiased question? I'll have to go back and view this one again!" (PH: good recap and analysis)
rodguy911, post #409 "Fox and Friends spent less than 5 mins. this morning on this story, I doubt others will mention it at all. Great catch McGruff. Not only was the WMD story glossed over for several months by the msm..." (PH: great post, but the eye strain!!!!! punctuation is our friend); #666 "For me the key is to keep the rat/media from setting the playing field each and every news cycle. We can and should control our own destiny."; #708 "'There are too many other important issues for the press to cover than this non issue. It was non-issue after the 1st day, and even more so now.' True words of wisdom here SC. IMHO after Britt Hume interviewed Cheney and Cheney told him basically, I shot the man and take full responsibility for doing so the story ended. The rest is just the msm continuing to set their agenda which is all left wing all the time. The big question becomes will we blindly follow like little sheeple or will we go our own way and cover the topics that can shape peoples lives like Able Danger, WMD's, the Barret Report and dozens of other ignored stories that really do effect the lives of Americans."; #869 "Lovely Lindsay does always appear to just have starred in a Bevis and Butthead episode. Just took a look at Mara--she forgot to wear her lipstick or comb her hair. She did rub up against a tube of lipstick however, pretty bad looking even for a rat." (PH: ouch! that's gonna leave a mark)
Sunnyflorida, post #205 "Peggy Noonan may have been a good speech writer in her day but her WSJ columns are unreadable. I never thought that sing-song intonation of hers could be translated to the written word but she proved me wrong."; #253 "They did not deal with the facts in the "port" story. I think correctly it is a political issue. Good thing, because economics, science or geography is not a required course for FNC's info-babes and editors and writers. Too bad...";
tioga, post #286 "...(Maureen Dowd) was just so flat and emotionless. There was no spark in her eyes, no change of expression on her face.......she looks and sounds like a robot. I am a 'real' woman, and real women show emotion and know how to have some fun. I think she lacks the ability to really live, which explains why she is still single." (PH: ouch, that's gonna leave a mark!);
TomGuy, post #28 "Wonder whether Tim's first question to Chertoff (like it was the last time Chertoff was on MTP) will be: Mr. Chertoff, shouldn't you resign?" (PH: which he apparently did, according to Bahbah's post #46); #146 "...Noticed that Russert only showed text of the McClellan-Gregory off-camera exchange...";
YaYa123, post #325 "On FOX... Birch Bayh very slick indeed!... LOL Lindsey Graham calls Nancy Pelosi 'the gift that keeps on giving'... Bayh has disturbing hair for a presidential candidate... Lindsey Graham always enumerates his responses, Very reminiscent of Clinton..." (PH: good analysis); #493 "... I say beware any politician who sounds so much like Al Franken's Stuart Smalley, who said, 'I'M GOOD ENOUGH, I'M SMART ENOUGH, AND DOGGONE IT, PEOPLE LIKE ME!'... Bayh was Smalley personified when he said: 'To my party, I urge that we do not change the subject or attempt to avoid this fight. It is our chance, and responsibility, to show the American people that we are tough enough and smart enough to protect this great country in perilous and uncertain times.'";
Posts Expanding On (Or Arguing Over) The Topics On The Shows
chiller, post #357 "...2 weeks ago at CPAC, remember, one of the stated strategies was to bypass OLD media to get the message out.. While the shooting isn't part of the Republican message, it is right in line with the plan. And the intentional baiting of the media to motivate the base is Rove's genius... I hope old media doesn't pick up on this."; #424 "Correct. And that Russert would even ask the question "did the media go too far" in his show promo tells me they've felt the sting. They know damn well they went to far and this is their attempt to save their ass with most of Americans... I want to see the questions and the internals of this morning's Time poll that suggest Cheney should have taken responsibility sooner.";
Christian4Bush, post #556 "...The other issue about these duplicitous senators (like Dingy Harry, like She Who Must Not Be Named, like Box of Rox, like Upchuck Schumer) is that these people are responsible (or at least have a vote) for making the laws of this country, and who get to decide who does and does not serve as judges and members of the President's cabinet... Given this, you have someone like S.W.M.N.B.N., where those Rose Law firm records just mysteriously reappear (after the statute of limitations on them expires), you have Dingy Harry, the Senate Minority Leader who boasts of killing the Patriot Act, having a stroke and not informing anyone for three days... You have a Senator who runs for president, campaigning as a war hero of a war he hated (and from which he received four deferments before being denied a fifth), then came home and undermined the war, and then met with our communist enemy while a member of the military, and then bashes the President about not providing what the troops need, yet "voted for the $87 billion, before (he) voted against it... You have Ted (hiccup) Kennedy driving off of a bridge with a woman in his car (not his wife), doesn't inform the authorities until the next morning, leaving the woman to SUFFOCATE (not drown), you have Jay Leakyfeller tipping off foreign countries that our President has already made up his mind about going to war against it - months before it happened...";
daybreakcoming, post #427 "Chris Wallace just saying that the reason the VP stayed in the news this week was because there was no other news out there! Scuse me Chris - but speaking of VP's - how about a former VP's speech in SA a few days ago? Huh? Further inflaming the Arab street is not news?";
Howlin, #430 "Isikoff, the man who hid Monica, finally finds his 'big story.'" (PH: in response to post 291, with link to Isikoff's article The Shot Heard Round the World and the related FR thread);
malia, #492 "...Vince Foster's death (I can't say suicide) .. Vince's office was looted, and I've heard 30 hours went by before they even alerted the media, the delay of the clinton Blind Trust, and the biggy - for me - is the suspicious surgery clinton had in Florida - that was no ankle surgery!!!... For hillary clinton to step before the camera and accuse President Bush of having the most secretive Adm. ever only elaborates the love affair the media has with the Democrats." (PH: see my comments in post #669)
OldFriend, post #225 "...(Simpson) made an outstanding case for the Vice President, which Matthews chose to ignore..."; #249 "...For whatever reason, Brian Lamb has chosen sides, and it's AGAINST America."; #294 "Cafferty has become the poster boy for CNN. Not something good for CNN!..."; #515 "One little disagreement. WE are not turning over our ports. They were already operated by Great Britain. They sold, or tried to sell, their rights to the UAE... Facts are pesky things, but imperative if we are to have an informed citizenry... I despair!"; #861 "The insanity of suggesting that every ship ought to line... up, like we do at the airport, for inspecttion... Goods would be delayed for an unacceptable amount of time... Would we board every ship, open every container?.. All this bullshipping about the ports is simply a case of wanting money money money and more money."
Pukin Dog, post #668 "When a few media outlets get around to publishing the TRUTH about this Ports story, the Dems will wind up losers again, through their xenophobic, racist way of handling it. A few Conservatives went nuts without knowing the facts, thanks mainly to Michelle Malkin who actually got this one wrong... This deal is going to go through, most in Congress knew about it, and there is nothing to the story. Most of the discussion is completely void of facts about the sale, what it means or how the ports actually work... Dems swing for the fences, but are about to ground-out again."; #720 "I wish Jack Bauer would visit the DNC sometime." (PH: very un-PC, but funny); #876 "I am referring to the Buchananites among us who know nothing about the Port issue, yet have formed an opinion anyway. They always fall back to the "its from the middle east, so it must be wrong" crowd. They know nothing about Dubai or how it's people and organizations feel about America. They said nothing about the fact that Brits were, are, and will be managing the same port operations as before, but now that they will be working under Dubai ownership, it is now a bad idea. They don't know that port operators don't have anything to do with port security, or that the issue has even been vetted already to determine whether or not there are any security issues to be concerned about. Some are even taking the media story hook line and sinker, and believe that we actually sold our ports to the UAE. Very few FReepers are taking the time to educate themselves on the issue prior to sharing their views on it. They don't even care that they are being used by Democrats so that they can appear tough on National Security, if it would mean that they would be wrong with their initial (and I stand by RACIST) attitude about this deal."
samantha, post #878 "...IMHO this is the post of the day...The old media print Magazines are losing more and more circulation to Cable/Satellite shows, and On-line New Media. I do not read magazines at all anymore,especially Newsweak,Time,etc. It is like Evan Thomas' Communist Grandaddy is the editor for all of them. There is so much advertisement in these publications it is very hard to pick your way through the ads for the story." (PH: referring to gov_bean_ counter's post #663)
snugs, #89 "The Houston Cronicle will not let go (of birdshotgate)..." (PH: great article links); #147 "I think the media somehow think that the VP is not human. IMHO waters run deep with him, he does not show on the surface that much emotion but I am certain he feels it..."; #223 I just do not understand this secrecy thing. What I see is people wishing to retain some sort of private life but release a tremendous amount of info and also have transparent private lives..." (PH: great analysis, great pictures too); #296 "...IMHO though I feel the VP was right not to disclose who he was talking with. As Cheney said how in future would you ensure that these top executives were willing to talk to the administration if they thought their names would be blazed all over the media."; #412 "It it has been said on FR by many that the hatred of Bush/Cheney is more like the forces of good and evil clashing and I think that there is more than an element of truth in this."; #431 "...with Dick Cheney it is in the eyes." (PH: great pictures of the Cheneys); #490 "The press hate Rummy because he will not play their game but instead plays with them."; #505 "Talking of trust funds I bet the MSM will forget to mention that it was announced in Wyoming on Friday that Dick and Lynne Cheney's Trust Fund had donated 2.7M dollars to Wyoming University..."; #762 "I can testify to that from a UK point of view and in slightly different circumstances but does show that checks are being made at all ports. I work for a manufacturer, we have a joint venture company in China, I was sending them some gearboxes to assemble into machines they are making for us... They were loaded into a container with a lot of other equipment from other exporters and twice it missed a vessel finally I was advised that customs and the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) had ceased the container. This was because someone was sending protective clothing to China which seemed strange as normal protective clothing is probably made in China. The Port/Customs Authorities were concerned that the goods were in fact nuclear protective clothing and maybe were going to be shipped from China to Iran... This illustrates that ports worldwide are looking at cargo and making sure it is stopped before it leaves the port of departure not seized at the port of entry because that maybe too late." (PH: major real-world information that contributes to the current debate on ports in a way that the MSM just can't match)
Posts On Topics Not Covered (but should have been)
68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub, post #387 "Some of the stories that are NOT be talked about today!... Rumsfeld slams war statements by Murtha... Copies of Saddam tapes available..." (PH: with links and a little righteous rabble rousing); #396 "You will stay right where you are on the thread... Please take a moment and Thank a Service Man or Woman..." (PH: special honor for this post, with link);
AliVeritas, post #19 "I love cspan, no room for the hearings last week, but plenty of time for liberal causes. I wonder if the program on Sudan will deal with how many christians have been killed by muslims?"; #24 "Does anyone think someone will cover Novak's column?..." (PH: the Novak column on union political spending);
FreedomNeocon, post #62 "LOL... I just got through C-SPAN to the call screener..." (PH: good question, but they wouldn't let it be asked); #109 "...Thats the dirty slyness of the MSM...";
Kimberly GG, post #123 "...I have 'concluded' that regardless of what is found to be on the tapes re: wmds, the liberal spin will be, "of course Saddam had wmds, he used them on the Kurds, everyone knows that you idiots, however, there is NO evidence on any of the tapes that Saddam was an imminent threat to America. In fact, Saddam actually warned us that an attack was coming, but not from Iraq." (PH: good summary of the MSM spin on the Saddam tapes); #142 "...I wish the tapes had not been released to the media until after the summit and until the attendees has a chance to get out ahead of it with Tierney's translation.";
McGruff, post #74 "Fox and Friends spent less than 5 mins. this morning on this story, I doubt others will mention it at all... Ex-Official: Russia Moved Saddam's WMDs..." (PH: great catch, with link to separate FR thread); #470 "Chris Wallace just saying ...because there was no other news out there... That statement just shows how much Chris Wallace is just another MSM clone... 1: Al Gore's outrageous statement in Saudi Arabia... 2: The Able Danger hearings this week... 3: The Saddam WMD revelations this past week... But I'm just a armature in pajamas compared to a career news man like him... We want Brit or Tony back!";
oneofmany, post #267 "Mary Matalin: Slayer of the self righteous" (PH: great line)
onyx, post #757 "Just for the record and accuracy, please check HOWLIN'S thread! ... FOR THE RECORD: CBS Memos Controversy on Free Republic..." (PH: great historic link)
p23185, post #529 "...what just drives me up a tree is the media's so-called 'right to spill national secrets so the American public can see what their evil President is doing to them' under the freedom of press argument. No one has the right to publish TOP SECRET information without the Government's declassification and approval. I would venture a guess that amongst thinking Americans the MSM has sunk to its lowest credibility in its history. Lets see a poll on who believes the MSM!!";
surrey, post #791 "My husband just got home from Atlanta. Two servicemen got on the flight returning from a tour of duty in Iraq. The flight attendant told the passengers that they were home for a short time and would be deployed again. My husband and his seatmate gave these 2 guys their 1st class seats."
Well done all. Very, very good discussions. I really think we provided all of us (and our silent observers) with a very serious (though often funny) and well put together review of these shows.
Next, the Top 10.
Jan
Thank you for including me in your HM list! What an early B-day present for me! (the 22nd, 37)
BTW, totally off thread, but I found out (years later) that the U.S. Hockey team beat the CCCP in the infamous "Do You Believe In Miracles" game, on my 11th birthday. (I didn't start following hockey until 8 years later.)
Guess I should go out and buy "Miracle" tomorrow, huh?
Anyway, I digress. Thanks for the honorable mention. I'm certainly not worthy to be mentioned with the PowerPosters, but it is an honor nonetheless.