Sundry posts elsewhere

from today’s Altercation:

Jim Van Norman of Austin, Texas writes:

Here's a prediction for 2006: Just in time for the elections, GW will come to realize that the Iraqis are now standing up, so we can begin to stand down. He will, flying in the face of the reality-based community, declare success based upon a newly formed Iraqi government and begin a phased withdrawal. This will all be reminiscent of his about face on the creation of a Department of Homeland Security -- a once-ridiculed idea will become his own. My other prediction: the Democratic Party will sit slack-jawed and silent as Bush distorts reality and claims victory.

from The Ape Man, a relatively new blog:

"The Tactical Benefits of Crazy Lying"
One of the key tactical realities the GOP has figured out about the modern media landscape is that no matter what, mainstream reporters and pundits will never say "the GOP is just crazily lying."

The upshot of this is that when the GOP tells some crazy lie, reporters generally will give you a "Claim A isn't true, but it's an exaggeration of Fact B which is true."

Problem is, often Fact B is made up...

from Digby:

The 700 Club's average daily audience, according to AC Nielsen's November sweeps, is up 26% over last year.["January 2005] At a time when most daily shows are struggling The 700 Club is experiencing tremendous increases. November's average daily audience of 922,000 households is the highest in ten years and we experienced the same success in October and November.

(Ape Man via Avedon at the Sideshow.)

And finally, Arvin takes note of the Minutemen bringing their loathesome schtick here to Denton this past Friday.