by The Cranky Media Guy!

Thurs. Oct. 26

Mea Culpa

OK, OK, I suck. Yeah, I know that everything has been posted to the site late recently. Cut me some slack though, please. Two weekends ago, I moved 2,500 miles or so to Boise, Idaho. For the moment, I'm living in a motel room and waking up at 4:30 in the morning because of my new job as part of the Spud Brothers morning show on J-105 radio.

Until yesterday, I've been writing stuff for the site using my li'l Palm IIIx, the electronic equivalent of stone knives and bear skins (identify that reference, smarty-pants). Now though I've got my Mac hooked up to the phone in my palatial motel room, so I can start doing things right again.

Bottom line: I haven't lost interest in the web site; it's just that my life has been upside down lately. I'm getting this little dinghy right side-up again, so hang on. It's time to stir up some shit again.

A Hard Man Is Good To Find

Al Gore is on the cover of the current Rolling Stone magazine. A story is making the rounds that they "had" to airbrush his crotch area in the picture because it looked as if Al was sporting a woody.

Now, how would a story like that get out? Magazine pictures get airbrushed and retouched all the time and you don't hear a word about it. This may seem like a stretch to some of you and you might think I'm paranoid, but I'm wondering if letting this story out is an attempt to help the guy's image.

Think about it for a moment. Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone, is a well-known Democratic partisan. Gore's such a passionless, wooden marionette that it could only help his image to let it be known that the guy's sportin' a package. You gotta figure that this story must have made at least a few people check out the magazine who wouldn't ordinarily be so inclined. Gore gets a new rep as a stud and the magazine sells a few more copies. Who gets hurt here? Hey, maybe Wenner ordered the stiffie airbrushed in.

I Get The Most Amazing E-mail

The allegation: Friday night, 10/20/00, Hustler magazine's Larry Flynt appeared live on CNN's Crossfire and told Bob Novak he has documented proof GWBush paid for the abortion of his offspring. Flynt claims proof of who the woman is, the doctor who did the abortion, and evidence from her girlfriends at the time who were aware of the pregnancy/abortion. Flynt questions why the media refuse to ask GWB why is abortion good enough for him but not for the rest of the country? (Very condensed synopsis)

The bigger issue: Maybe CNN hoped no one was watching or taping this live interview, but when I checked CNN's verbatim transcript of the show they have deleted Flynt's proof statements as if they never happened. Are CNN's bean counters in their tower republican hypocrites like their candidate? How can a major "news" outlet censor content, deciding what a viewer will see/read? CNN did no subsequent reporting of the live exchange. Their pro-Bush response is totally indefensible!

Barbra Stickler Birch Bay, WA

Then I Got This One...

http://www.bush-2000.net/features/qh/quick_hits.htm

"The Bush camp, astonishingly, does not deny Flynt's allegations. Instead, they blasted CNN for airing them, even though CNN couldn't know what Flynt might say..."

Bush camp, "CNN's standards have hit a new low, if that's even possible. It appears the liberal media is becoming desperate as Election Day nears." "I guess Flynt must really have the goods on 'ol dubya, or he would have issued a straightforward denial, instead of screaming that Robert Novak - who's nearly as conservative as Rush Limbaugh - is a member of the "liberal media". Austin, we have a problem.

Barbra Stickler

Followed By This One...

Sorry. http://www.bush-2000.net/features/qh/quick_hits.htm

Barbra Stickler

CMG Says...

Pretty amazing allegation, huh? I didn't see the CNN show in question and I haven't seen anything about this story in any other media (not that that surprises me). Anybody know anything more about this? Are we breaking a big story here? Thanks for sending the info to me, Barbra.

CMG

Still The Most Honest Statement of the Race:

"This is an impressive group -- 'the haves' - and the 'have mores.' Some people call you 'the elite.' I call you, 'my base'."

George W. Bush - in a rare moment of honesty,
at the annual Al Smith Dinner in NYC; a
gathering for the rich and famous

More news to come as I continue to get my life back together.

The BEST stories are the ones you report -- News items may be sent to bob@crankymediaguy.com