Fair and balanced....

So Fox News' chief political reporter made up a few John Kerry quotes ("'Didn't my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!'" and "I'm metrosexual - he's a cowboy!") and put them on the front page of their web site. Fox says he's been "reprimanded." He's still covering the campaign. Oh for the love of....

Are you worried that you need insight or coherent thinking or simple judgement or a stimulus-response reflex to be a newspaper columnist? Well, not only have you not read anywhere I've worked for the last seven years, you've also not read Tim Chavez taking the media to task for not reporting the "good news" from Iraq. When faced with multiple media reports and one conflicting e-mail, Chavez decides the media must be wrong.

Responses to the Chavez column:

Chavez should have checked Marine's claim
You're part of the media, too, Mr. Chavez
"Journalism is broken. And he helped break it."
"Tim, your piece is a disgrace" (my favorite, by an NYT reporter who was at Najaf)
"So when is someone going to fire this guy?"

Chavez contributes a new column which reads of "apology under duress" more than anything else, apologizing for, oh, being wrong but continues to whine that "[s]till, I'd hope the media would find some balance."

This is the kind of trenchant insight we need on the ground in Iraq:

"My day was heading for a real downer what with all those kids blown to bits in Iraq; but lo, along comes Tim Chavez to tell me that its the media that's broken, not Iraq. Like, some Marine sent him an e-mail about Samarra not being a clusterf--- unlike the entire Sunni Triangle. Cool. Just think, for everyone of those 87 attacks per day on U.S. forces that I heard about only cos someone leaked a personal letter from a Wall Street Journalist, there's like 87 positive stories that the media are covering up too. Someone should tell the editor of the Tenessean that Chavez is wasted as a columnist. Imagine the stories he could tell if he was IN IRAQ."

I read "V for Vendetta" this weekend. Its time truly has come again.

No good deed....

Via Wonkette, possibly the best photo to come out of the election this year.

I should probably stop blathering about election-year war-time journalism. Meh. Later. First an interesting confluence.

Farnaz Fassihi, the Wall Street Journal reporter who penned that eloquent e-mail about Iraq (which is getting kudos), has apparently been told not to report any more about Iraq until after the election. Sure seems like a punitive measure for something not even intended for outside consumption. And while it screams of excess, it does seem right to err on the side of avoiding a conflict or lack of objectivity.

Meanwhile, at last check, Fox News Channel's Carl "Putting words in Kerry's mouth" Cameron was "reprimanded" and is still on the Kerry beat.

So in case you just tuned in, you get taken off the beat for telling the truth, but not for telling lies.

Oh, you forgot Poland. No, wait. Forget Poland.

...

I'm noting this with a minimum of commentary more for people not in the area who can't quite follow the story. From the Lawrence Journal-World.

Ex-husband arrested for murder

The ex-husband of Carmin D. Ross, whose body was found in her rural Douglas County home nearly a year ago, was arrested this morning in Manhattan on a first-degree murder warrant.

Thomas E. Murray was picked up by Riley County Police at 8:45 a.m. and will be transported to the Douglas County Jail. His bond has been set at $1 million.

Thomas Murray is accused of murdering his ex-wife, whose body was discovered on Nov. 14, 2003, in her home at 1860 E. 1150 Road in northwest Douglas County.

Since then Douglas County officers, with assistance from Riley County and other agencies have conducted an investigation that included 250 interviews and 170 leads.

Thomas Murray is a Kansas State University English professor.

The Strangerhood

On a lighter note, what do you get when you cross The Sims 2 with Red vs. Blue?

The Strangerhood.

Trailer here.

I'm gonna like this.