This is my first diary.  I'm writing it the day Barack Obama was nominated the democratic party's nominee for president.  I'd wish to address this historic event, but I don't have any particularly original thing to say about it, so I'll leave those kinds of diaries to other writers.

What I will address, however, is process. Specifically, the process by which our country operates.

Even more specifically - the process of information dissemination. We've lived predominately in a paradigm of mass communication that acts like a massive bullhorn to a crowd. We're moving more towards a paradigm of mass discussion, more like a very big dinner table discussion.

But how do we truly foster the discussion and communication that we need?

   Perhaps I haven't been as good and wonky as everyone else watching the Democratic Convention on CSPAN, but sitting through the last few days of this thing watching it on MSNBC, I'm starting to get a little angry at an aspect of the coverage that seems to indicate these people (including our beloved Rachel Maddow unfortunately) haven't really been paying attention throughout this campaign.

So for the last 8 years coverage on Fox News has been rightward leaning as many people have noticed. In the last 3 years since MSNBC's ratings have gained ground on the back of Countdown W/ Keith Olbermann and a continuing left leaning platform. CNN has stayed pretty neutral compared to the the other 2.

MY QUESTION IS: HOW DARE THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA CLAIM TO COVER THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, AND THEN NOT EVEN COVER THE SPEECH BY THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT JUST FOUR YEARS AGO???

John Kerry was our nominee! John Kerry is a war hero.  And yet the MSM blackout prevailed.  John Kerry gave a rousing and heroic speech tonight.  But if a tree falls in an empty forest...

It looks like the mainstream media, and MSNBC, and even our new best friend Rachel Maddow, are ignoring the Kerry and Clinton speeches on the "obvious' "discomfort" of Joe Biden and, aGAIN, the "why aren't they attacking McCain more?" meme heading into tomorrow's speech.

Even though I try to mention it where appropriate, I never get to give Bob Somerby enough credit for the work he's doing, the work he's done for a decade now, in exposing the mainstream media for what it is. A bunch of wannabe novelists debasing the country and the world.

Somerby runs Daily Howler. If you haven't been there, go. Somerby takes sides, and his focus is sometimes clearly shown, but his judgment is never compromised.

Today Somerby posted a story that left me speechless. Not in the usual way. Not because some person was suffering or some horrific atrocity had taken place, but because it explained -- or should have way back then -- how the media would ignore suffering and atrocities today.

Courtesy of Fark:

What can Hillary's body language tell us about how she really feels about Obama? It's not news it's CNN. Bonus: The comments are made of win

Are they ever!  Join the fun beyond the jump!

Yesterday I was with a client who was appearing on FOX News as a Democratic spokeswoman. She was a guest on Studio B with Shepard Smith on the subject of a People magazine article about the VP rollout and how Senator Joe Biden got the news.

It was an education to be in the FOX News studio at the convention. My female client was taken to make-up which was very Hollywood-like. (They put false eyelashes on her and I must say when they were finished she looked amazing). We were then taken to the news floor where at one end of a newsroom bullpen was a raised platform serving as Shepard Smith’s set.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

1. No Joe "Keeper of the Shovel" Scarborough

2. No Pat "The Nattering Nabob of Judeo-Christianity Uber Alles" Buchanan

3. No William "the Criminally Wrong" Kristol

4. No Charlie the Brave Warrior Battling Capital Gains Taxes

5. No Katie "The Enchanted Queen of the Faerie Land of Somearesaying" Couric

6. No Tom "The Surge Made Everything Just Peachy" Brokaw

7. No George the Tiny Debate Failure

8. No Turd "Just An Analyst. Nothing to see here." Blossom

9. No "The Good German" Shepherd Smith

10. No Glen "Why am I still on the air?" Beck

11. No David "I'm such a populist, I get all my meals at the Applebees salad bar" Brooks

12. No Brit "This Cutty Sark is Making Me Bored" Hume

13. No Noron the Walking Talking Point Regurgitator

14. No Howard "This Balance Fox Speaks of" Wolfson

15. No Cokie "that Tommy Bahama shirt makes you look exotic" Roberts

Hillary was great last night.  As an Obama supporter, she mad me laugh and cry.  she mad eme proud to be a woman, an American, and an Obama supporter.

I went to bed last night wondering what the stupid repug talking points would be.

Wow, am I sick of the Democrats are divided stories.  I am really tired of the "will the Clinton voters come home to Obama?" and stories about how "Obama will have trouble rallying segments of the Democratic Party."

Where are those stories about the Republicans.  John McCain ran unopposed for the last 15-20 primaries, and rarely got 70% of the vote.  Numerous traditional values and veteran's websites are pledging not to back McCain. http://usvetdsp.com/

Numerous prominent conservatives are backing Obama.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Where are the stories about Republican disarray?

In the aftermath of Hillary Clinton's stunning speech yesterday night, the talking heads are all atwitter over how the speech--soaring in its rhetoric, piercing in its logic, and stirring in its message--may not have "been enough" to win over disaffected Hillary Clinton voters.

From the media's coverage of the convention, you would think that Denver is the gathering ground for such voters, that you can find a PUMA behind every bush and around ever tree.

The reality on the ground is that the vast majority of Clinton supporters here will be voting for Obama in the fall, many of them enthusiastically. You can observe throughout Denver Democrats wearing Hillary shirts with Obama pins, or vice versa.

And yet, we are treated this morning by punditry and articles about how "many Clinton supporter say speech didn't heal divisions."

It is one of the favorite tactics of the traditional media to build coverage upon false equivalency in order to portray friction or controversy in a given situation. A global warming expert--representing the opinion of 99% of scientists--is put up against a fringe climate change denier and is presented as being on equal footing. There's no reason I suppose why coverage of the convention should be any different.

The press loves its PUMA hunting, stalking through the streets of Denver, seeking out anyone who fits the supposed profile of a "Disaffected Hillary Voter"--a 40-something woman decked out in HillaryGear whose Obama pin is glaring absent, or a visitor wearing an anti-Obama shirt. I myself witnessed such a hunt on numerous occasions (including at the Denver airport, where the reporter literally stopped interviewing a group of Democrats to go chase a lone guy in an "18 million cracks" t-shirt).

PUMAs though are a rare breed. To put things into perspective, a rally for Clinton here yesterday reportedly drew about 1,000 people. Keep in mind there are about 50,000 here for the convention.

Yes, they do exist, but in small, clustered numbers, and by all measures, they are an endangered species of voter. A March 2008 Gallup poll showed that 28% of Clinton voters would vote for McCain in the fall. Now, that same poll shows that number standing at just 16%. Other polls have the number in closer to 20%.

The shrinking population of stubborn "Hillary or Bust" voters makes sense. Democrats had a bruising and bitter primary, and wounds from that fight are understandably slow to heal. But for most, they do heal. After Hillary Clinton's moving call to unity yesterday, and after the convention, expect to see the number of such voters continue to dwindle, until all that is left is a tiny cluster of Republicans and so-called "Democrats" who voted for Hillary in the primaries and are eager to vote against their best interests in the fall. That's their prerogative, but if they think--and if the media believes--that this election will hinge on these fringe voters--well, that dog just won't hunt.

Every-time the pundits speak they say 'people are not voting for him because... they don't know him.'They know McCain ... Really!

In case your were wondering, it appears as though Barack Obama is totally fed up with the mainstream media right along with us.   Last night while watching the convention, he even switched the station from MSNBC to CSPAN.  Barack's asking us to do something unprecedented in Presidential elections--to target (read:  boycott) the media.

I found the official boycott form on his website just now.   You can send it out in 3-4 quick clicks of your mouse.  The link is below and includes a sample letter provided by the campaign.  You can tweak it to your liking if you have the time or just leave it.

Hillary nailed it. If this was a routine on the balance beam, she's get the gold without any questions asked regardless of the performance of underage Chinese gymnasts.

But, of course, that is not the story.

Last night's best speech may not have been HRC's, but Brian Schweitzer's rousing call to action over the issue of energy and the slamming of John McCain.  But almost no one covered the speech except for PBS and C-SPAN.  That, in a nutshell, captures the truly mind-numbing horrible-ness of the press coverage of this convention.  And the Boston Globe noticed too:

THE BEST way to watch a political convention is on C-Span. That way Americans can make their own judgments unfiltered, without being told what to think by the nattering nabobs of TV commentary.

Indeed.  These "nattering nabobs" only cover the speeches that they see as "marqueee" or which fit into their "narratives," doing an enormous disservice to the American people.  

When future generations look back on this moment, they will shake their heads in disbelief at the fact that the first African-American nominee faced such blatant bias and hostility from a corrupt media establishment. While Americans should be focusing on this great progressive achievement and the Democrats' vision for the future, the media has used a small group of internet conspiracy theorists to distract the country with a petty red herring. Their goal is simple: to deny Barack Obama the traditional privilege of a convention where he and his supporters can speak directly to the American people. Instead, the pundits and producers have drowned out the actual story in Denver to carry water for John McCain and demoralize Democrats.

Well, if you're in Denver, you can fight back. The media is desperate for controversy, and there is no reason we should not be using this against them. Follow me below the fold to find out how you can help.