The Media Get Juiced

"Mukasey's not a perfect pick, and perhaps not even an acceptable selection. But he is a better nominee than Ted Olson, if only because his background suggests that he might take seriously the fundamental task of restoring the Department of Justice.

"So there will be no nomination of Olson, and no formal vote by the Judiciary Committee or the full Senate to confirm the most ardent champion of the right-wing Federalist Society's campaign to warp the federal judiciary and the nation's law-enforcement apparatus.

"But no one should mistake what has happened: Olson has been blocked by the Senate. That is good news for the Justice Department, for the rule of law and for the Republic."

At Firedoglake, Jane Hamsher smacks down Elizabeth Edwards (whose father was a career naval officer) for daring to say of MoveOn's attack on Gen. David H. Petraeus: "Someone who's spent their life in the military doesn't deserve 'General Betray Us.' "

"You're a smart woman. You of all people should know about the asymmetrical intimidation problem that Paul Krugman talks about -- the one where the media is afraid to go after Rudy Guiliani for claiming he's a rescue worker, but they'll try to demolish your husband over a haircut because they know that they'll get swarmed by the right wing noise machine for the former and pay no price for the latter. That's how it works.

"So I was really disappointed today to read at Taylor Marsh's place that you had joined with Diaper Dave Vitter and John 'McCarthy' McCain to attack MoveOn. We (and by that I mean the netroots) defend you when the MSM try to make your campaign a pi¿ata over stupid, insignificant stuff. When they try to say your race should end because of your illness, but don't say squat about Fred Thompson's lymphoma. We're your first line of defense, the only messaging machine that progressives have.

"So here's the rule. You never repeat right wing talking points to attack your own, ever."

I guess Elizabeth's candor is only appreciated when she's firing at Republicans? Didn't even Nancy Pelosi express reservations about the MoveOn ad?

Is it time for the McCain Comeback Narrative? Time's Jay Carney has a word of caution:

"John McCain has resurrected his campaign. He's still struggling financially, but he's stopped his slide in the polls and begun inching his way upward again. Building on a strong performance in the most recent GOP debate, McCain is riding his role as General Petraeus' most ardent supporter straight back into the hearts of some of the voters out there who still believe there's a way to prevail in Iraq. He also has a clever double entendre for a new campaign slogan -- 'No Surrender!'

"But if McCain's firmer-than-thou stance on the war is finally paying some dividends in a crowded Republican primary, it has also all but obliterated what was once an underlying rationale for McCain's nomination -- i.e., that his popularity among independents and wavering Democrats made him a formidable general election candidate. Back in 2000, when McCain used to say that he -- but not George W. Bush -- could 'beat Al Gore like a drum' in a general election match-up, he was almost certainly right. If McCain were to somehow win his party's nomination in 2008, his extreme hawkishness on Iraq would likely erase much of his old cross-over appeal."

Meanwhile, Fred Thompson has joined Giuliani, Romney and McCain in blowing off a PBS debate at a historically black college in Baltimore. Have they concluded that blacks don't vote in GOP primaries?

Hey -- Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, Tom Friedman and company have been liberated! The NYT is ending its unpopular experiment of charging 50 bucks a year for online access to its columnists.

The LAT looks at the dustup over Fox's Emmy coverage:

"Producers of Sunday's Emmy telecast bleeped best drama actress winner Sally Field in the midst of a controversial acceptance speech attacking U.S. involvement in Iraq.

" 'If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any god -' she said when the sound went dead and the camera suddenly turned away from the stage so viewers would be distracted. Chopped off were the words 'god-damned wars in the first place.' (The phrase was not censored in the Canadian telecast.) . . .

"Backstage, in the press room later, Field told reporters, 'I would have liked to have said more four-letter words up there!' "

I can understand why an FCC-wary network would bleep a mild obscenity. I can't understand why Fox wouldn't let Field finish her antiwar sentence.