we are proud as a wallaby to have our name attached to the lefty letter to the national press club decrying the imbalance of a panel discussion about blogging which includes jeff “mandate” gannon but nobody who actually was involved in the blogging investigation of him.

but as glenn kenny points out in romenesko’s letter section …hey, it’s just a stupid panel:

we couldn’t have been snarkier ourselves!

addendum: americablog points out that the npc panel is now closed to the public. that’s right, the national press, whose dictate is to get information to the public, is limited a panel discussion on the changing definition of “journalist” to only people who fit into the old definition of “journalist,” thus denying the public access to information.

irony, thy name is media!

Sorry to blog out of order, but Jamison Foser posted this excellent piece on Media Matters yesterday, and it sheds further light on this post I did Tuesday about the growing number of “conscience clauses” and Pharmacists for Life’s involvement in that growth. (This has been an interest of mine for a bit.)

Not only does he explore the background of the group’s founder, Karen Brauer, he slams CNN, who interviewed her Tuesday, for their pitiful display of journalistic skills therein. (Is it any wonder National Press Club invites James Guckert to a panel on journalism?)

“…Bill Hemmer teased the segment as a report on the tension between “pharmacist beliefs” and “women’s rights,” (but) Pharmacists for Life president Karen Brauer appeared by herself to discuss the topic, with no one presenting an opposing view. Further, (interviewer Carol) Costello failed to point out the serious questions about Pharmacists for Life’s credibility, ask Brauer about her own credibility problems, or ask Brauer obvious questions about the appropriateness of pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions. CNN’s treatment of Brauer, though, is consistent with several other news reports that have mentioned her or her organization without explaining their background or giving readers and viewers a full picture of them. “

There’s also an interesting tie-in to the Schiavo controversy (yes, PFL is in on that, too), and a revealing bit on Brauer’s refusal to fill, not only birth control prescriptions, but those for diet pills, too. And just in case you think they were satisfied with just withholding pills, he wraps it up with this:

“And a caption on a photo accompanying a February 2 Santa Fe New Mexican article suggests that Pharmacists for Life’s agenda may go well beyond pharmacies. The caption reads:

GRAPHIC: 1. Sen. Bill Sharer, left, R-Farmington, meets Tuesday with supporters of his bill defining marriage in New Mexico as only between a man and a woman. Meeting with Sharer are representatives of the Pharmacists for Life and Life League of New Mexico, Abran Gabaldon, former Sen. Tom Benavides of Albuquerque and Manuel Rodriguez. “

Go read!

PORTLAND - FBI agents used provisions of the USA Patriot Act during their investigation last year of a Portland attorney who was wrongly jailed for two weeks on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings, according to a Justice Department letter.
The Patriot Act allows for covert searches of homes, without conventional search war- rants.

Brandon Mayfield was jailed last May after his fingerprint was incorrectly matched to one found on a bag of detonators near the scene of the Madrid attack, which killed 191 people. He was released after the FBI admitted its mistake.

Mayfield has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, contending that his rights were violated by his arrest and by the investigation against him. He also contends the Patriot Act is unconstitutional.

As this is the first time the government’s admitted using the controversial ’sneak and peek’ provision of the Act, and they botched it good, it looks like full judicial review of it may be forthcoming.

I’m no lawyer but I think there’s an ample case that could be made that the previous search powers the government possesses would prove sufficient, if our intelligence agencies could discern the difference between shit and shinola. Covering up their ineptness with new intrusive laws leads to a complete breakdown of civil liberties in a democratic society.

It takes no especial genius to discern rather quickly that Brandon Mayfield as a terrorist can only be envisioned in the minds of idiots. I hope the courts will undo the damage caused by rash decisionmaking post-9/11. We’ve had time to think since then, and parts of the Patriot Act aren’t exactly shinola.