The Morning Flap: February 22, 2013

Sequestration from Wall Street Journal
These are my news headlines for February 21st through February 22nd:

With Axelrod At NBC News, The Marriage Of Media And Politics Becomes Complete – What’s more, Team Obama has declared it has no intention of dismantling its campaign apparatus post re-election. Put Axelrod in the catbird seat at a news outlet and the “narrative” continues. Combine that with Team Obama’s masterful manipulation of journalists, its command of social media, and an ugly picture emerges of a press indistinguishable from the political establishment.This has happened in banana republics, but never in a Western democracy. Already it’s making old-school journalists who value news gathering over politics, such as the New York Times’ Roger Cohen, ABC’s Ann Compton and the Washington Post’s David Ignatius, uncomfortable. The one thing that will stop it is a press that won’t cooperate. So where is that press?
Budget hawks question Pentagon’s doomsday scenarios – But perhaps the biggest example of the Washington Monument maneuver is coming from the Defense Department, where it goes by another name. Over many decades of defense budget battles, the Pentagon has often used a tactic known as a “gold watch.” It means to answer a budget cut proposal by selecting for elimination a program so important and valued — a gold watch — that Pentagon chiefs know political leaders will res...

Source: FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog - February 22, 2013 Category: Dentists Authors: Flap Tags: Pinboard Links The Morning Flap Charles Krauthammer David Axelrod Delicious Links Democrats Gallup GOP Harry Reid Healthcare immigration Karl Rove Media Medicare MSM NBC Nevada Obamacare Online Politics Peggy Noonan Source Type: blogs