Black Box Report

I.) The ad:

II.) Teh Outrage:

A general who "betrays us" is a traitor, like Benedict Arnold. Now that it's OK to question people's patriotism, can we start with MoveOn?

III.) The Shrug:

I just scratch my head and wonder where these people were back when similar attacks were made against anyone who dared question the intelligence of invading Iraq. Somehow those who criticized were anti-American and it was fair game to label war doubters like myself as America-haters and that was all OK. If the media was fine with those attacks a few years ago, they ought to be fine with the criticisms of Petraeus today. He's a big boy and can handle it and I don't see him as being any more or less of an American than anyone who spoke out against the invasion and who was smeared. If the GOP and their friends want to play like this - as they did back when the war was so popular - they should expect to receive as much as they dished out. If Petraeus is going to serve as the yes-man mouthpiece for the administration, he too should expect to take a bit of heat.

IV.)...With an acknowledgement of bad timing, if not taste:

A personal attack like this, when...Democrats need...a spine and a clarity of mind about holding this administration accountable only served to give the GOP one more chance to misdirect the attention of the media away from their own failings towards the overstep by MoveOn.

V.) Blame Democrats!:

The Democrats have to answer for MoveOn, especially those who get money from the group. Either they disassociate themselves from their McCarthyite tactics, or they get connected to them.

VI.) Yawwwnnn:

Dems balk at MoveOn censure resolution

Good. MoveOn is not the problem. If the right took coming up with a coherent Iraq policy half as seriously as they take some intemperate newspaper ad, the nation would be far better off.

VII.) No, really...Teh Outrage!!!1!

ABC's Jake Tapper, who first reported what Moveon.org paid for their ad, is on the story again today and reveals that a conservative organization who ran a full page ad the next day paid "significantly more."

Oops.

It appears that the NY Times may take a much bigger hit to their the credibilty and the bottom line than they ever anticipated as a result.

I doubt stockholders will be pleased.

VIII.) Sadly, No!

Mr. Giuliani, speaking in Atlanta yesterday, demanded that the Times apologize and offer him the same price.

Standby basis
But MoveOn bought its ad on a "standby" basis, under which it can ask for a day and placement in the paper but doesn't get any guarantees. Standby pricing doesn't appear on the Times rate card -- but that kind of ad at a standby rate turns out to run about $65,000.

And that's what the Giuliani campaign paid as well, according to one person close to the Times,

(Hat tip to Sadly, No!)

And so for a week, a good chunk of the left and right blogosphere was talking about - and linking to - a single ad.

I certainly hope the NYT ad department learned their lesson never to do that again....

For critics or supporters, it's easy to get dismissed by the other when it comes to this president and his administration. So when someone like Alan Greenspan speaks, everybody listens. For a self described conservative libertarian, Greenspan is not a fan of this White House, their principles or their competency. Forget the oil-grab claims for a moment. The fiscal discipline dis for a Republican is worse than Snoop Dog having his street cred called into question.

Greenspan didn't mince words; irresponsible tax cuts at a time of war, spending like a drunken sailor and an abuse of power by the Grand Old Party add up to a fiscal mess the old FED chief believes Bill Clinton wouldn't have permitted, let alone been far more competent to address.

It's nice to know Mr. Greenspan was, isn't and never will be one of all the president's men.