The Post-Democratic Process: Rupert Murdoch "Knew" NH Exit Polls Were "Wrong" About Hillary!

Gandhi, my Australian friend, wants to know how much Rupert Murdoch knew in advance about Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire surprise:

The editor of Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper, Rebekah Wade, yesterday told a House of Lords communications committee that Rupert Murdoch called her at 1.30am on the day of the New Hampshire primaries to warn her that the exit polls were wrong.

There has been heated speculation in the blogosphere that Hiliary Clinton's win in New Hampshire was rigged. And everybody is well aware that Murdoch favors Clinton in 2008.

So was Murdoch just (a) hanging on the wires, keeping a close eye on results, and checking that his UK morning editions didn't stuff up? Or was (b) he in on the vote rigging and controlling the story he wanted to see in print?

If you answered (c) we'll probably never know, you are probably right.

I was offline at the time and couldn't have rigged it for her even had I wanted to. I didn't participate in the exit poll, either, and I don't know what happened there.

If you know something, please share.

Do Supposedly Sexy Women Manipulate Us Through The Media? That Is The Question ... One Of The Questions, Anyway

Are we, the morally outraged citizens of the Western world, actually paying the cost for our leaders' sexual frustration?

That's another good question, and it's part of a great post, from Gandhi at Howard Out.

No more excerpts, no more hints. Go ahead and click the link.

Sex, Media and Wendi "Mrs Murdoch" Deng

Saddam the Reluctant Sleepwear Model

More Saddam prisoner photos published

Britain's Sun newspaper has published more controversial photos of Saddam Hussein amid complaints their release violates his rights as a prisoner.

...

The photos also appeared in the New York Post. The owner of both newspapers, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, says a U.S. military source provided the photos, hoping their release would deal a "body blow" to the insurgency.

Well, be sure to let me know if that happens, all right? We're gonna deal "a body blow" to "the insurgency" by publishing photos of an old man in his pajamas? No wonder this war is going so well! Look at the brains behind it!!

Our guys are getting killed and maimed by car bombs and sniper fire, but we're gonna knock that insurgency right on its ass because we have ... pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underwear!! How fantastic! Why didn't we think of this before now? Why did we allow so many of American servicemen and women to be killed and wounded since we captured Saddam Hussein [or didn't]? Why didn't we use this secret weapon earlier? The war might have already been over!!

But I digress. That was then; this is now; and unfortunately the secret weapon that nobody ever thought of might have a downside: It could be illegal!

Saddam may sue the Sun for publishing the photos, his lawyers have said.

Concerns have been raised that the photos violate military and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines "for the humane treatment of detained individuals."

The International Red Cross, which is responsible for monitoring prisoners of war and detainees, said the photographs violated Saddam's right to privacy.

The U.S. military says it's going to find out who leaked the pictures, and a military spokesman in Baghdad says U.S. troops responsible for Saddam will be questioned.

Oh, right! We all of a sudden care so much about the "quaint" Geneva Convention that we're gonna take this seriously while we ignore all the other serious and credible reports of prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and elsewhere? Or could this be an attempt to focus as much attention as possible on Saddam's underwear, in the hope of burying all those other pesky stories?

I mean, would "the owner of both newspapers, media mogul Rupert Murdoch" want you looking at pictures of Saddam Hussein in his undies and wondering whether his Geneva Convention rights had been violated, or would he rather have you reading this and wondering whether it's ok to kill people you suspect are innocent!

I never imagined casting Saddam Hussein as "the Reluctant Sleepwear Model". I never imagined anything of the sort. It blew me away. But oh well. You learn something new every day. Or more than one thing. But every new find brings any number of new questions. Like:

Where do you suppose they dig these ideas up?

What kind of psychotropic drugs must be involved?

And ... well ... you don't suppose they plant this stuff as a distraction, do you?