When the Thai military plotters pulled off their coup, they, like many another gang of revolutionaries before them, took over the radio and television stations in the Thai capital. Thank heavens for the Internet, talk radio, and other alternative media. In that respect, we’ve had a coup in the United States almost since the beginning of the Bush administration. ~Lawrence Henry, AmSpec Blog

I’m not sure, but I think this has to win some kind of prize for being the most bizarre use of the “liberal media” trope I have ever seen.  But maybe I’ve got him wrong.  Perhaps Mr. Henry is suggesting that NewsCorp and Clear Channel are engaged in a coup against the constitutional government of the United States?  He might be onto something….But I really don’t know what he’s saying.  First of all, I don’t know what to make of someone who thinks that a military coup that has the support of the king is revolutionary.  I am also unsure what difference the existence of alternative media makes when almost all the urban and educated people in Thailand are thrilled by the coup and are ecstatic at the downfall of Thaksin; Thaksin’s political base is among the poor and rural folks in the north and east of the country, who presumably do not have their own blogs and routine Web access.