A good part of what's wrong with network news can be summarized in two words: "royal wedding."
Some time ago Brian Williams opened a story with a line that went something like, "Americans are all fascinated with the upcoming royal wedding...." Well, maybe NBC is, but I'm sure a lot of us don't really give a rat's behind about it. But it doesn't matter because as long as you tell viewers that they are, maybe they will be. Infotainment is certainly easier to cover than real news. Especially real news that your owner would rather you not cover, like the fact that GE (which owns NBC), despite making some $15 Billion last year didn't pay any US taxes! NBC News opted not to cover that story, and the fact that they didn't made it to the Washington Post in this story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-nbc-the-missing-story-about-parent-company-general-electric/2011/03/29/AFpRYJyB_story.html?hpid=z4
Locally, we have two words that our network affiliates love to cover, "Karen Sypher." Last night there was "breaking news" about where, and when Karen Sypher was to report to prison. I actually felt sorry for the "breaking news" reporter after he said for the third time she was to report next Tuesday to a facility in Florida. I kid you not, at least three times.
I'm guessing they love the story because of the voyeur aspect to it. And I'm beginning to think that the real victim of this story is not Rick Pitino, and its not Karen Sypher. Its the poor viewer who tunes into the local news for, well, news. Karen Sypher filing a new appeal is not news, and giving a television interview is not news.
But its what passes for news these days. Sad.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
On unfair treatment
There was a story a week or so ago about Sarah Palin which I wanted to mention at the time, but didn't. As you may recall, she raised a minor stink earlier this year after the Tucson shootings and despite her previous references such as "lock and load" and using crosshairs to target political foes, didn't understand why people would think she might share some responsibility for the shooting of political (and other) figures.
And as previously reported, she was able to ascertain the real victim, herself, who had been blood libeled by the media. She pointed out that shooters bear the real responsibility for their actions and anyone who didn't understand that was a complete idiot.
Weeks later, when asked to comment on the legislative situation in Wisconsin, she said that the pro-union people should tone down their rhetoric because they would be responsible if someone got hurt. No inconsistency here.
Glenn Greenwald of Salon has a very illuminating story of similar cluelessness from those bastions of Ayn Randian beliefs, those poor Koch brothers, who feel like they have been so unfairly victimized because of their philosophy. It examines this crazy-ass, despite all evidence to the contrary, idea that Obama is an uberliberal that hates business. Its a good read.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/27/koch
And as previously reported, she was able to ascertain the real victim, herself, who had been blood libeled by the media. She pointed out that shooters bear the real responsibility for their actions and anyone who didn't understand that was a complete idiot.
Weeks later, when asked to comment on the legislative situation in Wisconsin, she said that the pro-union people should tone down their rhetoric because they would be responsible if someone got hurt. No inconsistency here.
Glenn Greenwald of Salon has a very illuminating story of similar cluelessness from those bastions of Ayn Randian beliefs, those poor Koch brothers, who feel like they have been so unfairly victimized because of their philosophy. It examines this crazy-ass, despite all evidence to the contrary, idea that Obama is an uberliberal that hates business. Its a good read.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/27/koch
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, the man who would be king
Well, President, anyway....
It was so interesting yet sad to watch John McCain shed his integrity bit by bit during the last presidential election cycle in an effort to pick up votes.
Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, has never been encumbered by integrity so its interesting and amusing to watch him say ANYTHING that he thinks might pick up a vote. Witnesseth his contradictions on American intervention in Libya via Talking Points Memo:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/newt-gingrichs-libya-shift-issue-by-issue.php
It was so interesting yet sad to watch John McCain shed his integrity bit by bit during the last presidential election cycle in an effort to pick up votes.
Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, has never been encumbered by integrity so its interesting and amusing to watch him say ANYTHING that he thinks might pick up a vote. Witnesseth his contradictions on American intervention in Libya via Talking Points Memo:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/newt-gingrichs-libya-shift-issue-by-issue.php
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Corporations are so mistreated!
Below is a story from this morning's NYT about the governor of Maine attempting to remove some murals in the lobby of the Department of Labor. The paintings depict workers of various backgrounds engaging in their respective workings.
Conservatives want them removed because there are no pictures of, well, I guess managers, and therefore, they lack balance in their presentations.
Seriously.
Maybe they should hang portraits of some Fox News pundits.
Or, better still, what about some paintings of 1800 England during the industrial revolution where small children were used to remove objects which became stuck in huge equipment because adults were too large for the task. A picture of a 8 year old boy pulling back a bleeding stump where his arm used to be would give some balance. Too bad labor unions helped to end that practice.
Or, how about a picture of some thugs hired by Henry Ford beating factory workers at Ford's Detroit River Rouge plant in the 1930's when the workers tried to unionize?
Maybe a picture of greedy Wall Street bankers selling collateralized debt obligations to an unsuspecting public, helping to bring down the economy in 2008?
There are so many worthy counterbalances to those greedy people trying to earn an honest living.
Surely big business should be able to control not only the Department of Labor, but the images contained there as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/us/24lepage.html?emc=eta1
Are Republicans the only ones brave enough to stand up for these mistreated corporations?
here's an updated story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/24/maine-governors-decision-remove-labor-mural-letter_n_840282.html
Conservatives want them removed because there are no pictures of, well, I guess managers, and therefore, they lack balance in their presentations.
Seriously.
Maybe they should hang portraits of some Fox News pundits.
Or, better still, what about some paintings of 1800 England during the industrial revolution where small children were used to remove objects which became stuck in huge equipment because adults were too large for the task. A picture of a 8 year old boy pulling back a bleeding stump where his arm used to be would give some balance. Too bad labor unions helped to end that practice.
Or, how about a picture of some thugs hired by Henry Ford beating factory workers at Ford's Detroit River Rouge plant in the 1930's when the workers tried to unionize?
Maybe a picture of greedy Wall Street bankers selling collateralized debt obligations to an unsuspecting public, helping to bring down the economy in 2008?
There are so many worthy counterbalances to those greedy people trying to earn an honest living.
Surely big business should be able to control not only the Department of Labor, but the images contained there as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/us/24lepage.html?emc=eta1
Are Republicans the only ones brave enough to stand up for these mistreated corporations?
here's an updated story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/24/maine-governors-decision-remove-labor-mural-letter_n_840282.html
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
It all depends on a collective short memory...
Every time I think Mitch McConnell is the king of hypocrisy, Newt Gingrich shows up to challenge the crown. Last week, with his pants on, the Newtster lambasted Obama for filling out his NCAA brackets instead of leading our country.
What you may or may not remember is that our previous president (for better or for worse) was on vacation more than any president before him. He was at his "ranch"* in Crawford when the FBI came by to give him the CIA assessment that bin Laden was "determined to strike the U.S." and with his smirky frat boy manner, sent the man away after saying, "you can go now, you've covered your ass." (Because that's what true leadership is all about, covering your ass).
I never heard a peep out of Republicans during the 8 years of absentee leadership.
But you let one scary Negro Kenyan Muslim take five minutes to fill out a bracket and we could have been hit by them Rooskies, or something. Geeeeze!
*( I put ranch in quotation marks because its the only ranch I've heard of without horses. Former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, once said in an interview that when "W" visited him in Mexico, he had a surprise horseback ride lined up. When Fox brought out the horse for W, he said there was the unmistakable look of fear in Georgie's eyes, and the ride was canceled. I know of no reason for Mr. Fox to lie about the story.)
What you may or may not remember is that our previous president (for better or for worse) was on vacation more than any president before him. He was at his "ranch"* in Crawford when the FBI came by to give him the CIA assessment that bin Laden was "determined to strike the U.S." and with his smirky frat boy manner, sent the man away after saying, "you can go now, you've covered your ass." (Because that's what true leadership is all about, covering your ass).
I never heard a peep out of Republicans during the 8 years of absentee leadership.
But you let one scary Negro Kenyan Muslim take five minutes to fill out a bracket and we could have been hit by them Rooskies, or something. Geeeeze!
*( I put ranch in quotation marks because its the only ranch I've heard of without horses. Former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, once said in an interview that when "W" visited him in Mexico, he had a surprise horseback ride lined up. When Fox brought out the horse for W, he said there was the unmistakable look of fear in Georgie's eyes, and the ride was canceled. I know of no reason for Mr. Fox to lie about the story.)
Friday, March 11, 2011
Every time the Star Spangled Banner plays
his pants fall off!
I hope everyone had an opportunity to see or hear Newt Gingrich explaining on the Preachy Channel why he has had repeated affairs. Turns out, its because he loves his country so much!
"There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn't trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them. I found that I felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness. Not God's understanding, but God's forgiveness."
For those who don't remember, Newt was pressing for Bill Clinton's impeachment for lying about having an affair while Newt was having an affair. I'm just guessing that Clinton's crime was having an affair which wasn't caused by his "passion" for his country.
I hope everyone had an opportunity to see or hear Newt Gingrich explaining on the Preachy Channel why he has had repeated affairs. Turns out, its because he loves his country so much!
"There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn't trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them. I found that I felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness. Not God's understanding, but God's forgiveness."
For those who don't remember, Newt was pressing for Bill Clinton's impeachment for lying about having an affair while Newt was having an affair. I'm just guessing that Clinton's crime was having an affair which wasn't caused by his "passion" for his country.
We the sheeple......
Just a few reflections on the top stories in my local Courier-Journal today:
But first, a comment on the pictures which cover the top stories on pages 1-3. The first picture is of our own Rand Paul, further down the page are pictures of David Williams and Gov. Steve Beshear.
On page two is a picture of Senator Jim DeMint, and page 3 contains pictures of a menacing Representative Peter King of New York and clueless demagogue Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Think about it, the top national stories are generated by three crazy tea baggers and a bigot. Locally, we're just petty.
The Rand Paul story is about how he and other tea bagger senators are threatening to block any legislation which does not address the alleged "debt crisis." DeMint's picture is from the same article.
The Williams\Beshear article is about state Senate leader David Williams being offended by a statement purportedly made by Beshear calling him and others "fat guys." Beshear denies it.
Turning to page three we have the phony hearings on "radicalized Islam" being led by King, who's picture shows him giving that crazed laser stare that looks, well, radicalized.
Then the final article on page three is the one of Wisconsin Governor Walker and his success in killing the public unions (that didn't support him in the election cycle-the ones that did were exempted).
I bring this up because three of the "stories" are bogus and the third is about pettiness. Well, other than the tsunami, that's today's news.
The debt crisis simply isn't a crisis. Its a long term problem which must be addressed, but it simply isn't a crisis, no matter how vehemently the tea partiers argue otherwise.
Paul Krugman speaks of the nuttiness today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/opinion/11krugman.html?_r=1&hp
The hearing on UnAmerican activities, oops, I mean Islamic radicalization, is chaired by Peter King, a strong supporter of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a radicalized group which terrorized Great Britain in the '80 and '90s. Mr. King has denied that the hearings are an effort to paint Muslims with a broad stroke as just another word for "terrorists," and he said in a statement on Wednesday that you got to look where terrorism comes from, and it always comes from radicalized Muslims. On Thursday, the FBI arrested the guy accused of planting a bomb in Seattle on a Martin Luther King day parade route. He was a neo-nazi, and I didn't see a turban on his arrest photograph.
Oh, and in support of the hearings, a fellow Republican Representative said he didn't see a problem with the hearings because "no one objected when they had hearings on the KKK."
I won't go into the Wisconsin story much as I have written about it before. Just to remark that the union busting efforts were not about a budget "crisis" as the unions had already acceded to the governor's demands for concessions before any of this started.
In sum, the nation's conversation has been shoved so far to the right that people are no longer able to ascertain what is a crisis and what isn't. Republicans who voted for two unfunded wars, massive tax breaks for the wealthy and corporate subsidies over the last two terms of George W. Bush and passively watched a budget surplus turn into substantial deficits have had a vision on the road to Damascus and are suddenly alarmed at the "crisis" before us. And it has nothing to do with that scary black Kenyan Muslim in the White House.
Sixty days ago they bullied the spineless Democrats to support the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy costing the treasury $700 billion over the next ten years, and now suddenly, the budget is in a crisis mode.
Thank God the Courier realizes there are two sides to every story!
But first, a comment on the pictures which cover the top stories on pages 1-3. The first picture is of our own Rand Paul, further down the page are pictures of David Williams and Gov. Steve Beshear.
On page two is a picture of Senator Jim DeMint, and page 3 contains pictures of a menacing Representative Peter King of New York and clueless demagogue Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Think about it, the top national stories are generated by three crazy tea baggers and a bigot. Locally, we're just petty.
The Rand Paul story is about how he and other tea bagger senators are threatening to block any legislation which does not address the alleged "debt crisis." DeMint's picture is from the same article.
The Williams\Beshear article is about state Senate leader David Williams being offended by a statement purportedly made by Beshear calling him and others "fat guys." Beshear denies it.
Turning to page three we have the phony hearings on "radicalized Islam" being led by King, who's picture shows him giving that crazed laser stare that looks, well, radicalized.
Then the final article on page three is the one of Wisconsin Governor Walker and his success in killing the public unions (that didn't support him in the election cycle-the ones that did were exempted).
I bring this up because three of the "stories" are bogus and the third is about pettiness. Well, other than the tsunami, that's today's news.
The debt crisis simply isn't a crisis. Its a long term problem which must be addressed, but it simply isn't a crisis, no matter how vehemently the tea partiers argue otherwise.
Paul Krugman speaks of the nuttiness today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/opinion/11krugman.html?_r=1&hp
The hearing on UnAmerican activities, oops, I mean Islamic radicalization, is chaired by Peter King, a strong supporter of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a radicalized group which terrorized Great Britain in the '80 and '90s. Mr. King has denied that the hearings are an effort to paint Muslims with a broad stroke as just another word for "terrorists," and he said in a statement on Wednesday that you got to look where terrorism comes from, and it always comes from radicalized Muslims. On Thursday, the FBI arrested the guy accused of planting a bomb in Seattle on a Martin Luther King day parade route. He was a neo-nazi, and I didn't see a turban on his arrest photograph.
Oh, and in support of the hearings, a fellow Republican Representative said he didn't see a problem with the hearings because "no one objected when they had hearings on the KKK."
I won't go into the Wisconsin story much as I have written about it before. Just to remark that the union busting efforts were not about a budget "crisis" as the unions had already acceded to the governor's demands for concessions before any of this started.
In sum, the nation's conversation has been shoved so far to the right that people are no longer able to ascertain what is a crisis and what isn't. Republicans who voted for two unfunded wars, massive tax breaks for the wealthy and corporate subsidies over the last two terms of George W. Bush and passively watched a budget surplus turn into substantial deficits have had a vision on the road to Damascus and are suddenly alarmed at the "crisis" before us. And it has nothing to do with that scary black Kenyan Muslim in the White House.
Sixty days ago they bullied the spineless Democrats to support the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy costing the treasury $700 billion over the next ten years, and now suddenly, the budget is in a crisis mode.
Thank God the Courier realizes there are two sides to every story!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Public v. Private employees
I'm truly fascinated with the new war on unions and the middle class being waged by the tea partiers. First, I must say I agree that some localities have probably made it too easy for police types to take retirement with full benefits and health care after 20 years, then allow the person to retire and take a similar job and work toward a second retirement while receiving the first.
Having said that, I must note that in Wisconsin, the police and fire unions are exempted from the governor 's plan, so the war against unions is against teachers and other state employees.
After our local paper, the Courier Journal, published a letter and an op-ed piece last week, both of which stated as fact that public employees earn more than their private counterparts, I wrote the paper asking whether they believed those statements were true. (I blogged about this new tea party meme last November when I first saw the assertion, I think under the caption "Why are the public employees ripping us off?).
But of course, the newspaper can no longer be expected to give us facts because the new mission is to report both sides of every story (sometimes the truth and the lie, without telling us which is which, otherwise, they could be accused of taking sides).
I happen to believe what has happened over the years is that public employees made LESS in salary than their private counterparts (with similar educational levels) and their pensions fairly mirrored those of private 401K's. Private workers were happy with this arrangement until their 401k's tanked and pensions didn't. Then, once they became infected with tea partyism, they saw that someone was getting something they weren't and it made them unhappy.
Now, some people would look at why the 401k's tanked and get mad at Wall Street, but in tea partyland they got mad at other middle-classers instead! And, once again, its worked out well for the Republicans, once you are able to overlook the complete insanity of it all.
Jon Stewart had a bit on the Fox News pundits' total hypocrisy of it all when compared to their position of the banker's bonuses during the financial bailout. With bankers, we need to respect the sanctity of their contracts (they were promised the bonuses), but with public workers, not so much.
Here's a link to Jon Stewart via Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/04/jon-stewart-teachers-walls-street-fox_n_831243.html
Here are links to a couple of articles about comparisons between public and private workers, with thanks to the work of the Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman and the NYT:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/the-truth-about-pensions/?emc=eta1
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/a-clarification-on-public-workers/?emc=eta1
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/06/us/public-private-employees.html?hp
One thing that you have to admire is the ability of the Republican Party to turn one section of the middle class against another, when neither had anything to do with the financial meltdown. Why middle class people are content to attack each other instead of going after the real perpetrators of our problems is totally beyond me.
My hat is off to those workers in Wisconsin who are fighting back against this nonsense, and we should all be supporting them.
Having said that, I must note that in Wisconsin, the police and fire unions are exempted from the governor 's plan, so the war against unions is against teachers and other state employees.
After our local paper, the Courier Journal, published a letter and an op-ed piece last week, both of which stated as fact that public employees earn more than their private counterparts, I wrote the paper asking whether they believed those statements were true. (I blogged about this new tea party meme last November when I first saw the assertion, I think under the caption "Why are the public employees ripping us off?).
But of course, the newspaper can no longer be expected to give us facts because the new mission is to report both sides of every story (sometimes the truth and the lie, without telling us which is which, otherwise, they could be accused of taking sides).
I happen to believe what has happened over the years is that public employees made LESS in salary than their private counterparts (with similar educational levels) and their pensions fairly mirrored those of private 401K's. Private workers were happy with this arrangement until their 401k's tanked and pensions didn't. Then, once they became infected with tea partyism, they saw that someone was getting something they weren't and it made them unhappy.
Now, some people would look at why the 401k's tanked and get mad at Wall Street, but in tea partyland they got mad at other middle-classers instead! And, once again, its worked out well for the Republicans, once you are able to overlook the complete insanity of it all.
Jon Stewart had a bit on the Fox News pundits' total hypocrisy of it all when compared to their position of the banker's bonuses during the financial bailout. With bankers, we need to respect the sanctity of their contracts (they were promised the bonuses), but with public workers, not so much.
Here's a link to Jon Stewart via Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/04/jon-stewart-teachers-walls-street-fox_n_831243.html
Here are links to a couple of articles about comparisons between public and private workers, with thanks to the work of the Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman and the NYT:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/the-truth-about-pensions/?emc=eta1
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/a-clarification-on-public-workers/?emc=eta1
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/06/us/public-private-employees.html?hp
One thing that you have to admire is the ability of the Republican Party to turn one section of the middle class against another, when neither had anything to do with the financial meltdown. Why middle class people are content to attack each other instead of going after the real perpetrators of our problems is totally beyond me.
My hat is off to those workers in Wisconsin who are fighting back against this nonsense, and we should all be supporting them.
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