;)
The Commentariat -- Feb. 3, 2014
Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "As politicians and pundits in Washington continue to spar over whether economic inequality is in fact deepening, in corporate America there really is no debate at all. The post-recession reality is that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking as the top tier pulls even further away.... In 2012, the top 5 percent of earners were responsible for 38 percent of domestic consumption, up from 28 percent in 1995, the researchers found. Even more striking, the current recovery has been driven almost entirely by the upper crust...." ...
... My Yacht Is Bigger than Your Yacht. Matt Yglesias on why consumer inequality is bad for innovation: "... thinking up creative ways for people to show off isn't really the same thing as dreaming up whole new product categories that you can target at the mass market. When the mass market goes away, the smart play is for everyone to focus on branding and exclusivity and zero-sum status competition games rather than on broadly useful new ideas."
NEW. Dominic Rushe of the Guardian: "Janet Yellen was sworn in as the first woman to head the Federal Reserve on Monday, ascending to the top job at the central bank at a time when the US economy seems on a firmer footing but investors are worrying about China and other emerging markets." ...
... Ben White, et al., of Politico: Janet Yellen takes over as chair of the Federal Reserve today; now she must learn to deal with a Congress & a press corps eager to trip her up.
Paul Krugman: "The Republican response to the State of the Union was delivered by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican representative from Washington — and it was remarkable for its lack of content.... So was ["Bette from Spokane"] the best story Ms. McMorris Rodgers could come up with? The answer, probably, is yes, since just about every tale of health reform horror the G.O.P. has tried to peddle has similarly fallen apart once the details were revealed. The truth is that the campaign against Obamacare relies on misleading stories at best, and often on outright deceit.... conservative politicians aren't just deceiving their constituents; they're also deceiving themselves. Right now, Republican political strategy seems to be to stall on every issue, and reap the rewards from Obamacare's inevitable collapse. Well, Obamacare isn't collapsing -- it's recovering pretty well from a terrible start."
Benjamin Bell of ABC News: "President Obama's tenure is becoming 'increasingly lawless' with his embrace of executive orders, which are 'creating a dangerous trend which is contrary to the Constitution,' House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan said today on 'This Week.' ... Despite his criticism, Ryan dismissed the idea of impeaching the president...." ...
... CW: Yo, Paulie. Jamelle Bouie of the Daily Beast: "The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara keeps a tally of every executive order from every president. And where does Obama rank compared to other post-World War II presidents? Second from the bottom.... Since taking control of the House in 2011, Republicans have committed themselves to blockading as much of the administration as possible.... Their only concern -- their only goal -- was to damage Obama's credibility and keep the White House from scoring any points." ...
... CW: To his credit, Stephanopoulos brought up the other presidents' orders during the segment, & Ryan responded that it wasn't the number but the scope of Obama's orders. ...
...Yo, Paulie. Matt Yglesias: "Lincoln, for example, issued the Emancipation Proclamation as an extension of his war powers as commander in chief. It was kind of a big deal. FDR took the United States off the gold standard with Executive Order 6102, an extremely envelope-pushing reading of a World War I trade measure. FDR also used executive authority to close all banks across the country as part of an effort to stabilize the economy. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus." ...
... CW: Stephanopoulos didn't call Ryan on that. Wasn't in the script. Although George should have known enough to follow up since it's been in the news a lot, thanks to fake historian & professional hand-wringer Jon Meacham. ...
... Meacham, BTW, has said he was sorry. AP: "Jon Meacham wrote in an email Thursday to The Associated Press that he was at best 'imprecise' and at worst 'just plain wrong.'" ...
... P.S. Here are some of the "increasingly lawless," unconstitooshunal executive actions Obama is taking. Why, just last Friday, Josh Hicks of the Washington Post reports, "Obama issued a memorandum ... saying that federal agencies should not look unfavorably upon job-seekers who are unemployed or facing financial difficulties.... Also that day, the White House announced it had secured promises from more than 300 companies that agreed to not show bias against applicants who have been out of work for more than six months." The "scope" there is pretty horrifying, isn't it, Paulie?
Thomas Ferraro & Sandra Maler of Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama still wants to hear from other federal agencies before deciding whether to accept the State Department's finding that the Keystone XL pipeline would have no major impact on climate change..., White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said...."
Seven-Minute "Justice." Eli Saslow of the Washington Post: "While Congress and the White House make promises about the future of undocumented immigrants..., one of the 57 overwhelmed immigration courts across the country ... is the place where decisions must be made -- day after day, case after case." In the Arlington, Virginia, courtroom, the judge "had an average of seven minutes per case."
New Jersey News
Victoria Cavaliere of Reuters: Assemblyman John Wisniewski, "a New Jersey Democrat leading a probe of the bridge traffic scandal that has engulfed Governor Chris Christie said on Sunday he has seen no evidence to support claims that the governor had been aware of the apparently politically motivated traffic jams as they happened." ...
... Margaret Hartmann of New York with more "good news" for Christie. ...
Marc Santora of the New York Times: "On Monday, the first of what are most likely thousands of pages of documents subpoenaed by the [New Jersey] State Legislature from prominent members of the Christie administration were to be turned over to investigators.... One of the people subpoenaed, Christina Genovese Renna, who worked in the Christie administration, has resigned, she said in a statement issued by her lawyer on Sunday. Ms. Renna, whose last day was Friday, had reported to [Bridget] Kelly...."
Paul Krugman: "... what some of us suspected all along was that Christie didn't yell at people because he was a get-results kind of guy; he yelled at people because he had anger management issues. And his office's bizarre screed against David Wildstein, his former ally now turned enemy, confirms that diagnosis.... If the official Christie position 'This guy is scum. Everyone has always known that he was scum, since he was a teenager. And that's why I appointed him to a major policy position'? What's remarkable here, actually, is how many pundits were taken in by the Christie persona."
Scott Raab of Esquire: "[Sunday] was meant to be Chris Christie's Super Bowl party, literally. Instead, the Hindenburg, engulfed by flames, is crashing right before our eyes.... By attacking Wildstein via e-mail with a popgun -- 'He was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior,' one of the e-mail's bullet points, is, hands-down, the most hilarious and hapless political attack ever launched -- Christie calls further attention to his own thug life in office."
David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post writes a positive story about Christie's high school days & how fondly his friends remember that young Chris -- after seeking their advice -- stopped his father from suing to keep a better catcher off the school's baseball team, even tho that meant Chris spent most of his senior year on the bench (or in the dugout -- whatever). Also, after high school, Christie kept up with his school friends, which they also think is very, very nice. ...
... Jonathan Chait is not impressed: "Well, he had been the starting catcher on the baseball team, and a better player transferred to the school and took his starting spot, and Christie decided not to sue to keep the kid out of school.... The story notes that Christie did not reject this idea out of hand.... Nor did he reject it on moral grounds. Rather, he simply decided it was too risky.... This, concludes the Post, is evidence of Christie's generosity of spirit.... We await future reports of other episodes displaying Christie's lack of vindictiveness. Like the time some dude cut in front of him in line at the deli, and Christie was going to have him beaten within an inch of his life but decided not to because there were security cameras." ...
... CW: That is, Christie is only a bully & a conniving backstabber when he thinks he can get away with it. What neither Fahrenthold nor Chait mentions is this: since the new catcher was a better player than Christie, presumably he improved the team's performance. I thought the whole idea of team sports was that everybody does what's best for the team.
Josh Marshall of TPM on why Christie "is toast even if he's innocent." Marshall runs down Christie's defenses, & reminds us that the defenses sound as bad as accusations.
Superbowl News
President Obama endures another attack by interview with Bill O'Reilly of Fox "News," the network that carried the game:
... Margaret Hartmann: "You'll never guess what the Fox News anchor wanted to talk about: Obamacare, Benghazi, and the IRS scandal. As O'Reilly interrupted and scoffed at any answers he didn't like (almost all of them), the president made some jabs at his employer. After saying O'Reilly's assertions were proven inaccurate in 'multiple hearings,' Obama added, 'these kinds of things keep on surfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them.'" Plus a tweet from Hillary Clinton. ...
... Marc Ambinder in the Week: "O'Reilly's questions were grossly, wholly ridiculous. They don't exist as legitimate questions except in the way that they justify the masturbatory self-indulgence of Fox News' elite worldview, which increasingly, if not entirely, is self-pitying. These questions exist because if they didn't, our world view would fall apart. Worst presidential interview ever." ...
... CW: I respectfully disagree with Ambinder. In O'Reilly's 2011 Superbowl interview, he interrupted the President 48 times. (In fairness, O'Reilly interrupted Obama numerous times yesterday, but not 48):
#boycottcoke. Elias Isquith of Salon: "Coca-Cola's multilingual Super Bowl ad is driving Twitter xenophobes crazy. Apparently singing 'America the Beautiful' in multiple languages is worthy of a boycott." Here's the "offending" ad:
... Tom Kludt of TPM with more outrage from monolingual conservatives. ...
... Ian Crouch of the New Yorker failed to notice how "unAmerican" the Coke ad was: "After hours of jingoistic and military-heavy pre-game festivities on Fox, in which the network implored viewers at home and around the world to recognize the might and greatness of America, Coke managed to evoke patriotism in just a minute, with a multilingual version of 'America, the Beautiful.'" Well, the New Yorker. 'Nuff said.
You can watch the full Seinfeld episode of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" here; an ad ran during the Superbowl halftime.
Dylan Then. "Advertising signs that con you....":
Dylan Now. "Because we believe in the zoom and the roar and the thrust..., we will build your car":
News Ledes
New York Times: "Even as the international effort to destroy Syria's vast chemical weapons stockpile lags behind schedule, a similar American-backed campaign carried out under a cloak of secrecy ended successfully last week in another strife-torn country, Libya. The United States and Libya in the past three months have discreetly destroyed what both sides say were the last remnants of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi's lethal arsenal of chemical arms."
AFP: " US Secretary of State John Kerry came under further attack Monday by Israeli hawks who accuse him of manipulating the threat of an economic boycott to pressure Israel into peace concessions. The latest war of words between the two allies erupted Saturday after Kerry warned that Israel was facing a growing campaign of delegitimization which would likely worsen if peace talks with the Palestinians collapsed."
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Reader Comments (17)
Did think the Super Bowl Coke ad worth a mention. Reminded us of the "I'd like to teach the world to sing" series that Coke featured for years. Nice thoughts for a soulless corporate person to have, regardless of its real-world behavior. But then, according to my son, Coke is the best selling soft drink in Mexico and in many places cheaper than water.
Also happy to hear the new ad is driving the Right as crazy as the Clint Eastwood voiced Chrysler ad, was it two years ago, praising a new Chrysler product "imported from (a newly rescued by the damn gunmmint) Detroit."
And as crazy as family conversation predicted it would as soon as the new Coke ad aired.
In addition to Fox's jingoistic run-up to the game, which we did not watch, the NYTimes reports that Obama had to endure another unfriendly grilling from Bill O'Reilly but handled it well.
As my grandmother used to say, more power to the President. I'd rather clean the outhouse.
I, too, saw the Coke ad and thought of the "teach the world to sing" campaign, nice and friendly. This morning, I find out that only English speaking Americans are allowed to think that America is Beautiful. Really??
I expected smarmy from Coca Cola, I did not expect Dylan to walk the show room floor. How does that song go Bob..."everybody's got to serve somebody" ?
@Jeff K: Many people agree with you. Here's Brian Steinberg of Variety: "Bob Dylan has moved from “Positively 4th Street” to absolutely Madison Avenue.
"By appearing in a longer-than-usual commercial for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles during the Super Bowl Sunday night – and allowing the use of his wordy 1966 single 'I Want You' in a separate spot for Chobani yogurt – has cemented an idea that few would have ascribed to him when he first came to prominence in the 1960s: He’s for sale."
Hey, don't trust anyone over 30.
Marie
Re: shale to oil; dust to diesel; " accept the State Department's finding that the Keystone XL pipeline would have no major impact on climate change..., " Let me help Mr. President; think of the planet as a bomb and the Keystone XL (is that like extra large?) pipeline as a fuse. No need to thank me.
Re; sugar water; The Coke Ad was sweet but who's kidding who?
Coke is bad for you. Honest. It has it's uses; driveway cleaner most excellent; put a little in a bucket of water and it makes dance floors just sticky enough for "on point"; cleans pennies; works as a meat tenderizer for carnitas. Oh, and you can drink it.
How did they find that many kid Coke drinkers with teeth?
Re: Yesterday's stale news. What's with Ms. Dowd? I'm beginning to think she was dumped by Bill for Monica. Maybe Paul will offer the kindness of strangers.
And I heard that Dylan went electric, too! Stone him.
Evidence of the number of executive orders, by individual Presidents, is widely available. It should be standard screen graphic when those claiming "lawless" Obama is trying to run the country on his own via exec orders. Stephanopoulos may have brought up the actual record, but his failure to practice journalism actually gifted Ryan a perfect set-up for his next untruth. He probably did Ryan a favor.
The Obama exec order meme is like the ACA failure / horror stories. The telling of the lie gets attention and ratings, the follow-up is irrelevant and lost in the noise. There is little difference between those who shout "come on down" and turn letters on a big board and those who host "news" programs. Its all about the dollars. Responsible journalism is mostly a non sequitur.
How many ways can we screw this president and how many issues can we hyperventilate about say those foxy folks and their faithful followers. The interview with O'Reilly and Obama is a perfect example of trying to grind those negative ubiquitous talking points into the ground. I liked the idea the Obama wasn't wearing a tie.
Now we have the Coke ad that some will get their socks inside out about. Such small minded creatures. I'm waiting to see if the story that Marie linked yesterday re: the teaching and promoting religious dogma by the Louisiana school districts will get more press––I found the story about the Asian boy horrific.
Re: the Keystone Pipeline business. Here's a link to an excellent piece by Verlyn Klinkenberg, about Bill McKibben who discusses this matter.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/oct/24/bill-mckibben-prophet/?insrc=toc
Can the president finally, after all this time, please god, give up this insane preoccupation with thinking that those who own, who run, who watch Fox have the slightest interest in comity (never mind politesse), in reasoned discussion of important issues, in fairness, or in a meeting of the minds across ideological bridges?
This should be it. Over. Finit. Done. End of story.
Bill O'Reilly, arrogant, boorish blowhard, has not the slightest scintilla of concern for the public good or polity or serious conversation. And his audience of mouth breathing dullards has even less.
So give it up, Mr. President. Let them throw darts at your picture, not at your face. Don't give them the satisfaction. Read my lips:
They. Hate.You.
Enough already.
I caught Dylan's image on the Super Bowl Chrysler spot and my heart sank.
Really, Bob? Seriously? Do you need the money that badly? Or is it just the fame?
What is it that causes people who don't need it to sell out like that?
Can you imagine Pete Seeger making a spot for General Electric? All those years building something up to lose it in thirty seconds on the Super Bowl, of all places. How is that at 73, Dylan could forget what he knew at 23?
"Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal."
I don't care how much he made. It ain't worth it.
sigh...
"President's don't write laws" says legal eagle, historian, and constitutional scholar Paul (Lyin') Ryan.
Do tell?
If the Lyin' One spent as much time studying US law and history as he does perfecting that stupid grin and working on his biceps, he'd know how idiotic that statement is.
And the idea that Obama's use of executive orders (which have the force of law) is an example of his lawlessness, ignores the fact that the last three GOP presidents, between them, "wrote" 838 laws. Obama? 169. But who's counting?
Still, as Diane writes, the lies assholes like Ryan spit out have a long shelf-life, especially for those who are largely ignorant, willfully or otherwise. It's nice that Ryan was challenged (a bit) on his creative use of history and ignorance of the law, but what is really needed is a stage on which charlatans and liars like Ryan can be pointed towards and laughed at. Loudly.
And let's not forget to mention that law is a fluid concept for the GOP, and that laws, in its eyes are malleable and optional at best. They pick and choose which laws to obey and they instruct their minions to ignore laws they don't like. I suppose that's why they're all so versed in the concept of lawlessness. Crooks typically think that everyone else is as crooked as they are.
@Akhilleus: "Can you imagine Pete Seeger making a spot for General Electric?"
Well, no. When Seeger was with the Weavers, the group decided to do a cigarette ad. "Because they needed the money," Seeger said. Seeger needed the money then, too, but he not only refused to do the ad, he left the Weavers because of it, & the Weavers were the biggest moneymakers of his career.
It's true that cigarettes aren't Chryslers, and Chrysler isn't the worst product in the world. But the Dylan spot itself is fairly reprehensible. You could argue it promotes the American worker, & that's a good thing. But it does so in a smarmy, American-exceptionalism-y way, assuming that "only in America" jingoism that makes me sick.
Also, I expect Budweiser is pretty irritated. After spending gazillions on their Clydesdales & puppies spots, Dylan says, "Let Germans make your beer." Oh, yeah, & he also says let China make your phones -- a nice shout-out to sweatshops & forced labor!
You kinda have to wonder what those geniuses at Chrysler's ad agency are thinking. Two years ago they pissed off wingers with the Clint Eastwood ad that suggested Eastwood supported Obama when he said nice things about the bailout. (Gee, it turned out Eastwood didn't care much for Obama.) Now, this year they're aggravating liberals. At least we're talking about Chrysler; maybe they figure all publicity is good publicity. I think I'll ask Chris Christie & Target about that.
@Patrick: Yeah, Dylan went electric. In 1965.
Marie
From the What a Waste of Time department comes this tidbit:
Tomorrow night (Tuesday), Bill Nye (the Science Guy) will debate Bible thumping creator of the Creation Museum in Kentucky, Ken Ham (who, no doubt, will earn that last name--he's raising funds for a Creation Museum theme park). They will "debate" the nature of evolution and whether or not creationism is valid science.
Now I like Bill Nye. Always enjoyed his folksy, accessible presentation of science. But this is a total waste of time. Even worse, it will be a televised waste of time, being carried on both nbc.com and msnbc.com.
Why, Bill? Why?
The only thing that will come out of this is more buzz for the bullshit. And speaking of bullshit, what really irritates the absolute hell out of me, is the way both debaters are being portrayed. The Pew Research Center site, fer crissakes, calls them both "extreme ends of the spectrum" as if a fact based position and one rooted in fantasy should be considered equal. It's the "both sides do it" crap which leads to the conclusion that both arguments should cancel each other out. Other sites point out that both have impeccable science pedigrees. They don't point out, however, that one is certifiable (or a complete huckster).
Besides, Ham will counter any fact based argument by calling up the specter of Intelligent Design. Ooooooh. Look! Flies have compound eyes! How did that happen? It must have been GOD!
Fuck me.
If this Ham guy can come onstage riding a dinosaur, then maybe he'll have a leg to stand on. Otherwise, Bill Nye is giving him a very nice crutch to hold up his gammy argument.
Sheesh.
Both arguments are extreme, says Pew, happy to give an assist to the deluded.
@JJG: re: Coke. Many years ago in the early 60's, I had ajob driving truck for some Mormon farmers in NE Oregon. One day, a couple of us were in the shop with one of them, when we noticed many empty 6 oz Coke bottles lined up along the wall. We asked why so many since you don't drink it? Reply: "We don't drink it, but it does a fine job of loosening rusted bolts!"
@Barbarossa. So Coke is nothing but WD-40? Or vice-versa?
@James and Redbeard; WD and coke, good for your stuck nuts and more. Solvents, one water-based, one petro-based. I will 'fess up to floating a little drop of coke on a glass of Columbian rum in days gone by.
Re: Bob Zimmerman; You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
@Akhilleus
You may wish to read this http://www.richarddawkins.net/foundation_articles/2014/1/16/why-bill-nye-shouldn-t-debate-ken-ham
I recall Richard Dawkins has refused to appear on NPR with creationists.
@Bob Dylan
When I hear , "you won't find a match for the American road and the creatures that live on it" I think of all the rare and common female road killed turtles that I've photographed during peak nesting season in Massachusetts.
Too bad that Dylan has chosen to be on the wrong side of history.