Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Vermont begins hearings on same-sex marriage bill
MONTPELIER, Vt. - Nine years after it played host to a bitter fight over civil unions, Vermont's Statehouse is again a gay rights battleground.
More than 200 same-sex marriage opponents, cheering and wearing buttons that read "Marriage - A Mother & Father for Every Child," converged Monday on Montpelier as lawmakers began a week's worth of hearings on a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
By JOHN CURRAN Associated Press Writer
Obama rejects SC gov's bid to use stimulus on debt
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Obama administration on Monday rejected South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's request to use $700 million in federal stimulus cash to pay down state debt. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said in a letter to the Republican that the federal stimulus law doesn't allow President Barack Obama to make an exception for that cash. Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer had no immediate response, but the governor has said he would reject part of the stimulus money if Obama wouldn't give him flexibility in spending it.
The $787 billion stimulus legislation sets strict rules for the $53.6 billion being sent to help state budgets, Orszag wrote. It calls for 82 percent of the money to be used for public schools and colleges and 18 percent on public safety and other government services.
By JIM DAVENPORT Associated Press Writer
White House: Cheney almost as popular as Limbaugh
WASHINGTON - The White House says former Vice President Dick Cheney is the second most popular member of the "Republican cabal," behind only talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday brushed off Cheney's criticism of President Barack Obama's new administration. Cheney said Sunday that Obama's decisions are threatening the nation's safety.
The Associated Press
Just So You Know
Two black wooden boxes were brought into the room outside my cell. One was tall, slightly higher than me and narrow. Measuring perhaps in area [3 1/2 by 2 1/2 feet by 6 1/2 feet high]. The other was shorter, perhaps only [3 1/2 feet] in height. I was taken out of my cell and one of the interrogators wrapped a towel around my neck, they then used it to swing me around and smash me repeatedly against the hard walls of the room. I was also repeatedly slapped in the face....I was then put into the tall black box for what I think was about one and a half to two hours. The box was totally black on the inside as well as the outside.... They put a cloth or cover over the outside of the box to cut out the light and restrict my air supply. It was difficult to breathe. When I was let out of the box I saw that one of the walls of the room had been covered with plywood sheeting. From now on it was against this wall that I was then smashed with the towel around my neck. I think that the plywood was put there to provide some absorption of the impact of my body. The interrogators realized that smashing me against the hard wall would probably quickly result in physical injury."
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Getting Pink Slips In CA
But for all the anti-tax swagger and the occasional stunts by personalities like KFI's John and Ken, the reality is that conservative talk radio in California is on the wane. The economy's downturn has depressed ad revenue at stations across the state, thinning the ranks of conservative broadcasters.
For that and other reasons, stations have dropped the shows of at least half a dozen radio personalities and scaled back others, in some cases replacing them with cheaper nationally syndicated programs.
Casualties include Mark Larson in San Diego, Larry Elder and John Ziegler in Los Angeles, Melanie Morgan in San Francisco, and Phil Cowen and Mark Williams in Sacramento.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Power?
...there is some very preliminary, very ambiguous evidence that perhaps the pummeling has begun to have an impact.
In the first three days of this week, CNBC's Business Day programming block was down 10 percent in the key demographic of adults 25-to-54 versus the same period the week before, and down 11 percent among total viewers. Meanwhile, Mad Money was also down 10 percent in the 25-to-54 demographic, but only 4 percent among all viewers -- suggesting that maybe some of those bored college kids who watch Jon Stewart did, in fact, tune in to find out exactly what is the deal with this Jim Cramer character.
of course that means just the Robber Baron's will be watching from now on
Hope Rising In The West
New Mexico abolishes the death penalty
The New Mexico Senate voted to abolish capital punishment, a measure already approved by the lower House that Governor Bill Richardson must sign before it goes into effect, the Senate said on its website.
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 24-18 to strike the death penalty from its law books.
Democrat Richardson, who last month withdrew as President Barack Obama's pick to be commerce secretary, has not made clear whether he agrees with the repeal measure or plans to veto it, but lawmakers said they expect him to sign it into law
Friday, March 13, 2009
Does Keith Have The Balls? How About Rachel?
MSNBC producers told ‘not to incorporate’ Cramer’s Daily Show interview into their programming.
TVNewser reports that “MSNBC producers were asked not to incorporate the Jim Cramer/Jon Stewart interview into their shows today.” By TVNewser’s count, Cramer’s Daily Show interview was only mentioned once on MSNBC today and that was during the White House press conference when a reporter asked for Obama’s reaction. TVNewser explains further:
Gibbs wasn’t sure if the president had, but Gibbs did. “I enjoyed it thoroughly,” the Press Secretary said.
On Cramer’s network, CNBC, the subject has only come up twice today, including when master marketer/CNBC personality Donny Deutsch brought it up briefly around 1pm on “Power Lunch.” “I’m a huge Jon Stewart fan,” said Deutsch, “He does what he does he does his job. But I’m also a huge Jim Cramer fan.” […]
Cramer appeared on his regular “Stop Trading” segment during “Street Signs.” But the Daily Show did not come up.
TVNewser writes that “insiders” say that Cramer “will talk about Stewart tonight on Mad Money (6pmET & 11pmET).”
Tone Deaf (or just disinterested?)
PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON GOP NEO-HOOVERISM....
During President Obama's address to Congress last month, he pointed to Ty'Sheoma Bethea, a young girl in South Carolina whose school is falling apart. Bethea, who sat next to the First Lady, had written a letter to Congress.
"Bethea has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, 'We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.'"
The good news is, the economic recovery package included money for schools. The bad news is, Mark Sanford is Ty'Sheoma Bethea's governor, and he wants to turn down $700 million in federal stimulus funds -- money that would go towards education in South Carolina.
Greenwald Agrees
It's fine to praise Jon Stewart for the great interview he conducted and to mock and scoff at Jim Cramer and CNBC. That's absolutely warranted. But just as was true for Judy Miller (and her still-celebrated cohort, Michael Gordon), Jim Cramer isn't an aberration. What he did and the excuses he offered are ones that are embraced as gospel to this day by most of our establishment press corps, and to know that this is true, just look at what they do and say about their roles. But at least Cramer wants to appear to be contrite for the complicit role he played in disseminating incredibly destructive and false claims from the politically powerful. That stands in stark contrast to David Gregory, Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams, David Ignatius and most of their friends, who continue to be defiantly and pompously proud of the exact same role they play.
Anticipatory Press Release
Steele's Weekly Call for Forgiveness
I'm sure you've all seen Micheal Steele's clarification of his stance on abortion. If you haven't, here's how Monsieur Marshall described it:[H]e thinks abortion should be the choice of the woman, notwithstanding always saying before -- and even in the same interview -- that he's pro-life.
Well, that wasn't the only clarification he made in his weekly call for forgiveness. There were others, many others, like these:
I was wrong when I said that Frank Sinatra's Pack Rats were my favorite entertainers. I meant U3.
Let me be clear, I do not really believe Gene Washington was the greatest American president. It was Judith Regan.
John Boehner's hair looks natural. I shouldn't have called it a greasy flea-market knock off of Trent Lott's nutria pelt helmet.
I misspoke when I stated that the stimulus package is "an immoral appliance and the state of Alabama was right to ban it." I should have said , "it's socialism and I'm going to talk to Mrs. Steele about it right away."
I should not have identified Ottawa as the capital of Afghanistan. I was distracted by a shiny object Joe the Plumber was trying to show me and meant to say "That's a bad rash, but a tax cut will clear it up right away."
Not To Put Too Fine A Point On It
It’s worth thinking a bit about the General Electric Corporations news media properties more generally. They hired Phil Donahue, and then fired him when he had the highest ratings on the network because they didn’t like that he was against invading Iraq. They hired Keith Olbermann, expecting him to not be a liberal. But he turned out to be pretty progressive. And that turned out to be pretty popular. So they started featuring him more. Which prompted a huge freakout from their big news stars like Tom Brokaw about how it was injuring their credibility to appear on a network that’s cobranded with a network that features a liberal. Meanwhile, at their other cobranded network, CNBC, they have on air a bunch of frauds. People show up and pretend to have sage investment advice. Larry Kudlow is put forward as someone who’s knowledgeable about economic policy. And when someone points the fraud out, the whole GE team circles the wagons to defend Jim Cramer and CNBC. Liberals? That wrecks their credibility. Liars and frauds? That’s great. Go peacock! It’s a deep rot, and John Stewart satirizing it doesn’t really change anything. It would require the people working at NBC News to develop a conscience.
Whose Indeed
"Look, nobody's asking for them to be a regulatory agency. But can't -- whose side are they on?"
"It feels like they have to reconcile: Is their audience the Wall Street traders... These guys at these companies were on a Sherman's March through their companies financed by our 401Ks... And they burned the fucking house down with our money and walked away rich as hell and you guys knew that that was going on."
Jon's Greatest Hits
Blasting Blitzer
"I'm not criticizing your book, I'm criticizing your philosophy"
Jonah Goldberg is a big fat idjit
Oh Dear
After Being Eviscerated By Jon Stewart, Cramer Skips Morning Show Appearance
Last night, CNBC’s Jim Cramer had a brutal face-off with The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. “I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it’s not a f*cking game,” Stewart told Cramer. Cramer also agreed to do one show with more serious, level-headed commentary.
There has been almost universal acknowledgment that Stewart humiliated Cramer. Jim Fallows called it a “slaughter,” and the Huffington Post has a gigantic headline reading, “Jon Stewart eviscerates Jim Cramer and CNBC.” Even Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy said that Stewart “rightfully” attacked Cramer: “Jim Cramer, on his show, has made many — has said ‘buy this stock because it’s going to go up,’ and then it tanks. He told people to buy Bear Stearns and hold it, just before it completely went to zero.”
As Michael Calderone notes, yesterday on Twitter, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough wrote that he would have the “exclusive Jim Cramer interview tomorrow morning to discuss tonight’s war with Jon Stewart.” But after the rough night, Scarborough wrote this morning that Cramer was a no-show:
No Cramer. Perhaps another example of oversleeping. Guess he had a late night. That is too bad. Producers told he was only talking to us.
Is Someone Stealing My Tweets?
It's true: Jon Stewart has become Edward R. Murrow
And then there's this GT12 post from just a day ago
