January 16, 2009
— Gabriel Malor The meetup will be tomorrow at 7:30 on the West Side. I think I have sent invites with the location to everyone who emailed me, so if you sent me a message but never heard back, you might want to send another. I'm at gabriel.malor@[the google email].com. Really, I have no idea if writing it like that will cut down on spam. But, it can't hurt to try.
Posted by: Gabriel Malor at
05:26 AM
| Comments (17)
Post contains 76 words, total size 1 kb.
— Gabriel Malor Also: Congratulations to Small Dead Animals for winning Best Conservative Blog. It was a well-fought fight. Thank you to everyone for voting (and voting and voting and voting). I'm looking forward to next year's contest.
Posted by: Gabriel Malor at
05:17 AM
| Comments (55)
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.
January 15, 2009
— Open Blog (I ainÂ’t bailing yer ass out hereÂ…weÂ’re all about "hard collectibles" in this space. HereÂ’s a post to gnaw on)
Free schadenfreude for everyone! Belly up to the bar and take a shot or two before itÂ’s all gone. Because it will beÂ…all too soon. Time Magazine has helpfully provided us with an article describing how the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is basically live-blogging its own demise. Some details:
”Ever wanted to know what a death sentence feels like? You can get a pretty good idea over at the Seattle Post Intelligencer. On Jan. 9, Steve Swartz, an executive from Hearst, announced in the newsroom that the company was putting the money-losing newspaper, known locally as the P-I, up for sale for 60 days.”
Not sure what a death sentence feels like, but I do know that schadenfreude tastes somewhat like SkittlesÂ…mostly the lime and cherry ones, but not quite as sour. Is there more to this story, you ask?
” So what does a newspaper's editorial staff do when faced with the deadliest of deadlines? It does what any modern news organization would do. Or what any disgruntled employee would do. Or any spurned teenager with fingers. It writes about itself on the Internet. On Sixty Days, different journalists, including managing editor David McCumber, are covering the P-I's two-month drain-circle day-by-day. The blog has little historical stories about the paper, the video of Swartz's fateful announcement and accounts of McCumber's attempts to find a buyer and handle editorial meetings. All of which means that the closest account of the paper's death walk will be delivered via the instrument that partly brought it about. (Read "Do Newspapers Have a Future?")”
So cruel. Yet so funny. WeÂ’ll revisit McCumberÂ’s role in a bit. Nice to see that theyÂ’re tryinÂ’ to pimp out the paper on their blog. The article lays out the reasons for impending doom:
”The paper was doomed by the triple-threat that is laying waste to metropolitan dailies everywhere: the massive drop in advertising, particularly home and classified ads, the ready availability of free news online and the limitations of its corporate parent”
Yeah yeah yeahÂ…and all are valid, but IÂ’m shocked, no: SHOCKED to find that they didnÂ’t include the 4th reason. Seattle may be a liberal stronghold, but is ringed by moderate to conservative-leaning suburbs (though not so many as a decade ago). Shockingly enough, there are also a zillion military bases in the area.
But you really should go visit the P-I’s “60 Days” blog and offer your condolences in the comments there (at least until they shut them down). That can be found here.
The sportswriters there seem to be taking it well, talking about maybe getting drunk, but the general reporters seem to be staring impending doom in the face with a quivering upper lip, but patting themselves on the back for soldiering nobly on in the face of sure death. I suspect that "Drama Queen" has to be front and center on each of their resumes. Sadly, Taco Bell doesn't have a space for that on their standard job application.
So far, the P-I’s imminent demise feels like foreplay. Maybe a little heavy petting. So what’s it gonna’ feel like when the New York Times follows it down the drain? Will Penthouse have space in their “letters” section to document all of this?
BACKSTORY: Not everyoneÂ’s familiar with the back-story, though itÂ’s been covered here and elsewhere extensively. The aforementioned David McCumber, Managing Editor of the paper wrote an infamous editorial in response to this article in which the P-I refused to publish photos of a pair of men who the FBI suspected might be possible terrorists.
According to McCumber, in his editorial:
” I understand that people have a hard time with the concept that we get to decide what is news and what isn't, and what is fair and what isn't.”
He further goes on to quote Ben Franklin from "Stuff Ben Franklin Said" 5th printing, human-leather-bound limited edition, Necronomicon House Publishing. I think Mr. McCumber has some more serious issues to decide about in the near future. Such as whether to pursue a lucrative job in government as a press secretary or as a hack in a PR firm. Not so much for the schlubs who run the presses or the low-level office staff.
You have to admit, thoughÂ…he does have a real purty mouth.
(Image swiped from American Digest.org, which appears to be a conservative blog, which I'd like to link but their address is way too biggish)
Posted by: Open Blog at
10:49 PM
| Comments (141)
Post contains 823 words, total size 6 kb.
— DrewM I have a lot of problems with the guy but I know I'm going to miss him pretty badly starting at about 12:01 PM next Tuesday.
To me, this is the quintessential Bush moment. The nation needed him to stand tall and defiantly to the fuckers who attacked us. Oh and he threw it right down the middle.
I'll take a guy who likes baseball over basketball any day.
Posted by: DrewM at
04:01 PM
| Comments (279)
Post contains 75 words, total size 1 kb.
— Ace Read it and weep. Or drink. Or drink, then weep.
-$6 billion to weatherize "modest income homes."-$6 billion to provide internet in "underserved" areas
-$6 billion for "higher education modernization."
-$20 billion in health information technology to "prevent medial mistakes."
-$20 billion to increase food stamp funding
-$87 billion to provide a "temporary" increase in Medicaid funding
-$300 million to provide rebates for people who purchase Energy Star products
-$600 million for the federal government to buy brand new energy efficient cars
-$400 million for state and local governments to buy brand new energy efficient cars-$2.4 billion for carbon capture demonstration programs
-$350 million to research using energy efficient technology on military bases
-$300 million for grants and loans to state and local governments for projects that reduce diesel emissions, "benefiting public health and reducing global warming"
-$500 million for energy efficient manufacturing demonstration projects.
-$400 million to build major research facilities "that perform cutting edge science"
-$1.5 billion for expanding "good jobs in biomedical research"
Etc., etc., etc.
Remember after 9/11, critics claimed that the FBI had simply dusted off all of its long-standing wish-lists and presented them to the public trusting crisis would get them passed?
Well, I didn't really think that was the case.
But here?
Seems like this is just a huge excuse to pass liberals' wish-lists of command-and-control spending.
Thanks to A. Weasel.
Posted by: Ace at
03:13 PM
| Comments (172)
Post contains 232 words, total size 2 kb.
— Ace Pat Buchanan called Bob Dole "the chief tax collector for the liberal welfare state," or something along those lines.
Will McCain serve a similar role in ushering a level of socialized economics not seen since FDR?
But I believe Obama has an ace in the hole among Senate Republicans. This unlikely ace can deliver not only the GOP moderates needed to break a filibuster, but also the stamp of bipartisanship: the 2008 GOP standard bearer, John McCain.McCain was once the mainstream media darling, back when he joined Democrats on a host of issues. He prized his maverick moniker and used it to propel himself onto the national scene in the 2000 Republican presidential primary. Early in the Bush years, he shored up his status as the media's favorite Republican by opposing Bush on taxes and the environment.
But this love fest came to a halt when McCain became the front-runner for the GOP nomination. First he began to sound more like a conservative by altering his stands on immigration, the environment and taxes. Then he named Sarah Palin his running mate. It was too much for a media that had fallen head over heels for Obama. The media had a new darling.
In McCain's mind, however, losing the presidency will not be the final chapter of his life story. He knows the path to "Big Media" redemption. Working with the man who vanquished him in November will show them all the real McCain again.
Remember, it was this onetime prisoner of war who led the charge to open diplomatic relations with Vietnam. If that past is prologue, and McCain's legislative record is any guide, he will not just join with Obama but lead the charge in Congress on global warming, immigration "reform," the closing of Guantanamo, federal funding for embryonic-stem-cell research, and importation of prescription drugs.
But McCain won't stop there in his effort to rehabilitate himself in the media's - or maybe his own - eyes. He will forge common ground on a long list of initiatives that go far beyond where he has gone before, including the stimulus package.
I buy it. McCain is loyal above all else to the Idea of John McCain, if you will, and this is the Idea of John McCain.
Posted by: Ace at
01:13 PM
| Comments (127)
Post contains 412 words, total size 3 kb.
— DrewM
Everyone is reported to be safe after a plane leaving LaGuardia apparently hit a flock of birds.
Ironically, I am sitting in a hotel room on the West Side about 5 blocks from where it happened. I can't see anything but stand by for more.
Here's a story on it. About 150 souls on board.
As someone who is a private pilot (aka I can fly a bug smasher), I gotta say, damn fine job by the flight crew. Total engine failure, low and heavy and over the most populous city in the country? Yeah, there are some free beers in their future.
Amazing job also by the numerous boat captains who didn't wait for orders or just call 911, they started up, headed over and pulled people on board. And of course the first responders.
So um, pay attention to safety briefing next time kids.
More: Some idiot reporter just asked Bloomberg, "what can you do to assure people this will not again". It always amazes me that people that dog shit stupid can find their way out of bed in the morning let alone actually con some organization out of a paycheck.
Now That Everyone is A-OK... [ace]: It's time to call this what it is -- the first of Obama's many coming miracles.
Some will say "But he wasn't in NYC."
He's everywhere. Anywhere a heart open to love and hope exists, so too does Obama.
Posted by: DrewM at
12:46 PM
| Comments (140)
Post contains 266 words, total size 2 kb.
— Ace I don't believe everything this guy says, of course. Not only does he have a bias, but everyone he interviews has an axe to grind. Especially Colin Powell, who earned three of his stars simply by kissing ass and resume-padding.
1. Presidents set the tone. Don't be passive or tolerate virulent divisions.In the fall of 2002, Bush personally witnessed a startling face-off between National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in the White House Situation Room after Rumsfeld had briefed the National Security Council on the Iraq war plan. Rice wanted to hold onto a copy of the Pentagon briefing slides, code-named Polo Step. "You won't be needing that," Rumsfeld said, reaching across the table and snatching the Top Secret packet away from Rice -- in front of the president. "I'll let you two work it out," Bush said, then turned and walked out. Rice had to send an aide to the Pentagon to get a bootlegged copy from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Bush should never have put up with Rumsfeld's power play. Instead of a team of rivals, Bush wound up with a team of back-stabbers with long-running, poisonous disagreements about foreign policy fundamentals.
2. The president must insist that everyone speak out loud in front of the others, even -- or especially -- when there are vehement disagreements.
During the same critical period, Vice President Cheney was urging Secretary of State Colin Powell to consider seriously the possibility that Iraq might be connected to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Powell found the case worse than ridiculous and scornfully concluded that Cheney had what Powell termed a "fever." (In private, Powell used to call the Pentagon policy shop run by Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith, who shared Cheney's burning interest in supposed ties between al-Qaeda and Iraq, a "Gestapo office.")
Powell was right that to conclude that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden did not work together. But Cheney and Powell did not have this crucial debate in front of the president -- even though such a discussion might have undermined one key reason for war. Cheney provided private advice to the president, but he was rarely asked to argue with others and test his case. After the invasion, Cheney had a celebratory dinner with some aides and friends. "Colin always had major reservations about what we were trying to do," Cheney told the group as they toasted Bush and laughed at Powell. This sort of derision undermined the administration's unity of purpose -- and suggests the nasty tone that can emerge when open debate is stifled by long-running feuds and personal hostility.
...
10. The president should embrace transparency. Some version of the behind-the-scenes story of what happened in his White House will always make it out to the public -- and everyone will be better off if that version is as accurate as possible.
On March 8, 2008, Hadley made an extraordinary remark about how difficult it has proven to understand the real way Bush made decisions. "He will talk with great authority and assertiveness," Hadley said. " 'This is what we're going to do.' And he won't mean it. Because he will not have gone through the considered process where he finally is prepared to say, 'I've decided.' And if you write all those things down and historians get them, [they] say, 'Well, he decided on this day to do such and such.' It's not true. It's not history. It's a fact, but it's a misleading fact."
Bush always seemed to me to be determined to be the anti-Clinton. Where Clinton frequently came to the public to ask for support and malign his opponents (that would be you), Bush had the notion that people didn't want to hear so much about politics, and so he would not trouble us with them very often.
He's right-- we don't want to hear about these disputes. But we need to.
This impulse led to a Reign-not-Rule style of governance, as used to be said of the British kings -- reign, showing a firm hand at the top, without using that hand to actually rule. Except in the most pressing cases (such as after 9/11), he followed this sort of above-the-fray style, which led many of us to cry out in exasperation "Why doesn't he defend himself, or attack the Democrats, for once?!!?"
He also seems to have followed this scheme in managing his own advisors and officials. Staying above it, letting things work themselves out.
That's not a good style, I don't think.
One can doubt Woodward all one likes, but one can't ignore the fact he never vetoed anything (until the last couple of years) and never fired anyone important.
Those are marks of someone passively allowing things to "work themselves out" rather than actively getting involved and working them out himself.
Posted by: Ace at
12:25 PM
| Comments (78)
Post contains 846 words, total size 5 kb.
— Ace But I'm sure they'll be right back on it:
After three and a half hours at his transition office, PEOTUS obama took another 6 minute ride through washington, arriving at 157 pm at the nondescript soviet-style building at 15th and L street that houses the washington post.Around 100 people--Post reporters perhaps?--awaited PEOTUS's arrival, cheering and bobbing their coffee cups.
Liberal trolls: spare me the inevitable claims that this is just extending courtesy to a president-elect. Bush was a president-elect and never got cheers from the media.
Well... Yes it's in the quote, but I didn't underscore it and in fact assumed it away -- we do not know for certain these were all, or mostly, WaPo reporters.
I am, however, betting that way.
Allah noted this in stronger terms.
Posted by: Ace at
11:54 AM
| Comments (70)
Post contains 166 words, total size 1 kb.
— Ace The video is less than awesome, as you can't see a damn thing, really.
But the narration -- just imagining -- is perfect. (I'll take their word for it that the little black squibbles on the screen are doing what they say they're doing.)
He turned a Hamas terrorist into his own human shield. Explosively ironic.
Thanks to Dreadnaught.
Posted by: Ace at
10:34 AM
| Comments (93)
Post contains 83 words, total size 1 kb.
44 queries taking 0.5979 seconds, 151 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
