Liberal Media Elite

This is enjoyably salacious.

In the spate of bad economic news from yesterday there was one particularly distressing component; a far greater than expected drop in orders for durable goods.

When you read the news and see the word “investment” you’re usually reading about people throwing money into the stock market. In an economic sense, this isn’t investment…it’s speculation. Investment, to the geeky few that are economists, is buying stuff that you use to make stuff. Plant, equipment, vehicles, computers…things like that. Analysts expected durable goods spending to be down by about 3.2%. It was down 7.8%. That’s a problem. It implies that business is pulling back. That the general thought is there’s too much shit out on the market and people ain’t buying. Production goes down, inventory goes up, jobs…if it goes on long enough…get cut. On top of that, the commercial real estate market, which has been clipping along nicely…nicely enough to offset the downturn in residential real estate, also slowed noticeably. And former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan said not long ago that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the US economy slip into recession by the end of the year.

So, you know, we’ll have that to look forward to.

Yesterday the stock market tanked impressively, with the DJIA losing 3.3%. When ever the market takes a header it’s kind of fun to read the coverage attributing it to various things. The reason I find this fun is that it creates the illusion that analysts and reporters and politicians and such know why the market goes up and why the market goes down. Think about this for a moment. If all these folks could, in fact, isolate why the market moves the way it moves they’d never, ever lose money. Ever. Because they’d know that when event X happens they either must immediately buy or immediately sell. And they’d be fine.

Analyst after analyst yesterday was saying that the drop in the China markets, which largely triggered the sell of here (or so they tell us), was expected because the China index went up 130% in the last year. And the Chinese government said it was gonna do something about sneaky (meaning illegal) shit people were doing on the securities exchange. And, said analysts go on, this would have to cause a ripple through all other markets because China has been such a powerful engine for global economic growth.

So…um…how come y’all didn’t say nothin’ about it before?

Of course China was over amped in its market growth and of course there was gonna be a correction. But…if we really knew shit the way we pretend to know shit we wouldn’t be so damn surprised when shit happens. For my part, I question the efficacy of the rational markets theory. I’m a believer in the shit happens market theory. Shit happens and the market she goes up. Shit happens and the market she goes down. This market theory has the benefit of being unfailingly accurate. You could look it up.

In case you don’t know and worship him already, visit the Washington Post’s Tom Toles and bookmark his page immediately.

To whet your appetite, try this one out for size. Ow.

So much better than that cocksuckingly unfunny Chuck Asay.

I love the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I love their National Weather Service. Not only do they do cool things like chase tornadoes, they have something called experimental forecast maps. This is their map for Minnesota right now:

Anyone who has watched local television news, the Weather Channel or Al Roker for more than four nanoseconds knows what drama queens meteorologists are. But what I love about NOAA is their sense of humor. You know these men and women are truly, truly, truly geeked out about the weather. “SNOW!!!!” With lots of after-work, happy-hour arguments about how bad, exactly, a blizzard in 1873 was. I’ve always had respect for civil servants, the people who dedicate their lives to careers with the federal government, working long, thankless hours at less than stellar pay, so the rest of us can rely on accurate, useful information from our government. But NOAA does especially fine work. “SNOW!!!!” is awesome.

President Bush, you may be able to destroy this country’s good name. You may be able to squander our wealth and ensure economic hardship for working families for decades. You may even be able to gut all trust in the federal government for a generation. But you can’t touch NOAA. You will not touch NOAA.

The Strib had a good section on the opinion page today about Labor and Union Issues. They actually ran two Op/Eds right next to each other arguing the pros and cons of the new labor bill in Washington, The Employee Free Choice Act (more info here). This is coming alarmingly close to actual, intellectual debate on the subject. Having come of political age in Fox News Vs. Daily Show America, this is, well, weird. I thought this kind of discourse was best handled by grand assertions, baseless claims, no small amount of ridicule and of course, preaching to your particular choir.

Does this mean I’ll have to attack the anti-union argument on its merits? Damn. This is hard.

First off, go read the actual pieces. Pro , Con

For the similarities: They are both written by academics.

Where they differ: The pro argument is backed up by more attributed hard data, history, context, and quotes, whereas the con argument is a collection of baseless assertions. For your edification, some examples of an anti union academic spinning a yarn:

Even in the absence of unions, employers have to treat workers well to attract and keep them. In a workplace as dynamic as that of the United States, where millions of jobs are destroyed and created every quarter, a company’s ability to exploit workers is greatly limited by how easy it is to find another job.

Wait, it gets better. . .

Cleaning people routinely earn $20 an hour, more than most cities’ so-called living wage.

And who could forget

Unions help those they represent by trying to raise wages above what they would otherwise be. To the extent they succeed, they reduce the demand for labor in unionized shops. That means more workers have to find employment in nonunionized shops, pushing down wages there.

Excuse me, teacher, Dr. Roberts, I have a question. Have you ever had a job? No, not one of those cushy fellowships, but, you know, punch-the-clock, 8-5, “I hope I get enough hours to pay rent this week” style employment? Aside from the fact that you clearly have no real world experience with wage (not salary) paying jobs, every statement made above, and throughout the piece is wholly unsupported by fact, data, or anything but your pro-corporate imagination. How are we to know that anything you say is in any way true, when this piece of writing wouldn’t pass muster in a high school composition class?

In contrast, the pro union piece has copious attributions:

According to the 2005 National Labor Relations Board’s annual report, 31,358 people were disciplined or fired for union activity. The result has been a chill on union organizing.

Or

Even Alan Greenspan, before retiring as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, told Congress in 2005 that he found growing inequality of income and wealth in the U.S. “very disturbing.”

And furthermore,

Fortune magazine reported last June that “workers are routinely fired or discriminated against for supporting unions. … Some (companies) go so far as to close down work sites when employees vote for a union.”

Is it so hard to live in a reality-based world?

(To be fair, the pro argument throws out some numbers about productivity and wage stagnation without attributing a source, but nobody’s perfect.)

I’ll have to ask Rik’s help to sort out the macro economic forces at work here. He’s better at that kind of stuff. What I can write about are the micro economic issues, namely my micro economic issues.

Fair Warning, what I am about to write is solely my experience and thus highly subjective and anecdotal. I know that makes for a weak argument, given the rules of said high school composition class, but it’s also one of the few subjects on which I am uniquely an expert, so here it goes.

I’m going to yell this. Plug your ears and go “la la la” if you don’t want to hear it. UNION EMPLOYMENT HAS DEMONSTRATABLY INCREASED MY STANDARD OF LIVING. As it’s tax time, I looked through my W-2s recently, and marveled how much I made last year (which is still a pittance, by any objective standards, but it’s a lot me). It was more than I’ve ever made in one 12-month period ever. I worked 70% Union last year. The only two times I’ve had employer-based health insurance ever in my adult life (with vast gaps in between). Oh yeah, Union. And, to counter that steaming pile about union shops driving down wages elsewhere, at the 30% non-union jobs I take, I am being paid at a rate competitive with union shops, specifically because these non-union employers want to keep me there. You can say that union shops depress wages elsewhere, but I’ve yet to see it.

And there are other benefits that are in no way my own subjective experience. For instance, on union jobs, I have certain basic protections. Union members can’t work for more than 6 hours without a meal break, or work for more than 12 hours in day. Actually we can and sometimes do, but it costs big bucks. In both cases, any hours past the limits are instantly double time. Then there’s the wonderful concept of DDO, or a Dedicated Day Off. Yes Sir, I have the right to 52 of them per year, once a week. I can opt to pass on it, if asked, but that, too is double time. The list goes on.

I see the Employee Free Choice Act as a good thing (could you guess that?). Unions were the driving force behind expanding the American middle class, and, at this time when union membership has reached a nadir, Congress needs to make it easier for workers to join one.

I might, at this time, prompt you to contact your congresscritter about supporting The Employee Free Choice Act (HR 800), but as it turns out every Democrat in the House from Minnesota is already a co-sponsor, and somehow I don’t see Michele Bachmann signing on to that list.

Today, Mike Fotis has the best minute-by-minute Oscars rundown ever written. Go check it out. Best part:

945-An Inconvenient Truth wins best doc. Al Gore achieves sainthood.

Oh, the delicious irony. Irony simmered in butter, and topped with frosting. Irony and tater-tot hotdish. Delicious.

Rev. Al Sharpton is a descendant of a Strom Thurmond’s ancestor’s Slave.

But, that’s just the “Whoda-thunkit” headline. The real red meat comes from the money quote of the story

Some of Thurmond’s relatives said the connection also came as a surprise to them. A niece, Ellen Senter, said she would speak with Sharpton if he were interested.

“I doubt you can find many native South Carolinians today whose family, if you traced them back far enough, didn’t own slaves,” said Senter, 61, of Columbia, S.C. She added: “And it is wonderful that (Sharpton) was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was.”

How fucking big of you, Ms. Senter. You know, that’s code for the newspaper quote-able way of saying “Not bad for a nigger!”

It’s people who say shit like that make me refer to the Civil War as Lincoln’s Folly. And just because it feels good: Fuck the South.

[UPDATE] AAAAWWWW, I used a bad word (twice). Hey, clearly I was using to mock racist southerners who are so addled by their own racism, they go on the public with some backhand racist comment. Plus, Wege did it, so it’s OK if I do. Maybe I need my mouth washed out with soap, and then check in for the last day of this conference.

So cute: Conservapedia.

No, its purpose is not to save the pedias, but to save conservatives from the real world. Brought to us probably by cheap suit wearing college kids who need something to show off with on their application for an internship at insert name of a regional conservative think tank here.

But the lefty trolls have found their way in and are setting the record straight on the Jesus:

…and Clinton:

It’s time for another installment of “Stupid Strib Letter to the Editor”! Quelle joy!

He finally made it official. Al Franken is running for the U.S. Senate.

Minnesota voters will not embarrass the state again after the Jesse Ventura era. Franken is nothing more than a carpetbagger.

DOUG TEIGEN, JACKSON, MINN.

Oh, Doug. Poor, sweet Doug. We won’t embarrass ourselves again? After Ventura? Are you sure?

We have a member of Congress who gave her acceptance speech in a get-up that looked like an off-the-rack masterpiece from Forever 21 and who molests POTUS and who says really weird things about Iraq. AND SHE’S ONLY BEEN IN OFFICE FOR A FEW WEEKS. How can Stuart Smalley possibly be worse?

Wait, wait… I don’t want to know.

This one’s too easy.

Maryland Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr. to truckers: If you’ve got ‘em, you don’t need to flaunt ‘em.

As the General Assembly debates global warming and the death penalty, Myers (R-Washington) has something else on his mind: the outsized plastic testicles that truckers dangle from the trailer hitches of their pickups.
(snip)
“People are making a joke out of it,” Myers said yesterday. “But I think it’s a pretty serious problem. You have body parts hanging from the hitches of cars. We’ve crossed a line.”
(snip)
The truck ornament industry is not amused. “It’s not a perverted sexual thing at all,” said David Ham, founder of Your Nutz, a San Diego-based business that sells more than 200 kinds of fake testicles. “It’s a sense of humor. This lawmaker is looking out for two or three old women in tennis shoes. He’s got too much time on his hands.”

I hear the powerful truck ornament industry lobby is already planning a primary challenge. If these people are not stopped, they’ll want to ban decals of cartoon characters micturating upon the logo of some other brand of truck.

Top ten signs Legislatin’ might not be your particular calling: When the proprietor of a firm called “Your Nutz” (go ahead, click that one, thank me later) makes more sense than you do.

All joking aside, I think we liberals should applaud the actions of Delegate Meyers. The longer he pays attention to tasteless hood ornaments, the more gay terrorists will be able to recite wedding vows over a burning American Flag.

Alright, your turn.

Finally, the press is beginning to take The Boy Who Would Be King to task for the consistent disconnect between his words and his actions. Taking to task in this sense they’re beginning to mention it. Gotta start somewhere, I guess.

The Walter Reed scandal, in which troops returning from Iraq received questionable medical attention while living in unquestionably horrible conditions is one example. The General in charge of Walter Reed and his predecessors had repeatedly turned in funding requests to remedy those conditions and were repeatedly denied. Not until the press jumped on the story did the Administration, that would be the same Administration that denied those funding requests, take anything remotely resembling action. Bearing in mind that one such “action” was appointing a “blue ribbon commission” (Washington code for doing as little as possible) to study the problem. More useful than this commission would be to simply approve the funding requests that have been repeatedly denied.

But when I criticize this war I am abandoning the troops and giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Apparently, literally abandoning the troops and reducing them to squalid living conditions while seeking care and rehabilitation for horrifying injuries incurred while serving in that war is cool as long as you support the Prezzz’s position on the war. Then you’re really going to bat for the boys overseas ’cause you talk pretty. Not ’cause you actually do anyting for them.

A less disturbing example comes from our ongoing incompetence at rebuilding Iraq. From today’s WaPo…

In Diyala, the vast province northeast of Baghdad where Sunnis and Shiites are battling for primacy with mortars and nighttime abductions, the U.S. government has contracted the job of promoting democracy to a Pakistani citizen who has never lived or worked in a democracy.

The management of reconstruction projects in the province has been assigned to a Border Patrol commander with no reconstruction experience. The task of communicating with the embassy in Baghdad has been handed off to a man with no background in drafting diplomatic cables. The post of agriculture adviser has gone unfilled because the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided just one of the six farming experts the State Department asked for a year ago.

But, wait! There’s more!

As State and the Pentagon were sparring over who would staff the reconstruction teams, Bush used his State of the Union address to call for the formation of a civilian reserve corps — three years after the State Department first proposed it and several influential senators backed it. “It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time,” the president said.

Left out of that paragraph is a reference to who bagged this proposed program three years ago…a keystone cop adventure in bumbling governance featuring The Boy Who Would Be King and members of his Administration falling all over each other to screw the whole thing up.

And, finally, the money shot…

But the corps won’t be built anytime soon: The administration’s 2008 budget, which was sent to Congress earlier this month, includes no money for it. A senior administration official said the White House plans to wait another year before asking Congress for funding.

But it sounded good in the SOTU, didn’t it? Sounded like the Prezzz might really have given some thought to fixing things in Iraq. Sounded like he was finally paying attention to one of the niggling little details of reconstruction…having enough people, in some cases even qualified people, to re-con-fuckin’-struct. The Administration swears it’s gonna ask for that funding. Next year. Meaning that in the last year of the President’s tenure in office he will finally ask for funding for a staffing program essential to successful reconstruction of Iraq (which is essential to achieving the Prezzz’s amorphous “victory” in Iraq…which is essential to bringing the troops home) for 2009. And 2009 represents what? The first year since 2000 that this screaming incompetent won’t be President. To put it another way…President Bush plans to fund, for the first time, the staffing levels necessary to bring about a successful rebuilding effort under his very own rebuilding plan, six fucking years after he invaded the country he’s planning to rebuild.

We take a break from our regular bitching to bring you the really important news.

Last night Bill, Matthew, and Natascha joined the Drinking Liberally posse for the weekly grog fest and to meet Al Franken. I couldn’t make it. Commerce and all that.

But that’s not the big news.

After the Drinking Liberally hoo-hah we all met up at the Official Hangout of LME, the Tower, and convened our first Official Trivial Pursuit Contest of LME, while we all drank the Official Drinks of the Individual LMEers.

That’s not even the big news.

The big news is I won. Predictably smoked all their asses.

Even more predictable, I cheated. As the game entered it’s, like, 8th hour or something and we were all growing tired and weary I adopted the Win Like a Republican strategy and swung into a lightening round of dirty tricks, lies, outright denials, and, of course, collusion. That last part is essential to the strategy. Matthew and Bill gave me some fail safe “hints” on a few questions. “Hints” meaning I got the answer wrong, they corrected me, and gave me credit for getting it right. Collusion is essential to the Win Like a Republican strategy. When Natascha pointed out that I hadn’t actually gotten any of my last three correct answers, you know, correct, I simply denied this. And when the roll of the dice didn’t land me back on the center spot to ice the game I rather blatanly moved it there anyway. And I snuck a peak at the answer to the final question before giving it.

Now…I know all of this was morally wrong. Nonetheless, this cheating thing feels good. Not only do you get the pleasure of winning but you get the secret thrill of knowing you won by cheating…by fucking someone else over. By getting away with it. No wonder Rove keeps doing it. This shit is fun.

I’m telling you. A guy could get used to it.

Michele Bachmann knows something you don’t: Iran’s going to get half of Iraq.

Did Bush whisper this to her during her love-in after the State of the Union? God whispered it to her? Who knows? Who cares? Things like that tend to happen for the Firecracker of Washington County. We mortals (especially of CD 5) have to accept that and move on. The Strib’s The Big Question blog sez:

But the most amazing is at the end, when the discussion turned to Iran and Iraq, Bachmann’s reasons for sticking with the stay-until-victory camp, and her beliefs, stated as established fact, that Iran has reached an agreement to divide Iraq and set up a free-terrorism zone.

Well, that does sound bad, doesn’t it?

My favorite part of the Strib’s blog’s coverage: Comment #1 from dare2sayit.com:

Michele Bachmann is a very attractive woman, but the Strib alway chooses the same unflattering photo of her every time when the want to attack her.

Because in a debate about the future of the Middle East—or, for that matter, a member of congress’s sanity—if the most important thing ceases to be nitpicking over the attractiveness of our politicians, then the terrorists have already won. Or something. Flag flag flag flag flag!

UPDATE: It just occurred to me: This isn’t anything like the time Dayton evacuated his offices because of a terrorist attack that only he was able to see coming and then never happened, is it? God, why does this keep happening to our congressional delegation? Why are they crazy?

We can only hope the same fate befalls Bachmann as did Dayton, I suppose.

Oh, and my second favorite thing about the Strib’s blog’s coverage. Comment #2:

This was recorded on 10 Feb, not exactly timely… Why are we bringing up fortnight old news?

Fortnight? Michele Bachmann is attractive? Maybe Joseph de Maistre was right, every country has the government it deserves, and these people are perfect national representatives for Minnesota.

Anyone want to move to Chicago? I hear Chicago’s nice.

Vilsack’s out of the presidential race! BREAKING! VILSACK QUITS!

(Who’s Vilsack?)

Update: He’s from Iowa, apparently.

Update 2: I’ve never been to Iowa. At least, not for very long. I knew Vilsack was running, but you have to admit, it’s pretty un-noteworthy. Sort of like being told Tom Daschle is going to be U.N. ambassador or something. Quaint. Northern. Ambitious without being showy. He’d like to help people. His mom/wife/daughter must be proud. I like my politicians willing and able to skin and eat a live polecat. You know. Politicians with fire and character. And naked ambition. And secrets. And—of course—lots and lots of money.

Update 3: Too bad he had such a nice logo. Someone should use that shit. Some marketing vice-president worked extra-hard on it, I’m sure.

The New Republic is having a caption contest. The results aren’t pretty.

I was gonna take up the cause for Matthew and rip on Ms. Kersten for him. ‘Cause he’s my homeboy. Got his back like that.

Read her column. Changed my mind. I generally avoid ripping on KK. Because I generally avoid reading her. I tried. Really. For months. I tried. But she has a genius for pissing me off and then, when examining her babbling more closely, I usually concluded that she was writing about ultimately trivial matters in an ultimately witless style. I like reading the rantings of the right. I do. But, there are a number of cats over on the other side that write about far more important topics than KK and do it with a flare and a style that is at least enjoyable.

What I’ll give the Divine Ms. K on this latest screed is that she’s addressing an important topic. And there is a statement in it with which I wholeheartedly agree…

Third, we have a moral and civic obligation to do whatever it takes to close the gap.

The gap she is referring to is the black-white gap in academic achievement. She is speaking specifically about the massive gap within Minneapolis Public Schools and generally about the gap at the state and national levels. On that point I would gladly link arms with her and march on the capitol demanding action. I would happily stand shoulder to shoulder with her in suburban living rooms, rural meeting places, urban auditoriums and campaign at the grassroots to create a surge of interest and a chorus of voices singing together to bring about a change in that deplorable situation.

And I further agree that we should aggressively explore and pilot alternative systems to the one we have now. As for the program she lauds in her column, the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), I know nothing about it. These schools, according to KK, have shown outstanding results in closing that racial gap. They use various methods, among them the SLANT technique (sit up, Listen, Ask questions, Nod, Track the speaker with your eyes). Ms. Kersten calls this “teaching character”. Whenever anyone of Ms. Kersten’s ilk talks about teaching character I get nervous. But this same SLANT method is something that has been employed by various social service organizations when working with those at the lower income levels…it’s usually referred to as “life skills”. And it quite often works.

More after the jump… Read it all..

Here’s the link to Katherine Kersten’s latest column. It’s titled “Teach character to cut racial gap in school results.”

I have too much to do today to spend the energy and time reading it, rereading it, picking apart why its logic is faulty, finding the same reasoning in National Review circa 1962, finding the original article on the Center for the American Experiment site… and writing something pithy about the Strib’s very own Nellie Oleson. So if someone else could take care of that, thanks. Swatting at intellectual gnats will have to wait for another day.

The first official reaction from the White House regarding the British bailing out on Iraq came from Dick “The Shootist” Cheney. And Cheney says it’s a good thing. That it means things are going better. That it represents progress.

Let’s review…

The Brits are bailing; Iraq has not sent the promised troops for the securing of Baghdad; said securty effort has, contradictory to the promises of the Prezzz, featured US troops in the front lines; and after about a two day drop in violence, the insurgents answered with a series of the most deadly attacks in the war.

If that’s progress I am officially scared shitless of what a setback would be.

P.S: I’m trying to capture the damn link of the interview with Cheney. If you didn’t know it was on ABC you’d think it was a Daily Show piece.

This is continuing a mini-series of political ads from around the world—or at least from those countries whose languages I kind of understand.

This one is from Canada’s last federal election and ran only in Québec. Why? Well, first it’s in French. And second, it’s for the Bloc Québécois, the independence-minded federal party of la Belle Province. Since they’re all about being all Québec all the time, they don’t really bother even thinking that, say, Saskatchewan exists.

Because Quebecers generally hate Conservatives and the Liberals were a mess, the Bloc’s slogan was simply, “Heureusement, ici, c’est le Bloc”—happily (or luckily), it’s the Bloc here. Which is rather confident of a political party to say: “Clearly, no one else will win, so just show up to the poll and feel lucky that you live in the one part of Canada that you don’t think sucks.” Though the Conservateurs did make some big in-roads, the Bloc cruised to reelection in Québec. But the province’s lack of Liberal votes may have lead to the current minority government of Conservative Steven Harper. Or, as I like to call him, the Pillsbury Doughboy of Alberta.

Anyway, another fine example of sophisticated storytelling being used effectively in politics. Just not in America (Scott Kleeb, that doesn’t mean you):