Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Three weeks without a computer has provided a much needed respite from the soul-shattering experience that has been this year’s election.  I spent a lifetime under the misapprehension that people wanted to know the unvarnished truth about current events, and thirsted for access to that information.  I was wrong.  Dead wrong.  What I have found out is that, in reality,

Most of the people
WANT TO BE FOOLED
most of the time.

Political winners are those who do the best job of fooling the most people.  They are the best manipulators.  I can never be one of them.  Despite my newfound knowledge, I still don’t have such a low opinion of my fellow citizens to be inclined to use immoral, Machiavellian tactics against them.  So for as long as I can stomach it, I will continue to offer my best understanding of what is happening to the 10 or 12 of you who prefer to live in the reality-based community.  I will get back to full daily posts as soon as I can.

Linda Tripp Praises Obama’s ‘Purity of Soul’ (Women on the Web)
[B]ack in time it was Linda Tripp who famously taped her then-“friend” Monica Lewinsky relaying her titillating adventures with the president. Interested in hearing what Tripp had to say of the recent election (yes, she’s a week late in returning our e-mail), Tripp relayed the following thoughts: “I am so very proud that as a nation we might finally be getting it right. I believe Sen. McCain is an American hero and a deeply honorable public servant, something one seldom sees in Washington. I also believe he could have been a strong president. That said, I believe President-elect Obama possesses an instantly recognizable purity of soul that, coupled with his brilliance, and, of course, his eloquence, brought quite unimaginable and long-awaited magic to the country, transforming red and blue states, quite literally, into ‘The Color Purple.’ I believe the entire country will stand behind him.”
If I remember correctly (it’s been a while), The Color Purple was in large part an indictment of black men for how they have treated black women.  Now, all American women are getting to experience that treatment.  You gotta love it or you’re a racist.

Kurtz questions media’s “hyperventilating” over Obama
News orgs are cranking out Barack Obama DVDs, books, commemorative issues, and adoring cover stories. “Media outlets have always tried to make a few bucks off the next big thing,” writes Howard Kurtz. “The endless campaign is over, and there’s nothing wrong with the country pulling together, however briefly, behind its new leader. But we seem to have crossed a cultural line into mythmaking.”
Yes, and they did the same with George Bush.  Remember how well THAT worked out.

Rove’s View of How Obama Won (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
“Q: Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics?
“A: ‘Our new president-elect won one and a half-points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.’” — Karl Rove in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, November 11, 2008
I’m pretty sure I don’t agree with this assessment. What do you think?
I do agree with it.  And not just with the GOTV aspect.  I also agree that the Obama campaign engendered the same kind of hate generating techniques as Bush’s campaigns.

Obama Leaves Senate (Political Wire)
President-elect Obama resigned from the U.S. Senate today and published a letter to constituents in many Illinois newspapers. An excerpt: “Today, I am ending one journey to begin another. After serving the people of Illinois in the United States Senate — one of the highest honors and privileges of my life — I am stepping down as senator to prepare for the responsibilities I will assume as our nation’s next president. But I will never forget, and will forever be grateful, to the men and women of this great state who made my life in public service possible.”
He never did one damn thing for the people of Illinois who elected him to represent us.  But maybe he quit his day job too quickly.  See below.

BREAKING: Alan Keyes sues Obama over citizenship proof (American Independent Party)
Presidential candidate Alan Keyes, vice-presidential candidate Wiley S. Drake, and the Chairman of the American Independent Party, Markham Robinson, have filed suit in California Superior Court in Sacramento seeking to bar Secretary of State Debra Bowen from certifying to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the names of Electors, and from transmitting to each presidential Elector a Certificate of Election, until documentary proof is produced and verified showing that Senator Obama is a “natural born” citizen of the United States, and does not hold citizenship of Indonesia, Kenya or Great Britain. In addition, they have asked that the court issue a peremptory writ barring Senator Obama’s California Electors from signing the Certificate of Vote until such documentary proof is produced and verified.

Right Wingers dominate the Sunday Talk Shows (by John Amato at The Confluence)
It’s no coincidence that right wing/Conservative guests far outnumber the left wing guests this week on the Sunday talkers. The country just rejected Conservatives and the entire GOP and gave Obama a complete mandate, but does that matter to the networks?
How very odd that Amato failed to notice there were no women on the Sunday shows.

Why did Sunday talk shows this week revolve around the GOP’s future? (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
It struck us  as very odd. Ten days after Democrats posted big election gains, one of the themes on almost every Sunday talk show this week was, how does the GOP recover; how does it map out a new future? The topic actually seemed to overshadow the rather obvious, and more newsworthy, issue of the emerging Obama administration… Why is the Beltway press right now so worried about the state of the GOP? And when the Dems were on the outside looking in, did the media ever show this kind of concern?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I seem to remember lots of obituaries for the Democratic Party in 2000 and in 2004.

Some Things Never Change (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
I did not know this: “Incidentally, President Franklin Roosevelt tried to change the date of Thanksgiving to the third Thursday in November, in part to extend the holiday shopping season by one week and give a boost to the economy during the Great Depression. There was huge public protest. Some referrred to the newly positioned Thanksgiving Day as ‘Franksgiving.’ Roosevelt’s decision was quickly politicized, with some people in some states celebrating the holiday as the ‘Republican Thanksgiving’ on the fourth Thursday in 1939, and others celebrating the ‘Democratic Thanksgiving’ on the third Thursday.” Sometimes I forget that the Republicans have been like this for a long, long time.
A very long time.  And that means that they’re not ready to give up.  Unless I’m mistaken, they’re biding their time before starting the attacks on Obama.

Robert Fisk: Obama has to pay for eight years of Bush’s delusions (The Independent, U.K.)
how is Barack Obama going to repair the titanic damage which his vicious, lying predecessor has perpetrated around the globe and within the US itself? John F Kennedy once said that “the United States, as the world knows, will never start a war”. After Bush’s fear-mongering and Rumsfeld’s “shock and awe” and Abu Ghraib and Bagram and Guantanamo and secret renditions, how does Obama pedal his country all the way back to Camelot?
Having Obama pay for Bush’s delusions is a plan, not an accident.  The Republicans held their fire against Obama because they wanted him to win and get blamed for all of Bush’s failures.  They can use all of the material they didn’t use during the primaries.  They created a financial panic to help him win (that was the October Surprise) and used that panic to blow the federal treasury to smithereens so that Obama can’t do any of the things Democrats always say they’re going to do but never do.

I’m sure as I can be that the plan is to smash Obama AFTER the election. We’ll know for sure, when the Supreme Court rules on Berg v. Obama.  It’s a Republican majority, so if they rule that we citizens have no right to know whether the president elect is eligible to serve as president, based on the Constitution, a contract between us citizens and the government we created, then we’ll know that’s the plan.

Rope a dope. (by J-SOM at Liberal Rapture)
Great comment from an earlier post[:] “I have been thinking for some time that the Republicans and Karl Rove just pulled a gigantic rope-a-dope on Democrats this year. Start with Obama’s seed money even before the primary - largely from Republicans. Also look at Donna Brazille’s chummy friendship and advice from Karl Rove. Look at the huge numbers of Republicans that crossed over and voted for him during the primary, some even in the general. (Although some of that was most likely moderate Repubs disenchanted with Bush.)But if you look all through this campaign there were Republicans always with the Obama team some where, some how. I used to think it was just to defeat Hillary and nominate the weaker candidate. Now I think it was some thing more, something far more sinister.

I think Republicans knew this would be a tough year to win given Bush’s low approval rate. I also think they knew the economy was going to fall sooner rather than later. So did they throw it? Was McCain their sacrificial lamb? Lose this time round after ensuring the most egotistical, inexperienced, and unqualified Dem candidate was nominated and then just hammer him for two years because they know that the economy will not improve over the short run and they can gain seats and the Presidency when hope and change has failed and voters blame Obama and the Dems, as they will?”

Barack Obama is warned to beware of a ‘huge threat’ from al-Qaeda (The Times , U.K.)
Barack Obama is being given ominous advice from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to brace himself for an early assault from terrorists. General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, this week acknowledged that there were dangers during a presidential transition when new officials were coming in and getting accustomed to the challenges. But he added that no “real or artificial spike” in intercepted transmissions from terror suspects had been detected.

Election spurs ‘hundreds’ of race threats, crimes (AP)
Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting “Assassinate Obama.” Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars. Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

Fineman: ‘Chief jeerleader’ will be Limbaugh, not Palin (by David Neiwert at Crooks and Liars)
On Saturday’s Chris Matthews Show, a panel featuring NPR’s Michele Norris, Time’s Michael Duffy and CNBC’s Erin Burnett ponders who’s going to be leading the GOP charge against the Obama administration in the coming months. Matthews wonders initially if it will be Sarah Palin, and the guests chew on that briefly, until Howard Fineman sets them all straight: “…It’s going to be Rush Limbaugh, and what’s left of the conservative commentariat. They are going to be in charge of this party until the Republicans begin to get their act together…” If he’s right that Limbaugh and the Venom Brigade are going to be in charge of the GOP (and he probably is), the main question remains: Will they just drive the Republican bus deeper into their muddy ditch, or careen it off into a bottomless chasm?

“No love for Obama in this corner” (by Paul Janensch, Connecticut Post)
Q: Professor News, how are radio’s conservative talk-show hosts reacting to the election of Barack Obama as president?
A: They are not exactly overcome by joy… During the campaign, they said Obama was a Marxist socialist who would raise our taxes and appease our adversaries. They persisted in linking him with the inflammatory Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor, and ’60s radical William Ayers, with whom he served on a social service board… They insist it was a close election and that Obama has no mandate for change.
Uh, George Bush had even LESS of a mandate, but that didn’t stop him.  He was determined to implement regressive policies, no matter what.  This is the same kind of working the refs that right wingers have used so successfully against the media.  They’ll scream “SOCIALIST” and they’ll scream “COMMUNIST,” in a likely to be successful attempt at Mao-Maoing the Democrats.  The Democrats will back down like the cowards they are, but also because they really don’t want change.  Nor does Mr. Accommodationist.  He’s perfectly satisfied with the corrupt system that brought him to power.

Rather’s Lawsuit Shows Role of G.O.P. in Inquiry (New York Times)
When Dan Rather filed suit against CBS 14 months ago — claiming, among other things, that his former employer had commissioned a politically biased investigation into his work on a “60 Minutes” segment about President Bush’s National Guard service — the network predicted the quick and favorable dismissal of the case, which it derided as “old news.” So far, Mr. Rather has spent more than $2 million of his own money on the suit. And according to documents filed recently in court, he may be getting something for his money. Using tools unavailable to him as a reporter — including the power of subpoena and the threat of punishment against witnesses who lie under oath — he has unearthed evidence that would seem to support his assertion that CBS intended its investigation, at least in part, to quell Republican criticism of the network.
Memogate remains one of the best examples of right wingers working the refs to obscure Bush’s obvious desertion of military duty during wartime, and discredit liberals at the same time.

Rather interesting (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
Dan Rather is going ahead with his very expensive lawsuit against CBS, his former employer. Rather claims that CBS ran a politically biased investigation into his airing of the famed/infamous story involving the questioned Texas Air National Guard documents… I took some interest in the document controversy; see, for example, here and here. The mystery of the documents was never fully resolved, although I remain convinced that the things were not created on Microsoft Word, as the rightists believed. Alas, back when I addressed the issue, blogger did not make it easy to publish images, so I could not present illustrations to buttress my argument. (Skimming those old pieces reminded me of the days when the hate-spewers inhabited the political right, not the left.) One question still haunts. If, as many right-wingers alleged, the docs were forged by Rather’s source, Bill Burkett — then why was Burkett not prosecuted?

Secrets of Talk Radio (by Dan Shelley, writing in Milwaukee Magazine)
To begin with, talk show hosts such as Charlie Sykes – one of the best in the business – are popular and powerful because they appeal to a segment of the population that feels disenfranchised and even victimized by the media… In the talk radio business, this concept, which must be mastered to be successful, is called “differentiating” yourself from the rest of the media. It is a brilliant marketing tactic that has also helped Fox News Channel thrive… Programmers learned long ago that benign conversations led by hosts who present all sides of an issue don’t attract large audiences. That’s why Kathleen Dunn was forced out at WTMJ in the early ’90s and why Jim and Andee were replaced in the mid-’90s by Dr. Laura. Pointed and provocative are what win.
Not to mention hateful.  And now that so-called progressive talk radio is no different from right-wing talk radio, except in the names of the targets of hate, I can’t listen to any of it any more.

Women, minorities, autistic children: Conservative radio’s vitriol not reserved for Obama (Media Matters for America)
As Media Matters for America documented, the nationwide network of conservative radio hosts — personalities without the national prominence of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh — engaged in an all-out effort to foment hate and suspicion of Barack Obama by participating actively in an echo chamber of smears and falsehoods about the primary candidate and then Democratic nominee. But these same radio hosts were by no means discerning in their vitriol and did not save their ire solely for Obama. Immigrants, female politicians (and women in general), the LGBT community, the poor and homeless, minorities, progressives, unions, college students, and even autistic children were targets of these radio personalities’ invective.
And so-called progressive talk radio, out of this list, only attacked women.  Maybe that makes them 2% better than right-wing radio.

Hillary Clinton to accept Barack Obama’s offer of secretary of state job (The Guardian)
Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.
Remember when Hillary’s foreign policy experience only amounted to having tea with the wives of foreign leaders?  Now, suddenly, she’s qualified to be Secretary of State?  I must say I’ll be sorry to see her take this job.  It will force her to abandon her network of three million supporters.  And then there will be no organized progressive force within the Democratic Party.  The corporatists own both parties, and will continue to prevail for a long time to come.

Michelle Bernard on Hardball : Hillary Clinton “will run a parallel government” if named secretary of state (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
C&Ler Jim T. alerted me to this segment from Hardball and said this: “The last 20 minutes or so are a case study of the gossip-fest that cable and ‘journalism’ in general have become. The segment features Michelle Bernard and some kook from N.H. discussing the possibility that Hillary Clinton may be offered State in the Obama administration. Probably one of the most bizarre spectacles I have seen in a long time, even considering the two year idiocy we’ve just been through. Bernard is a serious Clinton Hater and as the day unfolded she just couldn’t contain it any longer. There were plenty of snide comments about Hillary from the media like, ‘Obama better have a food taster’ if he gives her the job, (I wonder if the media would say things like that if McCain asked Romney to join his cabinet) but nobody went as far as she did.”
Click through to watch the video.

You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me! (by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy at No Quarter)
That was my response when I saw this headline from the BBC news after Obama’s first post (s)election interview: “Obama ‘To Rebuild Moral Stature In The World.” I’m sorry, WHAT did you say?? That OBAMA is going to rebuild our moral stature?… I mean, really - to claim one wants to “rebuild the country’s moral stature” implies one has a MORAL base from which to do that work. I have seen blessed little evidence of that from Obama in the past two years. Heck, even longer than that, if you include how he got into the IL Senate - by screwing over the very woman (Alice Palmer) who got him into politics in the FIRST place. Well, that just goes to prove the point - he has had a “morality” problem for a while, it would seem.
Oh, and don’t forget that Ted Kennedy said Hillary wouldn’t be a good candidate for Vice President because she’s not moral.  So don’t blame me for getting confused here.  She wasn’t moral enough to be Vice President, but she’s moral enough to be Secretary of State and help Obama rebuild America’s moral stature in the world.  Orwellian, isn’t it?

Would Barack Obama Hire Barack Obama? (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Barack Obama is Jewish. Who knew? How else to explain today’s demonstration of chutzpah in action. (For the goyim among us, “chutzpah” in Hebrew is used indignantly, to describe someone who has over-stepped the boundaries of accepted behavior with no shame.) What am I talking about? Did you see the application that Barack is requiring prospective workers in his Administration to fill out. According to the NY Times: “A seven-page questionnaire being sent by the office of President-elect Barack Obama to those seeking cabinet and other high-ranking posts may be the most extensive — some say invasive — application ever. The questionnaire includes 63 requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well, that are forcing job-seekers to rummage from basements to attics, in shoe boxes, diaries and computer archives to document both their achievements and missteps…”

As a first start, let’s ask Barack to fill out one of these… Let’s find out what his grades were in college. Let’s find out when and why he changed his name from Barry to Barack. This would certainly put to rest the furor in some sectors over the still missing certificate of live birth. You got to admit that this is a funny as hell chutzpah moment.

Obama brings the Chicago crowd to do his business in DC (McClatchy)
Come January, an African-American from the South Side is heading to the White House, not as a guest but as president. And he’s taking a slew of Chicago Democrats with him. Among them:
_ Rahm Emanuel, a Congressman from the North Side who will be White House Chief of Staff;
_ Valerie Jarrett, a City Hall veteran who will be a senior counselor in the White House;
_ David Axelrod, a political consultant to Obama and other Chicago Democrats, expected to be named to a top White House job;
_ Bill Daley, a son of the late mayor and brother of the current mayor, who also could be asked to come along.
Meanwhile, Chicago native John Podesta co-chairs Obama’s transition team.
It will be the Texas Mafia moving out and the Illinois Combine moving in.  As we used to say in Louisiana, “Time for the fat hogs to move out and the lean hogs to move in.”

Clinton’s Third Term (by J –SOM at Liberal Rapture)
The farce that Obama represents change marches on. Mr. President-elect Barky is populating his transition with Team Clinton. A move I heartily endorse, being one who sees the Clinton years as being as close to sane as we’ve gotten in recent history… It is remarkable how in vogue experience has suddenly become in Obamaland:.. So GO BARRY! REHIRE the Clinton team - I liked them then and like them now. Also, I do want to see how your ass kissers at Huffington and MSNBC justify your slide over to Clinton land. They love trashing the Clinton’s for no rational reason so much, after all. Then again, the DNC might start wondering why they threw the nomination to you to be begin with - if you are just going to recreate Clinton’s Admin. Coulda had the real deal…but..uh…she has no penis…so you got to jump to the head of the line.
Clinton Dems actually know how to WORK for a living. Maybe you and Michelle will learn something from your new hires.

Why is it OK that Obama won’t hold torturers accountable? (by lambert at Corrente)
And how does that policy enhance our “moral standing,” if any, in the world? AP: “Barack Obama’s incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government workers who authorized or used harsh interrogation techniques [torture] during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and humans rights groups to investigate possible war crimes by the Bush administration. But two Obama advisers said there’s little — if any — chance that the incoming president’s Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage… Additionally, the question of whether to prosecute may never become an issue if Bush issues pre-emptive pardons to protect those involved.”

There you go. This story is a trial balloon from the two Obama advisors! They want Bush to make this problem go away for them!
Morality AND courage.  Thank goodness the old boss is going away, ‘cause this new boss, boy is he going to be great.

Why is it OK that Obama’s transition chief for intelligence policy, John Brennan, is pro-torture? (by lambert at Corrente)
Oh, progressives? Speak up, please! Of course, Brennan is also for warrantless surveillance, and against holding Villagers accountable under the rule of law… And why is that OK? To me, Brennan is a classic example of WIBDI — What If Bush Did It. In that case, progressives would be, and have been, outraged… Via Think Progress, this from Obama on 60 minutes [Sunday night]: “[OBAMA] I have said repeatedly that America doesn’t torture, and I’m going to make sure that we don’t torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.” The problem here is that we’ve heard almost those exact words before [from George Bush]: “I’ve said to the people that we don’t torture, and we don’t”. So words alone don’t cut it. Actions would help, and one such action — a way to “walk the walk,” as it were, on regaining our “moral standing” — would be cutting loose a pro-torture advisor. Like John Brennan.

Greg Craig as White House Counsel (by: emptywheel at Firedoglake)
You might remember Greg Craig–the guy Obama just named his White House Counsel–from the FISA fight. Craig … explained Obama’s cave on FISA this way. “…‘Obviously, there was an element of what’s possible here. But he concluded that with FISA expiring, that it was better to get a compromise than letting the law expire.’”As I pointed out at the time, “FISA is not expiring anytime soon… Either Craig or Obama is making the common–but ignorant–mistake of conflating the Protect America Act with FISA. The former does expire in early August. The latter does not…” Granted, that was just one teeny tiny little issue–you know, our Fourth Amendment rights, and the willful abuse of the law by the Bush Administration? Still, I was hoping Craig would not–as he was predicted to–end up with this spot.
The best foolers.  The best manipulators.

No comment (by lambert at Corrente)
Newsweek: “The transition team has been told to hire Republicans at all levels of government, not just as token cabinet appointments…” Nope. No comment… I love this quote: “‘I don’t think he looks at this and says, “Because I appoint Republicans, I have to compromise my positions”,’ says the aide.” And you know what? I absolutely agree. That aide is right on the money, in so many, many ways.

Here’s the problem (by Erin Alecto at The Left Coaster)
Filling in for Rachel Maddow…, Arianna Huffington asked Lawrence O’Donnell if the Dems didn’t want to make Joe pay for his antics during the campaign season, couldn’t they go after Lieberman for his having done a lousy job at Homeland Security since he’d been in charge. O’Donnell replied that if effectiveness were a criteria, a lot of chairmen of committees might come under scrutiny. He said that as if it were a bad thing. Arianna didn’t call him on it. Until that mentality changes, nothing is going to get fixed. Seems elementary.

Senate Dem leadership expected to allow Lieberman to keep Homeland Security chairmanship. (Think Progress)
Roll Call reports that when Senate Democrats meet tomorrow to discuss Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (I-CT) future, the Democratic leadership is “expected to propose that he keep his gavel at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but lose his Environment and Public Works subcommittee chairmanship.” The paper describes the proposal as only a “slap on the wrist” for Lieberman since Lieberman “may not lose much” if his subcommittee chairmanship is stripped… Kos calls the plan “not acceptable,” quipping that “given the Senate Democrats’ history of capitulations, expect Lieberman to come out of that meeting as majority leader.” CNN’s Dana Bash reports that Lieberman “is not happy about” the plan, but will accept it.
No one cares what you think any more, Markos.  You helped deliver the nomination to Obama and he promptly kicked you in the gonads.  You have no leverage at all until the nomination process starts in 2016.  Click through to watch Dana Bash’s report.

The mind of the Democratic leadership (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Congressional Democratic leaders … consider it a good thing — not a bad thing — when they anger their own base.  They’re thrilled when they get accused — accurately — of acting like Republicans and supporting right-wing measures, particularly on national security and “terrorism” issues.   They consider it a benefit — an incentive — when they are attacked for embracing Republican political policies and violating the principles of their own base… Numerous sources… are now reporting that the Senate Democratic caucus has reached a deal with Joe Lieberman, and he will retain his Chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee.  The deal will be ratified in a vote tomorrow morning (and will entail his losing a totally meaningless subcommittee chair).  

Nobody who has watched Congressional Democrats over the last many years could possibly have expected any other outcome.  This is who they are and what they do.  The silver lining is that it will once again remind people, still euphoric over the election results, of this reality. And as the anger pours forth from people who raise money for Democrats and expended huge amounts of time and effort to elect Barack Obama, the more vindicated Senate Democrats will feel in what they just did.  That’s how they look centrist and bipartisan — by infuriating their supporters, the perceived “Left.”
And until the “Left” gets smart and transfers its allegiance to a non-corporatist third party, Democrats will continue to take advantage.  If you need proof of what Glenn is saying, see below.

Liberals: threat or menace? (by vastleft at Corrente)
Shortly before the election, Bob Kerrey wrote the following in the NY Daily News: “…By my lights, the primary threat to the success of a President Obama will come from some Democrats who, emboldened by the size of their congressional majority, may try to kill trade agreements, raise taxes in ways that will destroy jobs, repeal the Patriot Act and spend and regulate to high heaven. This is where Obama’s persona is invaluable. He can withstand the arguments and pressure of the liberal wing in the Democratic caucus if, once elected, he is guided by the best instincts he has displayed on the campaign trail…” Uncle Bob promised me a special pony that’s huge and grey and has a long trunk! It’ll be the bestest pony evah!

Oddly… (by lambert at Corrente)
… or not, neither the Guardian’s story that Hillary will accept Obama’s SoS offer, nor Newsweek’s story that Obama’s transition team is hiring Republicans at all levels of government, is getting any play at all on the front page of The Obama 527 Formerly Known As Daily Kos. Not even to debunk them. As of 10:55PM EST, I can’t find a single post. Why, I wonder?

What is this “rule of law” of which you speak? (by lambert at Corrente)
Glenn [Greenwald]: “To argue that new administrations should refrain from investigating crimes that were committed by past administrations due to the need to avoid partisan division is to announce that the rule of law does not apply to our highest political leaders. It’s just as simple as that.” Yeah, and? What’s your point, Glenn?

PUBLIC OPINION: Bold Approach Supported (by Ruy Teixeira, Center for American Progress)
Americans are optimistic that the Obama administration can accomplish key goals.
Can, yes, but WILL he?  Will the Democrats be Democrats?

Slow morning (by Avedon Carol at The Sideshow, thanks to Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
I’m wondering if Ezra [Klein] has lost the plot on healthcare or if he’s just forgotten that Bush ran on education in much the same way. The thing about Republicon plans is that they are never designed to actually deliver for the people, but rather to destroy what services already exist and divert funds that could be used to improve them… Let’s not forget that what the Republicans are trying to do is avoid universal healthcare, not bring services to more people.
And let’s not forget that so far, Democrats’ objective has been to pretend to bring some balance to the scales when deciding how to “promote the general welfare”, but somehow, and it makes them so sad, there’s always something keeping them from doing it!  It just keeps on happening.  And so-called progressives just keep on falling for it.  But maybe they’re serious.  See below.

Health Care Could Be Part of Stimulus Package (Political Wire)
Greg Sargent hears that Democratic Senate staffers “involved in planning health care reform are starting to mull an interesting solution: Paying for reform as part of the big economic stimulus package that the lame-duck Congress is debating.”

Obama, H-1b and The Secret Tech Lobbyists Don’t Want You to Know (Bright Future Jobs)
Obama is ready to expand the H-1b employer program. But no nation can be strong when employers can legally ignore local talent. The contrast of Senator Obama’s campaign call for expanding H-1b program just as layoffs increase dramatizes the need and opportunity for intensive lobbying by the high-tech community. You have the power to bust the myth that tech lobbyists don’t want the Obama team to know: that employers can bypass qualified Americans via the H-1b employer-visa hiring program. Send them a message now demanding that the Obama administration push for passage of Senator Durbin’s H-1b reform bill (SB 1035).  It will restore Equal Opportunity to citizens and green card holders by requiring employers to seek local talent for their US job openings before tethering foreign workers to their company. It will also prevent Indian outsourcing labor contractors from displacing Americans who are currently in jobs with their tethered foreign workers.

A Necessary Nationalism (by paradox at The Left Coaster)
Would Barack Obama been elected President of the United States had he advocated quick withdrawal for Iraq and Afghanistan? No. No marketing or political rationale would have ever withstood the completely devastating attack from opposition Republicans that Obama was another Democratic wimp who wouldn’t and couldn’t fight. The American ethos that the President is a badass Commander in Chief killer at the helm of a vast intricate killing machine that will be used on a moment’s notice at whatever planetary American whim arrives is so ingrained in American politics it simply goes unspoken, as it did again in election 2008.
Such marketing WOULD work if the Democrats had ever seen fit to market themselves as a brand, if they stood for anything as ridiculous as PRINCIPLES, for example, and hammered and hammered away at what they stood for and why, and educated people as to why their policies are the best for all. But they never have, except on TV.

The Rise and Fall of Great Expectations (by kenosha Marge at InsightAnalytical)
In a recent Quinnipiac Poll is seems that 70% of the respondents believe that the economy will get better during Obama’s first term. Imagine that! An economic disaster that has been years in the making will get better in just four years. Optimism is normal at the start of a new administration. Doesn’t seem to faze many of us that that optimism is so often wrong… How about 9/20/01? Bush had approval ratings of nearly 90%. For being in charge when a terrorist attack on the United States took place… Today the mediocre little man that strutted about on the world stage has a dismal 28% approval rating… I hope all those optimistic folks are right and my pessimism is wrong. There are times when being wrong is the right thing for everyone. However let’s not forget that a fool and his optimism are soon parted if the goods aren’t delivered. Perhaps they will be. But to be honest, my high expectations are very low.

Where are we? (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
Now that the election is over I thought I would scout out some of my old stomping grounds to see if it was safe for the Kool-aid free to roam Left Blogistan again.  I popped into The Smirking Chimp and was delighted to discover I still have an account there. Then I saw this in an article by Cenk Uygur (don’t ask me to pronounce it) titled “The Center-Right Myth” and I realized we have a lot of work left to do: “What is it going to take to get through the dunderheads in DC — this is not a center-right country! In the last two elections the Democrats picked up over fifty seats in the House. They also took commanding control of the Senate and have now taken the White House. How much clearer did the American people have to be?”… But look more closely, and you see a heavy influx of moderate to conservative members in the incoming freshman Democratic class, particularly in the House.
It’s exactly what I warned about back in the spring.  Why were progressives all ga ga over Obama’s appeal to Republicans, when what we want is a progressive government?  But I was (and am, it seems) AWFUL for bringing up such an obvious truth.

You’re Just Figuring This out NOW? (by LisaB at No Quarter)
Politico has a piece about women’s groups wondering about BO’s cabinet picks. “Early indications that men might dominate the hierarchy of Obama administration have women’s groups worried…
Women’s rights advocates acknowledge it’s still early in the transition process, but they say early staff picks and the lists of rumored Cabinet nominees send the wrong signal.”… I’d like to get angry about this. But I can’t. BO has never shown a sensitivity to women or “women’s issues.” Heck, he practically went out of his way to alienate women, feeling secure they’d come back to him anyway - which they largely did. Here at NQ, we’ve talked about misogyny FOR MONTHS! MONTHS! MONTHS! And now we’re supposed to be concerned? Go away. Go away and don’t bother me with your sudden concern.

The Persistence of Patriarchy… (by Stateofdisbelief at The Confluence)
Looking back at the election of 2008 we find ourselves pondering how we as a culture could have allowed this sexism and misogynistic worldview to survive sufficiently to rear its ugly head in the degree we’ve witnessed – at levels not seen for decades.  Both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were subjected to slurs and violent imagery portraying them as deviants of society, subordinate to men, and vulnerable to egregious assault.  Each of these individual acts, seeking to push women back into subservience, must be recognized, challenged and met with firm resistance.  We must not shield our eyes or the eyes of society from the blatant and many times brutal attacks on women who dare seek equality at all levels of the workplace and in our government.

Change we can be scared shitless by (by Violet Socks at Reclusive Leftist)
Any hope that the hatred unleashed by the Obama movement would subside post-election is starting to fade. The signal features of Obama’s movement have always been fanaticism and misogyny — and note that I’m talking about the real Obama movement, not the Obama™ movement — and these were ratified at the polls on November 4. They’re now part of acceptable behavior. We have often talked about the dangers of rewarding the Obama Campaign’s sexist behavior with or votes. We stood strong, but many women voted for Obama despite his misogynistic campaign. As Riverdaughter wrote this morning, this is what Barack Obama has unleashed in the past year. He has used misogyny to stir up hatred of women in the media and on the blogs that supported him. Now that the genie is out of the bottle, it won’t soon be put back. We are going to be dealing with this for a long time to come. Thanks Barack.
It was exactly the same kind of behavior by the Bushbots against African Americans in 2000 that prompted me to get involved in politics in the first place.  Now the Democrats are the hate party.  It’s awful.

Tuesday: The Trouble with Women (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
It sure seems like Obama is serious about putting Hillary Clinton in as Secretary of State.  It would be a sure signal that there won’t be any significant changes on health care or equal pay.  {{Sigh}} We’re pretty confident that Hillary would bring her same standard of excellence to whatever job she chooses.  But the Obama administration attitude towards working with women leaves a lot to be desired…  So, maybe it’s time for a Presidential Commission on Women. Women Count has more on the background of the Presidential Commission on Women: “In 1961, as the nation grappled with the issue of women in the workplace, President John Kennedy convened the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. Kennedy recognized the moment was right. That was 47 years ago, and it’s time to do it again. As in 1961, women are at the forefront of our political discourse – and we are committed to keeping them there.”

MediaFreude! (by madamab at The Confluence)
[T]he story about Sarah Palin not knowing Africa was a continent was a hoax, as was its source. I wonder how many other of the nasty stories about Governor Palin supposedly coming from the McCain campaign were actually “sourced” to this fraud? And it’s not like no one knew about this guy. But Fox News and MSNBC are just too darned kewl and fashion-forward to do old-fashioned things like, ya know, checking sources and stuff… Stories that were poorly sourced or made up entirely (like the story of Ashley Todd, who injured herself and claimed that an Obama supporter did it) have made it directly from the pages of The Drudge Report to CNN, with barely a pause for breath from IP to TV…

But for now, I am applauding the two fellows who came up with this scam. It appears that their purpose was to show how utterly unprofessional the media and the blogosphere has become. “…‘With the 24-hour news cycle they rush into anything they can find’…”Indeed. Well-played, sirs.
I disagree that any rumor at all will be picked up by the corporate media. Only those rumors that disparage people the Village Idiots have determined must be disparaged make it into the big media. Anyone the Idiots have deemed a saint will not have unfavorable items published about them, even if the items are true.

Joe the Plumber case still dripping (Akron Beacon Journal)
The election is over, but the Joe the Plumber case is not. Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. 

He’s gotta do it: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
A few months ago, Olbermann apologized for picturing Hillary Clinton getting beaten up by a bunch of goons behind locked doors. [Last] week, he was picturing Sarah Palin getting cut up into pieces. Within moments, he mockingly compared her to Lindsay Lohan—then, to Dizzy Dean. It’s always surprising to see the way such fellows discuss the women they hate. They seem to find it hard to do so without picturing violence or turning to overt, gender-based derision. In our view, Palin is a remarkably underwhelming figure, in ways which are quite easy to define. You don’t have to compare her to Lohan, or picture her being killed—unless your skills are remarkably weak, or you simply enjoy hating women…

But then, here’s Archie Bunker—sorry, Josh Marshall—letting us know … who the latest “dingbat” is. Without even bothering to report what this new “dingbat” actually said! But so it goes as progressive intellectual standards spiral steadily downward.

Olbermann Smacks You Down In Very Special Comment (Gawker)
It turns out that the best person to make fun of MSNBC’s scolding father Keith Olbermann isn’t a little kid ala Lil’ O’Reilly or an observant impersonator like YouTube’s Olbermann Complains To Subway guy but rather Keith Olbermann himself. Humor site 23/6 has heroically sifted countless hours of Countdown footage to bring you the attached video of Olbermann telling off You, SIR, and mocking his own overblown style in the process. We identified with the pundit’s anger in the depths of the Bush presidency, but now an Obama utopia is on the way so let’s all laugh at the insane angry liberal!
Click through to watch the video.

Women They Love to Hate (by Anglachel)
People like Olbermann would be outrageous and then the enablers would try to explain why it wasn’t so bad instead of standing up to the violence and rejecting it. The overall language and imagery would rachet up in the next round. The introduction of violent, misogynist themes into political discourse, the normalization of exhortations or suggestions to do physical harm to non-compliant women, all of it explained away as self-defense mixed with just desserts for getting out of line - hmm, where on the political spectrum is that usually located? Right. Not anymore.

The Press, Wall Street, Politicans, the DNC, Banks: ALL MIA (by dakinikat at The Confluence)
I’m not quite sure when it started, but … no one takes responsibility, apologizes and fixes [what they did wrong].  Worse than that, I have very few ways to make them accountable any  more… I’d like the DNC to be held accountable for taking votes from Michigan and Florida when they really mattered, for stacking primaries and caucuses with a weighting system that was easily gamed by a Chicago mobster, and all that misogyny and sexism and race-baiting.  How about it?  Why don’t we figure out some strategies in the future to hold them all accountable?

Voter turnout didn’t set record (Boston Globe)
Turnout in [this year’s] election increased from four years ago but fell far short of some forecasts largely because many Republican voters either stayed home or left blank the presidential section of their ballots.

Vast Obama network becomes a political football (Los Angeles Times)
Some Obama advisors want to blend his campaign operation with the Democratic National Committee. Others worry that such a move could cause the grass-roots organization to unravel.

EBay won’t sell inaugural tickets (USA Today)
EBay Inc. has decided it won’t allow tickets to President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony to be sold on its websites.
Didn’t the founder of EBay serve as a McCain economic advisor?

FEC Won’t Audit Obama (Capital Eye)
The hundreds of millions of dollars that Barack Obama raised for his presidential campaign would seem to make him a perfect target for a full audit to account for the legality of every dollar he raised and spent. Yet, in part because Obama raised so much, the Federal Election Commission isn’t likely to investigate, according to Politico. When the FEC determines whether an audit is necessary, it takes into account the amount the candidate collected–the more raised, the less significance each error carries, the commission reasons. Even an FEC complaint from the Republican National Committee raising concerns about fictitious donors and foreign addresses that snuck under the Obama campaign’s radar probably won’t trigger an audit.
The more you raise, the less you have to worry about an audit?  Sounds backwards to me.

Obama Boosts ‘60 Minutes’ to Biggest Audience Since ‘99
Rash Report: If Nothing Else, President-elect Already a Stimulus for Old Media
At last, people are trying to find out who the hell he is.

GQ Honors for Obama
Time is being coy about the inevitable naming of Barack Obama as Person of the Year, but GQ is all set to unveil its choice. The president-elect appears on the December cover as a Man of the Year, though he has to share in a rotation with Michael Phelps (that other winner this year), Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jon Hamm of Mad Men. The tribute to Obama is written by Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Obama Urged to Trust the Media, Hold Weekly Press Conferences (by William B. Ketter, Editor & Publisher)
David Gergen, Joe Lockhart and others have some sagacious media advice for President-elect Obama: “Don’t try to use the press. Understand the value of the press to informing the public.”

Thousands rally nationwide for marriage equality. (Think Progress)
LGBT rights advocates, organized by Join the Impact, turned out in eight countries, 50 states, and 300 cities [Friday] in support of marriage equality, with thousands gathering across California to specifically protest the recent passage of Prop. 8. Signs read “Are you better off now that I can’t marry?” and “The same Bible was used to justify slavery,” referencing the ban’s heavy support from the Mormon church.

The Progressive Sturmabteilung (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)

Obamanation is starting to scare me worse than G-Dub’s neo-fascists ever did.  Rick Moran writes in a post at American Thinker: “Opponents of gay marriage in California are suffering the effects of a childish tantrum thrown by those who lost on Proposition 8… Now these activists have taken their derangement to another level; they are publishing lists of ordinary people who donated to the “Yes on 8″ coalition…” TBogg in a post at Firedoglake titled “Blowback is a Bitch” writes: “…‘Your freedom of speech does *not* include freedom from the consequences. Deal with it.’”… That rhetoric is not very reassuring, is it?  There is a word for people who use intimidation to get their way.  The word is “bully.”  But it doesn’t stop at FDL…

Perhaps we should make the people who supported Prop. H8 wear special armbands so they can be easily identified.  Businesses and churches could be required to post signs identifiying them as well.  I seem to recall that tactic being very effective at intimidating people in the past.  I also recall you being outraged in the past when conservatives “outed” or retaliated against people they disagreed with.  Hypocrite much? Leave aside for the moment that targeting political opponents is counter-productive, it is also anathema to democratic principles.  That’s why we have secret ballots.  There is also the “Law of Unintended Consequences” to consider.  Did it ever occur to anyone that targeting donors for retaliation provides a good reason to repeal the laws requiring public disclosure of campaign donations?  Jeebus! 

Progressives used to have principles.  Liberals still do.

Easy Targets - Gays avoid confronting the black church (by J -SOM at Liberal Rapture)
Gay protesters are also going after the Mormon church - not exactly difficult in Los Angeles. Mormons are pretty kickable - what with the magic underwear and outer space based theology… Where are gay rights activists NOT protesting? Black Churches. The fact is, gays aren’t picketing black churches because that would be hard and scary. Picketing Black Churches would address a REAL problem in the gay rights movement… Guess we’ll keep attacking some easy targets instead.

Bill O’Reilly, love him and hate him (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
That, according to Americans surveyed by Pew Research. “Asked to name their favorite campaign journalists, O’Reilly landed the top spot. Asked to name their least favorite campaign journalists, O’Reilly also landed the top spot. In general, the survey was a bit of a joke, because most people polled couldn’t, or didn’t, name any journalist they liked or disliked. O’Reilly was the most/least favorite, but only about 5 percent mentioned him. The huge majority of people asked about journalists (approximately 55 percent), drew a blank. Oh, and we also chuckled over the response to the post-election Pew question, “Will you miss following campaign news?” A whopping 82 percent said no.

One rotten apple? Kill Johnny Appleseed! (by Jeff Jarvis)
It’s barely worth dignifying with a link but Howard Witt writes a letter to Romenesko wondering whether, Mark Cuban has been brought up on insider-trading charges, his Sharesleuth.com would cover the news. Witt uses this as an opportunity to dismiss any value from all bloggers: “I’d say this is yet another example of why the nation cannot possibly expect to rely on all these pseudo-journalistic blogs that are supposed to become the future of journalism when all the newspapers disappear.” Oh, jeesh. OK, you play the Cuban card. I’ll see you with a Jayson Blair and raise you with a Judith Miller.

So far, Washington is on the hook for $5 trillion (Forbes)
For all the fury over Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government’s response to the credit crisis. According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.

Tom Toles

GM Auto Workers Are Not Paid $70 an Hour and It Matters (by Dean Baker)
The New York Times told readers that GM’s autoworkers are paid $70 an hour (including health care and pension). This is not true. The base pay is about $28 an hour. If health care cost per worker average $12,000 per year, that adds in another $6 an hour. If the pension payment takes up 25 percent of base pay (an extremely high pension), that gets you another $7 an hour, bringing the total to $41 an hour. That’s decent pay, but still a long way from $70 an hour… It would be helpful if the NYT could get its numbers straight. It certainly can affect public support for a bailout if they are led to believe that autoworkers are paid much more than is actually the case.

NYT Pushes House Price Support Program, Again (by Dean Baker)
The NYT’s attachment to the idea of a house price support program is truly bizarre. Somehow, they seem to have not noticed the $8 trillion housing bubble. While it is true that the deflation of the bubble is at the core of the country’s current economic problems, how does the NYT think that the government can keep house prices at bubble inflated levels… If the idea is that we will just temporarily maintain bubble-inflated house prices and then let fall at some future date, then we are just putting off the pain and encouraging another group of home-buyers to be suckers, paying far more than their home is worth. It is hard to see as good policy. The NYT should read its columns trashing farm price supports. If they substitute the word “house” for “farm,” they would probably have a pretty good argument as to why today’s editorial is misguided, although the potential damage in this case is likely to be a couple orders of magnitude larger.

Audit Interview: Jonathan Weil (Columbia Journalism Review)
If you’ve missed Bloomberg columnist Jonathan Weil’s work over the past year, you’ve missed a lot. He was one of the first to sniff out problems at AIG, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The guy who predicted the financial crisis was laughed at on cable news (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
In case you had any doubts about the economic cheerleading that went on for years on places like CNBC and Fox News and then Fox Business, take a look at the how Peter Shift was practically laughed on sets in 2006 and 2007 when he started talking about the deep, looming recession when consumers were going to stop spending, or when he warned about the coming housing collapse.

Michael Moore Takes Aim at Wall Street (Political Wire)
Michael Moore’s next documentary will focus on the financial crisis in America and around the world, according to CNBC. Moore’s next film was originally “expected to focus on foreign policy, but with the markets in turmoil, he’s focusing on the financial mess and what got us here.”

Battered Citigroup slashes 52000 jobs
Fresh wave of cuts follows the company’s elimination of 23000 posts this year Citigroup Inc. announced plans to cut 52000 jobs by early next year.                                                                  

Day Laborers on the street (video—even if you don’t normally watch videos, watch this one, it’s hilarious)