Media & Politics
28-May-09
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
New York Post Goes Schizo on Sotomayor (by Hamilton Nolan at Gawker)
The New York Post cannot contain its excitement about our new Hispanic Supreme Court nominee! The millions of Hispanic people in NYC are encouraged to pick up a copy right away, and celebrate!… Then there’s the part where the Post takes care of its natural inclination, which is to hate Sonia Sotomayor and all she stands for. Rich Lowry has Xeroxed the Republican talking points and pasted them directly in every issue of the Post, with Elmer’s; then there’s the paper’s own editorial. They’re not as sure as their own cover that this whole “Latina lady” thing is going to work out.
I am a killjoy (by Avedon Carol at The Sideshow)
I suppose I’m expected to ready myself for a fight to defend Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court nominee against an onslaught of GOP hissy-fit in which she is falsely cast as some kind of a screaming (literally) liberal rather than a mostly-conservative (though not completely insane) jurist… [F]riends, the GOP hissy-fit is just convenient cover for the sell-out Dem leadership sliding yet another corporate conservative in with the Supremes without most people waking up to the fact that that’s what they’re doing… The Dems don’t fight back against the fake right-wing outrage because it serves their purposes…
Oh, we’ve destroyed the conservative movement. The country is with us. No one likes the Republicans anymore. And yet even my favorite outraged lefty blogospheric voices are right where [Obama] wants them – defending a conservative president’s choices as he destroys liberal America once and for all.
Obama’s Anti-Roberts (by E.J. Dionne Jr.)
Republicans would be foolish to fight the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court because she is the most conservative choice that President Obama could have made.
All those years observing politics up close and personal, and you still don’t get it, do you, E.J.? It’s not about how conservative she is. Republicans will fight her BECAUSE SHE’S A DEMOCRAT. Wake up, please, E.J., we could use your voice in the battle to save this country from the right-wing fanatics.
‘Not a dyed in the wool liberal’ (Politico)
Some liberal legal groups are raising questions about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, citing her relatively moderate judicial record and her skimpy paper trail on crucial issues like abortion, gay marriage and the death penalty. “She is a mixed bag. I would not call her a left liberal,” Marjorie Cohn, president of the progressive National Lawyers Guild, said in an interview on Air America.
Your Breakfast Read (by mablue2 at The Confluence)
I don’t know what type of SC Justice Judge Sotomayor would be. However, I find it aggravating that Republican Presidents are allow to choose absolute Right Wing freaks like Rehnquist, Fat Tony Scalia, Sam Alito, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, they can confer with the likes of Chuck Dobson, but a Dem President with a super majority cannot choose a “dyed in the wool liberal”? Liberal activist are told to “get on board or get out of the way.”?
Not the exact equivalent of George Bush’s “Who cares what you think?”, but close.
On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Are Uneasy (by Charlie Savage, New York Times)
In nearly 11 years as a federal appeals court judge, President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, has never directly ruled on whether the Constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion. But when she has written opinions that touched tangentially on abortion disputes, she has reached outcomes in some cases that were favorable to abortion opponents. Now, some abortion rights advocates are quietly expressing unease that Judge Sotomayor may not be a reliable vote to uphold Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision.
PhillyDeals: Sotomayor’s record is pro-insurer, not insured (by Joseph N. DiStefano, Philadelphia Inquirer, thanks to Susie at Suburban Guerilla
As a federal judge, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s decisions in insurance disputes “have overwhelmingly been in favor of insurers” and against policyholders, says Philadelphia insurance lawyer Randy Maniloff, partner atWhite & Williams L.L.P. “Judge Sotomayor has been very, very insurer-friendly during her time on the bench,” Maniloff told me after reviewing a long list of her cases and appeal rulings. “Has she ever ruled in favor of a policyholder?” Maniloff asked. On Sotomayor’s docket, between insurers and their customers, “it’s insurers by a landslide,” he said.
Yet,
Discrimination Case Could Pose Problems for Sotomayor (AP)
In 2008, Sotomayor was one of three judges on a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit who upheld a trial court’s ruling rejecting the reverse discrimination claims by 19 white firefighters, one of whom was also Hispanic. The plaintiffs claimed that the city of New Haven violated their rights by throwing out the results of an officers’ promotion exam in which minority candidates received disproportionately low scores.
Sotomayor and Condescending Identity Politics (by Froma Harrop)
In recounting Sotomayor’s “extraordinary journey,” … President Obama treats her as a daughter, not a colleague. His mention of her girlhood passion for Nancy Drew mysteries draws sweet laughter from the audience. And he repeatedly refers to Celina Sotomayor as “Sonia’s mom.” Could you imagine a formal nomination speech that talked of John Roberts’ mother as “John’s mom”? And would anyone note that the chief justice enjoyed “Winnie the Pooh” as a boy, which he probably did? When President Bush named his two male Supreme Court nominees, he invariably called them “Judge Roberts” and “Judge Alito.” Sotomayor is every bit as much a judge, but Obama calls her “Sonia.”
At least he didn’t call her “Sweetie.” But he did kiss her on the cheek. I don’t think he or any other president has ever done that with a male appointee for any office.
Republicans Will Not Fight Over Sotomayor (Political Wire)
Top Senate Republican strategists tell Politico that, “barring unknown facts about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the GOP plans no scorched-earth opposition to her confirmation as a Supreme Court justice.” Not a single senator has come out publicly in opposition to Sotomayor’s confirmation. Said one GOP aide: “The sentiment is overwhelming that the Senate should do due diligence but should not make a mountain out of a molehill. If there’s no ‘there’ there, we shouldn’t try to create one.”
But there will be a lot of sound and fury, nevertheless.
A 2012 Litmus Test? (Political Wire)
First Read: “Remember that John Roberts and Samuel Alito became Democratic presidential primary litmus tests — explaining why anyone with White House ambitions (Obama, Hillary Clinton) voted against them. The Sotomayor vote for Republicans thinking about 2012 might play out similarly. If you are wondering who is pondering a presidential run in 2012 among GOP senators, our guess is that the ‘no’ vote roll call will be a good starting place.”
Gingrich Comes Out Hard Against Sotomayor (Political Wire)
Newt Gingrich … twittered: “White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.” This was preceded by: “Imagine a judicial nominee said ‘my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman’ new racism is no better than old racism”.
Does that mean Newt is preparing for a run in 2012?
RNC’s New Media Director Re-Tweets Claim That Sotomayor Is A Racist (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Todd Herman, the director of new media for the Republican National Committee, … Re-Tweeted Newt Gingrich’s earlier Tweet claiming that Obama’s SCOTUS pick had indulged in “racism,” which is catching some flak from some media figures today… Retweeting, of course, is generally taken as a sign of agreement.
GOP bloggers remain mum about Gingrich’s “racist” attack (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
[N]early a full day after disgraced Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich labeled Sonia Sotomayor a “racist,” and after it became a very big deal, the silence throughout the right-wing media blogosphere about Gingrich’s slur has been deafening. His “racist” attack on Sotomayor has become The Story That Cannot Be Mentioned.
Limbaugh says his opposition to Sotomayor not because of race or gender, but calls her “an angry woman,” “bigot,” “racist” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Savage on “Chairman O’s pick for the Supreme Court”: “She’s a radical activist” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Buchanan claims that “it appears” that Sotomayor “believe[s] in reverse discrimination against white males” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Her decision, as we saw above, was e
Conservatives Plotting Attack on Sotomayor’s Diet to Derail Nomination (by The Cajun Boy at Gawker)
Talking Points Memo front page editor Justin Elliott noticed an odd passage contained in an article in The Hill… “Sotomayor also claimed: ‘For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir – rice, beans and pork – that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events.’ This has prompted some Republicans to muse privately about whether Sotomayor is suggesting that distinctive Puerto Rican cuisine such as patitas de cerdo con garbanzo – pigs’ feet with chickpeas – would somehow, in some small way influence her verdicts from the bench.”…
This definitely beats the time Strom Thurmond tried to derail the nomination of Thurgood Marshall by saying that the robes worn by justices would fit him too tight around the crotch, thereby impairing his judgment. And no, this didn’t actually come from The Onion.
More GOP proof that she’s not fit for the bench! (by Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors)
In the shrill attempt to throw everything they can at the wall to see what sticks to damn and confuse the masses about our Socialist MAgic Negro Overlord and Re-Education Camp Counselor’s pick for the Supreme Court, this has got to be amongst the silliest: Sotomayor is unfit for the bench because she does not save enough money.
Bay Buchanan on Sotomayor: “This is an affirmative action nominee. She is not the best and the brightest.” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Rove: Attending top schools doesn’t mean that Sotomayor is smart, but it proves that Bush is. (Think Progress)
During a debate at Radio City Music Hall [Tuesday] night, former Bush adviser Karl Rove claimed that Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor was “not necessarily” “very smart.” When host Charlie Rose noted in response that she attended Princeton and Yale Law School, Rove replied that you don’t have to be smart to attend a top school… Rove’s dismissal of Ivy League attendance is ironic considering that in an interview previewing the debate, he cited George W. Bush’s experience at Harvard and Yale to mock claims that Bush is stupid.
Rove: Sonia Sotomayor isn’t necessarily smart, but George W. Bush is (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
So, let’s get this straight: George W. Bush got into Yale because his rich daddy and his Senator granddaddy both went there. While at Yale, Bush compiled an unspectacular academic record. Karl Rove says that’s evidence Bush is smart. Sonia Sotomayor went from the projects of the South Bronx to Princeton University, where she won the school’s highest academic prize. Karl Rove says that doesn’t mean she’s smart.
Sonia Sotomayor: Dumb (by Pareene at Gawker)
What do we know about Sonia “Maria” Sotomayor, our next Supreme Court activist? She is dumb. Dumb dumb dumb. She is so dumb! It all started when Jeffrey Rosen, who is smart (he writes for The New Republic!), reported that although he knew nothing about her and hadn’t read any of her opinions, he was pretty sure that Sonia Sotomayor was pretty dumb, because some anonymous guys he talked to said so. They also said she was a total bitch! She was always talking so much and she was mean to lawyers! And that is fine, if you are smart, like cuddly teddybear Antonin Scalia, but not if you’re dumb, like poor Latina Sonia Sotomayor.
George Will doesn’t know labor relations or baseball history (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
George Will takes issue with the notion that Sonia Sotomayor “saved baseball”: “…‘Far from it. What she did was overturn in a sense, the essence, the underlies, the essential theory of American labor relations, which is the parties should slug it out because they know best and whoever wins, wins.” Really? The essential theory of American labor relations involves management having a monopoly by virtue of being exempted from antitrust law? That’s George Will’s idea of a fair negotiating situation in which “whoever wins, wins”? By the way, Will serves as a director of both the Baltimore Orioles and the San Diego Padres, meaning that his views on baseball labor relations are not exactly impartial.
Uh Huh (by Susie at Suburban Guerilla)
Shorter George Will: Any affirmative action that doesn’t favor white Republican men is bad affirmative action!
National Review Will Decide How Sotomayor Should Pronounce Her Own Name by John Cook at Gawker)
The National Review’s Mark Krikorian—who is, as you can tell by the unusual arrangement of consonants in his surname, himself a foreigner or maybe a Jew—writes that “putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English…and insisting on an unnatural pronunciation is something we shouldn’t be giving in to… the newcomer adapts to us, or we adapt to him. And multiculturalism means there’s a lot more of the latter going on than there should be.”…
Sotomayor was indeed a “newcomer” to this country when she was born, in the Bronx, in New York City, in 1954. Her parents (pictured here with their daughter) were also “newcomers”—in the sense that Krikiorian intends—when they moved to New York from Puerto Rico before Sotomayor was born, which they were entitled to do as American citizens, which all Puerto Ricans have been since 1917.
Who cares what Stuart Taylor thinks? (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
National Journal’s Stuart Taylor doesn’t think much of Sonia Sotomayor (for now; he’s already had to admit that some of his pre-selection criticisms of Sotomayor were “unfair.”) But it has long been clear that Stuart Taylor should not be taken seriously. See, in 1996, Taylor wrote a buzz-generating article for American Lawyer arguing that Paula Jones had a strong case against Bill Clinton. In fact, it was obvious that Paula Jones had no case against Bill Clinton. Not because it was obvious Jones was lying, but because — as Judge Susan Webber Wright ultimately ruled – even if everything Jones said was true, she had no “genuine issues” worthy of trial. Jones hadn’t even alleged any tangible harm that she suffered as a result of Clinton‘s alleged advances.
So, it isn’t just that Taylor was wrong in his assessment of Jones’ case, it’s that he was spectacularly wrong. Taylor thought Jones had a strong case; the judge ruled that Jones had no case whatsoever. That even if everything she said was true (even the things that contradicted each other) she simply did not have a valid lawsuit.
They paid the woman to harass Bill Clinton, and used her lawsuit as a means of trapping him into a lie about his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky.
Does Michael Goldfarb have any idea what “preferential treatment” is? (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Here’s The Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb: “Does anyone dispute that Sotomayor has been the recipient of preferential treatment for most of her life? She played a role in the hiring of a dean at Princeton — how many alums got that kind of treatment while they were undergraduates?”
Well, gee, I don’t know. How many alums won Princeton‘s highest academic prize? Goldfarb seems to think that being among a select few is synonymous with getting preferential treatment. It isn’t. Maybe Sotomayor was chosen to serve on the advisory board on the strength of her academic accomplishments. Or maybe the fact that she — according to Goldfarb — “launch[ed] a public campaign” to influence Princeton‘s hiring had a little something to do with it. In other words, maybe she earned it.
The WSJ’s woeful Sotomayor coverage… (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Murdoch’s Journal dutifully plays along with the GOP’s preferred narrative, not just with the “empathy” nonsense, but with the tape of Sotomayor at Duke saying the “court of appeals is where policy is made”? Without offering the slightest bit of context about the quote, the Journal states as fact that that quote will provide “ammunition” to her “conservative opponents.” This is simply the Journal bypassing actual journalism in favor of regurgitating GOP talking points. Not once but twice.
CNN presents unfiltered right-wing spin about Sotomayor (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
CNN is running a package by reporter Jim Acosta that is full of baseless conservative spin about Sonia Sotomayor.
Sessions Goes Off-Message, Admits That Supreme Court Justices Write The Constitution (Think Progress)
One of conservatives’ biggest problems with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is over a remark she made in 2005, stating that the Court of Appeals “is where policy is made.” The right-wing Judicial Confirmation Network has called her “a liberal judicial activist of the first order” who “thinks that judges should dictate policy.” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called her 2005 comment a “problem.” Similarly, [Wednesday] morning, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) went on NBC’s Today Show and said it was “troubling”…
[Tuesday], however, Sessions appeared on MSNBC and undercut this talking point, admitting that the Supreme Court “sets the law for America.” He went even further on Fox News last night, telling Greta Van Susteren that Supreme Court justices basically write the Constitution:
GOP Stressed Gonzales’ Hispanic Roots In 2005 (by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post)
One of the more provocative critiques to come from conservatives concerning the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has been the charge that her nomination is racial politics at its most cynical. But in the past, Republicans were eager to play up the diversity of their own nominees. She is “an affirmative action pick,” declared Pat Buchanan on MSNBC’s Hardball… Chris Matthews interrupted Buchanan to point out that the Clarence Thomas nomination seemed influenced by racial politics. And a reader notes that when Orrin Hatch took to the Senate floor to push the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General, he elevated the nominee’s Hispanic roots and accused opponents of racial insensitivity.
Gregory notes that in confirmation hearing, Alito discussed bringing his “personal story…to bear as a judge” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Flashback: Alito on his immigrant background: ‘I do take that into account’ when ruling. (Think Progress)
Judge Sonia Sotomayor has come under fire from the radical right for stating that her experiences as a Latina affect her judicial outlook. However, these same conservative critics never objected when Judge Sam Alito said virtually the same thing during his confirmation hearing, discussing how he “can’t help but think of” his immigrant family when evaluating immigration cases.
Click through to watch the video.
Gregory notes that in confirmation hearing, Alito discussed bringing his “personal story…to bear as a judge” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Single-payer mentions draw cheers at Baucus-sponsored health care talk (The Missoulian, thanks to DCblogger at Corrente)
On Tuesday morning, … Missoulians discussed health care reform at a listening session at St. Patrick Hospital sponsored by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The hearing ranged broadly over the possibilities for reform, but what clearly resonated for [self employed management consultant Steve] McArthur was something Baucus’ chief of staff, Jon Selib, said a couple of times. Discussing why a single-payer system of health insurance wasn’t viable, Selib made reference to the more than 150 million Americans who are covered by some sort of employer-provided health care. “A lot of people like that,” Selib said.
When the time came for questions, McArthur stood up and asked a simple question. Looking across a standing-room-only crowd of about 275, he asked how many were happy with their employer-based health insurance. Less than 10 people raised their hands. “The number is bogus,” McArthur said. “It’s not working for 95 percent of us.” McArthur drew resounding applause. In fact, any mention of single-payer health care insurance brought raucous cheers and clapping. Any other solution to health care reform – including Baucus’ “balanced” plan that would create a mix of public and private plans – was received more coolly.
Morning Adrenaline Fix (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
The phone just rang. It was a DCCC fundraising call “to help us with our plans for healthcare reform.” I interrupted his spiel. “I won’t give the party one red cent until they come out strongly for single-payer or a public plan,” I said. “Ma’am, we are supporting a public plan…”
“No you’re not,” I said, interrupting again. “I’ve seen what Baucus is up to – a public plan that will only be triggered two years after the insurance companies don’t perform. Well, most of us don’t have two years to wait. You tell the people you work for that there are a lot of people out here who feel the same as me, and we’re not giving anything to the party until the Democratic party STOPS KISSING THE INSURANCE COMPANIES’ ASSES!”
“Ma’am…”
Click.
There, now I feel better.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States (Health Affairs Journal, thanks to Paul Krugman)
Throughout the 1990s, opponents of the Canadian system gained considerable political traction in the United States by pointing to Canada’smethods of rationing, its facility shortages, and its waiting lists for certain services. These same opponents also argued that “refugees” of Canada’s single-payer system routinely came across the border seeking necessary medical care not available at home because of either lack of resources or prohibitively long queues.
This paper by Steven Katz and colleagues depicts this popular perception as more myth than reality, as the number of Canadians routinely coming across the border seeking health care appears to be relatively small, indeed infinitesimal when compared with the amount of care provided by their own system.
However,
Californians crossing border to Mexico for health care (McClatchy)
Nearly a million Californians, perhaps hundreds of thousands more, cross the border to Mexico every year because they cannot afford the rising cost of health care in the United States, according to UCLA researchers.
Medicare and the VA (by Paul Krugman)
So we’ve been treated to lots of opinion pieces declaring that Medicare is doomed, doomed I tell you, and entitlements are out of control. And I had a thought. You see, we actually have a real live case of impressive cost control in health care: the VA system. The CBO reports: “Adjusting for the changing mix of patients (using data on reliance and relative costs by priority group), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that VHA’s budget authority per enrollee grew by 1.7 percent in real terms from 1999 to 2005 … compared with Medicare’s real rate of growth of 29.4 percent in cost per capita over that same period.”
So if you really think that Medicare as it is … doomed, why not propose converting it to a VA-type system as opposed to simply declaring it bankrupt and shutting it down? I mean, the standard argument — socialized medicine! loss of choice! — doesn’t seem to apply if the alternative is no health care at all. But you know that the entitlements scaremongers won’t bite on this solution — because they don’t want to make social insurance affordable, they want to kill it.
When Sallie Met Barack (by Gail Collins, New York Times, thanks to Susie at Suburban Guerilla)
And then, there’s the epicenter of the college loan strangeness, the federally guaranteed loans. This is a system that goes something like this:
¶ We the taxpayers pay the banks to make loans to students.
¶ We the taxpayers then guarantee the loans so the banks won’t lose money if the students don’t pay.
¶ We the taxpayers then buy back the loans from the banks so they can make more loans to students, for which we will then pay them more rewards.
Are you with me so far? Wait, I see a hand waving back there. What’s that, sir? You want to know why the government doesn’t just lend the money out itself? Excellent question!…
“Senator Nelson is for the system as it is now,” said a spokesman for Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska. If you are a big fan of Senate stalemates, you will remember Nelson, the star of such past triumphs as The Stimulus Is Too Big. A great part of Nelson’s resistance has to do with the fact that Nelnet, a big student loan provider, has its headquarters in his state. Last year, after an investigation by the New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, Nelnet was one of several student lenders that agreed to a settlement in which it paid a fine and promised to abandon alleged deceptive marketing practices and inducements such as offering free iPods to students who signed on the dotted line.
The situation is exactly the same for health care. Our government is FORCING us to pay for insurance executives’ high salaries and for the profits of their companies.
Bill Clinton: I Should Have Raised More Hell About Derivatives Being Unregulated (by Mark Thoma at Economist’s View)
Bill Clinton gives, to use David Leonhardt’s term, an “impressively honest” analysis of his role in bringing about the financial crisis, particularly the failure to adequately regulate derivative markets:… “I should have raised more hell about derivatives being unregulated … although I don’t think that the Congress would have permitted anything to be done because Alan Greenspan was against it.”
Banks Want Government Subsidies to Buy Assets from Themselves (by James Kwak, The Baseline Scenario , thanks to Economist’s View)
From the headlines of the Wall Street Journal: “Banks Aiming to Play Both Sides of Coin — Industry Lobbies FDIC to Let Some Buy Toxic Assets With Taypayer Aid From Own Loan Books (subscription required, but Calculated Risk has an excerpt). I thought the headline had to be a mistake until I read the article. To recap: The Public-Private Investment Program provides subsidies to private investors to encourage them to buy legacy loans from banks. The goal is to encourage buyers to bid more than they are currently willing to pay, and hopefully close the gap with the prices at which the banks are willing to sell.
Allowing banks to buy their own assets under the PPIP is a terrible idea. In short, it allows a bank to sell half of its toxic loans to Treasury – at a price set by the bank… If this proposal has any chance of going anywhere, then Tim Geithner or Sheila Bair should come out and reject it right now.
Goldman Shareholders Suffered as Blankfein Earned $43 Million (Bloomberg)
Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit weathered almost six hours of grilling from shareholders at the bank’s annual meeting on April 21. He had a lot of explaining to do: The company lost $27.7 billion in 2008 and stayed afloat only with help from a $45 billion government bailout. Even as his bank was floundering, Pandit in 2008 earned $38 million in salary and stock, No. 3 among the best-paid CEOs of the top 50 U.S.-based financial companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In February, Pandit told a congressional committee that, starting in 2009, he would take just $1 in annual salary until the bank is profitable again. “I get the new reality,” he said.
In the question-and-answer session at the annual meeting, one investor joked, “If you come work for me, I’ll double your salary.” Pandit, 52, standing onstage with Citigroup Chairman Richard Parsons at the Hilton New York, bristled. “I don’t want to work for you,” he said and changed the subject.
Crazy Compensation and the Crisis (by Alan Blinder, thanks to Economist’s View)
Despite the vast outpouring of commentary and outrage over the financial crisis, one of its most fundamental causes has received surprisingly little attention. I refer to the perverse incentives built into the compensation plans of many financial firms, incentives that encourage excessive risk-taking with OPM — Other People’s Money… The source of the problem is really quite simple: Give smart people go-for-broke incentives and they will go for broke. Duh…
[F]ixing compensation should be the responsibility of corporate boards of directors and, in particular, of their compensation committees. These boards, … are supposed to represent the interests of stockholders, not those of managers… The unhappy (but common) combination of coziness and drowsiness in corporate boardrooms must end… For example, top executives could be paid mainly in restricted stock that vests at a later date, and traders could have their winnings deposited into an account from which subsequent losses would be deducted…[This] does not require any government action. It can be done by financial companies, tomorrow. Too bad they didn’t do it yesterday.
Israeli Settlement Growth Must Stop, [Hillary] Clinton Says (New York Times)
The Obama administration reiterated emphatically on Wednesday that it viewed a complete freeze of construction in settlements on the West Bank as a critical step toward a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking of President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “He wants to see a stop to settlements — not some settlements, not outposts, not ‘natural growth’ exceptions.” Talking to reporters after a meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, she said: “That is our position. That is what we have communicated very clearly.”
Iraq redux? Obama seeks funds for Pakistan super-embassy (McClatchy)
The U.S. is embarking on a $1 billion crash program to expand its diplomatic presence in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, another sign that the Obama administration is making a costly, long-term commitment to war-torn South Asia, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Abu Ghraib abuse photos ‘show rape’ (The Telegraph, U.K.)
Photographs of alleged prisoner abuse which Barack Obama is attempting to censor include images of apparent rape and sexual abuse, it has emerged.
Of course they do, and that’s exactly why they must be made public.
Mancow: Hannity Called Me After I Was Waterboarded And Said, ‘It’s Still Not Torture’ (Think Progress)
Last month, Fox News’s Sean Hannity claimed he would agree to be waterboarded “for charity… for the troops’s families.” Since then, multiple pundits have challenged Hannity to undergo the torture tactic, yet he has been unusually silent on the subject of waterboarding since. Last week, right-wing radio host Erich “Mancow” Muller stepped up to the plate and had himself waterboarded to prove that it isn’t torture. Immediately afterwards, Mancow admitted that it was “absolutely torture” and was “way worse” than he expected.
Reid acknowledges Guantanamo detainees will need to be relocated to U.S. prisons. (Think Progress)
After previously suggesting that he wouldn’t support Guantanamo detainees being relocated to the U.S., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) acknowledged in an interview with a local news station that some Gitmo detainees will be put in federal prisons. While conservatives have baselessly claimed that “terrorists” could roam in Americans’ “backyards” if Guantanamo is closed, Reid defended the ability of the U.S. prison system to hold dangerous criminals:
Department Of Justice Hires Blog Outreach Person (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Obama’s Department of Justice has hired someone to do new media outreach for the whole department — the first time Justice has created such a role. A source confirms that Justice has tapped Tracy Russo, who did blog outreach for John Edwards’ presidential campaign, as the agency’s chief new media outreach expert. The hire reflects a recognition that some of the most important coverage of stories involving the Justice Department is taking place on the blogs.
Justice Stevens reads police interrogation dissent aloud from the bench (The Raw Story)
A decision by the Supreme Court on Tuesday easing rules on police interrogations led the oldest member on the bench to read his dissent aloud in front of the court, the first time that’s happened this term… [The New York Times] notes, “In an angry dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote the 1986 decision, said that contrary to the majority’s assertion, that decision protected ‘a fundamental right that the court now dishonors.’”
Dodd Closes Gap in Connecticut (Political Wire)
A new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut finds Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) gaining on former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT). However, Simmons still leads by six points, 45% to 39%, in a 2010 Senate match up. Simmons led by 16 points in early April. Against State Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R), Dodd leads 41% to 39%. Said pollster Douglas Schwartz: “Sen. Christopher Dodd’s numbers are getting better but they are still lousy. He still has high negatives: About half of the voters don’t trust Dodd and disapprove of the job he is doing. And he is still behind Simmons in a general election matchup. But Dodd is an exceptionally skilled politician, and he has plenty of time. He is lucky to get this early warning more than a year before the election.”
Specter’s Lead Over Toomey Shrinks (Political Wire)
In Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, a new Quinnipiac poll finds Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) leads former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA) by nine points, 46% to 37%. Specter had a 20 point lead at the beginning of May.
Said pollster Clay Richards: “Sen. Arlen Specter’s numbers have slipped since the controversy that followed his switch to the Democratic Party, but he’s still better off than he would have been if he stayed a Republican and faced a tough primary challenge from former Rep. Pat Toomey.”
Sestak Says He’s Running (Political Wire)
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is privately telling supporters that he intends to run for the U.S. Senate, reports TPM. Sestak would challenge Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) in a Democratic primary. That’s probably why he’s not returning phones calls from DSCC Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
NRSC To Ratchet Up Attacks On Reid As Washington Kingmaker (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
The NRSC is preparing a new round of attacks on Harry Reid, seizing on reports that he plans to raise huge bucks for reelection as proof that he’s beholden to Washington lobbyists and addicted to glitzy celebrity-ridden fundraisers.
No Primary in New York? (Political Wire)
Ben Smith catches interesting remarks made last night by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in which she seems to believe there will not be a Democratic gubernatorial primary in New York next year as most political observers expect. What’s not clear, however, is who she thinks will not run, Gov. David Paterson (D) or likely challenger Andrew Cuomo (D).
Berkowitz Eyes Palin Challenge (Political Wire)
Ethan Berkowitz (D), who almost toppled Rep. Don Young (R-AK) last year, is gearing up for another statewide race — against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), if she chooses to run for re-election, according to CQ Politics. Said Berkowitz: “My sights are now on the governor’s race.” However, given Palin’s continued popularity in the state, CQ rates the race as Republican Favored.
Former Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik indicted over allegedly false statements during Bush vetting (New York Daily News)
Bernard Kerik was indicted Tuesday… The former police commissioner faces trial in Washington on charges he lied to White House officials who were vetting him for the position of Homeland Security secretary… Kerik is charged with falsely denying to White House officials that as a public official he had any financial dealings with individuals seeking to do business with the city.
It doesn’t pay to lie to the Bush administration. Now, if you were IN the Bush administration, you were REQUIRED to lie.
The Silence of MoveOn (by Tom Hayden, writing in The Nation)
The most powerful grassroots organization of the peace movement, MoveOn, remains silent as the American wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan simmer or escalate… This is no small matter. MoveOn has collected a privately held list of 5 million names, most of them strong peace advocates. The organization’s membership contributed an unprecedented $180 million for the federal election cycle in 2004-2006. Those resources, now squelched or sequestered, mean that the most vital organization in the American peace movement is missing in action.
What to do? There is no point raving and ranting against MoveOn. The only path is in organizing a dialogue with the membership, over the Internet, and having faith that their voices will turn the organization to oppose these escalating occupations.
It won’t do any good, Tom. The leadership of MoveOn decides what the members are allowed to discuss, and the members are completely unaware of what is happening. Nor do they care.
Idol Producers Stand By Outcome (New York Times)
Fox Broadcasting and the companies that produce American Idol said Wednesday that they were “absolutely certain” that the outcome of voting for the winner was not unfairly influenced by free text-messaging services offered to fans of Kris Allen, the winner, at viewing parties in Arkansas last week.
Why the Press Revolt Against Anonymous Briefings Is a Farce (by John Cook at Gawker)
The Los Angeles Times’ James Rainey sums up the traditional White House case for stripping out the identities of the briefers: “The conventional answer (also offered by the Clinton and Bush White Houses) is that staffers should be anonymous and remain in the background, so as not to distract from the president and the day’s news…” That’s nonsense. No reader would be so dazzled by Ron Klain’s name as to forget what the story they are reading is about. The real reason is basic risk-aversion: The system has been in place for years, and to change it would only allow Klain and Axelrod’s words to catch up with them later. They don’t want any reporters to be able to say, “But you said…!” a month from now.
Maureen Dowd’s plagiarism isn’t her No. 1 problem: She has shown a penchant for ‘mailing in’ columns (by Jon Friedman at MarketWatch)
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s recent plagiarism controversy isn’t her biggest problem. An accusation of plagiarism is merely a symptom of Dowd’s recent penchant for relying on clever, witty and pithy observations. What’s missing is the substance to back them up. Her approach smacks of laziness… Times editors should be concerned about what I see as Dowd’s recent penchant for “mailing in” some of her Obama-era columns. These don’t hold up to the same standards of brilliance that they reflected during the Dubya years… Maybe Obama is so bland that Dowd is thoroughly bored and can’t muster her usual biting sarcasm. If that’s the case, the Times should pull her column and let her do something else.
Pew Study: Top U.S. Papers’ Swine Flu Coverage Lacking?
The emergence of Swine Flu received less coverage by three top U.S. newspapers than it did in major dailies in six other countries, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The assessment labeled U.S. coverage “moderate” compared to foreign papers.
In Battle For Web Traffic, The Left Is Beating The Right (Thanks To HuffPo) (Paid Content)
The Dems are controlling more than just the White House and Congress. They’re also collectively winning the battle for traffic among political sites. According to the latest comScore numbers, left-leaning sites attracted 6.4 million uniques in April, while the major blogs on the right 4.8 million… The right is not without some bragging rights. Individually, the right had one more site in comScore’s top 20 political blog sites than their left wing counterparts (nine to eight), and many of the conservative sites, like MichelleMalkin.com, had enormous growth, while liberal stalwarts like DailyKos and MyDD appeared to be dropping uniques year-over-year.
There was one main reason the liberal sites collectively came out ahead: Huffington Post’s dominant 5.6 million uniques, which dwarfs the number-two site Drudge Report’s 1.7 million monthly visitors.
Miss California Carrie Prejean Hosts Fox & Friends (TVNewser, Media Bistro)
Miss California Carrie Prejean filled in as host of the first hour of Fox & Friends yesterday, discussing the Prop 8 ruling and tussling co-host Brian Kilmeade’s hair. What else? She interviewed Donald Trump, interviewed a bible study leader about freedom of religion and reflected on “The Question.”
Ex-TV Evangelist Schuller Buys Cable Network AmericanLife (Los Angeles Times)
The son of famed Orange County television evangelist Robert H. Schuller said Tuesday he had acquired cable network AmericanLife TV from the Unification Church in partnership with a private equity fund that invests in Christian media firms.
Media Matters for America headlines
Fox Nation baselessly claims Sotomayor “Wants to Ban Guns”
Wash. Times claims “extraordinary rebuke” for Sotomayor if Ricci is reversed
Fox falsely claimed Supreme Court has never agreed with the reasoning of a Sotomayor decision
Fox News still trafficking in birth certificate theories
Wash. Post, WSJ omit context of Sotomayor remarks, despite reporting WH “out of context” statement
CNN’s Bash reported conservative criticism of Sotomayor’s comments, but omitted their context
Myths and falsehoods surrounding the Sotomayor nomination
Arizona AG Withdraws Suit Challenging ‘Citizen’ Closure
The Arizona attorney general’s office voluntarily withdrew an antitrust lawsuit challenging Gannett Co.’s closure of the Tucson Citizen newspaper… The May 15 lawsuit alleged Gannett conspired with Lee Enterprises Inc., owner of the city’s larger newspaper, the morning Arizona Daily Star, to close the Citizen, eliminating an editorial voice.
Entrepreneurs, Researchers Try To Save Journalism With CircLabs JV (Paid Content)
Can a new tech service that aims to package online news with social media features and a multi-tiered payment system (including subscriptions and micro-payments) save journalism? That’s the question CircLabs, a new JV between the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) and a group of media entrepreneurs will try to answer when it rolls out “Circulate,” a personalized news syndication service later this year. Full details on how Circulate will work aren’t clear, but CircLabs says the service will use technology to solve two specific publisher problems: the issue of attracting “loyal” readers on both a local and national scale, and monetizing them effectively through both direct sales and advertising.
Newspaper Execs Reportedly Meeting Today to Discuss Charging for Online Content
The nation’s top newspaper executives are reportedly meeting today to discuss the possibility of charging for online content. The name of the clandestine meeting, as described by James Warren in The Atlantic, is “Models to Monetize Content” and is taking place in hotel outside Chicago.
‘E&P’ Column on Paying for Online Draws Heat — Outing Responds
Among the points: “Underpinning Outing’s article is the premise that content is not important for what it is, but for its relationship to the ‘link economy.’ That’s like saying that practicing medicine isn’t important for people, but to keep health insurers and bedpan makers in business.”
Twitter Poses Risks for Newspapers (by Ed Wasserman, Miami Herald)
The danger is that Twitter will keep reporters off the streets, and in front of their screens, that it will further skew journalism toward seeking out, listening to and serving the young, the hip, the technically sophisticated, the well-off — in short, the better-connected.
NYT Names ‘Social Media Editor’
The New York Times has announced (through Twitter and an internal memo to staffers) that Jennifer Preston would be taking over the newly created role of social media editor. Preston told FishbowlNY that her job would be much more than acting as a Twitter cop for micro-blogging staffers.
Media Firms to Address Shareholders
Executive pay, shareholder returns and signs of a possible ad market stabilization are likely to be in focus as entertainment biggies host shareholder meetings in the next couple of weeks. “Executive pay has come down some but could still be a lightning rod,” Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce said.
Gawker VP Says Sponsored Posts Will Bring in Majority of Revenue One Day
Gawker Media’s latest advertising innovation can be expected to draw criticism. The blogging empire is temporarily welcoming a new site into its fold that’s written and paid for by HBO to promote the network’s noir vampire drama, True Blood. And the word “advertisement” won’t appear anywhere.
News Corp Hopes for Broader Ad Deal With Google
News Corp hopes to sell Google Inc access to a greater swathe of its media properties, its executives said. Senior executives at News Corp and MySpace said the company was working with Google to try and make their existing advertising deal better for both parties.
Could this week’s New Yorker determine the Globe’s fate? (by Adam Reilly, Boston Phoenix)
It’s possible. Lawrence Wright’s profile of Carlos Slim Helu tells us that star New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has unlimited travel expenses, and never really has to explain what he’s going to write about before he hits the road. It also quotes Friedman on the future of the news business, saying that, eventually, “It’s going to be us and the BBC and the Wall Street Journal and not a lot more.” Friedman also speaks of the Times partnering with another right-thinking party–perhaps New York mayor and Bloomberg News founder Michael Bloomberg.
Two Globe Unions Ratify Contracts
The unions representing Boston Globe mailers and press operators narrowly approved a contracts that will cut their pay and benefits by more than a combined $7 million, bringing The New York Times Co., closer to achieving the savings it says it needs to keep operating the money-losing paper.
Forcing your own paper out of business? (by Jeff Jarvis)
Drivers at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune are threatening a strike. I could see a few interesting unintended consequences for the drivers: (A) This forces the paper out of business. They lose their jobs. (B) This forces the paper to go online only and the company takes advantage of bankruptcy to kill contracts with not only drivers but also pressmen and everyone except journalists needed for online.
As Mag Ad Pages Declined, Page Views Rose
Publishers hungry for good news can find it in their Web traffic. In recent weeks, the Magazine Publishers of America reported that across 476 sites it tracked via Nielsen, traffic to magazine sites was +7.2 percent in first-quarter-2009 versus 2008.
More Magazines Returning from the Dead
Many magazines are on financial life support right now — others have folded. But more and more of these grim stories are producing silver linings. Magazine publishers that either folded or were on the brink of bankruptcy have managed to secure outside financing to stay in business.
Could a Personalized Magazine Help Save Print Media? (by Farhad Manjoo, Slate)
When I signed up for Mine a couple of months ago, I was mainly looking for a laugh. The new magazine from Time Inc. seemed like a gimmicky, goofy effort to save a beleaguered industry. Turns out my skepticism was misguided. I’ve received two issues of Mine, and I love it.
Will Branson Go From Virgin to Playboy?
There are unconfirmed reports that Hugh Hefner is considering a $300 million offer from Virgin Media’s Richard Branson for Playboy Enterprises Inc. Those follow last week’s reports that the publisher of the iconic girlie magazine was being shopped to private-equity firms.
Taxes Snag Source Bankruptcy Proceedings
The pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that Automobile and Motor Trend publisher Source Interlink Cos. filed late last month has hit a few speed bumps. Apparently the Internal Revenue Service claims that Source owes it lots of money and is asking for a trustee to put the brakes on the deal.
Broadway Receipts Increase Slightly
Broadway musicals and plays had total gross receipts of about $943.3 million this season, a slight increase from the previous season and a record for total grosses, according to a new report.
Microsoft may help radio with Apple.
Microsoft’s decision to include HD Radio in the new Zune HD is seen as a “validation” of radio’s digital move. The company is likely to help iBiquity with its mission to get HD Radio into as many portable devices as possible — including Apple’s iPod.
Sirius “best of” outsells XM.
The satellite radio company says 544,000 XM customers have bought the Sirius package — most likely interested in Howard Stern. But just 204,000 Sirius subscribers are paying for the XM package. Major League Baseball is probably the biggest draw there.
Cigarettes in Popular Films Are Target of Health Groups
The advocacy arm of the American Medical Association unveiled a campaign intended to publicly shame movie studios for depicting images of smoking.
Music Labels Cut Friendlier Deals With Start-Ups
The changes stem from an unavoidable reality facing the music business: the economics of offering music free on the Web do not work.
Lawyer: RIAA must pay back all ”$100M+” it has allegedly collected (ARS Technica)
Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson has now gotten involved in two more file-sharing lawsuits, including the Jammie Thomas retrial in Minnesota. But it’s in the other, lesser-known case, that Nesson and a former student demand the RIAA pay back all $100 million it has collected in settlement money over the years.
Report finds TV sales staying strong in recession
Never mind the lousy economy: Flat-panel TVs are still flying off the shelves in the U.S. and Canada… Sales had declined in the fourth quarter from the year before, and the industry was expecting to see that trend continue into this year. Sales are still declining overseas, but North American consumersseem to have a special love for big sets and are going against the flow.
Viacom Chief Sees Ad Sales Stabilizing
Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman predicted a drawn-out upfront advertising market Wednesday and reiterated that ad sales have stabilized in recent weeks. “There has been stabilization” he said. “Visibility is still low … (but) the tone is much better than it was a couple of months ago.”
ABC Network & Studio Shakeup Coming
It’s been long in the works. But now the executive shuffling and pinkslipping may be finally coming down this week — as soon as Thursday? — as Steve McPherson consolidates his power as head of ABC Entertainment Group overseeing both ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios.
NBC Hits Historic Lows
NBC set a low-water mark for TV viewership last week. The network averaged 4.4 million prime-time viewers, according to Nielsen. While it’s not the smallest ever recorded, it’s the smallest to come in a week outside of the summer doldrums of June, July, August or early September.
Is NBC Working on a Live at 5 Format Killer?
Rumors are swirling at WNBC-4, NBC’s flagship station in New York, that executives at NBC Universal are considering the creation of a daily 5 p.m. lifestyle show that could debut on affiliate stations around the country as early as the fall of 2009.
Cable Companies Ready To Take Another Swing At Ad Targeting (Paid Content)
Despite continued rumblings from regulators and lawmakers over ad targeting, the cable company consortium Canoe Ventures is ready to release its first ad-targeting product, dubbed “community addressable messaging,” WSJ reports. Canoe, which is backed by Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications and Brighthouse Networks, plans to roll out the ad targeting system this summer…
Aside from the lingering affects of the dismal economy, Canoe has to contend with Google TV, which has been expanding from its own “addressable TV” plans, while TiVo has also been building up its ad targeting offerings. On top of that, Canoe’s initial offering is fairly limited, at least terms of the kinds of targeting marketers like Unilever are hoping for. At the moment, Canoe can’t target individual households and the list of demographic groups available for targeting remains fairly limited.
Navify Adds Images and Video to Wikipedia Articles (Mashable)
Navify, which launche[d] in public beta [Wednesday] is essentially just an alternative interface for visualizing Wikipedia content. The kicker is that Navify not only includes article content, but also displays related images, videos, and comments associated with the original article. Here’s how it works: just visit Navify and do a standard Wikipedia search (no account required). Results are returned in tabbed form and include the full article itself, an images tab complete with photos added by Wikipedia or Navify users and those automatically discovered on Flickr, and a video tab that works exactly the same way, but pulls related video from YouTube. Navify is also supporting article comments by Disqus, so anyone can add their thoughts to Navify article pages.
Google Web Elements: Add YouTube News and Google Comments to Your Blog (Mashable)
At their Google I/O event [Wednesday], the search giant launched a new product called Web Elements aimed at making it easier for web developers to be able to embed Google products on their pages. Essentially, Web Elements is a one-stop-shop for Google’s product widgets, which until this point were often buried in odd places… Web Elements gathers together 8 Google widgets on a single page – Calendar, Conversation, Custom Search, Maps, News, Presentations, Spreadsheets, and YouTube News. Configuration for many of these widgets is also much easier than it has been in the past.
Digg Content is Now Public Domain Internationally (Mashable)
Digg has just upgraded the license for all of its content – titles, descriptions, comments, everything – from public domain to Creative Commons Zero (CC0). Under the public domain license, the content was already free for anyone in the US to use for any purpose. By switching to CC0, this content is now also public property internationally. The Internet is getting more and more fragmented each day, with copyright laws altering our entire online experience depending on where we’re physically located. So, although the license change may not seem like much, it’s a welcome change and a nice gesture from Digg.
Time Warner Board Backs AOL Spinoff
The media conglomerate said it would buy out Google’s 5 percent stake during the third quarter and spin off AOL to Time Warner shareholders.
MySpace’s new CEO promises innovation
The new leaders of News Corp.’s MySpace said Wednesday they need to innovate to rejuvenate the social networking site, which has suffered from stalled user growth.
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz: We’ll Sell Search to Microsoft If We Get ‘Boatloads of Money’
A very brief update on the state of search talks between Microsoft and Yahoo: Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz acknowledges the companies are talking, but says she would only consider selling search for a very large sum.
Twitter Gets Targeted Again by Worm-like Phishing Attack
Twitter users have been tricked into divulging their login and password details to a Web site that then spammed their contacts.
Smile and Say ‘No Photoshop’
As retouching has become more blatant and bizarre, sometimes resulting in bodies that defy the natural boundaries of human anatomy, a debate over photo manipulation has spilled into public view, with Peter Lindbergh, one of the world’s most famous image makers, leading the charge against the practice.
Microsoft adds touch screen, Web to Zune
The next generation of Microsoft’s Zune music player, due in the fall, will have a touch screen, Web browser and an HD Radio receiver.
Flip has pocket camcorder competition
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, camera makers hope it will also lead to sales for pocket camcorders resembling the popular Flip. Kodak, Sony, Creative and RCA are among the companies following the Flip’s formula.
