REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - State of the Union -- Prognostications Part 2

The Ledes

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

New York Times: “The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who emerged from the backwoods of Louisiana to become a television evangelist with global reach, preaching about an eternal struggle between good and evil and warning of the temptations of the flesh, a theme that played out in his own life in a sex scandal, died on July 1. He was 90.” ~~~

~~~ For another sort of obituary, see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread.

The Wires

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To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

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New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.

Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~

~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts.

New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”

Page Links

Monday

Jan242011

State of the Union -- Prognostications Part 2

Perry Bacon, Jr., of the Washington Post has yet another preview of the content of the State of the Union address.

Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "President Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission's recommendation to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits, in Tuesday's State of the Union address, cheering liberals and drawing a stark line between the White House and key Republicans in Congress."

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "In a series of carefully choreographed appearances on Sunday morning talk shows here, Republicans sought to draw the battle lines for the Tuesday night speech over government spending. With Mr. Obama planning to call for 'investments' of tax dollars in specific areas like education, infrastructure and technology, Republicans insisted that 'investment' was just another name for spending that the nation can ill afford." ...

... Shailagh Murray & Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post draw the same conclusion Stolberg does: "The debate that will define this year and likely set the terms for the 2012 elections began in earnest over the weekend, with President Obama and Republican leaders presenting competing visions to reduce the deficit and grow the economy. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that Republicans would do everything in their power to stop the new spending increases that Obama said were necessary in a video preview of his State of the Union address...."

The Rebuttal(s)

Garance Franke-Ruta & Chris Good of The Atlantic look at what could/will go wrong when Republican Rep. Paul Ryan delivers his rebuttal to the State of the Union address.

Star-Ledger: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said no.

And, although I've purposely avoided even mentioning it, what kinda fun do you think we'll have with Michele Bachmann's rebuttal to the rebuttal, or whatever the hell she bills her little tea party pout. ...

... Robert Schlesinger of U.S. News on the impending Bachmann fiasco (for the Republican party!). ...

... Dave Weigel, in Slate, says the Bachmann rebuttal is no big deal. Why, one person who gave an alternate SOTU rebuttal was none other than Sen. Barack Obama. With video! Oh, and here's another one Weigel mentions but has the good grace not to embed on his post. Eh, so I'm graceless (you will not be able to watch the whole thing, but just listening to the first little bit gives you a chance to recall what a phony that guy is):

Frank James of NPR addresses both rebuttals, with a little help from other bloggers.

Seating Arrangements, Con'd.

Polson Kannath of ABC News: "Daniel Hernandez Jr., one of the heroes of the mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., two weeks ago, tells ABC News that he will be sitting, along with his father, Daniel Hernandez Sr., with Michelle Obama at the State of the Union on Tuesday...." ...

... Washington Post Update: "The White House released Monday the guest list for the first lady's box at Tuesday's State of the Union address."

... The Washington Post has a photohistory slideshow of State of the Union guests.

Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "... there will always be at least one bonehead who will see something nefarious in a simple, if superficial, gesture designed to generate goodwill. In this case, the bonehead belongs to Georgia. U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), one of the most rightwing and conspiracy-addled members of Congress, called on Republicans to reject the idea of sitting next to a Democrat...."

Karen Garcia thinks the to-do among members of the House & Senate over getting "dates" for the SOTU prom is pretty funny. Garcia refers to this New York Times article which we linked earlier.

Eric Kleefeld of TPM agrees with Garcia: "The biggest question headed into tomorrow's State of the Union address doesn't seem to be what President Obama will say..... No, the big question is -- which Democrat is sitting with which Republican?" He includes a funny exchange in which Kent Conrad (D-ND) asks Kay Bailey Huchison (R-Texas) to the SOTU prom -- on national TV! -- and she turns him down. Plus, Garcia's instinct on Joe Lieberman was right -- here's Christiane Amanpour asking Lonesome Joe about his SOTU plans:

LIEBERMAN: You know, when I was in high school, I always waited too long before the prom to ask for a date, so I haven't done that yet, but...

AMANPOUR: You've got two days. Tell us now.

LIEBERMAN: I'm going to be on the phone today.

Lee Ross of Fox "News": "Just one day before President Obama’s State of the Union address, it’s still not clear whether Chief Justice John Roberts will attend or, like ...Justice Samuel Alito, skip the event. The recent uptick in collegiality from lawmakers on Capitol Hill in the run-up to Tuesday’s speech contrasts sharply with the lingering controversy from last year’s speech in which President Obama rebuked the justices over a campaign finance decision." ...

... ** Dahlia Lithwick has a terrific commentary in Slate on the chilling impression that will be left if all of the conservative Supremes fail to show up for the SOTU & only the moderate attend. It doesn't help, either, that Justice Scalia is "teaching the Constitution" at a closed-door event for conservative House members.

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