The Commentariat -- January 13, 2012
My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on New York Times public editor Art Brisbane's post asking readers if they would like Times reporters to fact-check statements made by the subjects of (and others cited in) their reports. Enjoy! The NYTX front page is here and links to related articles. You can contribute to NYTX here.
The Commentariat is open for comments.
Your Cheery Friday the 13th Forecast. Economics Nobel Laureate Joe Stiglitz, perhaps the most influential economist in the world, says of the 2012 econimc outlook, "This year is set to be even worse" than 2011. Blame the deficit hawks & austerity aficionados. Thanks -- I think -- to Carlyle & Dave S. for the link. ...
... NEW. Calvin Lawrence of ABC News: ". Paraskevidekatriaphobia, as coined by psychotherapist Donald Dossey of the Stress Management Center-Phobia Institute in Ashville, N.C., bedevils 'people with blind, unreasoning fear of this day and date, as opposed to those who have a clear, reasonable fear of not being able to say that word,' according to the institute's website."
NEW. Paul Krugman: Sorry, Willard, "America is not, in fact, a corporation. Making good economic policy isn’t at all like maximizing corporate profits. And businessmen — even great businessmen — do not, in general, have any special insights into what it takes to achieve economic recovery.... Did I mention that the last businessman to live in the White House was a guy named Herbert Hoover? (Unless you count former President George W. Bush.)" CW: this is pretty fundamental, but the percentage of our government leaders -- much less the general public -- who understand it must in close to single digits.
CW: Republicans who were clamoring to know just what legal justification the President used to make his recess appointment have got what they wanted. Here it is, in pdf. I guess the complainers can read it when they get back from recess. Via Greg Sargent. Overview:
The convening of periodic pro forma sessions in which no business is to be conducted does not have the legal effect of interrupting an intrasession recess otherwise long enough to qualify as a 'Recess of the Senate' under the Recess Appointments Clause. In this context, the President therefore has discretion to conclude that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advise-and-consent function and to exercise his power to make recess appointments.
Adam Serwer of Mother Jones explains the background & rationale for the opinion, which was written by the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel. He says it was a "close call."
Right Wing World
Satire Becomes Reality. Mike Allen of Politico: "Stephen Colbert announced on 'The Colbert Report' that he is exploring a presidential run in South Carolina, and made it legal by handing control of his super PAC to Jon Stewart in the opening segment of Thursday night’s show." Update:
Aw, Shucks! Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "The 29-minute video 'King of Bain' is such an over-the-top assault on former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney that it is hard to know where to begin.... Romney may have opened the door to this kind of attack with his suspect job-creation claims, but that is no excuse for this highly misleading portrayal of Romney’s years at Bain Capital. Only one of the four case studies directly involves Romney and his decision-making, while at least two are completely off point. The manipulative way the interviews appeared to have been gathered for the UniMac segment alone discredits the entire film." ...
... PolitiFact is still working on their fact-check but they have a guide to the film -- absent analysis -- here.
Doctor Misogyny. Lori Stahl & Mary Curtis of the Washington Post: "When GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul, [an ob-gyn,] was asked today about Tuesday’s federal court ruling upholding an aggressive new sonogram law in his home state of Texas, the congressman said the requirement that women seeking an abortion first get a sonogram 'should always have been a Texas state position.' ... Paul, who opposes abortion rights, has consistently railed against intrusive Big Brother government when it comes to other issues.... But it’s hard to imagine anything more literally invasive than a required sonogram....’’
Michael Isikoff of NBC News: "Mitt Romney faces continued criticism over his refusal so far to release the names of his campaign 'bundlers' -- the big money fundraisers who have helped him rake in tens of million dollars.... But many of them come from big private equity firms. It's the same corporate buyout industry where Romney, as chief of Bain Capital, made his personal fortune...."
Paul Krugman Spies a Yellow-Bellied Mittster: "Mitt Romney’s new defense of his work at Bain: it was just like the auto bailout!... What the story of Romney and the auto bailout actually shows is something we already knew from health care: he’s a smart guy who is also a moral coward. His original proposal for the auto industry, like his health reform, bore considerable resemblance to what Obama actually did. But when the deed took place, Romney — rather than having the courage to say that the president was actually doing something reasonable — joined the rest of his party in whining and denouncing the plan."
Local News
Jay Newton-Small of Time: "After issuing just eight pardons in his first seven years, [outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley] Barbour (R) pardoned 208 convicts, 41 of them murderers, sex offenders or child molesters, during his last 48 hours in office. Barbour notes that 90% of the people he pardoned weren’t in prison, but four murderers have been released. And by expunging their records, they can now legally buy guns, just as the sex offenders he pardoned no longer need to give their names to the sex offender registry."
News Ledes
AP: "The French finance minister said Friday that Standard & Poor's had stripped the nation of its top-notch credit rating, again throwing Europe's ability to fight off its debt crisis into doubt. Speaking on France-2 television, Finance Minister Francois Baroin confirmed that France had been lowered by one notch. That would mean a rating of AA+, the same rating the United States has had since S&P downgraded it last August."
Politico: "John Edwards has a life-threatening heart condition that requires surgery and his trial has been delayed, according to reports Friday."
ABC News: "Joran van der Sloot, the only suspect in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, was sentenced today to 28 years in a Peruvian prison in the strangling death of Stephany Flores. And now that Peru has settled its case, Holloway's family hopes that van der Sloot will be brought to the U.S. for trial."
President Obama spoke this morning on government reform. Reuters: "President Barack Obama will ask Congress for authority to merge the agency that negotiates U.S. trade deals into the Commerce Department, a White House official said on Friday, in an effort to trim the government amid voter concerns about deficits." Washington Post story here. Update: A post-speech story by ABC News is here. A transcript of the President's remarks is here.
New York Times: "The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn ’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the is a 'red line' that would provoke an American response, according to United States government officials."
Washington Post: "The Obama administration has decided to remove two of the four U.S. Army brigades remaining in Europe as part of a broader effort to cut $487 billion from the Pentagon’s budget over the next decade, said senior U.S. officials. The reductions in Army forces, which have not been formally announced, are likely to concern European officials, who worry that the smaller American presence reflects a waning of interest in the decades-long U.S.-NATO partnership in Europe."
Washington Post: "Beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari landed in Pakistan early Friday after a short trip abroad, returning to face a simmering conflict between Pakistan’s civilian government and its armed forces."
Reuters: "Myanmar freed at least 200 political prisoners on Friday in an amnesty that could embolden the opposition and put pressure on the West to lift sanctions as one of the world's most reclusive states opens up after half a century of authoritarian rule."
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Reader Comments (5)
Kudo's to PK for continung to call out Romney's BS. Too bad the public editor at the NYT feels the need to ask whether his reporters have an obligation to do likewise:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/new-york-times-public-editor-on-truth-6638107
Read the comments for further background on Brisbane
@Dave S. My column for the NYTX today is on Brisbane's post & the aftershock. It should be up within an hour or so; i.e., at around 11 am ET. What a hoot!
Marie
Update: so the NYTX column is up now.
This is just an FYI.....realitychex is the first thing I read in the morning. You have an exceptional site. Your insites on the NYTexaminer are wondeful. I just wanted you to know that you perform a great public service, and you have my gratitude.
@Marie What a GREAT column on Brisbane!
Marie:: I do not know how you do it. Have you a squad of tweenies doing constant research? Your production of facts, ideas, and information boggles at least my mind. Keep up the work and fight discouragement. Lord knows how terrible things will become. As you may have noticed, I have a much more negative outlook than any but the most frightened. I expect a Republican senate and a destroyed economy in short order. I feel we are past the point of a moderate solution to our problems and are facing a battle for the survival of our Democracy..
If there were more of you this might be avoided.