The Commentariat -- May 13, 2012
My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on Ross Douthat's fact-free ruminations. The guy is almost as talented as Willard at making up stuff. The NYTX front page is here.
William Black gets into the nitty-gritty of the Times' flawed reporting on the European economic crisis, which boils down to (a) they view it solely from the German perspective, and (b) they don't read Krugman so they don't understand where the problems lie.
** "Capitalists & Other Psychopaths." William Deresiewicz, in a New York Times op-ed: "A recent study found that 10 percent of people who work on Wall Street are 'clinical psychopaths,' exhibiting a lack of interest in and empathy for others and an 'unparalleled capacity for lying, fabrication, and manipulation.' ... Ethics in capitalism is purely optional, purely extrinsic." CW: this really is a must-read. And it sure helped me understand why Mitt Romney is such a facile liar.
Tom Friedman: philosopher Michael Sandel argues that "market values are crowding out civic practices."
My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks. -- President Barack Obama, to Wall Street fat cats, Spring 2009
Peter Boyer & Peter Schweitzer in Newsweek: "Despite his populist posturing, the president has failed to pin a single top finance exec on criminal charges since the economic collapse. Are the banks too big to jail — or is Washington’s revolving door at to blame?" Follow the money. ...
... Glenn Greenwald: "But the worst part of it all is that Obama is going to spend the next six months deceitfully parading around as some sort of populist hero standing up for ordinary Americans and the safety net against big business, and hordes of people who know how false that is will echo it as loudly and repeatedly as they can, tricking many people who don't know better into believing it." ...
... A pretty funny and informative post by Jessica Pressler of New York magazine on "Dimonfreude." ...
... AND Matt Yglesias: JPMorgan loses $2 billion in massive failed effort to exploit Volcker Rule loophole."
Joe Romm of Think Progress: think climatologists are exaggerating the effects of climate change? Actually, they've been downplaying it for decades.
Dean Baker & Kevin Hassett in a New York Times op-ed: "The American economy is experiencing a crisis in long-term unemployment that has enormous human and economic costs.... Policy makers must come together and recognize that this is an emergency, and fashion a comprehensive re-employment policy that addresses the specific needs of the long-term unemployed.
N. C. Aizenman of the Washington Post: "In about two dozen states across the country, the insurance marketplaces at the heart of the 2010 health-care law remain in limbo, with Republican governors or lawmakers who oppose the statute refusing to act until the Supreme Court decides its constitutionality. New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie, joined the ranks Thursday,vetoing a bill from the majority Democratic legislature that would have set up the Garden State's version of the 'exchanges,' through which individuals and small businesses could shop for insurance."
In a New Yorker post, novelist Edmund White remembers his time at Cranbrook.
Matt Williams of the Guardian: "A leading Republican pollster has pushed for a party rethink on gay marriage, stressing the conservative nature of encouraging commitment between same-sex couples. In a memo to GOP operatives, Jan van Lohuizen -- a former public opinion researcher for George Bush -- notes a shift in attitudes towards gay marriage and calls for a Republican response."
David Maraniss in the Washington Post: "Obama is his mother's son." ...
... AND Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post: Anna Jarvis, who was the driving force behind the celebration of Mothers Day, eventually came to despise it because of its commercialization. Jarvis got Congress to designate Mothers Day, and later joined her sister in spending the family assets to try to end it. Jarvis had no children.
Presidential Race
War-Weary Vets. Margot Roosevelt of Reuters: "Disaffection with the politics of shock and awe runs deep among men and women who have served in the military during the past decade of conflict.... If the election were held today, Obama would win the veteran vote by as much as seven points over Romney, higher than his margin in the general population."
John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Obama's stance [against gay marriage] in 2008 was a product of careful cost-benefit analysis, and so, I would wager, was his reversal yesterday.... Make no mistake, he has handed a wedge issue to an opposing party that has a long history of successfully exploiting them." ...
Maureen Dowd: Obama's "embrace of gay marriage was not a profile in courage."
Don Melvin & Rod McGuirk of the AP: "In a world weary of war and economic crises, and concerned about global climate change, the consensus is that Obama has not lived up to the lofty expectations that surrounded his 2008 election and Nobel Peace Prize a year later. Many in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America were also taken aback by his support for gay marriage, a taboo subject among religious conservatives. But the Democrat still enjoys broad international support. In large part, it's because of unfavorable memories of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, and many people would still prefer Obama over his presumptive Republican challenger Mitt Romney."
Zack Ford of Think Progress: Mitt Romney's support of same-sex adoption lasts one day.
Frank Rich: Romney isn't qualified to be a dictator.
Local News
Gary Fineout of the AP: Florida "Gov. Rick Scott's embattled chief of staff abruptly resigned from his job on Saturday following a series of news stories detailing his job performance and handling of contracts. Steve MacNamara said in his resignation letter that he would step down from his post July 1.... The Associated Press recently reported that while working for the Senate, MacNamara helped steer a $360,000 no-bid consulting contract to a friend who now leads a task force rooting out state government waste. The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times this week wrote a series of additional stories about other contracts and how MacNamara clashed with one agency head.... Several top agency heads -- who were hired by Scott when he first took office -- wound up resigning within months of MacNamara's arrival." You can find the Miami Herald background stories here.
News Ledes
AP: "California's budget deficit has swelled to a projected $16 billion -- much larger than had been predicted just months ago -- and will force severe cuts to schools and public safety if voters fail to approve tax increases in November, Gov. Jerry Brown said Saturday."
New York Times: "Mullah Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban minister who was an important go-between in potential peace talks, was shot and killed on Sunday as he headed to a government meeting on reconciliation, Afghan officials said."
New York Times: "In the face of spiraling costs and Iraqi officials who say they never wanted it in the first place, the State Department has slashed -- and may jettison entirely by the end of the year -- a multibillion-dollar police training program that was to have been the centerpiece of a hugely expanded civilian mission here."
New York Times: "China's central bank announced late Saturday that it would loosen monetary policy in a clear effort to stimulate the economy after the release on Thursday and Friday of a batch of economic indicators for April that were considerably weaker than most economists had expected."
Al Jazeera: "Israel and the Palestinian Authority have issued a rare joint statement saying both are committed to peace, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched an envoy to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Netanyahu's office issued the joint statement on Saturday after envoy Yitzhak Molcho met Abbas in Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority's administrative capital."
Al Jazeera: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks poised for a setback as polls show the country's most populous state will likely vote in favour of a centre-left government, which she has sought to label as irresponsibly spendthrift. A week after voters in Greece and France clearly plumped for anti-austerity policies, the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia could also punish conservative champions of belt-tightening."
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Reader Comments (4)
I was shocked by the 10% number until I realized that the category was "those who work on Wall Street," which includes receptionists, back office number crunchers, caterers, and custodians. I would imagine if the category were restricted to traders the number would be closer to 100%. In fact, those who admire John Paulson for swindling some poor schmucks (who of course regarded themselves as financial geniuses) out of $4 billion need to remind themselves that this is the world's wealth we're talking about here, not Fantasy Baseball.
To continue with Akhilleus' "slippery slope" and Denny Crane's "slippery slerp", today we have some slippery slime. A fascinating article about this substance and connecting it with highway systems:
From the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/opinion/sunday/the-wisdom-of-slime.html?ref=todayspaper
Anna Jarvis' change of heart re: the Mother's Day celebration every year because of consumerism is certainly understandable, but when anything like this boosts the economy it needs to stay put and dare I say exploited––something that I am not comfortable with, but I do recognize its benefits. My mother would always say, "Now for heaven's sake, don't spend your money getting me flowers for Mother's Day (we always had to wire them because she lived in a different state than we did). We always sent flowers; she always responded with ahhs and oohs about their beauty and abundance. I now tell my three sons the same thing––they believe me and send cards and call. I miss flowers––sigh~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greenwald's piece is most depressing. There seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel of "you rub my back and I'll rub yours" mentality. It's like the game is rigged and we suckers can't compete at the table no matter how hard we try. Boy, talk about mixed metaphors! Happy Sunday everyone.
"My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."
I say the timid shit should get out of the way and let the pitchforks at them.
Second James Singer.
Krugman's column tomorrow promises a scary prediction for the world economy. If what he predicts is even half true, we are in for more hard travelin,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfq5b1bppJQ