Archive for November 7, 2010
MSNBC Needs Keith Olbermann More Than it Needs Phil Griffin
Per the incompetent president of MSNBC:
07 Nov 2010 8:51 PMSTATEMENT REGARDING KEITH OLBERMANN – SUNDAY, NOV. 7From Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC:
After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night’s program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy. We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.
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Translation #1: I make millions of dollars a year because I’ve convinced my bosses at GE that I have special knowledge about business stuff and things mere mortals don’t understand. But, I know, given the Keith thing, it looks like I don’t know what I’m going but hey, ah, I’m thinkin’ I can BS my way through this (fingers and eyes crossed).
Translation #2: Keith won.
(This comes with a warning. NBC and Comcast are in merger talks. If the FCC approves it, this could all change. Comcast would be the new boss and who knows how they’ll feel about Keith being their guy at MSNBC. Phil Griffin might well be their test guy to see who they can manipulate and who is (and isn’t — that would be you Phil) strong enough to do their bidding.)
Tea Party Candidates Having a Hard Time With the Specifics of Governing
I love this headline: Tea Party Favorites Rand Paul and Jim DeMint Struggle to Name Specific Budget Cuts.
It’s one thing to run on slogans and soundbites but if you win, you have to grow up, get down in the weeds and get serious.
I can see (sort of) how it might take Rand Paul a week or two to get up to speed but Jim DeMint has been in congress for freakin’ 11 years. You’d think he’d have a specific idea or two about budget cuts by now.
Oh, and this is what happens when the “liberal media” gives candidates a total pass during the campaign. They don’t have to think about specifics because they aren’t asked substantive questions about specifics.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Iran Has Crazy Leaders Who Threaten to Do Harm to Other Nations
Senator Lindsey Graham [R] Urges War With Iran, Confrontation With China.
Is it any wonder Iran wants a nuclear bomb? It’s surrounded by two countries which we occupy (Iraq and Afghanistan) and here we have a U.S. senator talking about bombing it.
Something to Know About Politico
Do you get your “D.C. insider” news from Politico? I don’t. I never really trusted the site; had the feeling from day one that it was a little too far inside the beltway. This article about a party it threw on Election Day night confirms it for me:
For a bash thrown by a news organziation [sic] that’s branded itself as the only source you need for up-to-the-nanosecond information about national politics, the party was surprisingly unhelpful in actually following the election returns. It was too loud, and too few of the TVs had any volume. And weirdly, no one was reacting to any of the calls any of the muted TV anchors made. Probably because to the lobbyists and defense contractors who made up the bulk of the crowd, little was actually going to change; they might have an easier time getting some requests filled, but mostly, a shift in power just means a shift in which offices you need to visit to get legislative favors.
No thanks. I prefer to get my news from folks who don’t hobnob with lobbyists and defense contractors.
Good Morning
It’s a good morning because I woke up to this headline: Texas Considers Medicaid Withdrawal:
Some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.
and the first thing I thought was do it! Do it! DO IT! It will be so unpopular, the people of Texas will mob the polling places to vote those Republicans out of office. And maybe, just maybe, the rest of the country will finally grasp just how ruthless and inhumane the wingers are.
