Sunday Evening Scattershot -- Open Thread --
by paradox
/* Last week was acutely sad with the downfall of Carl Bernstein. I was enormously influenced as a young person to the romantic power of journalism by Woodward & Bernstein, and although Woodward was lost long ago (his official moment of downfall came when questioned by Fitzgerald) I never expected Carl Bernstein to humiliate himself and all Americans with that recent belly flop of bullshit he flapped at Bill O’Reilly.
I don’t get it—Woodward and Bernstein reached fame and accomplishment few souls will ever achieve, as youngsters, even, all they had to do was apply extremely basic principles and disciplines to their work and a life of real glory would have honorably blazed out. I own both the book and movie All The President’s Men, and I was sharply saddened to see them on the shelf last night, their legacy tarnished forever. Damn.
/* One of my favorite Clintonites, Robert Reich, has a great piece at The American Prospect directly related to Our Time 2009 agenda written about yesterday: what fiscal budgetary choices will the next Democratic President make? Fiscally responsible like the good moderate Republican Bill Clinton, or liberally aggressive like the hotshot Reich?
I hope to Lord and the baby Jesus Reich’s view prevails. Look, if fiscal sanity is your thing repeal Bush’s tax cuts and chop $100 billion annually out of defense, but don’t get suckered again into giving Keynes the Clintonian finger! Spend, motherfuckers! Trains, bridges, schools, port security, public broadband, please see the obvious economic and political benefits to immediately investing in our people. Please.
/* Another very good work in The American Prospect is from Drew Weston, an adoption from his forthcoming book I’m going to buy, The Political Brain. Greatly simplified it’s an excellent scenario for taking the Democratic brand, agenda and talking points on offense, which is, in fact, the only way to get a brand or an agenda at all. Weakly responding to a lying media and Mr. 28% with no offense gives us the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
/* The White House emphasized again today a vote of “no confidence” for Gonzo would mean nothing, while Schumer and Feinstein still say they’re going to do it.
I still say this is a terrible risk of horrible weakness that no one ever should have trusted coming from a Vichy Democrat like Dianne Feinstein. I’m also very disturbed at the sight of many normally rational and critical minds in the blogosphere so sheepishly bleating along with it, even to the point of believing Arlen Specter on the matter (Jesus, Marcy).
We shall see—I certainly have not forgotten and will not forget this embarrassing act of unthinking futility, but it may turn out differently than I foretell.
/* Anonymous Liberal finds yet another US “journalism” hack job on Al Gore and wonders incredulously what kind of chump could have written it so shamelessly. It’s simply the rules US journalism made up for Al Gore long ago: anything goes.
No matter how stupid, how low, how gutter it is, nothing is too filthy for the US “journalism” corps when it comes to Al Gore. Even when he puts a Nobel Peace Prize on his office wall they’ll still smear him with impunity; after all this time they’ll never admit they were wrong and treat him decently, so all they know what to do is lie about him.
Please have a wonderful week, everyone.