So, Joe Biden says it’s a great depression. Hell, it ain’t even a good depression (yet, but The One is just getting started).
When I start seeing photos like these, I’ll buy the hype. Assuming I can afford it.
Feeling depressed?
Reply
Author Archives: John McCrarey
It ain’t news if you don’t report it…
That seems to be what the White House is saying according to this report in the NY Times.
Mr. Ailes, who had reached out to Mr. Axelrod to address rising tensions between the network and the White House, told him that Fox’s reporters were fair, if tough, and should be considered separate from the Fox commentators who were skewering President Obama nightly, according to people briefed on the meeting. Mr. Axelrod said it was the view of the White House that Fox News had blurred the line between news and anti-Obama advocacy.
By the following weekend, officials at the White House had decided that if anything, it was time to take the relationship to an even more confrontational level. The spur: Executives at other news organizations, including The New York Times, had publicly said that their newsrooms had not been fast enough in following stories that Fox News, to the administration’s chagrin, had been heavily covering through the summer and early fall — namely, past statements and affiliations of the White House adviser Van Jones that ultimately led to his resignation and questions surrounding the community activist group Acorn.
There followed, beginning in earnest more than two weeks ago, an intensified volley of White House comments describing Fox as “not a news network.”
“It was an amalgam of stories covered, and our assessment of how others were dealing with those stories, that caused us to comment,” Mr. Axelrod said in describing the administration’s thinking.
Ok, let me see if I’ve got this down. Fox News is breaking stories the administration doesn’t like. Other news outlets admit they were too slow in reporting those stories. So, according to the White House, Fox News is not news because if it wasn’t reporting the news, it wouldn’t be news.
Alrighty then. I’ll give the administration props for not hiding the fact that what they are trying to achieve is a news blackout from the other networks. The fact that this story is in the NY Times indicates that strategy may fail. Imagine that, Obama failing. Who woulda thunk it possible?
Oh, and I actually laughed out loud when I read this:
Speaking privately at the White House on Monday with a group of mostly liberal columnists and commentators, including Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC and Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and Bob Herbert of The New York Times, Mr. Obama himself gave vent to sentiments about the network, according to people briefed on the conversation.
That is pure comedy gold. Obama bitching to Olbermann et al about the bias at FNC. It’s good the President has provided us with an example of the type of “real” news organization he prefers.
Well, the Soviet Union had Pravda and now Obama has his MSNBC. Makes sense.
Yoja of the week
It’s Friday and those of you who have been paying attention know that it’s time for the newest feature here at LTG–Yoja of the week!
Well, it’s football season so let’s check in on a Korean fan this time around:
Courtesy of this website appropriately titled Hot Football Fans.
One more reason I’m in no hurry to return to the USA
Damn, this happened a few miles up the road from where I lived.
So, this guy gets up to make coffee and is standing nude in his kitchen. Some passerby and her child cut through his yard and see him naked. And he gets arrested for indecent exposure!
I say the bitch should have been charged with being a Peeping Thomasina.
For the record, I made my coffee in the nude this morning. Lucky for me I have no yard. And I’m in Korea.
It’s a quagmire…
and it is time we pull out. NOW!
This is why it is ill-advised to engage in wars of preemption.
Don’t be so surprised. I can admit defeat.
A FOX in the hen house
So the Obama administration has declared war on FOX news. Oh wait, Fox isn’t a news organization, it’s an arm of the Republican party (my memos from the WH take some time reaching Korea).
Seriously, whatever your politics, isn’t this just a little bit scary? And you know, I don’t particularly care much for Glen Beck, but without FOX who would have reported on the Van Jones, ACORN, and Anita Dunn scandals? Perhaps this is why the Obama regime is down on FOX, it is the only network left that is not afraid to report stories unfavorable to The One. Racists!
Well, I’m not the only to notice the latest idiocy from the White House:
Where the White House has gone way overboard is in its decision to treat Fox as an outright enemy and to go public with the assault. Imagine the outcry if the Bush administration had pulled a similar hissy fit with MSNBC. “Opinion journalism masquerading as news,” White House communications director Anita Dunn declared of Fox. Certainly Fox tends to report its news with a conservative slant — but has anyone at the White House clicked over to MSNBC recently? Or is the only problem opinion journalism that doesn’t match its opinion? On “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace replayed a quote from an Obama interview: “I don’t always get my most favorable coverage on Fox, but I think that’s part of how democracy is supposed to work. You know, we’re not supposed to all be in lock step here.”
Maybe he should tell the rest of the team.
And I really liked what Claudia Rossett has to say:
This would be a very good moment for all those other news organizations — CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, the newspapers and the news web sites – to offer President Obama the perspective that it is utterly inappropriate for White House personnel to be opining publicly on the overall fitness of specific news outlets. The president has sworn to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That includes protecting free speech, not dispatching White House staff and advisers to hold forth publicly as media critics denouncing news outlets they don’t like.
If errors of fact turn up in reporting, the White House is entitled to dispute them. But Axelrod and Emanuel were not disputing a particular piece of reporting. They were slamming wholesale a widely followed and highly informative news outlet, and denouncing it as not “legitimate.”
Government personnel getting into this act is altogether different. These are people paid out of the public purse, and speaking under the imprimatur of public institutions — in this case the White House. Here they are, urging White House-favored news outfits to follow the White House lead, and ostracize a specific news outlet the White House doesn’t like. This is Banana Republic stuff, a stock tactic of pressure and intimidation. The effect of such stuff, as a rule, is not to promote accurate news coverage, but to cover up stories the government doesn’t want aired, and shut up critics.
Other news outlets — the CNNs, ABCs, NBCs, CBS’s, or for that matter the New York Times and the Globe-Post-Mercury-Etceteras, may not agree with opinions expressed on Fox. But they would be wise to remember that what goes around comes around. And if they don’t rally now around the idea that the White House has no business vetting, according to its own “perspective,” which news outlets are “legitimate” and which are not, then the legitimacy of all news outlets becomes a function of “point of view” held by the White House. Welcome to the road to China’s Xinhua News Agency and Russia’s Channel One TV.
On a more hopeful note, at least some in the media are pushing back. I really like this exchange between the WH press secretary and ABC’s Jake Tapper:
Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –
(Crosstalk)
Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.
Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –
Gibbs: ABC –
Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?
Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.
Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” — why is that appropriate for the White House to say?
Gibbs: That’s our opinion.
And one more thing. If FOX is not a news organization, what the hell does that make MSNBC?
Jack and squat
And people (even some media types) are beginning to notice.
Recently an MSNBC personality accused the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of lobbying for policies that amount to being “treasonous to this country.” Remember how liberals roared in outrage at any hint of their patriotism being questioned for criticizing the Iraq War? Well, it’s the left that doesn’t shy from attacking the patriotism of those it dislikes. Recall the repulsive Moveon.org “General Betray-us” ad against Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus. Recent opposition to Chicago’s Olympic bid was cast as a sign of a lack of patriotism among Obama critics.
The MSNBC blast against the chamber appears to dovetail with what the Politico newspaper reports is a White House and Democratic effort “to marginalize” the business organization. That echoes the administration assault on the Fox News Channel: It says Fox isn’t a news organization.
The White House trying to dictate who’s a news organization. Democrats out to gut a business group. Obama media allies damning Americans as racist, unpatriotic and treasonous. Is this the America Obama promised when he campaigned to end the cynical and divisive politics of the past?
Humble Pie
The Rubbies took down Blue Bulls last night 22-15.
I turned in a 2-7 performance.
Six legs against Seung Youb will do that (not to make excuses).
Singles tourney
We had a singles tournament at Dolce Vita tonight and yours truly successfully clawed his way to a hard fought victory.
I took out Grant in the first round 2-0, then lost to Dustin1-2. Through the losers bracket I pulled out wins against Dave. Jim and Dano. Then I faced my nemesis Alistair (ranked 1st in “A” division) and surprised us both I think with a 2-0 victory. A tough win against Ali put me in the championship round against the undefeated Dustin.
I needed to beat him in two matches to take the crown, which I managed to do to walk away with 90,000 cash and 30,000 in bar credit.
A good night’s work to be sure and it felt good to be on the winning end of things for a change…
Go Cocks!
South Carolina takes on the boys from Alabama today. I smell an upset!
Update: Damn!
A media lynching
Like him or not, what the media did to Rush Limbaugh should scare us all. So, Limbaugh is “too divisive” to participate in an ownership group but Keith Olbermann can provide NFL game commentary? What kind of bizzaro world are we living in?
Limbaugh responds to his critics in the WSJ. Read the whole thing, but here’s the kicker:
As I explained on my radio show, this spectacle is bigger than I am on several levels. There is a contempt in the news business, including the sportswriter community, for conservatives that reflects the blind hatred espoused by Messrs. Sharpton and Jackson. “Racism” is too often their sledgehammer. And it is being used to try to keep citizens who don’t share the left’s agenda from participating in the full array of opportunities this nation otherwise affords each of us. It was on display many years ago in an effort to smear Clarence Thomas with racist stereotypes and keep him off the Supreme Court. More recently, it was employed against patriotic citizens who attended town-hall meetings and tea-party protests.
These intimidation tactics are working and spreading, and they are a cancer on our society.
Shame on Michael Wilbon, Rick Sanchez and CNN (I know MSNBC is beyond shame so why bother?). And shame on all of us who don’t speak out against modern day lynchings like this.
UPDATE: To be fair, Olbermann spoke out against the lynching of Limbaugh:
“There’re now gonna be character tests for sports owners?” Olbermann said. “There’ll only be three of them left. Unless they beat the Vikings Sunday as of next Thursday it will have been a full year since the Rams won a game. My God, if Limbaugh wants to buy them far be it for me to tell him he’s flushing his money down a rat hole.”
Yoja of the week
So The Last Nomad used to have a popular feature where he published a picture of an attractive Korean woman each week. Since that blog is now a long time gone, I thought I might take up the mantle here at Long Time Gone.
Some readers have lamented that I spend more time on American politics than life in Korea. Hey, I share that sentiment but the sad fact is I just don’t have much to share about my life here these days. I mean, it’s all good, but also pretty routine.
So, henceforth every Friday until I grow weary of the effort I will comb the internets to bring you a beauty from the Land of the Morning Calm. Now, I’m not that keen on actresses and models, so you will just have to settle for what I find attractive. M’kay?
Here’s the first:
Ain’t she sweet?
Sorry, I don’t know who she is, but I found her on a post about Korean women at Pimsleur Korean. It’s a short but intereting post, so go have a read.
He’s got the fever…
Regarding Itaewon
The Chosun Bimbo has a post/survey up concerning what should be done about/with Itaewon. Go check it out.
I left this comment which is explains how I see and feel about Itaewon:
You know, I really think Itaewon gets a bad rap, perhaps an unfair legacy of its more sordid past. I’ve been here 5 years now and even it that short period of time I’ve witnessed some pretty signifcant changes for the better.
Yeah, they did the new sidewalks and gave vendors those standardized carts. But beyond the purely cosmetic changes has been a pretty dynamic shift in, for lack of a better word, attitude. Gone are a lot of the more sleazy bars catering to horny GIs and English teachers. These have been replaced by some really nice restaurants, many with street side dining. I think a good example of this transformation is the alley behind Hamilton Hotel.
Here’s the biggest change I’ve noted: Koreans are coming out to Itaewon in numbers that would have been unimaginable a few short years ago. The upscale restuarants make Itaewon a dining destination for more and more “natives”. Hell, I expect they enjoy the food almost as much as watching us waeguks passing by on the street.
Several great western-style bars and pubs have opened recently (check out Sam Ryan’s above 3 Alley Pub next time you are in town). What is truly amazing is that Korean-folk are venturing into these bars on a more and more frequent basis. I think it is pretty cool to see this intermingling (kinda like I’m actually living in foreign country!).
Anyway, Hooker Hill, Gay Hill, the tranny and juicy bars are all still there, but that scene is not so much “in your face” these days. I think they add flavor to a rather eccletic mix and would hate to see that eliminated.
Funny thing, last week I was quaffing a brew at Goldfish (a friendly Filipino owned streetside bar) and some tourists asked about how to find Hooker Hill (it’s actually right across the street from Goldfish). I had to laugh, because even at its sleaziest, Itaewon is apparently a tourist destination.
Cheers!
A voice in the wilderness
If you don’t read Camille Paglia, you are missing a true and honest voice that transcends partisanship. A breath of fresh air if you will.
The hotel of doom
Construction has resumed on the landmark of the Pyongyang skyline.
Although as a USFK employee I’m barred from touring North Korea, I will admit to an almost perverse desire to do so. Probably for the best that I can’t. I’d likely be bound to say something that would get me shot or put in the gulag at the behest of that pervert Kim, Jong-il.
Oops. See what I mean?
I was going to let this pass
But given the attacks on Michelle Malkin by Keith Olbermann and commenter Kevin, I think it is important to note.
Now, Ms. Malkin (a sexy Filipina not that it matters) is definitely to the right of me. And she is quick to document the corruptness and hypocrisy so rampant among the left these days. I am a semi-regular reader of her blog and I have never seen her resort to personal attacks on individuals. She points with glee to their failings to be sure, but never engages in name calling.
I am anxiously awaiting Mr. Olbermann’s calling out Chris Matthews for wishing Rush Limbaugh dead.
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Sweet revenge on a telemarketer…
Actually, I don’t have this problem in Korea since once the telemarketer figures out I don’t speak Korean they hang up on me. But this is just f’n hilarious…
No wonder it feels like home
South Carolina–the Fox News of the states.
Pot, meet kettle
Keith Olbermann decries alleged hate speech by Michelle Malkin thusly:
“She received death threats and hate-filled voice mails all thanks to the total mindless, morally bankrupt, knee-jerk, fascistic hatred, without which Michelle Malkin would just be a big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it.”
Thanks for the lesson in hypocrisy Keith!