37%.
Fox News: Liberal Media ‘Out To Sabotage The Economy’
Fox News: Liberal Media ‘Out To Sabotage The Economy’
According to Fox News guests, the media is ignoring all the great news about the economy just like it does in Iraq. Watch it:
Transcript:
But according to a new survey, 59 percent have bought into that crackpot notion. They rate it [the economy] as bad, very bad, or terrible, in fact, when all the facts say that just the opposite is true. So, where are the folks getting this image? My next guest says look no further than the liberal media. Larry, it’s media making the people thank the economy stinks, is that right?
But the polls don’t reflect media manipulation. Americans see the real state of the economy in their everyday lives:
- After adjusting for inflation, wages have not risen during the last three years. In fact, real hourly wages fell for most middle- and low-income workers in 2005 and the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is 29 percent lower today than it was in 1979.
- The poverty rate has risen each year since 2001, with 12.7 percent of the population now living in poverty.
- Job growth during President Bush’s term has been the lowest since World War II.
Full transcript below: More »
Jonah Goldberg Responds: I’m “Thinking More Clearly” Than Jill Carroll
Jonah Goldberg Responds: I’m “Thinking More Clearly” Than Jill Carroll
Jonah Goldberg has responded to my earlier post criticizing his attack on Jill Carroll:
UNTHINK PROGRESS [Jonah Goldberg]
…Is it really so crazy to think that someone who hasn’t spent the last 82 days in captivity by Islamic kidnappers might be thinking more clearly than someone who has? Is it so absurd to think that maybe someone who had their senses about them and their moral center in good order, would be less thankful about her treatment and more upset that the translator she asked to come with her was murdered while working for her? I understand that the logic of the left cannot escape the orbit of “you wouldn’t understand” identity politics. But come on. Does anyone in their right mind think that Think Progress would be rallying to this woman’s side if she emerged from her captivity saying George W. Bush was right and the people who kidnapped her were terrorist animals? Please. They’d be prattling on about how she lost her mind.
A couple of thoughts:
1. The issue of how Carroll was treated is not something you can “understand” or “not understand.” It’s a factual issue and Jill Carroll is the only one who know the facts. Jonah Goldberg does not know the facts and even his razor sharp mind (absent mental telepathy) isn’t going to figure them out.
2. Goldberg has ratcheted up his attacks on Carroll. This morning he was “starting to bug her.” Now she isn’t thinking clearly and has lost her “moral center.”
3. No matter what Jill Carroll or anyone else says we would not make a medical diagnoses without any expertise or facts. That seems to be a specialty of the right.
Mr. Goldberg could put this whole episode behind him with a simple apology to Jill Carroll and her family.
Baseball Steroid Investigation Shouldn’t Skip Over Bush’s Texas Rangers
Baseball Steroid Investigation Shouldn’t Skip Over Bush’s Texas Rangers
Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, has tapped former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to lead a thorough and impartial investigation into steroid use in professional baseball. Selig has given Mitchell the permission to “expand the investigation and to follow the evidence where it may lead†through at least the last 15 years.
From 1988 to 1994, President Bush was managing general partner of the Texas Rangers.
Among his players during that time, several — Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Pailmero (tested positive) and Jose Canseco (admitted) — are all alleged to have used steroids while playing for the Rangers under Bush.
Identifying players and suppliers of steroids in professional baseball will undoubtedly clean up the sport. But even more useful will be identifying owners who turn a blind eye to cheating, and rake in major dividends from power hitters like Barry Bonds.
President Bush has denied being aware of steroid use in his tenure as managing partner of the Rangers, and has called for an immediate stop to steroid use in professional sports.
We look forward to Mitchell’s final report.
– Sam Davis
Hearts and minds watch:
Hearts and minds watch:
“The U.S. military was trying to send a ‘little reality jab‘ to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr when American and Iraqi troops raided a Shiite community center and shrine over the weekend, says a top U.S. military official.”
Imus Exec. Producer: “Taliban Jill” Is “Wearing Terrorist Headgear” And “Carrying Zarqawi’s Baby”
Imus Exec. Producer: “Taliban Jill” Is “Wearing Terrorist Headgear” And “Carrying Zarqawi’s Baby”
Imus executive producer Bernard McGuirk and sidekick Charles McCord continued their assault on journalist Jill Carroll. Watch it:
Some lowlights:
MCCORD: Put on 20 pounds while in captivity, yeah.
MCGUIRK: And why do we suspect?
IMUS: Well, why do you suspect?
MCGUIRK: She’s carrying Zarqawi’s baby. No doubt about it.
IMUS: Man, you are a such a, you’re a…
MCGUIRK: Did you hear her comments yesterday? She’s wearing the terrorist headgear. And everything points to that.
…
MCGUIRK: She’s Taliban Janie, this girl. Taliban Jill or whatever.
IMUS: That’s a little strong don’t you think.
MCGUIRK: I don’t think so. Well except for the fact that she seems overly sympathetic. There’s something wrong. Something stinks.
The Washington Post reported this morning that the garments Carroll wore in her first interview were “given to her by her captors,” and that she gained weight in captivity because “she never dared turn down their offers of meals or candy for fear of giving offense.”
The full transcript is posted HERE.
Rice admits ‘thousands’ of Iraq mistakes.
Rice admits ‘thousands’ of Iraq mistakes.
“I know we’ve made tactical errors, thousands of them, I’m sure,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today, speaking about Iraq. “But when you look back in history what will be judged on is” whether the “right strategic decision” was made.
BREAKING: Former DeLay aide Rudy flips?
BREAKING: Former DeLay aide Rudy flips?
“Tony Rudy, a former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, has agreed to plead guilty to charges in the widening federal investigation of lobbyist fraud. … Rudy would be the first person to plead guilty to charges in the case since Jack Abramoff, once a leading GOP lobbyist, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in January.”
UPDATE: A backgrounder on Rudy.
Jonah Goldberg: “Jill Carroll Is Increasingly Starting To Bug Me”
Jonah Goldberg: “Jill Carroll Is Increasingly Starting To Bug Me”
Jonah Goldberg – the right-wing pundit who was recently given a regular column in the LA Times – attacked reporter Jill Carroll early this morning on the National Review’s website:
MAYBE IT’S JUST ME [Jonah Goldberg]
But Jill Carroll is increasingly starting to bug me. The details are still murky and it’s hard to appreciate what she’s been through. And maybe JPod’s right about Stockholm syndrome. And maybe the media’s selectively choosing what to show of her statements. But it would be nice to hear her say something remotely critical of her captors, particularly about the fact that they murdered her translator in cold blood. I’m very glad she’s alive, but I’m getting a very bad vibe. More, no doubt, to come.
No, Mr. Goldberg, unfortunately it’s not just you.
Apparently, Jonah Goldberg, who has spent the last 82 days in safety, knows what Jill Carroll should be saying better than Jill Carroll herself. And when she doesn’t say it, it means something is very wrong with her.
ThinkFast: March 31, 2006
ThinkFast: March 31, 2006
The Army has banned privately purchased body armor in Iraq, a decision that veterans groups “immediately denounced.” GI’s who have “waited months to be outfitted counter that substandard armor is better than none at all.”
In a letter, President Bush urged Iraqi Shiite Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to get more involved in negotations over Iraq’s new government. Sistani “laid the letter aside” unread because of increasing “unhappiness” over heavy-handed U.S. meddling in Iraqi negotiations.
Another novel right-wing immigration solution from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA): “The millions of young men who are prisoners in our country can pick the fruit and vegetables.â€
Slow learner: Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen admits that the first time he realized that President Bush had lied was last week.
In response to “embarrassing allegations†that NASA’s public affairs manipulated scientific information to suit the needs of the Bush administration, a new NASA policy now says their “scientists are free to talk to members of the media about their scientific findings and even express personal interpretations of those findings.†More »
Blame the military.
Imus Executive Producer: Carroll is “The Kind of Woman Who Would Wear One of Those Suicide Vests, Sneak Into the Green Zone”
Imus Executive Producer: Carroll is “The Kind of Woman Who Would Wear One of Those Suicide Vests, Sneak Into the Green Zone”
There was a shocking segment earlier today on the popular radio/television show “Imus In The Morning.” Watch this exchange between Executive Producer (and “quick-witted on-air contributor”) Bernard McGuirk and Don Imus’ sidekick Charles McCord.
Some lowlights:
MCGUIRK: She strikes me as the kind of woman who would wear one of those suicide vests. You know, walk into the — try and sneak into the Green Zone.
IMUS: Oh, no. No, no, no, no.
MCCORD: Just because she always appears in traditional Arab garb and wearing a burka.
MCGUIRK: Yeah, what’s with the head gear? Take it off. Let’s see.
…
MCCORD: Exactly. She cooked with them, lived with them.
IMUS: This is not helping.
MCGUIRK: She may be carrying Habib’s baby at this point.
…
IMUS: She could. It’s not like she was representing the insurgents or the terrorists or those people.
MCCORD: Well, there’s no evidence directly of that –
IMUS: Oh, gosh, you better shut up!
…MCGUIRK: She’s like the Taliban Johnny or something.
Full transcript posted HERE.
Blackwater USA: Turning The All-Volunteer Army Into An ‘Army For Hire’
Blackwater USA: Turning The All-Volunteer Army Into An ‘Army For Hire’
This week at a conference in Jordan, Blackwater USA vice chairman Cofer Black announced that the private security company is ready to shift from a security role to a more “overt combat role,” essentially becoming an army for hire.
The Bush administration has shown itself more than willing to call in Blackwater in place of U.S. troops.
In Aug. 2003, the Bush administration awarded Blackwater a $21.3 million contract to guard then Amb. Paul Bremer. The average senior special operations officer makes $50,000 a year from the U.S. government. Employees in private security firms in Iraq often make more than $1,000 a day from government contracts. This arrangement is “depleting the ranks of the special forces,” luring them into lucrative private jobs.
Some military analysts initially welcomed the administration’s private security arrangement with Blackwater because it allowed “regular military troops to concentrate on fighting.” But Blackwater’s new proposal would shift some of the fighting to the private sector, further diminishing the role of the all-volunteer army.
Will Bolten and Hastert Try to Retire Treasury Secretary Snow?
Will Bolten and Hastert Try to Retire Treasury Secretary Snow?
Today, New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller cited a “prominent Republican†who says Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten wants to replace Treasury Secretary Snow with someone who could “more forcefully communicate the administration’s message that the economy is strongâ€:
A prominent Republican in Washington who consults often with the White House said Mr. Bolten, who is to assume his duties next month, wants Mr. Bush to replace the Treasury secretary, John W. Snow, with someone who can more forcefully communicate the administration’s message that the economy is strong. This Republican was granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations within the administration.
Bumiller wrote a very similar article last December, but with one important difference – she named House speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) as the one saying that Snow needed “to be more aggressive in talking about the economyâ€:
The grousing about Mr. Snow was so loud that even Democratic Congressional aides were aware that the House speaker, Representative J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, had complained to Mr. Card and Mr. Bartlett that the administration needed to be more aggressive in talking about the economy.
It seems likely that Bumiller’s source on Bolten today was Speaker Hastert, who “sealed the fate” of the first Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. (According to Robert Novak, Bolten and Hastert get along “especially” well.) But why are they upset with Snow?
Bumiller reports it’s because conservatives want a new Treasury Secretary to “reassure financial markets, which are increasingly worried about record-high budget and trade deficits.” It makes sense that Josh Bolten — who oversaw a $1.8 trillion expansion of the national debt as OMB Director — would be particularly sensitive to this issue.
Bolten appointment a victory for Rove.
Bolten appointment a victory for Rove.
Robert Novak says Josh Bolten’s appointment as chief of staff is “confirmation of Karl Rove’s supremacy in the White House.” No surprise, considering Bolten’s “guiding principle”: “absolute loyalty to the boss.”
30,000.
Photo:
ThinkProgress Radio returns today at 11:06AM EST.
ThinkProgress Radio returns today at 11:06AM EST.
Listen live HERE. Topics include: Iraq, Michelle Wie and John McCain. Call in and sound off: 1-866-557-7377. Leave questions and comments in this thread and we’ll read them live on the show.
John Podhoretz Attacks Jill Carroll
John Podhoretz Attacks Jill Carroll
Today, Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll released after three months of being held in captivity in Iraq by kidnappers. The National Review’s John Podhoretz responded by attacking her mental state:
It’s wonderful that she’s free, but after watching someone who was a hostage for three months say on television she was well-treated because she wasn’t beaten or killed — while being dressed in the garb of a modest Muslim woman rather than the non-Muslim woman she actually is — I expect there will be some Stockholm Syndrome talk in the coming days.
This is a day that we should celebrate Jill Carroll’s courage. She put herself in danger to try to give the world a more accurate picture of Iraq. It is totally inappropriate to assume that her description of how she was treated is motivated by anything other than a desire to tell the truth.
Podhoretz owes Jill Carroll an apology.
UPDATE: Imus Executive Producer: Carroll is “The Kind of Woman Who Would Wear One of Those Suicide Vests, Sneak Into the Green Zoneâ€
UPDATE II: Andrew Sullivan agrees JPod was out of line.
UPDATE III: Right-wing author and blogger Orrin Judd says Carroll’s comments prove “she was a willing participant” in her own kidnapping.
UPDATE IV: Powerline’s John Hinderaker joins in: “…I want to register a small protest against her statement, widely quoted in the press, that she was ‘well treated’ by her captors. This is a sentiment that one often hears from people who have been released by kidnappers; one gets the sense that the victims are grateful–understandably, perhaps–to the terrorists for letting them go.”
ThinkFast: March 30, 2006
ThinkFast: March 30, 2006
The administration appears to be taking “measures in Iraq that would wreck its most cherished goal there: democracy.†Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said Bush’s latest efforts cause “concern among the Iraqi people that the democratic process is being threatened.â€
The UK Independent presents examples of the Lincoln Group’s propaganda work in Iraq, which one military specialist described as “comical.†One exaggerated headline: ‘IRAQI ARMY DEFEATS TERRORISM.’
The nation’s capital is still not prepared to deal with a terrorist attack.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill yesterday that would put lawsuits challenging the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program on a fast track to the Supreme Court.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) “left open the possibility†yesterday that Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) resolution to censure Bush over his warrantless domestic spying program “could get its day before the full Senate.†Specter “suggested it could be brought to the floor under a rare procedural move.â€
Josh Bolten’s first act as chief of staff may be trying to convince Bush to replace Treasury Secretary John Snow “with someone who can more forcefully communicate the administration’s message that the economy is strong.†More »
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