THE ENTERPRISE--GET READY FOR A RANT!
FINALLY--KEITH OLBERMANN & CHRIS MATTHEWS REMOVED FROM MSNBC'S ELECTION COVERAGE DESK
Chris Matthews has always been a pain in the a--, but he's perhaps gotten worse in recent times, egged on by his partisan sidekick Keith Olbermann. For those who don't remember, Olbermann was a failure as a sports caster. He was then, as now, opinionated more than informed and alienated listeners more than enticed them to listen. Now he's done it again, and Chris Matthews goes with him. Their departure only slightly revises the incredible liberal media bias in the "main stream media" and especially NBC. When it lost its "star," Tim Russert, NBC lost the last vestige of being a network that reports the news. Rather, it subscribes to the New York Times philosophy of making up the news as they want it to be--whether that is the truth or not. GOOD RIDDANCE (although I'd seldom watch them any more without an anti-emetic nearby.)
For those who watched Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin, saw a continued charade of a "newsman" pretending to be polite attempt to ambush, trap and otherwise portray in a bad light. The bias continued in the editing, cutting off the context of Palin's answers whenever it wasn't negative enough for ABC's purposes. Bill O'Reilly's attempts to pin down Barack Obama paled in comarison--but was consistent with Fox's right leaning coverage. Now Fox, too, has to refresh Brit Hume's "panel of experts," and not stack 2 guys from the Daily Standard and one from Roll Call on it all at once. WHAT A DISGRACE THE SO-CALLED "MAJOR NEWS MEDIA" HAS BECOME. IT'S HARD TO GET A "FAIR & BALANCED" REPORT (Even on the network that uses that as its slogan.)
Charles Krauthammer says it very well, in the closing paragraph of a recent article describing how Charlie Gibson tried to trip up Sarah Palin by asking about "...the Bush doctrine"... on which Krauthammer (the originator of the term) points out, Gibson (and the NYTimes) was wrong--and Palin was right by pressing him to explain what he meant by the term. Here's how Krauthammer closed the column:
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... "Such is not the case with the Bush doctrine. Yes, Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know — while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the phenom who presumes to play on their stage. ..."
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THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN IS PANIC-STRICKEN
How do I know? Not from the media other than its reports of poll results. I know because I got a "polling call" tonight and decided to go through it just to see what it was all about. It was over 100 questions, posed .)by a young man of Asia (I'm guessing Indian or Pakistani from his accent). The questions started out innocuous enough, like you might expect. As they progressed, especially after I identified myself as a Republican who intended to vote for McCain, the tone of the questions changed noticeably. The questions became a recitation of the Obama campaign talking points about what McCain will do compared to what Obama will do and whether that would make me more likely or less likely to vote for Obama. I didn't even have to listen to the last 2/3 of each question, they were so slanted and predictable. Then the next set were a fishing expedition for anything/everything I didn't like about McCain--or anything I liked about Obama. The final set was probing which of Obama's positions I might find a little more acceptable. The reason for this was clear. Obama is losing it and grasping at every means to accumulate information and polling results that he can direct his focus on. Some of the questions were so glaringly slanted that they were offensive. WHEN POLLSTERS GET VERY SLANTED, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR ANYTHING TO BAILOUT A CAMPAIGN THAT IS FAILIN' (WHICH RHYMES WITH PALIN)
HOW STUPID IS GM? OR ARE GM'S EXECUTIVES SMART--(TANK THE RESULTS TO JUSTIFY A GOV'T BAILOUT?)
Here's how stupid: Five GM models were cited in the Wall Street Journal as selling less than 3000 units per month (two Pontiacs, one Saturn and two Saabs). In fact the sales of the two Saab models were miniscule--around 250 per month--after all that Olympic advertising money GM wasted. What is wrong with GMs management. It seems to do fine making cars for Europe, China and other places. In the US, in spite of some really nice vehicles (Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Chevy Malibu, etc.) it continues to waste resources on complexity, poor selling losers, on too many brands, and failed ideas. If GM shareholders and the board don't force some action, GM deserves to fail--and be sued by shareholders for "dereliction of duty." C'MON, GM--GET RID OF SOME COMPLEXITY!! DROP 3 BRANDS (SAAB, HUMMER AND SATURN) & THE EXCESS DEALERS, & DROP STILL MORE OF THE DUPLICATED "BADGE & TRIM-VARIATION" MODELS.
COMPARE THESE TWO WORDS DESCRIBING MORE STUPIDITY--THIS TIME THE GOV'T's--IF IT FALLS FOR THE TRICK
Bail--T and Bull---T: Let me make it clearer. A government loan to bail out GM, Ford and Chrysler is totally irresponsible and complete BULLSHIT! GM is still paying dividends--what? Cerberus (the private equity firm that owns most of Chrysler) is raking in its fees, even though there is little chance that Chrysler will survive in anything like its current form. Ford, of the three, might deserve help since Alan Mulally is doing the right things--and making better vehicles. But bailouts for private companies are a slippery slope--and one that must be avoided! "BAILOUTS ARE BULLSHIT." THERE'S NO MORE DELICATE WAY TO SAY IT. (Besides, the gov't has enough of its own messes to "bailout"--like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae).
$1 BILLION OF OUR TAX MONEY TO GEORGIA? UGH!
Someone in Washington is also stupid. Probably a lot of them--for sending $1 Billion of US tax dollars to Georgia (not the one south of Tennessee, where it might be put to good use rebuilding infrastructure). Why, oh, why does the US feel it needs to give money to every place on earth, including those who thumb their noses at us. Dumb, dumb, dumb. (And tell the Iraqis to start paying some of their own bills or pay back some of the Billions we've spent over there instead of sitting on $75 Billion in oil money.) KEEP OUR MONEY AT HOME, AND USE IT TO FIX PROBLEMS HERE. QUIT TRYING TO BUY ALLIES OR RESPECT. EARN BOTH BY THE RIGHT BEHAVIOR.
THE "POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK"
This is an old term that is now bordering on politically incorrect (Like last week's Afghanistan "Tar Baby.") But it fits perfectly in this campaign season. First it was McCain who "adjusted" some of his positions in the primary season, meanwhile, accusing Obama of being a flip-flopper. Well, he hadn't seen anything yet. Obama now accuses McCain of reinventing himself--HA! Obama wins the flip-flop derby hands down. He has revised so many of his positions over the past few months, that it's hard to imagine how he (or we) can remember where he is (or was) at any given time. First he opposed drilling, now he'll consider it. Next he is reconsidering his long standing position on rescinding the Bush tax cuts, if the economy is in/near recession--DUH--(that's what the GOP has been saying). These are just the two most recent ones. He got past the Iraq surge opposition, by complementing the troops and fuzzing his withdrawal plans into a blur of nuances--(depending on his audience). IF YOU DON'T LIKE OBAMA'S POSITIONS, WAIT A MINUTE...THEY'LL BE "RE-THOUGHT" AND CHANGE.
PELOSI NOW FLIPPING TOO...SORT OF...
Nancy "I'm saving the planet" Pelosi has now decided that maybe drilling offshore is OK after all. Why? Because the country is for it and she doesn't want her Democratic party to be accountable for making the wrong decision. Her spin is, let them drill, but let's charge BIG OIL for the rights-to places where they already paid once to have the rights. Maybe we should start charging Pelosi twice for the cost to taxpayers of her long flights from SF to DC and back. Of course she took the House on vacation with this issue boiling, and now has to come back with something. If there is no vote, the ban on drilling expires in October, so she has to do something fast--to save face. DRILL, BABY, DRILL--BUT DON'T STOP THERE--DO IT ALL
ECONOMIC ANALYSTS MUST WANT TO WORSEN THE ECONOMY
We all know that the Federal Government's statistics are suspect and often subject to huge revisions. When the 4Q of '07 was revised from a slight gain to a slight decline in GDP. The 1Q of '08 came in at a small gain, which pretty much held up. Now the 2Q comes in at a 1.9% GDP gain and the revision takes it up to 3.3%. Analysts and economists say, "that can't be right," "it doesn't fit our script." What crap. Either believe the numbers or don't. You can't pick and choose to believe some (which are in line with what you'd like them to be) and reject others (which don't jibe with your views). IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE ANSWER, CLAIM "IT MUST BE WRONG"... IT WORKS, SOMETIMES.
FROM AN INDUSTRY WEEK COLUMN IN 1998
The recent debacle of an old article about United Airlines stocl plummeting based on a old, out of date bankruptcy filing report, brought to mind this story (which many of you have read before!)
Many years ago, I read a short story that describes a chain of events that can unfold in such a situation.
"HARD TIMES ARE COMING"
The scene is a bistro in Paris. A young painter enters the bistro and asks the waiter for a bottle of his finest wine to celebrate his first big
commission--on a painting for a rich businessman. As waits for the wine, he notices a newspaper lying on a chair at the next table. The headline reads,
"Hard Times Are Coming--All Will Suffer from Downturn."
Alarmed, he calls the waiter back and asks whether he has opened the wine. Finding that the expensive bottle is still unopened, the artist tells the
waiter to bring him a more modestly priced wine instead. The waiter asks why he wishes to change--is he less excited about his good fortune? "No,"
replies the painter, "but look at that headline--'Hard Times Are Coming' I think I should be cautious."
When the waiter goes to exchange the wine, he encounters the owner of the bistro, who asks why he is not opening the fine wine. The waiter relates the painter's reaction to the headline, "Hard Times Are Coming--All Will Suffer from Downturn." As the owner returns to his office, he ponders the
food and wine order he'd just placed for his bistro. He has ordered the finest wines and cheeses, and assorted trimmings, because business has been
good lately.
But now uneasy about it, he picks up the phone and calls his supplier back, asking to reduce the size of the order and downscale the assortment of food and wine. When the supplier inquires why, the bistro owner repeats the headline, "Hard Times Are Coming." The supplier, himself a small
businessman, then calls his supplier--a larger company--and cuts back on his future orders--just in case.
When the owner of the larger company sees the order from one of its best customers reduced sharply, his concern is great, especially after he hears the reason--the headline, "Hard Times Are Coming--All Will Suffer from Downturn." The owner then decides to cut down on his extravagances, so he calls the young painter and cancels the painting he had commissioned.
The young painter returns to the bistro that evening, crestfallen, and asks for a bottle of its cheapest wine--to drown his sorrow. As he awaits the cheap wine, the painter reaches over and picks up the newspaper, still lying on the chair next to him. He discovers that the date on it is two years old!
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES SOMETIMES COME TRUE...BEWARE -- ALL AMERICANS...
NEWS FLASH TO THE MEDIA--BUSINESS CYCLES HAPPEN
A recent article seemed almost "surprised" that malls are overbuilt and on the verge of a huge collapse. Why is this such a surprise? Housing is deep in the "dumper." People who can't afford their houses are unlikely to frequent a new high-end mall. Malls, retail stores, etc. have been overbuilt in the US for at least a couple of decades. Winners survive, Losers close and become a blight on communities. And yet, developers charge ahead with mindless proliferation and over-expansion. And they get what they deserve. Create complexity through over-expansion and suffer the consequences. It will keep a new bunch of attorneys busy sorting it all out. BUSINESS CYCLES HAVE TO RUN THEIR COURSE TO REMEDY THE IMBALANCES THAT CAUSED THEM. MEDDLING WITH THEM MAKES THEM WORSE.
BOTTOM LINE FOR TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTS:
I dare you to invest the 6 -1/2 minutes to watch this video! Paste this link into your browser, then sit back and listen. When it's done, sit for 30 seconds longer and think about the message you just heard. Common sense isn't very common any more.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pKFKGrmsBDk&eurl=mhtml:mid://00000314/
I like the line that follows these words, "don't explain, don't make excuses, because..."
"THOSE WHO MATTER DON'T MIND, AND THOSE WHO MIND, DON'T MATTER."
Best, John
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