The Obama campaign is going to charge the press for its coverage of his victory slash coronation on the night of November 4th.
Guess what? It's just the beginning. This is the beginning of transformational politics - the transformation of money.
The Obama stunt of using text messaging to announce his choice of Vice President. Did anyone in the press ask how much that stunt cost the Obama campaign? How much it cost each person to receive that message? How many received that message? The total amount of money generated by that event? WHO GOT THE MONEY?
As Mark Felt said, follow the money.
The night that Obama had the private meeting with Senator Clinton, he had the press report to his campaign plane and his staff kept the press there so that his meeting could be private. I never heard, but was the airplane door ever closed or the stairs taken away from the plane? Did anyone in the press demand to be let off and was refused? I hope not, because that would be false imprisonment.
Note to Chris Matthews: that tingling you feel going up your leg? It a hand reaching for your wallet. Just so that you know.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
J-School, not B-School, Graduates
Maggie Rodriguez of is co- anchor of the CBS Early Show on Saturday. She is a newsreader, not an economist, or business person or a deep thinker.
Why?
After reporting that the decline in the price of oil is causing a decline in the price of gasoline at the pump but the drop in the price of oil was not causing a corresponding dropo in the price of food, she observed that the law of Supply and Demand should not determine the price of food in the market - here's her quote:
"But this is not affecting grocery bills, Chris, and that's because as long as there is demand, these grocers, they price their products based on that and not what they should be pricing them on."
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. You need to think like an entrepeneur and not someone who reads copy. If you thonk that the prices being charged are unfair (too high), then there is opportunity to deliver a good service at a fair price and make some money for yourself or the charity of your choice. I suggest that Maggie should take some of that lucrative salary and invest in a grocery store. Put your ideas to the test. Charge lower prices and corner the market - put those greedy business owners out of business.
Also, to prove your moral superiority, I suggest that you not sell certain items for the good of the public:
cigarettes,
beer,
wine,
fatty foods,
lottery tickets,
anything forbidden by any religion.
Show the rest of us how its done.
Why?
After reporting that the decline in the price of oil is causing a decline in the price of gasoline at the pump but the drop in the price of oil was not causing a corresponding dropo in the price of food, she observed that the law of Supply and Demand should not determine the price of food in the market - here's her quote:
"But this is not affecting grocery bills, Chris, and that's because as long as there is demand, these grocers, they price their products based on that and not what they should be pricing them on."
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. You need to think like an entrepeneur and not someone who reads copy. If you thonk that the prices being charged are unfair (too high), then there is opportunity to deliver a good service at a fair price and make some money for yourself or the charity of your choice. I suggest that Maggie should take some of that lucrative salary and invest in a grocery store. Put your ideas to the test. Charge lower prices and corner the market - put those greedy business owners out of business.
Also, to prove your moral superiority, I suggest that you not sell certain items for the good of the public:
cigarettes,
beer,
wine,
fatty foods,
lottery tickets,
anything forbidden by any religion.
Show the rest of us how its done.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The George W. Bush Sewage Treatment Plant
The City of San Francisco may be renaming its sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush - as an insult to him, of course. To show their contempt and demonstrate their smug sense of superiority. San Francisco is the only city that had a ballot referendum to allow a uniformed police officer to carry a ventriloquist's dummy on his beat.
George W. Bush should attend the renaming ceremony to give a speech. If I may be sold bold, A speech along the following lines:
"To the good people of San Francisco, I am here to thank you for the honor of having this new sewage treatment facility named in my honor. The people who work here, day in and day out, perform a vital public service in regard to public health and the prevention of communicable diseases. The health and vitality of the people of San Francisco, the millions of tourists who visit this fine city every year, the marine life in the waters in and around San Francisco Bay, and the local, state and national economies are dependent on the efficient operation of this plant and other plants just like it across this great nation."
"There was a time when the size of a city - a health city - was limited by the ability of the local environment to absorb human and animal waste generated inside the city. When the city passed those limits, the human population therein became subject to those diseases whose names still strike dread in people - diseases such as cholera, diptheria, ..." Diseases that were a major threat to the people of San Francisco after the Great Earthquake."
"At the end of the Nineteenth Century, the City of Chicago was identifying the major problems that its continued growth would present to the people - one problem was the every increasing amount of manure created by horses used for transportation and by the cows used for milk and meat by Chicago families. As we all know, that cities fouled by animal waste never became a problem because of an unintended consequence of the invention of the automobile industry. By comparison, the American cities of the 21st Century would seem safe and clean to a person of the 19th Century."
"In the past century, human civilization has made great strides in fighting disease and extending the life expectancy of humanity. Advancements in medicine have conquered so many diseases and so many illness that plaques and pestilences that once ravaged humanity are nothing more than a footnote in our history books - not obliterated, perhaps not conquered, but certainly contained."
"But these strides would not have been possible if all the resources of medicine, all of the efforts of doctors, nurses, medical professionals, and public health workers were committed to fighting those old communicable diseases of black plague, cholera, typhus, yellow fever, malaria and other diseases. It is the containment of those diseases that have allowed our nation, our people, to pour its resources, time and energy to dealing with AIDS, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and other diseases. We only have the ability to fight these emerging diseases because of the efforts of civil engineers, public health departments, and the people who work in this building day in and day out. They keep the bad bugs at bay for the benefit of us all."
"These workers are the reason why so many of you today are alive and in good health. The diseases that would otherwise kill and cripple so many in this community are removed and eliminated on an industrial scale. These workers are the reason why you have a reasonable expectation of living 20 - 30 - 40 years longer than your great-grandparents. These workers deserve our thanks and our gratitude for the very necessary work they do every day - it's not glamorous, it's not easy, it's not clean - but it is a necessary job."
"The next time the people of San Francisco are seated at the local Starbucks, drinking their coffee while talking how they are going to save the world, the should ask themselves who is there to keep them alive and healthy? It is the fine men and women who work in this building. They deserve our thanks and our gratitude."
"Please, everyone stand and let's give an rousing Standing-O to the workers of the George W. Bush Waste Treatment Plant."
Imagine how torn the protesters would be - waiting to protest his every word but constrained
by their big government view. Wanting to show contempt for Bush but not wanting to show contempt for their own city employees.
This would turn their show of contempt into a symbol of good government. If they act like petulant children by showing their contempt for a former president who is there to honor public workers, then the nation would have reason to refine an opinion of the San Francisco liberal.
George W. Bush should attend the renaming ceremony to give a speech. If I may be sold bold, A speech along the following lines:
"To the good people of San Francisco, I am here to thank you for the honor of having this new sewage treatment facility named in my honor. The people who work here, day in and day out, perform a vital public service in regard to public health and the prevention of communicable diseases. The health and vitality of the people of San Francisco, the millions of tourists who visit this fine city every year, the marine life in the waters in and around San Francisco Bay, and the local, state and national economies are dependent on the efficient operation of this plant and other plants just like it across this great nation."
"There was a time when the size of a city - a health city - was limited by the ability of the local environment to absorb human and animal waste generated inside the city. When the city passed those limits, the human population therein became subject to those diseases whose names still strike dread in people - diseases such as cholera, diptheria, ..." Diseases that were a major threat to the people of San Francisco after the Great Earthquake."
"At the end of the Nineteenth Century, the City of Chicago was identifying the major problems that its continued growth would present to the people - one problem was the every increasing amount of manure created by horses used for transportation and by the cows used for milk and meat by Chicago families. As we all know, that cities fouled by animal waste never became a problem because of an unintended consequence of the invention of the automobile industry. By comparison, the American cities of the 21st Century would seem safe and clean to a person of the 19th Century."
"In the past century, human civilization has made great strides in fighting disease and extending the life expectancy of humanity. Advancements in medicine have conquered so many diseases and so many illness that plaques and pestilences that once ravaged humanity are nothing more than a footnote in our history books - not obliterated, perhaps not conquered, but certainly contained."
"But these strides would not have been possible if all the resources of medicine, all of the efforts of doctors, nurses, medical professionals, and public health workers were committed to fighting those old communicable diseases of black plague, cholera, typhus, yellow fever, malaria and other diseases. It is the containment of those diseases that have allowed our nation, our people, to pour its resources, time and energy to dealing with AIDS, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and other diseases. We only have the ability to fight these emerging diseases because of the efforts of civil engineers, public health departments, and the people who work in this building day in and day out. They keep the bad bugs at bay for the benefit of us all."
"These workers are the reason why so many of you today are alive and in good health. The diseases that would otherwise kill and cripple so many in this community are removed and eliminated on an industrial scale. These workers are the reason why you have a reasonable expectation of living 20 - 30 - 40 years longer than your great-grandparents. These workers deserve our thanks and our gratitude for the very necessary work they do every day - it's not glamorous, it's not easy, it's not clean - but it is a necessary job."
"The next time the people of San Francisco are seated at the local Starbucks, drinking their coffee while talking how they are going to save the world, the should ask themselves who is there to keep them alive and healthy? It is the fine men and women who work in this building. They deserve our thanks and our gratitude."
"Please, everyone stand and let's give an rousing Standing-O to the workers of the George W. Bush Waste Treatment Plant."
Imagine how torn the protesters would be - waiting to protest his every word but constrained
by their big government view. Wanting to show contempt for Bush but not wanting to show contempt for their own city employees.
This would turn their show of contempt into a symbol of good government. If they act like petulant children by showing their contempt for a former president who is there to honor public workers, then the nation would have reason to refine an opinion of the San Francisco liberal.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Worst of times; best of times
For Journalists and journalism, it is the worst of times, it is the best of times.
It is the worst of times as evidenced by the fear evident in the reporting of many journalists. They are afraid of losing their jobs. They are saddened that too many of their friends and fellow journalists have lost their jobs. Too many of their icons have had their voices silenced by layoffs and closings. They do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. At this point, they would be happy to see the light of an oncoming freight train as an improvement over a long journey through they terrible, dark and dank tunnel called the Internet in which they find themselves.
It is the best of times because reporters who have a story to cover, who can cover the story accurately and fairly, and who are not afraid to tell the complete story are finding readers who appreciate good reporting. These reporters only have to please their readers, not their editors who may have their own narrative for which the reporting was intended to prove to the public.
There is an old saying, "in confusion, there is opportunity."
The journalists who stay with the old system are, metaphorically speaking, fighting to stay on a ship that is foundering. Unfortunately, many of their efforts to remain are putting holes in their own hull - some below the waterline.
The people to whom I refer to as journalists are a type of reporter who is using the facts of a story, or the public perception of the facts, to tell a story about some great cause or injustice.
The people to whom I refer to as reporters are there to report the facts - the great cause will take care of itself.
During an interview years ago, the reporter/author/celebrity Pete Hamill was commenting on the reporters of the past when he commented that the worst thing for reporting is when reporters became a part of the middle class. His point was that in the past, reporters when hungry for news, the "scoop", and were dogged in their efforts to cover the story. They had lost that edge, that passion, with their entry into the middle class.
Now, there are many journalists who consider themselves to be better, smarter, and more capable than the politicians in D.C. Correction - the Republican politicians whom the journalists to be dumb, corrupt, and panderers to the middle class.
If you do not believe me, then watch the Washington Press Corps.
Before the current generation of journalists, it was the norm for a reporter to not be married to someone in government - most of those who were married were the sole wage earner. Now , it would be a rare thing indeed to find a journalist whose spouse is not in the workforce.
Unfortunately, D.C. is a company town where probably 98% of all married couples are two wage households. Two sources of income is not a sin, except when the spouse works for the government, a think tank, or a lobbyist. This means that journalists can report the facts and let the truth find its way to the public regardless of whose spouse gets burned, or is can select to protect its own immediate family members, its own members of the press, or its sources by withholding teh facts and massaging the truth.
Andrea Mitchell of NBC News has been married to Alan Greenspan. Greenspan is the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board which gives him a lot of influence over the monetary policy of the United States. Does anyone believe that Ms. Mitchell would have a story about major problems caused by errors made by the Fed? Does anyone believe that another NBC reporter would cover such a story without thinking about how this would affect Andrea? Does anyone believe that another long time D.C. journalist would cover such a story knowing that they will be seeing Andrea and Alan at some press party in the near future?
David Gregory of NBC News is married to Beth Wilkinson, former General Counsel to Fannie Mae. Since we are in the middle of a financial crisis caused by B*A*D housing loans that were hypothicated to Fannie and Freddie Mac, we should be getting stories about why loans were made to people who could not afford to make the payments. Were any politicians involved? Did Congress have any role in the policies, procedures and decisions made that allowed people without jobs to qualify for quarter million dollar loans? Will we ever hear David Gregory report such a story if it could be tied to his wife?
Fannie Mae and Feddie Mac are at the heart of multi-billion dollar accounting scandal several years ago. Higher management was paid tens of millions of dollars, if not more than a 1oo million dollars, made possible by manipulating the numbers to make the highest of management appear to have hit their financial targets. Larger than the ENRON scandal, only no one went to jail. Imagine that! And we expect the D.C. press corp to tell us who was causing this mess? No - that might make for an embarrassing moment at the next cocktail party.
The press wonders why we don;t but their newspapers anymore. To some extent, I believe that the general public is aware at some level, almost subconscious, that the journalists are more interested in pushing their own politican agenda, satisfying their own self-aggrandizement, and protecting themselves and the other members of the elite club to which they belong. Why should I pay for a pack of lies and half-truths?
There was a time in the country when most people would have been honored to have dinner with Walter Cronkite, Howard K. Smith, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, or Eric Sevareid.
There might be disagreement but it would be friendly and based upon mutual respect.
Now, if most people found themselves seated at the same table as a David Gregory, Chris Matthews, or Keith Olbermann, would find a quiet and polite way to excuse themselves from the table. After all. most rooms would have trouble accomadating the egos of such large size and most chairs would have trouble with talent that diminutive. These raving personalities consider themselves the new elite who are so far above the average American that they exist on almost another metaphysical plane from the population at large.
I believe that most of the members of the D.C. press corps are in competition to see who can be the first to have a child by Senator Barack Obama. And I'm not talking about the female members of the press corp.
It is the worst of times as evidenced by the fear evident in the reporting of many journalists. They are afraid of losing their jobs. They are saddened that too many of their friends and fellow journalists have lost their jobs. Too many of their icons have had their voices silenced by layoffs and closings. They do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. At this point, they would be happy to see the light of an oncoming freight train as an improvement over a long journey through they terrible, dark and dank tunnel called the Internet in which they find themselves.
It is the best of times because reporters who have a story to cover, who can cover the story accurately and fairly, and who are not afraid to tell the complete story are finding readers who appreciate good reporting. These reporters only have to please their readers, not their editors who may have their own narrative for which the reporting was intended to prove to the public.
There is an old saying, "in confusion, there is opportunity."
The journalists who stay with the old system are, metaphorically speaking, fighting to stay on a ship that is foundering. Unfortunately, many of their efforts to remain are putting holes in their own hull - some below the waterline.
The people to whom I refer to as journalists are a type of reporter who is using the facts of a story, or the public perception of the facts, to tell a story about some great cause or injustice.
The people to whom I refer to as reporters are there to report the facts - the great cause will take care of itself.
During an interview years ago, the reporter/author/celebrity Pete Hamill was commenting on the reporters of the past when he commented that the worst thing for reporting is when reporters became a part of the middle class. His point was that in the past, reporters when hungry for news, the "scoop", and were dogged in their efforts to cover the story. They had lost that edge, that passion, with their entry into the middle class.
Now, there are many journalists who consider themselves to be better, smarter, and more capable than the politicians in D.C. Correction - the Republican politicians whom the journalists to be dumb, corrupt, and panderers to the middle class.
If you do not believe me, then watch the Washington Press Corps.
Before the current generation of journalists, it was the norm for a reporter to not be married to someone in government - most of those who were married were the sole wage earner. Now , it would be a rare thing indeed to find a journalist whose spouse is not in the workforce.
Unfortunately, D.C. is a company town where probably 98% of all married couples are two wage households. Two sources of income is not a sin, except when the spouse works for the government, a think tank, or a lobbyist. This means that journalists can report the facts and let the truth find its way to the public regardless of whose spouse gets burned, or is can select to protect its own immediate family members, its own members of the press, or its sources by withholding teh facts and massaging the truth.
Andrea Mitchell of NBC News has been married to Alan Greenspan. Greenspan is the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board which gives him a lot of influence over the monetary policy of the United States. Does anyone believe that Ms. Mitchell would have a story about major problems caused by errors made by the Fed? Does anyone believe that another NBC reporter would cover such a story without thinking about how this would affect Andrea? Does anyone believe that another long time D.C. journalist would cover such a story knowing that they will be seeing Andrea and Alan at some press party in the near future?
David Gregory of NBC News is married to Beth Wilkinson, former General Counsel to Fannie Mae. Since we are in the middle of a financial crisis caused by B*A*D housing loans that were hypothicated to Fannie and Freddie Mac, we should be getting stories about why loans were made to people who could not afford to make the payments. Were any politicians involved? Did Congress have any role in the policies, procedures and decisions made that allowed people without jobs to qualify for quarter million dollar loans? Will we ever hear David Gregory report such a story if it could be tied to his wife?
Fannie Mae and Feddie Mac are at the heart of multi-billion dollar accounting scandal several years ago. Higher management was paid tens of millions of dollars, if not more than a 1oo million dollars, made possible by manipulating the numbers to make the highest of management appear to have hit their financial targets. Larger than the ENRON scandal, only no one went to jail. Imagine that! And we expect the D.C. press corp to tell us who was causing this mess? No - that might make for an embarrassing moment at the next cocktail party.
The press wonders why we don;t but their newspapers anymore. To some extent, I believe that the general public is aware at some level, almost subconscious, that the journalists are more interested in pushing their own politican agenda, satisfying their own self-aggrandizement, and protecting themselves and the other members of the elite club to which they belong. Why should I pay for a pack of lies and half-truths?
There was a time in the country when most people would have been honored to have dinner with Walter Cronkite, Howard K. Smith, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, or Eric Sevareid.
There might be disagreement but it would be friendly and based upon mutual respect.
Now, if most people found themselves seated at the same table as a David Gregory, Chris Matthews, or Keith Olbermann, would find a quiet and polite way to excuse themselves from the table. After all. most rooms would have trouble accomadating the egos of such large size and most chairs would have trouble with talent that diminutive. These raving personalities consider themselves the new elite who are so far above the average American that they exist on almost another metaphysical plane from the population at large.
I believe that most of the members of the D.C. press corps are in competition to see who can be the first to have a child by Senator Barack Obama. And I'm not talking about the female members of the press corp.
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