Frank Rich asks what happened to change we can believe in.
The reasons for his failure to reap credit for any economic accomplishments are a catechism by now: the dark cloud cast by undiminished unemployment, the relentless disinformation campaign of his political opponents, and the White House's surprising ineptitude at selling its own achievements. But the most relentless drag on a chief executive who promised change we can believe in is even more ominous. It's the country's fatalistic sense that the stacked economic order that gave us the Great Recession remains not just in place but more entrenched and powerful than ever.
Yes, it is the economy stupid. But as Rich points out, just as stupid is the Democrats failure at putting out the word on their accomplishments. Unfortunately, public opinion often tends to get based not on the merits of an issue but instead on which side screams out loudest. Perception and not facts determines the worthiness of anything these days. And as I've noted before, the bigger and more effective megaphone is painted red, not blue.
So while ninety-five percent of Americans have seen a tax cut over the last eighteen months, a Times/CBS News poll indicates that only 8 percent of Americans are aware of this little fact. The health care act, the stimulus bill, the bailouts and Wall Street reform, while not perfect by any measure, have all reaped benefits which Democrats could be heralding in a more effective way. To call them inept in the art of messaging would be an understatement.
In tough economic times, there is no way to prevent the party in power from getting roughed up at election time regardless of blame. It's just the way it is. What is avoidable though is for the governing power to remain silent on their accomplishments while giving their opposition free rein to mold public opinion. Dumb.
If you're not sick to death of discussing NPR, here are a couple of smart takes on NPR's role in journalism.
James Fallows points out why NPR is one of the few remaining media outlets that cares about reporting, the truth and getting it right:
And Jay Rosen looks more closely at NPR's straitjacket definition of "news analyst", using Cokie Roberts as an example.NPR, whatever its failings, is one of the few current inheritors of the tradition of the ambitious, first-rate news organization. When people talk about the "decline of the press," in practice they mean that fewer and fewer newspapers, news magazine, and broadcast networks can afford to try to gather information. The LA Times, the Washington Post, CBS News—they once had people stationed all around the world. Now they work mainly from headquarters—last year the Post closed all its domestic bureaus outside Washington—and let's not even think about poor Newsweek and US News.
[...]It has reporters at state houses and in war zones. At last count, it has something like 17 foreign bureaus and 16 domestic. In much of the country, especially away from the coasts, it's a major source of local information and news. It claims that its total audience is some 27 million people a week; with all allowances for counting differences, it reaches a lot more people than Fox does. (Eg, a recent report put O'Reilly's usual audience at around 3.3 million.) [...]
Analysis as Cokie Roberts practices it means performing this savvy script upon the week's events. She speculates on what voters are likely to do, or seem to be saying. (Listen to a typical example.) She discerns political motive in statements that pretend to be about public purpose. She calls upon Washington history to show us how we've heard it all before. She chuckles at the openly inauthentic. She serves up audible eyerolls when someone says that it's time to get the country moving again or the money out of politics. Hundreds of sentences of hers start with, "Well, if you believe the polls…."
That's a little too much voice for "straight reporting," as professional journalists understand it. But it's a lot less voice than Look: here's what I, Cokie Roberts, establishment Democrat, Washington insider and amateur feminist historian think… The idea is to give her enough room to permit crap detection without losing the political protection that the View From Nowhere affords NPR.
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If anyone can survive this, he can. "A Nepalese Sherpa who is famous in mountaineering circles for climbing Mount Everest 19 times has gone missing on another Himalayan peak. Chhewang Nima was struck by an avalanche near the summit of Mount Baruntse, his climbing agency said. He was fixing ropes at an elevation of 7,045 metres (23,114 feet) while guiding a private expedition trying to reach the 7,129 metre peak. A helicopter will join the search for him on Monday if high winds die down. The other climbers searched for Mr Nima after the accident on Saturday but were unable to find him."
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Vast stretches of oil still contaminate the Gulf.
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We confess to being stumped How the hell did abortion become the final arbiter of electability? And how can the people who scream the loudest about freedom and liberty and tyranical government simultaneously hold the position in their minds that says living, breathing, American females have no provenance over their own bodies.
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The Washington Post reports that companies that received federal bailout money, including some that still owe money to the government, are giving generously to political candidates with vigor. "Most of those donations are going to Republican candidates."
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Iraqis laugh and laugh at Wikileaks so-called 'leaks'
Image via Mark Shea:
It's easy as pie to generalize to millions of people the crimes of a few. We Catholics have had it done to us. And we can have it done to us again. So we should be bloody cautious about insane schemes to do it to 18 million fellow citizens.
The grotesque excuse "But the the first amendment is dead, and Islam killed it. There is no 'freedom of speech' or 'freedom of religion' with the threat of Muslim violence hanging over your head" is rubbish. Cancelling the rights of 307 million people because you are, by your own admission, afraid is neither patriotism, nor courage, nor Christian fortitude. It is cowardice. And it is extra-special cowardice when you are ready to cancel your most precious national heritage because you are afraid of a speck.
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Christine O'Donnell Confesses To Using Campaign Money For Personal Expenses
Teabagger loon, "ex-gay" advocate, and not-a-witch Christine O'Donnell has admitted that she's been illegally using campaign donations to pay her rent. [O'Donnell] acknowledges using campaign money to pay part of the rent on her current town house. Her attorney maintains someone with the Federal Election Commission approved the arrangement, although the commission's rules say candidates can't use campaign money for their mortgage or rent "even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign."
Americans are pissed about the deficit. They're pissed about jobs. They're pissed about taxes. So pissed that they're willing to support totally incompetent nincompoop wingnuts in next week's midterm.
Here's the thing. The Democrats cut the deficit. They created more private sector jobs than all of the Bush years combined. And the Democrats did it all while cutting taxes. The problem is, no one knows about it:
In a troubling sign for Democrats as they head into the midterm elections, their signature tax cut of the past two years, which decreased income taxes by up to $400 a year for individuals and $800 for married couples, has gone largely unnoticed.In a New York Times/CBS News Poll last month, fewer than one in 10 respondents knew that the Obama administration had lowered taxes for most Americans. Half of those polled said they thought that their taxes had stayed the same, a third thought that their taxes had gone up, and about a tenth said they did not know. As Thom Tillis, a Republican state representative, put it as the dinner wound down here, "This was the tax cut that fell in the woods — nobody heard it."
Actually, the tax cut was, by design, hard to notice. Faced with evidence that people were more likely to save than spend the tax rebate checks they received during the Bush administration, the Obama administration decided to take a different tack: it arranged for less tax money to be withheld from people's paychecks.
But whatever.
Uh, Democrats? What's your problem? Sell, sell, SELL!
A group of three Republican candidates have spent nearly a quarter-billion dollars on statewide campaigns this cycle, overshadowing even the heavyweight independent groups commonly considered the biggest financial players of the 2010 elections.
The trio of Meg Whitman in California, Rick Scott in Florida and Linda McMahon in Connecticut together have burned through more money than the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Crossroads and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have pledged to spend — combined.
Whitman has spent $163 million of her own money, Scott is in for $60 million of his family fortune while McMahon has thrown out $41.5 million. The good news is that all three are currently behind or tied in the polls.
You can't buy love (well, most of the time anyway) but you sure as hell can try.
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H/t Dick:
Krugman: Falling Into the Chasm
Dowd: Supremely Bad Judgment
On Wikileaks:
If we can learn anything from this dismal record it should be just how far we've gone over to the darker side of our individual and collective psyches, how easy the transition was for us all, and how quickly feelings of hostility and apathy have displaced our better angels.
One can only guess how deeply we will descend into this nightmarish abyss as the neo-conservatives and christianists are once more presented with the mantle of absolute power in Washington, but my feeling is that we have but begun a very long and hellish journey.
I truly pity us all.
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