Thursday, February 11, 2010
A history of creased pants and shopworn ideas
for David Brooks and other trouser jockeys
Today Matt Patterson takes on The New York Times’ David Brooks for his infatuation with Obama and the “limits of [Brooks’] understanding.” The jumping off point for his piece at Big Government is Brooks’ “continued fascination” with Obama’s perfectly creased pants.
So let us jump off Obama’s lap and begin this discussion with a bit of history.
You are likely not aware that trousers with creases were once sneered at. They announced to everyone that your pants were “store bought” — creased from sitting on a store shelf, a sign they were factory-made and of inferior quality. Those weren’t “creases” — they were permanent wrinkles.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Why did a NY Daily News article on O’Keefe
disappear and then reappear on its site?
And why has a second false article
not been corrected or retracted?
Many reporters and news outlets have been scrambling lately to avoid a lawsuit by activist-videographer James O’Keefe. They’re issuing corrections or retractions to their published false claims that he was charged by the FBI with “bugging” and/or “wiretapping” during his recent service call to Senator Mary Landrieu’s Louisiana office. But even as the press backtracks, the slanderous statements are being widely (and wildly) repeated.
Some sources are correcting themselves voluntarily, and some after on-air haranguing and corporate reprimands. These include The Washington Post, MSNBC’s David Shuster, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, and the Associated Press.
And some are doing it… well, not at all. The N.Y. Daily News, for instance.
James Gordon Meek, a serious-looking member of the Daily News’ Washington bureau, has filed two stories about the O’Keefe arrest. He has also chortled with his colleagues about the matter on Twitter.
One of his articles states that O’Keefe was “popped by the FBI Tuesday on charges of bugging”; and that “as the bogus hardhats tried to bug an office phone, O’Keefe held up a cell phone “…so as to record Flanagan and Basel,” the FBI said.” (Emphasis mine.)
So here in one article are two instances of clear and unqualified claims by Meek of FBI bugging charges, when in fact no such charges were made, according to the widely-circulated four-page affidavit by the FBI’s Special Agent Steven Rayes and the DOJ press release Meek links to.
not been corrected or retracted?
Many reporters and news outlets have been scrambling lately to avoid a lawsuit by activist-videographer James O’Keefe. They’re issuing corrections or retractions to their published false claims that he was charged by the FBI with “bugging” and/or “wiretapping” during his recent service call to Senator Mary Landrieu’s Louisiana office. But even as the press backtracks, the slanderous statements are being widely (and wildly) repeated.
Some sources are correcting themselves voluntarily, and some after on-air haranguing and corporate reprimands. These include The Washington Post, MSNBC’s David Shuster, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, and the Associated Press.
And some are doing it… well, not at all. The N.Y. Daily News, for instance.
One of his articles states that O’Keefe was “popped by the FBI Tuesday on charges of bugging”; and that “as the bogus hardhats tried to bug an office phone, O’Keefe held up a cell phone “…so as to record Flanagan and Basel,” the FBI said.” (Emphasis mine.)
So here in one article are two instances of clear and unqualified claims by Meek of FBI bugging charges, when in fact no such charges were made, according to the widely-circulated four-page affidavit by the FBI’s Special Agent Steven Rayes and the DOJ press release Meek links to.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Direct conflict between major newspapers:
Who is calling the shots on the NYC terror trial?
5:53 PM January 29 | Ken Bazinet of the NY Daily News stands firm and says Scott Shane got his “butt kicked” (see end of thread). But this is much more than a tiff between reporters. Analysis follows. – p.k.
10:55 AM January 29 | Scott Shane of The New York Times says Ken Bazinet’s story in the NY Daily News “is wrong.” Read about our conversation at the bottom of this thread. – p.k.
January 29, 12:56 AM | NOTE TO READERS: I began this story to document the slowness of the Times’ coverage of a huge national story that the Daily News ran with hours before, and which was broadcast to the globe by Drudge.
January 29, 12:56 AM | NOTE TO READERS: I began this story to document the slowness of the Times’ coverage of a huge national story that the Daily News ran with hours before, and which was broadcast to the globe by Drudge.
However, the story has changed; it is now about a direct conflict between the Daily News’ claim that Obama “ordered” Justice to change consider changing the trial venue, and the New York Times’ opposing claim that “Obama left the decision” to Justice.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
NYPD’s Ray Kelly quietly drops an anvil on Obama,
to thunderous applause by young New York GOPers
Raymond W. Kelly’s remarks Thursday to The New York Young Republican Club started out sounding very boilerplate – like a speech by any of the City’s mayors, police officials, and tourism execs: “Crime is down, tourism is up, come to Times Square and see a show.” So why had the NY Post’s Maggie Haberman announced his appearance as “unusual” and “surprising”?
By the time it was over, it was clear why. We had witnessed this politically independent, world-class police commissioner quietly employ a few dry statistics and facts to slide an anvil off a ledge, allowing gravity to deliver its full weight upon Barack Obama’s head.
By the time it was over, it was clear why. We had witnessed this politically independent, world-class police commissioner quietly employ a few dry statistics and facts to slide an anvil off a ledge, allowing gravity to deliver its full weight upon Barack Obama’s head.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Poll-watching during Massachusetts’
historic January 2010 special election
PART I: January 18, 2010 – Today I heard about an opportunity to poll watch in tomorrow’s historic special election in Massachusetts. Of course, I jumped at the chance and responded. Moments later, my contact at Americans for Limited Government was on the line with me, making my train reservation and exchanging cell phone numbers. Then I threw together a suitcase and ran out the door to catch the subway from Astoria, Queens to Penn Station.
I had just exhausted myself on Saturday, January 16 in Agawam, Mass. with The New York Young Republican Club, in a door-to-door get-out-the-vote effort for senate hopeful Scott Brown. After that long day, I could barely muster the strength to make Internet phone bank calls for Brown from my dusty bedroom. But when I saw this job come up in today’s Facebook newsfeed, I grabbed it. High on the list of motivating factors was an opportunity to dine with fellow patriots after the day’s labors and get “liquored up.”
For those of you in transit from Jupiter, or living in a dark, muddy ditch in Venezuela, Brown has a chance to take the U.S. Senate seat vacated when Edward “Teddy” Kennedy departed to meet his maker in 2009. If successful Tuesday, Brown will destroy the Dem’s supermajority, complicate the push for ObamaCare™, and sink a sharp knife deeply into Obama’s already rapidly failing presidency. Brown’s opponent is the singularly uninspiring Martha Coakley, known to some of her most ardent supporters as “Marcia.” It’s a close race – which is why poll-watching is vital – but I am hopeful for a win.
So tonight, riding in business class on Amtrak’s exceptional Acela Express to Boston, I am meeting someone holding a sign, to be whisked to Woburn’s Hampton Inn and hopefully given some training, a late meal, and some suds.
On the train, I’m relaxing with Tarantino’s Basterds on my laptop, texting hotel details to my family, drinking Corona, typing this article, and calling the hotel to see if they have wifi (they do), and food (yes, hot breakfast and close proximity to Joe’s Bar and Grill). They’re thirty minutes from Boston’s South Station; the map I managed to snap on screen before I packed my laptop indicates that there’s a Peet’s Coffee and Tea two blocks from the station, so perhaps it was in God’s plan that I forgot to replenish my Starbucks on last night’s grocery run. Guess I’ll be leaving for the station an hour early Wednesday and driving everyone in my Amtrak car crazy from the smell.
“Pick up your penny and your suitcase,” sings ELO on my laptop’s iTunes at this very moment. Well, on my budget, this is exactly what I’m doing tonight. “Hold on tight to your dreams,” they continue on the next track. But freedom is not a dream; it is a concrete, obtainable reality. A reality we can lose, yes, but definitely not a mere dream. I’m holding on tight anyway.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I’m sure I’ll be ready to make a difference at the polls. By happenstance, I had a clean purple T-shirt in my laundry, so I packed it. Maybe this will confuse the SEIU thugs likely to be lurking menacingly at my assigned polling place, or maybe it will just piss them off. Either way, it’s a win.
I’ll check in late tomorrow in Part II with a full report of the day. Meanwhile, please pray for a win for Brown. And pray hard.
I had just exhausted myself on Saturday, January 16 in Agawam, Mass. with The New York Young Republican Club, in a door-to-door get-out-the-vote effort for senate hopeful Scott Brown. After that long day, I could barely muster the strength to make Internet phone bank calls for Brown from my dusty bedroom. But when I saw this job come up in today’s Facebook newsfeed, I grabbed it. High on the list of motivating factors was an opportunity to dine with fellow patriots after the day’s labors and get “liquored up.”
For those of you in transit from Jupiter, or living in a dark, muddy ditch in Venezuela, Brown has a chance to take the U.S. Senate seat vacated when Edward “Teddy” Kennedy departed to meet his maker in 2009. If successful Tuesday, Brown will destroy the Dem’s supermajority, complicate the push for ObamaCare™, and sink a sharp knife deeply into Obama’s already rapidly failing presidency. Brown’s opponent is the singularly uninspiring Martha Coakley, known to some of her most ardent supporters as “Marcia.” It’s a close race – which is why poll-watching is vital – but I am hopeful for a win.
So tonight, riding in business class on Amtrak’s exceptional Acela Express to Boston, I am meeting someone holding a sign, to be whisked to Woburn’s Hampton Inn and hopefully given some training, a late meal, and some suds.
On the train, I’m relaxing with Tarantino’s Basterds on my laptop, texting hotel details to my family, drinking Corona, typing this article, and calling the hotel to see if they have wifi (they do), and food (yes, hot breakfast and close proximity to Joe’s Bar and Grill). They’re thirty minutes from Boston’s South Station; the map I managed to snap on screen before I packed my laptop indicates that there’s a Peet’s Coffee and Tea two blocks from the station, so perhaps it was in God’s plan that I forgot to replenish my Starbucks on last night’s grocery run. Guess I’ll be leaving for the station an hour early Wednesday and driving everyone in my Amtrak car crazy from the smell.
“Pick up your penny and your suitcase,” sings ELO on my laptop’s iTunes at this very moment. Well, on my budget, this is exactly what I’m doing tonight. “Hold on tight to your dreams,” they continue on the next track. But freedom is not a dream; it is a concrete, obtainable reality. A reality we can lose, yes, but definitely not a mere dream. I’m holding on tight anyway.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I’m sure I’ll be ready to make a difference at the polls. By happenstance, I had a clean purple T-shirt in my laundry, so I packed it. Maybe this will confuse the SEIU thugs likely to be lurking menacingly at my assigned polling place, or maybe it will just piss them off. Either way, it’s a win.
I’ll check in late tomorrow in Part II with a full report of the day. Meanwhile, please pray for a win for Brown. And pray hard.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Breitbart announces January 6 launch
of BigJournalism.com
Today, Andrew Breitbart announced that January 6 is the date he will launch BigJournalism.com. He stated this when guest-hosting for Dennis Miller on his radio show this morning.
Earlier, Mr. Breitbart had announced a January debut, but not until today has he stated the exact date, at least not to my knowledge.
Earlier this year, he launched BigHollywood and BigGovernment.com, and has stated he has quietly bought up other domains such as BigEU, BigJerusalem, BigSoros, BigEducation, BigTolerance, and BigEnvironment.
My own research reveals that he has purchased other domains that have not been announced or mentioned elsewhere. Some of these include BigDemocrat, BigAcademics, BigWelfare, and the eponymous BigBreitbart. I believe there are several others.
When launching BigGovernment.com this fall, Mr. Breitbart broke the now-notorious story about the corrupt ACORN organization, with a series of videos and transcripts. He serialized the story by releasing the videos in a slow drip, which snared ACORN in lie after lie.
He did not state today whether he has a journalism-related story to break on January 6, nor did he mention the identity of the BigJournalism’s editor.
Earlier, Mr. Breitbart had announced a January debut, but not until today has he stated the exact date, at least not to my knowledge.
Earlier this year, he launched BigHollywood and BigGovernment.com, and has stated he has quietly bought up other domains such as BigEU, BigJerusalem, BigSoros, BigEducation, BigTolerance, and BigEnvironment.
My own research reveals that he has purchased other domains that have not been announced or mentioned elsewhere. Some of these include BigDemocrat, BigAcademics, BigWelfare, and the eponymous BigBreitbart. I believe there are several others.
When launching BigGovernment.com this fall, Mr. Breitbart broke the now-notorious story about the corrupt ACORN organization, with a series of videos and transcripts. He serialized the story by releasing the videos in a slow drip, which snared ACORN in lie after lie.
He did not state today whether he has a journalism-related story to break on January 6, nor did he mention the identity of the BigJournalism’s editor.
Monday, December 21, 2009
“Pick up your penny and your suitcase” –
Prescient lyrics on healthcare eve [VIDEO]
On the eve of the notorious and deadly Senate healthcare vote of December 2009, Facebook and Twitter statuses everywhere are mourning the passing of America. My friend Frank’s says it best:
For no particular reason, I decided tonight to download the Electric Light Orchestra’s 1981 album, “Time.” Quite a bit of nostalgia in the sounds and ideas of these songs; they are hopeful, haunting, majestic and mournful.
And suddenly, as I listen to the lyrics of “21st Century Man,” my insides are knocked out. The words seem to speak to what we have lost tonight, something we will look back on from the future, in our dreams, from a sort of empty outer space in a broken America we can only dread in the present.
Listen to the song on YouTube, and read the lyrics below. See if they strike you the way they struck me:
A penny in your pocket
Suitcase in your hand
They won’t get you very far
Now you’re a 21st century man.
Fly across the city
Rise above the land
You can do ‘most anything
Now you're a 21st century man.
Though you ride on the wheels of tomorrow (tomorrow)
You still wander the fields of your sorrow
What will it bring?
One day you’re a hero
Next day you're a clown
There’s nothing that is in between
Now you're a 21st century man.
You should be so happy
You should be so glad
So why are you so lonely
You 21st century man?
You stepped out of a dream
Believing everything was gone
Return with what you’ve learned
They’ll kiss the ground you walk upon.
Things ain’t how you thought they were
Nothing have you planned
So pick up your penny and your suitcase
You’re not a 21st century man.
Though you ride on the wheels of tomorrow
You still wander the fields of your sorrow (sorrow)
Tomorrow, 21st century man
21st century man
21st century man...
(Lyrics by Jeff Lynne)
– Paul Klenk
“The republic is dying, long live the republic.”
For no particular reason, I decided tonight to download the Electric Light Orchestra’s 1981 album, “Time.” Quite a bit of nostalgia in the sounds and ideas of these songs; they are hopeful, haunting, majestic and mournful.
And suddenly, as I listen to the lyrics of “21st Century Man,” my insides are knocked out. The words seem to speak to what we have lost tonight, something we will look back on from the future, in our dreams, from a sort of empty outer space in a broken America we can only dread in the present.
Listen to the song on YouTube, and read the lyrics below. See if they strike you the way they struck me:
A penny in your pocket
Suitcase in your hand
They won’t get you very far
Now you’re a 21st century man.
Fly across the city
Rise above the land
You can do ‘most anything
Now you're a 21st century man.
Though you ride on the wheels of tomorrow (tomorrow)
You still wander the fields of your sorrow
What will it bring?
One day you’re a hero
Next day you're a clown
There’s nothing that is in between
Now you're a 21st century man.
You should be so happy
You should be so glad
So why are you so lonely
You 21st century man?
You stepped out of a dream
Believing everything was gone
Return with what you’ve learned
They’ll kiss the ground you walk upon.
Things ain’t how you thought they were
Nothing have you planned
So pick up your penny and your suitcase
You’re not a 21st century man.
Though you ride on the wheels of tomorrow
You still wander the fields of your sorrow (sorrow)
Tomorrow, 21st century man
21st century man
21st century man...
(Lyrics by Jeff Lynne)
– Paul Klenk
