Terra Incognita

I agree with David Sirota that the latest column by Richard Cohen at the Washington Post is proof he’s gone batshit insane. It’s a hodgepodge of three ideas: Obama is lousy at passing Health Care, Obama is a boring interview subject and because Cohen hasn’t interviewed the President, he should win a Pulitzer Prize.

Or at least will win won. He starts off the piece implying he’s already won the prize for not interviewing the President. And he writes that Obama on TV is less interesting than a Maury Povich rerun.

The idea that a “journalist” would find reruns of Maury Povich more interesting than a brand new interview with the President is confusing enough.

Cohen writes that President’s used to be “awesome” and to interview one was enough to win the Pulitzer Prize and implies that at such a time he would have jumped at the chance to interview the President. Well, I checked the Pulitzer archives and found two instances of winners for exclusive interviews with Presidents: Arthur Krock of the New York Times for his interview of President Roosevelt and Louis Seibold of the New York World for his interview of President Wilson.

Krock won the prize in 1938 and Seibold in 1921. Cohen joined the Washington Post in 1968. If he can remember reporting back that far, he is way too old.

Cohen also thinks its better if Obama is kept off the TV, which TV executives, magazine editors and various others would passionately disagree with, since Obama helps circulation when he appears on the cover.

Richard, I think its time you take a break and let a journalist take over your column.  At least until you summon the energy to learn about the issues of the day instead of watching Mauray Povich reruns.

CNN’s Lou Dobbs believes the conspiracy that Obama wasn’t really born in the U.S.  He’s peddled other conspiracies before, but CNN’s President Jonathan Klein has even called the coverage legitimate after sending a memo to Dobbs’ staff telling them not to cover this.  Howard Kurtz, who also works at CNN, rightfully calls all of this loony.  It does raise an interesting question about who at CNN can put a lid on a nut like Dobbs, who has gotten into trouble before for his conspiracies about illegal immigrants.  And just like before, Dobbs blames all this on liberals and paints himself as the hero.

Media Matters has a long series of articles about all this, detailing who started the conspiracy, like anti-semite Andy Martin (who Sean Hannity featured prominently in an anti-Obama special he did before the election) and James von Brunn, the man who walked into the Holocaust Museum last month and killed a security guard.

Liz Cheney, who’s been given a prominent place in the media as a Republican spokesperson hasn’t quite condemned these people even though surely the Republicans know that this sort of thing isn’t helping.  NBC, to its credit has stepped up to counter all this after its President called the conspiracy “racist.”

Shh.  It’s okay, they’re not out to get you.  India’s not a threat to the U. S., Senator.  I know you want those fighter jets to be built, but citing made up enemies doesn’t help you.

Alessandra Stanley wrote an obituary for Walter Cronkite that appeared in the New York Times.  The paper had to run a list of SEVEN corrections to the piece like Martin Luther King being assasinated on April 4th, 1968 not April 30th and the Moon Landing being on July 20, 1969 not July 26.  How anyone gets things like that wrong, much less at the New York Times is baffling to me.  You can read it here with the corrections in place.

Gawker reports that it’s not the first time Stanley’s made really outrageous mistakes.  Craig Silverman has an even longer list.  Some of them are funny until you realize she still works for the New York Times.

is Jon Stewart.  And Time has an unscientific poll that shows it, with Brian Williams coming in second, Charlie Gibson third and Katie Couric a distant fourth (she won Iowa, though).

My favorites are the state-by-state showings.  Stewart did best in Arkansas (63%) and Utah (59%)! While his worst showings were in New Hampshire (17%) and Iowa (17%), where the first caucas and primaries take place in Presidential campaigns.

Brian Williams doesn’t have any states that stand out for him.  Charlie Gibson won in Montana (43%) and Tennessee (57%).

Iowa’s the most interesting.  Katie Couric, who is mostly in the single-digits everywhere else won Iowa with 65%!

The number of people asked in each state is pretty varied.  Seven people voted in Montana, while 729 voted in California.

So I don’t get Fox News here in India (thank goodness!) but I’ve heard that Glenn Beck went nuts there a few days ago, even more than usual.  In the course of it he called Sec. Hillary Clinton’s trip to India an “apology tour” where he believes Clinton is going around apologizing for all the bad things America’s done.

The trip has been all over the Indian media and I can tell you it’s not an apology tour.  And besides,whatever the US has did bad to India happened decades ago (Nixon and Indira Gandhi didn’t speak to each other).

Clinton has left India by now, but what she did accomplish was an agreement that the US would inspect nuclear sites and equipment being used for nuclear technology in India.  The opposition is furious, calling it a breach of national sovereignty.

Clinton pushed for India to accept a greenhouse emission cap and to sign nuclear weapon treaties, but India rejected both.

No apologies on behalf of America.  Where did you pull that out of, Glenn?

Google Moon.

Le Monde on how nonviolent and worthy struggles are hijacked by extreme nationalists like Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka

Jimmy Carter writes against the institutionalization of hating women, singling out the Southern Baptists, whom he left in 2000 after being in it his whole life.  He left after the Southern Baptist Convention stated its opposition to women pastors and that wives should be submissive to their husbands.

First he writes that it may be necessary in the future for the military to shoot war correspondents, now he thinks that the rumors are true and a US soldier captured by the Taliban deserted his unit, the Taliban should kill him.

Maybe someone should give him a pop quiz about the constitution and humanity.  See if he passes.

The copy editor, research editor and executive literary editor at Vanity Fair go through Sarah Palin’s resignation speech with a blue, green and red pen respectively.  They have fun.

Happy birthday, Rich.  Happy anniversary of man walking on the (fucking) moon.