Fish Fear Me

Hack "Journalist" Of the Day: Felix Salmon

Remember last week when I wrote that Republicans and conservatives need to fully absorb that the legacy media are their political opponents? Reuters blogger Felix Salmon gives us an excellent example of that today along with an equally stellar sample of the sort of douchebag tactics we can expect to see. 

Earlier today, GQ published online an interview with Sen. Marco Rubio and one of the questions he took was "How old do you think the Earth is?" Here's Rubio's actual response:

I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.

Here's Rubio's response when a hack journalist like Felix Salmon gets done with it:

I have my own issues with Rubio's response and I'll detail those in the next post. Unlike Salmon though, I won't be turning myself into a douchebag liar in the process. And make no mistake, that tweet with it's phony quote is a flat-out lie. Judging from the thread at that last link though, Salmon doesn't give a shit about that.

The point of this post is not to try to get Salmon to show any kind of professionalism in dealing with people with whom he disagrees, that would almost certainly be an exercise in futility. The point is simply to let people know that Felix Salmon is a hack "journalist" who is perfectly fine with serving you, the reader, with phony quotes. Trust him accordingly.

Oh, and one more thing. There's all sorts of talk about needing more civility in our political discourse, but a greater incivility than any name-calling is to deliberately distort and lie about your opponent's position. There are many ways that Salmon could have chosen to legitimately criticize Rubio's response, he chose the lie. I won't listen to one word about civility from him.

Civility!

Is this some more of that civility that President Obama has talked about?

"I saw pictures of Boehner and Cantor on our screens (at the convention). Don't ever let me see again, in life, those Republicans in our hall, on our screens, talking about anything. These are demons," she told the crowd. "They are bringing down this country, destroying this country, because they’d rather do whatever they can do destroy this president rather than for the good of this country.”

I'm not seeing much civility there, but that's probably the racist in me.

Some anti-Civility Bullshit

Via Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy, a very interesting video of Stephen Carter, an author and Yale Law School professor, talking about what civility really means in politics and how it goes far beyond simply avoiding the name calling.

Is Civility Important? from Yale Law School on Vimeo.

Hands down the best 26 minutes and 21 seconds that I spent on the internet today.

That talk fits right in with some of what I've been thinking about civility lately. One can be polite to a political opponent in all sorts of ways and still be quite uncivil. Reducing one's opponent to a caricature of evil or stupid instead of doing the hard work of actually listening to the people one disagrees with is just one way that happens today. 

Your mileage may vary, but I think it's well worth your time.

Bullshit Nation-Big Media Edition

Here's a good example of journalistic malpractice poisoning the political sphere:

All right, so we think we understand what Mitt Romney meant when he told some hecklers at the Iowa State Fair Thursday that "corporations are people, my friend."

Anybody these days fortunate to have a 401(k) retirement plan, or even a job with a corporation, understands that when a company makes a profit, there's a benefit to that firm's "stakeholders," as executive-types like to say.

Still, he gave his Democratic opponents an early Christmas gift by uttering those words. He just made their goal of pushing the narrative that he is a tool of corporate America much easier by providing them with that handy piece of video.

I have no doubt that the author, Frank James of NPR, fully understands what Romney meant. Rather than admit that completely, he gives cover to Democrats distorting what Romney said. I guess we can call him Frank "I know what he meant but I'm going to take him out of context anyway because I'm just another fucking asshole" James.

Civility in politics is not just about abstaining from name calling, it also means listening to your political opponents honestly and in good faith. Too much of our politics right now revolves around just this type of distortion and gotcha, and rather than call that the nonsense that it is, Frank James gets a little bit of a kick out of it. I would like to think he is an exception, but I know he is the rule when it comes to journalism and politics these days. 

Thanks, Big Media(and that means you too, Frank), for helping make our political discourse the bullshit that it is today.

Enough With The Whining And Hysteria

So, with Obama's signature the debt ceiling crisis is over until the next time. I think it's perfectly understandable for pretty much everyone to be somewhat disappointed in the final agreement, but maybe that's a good sign given all of the divisions in our politics. While disappointment is reasonable, some of the whining on the right and utter hysteria on the left is not.

Let's start with the right. Item one is that the agreement only cuts $21 billion in fiscal year 2012. Stop complaining, that's a feature, not a bug. Obama has been an economic disaster and he and his pals desperately want to find any excuse to get Republicans to share the blame. Any significantly large number going into the 2012 elections would have been used to blame Republicans for at least part of the struggling economy. That wouldn't be correct, but we're not talking right or wrong here, we're talking perception. Leading up to the 2012 election, there is now absolutely no credible way for Obama and the Democrats to use the coming cuts to blame Republicans for the economy. 

Item two: Defense spending. It is possible that the agreement may force cuts in defense spending of up to $500 billion over ten years. Well guess what? That means we will only spend about $7 trillion instead of $7.5 trillion on defense over that decade. I don't think anyone can honestly tell me that there isn't 6.7% in that budget that amounts to waste or items we can do without. The DoD is going to have to do its share too.

Item one on the left: The hysteria over the Tea Party Republicans. Look, if you're a liberal or progressive Democrat, Tea Party Republicans are obviously your toughest political opponents. A little hyperbole is fine in politics, but they are not monsters, terrorists, or jihadists. Calling them those things just makes the left look insanely ridiculous. Look at this major dose of twit from Joe Nocera today:

You know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them.

These last few months, much of the country has watched in horror as the Tea Party Republicans have waged jihad on the American people. Their intransigent demands for deep spending cuts, coupled with their almost gleeful willingness to destroy one of America’s most invaluable assets, its full faith and credit, were incredibly irresponsible. But they didn’t care. Their goal, they believed, was worth blowing up the country for, if that’s what it took.

You know, there are real terrorists and jihadists in this world, and they would behead Joe Nocera, or you and me, in a heartbeat if they could. I'm sure on some level Nocera knows that Tea Party Republicans are not actually terrorists and jihadists, the main proof being his head is still attached to his shoulders, but he just can't muster the discipline to restrain his little hissy fit. I'm not above hurling a name or two around at times, but Nocera is just being stupid there.

Item two on the left: The brinkmanship of the right. It takes two to tango folks. Obama and Democrats displayed their own unwillingness to compromise at times too. I don't particularly like how the game got played here, but in the end everyone did compromise. It can be a rough game at times and all I can say to that is, it is what it is.

Item for both sides: This is just the beginning you know.  Even the cuts that have been agreed to only put a dent in the total problem. This has been one battle in what will be a major political war that will last for years. If one or both sides exhaust themselves and/or their decency now those are going to be some even more painful, painful, years than they already are going to be. Everybody take a deep breath.

A View From The Hinterlands: Sarah Palin(Updated)

What do you suppose the reaction would have been back in 2008 if comedian Chris Titus had said this was what he would do if Barack Obama was elected:

“You know what man?” Titus said. “I am going to literally — if he gets elected president, I am going to hang out on the grassy knoll all the time, just loaded and ready — because you know what? It’s for my country. It’s for my country. If I got to sacrifice myself, it’s for my country.”

I'm guessing the outrage would have been of biblical proportions, no? But he didn't say that about Obama back then, he said it Monday night about Sarah Palin. Listen to the crickets chirping today. 

I now expect the hate to flow from the shrieking harpies and outright snobs whenever Palin says or does anything, but can we skip the thinly veiled death threats at least? Please?

Another thing about Palin. I have my own criticisms of her and some of her policies, but I think she  generally has the right ideas and temperament. It's true that her lack of experience brings some unknowns into play, but when you start comparing those to the dismal failures of the incumbent she actually starts looking pretty good.  

More: Okay, maybe I can lighten up about this because one humorous response is actually plausible in a way that never would be for Barry(via Althouse):

You know what else is horrific. This has me completely terrified. I just now looked at photos of Palin's new home in Scottsdale and the whole place is empty except for one exceedingly macabre bit of taxidermy.

Click here. It's safe for work, small kids, and pets.

More Civility

Well, this doesn't strike me as very civil:

A Facebook event, entitled "If Boehner shuts down the government I am taking my trash to his house," has popped up and is gaining steam as the shutdown showdown ramps up on Capitol Hill. If the federal government shuts down, one of the District's services that will stop is trash pickup.

"Speaker John Boehner is ready to shut down the government, including District of Columbia city services like trash collection," it says on the page. "Well, if he won't allow us to use OUR TAX DOLLARS to pick it up, maybe we should just BRING IT TO HIM."

Or have we all agreed that the whole civility thing back in January was just a lot of crap and I simply missed the memo? 

Speaking of the looming government shutdown, as my friends at The Swilling have noted, as it stands now members of the US military would not be paid during a shutdown. They would receive half of their regular check on the 15th and none at all on the 1st if it lasts that long. Both sides have used our Servicemembers as hostages in this political battle and it has to stop today. Pass a clean appropriation free of abortion language and take care of our troops dammit.

Decency?

Some on the left are up in arms because a university professor in Wisconsin who had published some opinions about recent events there has been hit with a Freedom of Information Act request from the GOP regarding his state-issued email account. This is being regarded as an attempt to intimidate the professor into silence. Perhaps it is, but the state GOP there is not saying why they want the information and I think that FOIA requests generally don't require a reason.

Regardless, I wonder how many people who are upset today laughed at the uncomfortable scrutiny that Joe the Plumber received just for questioning then-candidate Obama. Were they outraged at the invasion of privacy? The illegal release of state records? I don't think so. In fact, I think a number of the websites at that Memeorandum.com link piled their own abuse on as well.

I would love to see a societal reboot when it comes to decency and civility in politics, but it is not going to happen unilaterally. Who am I kidding? It's not going to happen at all. 

This is a case for following the law and releasing whatever is legally obligated to be released. If someone doesn't like what the law says then change the law. In the meantime, spare me the selective outrage.

Things You Can Use

I noticed today that Ann Althouse has a "civility bullshit" tag and I immediately realized that something like that is almost certain to come in handy here as well.

And whoop, there it is:

"We were just having a discussion about the Chicago mayoral race," King told viewers.  "My friend Andy Shaw…used the term 'in the crosshairs' in talking about the candidates out there. We're trying, we're trying to get away from that language. Andy is a good friend, he's covered politics for a long time, but we're trying to get away from using that kind of language.  We won't always be perfect, so hold us accountable when we don't meet your standards."