The Ledes

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 (02-25-2025)

Some Good News, for a change: ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “Astronomers have been carefully watching 2024 YR4, a space rock with a heightened chance of hitting Earth in 2032. But fear not: NASA announced on Monday that it posed a threat no longer — the odds that the asteroid would smash into our planet have dropped to nearly zero.”

New York Times: “Eleven days after the pope was hospitalized, speculation is mounting and prayers for his recovery verge on a vigil.”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Monday, February 24, 2025

New York Times: “Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto President John F. Kennedy’s limousine as it came under fire in Dallas and prevented a scrambling Jacqueline Kennedy from falling to the ground, died on Friday at his home in Belvedere, Calif. Mr. Hill, hailed for his bravery but long tormented by his inability to save the president’s life, was 93.”

New York Times: “Roberta Flack, the magnetic singer and pianist whose intimate blend of soul, jazz and folk made her one of the most popular artists of the 1970s, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 88.”

New York Times: “Pope Francis is suffering from 'initial, mild kidney failure' in addition to the serious respiratory illness that has left the 88-year-old pontiff in critical condition in a Rome hospital, the Vatican said on Sunday. Describing a 'complex' clinical picture, the Vatican said that the kidney ailment was 'at present under control,' and that there had been no repeat of the respiratory crisis that the pope had experienced on Saturday. The pope was 'alert and well oriented,' the Vatican said, and he attended Mass in his suite along with the medical staff caring for him.”

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Democrats' Weekly Address

Marie (Feb 23): As far as I can tell, there isn't any. I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like Democrats are so screwed up, they can't even put together a couple of minutes of video to tell us how screwed we are.

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

As we watch in horror the rapid destruction of our democratic form of government, it is comforting to remember there is life outside politics. I took a break a while ago to enjoy a brief lesson in the history of the moonwalk: ~~~

But it may go back even further:

And this chronological account is helpful:

New York Times: “Chuck Todd, the former 'Meet the Press' moderator and a longtime fixture of NBC’s political coverage, told colleagues on Friday that he was leaving the network. A nearly two-decade veteran of NBC, Mr. Todd said that Friday would be his last day at NBC.... Mr. Todd, 52, is the latest TV news star to step aside at a moment when salaries are being scrutinized — and slashed — by major media companies. Hoda Kotb exited NBC’s 'Today' show this month, and Neil Cavuto of Fox News and CNN’s Chris Wallace departed their cable news homes late last year.”

CNBC: “ CNN plans to lay off hundreds of employees Thursday [Jan. 23] as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience.... The layoffs come as CNN is rearranging its linear TV lineup and building out digital subscription products. The cuts will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. Certain shows that are produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, said the people. For the most part, the job cuts won’t affect CNN’s most recognizable names, who are under contract, said the people. CNN has about 3,500 employees worldwide.... NBC News is also planning cuts later this week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. While the exact number couldn’t be determined, the job losses will be well under 50....”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Page Links
Wednesday
Nov102010

The Commentariat -- November 11

Micah Cohen of the New York Times has an update on the still-unresolved midterm races. Unbelievably, the pig in the ducky jammies won by about 800 votes; his Democratic opponent, an incumbent, is applying for a recount:

Stephen Gandel of Time: how Sarah Palin & the tea party could cause hyperinflation: "The real threat of inflation comes from tax policy, namely lower taxes. Lower taxes and the government will have a harder time paying back its debt. Investors run from our bonds and currency. Inflation ensues." Moreover, no matter what the actual policy, if investors & the public think the government is unwilling to pay for itself, inflation will follow.

The White House gives a whole new meaning to passive aggression - it has institutionalized a personality disorder into a governing style.... Obama promises he will veto any tax cuts for the rich.  He loses the midterms and leaves the country.  Droopy Dog Axelrod 'leaks' the caving-in to some inside- the- Beltway establishment reporter.  It is officially denied. But since we now have a heads-up, the official pill won't be so bitterly hard to swallow once it becomes 'official.'
-- Karen Garcia ...

... Chicken-Shit, White House-Style. Howard Feinman & Sam Stein: "President Barack Obama's top adviser suggested to The Huffington Post late Wednesday that the administration is ready to accept an across-the-board, temporary continuation of steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers. That appears to be the only way, said David Axelrod, that middle-class taxpayers can keep their tax cuts, given the legislative and political realities facing Obama in the aftermath of last week's electoral defeat." ...

... NEW. You can sign Bold Progressives' (PCCC) petition against the tax cut for the rich. ...

... BUT Carrie Budoff Brown: "In an e-mail to POLITICO, Axelrod said: 'There is not one bit of news here. I didn't go beyond what we said before.'" CW: the inference here is that the White House has not committed to accepting tax cuts for the rich. Then why this? -- ", David Axelrod, said Wednesday that the White House has to deal with “the world of what it takes to get this done” – a signal to Democrats that they don’t have the votes to kill the high-end tax cuts in the face of a new Republican House majority and resistance from Democratic moderates in the Senate." This makes no sense. The tax cuts expire at the end of 2010. The Democrats still hold healthy majorities in both houses. There is not "a new Republican House majority" until early January 2011. ...

... AND Katy O'Donnell of the National Journal: "Senior White House adviser David Axelrod said this morning that President Obama has not caved to GOP demands on the extension of the Bush tax cuts, despite a report to the contrary."

... Marcy Wheeler: "Let yesterday be marked as the day when a nominally Democratic President began to dismantle Democrats’ signature policy achievement, social security, so he could shovel $700 billion to the very rich." ...

Catfood Commission Draft Proposal

Artwork via PoliticsPlus.org.New York Times: "A draft proposal released Wednesday by the chairmen of President Obama’s bipartisan commission on reducing the federal debt calls for deep cuts in domestic and military spending starting in 2012, and an overhaul of the tax code to raise revenue. Those changes and others would erase nearly $4 trillion from projected deficits through 2020, the proposal says." Here's the report.

 

CW: the chairmen put out the draft report, but there is no chance the full commission will ratify it. Ezra Klein explains more.

Megan Carpentier of TPM lists the chairmen's main proposals.

President Obama won't discuss it:

Dow-Jones: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) ... call[ed] the plan 'simply unacceptable.' The outgoing speaker said that any proposal must do 'what is right for our children and grandchildren's economic security as well as for our nation's fiscal security, and it must do what is right for our seniors, who are counting on the bedrock promises of Social Security and Medicare.'" Update: here's Speaker Pelosi's official statement.

More reactions via Alexander Bolton of The Hill -- but none from the White House (CW: which reportedly was blindsided by the early release).

The chairmen of the Deficit Commission just told working Americans to ‘Drop Dead.’ Especially in these tough economic times, it is unconscionable to be proposing cuts to the critical economic lifelines. -- Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President

Kevin Drum: "Bottom line: this document isn't really aimed at deficit reduction. It's aimed at keeping government small. There's nothing wrong with that if you're a conservative think tank and that's what you're dedicated to selling. But it should be called by its right name. This document is a paean to cutting the federal government, not cutting the federal deficit."

Barbara Morrill in Daily Kos: ConservaDem Kent Conrad uses Veterans Day to tout the Catfood Commission proposals like this one:

Establish co-pays in the VA medical system and change the co-pays and deductibles for military retirees that remain in that system.

       Morrill writes, "... nothing says remember the sacrifices made by our military men and women more than telling them they'll have to start paying for their VA care! But I'm sure Conrad had a flag pin on his lapel when he said it."

Digby: the "villagers are thrilled."

Karoli at Crooks & Liars: "Simply put, it makes the Reagan administration initial proposals for Social Security reform look progressive, ignores the truth about Social Security's funding status, pays lip service only to cutting the defense budget while simultaneously taking shots at unions, the poor, the underprivileged and the elderly."

** Skin in the Game. Dan Eggen of the Washington Post: the catfood commission has taken an "... unusual approach to staffing: ... about one in four commission staffers is paid by outside entities, many of which have strong ideological points of view about how to tackle the deficit." The commission's director says he employed these nonpaid ideologues to be "fiscally responsible." CW: you just want to slap these assholes:

Taxpayers fund the commission and they should work independently of Washington lobbyists and power brokers, This is the type of shenanigans that average Americans are so upset about right now - that money talks and everyone else is left out. -- former Rep. Barbara Kennelly, an advociate for preserving Social Security & Medicare

David Lindley & Wally Ingram, "Cat Food Sandwiches," via Firedoglake:

******************************************************************

The Economist: "It was chance that [President Obama's] tour took him to Asia’s biggest and richest democracies — South Korea and Japan were on the itinerary as hosts, respectively, of the G20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summits. But that lent the tour its tacit theme: that, crudely put, the American model still trumps the Chinese one."

Paul Kiel of ProPublica: "When the Obama administration launched its flagship foreclosure prevention program in early 2009, it pledged to spend up to $50 billion helping struggling homeowners. But the government has so far only spent a tiny fraction of that."

President Obama speaks at a Veterans Day rally in Seoul, South Korea. The President appears about 5 min. in:

Ed O'Keefe & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "A Pentagon study group has concluded that the military can lift the ban on gays serving openly in uniform with only minimal and isolated incidents of risk to the current war efforts, according to two people familiar with a draft of the report, which is due to President Obama on Dec. 1."

Tim Egan of the New York Times posits that the Republican Congressional leadership will have to rein in the lying lunatics in their caucus if they expect to actually govern. CW: Not. Going. To. Happen. ...

... BUT Perry Bacon of the Washington Post: "Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a favorite of conservative activists around the country, ended her campaign to join the GOP leadership late Wednesday, electing to bow out rather than face near-certain defeat in next week's leadership elections."

Austan Goolsbee explains that the President is in Asia to help boost American exports:

... Paul Wiseman of the AP explains why other countries oppose Fed Chair Ben Bernanke's move to buy bonds. CW: Wiseman does not try to explain economist Sarah Palin's opposition to the Fed's program.  

Cenk Uygur rants on why gays should not vote for GOP candidates. CW: I agree with Cenk, but he doesn't go far enough. On this issue alone, no one, straight or gay, who supports basic human rights can vote Republican:

Joe Wilson reacts to Dubya's memoir Decision Points.

CBS News: The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the Justice Department to investigate whether President George W. Bush violated anti-torture laws by authorizing the use of waterboarding against detainees in the war on terror -- an admission Mr. Bush makes in his new memoir 'Decision Points.'" More in the Huffington Post here. ...

... CBS News: "Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said Tuesday that former President George W. Bush 'is not telling the truth' in his new memoir 'Decision Points.'" He  says Bush's description of an exchange between Bush & him about the Iraq War is false. "In his memoir 'Decisions: My Life in Politics,' Schroder wrote that Mr. Bush spoke in 'almost Biblical semantics' and gave off the impression 'that political decisions are a result of this conversation with God.'"

Comments Off