Redstate

Posted at 10:54pm on Jun. 27, 2008 It's a pity that this didn't make the actual New York Times editorial page...

...but baby steps, I guess.

By Moe Lane

The below is an excerpt from The Board (via Glenn Reynolds), which looks like it's a blog where the NYT's editorial staff can sound off with relative impunity. It's... not too bad, actually. Pretty strongly liberal, but at least this one has decent spelling - and they're willing to say the occasional nice thing about a Republican.

And, shockingly, no Name! That! Party!:

About that Mortgage, Senator . . .
By The Editorial Board

Call it the curse of the Friends of Angelo.

Senators are lining up like lemmings to avoid it. They are suddenly volunteering disclosure of their personal mortgage loan terms to avoid being tainted by the V.I.P. mortgage scandal that has descended on Congress.

[snip]

It turns out that the chieftain of Countrywide — which is smack in the middle of the mortgage mess — extended privileged borrowing status to two Senators, Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, and Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota. Both Senators deny any ethical violations.

Read the whole thing: it's a darn sight more independent-minded than the actual newspaper it's ostensibly attached to, not to mention more interesting. And you get the feeling that whoever wrote this post is perhaps not entirely distraught that the housing bill is being held up right now...

Posted in Chris Dodd | Countrywide | Kent Conrad | Miscellanea | new york times — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:38pm on Jun. 26, 2008 Maureen Dowd's Paean to an Empty Suit

By Vladimir

Maureen Dowd, looking longingly at Barack Obama and apparently finding no there there, invents a romantic persona for him out of whole cloth:

Unlike W., Obama doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder and he doesn’t make a lot of snarky remarks. He tries to stay on a positive keel and see things from the other person’s point of view.

Posted in 2008 | Bob Dylan | new york times — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:35am on Jun. 22, 2008 The New York Times Names Names

A newspaper's "credibility" trumps a CIA agent's safety

By AcademicElephant

The lead article in the Sunday New York Times is "Inside a 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation" by Scott Shane. The article is full of the standard boilerplate--Iraq has caused more terrorist plots against us (of course they haven't been actually carried out, but that's hardly the point), "torture" inflicted by CIA interrogators has destroyed our international reputation, and the terrorist detainees really aren't so very bad (they write poetry and drink Ensure, just like many readers of the Times). This may seem just another piece in the emerging narrative in which Iraq is a dirty war. It doesn't matter if we win because the very conflict is illegitimate--and what could be worse than victory without honor? It really would be better to have just lost, as many have been arguing for the last five years.

Hang on, there's more here. Through conduits he chooses not to elucidate, Mr. Shane had access to substantial documentation of the capture and interrogation of several high-value targets. And in the Hallowed Times Tradition, the paper decided its dedication to journalistic integrity was more important national security interests, and a deliberate editorial decision was made to reveal the identity of KSM's chief interrogator--his name, his employer, and his current involvement with the Agency.

Read on...

Posted in new york times | outing CIA agents | terrorist interrogations | War — Comments (32)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:12pm on Jun. 1, 2008 "Iraq's Chance"

By Jeff Emanuel

Note: This piece appeared in today's New York Times under the title "Colombia's chance." For the sake of illustrating absurdity, the word "Colombia" has been changed to "Iraq," and "FARC" to "al Qaeda in Iraq."

See if it sounds any better to you like this, than it does in the original editorial calling on Colombian President Uribe to capitulate to FARC rather than defeat them outright.

Iraq’s president, Nouri Al-Maliki, may be sorely tempted to begin a final, killing offensive against fighters of al Qaeda in Iraq, or AQI. The fighters are weakened, and Mr. Al-Maliki is eager to capitalize politically on their defeat.

Nevertheless, he should resist that temptation and seek a political settlement to try to bring the fighters in from the cold. Iraq has seen more than enough bloodshed. And Mr. Al-Maliki has a strong enough hand to insist on AQI's complete disarmament and an end to the attacks on civilians that has long been the group's main mission.

Al Qaeda has been under assault from Iraqi Security Forces, first led, then increasingly supported, by U.S. forces Army for some four years, and looks as if it is unraveling. It has lost several of its top commanders in recent years, including Abu-Musab al Zarqawi in 2006.

Read on.

Posted in Capitulation | Media | new york times | Surrender to win | War — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:07am on Apr. 4, 2008 Financial Markets Are Human Too

Fever for Regulation

By blackhedd

You may or may not have noticed Treasury Secretary Paulson’s speech last Monday, in which he unveiled a blueprint for modernizing the Federal government’s regulation of financial markets.

If you did notice it, you probably yawned. The report has been in the making for over a year, and although it contains a lot of good ideas, it’s neither directly responsive to the current market disorders, nor particularly likely to be enacted in whole or in part.

The editorialist at the New York Times noticed the speech, however. Their (predictable) response is that Paulson’s plan is far too reluctant to clamp down on market behavior that can result in stress (and crisis).

Unfortunately, I don’t get much sense that the editorial powers at the New York Times have direct knowledge of how real markets work. As it turns out, markets are human too.

Let me tell you what I mean…

Posted in Economy | federal reserve | Financial regulation | new york times | Paulson — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:16am on Mar. 25, 2008 Just stupid: the NYT editorial board

Love for Spitzer + Hatred of Bush = ?

By Mark Kilmer

On the same day when the New York Times heaps love on the corrupt, criminal pervert who once was their beloved governor, they blame President Bush for things beyond a president's control.

From the Spitzer editorial:

It is still important to separate Mr. Spitzer’s personal and political failings from the worthwhile things he did, or hoped to, accomplish. As attorney general, he worked hard to make Wall Street a safer place for the little guy and helped craft an agreement to get cleaner air in the Northeast. As governor, he was working to open one of the nation’s most opaque state budgets and reform one of the most unfair campaign financing systems.

Yeah, they did it for Like Bill Clinton of recent memory; now, it's Eliot Spitzer's turn to receive credit from the NYT for things which never happened or Spitzer did not himself do.

Meanwhile, in another of today's editorials, the doltish souls on that editorial board preach that our dependency on foreign oil is the fault of President Bush:

The Bush administration can’t be entirely blamed for the pain at the gas pump. But its shortsighted energy policies — zealously focused on increasing the energy supply, with little attention paid to conservation and greater fuel-efficiency — means the country is far too dependent on oil that is both ruinously expensive and ruinous for the environment.

They say that the White House is run by "oilmen," and they insinuate that the purpose of this administration was to protect oilmen from the dangers of Cape Cod wind farms. (No, that's Teddy Kennedy, you sillies.)

They expect that their readers, some of whom are intelligent and/or decently educated, will follow these puerile arguments and agree: "Gol, those Times guys are so smart, Oracle at 'Delphia. Yep, boy howdy, I sure agree with those observations!"

[Read on, by all (and by any) means.. …]

Posted in bush | Culture | new york times | Spitzer — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:37am on Mar. 14, 2008 NYT's Keller uses Spitzmas story to justify recent McCain smear

Attention Times: Stick to the News!

By Mark Kilmer

Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, is trying to use his paper's Spitzmas story to lend credence to its recent John McCain contrivance:

"[A] day after Spitzer resigned in disgrace following the Times' revelations that he had frequented a high-priced hooker ring on several occasions, Keller, in a phone interview with E&P, clearly saw some room to boast.

"It certainly has had the same volume of reaction, sometimes a good story is just a good story," he said about comparisons to the McCain report. "We certainly took our share of heat on the McCain story. The McCain story is one that I am still proud of and stand by."

The McCain piece turned out to be an empty attack, inference and innuendo rather than news, while the Spitzer piece blew the lid off a personal and political fraud. You cannot use a recent success to justify past idiocy. But I can just image Pinch and Keller printing whatever garbage they want, and when they're called on it, insisting: "Well, remember, we broke the Spitzer story!"

This would be fine if time Old, Gray, Drunk Lady would stick to reporting the news, leaving the political opinion to their editorial page.

Posted in Eliot Spitzer | John McCain | Liberals | new york times — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:50pm on Feb. 25, 2008 Journalism By Insinuation

By California Yankee

Appearing on CNN's "Late Edition," Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty called the New York Times slanderous hatchet job on John McCain "journalism by innuendo."

In the Sydney Morning Herald Paul Sheehan writes "Anatomy of a Smear," in which he makes Governor Pawlenty's point dissecting the Times slander, highlighting each of the 54 points where the Times manipulated the narrative to support the insinuation in the Times headline and the opening paragraphs, regardless of the facts. Here's a sample:

"William Black, one of the banking regulators the senator met with, argued that Mrs. McCain's investment with Mr. Keating created an obvious conflict of interest for her husband. (Mr. McCain had said a prenuptial agreement divided the couple's assets.) He should not be able to "put this behind him," Mr. Black said. "It sullied his integrity."

[23. Rather than quote the official report into this matter, the Times quotes Mr Black, a tangential figure, as the only authority worth quoting.]

[. . .]

"He sent two letters to the commission, drawing a rare rebuke for interference from its chairman. In an embarrassing turn for the campaign, news reports invoked the Keating scandal, once again raising questions about intervening for a patron.

[51. Omitted here is that McCain did not seek to influence the Commission on how to make a decision, but merely urged them to make one. This was impatient, but not unethical.]

Mr. McCain's aides released all of his letters to the F.C.C. to dispel accusations of favouritism, and aides said the campaign had properly accounted for four trips on the Paxson plane. But ...

[52. For the seventh time, the story undermines a positive fact with the immediate qualification of "but".]

" ... the campaign did not report the flight with Ms. Iseman. Mr. McCain's advisers say he was not required to disclose the flight, but ethics lawyers ...

[53. Anonymous and negative attribution number 13.]

I encourage you to examine all 54 instances of manipulation.

Read on, there's more.

Posted in 2008 | Biased Media | Hatchet Job | John McCain | new york times — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:23pm on Feb. 21, 2008 Bob Bennett: Times Article A 'Hatchet Job'

Where's The Beef

By California Yankee

Noted Democratic attorney Robert Bennett, who represents Senator McCain, calls the Times' "non story" a "hatchet job."

Bennett offers the following points to back up his assertion that the Times article is a "hatchet job:"

• The New York Times was provided with approximately a dozen instances in which Senator McCain took positions adverse to Iseman's clients. The Times didn't even refer to those instances.

• There is no evidence that Senator McCain breached the public trust.

• There is no evidence the senator took any position that is contrary to his long-held beliefs.

Asked about rumors that the Times printed the allegations today because the New Republic was preparing an article about the Times delaying this story, Bennett replied that a lot of newspaper people would rather be wrong than be scooped:

I believe the reason this story came out to day was because the New York Times did not want to be scooped.

Bennett also served as the Democratic counsel to the Senate Ethic Committee in the 1980s, when the committee investigated the savings and loan scandal. Bennett said that "after investigating McCain for a year and a half, looking under every rock, I concluded that this was an honest, honest man and recommended to the Senate that he be exonerated."

Watch the following video of Matt Lauer's interview with Bob Bennett:

Posted in 2008 | Biased Media | Bob Bennett | John McCain | new york times — Comments (72)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:00am on Feb. 21, 2008 McCain to address NYT smear at 9:00 a.m.

By Alexham

And so it begins.

Now that Senator McCain has the GOP nomination firmly in hand, the NYT "rathers" him with baseless accusations about a personal relationship he had with a lobbyist around the time of the 2000 presidential election cycle. In a nutshell, the NYT is claiming that, because of this allegedly improper relationship, McCain sought favors on behalf of this woman's clients. You can read the NYT article for yourself, and draw your own conclusions; but my opinion is that this is a good old-fashioned smear job. And I suspect most folks will view it that way as well.

In any event, McCain will address the allegations this morning at 9:00 a.m.

Consider this an open thread.

Update: I really like Cindy McCain. What a class act. She may just be the good senator's greatest asset.

Posted in 2008 | John McCain | new york times | Yellow Journalism — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:17pm on Dec. 30, 2007 Schadenfreude . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Lovely schadenfreude.

When Bill Kristol gets as hysterical as Paul Krugman and Bill Herbert, give me a call. Until then, I'm certainly not going to lose sleep about the gnashing of teeth on the part of the Josh Marshalls of the world.

Posted at 12:18pm on Nov. 10, 2007 Re: Rebutting Bob Herbert

By Dan McLaughlin

Or, you could just say: he's Bob Herbert.

Posted at 12:04pm on Nov. 8, 2007 It's Corruption, Stupid

By Erick

Holy Cow! And this is coming from the New York Times. It must be really, really bad if they're willing to bash Charlie Rangel.

Check this out.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has proposed legislation that would effectively halt some current tax audits of people who get a tax break for living and operating a business in the United States Virgin Islands.

Many beneficiaries of the tax break are campaign contributors to the lawmaker, Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, according to data collected by CQ MoneyLine, which tracks political contributions.

At least one of them, Richard G. Vento, is currently under audit, according to court filings. Mr. Vento gave $4,400 last year to the Baucus-Rangel Leadership Fund, which supports Mr. Rangel and Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who heads the Senate Finance Committee.

So much for the Democrats making the GOP out to be the corrupt party.

Here we have the powerful Ways and Means Chairman trying to use the power of Congress to stop his friends campaign donors from getting audited.

Maybe Congressman Rangel needs to be audited?

Mr. Rangel’s proposal would end any such audits involving years before 2004. That upsets Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican responsible for legislation that year that tightened rules governing taxes on Americans in the Virgin Islands.

“Congress rarely takes action that affects ongoing I.R.S. audits,” Mr. Grassley said in a statement, “so it’s striking that House leaders are proposing changes in the statute of limitations for U.S. taxpayers who are newly claiming residency in the Virgin Islands.”

Sadly, the President is such a nice guy, he won't sick the feds on Mr. Rangel like the Democrats would do to the GOP. Why is it that our guys don't do that?

It'd be interesting to compare the number of prominent Democrat activists who have been audited in the past eight years compared to the number of prominent Republican activists who got audited during the Clinton Administration.

Posted in Charlie Rangel | Congress | New York | new york times — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:23am on Nov. 8, 2007 All the news that's fit to print goes to the back of the paper.

By Erick

Hat tip to Andy McCarthy for this in the New York Times.

American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the “surge” to depart as planned.

You'd think this would be front page news, but it's not. It's on page A19 of today's paper. The front page was spent bashing the economy and Rudy for Robertson's endorsement.

Don't worry though. Iraq will be on the front page again, just as soon as something bad happens.

Posted in new york times | War — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »