Hoocoodanode?

Dean Baker has a short piece on the hypocrisy of the mainstream corporate media (in this case, the Washington Post) in their economic reporting.

The point is extremely simple. There was a huge housing bubble that should have been visible to any competent economic analyst. The bubble was fueled by an enormous chain of highly leveraged finance. (As head of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Paulson personally made hundreds of millions of dollars from this bubble.)

It was entirely predictable that the housing bubble would burst and that its collapse would have a huge impact on the financial system and the economy as a whole. There is zero excuse for Paulson being caught by surprise by a "storm" that he helped create. The Post should not be in the business of covering up for Paulson's massive failure.

The Post piece is a fawning bit of hagiography on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, which fails utterly to address the fact that as CEO of Goldman Sachs, Paulson himself had a direct role in creating this mess we are in. And made $500 million, cash money, by doing so.

Talking Points Memo also caught the Post fawning starry-eyed this morning.

Why do people still buy these newspapers?

Parody New York Times Issue Today

Dated July 4, 2009. Pranksters handed out copies to commuters all over the place this morning in a well-executed stunt. I was not fortunate enough to get my own copy, but I did a double take when I saw a woman reading a New York Times with the headline "IRAQ WAR ENDS".

The whole thing is available online, but the genius of the prank is that they actually printed full size, high quality copies and handed them out to people. My favorite is the fake Tom Friedman column I am dying to read for real, which begins:

The sudden outbreak of peace in Iraq has made me realize, among other things, one incontestable fact: I have no business holding a pen, at least with intent to write.

Pure genius. And if you happen to see this Tom Friedman, stick to alternative energy and away from middle east policy, where you have been totally and disastrously wrong.

More Gore: Al in NYC over Memorial Day Weekend

Azi Paybarah at Politicker with transcript excerpts from Gore's interview with Charlie Rose before a live audience. Photo credit to Joyce Culver via 92Y Blog.

Gore is out pushing his new book, The Assault on Reason, which is on my wish list at the moment. What I've read already is a fantastic look at everything that's wrong with our current political discourse. And I especially love the title of Paybarah's post: Gore on the Cowardly, Vacuous, Catch-Penny Political Press.

Simpsons Still Subversive

Thinkprogress has a video clip of Kent Brockman (nee Kenny Brockelstein) from the Simpsosns 400th Episode slamming Fox News and the news media for their excrescence these past many years.

Simpsons movie due out July 27 . . . though I don't follow the show much any more, must see the movie for old time's sake.

My cat's breath smells like cat food!

Assault On Reason

Al Gore has a new book coming out, The Assault on Reason, which is excerpted in Time. It's a compelling piece. At the heart of this problem is the runaway de-regulation of media companies, starting with the repeal of the fairness doctrine under Reagan.

Somewhere along the line, we've forgotten that all of the broadcast assets in this country are supposed to serve the public good. A good place to start fixing the problems Gore addresses would be re-instate limits on concentration of ownership (one of the very few things I've ever agreed with William Safire on). (In a later post, I'll address some of the changes we need to make to our campaign finance and election laws.)

While Gore says he isn't running again, after seeing An Inconvenient Truth and reading this piece, I truly hope he will. When I look back on the aftermath of 9/11, and all the disastrous policy decisions and downright criminal behavior by the Bush administration (torture, illegal wiretapping, Iraq, hamstringing the EPA, handing the keys to the Education Dept. to lenders, tax giveaways to oil and gas companies, etc. etc. etc.) . . .

Imagine if Gore had been President? A man who believes in public service, who believes that government can solve problems . . . a man with an actual brain in his head. I could almost weep for what might have been.

My dream ticket: Gore/Obama '08!

Bring back rational thought to the White House. Please.
H/t Atrios.