Politics and Media Headlines 12/15/08

Mon, 12/15/2008 - 3:35pm — Caro

Iraqi Journalist Throws His Shoes At Bush During Press Conference In Baghdad (Think Progress)

President Bush is in Baghdad today on a surprise farewell visit highlighting the security deal recently reached between the U.S. and Iraq. CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware reports this afternoon that during a press conference with Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, an Iraqi man threw a shoe at Bush, but “it just sailed past his head”… McClatchy identified the man as Iraqi television journalist Muthathar al Zaidi and reports he threw both of his shoes at Bush just after he finished prepared remarks… Apparently, Bush was unfazed by the incident. “I didn’t feel the least bit threatened by it,” he said.
I’m not an expert on the Muslim religion and culture, but I believe that using anything to do with your feet to attack another person is one of the worst insults you can pay.—Caro

An Obama Gift for K Street (by Robert Samuelson—NOT one of my favorite economists)
WASHINGTON -- We here in Washington are anticipating a stampede of lobbyists, influence peddlers, media consultants, paid "experts" and self-styled crusaders. Who brought us this onslaught of special pleaders? Why, it's Barack Obama, the man who vowed to "change" how Washington works and banish from the political arena all those "special interests" that were depicted as a form of low-life devoid of all respectability. This is one Obama promise doomed to fail.

The only way to eliminate lobbying and special interests is to eliminate government. [Emphasis added.] The more powerful government becomes, the more lobbying there will be. So, paradoxically, Obama's ambitions for more expansive government will promote special pleading. You need only watch the response to the expected "economic stimulus" plan -- totaling perhaps $700 billion -- to verify this eternal truth. "A Lobbying Frenzy for Federal Funds," headlined a Washington Post story.
Nonsense. We don’t even WANT to do away with ALL lobbying. Many progressive groups have special interests, and they lobby members of Congress to make them aware of their issues. But we can take a lot of corruption out of the process by instituting public financing of political campaigns, and eliminating private donations. I believe we are the only industrialized nation (except maybe Russia) to allow private donations to political campaigns. As a consequence that we can certainly not be proud of, we may be the most corrupt industrialized nation (except maybe for Russia).—Caro

Go Ahead, Appoint a Prosecutor - For All the Crimes (by Deacon Blues at The Left Coaster)
As certain as the sunrise tomorrow, conservatives will make sure that Barack Obama is sidetracked at the start of his term. They need another "gays in the military" or Whitewater to derail a Democratic administration. And they'll have a convenient memory loss over the last eight years while doing it. We know that Rahm Emanuel had contact with the governor's office about acceptable successors for the president-elect. We also know that Emanuel isn't a target of Patrick Fitzgerald's inquiry. Yet that hasn't stopped Patrick Buchanan from already calling for a independent counsel to look into what role Barack Obama played in this matter…

[I]f Buchanan and other conservatives really want to open that door now with this president-elect even before he takes office, out of some newfound concern for the rule of law and avoiding any taint of scandal, then perhaps the incoming administration should oblige - and then use this as the pretext to launch a series of inquiries into everything the Bush Administration got away with. After all, we should all be concerned about the rule of law and finding all lawbreakers, regardless of what party they belong to. Isn't that right Pat?
That would be right if Buchanan and friends were interested in equal treatment for similar deeds. But they’re not. They’re interested in damnation for Democrats and treating Republicans like saints. Democrats refuse to fight back in the same way. And, apparently, plan to keep on not fighting.—Caro

Open Letter to President-Elect Obama (by John Dean, White House Counsel to Richard Nixon, writing at Talking Points Memo)
[I]f you truly want to change the scandal paradigm, you should operate in a fish-bowl to show you have absolutely nothing to hide. Accordingly, I offer this suggestion for your consideration: Email all your past and present staff, all designated appointees, and any others with whom you have an informal relationship if they could have had contact with Blagojevich about your senate seat, and request they all report to you any and all such information that in any manner relates to the appointment to fill your senate seat. Instruct everyone to err on the side of too much information. In addition, tell everyone than when responding to you that they should also post their responses at your website to make them public… Such action by you would forever change the standards of presidents in dealing with potential presidential scandals and nip this one before it can cause any more problems for your new administration. This would be a change everyone could believe in.

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Carolyn Kay MakeThemAccountable.com

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our press corp in action--

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 5:08pm

ugh!

Reporters get personal with Obama

... Suddenly, the phone lines at the Obama transition office were ringing with inquiries from reporters who passed up other pressing curiosities — who will be the education secretary? — to unpack the still not-entirely-answered question of which brand of MP3 player Obama used during a particular exercise session.

Welcome to the world of the celebrity president.

Reporters have been bombarding the president-elect’s transition office and those close to Obama with the most detail-obsessed questions about his every move.

Among the inquiries received in recent weeks:

Does Obama prefer Macs or PCs? Who designed that tie he's wearing? Where does he buy his suits? What's his morning exercise routine like? How about his basketball techniques? What movie has he seen recently? Who cuts his hair? Will he sell his house in Chicago?

What did he have for Thanksgiving dinner? What’s his favorite food? ...

I don't mind this, really

By gqmartinez on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 5:32pm

If people are interested in such details--and their are many who are interested in the lives of celebrities--so be it.

But this journalism, at the expense of real journalism, is not what most people want. I'm finding fewer and fewer people who "consume" news because of its bias and absurdity. I'm also finding more and more who are distrusting the media because of their bias and absurdity. There seems to be a feedback mechanism: the press isn't doing real reporting, people are tired of the lame journalism and no longer consuming news, and news orgs are having to let go of their real reporters thus decreasing real news. Sad cycle.

Only tyrants rig elections.

it's that "news" journalists, not People mag reporters

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 5:47pm

or those whose job it is to cover this "light" shit, are the ones who are ignoring actual topics in favor of this stuff (which has its place and already has many reporters who specialize in it).

the press pool covering Obama have a different responsibility, and are all considered "serious" news/politics reporters -- and as we've seen, we all lose -- and are damaged horribly -- when they fail to do their actual jobs.

it's that "news" journalists, not People mag reporters

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 5:48pm

or those whose job it is to cover this "light" shit, are the ones who are ignoring actual topics in favor of this stuff (which has its place and already has many reporters who specialize in it).

If the NYT and WaPo and CNN want to only cover this shit, they should hire journalists who actually know how -- from People and ET and Page 6, etc -- and stop pretending to be covering politics and news. It's bad enough that they're ignorant on the real issues they're supposed to be asking about.

must read-- "Obama's Domination Of Democratic Opinion"

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 6:02pm

OpenLeft-- Obama's Domination Of Democratic Opinion

... Right now, whatever Obama comes out in favor of will become the majority position within the Democratic Party. If, over the next year, Obama says that we need to tear down the health care system and start from scratch with single-payer, then a majority of Democrats will quickly come to share that position. If, over the next year, Obama argues that it is time to invade Pakistan, then a majority of Democrats will come to favor that position. If he decides that Dick Cheney needs to be Secretary of the Interior, or Noam Chomsky needs to be Secretary of Education, a majority of Democrats will come to agree with him. Right now, whenever Obama makes his support clear on anything, that position will either remain, or become, the majority position for Democrats nationwide.

As I explain in the extended entry, having a majority of Democrats always agree with the leadership of the Democratic Party is a major change from the 2002-2008 era.

One of the things that made the netroots so vital in the Democratic Party was that when it dissented from the leadership, it often did so while representing the majoritarian position in the Democratic Party. ...
Those days of the netroots leading a majority of rank and file Democrats in opposition to the decisions of the Democratic leadership are over. Now that Obama is at the head of the Democratic Party, what he says will be the majority positions. ...

Lambert's diving analogy post

By gqmartinez on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 6:29pm

Said the same thing way back when. But that was when OL was in the KewlKidzKlub. Its all well and good to complain about the beast you helped create, but one has to realize their role in creating that beast for me to take them seriously.

Only tyrants rig elections.

Vastleft just gave us a reminder ...

By Caro on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 6:55pm

... of what groupthink is like. http://www.correntewire.com/good_things_we_can_have_if_we_close_our_eyes

Kerry gets Senate Foreign Relations Ctee--

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 6:17pm

and joins the post-partisan unity train too --

Kerry officially gets Foreign Relations post

... Kerry also appointed a new spokesman for the committee: Frederick L. Jones II, a former career foreign service officer and spokesman for the National Security Council under President Bush.

I miss Hillary

By gqmartinez on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 6:31pm

If post-partisanship is all the rage these days, I would hope that Hillary--particularly the Hillary from the convention speech--were to come out an re-explain why we need to be partisan against GOP failures.

Only tyrants rig elections.

The shoe thrower

By pie on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 6:59pm

is a hero!

BAGHDAD - Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Monday to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, as Arabs across many parts of the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised his insult as a proper send-off to the unpopular U.S. president.

Most viewed story on MSNBC right now. :)

Arne Duncan (Chicago schools) is Education Sec'y --

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 7:23pm

President elect Barack Obama will tap Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan on Tuesday to be his Education Secretary, a transition official told the Chicago Sun-Times. The appointment will come during a press conference at a Chicago school, the Dodge Renaissance Academy, 2651 W. Washington.

NYT in Sept -- Obama Looks to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan --

... This has been especially true since leadership of the city schools passed in 2001 to Mr. Duncan, a friend of and sounding board for Mr. Obama. The two also frequently play basketball.

Mr. Duncan accompanied Mr. Obama on his visit in 2005 to the Dodge school, now the Dodge Renaissance Academy, on the West Side of Chicago. After the school’s makeover, student scores rose significantly, and Mr. Obama wanted to know why. ...

Palast on Duncan--Obama's "Way-to-Go, Brownie!" Moment?

By amberglow on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 8:57pm

Obama's "Way-to-Go, Brownie!" Moment?

... Lawyer Duncan is proud to have raised test scores by firing every teacher in low-scoring schools. Which schools? There's Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto with children from homeless shelters and drug-poisoned 'hoods. They don't do well on tests. So Chicago fired all the teachers. They brought in new ones - then fired all of them too: the teachers' reward for volunteering to work in a poor neighborhood.

It's no coincidence that the nation's worst school systems are run by non-experts like Klein and Duncan.

Obama certainly knows this. I know he knows because he's chosen, as head of his Education Department transition team, one of the most highly respected educators in the United States: Professor Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University.

So here we have the ludicrous scene of the President-elect asking this recognized authority, Dr. Darling-Hammond, to vet the qualifications of amateurs Klein and Duncan. It's as if Obama were to ask Michael Jordan, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who can play basketball, would you?"

Classroom Class War

It's not just Klein's and Duncan's empty credentials which scare me: it's the ill philosophy behind the Bush-brand education theories they promote. ...

Trib: maintained a positive story line for the troubled district

By amberglow on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 1:14pm

Duncan to join Obama Cabinet

Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan, who over seven years maintained a positive story line for the troubled district, will join longtime basketball buddy Barack Obama's Cabinet as secretary of education, a transition source said.

Obama's appointment, which will be announced Tuesday in a joint appearance at Dodge Renaissance Academy on the West Side, comes as the nation turns a jaundiced eye toward Chicago leaders and the city's oft-criticized political machine. ...

An adviser on Obama's education policy, Duncan has called for more flexibility in the No Child Left Behind school accountability law, but does not intend to scrap the initiative entirely.

Duncan did not return calls seeking comment Monday.

The selection of Duncan almost certainly will renew debates about Obama's commitment to public schools, ...

Community organizations have expressed frustrations over disparities in test scores between minority and low-income students and students at predominantly white and affluent schools. Some reformers have questioned Renaissance 2010, a program in which Duncan has closed struggling schools and forced the staff to reapply for their positions. ...

Proponents of the city's 20-year-old Local School Council system—which gave power to neighborhood voices—have protested a steady push under Duncan to bring some controls back to the central office.

"I think Arne's time here is a cautionary tale," said Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education. "We hope that outside of Chicago, Arne Duncan will do the right thing for kids." ...

shoe-throwing ...

By Sarah on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 7:41pm

is a major insult over there, as is hitting somebody with a shoe.

evidently Dana Perino ended up with a shiner after this incident. Who'd have thought?

We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0

1 John 4:18

On evening broadcast news, heard only first insult from the shoe

By jawbone on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 8:40pm

thrower, "This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog."

The second insult, shouted with the second throw, was "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Both were memorable, but it was the second which hurt me as a citizen of the country which illigally invaded Iraq. And it's the insult left unsaid--bcz our MCM doesn't do death when it's caused by our nation. Dasn't mention all those dead, mostly innocent Iraqis. Wouldn't be prudent....

The second insult was quoted on the NewsHour by Ray Suarez in introing segment with Juan Cole and some other guy.

Show thrower reportedly in US custody, Camp Cropper; injured.

By jawbone on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 9:04pm

Per this blog, Roads to Iraq, , Iraqi TV is reporting this (not Al-Zaidi's own station).

Iraqi TV al-Sharqiya just reported on the news that AL-Zaidi is transferred to Camp Cropper prison [the Airport prison, managed by the American forces].

The TV Channel announced that Al-Zaidi is in a difficult condition, with broken ribs and signs of tortures on his thighs. Also he can not move his right arm.

P.S.

I am just telling you what I heard on TV.

Via commenter Alamet at Moon of AL.org.

Commenter Siun has some links to petitions and McClatchy article about what happened after he was tackled.

Bush ducked the first shoe. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, standing to Bush's left, tried to swat down the second. Neither hit the president. Another Iraqi journalist yanked Zaidi to the ground before bodyguards collapsed on Zaidi and held him there while he yelled "Killer of Iraqis, killer of children." From the bottom of the pile, he moaned loudly and said "my hand, my hand."
....
Zaidi was hauled to a separate room, where his cries remained audible for a few moments.