aimai wrote:

Time was a journalist wanted to be read, and remembered for what he'd written. A “public intellectual?” Even more so. But to want that is to be determined to stand behind what you've written or what you've said. . . . But Klein doesn't want to do that—he's said too many stupid things at this point. Too many venial, corrupt, weak, vile, bought and paid for political puff balls. He said things he knew his interlocutor wanted him to say. He's said things he knew one party wanted him to say although he knew that they were untrue, or dangerous, or foolish, or just partial. He's not a public intellectual—he's a [effing] wind sock. And he knows it.

Markos wrote:

I wondered for a moment if Richard Cohen wrote his column today as a favor to Joe Klein, to distract one Villager's imbecility with another's. But then I remembered that Cohen is the worst columnist in America:

This business of what constitutes torture is a complicated matter. [Patrick Fitzgerald]managed to put Judith Miller of The New York Times in jail -- a wee bit of torture right there.

I defended Judy Miller's invocation of the reporters' privilege at the time. But I never confused her detainment for civil contempt as torture. But for imbeciles like Cohen, the issue of torture is "complicated." It is not enough to say that Cohen is immoral, which of course he is. It must be said he is an idiot. There is no better example of the white man's privilege than Richard Cohen, who should not have a job writing for anybody.

Speaking for me only

Glenn Greenwald:

Last year, after I wrote critically about a well-known journalist who frequently appears on the TV and is considered "liberal," he emailed me (after first asking me to agree that our conversation would be private) to warn that I should be more "careful" about attacking "allies" if I wanted to expand my platforms and get on television. That's how the culture works. Those are the weapons which politicians -- and journalists -- use to try to punish those who criticize them and reward those who refrain from doing that. But for people who are indifferent to those "rewards" and affirmatively want to be without them, establishment journalists can't control or otherwise deter them from shining a negative light on what they do. It's natural that they're angry about that and bitterly resent those who do it, but that's just the nature of accountability.

Glenn swims in the ocean where he must be paid for his writing so of course he can't be perfect on this - but more so than any other paid writer I know, Glenn writes what he thinks without concern for logrolling. For that alone, he is to be treasured. Of course, his meticulous research is another part of his work that is invaluable. I disagree with Glenn a fair amount on issues and have criticized him when I think he is wrong. Unlike Joe Klein, Glenn addresses the substance of the criticism, whether he thinks it is correct or incorrect. He does not hold a grudge against those who render substantive criticism of his views. We need more Glenn Greenwalds. We need less Joe Kleins. I fear we got more Kleins than Greenwalds in the progressive blogs the past few years.

Speaking for me only

JOE KLEIN: Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether I am a bad journalist who has no idea what I am talking about, or took a few liberties with the facts and merely regurgitated what Bush Administration officials told me - I did.

But you can't hold me responsible for the sick, twisted, false columns I wrote. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole Beltway Establishment? And if the whole Beltway Establishment is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our military institutions in general? I put it to you, Glenn - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to me, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to Glenn Greenwald badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen! [Leads the Villagers out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]

Source - Joke Line.

Speaking for me only

Caroline Kennedy's tribute to Teddy Kennedy at tonight's memorial service in Boston was my personal favorite.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office has issued a press release saying Michael Jackson's death was a homicide.

The "manner of death has been ruled homicide. Cause of death was established as acute propofol intoxication. Other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine. The drugs propofol and Lorazepam were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson’s death. Other drugs detected were midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine, and ephedrine. The final coroner’s report includes a complete toxicology report will that remain on security hold at the request of the Los Angeles police department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office"

The attorney for Conrad Murray, Jackson's physician who was with him when he died, is calling on the LAPD to release the full autopsy report, not just a summary. [More...]

Bob Dylan is in negotiations with two car companies to be the voice of their in-car GPS navigation systems.

Sure, I could put up a Dylan pun like "No Direction Home" or "There must be some way out of here" but I thought of this one and it's a good version. Any other ideas?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Have you read something like this before?

[T]he reality is that the first and worst deception was the Democrats' own. Step back for a second, listen to what the non-screaming skeptics are saying, and it's clear the party severely overestimated its mandate . . . What would have been a hard sell in any environment has turned into an epic challenge. Yet the Democrats have been charging ahead as if it's still November 2008, oblivious to the dramatic change in the electorate's mood.

. . . The left assumed that change on health care meant a public insurance plan. But most other Obama voters had (and likely still have) no idea what the term "public option" meant. If they were voting for him on health care at all, it was simply for lower costs and better care. They may have been open to that component of Obama's plan, as polls earlier this year showed. But to say that a vote for Obama was a vote for a public option is as much a canard as Palin's phony claims about death panels.

(Emphasis supplied.) No. It was not Ezra Klein. That would be the dangerstein hisself. Though confusion would be understandable.

Speaking for me only

The documentary Which Way Home premieres on HBO tonight at 9pm ET. The film follows unaccompanied migrant children from Latin America as they endure harrowing conditions on a freight train to come to the U.S. to be with their parents.

Exploitation by smugglers. Dehydration in the desert. The danger of being struck by trains. These are just a few of the dangers facing thousands of children from Latin America who travel great distances on top of freight trains to get to the United States. This film looks at the personal side of immigration through the eyes of several of these unaccompanied migrant children as they embark on a treacherous journey aboard a freight train they call "The Beast." Along the way, their stories of hope, courage, disappointment and sorrow are revealed as they endeavor to make it to the land of opportunity.

[More...]

After the Democrats were trounced in the 1994 congressional elections, the Media spun a meme declaring President Clinton irrelevant. President Clinton fought to make that meme false:

President Clinton last night declared his relevance to the political debate in Washington and called on Republicans to work with him in remarks at a news conference that offered a stark reminder of how much power has shifted from the White House to Congress.

President Clinton stood up to Newt Gingrich and his zany band of Republicans intent on gutting Medicare and other government programs and in fact regained the initiative. Which brings us to today, where supporters of President Obama, on the heels of his smashing triumph in 2008 and the most Democratic Congress since LBJ, now declare Obama irrelevant:

He can see no reasons
There can be no reasons
What reasons do you need to be shown

...I don't like Mondays,

I want to shoot the whole day down.

How's your Monday going? This is an open thread, all topics welcomes.

The final question to Miss Venezuela, 18 year old Stefania Fernandez, winner of the 2009 Miss Universe pagent:

In many parts of the world, obstacles still exist that impede women from achieving their goals in some corporations. What can women do to overcome these barriers?

Her answer (verbatim) with a big smile:

I believe that nowadays we women have overcome many obstacles and I do believe we can reach the same same level as men have. We must realize there are no longer any barriers amongst us.