Eric Boehlert asks some unsettling questions about Gannongate and the White House in today's Salon, including, "Why is this story being ignored by large media outlets?" Perhaps a couple years from now we shall be reading yet another "We're sorry" editorial, like this one.
Ordinarily, revelations that a former male prostitute, using an alias (Jeff Gannon) and working for a phony news organization, was ushered into the White House -- without undergoing a full-blown security background check -- in order to pose softball questions to administration officials would qualify as news by any recent Beltway standard. Yet as of Thursday, ABC News, which produces "Good Morning America," "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings," "Nightline," "This Week," "20/20" and "Primetime Live," has not reported one word about the three-week-running scandal. Neither has CBS News ("The Early Show," "The CBS Evening News," "60 Minutes," "60 Minutes Wednesday" and "Face the Nation"). NBC and its entire family of morning, evening and weekend news programs have addressed the story only three times. Asked about the lack of coverage, a spokesperson for ABC did not return calls seeking comment, while a CBS spokeswoman said executives were unavailable to discuss the network's coverage.
Friday, February 25, 2005
A Long, Strange Trip
The best college vacations involve an educational experience, travel, social activism, and good old-fashioned fun, where allowable by law. The Guardian reports today that two Cornwall university students are planning their own strange trip across America this coming summer. I can sympathize, since I live in a city which bans the public throwing of tortillas. (BTW, Hitchens already did this in Bloomberg's New York - see the Feb, 2004 Vanity Fair.)
A British student has an American dream - and it involves going illegal whale-hunting in landlocked Utah.
A British student has an American dream - and it involves going illegal whale-hunting in landlocked Utah.
This July, Richard Smith, 23, and Luke Bateman, 20, both from Cornwall, are planning to travel 18,000 miles across the land of the free while breaking as many of its ridiculous and arcane local laws as possible.
Smith told the Western Morning News that the pair will risk being arrested for falling asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota and playing golf in the streets of Albany, New York. In Jonesborough, Georgia, they will attempt to drive local police mad by illegally saying "oh boy". Let's hope Downing Street is braced for the diplomatic storm.
Smith, from Portreath, says he got his inspiration from a board game featuring details of a law that forbids widows in Florida from going parachuting on Sundays. Further research showed the US was not lacking in oddball legislation.
The pair plan to break around 40 strange state and town laws as they cross 26 states. They will start in California, where it is illegal to ride a bike in a swimming pool, and end in Connecticut, in the east, where it is illegal to cross the road while walking on your hands.
It may not surprise you to learn that Smith is a journalism student who is in discussions with a book publisher, and he plans to film the adventure in case television producers come running. His plans follow in the crazy caper tradition of Dave Gorman and Tony Hawks.
The Western Morning Mail reports that Smith has a knack for this kind of thing. Last year, he drove through the night to Normandy to attend the 60th anniversary of the D-day landings because someone bet him £20 that he would not do it.
Asked whether he was worried about imprisonment on his US mission, Smith, who studies at Cornwall College Camborne, said: "I think there's more chance I will get arrested for the way I break the laws than for breaking the laws themselves. Who knows, there might actually be a good reason for their existence."
Let's hope those crazy guys at the Department of Homeland Security see the funny side.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Wetter Than Seattle!
No more of this for almost a week!
The sun has finally reappeared in SoCal today, so we get almost a week to dry out before the next storm system wades ashore from the Pacific. The picture above is on the 110 Freeway in Highland Park - the water is so full in the storm drain system that it is spraying up from manhole covers in the middle of the road, causing for some nice traffic jams in a place where you don't expect to see a fountain. This led me to wonder what the experts were thinking back in 2004 about this winter's rain totals. A quick trip to the NOAA site led me to this prediction from October 6, 2004:
The precipitation outlook calls for wetter-than-average conditions in parts of California, the extreme Southwest and across the Southern U.S.—from Texas to Florida. Drier-than-average conditions are expected in the Midwest, northern Plains and Pacific Northwest.
The winter outlook indicates some improvement in drought conditions in the West, but long-term drought is expected to persist through the winter in many areas.
Seems the weather experts were right after all.
Winter rain outlook back on October 6, 2004.
Woman in the Picture
Forget Nurse Betty, meet Nurse Edith
Courtesy of LA Observed, we read that Edith Shain, the nurse in the famous VJ-Day photo, will be the grand marshal at the Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade this year. From today's L.A. Daily News:
The greatest kiss of all time was between a 27-year-old nurse and an unidentified sailor almost 60 years ago in Times Square on V-J Day, Aug. 15, 1945.
The Life magazine photograph of two strangers sharing a long, passionate kiss to mark the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II cut right to the war-weary heart of this nation.
Romance was back. It was time to celebrate and party again. The war was over and we had won. Anything and everything was possible. The proof was right there in Life magazine -- in that one passionate, unforgettable kiss.
"It's amazing how people still respond in awe to that photograph, especially when they find out I was the nurse," says 86-year-old Edith Shain, a retired Los Angeles Unified School District teacher who will be an honorary grand marshal in the Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade this year.
Genetics and Race in the TLS
The new Times Literary Supplement has a cover review of "Race: The Reality of Human Differences" by Sarich and Miele. The online content only gives a portion of the review, so I'll have to get my hands on a hard copy to see if my previous opinions about Sarich, and the molecular anthropology crowd, still hold.
When I apply to a United States government agency for a research grant, I’m asked to tick a box specifying whether I’m American Indian / Alaska Native, Asian, Black /African American, Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander, or White. While there are people whose mixed ancestry puts them somewhere outside these boxes, in general one’s race – even as categorized on government forms – is self-evident. Nevertheless, immediately below the boxes there’s a disclaimer: “The categories in this classification are social-political constructs and should not be interpreted as being anthropological in nature”. On the basis of biological indicators such as ancestry or skin colour, I’ve specified my race, but now I’m told that all I’ve done is specified membership in a particular “social-political construct”.
Presumably lost on the bureaucrats who create such forms is the irony that America’s geneticists – experts on the biological basis of differences among groups – are being assured that the self-assessment they make on biological grounds is, in fact, not biological. This contradiction captures the tension beneath much of the current debate on race. It also highlights the peculiar American slant on this debate. While my colleagues in the United Kingdom must also specify their ancestry when applying for government funds, they are not subjected to double-speak disclaimers. Racism in the US, courtesy of a society built largely on slavery, has an especially long and sordid history, and remains a divisive hot-button issue. In many discussions of American social policy, racism is the proverbial elephant in the living room: recognized but carefully ignored.
When I apply to a United States government agency for a research grant, I’m asked to tick a box specifying whether I’m American Indian / Alaska Native, Asian, Black /African American, Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander, or White. While there are people whose mixed ancestry puts them somewhere outside these boxes, in general one’s race – even as categorized on government forms – is self-evident. Nevertheless, immediately below the boxes there’s a disclaimer: “The categories in this classification are social-political constructs and should not be interpreted as being anthropological in nature”. On the basis of biological indicators such as ancestry or skin colour, I’ve specified my race, but now I’m told that all I’ve done is specified membership in a particular “social-political construct”.
Presumably lost on the bureaucrats who create such forms is the irony that America’s geneticists – experts on the biological basis of differences among groups – are being assured that the self-assessment they make on biological grounds is, in fact, not biological. This contradiction captures the tension beneath much of the current debate on race. It also highlights the peculiar American slant on this debate. While my colleagues in the United Kingdom must also specify their ancestry when applying for government funds, they are not subjected to double-speak disclaimers. Racism in the US, courtesy of a society built largely on slavery, has an especially long and sordid history, and remains a divisive hot-button issue. In many discussions of American social policy, racism is the proverbial elephant in the living room: recognized but carefully ignored.
Add These to the List
In case you missed it, the book critics at Salon have chimed in with their recommendations for this month. Looks like I'll be adding some of these to the ever-expanding reading list. (Recommending critic named in parentheses.)
"The Manhattan Beach Project" by Peter Lefcourt (Stephanie Zacharek)
"Johnny Too Bad" by John Dufresne (Andrew O'Hehir)
"A Thread of Grace" by Mary Doria Russell (Laura Miller)
"How to Fall" by Edith Pearlman (Andrew O'Hehir)
"Enchantments" by Linda Ferr (Priya Jain)
"The Manhattan Beach Project" by Peter Lefcourt (Stephanie Zacharek)
"Johnny Too Bad" by John Dufresne (Andrew O'Hehir)
"A Thread of Grace" by Mary Doria Russell (Laura Miller)
"How to Fall" by Edith Pearlman (Andrew O'Hehir)
"Enchantments" by Linda Ferr (Priya Jain)
Southern Culture in Flux
The Christian Science Monitor has an article today on changing attitudes and regional identity in the South that's worth a read. The author also mentions that historians see a parallel between regional political division over the War of 1812, and our current Red/Blue map:
Beyond Confederate flags coming down from statehouses, more-mundane symbols are increasingly being questioned on the local level: in town halls, college campuses, and even cemetery committees. It's part of a deepening homogenization of Southern culture that's causing anger and resentment among many in a proud region with perhaps 65 million people who consider themselves Southerners.
Some observers see a note of irony in the growing suppression of conservative Southern memorials at a time when old Confederate values like militarism, chivalry, gentility, and religiosity are gaining political prominence. It's a lesson, they say, in how a rebellious American region maintains its influence beneath pressure to rescind its mottoes and murals.
"The shooting war is over, but ... we're engaged in a cultural war for the heart and soul of the South and for America, too," says William Lathem, spokesman for the Southern Heritage PAC in Atlanta.
Beyond Confederate flags coming down from statehouses, more-mundane symbols are increasingly being questioned on the local level: in town halls, college campuses, and even cemetery committees. It's part of a deepening homogenization of Southern culture that's causing anger and resentment among many in a proud region with perhaps 65 million people who consider themselves Southerners.
Some observers see a note of irony in the growing suppression of conservative Southern memorials at a time when old Confederate values like militarism, chivalry, gentility, and religiosity are gaining political prominence. It's a lesson, they say, in how a rebellious American region maintains its influence beneath pressure to rescind its mottoes and murals.
"The shooting war is over, but ... we're engaged in a cultural war for the heart and soul of the South and for America, too," says William Lathem, spokesman for the Southern Heritage PAC in Atlanta.
The Literary Deconstruction of Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart has been all over the airwaves in California as community resistance to supercenters continues to gather, and yesterday CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. gave a speech in downtown Los Angeles that was covered by the local media. So I was glad to see Timothy Noah in today's Chatterbox pick apart the main points of the speech for a larger audience:
The apparent purpose of the speech was to counter political resistance to the building of Wal-Mart "supercenters" in California. But if Scott saw much danger that Wall Street might believe his rosy picture of labor relations, he wouldn't paint it, because that would create an investor stampede away from Wal-Mart stock. What we have, then, is a unique rhetorical form: Nonsense recited by someone who is relying on most of his listeners to understand that he is spouting nonsense. Wal-Mart took the trouble to send this speech out to writers "who are in a position to influence a lot of others," according to a cover e-mail I received from Mona Williams, Wal-Mart's vice president for corporate communications. I took Williams' email as a plea to expose the dishonesty in Scott's remarks (Stop us before we kill again!) disguised as a plea to give Scott's remarks a fair hearing. I will try to oblige.
The apparent purpose of the speech was to counter political resistance to the building of Wal-Mart "supercenters" in California. But if Scott saw much danger that Wall Street might believe his rosy picture of labor relations, he wouldn't paint it, because that would create an investor stampede away from Wal-Mart stock. What we have, then, is a unique rhetorical form: Nonsense recited by someone who is relying on most of his listeners to understand that he is spouting nonsense. Wal-Mart took the trouble to send this speech out to writers "who are in a position to influence a lot of others," according to a cover e-mail I received from Mona Williams, Wal-Mart's vice president for corporate communications. I took Williams' email as a plea to expose the dishonesty in Scott's remarks (Stop us before we kill again!) disguised as a plea to give Scott's remarks a fair hearing. I will try to oblige.
L.A. Stories
Today's LA Weekly reminds us why we are called "La-La-Land" with another weird news item.
And what became of the so-called Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich that, a few months ago, sold on eBay for $28,000 (even though the image looks more like a brunette Mae West)? It was purchased by online-gaming giant GoldenPalace.com and has become a mascot for the company’s popular eating contests. Last week, the company bought the similarly significant McDonald’s “Lincoln fry” — a 4-inch strip of fried potato that contains a partial bust of President Lincoln at one end — for $75,100.
“This is a great day for marketing,” GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe stated in the company’s press release. “And a great day for Abe Lincoln.”
A few days prior, on the afternoon of Abe Lincoln’s 196th birthday, an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 fills the bleachers at Muscle Beach to watch “The Passion of the Toast,” a 10-minute all-you-can-eat competition, and to get a glimpse of the Virgin Mary grilled cheese, which GoldenPalace.com’s Steve Baker carries around in a sturdy glass case.
And what became of the so-called Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich that, a few months ago, sold on eBay for $28,000 (even though the image looks more like a brunette Mae West)? It was purchased by online-gaming giant GoldenPalace.com and has become a mascot for the company’s popular eating contests. Last week, the company bought the similarly significant McDonald’s “Lincoln fry” — a 4-inch strip of fried potato that contains a partial bust of President Lincoln at one end — for $75,100.
“This is a great day for marketing,” GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe stated in the company’s press release. “And a great day for Abe Lincoln.”
A few days prior, on the afternoon of Abe Lincoln’s 196th birthday, an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 fills the bleachers at Muscle Beach to watch “The Passion of the Toast,” a 10-minute all-you-can-eat competition, and to get a glimpse of the Virgin Mary grilled cheese, which GoldenPalace.com’s Steve Baker carries around in a sturdy glass case.
Tell it to the Red Sox Fans
The Guardian has an article exploring some theories about the origins of faith and religion:
As well as providing succour for those troubled by the existential dilemma, religion, or at least a primitive spirituality, would have played another important role as human societies developed. By providing contexts for a moral code, religious beliefs encouraged bonding within groups, which in turn bolstered the group's chances of survival, says Pascal Boyer, an anthropologist turned psychologist at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. Some believe that religion was so successful in improving group survival that a tendency to believe was positively selected for in our evolutionary history. Others maintain that religious belief is too modern to have made any difference.
"What I find more plausible is that rather than religion itself offering any advantage in evolutionary terms, it's a byproduct of other cognitive capacities we evolved, which did have advantages," says Boyer.
As well as providing succour for those troubled by the existential dilemma, religion, or at least a primitive spirituality, would have played another important role as human societies developed. By providing contexts for a moral code, religious beliefs encouraged bonding within groups, which in turn bolstered the group's chances of survival, says Pascal Boyer, an anthropologist turned psychologist at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. Some believe that religion was so successful in improving group survival that a tendency to believe was positively selected for in our evolutionary history. Others maintain that religious belief is too modern to have made any difference.
"What I find more plausible is that rather than religion itself offering any advantage in evolutionary terms, it's a byproduct of other cognitive capacities we evolved, which did have advantages," says Boyer.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Mystery Feline Shot
For those of you who have been following this story, earlier this hour the LA Times posted this article on the mysterious "big cat" seen just over the line in Ventura County.
Tiger Shot and Killed Near Reagan Library
By Amanda Covarrubias
Times Staff Writer
11:12 AM PST, February 23, 2005
An elusive tiger that prowled through Ventura County near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was killed this morning in Moorpark, but its origin remains a mystery.
The tiger, weighing between 400 to 600 pounds, was sighted walking behind the houses and through the ravines around Highway 23. Nearby is Miller Park, with well-used soccer fields.
According to Troy Swauger, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game, the tiger was spotted about 6:30 a.m., walking through the yard of the Tucker family.
"It was old and tired-looking. It was walking along our fence and then went to our next-door neighbor's yard," Mary Tucker said.
"It was just a weird thing to see him in our backyard," husband Ken Tucker said.
Tiger Shot and Killed Near Reagan Library
By Amanda Covarrubias
Times Staff Writer
11:12 AM PST, February 23, 2005
An elusive tiger that prowled through Ventura County near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was killed this morning in Moorpark, but its origin remains a mystery.
The tiger, weighing between 400 to 600 pounds, was sighted walking behind the houses and through the ravines around Highway 23. Nearby is Miller Park, with well-used soccer fields.
According to Troy Swauger, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game, the tiger was spotted about 6:30 a.m., walking through the yard of the Tucker family.
"It was old and tired-looking. It was walking along our fence and then went to our next-door neighbor's yard," Mary Tucker said.
"It was just a weird thing to see him in our backyard," husband Ken Tucker said.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
When in Rome, Walk This Way
Tom Zoellner recently posted some hilarious travel hints for the Globe Trekker crowd seeking a more adventurous and "authentic" experience in non-resort industry nations. A few examples:
Walk Like a Man
When disembarking at the airport, put on your best New York scowl and act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Uncertain body language is like blood in the water for robbers, touts and con artists, all of whom lurk outside Customs like skycaps.
Come Prepared
Carry a pocketful of ballpoint pens. They make handy, non-monetary gifts for street children. Many schools in poor countries can't afford to give their students anything to write with.
An All-Purpose Conversation Starter in Youth Hostels
"Hey, are you from Australia?"
Walk Like a Man
When disembarking at the airport, put on your best New York scowl and act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Uncertain body language is like blood in the water for robbers, touts and con artists, all of whom lurk outside Customs like skycaps.
Come Prepared
Carry a pocketful of ballpoint pens. They make handy, non-monetary gifts for street children. Many schools in poor countries can't afford to give their students anything to write with.
An All-Purpose Conversation Starter in Youth Hostels
"Hey, are you from Australia?"
Two Drunks, a Bottle, Some Rifles....
Most of you who know what time zone you reside are probably aware by now that Hunter S. Thompson - gonzo journalist, Nixon-nemesis, high-volume shootist, and acclaimed alcoholic - died last weekend from a self-inflicted gunshot. I enjoyed his pieces but was never part of the HST cult that followed him to strange book signings, complete with obligatory drunken and oafish behavior (like last October in Los Angeles). So I wasn't too surprised to see that Christopher Hitchen's obit of HST today should begin with his own tale of distilled excess.
In early August of 1990 I went to Aspen, Colo., to cover what looked as if it would be a rather banal summit involving Margaret Thatcher and George Bush. (The meeting was to be enlivened by the announcement of the forcible annexation of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, who would go on to trouble our tranquility for another 13 years.) While the banal bit was still going on, the city invited the visiting press hacks for a cocktail reception at the top of an imposing mountain. Stepping off the ski lift, I was met by immaculate specimens of young American womanhood, holding silver trays and flashing perfect dentition. What would I like? I thought a gin and tonic would meet the case. "Sir, that would be inappropriate." In what respect? "At this altitude gin would be very much more toxic than at ground level." In that case, I said, make it a double.
In early August of 1990 I went to Aspen, Colo., to cover what looked as if it would be a rather banal summit involving Margaret Thatcher and George Bush. (The meeting was to be enlivened by the announcement of the forcible annexation of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, who would go on to trouble our tranquility for another 13 years.) While the banal bit was still going on, the city invited the visiting press hacks for a cocktail reception at the top of an imposing mountain. Stepping off the ski lift, I was met by immaculate specimens of young American womanhood, holding silver trays and flashing perfect dentition. What would I like? I thought a gin and tonic would meet the case. "Sir, that would be inappropriate." In what respect? "At this altitude gin would be very much more toxic than at ground level." In that case, I said, make it a double.
Thanks for the Memorex
I'm glad to report that my post last Thursday was a bit prescient - Bush seems to have more in common with the Nixon administration than many of us previously thought. Prediction: Doug Wead will soon be a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (to keep his mouth shut, and only after he hands over the tapes). From today's Salon:
The papers and the talkers were abuzz with news of Doug Wead's tapes of George W. Bush over the weekend. There's plenty in there to discuss: Bush's admission – implicit but unequivocal – that he used marijuana in the past, his warning that Republicans shouldn't "kick gays," his prickliness about attacks perceived and real, and his ruminations about what a great Supreme Court justice John Ashcroft might make.
The papers and the talkers were abuzz with news of Doug Wead's tapes of George W. Bush over the weekend. There's plenty in there to discuss: Bush's admission – implicit but unequivocal – that he used marijuana in the past, his warning that Republicans shouldn't "kick gays," his prickliness about attacks perceived and real, and his ruminations about what a great Supreme Court justice John Ashcroft might make.
But the most interesting thing about the recorded conversations is that there's apparently a whole lot more of them still out there. Wead says that he didn't mean to harm the president by letting the New York Times listen to excerpts from the tapes. As proof, he points to the fact that he has refrained from releasing most of the tapes he has. "Ninety percent of the tapes have not been heard," Wead told the Washington Post. "If I released all the tapes, it would be an act of betrayal. Most of them have never seen the light of day and never will."
Wead's decision to hold back may explain the White House's muted response to the tapes so far. The Bush administration has never been shy about lashing out at those who embarrass the president. Just ask Paul O’Neill or Richard Clarke. But the White House has all but admitted the authenticity of Wead's recordings, and it has done little yet to discredit Wead himself. "The governor was having casual conversations with someone he believed was his friend," White House spokesman Trent Duffy told the Times.
Maybe the Bush team hopes that reacting quietly will help the story go away. But maybe it's something else. Maybe Bush figures that a man still sitting on a stack of tapes isn't a man he wants to hassle.Thursday, February 17, 2005
Suburban Dystopia - L.A. Style
With a new Pacific storm bringing a week of rain to a soggy Los Angeles, we shall soon be watching the eroding hillsides and swollen arroyos of the region, including the Santa Clarita Valley. But the pristine suburban setting that has made this community a much sought-after address is now, apparently, a little bit of suburban dystopia, according to this article in today's LA Times:
Families have long flocked to this master-planned community 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles because of the pristine parks and high-performing schools in the fervent belief it is a good place to raise children.
But some families who moved to the Santa Clarita Valley to escape the noise, crime and decay of the city are finding that life is not so comfortable in the manicured suburbs.
The valley has been roiled over the last few months by claims from at least half a dozen African American families that their children have been targets of intolerant, even racist, behavior from their white peers. They say the white teens have continually bullied, harassed and attacked their children at school and off campus for no apparent reason, other than the color of their skin.
The attacks, they said, occurred when youths were walking home from school, going to the park or visiting friends. The incidents have shaken the community because the alleged assailants are not skin-head outsiders but other teenagers who live among them in the pricey subdivisions.
Families have long flocked to this master-planned community 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles because of the pristine parks and high-performing schools in the fervent belief it is a good place to raise children.
But some families who moved to the Santa Clarita Valley to escape the noise, crime and decay of the city are finding that life is not so comfortable in the manicured suburbs.
The valley has been roiled over the last few months by claims from at least half a dozen African American families that their children have been targets of intolerant, even racist, behavior from their white peers. They say the white teens have continually bullied, harassed and attacked their children at school and off campus for no apparent reason, other than the color of their skin.
The attacks, they said, occurred when youths were walking home from school, going to the park or visiting friends. The incidents have shaken the community because the alleged assailants are not skin-head outsiders but other teenagers who live among them in the pricey subdivisions.
Gannongate and "Real" News
Being a slightly impetuous fellow, I don't want to wait until Sunday to read Frank Rich's media column in the NYT, which is a bit of pure joy near the end of the work week. His most recent focuses on the White House manipulation of news items, especially the continuously unfolding (or disrobing) story of Jeff Gannon, or whoever he is. (In statistical analysis, we call this "massaging the data," which might be a bit too revealing for the Family Hour on TV.)
By my count, "Jeff Gannon" is now at least the sixth "journalist" (four of whom have been unmasked so far this year) to have been a propagandist on the payroll of either the Bush administration or a barely arms-length ally like Talon News while simultaneously appearing in print or broadcast forums that purport to be real news. Of these six, two have been syndicated newspaper columnists paid by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the administration's "marriage" initiatives. The other four have played real newsmen on TV. Before Mr. Guckert and Armstrong Williams, the talking head paid $240,000 by the Department of Education, there were Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia. Let us not forget these pioneers - the Woodward and Bernstein of fake news. They starred in bogus reports ("In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting," went the script) pretending to "sort through the details" of the administration's Medicare prescription-drug plan in 2004. Such "reports," some of which found their way into news packages distributed to local stations by CNN, appeared in more than 50 news broadcasts around the country and have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office.
And, in an even-more penetrating analysis, Rich reminds us about prescreened and scripted town hall meetings, faux "news" channels run by the Pentagon, and government "minders" for the Washington press corps.
It is a brilliant strategy. When the Bush administration isn't using taxpayers' money to buy its own fake news, it does everything it can to shut out and pillory real reporters who might tell Americans what is happening in what is, at least in theory, their own government. Paul Farhi of The Washington Post discovered that even at an inaugural ball he was assigned "minders" - attractive women who wouldn't give him their full names - to let the revelers know that Big Brother was watching should they be tempted to say anything remotely off message.
The inability of real journalists to penetrate this White House is not all the White House's fault. The errors of real news organizations have played perfectly into the administration's insidious efforts to blur the boundaries between the fake and the real and thereby demolish the whole notion that there could possibly be an objective and accurate free press. Conservatives, who supposedly deplore post-modernism, are now welcoming in a brave new world in which it's a given that there can be no empirical reality in news, only the reality you want to hear (or they want you to hear). The frequent fecklessness of the Beltway gang does little to penetrate this Washington smokescreen.
Last November, I listened to Terri Gross interview New Yorker writer Hendrik Hertzberg on Fresh Air. His observation - and a good one at that - was that the Bush administration's ethical tribulations up to that time mirrored those of the Nixon administration just prior to the 1972 election - only months before the Watergate break-in was splashed over the front page of the Washington Post. Gannongate, and other "suprises" released only after the election (i.e., FAA reports on Al-Qaeda ignored by Rice and others), might just be the beginning of something big and sordid.
By my count, "Jeff Gannon" is now at least the sixth "journalist" (four of whom have been unmasked so far this year) to have been a propagandist on the payroll of either the Bush administration or a barely arms-length ally like Talon News while simultaneously appearing in print or broadcast forums that purport to be real news. Of these six, two have been syndicated newspaper columnists paid by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the administration's "marriage" initiatives. The other four have played real newsmen on TV. Before Mr. Guckert and Armstrong Williams, the talking head paid $240,000 by the Department of Education, there were Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia. Let us not forget these pioneers - the Woodward and Bernstein of fake news. They starred in bogus reports ("In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting," went the script) pretending to "sort through the details" of the administration's Medicare prescription-drug plan in 2004. Such "reports," some of which found their way into news packages distributed to local stations by CNN, appeared in more than 50 news broadcasts around the country and have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office.
And, in an even-more penetrating analysis, Rich reminds us about prescreened and scripted town hall meetings, faux "news" channels run by the Pentagon, and government "minders" for the Washington press corps.
It is a brilliant strategy. When the Bush administration isn't using taxpayers' money to buy its own fake news, it does everything it can to shut out and pillory real reporters who might tell Americans what is happening in what is, at least in theory, their own government. Paul Farhi of The Washington Post discovered that even at an inaugural ball he was assigned "minders" - attractive women who wouldn't give him their full names - to let the revelers know that Big Brother was watching should they be tempted to say anything remotely off message.
The inability of real journalists to penetrate this White House is not all the White House's fault. The errors of real news organizations have played perfectly into the administration's insidious efforts to blur the boundaries between the fake and the real and thereby demolish the whole notion that there could possibly be an objective and accurate free press. Conservatives, who supposedly deplore post-modernism, are now welcoming in a brave new world in which it's a given that there can be no empirical reality in news, only the reality you want to hear (or they want you to hear). The frequent fecklessness of the Beltway gang does little to penetrate this Washington smokescreen.
Last November, I listened to Terri Gross interview New Yorker writer Hendrik Hertzberg on Fresh Air. His observation - and a good one at that - was that the Bush administration's ethical tribulations up to that time mirrored those of the Nixon administration just prior to the 1972 election - only months before the Watergate break-in was splashed over the front page of the Washington Post. Gannongate, and other "suprises" released only after the election (i.e., FAA reports on Al-Qaeda ignored by Rice and others), might just be the beginning of something big and sordid.
Death Pays
Another great find by Michelle Leder at Footnoted.org. Seems that funeral directors never die, they just become consultants on a long, never-ending sliding scale:
Anyone who's had the pleasure of shopping for funeral services knows how expensive a funeral can be. Even a basic pine box seems to cost thousands of dollars. Now, I have a better understanding as to why. Last week, buried at the bottom of a press release on various management changes, funeral services giant Service Corp. International (SRV) noted that its vice chairman, B.D. Hunter, planned to step down, but would remain on as a consultant. What wasn't included in the press release (but was in the 8-K the company filed on Tuesday) was just how much Hunter will be paid: $91,667 a month in exchange for devoting "substantially his full time to the business of the company" (whatever that means). He'll collect that monthly stipend for the next three years, before the fee drops down to a measley $50K a month in February 2008.
Anyone who's had the pleasure of shopping for funeral services knows how expensive a funeral can be. Even a basic pine box seems to cost thousands of dollars. Now, I have a better understanding as to why. Last week, buried at the bottom of a press release on various management changes, funeral services giant Service Corp. International (SRV) noted that its vice chairman, B.D. Hunter, planned to step down, but would remain on as a consultant. What wasn't included in the press release (but was in the 8-K the company filed on Tuesday) was just how much Hunter will be paid: $91,667 a month in exchange for devoting "substantially his full time to the business of the company" (whatever that means). He'll collect that monthly stipend for the next three years, before the fee drops down to a measley $50K a month in February 2008.
Sympathy for the Vatican
From our friends at The Guardian we read that an Italian university is offering courses on Satanism. Can "critical demonology studies" be next?
The Vatican's exorcism rule book warns priests the devil "goes around like a roaring lion looking for souls to devour", but such is the perceived rise in his worship that a Catholic university is offering clerics classes to better identify their foe.
The two-month course at Regina Apostolorum, one of Rome's most prestigious pontifical universities, has arisen out of concern in the Vatican over a series of high profile court cases linking ritualised murders to Satanism.
The courses, starting today, will deal with demonology, the presence of the notion of the devil in sacred texts, and the pathology and medical treatment of people suffering from possession.
The Vatican's exorcism rule book warns priests the devil "goes around like a roaring lion looking for souls to devour", but such is the perceived rise in his worship that a Catholic university is offering clerics classes to better identify their foe.
The two-month course at Regina Apostolorum, one of Rome's most prestigious pontifical universities, has arisen out of concern in the Vatican over a series of high profile court cases linking ritualised murders to Satanism.
The courses, starting today, will deal with demonology, the presence of the notion of the devil in sacred texts, and the pathology and medical treatment of people suffering from possession.
Art and the Bottom Line
The Rand Corp. has come out with a study this week arguing that arts institutions don't necessarily benefit from a bottom-line, economic approach (contra the CATO free market fanatics):
After wading through stacks of economic and educational studies used to drum up arts funding, Rand Corp. researchers say the numbers don't make a persuasive case and that arts advocates should emphasize intrinsic benefits that make people cherish the arts.
The Rand report, "Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts," issued Tuesday, says that trumpeting the most quantifiable and utilitarian benefits doesn't address the biggest long-term challenge facing arts organizations: cultivating an arts-savvy public that wants what museums and performing groups offer.
To that end, Rand proposes that advocates become less fixated on what the arts can do for business growth and kids' math and reading scores, and instead stress intangibles such as enchantment, enlightenment and community-building.
After wading through stacks of economic and educational studies used to drum up arts funding, Rand Corp. researchers say the numbers don't make a persuasive case and that arts advocates should emphasize intrinsic benefits that make people cherish the arts.
The Rand report, "Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts," issued Tuesday, says that trumpeting the most quantifiable and utilitarian benefits doesn't address the biggest long-term challenge facing arts organizations: cultivating an arts-savvy public that wants what museums and performing groups offer.
To that end, Rand proposes that advocates become less fixated on what the arts can do for business growth and kids' math and reading scores, and instead stress intangibles such as enchantment, enlightenment and community-building.
Chabon in Denver
Michael Chabon spoke recently in Denver, and Rake's Progress was there with pen in hand, giving us all the details this morning. I was particularly intestested in learning about Chabon's journey writing his first novel; his first ideas, the feedback, and even the technology:
Chabon's talk—for which I would have suggested the title "The Importance of Lying, The Pitfalls of Memory," after a couple phrases he used—turned out to be about the genesis of his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. (Unfortunately, this is the only Chabon novel I haven't read, and if I'd known, I would have read that instead of The Final Solution last weekend. But I digress.) He began the book while living with his mother and step-father in the summer of 1985, right before entering Cal-Irvine's MFA program. The first attempts were pecked out in a humble little bunker he called "Ralph's room," after the previous occupant—he worked at an extremely high workbench, so he had to sit in a folding chair precariously perched on a steamer trunk, and composed on an Osborne 1a computer that he bought in 1983. The room smelled of "soil, coal dust, and bicycle grease." He was living somewhat under a cloud at that time, and described his skull that summer as full of "loneliness, homesickness, and women in short pants."
Chabon's talk—for which I would have suggested the title "The Importance of Lying, The Pitfalls of Memory," after a couple phrases he used—turned out to be about the genesis of his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. (Unfortunately, this is the only Chabon novel I haven't read, and if I'd known, I would have read that instead of The Final Solution last weekend. But I digress.) He began the book while living with his mother and step-father in the summer of 1985, right before entering Cal-Irvine's MFA program. The first attempts were pecked out in a humble little bunker he called "Ralph's room," after the previous occupant—he worked at an extremely high workbench, so he had to sit in a folding chair precariously perched on a steamer trunk, and composed on an Osborne 1a computer that he bought in 1983. The room smelled of "soil, coal dust, and bicycle grease." He was living somewhat under a cloud at that time, and described his skull that summer as full of "loneliness, homesickness, and women in short pants."
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