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Shoe drops at the Courant

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

A short while ago I briefly alluded to changes we could anticipate at the Courant thanks to Sam Zell’s keen appreciation for journalism. Today Editor and Publisher gives us the grisly details:

In a memo to staff, first posted on the Poynter.org Romenesko site, Editor Cliff Teutsch has revealed plans to cut news pages from 273 per week to 206, while cutting staff positions from 232 to about 175.

“Perhaps these are the numbers you were expecting. Perhaps they are a shock,” the memo says, in part. “I have had a little time to wrap my head around them; many of you will need to do that too. They will be life-changing for some, and they add a sober reality for all as we continue to remake the paper for a September launch.”

…

On the page cuts, Teutsch stated: “In general, we plan to build a more compact paper for weekdays, when readers are pressed for time. We will present information in short form whenever feasible and go in-depth for the most important, relevant stories. On Sunday, when many people spend more time reading, the paper will stay about the same size it is today. Daily and Sunday, we will add new content and new approaches. There will also be takeaways, and we will be as smart as we can about making them. The paper will be completely redesigned. We will fully integrate print and online, and increase interactivity with readers.”

So we will be getting less news, with fewer reporters, and what we get will be dumbed down even more than it has already been. Sounds like the “new” Courant will have all the allure of new Coke. To put the page cuts in perspective, the article from the New York Times to which I linked in my previous post had this to say:

At Tribune’s largest paper, The Los Angeles Times, Mr. Zell’s plan would mean cutting the news content by 82 pages weekly — more than the amount many small papers produce. Smaller reductions could be expected at the company’s other papers, including The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant.

The reduction at the Courant is smaller, but it still amounts to 67 pages of news. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any data on the percentage cut at the Times, so I can’t provide an exact comparison, but I think it’s safe to say the proportional cut at the Courant is equal or greater than that at the Times. If my wife and I keep getting the Courant, it will be only for the comics, so if they cut those they will lose us for sure.

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Joe Must Go

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

As per the previous post, Chris Dodd has done Connecticut proud. It’s almost enough to help us forget that other Connecticut Senator. But not quite. Take a moment to go here and sign the petition, not that it will do much good.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecr-QvOukfM[/youtube]

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Dodd speaks out on FISA

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Chris Dodd’s website has the text of his FISA speech in Congress today, but the audio won’t play, at least on Safari. I tried to embed it in a post, but it was silent. Parts of the speech are on youtube however, and here’s one:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o_3bphT3dg[/youtube]

Harry Reid is clearing the way for this bill. I was surprised to read on the Huffington Post that Reid is distancing himself from Obama, who has cravenly disowned his previous opposition to the bill. Reid is doing precisely what he did before. He is personally opposing the bill, while doing all that he can to make sure it comes up for a vote in the form and in the manner that most suits the White House’s interests. Reid has power to set and shape the agenda. He has refused to use that power to fight FISA, and his own personal vote means little in that context. Reid is, in fact, doing pretty much what Obama now says he wants. He is going to force a doomed vote on immunity, and then clear the decks to make sure that Bush gets the bill he wants.

Note: This post was revised quite a bit from it’s original form, which was only up for a few minutes. I originally found a youtube of Dodd that I thought was his speech today. In fact, it was from December, so I substituted this video, and took out some comments that don’t necessarily apply to this video. Sorry about that.

Second Update: Harry Reid said, in the FISA context, that “I have an obligation here as the Majority Leader to move legislation that the majority of the body wants to go forward.” He seems to be quite selective in choosing bills on which he discharges that obligation. Latest case in point, a bill that even George Bush supports to fight AIDS in Africa. It seems seven Republican Senators prefer that we try not to prevent the spread of AIDS. They prefer we let the disease run rampant and then treat the victims. The majority of the Senate wants the bill, but is it going forward?

McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., support the legislation and said they were pushing for a compromise. Reid has been reluctant to move the legislation forward until an agreement is struck, and this week Democratic leaders focused blame for the delay on the seven senators.

Seven Republicans can do what 15 Democrats cannot. It’s great to be in the majority, isn’t it?

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Dodd to filibuster, Harry Reid to subvert

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

You can see the endgame from a mile away. To his credit, Dodd has announced that he will filibuster the FISA legislation. Harry Reid has announced that he will co-sponsor Dodd’s amendment to strip immunity out of this legislation. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Reid stands ready to put the knife into Dodd, and to deliver the blow quickly:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced moments ago on the Senate floor that he would vote against FISA, but that he has an obligation to move legislation that the majority wants:

I don’t particularly like FISA, and I’m going to vote against FISA. But, I have an obligation here as the Majority Leader to move legislation that the majority of the body wants to go forward.

This is a very interesting concept. Apparently his obligation to move legislation wanted by the majority is operative only when a large majority of that majority consists of Republicans. He has done nothing to move legislation opposed by Republicans, but supported by a majority of the Senate. Republicans have been allowed to kill legislation, often politically popular legislation, merely be announcing an intent to filibuster.

In an even richer irony: Pelosi, without whom this bill would never have seen the light of day, and who voted for the bill in the House, has this to say:

At a breakfast with reporters this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said it would be “healthy and wholesome” if the Senate filibustered the House-passed bill.

There is, undoubtedly, a reason why the Democratic leadership feels impelled to cave to Bush, make themselves look weak and irresolute, and eviscerate the Constitution, and give a one fingered salute to their most loyal supporters. The money from the telecoms does not appear to be a sufficient explanation. Could they still be suffering from battered legislator syndrome. Could it be that they are still listening to the pundits who helped sell the Iraq War, and now insist that only the un-serious people (you know, the ones who opposed the Iraq War from the start) are opposed to making Bush an elected king? No explanation seems satisfactory, but as sure as there’s no God in Heaven, Reid will deliver this bill to Bush, despite his protestations.

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Confirming the obvious

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The inspector general at the justice department has just confirmed an open (not-so) secret. The Justice Department has been consciously seeking to stock the civil service ranks in the justice department with conservative lawyers, without much regard to credentials, such as intelligence or legal ability.

High-ranking political appointees at the Justice Department labored to stock a prestigious hiring program with young conservatives in a five-year-long attempt to reshape the department’s ranks, according to an inspector general’s report to be released today.

The report will trace the effort to 2002, early in the Bush administration, when key advisers to then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft moved to exert more control over the program to hire rookie lawyers and summer interns, according to two people familiar with the probe.

The honors program, which each year places about 150 law school graduates with top credentials in a rotation of Justice jobs, historically had operated under the control of senior career officials. Shifting control of the program to Ashcroft’s advisers prompted charges of partisanship from law professors and former government lawyers who had worked under Democratic administrations.

This has been known for years, but there’s a certain satisfaction in having it confirmed.

This report underscores one of the many challenges that will face a President Obama in January. The Justice Department is not unique. The Bushies have perverted the system throughout the government in a conscious attempt to undermine the various agencies. What better way to prove that government cannot work than by seeding its ranks with people who take that position as an article of faith, and will do whatever they can to make sure they are proven right.

Obama will find himself struggling against these people at every turn. They were hired for political reasons, but they are now protected by the civil service system that was subverted in order to hire them. Bush and his minions have a proven record of incompetence almost across the board. The one exception was their ability to identify the weak spots in the system and exploit them in order to grab and retain power, even, as seems likely, in the event of electoral failure.

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Nutmeggers smarter than almost everyone else (in the USA at least)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

In its continuing drive to ignore actual current events, the Courant managed to stumble onto a fairly interesting story that reflects well on Connecticut:

A poll released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that Connecticut (along with Rhode Island), though still home to many believers, ranks near the bottom of most indicators of religious fervor, compared with the rest of the United States.

When asked how many of us are “absolutely certain” we believe in God or a universal spirit, only 57 percent responded yes. Only the folks in New Hampshire and Vermont scored lower, at 54 percent.

At first blush, this speaks well for the level of intelligence here in New England, but there may be another explanation. It’s not necessarily the case that we are smarter than the average American, though truth to tell that’s really not saying much. Maybe we’re just more honest. We’re we folks in Connecticut polled about our feelings about race, even the racists among us would be a bit hesitant about admitting to their vice, while in Mississippi, where 91% of the folks claim to have no doubts about God, more folks would feel quite comfortable about admitting to being racists. It’s all a question of what is relatively acceptable. Down in Mississippi, rational thinking is frowned upon, while racism is more or less accepted, if not required. We in New England take a more benign view of the freethinker. For can it be that, in their heart of hearts, only 9% of Mississippians, as dumb as they undoubtedly are, have never entertained a doubt about the existence of God? Of course they have, but down there admitting to such a doubt is like admitting to reading books. You just don’t do that kind of thing down there. We take a broader view up here, so the level of honest responses goes up.

But we cannot smugly sit on our laurels. As advanced as we are, less than half of us are willing to admit to doubts about the existence of the Hairy Thunderer. Those of us in the rational minority must encourage our fellow New Englanders to listen to-nay embrace- that inner voice of reason. Just as the anti-slavery movement began in New England, so must the pro-Reason Renaissance. Once we have completely legitimized reason here, we can more effectively export it to the solid, superstitious South.

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More on FISA

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Glenn Greenwald has an excellent piece on the FISA bill, as well as the mainstream media reaction to it, which is to hail it as a compromise rather than the sell-out that it is. At times like this, mega corporations must stick together. Via that article, an honorable exception, from, who else? Keith Olbermann.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2MpyODTLnY[/youtube]

One point I haven’t made in my numerous tirades about this bill is made in the video above. The Democrats, or at least the Democratic leadership, were made complicit in this power abuse. The bill represents a massive cover up, designed to make sure that the public never becomes aware of the full extent of the crimes committed by Bush and enabled by leading Democrats. The fact that the cover up involves further evisceration of the Constitution doesn’t concern them. They are more interested in the maintenance of that cover-up and their hopes to gain more seats in Congress. Sad to say, I must agree with Greenwald that we must target Democrats who supported this bill. It’s a bit early to start eating our own. That usually comes a few years after a party takes control, but we might not have much time left, if it is not already too late. Greenwald:

If, as a result of their destruction of the Fourth Amendment and the rule of law, they see that they lose seats — that John Barrow and Chris Carney are removed from Congress and Steny Hoyer’s standing in his district is severely compromised and that list of targets continues to grow — then they’ll conclude that they can’t build their Vast and Glorious Democratic Majority by dismantling the Constitution and waging war on civil liberties. The Democratic Party in Congress is enslaved to the goal of winning more “swing districts” by supporting extremist measures — such as the FISA “compromise” — that please the right-wing. They need to learn that they won’t benefit, but will suffer, when they do that.

I wrote before about a group that is raising money to do just that. It’s worth a donation to make these “Democrats” feel some heat as a result of this sell-out.

Moveon is trying to hold Obama’s feet to the fire on this one. Obama promised to filibuster telecom immunity back in the day, but now he’s more afraid of being called a wuss on terrorism than he is of offending the folks who brought him to where he is today.

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Maine blogging

Saturday, June 21, 2008

My wife and I are spending the weekend in Ogunquit, Maine. I am in no shape to write anything halfway intelligible, so I’m just going to post a few pictures, which might illustrate the amazing changes of weather, or at least cloud and fog cover throughout the day. Our room has a view of the public beach which is on a small peninsula. We are across the water from the beach. The following pictures, all of essentially the same view, were taken at 1:49, 3:38, 6:41, 7:27, 8:04 and 8:25 PM respectively. Besides giving a small idea of the rapid fluctuations in the weather, they illustrate the tidal extremes in this particular location. The third and fourth pictures were taken 46 minutes apart; the first was taken in thick fog, the latter in bright sunshine. It was like that all day. We ate outside at Perkins Cove, which is very close by. It was sunny when we sat down, and foggy and cloudy when we finished.

My guess is that a few miles inland it was sunny all day. I live close to the water in Connecticut, and we often have weather quite a bit different than folks a little inland, but it rarely changes as rapidly as this.

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Friday Night Music

Friday, June 20, 2008

I thought about posting this once before, but held back. This is a song that had a hugely profound impact when it was released, more than any single Dylan song. It’s become a bit of a cliche, I guess. The words don’t necessarily relate to today’s events, but the title does. Maybe this is just situational depression speaking, but I really believe that the FISA vote spells the death knell for constitutional government in our country, so we truly are on the eve of destruction.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVClcPVYoo8[/youtube]

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Joe Courtney does us proud, Congress sells us out

Friday, June 20, 2008

We can be justly proud that our Congressman voted against Iraq war funding and against the outrageous FISA bill, as did all our Connecticut Democrats.

It is unlikely that the Congress has ever surrendered so much power to a president in this nation’s history. They have made the most unpopular and no doubt worst president in American history into an elected (maybe elected, in his case) dictator, and have handed him the ability to complete a legal coverup of his own crimes. It looks like Barack Obama is going to sign on to this travesty. No doubt his thinking is that it will pass anyway, and voting for it would just give McCain ammunition to attack his terrorist fighting credentials. No excuse whatsoever, of course. If you are claiming to be a leader, you should lead.

All this is further proof, in any were needed, that republican government and Imperial rule cannot coexist. Congress is legislating itself into being a dead letter. All at the behest of a vile, incompetent little rich man’s son. The Roman Senate at least had the excuse that it was neutered by a Caesar.

This has gotten me really depressed. Such a needless surrender. I’m glad, though, that our Connecticut Congressfolks did the right thing, particularly Joe, because I could not have brought myself to contribute my time, money or effort on behalf of someone who voted for this bill. I have pledged money to Obama, and I’m going to send it, but it’s going to be hard to maintain any level of enthusiasm if he votes as he has signaled he will.

Afterthought: The Democrats were so craven on this bill that they are actually trumpeting the fact that they have gained something because the bill makes it clear that the FISA procedure is the exclusive way for the president to engage in wiretaps. This is supposed to be a major victory, except that the current FISA bill already says that the FISA procedure is the exclusive way for the president to engage in wiretaps. Buth ignored that provision in the past, and he will continue to ignore it. The odds are better than even that Bush will issue a signing statement to the effect that he reserves the right to ignore the law.

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