"What the hell do they think we are, puppets? They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.... When you call the reporter the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you. I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well — for the town halls, for the press conferences. It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame."
Said Helen Thomas. She's 89. And she's angry. Good!
Hot video (with Thomas butting in at 2:46):
Gibbs: "We've had this discussion ad nauseum." Thomas: "Of course you would, because you don't have any answers."
Wow, Gibbs's affability gets really annoying!
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1 – 200 of 227 Newer› Newest»That ain't a good sign for Obambi when Queen Bitch of the Universe is turning on him.
Excuse me while I bask in my schadenfreud.
This is the "oh brother" of bad memory...of course referring to the previous administration...the joke idiot from Talen Press planted to ask the get off the hook question, the endless press access days featuring only the conservative talkheads, the open forums and town hall meetings and public campaign stops where you had to swear allegiance before they would let you in...Helen doesn't remember this? Hello Helen. Earth to Helen.
In a BDSM relationship the slave is the one really in control, not the master and this is how the media wants it with Barry. They don't mind serving him, they just want it to be on their terms and they want a safe word.
Helen continues to be the crazy aunt in the attic, but at least she is consistently crazy. Speaking truth to power is only fun when its not your ox being gored.
shorter hdhouse: Hellen you dried up old hag! Why didn't you pick on Boooooooooosh!? I don't like you anymore!
Nurse! Nurse! I need changing and bring me my prune juice!
I thought that dam honeymoon would never be over.
Am I the only one who thinks Gibbs always has this "I can't believe I have to stand here and talk to you people' look on his face when he's up there?
I thought his stuttering reply when questioned about Obama breaking his tax cuts promises (taxing health benefits) even had the press corps laughing.
'We're going to see the process through'...wtf does that even mean?
“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?”
No, of course not.
Puppets merely perform the desired actions because of the attached strings; they cannot do otherwise.
Seeing as how the reporters roll over for the White House of their own free will, the proper characterization would probably be lapdogs.
Gibbs: "We've had this discussion ad nauseum." Thomas: "Of course you would, because you don't have any answers."
Reply Gibbs: "Well, because I didn't know you'd ask a question, Helen."
So, therein he's admitting that questions and answers do have to be prepared?
Brava Helen Thomas! She understands what it means to be a real news reporter.
As for the rest of the press room claquers: Obama is laughing at you.
We, on the other hand, are horrified at the utter collapse of the forth estate.
There is a Nixon parallel to all of this. Nixon tried to overreach on breaking into the Democratic National headquarters, even though the Dems were really no challenge to him being reelected.
Why?
Obama is trying to completely and utterly manipulate and control the press, when he is basking in love from the media that would put Jonas Brother groupies to shame.
Why?
But I have to wonder when I am on the same side of an issue as Helen Thomas.
Helen did bash Bush. She's pretty old school, equal opportunity, ask the hard question kind of kid.
While I despise the press, I despise Gibbs and the Obama Regime even more.
Somehow I think that Gibbs smarmy attitude and laughing in the face of the press isn't really going to be an effective tactic. I didn't see very many smiling faces in the crowd.
Ah....the sweet smell of schadenfreude (and hot coffee) in the morning.
I repeat, perception management. Perception management thy name is Barack Obama.
But I have to wonder when I am on the same side of an issue as Helen Thomas.
To beat an old cliche but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
I wonder if it was so much the pre-planned question or that they picked some 20 something blogger from HuffPo. There isn't much love lost between the MSM and the 'new media'.
hdhouse is making up words again, such as "talkheads". Meds, stat!
But, as always, it is good to see your brilliant contribution to the conversation here. I can see why you would denigrate the contributions of others - we don't make up our own words. How can we possibly compete with someone so full of imagination, and other things?
hdhouse - the 2nd best contributor in the history of the internet.
Think about what he wrote - glistening phrases such as "joke idiot" and "oh brother". Man, that is just good writing. When one sees such writing one can only think hdhouse.
Even a cranky obtuse old broken clock is right twice a lifetime. She finally "cuckooed" at the right time.
Hd
Um, but doesn't this demonstrate the sheer hypocrisy of it all. The left screeched like howler monkeys when bush did this sort of thing, but say nothing when obamba does it.
Look, you can either like this sort of thing or not, but let's have a little consistency here.
Personally i consider it the press's job to be a complete pain in the ass to the president 24/7, asking hard but fair questions. still waiting to get that kind of press vis-a-vis obama.
Watching Helen verbally bitch slap Gibbs warmed my heart.
The "health care forum" was a big fraud, a touchy-feeley pile of crapola.
You go girlfriend! (my bad Oprah imitation)
"Back to you Jeff". "Jeff did you have something?" "Back to you Jeff".
LOL
I think this is the tipping point re BHO and the press. Maybe the boot licking is over. As for an adversarial relationship a la Bush, that's not going to happen. They have too much of an emotional investment in BO. So there is always going to be a reluctance to press hard on the obvious contradictions in BO's rhetoric and his performance.
I decided that the first definitive sign of the end times has occurred. I am in agreement with Helen Thomas. Time to stock up more food, more guns, more ammo.
Meanwhile, as congress preachs about climate change, they are jet setting around the world on our tab.
See the World, Join The United States Congress!
If I've lost Thomas, I've lost Dingbat America.
I'm wondering when the press is going to notice the huge numbers of jobs lost in the last six months. It's much worse than anything that happened in the Bush administration and we heard a lot more about that.
Yes, it's true that Obama couldn't have prevented it. But it's still happening. I remember the "two million jobs" line about Bush. More jobs than that have been lost on Obama's watch. We hear about the unemployment rate but not the total jobs lost.
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Jeff. You had one.
Q: Thanks. Why hasn't the administration made more of the U.N. inspectors' report that says Saddam Hussein was dismantling his missile and WMD [weapons of mass destruction] sites before and during the war? And doesn't that, combined with the now-proven al Qaeda link between Iraq -- between Saddam Hussein and the terrorist organization -- unequivocally make the case for going to war in Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: Two questions a day. Go ahead, Jeff.
[...]
Q: Last Friday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report that shows that Ambassador Joe Wilson lied when he said his wife didn't put him up for the mission to Niger. The British inquiry into their own prewar intelligence yesterday concluded that the President's 16 words ["The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"] were "well-founded." Doesn't Joe Wilson owe the President and America an apology for his deception and his own intelligence failure?
Good question. Wrong administration.
Helen Thomas is a little late. The MSM has been mainly if not exclusively purveyors of a liberal mindset and agenda for at least 40 years. It has not been presenting both sides of the story, but omitting anything that did not fit its viewpoint.
That is, they have been propagandists for the left, and therefore functioned as champions of the Democrats and foes of the GOP. No one seriously disputes this any longer.
So it's far too late to be demanding journalistic independence when the Administration assumes -correctly- that you would have been cheerleaders for the cause anyway, so the next step -nationalization of the press by stagecraft- would be readily complied with by the press.
They sold their birthright for a mess of pottage long ago.
Good luck getting it back from your new puppeteer. Face it, you're PRAVDA, and he's Stalin. Enjoy your new job, same as the old one.
Guys! GUYS! GUYS!!!!
BUSH
DID
IT
TOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Therefore there is FINE!
Obama is Bush. Got it.
Along these lines, Politico has s tory about the Wshington Post pimping access to administration officals. They are looking for buyers in the world of forbidden lobbyists.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24441.html
I've never, ever taken the White House press corps seriously. Nothing of importance ever happens at a press conference. I've always taken in for granted that the President or the press secretary or whoever won't say anything that they don't want us to hear. It's always been managed. Geez, it's always happening in a room built for the purpose. Just because there are a lot of cameras doesn't mean we need to watch.
Q: Thanks. Why hasn't the administration made more of the U.N. inspectors' report that says Saddam Hussein was dismantling his missile and WMD [weapons of mass destruction] sites before and during the war?
Great question, but I think Senator Clinton can answer that better.
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." -- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
Yea for Helen! It seems she’s the only actual reporter in the room. Maybe this will wake up the so-called journalists and question this administration as they should. While it’s not unprecedented that an administration would try to push the envelope as far as controlling the press goes, the press has been just as culpable. They’ve been rolling over for a very, very long time. If it takes an old bat like Helen to whip everyone back in to shape (both sides), I’m all for it.
Yes I always love the 3rd grade retorts from the leftys that are always 'Booooosh did it too'
Yep, that's change we can all believe in.
Great question, but I think Senator Clinton can answer that better..
Senator Clinton was obviously very wrong, as we all know now.
Yea, nobody will ever control the press the way the Bush did. He had them eating out of his hand for 8 years. They loooooved him! I bet most of them even voted for him both times. They would never admit it, but you could tell.
Helen Thomas is quite right. One way to break this coziness up is for reporters to refuse to ask a question when called upon. Or they could yield their chance to some random person.
The Fourth Estate -- what's left of them -- must fill the role the Chicago Tribune proclaimed on its editorial page forever:
to furnish that vital check upon government which no constitution can.
But the lapdog role is not limited to Democratic Presidencies. One theory how "Jeff Gannon" was able to escape detection for so long was that professional journalists were in the habit of asking sycophantic softball questions.
It's a marketing conflict: Obama marketing and the journalism marketing.
Who will seduce the public best.
Senator Clinton was obviously very wrong, as we all know now.
No, Garage, SENATOR CLINTON LIED!!!!!
SHE LIED!!!
PEOPLE DIED!!!
The press condemns itself.
The current situation was created by their own acquiescence, lack of inquisitiveness, aggressiveness from throughout the campaign to now.
It's no wonder circulation is dropping as the public turns to other sources for information.
Their credibility is shot.
If the media have decided to question Obama's gauzy presentations, then they perceive that the women of the country will be interested in that narrative.
Your husband, can you trust him? More at eleven.
Obama is merely making explicit the prior tacit agreement between the press and the left.
Now the press is howling because their pimps are calling them prostitutes rather than 'friends with benfits'.
For a good time, call (212) 556-1234.
We love lefty long time.
Senator Clinton was obviously very wrong, as we all know now.
Oh no garage, that can't be. Hillary is the smartest woman on t he face of the earth and she couldn't have been wrong on such a very very important issue like that. She could not have possibly made such an error that resulted in her crucial vote to send our childrens in uniform into harms way. I mean not with the sage counsel of her very much smarter husband, who of course was President and had access to the same kind of intelligence the Bushitler had.
No I can't believe Hillary could be wrong. Such a thought shakes the very core of my being.
As much as I don't like her, I willingly give Helen Thomas full credit for consistency. She's right to say what she did.
The disappointing thing is: Why aren't other WH reporters going after the administration for this? Yes, that's a rhetorical question; yes, I already know the answer...
NKVD. I agree.
Oh no garage, that can't be..
Again, she was obviously wrong. The science is in, as they say.
Via Instapundit: Explicit Prostitution by WaPo:
"For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to “those powerful few” — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors."
And it's great to know that you constantly look to Democrats as your sole source on military matters and what is ethical and what isn't.
Go Helen!
Watching the press torment Dopey is so much fun it almost makes me feel bad.
Looks like Client number 9 was just a few months ahead of his time.
The president called randomly on three audience members. All turned out to be members of groups with close ties to his administration: the Service Employees International Union, Health Care for America Now, and Organizing for America, which is a part of the Democratic National Committee.
White House officials said that was a coincidence.
Yes of course it was. Pull this leg and it plays jingle bells.
NKVD and Whosurdadi..
Just keep saying Jeff Ganon over and over...a mantra perhaps...and then re-read this a million times:
http://www.wikiality.com/Jeff_Gannon
And it's great to know that you constantly look to Democrats as your sole source on military matters and what is ethical and what isn't.
Thank you garage. Just wanted to refresh memories for those who insisted it was all Bush Lies.
"Nixon didn't try to do that."
Duh, It only works for Dems, cause you need to LET them do it to you.
NKVD and Whosurdadi..
Just keep saying Jeff Ganon over and over...a mantra perhaps...and then re-read this a million times:
But....but...Bush did it too!
NURSE!!!! DAMMIT I NEED ANOTHER CHANGE!!! AND BRING ME MY AUTOGRAPGHED COPY OF DAS KAPITAL!
House, we get it. Planting a reporter was wrong when Bush did it.
And????
Now that Obama does it as general operating procedure for every presser, your response is......?
Screech about Bush and his press flacks all you want.
Nothing takes away this fact: Obama's is the WORST in openness and honesty of ANY modern Presidency.
Helen Thomas is right. And no attempt to refocus the discussion away from that fact can change that fact one bit.
With Obama's negatives rising - and a Democrat 60 seat Senate - there are absolutely NO excuses left for failure from the Democrats going forward.
Yet, why do I, just as the polls show the majority of Americans more and more dissatisfied with the programs and policies of Obama and this Congress - have so little hope that the Dems will succeed in actually fixing the country's problems?
The rising jobless rate must be making people cranky.
Even the MSM lapdogs are getting scared.
President Obama is incapable of inspiring economic confidence among thinking Americans.
Thank you garage. Just wanted to refresh memories for those who insisted it was all Bush Lies..
No prob, and I like to remind those Noble Eagles who were completely wrong, who called the only people who were right (Dirty Hippies), traitors, just how wrong they were.
My previous comment discussed the irrefutable facts of the sad press office of the POTUS:
Now this part is just my opinion:Gibbs is the most dishonest and disgusting person to ever hold the position of press secretary.
But since it's Obama, he fits in just fine.
Gibbs: WORST. PRESS. SECRETARY. EVER.
Christ, garage, what's your point?
Is it just too uncomfortable to believe that the new socialist President wants to treat the press like they do in banana republics, so you have to bring up the fact that some of the WMD claims were errors but not lies?
Who gives a shit?
Affability? Is that what you call that giggling fool?
"Have you emailed your question today?" snark
You know things are bad when Helen Thomas says the White House is so far from open and transparent that it is shocking - that it is the PATTERN of staging the events with preselected people and questions that is the problem. Maybe Journalism is not dead after all - questions are starting to be asked, and truths are starting to be told.
The koolaid is wearing off - look at the faces of the OTHER reporters in that room, no one there is happy with what is going on.
Gibbs tries to wiggle out of it - saying how would we do that? and Thomas lays it out there for the world to see "By calling reporters the night before."
Busted, baby.
Ok nuthouse, let me be serious for a second and explain this in a way even a look like you can understand.
Bush was bad, evil, the anti-christ and the anti-satan. Evil genius and dumbest man on the planet all rolled into one. We got that because twats like you reminded all of us every single day for 8 years.
Obama is not Bush. Obama ran the opposite of everything Bush stood for. HOPE AND CHANGE we can all believe in. I’m sure you saw the bumper stickers and the Che-like campaign posters. Obama was bringing in a new era of government and complete and total transparency. Obama was the modern day Cicero and could cause ladies to faint with his oratory.
So don’t you see how childish it is to use Bush did it too as a defense? Aren’t you guys supposed to be the grown ups? Isn’t that what you kept telling us?
Or is it simply a pile of steaming bullshit?
White House Press Corps members cannot bite the hand that feeds them. That's why they sit there as Mr. Smarmy (Gibbs, as if that clarification is needed) talks down to them.
No prob, and I like to remind those Noble Eagles who were completely wrong, who called the only people who were right (Dirty Hippies), traitors, just how wrong they were.
Very well. I just wish you Dirty Hippies were around to do the same when your boy Bill was bombing the piss out of Iraq for those non-existant WMDs and Serbia for whatever reason he had that week but consistency is never a liberal strongpoint.
That's why they sit there as Mr. Smarmy (Gibbs, as if that clarification is needed) talks down to them.
Well its reassuring I'm not the only one who gets that vibe from him.
Fascinating reading the comments from HD and Garage...apparently the fact that Bush also used planted questions justifies them doing so as well. For those of you parents out there, would you accept this "Johnny does it too!" excuse from your kids?
I was particularly amused by Garage's atempts to explain away Hillary(!)'s comments regarding WMD. Whether or not she was mistaken is no longer relevant, but if we are to believe that she actually meant what she said at the time (always a risky venture with a Clinton), then why is it so hard to believe that Bush did as well? Yet the script from the Left is that Bush must have lied, but Hillary(!) was 'mistaken'...
I don't hold Democrats as anything close to a standard for truth and probity (actually I don't hold any politicians as a viable standard for those things, but the Dems least of all), but unless you decide to have two standards to evaluate their actions (and other than DTL, I cannot imagine anyone here delusional enough to do that), then it Bush was wrong to use planted questions/correspondents, obviously Obama was/is as well. In a like sense, if Hillary(!) gets the benefit of the doubt, so should Bush...
Finally, regarding Helen Thomas. An earlier commenter says it best...a stopped clock is right twice a day, and this was her time. I despise her, but give her credit where it is due (consistent standards you see...), she was right on this one...
I suppose with a sense of entitlement you should expect to see snide arrogance, but it still amazes me how open the Obama administration is about it all.
I guess this is what Obama meant by "transparency".
Hoosier and Pogo *just* discover the sleazy relationship between elite Beltway journalistic institutions and occupants of the White House who use them for messaging. And now they're upset! There's been a group of people talking about this very thing for a long time, a group of bloggers, it will come to me in a minute....
Hoosier and Pogo *just* discover the sleazy relationship between elite Beltway journalistic institutions and occupants of the White House who use them for messaging. And now they're upset!
Yes garage. Prior to Obama I was always a huge huge fan of the main stream media and journalists. I remember all those softball puff pieces that were written about the Bush administration and didn't think anything of it. in fact, I wondered how it was possible Bush could have such a low approval rating having the press in his back pocket like that.
It boggles the mind.
hdhouse wrote "Jeff Ganon". Who is that? Can you read or write? Oh, right, you cannot. But keep posting, by all means. Your gibberish makes Jeremy look intelligent.
"Hoosier and Pogo *just* discover the sleazy relationship"
Actually, it was January 17, 1998:
"Clinton denies allegations that he had a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky."
I fully admit I was slow in catching on.
Am I the only one who thinks Gibbs always has this "I can't believe I have to stand here and talk to you people' look on his face when he's up there?
Yes. When flummoxed, he radiates an attitude of "Oh, you plebeians with your silly questions."
White House Press Corps members cannot bite the hand that feeds them.
Bingo.
The relationship between our press and our politicians is puke-worthy.
But even if the relationship were in fact just discovered today, what of it?
Is Obama not wrong to use the press as prostitutes?
Should they stop spreading their journalistic legs every time the Democrats knock on their door? Or should they just be like WaPo and set a higher price for their clients?
The CDC sez: 'At a minimum, please practice safe journalism, and use dental dam'.
The attitude of Gibbs is not funny. He is smiling alright like his Supreme Leader does at these times. But his message is the same as Nikita Khruschev's answer to the american press asking him a question, which was, "THAT QUESTION DOES NOT ARISE!" Whenever you hear that reply from either a Republican or from a Democratic-Marxist you are, at that moment in time, under the thumb of a Dictatorship. Their information being given to us is no longer subject to any challenge...the line of BS is what it is and no other speech shall take place in the reporting media or else. This is not funny at all.
YD
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網路行銷
White House Press Corps members cannot bite the hand that feeds them.
What if they all bite in unison?
BTW Is Chip (get a grown-up name!)Reid related to that guy from Nevada?
But I thought everybody here hated Helen Thomas?
All of a sudden she's your new journalistic shining light?
Except of course, for THE CORN COBB UP HIS ASS HOOOSIER: Who refers to the woman as "Queen Bitch of the Universe."
Very classy.
Pogo said...
"Now that Obama does it as general operating procedure for every presser, your response is......?"
you won't like it but through a press conference vehicle there is a way to get a message out...particularly in foreign policy...without the administration stating such overtly.
That is vastly different than a fluff/fauxnoise/Gannon type of thing and you know it.
Hoosier Daddy nails it - this is really about Nico Pitney.
What a bunch of pretentious lily-livered pansies that press corps is. We should sell them to Britain (God knows Gordon Brown would be buying) and buy theirs.
Or just stick to the blogs.
We don't need no stinking journalists. Instapundit alone is killing Obama and the Dems.
Thomas hitting the media lapdogs of Obama - the primary target - by way of saying to Gibbs that even Nixon didn't try to control the media as his pets was rhetorically brilliant.
Make no mistake. Yelling at Gibbs about getting press to whore out to Obama was like an owner going to the football teams loser's locker room and yelling at the coach that his deficiencies made the players look like gutless little quitting bitches..
Adding "even Nixon didn't do this", was icing on the cake. Because "standing up to Nixon", 35-40 years ago is taught to journalists as their "greatest moment". And Thomas was saying that this generation of Obama whores might have easily been Nixon's whores if they had been around in Nixon's day, and Nixon had tried...
Of course Obama is managing the media.
He learned the technique from the best, watching the Bush White House for years (or does the name, 'Jeff Gannon' not ring a bell?)
Oh, and slighly off topics, for those of you who think our neighbors up north are neanderthals who try to be more advanced but don't always get it quite right:
They've figured out an eco-friendly way to clean up the gruesome mess after all those hunts where they club baby seals to death and skin them so they can sell the furs for coats.
they now pack up the carcasses, ship them to Canadian restuarants and people eat them for dinner.
Only in Canada. Where they make sure to use fuel-efficient chainsaws to clear cut old growth forests.
Except of course, for THE CORN COBB UP HIS ASS HOOOSIER: Who refers to the woman as "Queen Bitch of the Universe."
Very classy.
Thank you Jeremyoldson. I call em like I see em. Even a Queen Bitch of the Universe can call one right here and there.
By the way corn's been planted and already showing green shoots of growth (unlike the Obama economy).
By the way, where is your girlfriend Jen? She hasn't posted lately to provide you moral support.
Or did you just forget the password to that one?
Of course Obama is managing the media.
He learned the technique from the best, watching the Bush White House for years (or does the name, 'Jeff Gannon' not ring a bell?)
Eli, just like garage and nuthouse show the true colors of the left.
I really wish one of you would have the balls to just admit you have no problem with hypocrisy as long as your guy is in charge. Hell I'd at least have some respect for that. Will one of you just admit that HOPE AND CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN was nothing more than a bullshit theme to get the dumbass vote? Eli want to take a crack at that one? How do you have Hope and Change when taking lessons from the Bushhitler?
Seriously I thought you liberals were supposed to be the noble ones. The ones who were going to change the way things are done in DC. Tell me honestly, did you really believe all he shit Obama was shoveling down your throats or did you knowingly nod and smile knowing he'll beat that old white haired sonofabitch and nothing will change but that's ok because Obama is our sonofabitch.
Fen's repeated comment is so appropos with you guys. The left doesn't really believe in the things it says.
Hoosier - Why do you hate women?
Hoosier - Why do you hate women?
Only in Canada. Where they make sure to use fuel-efficient chainsaws to clear cut old growth forests.
But they have free health care Eli and that's all that matters. Without the fur coat industry, how do you expect them to provide free health care?
Get your damn priorities straight.
Hoosier - Why do you hate women?
Because they can have multiple orgasams.
I wonder, what does Gibbs think when he has to tell lie after lie? What a difficult job he has. Everything that Bark Obama has said, he has done the opposite, and Gibbs has to provide an answer why. What an impossible task. Maybe he has no soul.
Hoosier--damn you--as I wipe the coffee off the monitor!
Tell me honestly, did you really believe all he shit Obama was shoveling down your throat
In fairness, at least it was delivered well, and he had a grasp of actual policies and could debate them, and we didn't fall for what a former beauty queen from Alaska with an IQ of 15 was shoveling. "You can't blink Charleeeeee, you can't blink".
*wink wink*
She's winking at you Hoosier! LOL
For fifty years, the liberal Dems have controlled the big cities. The media, generally, have not held their feet to the fire for the disasters that became of most of the big cities.
Will the media do the same for the Obama admin? Stay tuned.
Hoosier Daddy - "Because they can have multiple orgasams."
As if you've ever been around when they occurred...oh, and it's an "orgasm."
Wait wait wait...back up. Women have multiple orgasms?
I haven't read the comments thoroughly yet-{so excuse if this point has been made already}-but-
The media is complicit in this.
They knew during the campaign that for a variety of reasons with a multitude of excuses they aided and abetted the Obama campaign.
They and they alone are responsible.
They allowed themselves to be used and they threw out all of their ethics decades ago.
The only thing that has them upset now is that their exclusive club is being eroded.
They bemoan the ability to check the -truth of twitter-yet the public has been unable to trust them-with good reason-for a long time now.
When Obama planted Pitney at the previous photo-op, I said it was a huge strategic blunder on his part.
I was right, and Helen Thomas is proof.
What I said at the time was:
Like a married couple when one cheats on the other, they may be able to move on but it's never really forgotten. The level of trust will never again be what it was, and occasionally it will rear its ugly head from time to time.
The White House press corps and Obama have by no means ended their marriage, but it's never going to be quite the same again.
Helen Thomas a bat-guano, crazy Leftist - and unapologetically so. But every single person sitting in that room has one thing in common regardless of what news organization they work for: a huge ego.
Gibbs is a smarmy, condescending jerk. The everpresent smirk on his face is an annoyance. Think about being one of those "journalists" in the audience for a second:
You worked your whole career to get here. You scratched. You clawed. You piled up the dead carcasses of your colleagues and climbed over them to earn your seat. Being a member of the White House press corps is possibly one of the most prestigious jobs in your field.
Now this guy comes along and he's trying to play you for a fool. He's laughing at you to your face. He thinks so little of your accomplishments that he's going to bring some nobody in here who hasn't "earned his stripes" and usurp you. How dare this smug jackass think he's going to get away with it?
On one level or another, that's what's going on the mind of every single reporter there. They're still struggling with their internal conflict over their agreement with the Leftist politics, but every once in a while the ego is going to win the battle.
They know that they've been being fed pablum. But as long as Obama respected them, they felt important. But he's made it clear that he doesn't, so now there's a little less desire to cover up his blunders. A little less enthusiasm for the lies and bull-hockey.
Obama has lost a net four points in his approval ratings since he planted Pitney. This is despite the fact that Iran has somewhat faded from the front pages, and he has held an infomercial and his fraudulent "town hall" since then. He should have gone up, but his approval is going down. Why?
Because over the last week, you're starting to see subtly here and there in the news reports, some skepticism over the same lies that the media has been enthusiastically reprinting for more than a year. They're not just swallowing it whole any more.
Obama bruised their egos because he and his cronies are used to being the big fish in Chicago's small pond where there were no sufficiently-sized egos to deal with. They are not prepared to treat the press with the kid gloves they demand, and Gibbs' demeanor yesterday was a clear illustration that they have no plan to change that any time soon.
Watch the press reports get more and more hostile as time goes on unless Obama and Gibbs reverse course on their treatment of the press. Watch Obama's numbers continue to slide as the press stops blindly rolling over every time he issues a command.
Politics is a game these people play, but their ego is their life. Obama's going to find out what it's like when you're not the only narcissist in the room. And as Bush readily discovered: it's never a good idea to pick a fight with a guy who buys ink by the barrel.
As an example-
Does anyone remember the-
Democrat "debates"?
And-those -plants and pre-planned questions?
And now Helen Thomas-is-
shocked,shocked!
AJ Lynch said..."For fifty years, the liberal Dems have controlled the big cities. The media, generally, have not held their feet to the fire for the disasters that became of most of the big cities."
What the hell are you blathering about?
The Democrats control the "big cities?"
Which BIG CITIES? Are you including Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, San Diego, Indianapolis, Omaha, Cincinnati, etc.??
And which party controlled Congress for 12 of the past 14 years? And the White House for 8 of the last 8 1/2 years?
The incessant whining and bitching about the MSM is ridiculous and far from the truth.
Right now Fox has higher ratings than any other broadcast entity and you act as if they're not part of the MSM.
Duh.
garage -
"In fairness, at least it was delivered well, and he had a grasp of actual policies and could debate them, and we didn't fall for what a former beauty queen from Alaska with an IQ of 15 was shoveling. "You can't blink Charleeeeee, you can't blink".
Falling for the multiple lies of Obama about how he would govern as a fiscal conservative, reverse all of Bush's policies, and have an open and transparent government doesn't exactly make you Mensa material. You really should examine your own gullibility before you go insulting someone else's intelligence.
Multiple commenters tried to say that Obama was lying when he said these things. You denied it every time. You hurled insults at those who had their eyes open. And here we are six months later, and he has done pretty much every single thing you were told he would do and still you cling to illusions about your own cognitive abilities?
Someone has a beam stuck in their eye...
You denied it every time. You hurled insults at those who had their eyes open.
Cites?
OK I see that Pogo and bearbee made the same point-
Hell I think even Fengk2008 agrees.
garage -
"Cites?"
See any thread between September and November 2008 on this blog where you commented on the election.
Are you seriously trying to deny that you did these things, or are you just trying to waste my time?
The one thing about being a long-time commenter is that you develop a track record. A track record that you can be held to account for, and that the other commenters know about.
Play the wide-eyed innocent if you think that serves you, but it only serves to reduce your credibility.
If it weren't for cognitive dissonance, liberals would have nothing to keep their ears apart.
Missing Palladian! This reminds me of him calling Thomas a homunculus.
I laughed at that.
It's refreshing to see her going after Gibbs (and Obama), though. This is a pretty important issue.
Here's a video I made the day before the townhall and added as a reply to BHO's video. The reader might want to compare me actually doing something that could have been effective if I'd gotten some help vs. others who simply wait for something to happen and then whine about it.
Tip for next time: consider actually doing something rather than just grousing in an echo chamber afterwards.
Are you seriously trying to deny that you did these things....
Yes I am. Give me links.
In fairness, at least it was delivered well, and he had a grasp of actual policies and could debate them, and we didn't fall for what a former beauty queen from Alaska with an IQ of 15 was shoveling.
Well garage I guess that's as close as you can bring yourself to just admitting that being a hypocrite is fine as long as your boy is in charge. I mean its what I always figured you were about but it's nice to see the facade come down.
As for IQ, that's really funny because I was shocked that the intelligent, articulate and clean Obama actually thought they speak Austrian in Austria. That was really a hoot. I suppose he thinks they speak Mexican down in Mexico too. Yeah that Palin is a real maroon, ya'betcha garage! She probably thinks they speak Russian in Russia!
oh wait
garage -
You're wasting my time with your attempt to hijack this thread.
If you want to lie, then go ahead and do so. Anyone whose been here for a long time knows that you're lying.
If you don't have the integrity to admit it, then that's on you.
Beautiful. And agree, the reference to Nixon raises this to sublimity. No more perfect rebuttal could be invented to those taking the 'Bush did it too' line, or more absurdly suggesting 'Bush was worse' in terms of media manipulation. Here's Helen Thomas-- no 'wingnut' she, to say the least, but a journalist whose anti-Bush credentials (and so, as it were, liberal/progressive bona fides) rival anyone's on the planet-- observing that in this respect, the Obama administration is, scandalously, not just far worse than *Bush*, but worse than ***Nixon***! It's positively delicious.
And just such a relief, to hear the patently obvious start to be acknowledged by MSM journalists themselves. Even if it's just 1 or 2 of them. It's reassuring, in general, whenever I see some of the harsh light of reality can still get through the Obama Twilight Zone. And not just among us 'wingnuts'.
Aww...garage is a good guy. He's not a troll.
So Jim puts words in my mouth, can't back it with links, and calls me a liar because he can't provide it. Hah. Debating 101 with a wingnut.
Hoosier Daddy:
You're suggesting that I didn't know Obama was a politician or something like that?
Of course I know that. He's a politician who I happen to agree with, in fact as I just wrote yesterday Obama was the best choice available last year, and so I supported him for President.
So is he perfect? Not at all. But he is better than Hillary Clinton would have been and much, much, much better than John McCain would have been.
Hoosier - Why do you hate women?
"Because they can have multiple orgasams."
Ha ha. That isn't hate. It is just envy.
I love the way the left, when they get caught with their pants down, tries to deflect the blame back onto the juvenile argument....."neener neeener neener, Bush did it too so that make it ok". It wasn't right when previous administrations manipulated the media and it isn't right now. The difference is that the media is the one getting screwed with no flowers, no candy and being taken totally for granted.
It reminds me of grudge fucking. Never really solves the original problem.
yashu-
I wish I could be as positive as you are-but when Republicans can't even buy an ad on ABC to try to get the counter argument across you have a huge problem.
{The Networks have a hell of a lot more viewers than the cables.}
Add to that that Wal-Mart sees the writing on the wall, that they have to co-operate with this Administration because of the vast amount of power they have acquired over the economy and it is really, really over for a viable two party system in America.
It will take decades perhaps.
Tell me honestly, did you really believe all he shit Obama was shoveling down your throat
garage says: "In fairness, at least it was delivered well, and he had a grasp of actual policies and could debate them"
So what you are saying is that if it is 'attractive' shit, you will eat it anyway?
darcy -
"Aww...garage is a good guy. He's not a troll."
He's not a troll. Just a liar and a child. An adult stands behind what he says and either defends it or apologizes when he's wrong.
garage is taking the child's way out by trying to pretend he never said an ill word to a Republican throughout the entire election cycle.
His own comments in this thread show the quality of his discourse. If anyone seriously believes that he was some kind of model citizen in not attacking conservatives during that time in the same manner that he does day in and day out on this blog, then I've got oceanfront real estate in Arizona that I'm willing to let go real cheap. Just drop me an e-mail, and we can talk about the price.
This is my final comment on the subject. We were talking about Obama's outsized ego and how it's destroying his relationship with the press. Let's get back to that.
re: Bush, even with all that media adulation, Broder thinks WH is feeling lonely
With Bush out of sight, Obama's on his own
In a conversation the other day with a White House official, I heard something I'd never expected from an employee of Barack Obama's. "I wish," he said, "George Bush would speak up a little more."
Hoosier Daddy:
You're suggesting that I didn't know Obama was a politician or something like that?
Of course I know that. He's a politician who I happen to agree with, in fact as I just wrote yesterday Obama was the best choice available last year, and so I supported him for President.
So in other words you agree that his hope and change bullshit was just that and he's just another politician who'll mouth platitudes about transparency but not really do it and that he'll use the same dirty techniques that Bush did but that's ok because you just happen to agree with his platform?
Did I leave anything out or do I paint an accurate picture.
Hoosier - Why do you hate women?
"Because they can have multiple orgasams."
Ha ha. That isn't hate. It is just envy.
Well that too. ;-)
Oh and my apologies to Roger and his monitor.
He's not a troll. Just a liar and a child..
Where's the links Jack!? Can't you google? Do you need me to help?
Here let me get you started, but I'm not going to do everything for you.
LOL, garage. (Tell me how you did that?)
Oooh. Already figured it out. Love it.
Cities corruped by longtime one-party rule include Detroit, Chicago, Philly, Cleveland, Baltimore, Wash DC, Atlanta, Newark, Trenton, San Franciso, Milwaukee. St. Louis.
garage mahal said...
"He's not a troll. Just a liar and a child..
Where's the links Jack!?"
The link is at 7/2/09 12:19 PM.
Just scroll up, and you'll find it.
Oooh. Already figured it out. Love it..
Heh. Awesome ain't it. Been waiting to bust that one out.
He's not a troll. Just a liar and a child. An adult stands behind what he says and either defends it or apologizes when he's wrong.
garage was always a Hillary supporter and did his share of badmouthing The One right up to the point the very junior Senator from Illinois kicked her big ass back to New York and then threw her a bone to be SoS and placate her followers. It must have worked because garage now readily genuflects at the altar of Obama and backs up his every play.
But its not just garage's level of discourse, its all of them who resort to the third grade defense of 'Bush did it too'. Like I said before, I thought they were the grownups, and that Obama really was going to be transparent and change and be not like Bush. But then garage and Eli have clearly stated that they have no problem with the hypocrisy because they agree with Obama so its ok. Eli knew he was a pol but he's a pol he agrees with. Garage says he delivered his bullshit much better than that idiot Palin so there.
I'm sure there are some liberals out there that really are aghast that Obama would do this but I don't think they post here.
So I see Jim either cannot google [even after I gave him a good head start], or he cannot find the links of me stating something he said I stated. That's makes him charitably put "internet challenged", or dishonest.
Obama just said SCOTUS is "moving the ball" on affirmative action.
Is that a malaprop? Should it be "moving the goalposts"?
"In fairness, at least it was delivered well, and he had a grasp of actual policies and could debate them, and we didn't fall for what a former beauty queen from Alaska with an IQ of 15 was shoveling."
Obama wasn't running against Palin. The proper comparison to Palin would be Biden. Don't think you want to go there. And to try to keep things on topic, I'll note that Obama's supposed ability to debate issues and policies counts very little when the media go balls-to-the-wall to prevent you from finding out what his positions actually are and what they mean. Man on the street wants to know more about this spreading of the wealth. The "journalists" (as well as instruments of government) immediately turn on man on the street, rather than asking whether man on the street might possibly be on to something. I knew he was some flavor of Marxist (more influenced by Marx than necessarily a firm believer in all of his ideas) for some time because I'm literate and could understand what he was actually saying. The woefully uneducated people we refer to as "journalists" either saw it too and didn't care (because they like the idea of a Marxist utopia and don't seem to have any knowledge of their past track records), or simply didn't make the connection because they think Marx was the guy that would give you money if you said the secret word.
Is that a malaprop? Should it be "moving the goalposts"?
He's moving the ball with his eye on the goalposts.
I've been studying Obamaisms quite a bit now.
Gibbs is white. He's fair game. The press corps is working off their frustrations while putting on a little show for us.
If the "One" were to enter the room, they'd come to heel immediately. Y'see it's that white guilt thing. Obama's used it to cast a spell over his liberal critics. It doesn't work with us cantankerous right-wing rednecks; but that doesn't matter because we no longer matter.
If you live in a city where 50% of churchgoers are Presbyterian and there are 10 Presbyterian churches, and 50% of churchgoers are Catholic and there is one Catholic church, which of these eleven churches is most likely to have the highest attendance?
But then garage and Eli have clearly stated that they have no problem with the hypocrisy because they agree with Obama so its ok. Eli knew he was a pol but he's a pol he agrees with
Hoosier, hypocrisy is their middle name. They can't help it. Dishonesty is a basic liberla virtue - they actually admire the skillful use of it.
So, don't waste your breath on this one, Hoosier - they lost this point - that Obama is the worst administration ever on openeness and dishonesty. - the case is closed and they know it. They are pooping in their pants a bit more everyday as they look at the polls and see that the Dems going slowly but steadily down. Dems are fully in charge of the government but they aren't going to come close to "fixing" anything, and they've run out of the Clinton smoke and mirrors tricks - everyone knows them now.
That's why they have nothing else to do except "uh, let me direct your attention over here". Don't let them get you worked up. Rack this win up as an easy one.
Puppets?
Hey! Puppets are not supposed to talk back like that. ))) WHAP! (((
*shoves puppet back in box *
garage -
All right, I'll rise to your bait:
links here.
Gosh. That's 482 results for the use of the word "wingnut" alone. But that's not intended as an insult, right? You only meant the word as a warm, fuzzy term of endearment, right?
I don't even have to go any further than that. I said you "hurled insults," and Google says you did have used one particular insult at least 482 times.
That makes you a liar a minimum of 482 times, and there's no doubt more that Google doesn't include in its results.
'nuff said. I made my point. I backed it up. I'm done with you.
Sorry, that previous post was in response to:
"Right now Fox has higher ratings than any other broadcast entity and you act as if they're not part of the MSM."
I admit I despised Helen to the Bush years. I have new found respect for her now though.
I went to the cafe today and ordered my fabulous salad with kohlrabi batons, natch-to go. A guy sitting at his computer couldn't stop staring at me. I totally butched it up and acted all mysterious. He actually followed me out of the cafe. He wasn't hot enough though so I didn't do him.
Where did Palladian go?
Crimso:
To answer this, don't we need to know how fast the train is going?
madawaskan: I agree, & wouldn't say I'm feeling positive at all. On the contrary... more like deeply anxious, when I think of the radical, large-scale, systemic transformations we're likely to see-- have started to see-- under this administration, with effects we might take decades to recover from.... some of which, scarily, are likely to be *irreversible*. But little things like this... I wouldn't say they're heartening, even... but like I said, provide some measure of relief to the feeling of vertigo, the creepiness of what really feels sometimes like living in a Twilight Zone (the perpetual hosannas to the Obamas in MSM-land, the practice of journalism become hagiography or fan worship... all while I'm repeatedly shocked, disturbed, disgusted, & frightened by the actions of this administration & all-but-unstoppable Dem congress, which go largely unquestioned or unchallenged or unpursued by the fourth estate).
Aww...garage is a good guy. He's not a troll.
Darcy, sadly, too often in this blog's discussions, disagreeing robustly with the majority results in being called a troll. There are very, very few actual trolls here, and while hardly anyone ever mentions it, at least one is a conservative commenter. It sucks that a heated debate almost always results in someone yelling "Troll!" just because they're frustrated with the way the discussion is going.
Thanks for throwing out your very civil reminder.
or simply didn't make the connection because they think Marx was the guy that would give you money if you said the secret word.
Well if Obama is Marx, Biden has to be Chico since his big mouth disqualifies him to be Harpo.
Other ingredients on my salad are:
shaved fennel
sliced almonds
dried cranberries
and a fat free lemon caper dressing.
I said no thanks to the ciabatta square, natch.
I like the word natch.
Yum.
How are you?
Darcy, sadly, too often in this blog's discussions, disagreeing robustly with the majority results in being called a troll.
Beth
No one called garage a troll.
I think the frustration is that when a topic such as this comes up, the standard Obama defense is the fall back 'Well Bush did it too!' That may not be trollish but its certainly childish.
The conservative usual suspects who comment here rarely followed Bush in lockstep and showed little reluctance in backing him when he fucked up. On the other hand every response to Pitney was 'Bush did it too'. Hell my 11 year old doesn't even use that he did it too exuse anymore. If that's the response then further discussion is pretty much pissing into the wind.
There are very, very few actual trolls here, and while hardly anyone ever mentions it, at least one is a conservative commenter.
Oh Beth, I hope you mean me . . .
Oh and Goat Cheese.
I am crazy in love with Goat Cheese.
The Goat Cheese and Dried Cranberries are swirling in my mouth and are an explosion of flavor.
Thank you.
Does goat cheese really come from Goats. If so how do you get goat cheese from a goat. Do you milk goats?
I am all about Imu Oils right now.
I am also having my first acupuncture appointment tomorrow because it is now and hip. Yes it is ancient and shit like that but it is also now. I enjoy things that are now. I am now.
I couldn't live anywhere where I wouldn't be walking distance from kohlrabi batons but that's just me.
The standard garage post is ALWAYS an attack and name calling.
I just googled and read over 100 comments - he's pretty constipated.
I also jerked off for the first time in 3 weeks.
I jerked off to a website of military guys, real ones, doing it. The site has been busted before but he is still cranking out bi weekly updates, thank God.
The site shows the guys diving and horsing around before they do it and my gaydar would pick up if the guys weren't straighties. They do cannonballs and flips and shit like that. Gay men couldn't do those things, unless they were Greg Loooseanus.
Jim,
Less than halfway through this thread, I've got a list of insulting adjectives from various sides - obambi, dingbat, moonbat (oops, that one's not here, but hold onto it, it crops up all the time), Regime (y'all HATED it when we called it the Bush Regime), pimps, prostitutes, twats...
So garage hauls out wingnut regularly? So what?
People throw around minor insults. It doesn't discredit them, generally. Learn to roll with these things.
"To answer this, don't we need to know how fast the train is going?"
Of course not. We now live in an age where it doesn't matter how fast the train is going, only that it runs on time.
My other jerky jerky website is black thugs, that just got out of prison, doing it.
I also enjoy Shower Cam websites. Total infringement on people but it is hot. Lots of towel snapping and comparing hog size and peeing in shower, seeing who's stream goes farther. Love that shit.
When viewing the Shower Cam websites I always think of the trouble, determination and accuracy that it takes to get the camera at the right place. Many professionals around this country are planting cameras in shower rooms and then posting it on the web. What is this world coming to?
Beth -
Read my original post:
Falling for the multiple lies of Obama about how he would govern as a fiscal conservative, reverse all of Bush's policies, and have an open and transparent government doesn't exactly make you Mensa material. You really should examine your own gullibility before you go insulting someone else's intelligence.
Multiple commenters tried to say that Obama was lying when he said these things. You denied it every time. You hurled insults at those who had their eyes open. And here we are six months later, and he has done pretty much every single thing you were told he would do and still you cling to illusions about your own cognitive abilities?
Someone has a beam stuck in their eye...
To which garage responded that he had never done any such thing: which was a transparent lie.
I fully understand that insults are part of the discourse, and I won't claim that I haven't issued my own fair share of them. I don't think anyone here could claim any such thing.
It's not the insult that's the issue, it's the lying about it.
Where I come from, if you're "man enough" to say something, then you need to be "man enough" to back it up or - if you realize that you were wrong - be man enough to admit that you were.
Integrity matters. Garage chose to surrender his. That was his choice.
Yeah, I agree that wingnut is pretty mild! And there are a lot of insults directed at lefties here.
I think garage is sarcastic but very often funny. I wish I agreed with him politically. I'm still holding out hope that he'll drift on over to the conservative side someday, lol. C'mon, garage!
yashu said...
Beautiful. And agree, the reference to Nixon raises this to sublimity.
Oh, its beautiful indeed, because what Thomas was really doing by slamming Gibbs was slamming the present generation of White House press..
1. "You've tried and succeeded in making (some of these younger whippersnapper journalists) your bitches.
2. Nixon didn't try.
3. (If these younger whippersnappers had been around instead of us more courageous professional journalists of my generation, Nixon would have had these gutless bitches eating crumbs from his proffered palm).
And the greatest moment in journalism was when showed our independence and stood up to Nixon 40 years ago (while still wearing theit Camelot kneepads).
I am crazy in love with Goat Cheese.
Natch.
I'm still holding out hope that he'll drift on over to the conservative side someday, lol. C'mon, garage!
I'm not, Darcy. I remember reading something in the Book of Revelation about the 7th seal, rivers and seas turning to blood, plagues of locusts and garage mahal swearing his alliegence to the Republican Party.
LOL, Hoosier Daddy.
As a lifelong republican I always open to a "big tent".
Big tent, get it.
Big tent in the pants, woooo, I am on fire, hose me down girls.
yashu-
Agreed.
The biggest cause of vertigo-I'd say is how they try to sell us a "recovery" in the face of massive job loss.
The last unemployment report-before this one-
number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million in May, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent.
Link-Bureau of Labor and Statistics
it had Americans the equivalent of the entire population of Vermont and then some-{that's for you titus-natch!} losing their jobs and the media reported it as-
"Less bad."
That was the mantra of the day at CNBC-{Hell being sorta French I don't even know if that's grammatically correct but they kept repeating it.}
And-I think titus will know this-the numbers next month are going to be really ugly-
because next month they are going to have to factor in all of the "dead".
In other words the businesses that have went under but have not been reported yet to the bureau.
I have one sad thing to report.
With all the bad weather I, nor have any of my sisters, been able to make our premeire at the beach.
This is quite devastating and harmful to our health. We did not bust our butts all winter in the gym to be wearing raincoats and golashes. Now is the time to whip it off and we can't. This is very upsetting.
So what we have here is a bunch of hard, defined bodies languishing under clothes.
Gay marriage is one thing but not getting to the beach in June is an entirely different and more upsetting issue.
darcy -
"Yeah, I agree that wingnut is pretty mild! And there are a lot of insults directed at lefties here. "
And there's nothing particularly wrong with a casually delivered insult. I won't even say that they aren't called for in certain instances.
My problem exists only with those who use insults and then are disingenuous enough to claim that they don't.
We all do. It's what happens when people disagree. But it's not too much to ask that a person is honest enough to admit it. If that had happened, this conversation wouldn't even be happening.
Actually I prefer to be called Mr. Wingnut. I worked hard to get that title and would appreciate a little deference my hard work smacking down the looney left has earned me.
Thank you.
titus do you know what I am talking about?
Somebody was trying to explain that to me yesterday-and I have never heard of that before-
Where at the beginning of the cycle they factor in for businesses that have been created and in July they factor in for businesses that went under-?
madawaskan -
"In other words the businesses that have went under but have not been reported yet to the bureau."
There's still the automaker bankruptcies, the dealerships they closed, the state and local government layoffs to balance their budgets, and the inevitable daisy chain of layoffs that will lead to which haven't yet entered the picture.
In addition, many businesses and governments are cutting back workweeks rather than laying people off (saves paying the unemployment or severance packages). The latest reports are that the average workweek is now down to 33 hours per week.
Remember all the complaints from the media about "McJobs" and the "underemployed" and "discouraged workers" under the Bush administration and how the unemployment numbers never accounted for them?
Gee. I wonder what could possibly have happened in the last year to make all of those stories stop being front page news all of a sudden?
hmmmm....
I am fortunate that I work in an industry that is hiring. My employer is opening two new facilities and we are hiring 200 people between now and the end of this year and another 500 next year.
Also, the part of the country I now live is a Biotech haven and most all of the Biotech companies are hiring for similar positions. The question for candidates, with the right experience, is do you want to work in a start up or a large established company. I am grateful. I also have a sterling personality and an ass you can bounce quarters off off and as a result I am in high demand. I get calls daily from recruiters about jobs at other companies.
But I do feel bad about everyone else in this economy.
Also compensation in biotech is amazing. We are hiring Facilities people, who cGMP experience at 100k. Not bad for most who don't have a college education. They do need to have a minimum of 7 years of biotech facilities experience though.
Jim-
Ugh thanks for the details-do you are titus know what that process of factoring in the dead businesses is called-or why they do it next month?
titus-
Well...why the heck is this certain biotech stock that I follow almost down by -
20 dollars.
It's a really good company too-and I think it's in the North East by you?
titus -
"Also, the part of the country I now live is a Biotech haven and most all of the Biotech companies are hiring for similar positions."
You are indeed fortunate to have chosen a growth field, but you better hope that ObamaCare doesn't pass.
The reason venture capitalists take chances on biotech companies is that they hope to reap a windfall when the drugs or technologies that they develop hit the market.
Between the government price controls and Obama's stated preference for "tried and true" (which is what "best practices" is code for) over costly, experimental treatment is going to kill the biotech sector.
If there's no reward, then no one will take the risk. And if the only ones who will be able to afford the treatments that are being developed are the wealthy like Obama and Kennedy, then there won't be a big enough market to support a biotech industry any larger than a small fraction of its current size.
It's another one of those "unintended consequences" of Leftist policy-making.
You are correct Mada-the numbers are going to be very ugly next month.
From all of the forecasts I have read and I read them voraciously nightly the entire year is going to be pretty bad.
I don't anticipate any turnaround until Q1 2010, and that is still a big if. I wouldn't be surprised if Q1 isn't as ugly but still not great.
What I do want to know, and I have a hard time finding, is where the stimulus jobs are. Raw data, numbers of hires as a result of the stimulus package.
I have read about all the "shovel made" projects but we still don't know numbers of people those projects are putting people to work. Also, these projects are a temporary fix and once completed those employees will be going on unemployment.
Yep.
I really think Research and Development takes a huge hit.
There's been a reason why most of that happens in America-and Obamacare will definitely change the formula.
Madawaskan:
It may be because June is the last month of the govt's fiscal year? So they assume if a business has not filed an employment report in the last 2-3 Qtrs of a fiscal year, its employees now get counted as part of job losses ?
I am guessing here.
It's down by 20% because we had to close one of our facilities until the end of July because a virus was found.
The product made there is a life saving product for patients with a rare genetic disease. There are only about 1000 patients in the world. The product costs....are you ready for it....$250,000 a year.
We are now producing the product at another facility but that particular facility is being sanitized, and we can not open it until the FDA comes back at the end of July.
Major bummer.
titus-
Ya-let me know when and where you find that-I have a friend that is a labor stats nut.
He was trying to explain to me last night this cycle of reporting born and dead businesses-and that the dead get rolled out in July's numbers for some reason and that it will be ugly.
I had been out all day in 100 degree weather so I wasn't understanding it completely. {that's my excuse...}
AJ Lynch-
Thanks-I think that makes sense.
titus-
O-ho-I think I know who you work for-then.
Damn good company.
We have also been hit because the stock market in general has been down.
We are very fortunate now though because we are hiring and are revenues are up and expenses are down.
As far as Obamacare we are an International Company and a majority of the countries we work with have some sort of Health Care provided to their citizens by the government. We have been able to work with all the countries to get patients on product. We have high powered lobbyist and even all the liberal Massachusetts democrats are not going to do anything to harm their biotech industry. Biotech in this state is in the pocket of everyone of the politicians.
Queen Broomhilda :) -
I found a good link for you here.
It's called the birth/death adjustment, but the author also discusses other inaccuracies of the unemployment rate and how it is vastly understating the current state of employment in this country. I only scanned through it quickly, but it seems pretty good to me.
Holy....maca
$250,000 a year.
I know of this immuno suppressant that cost $125,000-I thought that was-well.
Don't you think nationalized health care will affect R&D?
Gotta go.
Very important conference call.
Reorganization, Reengineering, Partnering, Being Strategic, Making an Impact,
But no layoffs. I have been with the company almost 10 years and no layoffs!!!
First company I ever worked at where I wasn't laying people off.
They called me the Grim Reaper at my last employer.
Hiring is much funner.
Titus:
Friendly advice - Be a bit more vague when disclosing info about your employer.
A lack of pity for the whitehouse press corps is to be expected since these reporters attacked in glee as Bush-Hitler was being condemned for managing the news. Why Bush's last Press Secretary "came-out" and joined them in and exposing the sex, lies and videotape methods of the Bush-hitler White House operatives. But still this repoter gang could always freely go after Bush for his crimes against jounalism. They are genuinely stymied now for the first time in their lives. The question becomes when will the first White House Reporters Tea Party begin? It's the reporter's ox getting gored now and not the Republican's.
Oh Jim!
Thanks mundo!
titus-
I see you answered my question-before I asked it.
Ugh still I think he might be willing to go there for the votes.
Obama is out of excuses he has the House and Senate and unlike Hillary he doesn't have the Newt foil.
For whatever reason America-I thought-was the best palce for R&D.
When af riend from high school wanted to get the best research degree-he went outside of Canada to-Princeton.
At Princeton they have a lot of labs sponsored by pharma-or it sure looks that way.
That's been made possible by -"profit" something that's been translated to-the word-"greed" by the Obama Administration.
Gosh. That's 482 results for the use of the word "wingnut" alone. But that's not intended as an insult, right? .
Jim needs another google tutorial! Those results (if you bothered to click any) don't necessarily mean I was the commentor typing the word "wingnut". 2 of the 10 links on the first page were me however. Anyways, still no links Jim of me stating what you said I stated. Just a small sorry and we can move on. C'mon! I don't hold grudges.
Let me go first. I'm sorry I called you wingnut.
@madawaskan:
If I follow what you said, below is a link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics technique to account for business births, business deaths.
CES Net Birth/Death Model"
AJ-
Don't worry.
I love number geeks....don't ask me why.
Anyways just to add I could see Obama flipping pharma they are too concentrated in the North East and who else would they vote for-a Republican!?
Plus what percentage of the population do they employ?
I'm off to follow Jim's link.
Heh...
Never had a reason to care much for Helen, but apparently it's clear to her that there is a point where the perception of legitimacy of the press will be irrevocably in the toilet.
And bearbee's!
Thanks for that link and the Broder article...
Looks like they are lost without a compass from my read of that.
Aww.
I'm laughing at my 2:49 and gonna delete it. My attempt at peacemaking is embarrassing me.
The other time he was too specific was when the company ran employment ads in the Wisc. State Journal. So at the time, I knew who we worked for, but I have since forgotten.
"Of course Obama is managing the media.
He learned the technique from the best, watching the Bush White House for years..."
I just...
It amazes me. The one thing that *everyone* agreed that Bush totally sucked at... EVERYONE... if they hated the BushHitler or thought he was something on the ordinary side of Satan and likely right at least some of the times... what everyone agreed on for certain was that his media handling sucked.
Sucked rocks, rotten eggs, rude things... but sucked.
And now the excuse for Obama is that he learned from the BEST?
Oh, dear lord.
garage -
I said you "hurled insults": I never specified what insults those were.
You've now admitted that you have. That at least restores some measure of your integrity.
End of discussion.
Oops -- he, not we. I'm a proud employee of the State of Wisconsin, sort of.
Madawaskn:
Knowingly or not, intentionally or not, Obama's econ steps so far, have gutted the entrepreneurial spirit in America and damaged confidence even more than Bush did in his last six months.
That is how I would answer your questions about the future prospects for R&D.
What I do want to know, and I have a hard time finding, is where the stimulus jobs are. Raw data, numbers of hires as a result of the stimulus package.
No such thing exists.
The WH put out a report touting 150,000 jobs attributable to the stimulus bill, but nowhere do they show any math to back it up. I was in PR long enough to know that if the numbers work for you, you put them right up front, since numbers are extremely persuasive. So their absence means they've got nothing but anecdotal evidence and praise from mayors, etc. who have been bought off by the selfsame money.
In reading through the state-by-state accounts in the WH document, you get the impression that many of the 150,000 jobs haven't started yet -- they're just budgeted for projects that are probably a year or more away. Weasel words are all over it.
Obama is going to try hard to campaign on his own made-up stimulus numbers in the mid-term elections. The GOP will point to some ungodly unemployment number, a traditional measure, and Obama will reply, "Yes, but I created x million jobs." And the press will say, "yeah he did."
John Stodder:
So you don't think there is even a very slim chance the MSM will abandon the Dems? :)
Any chance the Obama admin will figure out a way to "bailout" MSM newspapers without calling it a bailout?
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