Certainly, Koch Industries contributes to climate change, but the relative impact falls well short of being a “major cause.” We understand Reid’s overall point, but it’s important to stick to the facts when making such claims. Given that Reid did not accurately describe the U-Mass. report, our rating on this statement tips toward Three Pinocchios.Paraphrase: An old politico with his heart in the right place is entitled to a little hyperbole.
I don't agree with that statement, by the way. That's just my translation of Kessler's analysis. What I think is that those who've got their hands on government power should never evince partisan hostility toward private citizens. They should always take pains to appear neutral toward the people they are in a position to harass, and shame on them when they don't.
Writing that made me look up Obama's speech from last weekend's White House Correspondents Dinner, because I remember that he mentioned the Koch Brothers and my reaction was outrage, expressed (out loud) in just about the words you see in the previous 2 sentences. Looking at the text of the speech, I see the precise words were:
And speaking of conservative heroes, the Koch brothers bought a table here tonight. But as usual, they used a shadowy right-wing organization as a front. Hello, Fox News. (Laughter and applause.)Doesn't that seem rather mild? Was I unduly cantankerous late at night, listening for trouble? Or was I right to be outraged? This is the President of the United States, in a position to impose endless anguish on the citizens whose names he called out. He sounds good humored, as though we're supposed to somehow believe that he'd never do any mischief, but look at the IRS scandal, and remember that Obama joked about auditing his enemies.
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38 comments:
You were right to be outraged.
The president joked about auditing his enemies.
Then it happened.
If you've got power, you avoid the appearance of impropriety. You insult yourself; you deface yourself to be funny. When I'm at work, and the boss wants to make a joke, he does it at his expense -- not mine. That's how power dynamics work.
"...or was I right to be outraged?"
Yes, that one.
Following Reid's comments the last few weeks, it looks like he is cracking up.
I am surprised the NYT is so tone deaf as to attract more attention to it.
Why should anyone believe anything said by Reid after his attempt to smear Romney for not paying his taxes and then having the gall to say the burden is on Romney to prove it's not true, because Reid was the one making the accusation?
How about this--Harry Reid molests goats! The burden is on him to prove otherwise, because I accused him.
Here's a fun fact: Using outdated figures is worthy of four Pinnochios. Flat out being wrong, not.
When a Republican makes a similarly shaky claim about insurance numbers, the author has this to say: "Members of Congress have a responsibility to be factual and accurate, especially when speaking to constituents about federal policies. But as far as we can tell, in at least two instances Huelskamp simply invented his claim that “numbers” exist showing that “there are more people uninsured today in Kansas” since the health-care law was implemented. Not only are there no up-to-date data, but the available figures concerning young adults and exchange enrollments provide good evidence that the law has led to a decrease in the number of uninsured."
This is the problem with the so-called fact check. There's no consistency in standards. Which brings me back to the best political piece I ever wrote.
Glenn Kessler is a bought and paid for piece of shit.
The Pinocchio wiggling to avoid the fourth is kind of funny, since Reid specifically says that what they think he means is wrong. Reid says: "They are one of the main causes of this. Not a cause, one of the main causes.”
Reid made it clear that his statement wasn't just one of many; he was clearly stating that considering them anything less than one of the main causes [that is, one of the primary causers, so, being one of the people contributing in a major percentage] is wrong. They're not just a kind of cause or a contributing factor.
To get a score of three, the WaPo had to ignore part of what Reid said.
Which is fine. More people should ignore what Reid says.
You are right to be outraged by Obama's statement because he did not make it truly in jest. You know he was serious because he has said the same thing many times before.
Obama is a nasty man at heart, vain, and shallow. Part of your outrage is due to your feeling that he should have been dragged from stage already and then remembering that we have to suffer three more years of his presence.
Note that the US Government and Berkshire Hathaway (run by a leftist philanthropist) contribute far and away more CO2 than Koch does.
Hypocrisy much?
And I bet he uses many of their products!
"We understand Reid’s overall point, but it’s important to stick to the facts when making such claims."
Ridiculous.
Reid's overall point was that the facts don't matter, feelings matter. If you look at the facts he has no point.
Something happened six years ago. I have mentioned the treatment of Joe the plumber as the signal moment where merely being a citizen bystander with the wrong views, the wrong questions, made you the object of destruction.
There has always been political war left and right, but at least in America the noncombatants (aka ordinary citizens) have in general been left out of it. Sure there have been ordinary people who have been savaged to save the powerful, e.g.; Clinton's bimbo eruptions, but that was because they themselves flew too close to the flame. Today's political atacks are something new.
Somewhere along the way the battles went from the partisan knights and mercenaries trampling each other to actively spearing the yeomanry as they just try to live their lives and express their view.
Who will rid me of this turbulent priest has become America's federal executive reality. And as such we now have more a king than a President.
If Jay Leno made the joke Obama made, it might be (a little) funny, but that's because Leno can't audit anyone's taxes.
Obama: "And speaking of conservative heroes, the Koch brothers bought a table here tonight. But as usual, they used a shadowy right-wing organization as a front. Hello, Fox News. (Laughter and applause.)"
With him, it's always us vs. them, and he is quite clear that he regards himself only as the president of the 'us' team, except when it's convenient to feign otherwise. That's another way of saying that he knows and understands only campaign-mode. Governing, it seems, is beneath him.
Kessler is rating truthiness, not vileness. We need another scale for that. I give Reid four Charles Mansons.
The one reassuring thing about Climate Change politics is that none of the big efforts will ever pass and we should be able to absorb the small idiocies, no matter how Kafkaesque. Extreme rhetoric is just the gilding of the turd.
What I think is that those who've got their hands on government power should never evince partisan hostility toward private citizens. They should always take pains to appear neutral toward the people they are in a position harass, and shame on them when they don't.
Althouse, you are so charmingly out of date. It's really quite sweet.
You're right to be outraged. And the irony is, Fox News is hardly a "shadowy" organization: it outdrew Meet The Press in the Washington D.C. media market last Sunday. Suck on that, MSM!
Matthew Sablan:
When researching the art of manipulating perception, it's imperative to discern the nuances. Good work.
Just three? LOL.
In addition to obfuscating the environmental impact of his "green" interests, Reid is asserting that human behavior causes climate change... on a local, regional, or global scale?
This claim has been under investigation for several decades, moving from cold to hot to change. Unfortunately, for Reid, Gore et al, after expending billions of dollars through direct taxation and indirect economic misalignment, the research has proven inconclusive.
A President shouldn't be making jokes about private citizens. Especially ones on the "right side" of gay marriage well before he was.
Those in government have a fiduciary responsibility towards the governed. A fiduciary who favors one beneficiary (or citizen, in this case) over another breaches his or her fiduciary duty. We should hold those in government to the appropriate (fiduciary) standard of conduct.
Whatever happened to Halliburton as the source of all evil in the world?
Did they make amends with the Democrat party and start contributing their fair share?
I've always found it interesting that the Left gets so frantically incontinent in their comments, even when no one is challenging them directly. I think they must sense that the wheels are ever-so-slowly coming off the liberal bus and the realization moves them to panic.
The constant personal attacks by Reid against two private law abiding citizens amount to an abuse of power. It's an outrage against the rule of law and the concept that government serves the governed and not the other way around. Reid is a vile snake.
According to Forbes, Koch Industries is the second largest private company in the US, with annual revenues of well over $100 Billion. The two Koch brothers--each is worth over $40 Billion. I should expect that there is an IRS auditor practically camped out at Koch Industries, as at comparably sized enterprises, and would be surprised if the brothers are not audited on a regular basis. To talk of them as just private citizens is to take a strangely antiseptic view of the public-private divide. Plus, let's face it, the Donald will kill to get jokes about him as mild as the ones about the Koch brothers.
Three Pinocchios?
Hahaha.. Reid is senile who sadly still controls the Senate!
And note.. Reid is a millionaire himself, yet only has worked as a civil servant his whole life.
you were right to be outraged.
but this is what 'community organizers' do. They must have someone to organize against. They have to have an enemy. Doesn't it say something that they have chosen a couple of men, who are pro- gay marriage, and pro- legalization of pot, but are anti-over regulation, for their 2 minute hate?
It's all about the fundraising. Remember, the ballot may be secret, but political donations aren't.
How many donors, or potential donors, want to lose their jobs, or be slandered on a weekly basis by a senile old pallooka cowering behind the shield of legislative privelege? Is donating to conservative causes worth losing the ability to live your life? How many audits are required to make the peasants just shut up and listen to their betters?
I am watching Godfather II, thinking that at least Pat Geary isn't as big a scumbag as Harry Reid.
holdfast said...
It's all about the fundraising. Remember, the ballot may be secret, but political donations aren't.
How many donors, or potential donors, want to lose their jobs, or be slandered on a weekly basis by a senile old pallooka cowering behind the shield of legislative privelege? Is donating to conservative causes worth losing the ability to live your life? How many audits are required to make the peasants just shut up and listen to their betters?
hmm
“The committee uncovered new information indicating that after groups provided the information to the IRS, nearly one in 10 donors were subject to audit,” Rep. Charles W. Boustany Jr., Louisiana Republican and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee’s oversight panel, told IRS Commissioner John Koskinen at a hearing Wednesday.
Remind us again how McCain would have been worse.
I know about "parliamentary privilige" but isn't there anything in the rules of your senate that prohibits such behaviour. Aren't there any members of the Senate who call out that dingbat?
Obviously Obama subscribes to - "crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women"
Let's see...
Bolsheviks condemned not only those who opposed them as monsters unworthy of any justice, but also their relatives. In many cases, even their children
It is the way of the left.
Almost 100 million died.
Nothing new for Obama or his minions in this, who express eliminationist rhetoric for their political opponenents regularly.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.
bgates:
McCain may have placed America and Americans first domestically; but, there is evidence that he would have taken us to war with Syria, Ukraine, and allies. The latter is not conclusive, but it is a consideration in retrospect.
As for Obama, and Democrats generally, they are tough to hold accountable for anything and everything. This alone should disqualify them from government work.
The Koch Brothers: The "liberal" (and by "liberal" I mean of course "tax-happy, coercion-addicted State-f*ckers") Hive's modern version of Emmanuel Goldstein.
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