Obama's Nobel Prize? ... I'm With Will Bunch ...

Much was made of President Obama's Nobel Prize speech last week, the World Wide Web was abuzz, with mostly pro reviews (See Glenn Greenwald's post - "The strange consensus on Obama's Nobel address")

And, let's face, it was Bizzareville, having a sitting president, who is conducting two wars, escalating one of them, up there, accepting a Peace Prize, for Peace that he hasn't actually accomplished (Yeah, I know, wait a few years, for after the escalation in Flintstonevilleastan).



Of all the megabytes and pixels, bloviating on it, there was one that stood out, cut to the chase, nailed it - Will Bunch, on his Attytood Blog;

Maybe U.S. presidents shouldn't get peace prizes

Hey, I didn't say which president. You know what? I hate to say it, but sitting American presidents are never a good choice for the Nobel Peace Prize, period. Since 1901, the honor has been bestowed on three White House occupants.

[snip]

The world needs uncompromising fighters for real peace and for meaningful justice -- people like a Martin Luther King -- who can go to Oslo and remind the world of what we must eternally strive to make it. Such worthy Nobel recepients are truth-tellers, and people they are telling that truth to are the world's kings and potentates and, yes, the American president -- a job that is engineered for compromise, and disappointments. If the world is to become a better place, we need more people who risk jail, risk pain, and risk death -- people like Dr. King or Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi -- have done, for the eternal ideals of peace that are uncompromising. The Nobel Peace Prize can be a valuable tool to remind us who these people are, and that you are going to find them in the streets, not in the White House.

Now, that, certainly, is something hopeful we can believe in.

If You're Not Hip To Will Bunch, Here's Your Chance ...

We have, on numerous occasions, tagged (linked), or included in our Bonus Riffs, the blog "Attytood", written by Philadelphia Daily News Senior Writer, Will Bunch.



Often informative, witty, hysterical, prescient, thoughtful, on-the-money, it is, simple, some darn good writing.

Yesterday, was the 30th Anniversary of what became known as President Jimmy Carter's Malaise Speech, not that what it was titled (The "Crisis of Confidence" Speech), which had to do with our energy policies, among other things.

Bunch takes a look back at it, in his post "The speech that could have saved America", noting "Too bad. I think you can make a strong case that America would be a better place if we had only listened that night."

Here's a snip;

I think a number of enormously positive things would have happened if the alternative energy research -- gutted by Reagan, who in the ultimate act of symbolism even ripped out the solar panels that Carter had installed on the roof of the White House -- and other conservation programs had continued. For one thing, U.S. consumers would have pocketed more of the cash that we instead borrowed from China, and innovation in fields like wind and solar power would have created thousands of new jobs. More importantly, our foreign policy would not be ruled by the need to dominate in the Middle East, and regardless of whether or not you think the 2003 Iraq invasion was all about oil, I think we can agree it never would have happened if the United States wasn't importing 70 percent of its oil, which is a lot MORE than 1977 levels.

Bunch also links to a NYT Op-Ed yesterday, by Gordon Stewart, one the speech's writers.

On July 15 — 30 years ago today — at 10 p.m., President Carter and 100 million people finally faced each other across that familiar Oval Office desk. What they saw and heard was unlike any moment they had experienced from their 39th president. Speaking with rare force, with inflections flowing from meanings he felt deeply, Jimmy Carter called for the “most massive peacetime commitment” in our history to develop alternative fuels.

Contrary to later spin, the speech was extremely popular. The White House was flooded with positive calls. Viewers polled while watching found that the speech inspired them as it unfolded.

Well, we all know how things turned out on that front, and Bunch isn't shy about laying it the feet of Bonzo's former partner, our union-busting 40th President, Ronald Reagan.

Additionally, there's a link to an interview of Bunch, by Crooks and Liars John Amato, regarding Bunch's book, "Tear Down This Myth", that's worth taking the time to check out.

Start Cutting The Squares For The Office Pool On Geithner Exit?

If there is such a trophy, or award, the headline-of-the-day goes to Will Bunch, over on his Attytood blog;

What's that, Lassie? (Woof, woof!!) Timmy Geithner's in the well?!!

There's a lot of ways to measure a good-to-great president. We tend to focus on both their policies and their skill in communicating with the American people, but another key task is the ability to admit mistakes, especially when it was a doozy. Remember JFK and the Bay of Pigs early in his presidency?

And Timothy Geithner as President Obama's Treasury Secretary is looking like another one of these.

The New York Times has a comparable, but more reserved story today, as well;

Geithner, With Few Aides, Is Scrambling

Rarely have so few people had so little time to prop up so many pillars of the economy as those in the Treasury Department under Timothy F. Geithner.

In the six weeks since Mr. Geithner took over as Treasury secretary, he and a skeleton crew of unofficial senior advisers have been racing to make decisions that will shape the future of the banking, insurance, housing and automobile industries. 

But even as he maintains a frenetic pace — unveiling plans, testifying before Congress and negotiating new bailouts with the likes of Citigroup, General Motors and the American International Group — there are signs that events are getting ahead of him.

And, here's some recent headlines on our new Secretary of the Treasury.

Former Australian Prime Minister Savages Geithner's Performance in the Asian Crisis

Geithner goes for a laundry list, not a dramatic gesture

Geithner Backs The Elites

Lawmakers laughed at Geithner plan

Geithner Bank Bailout Plan: Fiasco

Add to this, one big-byline blogger has directly called for Geithner to go;

Henry Blodget - Time To Fire Tim Geithner

We don't mean to sound impatient, but we've seen enough. The country is in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 75 years, and the second-most-important person in charge clearly isn't the right man for the job.

When both engines on US Air Flight 1549 quit after takeoff, Capt. Sullenberger did not cling stubbornly to his preconceived view of the situation. He did not float endless versions of the same bad plan to air traffic controllers to see what they thought of them. He did not spend months preparing for a moment just like this only to be seized by indecision when it arrived.

Instead, he just took the controls and landed the plane in the Hudson.

[Snip]

We don't mean to sound impatient, but we've seen enough. The country is in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 75 years, and the second-most-important person in charge clearly isn't the right man for the job.

When both engines on US Air Flight 1549 quit after takeoff, Capt. Sullenberger did not cling stubbornly to his preconceived view of the situation. He did not float endless versions of the same bad plan to air traffic controllers to see what they thought of them. He did not spend months preparing for a moment just like this only to be seized by indecision when it arrived.

Instead, he just took the controls and landed the plane in the Hudson.

After detailing Geithner's "Timmy in the Well" exploits, Blodget continues;

With a few years of seasoning in a normal environment, Tim Geithner might turn out to be a fine Treasury Secretary. But this isn't a normal environment, and we don't have a few years.

The engines of the US economy just quit. We're losing altitude rapidly. And the co-pilot flying the plane clearly doesn't know what to do.

So it's time for the captain to take over again, before Geithner takes him and the rest of us down with him.

Megan McArdle comes, somewhat tepidly, to Geithner's defense ("Should Geithner go?"), however, we probably can predict, there will be more-and-more of these type of posts, articles and headlines coming in the days ahead.

Not to mention what the PartyofNoican will throw out there.

But, hey, it's March, and that means "March Madness", the time of year where anything can happen.

Anyone can win, or anyone can lose.

Hang in there Timmy, maybe you do have a buzzer-beater in you.

Black Coffee

Another lost day for The Garlic ...

We'll leave with, probably, the best post of the day.

Perhaps, you're one of the less-than-handful that hasn't seen, heard, of been told about the Jon Stewart riff on CNBC (and his follow-up comments on Letterman).

Will Bunch of Attytood was just as impressed, but posited another perspective on it.

What Battered Newsrooms Can Learn From Stewart's CNBC Takedown

The piece wasn't just the laugh-out-loud funniest thing on TV all week (and this was a week in which NBC rebroadcast the SNL "more cowbell" sketch, so that's saying a lot) but it was exquisitely reported, insightful, and it tapped into America's real anger about the financial crisis in a way that mainstream journalism has found so elusive all these months. As one commenter on the Romenesko blog noted earlier today, "it's simply pathetic that one has to watch a comedy show to see things like this."

But that's not all. The Stewart piece also got the kind of eyeballs that most newsrooms would kill for in this digital age -- planted atop many, many major political, media and business Web sites -- and the kind of water-cooler chatter that journalists would crave in any age. In a time when newspapers are flat-out dying if not dealing with bankruptcy or massive job losses, while other types of news orgs aren't faring much better, the journalistic success of a comedy show rant shouldn't be viewed as a stick in the eye -- but a teachable moment. Why be a curmudgeon about kids today getting all their news from a comedy show, when it's not really that hard to join Stewart in his own idol-smashing game.

Bunch goes on to offer some suggestions, and it's a good piece, so jump on over to check it out.

Meanwhile, here's a late Friday night song, that can sum up a lot of things ...

Will be back over the weekend ...

Black Coffee - Sarah Vaughan

And Now For Something Completely Different ... Michael Palin for President?

H/T to Will Bunch, over on Attytood, for this;

Michael Palin for President



Considering the Stumblin' Bumblin' McCain camp got confused when he first announced Mommy Moose, I suppose it could be reasonable there's a measurable number of people out there that believe Monty Python is looking to take over the White House.

On another point, how eerily similar is the classic Python "Argument" routine mirroring the McCain crew these days?

Monty Python Argument Sketch




Bonus Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny and Mommy Moose Riffs

Why Do You Think We've Been Calling Him "Stumblin' and Bumblin"?

How Little We Know ...

"I shot a moose once ..."

We Told You He Was Just Like Bob Dole

More On Client No. 9 ... Brought To You By "On Cue"

I found it especially refreshing today, that there stood the Mississippi Primary, if only so we didn't hear the words "Eliot Spitzer" pass through the lips of every news anchor, every talking head, about every 30-seconds.

And a late day bonus of the Bush Grindhouse firing Admiral Fallon (more on that coming soon) certainly went to tamping down, though not completely clearing it off the radar

After the bucket of water dumped over heads yesterday, on the New York Governor' lascivious behavior, everyone unbunched their panties today, and hit their floor marks.

The late night television comics all took their shots.

Delivering, on cue, with stern editorials, alternately slamming and tisk-tisking Client 9, were The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

The states' GOP hacks were huffing and puffing with threats and deadlines, to either get out of town, or we'll throw you out of town.

And the Governor's old enemy, Wall Street, was hooping and hollering in joy.

Last, but not lest, all of the above was the reason (or the excuse) to drag the old dirt bag, Heidi Fleiss, back to center stage and she pontificated her worldly wisdom on the whole mess.

Sigh ...

In the event anyone was nervous as this scandal unfolded, fear not, Barry Crimmins, heroically, took the reigns of the Empire State and guided her through the night (and with some excellent Executive decision-making).

Oh yeah, more and more, questions are being raised about just what the hell is going on.


Today's Spitzerpalooza, some of the better posts found

Larisa Alexandrovna: Remember the days when being linked to a straight, female, adult hooker was political suicide?

Larisa Alexandrovna: Spitzer's selective prosecution?

Digby: Parting Shot?

Richard Kim: The Spitzer Scandal

John Cole: A Comparison


And here is The Best - Must Read post, from the pen (or keyboard) of Attytood

Their ding-a-lings: Chuck Berry, Eliot Spitzer and the bizarre history of the Mann Act

Well, It's A Destiny of Sitting at The Presidential Kids Table

Getting lost in the booming news of the week (take your pick - Obama trouncing Hillary, Hillary blowing smoke about Obama's "plagiarism", Here's Johnny Boy McCain and his Lobbyist Love Fest), is that our current, the 42nd President of the United States has set a new record, unparalleled, unprecedented (even worse than Nixon, for Christ's Sake!).

19%

Nixon was only at 23% during Watergate and the worst rating, Harry Truman, was only 22%, that during the Korean War.

The Commander Guy might want to put a parachute pack on the back of the flightsuit, he's plummeting so badly.

From Attytood;

"Worse than Richard Nixon in the days before he resigned in disgrace during Watergate, worse than Jimmy Carter during the Iran hostage crisis, much worse than Bill Clinton when he was impeached. Just as Roger Bannister raced through what once seemed the unreachable 4-minute mile, Bush has burst through a barrier once also thought impossible, below the 20-percent mark."

If this isn't, yet, more ammunition for the Congressional Democrats to stay strong on the Protect America Act and deny the Telcom Immunity (and, of course, the soul-less Bush Grindhouse continues to lie and play with a stacked deck of Fear Cards).

As Snagglepuss might yelp, Heavens-to-Murgatroyd!, do they want to go down, caving to a President that has 4-out-5 Americans disapproving of him?

When, in the future, the living, former Presidents get together, they'll have no choice but to place this "Cascading Conservative" at the kids table, that is if such ratings even gets him in the door.

Again, from Attytood;

It takes more than unpopularity to become the worst president ever, but this may be the straw that broke the camel's back on that front. It should remind us all what the 2008 election is all about, and it's not about Hillary's wardrobe or an off-the-cuff remark or who is the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan.

It's only about who can undo the damage of the last eight years. It's amazing so many people wanted such a difficult task."

The sooner he exits - be it stage right, or stage left, the better we will all be.


Read The Survey - Concerns over Economy Push George W. Bush's Overall Job Approval to New Low

Hats Off To Josh Marshall, and The Entire TPM Crew ... First Blog To Win Polk Award!

Attytood put it this way;

"The George Polk Awards are kind of like the Golden Globes of American journalism . Not as well known as those Oscars of the news business, the Pulitzer Prize, the Polk Awards are nevertheless probably a close second in terms of prestige, and this year I am especially blown away by the quality of the work they honor."

Included in those who blew away Attytood is Josh Marshall, and the crew over on Talking Points Memo, who became the first bloggers to win this prestigious award.


From The George Polk Awards;

"The Polk Award for Legal Reporting will go to Joshua Micah Marshall, editor and publisher of the widely read political blog, Talking Points Memo. His sites, Talking Points Memo and TPMmuckraker, led the news media in coverage of the politically motivated dismissals of United States attorneys across the country. Noting a similarity between firings in Arkansas and California, Marshall and his staff (with his staff reporter-bloggers Paul Kiel and Justin Rood) connected the dots and found a pattern of federal prosecutors being forced from office for failing to do the Bush Administration's bidding. Marshall’s tenacious investigative reporting sparked interest by the traditional news media and led to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales"

If you're not hip to TPM, and the associated TPM sites, do so ... It's rock-solid 411 and they don't pull any punches.

Regular readers of The Garlic know that we tag/link to TPM frequently - and will continue to do so, even with their getting this high-flalutin' award!

Congratulations Josh, and TPM! ... Major Clutch Play!


Bonus Links

The George Polk Awards

Wikipedia - George Polk Award

Editor and Publisher: Slain Editor Bailey Among George Polk Award Winners

Thank God, We Have So Many Media Options In This Country ... So People Can Be Informed!

Nicole Belle, over on Crooks and Liars, has a gem-of-a-gem post today.

It's a video of a few Mike Huckabee supporters, with a crystal clear grasp of the 2008 Presidential Campaign, and why they are firmly behind The Huckster.

As Nicole states;

"It never fails that every day, someone will leave a comment asking us why we spend so much time watching news shows and pointing out Republican framing and other types of media bias."

It's really an amazing spectacle .. A Must-See-Video!

Click over and check out "Why We Do What We Do"

(And be prepared to do a good deal of head-shaking)


Bonus Huckabee Links

Quad City Times: Huckabee pokes fun at Bush over reading intelligence reports

Attytood: Huckabee goes all Santorum on us

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Chuck Norris Will Keep Mike Huckabee From Getting Old In The White House, If He's Elected