Patterico's Pontifications

12/25/2008

Free Speech in Connecticut

Filed under: Media Bias — DRJ @ 10:43 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

From Ace comes a link to a Connecticut Post statement warning readers to avoid some critics of Chris Dodd and Barney Frank:

“All letters are welcome. But there are code words hidden in some that are signals to stop paying close attention — “Chris Dodd” and “Barney Frank.” According to one school of thinking, these two, more than anyone else in America, are to blame for our current troubles.

If you want to castigate their decision-making, fine. If you want to say they and they alone are to blame for the recession, that’s crazy. They didn’t even take over their congressional committees until early last year, and our problems started long before then.”

I remember a time when media slogans were things like “All the news that’s fit to print.” Today’s version is “Making news fit our narrative.”

— DRJ

Ahmadinejad and Obama’s Iran Policy

Filed under: International,Obama — DRJ @ 9:58 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

NRO’s Michael Rubin notes the irony of Iran’s response to the British media and Christians while Iranian President Ahmadinejad responded to Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Day broadcast:

“The irony of Britain’s channel 4 giving Ahmadinejad the pulpit in the name of free speech is that as he was speaking, Iranian authorities raided and closed down the BBC’s Tehran offices and, separately, in the spirit of goodwill to man, ordered Christmas trees banned from Iranian kindergartens…”

Obama originally advocated talking to “friends and foes” without preconditions but as recently as November he was having second thoughts on talking with Iran. Meanwhile, today’s change.gov policy “supports tough and direct diplomacy with Iran without preconditions.”

I don’t see a lot of difference between “talking” without preconditions and “diplomacy” without preconditions but maybe I’m unable to grasp the nuance of Obama’s plan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates must be lacking, too, since he has rebuffed calls for diplomacy with Ahmadinejad because his positions are too hardline.

— DRJ

The Giving Spirit (Updated)

Filed under: Miscellaneous — DRJ @ 4:08 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Part of Christmas is the spirit of giving and this interview with Simon Cowell of American Idol fame made me think about what that spirit really means:

And speaking of “Idol Gives Back” …

“There won’t be an “Idol Gives Back” this year. With what’s happening in the world, I don’t think it feels right to tell couples with mortgages that they’ve got to start donating money to charities when they’ve got enough problems at home.

The second thing is, looking at “Idol Gives Back” in the future, we are going to have to up the balance of how much money is going to American charities, because I think it’s important that we give more…We will be doing this again, but it just didn’t seem appropriate this year.”

I’m sure this makes sense to Cowell and probably to a lot of people: Why ask people to sacrifice when they’re hurting? But the need for charity is even greater when more people are hurting. It could be that Cowell believes his audience has no ability to make good giving decisions so he won’t ask them to give. If so, I feel sorry for him and the viewers whose judgment he holds in such low esteem.

Here’s a thought: Every year, Cowell could encourage American Idol viewers to give generously of their time and money to charities of their choice, and his show could publicize examples of how giving makes a difference. Alternatively, if Cowell thinks it’s important that American Idol leads the effort, he could start by reducing his salary and the show could donate from its profits to make up for any difference in prior giving. (This shouldn’t be a hardship since a recent report indicates Cowell makes £250,000 a day from his businesses.) They could call it American Idol Really Gives Back.

UPDATE — I think this is a better perspective on giving:

“The markets were crashing and Christmas was coming when Pastor Doug Ferguson stepped up to the pulpit of Houston’s Grace Presbyterian Church with $5,000 in his back pocket. He preached about generosity, neighborly love and the meaninglessness of worldly wealth. Then he handed out $100 bills.

His instructions were simple: Use the money to spread comfort and joy. Show some kindness to strangers. And report back in 90 days on what you did.

Ferguson hoped the assignment would lift his congregants above the fray of financial collapse and refocus their thoughts on the real meaning of Christmas: by investing in people instead of stocks. It wasn’t a unique sentiment from a man of the cloth, but the novelty of his approach inspired a fresh fervor in his flock.

The Sunday morning challenge unleashed creative and charitable impulses that some congregants had been hiding under a bushel. In the weeks that followed, they bought shoes for the homeless and a plane ticket for a woman who couldn’t afford to see her son graduate from boot camp in the U.S. Marine Corps. They invited needy children to build gingerbread houses and sent medical equipment to Third World countries.

But they didn’t stop with their $100 bills. Their investments were fruitful. They multiplied.”

Read and be inspired by the whole thing.

— DRJ

Merry Christmas

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:14 am



Merry Christmas.


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