Patterico's Pontifications

8/22/2011

Big Media’s Big Failures: Non-scandal edition

Filed under: General — Karl @ 6:39 am



[Posted by Karl]

Someone asked me whether the recent error-riddled New York Times hit piece on Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, could subject the NYT to a libel suit.  Theoretically, the article is so bad that it could warrant a complaint, but as a practical matter, a lawsuit would be a waste of time.  Assuming Issa could convince a judge that there was a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Eric Lichtblau and the NYT acted with “actual malice” in publishing the story, Congressmen are not sympathetic plaintiffs. 

Notably, the hit piece is one of the very few things the NYT has written about Issa.  The NYT has also written next to nothing about Operation Fast & Furious, the Obama administration scandal currently in Issa’s crosshairs.  Indeed, the NYT editorial board does not seem to think it’s worth investigating, let alone covering, if it does not advance the paper’s crusade for gun control. 

Of course, Issa is far from the only Republican to get smeared by The New York Times.  The past weekend brought us the headline “Perry Mines Texas System to Raise Cash for Campaigns,” followed by a story that doesn’t support the charge.  Indeed, the story goes on for paragraphs about the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund before noting: “[Perry spokeswoman] Ms. Nashed said that grants from both funds must be approved by the speaker of the Texas House and the lieutenant governor and that all recipients go through rigorous reviews.”  It would have been easy for the NYT to verify that Nashed was right — but that would not advance the NYT narrative.  Mind you, there is a legitimate debate to be had about not only funds of this sort, but also potential crony capitalism generally.  But if the NYT were genuinely interested in crony capitalism, they would be rooting it out in the Obama Administration as well.  Suffice it to say the NYT has avoided the issue like the plague.

Examples of the NYT modus operandi abound in election cycles, the bogus McCain-Iseman affair being a classic of the genre, right down to the “correction” essentially repudiating the story — made 364 days (and an election) after the original story ran.

It is tiresome to write about the bias of the establishment media in general and the NYT in particular.  I have previously described it as the political version of bad weather — something the right must be aware of, but largely beyond their control.  I have also written time and again about the tendency of the establishment punditry to hype “epistemic closure” on the right, when  the establishment media engages in magical thinking about the biggest issues of the day.  Given Big Media’s twin failures on the Great Recession and the debt bomb, perhaps it should be obvious that the NYT would be more interested in smearing Issa than covering Operation Fast & Furious.  However, much of the history of the 21st Century is shaping up to be about the institutional failures of 20th Century progressivism — so-called Keynesian economics, the over-promising Ponzi schemes of the welfare state, and so on.  In this sense, the decrepitude of establishment journalism is not simply another feature of the weather report, but part of a larger, more important story — a scandal establishment journalism inherently won’t cover.

–Karl

108 Responses to “Big Media’s Big Failures: Non-scandal edition”

  1. I’ve had some fun covering the decomposition of the NYT Issa story.
    The San Diego Union-Tribune investigated some of the story’s charges, and found them bogus.

    Bradley J. Fikes (4a190f)

  2. Hey, nice view, Bradley.

    Mike K (8f3f19)

  3. Brother Bradley..
    NYT story….bogus….
    Say it isn’t so!

    I would rather believe a hit piece in The Enquirer, as they seem to hit the mark more accurately when it comes to political personae.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  4. Even after the false claims of the NUT piece were exposed I’ve seen the usual Dem trolls repeating them gleefully.

    SPQR (8a7b49)

  5. When are they going to look into the kick backs in Chicago? Oh, fugetaboutit.

    AZ Bob (a9c085)

  6. Mike K., by the standards of the NYT, you too must be a multi-millionaire who’s gotten his money through rank exploitation of investors and workers.

    Congratulations, fellow Oppressor of the Working Class!

    Bradley J. Fikes (4a190f)

  7. Oh, they can’t talk about Rezko, as that’s part of an ongoing investigation/prosecution.
    Dolts!

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  8. It was nice to see Michelle Goldberg’s piece on Dominionism get smacked down by several writers.

    Meanwhile, Arne Duncan, dispatched by Obama to submarine Perry, can’t get his facts right or even understand his own record.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  9. Perry wrote a book. Torpedoed himself, methinks.

    Spartacvs (2639af)

  10. methinks.

    One of the greatest self-libels in history.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  11. Well, at least he wrote something other than insulting, dishonest, and lazy blog posts.

    You really do think you are all that and a bag of chips, don’t you? Fact is, everyone thinks you are a joke. That has to sting.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  12. I don’t mean you, of course, AD. I mean Hax’s Dumber Brother.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  13. speaking of cronies isn’t barack obama the guy who brutally raped bondholders for a bunch of skeevy fat-ass illiterate united autoworker whores

    how’s that working out?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  14. No Problemo, SJ.
    BTW, I’ll take the chips; and he is a joke.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  15. feets, some of the new FIAT-500 ads are pretty good, and one of the cars showed up in my neighborhood a couple weeks ago.
    Wonder when they’ll put some faux-wood cladding on one and badge it as a Town & Country?

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  16. Mr. Feet, what kind of chips do you prefer, given that little troll is indeed not all that and a bag of chips?

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  17. hah I love the fiat 500 I wouldn’t buy from the first batch though… but I might wait a few years and get a used one from the second model year if I needed a car at the time maybe… if I still lived in LA at least

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  18. Incidentally, feel free to call “Sparticvs” insulting names, since he does so so very freely toward others. I’m thinking that “Farticvs” would be good, since he thinks “Breitfart” is so amusing. But then, that is another person who has written books and made money doing so. Unlike certainly trolls.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  19. Mr. Jester! Chips! I just tried the chips that are the Vallarta store-brand they make themselves! They are very tasty. I started going to Vallarta over by the airport cause it doesn’t employ greasy union losers like Ralph’s.

    For corn chips I get the Calidad brand what is made in texas. That’s the same as the Mission brand i think. Same owners.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  20. $21 feet, better than the $0 had they cashed out at the end of W’s term.

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  21. Hand made chips are the best. And seriously, try these:

    http://www.food.com/recipe/uncle-bills-microwave-potato-chips-47195

    I remove any possible health benefits by putting parmesan cheese on mine.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  22. Hey, Farticvs, you might be cautious about using numbers. Math is hard, after all. For you.

    Besides, your history of dishonest posting makes people doubt you.

    Wouldn’t that suck? You might even be right some of the time, and still people wouldn’t listen, because you have a history of being dishonest and lazy.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  23. I will try Uncle Bill’s my whole life I never knew you could make your own

    that’s exciting. Revolutionary, even

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  24. feets, I wouldn’t worry too much about “first year blues” as the 500 has been in production in Italy for several years now.
    Just think, it is now made by non-communist union members – they’re still thugs, just non-commie ones.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  25. i know but if you buy a used one you’re not directly contributing to any thuggy thuggy union whores… but my car is fine for now I just need a new hubcap

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  26. The problem isn’t that the NYT is a collection of mendacious swine with an agenda. The problem is the bill of goods we have been sold that the Media ever was or ever could be free of bias. Read Mencken’s autobiographical works; he makes it clear that every paper he ever worked for or heard of had a point of view and push it. Intelligent people knew this and looked for news from differing sources. Idiots thought whatever idiots always think.

    Killing the NYT, while emotionally satisfying, wouldn’t solve the problem. We need to kill the idea that ANY media run by humans will EVER be unbiased. Then the NYT’s bias WON”T MATTER.

    C. S. P. Schofield (8b1968)

  27. $74.50 Spurty. That’s a good number too.

    What do your’s represent?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  28. That would be the stock price around the time your man W took the oath daley, what’s your point?

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  29. Does FIAT still stand for Fix It Again Tony?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  30. “That would be the stock price around the time your man W took the oath daley, what’s your point?”

    Spvrty – We were talking about Chrysler, not GM, hence the confusion. Are you so stupid that you would claim the currently trading shares of GM are the same as the ones cancelled in the bankruptcy proceeding? Is that what you are claiming?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  31. Math is hard for Farticvs, daley. Be gentle with his sensitive ego. He gets irritable.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  32. #13 & #20 then you chime in with #27

    Do try to follow the plot.

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  33. I have no confidence in the economy it just seems like things just keep getting worse and worse

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  34. So…let’s review, Farticvs. You have a history of not reading carefully. Of misunderstanding websites to which you link. Of dissing people who make more money selling books than I doubt you see. Of petty and childish insults. Of outright lying in a lazy way on multiple occasions. And never, ever owning your own mistakes and lazy thinking.

    And you are going to snark at daleyrocks? Daleyrocks?

    Do try to stay with me on this: you are a gnat of a joke. And I think you are aware of it, which is why you post the way you do.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  35. Maybe spartacvs can explain to us how actual bondholders did not get screwed, when the Barcky admin put their union buddies unsecured creditors ahead of the secured creditors, and essentially gave part of the company to their union buddies.

    JD (306f5d)

  36. I think you give him too much credit, JD. He is just carrying a jock strap for the quarterback he likes. I don’t think he understands much of anything related to the posts he leaves here.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  37. Notice what spartacvs is desperately trying to avoid discussing.

    JD (29e1cd)

  38. Daily spurty integrity check – would you please list all of the names you have commented under? Cue crickets …

    JD (29e1cd)

  39. It’s because he doesn’t understand the things that he posts about, JD.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  40. Comment by daleyrocks — 8/22/2011 @ 9:16 am

    That’s on the good days.
    At other times it is:
    F…ing Idiotic Attempt @ Transportation!

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  41. Spvrty is an economic illiterate. Prove me wrong!!!!!11ty!!!!!!

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  42. Uhhhhh…
    Never mind.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  43. Daley, notice how the little troll scurries away? I honestly think he doesn’t read very much.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  44. If opposition to being gay is hate speech…………………..then why is SpartacBS allowed to use the word teabagger?

    Then why is Perez Hilton allowed to out self-loathing gays?

    DohBiden (d54602)

  45. I should have said homosexuality.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  46. 28.That would be the stock price

    You do realize that holders of common stock are typically the last to be paid off in a liquidation, right? That’s because they stand to benefit more than bondholders when the company does well. In contrast, bondholders take less of a return on their investment in exchange for getting paid off first in a liquidation.

    But that’s not what happened with GM. The Obama administration circumvented established bankruptcy law. By doing so, it wiped out the bondholders completely to the benefit of the common stockholders. That wasn’t right, and you should be outraged at such an action.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  47. No Chuck, the troll does not understand. He is very, very lazy.

    Simon Jester (c7bf9d)

  48. Bondholders v Employees

    No contest, sorry bondholders. Try working for a living instead of mooching.

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  49. “No contest, sorry bondholders. Try working for a living instead of mooching.”

    Spvrty – Tell that to the pension funds that owned the bonds, moron.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  50. Hey, daley? What do you think the Lazy Slow Troll does for a living? The snottiness makes me wonder if he lives in his mom’s basement.

    Simon Jester (b6f1be)

  51. No contest, sorry bondholders. Try working for a living instead of mooching

    Did you really write this? Do you know that bondholders provide capital to a company so that the company can grow and function?

    That’s not mooching, you ignorant [edited –Stashiu].

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  52. the piggy piggy union whore employees are what ran GM into the ground to where it won’t even honor its warranties anymore

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  53. BTW, the problem with GM was NOT that it wasn’t selling cars. In fact, in 2007, GM sold about as many cars as Toyota.

    The problem with GM was that its fixed costs (driven by pensions and employee expenses) were so high that it couldn’t possibly sell enough cars to cover them.

    How about you tell the employees to stop mooching off the bondholders? The bondholders were robbed so that the employees could continue receiving more money than they were worth.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  54. you’d have been better off investing your money in America’s bankrupt social security ponzi scheme than in General Motors bonds

    that’s how badly Obama raped them

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  55. Chuck, I don’t think that the Slow Troll works at all for a living. I suspect our tax dollars support his ability to talk out his backside.

    On another note, I tip my hat to Stashiu3, always in the background. And always keeping an eye on things.

    Simon Jester (b6f1be)

  56. I apologize for my language. But there is no word vile enough to describe spartacvs. Anyone who would say the things he said deserves to be horse whipped.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  57. He is just a lazy, not-so-smart poseur, Chuck. His goal is to get you angry. Think about why.

    Just make fun of him. He is a little jerk, just posting to cause trouble.

    Simon Jester (b6f1be)

  58. Story about some complaining GM bondholders:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/04/29/bn-gm-bondholders-idUSN2942515420090429

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  59. The big lie is that it was bondholders vs. employees. Most employees would have still been employed: someone would have bought up the GM assets and used them for production, and there still would have been people making replacement parts for existing GM cars even if there were no new cars made.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  60. The stupidity and ignorance that spurty so proudly displayed in #48 was/is breath-taking.

    JD (3ad5b9)

  61. 60 pus association come on daley you can do better than astroturf, it’s like you’re not even trying.

    Chuck – you guys are always talking up class warfare. Keep it up and I suspect you might get it.

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  62. OMG. Farticvs, you get through saying “…Try working for a living instead of mooching…” and then you accuse other people of talking up class warfare?

    I can’t tell if you really are that dim. Can you possibly be that non-self aware?

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  63. Furthermore, I am not sure what your “..pus association” means, but I suspect that STIs can be treated at your local free clinic.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  64. Comment by Chuck Bartowski — 8/22/2011 @ 10:41 am

    Chuck, whippin’s too good for him!

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  65. Oh, Yeah, I want to see that “class warfare” that we’re goint to get.
    Seems to me, there might be a lot of rubble for sale in some of the more toney, Dem strongholds; not so much in those areas occupied by “bitter clingers”.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  66. Political class war Drew, now go take a cold shower.

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  67. Chuck – you guys are always talking up class warfare. Keep it up and I suspect you might get it

    You know, spartacvs, there is a magic place where big companies have been shunned and providers of capital chased out, leaving nothing but paradise for the common worker. It’s called Haiti.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  68. Leftys complaining about class warfare is rich.

    Wasn’t Duvalier and his son marxists?

    DohBiden (d54602)

  69. Go Galt!

    Go for it Chucky, I hear TX is hiring.

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  70. No, they weren’t but they were black nationalists,
    opposed to the mulatto elite in the country

    ian cormac (0bd903)

  71. Chuck, I think he has you angry enough to miss the game. Notice that Farticvs has himself used all the language of class warfare. Now, either he is profoundly dim, or it is a game. The hypocrisy is so obvious.

    It’s like his nonsense on Libya. He suddenly is supporting the third term of GWB! Except this little war (where was Congress, again, or Code Pink?) genuinely was about oil.

    Laugh at him. I think he lives in his mom’s basement, and this “I know more than you do” is all he has.

    He should go hang out at Kman’s website. They have a lot in common.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  72. Plus, I don’t think he reads any of his links.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  73. This is just performance art from spurty.

    JD (b98cae)

  74. I don’t know, JD. I’m starting to think he genuinely is that slow.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  75. So that makes them far-left racists on par with Eric Holder.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  76. Well, within the context of just this thread, it is clear it either cannot grasp the difference or simply does not care about the difference between secured and unsecured creditors, and chose to lash out with violent class warfare rhetoric when called on it. Poor spartacvs.

    JD (d48c3b)

  77. SpartacBS is Janeane Garbagealo.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  78. Again, I doubt his, um, financial situation is complex. He has Willy Sutton disease.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  79. Go for it Chucky, I hear TX is hiring

    Unlike you, I don’t work at a fast food restaurant, so I can find work in almost any State, not just TX. In fact, I just got a call on an 18-month contract job in Solana Beach, CA. It would be near Del Mar racetrack, so that would have its advantages.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  80. Bondholders are ‘moochers’?

    Icy Texan (d75b88)

  81. Does FIAT still stand for Fix It Again Tony?
    Comment by daleyrocks — 8/22/2011 @ 9:16 am

    — Faulty Italian Auto Trash

    Icy Texan (d75b88)

  82. Good news Chuck, going to work on one of Romney’s houses by any chance?

    Spartacvs (d05556)

  83. Still not answering questions, lazy troll? Just spewing bile. Or…what did you call it? Oh, that’s right: leaving bags of dog poop on someone’s porch.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  84. Icy, I think when you haven’t really had a job, and are reliant on your mom to do your laundry, why, people who work and people who invest are quite foreign beasts.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  85. Hey, Chuck, Solana Beach is filled with awesome! Be sure to try out the carne asada burritos at Alberto’s, which are all over San Diego County.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  86. 82.Good news Chuck, going to work on one of Romney’s houses by any chance?

    You’re not very bright, are you? I didn’t say it was a contracting job, I said it was a job with an 18-month contract. Please use better reading comprehension in the future.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  87. Hee, hee, Chuck. I told you, didn’t I? He didn’t know the difference.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  88. Simon, I became familiar with Alberto’s when I lived in Anaheim in the 90s. There was one on Ball Rd, just west of Brookhurst. Good place.

    I like the idea of being a short walk or bike ride to the ocean or the track.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  89. Doesn’t even know the difference between Solana Beach, and La Jolla.

    spvrt, you’re so pathetic even Cindy Sheehan would shun you.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  90. Nice to know you lefty hypocrites are using the victims of the lockerbie bomber to justify your hypocrisy.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  91. While I lived in Clairemont, Chuck, the funny part was how the “wanna-be”s would imitate the “Alberto’s” name: Royberto’s, Albierto’s, etc. North County is nice.

    Do me a favor and get down to Old Town, and go to the Old Town Mexican Cafe, and have some genuine carnitas, or my favorite: the grilled chicken quesadilla. Sigh.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  92. C’mon, AD. I doubt Lazy Troll actually read that link carefully.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  93. No he’s so pathetic Cindy Sheehan would go to the bathroom and have sex with him.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  94. The ‘berto’s of San Diego…

    I had a business down there during the 80’s, and they were handy places to have lunch – inexpensive and filling food.
    I even asked one of the supervisors for Alberto’s about all of the different permutations of the name.
    Her response is that they were spin-offs opened by siblings and cousins.
    Now, they’re in Orange and L.A. counties.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  95. Good story, AD. I always wondered about that.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  96. Feeble Italian Attempt (at) Transportation
    Failure In Automotive Technology 
    Failure (in) Italian Automotive Technology
    Fix It All (the) Time
    Failed In A Tunnel 
    Fails In Attempted Turns 
    Fart in a Tin 
    Find It Appalingly Tasteless 
    Fits In A Thimble 
    Fix It Again Tomorrow 
    Fix It Alla Time 
    Flats In All Tires 
    Found In A Trench 
    F***ing Idiot Assembled This 
    F***ing Italians Ain’t Trustworthy

    [thanks to stari_momak for that last one]

    Icy Texan (d75b88)

  97. Simon, I haven’t been offered the job yet, the call was from a headhunter wanting to place me. I am pretty sure I’d be a good candidate, unless the company in question would prefer someone a little less senior. We’ll see how this plays out.

    One of the things I miss about L.A./Orange/Riverside counties was the one-off mom-and-pop burger joints that seemed to served everything under the sun, including rather delicious breakfasts. Every now and then I get a craving for one of those cheap steak sandwiches.

    Chuck Bartowski (4c6c0c)

  98. Icy, all those are true, but while they run, they are great drives.
    The Italians have a knack for designing and building drivers’ cars which give great feedback to you and allow you to proceed with great abandon and total control.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (2cd90b)

  99. Hey, Chuck, Solana Beach is filled with awesome!

    Sooooooo true! And for some great craft beers, go to Pizza Port, in Solana Beach, Carlsbad, San Clemente and now in Ocean Beach!

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc)

  100. Who here thinks guns should be used to defend yourselves?

    Who here thinks Guns are so evil that they are willing to call a 2nd amendment advocate a cold hearted murderer.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  101. Farty[edited –Stashiu]….nah…don’t want to take liberties with our female party guests….

    Farticvs….what does thebstock price of GM s of 2001 have to do with it falling over the next 10 years, except for the failure of that company to be competitive in the open market? Other car companies didn’t have this problem, did they? Why GM?

    Bet you can’t even give one legitimate answer.

    Good luck!

    reff (7206a4)

  102. Plenty of pension plans and other retirement funds were invested in those bonds. So I guess you could argue that Obama screwed over some little old ladies in favor of his union buddies.

    rochf (f3fbb0)

  103. Back in 1986 the media sided with Ghaddafi but in 2011 they threw Ghaddafi under their bus.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  104. Good luck on the job, Chuck!

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  105. The NYT – “Now We’re Just Makin’ Shit Up”

    Bigfoot (8096f2)

  106. SpartacBS is sniffing obamas stash.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  107. reff’s comment reminded me that GM is refusing to honor warranties or repair defects in their cars from 2008.

    And apparently they made a lot of screwed up cars that ruin their own tires because of a balancing problem. So if you buy a GM car today, know they could care less about whether it’s made right, and if they know they ripped you off, they will do all they can to escape servicing it.

    They say because Obama’s admin bought GM, they are no longer the same GM. But I seem to recall them saying the buyout was needed partly so people could rely on their warranties.

    I’d rather have a Ford or a Honda. I think that the long term effect of the GM Bailout is that the company is ruined. They broke their word, and there’s no recovering from that.

    Dustin (b7410e)


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