This blog is mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, politics, anything else that grabs my attention. Take a look around this blog, hope you enjoy it.
Steven Thomma, the reporter who covers the Obama administration for McClatchy's DC bureau, posted a whopping 2 sentences on the resignation of Van Jones this morning.
Embattled White House green jobs czar Van Jones has resigned his post, the White House announced Sunday morning.
Jones has been under fire for signing onto claims that the government was complicit in the 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, and for using course language to describe Republicans.
Thomma managed to write a long piece on the "birther" movement in the US (click here to see it) but somehow never got around to covering the Truther nutcase actually inside the administration -- until Jones resigned. Wow, great work by the Truth to Power organization! Over at Jammie Wearing Fool, Steven Thomma is known simply as the McClatchy Nitwit.
Time for McClatchy to drop its "Truth to Power" motto?...
Steven Thomma, who covers the Obama administration for the McClatchy DC bureau, blasted "birthers" in a piece he wrote in July.
Nothing from Thomma about Obama administration official Van Jones, a 9-11 Truther nutjob who signed a petition to get Congress to investigate whether the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were an inside government job.
Earth to Thomma: how about some scrutiny of the people actually in power?!
Over at Jammie Wearing Fool, Steven Thomma is known simply as McClatchy Nitwit.
Thomma lists some Golden Oldie Biden gaffes: Biden saying that Barack Obama was "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean;" saying FDR went on television when the stock market crashed -- even though Hoover was president and television hadn't been invented; and, the time a video camera caught Biden saying, "You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."
Oddly, Biden gaffes weren't interesting or newsworthy to McClatchy before the election.
During last fall's campaign , when the gaffes could have damaged the media's Preferred Ticket, McClatchy didn't think the gaffes should be an issue. In fact, McClatchy slammed the McCain campaign in October for putting together a compilation video of Biden gaffes before the VP debate -- McClatchy said the GOP “was trying to embarrass” Biden. (If you are interested, I posted the GOP's Biden gaffe video here.)
I'm guessing McClatchy thought any focus on Biden's gaffes might detract from the important task of electing Obama/Biden. Which explains why McClatchy and other media spent weeks rummaging through dumpsters in Wasilla but never took a serious look at the hair-plugged gasbag from Delaware.
Anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to show this classic video of Joe Biden, campaigning in Missouri, telling a man in a wheelchair to stand up.
The infamous quote: “Stand up, Chuck, let ‘em see ya… oh, God love ya, what am I talking about…”
Just imagine the reaction from McClatchy and the Anchorage Daily News if Sarah Palin had told somebody in a wheelchair to stand up.
I can't believe Steven Thomma isn't embarrassed by attaching his name to this.
The G-20 economic summit reached a final agreement to restore the world’s economy Thursday only after President Barack Obama personally intervened and negotiated a compromise between France and China, White House officials said.
It was a remarkable stroke of personal diplomacy by a new president who’s making his debut this week on the world stage.
The pact calls for added spending to stimulate growth, new regulation over all "systemically important" financial institutions including hedge funds, $1 trillion for the International Monetary Fund and an effort to list tax havens, as a way to "name and shame" them into becoming more transparent and cooperating with international rules.
Heading into the summit’s final hours, however, it appeared that the group would fail to reach a consensus, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed to have the G-20 spotlight offending tax havens based on a list published Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and China objected, largely because it doesn’t belong to the OECD.
That was when Obama, long a champion of ending or curbing tax havens, decided to float a compromise and pulled Sarkozy aside, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as a matter of policy.
"The president thought he could be helpful in resolving the differences," the official said.
Obama proposed that the G-20 merely "take note" of the OECD list, thus opening the door to implicit but not direct endorsement of that list.
"He sent a message to the Chinese. They were considering it (Obama’s message) for some time," the official said.
Obama then met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Sarkozy in a corner of the summit meeting room, as the other world leaders waited.
Upon the trio’s reaching agreement, the G-20 summit then agreed to note the list of tax havens.
Sarkozy, who’d threatened days earlier to walk out of the summit if he didn’t get his way, said the final agreement represented "great progress."
Notice Thomma's source for this puff piece is an unnamed White House official (translation: "PR flack"); Thomma was just the eager scribe.
If this is a foretaste of White House coverage from McClatchy, the barf bag industry will do well under the Obama administration. Here's The Swamp:
President-elect Barack Obama apologized to McClatchy reporter Steve Thomma at today's press conference for his staff placing the reporter in the "Cubs," not "White Sox" section of the press seating area. Thomma, a White Sox fan, noted the indignity of it all in the pool report he wrote for the benefit of other reporters not in place to observe the scene.
The light moment gave Obama a chance to make a point that some might interpret as a slap at some other administration. The Bush Administration perhaps?
President-elect Obama: All right. We've got -- I'm going to call on Steve Thomma. Where's Steve? And the reason I'm going to call on Steve: I understand that as a lifelong White Sox fan, you were placed in the Cubs section yesterday, and I want to apologize for that. It -- I -- this is also part of the new way of doing business. When we make mistakes we admit them. So.
Thomma: Well, thank you, sir. That's the change we need --
President-elect Obama: That's the -- (laughs) --
Thomma: on behalf of White Sox fans. (Laughing.)
Hardy har. Thomma's antics have been chronicled on this blog before. In August, Thomma wrote a piece claiming liberal ideas are more popular than conservative ideas -- he interviewed 5 Democrats and zero Republicans to make his case. In September, I noted Thomma completely misrepresented a quote from Sarah Palin. Jammie Wearing Fool took Thomma (affectionately called "McClatchy Nitwit") apart here. .
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If the Democratic party isn't paying McClatchy's Steven Thomma to write pro-Dem propaganda, they should be.
Thomma wrote an article entitled, As Democrats gather, liberal positions gaining in popularity, which has to be read to be believed. The point of the article is that liberal ideas have become more popular than conservative ideas. To make the case, Thomma quotes several sources to bolster his claim. Here are Thomma's sources; see if you notice a common thread:
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Here is a quote from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.:
"Every generation . . . there are changes in people's relationship with government," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. This, he said, is such a time.
Rebecca Washington, a Democrat and an accountant from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, has this quote:
"Government SHOULD do more, especially when you're spending tens of billions of dollars in Iraq protecting the interests of millionaires."
Vicki Balzer, a Democrat and retired teacher from the Cleveland suburb of Berea has this quote:
"We've got to revoke the tax cuts for the wealthy... We definitely need to do something more for the economically disadvantaged. . . . We've allowed big corporations to take millions for corporate leaders while workers get nothing."
Here is Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas:
"During the era when Bill Clinton was president, there was a clear re-centering of the party," said Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Today, she added, "there is a growing understanding that government can play a positive role in investing in our country."
Last, here is Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson:
"Enormous dissatisfaction with the Republican Party has brought out the base more," said Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico.
The common thread of course is all of Thomma's sources are Democrats. He didn't bother getting a single opposing point of view from a Republican. The Dems must be pleased as punch to have a McClatchy reporter printing Dem propaganda. (Photo via Pew Forum)
