Softballs for Joe

Given the batting practice that Lesley Stahl tossed (in the guise of an interview) with Barney Frank, I had the bar set pretty low for her interview with Vice President Joe Biden.



It wasn't low enough.



If she threw any more hanging sliders for Joe to hit out of the park, I was convinced that she would be the #5 starter for the New York Mets -- who will take just about anybody.



Curiously, most of the interview with Joe was was done standing up in his office. Why?



Was the seated, or more formal, aspect of the interview was unwatchable? (If memory serves there was only one question -- about the Hugo Chavez handshake -- shown when they were seated.) Did Joe comitt any gaffes or was it -- heaven forbid -- the fact that Joe Biden is a fairly conventional thinker and boring speaker?

The fact that both Biden and the President chose to stand for their interviews suggests that they weren't going to give the 60 Minutes team any more time than was necessary.

Granted, the interview was a puff piece designed as a link in with the totally arbitrary notion that Obama's first 100 days are of some consequence but that doesn't mean that she couldn't ask a tough question or two.

For instance, Biden is notoriously tight-fisted when it comes to giving to charities yet yet professes that paying taxes is patriotic. What would he say to that allegation?

Biden supported the Iraq War and when the political winds shifted voted against the surge. Now that the winds have changed again, does he think that the Obama plan is working?

As he is in charge of the middle class task force -- what does he plan to do, if anything, in that capacity?

Lastly, Biden noted, when talking about his son who is currently deployed in Iraq: "ridden home with too many dead young men and women in caskets and it's just impossible to not associate with that."

Given the respect that the military takes with the remains of the fallen, it seems unlikely that they would be flown as cargo on a flight ferrying VIPs. If true, how many times has he flown out of Iraq or Afghanistan? Or, was this a case of Joe Biden, stretching the truth to fit his purposes?

Alas, that wouldn't have been much news either.

Ruminations

ANOTHER DISTRACTION: Hillary Clinton, who is apparently showing the strains of her new job (she's got Samsonites under her eyes), noted that the Taliban is now a "mortal threat" to Pakistan. Anyone who has read Steve Coll's Ghost Wars would be struck by the irony of Pakistan's creation turning against it.

ROCK, NOT ROCK STAR: Rachel Maddow, GE's answer to Ambien, is slowly sinking into oblivion with what remains of her minuscule audience. Rush Limbaugh, if memory serves, thought Maddow would be a perfect fit with MSNBC though -- as she didn't have much of a track record in garnering an audience in radio either.

UNWATCHABLES: I gave ABC's The Unsusuals a viewing last night. I enjoyed it more when it was called NYPD Blue.

CHERRY PICKING: I figured, well, all it took was a measly $39 to get everyone thinking that happy days are here again. Then I realized that AP prominently displayed the good news, rather than the less than positive news in their story about how Obama has revitalized the American mood. Of greater interest, is how they parse the quote from a McCain supporter to fit the narrative.

NOT THAT PUBLIC SERVICE: It's been three months or so since Caroline Kennedy got the thumbs down from Governor Paterson to be Hillary Clinton's replacement. (That move certainly didn't help him with NY's chattering class but that's another story.) Apparently, her need to serve the public is satisfied by reading a message on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg to get other folks to volunteer. Not quite as challenging as a Senate gig. Anyway, as long as Chuck Schumer (D - Wall Street) has any juice, Kennedy will be sitting on the sidelines in 2010.

Kerry's Favor

John Kerry has a big problem -- it's about staying relevant as a leader in the Democratic Party. After all, he's the guy who lost to George W. Bush.

Unfortunately, he's not in the executive branch where he could be actually getting something accomplished. (He still probably dreams about what a wonderful Vice President or Secretary of State he'd be.)

So he does what a Senator can do -- hold a meeting.

In the midst of the pirate crisis of a week or so ago, he played his only trump card -- he convened a hearing. A hearing, that if it was held, it made as much noise as the proverbial tree falling in the forest.

Now as the chair of the communications, technology, and Internet subcommittee, he will be holding a hearing on the state of journalism. That's right, an all day veritable talkathon about the state of American journalism. I suspect it will be similar to those think tank sessions that CSPAN shows when Congress is out of session that draws an audience in the dozens.

Actually, he could save himself and everyone else a great deal of time by getting with an economics professor and learn a thing or two about supply and demand. His hometown paper the Boston Globe (which conveniently endorsed him in last election) is sinking like a rock. (We talked about their straits here.)

Those in the know suggest that the Boston Globe was the opposition research for Kerry's last campaign. This despite the fact that his GOP opponent was a nonentity and hardly a threat. But a favor has to be repaid.

So while Kerry thinks he's helping and playing an important role, others will think he's simply grandstanding. Actually, he will be the master of ceremonies for an industry's wake.

Three Strikes?

Readers of this blog should realize that I'm not entirely enamored with the policies of President Obama. In short, I don't think his plans for peace (a mixture of hope and humility) and prosperity (gargantuan deficit spending) will work.

However, I'd be the first to admit that he is terribly smooth. He gives a great speech, he is comfortable with others, and he radiates self-confidence. By any measure, a terrific combination.

Of late, though, he seems to be losing his edge which,for Obama supporters can be a worrisome development.

Losing his perspective. To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you go with the history you have, not the one you want. For better or worse, the U.S. has a long history of being entwined in Nicaraguan domestic affairs. Daniel Ortega, at the recent Americas conference, used his speaking opportunity to subject Obama to a 50 minute harangue about U.S. involvement there. Rather than defend the aims of those policies that Ortega denounced, Obama thought it was all about himself. He said, "I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for the things that occurred when I was three months old." As Mark Steyn noted, it was a curious case of narcissism.

Losing his competence. In era where Carl Sagan's mantra about the heavens (billions and billions of stars) can now be used in discussing the budget, it seems a bit lame to be looking for a measly $100 million to reduce in federal spending. It's even sadder when the President seems to be in earnest about looking for these savings with a straight face. When the media begins to mock the imitative, one has to assume that it's a loser.

Losing his conviction. I think it's safe to say that the original strategy regarding torture was to cherry pick a few documents for release that would put the Bush White House in a bad light and claim that they're going to cease this activity. Moreover, to ensure that our intelligence capability would not be totally eviscerated, there would be no prosecutions of those who acted in good faith. Now it seems that Eric Holder, the Attorney Justice, and a man with a few questionable deeds in his background will determine what is prosecutable and what is not. But as flip flops go, this caught everyone in his Administration by surprise. It would be interesting to see what kind of messages Obama was getting in his ultra secret Blackberry?

A couple of odd missteps are no reason to panic. But when a pattern becomes discernible, then one has to ask -- what have I gotten into.

Ruminations

THANKS FOR THE VIDEO THOUGH: President Obama's vaunted video greetings to the Iranians to mark their "Nowruz" holiday was seen for what it was -- a sign of weakness. Now the Iranians have tossed American journalist, Roxana Saberi, in jail for 8 years alleging that she was a spy. Teheran sees a vulnerability and is now trying to exploit it. I'd be surprised if the back channels weren't being worked to determine a means of releasing Ms. Saberi. Perhaps thawing a frozen bank account or releasing a senior Qods Force operator who was captured last December in Iraq? Watch for a decent interval between the two.

MS'ING IN ACTION: You have to like the way Bill O'Reilly criticizes the left leaning MSNBC. He goes after NBC and their corporate masters GE instead. Obviously, why give Olberman, Maddow, and Matthews a plug on his show? Given the way that Jeff Immelt has run GE into the ground, he's a bigger and easier target instead.

CUT TO THE CHASE: I understand that ESPN and TNT have paid for a lengthy NBA playoffs -- they need something to put on the air other than poker tournaments and Law & Order repeats. However, it seems that everyone is expecting the finals to be between the Lakers and the Cavaliers. So let's can all these unnecessary and meaningless games and have these guys play it out and end the basketball season in early May rather than in late June.

PERCEPTION: I'm not a DHS junkie, but the only times I notice DHS Secretary Napolitano on the news is when she is explaining what a "man-made" disaster is and how it could be possible that disaffected vets may want to join right wing militias. Our adversaries are taking note as well.

PENNIES: James Warren a couple of weeks back on the McLaughlin Group observed that that the $200 million allotted by the federal government for teacher merit pay, was, to use his term, "pennies." I eagerly await to hear his assessment of Obama's $100 million budget cut.

US OUT OF MEXICO: Stanley Crouch a week or so ago, spent a whole column denouncing gun violence. Hard to argue with that. However, to add a sense of urgency to his need for greater gun control, he added this whopper:

We can add in the documented fact that weapons bought at unmonitored gun fairs are arming Mexican drug dealers who will end up fighting American troops very soon.

The "fact" may be documented but it's not true. Moreover, it seems that Mr. Crouch has an inside line to the Pentagon that is facilitated by wearing a specially designed tin hat. Perhaps, Mr. Crouch is unaware of this documented fact.

Ruminations

For Sale. While reading the dead tree version of today's New York Times, you couldn't go too far without an advertisement for the New York Times Store. They even had an insert. Looks like the company has to get its hands dirty with the grubby business of selling stuff to keep it afloat.

Rescue Who? Seems one can't go far in New York City without seeing an ad (on a bus or a bus stop, for example) for the upcoming season of Rescue Me. Fair enough. Last time, I saw so much advertising was the for that spy show that NBC had this past fall. I've already forgotten the name of the star and of the show itself.

There's a Reason. I figured out why the New York Daily News is 75 cents on a Saturday (it's 50 cents for Monday - Friday) -- no Mike Lupica columns.

Overseas Contingency Operation. Just for the record, the Navy's actions today off the coast of Somalia were not a skirmish in a "long war" or a "global war on terrorism;" it was simply an overseas contingency operation. Fortunately for all "pirate" seems to be sufficiently neutral that we don't have to call the captured pirate, well, a terrorist (or a sea-based militant).

Third Place for a Reason. On Friday, I caught a bit of Countdown with David Shuster. (He reminds you of your best friend's annoying brother. He's harmless but you wish he was somewhere else.) Anyway, he helpfully -- along with some jaded Newsweek suit -- told me that the tea parties were run by Fox News. Geez, if so, it will be really scary when Roger Ailes & Co. flex their muscles overtly.

Check Google Instead? Now that the pirate issue will move from the front pages, I guess that John Kerry's brave action -- plans to hold hearings -- may be cancelled for something more worthwhile. Sadly for JFK though is that his genius as the committee chair will be seen by only those lonely souls who watch C-SPAN.

The "Distraction" Distraction

I took a second look when I saw the following headline: "Pirates pose annoying distraction for Obama."

The taking of an American hostage and an attack on an American-flagged freighter is certainly an "annoying" distraction and not a foreign policy crisis.

How do I know this?

Yesterday, when he was discussing the international aspects of this incident with his Secretary of State, they met not in the Oval Office but rather a at a picnic table in the backyard. (You right wingers go right on and say, "Well, if Bush did this..." We all know how this would end.)

If this were a crisis, BHO would have the sense to convene a meeting with his foreign policy team in the Oval Office. (He does have a top notch national security advisor, after all, doesn't he?)

In fact, these distractions seem to be the norm. At least the way big media sees it. And the distractions presumably prevent Team Obama from implementing the hope and change that this country needs.

Sure.

A distraction is nothing more then having Team Obama caught flat footed -- when it's the blowback of a Chicago political scandal or a launch of a North Korean missile.

Why? Because this administration is ill-equipped to handle anything more than a hope that our adversaries won't hate us and that our allies will really like us. Anything else prompts uncertainty and confusion. Therefore it has to be downplayed as a "distraction." You can screw up a crisis, you can ignore a distraction.

We better get used to it.

John Lennon was right when he said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Team Obama should be busy planning for further "distractions."

A Time for Delusions

When the odds are stacked against you...delusion sets in.

In his book, The Fall of Berlin, 1945, Anthony Beevor, recounts how the Nazi high command reacted when the Soviet hordes were about to strike Berlin. They thought that U.S. Forces would fight alongside the Germans to fend off the Soviets. The idea of being defeated by the Soviets was beyond their comprehension and that Washington would see the Red Menace for what it was worth.

Frank Snepp recalls a similar sense of disbelief in Saigon in 1975. In Decent Interval, Snepp, a CIA analyst based in Vietnam, noted that both the Ambassador and the CIA Station Chief thought that the North Vietnamese would stop short of their attack on the south and settle for a negotiated settlement. It was only on the day before they took over did both men see how wrong they were.

Such is the case with the rank and file of the Boston Globe. According to one report, the situation is beyond bleak -- it's absolutely abysmal. There are projections that the paper could lose up to $85 million this year alone. This news, predictably has caused delusions to set in. In fact there is speculation that a white knight may ride into Beantown and save the broadsheet.

There are those who think this current economic downturn is something that merely has to be "weathered." I think not. Paradigms will change -- perhaps for the better but more likely for the worse. The Boston Globe is no exception; no matter how many delusions it believes in.

Writer's Block(heads)

Richard Cohen, stumped for an idea, opts to send the Obama Administration a belated Valentine's Day thank you. If the writer's block persists, he may want to trek down to Fort Benning and attend a graduation of future infantry soldiers.

Mike Lupica, unable to find any steroids or much else in the Motor City, conflates facts with opinion as he hails the most important president since, well, Herbert Hoover. Mike puts his BC education to good use as he parrots the DNC's talking points criticizing Bush (and Cheney) and the ever popular Fox News Channel.

No doubt their Lincoln Bedroom invites are forthcoming.

Analysis: Dismal joblessness could hurt Obama

The title actually comes from an actual AP wire report.

Go figure, if a lot of folks are without work -- they may take it out on the President and the party in power.

The fact that anything could politically hurt the President seems to be the real news. In January, he seemed so impervious.

I remember back in the '80's during Reagan's recession and watching the network news. They always seem to end the program with some down on his luck guy -- yet another victim of the recession. Those stories were legion.

I wonder if they still run them nowadays? I wouldn't know since I gave up on network news years ago.

I further wonder if we will see more stories like the referenced one.

Ruminations

BANNED IN BOSTON: Boston is the first NBC affiliate to balk at airing the prime time Jay Leno program. Jay grew up in nearby (well as the crow flies) Andover -- not a big greeting for a local boy done well. NBC has threatened the affiliate -- which thinks it can get better numbers by airing a newscast -- by dropping them from NBC. Given the dearth of hit network programming, it seems like a bluff. This could be the first of many defections.

HUFF, THE TRAGIC EDITOR: Richard Huff, the TV & radio editor for the NYDN, reported on the dismissal of a popular local sportscaster and the cancellation of "The Guiding Light" a long running soap opera. You know how much money was saved by these acts? Well, if Richard Huff knows, he's not telling. Or, he's incompetent. Your pick.

HERE AND THERE: As I alluded in January, Obama is acting tough at home (e.g., canning the chief of GM). But he's sweetness and light overseas (e.g. bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia at the G20 summit). If there's a method to the madness, I can't fathom it.

EYE OF THE STORM: One doesn't normally consider themselves recovered from an illness until after a day or two of normal operations. You don't think yourself healed because you're able to sit up in your sick bed. That's my analogy for the current uptick in the stock market. It's a good sign but it doesn't mean you'll be running any time soon.

BATTER UP: Obviously the reception was poor when George Steinbrenner and Jeff Wilpon, the chiefs of the Yankees and Mets respectively, gazed into their crystal balls. Despite having contending ball teams, I don't expect boffo box office with the prices that they will be charging to see grown men play, well, a game. in their posh new facilities. Had they built the new stadiums in the late 1990s, well that's a different story.

NOW THEY NOTICE: Bravo to the NYDN for exposing the mockery that is called the New York State legislature. It's essentially a three-man circus -- the governor, the Assembly leader, and the Senate leader. Every other elected official is an extra -- or in some cases -- a prop. However, this isn't news -- this set up has been the governing MO for decades. However, the NYDN is still upset that the governor didn't select sweet Caroline Kennedy as the senator -- so now it's news. (Alas, Kirsten Gillibrand doesn't sell papers.)

THE SHIP BE SINKING: Did the NYT spike a story that would connect ACORN and the Obama campaign? It doesn't look good. Neither does the mindset of their executive editor for that matter.