The guys who run Politico have posted some golly-gosh on the President who, you may have noticed, is not stupid. They call it “Obama, the puppet master.” Also “Behind the Curtain: Obama, the puppet master.” This Curtain must be some big deal. Anyway it turns out Obama is neither a fool nor is he pulling anyone’s strings.

. . the mastery mostly flows from a White House that has taken old tricks for shaping coverage (staged leaks, friendly interviews) and put them on steroids using new ones (social media, content creation, precision targeting). And it’s an equal opportunity strategy: Media across the ideological spectrum are left scrambling for access.

So this “puppet master.” He’s on Facebook?

With more technology, and fewer resources at many media companies, the balance of power between the White House and press has tipped unmistakably toward the government. This is an arguably dangerous development, and one that the Obama White House — fluent in digital media and no fan of the mainstream press — has exploited cleverly and ruthlessly.

Yes it’s all about how ruthless the Twitter can be, at least in the hands of Obama. You can see how “arguably dangerous” this is becoming.

February of 2011 the President sits down for an interview with Fox News. Bill O’Reilly interrupts him 48 times. June 2012 Obama meets with reporters in the Rose Garden to announce changes in illegal immigration policy. The Daily Caller’s Neil Munro shouts him down. Days ago at the National Prayer Breakfast, Ben Carson rants a lengthy tirade on the perfect glories of God, the Flat Tax and zombie Health Savings Accounts while Obama sits 5 feet away.

And this barely covers the insults the President has had hurled in his face. Which is to say that these media events have long since devolved into punk journalism, or skree-discussions. Taking direct shots at the President is a thing now.

In all these cases, self-serving people seized the opportunity for personal advancement. O’Reilly saw he could solidify his ‘Fuck You Pal’ bona fides. Munro was an invisible dolt at a doltery, but now we know who he is. Ben Carson is quitting his practice to run for President, and Politico dutifully publishes stories about him every day. If you think the President owes these people their fondest wishes, you’re crazy. Journalism has become the practice of masturbation. When the media become respectable, which likely will be never again, the President will, maybe, talk to them.

Fox News swore a trillion dollar platinum coin would weigh 18,000 tons. The National Republican Congressional Committee figured just one of them would sink the Titanic. Maybe one did. Has anybody unraveled that fiasco?

So goes this crop of madness. What? A giant coin! Matthew Yglesias rebukes the hysterics when he reminds them that the paper in a hundred dollar bill isn’t worth a hundred dollars. Ann Althouse presses herself into service. Dude you are dumb:

“The biggest and weirdest myth out there about the $1 trillion platinum coin is…”

Matthew Yglesias debunks a myth without establishing that anyone believes it.

Clue to Matt: No one believes it.

Click the links and see for yourself. Coins and greenbacks hold no essential value, yet the pundits went looking for the weight-to-value ratio of platinum on the open market. To Ann, it speaks of intelligence.

This is one of those glaring examples of the attitude of superiority leading to missing humor and subtlety. You may think you’re smart, but it’s not smart to assume other people aren’t smart too. I recommend a working assumption that other people are smart, and when you think you’re reading something ridiculously stupid, go through the exercise of reading it with the thought that the writer is wonderfully clever.

It was satirical the way Fox News pretended coins were worth their stated values. Though it enraged the viewing droolers, the Lenny Bruces were going all-out for subtlety and wit.

No way I’m buying that. Perhaps Ann’s clever friends wouldn’t believe “something ridiculously stupid,” but right-wingers everywhere can’t stop doing it:

Putting A Trillion Dollars Of Platinum In Perspective
ZeroHedge | Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/04/2013

So you want a trillion dollar platinum coin? Ok: here are some facts:

• Platinum has traditionally been the most valuable precious metal for one simple reason: it is rare.
• It is so rare, that all the platinum ever mined could fit into a 25 cubic foot box.
• The weight of that box comes out to just over 16 tons: this is how much platinum has been mined since the start of time.
• A coin valued at $1 trillion and made out of platinum would, at today’s price of $1557/ounce, weigh in at 642.3 million ounces.
• 642.3 million ounces is also roughly 18 thousand tons, or about 1100 times more than all the platinum mined.

Emphases in original. Tyler the rebel at ZeroHedge brings you this rattling exposé because the establishment won’t. Well aware of how his blogging threatens the man, Tyler can no longer tell you his real name.

. . used by the likes of mark twain (aka samuel langhorne clemens) to criticize common ignorance, and perhaps most famously by alexander hamilton, james madison and john jay (aka publius) to write the federalist papers, we think ourselves in good company in using one or another nom de plume.

Routine ignorance, thy hours are numbered. Durden’s coup de grace:

In other words, putting a coin that is worth $1 trillion in perspective to all the platinum ever mined, would look something like this:

Good luck getting all that metal out of the mountain, John Henry, before the debt ceiling. Soon enough someone at Politico starts a thread on the making of the maxzilla coin. Look at that first comment:

sheer idiocy!

Putting A Trillion Dollars Of Platinum In Perspective

So you want a trillion dollar platinum coin? Ok: here are some facts:

–Platinum has traditionally been the most valuable precious metal for one simple reason: it is rare.

–It is so rare, that all the platinum ever mined could fit into a 25 cubic foot box.

–The weight of that box comes out to just over 16 tons: this is how much platinum has been mined since the start of time.

—A coin valued at $1 trillion and made out of platinum would, at today’s price of $1557/ounce, weigh in at 642.3 million ounces.

–642.3 million ounces is also roughly 18 thousand tons, or about 1100 times more than all the platinum mined.

What morons! Who elects these clowns?

And what if China calls in their debt? Who has a pennyloafer that size?

Durden’s pronouncements on the platinum coin hold sway at site after site, with names like ewallstreeter, topnewstoday, bullfax, redliontrader, jmdeherrera, equityhelpdesk, and stocksupdate. Few of them look like Funny Or Die.

Of all the things that might surprise you, you can forget this one:

An Indiana man convicted of setting fire to a mosque in Ohio told a judge on Wednesday that he committed the crimes because Fox News and conservative talk radio had convinced him that “most Muslims are terrorists.”

Years of Fox News operating like this, assaulting the public with racial and political bile. All in the service of a single goal: Get people to think like Roger Ailes.

Linn explained to the court that he had gotten “riled up” after watching Fox News…

“Muslims are killing Americans and trying to blow stuff up,” Linn also reportedly told the judge. “Most Muslims are terrorists and don’t believe in Jesus Christ.”

Champagne, folks? This fellow might have been a lone whacko. He might have stayed that way, too. But Fox had to crawl in his ear, and so there were consequences.

“And I was more sad when Judge [Jack] Zouhary asked him that, ‘Do you know any Muslims or do you know what Islam is?’” one mosque member who attended the hearing recalled to WNWO. “And he said, ‘No, I only know what I hear on Fox News and what I hear on radio.’”

Thanks for the fire, Roger.

You got the folding chair out, put it two feet from the screen. Stocked the Igloo with ice and beer. Poured the bags of Funyuns, Queso Cheese Ruffles and Blazin’ Buffalo Ranch Doritos into a tupperware hopper. Unplugged the land line, threw the cell phone in a pillow case and crammed it between the mattresses. Closed the windows and drew the blinds because OH YES there will be yelling. After all tonight is the whole shootin’ match. 21 days to go, and whoever wins this debate will probably win the election. Then Fox Nation tells you:

Aw CRAP.

1) Staging -Romney won the toss. Romney will enter and remain stage right, camera left. Obama will enter and remain stage left, camera right.

2) Order of candidate introductions – The Romney campaign lost the coin toss. Obama will be introduced first. Romney will be introduced second. The campaigns will advise on exact wording of candidate introduction.

3) Order of questioning- Obama loses toss. Romney will take the first question. Obama will take the second question . .

HE LOST 3 out of 4 coin tosses. Oh well, see you in Tehran. Elizabeth Warren 2016!

What about this: The second Romney administration. Magical or merely Historic? Please discuss or mooga booga (as needed).

xhrono | 9 hours ago

Romney DOMINATES pure chance game because he is a businessman, and not a politician

liberalwarrior | 7 hours ago

Wow, desperate much Conservatives? LOL!!!!

notorious_dvg | 6 hours ago

No desperation, it just illustrates that Obama can’t do anything right, even when he has a 50/50 shot.

j9opine | 5 hours ago

Next First Lady FIRST–present first gorilla 2nd.

hikermike2012 | 5 hours ago

she was just mad because she dropped her banana on the floor and one of the offspring grabbed and swallowed it before she could get her knuckle dragging fingers on it!

angrywetcat | 9 hours ago

huh. i thought it would be more like this…

Hello America, this is the Debate! In this corner we have the Planet of the Apes. In the other corner, we have the intelligent white people that actually know what they are doing. Pick a corner America, and vote. For those supporting the Plant of the Apes party, your food stamps, welfare checks and oDimwit phones will be cancelled tomorrow.

One of these is an actual Fox Nation headline from earlier today.

Arthur S. Brisbane, New York Times Ombudsman. He reminds us that the political competitors have been chosen, the 2012 campaign is about to gear up, and the Times will do their job. Barack Obama may be the president but that doesn’t mean he’ll get favorable treatment:

Eight years ago, The Times offered comparably scant campaign coverage of the incumbent, George W. Bush, even as it blanketed readers with articles about Senator John Kerry and others competing for the Democratic nomination.

Now, though, the general election season is on, and The Times needs to offer an aggressive look at the president’s record, policy promises and campaign operation to answer the question: Who is the real Barack Obama?

Why is he saying this? Because people think the paper is the Kenyan’s sex partner. Arthur admits that in Obama’s first year they went a little easy on him:

Many critics view The Times as constitutionally unable to address the election in an unbiased fashion. Like a lot of America, it basked a bit in the warm glow of Mr. Obama’s election in 2008 . .

According to a study by the media scholars Stephen J. Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter, The Times’s coverage of the president’s first year in office was significantly more favorable than its first-year coverage of three predecessors who also brought a new party to power in the White House: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

Our bad. Brisbane adds a couple readers’ complaints to his post to prove that the Tines is aware of the perception on the right and that these things matter. But we’re on the ball now, he’s saying.

Also, no, that’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying, “You geniuses are right we suck balls.” Business Insider:

NEW YORK TIMES PUBLIC EDITOR: Yes, Our Paper Is Totally In The Tank For Obama

Arthur Brisbane is the public-editor of the New York Times, it is his job to be an internal critic of how the Times covers its stories.

And his column today really slaps the Times for being so Obama-friendly . .

Right-blogger Hennessy:

New York Times Admits It’s Basically Obama’s Campaign Newsletter

The only surprise here is that the NYT’s own ombudsman admits that the paper is Obama’s best friend . .

The “Many critics view” phrase is killing them. This is the best, though — Fox News. Here’s the real New York Times . .

1.) We were too nice to Bush after 9/11.
2.) We were too harsh on him during the War in Iraq.
3.) We destroyed his presidency.
4.) We chose Obama in the 2008 campaign.

Watch:



English comprehension: the political divide. Have fun everybody.

The Fox hipsters scratch their heads over Glee.

Gretchen Carlson:

“. . [SIGH] I think here we go again, pandering to point three percent of the American population that considers themself transgender . . “

You can’t swing a feather boa in this country without smacking a prime-time show pandering to trannys. Are you as sick of LIZA! CSI as I am? Terrible demography, I wonder why Glee does it. And because I weigh 500 hundred pounds, I’m late for more Biggest Loser . .

” . . by the way, in the same episode, there are two cheerleaders who apparently are lesbians with each other and they put out a sex tape . .”

Together, they’re lesbians. Away from each other, they’re geishas. Sex seems to be a bit of a mystery for the Culture Warriors. Hey, maybe that’s why they’re so angry. Bill:

. . if children hear it, unsupervised children, okay who don’t have parents watching their — they might go out and experiment with this stuff . . when I was a teenager and I saw James Dean smoking, it made me want to smoke.

There he was. The coolest guy in school, leaning against the gym wall with a wry smile and a dildo between two fingers. And then Bill tried to smoke a Gleek’s pole. You’re never too old buddy . .

Did you see this?

I just don’t see any problem with that.

Heather Childers, a “straight news” anchor for the Fox News weekend program America’s News Headquarters and co-host of Fox & Friends First, tweeted this afternoon: “Thoughts? Did Obama Campaign Threaten Chelsea Clinton’s Life 2 Keep Parents Silent?” and linked to a blog post pushing a conspiracy involving the Obama campaign murdering, or threatening to murder, individuals to keep quiet questions about Obama’s eligibility.

. . Childers tweeted that Fox anchors “present both sides but people see what they want.”

See? Journalists think things. They’re just thoughts. Maybe you see something more.

Do you dig Sean Hannity’s hair? Is he the cutest devil, or what? Here comes a good clip. Hannity, millionaire journalist ink-pisser, knows better than to leave anything to the gods. Or the women. So he sends them winks and nods to corral them in the handsome direction of truth.

‘Trayvon Martin on TOP of George Zimmerman, POUNDING his head, BEATING his life, KNOTTING his soul. The shrieking WIND, the pitiless RAIN, THE BLOOD and THE SCARS PUKING NOW YOU TIFFANY GO . . ‘

–I think . .

‘. . PULLING TONSILS WITH SEARING TONGS NOW YOU TIFFANY GO . .’

–Maybe it . .

‘. . GEORGE’S TESTICLES IN HIS TEETH NOW YOU TIFFANY GO . .’

–I don’t . .

‘. . CARVING A ROSETTE FLOWER IN HIS LIVER NOW TIFFANY LOUDER . . ‘

–“With the New Black Panther Party in 2008, where was he then?”

In private practice at Covington & Burling. Brilliant. Tamara:

–“President Obama is not going to because he has no cojones.”

Captured above, Tamara supporting her assertion. And this:

–“The blacks are also making this more of a racial issue than it should be.”

The blacks. Those ones, yes. Yeehoo.

The breakfast bunch at Fox News decided to toss the tragic killing of teen Trayvon Martin around this morning. Hey, no wonder the other networks have been doing it — this is fun.

Anyway, with mountains of Murdoch’s scratch only bedding silverfish, they figured they could afford a Colored Guy for analysis. Geraldo Rivera threw his Vault Cracker brand detective kit into the back of a Chrysler Asshole, and streaked away.

Thinking hard, he pressed himself:

“What really killed Trayvon Martin? Fox News wants to know. It won’t be good enough for me to say, ‘Racism.’ Or ‘White paranoia.’ That’d be like me telling Wile E. Coyote about ACME gunpowder. I’ll have to give them something else.”

And with that, the legendary TV sleuth set off to re-create the entire murder in his head. The neighborhood watch captain, the police phone call, the warning to leave Trayvon alone, the kid running from the murderous lunatic, the confrontation, the shot ringing out. All of it played out in slow motion in Colored Guy’s movie memory. And that’s when He figured it all out. Wow. He came upon the missing piece of the puzzle: what really killed Trayvon Martin.

Excitedly, Geraldo puttered off to Fox studios. He sat down with the breakfast bunch:

“Geraldo, homie, tell us. What really killed Trayvon Martin?

“I’ll tell you, Brian. What really killed the poor boy was . . his jacket.”

“I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was. When you see a kid walking down the street . . People look at you and what’s the instant identification? What’s the instant association? Its crime scene surveillance tapes. Every time you see someone stick up a 7-Eleven, the kid is wearing a hoodie. Every time you see a mugging on a surveillance camera or get the old lady in the alcove, it’s the kid with a hoodie. You have to recognize that this whole stylizing yourself as a gangsta — you’re going to be a gangsta wannabe? Well, people are going to perceive you as a menace. That’s what happens. It is an instant reflexive action.”

Trayvon could have picked a less provocative coat. So both sides are to blame.

“I understand that the reaction might be overzealous or even irrational in some extent, I mean, when you look at the statistics. But you’re not going to rehabilitate the hoodie. Stop wearing it! You know the old Johnny Cash song, ‘Don’t take your gun to town, son. Leave your gun at home.’ There are some things that are almost inevitable.”

Personal responsibility, folks. Now you know.

Fox News is absurd. Below, see a bit of broadcasting serving as a potent example of their other-worldliness. Anchor Eric Shawn interviews Liz Trotta. They discuss what should be an alarming fact: there’s been a dramatic rise in violent sexual assaults in the armed forces.

Bare with me. The reason I post this isn’t because it’s some uniquely insulting flotsam of Fox’s evil ways. They throw crap like this at you all the time. Instead, I post this because I’d like to point out something many people don’t realize.

Being extremely protective of its branding and propaganda potentials, Fox is crazy careful to vet potential on-air personalities. But it doesn’t actually script these gargoyles. They do know fully well what their ‘stars’ are about, what their particular issues and pet peeves are, but they really don’t know what a contributor like Trotta will say once the cameras start rolling. This would be a great example of a spontaneous on-air disaster, even by Fox’s gnarly standards.

Trotta’s dismissive battle-axe schtick goes wildly astray. Regardless of what side of the political divide you live on, you’re shocked to hear anyone speak so derisively of the welfare of soldiers.

. . just a few weeks ago, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta commented on a new Pentagon report on sexual abuse in the military. I think they have actually discovered there is a difference between men and women. And the sexual abuse report says that there has been, since 2006, a 64% increase in violent sexual assaults. Now, what did they expect? These people are in close contact . .

Of course there’s been an explosion in rapes and violent sexual assaults. Men and women have gotten near each other. What else did you expect?

Trotta figures it’s normal for humanity, especially the male part of the species (people like me), to become sexually violent once “close contact” occurs. She’s pointing out how stupid feminists are, therefore, to flog this issue. She’s also pointing out how stupid the military are for being pawns in the hippie chick agenda. One wonders if Liz believes these rapes really occur, or if they’re negative experiences in any way. By extension, one wonders what Fox News thinks about rape. Good? Bad? Circle of life?

“The budget for the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office leapt from $5 million in fiscal 2005 to more than $23 million in fiscal 2010. Total Defense Department spending on sexual assault prevention and related efforts now exceeds $113 million annually.” That’s from McClatchy Newspapers.

So, you have this whole bureaucracy upon bureaucracy being built up with all kinds of levels of people to support women in the military who are now being raped too much.

Now there’s a money quote. There’s no context within which a Fox contributor can say that and not bruise the brand. Her handlers trust that Liz will cuff the government for liberal spending and for turning the military into a bunch of squishes. They do not expect her to aver that rape is a normal and proper consequence of serving your country. This is cheerleading for the sort of crime that would normally leave an animal rotting his life away in a penitentiary. Liz allows for it to go down in the military, though, because they’re special and awesome, and, also, Republicans rock. You can imagine what she believes football players should get away with on college campuses.

Shawn: Well, many would say that they need to be protected, and there are these sexual programs, abuse programs, are necessary—

Trotta: That’s funny, I thought the mission of the Army, and the Navy, and four services was to defend and protect us, not the people who were fighting the war.

Why should a waiter need to eat? It’s his job to serve you the food. Why do CPR on a cardiologist? He’s supposed to be saving your heart.

What an example of staggering stupidity. Why bother giving soldiers tanks and guns? Don’t they know how to throw a punch? Why can’t they love their country? I guarantee there are Fox executives cringing at seeing this. As bad as it is, though, Trotta won’t be fired. Fox News is an emotional experience more than an intellectual one, and we’re talking to and about the great unwashed masses, after all. Still, there’s no way to spin how this shocks people who are sane. Military folks. Stockholders, too. Bummer.

Shawn: Well, you certainly want the people fighting the war to be protected from anything that could be illegal.

Trotta: Oh, look, I mean, that’s—nice try Eric.

It’s only rape. Get a life.

Believe it or not, this is good news. Whatever messaging Fox News is engaging in usually indicates what’s going on with the collective right-wing psyche. And the psyche apparently feels threatened. This was Sean Hannity talking election strategy with Frank Luntz on Tuesday night:

“They’ve got a foreign policy that shows a lot of weakness,” Hannity said. “I know the President will say they got bin Laden, putting that aside.”

Ha. I know the President complains about being skinny, but putting that aside. We can attack his obesity, I think. Just wait, it gets better:

“And the public gives him credit for that,” Luntz interjected.

A reluctant Hannity replied, “But it wouldn’t have happened if he had his way, and I think that could be proven as well on tapes.”

What? Bwah ha ha. I know, you’re thinking, “How does a president — A PRESIDENT FOR MORON’S SAKE — defy the wisdom of many of his advisers, including his Vice President, and order a Navy Seal operation to kill Osama bin Laden, BUT oppose it?” I don’t know. Maybe Hannity’s brain is being directed by the same hacks who used to write for “Dallas”?

“Frank — my sources tell me that Bin Laden is not dead.”

“Really?”

“They tell me that Obama has only been issuing press releases from his dreams.”

“You don’t say?”

“Arugula is not the new Irish stew. Chicago doesn’t have a chocolate city hall. And Bobby Ewing is as alive as you or me.”

“What the HELL?”

Hullooo, Sean. And all this mess, whatever way you fantasize it, will be on tape, you say? That I’d like to see.

“Alright, people. I’ve had enough advice. I’ve decided, instead, to authorize the attack to proceed. Tell Navy Commander Jones to alert and authorize Seal Team 6. That’s an order.”

“Yes sir.”

“Oh — and Bobby? The nearest video camera?”

“Uhh . . upper right, mounted on the wall, sir.”

“ . . 2 . . 1 . . *ahem* . . NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Sean Hannity must be the single stupidest man who ever lived. Yes, putting that aside, they don’t call it ‘Fox’ for nothing. These are tactics invented by Karl Rove. You take an opponent’s strength and try to turn it upside down. Rove pulled this on John Kerry, unfortunately and successfully.

That’s how the former senior officer on a swift boat in Vietnam became a knee-knocking draft dodger. Kerry once had to shoot a young Vietnamese point blank and kill him. He was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for his service. But by the time Bush-era shitstormers were done with him, Kerry might as well have been a spineless little coward. You know, somebody like Karl Rove.

That’s why Hannity looks even more idiotic than usual. Because Republicans are terrified of Obama’s foreign policy record. This is good news.