Category Archives: Media Criticism

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That

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So, the White House pressured Solyndra to time its layoffs for political reasons:

Yes, very odd, isn’t it? Actually, it’s so transparently obvious that even Joe Biden could piece together this mystery: Team Obama knew their party was already headed for a world of hurt on election day and wanted to mitigate the damange to the greatest extent possible. Plus, by dropping this ugly news on November 3rd, the entire news media would be suitably distracted by the (important) task of breaking down just how devastating the previous night’s GOP tidal wave had been. From the White House’s perspective, it was a win/win strategy. They could escape or delay electoral consequences for their own abysmal failures, then try to slip the entire development past the American people. So they applied enormous pressure and dangled a $40 million carrot in front of Solyndra’s CEO to “persuade” him to play ball. Lo and behold, he did.

A month later, Solyndra partially defaulted on its loan — which, it’s worth noting, the White House knew from day one was a wildly risky taxpayer-funded gamble — thus violating its terms. They were duly “punished” for this violation with a generous restructuring of their loan guarantee, which authorized politically-connected private financiers like Obama donor George Kaiser* to recoup the first $75 million if (or, more accurately, when) the company went belly-up. This it is precisely what happened in early September of 2011. This arrangement may have violated the law, but legal concerns were shrugged off. The big question: Regarding the politicized layoff notification delay ploy, who knew what, and when?

But remember, the Obama administration has no scandals.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

IMAO’s New Book

Frank J. has a new book out on Kindle (and probably other e-readers). He explains why he wrote it:

I wanted a challenge, so I wrote Obama: The Greatest President in the History of Everything. Back in 2008 when the hope-and-change movement was at its pinnacle, this was the book Obama’s supporters assumed would be written about him. Yet I’m the only one who has attempted it. Why? People knew in their hearts Obama would be the greatest president ever — how could someone with a slogan like “Yes We Can!” be anything less? — but it’s been hard for the common man to see that greatness in the reality of the Obama presidency. So in my book, I will take you by the hand and show you how Obama has fulfilled his promise to be a transformational president, greater than all who came before him and probably all who will come after him. And if you still don’t see Obama as the greatest president ever, you can rest assured that’s not because Obama failed in some way but is instead because you’re stupid or something. Which is why we’re lucky Obama is president and you’re not.

Also, if you don’t have a Kindle, you can buy one here (though I’ll bet Amazon will be giving them away within a year or three). Buy through those links, and it helps pay the bills for this joint.

Humor, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

What Was The Basis For The Court Order?

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So I read this AP piece twice, which if one is to believe the headline, was all about the restraining order against the city to prevent them from removing the Obamaville in Zuccotti Park, and nowhere in it could I find out what the basis was for the order. Well, I guess the reason that it isn’t mentioned is that there isn’t one, and the leftist loon former-ACLU-lawyer judge who signed it has been tossed off the case.

[Update a couple minutes later]

The top ten eviction tweets.

[Update a while later]

The cities coordinated the crackdown. And I’m sure this is just a coincidence: “…this succession of police raids started after President Obama left the US for an extended tour of the Pacific Rim.”

Media Criticism, Space

Did I Get Results?

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Remember this post about the headline on Ken Chang’s story about the ISS flight? Well, the story’s been republished with a different headline. Note the fine print at the bottom: “A version of this article appeared in print on November 13, 2011, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: NASA Hitches a Ride on a Russian Craft, and Begins a New Dependent Phase.”

[Update a while later]

What? They changed it back to the original headline? I didn’t get a screen shot, but I swear (as Clark’s link says) when I first saw it this morning, the headline was “NASA and Russia Begin New Chapter in Space.”