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Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (12/10/19)
The Soyciety Pages: Dunkin' on NeverTrump LOL: Battleground/Red State Democrats Begging and Whining for Censure Option, So They Can Avoid Voting on Impeachment and Avoid Being Sent Packing AG Barr Blasts Media and Deep Staters -- and Criticizes Horowitz -- in Interview Poll: Say Hello to Your New Frontrunning Democrat Presidential Candidate Active Shooter Situation in Jersey City; Cops Describe Shooting as an "Ambush;" Terrorism Suspected Democrats' Star Counsel Dan Goldman Claims He's a Non-Partisan Straight-Arrow Fact-Finder, Then Wilts When Asked By Matt Gaetz if He Used to Tweet That the Pee-Pee Tape Was Real Democrats Unveil Two Frivolous, Focus-Grouped Articles of Fake Impeachment The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Mid-Morning Art Thread |
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May 08, 2009
Financial Times: Gee Willickers, It Turns Out the Economy Depends a Lot on Psychology and OptimismNote how the media is suddenly doing its patriotic job in trying to improve economic optimism: An influential Democrat who was also one of the world’s top-ten, highest-paid hedge fund managers last year thinks he knows which book is at the top of the White House reading list this spring: Animal Spirits, the powerful new blast of behavioural economics from Nobel prize-winner George Akerlof and Yale economist Robert Shiller. This is all obvious -- but why is the media suddenly willing to stop the drumbeat of negativity and (as Slu notes below) actually try to put a positive spin on the worst unemployment in 25 years? The answer is obvious; they want to help Obama, and they wanted to hurt Bush. Note that while the same phenomenon applies to both Democrats and Republicans -- talking up the economy actually has tangible effects on growth, and talking it down has real effects on contraction -- Republicans aren't allowed to talk up the economy. The media won't let them. The minute they say something nice about the economy, the media says they're "out of touch" and then runs a package showing all the bad or worrisome indicators, pushing out the word that the economy is on the edge of a cliff (or actually falling into the cliff). Thus undoing the good that was intended. A long time ago I came up with the idea of a "Republican tax" the media imposes on this country's economy when a president they don't like (a Republican, naturally, or Bill Clinton before he perjured himself). By constantly pushing a message of fear and uncertainty, the media actually restrains the economy under Republican rule. By how much? I don't know. At least a half percent of GDP growth, I figure, and maybe even 1 or 2 points. Obama now presides over an economy showing the worst numbers since the Great Depression, and yet the media wants to push the idea of "economic recovery." No shooting down Obama as "out of touch" when he suggests we're coming out of this, no endless repetition of all the downward-pointing indicators. Instead, a very high unemployment rate is spun as surprisingly good, and indicative, if anything, of our emergence from the recession. For the media, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel when their boy is in charge. There's no problem with the media accentuating the positive. I just wish they'd do it when a someone they didn't vote for is running the country. Economic problems impose real consequences on people in those times, too.
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Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (12/10/19)
The Soyciety Pages: Dunkin' on NeverTrump LOL: Battleground/Red State Democrats Begging and Whining for Censure Option, So They Can Avoid Voting on Impeachment and Avoid Being Sent Packing AG Barr Blasts Media and Deep Staters -- and Criticizes Horowitz -- in Interview Poll: Say Hello to Your New Frontrunning Democrat Presidential Candidate Active Shooter Situation in Jersey City; Cops Describe Shooting as an "Ambush;" Terrorism Suspected Democrats' Star Counsel Dan Goldman Claims He's a Non-Partisan Straight-Arrow Fact-Finder, Then Wilts When Asked By Matt Gaetz if He Used to Tweet That the Pee-Pee Tape Was Real Democrats Unveil Two Frivolous, Focus-Grouped Articles of Fake Impeachment The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Mid-Morning Art Thread Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Election Projection Federal Review Real Clear Politics Rasmussen Reports Gallup Zogby FoxNews Polls Sabato/Crystal Ball Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |