What we tend to forget in journalism is that we got in the business to check facts, not just to tell people what Obama said and what Gingrich said. It is groundless to say that Kagan is anti-military. So why not call it groundless? This is badly needed when people are being flooded with information.
Ron Fournier, AP Washington Bureau Chief.
So why not call it groundless indeed? And, all the better, it turns out these “fact check” pieces are actually popular and more frequently clicked. Who knew?
Manna, via The Plum Line
So why not call it groundless indeed? And, all the better, it turns out these “fact check” pieces are actually popular and more frequently clicked. Who knew?
Manna, via The Plum Line
Repeat after me: The Facts Do Not Matter.
(via Johnathan Chait)
I guess the message is, [when making predictions about the 2010 midterms] don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched and you’ve managed to barter them for medical care.
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman making with Teh Funny
Top 12
John Cole runs it down for us re: just what qualifications are required to be a serious person seeking a judicial appointment:
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Titillating David Brooks- no boring career oriented types need apply. Try to squeeze in some college era hijinks to liven up that vita- maybe a possession bust as an undergrad, some racy Facebook pictures, or a term paper supportive of Mao.
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Ed Whelan demands a valid driver’s license and there will be a proficiency test to demonstrate “mastery” of the subject.
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Paul Campos would like a dissertation on the history of curriculum theory (no slouching and skipping out on the role of hermeneutics and critical theory), a treatise on best pedagogical practices, a complete review of the collected works of John Dewey, and a positive evaluation from every lazy student you may have ever had.
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Andrew Sullivan would like proof one way or another of your sexual orientation. I suppose pictures will do, but the apparent gold standards are the assurances of Jeffrey Toobin and Eliot Spitzer.
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Somewhat related to #4, K-LO [Kathryn Jean Lopez] has decided that four out of over one hundred justices have been women, and this poses a grave threat to the white male, so no more va-jay-jays- women need not apply.
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David Bernstein is tired of Ivy Leaguers, so come on down, Heritage Law students!
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Republicans are requiring a history of judicial experience, which could be daunting, considering they will most likely block your appointment to the bench.
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Ed Whelan is also requiring that future justices not be residents (current or former) of New York City.
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Michael Steele is demanding that you not question the Constitutional Right to practice of slavery.
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Lynn Sweet would like a decent batting stance. And no, I’m not kidding. According to recent debates, proof of a good baseball stance could also serve as verification of your sexual status, as required by Sullivan in point number four.
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[Andrew] Sullivan is now demanding a record of taking risks and failing to prove a record of life experience.
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And Howard Kurtz requires a spouse and children
We are merely exchanging long protein strings. If you can think of a simpler way, I’d like to hear it. End Communication.
The iPad gets criticized time and again for being a device built solely for consuming, but I’ve already created vastly more content on my iPad than I ever will on that static, creaking piece of furniture that’s been in every living room in the world for 60 years.
At least it’s one of our more visually striking catastrophes.
Jupiter Too
And so it’s come to this. Mighty Jupiter is reacting negatively to the radical socialist agenda that Obama has been forcing on an unsuspecting ‘Merica:
Jupiter has lost one of its prominent stripes, leaving its southern half looking unusually blank. […] Jupiter’s appearance is usually dominated by two dark bands in its atmosphere – one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere.
But recent images taken by amateur astronomers show that the southern band – called the south equatorial belt – has disappeared.
Naturally, the last time this happened was when Jupiter reacted to warn Our Country of the coming Carter presidency. Failing to heed mighty Jupiter, America went on to elect history’s greatest monster, Jimmy Carter. And we all know how that turned out.
Let’s review the evidence. Jupiter before Obama:
and the tragically denuded, post-Obama Jupiter:
As per usual, the administration’s response to Jupiter is slow; sources in the White House confirm that response, when it finally comes, will be largely centered around temporarily adding an Islamic crescent to Jupiter’s mighty countenance in the hopes of appeasing Obama’s sharia task-masters.
No matter how it plays out now, though, this celestial incident is definitely shaping up to be Obama’s Shoemaker-Levy 9, and his lack of an effective response or even any apparent planning for this event will doom him just as surely as that comet doomed both the Clinton presidency and the then nascent Gore campaign, which took a notably earth-toned, four-buttoned position on the bands of Jupiter, one which the American public wasn’t ready for.
Lemkin 