The High Sheriffs Do Davos

I see why there are no comments

Didn't John McCain sing "Bomb, bomb, bomb Davos!" Or was it the Vatican? Well, both are worthy targets and surely there are enough bombs. Unintentionally propping up P-Luk's theory about the fatcats running our media empire--snowing in the Swiss Alps vs. extreme poverty blocks away on South Capitol Street. When the media and pols are in bed with the fatcats, do you actually think they're going to give anything other than token consideration to the wee little people out there struggling? That's an honest question BTW. Straight satire. And all the better in that it's not intentional.

snowing, skiing, sheeot, it's time for a second cup of joe here in the Orient

Wow. It's as though a veil fell from my eyes. I now understand the complexities of global economic change in a way I never thought possible.

Though I can't imagine that rosti can beat chicken-fried steak for lifespan-reducing capability.

Haven't been able to go to the gym for a while, so haven't seen the CNBC morning features from Davos. Thanks for putting me back with the rich and famous.

And, surely I'm not the only one that recalled Debbie Does Dallas in conjunction with the title.

'Debbie Does Davos' might be a better movie. And just as alliterative.

Is it true that when you burp at Davos, it comes out a rainbow?

Ariana must be throwing a dinner party there this year I bet.
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Off topic, but Josh Marshall has a point about how the press has let the Republicans say extremely retarded things during the stimulus debate. It's one thing to do he said/she said on philosophical things, but facts are facts.

p-caf - glad I wasn't drinking when I read your comment.
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KT, when you are done getting all sweaty, I have a serious question for you as a serious journalist. Given that the teevee folks are a different breed, it is still astonishing to see how they rush to cover every inconsequential thing the RW throws out about the stimulus bill, and cover it in the least substantive manner possible.
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As cincy noted in JNS' grass thread: Here we are with this huge bill and all we've been talking about for the last couple days is birth control, how did that happen?(paraphrased). Our media is stupid beyond belief.
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It is really astonishing. Josh Marshall is about as worked up as I have ever seen him. I fear he will have an aneurism:
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Over the last few days I've been trying to take stock of an essential element of the current stimulus debate: namely, Hill Republicans have been getting a lot of air time and minimal press criticism for a series of arguments about the stimulus that are in most cases transparently ridiculous. For instance, I heard several House Republicans yesterday making the straight up argument that the renovation of the Capitol Mall wouldn't create any jobs or stimulate the economy. Well, obviously any major building project creates jobs. Nothing could be more straightforward. Whether it's the best long-term use of the money, in the sense of whether the building project will have spin-off effects creating greater productivity and growth over time is a decent question. And looking at what's in the bill I find myself wishing that more of the more was being spent in a more concentrated fashion -- largely on infrastructure projects. But every major building project creates jobs. . .
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And yet for all of this, most reporters seem to take these non-sensical criticisms completely on face value, grading on a curve, as it were, not giving these folks a hard time because they're well-liked much as we might with a dumb jock in the physics class who gets a free ride because no one expects anything different from him.
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So my question. Is it possible for the chattering classes to take anything, anything at all, seriously? Collapse of civilization? Anything?

The Borgen Project has some good info on the cost of addressing global poverty.

$30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
$550 billion: U.S. Defense budget

KT, I assumed the DDD was intentional! Too amusing not to be.
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wvng, I shake my head with wonder at how bizarre this coverage has been. Last night on Hardball, Mike Pence and some Senator and Mathews seems to have decided that the whole package is terrible and it is his duty to stop it. All that I hear covered is how bad the plan is -- listening to Boehner and Cantor right now. Only people saying anything about it. They whine and fuss that they weren't consulted - how much Democratic input was there in the first six years of the Bush Admin. Grrrr.

Spiffy. When the "High Sheriffs" deign to return, could you ask them to get rid of the flippin' pagination in this blog? You'd be my new best friend - for at least five minutes.

wvng: don't get so down, dude. Ever heard of "fiddling while Rome burns"? Relax. It'll all work out in the end - when we're dead and buried.

Glad they're there. I'm sure they'll find financing sources for actual reporting.
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Or is the motto of the New, Improved Journalism to be "Let 'em eat GOP memos?"

wvng, I wonder how much impact programs like Hardball truly have? In 2nd Quarter 2008, Nielsens for the 5 p.m. cable shows had CNN's Situation Room in first place with 25-54 age group with a whopping 186,000 average viewers. Fox's ran second with 179,000 and Hardball in third with 171,000. The aggregate is roughly (I think)equal to the population of Portland, Oregon. Not exactly a big swath across the country.
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You may say, "Yes, but it's the newsmakers and heavy-hitters who watch." Maybe, I don't know. But even if they do, how how many votes have ever been changed or opinions influenced by the theatrical bombast of Blitzer or Matthews?
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I doubt anything Chris Matthews says has much effect on voters concerned about jobs, healthcare, the mortgage, their kids schooling, etc. What impact he may have is diluted by the way newspapers, magazines, blogs, websites network news, cable news, etc. have fragmented our access to news and information. Indeed, I suspect Matthews and his confreres exist solely because we think they are important.
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I'd say KT and Mr.Nice Guy have the correct attitude. Relax. The noisy storm will blow over soon enough.

Mr. Nice Guy - allow me to tack on a request for the return of numeration and the demise of this heinous "preview" function imposter that bogs my computer down.

KT: if people weren't watching teh stoopid, they would quit putting it on the air. True, but lots of people do and will continue to watch it (me rarely because it causes me such pain). And the people who watch it, even smart people, are swayed by it. And the democracy that needs a vibrant 4th estate is harmed when significant portions of it fail to perform an honest job.
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I know you don't have an answer, I surely don't. But watching the repub swarm on every channel at every moment over the last several days spewing utter nonsense that is either not challenged or actively enabled by media is terrifically frustrating.
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/venting

'If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.'
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Mark Twain
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What do you think he would say about cable news?
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davemc321, the problem is not necessarily the gross numbers of people that watch, but the fact that they drive beltway CW by chattering endlessly. I mean, did you know that Al Gore said he invented the internet? I know that because Gwen Ifil told me about two years ago, many years after that fraud was disproven.

KT, not everyone loves Raymond.

wvng, to repeat: The average audience for Hardball in 2Q 2008 was 171,000. And half of those were probably Matthews' relatives.

I understand the concern about beltway chatter, though I pretty sure it mostly substantiates a listener's biases. I never heard anyone say" I was going to vote for Gore until he started claiming to invent the internet."