Profits über alles?

In another blow to newspapers, The Tampa Tribune announced it is laying off 165 people or about 16 percent of its workforce. While sad, the development was not wholly unexpected at the financially troubled Trib. But sadder still is the mindset exhibited by the "suits" at the newspaper. In an attempt to apply lipstick to this pig, John Schauss, vice president of market operations (and whose own job is presumably safe), said, "Going forward, we will still have more than 300 content generators across multiple media platforms in the Tampa market." Notice that Mr. VP said "content generators" rather than "journalists." He might as well have been referring to soybean and pork belly commodities in his futures portfolio. Yes, newspapers are obliged to make money and earn reasonable profits. But it's a shame that so many are being reduced to bare-bones sweatshops in order to do so, seemingly at the expense of journalism. Sigh.

Hug me harder because, damn, I'm great

 

For some reason, football players are increasingly jumping into the stands immediately after a touchdown. Um, why? Is the fawning applause, spiking-the-ball rituals, dancing in the endzone or, in Tim Tebow's case, offering a post-score "benediction" no longer enough for these heroes in tights? Guess not. Now they need tactile gratification. Sure, leaping into a sea of loving arms after a score is harmless (I hope) and presumably fun for players and fans alike. And yes, it really is too late to ask these multimillion-dollar receivers (and their college imitators) to tone it down and behave with manly humility. That train (along with classic sportsmanship) left the station long ago. But the endless displays of self-centeredness on the NFL gridiron (or NBA court or MLB diamond) merely reflect a larger truism: "We are a society of self-pleasers," as one blogger aptly observed. Let's hope it's all just a temporary cultural phase through which we must pass on the road to societal maturity.

Glee, Republican-style

Sometimes, watching the GOP primary is like being teleported to a high school from which you can never graduate. Think Glee without the glee or the possibility of parole. Newt Gingrich (a cool kid wannabe) is a chess club nerd without the brains. Rick Santorum, an ongoing legend in his own mind, is the preening student body president who has already picked out his spot on Mount Rushmore. And Donald Trump, well, he's one of those "mean girls" despite his bad hair. Talent, let alone singing ability, is unknown at this infamous institution of lower education. We've now gotten the news that all but Newt and Rick have declined the Donald's invite to attend his school debate on Dec. 27. (Herman Cain, the class clown, would have gladly shown up but was kicked out of school last week for, um, inappropriate behavior.) Speaking from the campus of his delusions, Trump -- the self-appointed "moderator" -- told CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "People are afraid that I'm going to run as an independent candidate and some of the people that are supposed to be in the debate have expressed that. And I don't want to give up that option, because it certainly is an option." Right. Scotty, can you please beam me back now?

MegaNewt

Newt Gingrich: "A stupid man’s idea of what a smart person sounds like." ―Paul Krugman, New York Times. (Illustration by DonkeyHotey via Flickr)

Something to ponder

Chuck Klosterman writes: "Just because a bunch of people believe something does not make it true. This is obvious, even to a child. People once thought the earth was flat. But here's a more complex scenario: If you were living in Greece during the sixth century, and there was no way to deduce what the true shape of the earth was, and there was no way to validate or contradict the preexisting, relatively universal belief that the world was shaped like a flat disc … wouldn't disagreeing with that theory be less reasonable than accepting it? And if so, wouldn't that mean the only sixth-century people who were ultimately correct about world geography were unreasonable and insane? Trust the insane!" Hmm ...

Obama: Chamberlain or Corleone?

Republicans have lately begun to charge that President Obama is an appeaser, a veritable Neville Chamberlain, in his approach to foreign affairs. Seriously. They're actually saying the guy who had Bin Laden whacked, Michael Corleone-style, is a weak sister. Rather than simply ignoring this claptrap, the DC press corps insisted on having the commander in chief respond. So he did, memorably: "Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22-out-of-30 top al Qaeda leaders who've been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement. Or whoever is left out there, ask them about that," Obama remarked. Cue the chill wind. (I just love it when Obama goes all Godfather on his detractors and their enablers.)

Washington Monthly writer Steve Benen agreed that the weakling talk is laughable on its face. But he oddly felt it necessary to caveat his commentary. He wrote: "Now, there's a reasonable discussion to be had over whether the president should boast about how many people he's had killed, even if the targets are al Qaeda terrorists." Um, really? The moralists aside (who, like bad weather, will always be with us), is there really a detectable chorus in America that is fretting over whether no-drama Obama is dancing too eagerly in the endzone? Is this, as Benen suggests, really a "legitimate" subject for debate? If so, would a prime-time panel discussion hosted by Anderson Cooper help? Or is that still too tame for this obsession with self-flagellating? Please. Let's call out this malarkey for what it is: political correctness run amok.

If the ghost of Neville Chamberlain lives, he lurks among the hand-wringing punditry class, not at the the White House. Clearly, Obama has long internalized what Michael Corleone famously said in Godfather: Part II: "If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone." Like Obama said, just ask al Qaeda -- or, I might add, the late Colonel Qaddafi.

Elect me because I love my dog

Mitt Romney is a really, really nice guy. Ergo, he's qualified to be president of the United States. That's the gist of New Jersey governor Chris Christie's endorsement of the presidential hopeful. To wit: “This is a guy who is a father and a husband and loves his wife and his kids. ... When you look at candidates say, ‘Is this the kind of person who’s always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and never have to worry will embarrass America? That I’ll never have to worry he will do something that will just make me ashamed?’ [Romney] just won’t.” Wow. I say again, is it any wonder that the Founders are spinning in their graves? (Hat tip: John Dickerson)

Fair is fair

I too poked fun at Rick Perry for wearing a jacket in an anti-gay ad that appeared similar to the one worn by the gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. Hell, I just couldn't resist. But in fairness to the cowboy governor from Texas, I give you this from one of Andrew Sullivan's readers: "I'm not a fan of Perry, but I really gotta comment on the fun people are having with that jacket he's wearing in that new ad. Carhartt jackets are essentially THE working class's uniform, at least in the West. ... People who look at that jacket being worn by Perry and only see 'the Brokeback Mountain jacket' are showing a pretty large disconnect from this country's working class. Literally millions of Americans woke up this morning and put on that exact same jacket to go to work. Not recognizing that jacket from anywhere other than Brokeback Mountain says quite a lot." He's right. Guilty as charged.

Perry accidentally hikes Brokeback Mountain

The Rick Perry campaign just launched a political ad called "Strong." (Get it?) Perry appears solo to promote his so-called "Christian values" street cred to Republican evangelicals. Naturally, the ad is anything but Christian-like. Not only is it stridently anti-gay, the Texican governor flat out accuses President Obama of "waging war against religion." This is utter bullshit of course, but it lends credence to a famous observation by Mahatma Gandhi: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” Exhibit A is Rick Perry. But in his rush to be holier than thou, dear godless liberals, the clueless Marlboro Man slips Freudian on us big time. Check out the below photos. Notice the jacket being worn by the late Heath Ledger (who portrayed a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain) and the one adorning Perry as seen in the ad. They're nearly identical. Heh. Once again, the gods must be laughing.

'Tebowing' on the Lord's gridiron

There's a big (albeit odd) debate on the Daily Dish blog about Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow's open display of religiosity (i.e., "tebowing") on the gridiron. Some applaud his prayerful sideline proclivities. Others condemn them as misguided grandstanding. Personally, I'm indifferent. If Tebow wants to publicly fly as JC's wingman on any given Sunday, that's his business. I am mystified, however, about why no one is asking the obvious question: What, pray tell, is Tebow actually asking of the Almighty when he takes a pious knee between offensive plays? Somehow, I doubt he is beseeching the Lord to watch over the destitute children in America's slums as the clock ticks down to the two-minute warning. Granted, I could be wrong. Tebow could indeed be Mother Theresa in shoulder pads and tights. But would anyone like to bet against my guess that most of Tim's "Tebowing" is some variation on: "Please, God, help me connect with [insert name of millionaire receiver] in the endzone before the Vikings score another touchdown?" And this of course presumes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are rabid NFL fans who take a particularly divine interest in the Denver Broncos, their playoff chances, and their (overrated) quarterback. So, place your bets right here, folks. Surely I'm reading Tebow all wrong, right? Don't be shy. C'mon, I'll even give you 2-to-1 odds. What, still no takers -- ye of little gridiron faith?

Pearl Harbor and history's ironies

Commander Mitsuo Fuchida knew he was making history as he led the first wave of 183 Japanese aircraft past Honolulu toward Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7. But would this first chapter end with triumph or catastrophe? When the silent, anchored American fleet came into view, the question quickly answered itself. At 07:53 Fuchida he signaled the code words "Tora! Tora! Tora!" They had taken the Americans by complete surprise. Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander in Chief Pacific (CINCPAC), was reduced to simply signaling: "AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL." As the Japanese dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and fighters rolled into their attacks, Fuchida climbed to 9,000 feet to observe and coordinate the unfolding scene below him. Circling over battleship row, he watched the USS Arizona meet her fate in real time. "The smoke and flame erupted together, it was a hateful, mean-looking red flame, the kind that powder produces, and I knew at once that a big powder magazine had exploded. Joy and gratification filled my heart at the time, for I knew now that our mission would be a success," he later said. Of the 1,400 sailors who manned the Arizona, only 200 would survive the "day of infamy." Fuchida went on to fight other air battles in the Pacific and, by the slimmest of margins, survived World War II. While attending a conference in Hiroshima during early August 1945, Fuchida was recalled to Tokyo. The next day, August 6, the city was obliterated by the atom bomb. Fuchida rushed back to Hiroshima the following day with a damage assessment team. Every member of the party later died from radiation poisoning -- except Fuchida. Fate, it seems, wanted him alive. Ironically, the Imperial Japanese Navy pilot who joyfully watched Americans die at Pearl Harbor, became a U.S. citizen himself in 1966. He devoted the rest of his life to Christian missionary work. Fuchida died at age 73 in 1976. Such are the vagaries of history.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry

Comedian and author Andy Borowitz tweeted this gem today: "I'm beginning to think that Sarah Palin has stayed out of this GOP race because it's beneath her dignity." Heh. Unfortunately, this begs the question: How on earth did our body politic get here?

O tempora, O mores!

On this day in 63 BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, the consul of Rome, stood in the Roman Senate to expose the plot of Lucius Sergius Catilina and his allies to overthrow the Roman government. Ciecero famously said, "How long, O Catiline, will you abuse our patience? And for how long will that madness of yours mock us? To what end will your unbridled audacity hurl itself?" Fast-forwarding two millenia, it is regrettable that one can so easily put those same questions to our current "Catilina": the Grand Old Party.

One definition of madness

Gen. George Armstrong Custer, born this day in 1839, once wrote: "You ask me if I will not be glad when the last battle is fought, so far as the country is concerned I, of course, must wish for peace, and will be glad when the war is ended, but if I answer for myself alone, I must say that I shall regret to see the war end. ... I would be willing, yes glad, to see a battle every day during my life." The "Boy General" was speaking of the Civil War in a letter to a cousin in October 1862. I suspect most of the 625,000 soldiers who died in that conflagration -- along with the 268 US soldiers (and an unknown number of Native Americans) who perished with Custer at the Little Big Horn -- would beg to differ with his lust for endless war.

Toughest job in the world

Regardless of political stripe, I suspect all American presidents can relate to Martin Van Buren, the nation's 8th president, when he said, "As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it." Van Burn was born this day in 1782. Interestingly, he was the first president born a citizen of the United States (the previous presidents were born before the American Revolution).

Quote of the Day

"[Newt] Gingrich, who would have made a marvelous Marxist, believes everything is related to everything else and only he understands how." (George F. Will)

Your smart phone is watching you

Your iPhone (or similar device) is “anonymously” tracking virtually everything you do with it, according to Slate (and a host of other folks looking into the matter). That means, as Farhad Manjoo writes, "It can see the apps you use, the sites you visit, your physical location, and it can even log your individual keystrokes, which means that it can read your text messages and passwords." Welcome to the 21st century version of Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four." Well, sort of. Although the potential for malice (now or in the future) certainly exists, the phone manufacturers and carriers say they use this information to enhance your "mobile experience." The ability of your iPhone to quickly find itself on a Google map, for example, is one benefit. The dystopian dimension to all of this is probably unavoidable as new technology pulls us into yet another Brave New World. We have indeed lost a measure of absolute privacy. Still, I'm not ready to go all paranoid just yet. As Manjoo noted, technology writer David Pogue puts things into a healthier perspective: “Yes, Big Brother is watching you," he says. "And you know what? I’ll bet he’s bored to tears.”

Exit, stage right, at long last

Comedians and pundits everywhere are in mourning. To the surprise of no one, Herman Cain dropped out of the presidential race this afternoon. “As of today with a lot of prayer and soul searching I am suspending my presidential campaign ... because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family,” announced Cain. Instead, he'll shift to what he called "Plan B": continued advocacy of his "ideas" from "the outside." Translation: He's going to exploit for cash what's left of his "15 minutes" as much as he can as fast as he can. I think Steve Schmidt, who managed Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential race, summed it up best: "That Cain’s candidacy was taken seriously for longer than a nano-second in a time of genuine crisis for the country raises fundamental questions about the health of the political process and the Republican party.” Enough said.

The Third Reich in 6 photographs

This one demented man (shown in 1924) ...

Inspired these all too eager boys ...

To pave the way for this ...

And, worst still, help perpetrate this ...

But who ended up, broken, like this ...

All for his delusions (a coward who killed himself 4 days after this photo was taken):

Photo 1: Adolf Hitler, age 35, on his release from Landesberg Prison, on December 20, 1924. Eight years later, Hitler would be sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, in 1933. (Library of Congress)

Photo 2: Thousands of young men flocked to hang upon the words of their leader, Reichsfuhrer Adolf Hitler, as he addressed the convention of the National Socialist Party in Nuremberg, Germany on Sept. 11, 1935. (AP Photo)

Photo 3: A view taken from Dresden's town hall of the destroyed Old Town after the allied bombings between February 13 and 15, 1945. The resulting firestorm killed more than 22,000. (Walter Hahn/AFP/Getty Images)

Photo 4: This photo shows a German soldier shooting a Ukrainian Jew during a mass execution in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, sometime between 1941 and 1943. This image is titled "The last Jew in Vinnitsa", the text that was written on the back of the photograph, which was found in a photo album belonging to a German soldier. (AP Photo/USHMM/LOC)

Photo 5: These German soldiers stand in the debris strewn street of Bastogne, Belgium, on January 9, 1945, after they were captured by the U.S. 4th Armored Division which helped break the German siege of the city. (AP Photo)

Photo 6: Adolf Hitler decorates members of his Nazi youth organization "Hitler Jugend" in a photo reportedly taken in front of the Chancellery Bunker in Berlin, on April 25, 1945. That was just four days before Hitler committed suicide. (AP Photo)

(Caption credits: The Atlantic, World War II in Photos.)

Cold with a chance of winter

Living out West, it's easy to forget that December should really look like Holt, Michigan as it appeared this morning at 7:48 a.m. (via The Daily Dish).

Death to the penny!

Newton Caesar Augustus Americanicus Gingrich

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. Now that Newt Gingrich is "leading" in the GOP polls, is his head (and attendant pomposity) growing larger by the hour, or is it just my imagination?

TAPPER (ABC News): “You are going to be the nominee?”

GINGRICH: “I’m going to be the nominee. It’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I’m going to be the nominee.”

In Gingrich World, the sun, the moon and the stars have aligned; and no earthly force can stop Newton Caesar Augustus Americanicus Gingrich from his ascension to the throne. Or so he thinks. Jonathan Chait rolls his eyes: "Here’s what’s going to be so entertaining about Gingrich if he manages to pull this off. He has always had a gigantic sense of his own world-historical importance. He managed to maintain it, even as he ran his campaign into the ground and turned himself into a national joke. Now imagine that he actually comes all the way back and wins the nomination. It will utterly confirm every self-regarding instinct he has – which is to say, every instinct he has."

Frightening, isn't it? Again, it's probably just me, but every time I see Newt I think of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the man who "fiddled" while Rome burned. Nero wasn't expected to rise to power either. And like Newt, the Emperor craved attention, had a taste for extravagance, and was thrice married. Hmm. I wonder if Newt plays the lyre?

Daddy, I want an F-105 for Christmas

 

Here's a gem. Tom Ricks writes: "Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) apparently has introduced an amendment to order the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson to turn over a plane, an F-105, to someone else, an individual who wants to restore it and fly it around. The Air Force 'loaned' the plane to the museum in 1984, but now, more than 25 years later, Inhofe is going to have a law passed ordering the Air Force to tell the museum to yield it to this 'private entity.' Must be nice to be able to give orders like that. Or to have buddies in the U.S. Senate." No kidding. Bob Collins, CEO and Chief Pilot for the Collins Foundation is the "private entity" in question. I wonder how big a check Mr. Collins wrote to Sen. Inhofe during his last election. This, boys and girls, is how politics and patronage really works. And it lends credence to what historian Edward Gibbon observed: "Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty."

'OMG! You're totally my long-lost Asian twin!'

Secretary Hillary Clinton is in Myanmar (or Burma) as part of a landmark diplomatic visit. New York magazine's Noreen Malone couldn't resist commenting on Hillary's fashionable meet-and-greet: "[S]ince a vital part of diplomacy is making people like you, we weren't surprised to see the picture above, of Clinton visiting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's dissident leader. They are either discussing Myanmar's ties to North Korea or how difficult it is to find a really nice-quality decorative white scrunchie these days; it's hard to tell which." And how did they coordinate their ponytails, anyway? Heh.

Who's Your Daddy?

Believe it or not, the smokin' hot babes in the below political ad for Jon Huntsman are -- his daughters. Whoa. With tongue firmly in cheek, Time's political writer Jay Newton-Small observed: "[There are] so many Oedipal/Electra issues here I don’t even know where to begin." Heh. (The ad is actually kinda cute. It's a parody of Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," sorta.)