Kentucky Lt. Gov. Candidate Alleges Arrest For Overdue Library Book

In case you wanted relief from the Hillary e-mail flap, Kentucky's gubenatorial primary races offer a suitable elixir. This time around, the Democratic Party is providing the entertainment. Geoff Young, characterized by Fox News as a "long-shot" candidate to win his party's nomination, has as his running mate a man with one guilty plea for "menacing." This fine citizen, Johnathan Masters, also has a couple of upcoming court cases on separate charges. Believe it or not, that background is the comic side of this candidacy.

Graph: insiderlouisville.com

Recently, as the Fox News story reported, the man who would be lieutenant governor was arrested again. The charge? Allegedly, Mr. Masters did not return a library book. The offending item has apparently been overdue for eleven years.

Hmmm...let's see...if the library fine for an overdue item is five cents per day...Mr. Masters would owe slightly less than two hundred dollars. It's not clear whether the candidate for Kentucky's second-highest statewide elected office would be released on his own recognizance, or would have to post bail. However, it's fair to say his ability to sway judge or jury is a long shot.

Kentucky's lieutenant governor follies are not restricted to Masters or Democrats. For instance, Republican Ritchie Farmer lost his bid for re-election as Lt. Gov. in a 2011 election. In early January, 2012, Farmer (a former state agriculture commissioner--you can't make this stuff up) filed for state unemployment insurance. To no one's surprise but Farmer's, his application was denied.

Later, he was later tried, and sentenced to two years in the pokey for "abusing his power" during his tenure at the state's Ag Department.

The Bad News That Netanyahu's Visit Overshadowed

One result of Bibi Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress was the wave of bad news that coincided with the media rush to cover the Israeli prime minister's remarks. Here is a sampler of today's bad news rush:
*  Former CIA director and US Army general David Petraeus became one of America's most highly decorated felons. The man credited with the success of the Iraq troop surge thought it was perfectly fine to share highly classified information with his biographer-lover. A different style of pillow talk surely was in order.
*  Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used private e-mail to conduct State Department business. That's against the spirit of governmental transparency. It's true that former Secretaries of State have used private e-mail; it's also true that someone who intends to swear to uphold the laws of the land should take leadership to promote their spirit as well as their letter.
*  The Department of Justice alleged that Ferguson, Missouri police demonstrated systematic racism in its law enforcement practices. The greater bad news is that the Ferguson situation is far from unique and  remains a national embarrassment.
*  Major League Soccer players are threatening to strike, jeopardizing the league's season openers. Does anyone really care?
*  A recent New Jersey poll shows that Governor Chris Christie's job disapproval rating hit 51%. Mitt Romney is probably enjoying a good laugh at the Soprano State's chief executive's expense.
*  The "all-Republican" Alabama Supreme Court has halted same-sex marriages in the state, according to an Associated Press report reposted on foxnews.com. The right-wing is notably silent when it comes to the fairness and balance of its own judicial activism.
* Wisconsin governor and GOP presidential hopeful Scott Walker is in favor of banning abortions after 20 weeks. Walker can now add pregnant women to offending groups he would firmly handle, along with ISIS and public union employees.
*  The Miami Herald reports that Florida's computerized K-12 testing program, known as the Florida Standards Assessment, encountered substantial snags in its first day of operation. High tech's use of the American population as experimental animals for its products continues; its shameless, relentless use of children for profit is a disgrace.

The $390 Billion Cost of Cheaper Oil Prices

We've noticed that retail gasoline stations no longer feature what baseball calls "crooked numbers" in their posted prices. Regular is now below two dollars per gallon in New Jersey, where we live. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Image: dailyfreep.com

Well, it does and it doesn't. The negative side is occurring in the new oil-patch state of North Dakota, where, as a Fox News story notes, state revenues are coming up over five billion dollars short of projections. While that's Monopoly money in Silicon Valley and Manhattan, that's real money in the Great Plains.

Today's Bloomberg Business includes a story about the economic impact of falling oil prices in the larger economy. The tally? $390 billion. Some officials interviewed for the article believed local oil-patch banks, which happily loaned money to drilling firms, might "feel pain." The pinch might also be noticed among those pension funds, mutual funds, and other investment vehicles which put their clients' money where the oil firms' mouths were. That net includes just about everyone, period.

Meanwhile, GOP Congressional backers of the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to ship Canadian oil to American Gulf Coast ports and facilities, are pushing toward legislative approval of this environmental disaster in the making. One would think that cheap oil would knock out the key argument in the pipeline's favor. However, that line of reasoning would be rational, an approach the GOP does not appear to embrace. Just to keep things fair and balanced, President Obama recently said he would set in motion permission for oil drilling off the US Atlantic coast. His stance frankly made as little sense as the Republican Party's urgency to push Keystone through a legislative keyhole.

Whatever happened to Sarah Palin's battle-cry "Drill, Baby, Drill"? Who would have ever imagined a Palin-inspired idea would become something both political parties' poo-bahs would advocate?

Obama Calls Only on Women During Recent Press Conference

For years -- well, really forever -- men have dominated the White House press corps. Helen Thomas (the bane of the right-wing) broke into the male-only WHPC club about a half-century ago. It's been a tough fight for women on the White House beat to get the power and the respect from their gender opposites. A measure of come-uppence occurred on Friday, when President Obama held a news conference at the White House. 44 only called on women for questions; he then left town for Christmas in Hawaii.

The Washington Post carried the story, and the women (including the superb Gwen Ifill) who asked the questions managed to quickly let the world know via their Twitter accounts. Apparently, the President's tactic displeased some media men. Notably, The New York Times' male White House reporter either did not file a story or his editors did not think the article was fit to print. Just to keep matters fair and balanced, the Fox News journalist was predictably PO'd. Ironically, he expressed his grievance on air to Megyn Kelly.

Did US International Aid Exec Resign Over Obama's Cuban Gambit?

Rajiv Shah
(Image: politico.com)

Rajiv Shah is not a household name, unless one follows Washington's careerist ladder. Mr. Shah currently runs the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is essentially our government's overseas humanitarian arm. On the day President Obama declared his intention to expand diplomatic relations with Cuba, the 41-year-old Indian-American decided to announce his departure from USAID in February, 2015. His departure, if a recent Foreign Policy piece by John Hudson is any indication, will be met with regret from both right-wing and left-wing American politicians and policy wonks.

Shah's timing is curious. Alan Gross, whose release was part of the Obama-Castro deal, was an USAID employee. For Shah, was Gross' freedom a feeling of "mission accomplished"?

In the background is the agency's dicey history with Cuba. During Shah's tenure, USAID was involved in an embarrassing attempt to "promote democracy" in Fidel Castro's homeland by "infiltrating" Cuba's hip-hop audience. There are other episodes that have cumulatively contributed to the Communist regime's mistrust of yanqui government representatives.

Tom Wheelock
(Image: Creative Associates International)

During Shah's USAID leadership, one of the enterprises contracted to provide "content" for USAID's efforts in Castro's workers paradise was Creative Associates International. (Fox News, in today's article on Shah's resignation, included the AP story about CAI and its role in Cuban projects.) The Washington-DC based firm is dedicated to humanitarian projects throughout the world. Some of its key leadership figures hail from Argentina. A notable exception is Senior VP Tom Wheelock, a West Point grad and former faculty member whose resume features a 2001-2003 stint as USAID's Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Project director. According to CAI's biographical information about Wheelock, he also served as a Middle East expert at the National Security Agency.

Clearly, Wheelock is no stranger to the inside political game. Neither is Shah. His pedigree prior to joining Team Obama included high-level positions at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and health care advising for Al Gore during the former VP's ill-fated presidential run against George W. Bush. While some have speculated Shah intends to join a private equity firm, the USAID head has not spoken about his plans. We don't even know if Shah plans to enjoy a Cuban cigar on his final day on the job.

NY Attorney General Probes Sale of Rights to "World Trade Center" Name for Ten Dollars

Image: crainsnewyork.com

For those of you who don't live in the metropolitan New York area, let me provide some brief backstory on a curious bi-state governmental creature known as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA). Just about everyone in the region calls the entity the "Port Authority." It runs the airports, bus terminals,  Hudson River crossings, PATH train system, and docks in New York, Newark, and Elizabeth. The PA makes more money than God; its bond ratings are characteristically the highest available in the business.

The Port Authority is also a profoundly political entity, with a board typically consisting of regional, deep pocketed power brokers. There are few policy accidents among these well-connected board members, the PA's well-paid, entrenched bureaucracy, and the political parties that thrive on Port Authority business.

Guy Tozzoli
(Image: businesswire.com)

According to an Associated Press story picked up by Fox News, the PA had something of a fire sale in 1986 on the right to the name "World Trade Center." (The original article on this subject appeared some months ago in the northern New Jersey newspaper The Record.) The Port Authority sold the name for ten American dollars. (The story did not state whether the transaction was all cash, check, or billed to the buyer on 30-day payment terms.)

The buyer, though, wasn't just anyone off the street. That would, to understate the case, not be the Port Authority way. The purchaser was a nonprofit called "The World Trade Centers Organization (WCTA)."  The nonprofit's capo was one Guy Tozzoli, who happened to be a Port Authority executive who was leaving the PA. Of course, the deal was a license to print money. Just how much is now the subject of a nationwide investigation by New York State's attorney general.

One intriguing aspect of l'affaire Tozzoli is its timing. Mr. Tozzoli died in February, 2013.

Report: Fox News Boss Courted Petraeus As GOP 2012 Presidential Candidate

The David Petraeus incident, in which an extra-marital affair led to his public downfall, had its darker side. One wondered where the anti-Petraeus dirt came from and what other information was leveraged that led to the resignation of America's secret police chief. Unstated or implied motives lurked throughout the episode.

Kathleen McFarland
(photo: The New York Times)

The Washington Post's Bob Woodward reported in today's Style section (an odd editorial placement) that Fox News chief Roger Ailes asked the network's "national security" analyst to sound out Petraeus about a presidential bid. The faux-reporter, Kathleen McFarland, visited the general in Kabul during his stint commanding troops in Afghanistan. Petraeus danced around the offer, which included a hint that Ailes, a former GOP strategist, would run the military man's presidential campaign.

It was also suggested that Petraeus decline any other job offer from the Obama Administration, except head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is curious why Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man thought this position would be supremely suitable while others, including running the CIA, were not.

Of course, Team Obama may have gotten wind of this proposal and kept it in mind during the latter stages of 2012. Keep in mind Petraeus said sayonara to his career after Election Day 2012. The possibility that he was politically eliminated, Chicago-style, cannot be dismissed.

Who Profits From Denial of US Economic Situation?

For months, the drumbeat of "things are better now" has thumped through spokespeople who seem like a collection of "the usual suspects." If their shared perspective, so relentlessly driven in public statements and interview opportunities, were limited to the status of the very wealthy and record corporate profits, their case for the "better" could be plausibly presented. For most others, the Great Recession lingers like a form of chronic pain. That situation is ignored, unless political points are at issue.

Watching the Wisconsin election results on Fox News last night, I got the impression the only things holding our country back from a return to general prosperity were labor unions and Barack Obama. Fox's Neil Cavuto trotted out a number of CEOs who parroted this message, while not bothering to address why those interviewed were personally better off than ever.

David Rosenberg
(photo from Gluskin Sheff)

An outlook less chained to ideological imperatives, political expediency, and reality denial would provide far different information. One such individual is economist and financial strategist David Rosenberg. Once Merrill Lynch's respected voice on the economy, Rosie flew the US coop for Toronto. From this relatively sane perch at the Canadian financial firm Gluskin Sheff, he offers his opinions, which notably do not correspond to the propagandistic fiction available on your favorite American media outlet.

Zerohedge.com, an acerbic financial blog, has become something of a platform from which Rosenberg's perspective reaches money managers and amateurs with a strong interest in financial markets. Today's post featuring Rosenberg's point of view provides some deeply troubling information about the state of the US west of the Hudson River and north of 96th Street.

Here are a few salient points from the blog post:

• "The share of long-term unemployment is at its highest level since the Great Depression (42%)"
• "47% of Americans are on some form of government assistance"
• "A mere 16% of the 2009-2011 graduating class has found full-time work, while 22% are working part-time. Even those hired from 2006-2008, only 23% are working full-time."

Do you think "things are better now"? What leads you to that conclusion?

Dan Rather's Autobiography

Dan Rather
(photo from Wikipedia)

In the days when TV was watched on a TV set, Dan Rather worked for CBS News as a journalist. He did his work the old-fashioned way: Rather built a story on a solid foundation of facts, he checked his facts, he really interviewed people, he went to the site of an incident, he told the story in a way that nearly any viewer could grasp. He understood how to put together a television news segment. The Texas-born Rather's career began in radio, which influenced his succinct delivery and ability to ad-lib. He also grew up the hard way, in a wrong-side-of-the-tracks Houston neighborhood. He was as far away from big-time internships and Ivy League pedigree as one could get.

Throughout his career, as Rather plainly states in his newly released autobiography Rather Outspoken, he remained dedicated to the public's need for the "truth." That concept can be a slippery one to embrace, as "truth" can often rely upon individual interpretation. Indeed, the conundrum of "interpretation" is at the heart of the current crisis in American journalism. Rather fought the good fight for high journalistic standards. He continues to do so today, via Mark Cuban's HDNet. However, even Rather concedes that HDNet is a long way from Black Rock.

I'm on the road a bit these days. While I wait for a flight, I sometimes watch TV at an airport gate. The news, or what passes for it, is inevitably on a screen. Almost everything I see, regardless of network, is dreadful. The experience makes me long for the time when CBS News was a worthy standard bearer of excellence. Those days have vanished, partly due, as Rather bitterly points out in his autobiography, to Viacom (and CBS) owner Sumner Redstone's greed and insensitivity to public service.

At least the 80-year-old, still vigorous Rather is trying to pass the torch via HDNet. His journalistic neighborhood, however, is a tough one. Conservatives have rolled over and played dead for a lurid amalgamation of fact and propaganda, of which Fox News is their soiled standard bearer. Many liberals have, to their shame, embraced the exploitative information plantation known as the Huffington Post or to preaching-to-the-choir talking heads. Major newspapers are in obvious decline, though their "brands" retain journalistic pedigree largely linked to their glorious past. Where will the next Dan Rather come from?

Navy Draws Fire For Naming Ship After Cesar Chavez

Earlier today, the Secretary of the Navy announced that a new dry cargo/ammunition ship would be named after the late labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

Normally, the naming of obscure military vessels attracts virtually no attention. However, Chavez's history of labor organizing offends conservatives. The right-wing has never reconciled its ideology with the dreadful exploitation of farm workers. Nowhere was this struggle more pronounced, and the fight more protracted, than in the Golden State.

Consequently, naming a ship after Chavez quickly touched a nerve. Conservatives such as southern California congressional representative Duncan Hunter and liberals such as California senator Barbara Boxer have already provided plenty of rhetorical bravado about the issue. (Ironically, no Hispanic members of Congress were quoted in either the Fox News version of the story nor in The Washington Post's article on the issue.)

Meanwhile, if this is how Congress spends its days, is there any wonder why real national problems are seemingly intractable?

Attorney with Links to George H.W. Bush Files Complaint to Remove Anti-Fox News Media Matters' Tax-Exempt Status

Media Matters for America, a liberal non-profit organization which has virulently criticized Fox News and the Murdoch media empire, has become a target of right-wing legal action. In a recent complaint filed with the IRS, C. Boyden Gray, former President George H.W. Bush's White House counsel, requested the agency revoke Media Matters' tax-exempt status. His reasoning, according to an article by award-winning Fox Business News reporter Elizabeth MacDonald, was that Media Matters "'has executed a partisan strategy,' in violation of U.S. tax law as it exists 'no longer to educate the public but, rather, to declare 'war on FOX (sic),' Gray says, quoting from an interview its founder David Brock (photo), gave to the website Politico."

The story also reveals evidence Gray cited as proof of Media Matters' intent. His IRS complaint, MacDonald's piece noted, asserted that the nonprofit attempted "to disrupt News Corp.'s purchase of BSkyB, a British satellite broadcaster, and its efforts "to turn regulators in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere against the network."

Gray's concern to mighty Media Matters kicking sand in the Murdoch empire's collective face didn't stop with BSkyB. "Gray writes that aside from Media Matters' 'unsupportable attempt to tie FOX News to the Republican Party, the fact that Media Matters equates FOX News' with the GOP shows the nonprofit's 'own partisan intent.'"

Gray's story, part of a much longer three-part article by MacDonald, appeared on Fox News' website this morning.

The former White House counsel's "evidence" certainly made the rationale for attack clear enough. Big, bad Media Matters tried to block the BSkyB deal. The Murdoch clan is clearly upset their carefully staged plan to seize total control of the UK's single most valuable media asset was thwarted. Their revenge and counterattack, which is probably in its earliest stages, has taken this primitive form. Meanwhile, the notion of associating Fox and the Murdoch media behemoth with the GOP and conservative causes is just plain common sense. When I initially read the piece, I thought Gray was pursuing this line of reasoning to get a bar room laugh. Alas, George Herbert Walker Bush's former legal eagle was quite serious about it.

One irritant Gray wants to rub out is Brock's venture. The Bush-41 coterie has deeply disliked Brock, a Republican and Bush-era political apostate who has since become a vocal critic of right-wing tactics and objectives. Brock was mixed up with the Anita Hill hearings and performed some dirty work on behalf of Bush and then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in that episode.

Gray has vehemently denied any link to Fox, Murdoch, or anything or anyone but himself. He just had time on his hands, and a bone to pick with Media Matters. Maybe Gray just doesn't see the nonprofit as "fair and balanced."

Perhaps there's another reason. Since the UK phone jacking scandal exploded, it has seemed inevitable that the Murdoch empire would strike back against its accusers. August gave News Corp. and the Murdoch family time to catch its collective breath, formulate a counterattacking strategy, call in favors, and use its "leverage." (Some suspect that News Corp.'s attempts at "persuasion" are really nothing more than thinly disguised blackmail threats.) The dreadful debt debacle and shameful downgrade of the United States' credit rating provide further cover for News Corp. The firm, and the Murdoch family, are not the current headline, at least in the United States. The UK, where everyday people felt violated by News Corp.'s reporters' routine phone tapping, is another matter. The disposition of Gray's legal complaint remains to be seen. However, one can assume the Murdochs and News Corp. will soon be on the march, defending Fox News against "scurrilous" attacks from liberal think tanks virtually no one knows or pays attention to.

TV Ratings During Egypt's "Revolution"

Distasteful as it may be to some outside the TV business, television networks were assiduously looking for a ratings "bump" via coverage of Egypt's so-called "revolution." Guess who made the biggest viewer gains? If you picked Al Jazeera and Fox News, you hit the daily double.

The LA Times had a brief story about the ratings game in today's edition.

The photo shows Fox News reporters Greg Palkot and Olaf Wiig during a discussion of their encounter with violence during the "peaceful" Cairo demonstrations.