One Reason Why Newspapers Are In Decline

Newspaper executives are like Republicans: They blame everyone but themselves for their declining constituency and show no respect for the adversaries -- in this case, the blogosphere -- who are kicking their butts. Take this Olympian drivel about the auto industry from David Brooks of the New York Times and Bruce Ramsey of the Seattle Times (here and here). Neither writer can remove his ideological blinders in the interests of providing serious analysis or looking at the human dimension.  

Contrast their nonsense with these posts ("Maybe It's Time To Talk About The 'B' Word" and "More On That 'Surgical' Bankruptcy") from Kathy at Stone Soup Musings. From "The 'B' Word":

I'm feeling a combination of anger and fear about our auto industry's future, but I also feel a sense of resignation. How much longer can we continue this way? We're dying slowly, one excruciating job loss at a time, and it's like torture. I'm beginning to think maybe it's time to call in the triage team, or in this case the restructuring team.

She then goes on to explain the intricacies of Section 363 of the bankruptcy code and why that might be the best course for Obama and the automakers. 

From "Surgical":

An auto bankruptcy could cost one-third of the three million people employed in the industry and shave four percentage points from our GDP according to a Deutsche Bank analyst. I guess that's why Obama called it a "surgical bankruptcy" in his address on Monday. Losing that many people would be like losing a limb in order to save your life. That's the bad news.

There is some good news though, at least for GM. An article in the NY Times reports the "government may seek to ease General Motors into what it calls a “controlled” bankruptcy, somewhere between a prepackaged bankruptcy and court chaos, by persuading at least some creditors to agree to a plan that would cleave the company into two pieces."

You don't have to agree with her conclusions to take the point that Kathy simply offers a more thorough analysis (not to mention a human connection) than a newspaper editor and a columnist writing from one of the most respected forums in the world.

There's a common-sense aspect to the auto companies' dilemma, something that no MSM commentator seems remotely aware of. Despite general mismanagement and inept boards, an awful lot of knowledge about car making has accumulated in Michigan, knowledge that we as nation should resist tossing into a junkyard. Properly led and with the right mission, the white- and blue-collar workers of GM and Chrysler could put the United States in a leadership position when it comes to the next generation of green cars. Why doesn't David Brooks write about that?...

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Norm Coleman (remember him?) is a sore loser. So why doesn't the so-called liberal media say so?...

This just in: GOP proposes tax cuts and a domestic spending freeze. Stop the presses...

Something Is Happening Here...

As if the implosion of the free market weren't enough, endangered Republican incumbent senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota suddenly finds himself at the center of Suitgate. It seems that major Coleman donor Nasser Kazeminy may have covered the tab (at Neinman-Marcus, no less) for some of Coleman's suits. I say "may have" because it ain't exactly clear...well, watch this grilling of Coleman's campaign manager and judge for yourself:

Chris Cizzilla of The Washington Post called it "the most awkward press conference in the history of politics." For sure, this guy no Ari Fleischer ("a great evasive bore," Michael Kinsley once wrote of Fleischer). 

Could Al Franken be the next senator for Minnesota? The economy, Suitgate, and Coleman's general unpopularity have given Franken a slight but clear edge in polls. Come to think of it, that press conference sounds like something Franken would have written back in his Saturday Night Live days...

More great voodoo dolls from Ima Pissdov:

Respondele a Obama: "Even my Republican mama/Is voting for Obama." (Thanks, Foxessa!)