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?...

Don't miss these incredible pictures from Chernobyl...

Bobby Jindal to the arts in Louisiana: Drop dead...

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...

What Has Happened To The Movies?

Last night, I watched Chinatown for at least the tenth time. Brilliantly directed by Roman Polanski, the film's scrubbed and gleaming sheen remains at continual odds throughout to the depravity and corruption it exposes. As Jack Nicholson's Jake Gittes moves towards Chinatown's heart of darkness, Polanski seems to hold shots longer and longer, lingering over a 1930's Los Angeles with a look that completely belies its reality. It's as if he's making a comment on the movie business itself.

Nicholson, meanwhile, is at his best. By that, I don't mean that he acts over the top and chews scenery; the expectations provoked by One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest were still a year away. Instead, he's low-keyed and determined, portraying a man who uncovers an evil worse than anything conceived by his own cynicism. Although his best efforts go awry, the triumph of evil has the ironic effect of compelling Gittes to experience his humanity at its most vulnerable. The ambiguity surrounding this morally uncomfortable affirmation is wrapped up in the film's great closing line: "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." In other words, Chinatown is that place where the demons of our nature prevail, the place we ultimately must find some accommodation with because we can't defeat it. 

1974 was a great year for movies. Check out the Academy Award nominees for Best Picture:

Chinatown

The Conversation

The Godfather, Part II

Lenny

Towering Inferno

With the exception of the last, all are significant films and two (Chinatown and Oscar winner The Godfather, Part II) are masterpieces. The Best Director nominees that year were hardly a shabby lot, either: John Cassavetes, Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola, Bob Fosse, Polanski, and Francois Truffaut.

So what happened between then and now? The 2008 field is as weak a field as I can remember Not a single one of the films is worth watching a second time, never mind the double digit viewings that Chinatown and The Godfather, Part II merit. Moreover, by 1974, every one of the above directors was established as a a significant artist. Today, we have Ron Howard, who epitomizes the journeyman careers of his competition.

Once upon a time, moviegoers would flock to the theaters to see great filmmaking. 1974 proves that. What happened? Are films unfairly dumbed down for an audience that actually wants better, or have standards dropped?...

Of parasites and people: A fascinating review of research investigating the impact of parasites on human behavior... 

Roy's World explores the connection between Christianity and socialism, explains the difference between socialism and the welfare state, and dispels the ridiculous notion that Barack Obama is a socialist (would that he were): 

The accusation that President Obama is leading America to anti-Christian socialism looks to be a false one. Nothing about the President's proposed programs is the least bit "socialist" - there is no proposed takeover of business, private property, and the markets by the government in his programs. What the President does propose is in line with the concept of the welfare state, which is something entirely different from socialism and can, and in fact mostly does, exist in a capitalist, market economy, and which has already existed in this country since the mid 1800s. And as to the statement that socialism is the evil opposite of Christianity, the quotes above from Christian scripture tell the complete opposite story; Christianity and the socialist ideal have much in common.

Stone Soup Musings points out that Republicans "...not only voted against creating jobs when they voted no on the stimulus plan, they also voted against one of the biggest tax cuts in history"...

O.K., I thought that my congressman (Dave Reichert) was a lightweight. But Minnesota's Michelle Bachman's presence in the House of Representatives is an insult to dimwits. Listen to this nonsense and see how long it takes for your jaw to drop. Believe me, it won't be long...

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans airs this month on PBS. Check your local listings...

Republican governors bite off their constituent's noses to spite Obama's face...

He may not be much of a husband, but Elliott Spitzer's ideas of how to handle the matter of executive compensation make sense:

If we are to stop outrageous pay, the objective should not be to match the foolishness of the Bush ideological embrace of wild-eyed libertarianism masquerading as capitalism with an equally foolish "government knows best" approach that ignores the market. We must create a genuine market for CEO services, generating meaningful competition and socially acceptable results.

Lundifest!...

R. I. P., Snooks Eaglin...