I picked up the Times this morning, flipped over the fold, and read the most bizarre story I’ve ever seen in the paper: Dispute in Michael Jackson Camp Over Role of the Nation of Islam.
What the hell is this doing in The Times???? The whole thing is based on “Jackson camp insiders” who say that the group has taken over his decision-making process, shut out his lawyers and essentially brainwashed the guy. While all this might be true–and the testimony of a large number of Jackson “friends,” almost all anonymously sourced, makes me think it probably is–they offer almost no evidence. Jackson’s lawyer even goes as far as denying the claims completely. What’s most strange is that it’s a New York Post-type story written with The Times’ normal stilted tone. The following lines are just classic:
The motives of Mr. Muhammad and the Nation of Islam are not clear. The group, which believes in black pride and racial separation, has not supported Mr. Jackson in the past; Mr. Jackson has undergone extensive cosmetic surgery and his children appear to be Caucasian.
You can maybe argue this deserved a short article somewhere in the National section, but it unquestionably shouldn’t be on the front page. I hate to admit it, but I think they’re losing it up there on 42nd Street.
In a move clearly intended to counter UPS’s acquisition of Mailboxes, Etc., FedEx is acquiring privately held Kinko’s for $2.4 billion. Interesting.
Howard Dean says that Osama bin Laden is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and that death should come only after a jury has declared him guilty. Sure, he later retracted the statement, but doesn’t it speak volumes that the Democratic frontrunner doesn’t have a clear sense of what to do with America’s #1 enemy?
Then Dean, who has kept religious talk to a minimum says he’ll dial it up when he heads down South. This guy keeps talking about what he’s going to do when he starts campaigning in the South, but he keeps making idiotic, condescending statements about Southerners. The fact is, he has no Southern strategy, and it is becoming increasingly clear that he stands no chance with Southern voters. Clearly, he’d have a long way to go winning any Southern states, but do the Dems really want to concede 140 electoral college votes without a fight?
Now, after all the accusations about Enron and the Administration’s secretiveness, we learn that Dean had his own secret energy advisory group.
When are the Dems going to wake up? This guy’s a train wreck waiting to happen, and he’s going to take the whole party with him.
…and all I got was this lousy story.
The Times reported the other day that Halliburton’s alleged corruption has resulted in a whopping $46 million in profits on over $1 billion in revenue. (That’s sarcasm. Pretty small margin for the most corrupt company in the history of the earth.)
The oil contracts? Seems the Pentagon wanted the gas flowing the next day, so Halliburton got telephone bids and put the contract up for normal, written bidding within days. The White House connection? Turns out everyone bent over backward to avoid the appearance of a conflict, and the Administration said screw it, do what has to be done, and we’ll take the political heat. Pretty noble, actually.
The problem seems to be that Iraq is devastated and needs to be rebuilt quickly, it’s a very dangerous place, and only so many companies can do the jobs being asked of Halliburton and Kellogg Brown & Root. Hmm, you’d think some Dems would have figured that out.
Once again, Matt, I believe you should retract. I don’t mean to be inflammatory, but doesn’t it give you pause that a significant portion of your political beliefs these days are based upon conjectures about the Administration’s motives and factual predictions that don’t turn out the way you guessed? Could it be that the Administration is actually making the best decisions possible under extremely difficult circumstances? The Dems keep saying they oppose the Administration’s policies because they will lead to devastating consequences, but the Administration keeps getting results.
Even Better Thoughts