So I printed out the Greenspan/Paulson transcript from Meet the Press that Elliot sent me, and I go down to the local bar for dinner. After a while, the nice lady serving me comes over and asks, "What are you reading?
"I’m reading the transcripts for Meet the Press."
"What’s that? I never heard of that."
I stared at her for a moment. A tear starts to trickle down my cheek. OMG. A virgin. A genuine political virgin, I’m thinking. She has no idea how completely screwed we are.
She says, "Is that something I’m supposed to know about??"
"Well," I said. "Have you ever heard of Disneyland?"
"Yes."
"Well, Meet the Press is this television news interview show that’s been around since before Disneyland."
"Wow."
"Yes. So the next time you’re in Disneyland, think to yourself, ‘I’ve now done this; next time I’m going to watch Meet the Press.’"
"I’ll do that." I think she was sincere, but then I started to feel bad.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her Walt is dead, Mickey and Minnie did not have a traditional marriage, and David Gregory is an idiot.
As I’m having this conversation, I’m thinking, there’s no point jumping out the window, because of the bush, but if I get the axe out of the trunk and first cut down the bush, and then plant some bamboo spikes in the ground . . . but then I realize the ground is frozen and it would take a lot of effort out in the cold to dig the holes for the spikes, and besides, I don’t have any bamboo, so I just forgot the whole thing.
The transcript shows that David Gregory interviewed Paulson and Greenspan, after he had just finished an interview with security adviser John Brennan about how the US Justice system treats people who are a menace to the country, yet he never once asked Paulson and Greenspan whether they were read their Miranda rights or whether they should have been taken to an undisclosed location for enhanced interrogation to learn how many others at Goldman and the government might still be involved in inflicting so much misery and suffering on the country . . . and why are these guys out on their own recognizance? Surely Obama deserves criticism for that.
P.S. I don’t want to leave the impression that Gregory didn’t ask any questions. He asked his guests whether they thought the Obama Administration was doing enough to rebuild the financial system they allowed to wreck the economy, whether Obama’s proposals could ever bring back the millions of jobs their policies helped destroy, whether the President was doing enough to bring down the massive deficits they created when they were in charge. You could tell David spends a lot of time thinking about these things. The proof is here.



57 Comments




If you want to get further depressed, rummage the audio archives at Newstalgia for sound from old Face the Nation and Meet the Press programs from the 1950s and 1960s, when network correspondents and panel interviewers were still allowed to have brains.
I remember when Spevak (or was it Spivak) used to beat the guests into a bloody pulp. Loved every minute of it.
all of this is way way sadder than the geriatric super bowl WHO show.
they are older then disneyland.
david gregary is journalistic malpractice due to lack of curiosity, self-respect and belief in seeking truth rather than getting through the show with your relationships in tact.
Do you think David Gregory is related in some way to a duck? He has that look.
Ducks are much smarter. DG must be kin to the Dodo bird.
Nice of you to read it Scarecrow so I don’t have to.
press of today=mill dollar cheerleaders on the USS TITANIC…all aboard…were going down
The Who. “meet the boss same as the old boss ” don’t get fooled again.
Well I guess we didn’t listen we got fooled again.
Great piece, Scarecrow. And thanks for the tip on the bamboo stakes. I don’t have the frozen ground problem, so it’s probably more feasible for me.
Mickey and Minnie didn’t have a traditional marriage?
AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Scarecrow and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Before anyone else begins to wax nostalgic over the “good old days” of the 50′s and 60′s when network correspondents and interviewers were (all) men and the bad old politicians ran fast, lets remember that Ed Murrow was not so quietly squeezed out of TV political news coverage and analysis by the corporate network bosses who subsidized all the post-war American neo-Nazis like Tailgunner Joe and still do. Nuthin has changed except the viewin’ public who still watch the shit that is passed as political news and analysis…the audience that is left for this crap is a lot dumber and a lot older.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THE GOOD OLD DAYS ARE GONE FOREVER…THANK YOU GOD!!
Do you think David Gregory is related in some way to a
duckdick? He has that look.Fixed it.
David Gregory’s dickipedia.
dummy chimes in
Social Security, Medicare Reform: Geithner touts “effectiveness” of Reagan’s Greenspan Commission
VIDEO @ URL below.
Geithner: We’re ‘Deeply Serious’ About Medicare, Social Security Reform
By Susie Madrak Sunday Feb 07, 2010 2:00pm
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/geithner-were-de...
Of course, Geithner is pushing the Very Serious Idea of reforming Social Security and Medicare. Doesn’t everyone?
Considering that the Greenspan commission didn’t actually work – at least, not the way that Geithner says it did – it kind of leads me to wonder what he actually means.
From This Week:
TAPPER: Do you think the fact that you guys are pushing the bipartisan commission is indicative of the fact that our political system is not capable of taking on the serious challenges our nation faces?
You and I know that the money, as Willie Sutton says, said, that — why do you rob banks? Because that’s where the money is. The money is in entitlement programs: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, things that you do not touch in this budget.
The fact that you need a bipartisan commission to recommend cuts or tax increases, doesn’t that indicate that our political system is incapable of making these tough decisions?
GEITHNER: Jake, I am very confident in our ability as a country to bring people together and make sure we are solving these challenges and these problems. We’ve done it in the past, it is completely within our capacity to do as a country.
The first show in which Gregory said something original will be on…well, don’t hold your breath.
Very nice.
The newsbots don’t care if we think they are dumb. They still get to go to the “good” parties.
Dave was salivating all over both Hank’s and Alan’s other heads…!
I’m sure Andrea was positively livid…! ;-)
A few years ago I travelled through parts of old Mexico with David Farrelly, author of The Book of Bamboo. Now David is one of the funniest most creative thinkers one could ever meet… and yet I don’t think we discussed this particular application for bamboo.
Perhaps he can come up with a remedy for frozen applications.
It wasn’t one of the better ones on the site. Here’s the menu. Have fun.
And don’t forget the “good” tables at the restaurants. No reservations, even. “Set up a table for the Gregory party…”
Another use for bamboo…
Some good stuff there. This one is especially relevant and timely.
I’ve had enough of that one for this weekend.
Well written and oh so true… When that rat basterd Greenspan, the man singularly responsible for reaking the greatest destruction on this once vibrant vital country veered into “WE MUST CUT ENTITLEMENTS” territory my mind raced to this: “Ya right you worthless piece of caca … we’ll cut entitlements after we’ve stripped you worthless elitist bastred of EVERY ILLGOTTEN DIME in you bloated bank account!” I LOATH these self-center pseudointellectuals who continually pee on my feet and tell me its raining.
This country is Wealthy beyond imagine! We can have it all and eat our cake too. We just need to TAKE IT BACK from the goverment who owns and manipulates the entire world with its in excess of 110 trillion dollars off book investments (see CAFR1.org )
Scarecrow, don’t get the young lady started on watching middlebrow brainwashing bullshit. MtP and its sister shows exist to sell disinfo. She’s better off reading the blogs.
I’ve had enough of that one for this
weekendmillenia.Suggested correction.
tru dat
Yes.
Yep. Unfortunately that one is unavoidable.
our next prez
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2010-02-07-palinhandsmaller1.jpg
Yes.
OMG!!!
Just to say so well written, funny it can be such a pleasure to read while such a disaster after all. Go figure. But thanks.
I’m not particularly wild about farm subsidies.
Great Google ad. I’m moving to France.
What google ad?
i wish
Secret summit of top bankers
THE world’s top central bankers began arriving in Australia yesterday as renewed fears about the strength of the global economic recovery gripped world share markets.
Representatives from 24 central banks and monetary authorities including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank landed in Sydney to meet tomorrow at a secret location, the Herald Sun reports.
Organised by the Bank for International Settlements last year, the two-day talks are shrouded in secrecy with high-level security believed to have been invoked by law enforcement agencies.
Speculation that the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Dr Ben Bernanke, would make an appearance could not be confirmed last night.
The event will be dominated by Asian delegations and is expected to include governors of the Peoples Bank of China, the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of India.
http://www.news.com.au/business/secret-summit-of-top-ba...
Must be a big deal even the BIS is there.
Silly. You could have just gargled some peanuts.
Russert would have ripped their heads off and spit down their throats. His death was sad enough, but the timing of it in the larger context of things is the real loss. The last newsie – network or otherwise – to hold anyone accountable.
If Gregory or Olbermann or Matthews (that clueless somebody…) would just look themselves in the mirror and ask, “What Would Timmy Do?” the Obama Admin would never have gotten away with this shit for the last year.
That may be the funniest bizarro comment I have read in weeks.
Uh, is that Tim “Everything is off the record unless the other person says it isn’t” Russert you’re speaking of? Darth Cheney’s “go to guy” for getting the Cheney spin out into the world? That Russert?
Yeah, they should ask “What would Timmy Do?” Then do the exact opposite.
Good lord.
Well, this post is a nice bookend to the SNL skit of Rahm apologizing to us FRs.
If the two of them were in jail where they belong we wouldn’t have worry if somebody ask them the right questions.
These two were incharge of the Hen house, when all the hens were killed, and are walking the streets talking.
It is even a bigger miscarrage of true justice, than old turd blossom being free to flap His lips.
A Country is worth absoluty shit when it’s laws allow people to get away with almost anything.
THE RULE OF LAW, was the cry from CAPITAL HILL, and we keep seeing we have no Law. Only Political Immunity.
Well, Eureka, that’s because you (and you too, dakine01) know not of what you speak. Just because you read it on The American Prospect doesn’t make it so.
Russert had the respect of his subjects – both Left and Right – for a reason. He was fair. He knew how to dole out enough rope to allow the clueless to hang themselves. Which he did with SuperDick – and many more – on more than one occasion.
You could look it up — if your attention span was longer than 140 characters…
My questions for that fine blue ribbon panel:
1) Mr Greenspan, how do you square the claim that unemployment dropped from 10% to 9.7% with the fact that Bureau of Labor Statistics just annouced that unemployment for the last 12 months had been understated by roughly 800,000 jobs? Surely even the understated official unemployment is closer to 11.7%.
Expected reply: These things are complicated but it’s best if you just trust the statistics.
2) Mr Paulson, can you expand on your discussion of being hit right between the eyes?
Expected reply: I, ah, I ah ah, read my book.
3) Mr Greenspan, When you speak of innovation leading the way to recovery are you refering to new financial sector gimicks or are you refering to discoveries made by scientists, engineers and artists?
Expected reply: Theres a lot of teamwork here. It’s best to look at it as a 2 step process. The first step involves the creativity on the part of scientists, engineers and artists. The second step is where the financial sector does it’s market magic and financial innovation.
4) Mr Paulson, I notice that you are stuttering a lot more than normal. What are your greatest concerns these days?
Expected reply: Well ah, I, ah, ah I’ve been trying to keep a low profile. Keep my head down so to speak.
5) Mr Greenspan, why not skip straight to stage 2 and kick start the economy with market magic and financial innovation?
Expected reply: That would be inefficient and highly redundant because the major market players
have already stolenown everything of value. Until the general population recapitalizes there just isn’t much point in having the market work it’s magic.6) Mr Paulson, Mr Paulson…. where did Mr Paulson go? It’s as if he just disappearted!
True, we have never not lived within a propaganda environment. The “good old days” were better by contrast only. Still, on balance, the stupidity of bygone broadcast journalism can’t hold a candle to the stupidity of today. To think otherwise is to engage in devolution denialism.
“Flashed on the courtroom computer screens were her notes from 2004 about how Cheney could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq’s nuclear ambitions. Option 1: “MTP-VP,” she wrote, then listed the pros and cons of a vice presidential appearance on the Sunday show. Under “pro,” she wrote: “control message.”
“I suggested we put the vice president on ‘Meet the Press,’ which was a tactic we often used,” Martin testified. “It’s our best format.””
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012501951.html
Don’t believe the Russert hype. The “tough” questions he asked were bread and circus for the masses.
See also Lewis Lapham’s definitive Elegy for a Rubber Stamp. [Subscription may be required for access, but substantial excerpts can be found on line by Googling the title.]
… and again, and again, and again. I’ve come to loath that song, which I once rocked to with much pleasure. I couldn’t believe it when Reagan got elected, but since I voted for Anderson, I conceded I was in some way culpable. And then to see Bush Jr. get enough votes to throw it to the SC. I voted with enthusiasm for BO. Only to be personally fooled yet again. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. That song was rock and roll at its best. And now I just can’t listen to it anymore I get so disgusted.
Gregory ask the questions that his owners will allow.
Alan (deregulate) Greenspan and Hank (privatize the profits, socialize the losses) Paulson and their banking industry, Wall Street riding the Golden calf friends (thugs) own the country. They should be forced to spend their days walking the streets in cities and towns across the U.S. asking people what they are doing to survive and what they feel about the Wall Street thugs paying themselves huge compensation packages after they used taxpayers money.
Goldman Sachs CEO Receives $9 Million Bonus
Goldman Sachs has announced its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, received a stock-based bonus of $9 million for 2009. The value of the bonus could soar if the stock value of Goldman Sachs continues to rise. The company posted a record $13.4 billion profit in 2009. Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, has received a $17 million bonus. And Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman has received an $11 million bonus
—————————————————————
Remember hearing that Former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson had done everything he could to table any efforts to block executive compensation in the bail out legislation on Bill Moyers. That he had said that any effort to block compensation would not “hold water”
And remember when Pelosi, Reid, and candidate Obama swore there would be serious oversight for the original TARP? All lies. Those clowns can’t even find out where exactly the money went. If they do know, they aren’t telling.
Hey, my feeling from the first day Paulson pulled this scam was just that, it was a scam.
When a former Goldman CEO gets on bended knee begging Pelosi to agree with his terms, you can be damned sure he wasn’t concerned about the American people, especially since he was one of those to engineer the implosion to begin with. Never. That was all I needed to know it was all bullshit.
I guess Pelosi held out for the largest campaign donation before she agreed. If you look at Obama’s campaign contributions, Wall St money started pouring in mid-September. They bought him outright, he sold us outright, and now they own us outright.
I’m about 30 minutes from Wall St. I’m thinking of taking up a street corner with a begging cup. Something to make them uncomfortable, ya know. Actually having to look at one of the dirty peasants day after day; frightened of catching the cooties and God knows what else. It doesn’t serve any purpose but if it cramps their style in the least, I’m all for it.
You mean the original TARP that was put forth and passed by BushCo, whose Treasury Secretary Paulson refused to provide any information and that allowed the Vampire Squids to get paid at 100% without negotiating any terms favorable to the US Treasury but acted solely as an agent of the banksters?
That TARP?
Yes, that one.
What, you think I’m laying heavy on only the Dems?
OK, I’ll elaborate.
Bush and Paulson made the outrageous demand, but it was Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, and Frank, with Bohener and McConnell who made this deal behind closed doors. The Dems held the majority in the House and the Senate and they ultimately went along with this discusting, no strings handout.
But not before they lied to our faces yet again, swearinng there would be strict oversight. Bullshit.
What did you expect them to do, with Cheney sitting there?
Really nice post, Scarecrow. And ya made me laugh.