Labour Intensive

MSNBC's Morning Joe had quite the moment on camera today with Andrew Sorkin's challenge: "Name a successful unionized company. Think. You're going to go to [commercial] break before you come up with one. And that's the problem." Naturally, the panel couldn't come up with one. 'Cuz dem yoonyuns are wot's wrong wif Ahmurrcan bidness these days - it just goes without saying, right?

Maybe not.

Steve Benen and Jamison Foser took turns shredding their arguments, each with a particularly sharp cut to deliver:

Benen:

Now, my first response was to wonder whether the folks behind the cameras, filming the media personalities, are union members. And the employees who installed and operate the on-set lights. And the folks who built the "Morning Joe" set.

But perhaps those unions don't count, since Brzezinski and others are specifically interested in unionized companies that "work" and are "successful."

Foser:

GE is one of the world's largest companies; in 2006, its revenues were greater than the gross domestic products of 80 percent of UN nations. The company made more than $18 billion in 2008 -- again, billion with a b, and again, those are profits, not revenue. All that despite (or, perhaps, because of) the fact that 13 different unions represent GE workers.

Oh, and GE owns NBC-Universal, which owns MSNBC, which pays Joe Scarborough a handsome salary (and the unionized workers who help get his show on the air considerably less.)

Foser goes on, in addition, to point out a nasty little labor dispute between the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA and NBC as a possible reason for the morning crew's absentmindedness. Apparently the union and the network have been trying since September to negotiate renewal of a contract that expired two months ago, apparently without progress, and the union's become unhappy enough with NBC's efforts to start picketing.

I do hope that Scarborough isn't expecting his mic, or lighting, or any other of a thousand union-labor-supplied production items to work all that well on tomorrow's show.

Somehow Strangely Appropriate

From ThinkProgress:

The AP reports that Fox has decided to stick with its regular line-up on Wednesday, meaning it won't air President Obama's prime-time news conference marking his 100th day in office. Instead, viewers will see an episode of "Lie to Me." ABC, CBS, and NBC will be airing the press conference.

Hmmm. Press conference or "Lie to Me." That's some choice. Thanks, Fox, for showing us both your position and your intention all in one place.

Quote of the Day

What must it be like to show up for a protest, denounce your Country, bad mouth the President, threaten armed revolt, and have your very own media outlet brand you a patriot.

- a reader responding to Ross Douthat's less-than-admirable take on the Teabaggers, courtesy of Andrew Sullivan.

On a related note, Douthat says he's leaving The Atlantic. Sullivan wishes him "Good Luck." Based on what little of Douthat's work I have read I, too, have a two word remark for him beginning with "Good" - and Luck has nothing to do with it.

Fox, Meet Hounds

From The Daily Dish, a British take on the news, with extra-special treatment of Fox. It's well worth watching - just make sure your coffee and your keyboard are well separated.

UPDATE: In case, after that, anyone needs to understand why the rest of the world has such a dim view of the US "news" machine in general, and Fox in particular, 'Liss at Shakesville has a concise example.

Not Like We Have An Economic Crisis Or Anything

The economy is in shambles. Real estate prices continue to plummet, foreclosures are rising, jobs are disappearing and manufacturing and finance giants are going to Congress hat in hand. While the Republicans seem to be saying it'll all go away if we just wait a few months, the Democrats on Capitol Hill have been busy trying to stop the bleeding. If you think, however, that the Democratic sense of urgency has anything to do with civic duty, NBC has some news for you:

On the February 11 edition of MSNBC Live, NBC News White House correspondent John Yang reported that the House and the Senate are "trying to get an agreement" on the economic recovery bill, "perhaps as soon as this afternoon, so they could vote on the compromised conference report by tomorrow. That would be incredibly quick action." Addressing anchor David Shuster, Yang added: "But, David, all politics is local, as you know. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] has a congressional delegation trip to Italy scheduled to leave on Friday, and of course, the speaker's maiden name is D'Alesandro, and she would dearly love not to miss that trip." However, Yang gave no indication that he contacted Pelosi for a response, nor did he note that Pelosi has repeatedly said that Congress will stay in session through the recess if necessary.[emphasis added]

Yang seems to think that all good Americans whose ancestors came here from somewhere else run home to the Motherland every chance they get.

This despite Pelosi's own statements on the matter:

"If we don't have a bill before the Presidents [Day] recess, there will be no Presidents [Day] recess. ... We are not going home without an economic recovery package."

I suppose after eight years of responsible leadership the press is entitled to a little cynicism. We could, however, do without disingenuous speculation in times like these.