The Blog @ Spolitics

White House Team or United Colors of Benetton Ad?

Megan McArdle is pretty ticked off about the selection process Barack Obama is using to build his White House team. It appears his top criteria is that it ends up looking like a United Colors of Benetton ad.

More to the point, the worst financial crisis in seventy years is really not the time to see if you can brighten up the CEA offices with a nice, decorative matched set of X chromosomes. Goolsbee has been advising Obama since the beginning; presumably, this is some sort of testimony to the esteem in which Obama holds his competence. Throwing him overboard now makes this look like less of a “plus factor” and more like Obama is much less concerned with competence than painting a pretty picture for voters. Given the stakes, that’s more than a little irresponsible.

And that’s coming from an (increasingly dismayed) Obama supporter. Megan’s blog is a is great place to get an informative take on events without the partisan spin. But on this one I have to blame her disappointment on willful ignorance. I mean, come on… it’s not like she wasn’t warned. As a Libertarian, she should have known that supporting a Democrat would only lead to regret.

CNN’s Shades of Truth

Anyone who believes media outlets simply report facts seriously underestimates the editorial power they exercise. Not only do they choose what to report in the first place (as opposed to what stories to kill) where to report them (front page or last) and how often and in what detail to cover the story, but in addition to all that — and perhaps more importantly — they frame the story. They “set up” what you’re about to see or put it in “context.” In doing so, they can (and often do) leave out facts that don’t fit into their narrative and add comments to shade what you do see.

CNN (via Hot Air) provides a choice example of this. First, the original report:

The only fact here is that Bush walked by world leaders without shaking their hands, while others were shaking hands. But CNN’s Rick Sanchez puts it in context for us: it’s sad; Bush is unpopular; he’s being snubbed, maybe as retribution for all his years of bullying. Sanchez then tries to legitimize his commentary by backing it up with Google hits as if that’s proof.

But how truthful was it:

Kudos to CNN for correcting Sanchez’s bogus report, but unfortunately as the saying goes (and their follow-up notes) a lie can travel halfway round the world before the truth even gets its pants on. Since Sanchez’s report, if you Google Bush and bully now you get over 6 million hits. You can bet the story of Bush getting snubbed will live on.

That said, (putting a little twist on Ed’s idea), if you Google Sanchez and hack you get 1.56 million hits. But don’t expect Sanchez to run a story on that.

S&P Down 25% Since Obama Elected

The S&P had shed over 250 points since Barack Obama was elected President — a drop of over 25%. That’s what you get when you elect someone who campaigned on the exact same policies that led to the Great Depression. But hey… it is change.