Open Thread

NB Staff

Cramer Supports Obama's Tax Hikes

CNBC 'Mad Money' host says individuals making more than $250,000 should pay higher rates.
Jeff Poor

Clueless Tom Friedman Celebrates 'Concentrated State Power' at China's

Clay Waters

Forsaking Print? The Future of the Associated Press

More bad news for the newspaper industry. Anyone paying attention to the current state of financial distress in the print news industry will realize that saving money is the order of the day industry wide. Yet, not long ago the Associated Press announced that it was to raise its prices to the print news industry causing consternation everywhere. This new rate structure has caused quite a few…
Warner Todd Huston

Time Swoons: Kerry's 'Zell Miller Without the Mean

Tim Graham

Spike Lee: History Can Be Divided Into BB (Before Barack) and AB (Afte

P.J. Gladnick

Scarborough Says NRA F-Rated Biden Will Reassure Gun Owners

 Update | 10: 30 AM:  Scarborough acknowledges Biden's 'F' rating.  At 8:36 AM EDT, Joe said that "a blog" had attacked him, noting Biden's 'F' rating from gun owners. View video here, which also contains Chuck Todd's statement that even Dems acknowledge Biden's speech "wasn't great."-------- Joe Scarborough and the rest of the Morning Joe crew actually had my sympathy this morning. Amidst all…
Mark Finkelstein

Nightline Awards Democrats 'Straight A's' for 'Perfect' Third Night

“Professor George Stephanopoulos,” on Wednesday's Nightline, awarded the Democrats “straight A's” for the third day of their convention, with an A for “Filling in the Blanks,” an A for “Heartstrings,” an A for “Red Meat” and an A for “Body Language.” The former Bill Clinton campaign operative and White House aide glowed over “a night of perfect political choreography” from his former boss and…
Brent Baker

Chgo Sun-Times Columnist Quits, Says Newspaper is 'Dying' and 'Can't C

Jay Mariotti, a firebrand sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, announced he is quitting the print biz loudly proclaiming that newspapers are "dying" and that he didn't want to go down with the ship of the struggling industry. Naturally, the management of the Sun-Times is not amused. Mariotti told Chicago's CBS 2 news that newspapers are in serious trouble and he wanted out before he was…
Warner Todd Huston

Williams Channels Fret Kerry Waited to Answer 'Swiftboating

Hailing 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's Wednesday night address to the Democratic convention “the toughest speech” by “perhaps the most forceful speaker so far,” one in which Kerry denounced the “Swiftboating” of Barack Obama, NBC anchor Brian Williams channeled the liberal view, which he described merely as that of “people watching tonight,” that Kerry lost in 2004 because he didn't take on…
Brent Baker

Ohio Radio: Dem. Party Chairman Says Americans are Selfish and Against

Chris Redfern, the Democratic Party Chairman of Ohio, apparently thinks that Americans are so stingy and selfish that the only way charity work gets done is if government taxes the people to make it happen. In a recent radio interview, Redfern expressed the assumption that "unfortunately most Americans would not" help out the poor. Even worse, Redfern honestly believes that freebies and charity…
Warner Todd Huston

Matthews Bored By Possible Pawlenty VP Pick: 'There is No Splash

Chris Matthews liked the pick of longtime Senator Joe Biden for Barack Obama but the prospect of John McCain picking a veep, of similar voltage on the Republican side, like Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, caused Matthews to yawn: "not interesting."Of a potential Pawlenty pick, the "Hardball" host, during MSNBC's live coverage of the Democratic…
Geoffrey Dickens

CNN’s Gloria Borger Snarks About McCain’s Homes

During CNN’s Wednesday night coverage of the Democratic convention, the network’s senior political analyst Gloria Borger poked fun of John McCain’s non-answer on the number of houses he owns. When host Wolf Blitzer pointed out that Borger owns homes in Washington, DC and in Montana, she confirmed, "Yeah, that's it, and I write the checks, so I know." (video at right)One can surmise that Borger,…
Matthew Balan

Census Bureau: Income Inequality Unchanged During Bush

Just in time for Barack Obama's Greco-Roman Oration tomorrow night, two significant economic reports have gone or are about to go in a positive direction: Earlier Wednesday, the Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders increased 1.3% during July, repeating June's performance; shipments of durables were up 2.5%; and unfilled orders were at their highest level since 1992. There are…
Tom Blumer