OPEN THREAD…

138 Responses to OPEN THREAD…

1. David Preiser (USA) says:

   October 13, 2010 at 1:07 am

   Here’s yet another Obamessiah error that the BBC is misrepresenting:

   Obama will not ban home reposessions ‘fraud”

   As this is a BBC report about something which even remotely makes their beloved Obamessiah look bad, of course, there is more to it.  Don’t expect the BBC to tell you, though.

   Apparently there has been a new wave of home foreclosures that were done based on messed up paperwork.  According to the BBC, the White House isn’t going to call a moratorium on these foreclosures, even though some banks have already realized they’re doing it wrong and have stopped for now.  Naturally, the BBC is going with the White House defense:
   
   
   But a White House spokesman said this could have “unintended consequences”.

   At first, it seems like they’re just reporting the facts, ma’am, as is the proper thing for journalists to do.  At first.

   Under any other circumstances, one would expect the BBC to side with the little guy, to take a stand against the weak and oppressed, especially when they’re being oppressed by nasty old bankers which cause the financial crisis and we’re all having to soofer while the bankers get fat bonuses, etc., ad nauseum.

   But we’re in The Obamessianic Age over here in the US, so no way in hell is this an error.

   Sen. Chris Dodd, a chief architect of the government-enforced sub-prime mortgage lending scheme which got the entire mess going in the first place, says that the nasty banks should stop for now.  Of course he’s going to say that, and of course the BBC isn’t going to tell you there’s a conflict of interest there.  But I give them credit for presenting a viewpoint opposite that of the White House.  Being the good politician, Dodd says this calls for immediate discussion.  In a month or so. Not the strongest opposing view around, is it?

   Now for the defense:

   However, on Tuesday White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that a temporary ban could have an unforeseen impact on the ailing US housing market.

   “There are a series of unintended consequences to a broader moratorium,” he said. President Barack Obama’s administration was determined to “get to the bottom of” a problem of hasty foreclosures.

   Yes, He’s going to get right on it.  The BBC is simply relaying White house talking points without any challenge, or any of the editorializing we saw during the previous Administration.  There’s no “critics say”, or quotes from the actual opposition party, or even a pundit.

   Instead, it’s more of the White House talking points, unchallenged:

   However, on Tuesday White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that a temporary ban could have an unforeseen impact on the ailing US housing market.

   “There are a series of unintended consequences to a broader moratorium,” he said. President Barack Obama’s administration was determined to “get to the bottom of” a problem of hasty foreclosures.

   Oh, hang on.  There are critics and pundits after all:  critics of the moratorium the President opposes, and a pundit supporting Him.

   Because this is a BBC report about something that might even remotely make their beloved Obamessiah look bad, there’s something they don’t want you to know:

   Obama Administration Knew About Foreclosure Irregularities

   The entire time.

   What was the tension between modifying some mortgages and handling foreclosures properly? The answer seems to lie in lack of resources on the part of lenders. Citing government officials, the Post says that the procedural irregularities resulted in part from the fact that mortgage servicers were simply overwhelmed. Meanwhile, the loan workouts the Obama administration was pushing for under its House Affordable Modification Program placed additional burdens on mortgage servicers.

   Thus, it appears that the Obama administration chose to tolerate the irregularities that now threaten the housing market and the financial industry because it preferred that banks use their limited resources to focus on giving breaks to folks who couldn’t pay their mortgages, rather than on handling foreclosures properly.

   You won’t ever hear anyone on the BBC saying that the US President did anything questionable based on ideology.

   Even the Washington Post has reported it, so there’s no excuse for the BBC.

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2. David Preiser (USA) says:

   October 13, 2010 at 1:33 am

   Rather than spending an infinite amount of money sending a brigade of staff to Chile, Fox News is instead showing a video feed from the Chilean TV station.  Just now I heard the BBC ‘s Tim Willcox talking about the scene (families sitting around waiting as the rescue pod goes down the shaft for the first time), which was going over live video on the BBC News Channel at the same time.  
    
   He’s been doing a great job for the last three weeks – contrary to the 50 or so Beeboid sent down in the last couple of days to give their own interpretations of the exact same thing.  
    
   As BBC World News Americ has finished its nightly hour of broadcasting for the evening, Matt Frei has gone back to the hotel bar.

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3. David Preiser (USA) says:

   October 13, 2010 at 2:10 am

   Our cool, sophisticated nuanced-brained President plays the race card.  Again.
   
   
   “They’re counting on young people staying home and union members staying home and black folks staying home,” President Obama said at a rally in Philadelphia.

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4. Guest Who says:

   October 13, 2010 at 6:33 am

   I was gripped, from beginning to end, by Apollo 13. The drama, and the engineering ingenuity, was never ceasing until that capsule broke cover on its parachutes.

   However, the entire MSM seems to have lost its collective minds about some blokes down an ‘ole, on the basis of multiple trivia makes for at least something on a slow news day.

   Switched on my TV to catch the morning news, and it’s like a score of slightly different camera angles, with a score of different Eric Morely wannabees reading out bios in reverse order: ‘Carlos, 35, is known as the shy one. He wants to use his new found fame to travel the world and meet people. Jose wants to have his own museum, where folk can hear him talk about how he is a hero for being in an underground cave with his mates…’

   I am very glad some human beings are being freed, after a very long time, from their 400m down accidental prison. 

   But this all is making the ‘news’ media look even sadder than they already are. For those with advertisers, I wonder how many, like me, have switched off to find actual news beyond what obviously deserves a mention and a summary.

   And for those, like the BBC, who get paid no matter what, I have to wonder why they needed 20+ staff on station for this.

   Maybe Mark Byford needs to fly out (1st Class, 5*) to be the on-site conscience? ‘Er guys… there are real heroes going into harm’s way daily out there. Maybe we could devote some less ratings-oriented resources to them, being we’re not driven by commercial pressures, uniquely? Catch you later at the bar’.

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5. Martin says:

   October 13, 2010 at 8:02 am

   What is the most common phrase repeated on the BBC this morning? Heroes? Brave? nope, right wing President.

   Why doesn’t the BBC call Barry Obama a left wing President? Why does the BBC insisist on tagging any world leader who isn’t of the left persuasion as ‘right wing’?

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