Thursday, April 12, 2007

Open Thread - Thursday

NPR related comments welcomed.
Posted by Mytwords at 5:11 AM
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5 comments:

Porter Melmoth said...

I'm interested, Mytwords, in your take on Tom Gjelten's World Bank story, Pt. 1, that aired on today's ME. It seemed fairly objective to me, but I'm not aware of all the angles. Tomorrow Paul W. gets particular scrutiny. We can only hope it will be of some value, but my expectations are low. One reason why I said yesterday that Paul was difficult to comment on is because the treatment of him in the media is so frustrating (as if he were a unique case!!). His outrageous quotes are frequently played and re-played, but he is always referred to, still, as an 'idealist', and 'intellectual', famous for his sensitivities and cultural awareness (I believe one of his most outrageous statements, rarely referred to, was that 'there are no significant religious sites in Iraq'; please correct me if this is a mis-quote). Despite heaps of front-row evidence, his cunning, haughtiness, fakery and ruthlessness are hardly ever mentioned. This attitude is of course applicable to many such odious characters in power today, but Paul is somewhat unique in that, while others have gotten off with Medals of Freedom, or continue in their luxurious independence (R. Perle, Henry K., Bill 'Howdy-Doody' Kristol, et al), Paul continues to wield independent power and influence. And now, the crowing irony: Paul's mission is to root out corruption in the world of World Bank nations! And this, under the premise that he is a reformer, not an established troublemaker. Will Gjelten deliver a report that reaches into these zones, or will he just concentrate on the salary scandal of Paul's current romantic companion? We shall see. After all, Al Capone got nailed on income tax evasion.

4/12/07, 10:39 AM
whiskey said...

I didn't hear the piece. Did it mention the controversy over Wolfowitz's getting a cushy gig for his love-interest at the World Bank?

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/09/wolfowitzs-non-explanation-of-love-interest-controversy/

4/12/07, 12:50 PM
Porter Melmoth said...

Hopefully, that's coming in the thrilling conclusion tomorrow. Links at the NPR website, as usual.

4/12/07, 1:01 PM
Unknown said...

Nice couple of paragraphs by Devilstower at DailyKos on the NPR series titled "Do as I say, not as I do". http://tinyurl.com/2xuml9

When the US goes down, our current leadership will still be sitting on the sidelines scratching their butts and wondering what the heck happened. You can be sure they'll be patting one another on the back and remarking, "How could this happen? We are all such good men."

==========================

Thanks for listening to NPR, so I don't have to. (I just bought an internet radio and a new shortwave. Have to get informed somehow....)

4/12/07, 5:35 PM
Anonymous said...

Don't worry, before the dust settles, those billionaires will be long gone. Bush bought 10,000 hectares in Paraguay, Haliburton is moving to UAE (?), lots of the big guys are buying up carribean islnads. Anybody seen Kenny-boy? Like ticks after a good blood-meal, they'll leave their dried up host.

4/13/07, 11:54 AM

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