Letters to the Editor
kenkapkk
Published Letters: 120 Editor's Choice: 13
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"Real story" P.S.
[Read the article: Obama's big fat Countrywide mess]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Didn't have room for this addendum. Here it is
"*An important qualifier here: The Fannie Mae accounting scandal involved the manipulation of hedge accounting to smooth out reported earnings. The first time this had a significant impact on reported earnings was in the fourth quarter of 1998, when Johnson was still at Fannie Mae. (He left in December 1998.) In late 1998 collapse of the Russian ruble caused the yield on 10-year Treasuries to fall by over 100 basis points, thereby triggering a wave of mortgage refinancings. Fannie Mae's statistical models estimated that the eventual expense associated with that change would be $400 million. A decision was made to recognize $200 million of the expense in 1998 and $200 million in 1999. Reported income for the year was $3.4 billion. However, disclosure of such an extraordinary item should have been footnoted in the financial statement for full transparency. Those accounting decisions are made following the end of the fiscal year, i.e. in calendar 1999. The bottom line is that Johnson is not 100% exempt from any taint associated with Fannie Mae, but a review of the report by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight shows the almost all of the dubious accounting decisions were traceable to actions taken in 1999 onward, by Johnson's successors. The other bottom line, as the right wing knows all too well, is that it is far more difficult to explain away a smear than it is to launch a smear."
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Thanks Joel 29028
[Read the article: Obama's big fat Countrywide mess]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks. Why isn't Obama more careful if he's going to take such a high road stance? Let this be a lesson. Fortunately it will pass under the radar. Mccain stepped in it big time today with the "unimportant line".
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Glenn Greenwald?
[Read the article: Tim Russert, one of the good guys]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'll have more to say in a while, if the thread doesn't close, but most here have spoken what I would say. Two things. I am very interested in Glenn Greenwald's assessment of Russert and hope he offers his thoughts.
Second, contrary to those who think the predominent dissent here is somehow irrespectful to the dead, I think you are way off base. As has been noted, this is not a eulogy, but a forum to assess the career of an extremely influential media personality. I want to commend the group here as a whole for their intelligence and fierce honesty. It often seems to me the LW community is ahead of the curve of the editorial staff and writers. Russert wasn't a "bad guy", but he wasn't a particulary courageous (quite the opposite) or meaningful commentator (aka Murrow) in one of the most challenging times in history.
We must separate the personal from the professional. All the blather and mythmaking ignores an obit that would read something like this, "a great family man, driven, hard working professional who dominated his field. Known for assiduous research and personal fame,. Oh, and killed a family because of a DUI (metaphor folks, metaphor) but we'll just overlook that little item because he was such a giant and a very important person (and _very serious journalist_- to borrow from Greenwald".)
At least he hired Chuck Todd who called the primary in FEBRUARY, *months* before Russert.
Sorry Walter. If you'e going to assess a legacy, be honest and don't write a puff piece.
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Nihilistic Genius
[Read the article: George Carlin dies at 71]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As with most here, I thought Carlin was phenomenal. He had so many classic riffs built around language and prescient observation it was amazing. I'll always remember his riff on Gulf War I soaring like a jazz musician on the "bigger dick" theory of war (wimp rhymes with limp) and how we love to bomb "brown people" (its our hobby).
Lately I could no longer take Carlin because whether it was personal philosophy or managed act, he became far too dark and nihilistic for my taste. I was very disappointed in his last few HBO specials.
But that doesn't take away from his Everest like achievements. He was clearly one of the fiercest, most honest and right on social commentators of all time ("they took away the toy guns and kept the real ones").
I will miss him. I am glad he graced us with his genius. He set a standard (with Lenny Bruce) that most can only fantasize about. We were lucky to have him.
Goodbye George. You were simply great.