Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

This blog will pay for itself.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Everything You Need to Know About the WSJ Op-Ed pages

Everything You Need to Know About the WSJ Op-Ed pages

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Yesterday, Gawker reported that Mark Penn is using his column to drum up business for his company, Burson-Marsteller.

Today, the WSJ stated that they don’t care and Penn can keep his column, because they have investigated thoroughly:

Today, WSJ spokesman Robert Christie explained the results of the paper’s thorough investigation like so:

    “Mark has assured us that through our conversations that he’s complied with his conflict of interest policy. He does not have any glamping clients nor did they target them before the column appeared.”

That’s right: The WSJ’s investigation consisted of calling Mark Penn and asking him, “Hey, did you comply with that conflict of interest policy?” The world-famous investigative skills of the WSJ in action, ladies and gentlemen.

I’m not sure what else you would expect from a paper that routinely lets serial liars like Betsy McCaughey and Karl Rove publish complete nonsense on a daily basis.

Reader Interactions

64Comments

  1. 1.

    Zifnab

    So, is Rupert Murdoch’s goal in life to find every source of semi-decent journalism on earth, infect it with his own special brand of whorish news AIDS, and watch it die?

    Cause that’s how this whole thing is shaping up. When do we get boobies on page 6?

  2. 2.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Well, it is the “Wall Street” journal. Anything less than profiteering every minute of the day would be un-American and maybe even be the S word devil..

    As long as he’s not near the WH, I don’t care what he does.

    Did we dodge a volley of bullets last November, or what?

  5. 5.

    parksideq

    OT, but speaking of Murdoch, a certain other News Corp(se) employee is really starting to come off the rails (via GOS). It may or may not have something to do with 46 companies ditching the ad slots on his show.

    Serves him right for saying the president has a deep-seated hatred for half the country, up to and including his own mother.

  6. 6.

    El Cruzado

    I dunno, that’s the kind of capitalism that the WSJ usually promotes anyway. At least they eat their own dog food…

  7. 7.

    Comrade Jake

    You sure Lanny Davis is the worst Democrat alive Cole? Because I’m thinking Penn pretty much blows him right out of the water.

  8. 8.

    MattF

    Note: the WSJ’s investigation revealed that Penn’s articles don’t conflict with his conflict-of-interest policies. “Gosh,” said Penn, “I looked at the articles I wrote and they don’t conflict with any of my interests.”

  9. 9.

    Chad N Freude

    This is self-policing. Who understands their policy and can assess compliance better than they themselves? Self-policing, or maybe masturbethics.

  10. 10.

    Perry Como

    Mark has assured us that through our conversations that he’s complied with his conflict of interest policy.

    Seriously?

    “Mark has assured us he hasn’t done anything wrong according to his own rules. That’s good enough for us!” — WSJ Editors w/ Luv

  11. 11.

    Rosali

    They’re missing the whole point and/or being intentionally deceptive.

    “He doesn’t have any glamping clients” (not yet, but BM was trying to get them by using the article)

    “nor did they target them BEFORE the column” (that’s right, the emails make it clear that BM was targetting then AFTER the column and using the column as a selling point).

  15. 15.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Hey, their page 1 obit included this gem:

    While many Republicans expressed their condolences, Mr. Kennedy’s death underscored the deep division between his political followers and conservatives who long characterized him as a relic of self-indulgent 1960s liberalism. From health care to education, they believed, he pushed for bigger government as the solution to every problem, and in foreign affairs favored a naive approach that appeased America’s enemies. Mr. Kennedy’s positions in favor of gay rights, abortion rights and gun control seemed, to cultural conservatives, the outward expressions of his personal moral laxity.

    Blasting what he called “slobbering media coverage” of Mr. Kennedy’s death that ignored his past “bad behavior,” conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday said Mr. Kennedy was a politician who “uses the government to take money from people who work and gives it to people who don’t work.”

    That’s right. The first republican the WSJ quotes is Rush Fucking Limbaugh. Mr. Kettle himself.

    Oh, yeah. And there’s an op-ed from Lying Betsy McCaughey.

  17. 17.

    lamh31

    I actually watched cable news yesterday and today, I haven’t actively watched in month. I watched for the Teddy Kennedy coverage, but the good respectful coverage didn’t last long, particlualry on CNN, who brought out David Frum who basically said that Kennedy’s death didn’t deserve healtcare as a “present”, as if anyone was dong that.

    With that I’m back to my “boycott” (not really) of MSM.

  19. 19.

    Demo Woman

    WSJ oped page not being fair and balanced and your point is what? They were not before Mudoch and they won’t be after.

  20. 20.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Am I the only person in North America who never saw or heard the word “glamping” before this article?

  25. 25.

    Chad N Freude

    @Demo Woman:

    There has always been cognitive dissonance between their op-ed and their reportage.

    The quotes above from the obituary, which should be “news”and not “op-ed”, are a serious breach of the firewall.

  28. 28.

    KG

    @arguingwithsignposts: I have a rule when it comes to recently deceased American politicians: I don’t speak ill of them. After some time, I might argue about the politics, but that’s about it. Mostly, I believe they belong to history, and while it’s sometimes interesting to ask, “what would [dead politician x] do?”, it’s really kind of irrelevant, since they are, in fact, dead. On a side note, that was one of the things that really annoyed me during the Republican primaries last year, everyone taking every opportunity to invoke Reagan twenty years after he was relevant.

    These hyenas (and they exist on all sides) that decide it’s appropriate to attack the dead on a personal level before they are even in the ground are despicable.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    O/T but Keith is going to take on Rep. Jenkins’ “Great White Hope” comment from the earlier thread sometime during Countdown. I got a sense during the opening tease that it may be a little more commentary than WPITW.

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Chad N Freude/8:02 pm

    Thank you, Chad. I did actually look it up on The Googles before posting. I wasn’t asking for a definition, merely observing that I learned an interesting and unusual new (to me) word.

  34. 34.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    My sincere apologies for all the drivel I have been posting. I simply cannot see my own posts for ages, it is like they do not exist. Weird.

    Ouch Olbermann “great white hope – why don’t you just get a hood”

  35. 35.

    Ash Can

    @SiubhanDuinne: Nope.

    “Mark has assured us…”

    I was wondering why this sounded so familiar, and then it dawned on me. A few years ago, when Bottle Rocket was a pre-schooler, I’d hear clambering noises coming from the kitchen. I’d go in, and there he’d be, up on the counter reaching for the sweets on top of the refrigerator. His explanation? “I was just putting it back.”

    Yep. Same shit, different kids.

  36. 36.

    Demo Woman

    @Chad N Freude: I live in GA and when “friends” try to tout the WSJ or any oped page, I simply say, sorry I don’t read oped’s because they don’t include both sides. I then go on to say that I’m more of a facts person. Watching the reaction is fun.

  38. 38.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @CrittersbyBritty:

    Did I get banned or something?

    Nobody gets banned, except BoB, for a few days — but the moderator gods take their bounty when they will.

  39. 39.

    Roger Moore

    @KG:

    On a side note, that was one of the things that really annoyed me during the Republican primaries last year, everyone taking every opportunity to invoke Reagan twenty years after he was relevant.

    I especially loved it when somebody started talking about how Reagan would be thinking about the future, not the past. I guess cognitive dissonance is a way of life for wingnuts.

  40. 40.

    Zach

    I’m linking this thread to the funeral politicization thread through Mark Penn:

    “Did the memorial service for Paul Wellstone cost Democrats the election?

    A backlash against the politically charged service almost certainly helped Norm Coleman beat Walter Mondale for Wellstone’s Minnesota Senate seat. And a private poll by Bill Clinton’s former pollster, Mark Penn, suggests the service backfired on Democrats nationally as well.”

    http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,388903,00.html

  41. 41.

    General Winfield Stuck

    On a side note, that was one of the things that really annoyed me during the Republican primaries last year, everyone taking every opportunity to invoke Reagan twenty years after he was relevant.

    A few years ago, they tried to foist his mug on the 10 dollar bill, in place of Alex Hamilton. You gave the devious fuckers every minute of the day.

  42. 42.

    General Winfield Stuck

    You gave the devious fuckers every minute of the day.

    that should be /You have to watch the fuckers every minute of the day/

    Someday edit function will return, and brain farts can be fixed.

  43. 43.

    Anne Laurie

    Shorter WSJ: “What did you expect? It’s Chinatown, Jake.”

    OT, but speaking of Murdoch, a certain other News Corp(se) employee is really starting to come off the rails (via GOS). It may or may not have something to do with 46 companies ditching the ad slots on his show.

    I am not a professional, but I grew up with an unmedicated manic-depressive, and that’s the vibe Glenn Beck has always given me. It’s not uncommon for bipolar individuals, like those with other neurochemistry issues, to “self-medicate” with alcohol — but the bipolar seem especially liable to assume that their addiction is not a side-effect but the cause of all their problems, and that as long as they’re not drinking, they’re okay. Looking at it from Beck’s perspective, he is being rewarded for alternating between screaming bouts of paranoia and weepy hissy-fits on his show… it would be counter-productive for him to dial it down now.

  44. 44.

    Chad N Freude

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    I didn’t mean to sound snarky and I hope you didn’t take it that way. I had to look it up, too. When I snark, it’s kind of hard to miss.

    BTW, doesn’t the word “glamping” sound like an exotic sexual activity?

  45. 45.

    ed

    He does not have any glamping clients

    He doesn’t have any glamping clients? How the glamp can he stay in business? For glamp’s sake, what the glamp are these people thinking. Glamp!

    Shut the glamp up, Donny!

  47. 47.

    Anne Laurie

    @Chad N Freude: ‘Masterbethics’, for the win!
    @Rosali:

    I never saw the word “glamping” before but it was hate at first sight.

    Agreed. I thought it would turn out to be a ‘new’ strategy for media lampreys to clamp onto the latest hot glamor celebrity-trend. You know — Mark Penn’s entire career strategy.

    @Zach:

    “Did the memorial service for Paul Wellstone cost Democrats the election? A backlash against the politically charged service almost certainly helped Norm Coleman beat Walter Mondale for Wellstone’s Minnesota Senate seat. And a private poll by Bill Clinton’s former pollster, Mark Penn, suggests the service backfired on Democrats nationally as well.”

    Well, that seals it for me — break out the stemwinders, fellow Democrats, Mr. President, and give us the Kennedy Memorial HCR Bill! Because if Mark Penn thinks it’s a bad strategy to ‘politicize’ Teddy’s funeral, than our best hope is to go full-metal D E M O C R A T , since Penn’s record of 180-degree wrongness is second only to William Kristol’s.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Chad N Freude/8:34 pm

    Thanks, that was really nice of you. I did at first take it as mildly snarky and then massively upped the snark ante with my oversensitive and over-the-snarky-top reply. Apologies backatcha.

    And yes, glamping sounds very kinky and painful, requiring lots of “specialized” equipment if you know what I mean.

  50. 50.

    Maus

    “So, is Rupert Murdoch’s goal in life to find every source of semi-decent journalism on earth, infect it with his own special brand of whorish news AIDS, and watch it die?”

    Yes. Real journalism costs money. These people will infect it for rock-bottom prices.

  52. 52.

    tripletee

    I never saw the word “glamping” before but it was hate at first sight.

    I go camping a lot. If I ever see a “glamper,” they’re getting one of my five-days-worn socks tied around their face.

    I’m not surprised that steaming sack of suet Penn is promoting this, though. It reaffirms my opinion of his judgment after the trainwreck of a campaign he ran.

  53. 53.

    Warren Terra

    I just enjoy remembering the time when Mark Penn polled (teenage?) boys about what they wanted to be when they grew up, found that a statistically significant – actually fairly large – group said they wanted to be snipers, and credulously reported this as being the coming career trend of the future.

    If only he’d polled just a bit younger the coming career trend would have been “Spiderman” instead.

    Everything I know about Penn’s pollreading skills I got from unfriendly reviews of his magnum opus Megatrends (yours for a dollar plus shipping, and doubtless overpriced even so), but certainly from those reviews he came across as a self-promoting innumerate blowhard dunce – and certainly his helmsmanship of the Clinton 2008 campaign conveyed precisely the same impression.

  54. 54.

    Warren Terra

    Er, Megatrends s/b Microtrends. Apologies. Carry on.

    (Ancient legends tell of a mystical, powerful beast known as the Edit Function, but modern scholars know these tales for the baseless myths they surely are).

  56. 56.

    Chad N Freude

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “Mildly” and “snarky” do not coexist in my self-expression model. If something I write seems mildly snarky, It’s just a failed attempt at humor.

  58. 58.

    Mike G

    …a paper that routinely lets serial liars like Betsy McCaughey and Karl Rove publish complete nonsense on a daily basis.

    It’s not about truth or accuracy, it’s about pushing a storyline that suits the political and economic interests of their owners and advertisers. I understand why people making seven figures love a self-enclosed fantasy world that revolves around them. What I can’t comprehend is the authoritarian followers out in white-trash-Repigworld so desperate for a strong-daddy to tell them how to think, who eagerly buy into a worldview in which their role is somewhere between feudal serf and chum-in-a-shark-tank.

  59. 59.

    Warren Terra

    …a paper that routinely lets serial liars like Betsy McCaughey and Karl Rove publish complete nonsense on a daily basis.

    I don’t know that I’ve noticed anything from him on the subject since the Murdoch takeover, which has been predicted to erode both the quality of the Wall Street Journal‘s news section and the separation of its news and opinion sections, but Eric Alterman, who has a sustained professional interest in right-wing media bias and professional standards, has repeatedly written about the sterling quality of the Journal‘s news pages and the sheer unhinged lunacy and unconscionable dishonesty of the Journal‘s Op-Ed pages.

  60. 60.

    Left Coast Tom

    The Wall Street Fishwrap as quoted by John quoting gawker:

    He does not have any glamping clients nor did they target them before the column appeared.”

    Can someone tell me what “glamping” means in this context? I just consulted Mr. Google and he told me, in every first-page link, that it means “glamorous camping”. One look at Mark Penn tells me that neither the “gl” or the “amping” part of this can be correct.

  61. 61.

    Chad N Freude

    @Warren Terra:

    True. (I agreed with this @Chad N Freude). But the Kennedy obit is causing me to rethink this. BTW, “unhinged lunacy” is to WSJ op-ed as “dust mote” is to asteroid. And yes, the self-reference here does indicate that I am an attention whore sex worker.

  62. 62.

    Chad N Freude

    @Left Coast Tom:

    Silly! “Glamping”refers to Mr. Penn’s clients. Mr. Penn would not recognize either glamor or camp if the Village People surrounded him on the street. (The original VP, not the current “Villagers”.)

  63. 63.

    Left Coast Tom

    @Chad N Freude:
    Oh my God, I finally followed the link (Tom +4). They’re serious…he’s looking for “glamorous camping” clients. No wonder he hasn’t found any.

  64. 64.

    Paul in KY

    I don’t understand the context the word ‘glamping’ was used in the WSJ excerpt. Urban dictionary defined it as ‘glamorous camping’. Why would his potential clients be ‘glamorous campers’?

    I’d say you’d have to be pretty camp and/or dense to employ him. IMO, he’s too ugly for the ‘camp’ faction.

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