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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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Everybody saw this coming.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Fight them, without becoming them!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

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

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Come on, man.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / In Through The Out Door

In Through The Out Door

by John Cole|  March 10, 20147:53 pm| 165 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Speaking of persecution complexes, CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson has decided to leave her gig and write a book before inevitably becoming the next Fox News personality:

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson has reached an agreement to resign from CBS News ahead of contract, bringing an end to months of hard-fought negotiations, sources familiar with her departure told POLITICO on Monday.

Attkisson, who has been with CBS News for two decades, had grown frustrated with what she saw as the network’s liberal bias, an outsize influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting, several sources said. She increasingly felt that her work was no longer supported and that it was a struggle to get her reporting on air.

At the same time, Attkisson’s reporting on the Obama administration, which some staffers characterized as agenda-driven, had led network executives to doubt the impartiality of her reporting. She is currently at work on a book — tentatively titled “Stonewalled: One Reporter’s Fight for Truth in Obama’s Washington” — that addresses the challenges of reporting critically on the administration.

Bonus fact- she’s also a Jenny McCarthy acolyte and anti-vacc buffoon.

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Reader Interactions

165Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    March 10, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    She increasingly felt that her work was no longer supported and that it was a struggle to get her reporting on air.

    Gee, I wonder why that might have been. Perhaps it’s because her employers got massive bad publicity from her most recent effort on 60 Minutes. For some reason, the boss doesn’t like it when you shit all over the company’s reputation.

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    frustrated with what she saw as the network’s liberal bias

    CBS yesterday asked Dick Cheney for his opinion on Obama’s foreign policy, and Condi Rice is a paid contributor. Cheney was balanced out by James A Baker, III ( reputedly one of the few people Barbara Bush considers a peer, and not The Help). Then Paul Ryan was invited for discussion of domestic affairs.

  3. 3.

    ranchandsyrup

    March 10, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    Bonus fact- she’s also a Jenny McCarthy acolyte and anti-vacc buffoon.

    Ubermenschen don’t need no vaccines.

  4. 4.

    Roger Moore

    March 10, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    CBS’s liberal bias is showing in those selections; they’re letting members of the unperson’s administration on air instead of pretending 2001-2008 never existed. If they were truly unbiased, they’d just give Darrell Issa all the airtime he wants to explain about Benghazi.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    March 10, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Guessing Kissinger didn’t hear his phone ring.

  6. 6.

    srv

    March 10, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    > two decades

    Hmm, I haven’t had a TV for 8 years, but I have no memory of this woman. Obviously, CBS has kept her muzzled.

  7. 7.

    PsiFighter37

    March 10, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    It’s all Dan Rather’s fault

  8. 8.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson has reached an agreement to resign from CBS News ahead of contract, bringing an end to months of hard-fought negotiations,

    Right. So her principles weren’t so strong that she was willing to walk away without appropriate compensation. Show her the money so she can tell you all about her principles.

  9. 9.

    jl

    March 10, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I was almost exposed to the Cheney and Baker interviews where they gave their sage and sound judgments on Obama foreign policy. I ran across the room to turn it off.

    But later I heard some clips of Baker’s performance, which sounded like Grandpa Simpson yelling at clouds, except crankier and more dismayed: These dang kids tiddee, if they’d a jess bombed tha’ damn Syr-eye-A, heck all this dang nonsense wouldn’ a happened.

    That goof Charlie Rose was running that circus. How the heck did he get a gig trying to do real journalism?

  10. 10.

    BruceFromOhio

    March 10, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    Bonus fact- she’s also a Jenny McCarthy acolyte and anti-vacc buffoon.

    Predictable arcs. Like grinding cast iron with a rotary, the sparks all look the same.

    @Violet:

    Show her the money so she can tell you all about her principles.

    Behold the modern conservative. See “predictable arcs” above.

  11. 11.

    maya

    March 10, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    Is this what’s meant as jumping the Sharyl?

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    March 10, 2014 at 8:10 pm

    @Violet:

    So her principles weren’t so strong that she was willing to walk away without appropriate compensation.

    I’m a firm believer that we show our true principles by our actions not our words, and this case is no exception.

  13. 13.

    JPL

    March 10, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    Obviously, she will make more money at FOX because she’s a blonde but maybe she’s not Stonewalled. There is nothing there. It’s gotta be hard to dig and dig and dig and dig and not find gold.

  14. 14.

    RaflW

    March 10, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    I don’t want to be guilt of epistemic closure, but as soon as I see a reporter claim that a network has a liberal bias, I know s/he is full of shit.

    The networks are so far up the Village’s ass, it doesn’t even matter if the staffs are “liberal” in their personal lives, they’re in service to a narrative machine that deeply accepts Republican frames for everything.

    Take the whole deficits thing. Non-stop concern-trolling on deficits, even now that they’re a fraction of what they were. Fix the Debt? MSM wet dream, even if it is entirely a pretext to get the GOP’s goal of entitlement slashing.

    Good bye, Ms. Attkisson. Never really knew who you were. I plan to keep it that way.

  15. 15.

    hildebrand

    March 10, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    @Violet: Bingo. It must be awful not to be able to shake down the real business people for the kind of numbers you know you can get from the Right Wing Wurlitzer – especially because it so much easier to play the martyr from inside the mainstream media. That and the fact that your credibility definitely takes a hit when you share airtime with Caribou Barbi and Hannity.

  16. 16.

    Marc

    March 10, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    “Sharyl Attkisson.” Why is it that the wingers (or their parents, at least) never know how to spell?

    Never mind–that one answers itself.

  17. 17.

    Poopyman

    March 10, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    Will the book be published by Regnery?

  18. 18.

    WereBear

    March 10, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    While I’m no Goldwater fan, he was very firm about keeping the loonies out of the Party.

    And look what’s happened. Used to be Birchers and the like were the guy in the back of the office no one wanted to have lunch with, or the housewife who was handing out flyers at the grocery store… they were not influential and sought Bircherism as a way of having friends.

    Now, you never know where a lunatic will pop up.

  19. 19.

    Lee

    March 10, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    I would pay handsomely to someone who asks one of the anti-vaccers “You are so completely wrong when it comes to vaccines, why should we believe anything you say?”

  20. 20.

    RaflW

    March 10, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    @jl:

    That goof Charlie Rose was running that circus. How the heck did he get a gig trying to do real journalism?

    I was part of the Charlie Rose bandwagon until I started to realize that his political analysis guests were all Village cocktail weenie idiots.

    Oh, and according to a 2009 CNN article, Rose has had the Moustache of Understanding at the sacred oaken table 65 times. I’m sure he’s been back several time since then.

    Ugh.

  21. 21.

    The Dude

    March 10, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    Can’t wait to not read her book.

  22. 22.

    Fuzzy

    March 10, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    Damn, the only eye candy CBS has used for years but hey we all get old.

  23. 23.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    Attkisson was born in Florida.[2] Her step-father is an orthopedic surgeon and her brother is an emergency room physician. Attkisson graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in broadcast journalism in 1982.[3]

    This speaks volumes!!!!!

  24. 24.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 8:24 pm

    George Will is now a Fox tool. I shouldn’t be surprised but my father (air force veteran, liberal) who does not suffer fools gladly, always said that Will was a thoughtful conservative. Those days have passed.

  25. 25.

    Ash Can

    March 10, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    @JPL: I dunno; her hair is a little too dark to be Fox-blonde. Her Fox contract will probably make her bleach her hair and get a boob job.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    March 10, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    Too bad Sharyl Attkisson didn’t join the new Newsmax TV instead. She could have gotten in on the ground floor of the next big thing.

  27. 27.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    March 10, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    It’s Alive!

  28. 28.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Are you talking about your dick? Sometimes sharing is too much.

  29. 29.

    Tommy

    March 10, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    I swear I am not making this up …

    As a kid I was flown around the nation. Told I was “off.” Sugested given drugs. My grandfather a rural doctor would hear none of it. I might have been eight. I was told to pound a few cups of coffee before school. No drugs. I recall being asked/forced to do this ….

    Later my brother. He was 11. Had the bone structure of a 5 year old.

    You can not compute the amount of drugs we gave him. HGH. Early 80s. Trial time. Our fridge had an entire shelf of that drug. Two injections a day. Every day. Just a given. I think they stopped at 16. A test case.

    This where my parents didn’t listen to my grandfather (a medical doctor). They listened for him. Not my brother. Things went well for my brother. Just saying.

    Till this day he is my size. Well larger and taller. Things went well but funny, how we are “tested” on.

  30. 30.

    Chris

    March 10, 2014 at 8:35 pm

    @RaflW:

    I don’t want to be guilt of epistemic closure, but as soon as I see a reporter claim that a network has a liberal bias, I know s/he is full of shit.

    Agreed.

    But “liberal media” is up there with Young Earth Creationism in terms of being a fallacy that a terrifying number of the American people accept unquestioningly.

  31. 31.

    Ash Can

    March 10, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    “Liberal media” is just right-wing-douchespeak for “doesn’t tell me what I want to hear/won’t let me present my opinions as facts.”

  32. 32.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 10, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    She wore a raspberry beret
    The kind you find at a second hand store
    Raspberry beret
    And if it was warm she didn’t wear much more

  33. 33.

    GxB

    March 10, 2014 at 8:41 pm

    …an outsize influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting…

    …and she’s going to FOX?! – talk about out of the frying pan…

    Oh these poor, poor conservatives. So persecuted, so down-trodden… how they pull themselves out from under the huge sacks of money and bear such a cross to the filthy trough of lucre, day in and day out? It is something historians must never let future generations forget.

    In short, don’t let the door hit ya – you box of rocks.

    ETA: Ah, just a book in the works, the Fox stuff is still speculative, I don’t think anyone here will bet against that possibility. As someone says above, boob job and jug of peroxide STAT – either that or get some hipster dark rim glasses and try to sell her as a more “mature” Sippy Cupp.

  34. 34.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 10, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    I loved the bit about how CBS is not only too liberal, but also too beholden to their corporate sponsors. Yeah, since big conglomerates are widely known to be run by marxists, right? And the people who run them all sleep with Mao’s little red book under their pillows, right? These people don’t bother to try for even a little consistency or logic.

  35. 35.

    Anoniminous

    March 10, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    Thought working at Fox was a boob’s job.

  36. 36.

    Ash Can

    March 10, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    Maybe CBS decided it needed to be a little more careful about what kind of crap its newsies spewed on air after seeing its 60 Minutes brand get trashed by that bogus Benghazi report.

  37. 37.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 10, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    OT: Husband kitteh is vacuuming and Yogi Kitteh is hiding in the cupboard with all my sweaters, he had figured out how to open the door and go in, Now my sweaters are going to be furred.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 10, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    @Anoniminous: It’s a man’s life in the British Dental Association!

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    March 10, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Charlotte decided around 5 am that she needed to wrestle her favorite toy into submission on the bed.

    And we can’t close the door because Keaton knows how to open doors.

  40. 40.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 10, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    @Roger Moore: You forgot about the IRS.

  41. 41.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Kittys will rule the world and so must interject puppies to equal the equation.

  42. 42.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 8:50 pm

    @efgoldman: Isn’t that Megyn Kelly?

  43. 43.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 10, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Boss cat is under the bed now and his tail is sticking out, and my ginger cat is on the bed trying to bat it, unsuccessfully.

  44. 44.

    David Koch

    March 10, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    Vaccinations have a well known liberal bias.

  45. 45.

    Sailor

    March 10, 2014 at 8:53 pm

    Who the fuck still thinks Politico has even a modicum of truth?

  46. 46.

    Comrade Dread

    March 10, 2014 at 8:53 pm

    She is currently at work on a book — tentatively titled “Stonewalled: One Reporter’s Fight for Truth in Obama’s Washington” — that addresses the challenges of reporting critically on the administration.

    Of course she is. Let’s see:

    – Evil Liberal conspiracies? Check.
    – Liberal mainstream media making sure everyone goes soft on Obambi? Check.
    – A healthy dose of butthurt and a martyr complex that would make St. Paul say, “Seriously, what is wrong with you?” Check

    She’ll do quite well on the wingnut welfare circuit before settling down into a gig on Fox “News”.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: The kitties took up residence on the shelf in my bedroom closet that holds all the extra soft blankies. I put a nice, soft towel on top of the blankies – problem solved! Everybody’s happy.

  48. 48.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: You know who else was under the bed with his tail stick out? Hitler. Watch yourself.

  49. 49.

    GxB

    March 10, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    @efgoldman: I would argue at best it was dishwater blonde – but I won’t. Especially with someone that pulls off as bad-ass a link as you got there. Seriously, did you have to sacrifice a goat or something to keep WP from barfing on that?

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    March 10, 2014 at 8:59 pm

    @ulee

    “Eva! Vant to play The Chambermaid and the Bootblack? You can be ze chambermaid zis time!”

  51. 51.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 10, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    @ulee: Bosscat does have dictatorial tendencies and whiskers and he rules us all with an iron paw.

  52. 52.

    dww44

    March 10, 2014 at 9:02 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The dominant local station in my small city is a CBS affiliate. So, by default, we tended to watch their evening news more than the rest. However, in the last year, they’ve moved noticeably right in terms of what stories they feature and how they place them. I’ve switched and compared to NBC the next channel up and there is a remarkable difference. I decided it may have lots to do with the newshead being a former Fox guy. He probably still is, a Fox guy at heart, i mean.. So, Sharyl Attkinsson is full of it.Just like all those folks still claiming NPR is liberal.

  53. 53.

    Mike in NC

    March 10, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    @Violet: Separated at birth?

  54. 54.

    GxB

    March 10, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    @dww44: Starting to see David Koch (Foundation) an awful lot on PBS these days too. Face it, we’re boned.

  55. 55.

    Danack

    March 10, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    fyi the blog is unreadable on an iphone due to ad shenanigans.

    Clicking on any article leads to being taken to the app store to a page that shows “game of war” which has a homepage of gameofwarapp.com

  56. 56.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: I’m sure he is a pussycat, and that’s what he wants you to believe. Stephen King novel to follow.

  57. 57.

    WereBear

    March 10, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    @GxB: Face it, we’re boned.

    We would be, if the Internet hadn’t opened a ton of alternatives.

    The conservatives have taken the hill… and we’ve built a mountain behind them.

  58. 58.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    @srv:

    Obviously, CBS has kept her muzzled.

    Too bad we couldn’t convince the networks to exile all of these idiots to head the Benghazi foreign desk.

  59. 59.

    Pogonip

    March 10, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    Was anyone able to help Baby Doll, the Plott hound?

  60. 60.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 10, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    @Sailor: The same people who think that Tiger Beat is giving you something other than publicist’s copy.

  61. 61.

    piratedan

    March 10, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    I don’t know if she’s heading for Faux, maybe she has her heart set on that network that Newsmax is setting up? Still, I’m glad that she will finally be able to tell us about this scandal ridden administration that is in power and muzzling all that speak against it……

    While I’m a big Obamabot, have been pleased that from what we’ve been able to see, at least if there is corruption, they’ve been smart enough to keep it on the downlow….

  62. 62.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    @Tommy: Could you please learn how to use a comma?

  63. 63.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    @Corner Stone: If you’re interested, I addressed your Sarah Palin attire question in that thread.

  64. 64.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:24 pm

    @Corner Stone: Now, now, there, there.

  65. 65.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 9:24 pm

    @Corner Stone: He is fine. He’s telling a story. Grammar police, find a cause.

  66. 66.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 9:26 pm

    @dww44:

    I decided it may have lots to do with the newshead being a former Fox guy.

    Probably not. Probably has more to do with the reality of TV.:

    In the last 20 years, the median age of Americans has increased from 34 to 37. The median age of broadcast TV viewers has increased from 41 to 54. Not a three-year jump, but a 13-year jump.

    And therein lies the existential challenge for CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC: How do you persuade advertisers to spend more on an audience that’s so obviously graying faster than an already-graying country? You sell them on the purchasing power of senior citizens, I guess. In the 1993-94 broadcast season, Home Improvement was the most-watched show, with a median viewer of 34, Commercial Appeal reports. Today, it’s NCIS, with a median viewer who is 61.

    So, if your average viewer is now AARP eligible, and your average news viewer is likely drawing Social Security, are you going to put on Rachel Maddow or Bill O’Reilly in order to draw share and ad dollars?

    Everyone needs to face it: TV is for olds now. Period. End of story. And Benghazi and conspiracies about the IRS and the brown menace sell to olds. The average white American is 41, and as you go up in age, whites take an increasing share of the population. The average latino age is 27. So not only is TV for olds, it’s increasingly for whites by extension. TV viewers are not representative of the population as a whole.

    Fox is just appealing to the audience. So are the local channels.

  67. 67.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 9:26 pm

    @efgoldman: I’d suggest caution, if I were you. Omnes is quite particular about conservation of commas.

  68. 68.

    eemom

    March 10, 2014 at 9:26 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Rain sounds so cool when it hits the barn roof, and the horses wonder who you are.

    I do lovez me some Prince lyrics.

  69. 69.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 10, 2014 at 9:26 pm

    Naah, it’s, more, fun, to, piss, you, off.

    Works, for, me.

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 9:27 pm

    @raven: I think your reply would make better use of periods.
    Where’s Steeplejack when we need him?!

  71. 71.

    gnomedad

    March 10, 2014 at 9:28 pm

    To paraphrase Rushbo, the purpose of conservatism is to give fact-challenged people access to the mainstream.

  72. 72.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2014 at 9:29 pm

    @? Martin: The average white American is 41

    I’m above average! At last!

    @eemom: I had a friend in high school who sincerely believed Purple Rain was a cinematic masterpiece. I vaguely wonder whatever happened to him.

  73. 73.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 9:29 pm

    @Corner Stone: Hold on Yoko, Yoko hold on, it’s gonna be alright.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    March 10, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    L,ea,ve C,,o,r,n,or,,, S,,,ton,e, Al,,,,one.

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    @Violet: A reasonable critique, I guess. Thanks

  76. 76.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:33 pm

    @Baud: The Wanderers!

  77. 77.

    Cassidy

    March 10, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    @Baud: At least Tommy knows how to use paragraphs. He could of just made each one a new comment.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He is now a nurse in Marin County with a year old kid. Wait, that is a guy I was friends with in high school. (Note: we had graduated from high school before Purple Rain came out.)

    ETA: I had to use parentheses because you fuckers used up all the commas. Except Tommy.

  79. 79.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Republican Learns Obamacare Won’t Kill Her After All, Refuses To Believe It
    ….When advised of the details of her Blues’ plan, Boonstra said the idea that it would be cheaper “can’t be true.”
    “I personally do not believe that,” Boonstra said.

    She’ll save a thousand dollars a year, and she’s the public face of the Michigan GOP senate candidate to replace Carl Levin

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    March 10, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    @raven:
    From Wolverhampton, or from Bolton?

  81. 81.

    mk3872

    March 10, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    Does anyone remember the good times that were had when she claimed Obama was spying on her via her laptop? Can’t wait to read he book about how oppressed she was by the Obama admin!

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/09/24/cbs-newss-sharyl-attkisson-hacking-investigation-progressing/

  82. 82.

    maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor

    March 10, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    @The Dude:

    Can’t wait to not read her book.

    Just be patient. You’ll be able to not buy it for $2.99 in the cutout bins about two weeks after release.

  83. 83.

    Amir Khalid

    March 10, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    @Cassidy:

    could of

    Oh dear.

  84. 84.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:38 pm

    @Amir Khalid: The Wanderers (1979) – ”Leave the kid alone!”

  85. 85.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2014 at 9:39 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Don’t let’s start.

  86. 86.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s what I thought when the dude dissed your law school. You let him off easy.

  87. 87.

    Cassidy

    March 10, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t pretend to be a grammar nazi. :)

  88. 88.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    Richard Engel knows his shit!

  89. 89.

    kindness

    March 10, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    She isn’t going to Fox….yet. No one has signed this Special Person.

    Any here ever read Jesus’ General? His Amazon reviews (posted at amazon) are exactly what mz sharyl’s new book needs when it comes out. We should get a sign up sheet going.

  90. 90.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2014 at 9:43 pm

    @raven: Saturday night’s alright for fighting. Today being Monday, I didn’t feel the urge.

  91. 91.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: You’re a better man than I, Gunga Din.

  92. 92.

    Cassidy

    March 10, 2014 at 9:46 pm

    @raven: I don’t think nice ever “dissed” anyone’s law school.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    @raven: Eh, I am going to go watch the Sea Hawk and then get some sleep.

  94. 94.

    Cassidy

    March 10, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    @Cassidy: think I’ve ever….

  95. 95.

    Baud

    March 10, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    @raven:

    He’s no Sharyl Attkisson.

  96. 96.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I love that everyone is getting in on the debunking of the claims by these folks the wingnuts haul out to say how terrible Obamacare is. Good job, Detroit News!

    It’s like a game. An ad goes up, or someone whines in the newspaper and pretty soon everyone’s all over it. Who’s this person? What’s their story? Oh, look, here’s this plan and that plan and this other plan that are all cheaper and provide better coverage! Check back with the person in question, who then says they “don’t believe it” or they “refuse to use that Obamacare” or something equally as idiotic. And the average person gets to follow along.

    It’s chipping away at the claim that “Obamacare” is terrible and doesn’t provide coverage. Time and time again the claims are proven false and little by little people wonder if maybe they can save a bit of money and get better coverage. Suck it, wingnuts.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @Cassidy: @Cassidy: Wasn’t you. It was something in a different, earlier thread.

  98. 98.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Straight to the rack here.

  99. 99.

    raven

    March 10, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: yea

  100. 100.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    It’s not commas that I hate. It’s colons and semi-colons; I am so angry about the whole situation. Breathe in and breathe out, the bastards.

  101. 101.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    @efgoldman: He’s still on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JC_Christian.

    I just got some sort of virus warning when I reloaded the page. From a google ad or something.

  102. 102.

    eemom

    March 10, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    A reasonable critique, I guess. Thanks

    Holy shit, guess I have been gone a long time….appears I missed an entire personality transplant.

  103. 103.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 9:59 pm

    “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.” AMC Jaws.

  104. 104.

    burnspbesq

    March 10, 2014 at 10:00 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Could you please learn how to use a comma?

    What’s up with the punctuation fetish? we’re not programming in COBOL here.

  105. 105.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    @efgoldman: You can just follow along on Twitter without having to join. Just leave it open in a tab if you want. Or, get an account and just follow those you’re interested in. No need to tweet anything yourself.

  106. 106.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 10, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    @burnspbesq: Do people still program in COBOL?

  107. 107.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    cornerstone will have on his tombsone–complained about commas (comma) loves commas.

  108. 108.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    Guess the stonewalling on Obama’s FEMA concentration camps just got too much for her. It’s a liberal kristallnacht, folks, but those deluded media execs just can’t seem to see it.

    Fortunately she’s got the inside scoop on Obama’s education at the Soviet Patrice Lumumba University ready to go as soon as she moves to Faux News…

  109. 109.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    @efgoldman: My employer just hired a COBOL programmer to continue our remarkably inept migration efforts. There’s still work out there.

  110. 110.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Get a clue. 90% of the world’s financial software is STILL written in trillions of lines of COBOL legacy code. There’s so much of the stuff and it’s so mission-critical it’ll never be replaced.

    Ever.

  111. 111.

    gnomedad

    March 10, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    @efgoldman:
    When will the Tea Party demand COBOL education? Those were the days.

  112. 112.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    This from the shit-for-brains tax avoidance lawyer who can’t figure out how to use the English language.

    Burnsie’s classic “from whence does it come…” blunder still produces laughter.

    Fume about how we all misunderestimate you, burnspbesq. You’re to the legal profession what Dan Quayle was to the vice presidency.

  113. 113.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 10, 2014 at 10:23 pm

    @? Martin: Using punch cards, no doubt, or is it tape?

  114. 114.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    @eemom:

    You, on the other hand, remain just as vicious and thuggish as we all remember.

    If a rattlesnake bit you, eemom, there’d be a big funeral, and after people said some mournful words over the snake’s grave, life would go on.

  115. 115.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Sad to say, but the last OMR punch card reader was just retired about 5 years ago, but not for code.

    The hardware is all (relatively) modern. It’s a lot of legacy systems that we’ve struggled to replace. COBOL is definitely holding us back, and the efforts to go with vendors has been a disaster. There’s an aversion to doing it in-house that is more political than anything else.

  116. 116.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    @mclaren: There are no concentration camps, moron. Why are you so purposely stupid?

  117. 117.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    @efgoldman:

    with the object being eventually eliminating direct mainframe use altogether.

    That has been a vastly more elusive goal than many people realize. The truth it that system virtualization has gotten good and cheap enough to make the need to rewrite a lot less compelling.

    For our stuff, the backend business processing is a lot of COBOL, but the frontend stuff is all pretty modern web. The two systems really don’t interact very much, but backend processing is your policy, and if you want to change your policy, you need to change that code, and that’s been the real cost. In terms of policy, we’re stuck in the 90s.

  118. 118.

    danielx

    March 10, 2014 at 10:33 pm

    @gnomedad:

    COBOL was for lib wussies. Real men took FORTRAN (and wanted to go to Tehran, too).

  119. 119.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Neither. The back end of almost all business accounting systems is so deeply embedded in legacy COBOL code there’s no way to rewrite it without breaking the whole financial system.

    People tend not to realize that writing new code doesn’t fix the bugs — it just creates new ones no one knows anything about. The old bugs may prove troublesome, but at least they’ve been documented and sort-of dealt with by kludges and workarounds.

    That spiffy new pop-up clickable PayPal API that can hook into your bank account and transfer money twixt your bank account and your PayPal account?

    Yeah, it ultimately leads to some legacy COBOL code deep in the guts of the bank’s accounting software that some guy wrote in the 1960s.

    Half of all efforts to upgrade large software systems get abandoned. Rewriting legacy code just isn’t practical beyond a certain scale.

    Take a look at the IEEE article “Why software fails” if you want an education.

    Beyond a certain large enough scale, all systems become incomprehensible and unpredictable and consequently unfixable. Kirkpatrick Sale’s classic book “Human Scale” deals with this. The ultimate example was a minor software change to one switch in 2003 that wound up propagating into a nationwide power blackout.

    The blackout’s primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the FirstEnergy Corporation in the American state of Ohio. Operators were unaware of the need to re-distribute power after overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage. What would have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into widespread distress on the electric grid.

    Source: Wikipedia article on “Northeast Blackout of 2003”

  120. 120.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    @ulee:

    Sarcasm-challenged, are we?

    My oh my oh my oh my…

  121. 121.

    Cassidy

    March 10, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    @mclaren: @mclaren: @mclaren: You either need to find someone and play with the genitals of your choice or smoke a fucking bowl. Possibly both.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 10, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    If a rattlesnake bit you, eemom, there’d be a big funeral, and after people said some mournful words over the snake’s grave, life would go on.

    Gotta say, I’m a little jealous.

  123. 123.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:38 pm

    @danielx:

    Heavens no. REAL men cut their teeth on machine code.

    Linked directly to the hardware, naturally.

    I once encountered a machine coder who had worked on a Sperry Rand computer that used the old magnetic drum memory. No one could figure out how he got databases to read out from the magnetic drum so fast. Turned out he had figured out how fast the drum rotated and hard-coded it into his machine code (not assembler code, machine code, written in octal) so that each record length was accessed after a delay precisely equal to one drum memory rotation.

    That’s the kind of code-fu people used to have. Nowadays, your typical web coder can’t even figure out how to get a webpage to display properly without A SCRIPT ON THIS PAGE HAS STOPPED RESPONDING errors.

  124. 124.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 10:39 pm

    @mclaren: You call to mind Adam Lanza. Lots of words and no sense. I hope you don’t own a gun.

  125. 125.

    mclaren

    March 10, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    @ulee:

    Sleep it off, kiddo. You’ll be coherent in the morning.

  126. 126.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 10:42 pm

    @mclaren:

    there’s no way to rewrite it without breaking the whole financial system.

    That’s complete bullshit. The code isn’t being rewritten because there’s no economic case for doing so. It’s running, the dependence on hardware is now severed, and hiring COBOL programmers to keep it running is cheap compared to rewriting it.

    I have a close relative consulting on a large COBOL migration (not on the COBOL side) because the code proved to difficult to implement a new major business initiative, so they finally decided to rewrite. They just didn’t have a reason until now.

  127. 127.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 10:44 pm

    @mclaren: Yeah, right. You are lost in words and lacking in empathy. You are a scary person.

  128. 128.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2014 at 10:46 pm

    @ulee: Nothing good ever came from a fight with mclaren.

  129. 129.

    drkrick

    March 10, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    OT, but when I enter the BJ site on my Android phone, I get a pop up inviting me to clean my phone with “Clean Master.” The pop up looks more than a system message than an ad and I only see it here. If someone isn’t paying to serve it up here you ought to check into it.

  130. 130.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    Watergirl, you’re right. I just dislike these wannabes.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2014 at 10:57 pm

    @ulee: Bad energy, none of us need it.

  132. 132.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 10:57 pm

    @? Martin: You’re like the vampire squid of commenters. Nothing is beyond your reach.

  133. 133.

    Sandra

    March 10, 2014 at 10:59 pm

    Yeah, I remember when all those reporters were getting hassled for “agenda reporting” when they kept going after Bush. Oh wait…

  134. 134.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Bad energy, none of us need it.

    You shouldn’t be so harsh on ulee.

  135. 135.

    ? Martin

    March 10, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    @Corner Stone: If you know anything at all about programming then her claim is obviously absurd. If you can’t rewrite the code without armageddon, then you can’t change it either. You can’t expand it, you can’t adapt it to new policies and procedures or new technology, you can’t do anything with it.

    Obviously that cannot be true. Now, it might be hard or expensive or unnecessary, but it cannot be impossible.

    Do I need to fax you my programming credenza?

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    @? Martin: Send it to Cole. He lives for those faxed credenzas.
    Well, those and bearded men from a troubled past who appreciate being waited on.

  137. 137.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 11:09 pm

    This is why I like Cole. He doesn’t ban ugly characters like McAdamLanza. He lets them ramble and strangle by their own design.

  138. 138.

    Botsplainer

    March 10, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    @mclaren:

    Sleep it off, kiddo. You’ll be coherent in the morning.

    And you can be fresh as a daisy, yet still a babbling idiot.

  139. 139.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    @Corner Stone: you tell it babe.

  140. 140.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    @? Martin: Change and expansion do not equal a rewrite.

  141. 141.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 11:15 pm

    @ulee: I’m sorry WaterGirl was so insensitive. She probably did not mean to harsh your roll, but you do seem a singularly unappreciated character.

  142. 142.

    Violet

    March 10, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    @drkrick: I got the same thing when I accidentally hit the “switch to Desktop version” link on the mobile site. That was a few days ago. Today I accidentally hit that link again and got the same message. Don’t get it on the Mobile version.

    As I said above, I did get a virus message from my antivirus program when I reloaded the page here. It seemed to be a google link and I figured it was a problem with one of the ads.

  143. 143.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 11:18 pm

    @Corner Stone: try again. I feel like I’m debating Paul Ryan. You can do better.

  144. 144.

    chopper

    March 10, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    Real men program in Brainfuck.

  145. 145.

    chopper

    March 10, 2014 at 11:27 pm

    @ulee:

    No, actually, he can’t.

  146. 146.

    Corner Stone

    March 10, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    @ulee: If you need to take your pain out on someone, I can understand that. Obviously, you’re a very troubled soul.
    Good luck to you, and good speed.

  147. 147.

    dww44

    March 10, 2014 at 11:33 pm

    @? Martin: I guess then that the SO and I are among those oldies, although it drives the SO crazy that all the ads on the evening news are for Viagra or some other drug typically used by seniors. Amazing how many of them are sex-related, though.

    I still believe that the broadcast networks have gotten more conservative and not more liberal and not just because their viewers are so much older. but also because the conservative world has perfected the art of “screaming louder” with more far reaching results. This is a scenario also playing out on the editorial pages of my local newspaper. Screaming loudly and nonsensically seems to work for them. Trying to counter their memes with factual thought doesn’t seem to have any pay-off..

  148. 148.

    joel hanes

    March 10, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    @kindness:

    [ alludes to the Amazon reviews written by Gen. JC Christian, patriot ]

    Like this one ?

    And that one ?

    Yes. Masterpieces of the form.

  149. 149.

    ulee

    March 10, 2014 at 11:37 pm

    @Corner Stone: Thanks for your message of good speed. Now go home and get your shinebox.

  150. 150.

    Morbo

    March 10, 2014 at 11:38 pm

    @Roger Moore: She does lurve her some Issa.

  151. 151.

    Ian

    March 10, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    Except copious quantities of pie.

  152. 152.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 10, 2014 at 11:42 pm

    @chopper: Yowza. Long time since I’ve thought about that.

  153. 153.

    eemom

    March 10, 2014 at 11:55 pm

    @ulee:

    Now go home and get your shinebox.

    Goodfellas??

    Awesome, sir. Most awesome indeed.

  154. 154.

    ulee

    March 11, 2014 at 12:00 am

    @eemom: yes, Goodfellas.
    And a line could not be delivered to a more deserved character.

  155. 155.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 11, 2014 at 12:01 am

    @danielx:
    Assembly language, pilgrim.

  156. 156.

    Corner Stone

    March 11, 2014 at 12:24 am

    @ulee: What is interesting is you apparently have no idea what really, in real life, happened to the tough guy persona you’re trying to portray.
    Good luck to you, and God bless your poor heart.

  157. 157.

    A Humble Lurker

    March 11, 2014 at 2:43 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    This is the worst part. Could believe for all the world that you are my precious little girl, but-

    Somebody had to. I’m disappointed it was me.

  158. 158.

    sm*t cl*de

    March 11, 2014 at 7:25 am

    No one could figure out how he got databases to read out from the magnetic drum so fast.

    Cool story, bro, taken from Appendix A of the Hackers Handbook.

  159. 159.

    Lurking Canadian

    March 11, 2014 at 7:57 am

    @mclaren: Assembly code is machine code is assembly code. There is no distinction. Assemblers do very little beyond replace mnemonics with opcodes and compute branch offsets. If your guy wrote this directly in octal he was either showing off, or he didn’t have access to an assembler.

  160. 160.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2014 at 9:50 am

    @Corner Stone: Not sure if that was humor or not. Just in case it wasn’t – my bad energy comment was in reference to mclaren, not ulee.

  161. 161.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2014 at 9:52 am

    @ulee: I’m pretty sure you know my bad energy comment was directed toward mclaren, right?

    I think Corner Stone is just messing with me, but I wanted to clarify just in case.

  162. 162.

    Joey Giraud

    March 11, 2014 at 10:47 am

    @mclaren:

    You’re describing
    The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer

    ( like @sm*t cl*de: said :) )

  163. 163.

    BrianM

    March 11, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    @Joey Giraud: To be fair, Mel (who was apparently a real person) was far from the only one to take advantage of rotational latency. People did crazy things in those days. Last year at Strange Loop, Guy Steele (pbuh) described what he did to squeeze a boot loader onto a single punched card. And I once had occasion to look at the PDP-1 assembly language source of Peter Deutsch’s 1959 Lisp interpreter. Crazy stuff.

    Me, I prefer today.

  164. 164.

    Joey Giraud

    March 11, 2014 at 1:34 pm

    @BrianM:

    Yeah, heroic feats of one-off cleverness don’t make for long-term sanity, eh?

    I wish a half-dozen self-considered geniuses I know could absorb that lesson.

    Still, I should be forgiven for suspecting that an online blowhard’s boast of coding/hacking a drum memory is just a Palin-style plagerization of the Story of Mel.

  165. 165.

    Cervantes

    March 11, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    @BrianM:

    Mel (who was apparently a real person)

    Mel Kaye.

    He used to work for Librascope (which is now part of Lockheed Martin).

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