__
__
Back in the Bronx in the 1960s, it was explained to us children that the Harps Micks shanty bogtrotters Irish-American civil servants had claimed an annual parade in March, and therefore our Italian-American neighbors demanded equal time on Fifth Avenue. We vaguely suspected there was more of a backstory, but NYC was one of those Ankh-Morporks where “What’s in it for me?” served as a unifying motto…
***********
Speaking of taking an axe to turkeys, here’s Professor Krugman on the latest in Republican projection:
If anyone had doubts about the madness that has spread through a large part of the American political spectrum, the reaction to Friday’s better-than expected report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics should have settled the issue. For the immediate response of many on the right — and we’re not just talking fringe figures — was to cry conspiracy.
Leading the charge of what were quickly dubbed the “B.L.S. truthers” was none other than Jack Welch, the former chairman of General Electric, who posted an assertion on Twitter that the books had been cooked to help President Obama’s re-election campaign. His claim was quickly picked up by right-wing pundits and media personalities.
It was nonsense, of course. Job numbers are prepared by professional civil servants, at an agency that currently has no political appointees. But then maybe Mr. Welch — under whose leadership G.E. reported remarkably smooth earnings growth, with none of the short-term fluctuations you might have expected (fluctuations that reappeared under his successor) — doesn’t know how hard it would be to cook the jobs data….
What’s on everyone’s [holiday for some] table, today?
Early Morning Open Thread: Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!Post + Comments (60)