American Morning
Avlon: Independents looking for alternative to angry politics
Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is a senior political columnist for The Daily Beast and author of "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America." Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/22/wingnuts.olbermann.king.gi.art.jpg caption="On the left, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann; on the right, Rep. Steve King."]
By John Avlon, Special to CNN
In a week dominated by the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake and a seismic political shift in Massachusetts, the wingnuts couldn’t help but weigh in and drag the discourse down.
Keith Olbermann went on an epic rant, calling now U.S. Senator-elect Scott Brown a racist and conservative Congressman Steve King managed to politicize the pain in Haiti with talk of refugee deportation.
It’s a cliché to say that some liberals reflexively reach for the race card when attacking political opponents. But in 2010 that’s just one of the weapons in the identity-politics arsenal. And this week, with the Massachusetts special election hours away, Keith Olbermann threw the entire kitchen sink at Republican Scott Brown. Here’s his summation:
"In short, in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea bagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees."
I’m not sure which accusation is most offensive or absurd – “supporter of violence against women” might win that low-blow award. But the attempted call to arms apparently didn’t frighten Democrats to the polls and it might have helped alienate independent voters, who went for Brown in record numbers.
Olbermann is a smart, funny guy and his special commentaries are sometimes incisive, but this might have set a record for the most unhinged since he called President Bush a “fascist” and told him to “shut the hell up.”
We Listen – Your Comments 1/21/10
Editor's Note: With President Obama’s first anniversary in office following Tuesday’s Senate election upset for the Democrats, Thursday’s American Morning audience revived many negative perceptions about the president’s effectiveness as a leader of the Democratic Party and the country.
- Claire: I am so sick of Barack Obama blaming Bush for everything that goes wrong in his administration, including the Mass Senate race. Makes one wonder if Michelle Obama gets pregnant will he blame that on Bush too? This guy needs to put on his "big boy" pants and start taking responsibility for what his administration has fouled up.
- Jerry: Now that Congress and the President are losing constituent confidence for not taking the advice of actual forecast professionals, the Obama Administration is now waking up to the fact. […] It's just time for Congress and the President to get on board in a game on strategy instead of an end game theory that translates where this Nation will monopolize the fact that you get the best results when you give better resolve. And it's as simple as that!
How would you grade President Obama as he celebrates his first anniversary in office? What would you like to have seen him achieve that he did not?
Coast Guard's role in relief efforts
The U.S. Coast Guard was among the first American responders to bring help to the Haitian people. The coast guard now has a number of ships and aircraft there to help with the response. Pilot Lieutenant commander Bill Strickland and Captain James Mcpherson, a spokesman for the coast guard spoke with CNN's Kiran Chetry Thursday.
Rebuilding Haiti
Life in Haiti is largely taking place on the streets and in make-shift communities. In part because survivors are terrified remaining structures could still collapse. So what will it take to rebuild haiti? CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
U.S. official: We're improving aid to Haiti
Washington (CNN) - Stung by criticism that aid hasn't been getting into earthquake-ravaged Haiti quickly enough, U.S. officials say they are taking steps to rectify the problem and the perception.
A senior administration official involved in the aid operation acknowledged Wednesday that not all aid, particularly medical supplies, was getting through fast enough and attributed it to two factors.
Dozens of planes were flying into the Port-Au-Prince airport in Haiti, carrying a variety of food, water, medicine and search-and-rescue gear.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said military personnel on the ground were sometimes confused about what each plane was carrying.
The military will now station aid officials in the airport control tower to assess the contents of each flight and to ease the flow of aid, the source said.
Also, a Web-based system has been created so that aid groups, donor countries and others can track when each flight is scheduled to land and the supplies it has aboard.
The official also said the operating procedure of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) says it can work without security only during daylight. The arrival of U.S. troops means they can take over a large share of security and speed the processing of aid.
Read the full story here
Goldman Sachs demystified
By Ronni Berke and Christine Romans
Goldman Sachs: some say it's the most revered – and feared – bank on Wall Street. But after more than a century of avoiding the media spotlight, the investment bank finds itself front and center – the focus of growing public scrutiny and scorn for its role in a mortgage meltdown.
Demonstrations are held outside its headquarters; newspapers and magazines criticize what they call a change in the "Goldman Ethos," or culture, of serving the client above all else. Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi has ridiculed it as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity."
Critics blame Goldman for selling toxic assets, like mortgage-backed securities, that contributed to the financial collapse. Like other banks, it got government bailout money, although it paid back the $10 billion with 23% interest. While the country is still reeling with skyrocketing foreclosures and 10-percent unemployment, Goldman ended 2009 with soaring stock prices and profits.
That leaves many competitors and critics wondering – are they gaming the system, or are they just the best at what they do?
"Goldman always brings to the table the attitude we're smarter than everybody else and we're better than everybody else, and that's why we make money," said former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who investigated Goldman's business practices while attorney general.
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