Hipper-than-thou Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein finds the U.S. Constitution musty and uncool. It's so 1776!

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=hd6UkU6UaG

Posted by Larry O'Connor Dec 30th 2010 at 11:31 am at
http://bigjournalism.com/sright/2010/12/30/which-part-of-the-constitution-is-confusing-ezra/


And when that something tends to re-confirm your own seasoned intuition about why the American mainstream media has lost SO much credibility, respect and just plan eyeballs/readers the past 10-15 years, it makes you wonder if in the year 2010, reasonably smart print reporters STILL don't understand that when the red light is on, the TV camera is actually ON and that you are being broadcast for everyone to see; and some people record that for posterity. 

Such is the case today with this curious video featuring Ezra Klein, which I first discovered on Andrew Breitbart's popular MSM-skewering journalism website, Big Journalism, 
http://bigjournalism.com/, itself, a spin-of of its very popular parent website, Breitnat.com, http://www.breitbart.com/


After reading the accompanying article by Larry O'Connor and re-watching the video, I'm inclined to think that it's very likely that there will be a forthcoming new feature in this space in the new year titled, "Children's letters to liberal WaPo blogger Ezra Klein."

If you believe anything over 100 years old can't be properly understood, then why do we STILL love Shakespeare?

Why do some people -thou not me!- still pay big bucks to hear classical music or opera in concert halls that they've already heard hundreds of times?
Surely cable TV can do 'Better Than Ezra' as an eyewitness to history, but then that's why they're MSNBC, right?

Oddly enough, the U.S. Constitution proscribes the oath of office that the newly-elected President of the United States must utter under oath, and yet the person we were told two years ago was a brilliant constitutional law expert, Barack Obama, had no problem whatsoever understanding what those words meant -and neither did anyone else.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html


Klein seems to have no problem understanding the original part of our Constitution we call the Bill of Rights, and in particular, the First Amendment guaranteeing "freedom of speech"

But then that's part of the current MSM's problem isn't it?
Its very disconnectedness with the majority of the American electorate makes it a poor source to judge anything of note, and when something happens they don't expect, esp. with blue-collar or Southern appeal, they always cast it in negative and even sinister tones, out of habit.

It makes you wonder what would this crop of overly self-impressed reporters and columnists have made of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams?
And God forbid if Jefferson had been from Georgia, forget about it!

So many current print and TV reporters are forever opining the merits of compromise for others in their columns, blogs and public/TV appearances -that's when you give in and let them have their way, in case you forgot- or trying to make heroes of pols who are unprincipled go-along types.


But when push comes to shove, reality has shown us that despite their talk, they aren't really the compromising type themselves.

Reality has shown us that what they like to do is pick-and-choose from American history and its institutions, as if it were a Chinese takeout menu, and while they are very protective of their own rights. yours? Well, YOURS are up for debate.


This continually shows itself thru their very opinionated screeds and squeamishness about the parts that they personally disagree with, like American's right under the Bill of Rights to bear arms, for example, which they want to do away with.
But you couldn't have one right without the other.


So much of today's MSM don't understand this fact -or want to understand- which is one of the reasons why so many Americans are genuinely repelled by certain of them when they appear on TV chat shows, because while the citizens know their history and what real compromises were made in order for the Constitution to be passed in Philadelphia 234 years ago, many young-ish reporters are clueless, and many of the worst offenders are currently toiling in South Florida.

Ernie Pyle is dead and he isn't coming back.

http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/erniepyle/
------
Update of January 2, 2011 at 2:09 p.m.On The Drudge Report this afternoon, http://www.drudgereport.com/ 

Matt has this Klein story featured with the headline
Ernie Pyle is dead and he isn't coming back.

 
http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/erniepyle/


Update of January 2, 2011 at 2:09 p.m.
On The Drudge Report this afternoon, http://www.drudgereport.com/ Matt has this Klein story featured with the headline: WASH POST STAFFER: Constitution Impossible to Understand Because It's Over 100 Years Old...
-----

Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough on History
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A4Kti0iw3M


See also: American Revolution "1776" - David McCullough
http://www.c-span.org/Events/American-Revolution-1776--David-McCullough/19609-1/
-----
Below are some prospective issues that may appear in upcoming letters to 'Ezra the Elder':If Tallahassee isn't the most corrupt state capital in the United States -and it isn't Albany, either- what is?
How do you solve a problem like JenJen? (Jennifer Gottlieb)
Can you explain how airplanes don't fall from the sky?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Billy_Goat


What's the reason there's no WMATA pedestrian tunnel connecting the north and south-bound Farragut North train station and the east-west-bound Farragut West Metro train station in Washington, D.C. when they are less than a city block apart, and would obviously make everyone's life easier?


Why are all the press hangouts near the Washington Post on 15th so very, very lame, unlike the way press bars always appear in films, hence one of the reasons so  much of DC's media drinks and eats between K Street and DuPont Circle.
Those cool images oif what life could be like are precisely why so many college students put up with crap while working for the student college newspaper, because they can picture that idealized life and can imagine making it a reality?

How will it all end for Daniel Snyder and the Washington Redskins, with his wife inheriting the team and running it after he sticks his foot in his mouth one time too many and suffocates, or with him selling the team to be rid of the headache and universal criticism of him and his grating personality, and the new team owner raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy within three years?


The extra-hard sports imponderable:
The sports teams I root for most fervently have had the following people associated with them over the past few years since I returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C. area:
Dave Wannstedt (Dolphins football coach),
Mike Davis (IU basketball coach),
Randy Shannon (University of Miami Hurricanes),
Tony Sparano (Dolphins football coach),
Peter Angelos (Orioles owner),
Stephen Ross (Dolphins owner).
Hoosier head basketball Tom Crean seems to have gone a long way in solving IU's personnel problem, but the pious Dolphins and Hurricanes seem almost oblivious to the longstanding problems that have bedeviled them for years, despite the self-evident nature of those problems.
Why?

Big Ten Network's Mary-Rachel Dick is in Bloomington for the announcement of Indiana's new head basketball coach Tom Crean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szn0VqSa61Q


Timeout during 2007 IU Basketball game against Kentucky at Assebly Hall, Bloomington, (IN), featuring the "William Tell Overture" and "Indiana Our Indiana" - the Indiana University Pep Band and IU Cheerleaders


See also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVpstk3WBk4
http://www.youtube.com/user/breitbart

Article: Which Part of the Constitution is ‘Confusing’ Ezra?

Sometimes, when you least expect it, say at the end of the year when you have a million things on your mind, something falls into your lap.

Yes, hipper-than-thou Uncle Ezra, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/ will ruminate on all matter of imponderables, but first, back to this video above.

Surely it must be more than the exposed cleavage everywhere, right?
So why is Uncle Ezra so confused?


Delicious!!!
Can you name the 7 'extra' U.S. states that Obama refers to when he says that there are 57 states? (Is one of them the State of South Florida?)


What's the point of two Carolinas and two Dakotas?

Will the curse on the Baltimore Orioles only end upon the death of Peter Angelos, or will it have staying power like the curse of the billy goat on the Chicago Cubs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3_eozGUays

Government Reform in California and Gov. Charlie Crist's 2009-10 Budget and Policy Recommendations

Meant to post this last night after receiving it earlier in the day via the governor's occasional email, but had to get some sleep in order to be at the Transportation Summit up in Fort Lauderdale this morning at 8 a.m.  (I'll have more on that event on Sunday, along with photos.) 

Contrary to popular understanding and myth, or should I say 'misunderstsnding,' the word crisis in Chinese is actually NOT the combination of the characters "danger" and "opportunity."

That said, in California, according to yesterday's Los Anglese Times, the depth of public anger at the crisis in Sacramento over the state budget may well represent an excellent opportunity to get some much needed reform there, especially in limiting the power of partisan ideologues, by initiating "open primaries" for state legislative races.

See Ezra Klein's thoughts on the likely results of such an effort at The American Prospect:

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=02&year=2009&base_name=open_primaries_in_california

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_primary

Personally, I would greatly welcome such a reform-minded effort here in Florida -along with the passage of Lesley Blackner's Hometown Democracy effort which I've previously supported, see

http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/ and

http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/home2.html -as I believe they would greatly strengthen the hand of moderates in the legislature and begin to weaken the grip of conservatives and liberals from ridiculouly uncompetitive 'safe' districts, who rarely, if ever, have to be anything close to real Profiles in Courage, either in Tallahassee or back home in their districts.

The logical results of such skewed demographics and pandering to the base have been apparent across the state from Appalachicola to Aventura for quite some time.

I mean did you really think it's just a huge coincidence that the state is such a laughingstock nationally in so many areas?

Garbage in, garbage out. 

California's budget fiasco legacy could be reform

After the panic and embarrassment of the fiscal near-disaster, observers see an opportunity to finally fix how state government works.

By Michael Rothfeld and Eric Bailey

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-reform20-2009feb20,0,1370637.story

__________________________

 

February 20, 2009

 

Dear Friends,

 

Today, I unveiled my budget and policy recommendations for the 2009-10 fiscal year. My 2009 legislative priorities are aimed at investing wisely so that we can move Florida’s economy forward. These budget and policy proposals will make our classrooms world-class so that we train the best workforce possible. They will keep our air clean and diversify our energy. They will lower property taxes and ensure fiscal responsibility in local government. And they will help businesses thrive so they can create and retain the jobs that we need, now more than ever, to fuel our economy.

 

There is no doubt; these are historic times of economic challenge for our nation and for our state. But I believe that there are better days in store for Florida. Times like these provide a unique opportunity for elected officials to make government better, more efficient, and more accountable.

 

In developing my recommendations, my highest priority is to avoid further deficits – yet continue to move Florida’s economy forward. Now more than ever, we must create jobs for the hard-working people of Florida. Second, we must continue critical services to Florida’s most vulnerable – our children, elders, and persons with disabilities. And we must continue our investment in Florida’s classrooms and hard-working teachers, in public safety and in health care. The taxpayers of Florida deserve nothing less.

 

The $66.5-billion budget I propose includes $4.7 billion in federal stimulus dollars for 2009-10 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Without these funds, we would have had to tighten our belts another $3.4 billion. My budget proposal reflects Florida’s greatest needs – allocating $25.2 billion to Health and Human Services, $21.5 billion to education, and $10.3 billion to transportation and Economic Development. I also maintain my commitment to public safety, with $4.9 billion that will help keep criminals off the streets and our neighborhoods safe.

 

My recommendations include a significant increase in per-student funding: $183 more per student, for an average of $7,044 per student. That is increase of 2.67 percent over the current fiscal year.  The money we set aside for schools must be spent wisely. I want to thank Representative Robert Schenck and Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla for supporting legislation requiring our school districts to spend a minimum of 70 percent of operating funds on direct classroom expenditures benefiting students.

 

Strong universities are vital to creating the competitive workforce that will keep Florida’s economy vibrant for generations to come. I thank Senator Ken Pruitt and Representative Will Weatherford for supporting legislation that will clarify university governance and provide more teaching resources for Florida’s 11 universities -- while maintaining access and affordability for students and families. Under the proposal, each board of trustees may adopt a tuition differential beginning in fall 2009, with Board of Governors approval. Overall tuition cannot rise by more than 15 percent a year, and 30 percent of the revenues must go to need-based student financial aid.

 

Despite the economic challenges facing Florida, the Sunshine State has been recognized as a national leader in terms of our greatest resource – our workforce. To continue supporting Florida’s workforce, I recommend $2 billion in workforce initiatives, including over $800 million for career education and employment services that will create or retain 3,000 jobs. I also recommend $621.2 million for school readiness. This investment is expected to create or retain more than 12,800 jobs for child-care providers.

 

Continuing my commitment to public safety, I recommend $4.9 billion to maintain support for Florida’s increasing prison population and continue programs that reduce recidivism, prevent juvenile crime and keep violent criminals off the streets. My proposed budget also maintains funding to support local law enforcement agencies.

 

We must make every effort to preserve direct health care services to our children, our elderly, and our disabled populations. I am recommending an increase of $45 million for cash assistance and food stamps for families and their children, and $52 million to support an additional 46,000 children in the KidCare program.

 

We must continue our efforts, started in August with Accelerate Florida, to maintain Florida as a friendly place to do business. I am urging the passage of legislation sponsored by Senator Don Gaetz and Representative Trudi Williams that streamlines and reduces burdensome licensing requirements for contractors and other professionals.

 

Now more than ever, as families are faced with economic challenges, we must reduce the tax burden on Florida homeowners and business property owners. I propose a set of reforms that build upon previous legislation resulting in the largest property tax cut in state history.

 

I support the proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by Senator Evelyn Lynn and Representative Carl Domino that encourages homeownership and enhances the tax savings provided by Amendment One. It further reduces the growth cap on non-homestead residential and commercial properties from 10 percent to 5 percent. The amendment also grants a 50 percent exemption, up to $250,000, to homeowners who previously have not owned a home in Florida.

 

Legislation sponsored by Senator Mike Fasano and supported in the House by Representative Marcelo Llorente protects Florida homeowners from having to pay more in taxes when market values are declining. The proposal repeals the automatic three percent increase on the assessed value of homesteads when their market values decrease. In addition, legislation sponsored by Representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera provides fairness for property owners who challenge the property appraiser’s assessment of their property value.

 

Local governments, like state government, must be accountable in how they spend taxpayer dollars. Legislation sponsored by Senator Mike Haridopolos and Representatives Dean Cannon and Anitere Flores keeps our local governments accountable by limiting increases in local revenues to inflation and growth, based on the value of new construction. Only through super-majority votes by governing bodies can revenues increase by more than the cap.

 

I again call on the Florida Legislature to quickly approve the 25-year compact between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Over time it can provide billions of dollars to Florida’s schools – with $150 million guaranteed in 2009-10 alone. The tribe also reports the compact can create 45,000 new jobs. I am also encouraging the Legislature to support SunRail, the proposed 61-mile commuter rail system that would serve Orlando and Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties.  A recently released economic impact study found construction and operation of the commuter rail project will infuse more than $1 billion over the next 30 years into Florida’s economy and create more than 13,000 construction and operations jobs.

 

I look forward to working with the Legislature on these proposals. Together, we can put in place new laws that strengthen our economy and make life better for Floridians. May God continue to bless the great state of Florida for now and into the future.

 

  

 

 

 

Click here to see the Governor's video message: http://www.clickcaster.com/charliecrist