Give Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post credit: it takes courage to change one’s mind, and to admit an earlier mistake.
Grim has written that he was wrong to dismiss a November 2011 report by 60 Minutes (based on Breitbart editor Peter Schweitzer’s book, Throw Them All Out) on insider trading in Congress:
At the time, I wrongly reported that 60 Minutes’ poor choice of targets for its report, and its clumsy attempt to connect specific trading to specific legislative action, set momentum for the bill back. Instead, in fact, the report propelled the legislation forward.
Grim had initially reported that the 60 Minutes report “falls short.”
What has changed his view is not the merits of the argument against insider trading–which Grim acknowledged at the time as “a serious problem in Washington”–but the fate of the legislation, which President Barack Obama suddenly supported during his State of the Union address last night:
Much of the left and the left media–including the Huffington Post, Politico, and Media Matters for America–dismissed the issue of insider trading and tried to discredit both the allegations and their source. Now that Obama has taken up the legislation–with its sponsor, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) obtaining Obama’s explicit commitment to make Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid move it through the Senate–the left is scrambling to catch up.
Grim’s (honest) change of heart is likely the beginning of a broader and less principled shift, in which the left will attempt, in Orwellian fashion, to rewrite the history of its opposition to the Schweizer book, the 60 Minutes report, and congressional legislation on insider trading.
Big Brother says insider trading in Congress is wrong; therefore it has always been wrong.
The reversal is inevitable, given that the Obama cult of personality still enthralls many of his media admirers–and given the political advantage of supporting insider trading legislation when Republican leaders in Congress have stalled it and none few of the remaining Republican presidential candidates has yet seized upon it (Gov. Rick Perry, no longer running, did champion the issue at the time). Update: Newt Gingrich did attack congressional insider trading while on the stump in South Carolina.
Some congressional Democrats are still resisting a ban on congressional insider trading, and some liberal journalists are only now discovering that it exists, but the shift in left-wing media has already begun.
Obama has spoken–and there’s an election to win, after all. Just try not to give Breitbart any credit.
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20 Comments
It is wrong and illegal, unless, of course….
You are a member of CONgress.
The Socialist Leftists want to KILL what they call "capitalism". When, in fact, it is "Crony-Capitalism" that is killing this economy …which they are neck-deep in with this "insider trading" BS.
Gawd, I really hate these unethical, corrupt, criminal politicians.
OOOH! They hate it when Barry ruins a perfectly good lie….
Dame Nancy Pelosi is a key ingredient.
She is up to her neck in this situation. They liked Boehner being implicated (although a much less egregious example) but knew Pelosi- who wants the speakership back more than any of you could ever know- was really vulnerable on this.
But Obama needs a victory, and as long as he sails above the fray he really doesn't care about anyone else. So, look for some very uncomforrtable botox moments from the corrupt doyenne from San Fran…
The head of the flock changes direction and the rest of the libtard sheeple fall in line.
Wait a minute. Grim "thought it was a serious problem" at the time but, despite that, he didn't think his boy Zero could get it through congress? You mean, like, Zero didn't want to and upset his members?
Wasn't it just as serious a problem when Zero and his minions had control of both houses? But now, he can't be expected to do anything?
That be mental gymnastics right there, no?
And yes, expect the famed historical revisionism of the liberals to take over the narrative before the week is out! They've been telling us for years about this problem, right?
Is this have something to with the shakeup with the Chief of Staff? Has the MSM not been getting their marching orders. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
You have to laugh at this stuff. They originally treated Congressional insider trading as a non-issue unworthy of our attention until Obama comes out and says it's important and thus ok to pay attention to the issue. Now they're in favor of doing something about Congressional insider trading.
Any trolls out there want to tell me again about how the lefty media doesn't get their talking points from the White House? If these people had their noses any further up Obama's rear-end they'd be able to charge him for a colonoscopy.
Yes. If Chairman O says it's wrong, then it's wrong! Nevermind what anyone else says. The only voice that matters is Obama's. /eyeroll
Face it, politicians are merely well dressed chicago style crooks. Taking Americans to the cleaners and loving every minute of it.
Gosh, oh golly gee. Once the toddler says it's good, his minions run in circles, scream and shout, and immediately say its opposite day. Can hardly wait for the spin merchants spin this.
I love the headline.
We have always been friends with East Asia.
Off topic: Updating our privacy policies and terms of service 1/24/2012 01:30:00 PM In just over a month we will make some changes to our privacy policies and Google Terms of Service. This stuff matters, so we wanted to explain what’s changing, why and what these changes mean for users
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/updating-o...
Haha CNN just posted a piece called "Why 2012 is nothing like Orwell's 1984". They're like "Nothing to see here. Move along."
You have to wonder did they watch the movie, or smoke a joint and fall asleep?
It's all in your mindset as Eric Holder says. If you don't think your doing wrong then your not, as long as you have good intentions.
Why do you think they call them Elite's? Throw them ALL OUT!
Its really very interesting and good to watch.
Gynecology Instruments
Chris Matthews is a despicable liar.
The entire bunch are nothing more than a Crime Sindicate. If the American People were to bring RICO charges against this Gang of Thieves, all of them would walk out in chains.
Only in politics is something so clearly illegal and immoral, standard operating procedure. The chutzpah to sit in our law-making chambers and do things that would send any one of us "regular people" (The Government comes for the regular people first -Bill Cosby-) to jail is astounding. That both political stripes are defending the practice shows how much our elected officials consider themselves a ruling class. The gap between us and them is far more destructive to America than the gap between me and Warren Buffet's bank account.
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