| "Crist sure knows how to wow his new fiancee. Crist and his girlfriend, Carole Rome, will meet Prince Charles and Prince Andrew during their visit to Europe this week." "Crist and his new fiancee to get the royal treatment". "His new fiancee at his side, Gov. Charlie Crist today kicks off an 11-day mission to England, France, Spain and Russia ..." One might suppose that this is little more than Charlie adding depth to his [very shallow] resume as he is mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate "Crist will stay in suites with work and meeting space that cost as much as $1,800 a night."The trip comes as growing numbers of Floridians abandon vacations for "stay-cations" to save money. Why is this man smiling? With all due respect, help us understand what Charlie Crist, his girlfriend and a cadre of RPOF campaign contributors will achieve trapsing around the sacred ground at Normandy? Not only that, this is already Charlie's "third trade mission [read 'junket'] as governor". And this borders on the ludicrous:Enterprise Florida said his trip to Brazil last fall generated more than $300-million in "actual and anticipated" sales, including a 200-job expansion plan by the Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer "Democrats toss barbs at Crist's European trade trip". See also "Big names, big possibilities greet Gov. Crist on European trip". Huh?: "Crist will be unfettered by the nettlesome Florida media. The $10,000-plus cost to accompany the governor on the entire trip was too rich for the state's newspapers, which have traditionally sent at least one reporter to accompany Florida's governors on international trips." Who needs "accountability" from corporations that own newspapers anyway? The The Orlando Sentinel editorial board "Billionaire" Sam Zell leaps to Charlie's defense: "Crist's critics are taking aim at him for spending $255,000 in state money to lead a 10-day trade mission to Europe. They're off the mark." "Mr. Crist's economic mission could pay dividends". Back to Charlie's fascinating fiance, the alleged journalists in this lengthy piece were simply entranced by the delightful couple: "In the hour long interview on Fisher Island, Crist and his fiancee never stop touching. He rubs her hands and her back and her shoulders. She squeezes his thigh and stares at his face." "Meet Carole Rome, the governor's fiancee". for more puff, see "Two very public figures figure out a private life". More on Zellism after the jump ... |
You recall this Zell fellow, who very recently retorted "F*** you" to a journalist asking why he focuses only on earnings and not journalism. Here's more on that one sided exchange with what may probably be the last spine at the Orlando Sentinel: The [photo] journalist in the video asked where the paper's journalism was headed, and Zell said journalists needed to focus on what readers want, thus helping generate revenue to reinvest in the paper. The journalist then followed up, saying readers want "puppy dogs" rather than real information. Zell took umbrage, delivering the eminently quotable line, "you're giving me the classic... journalistic arrogance of deciding that puppies don't count." Zell dropped his F-bomb a few breaths later, at the very end of his answer. "Exclusive: Sam Zell Says 'F*** You' To His Journalist". "This follows on the heels of Zell calling Sun-Sentinel publisher Howard Greenberg a "motherf***er". And then there's Orlando Sentinel editorial page editor Jane Healy who retired a coulpa weeks back after 35 years with the paper. She weren't no Edward Willis Scripps, but even she (apparently) had to draw the line somewhere. Here's some background on the fellers runnin' the Tribune company: "The Orlando Sentinel editors are at it again". Zell's most recent "‘Orlando Sentinel’ First of Zell’s Papers to Go Cartoon; Others to Follow". Bill Moyers puts the problem this way in a July 11 article: Our dominant media are ultimately accountable only to corporate boards whose mission is not life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the whole body of our republic, but the aggrandizement of corporate executives and shareholders. These organizations’ self-styled mandate is not to hold public and private power accountable, but to aggregate their interlocking interests. Their reward is not to help fulfill the social compact embodied in the notion of "We, the people," but to manufacture news and information as profitable consumer commodities. Democracy without honest information creates the illusion of popular consent at the same time that it enhances the power of the state and the privileged interests that the state protects. And nothing characterizes corporate media today more than its disdain toward the fragile nature of modern life and its indifference toward the complex social debate required of a free and self-governing people.
"Is the Fourth Estate a Fifth Column?" (via this dKos post) |
