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New York Times

From the “why we can’t have nice things file”

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C’mon NYTimes, you can do better than this.

When we try to convince people journalists are not the enemy of the people, this does not help…Get it right or don’t do it.

Editors’ Note: September 14, 2018

An earlier version of this article and headline created an unfair impression about who was responsible for the purchase in question. While Nikki R. Haley is the current ambassador to the United Nations, the decision on leasing the ambassador’s residence and purchasing the curtains was made during the Obama administration, according to current and former officials. The article should not have focused on Ms. Haley, nor should a picture of her have been used. The article and headline have now been edited to reflect those concerns, and the picture has been removed.

 

Source: State Department Spent $52,701 on Curtains for Residence of U.N. Envoy – The New York Times

Updates:

Media critic Eric Wemple weighs in the same day with an op/ed in the Times:

Backlash to the initial New York Times presentation has been robust, as well it should be. There are plenty of examples of bona fide Trump-era abuses of taxpayer money — see Scott Pruitt’s strange security purchases and Tom Price’s travel expenses. No need to fashion a headline suggesting that Haley belongs to that group.”

Source: New York Times wrongs Nikki Haley with curtain headline

And you people are not helping either:

Reporters in Hurricane Florence, please stop acting like you’re hanging on for dear life

The WaPo takes a look:

New York Times backtracks on a tale about some expensive curtains

 

Victims of Deficit Reduction

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Nicholas Kristoff offered a provocative column; Republicans, Zealots and Our Security, in Sunday’s New Your Times. Kristoff opens with an intriguing notion. If foreign fanatics were to take our country to the brink of financial crisis we would be up in arms. He makes a compelling case that ideology by the more conservative wing of the GOP should be no different.

We tend to think of national security narrowly as the risk of a military or terrorist attack. But national security is about protecting our people and our national strength — and the blunt truth is that the biggest threat to America’s national security this summer doesn’t come from China, Iran or any other foreign power. It comes from budget machinations, and budget maniacs, at home.

In other words, Republican zeal to lower debts could result in increased interest expenses and higher debts. Their mania to save taxpayers could cost taxpayers. That suggests not governance so much as fanaticism.

We should be alarmed and outraged.

How did we get to this point? When did politics become more important than responsible governing?

Kristoff focuses on the damage this mania for budget cuts does to education. The same could be said for conservation and environmental programs. Try substituting conservation or the environment for education, Kristoff’s words ring just as true.

More broadly, a default would leave America a global laughingstock. Our “soft power,” our promotion of democracy around the world, and our influence would all take a hit. The spectacle of paralysis in the world’s largest economy is already bewildering to many countries. If there is awe for our military prowess and delight in our movies and music, there is scorn for our political/economic management.

While one danger to national security comes from the risk of default, another comes from overzealous budget cuts — especially in education, at the local, state and national levels. When we cut to the education bone, we’re not preserving our future but undermining it.

This is going to be a long hot summer…