Brad Warthen's Blog

The subprime mess in microcosm

For those of you who have trouble wrapping your mind around the subprime mess that led to all our other economic woes, heres an instructive anecdote from the WSJ on Saturday. Its about a condemned house in Avondale, Ariz. An excerpt:The story of the two-bedroom, one-bath shack on West Hopi Street, is the story of this years financial panic, told in 576 square feet. It helps explain how a series of bad decisions can add up to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Less than two years ago, Integrity Funding LLC, a local lender, gave a $103,000 mortgage...

Blogger runs for school board

Among the e-mails awaiting me upon my return today was this one:Happy New Year!You know me from my writing and protesting about the Confederate flag: I write the blog takedowntheflag. Some of you also know me as an active volunteer for Barack Obama and for Anton Gunn.I’m writing to tell you that I’m running for the vacant seat on the Richland Two School Board. There are nine candidates, and whoever gets the most votes gets elected (no runoff). The election is on Tuesday, Jan 20, and in-person absentee voting is going on now. One of the major tasks of the...

Family, friends and Facebook

By BRAD WARTHENEDITORIAL PAGE EDITORI REALIZED that the whole thing was getting out of hand when my wife started asking me why I didn’t want to be her “friend.” Not to get into personal matters too deeply, I had always sort of thought my wife was, is and will be my friend — my best friend, the one with whom I shared all, ’til death do us part. After 34 years of marriage, five kids and now three grandchildren in common, after all of which we are still living in the same house and on speaking terms, you’d think the...

When Wall St. woes hit Main St.

Ever since the TARP rescue for credit markets was first proposed, weve heard and read many times how if credit dries up on Wall Street, it affects us on Main Street. And Ive sort of, kind of understood that in the abstract.But I understood a little better how in could play out when I read this piece this morning in The Wall Street Journal, about whats happening out there to small businesses. I was particularly struck by this anecdote about a business that is strong (for its size) in every other way, but is now in trouble because of the...

Today's Will column, with links

The George Will column I put on todays page is one of his oblique ones -- the closest thing to a point in it is what I said in the headline, which is that in a National Endowment for Humanities project, of all places, Mr. Will seems to have found what he regards as A government program worth the money.But the column caused me to look up some of the artworks he describes, and I enjoyed doing that. Of course, I couldnt reproduce them on the page itself, but I can run the column here with links, to make it...

I know a place where everything is fine

Whenever I go to the Wall Street Journal mobile Web site on my Treo -- something I do about once a day -- it defaults to the main page that initially loaded at 08:32:00 EDT on Jan. 4 of this year. Im not sure why it does that, especially since if I then refresh the page, it goes to the current one -- without changing the URL or anything. The shift is dramatic, since the site was redesigned a couple of months back, with a different color scheme and everything.But lately, Ive been a little reluctant to refresh the page...

Accidents WILL happen

Dont take that headline as me brushing off the seriousness of the problem. Just take it as an opportunity to quote Elvis Costello.Well have a correction on tomorrows editorial page for the second day in a row. I cant remember the last time that happened.When I first came to editorial in 1994, I thought it a bit much that ALL editors in the department read proofs every day. It didnt seem efficient. By the time I became editor in 97, I had come to value the process for two reasons: It kept everyone plugged in and gave them ownership of...

NYT sees Columbia as microcosm of economic decline

Dont know how I missed the story in yesterdays New York Times about the job fair in Columbia -- headlined Reeling South Carolina City Is a Snapshot of Economic Woes -- but in case you did, too, here it is. And heres an excerpt: As the American economy sinks deeper into one of the more punishing recessions since the Depression, frustration and fear color the national conversation. This city in the center of South Carolina is an ideal listening post. According to a range of indicators assembled by Moody’s Economy.com — from job growth to change in household worth —...

Alone

Assuming I set it up right, if you send me an e-mail this week, youll get this:Welcome to my special Christmas week AUTOMATED MESSAGE. First, I am alone in the office this week, and spending all of my time editing and preparing for publication material left behind by my vacationing colleagues. This is like doing the work of five jugglers simultaneously, so please bear with me. If you intend for your message to be considered for publication as a LETTER TO THE EDITOR, please resend it to stateeditor@thestate.com. If you are submitting a potential GUEST COLUMN FOR OUR OP-ED PAGE,...

Graham's got it right, too

No sooner had I hit save on that last post than I saw this release from Lindsey Graham, which actually came in before the DeMint one:“I’m disappointed with President Bush’s decision in many respects. “I do not believe it’s appropriate to use the TARP (Troubled Asset Recovery Program) funds to bail out the automotive companies. These funds were supposed to be used to stabilize financial institutions. The TARP legislation would certainly not have passed it we had known it was going to be used for this purpose. “The plan announced by the President today will not lead to the necessary...

DeMint's right about Bush bailout

Just saw this release from Jim DeMint about Bushs unilateral $17.4 billion bailout of Detroit:“This decision is disappointing. While the bailout may provide a short-term boost to three companies, it will not force them to fundamentally improve their operations and become competitive in the long-term. This decision, I am sad to say, runs counter the interests of American taxpayers, American consumers and the American auto industry,” said Senator DeMint. “I also believe this action is unconstitutional. The Executive Branch must have the consent of Congress to appropriate taxpayer funds. Yet the bailout legislation passed earlier this year does not permit...

Woodward reports passing of 'Deep Throat'

This from The Washington Post:Deep Throat Mark Felt Dies at 95By Patricia Sullivan and Bob WoodwardWashington Post Staff WritersFriday, December 19, 2008; Page A02W. Mark Felt Sr., the associate director of the FBI during the Watergate scandal who, better known as Deep Throat, became the most famous anonymous source in American history, died yesterday. He was 95....As the second-highest official in the FBI under longtime director J. Edgar Hoover and interim director L. Patrick Gray, Felt detested the Nixon administrations attempt to subvert the bureaus investigation into the complex of crimes and coverups known as the Watergate scandal that ultimately...

A new winner in the hyperbole sweepstakes

OK, now the NYT doesnt look so bad. Remember my column about that papers hyberbolic fulminations about a certain current president?Well, theyve been outdone by a letter writer on our very own page today, one Jack Heape of Ridgeway: Nixon infamously said, “Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal,” conveniently after his own pardon, by the way. That has been the entire Bush administration’s creed. It has been one ongoing criminal enterprise since day one, a wrecking ball to the Constitution and rule of law, with torture, illegal surveillance and obstruction and perversion of justice...

Some actual GOOD news about the U.S. auto industry

Im not up to posting a lot of commentary on it, but I didnt want to let the day pass without noting this positive development, from an Energy Party point of view:Fourteen U.S. technology companies are joining forces and seeking $1 billion in federal aid to build a plant to make advanced batteries for electric cars, in a bid to catch up to Asian rivals that are far ahead of the U.S. The effort, the latest pitch from corporate America to inject federal dollars into a project, is similar to an alliance that two decades ago helped the U.S. computer-chip...

Obama’s clean; let’s move on now

By BRAD WARTHENEditorial Page EditorALL RIGHT, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it is my firm belief that Barack Obama had nothing to do with the (alleged) sordid doings of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. At this point (if you’re sane), you’re saying, of course he didn’t. But you just say that because you’re not a part of the narrow partisan universe of 24/7 TV news and blogs. Unfortunately, the president-elect himself ignores that world at his peril. Hence the statement released Monday from his transition office: At the direction of the President-elect, a review of...

Love in the Time of Stomach Crud, by Gabriel Garcia Warthen

Miss me? Well, I can hardly blame you; I miss myself. Ive taken a sort of time out from time the last couple of days.It started over the weekend. My wife stayed up almost all of Saturday night coping with what she initially assumed to be food poisoning -- on top of a bad cold that had plagued her all week. So on Sunday morning, I headed to Mass alone. This was, ironically, the Sunday that my column about taking care of my twin granddaughters ran. On my way to St. Peters, my daughter calls me and says she and...

Who throws a shoe?

Actually, that Austin Powers quote has little to do with the point of this post -- although it was a weird thing to do, a la Random Task.... What I do mean to point out is the fact that across the Mideast, the Arab Street was out en masse demonstrating in favor of the guy who did his utmost (by Middle Eastern standards) to insult President W. in Iraq -- less than 24 hours after the incident. From The New York Times:Barely 24 hours after the journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, was tackled and arrested for his actions at a Baghdad news...

Blagojevich: Who'd have voted for this guy?

From the moment he intruded upon the national awareness last week, Rod Blagojevich has prompted a sort of Monty Python response. Whenever I see him -- and I see him too often -- I think, How'd you get to be governor, then? I didn't vote for ya... Those of you who are literal-minded are thinking, Of course you didn't vote for him; you don't live in Illinois, but don't spoil my fun. What I'm saying is that when I look upon this guy, I am as mystified by the radical peasants in the mud contemplating the king: I can't imagine...

Getting into the proper spirit

By BRAD WARTHENEditorial Page EditorEVERY YEAR AT this time, I have to admit that I have failed yet again to get into the proper spirit of Advent — that is, I admit that when I find time to think about it at all. This is not my fault. Advent — which the church tells us Catholics should be a time of quiet, contemplative reflection and anticipation — couldn’t possibly come at a worse time. I mean, it’s just before Christmas! I don’t know about you, but the month for me consists of longer hours than usual at work — backing...

Today's computer puzzler

Last week, the folks in our Information Services department came up with a new -- well, it's new to me -- laptop to replace the one that got stolen, the one I'd had ever since I started this blog. Which is great; they've even programmed it to do cool and mysterious things my old one never dreamt of. But there's one problem -- whenever I'm typing, suddenly my typing cursor will jump, without warning, from where I'm TRYING to type to some other random part of the page, either in the middle of some previous sentence or out of the...

I missed my chance, Jerry!

Last week, I meant to react to this news ...About 20 DHEC and EPA agents raided the city’s sewer plant at 8 a.m. Thursday, armed with a search warrant, weapons and wearing bulletproof vests — just as parents were dropping off their children at nearby Heathwood Hall Episcopal School.... by saying that if it had been ME raiding that place, I don't think I'd have worried about bulletproof. Bullets wouldn't have been my main concern. I'd have gone for a hazmat suit. But that's me. But forgetting to say that until now at least gave me the excuse of using...

Now we're REALLY in trouble: The WSJ quotes ME on the economy

Just this morning, after taking two days off, I pondered my three-day growth, and the overused disposable razor by the sink (I really need to buy some more this weekend), and thought this would be a perfect time to grow the beard back, just in time for Christmas. But then I thought it might confuse the twins as to who I was, and no amount of convenience was worth that. So I shaved, and then came in to work, to find that my boss, Publisher Henry Haitz, had e-mailed me a story from The Wall Street Journal, which started like...

Another view on Nikki and the Speaker

We've heard from different sides of the divide -- or one of the divides -- that split S.C. Republicans on the subject of Speaker Harrell's heavy-handed treatment of Nikki Haley and Nathan Ballentine. Now I see that Tim Kelly, who is no kind of Republican, has also weighed in on Nikki's behalf:There are probably about six things in life that I agree with Mark Sanford on - and it would still take me about a day-and-a-half to figure out what they are - but his efforts to introduce more transparency and accountability into South Carolina government is definitely at the...

Blinded by ideology

Just to show you the difference from an UnParty approach and an ideological one, take a look at The Wall Street Journal's editorial on the Detroit bailout, and compare it to ours. Both of us are against the bailout. So we agree, right? Not quite. It seems that the one thing that bugs the WSJ the most about the deal is the possibility that maybe, just maybe, it might force Detroit to make sensible cars for a change. And that, to the libertarian extremists at the Journal, would be like taking the country to Room 101 -- in other words,...

Detroit bailout editorial

Here's the editorial I wrote for today's paper about the Detroit bailout deal Congress and the White House have been working away on so busily this week:The more we hear, the worse Detroit bailout sounds CONGRESS IN RECENT days has made two things plain with regard to the Detroit Three automakers (still known as the “Big Three,” although they no longer dominate the marketplace):• It is determined to do something, and to do it right away.• It doesn’t really know what to do.A couple of days ago, the plan seemed simple enough: Give automakers $15 billion or so — instead...

So when, precisely, do you suppose Inez got cozy with these "teachers' unions?"

It's been a busy day, so I'm just now getting back to that bizarre AP story I read this morning about Inez and the Education secretary job. It said, in part,Teachers' unions, an influential segment of the party base, want an advocate for their members, someone like Obama adviser Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor, or Inez Tenenbaum, the former state schools chief in South Carolina. Reform advocates want someone like New York schools chancellor Joel Klein, who wants teachers and schools held accountable for the performance of students.Say WHAT? Inez is the one who led the nation in implementing...

The imperial presidency-elect?

This letter on today's page got me to thinking:New administration may be full of itself For the past few weeks, I have witnessed our newly elected commander-in-chief and his subordinates on national and local news. On the podium is a seal that denotes “the office of the president-elect.” Believing I had forgotten much of my ninth-grade civics class, I reread our U.S. Constitution. Described therein were the offices of, requirements for and duties of the president, senators, representatives, et al. Nowhere could I find a definition of the “office of the president-elect.” How pompous and presumptuous of those so headily...

At least we don't have to worry about Sanford doing things the CHICAGO way...

After more than three decades in this business, you can get sort of jaded. You hear that the governor of Illinois is arrested and charged with trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat, and you think, here we go again. What's new in the world? Hey, I've seen gubernatorial corruption. I was there in Nashville in January 2009 when they swore in Lamar Alexander several days early because Gov. Ray Blanton was expected to turn a bunch of prisoners loose in his last days in office. And hey, this is Illinois we're talking about, so what do you expect? They're...

Free Chicken

On my way to work today, I found myself trapped behind a chicken truck on Sunset Blvd. (the one in West Cola, not the one in L.A.), from I-26 all the way to Columbia Farms. First, for those of you who haven't had this experience, banish from your mind any bucolic image of chicken truck as the Clampett mobile with several chickens perched up on Granny's rocker. This is a tractor-trailer in which the full three dimensions of the trailer are taken up with individual cages -- sort of a poultry skyscraper on wheels -- with uniformly white and miserable-looking...

Inez Tenenbaum for Obama’s Cabinet?

By BRAD WARTHENEDITORIAL PAGE EDITORNOW THAT HE’S got his economic and national security teams lined up, President-Elect Obama can turn to the “second-tier” Cabinet positions, such as Secretary of Education. Normally, I wouldn’t take all that much interest in the Education job. I don’t see education as a proper function of the federal government; it’s a state responsibility. And when the feds have gotten involved in K-12, they’ve generally mucked it up. I’m not a fan of Ronald Reagan, but he did get some things right, and one of them was proposing to do away with the U.S. Department of...

Nikki Haley's letter

Nikki Haley sent me a copy this morning of a letter she sent out to her fellow lawmakers Wednesday. You remember what happened to Nikki on Wednesday, right? Here it is:December 3, 2008 Dear Colleagues: I feel compelled to share with you some events that occurred earlier today. This morning, I was informed that I had been assigned to serve on the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee and, honestly, I was a little surprised given the differences the Speaker and I have had recently over on the record voting. As I said to you when I took the floor yesterday...

Take another civics quiz -- please

Remember the civics quiz from several months back? You know the one I aced, relatively speaking? (Disclaimer: I'm one of those people who test well. I've always sort of identified with Woody Allen's quip in Love and Death, when another character said God is testing us! and Woody said If He's gonna test us, why doesn't He give us a written? Some folks say testing well is not a true indication of knowledge or intelligence, but what do they know? And how are they going to prove that they know it? End of disclaimer.) Well, the same people who drafted...

Paul Krugman vs. Mark Sanford

Someone brought this to our attention via e-mail. It seems that one of my least favorite syndicated columnists, Paul Krugman, had a few words to say about my least favorite current governor. Mr. Krugman, you'll recall, won the Nobel Prize for economics this year. My beef with him is that he doesn't stick to economics, and his political commentary reads like something written by a member of the College Democrats, it's so sophomorically partisan. But note that in THIS case, he is talking about what he knows -- economics. (Now watch -- Lee will 'splain to us that he's the...

A blog goes silent

As a sort of sidebar to my last post -- remember how Nathan Ballentine took up the cudgels for Nikki on his blog? Well, you don't see that any more. Suddenly, just as you might wonder with greater curiosity than ever what Nathan might have to say about all this, he goes silent. The Speaker has thoroughly shut him up, apparently. Or maybe it's like with me -- he's busy living his life, and hasn't gotten around to posting about it yet. Which do you think it is? Meanwhile, Earl Capps, who is not under the Speaker's thumb, is still...

Well, I guess he showed THEM who the big ol' hairy Speaker is

One day not too long ago, a business-leader type, discussing reform legislation of some sort, said within my hearing that if David Wilkins were Speaker of the S.C. House today, you'd see some action on the bill in question -- implying that Bobby Harrell isn't the Speaker his predecessor was. Well, I may not be holding my breath to see restructuring, or comprehensive tax reform, or a rise in the cigarette tax to the national average, or anything else we sorely need pass the House, but yesterday Bobby Harrell left no doubt who the big ol' hairy speaker was --...

Governor working his (national) constituency

From time to time I mention the constituencies that our governor cultivates with a success that stands in sharp contrast to his inability (and/or unwillingness) to get anything done working with elected officials of his own party here in South Carolina. So you regular readers know what starry-eyed fans he has among the Club for Growth and the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. Between them, those two did all they could to construct an alternative universe in which Mark Sanford was seen as a viable second banana on the national ticket this year. But I have been remiss...

'Hyperbole' and Iraq

The last couple of days I've broken my rule about not responding substantially to e-mails. In the interests of making the best use of my time for the readers' benefit, I try to steer people to the blog so that everybody can join in on the conversation. Anyway, when I break my rule I try to do this, which is publish the exchange on the blog. This exchange started, of course, with my Sunday column:From: Pat MohrSent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 4:34 PMTo: Warthen, Brad - External EmailSubject: hyperbole Well, Mr. Warthen, isn't your respect for the language, as the...

Obama and national security: Pragmatism, continuity

Sorry I haven't posted today -- actually, I DID post something, but it blew up when I hit SAVE, and I'm not about to type it again, so there. Anyway, I thought I'd put up something that would provide a chance for y'all to discuss Obama's National Security team. I've already expressed my concern about Hillary Clinton, and I don't have a lot to say about the rest. I like that Robert Gates is staying. I've always liked Gates. (See my Nov. 10, 2006, column, The return of the professional)I thought he was a great pick to rescue our military...

Some things that I 'watch with horror'

First, a warning -- I've posted some disturbing images at the bottom of this post. They are painful to look at. If you wish to avoid them, do not scroll down!Following up on my Sunday column, it occurs to me that it might be helpful to elaborate a little more on the proper meaning of watched with horror. If you'll recall, the NYT used that phrase to refer to such practices as scanning telecommunications for terrorists without proper authorization, and imprisoning supposed terrorists at Guantanamo. In the column, I gave examples from history of things that are more properly watched...

Retail watch: How's business, as of this Cyber Monday?

Just a few minutes ago, I was reading a piece at the WSJ site that attempts to get a handle on how retail sales went across the country on Black Friday, and over the weekend. (Short version: Better than expected, but a lot of that was the loss-leader items on Friday, and once folks bought those up, sales slowed.) That's a hard thing to get a grip on. But it occurs to me that it would be interesting to enlist you blog readers in a reporting effort. And what better time to do it than on Cyber Monday? We know...

The failed hyperbole of the past eight years (column version)

By BRAD WARTHENEditorial Page EditorQUICK, WHO said this? “Americans have watched in horror as President Bush has trampled on the Bill of Rights and the balance of power.” I’ll give you some hints:A. Oliver StoneB. MoveOn.orgC. An overexcited intern at the Democratic Senate Campaign CommitteeD. The New York Times The answer is “D.” Yes, I’m sorry to say that overwrought purple prose was the lead sentence last week in the lead Sunday editorial of the paper I was so recently congratulating for having the good sense to back the Columbia Free Trade Agreement. (And they made so much sense that...

The long knives come out for Ray Greenberg

Remember how, back on this post, I pointed out that Dr. Ray Greenberg was particularly (and singularly) courageous to step out and speak truth in the face of our governor's campaign to make us think South Carolina spends too much on such things as MUSC? I suggested that the governor himself has to be all polite and good-coppish in light of such a challenge, while his staffers can take the gloves off a bit if they need to -- remember? Well, I reckoned without ex-staffers, who are totally unrestrained in attacking Dr. Greenberg for daring to speak truth to power....

Obama and the old white guys

Several times in the last couple of weeks, various commenters have noted -- either with approval or dismay -- that Barack Obama is opting for experience in his choice of advisers. For a sample of what I mean, note this piece from the front of The New York Times' Week In Review section Sunday, Change is Landing in Old Hands:AS he sought the presidency for the last two years, Barack Obama liked to say that “change doesn’t come from Washington — change comes to Washington.” Nearly three weeks after his election, he is testing voters’ understanding of that assertion as...

GOP's in worse trouble than you thought

There is a tiresome sameness to the reaction of Republicans to this year's elections. And this piece by Katon Dawson on Politico is an excellent example of what I'm talking about, replete with the same cliches about courage of convictions and walking the walk that brought the GOP to this pass. The irony is that after admitting what should be obvious, that the GOP is in need of new ideas, new messengers and a new focus in order to move forward as a party, Katon falls back on this stuff: What really cost Republicans at the ballot box during the...

DHEC response to news series

Someone just today brought my attention to the Web page full of material that DHEC posted in response to the series that Sammy Fretwell and John Monk down in our newsroom recently did. The very first item, written by board chairman Bo Aughtry, says it was submitted to the newspaper’s editorial offices Nov. 20. This is the first I've heard about it. I'm worried that they might have sent it to Cindi, who is off this week. And here it is 6:23 p.m. on the night before Thanksgiving. I'm going to try to reach the appropriate people to see whether...

An exchange about macroeconomics

Here's an e-mail exchange from today, unadorned. Perhaps y'all will take an interest in the discussion:From: Kathryn FennerSent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 9:26 AMTo: Warthen, Brad - External EmailSubject: a suggestion Brad-- Upon reading Peter Brown's comment (the old 'it's my money' whine) in Adam Beam's excellent front page piece in today's paper on the possibility of federal bailout money coming to Columbia as investments, I wondered if it might not be helpful for some of your readers if you did a simple primer on Keynesian macroeconomic theory (since Friedman is generally considered discredited outside the Governor's circle). Maybe if...

My fan mail from the governor's office

Just wanted to make sure you didn't miss the note of appreciation I received from the governor's office for my Sunday column. It ran as a letter to the editor today:Warthen column damages credibility When the facts aren’t on some people’s side, they try and change them to help win an argument. Unfortunately, that’s a model growing in popularity among this paper’s editorial writers. I’m writing of Brad Warthen’s latest Sunday rant, in which he lashes out at the governor over a recent column he penned for The Wall Street Journal. Congress is contemplating spending another $150 billion to $300...

The failed hyperbole of the past 8 years

Quick, who said this?Americans have watched in horror as President Bush has trampled on the Bill of Rights and the balance of power.I'll give you hints:A. Oliver StoneB. MoveOn.orgC. John Kerry, writing for the DSCCD. The New York TimesYes, I'm sorry to say that overwrought purple prose is the LEAD SENTENCE in the lead Sunday editorial of the paper I was so recently congratulating for having the good sense to back the Columbia Free Trade Agreement. You know, I've got people over at the governor's office all ticked off (see tomorrow's letters to the editor) because of the mean, nasty,...

What's with this Esplanade, and why am I not getting my taste?

Have you noticed, in that blink of an eye just before you cross the bridge heading toward West Columbia from downtown, a sign that says Esplanade? All I can tell is that it seems to have something to do with the CanalSide development -- or the riverfront, in any case. Looking back, I see passing references to it in the paper, and this notice to contractors. Which makes me think somebody's pulling a fast one on me. Given that Columbia can employ 42 people in a unique department with the express purpose of attracting Homeland Security dollars, I gotta figure...

Gee, I don't even want to talk with Geithner...

Just got this e-mail:Hi there, My name is Jen Parsons, I'm with Ketchum PR. I wanted to see if you're doing any profiles on Tim Geithner. We work with Keith Bergelt, the CEO of Open Invention Network, and he worked with Geithner in the early 90's while they were in Tokyo. Keith can offer some good insight into Geithner's work style, career ambition, etc. Let me know if you'd like to chat with Keith. Thanks, JenNow, that's service for you. Unfortunately, I don't even know what I'd ask Geithner himself if I were to have a few minutes of his...