The Great Recession has made Nouriel Roubini a household name. Sure Dr. Doom's a party animal, and you can't look at his content any more unless you put some money down, but when Nouriel's on CNBC, he's all business.
Watch Roubini slap down CNBC's ratings lap dogs, who argue that the economy is picking up but finally succumb to Nouriel's merciless onslaught.
Speaking of self-promoting lap dogs, take a look at the New York Times' Politicians as News Analysts Raise Questions on Their Goals.
Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich.
Today, that is a list of paid Fox News political analysts. Two years from now, it could be a list of Republican presidential candidates.
A former Fox analyst, Angela McGlowan, entered a House race in Mississippi last week. Over at MSNBC, Harold E. Ford Jr was on the payroll until a few weeks ago, when he told his boss that he was seriously contemplating a run for the Senate from New York. TV names are also constantly being run through the candidate rumor mill. There is a “Draft Larry Kudlow” movement. There is also talk of a political bid by Lou Dobbs, who left CNN last fall.
Are you sitting down? Here's one of the scariest things you've ever seen.
The Political Leaders of Tomorrow?
As the Empire goes downhill, anything is possible. Allow me to introduce you to Gawker's Larry Kudlow, Cokehead—
Yesterday, we introduced you to the farcical "Draft Larry Kudlow" campaign, a pretend movement to convince TV economist Larry Kudlow to run for Senate against Chuck Schumer. Today, for fun, we'll introduce you to Larry Kudlow the addict.
A 1995 New York Magazine story goes deep into Kudlow's history of substance abuse. He was addicted to cocaine for much of the 1980s and 90s, when he was a successful banker and economist and pundit.
Kudlow (or "Kuddles," as his friends nicknamed him in the '70s) clearly has an addictive personality, and he's incredibly susceptible to fads. While campaigning for Democrat Joseph Duffey (with a young Bill Clinton!) Kudlow (along with everyone else) smoked "reefer" constantly. In late 1980, the longtime registered Democrat and "monetarist" became a dedicated supply-sider "overnight." This landed him a job in the Reagan administration. (In 1995, as a rehabbing Kuddles contemplated becoming a Roman Catholic, a friend described the discredited economic theory as just another "religion" in Kudlow's life.)
We've no problem with a bit of recreational drug use—drugs are fun, after all!—but Kudlow spent "tens of thousands of dollars a month" on lengthy binges. He lied to the National Review about having beaten his drug habit. He missed meetings. He went to rehab four times in three years, finally ending up at celeb rehab clinic Hazelden in Minnesota...
I've got no problem with recreational drug use either, and maybe a few stoned representatives would somehow improve things in the Senate, but come on now! I'm sure it's all in good fun.
Or maybe not. This is 2010—anything is possible.
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