It didn’t make much of a ripple, but yesterday morning the Senate suddenly upped and confirmed a large number of long-stalled Obama nominees.
How many people were confirmed? That’s where it gets hilarious.
The Washington Post offers us “more than 60″:
Senators confirmed more than 60 Obama administration nominees Tuesday after months of disagreement on how to proceed with the confirmation of picks for the National Labor Relations Board.
Settling a dispute that began before the May recess, Senators approved NLRB Democratic nominee Mark Pearce and Republican Brian Hayes. But they did not vote to confirm Craig Becker, a former labor union lawyer given a recess appointment to NLRB by President Obama in March.
The Boston Globe chooses to put it this way: “more than 60″.
The U.S. Senate this morning unanimously confirmed more than 60 of President Obama’s executive nominees, after deal between Democratic and Republican leadership ended an impasse that had held up the nominations for months.
The Associated Press? Wait for it: “more than 60″:
Not on the list of more than 60 Obama nominees confirmed with Pearce and Hayes was Craig Becker, a third NLRB nominee that Republicans have united in opposing because of his close ties to organized labor groups. The fight over Becker has been a major factor in stalling votes on others waiting to serve in the government.
CNN offered the same phrase, but with a twist:
The agreement over the NLRB positions allowed Senate Democrats and Republicans to clear more than 60 other largely non-controversial appointments stalled over the NLRB standoff. They include members to the Amtrak board, the National Transportation Safety Board, judges to the District of Columbia Superior Court, and other positions.
Together with the two NLRB nominees, “more than 60″ is actually “more than 62″.
Bloomberg Businessweek, I must concede, had a completely different take:
Brian Hayes, a Republican Senate aide, was confirmed by the Senate as it approved a package of almost 70 of Obama’s stalled nominees.
Let it be known that yesterday the Senatus blog served up a bulleted list of everyone who was confirmed. The post is not time-stamped, but it was posted sometime before 5:30 p.m. EDT yesterday.
All you have to do is count up the bloody names. I did. 63.
(I guess Bloomberg Businessweek wins “worst of show”.)
I’m afraid I can’t resist a parting homily. The journalism business is in really dire straits. Any journalist anywhere, no matter how reputed an outlet they work for, is in danger of losing his or her job tomorrow. And even with this kind of gun to their heads, journalists are too lazy to check their facts? Even simple facts, that are so easily checked? Journalism is in a truly sorry state!