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PBC News & Comment: Smackdown–Jon Stewart vs. Paul Krugman

PBC sides with Paul Krugman in his public spat with Jon Stewart over the idea of trillion-dollar coin trick……While the trillion-dollar coin idea is a gimmick to bypass GOP hostage taking in the debt ceiling debate, your humble host agrees with Krugman that the idea has some merit.  We open with the Daily Show clip, so you can decide for yourself.

–in the very next segment on Stewart’s show on January 14, fake news reporter John Oliver belies Stewarts dumb-and-proud line, by satirizing CNN’s decision to close its international investigative unit

–CNET reporter resigns after his bosses at CBS spike a planned award to a TV box that zaps commercials

–in an excerpt from the in-depth interview posted today, Truthout’s Jason Leopold talks about the sad case of ex-CIA spy John Kiriakou, about to become the only person jailed for the torture program, which he was not involved in–he just talked about it

–War Drums roundup:  Syria, Mali and Pakistan

–Lance Armstrong has confessed to Oprah that he was a doper–PBC notes the damage done to people who refused to lie for Lance