So I took a few days off from reality for my birthday (and now my liver is taking a week off in retaliation). While I was semi-comatose, Hillary won, Obama Spoke, and Edwards....was not in the new.
In other words, over the course of three days, the world didn't change very much at all. I have a ton of catch up reading to do, posting more later today.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Obama/Gore....Longer Wait than 08
It's a nice theory. However, the bad blood being built up over this campaign between the Clinton and Obama camps make any association with one, even in the future, a disavowal of the other. Gore's loyalty won't allow him to go there. However, the fact that he hasn't endorsed the wife of his former office-mate speaks quite a bit as to which candidate he supports.
Besides, who wants to be a three time bridesmaid and not be the bride?
Besides, who wants to be a three time bridesmaid and not be the bride?
Vote the Movement, Not the Man
Politico has a quick but interesting analysis of an Obama interview here.
While partisan-entrenched Democrats are sure to run for the hills as soon as Obama mentions himself in the same sentence as Ronald Reagan, he brings up a point that is something I, among other supporters need to answer for. If we succeed the point that he isn't the most experienced candidate, can we still stand on the legs of a general movement for which he is the symbol...or is that too close to a President Bush's American-Style Cult of Personality?
While partisan-entrenched Democrats are sure to run for the hills as soon as Obama mentions himself in the same sentence as Ronald Reagan, he brings up a point that is something I, among other supporters need to answer for. If we succeed the point that he isn't the most experienced candidate, can we still stand on the legs of a general movement for which he is the symbol...or is that too close to a President Bush's American-Style Cult of Personality?
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Huckabee, Oh, My God - A Response
Thanks to Crooks and Liars for this video.
As the Good Mike knows, while the Lord hath a commandment against lying, there is no commandment against spinning.
As the Good Mike knows, while the Lord hath a commandment against lying, there is no commandment against spinning.
Oh, Come, We're Old Friends
President Bush negotiates for more oil (and lower prices).
Maybe there wasn't much to that House of Saud, House of Bush theory. Then again, sometimes you have to kiss the ass of your dad's friends to do you a favor. This is what passes for diplomacy in the Bush Administration.
Maybe there wasn't much to that House of Saud, House of Bush theory. Then again, sometimes you have to kiss the ass of your dad's friends to do you a favor. This is what passes for diplomacy in the Bush Administration.
Slate: Debunking Experience
Timothy Noah at Slate has an article debunking the myth of Hillary, She-Of-All-That-Experience.
Key Quote:
"...various colleagues have argued (see here, here, and here) that Clinton has sufficient experience under her belt to be president. I agree, but that's not the right question. The more urgent question is: Where the hell does she come off claiming superior experience?"
Italics mine. It's the key issue she has run the base of her primary campaign on. Timothy argues, as I have frequently, that being First Lady doesn't count as experience, at least not as she argues it. I'm not denigrating the position or her gender, but fast forward some years, would anyone buy that Laura Bush is an acceptable candidate because of her experience?
Key Quote:
"...various colleagues have argued (see here, here, and here) that Clinton has sufficient experience under her belt to be president. I agree, but that's not the right question. The more urgent question is: Where the hell does she come off claiming superior experience?"
Italics mine. It's the key issue she has run the base of her primary campaign on. Timothy argues, as I have frequently, that being First Lady doesn't count as experience, at least not as she argues it. I'm not denigrating the position or her gender, but fast forward some years, would anyone buy that Laura Bush is an acceptable candidate because of her experience?
Political Ads, Al Franken Style
Since one video is never enough, here's Al Franken's new campaign ad.
Predictably funny, but how will it play?
Predictably funny, but how will it play?
Wexler Calls for Cheney Impeachment
Note the time in the top right corner. If Madam Speaker wanted any importance attached to this request, maybe she would have slotted it for sometime during regular business hours?
Further Evidence of Why I Won't Believe in an NH Conspiracy
Ars Technica, probably one of the greatest sites for real tech analysis on the web, has a great post on why the NH Conspiracy theories need to take a rest.
Money Quote 1:
"The Internet is full of people who have four things that make them dangerous, both to would-be election fraudsters and (paradoxically) to the larger cause of election integrity: computers, intermediate math skills, a mix of patriotic and entrepreneurial zeal, and the ability to publish in the blink of an eye."
Money Quote 2:
"The larger the cloud of numbers and statistical analyses grows, the less inclined reporters will be to actually download a spreadsheet and tackle the data themselves. They're just going to report what this or that group has uncovered, especially if it's juicy."
Bloggers blogging about other bloggers blogs, still the knock against most online "reporting" being taken seriously as anything other than mass published op-ed (yours truly included).
Money Quote 1:
"The Internet is full of people who have four things that make them dangerous, both to would-be election fraudsters and (paradoxically) to the larger cause of election integrity: computers, intermediate math skills, a mix of patriotic and entrepreneurial zeal, and the ability to publish in the blink of an eye."
Money Quote 2:
"The larger the cloud of numbers and statistical analyses grows, the less inclined reporters will be to actually download a spreadsheet and tackle the data themselves. They're just going to report what this or that group has uncovered, especially if it's juicy."
Bloggers blogging about other bloggers blogs, still the knock against most online "reporting" being taken seriously as anything other than mass published op-ed (yours truly included).
The Devolution will be sponsored by Microsoft.
Not that Mark Mothersbaugh has ever been accused of being anti-corporate, but here's where art ends and the need to eat begins.
Huckabee, Oh, My God.
No, really.
I tried to come up with a joke. Pretty hard actually. Some of them were even fat jokes.
But jokes are what I made about Bush being a Born Again Delusionist (I mean Christian) the first time around, and no one every took me, or them, seriously. So let's just start taking a persons superstitions, oops...religion, into account when they are running for the highest office in the land.
I tried to come up with a joke. Pretty hard actually. Some of them were even fat jokes.
But jokes are what I made about Bush being a Born Again Delusionist (I mean Christian) the first time around, and no one every took me, or them, seriously. So let's just start taking a persons superstitions, oops...religion, into account when they are running for the highest office in the land.
I will not believe in conspiracy
I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy I will not believe in conspiracy
While I believe in the power of numbers, I also know you can make them say anything, even if your analysis is good and your heart/head are in the right place. So I treat things like this with the skepticism they should receive.
When it comes right down to it, a leading primary contender COULDN'T be that stupid. Right?
While I believe in the power of numbers, I also know you can make them say anything, even if your analysis is good and your heart/head are in the right place. So I treat things like this with the skepticism they should receive.
When it comes right down to it, a leading primary contender COULDN'T be that stupid. Right?
If numbers could talk
What would they say? How about this?
Miss the important number? 236,723.
As in "the number of people who came out to vote just to say no one they liked was on the ballot".
As in "I got up in the freezing cold, went out and voted, just to tell my party to cut the crap and give me a candidate I like."
As in "this was so important to me that I'd rather vote for a generic Democrat in my own f*cking primary rather than vote for her."
Thanks to Wonkette for primary results image.
Miss the important number? 236,723.As in "the number of people who came out to vote just to say no one they liked was on the ballot".
As in "I got up in the freezing cold, went out and voted, just to tell my party to cut the crap and give me a candidate I like."
As in "this was so important to me that I'd rather vote for a generic Democrat in my own f*cking primary rather than vote for her."
Thanks to Wonkette for primary results image.
John Kerry with a Voice
If only he'd been able to talk like this during his campaign.....who am I kidding, he still would have lost. However, it is still stunning to see a man who, just a few years ago the Democratic nominee for president, going against the moves of the DNC and their effort to have Hillary elected president.
Shot across the bow:
"Here’s the bottom line. I understand people gut it out to win on Election Day. But certain tactics make victory pyrrhic – empty – hollow – and it’s not worth winning if you lose what really counts in the process. And you know what, if the Culinary Workers had backed someone besides my choice in this race - Barack Obama - I’d still say it’s right for every candidate to make sure these workers get to vote."
Shot across the bow:
"Here’s the bottom line. I understand people gut it out to win on Election Day. But certain tactics make victory pyrrhic – empty – hollow – and it’s not worth winning if you lose what really counts in the process. And you know what, if the Culinary Workers had backed someone besides my choice in this race - Barack Obama - I’d still say it’s right for every candidate to make sure these workers get to vote."
My birthday is soon....
in two days actually. And while I've decided not to celebrate it this year (I have issues turning my soon to be age), if anyone wanted to buy me this, I wouldn't complain very much.
AS sums it up for me
and succinctly at that:
"My case amounts to concerns that she would entrench a cynicism in politics that's wrong for the times, that her polarization and trust issues are insurmountable, and that eight years in a White House should be enough for any power couple."
And he's a conservative. The fact is that I do not, like many Righties and some Lefties, believe that Hillary is evil, or a criminal, or even wrong in her convictions. I think she is a person with tremendous intellect and ideals, but ultimately, is a leftover from a by-gone era of cultural struggle between two different political philosophies.
Though their ultimate expression is still in the White House, the partisan wars of the 90's are, for the most part, over. And while Hillary still tries to win old battles, Obama wants to begin his Marshall plan for American politics.
"My case amounts to concerns that she would entrench a cynicism in politics that's wrong for the times, that her polarization and trust issues are insurmountable, and that eight years in a White House should be enough for any power couple."
And he's a conservative. The fact is that I do not, like many Righties and some Lefties, believe that Hillary is evil, or a criminal, or even wrong in her convictions. I think she is a person with tremendous intellect and ideals, but ultimately, is a leftover from a by-gone era of cultural struggle between two different political philosophies.
Though their ultimate expression is still in the White House, the partisan wars of the 90's are, for the most part, over. And while Hillary still tries to win old battles, Obama wants to begin his Marshall plan for American politics.
It's been awhile, so let's talk about killing cops.
Thanks to Scott, I found a great music bootleg site, That Truncheon Thing. While digging through their archives and sampling fond music of yester-year, I came across an interesting cover, Arcade Fire doing The Clash's Guns of Brixton. While I'm a fan of AF, and a rabid devotee to the posing kids from South London, this cover kind of left me cold.
The minutes weren't wasted though, as the lack of Paul's accent allowed to me to really think about the first few lines of Guns of Brixton:
"When they kick out your front door, How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head, Or on the trigger of your gun.
When the law break in, How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement, Or waiting in death row
You can crush us, You can bruise us,But you'll have to answer to Oh, Guns of Brixton"
Obviously, about taking the law into your own hands, if the cops try to take it out of yours. A great example of anti-establishment Clash, this is seen as a classic from the band, and in the genre as a whole. Funny though, that I've never heard the stigma and furor attached over those lyrics, which are an obvious paen to shooting an officer of the law, as I have to these:
"I got my black shirt on, I got my black gloves on, I got my ski mask on.
This shit's been too long, I got my twelve gauge sawed off, I got my headlights turned off.
I'm 'bout to bust some shots off.
I'm 'bout to dust some cops off."
True enough, Ice-T's Cop Killer is a bit more aggressive. But as the rest of the song will say, it's more about taking back rights that have been rendered forfeit because of the color of his skin, rather than just going on a random killing spree.
In the end, what's the difference between the songs, and why the notable difference in the outcry? Was the murder of police officers more accepted twenty years earlier? Was the culture difference between the UK and the USA so great that this type of thing raised no eyebrows? Or was it because while you can be poor and angry, if you're poor, black, and angry you frighten the crap out of people.
The minutes weren't wasted though, as the lack of Paul's accent allowed to me to really think about the first few lines of Guns of Brixton:
"When they kick out your front door, How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head, Or on the trigger of your gun.
When the law break in, How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement, Or waiting in death row
You can crush us, You can bruise us,But you'll have to answer to Oh, Guns of Brixton"
Obviously, about taking the law into your own hands, if the cops try to take it out of yours. A great example of anti-establishment Clash, this is seen as a classic from the band, and in the genre as a whole. Funny though, that I've never heard the stigma and furor attached over those lyrics, which are an obvious paen to shooting an officer of the law, as I have to these:
"I got my black shirt on, I got my black gloves on, I got my ski mask on.
This shit's been too long, I got my twelve gauge sawed off, I got my headlights turned off.
I'm 'bout to bust some shots off.
I'm 'bout to dust some cops off."
True enough, Ice-T's Cop Killer is a bit more aggressive. But as the rest of the song will say, it's more about taking back rights that have been rendered forfeit because of the color of his skin, rather than just going on a random killing spree.
In the end, what's the difference between the songs, and why the notable difference in the outcry? Was the murder of police officers more accepted twenty years earlier? Was the culture difference between the UK and the USA so great that this type of thing raised no eyebrows? Or was it because while you can be poor and angry, if you're poor, black, and angry you frighten the crap out of people.
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