Just amazing.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
7 More Months
Another amazing Lost finale last night.
This NYT article discusses how 'Lost' watchers find it almost impossible to explain the show to non watchers.
Harold Perrineau isn't exactly happy with his role this season (although the racial undertones seem a stretch).
Last Hours of RFK
Great piece by Pete Hamill, a former Kennedy aide and confidante, on RFK's June '68 assassination, made all the more relevant by another Hillary gaffe this past week.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Morons Unite!
So Dunkin Donuts pulled an ad featuring Rachel Ray because she was wearing a scarf that some nutball, right wing moron claimed somehow promoted and encouraged Islamic fundamentalism. What is this country? Who seriously believes that the management at Dunkin Donuts, a Massachusetts based coffee company whose slogan is "America runs on Dunkin'", is actively sponsoring jihadists? And tell me exactly what the net benefit for terrorism is by letting the ad run? How many new recruits will they pull in?
Why couldn't a DD spokesperson say "that is stupid"?
Isn't this an example of ridiculous political correct-ness on the right?
This story makes my brain hurt.
Ignorance is Bliss
Time to take the earmuffs off Hillary because it's all over.
Nancy Pelosi says so...
The Democrats' lawyers say so...
Keith Olbermann reaaaaallly says so (skip to 7:17 (timing courtesy of butitsnotevenleather)...
Nancy Pelosi says so...
The Democrats' lawyers say so...
Keith Olbermann reaaaaallly says so (skip to 7:17 (timing courtesy of butitsnotevenleather)...
Quimby
Admittedly, this may be in poor taste but Sen. Kennedy's recent illness had me thinking about Chappaquiddick and I found this fairly comprehensive study of The Incident. It gets rather speculative towards the end and takes a few liberties with objectivity along the way but the fact that this is little more than a side note in his political career is extraordinary.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
V
In an email to his supporters preceding a lopsided win in Oregon and loss in Kentucky, Obama claimed a majority of the elected delegates and the Democratic nomination for President in 2008
"The polls are closed in Kentucky and votes are being counted in Oregon, and it's clear that tonight we have reached a major milestone on this journey. We have won an absolute majority of all the delegates chosen by the people in this Democratic primary process... Tonight, I want to thank you for everything you have done to take us this far -- farther than anyone predicted, expected, or even believed possible. And I want to remind you that you will make all the difference in the epic challenge ahead."
"The polls are closed in Kentucky and votes are being counted in Oregon, and it's clear that tonight we have reached a major milestone on this journey. We have won an absolute majority of all the delegates chosen by the people in this Democratic primary process... Tonight, I want to thank you for everything you have done to take us this far -- farther than anyone predicted, expected, or even believed possible. And I want to remind you that you will make all the difference in the epic challenge ahead."
MIFL
There seems to be a recent spate of articles about what Hillary did wrong or Obama did right in their campaigns. Michigan and Florida obviously appear in almost every article but, more often than not, the discussion focuses on how the issue will/could be resolved and that, ultimately, Obama has the votes and delegates to win, regardless of how the DNC rules.
But what if Florida and Michigan had adhered to party rules? All research indicates that Hillary would win each state handily. When you see what winning Iowa - a state almost devoid of delegates, holding import based purely on it's position as the first contest - did for Obama's campaign and voters' perception of him as a viable candidate, one can only imagine what winning Michigan and Florida - two of the most important electoral states based on delegates and demographics - before Super Tuesday would have done for HRC's campaign. I'm admittedly more than glad that Florida and Michigan fucked her but an interesting "what if...?" nonetheless.
Excerpt below:
But what if Florida and Michigan had adhered to party rules? All research indicates that Hillary would win each state handily. When you see what winning Iowa - a state almost devoid of delegates, holding import based purely on it's position as the first contest - did for Obama's campaign and voters' perception of him as a viable candidate, one can only imagine what winning Michigan and Florida - two of the most important electoral states based on delegates and demographics - before Super Tuesday would have done for HRC's campaign. I'm admittedly more than glad that Florida and Michigan fucked her but an interesting "what if...?" nonetheless.
Excerpt below:
Michigan and Florida
The importance of these two states being relegated to the sidelines — because they defied the Democratic Party and held their primaries earlier than party rules allowed — can not be overstated.
For Mrs. Clinton, the best of all worlds would have been for the Democratic National Committee to do what the Republican National Committee did to Florida and Michigan for breaking the rules: cut the delegations in half, but still permit the primaries to go on. That outcome — assuming she won in Michigan and Florida, which seems a pretty good bet — might have given Mrs. Clinton a burst of momentum going into the “Super Tuesday” primaries of Feb. 5, and possibly allowed her to emerge that day with a significant lead in delegates, not to mention the popular vote; with a line-up of big state victories; and perhaps with enough momentum to withstand the 11-state winning streak that Mr. Obama reeled off after Feb. 5.
The Clinton campaign was acutely aware of the problem from the start. They were out-maneuvered, particularly when the four states that started the process — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — got the other candidates to sign an agreement pledging not to campaign in Michigan and Florida, thereby throwing into question the legitimacy of any voting there.
Alert: Cow-Men on the Loose!!!
A pretty evenhanded piece from The Times (UK) discussing Parliament's decision to strike down an amendment that would have outlawed so-called "cybrids", created by the injection of human DNA into empty non-human eggs.
The move is intended to expand existing stem cell research (not to create living, breathing man-beasts), by affording scientists a whole new source of embryonic stem cells. Although this is a relatively minor change from the status quo (strict limits have been placed on how long the embryo can develop), I'm sure that socially conservatives on both sides of the pond will try to turn this into some sort of Frankenstein-esque experiment foreshadowing man's Fall.
You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled.
You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together.
- Deuteronomy 22:9-11
This is of course the same rationale for segregation but who needs science or reason or expertise when you have the Bible?!
The move is intended to expand existing stem cell research (not to create living, breathing man-beasts), by affording scientists a whole new source of embryonic stem cells. Although this is a relatively minor change from the status quo (strict limits have been placed on how long the embryo can develop), I'm sure that socially conservatives on both sides of the pond will try to turn this into some sort of Frankenstein-esque experiment foreshadowing man's Fall.
You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled.
You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together.
- Deuteronomy 22:9-11
This is of course the same rationale for segregation but who needs science or reason or expertise when you have the Bible?!
Monday, May 19, 2008
If A Tree Falls In A Forest, Does Hillary Deny It?
“Once we include Florida and Michigan, neither Sen. Obama nor I will have enough delegates to get the nomination so there is no way that this is going to end any time soon because we’re going to keep fighting for the nomination.”
uggghhhh
uggghhhh
Obama Lovefest
A little excerpt from The Audacity of Hope that i found particularly poignant and indicative of Obama's thinking.
"Unfortunately, too often in our national debates we don't even get to the point where we weigh... difficult choices. Instead, we either exaggerate the degree to which policies we don't like impinge on our most sacred values, or play dumb when our own preferred policies conflict with important countervailing values. Conservatives, for instance, tend to bristle when it comes to government interference in the marketplace or their right to bear arms. Yet many of these same conservatives show little to no concern when it comes to government wiretapping without a warrant or government attempts to control people's sexual practices. Conversely, it's easy to get most liberals riled up about government encroachments on freedom of the press or a woman's reproductive freedoms. But if you have a conversation with these same liberals about the potential costs of regulation to a small business owner, you will often draw a blank stare." (57)
Common sense, for sure, but common sense, well articulated is what the country needs.
"Unfortunately, too often in our national debates we don't even get to the point where we weigh... difficult choices. Instead, we either exaggerate the degree to which policies we don't like impinge on our most sacred values, or play dumb when our own preferred policies conflict with important countervailing values. Conservatives, for instance, tend to bristle when it comes to government interference in the marketplace or their right to bear arms. Yet many of these same conservatives show little to no concern when it comes to government wiretapping without a warrant or government attempts to control people's sexual practices. Conversely, it's easy to get most liberals riled up about government encroachments on freedom of the press or a woman's reproductive freedoms. But if you have a conversation with these same liberals about the potential costs of regulation to a small business owner, you will often draw a blank stare." (57)
Common sense, for sure, but common sense, well articulated is what the country needs.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Suicidal Tourists
This isn't the most uplifting example but it is a great example of why New York Magazine has the most interesting feature articles around. Built to fill the morning commute.
Memory is Better
Usually I'm pretty disappointed by what CNN.com deems to be the day's most important/interesting/shiniest news story of the day/hour/minute, but this one kind of blew my mind.
The 11th Reason
From NYT:
"On the day Senator [Clinton] was endorsed by the governor of North Carolina, a supporter gave her a three-foot-long balloon replica of herself, complete with blond hair, black pantsuit and wide pink smile, which Mrs. Clinton promptly took on her plane and laughingly showed off to reporters.
On Thursday, little more than two weeks later, the doll lay on the sofa by her seat on the plane, shriveled and deflated."
Sometimes I wonder how true these little anecdotes from the campaign trail really are. A lot has been said about how Obama has run a better campaign but surely somebody on Clinton's team must have realized that having a deflated doppelganger of Clinton in plain view of by-now extremely bored journalists was a metaphor too easy to ignore.
"On the day Senator [Clinton] was endorsed by the governor of North Carolina, a supporter gave her a three-foot-long balloon replica of herself, complete with blond hair, black pantsuit and wide pink smile, which Mrs. Clinton promptly took on her plane and laughingly showed off to reporters.
On Thursday, little more than two weeks later, the doll lay on the sofa by her seat on the plane, shriveled and deflated."
Sometimes I wonder how true these little anecdotes from the campaign trail really are. A lot has been said about how Obama has run a better campaign but surely somebody on Clinton's team must have realized that having a deflated doppelganger of Clinton in plain view of by-now extremely bored journalists was a metaphor too easy to ignore.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Ambition Vs Delusion
I like McCain. I really do. But stuff like this campaign ad and the gas tax holiday is making me question whether this election has changed him. Starting with that appearance at Liberty University, the concessions he has made to be a candidate have become steadily more alarming. I just hope that this more recent stuff has more to do with him running against a-generic-Democratic-candidate and that once Obama can engage him directly, pre-candidate McCain will return.
I think McCain could be suffering from a mild form of Clinton. His ambition, much like with HRC, when running as an underdog (and whatever the head to head polls say, this is the Democrats race to lose) leaves him vulnerable to desperation. I know Obama has been painted with an idyllic brush in many circles but he has set a standard for his campaigning that the other candidates haven't matched.
Although he certainly engages in the same childish and repetitive talking points that all candidates engage in (while we're here, can we stop with this "Bush third-term" nonsense? If you can't tell the difference between McCain - a veteran, a former POW, a 4-term senator, a graduate of the Naval Academy - and George W Bush - a C student at daddy's college, a one and a half term governor in daddy's state and an unqualified moron - I feel for you), he has drawn a line in the sand across which he will not pass regardless of whether it will help his campaign, and to a large degree, he has surrounded himself with people with the same scruples.
I question whether McCain can elevate his rhetoric once we get into the real meat-and-potatoes of the election. As we've seen with HRC, once you start with the lies and misrepresentations, it's hard to put on the brakes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)