Friday, July 18, 2008 - Posts
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This one from Bloomberg News:
How can you read that and not think he's talking about a domestic terrorist attack? After the whole Charlie Black "big advantage" mess, it's not implausible.
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AUSTIN -- Netroots Nation is reportedly forcing
Fox News reporters to wear badges that say “Opinion Media.” That’s funny,
because my credential just says “Media.” And Slate IS opinion media.
Anyway, a convention ID speaks a thousand words. Some
bloggers have crossed out their names and written in their blog handles. Others
have affixed colored ribbons marking them as a “Speaker” or “Sponsor.” Still others
have fashioned their own ribbons, saying “Embedded MSM Reporter,” FBI agent,
and CIA operative.
And oh, the swag. Convention
participants receive, among other things, a bright orange tote bag, free copies
of Mother Jones and The Nation, a bottle opener, a
mini-Constitution, a bag of salsa chips, a fortune cookie from 236.com, and a
condom that says “protect your constitution.” Needless to say, some of these items will get more use than others.
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AUSTIN
– In an interview with Barack Obama last week, PBS’s Gwen Ifill pointed
out that Obama’s decision to reverse himself on public financing has
“raised hackles in the press.” Obama corrected her: "Well, raised hackles
amongst some in the blogosphere.”
Iced!
Maybe that’s why the CW going into the third-annual Netroots
Nation conference was about Obama-blogger tensions. Last year, all three major
Democratic candidates showed up. This year, Obama was too busy. So I expect the
question on every tongue to be, Why does he think the Brandenburg Gate is more
important than his bloggy base?
But I have to agree
with skeptics that the “tension” between the netroots—I’m writing that without
scare quotes to save server space—and Obama seems a little overblown. No one
I’ve spoken with has suggested they’re not voting for Obama. No one even seems
particularly peeved by positions on constitutional
issues like gun bans, faith-based initiatives, and the death penalty. In the outside world, “FISA” is shorthand for
online disenchantment with Obama. Here, it’s shorthand for the silly notion
that the liberal blogosphere has abandoned him.
Instead, I get the impression this conference is about the
netroots going legit. They’ve dropped the “YearlyKos” label. The panels and
events are largely about organization—“Get Ready to Volunteer,” “Canvassing and
Phonebanking,” “From Online Engagement to Offline Activism.” And as if to allay
concerns about the Democratic nominee, the Obama campaign has sent a whole
delegation of surrogates. Andy Borowitz brilliantly mocked
liberal bloggers for “Accus[ing] Obama of Trying to Win Election.” But in
truth, they’re trying to help him win, too.
Maybe forehead vessels will burst during the ‘Roots-DLC
smackdown between Markos Moulitsas and Harold Ford Jr. Maybe Nancy Pelosi will get
slammed for appeasing Republicans during tomorrow’s Q&A. Or maybe everyone has
realized that this year, the stakes are too high not to be on the same team.
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I don't think John McCain is a transsexual Nazi pedophile. But I really don't know for sure.
That's the line of logic McCain followed when asked whether he thinks Barack Obama is a socialist. "I don't know," McCain responded. He elaborated: “His voting record … is more to the left than the announced socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont."
McCain's not the first to plead ignorance on a nonsensical claim. Back in March, Hillary Clinton drew heckles from Obama supporters for her less-than-decisive answer to a question about whether Barack Obama was a Muslim. "There's nothing to base that on ... as far as I know," she said. More recently, both Joe Lieberman and Tom Delay have suggested Obama might be a Marxist.
It's a tricky move. Some accusations—the Muslim charges, for example, or the absurd claims in 2000 that McCain had fathered a black child—demand outright denial. But others, like being a socialist, aren't quite as controversial. Conservative radio hosts like Glenn Beck regularly refer to Obama as a socialist. From McCain's perspective, why discourage them?
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