Scripting News

Frum's annoying wrong idiotic argument

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:02:37 GMT

David Frum, a Republican, thinks the McCain campaign shouldn't put Palin in a box and hide her from the press. Good, he's right about that, and his piece is a must-read. But like most Republicans his disdain for "elites" is itself the height of elite arrogance. Only Kings and Queens, royalty, are entitled to that kind of arrogance, and we overthrew our King in the Revolution, 232 years ago. We don't believe in that in the United States. That's how far off course we've gotten, we've put up with this nonsense long enough.

To paraphrase Obama, Frum doesn't Get It. The reason you discuss your ideas publicly is that your ideas will get better. He assumes, like royalty, that Republicans always know what's right, but he didn't learn anything from the last eight years and this is why the Republicans have to sit on the sidelines and mull it over until they figure it out. You don't have all the answers. Some days (like today) I don't think you have any.

Frum, it isn't about winning a debate -- it's about doing what's right and smart and competitive, for America. Remember your slogan -- Country First. It's a great idea. Now practice it.

PS: He's right, Quayle is smart. I found out by surprise. I was listening to an interview on NPR, and had no idea who it was but the guy was smart. Imagine my shock when I found out it was Dan Quayle. Same thing happened with Hillary Clinton.

PPS: What struck me about Palin was her cowardice. Before letting us know anything about her intelligence or knowledge, or the quality of her ideas, she was sarcastically trashing a man we've gotten to know and respect over the last X months, a man who had to keep his cool as the press went after his church, community and family, and kept his grace even humor at every step. Palin, in contrast, not only hasn't been even slightly vetted, has absolutely no basis for her arrogance, no foundation. Giuliani, sheez, we know him. He's an asshole, always has been, we don't expect much from him, and we're rarely surprised. But he's not running to be a 72-year-old heartbeat from the presidency. She needs to slow down and sober up, she's asking for a big job. It's serious. If she were a man I'd say she was a dickhead. And since she's running for the second most serious job in the country, let's stick with that, until further notice.

Update: Cross-posted at Huffington.

What are they hiding?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:12:56 GMT

Okay, we know that Sarah Palin can read speeches written by Karl Rove's speech writers. But if she's really ready to be Commander in Chief, why won't her handlers let her answer questions? Is she a made-to-order candidate, kind of a Stepford Vice-President? What are the Republicans hiding? Maybe they're still debugging her program? Can she think for herself? Does she have her own new maverick-like ideas? Why did she lie about selling the plane on eBay? Did she really run the PAC for indicted-for-corruption Senator Ted Stevens? If so, is she really a reformer? And why did she hire a Washington lobbyist to get her earmarks for the Alaska city she was mayor of? She loves moose but she also likes pork! Sure she's a great mom, but what kind of leader is she and would she take us anywhere we want to go?

Fresh Air on John McCain

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:34:29 GMT

If you want to understand more about John McCain esp his views of war, I highly recommend this FreshAir interview with David Kirkpatrick of the NY Times, who has been researching McCain's life, esp starting around minute 23, where he talks about lessons McCain learned from Vietnam. It does a lot to explain how he views the war in Iraq, and how he's likely to proceed if he wins the election.

The Real John McCain

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:00:23 GMT

I was going to write a piece today, after watching the Republican National Convention on TV, that said pretty much what the NY Times said in this editorial.

NY Times: "Mr. Obama, in reality, wants to give basic human rights to prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, only a handful of whom are Qaeda members, and shield them from torture. So, once upon a time, did Mr. McCain, but there was no mention of that in St. Paul, or of the bill he wrote protecting those prisoners."

The Times nailed it. I recommend reading the whole thing.

Andrea Mitchell attacked by Republican balloons

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:33:19 GMT

Today's links and ideas

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:31:27 GMT

It's super-hot here in Calif today. Oy!

If you read one political article today, read this explanation of community service by Time's Joe Klein. Yesterday two Republicans, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin, mocked Obama for giving three years to community service betw college and law school. I wondered too what it meant, when I read this piece I couldn't believe how sloppy the Republicans were. This is exactly what McCain says people should do, and we all agree that giving to your country is a very American value. They should retract and apologize, and Republicans who applauded this should be ashamed. It's hugely hypocritical. The Republicans have been evangelizing faith-based community initiatives for decades, it's a big Republican thing -- what the heck do you think Obama was doing! Geez. Walk this one back, and vet your ideas before you run them in front of 40 million people. The corporate media hasn't figured this one out yet, but they will.

I wish more conservatives would write pieces like this. We agree on more than we disagree. I'm not voting for McCain for the exact reason he says he's reluctant to. "The only real risk in voting McCain-Palin -- and it's a huge one, possibly the biggest one -- is putting into office a bellicose, perhaps reckless, president." Yup. I've been impressed with how thoughtful and competent Obama is. That's why he's got my support. I also think our country is up shit's creek unless we can upgrade our economy, and to do so we need health and education, and that means public spending. It's not as if the Republicans don't believe in public spending, they do -- they just waste the money on destroying communities overseas. I want us to borrow to build strength here at home. I don't see it as a liberal vs conservative thing, rather a smart vs dumb thing.

When I was in Salt Lake City in August, I heard that ridership on their high speed rail link to Ogden (or is it Provo) went way up when gas prices went up. To me that says we need higher gas prices. Yes, we should help people cope with the economic hardship that causes, but we should build more of those high speed links. We need to reconfigure our geography in the US, we're totally set up for a cheap gasoline economy. If you can do that without government spending, let's go, but we've got to do it. The people who say we can drill our way out of this are wrong, we can't. Even if we had massive oil reserves, we can't afford to pump more carbon into the atmosphere than we are now.

Dell shipped their first netbook today. This is the hot new category. I have one, an Asus, and I love it. They're cheap, you can buy a Dell for under $400. Their netbooks only have 16GB of disk (and it's solid state, not really a disk). I think they're protecting (or trying to protect) their laptops. Others, such as the MSI Wind, have 80GB hard drives. They all come with either Windows XP or some flavor of Linux. HP and Acer also make netbooks. When oh when will Apple offer one? These beauties make the MacBook Air look like an overpriced albatross and as long as you use Firefox, you won't have the usual malware problems of Windows (or such has been my experience so far).

Why so little innovation?

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:34:51 GMT

Judy Estrin, the former CTO of Cisco nails it.

"She warns that we are living off of the innovation investments made in decades past and that is going to be a problem in the future."

Obviously.

I've been saying this for decades and feel somewhat qualified to have an opinion about this. The capitalists of the tech industry eat the seed corn, and never put anything back. When you ask them about it, they laugh as if it were a silly idea. Ms Estrin understands. You have to put something back, try out lots of new ideas and be patient and let them have a chance. But the only way it happens is through individual effort, with very few rewards or incentives.

Glad someone else is speaking up on this topic.

IRC for the RNC

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:09:19 GMT

Live discussion of the speeches at the Republican National Convention.

irc://irc.freenode.net/#rnc

Let's have fun!

Palin is changing corporate media

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:12:06 GMT

There's a big change brewing in the MSM in the aftermath of the Palin nomination. Really impressive how the reporters are challenging politicians now, and it's good.

The first sign things were crumbling was an interview Monday on CNN with McCain aide Tucker Bounds and reporter Campbell Brown who asked Bounds what international experience Palin has. He kept trying to change the subject to Obama, which I've seen work with these reporters for years. It's a very typical Republican tactic.

As a result, McCain pulled out of Larry King that night, but CNN stood its ground.

Then Wolf Blitzer of all people pressed Rudy Giuiani on the same subject and wouldn't let up. Rudy is the best skater out there, but Wolf cornered him. Lovin it!!

I just saw former Republican governor of NY George Pataki try to bullshit Nora O'Donnell on MSNBC and she (smiling all the way) wasn't having any of it.

I don't know what happened to give these reporters a backbone, finally -- but whatever it is -- don't let it go! This is how you do it. Let's push these guys until they start talking sense. Let's get our national conversation grounded, at least a little, in reality.

When I wrote the title for this piece I may have understated it -- the Palin story is not just changing corporate media, it may be revolutionizing it.

Why has the press all of a sudden declared its independence? I don't know. I'd love to find out. I have a couple of theories. 1. McCain broke an unspoken rule, he didn't use the press to vet this candidate, and that was enough for them. They're saying, in unison, "We know how to do this" -- finally they have a real role in the electoral process, not just to be bullshitted by everyone, so get out of our way while we do our jobs. I'd like to think this is the primary drive. But there's also this... 2. They are American citizens too, and they're horrified by the way McCain made this decision, and want to send a message to him and all other politicians in the future -- if you screw up like this, we're going to push you until you admit it. If that's true, then I would bet that no matter how good a speech Palin gives tonight, she has no future on the national ticket.

Update: Another possibility. 3. They learned from the National Enquirer beating all of them on the Edwards scandal, and made a decision not to accept non-answer answers to serious questions, like How well did you vet this candidate?

As I said yesterday, I think McCain screwed up, he should have gone with the boring predictable choice of Romney. They might have lost the election, but it would have been close. Now, with Palin, I don't think it will be close. It could be they make it through this process (but I doubt it) but everyone's had a look at how McCain uses all his much-touted experience. Get this -- He's turning Obama into the safe, conservative choice. Key point. Obama was going to have a hard time making that case, but McCain just made it for him. All Obama has to do is smile and give a few speeches and show up at the debates. He'll do well at all of that.

BTW, I'm posting regular updates to my FriendFeed and Twitter accounts, which if you're following the Palin story, you may want to tune into. FriendFeed has all of both of them.

Download the major DNC speeches

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:45:24 GMT

As promised, here's a BitTorrent with all the big speeches from last week's Democratic National Convention including Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, Al Gore, Bill Richardson, and of course Barack Obama's fantastic acceptance speech. BTW, I'm still pretty much a newbie at serving BitTorrents, so if you can help by seeding this archive, that would be much appreciated.

Why Palin should be taken seriously

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:52:46 GMT

Three pieces that caution Democrats to not quickly dismiss the candidacy of Sarah Palin.

1. New Republic. "Sarah Palin is a living reminder that the ultimate source of political power in this country is not the Kennedy School or the Davos Summit or an Ariana Huffington salon; even now, power emanates from the electorate itself. More precisely, power in 2008 emanates from the working class electorates of Pennsylvania and Ohio."

2. George Lakoff. "Palin is the mom in the strict father family, upholding conservative values. Palin is tough: she shoots, skins, and eats caribou. She is disciplined: raising five kids with a major career. She lives her values: she has a Downs-syndrome baby that she refused to abort. She has the image of the ideal conservative mom: pretty, perky, feminine, Bible-toting, and fitting into the ideal conservative family. And she fits the stereotype of America as small-town America. It is Reagan's morning-in-America image. Where Obama thought of capturing the West, she is running for Sweetheart of the West."

3. Joe Trippi. "The McCain campaign plans on making an assault on Barack Obama's strength as a change agent. And challenge, what the McCain campaign will describe as, Obama's weak or non-existent attacks on corruption within the Democratic Party and other institutions throughout his career. Like the Swift boat attacks of 2004 on Senator John Kerry, a decorated Viet Nam Veteran -- this assault will be on what is now a strength of Barack Obama's -- his focus on changing a broken system in Washington."

The Palin vetting continues

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:22:15 GMT

The radical right wing blogs are predictably complaining and slinging mud at people who pass on stories about McCain's choice for vice-president, but that shouldn't change a thing.

Latest: The Washington Post reports she led a 527 founded by indicted-for-corruption Senator Ted Stevens. So much for her being a reformer and maverick.

The current First Lady made some menacing remarks probably aimed at the press, indicating that she wants this VP candidate to be treated specially because she's a woman (that's how I interpret it) but the answer has to be no. If the press has any integrity, after such a challenge, they should go deeper and press harder. We, the electorate, have a right to know everything about this person who would be a 72-to-76 year old heartbeat away from the presidency. Even healthy people who are 76 have medical problems, and McCain hasn't been all that healthy.

I have so much to say about this.

I have had mud slung at me, but the people who sling it have no idea who I am.

I have voted Republican for President, I don't particularly like the Democrats, however if I had been old enough to vote for Kennedy I'm sure I would have (I was five years old when he ran), same with McGovern (I was draft age, even though I wasn't old enough to vote, ironically). I voted for Ford over Carter, and I'll stop there. I'm not proud of my choices in the 80s and 90s, but they have included Republicans. So when partisans smear me as being a liberal Democrat, they show how stupid they are, and how unskilled they are at getting votes. There's absolutely nothing to be gained, although this time around I'm committed to Obama, I'm going to vote for him, and work for him, and give him money. But the Republicans should be thinking of the future, there will be an election in 2012 and 2016, they might want to come back. They should be thinking of building bridges, not burning them.

I don't see how anyone with a conscience, who puts "Country First" can vote for McCain in 2008. But then I don't understand many of my fellow Americans. I don't understand how anyone could have been distracted by issues such as gay marriage or the morality of stem cell research in 2004, but those were deciding issues. The war, global warming, trade, education, health care and economics -- the really important stuff, imho -- those didn't decide the election. For that reason I feel my country deserves what it gets, the world economy is routing around us. We will find out what a priviledged position we occupied and will miss it when it's gone, when the world no longer supports our using 25 percent of its energy with less than 5 percent of the population.

We'll miss it when it's gone, but I'll probably be all right, because I have skills that work in the world economy. Many of my fellow Americans do not. I'm willing to sacrifice for them, but are they willing to vote their own interest? The 2008 election is, imho, a referendum on the will and intelligence of the American voter. I sincerely hope we have a strong will and use our god-given intelligence. McCain is giving us every reasonable clue that his Presidency will be dumb and bullying and very very Republican. If that's what we choose, it will, sadly, be time to give up on this country, because the world just doesn't care about us that much anymore.

We have to earn the world's respect, we never get to relax, we have to work hard to be competitive, and more importantly, we have to work smart. If the tables were turned and the Dems were nominating candidates who govern from the gut and don't use their brains, I would be voting Republican this year. If the Republicans want to win, great, put up some candidates who are prepared to lead, who can sit across from other world leaders and command their respect, not just fear. It was never a good idea to push fear over respect, but right now I don't think they're all that scared of us.

Update: Cross-posted at Huffington.

Republican humor

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:22:30 GMT

I've been blogging a long long time. You can see my mistakes, things I got wrong, and the few I got right. I like to put my stake in the ground, and when I go back sometimes it makes me feel humble.

There was a time, believe it or not, there was a time when I liked George W. Bush as President.

On March 27, 2001, I wrote: "There's something satisfying about the Bush Presidency, and for a time I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it is. Now I think I get it. If this guy could be president, anyone could. He bumbles along twisting around his mouth when he speaks, with his Texas accent that I don't believe. I imagine him on the scene of The West Wing, reading his lines, and sipping his coffee saying "Oh this is really good coffee, thanks." He gets his cues from Dick Cheney, but he could just as easily get them from a TV series director. Smile here. Say something nice about America. Good job Dubya. Excellent."

Can you believe it!

Anyway, last night, I went to dinner with some friends in Berkeley (it's good to be home), at a very nice Thai/Vietnamese restaurant. The waitress, a sweet Asian woman, was very polite and had a nice smile. One of my dinner companions said: "Maybe she should be Vice-President!"

We all had a hearty laugh.

More Republican humor

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:14:05 GMT

Worth reading, Maureen Dowd's op-ed in today's Times.

Summary -- the McC choice of Palin is the plot of a low budget chick flick. Now, picking up the story where she left off...

The wrinkly white haired dude and the VP-chick win the election and just after he's inaugurated, the old guy dies suddenly and she's sworn in, over the objections of all the white males on the old dude's staff and the leading members of Congress including the fat white male Speaker of the House played by John Goodman (ignoring for a moment that the actual Speaker is a spry foxy grandma type). Donald Sutherland plays the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who does the swearing-in.

She gets a chance to redectorate the Oval Office in pink and throws a frat party at the White House for her friends from Alaska, who do funny farting and belching scenes in austere parts of the White House supervised by stuffy old maids and butlers and a corrupt Chief of Staff who the chick-Pres fires when she finds out he's been mean to one of her Alaskan friends.

Things are settling down to normal when the second Cuban Missle Crisis starts. It's looking pretty tough for our heroine when her husband, riding his snowmobile across the Bering Straight, throws a keg party for the guys manning the Russian missile silos in Kamchatka and convinces them to reprogram the computers to point their missiles back at Moscow. The Russians, who are fed up with white men too, and want to break their own glass ceiling, overthrow Putin and elect a hot Russian babe to be President, and the final scene is a summit meeting in a hot tub with the two Presidents comparing breast pumping techniques, drinking a beer and of course enjoying a moose bratwurst.

Turns out Russians and Alaskans have a lot more in common than you might think.

Update: Cross-posted at Huffington.

Bumper sticker

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:44:48 GMT

Almost home

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:49:21 GMT

I'm writing this from the rest stop at Donner Summit on I80. (The precise coordinates were provided by the GPS in my EVDO modem -- gotta love the technology.)

Three or four hours left on my road trip.

I found an archive of DNC speeches on WNYC and listened to both Clintons, John Kerry, Al Gore and the finale, Barack Obama.

I have not heard one minute of pundit commentary on these speeches, and I saw them all live. So I am untainted by anything but the direct experience of listening to what the Democratic Party, as led by Barack Obama, had to say last week, and I am much more than impressed, I am blown away.

It's incredibly literate and intelligent and these people, not all of whom have always been great orators, have risen to the occasion, and the ones that were great (Bill Clinton and Obama) have reached new heights.

Finally, American politics that's worth listening to and participating in.

One of my first tasks when I get home will be to prepare a BitTorrent archive of all the speeches. I urge you as strongly as I possibly can, to give them all a serious listen. It may well change how you feel about the United States. And forget what Wolf Blitzer and Chris Matthews and Anderson Cooper and Larry King say, they're idiots, they have no ideas, and are owned by corporate media. Trust me -- it's great stuff, and the convention was wonderful. I've heard from others that they're spinning it otherwise. They're full of it.

Okay back to the highway!!

Initial thoughts on the Palin nomination

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:58:22 GMT

1. It certainly was creative and thought-stimulating.

2. However... it shows McCain thought he was losing to Obama and needed to do something bold that would stir things up. And he certainly did that.

3. However... no matter how well they vetted her, even if nothing terrible shows up, she has no experience in the world, and virtually no experience in the United States. What does she know about American cities? Our industries and businesses? Economic issues? Balance of trade? The military? Katrina? He picked her because she was the governor from the state that was furthest away from Washington. Point made. But despite what the Republicans say about her qualifications, she has no grounding to run this country. Might as well pick someone from another country.

4. They say she's as qualified as Obama, but that's wrong. They should get to know Obama's background and how intelligent and studious and thoughtful he is. Read his books. He's incredibly well educated, and I'm sorry running a successful campaign for the Democratic nomination for President is much more experience than being the governor of a very small state with no budget problems (they have a built-in surplus because of tax revenue from their natural resources and a very small population to spread it out over -- Alaska is a very strange state, unlike any of the other 49).

Update: Read this Huffpost piece for a deeper look at #4.

5. The decision certainly was creative, but it won't age well. It will look like a desperate dumb move a couple of weeks from now. As stupid as trying to take and control Iraq without enough troops, without a plan for the occupation. It's the Republican approach to problems, shoot from the hip without thinking things through. The invasion of Iraq was certainly a "wow" event -- like the choice of Palin -- but it didn't age well. This is another of those.

6. They can't get Hillary voters with this VP candidate -- Hillary is a progressive, and even most Republican women are pro-choice. Americans are pro-choice. A woman candidate who is pro-life, no matter how attractive, doesn't have much appeal in this country, another tone-deaf decision by McCain, the kind of decision you don't want a President making. Sure Hillary got some votes from Republicans who crossed over during the primaries, because the Republican primary was decided early, and Rush Limbaugh urged them to interfere. But those people were always going to vote for McCain. This decision shows total disrespect for the American electorate as if they only vote based on symbolism.

7. Net-net -- it's a PR stunt designed to draw attention from the press away from Obama. It will do that, but not for very long. Obama is a fantastic organizer. They will get the votes, and gimmicks won't convince very many people to vote Republican even if it does fuel punditry and political blogging. But even the pundits will decide at some point, finally, that this country needs leadership more than gimmicks. She's not a serious candidate for vice-president. Choosing a president is a serious thing. That's the only point the Democrats have to make to dispose of this.

Inside Mile High Stadium

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:34:37 GMT

I just got settled in at the blogger's booth in the press section at Mile High Stadium.

The line was unbelievably long, but eventually it moved very quickly. Getting 80K people in through security in a couple of hours is a huge job. Eventually I got pushed ahead because of my media credential. I'm uploading some pictures and movies that tell the story.

Video: Hot people waiting in line.

The famous stage with the doric columns.

I took a lot more pictures and movies, as I write this it's too late to try to list them all. The series starts here, in Flickr. Hope you enjoy them!

Tomorrow morning early my roadtrip home begins, so posting will be light at least until tomorrow evening, perhaps not until I get back to California. I want to get home in time to watch the Republican convention on TV, if they don't postpone it because of Gustav. (BTW, I tried to get credentials for their convention, but was turned down.)

Who will be the Republican VP nominee?

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:33:40 GMT

Lots of speculation in the political blogosphere about the Republican VP. Supposedly McC has already made his choice, to be announced tomorrow morning. Who do you think he chose and why? Who would be good for Democrats.. Bad?

I think Romney would be his most powerful choice, I hope he chooses Lieberman -- I think he'd be the easiest to run against. I don't see too many Republicans going for him, and no one wants a traitor a heartbeat from the Presidency esp when the Presidential candidate is 72 and a cancer survivor.

That's what I think, what do you think??

PS: Lieberman ran for the Democratic presidential nomination just 4 years ago.

Update: The AP all-but says McC has chosen Pawlenty.

Bill Clinton got it back

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:46:49 GMT

First a disclaimer, I didn't like Bill Clinton as President. But over time my feelings toward him mellowed, and I gave him full credit for inspiring the Democrats to give Rove & Co hell in the 2006 election, winning back control of Congress.

No doubt Bill Clinton knows how to get people to work for him, he was good enough to get elected President twice, and over the years his skill has matured. But I didn't expect the tour de force I saw last night. It was the best political speech I've ever seen, he hit all the points, his gestures, his timing, his facial expressions were artfully perfect. There was something for everyone, and despite what the Republicans are saying, he charmed everyone in the hall, and probably most of the people watching on TV. If you didn't see the speech, you owe it to yourself to seek it out on the Democrats website. In the realm of politics this was a Sistine Chapel, a Mona Lisa, a Statue of Liberty.

There were so many good lines, but the one that made me laugh the loudest was when the crowd quieted down afterr chanting Yes We Can, Yes We Can, Clinton paused and began his next paragraph as if it all had been scripted (maybe it was) Yes He Can, and then talked about Obama and what a great President he will be. Everyone was happy to hear him praise the younger Future President, such graciousness begets much love in return, the way he did it, it sort of chokes you up. (Makes you wonder what the convention would have been like if Hillary had won.)

So Bill Clinton now occupies a position that no one else has occupied in the age of television and the Internet, the powerfully charming super-statesman, two-term ex-president, still young, unlike Reagan, with many years to go before retiring. A far cry from the lout who campaigned so aggressively and unfairly, and reminded us that lurking inside that statesman's body is a child who, when he loses control, can be very dangerous to himself and the rest of us.

Update: The Clinton speech is on Youtube via CSPAN.