Assholes. I really don’t have anything else to say.
Archives for 2003
This Is A Scandal?
This piece in the Opinion Journal is the dumbest non-scandal ‘scandal’ I have EVER heard about:
In an article on Howard Dean’s fund-raising, The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, offers the interesting revelation that as part of his effort “to maximize his online fundraising punch,” Dean has been “paying ‘bloggers’ or professional Internet surfers to keep the enthusiasm up on his website.”
We’re all for free enterprise, but this does point up an advantage of “old media” over bloggers. Professional journalists may have their biases, but those of us who work for big-media outfits are bound by codes of ethics under which taking money in exchange for favorable coverage would be a huge no-no. Many bloggers, of course, genuinely are independent commentators, but there’s no easy way of knowing which ones are on the take.
Hunh? Here is the article BotW refers to:
Dean has done other things to maximize his online fundraising punch, like reinvesting money into expanding donor lists and paying
Am I Evil?
Am I evil for having immediately thought “Good!” when I heard this news:
Yasser Arafat’s gaunt, fragile appearance during last weekend’s inauguration of an emergency cabinet for the Palestinian Authority has raised a flurry of speculation over the state of the 74-year-old leader’s health. Palestinian officials on Wednesday denied rumors that Arafat had last week suffered a mild heart attack and explained that Arafat has been suffering from a bad case of the flu or an intestinal infection. But according to a source inside the compound, the recent working diagnosis is that Arafat is suffering from stomach cancer. Al-Jazeera TV reported Wednesday that two teams of doctors, one from Jordan and the other from Egypt, arrived in Ramallah Wednesday to treat Arafat. Abu Dhabi TV reported on Thursday that following their examination of the Palestinian leader, the Egyptian doctors “expressed concern” about the state of his health. Neither report specified his condition.
If you said that makes me evil, you are going to hate what I thought next- “I hope it is a really advanced case.” And please spare me the “Any loss of human life is a tragedy” nonsense.
TERRORIST. That is what the man is, was, and will always be. A terrorist.
Fond Adieu’s
Matt Welch is too nice to Gray Davis, and Radley Balko is too nice to Fritz Holling. A hearty boot in the ass to both of them.
Site Maintenance
Mark Kleiman has moved.
The Most Ethical Administration Ever, Version 2
Who the hell is running this guy’s campaign?
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark will give no more paid speeches, the Democratic presidential candidate’s spokesman said on Wednesday after the Washington Post reported he may have broken the law by touting his 2004 run for the White House.
The Federal Election Commission prohibits candidates from accepting speaking fees from corporations, labor unions, individuals or universities for campaign-related events.
Since Clark announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 17, he has made several paid speaking appearances on college campuses, but FEC officials said it was unclear whether he had done anything wrong.
“Based on our review of the FEC guidelines, we believe that the paid speeches Gen. Clark delivered since he announced his candidacy were appropriate,” campaign spokesman Mark Fabiani said. “From here on, Gen. Clark will give no more paid speeches.”
Oh- Mark Fabiani. Exlpains that. I will watch with amusement as some on the right claim this is why Clark should not run for office, which would be absurd. This was, however, seriously stupid. At least he has not signed any last minute $8 million dollar book deal or asked his rich friends to shop for him.
*** Update ***
Daily Kos has more information on the Clark campaign staff.
The Most Ethical Administration Ever, Version 2Post + Comments (10)
Holy Jeebus!
Matt Yglesias just praised the Bush administration.