Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

T R E 4 5 O N

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Let’s finish the job.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Not all heroes wear capes.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I was promised a recession.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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Blech

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As far as first appearances on a phone-in show goes this was a bust (no streaming link, AFAIK). I should have known about the second-and-a-half delay between speaking and hearing your own voice over the phone (is that normal for phone-in? I have no idea). Of course I did not and came across as a stuttering tool. Not having an office of my own I tried the back of my building to be away from traffic and interruptions…the producer mercifully cut me off for having a noisy connection.

Anyhow, I should add that I’m flattered to go on with bigshots like Joe Gandelman and a number of others whose name I was too wigged-out to remember, and I’m glad that it was probably a one-shot deal.

Consider this an open thread for public-speaking phobias and everything else.

Reader Interactions

22Comments

  1. 1.

    ppGaz

    public-speaking phobias

    I did several years of radio. The first night they tried me out on the air, I was so paralyzed with stage fright that I could hardly function.

    The guy whose gig was up before me and was leaving the studio as I came in knew just how to handle the situation.

    “Relax, kid. Nobody knows who you are or cares to listen to you. Just play music and shut up and you’ll be fine.”

    I did, and I was. After that, I never had a problem.

  2. 2.

    Mary

    No worries, Tim. I called in to that exact show a few weeks ago. They’re a bright, generous, sane bunch there. I appreciated that they called me back right before they wanted me to join the conversation, so that I wouldn’t have to bear the long distance costs, but on the other hand, it was nerve wracking as I figured out where I was being slotted into the conversation. And yeah, the delay threw me, too, so I just nattered on at adrenaline-fuelled top speed and hung up when they turned to someone else — not realizing that they would have come back to me if there was another question they thought I could handle.

    Audio archives go up here after a while, but only a few shows get selected. If I ever get to hear your interview, you probably won’t sound like a tool — just a North American speed talker, like me.

    Public speaking phobia? I’m terribly shy in real life, but as long as I have a role to play — teacher, entertainer, Lefty Canuck — I can talk the hind leg off a donkey. Still, I found programs like Toastmasters helped me deal with some speaking obstacles pretty well. You don’t have to sign up for a lifetime, but the first level of certification should be a big help for almost anyone.

  4. 4.

    Joe Gandelman

    The producer also told me they needed the line open because they had someone calling in. Actually, it makes sense: they had some four people on the line and if they had “real” newsmakers for other segments, they’d have to free up the lines. I only heard a little of what you did before they said they needed the line, but you sounded GREAT. I emailed them after and they sounded quite pleased with the segment.

  6. 6.

    Sstarr

    Aprapos of nothing at all, here’s a sign that this administration is offically done for: a scathing anit-Cheney editorail from the left wing wackos at Field and Stream. The article is highly critical of Dick Cheney – not for his hunting practices, but for his energy task force:

    The Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana provides the starkest example of how the Bush administration’s unbridled energy policy is running roughshod over our public lands. The BLM’s final environmental impact statement for the area calls for about 66,000 new coalbed methane wells, 26,000 miles of new roads, and 52,000 miles of new pipelines.
    Peter Dube, an outfitter from Buffalo, Wyoming, has already felt these impacts firsthand. “My ranch is out in the sticks,” he says, “60 miles from Buffalo, 45 miles from Gillette, and I’ve had to wait to pull onto my county road because the truck traffic is so bad—with smog like L.A.” Pronghorn and mule deer habitat has become fragmented, and his hunters have lost what Dube calls “the aesthetic experience” of being in a remote and quiet landscape.

    Hunters and environementalists really do make natural allies. If it wern’t for the wedge issue of gun control and PETA’s antics, that is.

  7. 7.

    nyrev

    Oh no, you’re not pinning PETA on us. They’re not environmentalists; they’re animal rights activists and the environment wants no part of them or their arsonist cohorts in the ALF. (All that smoke is bad for the environment, yo.) It’s bad enough that the environmentalists are stuck with Greenpeace.

  8. 8.

    Gary Farber

    “I should have known about the second-and-a-half delay between speaking and hearing your own voice over the phone (is that normal for phone-in? I have no idea).”

    Yes. And that’s without a deliberate delay to allow for a bleep switch. Didn’t they tell you to turn off your radio? I guess not, in which case they were also unprofessional in that.

  12. 12.

    chopper

    it’s easy to get over fear of speaking on the radio; just imagine the person on the other end is naked.

    *note: does not work when calling in to rush limbaugh.

  13. 13.

    The Other Steve

    Oh no, you’re not pinning PETA on us. They’re not environmentalists; they’re animal rights activists and the environment wants no part of them or their arsonist cohorts in the ALF.

    Aye. PETA has far more in common with the Pro-Life types than they do with Environmentalists.

  14. 14.

    Bob In Pacifica

    I was a guest on a radio show once. Did not enjoy it at all, felt miserable throughout the fifteen minutes I was on, and was drained when it was over.

    Everyone who heard it said I sounded fine. Who’da thunk?

  15. 15.

    capelza

    So I’m on some fun, but legally prescribed drugs right now. One thing I really notice is that I see words jumbled up.

    So instead of seeing blech, I am seeing belch. And then I think, did I already miss the beer blogging?

  18. 18.

    Davebo

    So the emperor has no clothes.

    What options does a chicken hawk have other than sliming those who didn’t let their “other priorities” get in the way of serving their country.

    Pathetic little scumbags.

  19. 19.

    Paddy O'Shea

    I think people are being a little wrongheaded about one aspect of the “former Generals demand Rumsfeld be booted out of office” affair. It has nothing to do with President Bush’s unwillingness to do so.

    The reason it hasn’t happened is when Georgie asked Rummy for permission to fire him, he was turned down.

  20. 20.

    ecotekxt

    NPR does ’em alot better. Government employees go along or it’s the no work for dems…………

    Sharon got turned down the same way Rumfield is…………………

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