Word for the Day: Sangria
PS- Sometimes John Derbyshire is just great. Other times he is crazy, but sometimes he is just great.
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
Word for the Day: Sangria
PS- Sometimes John Derbyshire is just great. Other times he is crazy, but sometimes he is just great.
by Tim F| 28 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Confirmed! Leonard Nimoy’s place in the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie will be a flashback sequence.
You heard it here first.
This post is in: Election 2008, Democratic Stupidity
Via TPM, Hillary:
We were both asked some pretty tough questions. That’s part of what happens in a debate and a campaign. And I know he spent all day yesterday complaining about the hard questions he was asked.
But you know, being asked tough questions in a debate is nothing like the pressures you face inside the White House. And in fact when the going gets tough you can’t just walk away…
I think we need a president who can take whatever comes your way.
I willingly concede that should we have a national crisis in which the President is faced with the threat of hundreds of reporters questioning his/her use of lapel pins, then Hillary is who I want to confront that problem.
For every other crisis, I choose Obama. Hillary is turning into a Saturday Night Live routine.
By the way, does some enterprising reader with video editing skills want to go through all of the Clinton campaign whining about the media and splice it all together in one montage. I would recommend starting with the kvetch about being asked questions first in the debate and go from there. Have fun.
by Tim F| 22 Comments
This post is in: Media
Ben Smith of the Politico (via):
The ABC debate, according to the network, got 10.7 viewers.
It also triggered the most furious outrage I’ve seen from the huge, and growing, Obama activist base, which in this case merged with the liberal Netroots — which aren’t always on the same page — to generate a volume of complaints about the first 45-minutes of questioning that are pretty impossible to miss.
It’s just a small glimpse, I think, of the level of heat the media is going to take in the general election, and John McCain doesn’t seem to have any equivalent.
Did you forget to call ABC today? I bet the lines won’t be as busy.
(212)-456-7777
Polite but pissed always works better than profanity. It can’t hurt to remind ABC News about their Path to 9/11 probation.
***Update***
From the comments it sounds as though ABC has made it substantially harder to get through on their main feedback line. If that’s how they want to play it, here are some alternative contacts provided by a helpful commenter.
BC NEW YORK NEWSROOM: (212) 456-5100 [email protected] Newsroom Fax Machine 212.456.5150
Peter Salinger (THE MAN IN CHARGE OF ELECTION COVERAGE) Director, Special Events & Sports 212.456.5105 [email protected]
Cristi LandesManager, Programming 212.456.5107 [email protected]
Wayne Fisk Director, Programming 212.456.5327 [email protected]
Jeff Fitzgerald Executive Director, Operations 212.456.5554 [email protected]
Heidi Oringer Executive Director, Entertainment 212.456.5541 [email protected]
Jon Newman News Coverage 212.456.5100 [email protected]
Joyce Alcantara Assignment Manager 212.456.5106 [email protected]
Jim Kane Deputy D.C. Bureau Chief 212.222. 6604 [email protected]
Andrew Kalb Executive Director, Programming 05.567.2269 [email protected]
Robert Garcia Executive Director, News & Sports 212.456.5103 [email protected]
Have fun.
by John Cole| 12 Comments
This post is in: Election 2008, Excellent Links
Publius presents the Lincoln/Douglas debates as moderated by ABC.
by John Cole| 25 Comments
This post is in: Military, War, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.
A harsh assessment from the National Defense University:
The war in Iraq has become “a major debacle” and the outcome “is in doubt” despite improvements in security from the buildup in U.S. forces, according to a highly critical study published Thursday by the Pentagon’s premier military educational institute.
The report released by the National Defense University raises fresh doubts about President Bush’s projections of a U.S. victory in Iraq just a week after Bush announced that he was suspending U.S. troop reductions.
The report carries considerable weight because it was written by Joseph Collins, a former senior Pentagon official, and was based in part on interviews with other former senior defense and intelligence officials who played roles in prewar preparations.
It was published by the university’s National Institute for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research center.
“Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle,” says the report’s opening line.
Enough about the Iraq thing. Does Joseph Collins wear flag lapel pins? And while we are at it, place your bets on who will be the first to call the National Defense University a rogue leftist outfit that just has BDS.
In all seriousness, I know what the response will be, and it will probably come from the Weekly Standard or another arm of the neo-con wing of the GOP- this is all pushback from the bloated fiefdoms within the Pentagon who wish to discredit Rumsfeld’s leaner military approach. Or something like that. And, in fairness, there is some element of that in the report (PDF). That doesn’t take away from the overall assessment, though, and that is that Iraq is and will most likely remain a disaster (pay special attention to the Errors in decisionmaking and execution starting on page 16).
*** Update ***
Joe Collins says the report is being mis-characterized. Again, I suggest you read it for yourself (.pdf), as it is not very long.
Breaking News: The Pentagon Hates AmericaPost + Comments (25)
by John Cole| 53 Comments
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
I just don’t buy these polls:
New York Democrat Hillary Clinton had a good day in the Newsmax/Zogby daily tracking poll ahead of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary, following a strong debate performance in Philadelphia Wednesday night, and now holds a 47% to 43% advantage over Barack Obama of Illinois.
The two-day tracking survey, which was conducted April 16-17, 2008, showed that 10% were either undecided or supported someone else.
The telephone survey, conducted using live operators working out of Zogby’s on-site call center in Upstate New York, included 602 likely Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania. It carries a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.
The race appears stable, as Clinton retained a sizable lead in western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, while Obama continues to lead by a large percentage in eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia. In the central part of the state, including the state capital of Harrisburg, Clinton leads by eight points.
I have no analysis or anything really other than my gut (and this being a blog, what else do I need!), but I just do not think the race can be that close. It would really, really surprise me if it is that close, and I fully expect a Clinton win by anywhere from 6-12 points. I will be glad to be wrong, but I just think a four point race is unrealistic.
Not that any of it matters anyway, because even if Clinton loses PA, let alone win by close to double-digits, the race will go on, even if the delegate math does not get any better for her.