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January 15th, 2009
10:04 am - And now for something completely different...
They're filming a "reality show" outside our offices this morning. Rumor has it, anyway, that it is: The Phone.
Interesting that they would shoot the same scene over and over again... reality my ***.
Oh, and a late new year's resolution: don't blog on the middle east. Leave that one to the pros.
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January 14th, 2009
10:34 am - Middle East Conflict
More conversation about Israel, Palestine.
A couple of points I'd like to record; I think both Israel and Palestine have been a bunch of big jerks, and the constant fingerpointing about "they started it" is pathetic. My solution to the situation would be to cut both Israel and Palestine out of U.S. funds. Promise big funds to both if they can make peace, and deliver on that. To hell with the rest.
I'd like to like the Palestinians: initially they were totally screwed by the creation of Israel, which dispossed vast numbers of Palestinians of their land, their homes, and their liberty. More recently we (Clinton) screwed them by inviting Arafat to the table when they had legitimate, non-radical leadership ready to negotiate a real settlement. Clinton thought no peace would be lasting unless Arafat was on board, but legitimizing Arafat invited Palestinian radicals into positions of power that have only exacerbated problems ever since. Most recently, Palestinians screwed themselves by electing Hamas.
In case there's any doubt, Hamas are cut from the same cloth as the Taliban. They're not good guys. They have reinstituted the kind of Koranic law that we used as partial pretext to invade Afghanistan. Palestinian Christians certainly can't be too enthusiastic about the re-introduction of crucifixion as a form of punishment.
But, yeah, disproportionate as the violence is, it's pretty clear that the Palestinian leadership thinks there is more to be gained by promoting that violence than by peaceful solutions.
Who I really feel sorry for are the Israeli moderates who deplore the actions of their own government (I know how that feels), and the Palestinian minority, including the middle east's largest Christian population, who just want this hell to be over.
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January 13th, 2009
02:21 pm - What is it about Israel?
You know, normally I don't rise to a patriotic defense of the Bush administration when they get a smackdown. For some reason I do have a soft spot in my heart for Condi, despite her lock-step death-march with the other doomed neocons. So, when she has a rough day on the international circuit I tend to be a little more sympathetic.
Still, my visceral response to Olmert's trash talking is a fairly jingoistic WTF??? You can't say that to us!
As far as I can tell, we're the only nation on Earth that has any sympathy at all for Israel anymore, and that sympathy seems a lot more strongly rooted in elected officials who concern themselves with the pro-Israeli vote than it does in actual everyday voters.
So, my question: what is it about Israel that can squander any public opinion advantage arising out of being bombed by terrorists faster even than the Bush administration, and at the same time alienate the hearts and minds of its only ally?
Is it arrogance?
Stupidity?
Some sort of local political necessity that is incomprehensible outside its own borders?
Or are Israeli leaders the same kind of jerks as the Hamas leaders and they should all be cut off from civilized society until they can play nice?
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January 8th, 2009
08:43 am - Obama's first, most crucial battle.
Here's the deal; we all know President-elect Obama can't possibly live up to all our expectations. No one could. But right now, before he's even president, he's fighting for his life. He wants to bring change to Washington, to change the way government works, to change politics. But the Authorities and Principalities are using all their resources to confine him, to fit him into the old box of what a President can do, what a President can know.
Yes: they're trying to take his blackberry.
And he confesses he thinks he's losing the battle.
Now's the time, people, to stand up for the man we fought so hard for. He told us from the outset, he can't do it alone. He needs us to help him achieve his agenda of change. And I firmly believe that begins right here, right now.
I don't have a website or an organization yet, but we need to figure out how to make this happen. Obama needs his connection to the real world if he's going to stay real. He needs his independent channels of communication if he's going to stay independent.
So, let's get the ball rolling on a campaign we can win: help Obama keep his blackberry!
(For more on why this is not a joke story, see Slate's piece on this from November. But even that, I think, underestimate the seriousness of the potential human isolation this represents, and its possible consequences. This is why we have a president, as opposed to a monarch: because he or she is one of us. We need to keep it that way!)
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January 7th, 2009
01:17 pm - First IROSF of 2009
Last night we published the first issue of the Internet Review of Science Fiction in 2009. This is us going into our 6th year.
Honestly, I don't know if we'll make it to 7. Finances are fairly grim, and the revenue model is problematic: dynamic advertising (google) just doesn't pay the bills outside very-high-volume situations. It's a nice little bonus, but it's not close. Targetted advertising is still an option. Paid subscriptions are widely considered the death-knell of a publication. Fund drives require a passionate, dedicated, and loyal community. Based on testing the waters through informal requests for donations, we probably don't have that.
There are many things we can do to focus our efforts on fiscal sustainability, but they all require considerable work, and now that a day job is mandatory, there's just not a lot of time for that work.
Particularly when I'm in a day job that pretty much requires 50+ hour weeks.
I think if I had about 6 weeks of 50+ hour weeks on IROSF, I could throw together some things that might make for an interesting change of direction, but I don't see how that's going to happen.
So, in the meantime, we keep publishing what we think is really great stuff, and we keep pushing at the boundaries of what is sort of working and what might work better in the hopes that something will break through.
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December 23rd, 2008
09:18 am - Rat Drugs
A few days ago one of our rats appeared to be dying. Ereinne, sweet little one-eyed rat, everyone's favorite.
We were snowed in, couldn't get to the vet, although taking rats to the vet has never really helped us in the past. (Except for the eye, that worked out ok. I mean, she lost the eye, but not her life.)
But for respiratory stuff, it's always: injection of antibiotics, call me in the morning. And maybe they make a little bit of difference.
Well, 'Rennie wasn't just wheezing, she was gasping, mouth open, barely able to suck in air at all. Her whole body was laboring.
Marti decided to try her on some Theraflu, since what the hell. If she's dying, and it kills her, at least it will be fast. So she cooked up a weak tincture of Theraflu.
Rennie fell asleep quickly, but a couple of hours later she was up and running around, breathing fine. And she's been more or less fine ever since. She's always got some noise in her lungs, I don't expect her to last forever. But Theraflu totally cured her.
And in retrospect, I guess it's not that surprising. The drugs we take are all developed and tested on rats. So, while I find Theraflu to be mildly relieving when I have a bad cold or a light flu, apparently it's a wonder-drug in the rat community! Maybe this is true of all our drugs. They're not really medications for the human body at all: they're rat drugs that just don't happen to do much harm to humans!
(NOTE: I am not encouraging anyone to give their rats Theraflu, it could be wildly toxic and Rennie just survived because that's what she does. This post is total speculation, based on only a single data point, which everyone knows is not even close to sufficient to draw conclusions.)
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November 19th, 2008
04:38 pm - GMail get a facelift. Or several.
Instantly teleporting itself ahead of the extra crappy "themes" livejournal offers its non-paying customers, GMail has introduced themes of their own, including the exquisite: "Terminal."
Now I can have my Pine and GMail it too!
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November 2nd, 2008
10:20 pm - Hope for the Future
I should preface this with a meditation that has lately been intriguing me: that Hope is, in fact, actually and surprisingly an evil. The notion that hope was, or might have been, seen as an evil by the ancient Greek's is provocative and prompts one to think more deeply about the nature of hope, of wishful thinking, of illusion. "There is no try, there is only do," as one fool accidentally wrote in a moment of dumb-luck wisdom. Nonetheless, in the contemporary sense of hope, that of envisioning a future that can come to pass, with the declared intent of helping it come to pass...
There is hope for the future.
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October 29th, 2008
08:03 am - Palin: One Hit Wonder
Been busy at work, watching the Phillies in the post season, and with a number of other projects. Here's another crosspost from DailyKos:
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There seems to be a lot of talk in the media -- where they dig up these commentators I have no idea -- about the future of Sarah Palin in national politics should the voters elect Obama.
Palin is popular for two reasons, and both point to her as a one-hit-wonder, almost certainly slated for minor footnote material.
First and foremost, she is authentic. Authentically uninformed, authentically anti-intellectual, authentically unfit for government, but authentic. When a politician--even the best--spend enough time defining themselves on the national stage they become something other than human. A brand. A facade. A package. A product. What makes Palin such a breath of fresh air--however terrifying--is simply that this hasn't happened.
But it will. And quickly. And as for her brand? It looks OK on the shelf, but the price is too high and the quality too low. It's a specialty product. The authenticity makes Palin interesting to Walmart regulars, but the brand is not going to sell to Walmart shoppers.
Secondly, she is attractive.
We love our attractive celebrities. It hasn't hurt Obama any, and it confers on Palin a quick celebrity status, if nothing more, because it is such an oddity in national politics.
But there are a lot of attractive people on TV, and in the end, even in America, it's talent that wins in the end. (With the enduring and baffling exception of Keanu Reeves.)
It also has to be said, when it comes to good looks, America has a very short attention span for middle-aged women. A hot bod and fantastic talent propel our cinema celebrities into number one status. While either one alone is enough to garner *some* attention, only the latter is enough to build a career on, and even then most actresses find their careers evaporating just about when Palin's is starting. Is this sexist? Sure. Is it true? Demonstrably.
So authenticity will congeal into brand, and it's not going to be a hot seller. Good looks won't carry Palin very far, and they won't last.
Unless Sarah Palin is elected to Vice President, this is her fifteen weeks of fame.
I think she knows this, and I think she's enjoying it.
I think she would like to take it further, but I don't think she knows how.
She may or may not be positioning herself for a future national career, but if November 4th goes the way we all pray it will (those of us who pray, anyway, and probably a few who normally don't), Palin is going to be gone by 2009, and forgotten by 2010.
Remember when Dan Quayle ran for president in 2000? No?
My point.
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October 7th, 2008
12:45 am - Obama, on Negative Campaigning
Well... this is how I would like him to say it; I posted this on DailyKos and it got an astounding zero comments. Guess I'll need to work on my DailyKos style.
For this one, I imagine it happening at tonight's debate. McCain spews one of his harsh and unsupportable attacking "zingers," at which point Obama nods gravely, turns to him, and says:
You know, John, it's at times like this that I look back a few years. When I came to the Senate, the name John McCain meant "maverick." McCain was the guy who didn't care as much about party affiliation as he did about doing what he thought was right for the country. He stood up for what he believed in, and if he took some heat for it, that was fine by him.
Do you remember when I reached across the aisle to work on campaign finance reform? It was you I reached out to, John, and it was you who burned me then. When I first came to the Senate, I might have been a little naive. I thought that patriots could work together to accomplish great things. What I learned--and John, I'm a pretty fast learner--was that in Washington, politics trumps everything.
Friendship, patriotism, the simple good of the country... these are ornaments on the altar of ambition for too many people.
I learned that from you, John, and it certainly appears that your running mate is learning as well.
Well, I don't believe it has to be that way. I don't believe it was always that way. And I aim to change it.
Let's take a quick step back and remind ourselves and all those watching us tonight that Democracy doesn't need to be dirty. You may still think I don't understand politics, Senator McCain. But I do: there has been negative campaigning since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson destroyed their great friendship by impugning each other's motives. But there have been such enormous moments of great spirit from our founding fathers to Abraham Lincoln, to Teddy Roosevelt, to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Patriots don't have to destroy each other; and politics doesn't have to be destructive.
Now, I'll fight for truth, fairness, and justice in this campaign, just as I will fight for it in our nation. I believe that what America gives to the world is an ideal of Democracy can be, and on this stage all the world is watching. So I invite you to return this campaign to where it began: a debate of ideas.
When America rises to a challenge it does so by open, honest, forthright disagreement. That's the campaign I invite you and yours to run; that's the politics I have tried to bring to Washington as a Senator, and it's the campaign I have been running even when my own advisors tell me it's time to hit back. This is the spirit I will being to the White House.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for the rest of this debate. Let's assume for just a moment that you believe that if American citizens really understood your plan for America, they would back it, and lift you into office to execute that plan. Well, lay it out for us, and I'll do the same with mine.
Because you know what, I trust that if the American people understand the choice, they will make the right one. And if that means they put you in the White House, not only will I respect that choice, I will labor in support of my President and the American people to the best of my ability.
Personally, I think what the nation needs now is a change of plan, and I think the American people believe that too. But either way, I trust Democracy.
However, if your campaign continues to distort and twist my very simple and forthright ideals and goals, and if this campaign is going to be a political knife fight in which the last man standing is declared winner, well, John. I am not naive. In Chicago, we know those politics too, and you gave me all the lessons I needed in the Senate a long time ago. I'm ready for that fight too.
Turning to the camera.
So, America. Whatever happens over the next month, whether it's the debate you deserve, or something else entirely, I want you to know this. If you elect me, no matter how the rest of this campaign is conducted, know this: I will do everything in my ability to replace politics with public service, insult and innuendo with substantive discussion, and to encourage the best minds in both parties to work together to turn things around.
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September 30th, 2008
04:11 pm - Palin watch continues
Over at daily kos there is considerable speculation that Palin is sandbagging; ie., she's intentionally lowering expectations to the point at which if she can avoid drooling on Thursday night she will be declared the winner. Personally, I don't think that's what's going on at all.
This article from the LA Times provides some insight into Palin's learning curve, and seems pretty clear that she's on the the hard slope right now. She seems to have been as surprised as the rest of the nation by her nomination, so she really didn't have much prep time, and according the the Times there, she doesn't like the prep very much.
However, once she fumbles a few rounds, and gets embarassed in public, she turns on the fire, and can absorb data, reduce it to its political essence, and connect it back to both her constituents (in a good way) and her opponents (in a bad way) as well as anyone. Better than most, actually.
So, Obama enthusiasts should be very wary: she may still be in learning mode on Thursday, in which case she will probably have missed the boat on this election cycle (unless by some bizarre twist of fate she still goes on to join McCain in the White House); but if she has gotten on top of her game by then, she could upset expectations just about as wildly as she did at the Republican convention. And most people are observing that this might just be the one campaign where the VP picks actually do make a difference.
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September 27th, 2008
01:05 pm - A little more on Palin
A reporter suggests that Palin is losing her confidence.
I can certainly feel sorry for someone who has suddenly been promoted way above her level of incompetence. But it's her choice to be there. Personally, I think what's right for her, and for the country, is for her to recuse herself from the nomination. I imagine it will never happen because that would be the absolute death-knell for the McCain campaign and there's always a chance they'll manage to bluster through by judicious application of spin, lies, and media manipulation. But they're losing the media, and she might well be the death-knell of the campaign anyway.
But if she's in over her head as VP, imagine what would happen if McCain doesn't last the full term!
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12:41 pm - Debates
Watched (and tweeted) the debates last night, of course. I'd say I was relieved Obama didn't blow it, and disappointed that he didn't break it open, but overall that it was a fine showing for Obama. With regard to the value of the debate itself, I was frustrated that McCain seemed intent upon perpetrating misinformation and twisting Obama's intent rather than tackling the substance of the issues. Some fact checking published after the debates backed this up. (Be ware of fact checking, though: the AP has posted some egregiously bad and partisan fact checking that undermines Obama unfairly, see this.) Sad when even the fact checkers need fact checking.
Anyway, my bleary flu-addled head has been buzzing with ideas on what I wish Obama had said, and maybe I'll post some of those eventually. But in the meantime:
Jack Cafferty tells us how he really feels about Sarah Palin.
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September 24th, 2008
07:29 am - Evri is Open
Some months ago I linked to Evri, which is (A) the place I work, and (B) a very ambitious attempt to rewire the web using natural language processing to generate a data graph of the internet. The gist of it is simple: Google does search; your web browser does browse. But browse is only as good as the links people put in their web pages. Using deep understanding of what is in web pages, we aim to (1) find better links for you from one document to related (but complementary) material, and (2) create a knowledgebase about people, places, events, products, and so forth that is generated from both the structured and unstructured data available on the web.
The site is still somewhat primitive, but the underlying technology is extremely powerful. We're only just beginning to expose the possibilities of what can be done with our data and our tools, and before too long we'll be exposing web services for external web developers to try to get even more creative.
If you play around with the site right now, you'll find that it's weighted toward current news articles by way of content. Some of our first aims have been to focus on politics, and that is certainly reflected in our existing data set. However, if you play around with relationships between people or other entities, you'll find the data set is a lot deeper than that.
Once again, my friends: Evri.
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September 15th, 2008
07:20 pm - Speeches I'd Like to Hear
I like to imagine the speeches I'd like to hear.
This one would be nice to hear from Obama.
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My fellow Americans. I just got out of a meeting with my campaign advisors. I have to sit through about three of these every day. You wouldn't believe these wonks. They've been riding the bus for a year and a half, okay, we have a plane now. You know what I mean. They live the news media, day and night. They read every article that has my name in it, and they watch every television show, network or cable. That includes Fox News.
Here's what they're telling me. They're telling me that the polls are slipping because the Republican campaign's lies are connecting. They're telling me that it's time to take the gloves off. That if we want to win, we need to start fighting, because that's what wins elections in America.
Now first of all, I want a couple things clear about campaign lies. Campaigns have been a dirty business since the very beginning. The founding fathers who changed the course of this entire planet weren't immune. When John Adams' campaign declared that Thomas Jefferson was going to sell us out to the French, it didn't just set a bad precedent, it started a blood feud between two great men who had been good friends. Years later, they made their peace, and hundreds of miles apart, they died on the same day. July 4, 1826.
So when I see the lies, the statements taken so wildly out of context a high school teacher would put a big F- in red marker on the top, I know it's not personal. It's strange to see John McCain mouth words about healing partisan divisions while his dogs are tearing the limbs off my friends right there on TV. It's disappointing. But it's not surprising. His people got to him. They told him that it was time to take the gloves off. That's what wins elections in America.
I'd almost wonder whether he's in control of his campaign: I understand he was interested in bringing Joe Lieberman on board as VP. Can't say whether that would have healed any partisan divisions or not. Didn't seem to do much for Al Gore, Nobel Laureate. But in any case, they didn't let him. Let me be clear about who runs my campaign: I do. I chose Joe Biden because I think he's going to make a damn good Vice President, and I think he'd make a damned good President. It's true that Hillary Clinton would make a damned good President too. We're blessed in this party to have so much talent. She may end up in the job yet.
But, my fellow Americans, I'd like you to look around for a minute.
The people who run campaigns are not the people who run this country, and they shouldn't be.
Our financial system is in jeopardy, and let me tell you, our financial system is a gem in the crown of the world. This campaign cannot be, must not be about who can fight the dirtier fight.
The Democrats who nominated me didn't nominate me because I'm willing to fight dirty. They didn't nominate me because I'd play backroom politics, or backstabbing politics, better than the Republicans. They chose me because America isn't going to survive that kind of government for much longer. They chose me because they believe that all Americans, Republicans and Democrats, are ready for a government that is going to tell you the truth. A government that is going to make the hard decisions that the greatest leaders of our country have had to make before. The United States of America survives because in times of crisis, we can overcome inconceivable obstacles.
Sometimes, that survival comes at a terrible, terrible price. Those were bitter men who took this country to the brink of civil war, and over the brink. In those days it was a Republican, a man of extraordinary honesty and vision who found a way to heal that division. There are true, honest, visionary Americans in both of our parties, and six months ago, I might even have numbered John McCain among those people. We have our differences of opinion, but the life of John McCain is a true American story, and his accomplishments in the Senate demand our respect. I'm not sure I recognize the Republican candidate for President as the same man, however.
As I've mentioned, these are serious times. The obstacles before our nation are daunting. Global warming, whatever the cause, is a monstrous threat. Scientists declare that the storms battering our coast are just the beginning. We need to pull together to heal, not just each other, but our planet.
Our financial system has been sabotaged by men and women acting from almost inconceivable hubris. There should be a reckoning, but first and foremost, we need to remember that the business of America is business. Franklin Roosevelt, a great patriot, understood this, and he worked through some very hard years against some very hard odds to help this nation build the strongest economy in the world.
We face an enemy abroad that has worked effectively to undermine our moral leadership before the world, to damage our national interests, and, yes, to bring their hatred to our own soil. Overall, our response to this threat has been a bungled affair of poor choices and incompetent execution.
On that point, I'd like to call out one very bright star, another American patriot. You all know I have been skeptical of the "surge." 30,000 troops seemed to me to be too little, too late. One man has made an enormous difference, and that is General Petraeus. We all owe him a great debt, for if it weren't for his excellent decisions on the ground, I assure you, those 30,000 troops would have been more sacrifices in a lost cause. President Bush has actually made a few good choices in his administration. Tossing out Rumsfeld in favor of Gates, and putting Petraeus -- a real maverick, by the way -- in charge in Iraq was one such decision. And I think that promoting him to a position to help address the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan was another good choice. Thank you, Mr. President!
Here's something that America has always believed, and which has been borne out, over and over again in our history. One individual really can make a tremendous difference in the course of this nation.
Your decision in November, will be choosing that individual.
Now, I've said, over and over again, that I cannot do this alone. If America is going to succeed in the obstacles we face, it will be because we face them together. We may have to work harder, and longer, and smarter than ever before. We may have to sacrifice. But here's what we will not sacrifice. We will not sacrifice our dignity. We will not sacrifice our honesty. We will not sacrifice our democracy.
So, when my campaign staff told me we need to take the gloves off, I asked them what gloves they were talking about. 'Cause my work gloves are on. And they're staying on.
I told my campaign that this campaign has been about changing the way politics happens in America, and if Americans believe in that change, they will vote for us, and not for the guy who can get in the cheapest shots.
I told my campaign that the problems facing this country right now are serious. You know, we've had a couple of little holidays from the low blows. September 11th. Hurricane Gustav. Well, with the stuff going on in the world, and in our nation, and on Wall Street, every day should be a holiday from that kind of politics.
And I'd like to tell the media: whether it's FoxNews or MoveOn, whether it's the New York Post or the Huffington Post, be journalists. Be Americans. We don't need the bullshit, okey? We're all pretty tired of it. (And I think it may be actually damaging to my campaign staff.)
And I'm telling you, my fellow Americans, that I believe in you. This campaign has been about bringing Americans together. Not just talking about it, I mean really doing it. And if this campaign is going to mean anything at all, it needs to hold true to that right up to election day. And on that day, you will choose.
So think about your choice. Weigh the differences in policy. Listen to what we say, and listen to how we say it, and by all means, look at what we actually do. I think America is ready to choose a better path.
Thank you.
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September 13th, 2008
08:46 am - Livejournal themes
Playing around with themes; you know they have like 500 themes here and they pretty much all suck. As far as I can tell you need to create a paid account in order to do anything for yourself, though. I didn't try too hard, though, so I could be missing something.
For something with fairly simple navigation, Live Journal sure does create a weird maze of configuration paths.
Anyway, my last theme, the green one, apparently didn't display correctly if you weren't me. I hate things that structure display differently based on who the user is. Makes it very hard for me to see that its broken when its specifically not broken for me.
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September 11th, 2008
09:16 am - On a more hopeful note...
This is clearly what we're all hoping for:
Thanks to Pundit Kitchen's LolBuilder. Genius!
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September 10th, 2008
07:14 am - It's the Story, Stupid
I thought Obama understood this: it's not about issues, policies, experience, wisdom, ability, intelligence, or integrity. It's the story.
Writers sometimes despair that the great age of the novel is ending. Technology is marginilizing the book, and culture is changing the way we spend our time. For all that, television was supposed to kill the book about fifty years ago. Thing is: storytelling is such an essential part of what it means to be human that even if traditional forms of writing (and actually the novel is a rather new concept in the big picture of human art) that a skilled storyteller will always have a vehicle for his or her imagination. Television, film, games... or politics.
In 2000, Al Gore got up and demonstrated his astounding grasp of issues, and his woeful ignorance of story. He certainly couldn't tell a story himself, but more importantly, his campaign couldn't craft a story. Bush didn't do much better, and the whole campaign was such a bust that we had to rely on conspiracies, nepotism, and despotism to settle on our final choice for President.
By 2004, Bush had solidified his story. The good 'ol boy on the world stage. It's an ugly story, and everyone knew it was a disaster at the time. But Kerry couldn't put together a story to save his life. Again, he couldn't tell a story, and his campaign seemed intent upon avoiding story of any sort. I understand Kerry is actually an amazing man, rough around the edges, insightful, with a brutal insight into the workings of power. But clearly, he doesn't understand story.
Now we *thought* that Obama got it. It was his story that catapulted him to the national stage over front runner Hillary Clinton, who was stiffly stacking policy proposals and position papers and ignoring the fact that the vast majority of voters -- even primary voters who are a somewhat different breed -- aren't moved by these things. Oh, they care. They're interested. But they're not moved.
Obama had a story then, and it wasn't change. He talked about change, but his story was honesty. He opened his heart to America, and called 'em like he saw 'em. People responded to that in an enormous way. He wasn't just talking the talk, he was walking a whole new road in American politics.
Almost as soon as he solidified the nomination, the story began to sink away.
Some say that his choice of Biden as a running mate is a continuation of the story. He didn't choose Biden because of the votes he would bring (Delaware is irrelevant), or because of the demographics (Old white men are not this year's swing vote), but because he genuinely liked and respected Biden. However, in a year of historic firsts, his choice looks cautious. It looks like Obama is falling into the trap of trying to play it safe, nurse a lead down to election day. Oops.
The important thing about story is that it needs to be told.
McCain understands story. The whole "maverick" thing? Pure story. It has virtually no basis in reality, but it's a great story. The whole "campaign finance reform" thing? Pure story. McCain's facts of his finance reform involvement are the of the sort that have put a number of his peers in prison, or sent them home in disgrace. But McCain can wrap himself in a few pieces of mediocre legislation and call it a three piece suit.
McCain did have a problem: these are old stories. They're stale. He tried them in 2000, and Bush's campaign slaughtered him by telling rotten stories about him. (Yeah, Bush -- well, Rove -- had *that* kind of story down pat.)
By all accounts, McCain wanted to tell a new story of bipartisanship by bringing in Lieberman, and it's too bad for us that someone in his campaign blockaded that choice. Because if there's anyone who can kill a story faster than Lieberman, I don't know who. McCain stumbled into a far better story: our pitbull in lipstick.
Oh, she's a terrible choice for vice president. If it was just the demographics he was going for he could have gone for Condi, or that Senator from Texas. But this woman has story, and she can tell her story, and as far as presidential politics goes (pretty low bar here, we know) she's smoking hot.
Obama's story is the stale one, now. Yeah, yeah, we heard you Obama. Change, change, change. You're like Giuliani with 9/11.
It's time to tell a new story.
Good news: the essence of your story is still a complete overturning of American politics. If you can find a way to capture America's attention and open your heart to us again, odds are pretty good you will recapture our imagination.
(And in related news, many pundits predicted Clinton would offer Obama tepid support, or even undermine his candidacy so as to give herself a shot at 2012. She is certainly doing that, although whether intentionally or not it's hard to say. The way she sticks to the dead weight of policies and proposals in the face of Palin's story is somewhere between retarded and malicious. With the Clintons, you never can tell.)
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September 9th, 2008
12:25 am
Republicans are outraged because they feel the media discriminates against their candidates.
Democrats are dispirited because they have had an opportunity to steer this country for a grand total of 8 years in the past 28; and a good chunk of those eight years were derailed by a bullshit impeachment process.
And, to be frank, our guy for those eight years was a big disappointment anyway.
So, on the left, there's a grim sense of foreboding. How can we lose it this time? Or, how will they steal it this time?
I have to admit to a certain revulsion at the Republican victimhood. I don't see how they're being treated any worse than anyone else; when it comes to the media, everyone is a victim. The media has a job to do: attract an audience for their advertisers. They do this by whatever means necessary, just as the Republicans have taught us to run campaigns. It aint how you play the game, it's all about the win.
Personally, I still think Palin has a good chance of self-destructing. She's been promoted way above her pay grade. So far, she looks like she can step up to the campaigning aspect of the job, but for someone who was mayor of a town of 9000 two years ago, there are a lot of ways she can screw up.
But I hate that it's starting to look like the best chance for the Democrats to be elected is for the Republicans to blow it.
Because as outrageously bad as the Republican ticket actually is, this particular democracy doesn't vote based on qualifications. We already know this, or the last 28 years would have been very different.
Can Obama get momentum back behind his historic campaign? Or do we have to hope that Palin gets away from her handlers just long enough to explain why the lower 48 aren't good enough to lick Alaska's snowshoes? Because I don't think this woman is an American: I think she considers herself an Alaskan first. People make a big deal about how she expressed disinterest in the vice presidency a while back because she didn't think the job had any real duties. She was right enough in that regard.
But she also said: "We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we're trying to accomplish up here..."
I'm sorry... she wants to run for veep so she can accomplish things for Alaskans? Hell with a bridge to nowhere? Let's drill the hell out of the place, and put bridges between all the mountain peaks?
What?
Anyway, point is: if she self-destructs, I expect it will be over Alaska.
If she doesn't, I sure hope the Democrats have a better plan than the Gore/Kerry approach of sleepwalking through September and October.
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September 7th, 2008
06:42 pm - Gin
I have a reasonably interesting observation percolating, vis-a-vis the relationship between Sarah Palin, John McCain, the media, the victimization of Republicans and the wholesale disenfranchisement of everyone else, but I'm in no condition to put these words into, uh, digits.
Reason? It turns out that top shelf gin does make a better gin and tonic, and I am at the moment deeply immersed in my appreciation for Tanqueray #10.
I'm also debugging an elusive error in the next version of the Æon website.
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