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It's pretty funny being here at Yearly Kos. Many Big Media Bores have shown up to write about -- themselves. David Ehrenstein alerts us this morning to the presence of Ad Nags , who -- like his fellow NYTimser MoDo -- seems obsessed (on the front page of the Times no less) with the notion that bloggers may be angling to take their place in the cocktail weenie line:
They may think of themselves as rebels, separate from mainstream politics and media. But by the end of a day on which the convention halls were shoulder to shoulder with bloggers, Democratic operatives, candidates and Washington reporters, it seemed that bloggers were well on the way to becoming — dare we say it? — part of the American political establishment. Indeed, the convention, the first of what organizers said would become an annual event, seems on the way to becoming as much a part of the Democratic political circuit as the Iowa State Fair.
All I can say is that the conference, for us, has been virtually free of contact with "political establishment." There's lots of scurrying in the corners with the white boy bloggers who have a small fraction of our traffic, but politicians and their aides could seem to give fuck-all about the gals and the gays. We've really enjoyed the freedom to spend the time with our readers with little interference from all that hubub -- blissfully, nobody has yet tried to "triangulate" me. Our FDL breakfast this morning was great -- we got to hang out with people like Zennurse, BobbyG, Mommybrain, RBG, BarbaraB, Swopa, Skippy and others -- right now I've got Ian Walsh plunking himself down in the chair next to me, Mike Stark is talking with Bob Geiger, Siun is making everyone comfortable and there's not a politician or aid in sight.
I guess they're all off pestering Ad Nags. Can I say how very happy I am he showed up to draw all the flies?
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YKos is a BLAST
Fitz? Fitz (for once?)
Sirota is talking about networking in the states to help our d. legislators replicate good legislation. Sounds like something we can talk about in the Roots Project.
Is that Duke Cunningham’s lava lamp?
I sincerely hope you all are having fun out there, and figure out ways so the “we, the people” can take over our government.
Keep up the good work!
Mostly a lurker, very occasional a poster.
Sirota:
Rather than fighting the media, we need to build up our own media. Progressive media is both the net roots AND the progressive magazines. We need more investment in investigative research, in substantive reporting. Critical.
big shout-out to Siun!
I’m sitting next to RevDeb and Matt O. Sirota’s laying down some good shyte. Talking about building and funding progressive infrastructure.
So Jane, what rich liberal bugger is gonna send us a fat check? Matt O. is cute, but tragically straight. Otherwise, maybe he could get us a sugar daddy.
Pach 8 — Yes Matt is straight but quite thoughtful, he stopped this morning to buy post cards for Valley Girl and got everyone to sign them. It was very sweet.
While it is never my intention to derail a thread I think this topic is worthy of a little discussion. I posted this on another blog to get some opinions from both sides of the spectrum.
A couple of weeks ago there was a small uproar about some toothless legislation that declared English to be the national language. Generally speaking I think alot of people thought that this was a useless law, some said it was about heritage.
At the time I didn’t see many people arguing for the law on the grounds of practicality, though there were a few. I planned to bring up that part of the argument but decided to wait until and example of the practical need for such a law popped up in the news. Here it is:
Geno’s famous cheesesteak shop faces threats of legal action for not servicing spanish speaking customers. It’s a short AP article but for those who don’t want to bother, here is the relevant paragraph:
This is a threat to small businesses who often can’t afford to have a bi-lingual staff. As I’m sure some of you know, when taken to court you can win your case and still loose big. With legal fees and time lost from work, defending yourself sucessfully in court can still be devastating. Thus the practical purpose of an english national language. If that silly law can protect small business owners from these types frivolous of lawsuits then I think it was a great idea.
Big hello to all- I’ve been reading and reading the threads, but not commenting much.
Matt O!
Thanks for the postcards, it’s great to know what’s going on.
Matt is sweetie, and Valley Girl is a hidden hero of this site, moderating comments, watching over the site. . . It really takes a team to make something like this run, and we all do it because the community really inspires us. 130 people got up for a 7:30 AM breakfast in Vegas to be together with the FDL family this morning. That’s literally awesome.
blissfully, nobody has yet tried to “triangulate” me
anybody angling to do that would be obtuse, and would probably suffer an acute response. I saw so, lees.
And the view from the Penthouse was fabulous. All that was missing were the cocktail weenies . . . though the thought of them for breakfast, well, not so much.
lhp, (or anyone else for that matter)
if you haven’t seen it yet - a little brunch nosh from everyone’s favorite curmudgeon Cafferty (h/t C & L)
http://www.crooksandliars.com/.....html#a8654
and Valley Girl wherever you are, caught a pic of
yourour Matt O yesterday - so adorable AND earnest !I don’t think I’m the only one who’s turned off by the gratuitous MSM bashing. It looks childish and seem to foreshadow more humility by triumphant YKOSSies.
I so wish that I could be there to meet and great all the people behind the screennames. Even though I don’t post that much in the comments, I read all the time. Isn’t there another convention of sorts coming up here in DC soon for progressives?
Thanks to all the FDLers for updates and comments!
(EPU’d repost)
Why Democrats Lose — By Robert Parry
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/060706.html
At dinner a few weeks ago, a well-placed Republican political operative was oozing confidence about GOP prospects in the November elections, not because the voters were enamored of George W. Bush but because the Democrats and liberals had done so little to improve their ability to reach the public with their message.
By contrast, he described to me a highly sophisticated Republican system for pouncing on Democratic “bad votes” and verbal gaffes and distributing the information instantaneously to a network of pro-Republican media outlets that now operates down to the state, district and local levels. …
In the June 6 special election, Republicans reported a last-minute surge of support after conservative media outlets trumpeted a verbal blunder by Democrat Francine Busby, propelling Republican lobbyist Brian Bilbray to victory by about four percentage points. …
In explaining Busby’s defeat in this bellwether special election, national Democratic consultants will likely point to failures of Busby as a candidate or the fact that the Republican Congressional Committee pumped more than $4.5 million into the district.
But the one point the Democratic consultants almost never mention is the giant media advantage that Republicans have created from years of investing in media outlets – from newspapers, magazines and books to cable television, talk radio and the Internet. …
Jane- I said this before in an earlier comment, but the Plame panel- you, RH, all the panel members were stellar. So complimentary in their perspectives. Murray Waas is such a mensch. He’s been toiling in obscurity for way too long.
That’s a first. We’re used to right wing concern trolls, but establishment media concern trolls?
Have only caught two disjoint video fragments from the panel. Is there a linked video somewhere or a known scheduled rebroadcast on CSPAN?
Thanks
I can’t begin to tell everyone how wonderful it is to be hanging out with people whose screen names and writings have been such a constant in our lives but until now had no face were all at a distance.
We are an amazing group of people and I am so grateful to be a part of it. Pach, Christie and Jane have been so gracious and available to us all. There is truly the feeling that we are all in this together and an important part of a REAL movement.
Hard to put that in a cogent statement while listening to Jerome and Markos speak. But thanks to everyone for providing this space, this medium, this community.
Second the sentiments of RevDeb 23.
I am humbled to be in the presence of the FDL’ers here.
Sitting in a sessio with zennurse at the moment. She’ll be leaing for California shortly.
:(
I’m still so jazzed ovber yesterday’s Plame panel. Wow.
VG - if you’re still on, I need to scoot for a bit.
Am still in my bathrobe, and household is falling down around my ears!
Anne- I’m here. My household has already fallen.
No doubt they’ve not tried to triangulate because you’re a rectangular guy.
Sirota quoting Bill Bennet:
“Conservatives see the Repubs as a means to an end.
Liberals see the Dems as and end.”
That’s why we lose. applause and nods of recognition.
ouch.
Poor MoDo. Now she has to stand behind the velvet ropes with the rest of us.
No matter how you try to spin it, it’s not a bad thing that the political establishment is listening to the blogosphere and taking it seriously.
That means we have political power (yay!). Sorry, David.
To me, the blogosphere represents DOCUMENTED, ACCOUNTABLE COMMUNICATION. Can’t say the same for the MSM.
today’s SF Chronicle blurb on YKos:
I think there’s something to that quote. I’m not bad-mouthing at all, but the convention seems to serve to crystallize a movement, which will defuse some of the angst and energy that has served to create the momentum that has brought them/us to this point. From now on, people like Lieberman won’t have to worry that opposition from the left is coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, they can now put their finger on it.
“I’m still so jazzed ovber yesterday’s Plame panel. Wow.”
Is was amazing! I watched it TWICE on C-SPAN!
mommybrain 27 - who you callin’ a square? :~)
Para…
It’s pretty obvious that the MSM is being targeted both at YKOS and on some of the blogs, I just think it’s sometimes unwarranted, sometimes goes to far, and often seems childish.
I probably should have expected any critical comment to be defined as trollish behavior here, I’ll have to go back and check that KOS Police troll definition list again.
Lakoff is so fine.
He says we need to carry our morality into our conversations with wingers, show them we are moral people and this will go a long way toward bringing the country together.
This just in.
There is a surprisingly low demand for books by lesbians who embrace the Republican agenda of gay bashing.
Who would have known.
(Snip)
“Despite saturation media coverage when it was published a month ago, Mary Cheney’s book Now It’s My Turn has tanked at bookstores. Published by a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster, the memoir has sold fewer than 6,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen Bookscan.
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail.asp?id=32039
-GSD
From an earlier post, Barbara Boxer:
“You believe in America, its promise, its principles and in values like fairness, truth-telling, accountability, opportunity and investment in our communities.”
Can I just take a moment during this great weekend to suggest that ‘freedom’ needs to be on that list? No value is more central to our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and I believe that respect for — indeed, reverence for — individual freedom has to be central to the Democratic Party’s message.
So did anyone attend Mark Warner’s “Blogosphere at the Stratosphere” event?
Jane,
Your opening yesterday, or as much of it as I have caught, was quintessential. Your timing, use of silence was certified “stand-up-comic,” good. “But we love him anyway,” is my latest favorite punchline.
Really appreciate you, Christy, and Pach continuing to check in.
Actually jerry is right. We should just roll over and go back to sleep while the MSM continues to deal out lies and spin and acts as a shill for the administration. No need to point that out.
The typo-laden Ad Nags spoof blog (drawing the flies) is a riot - worth a gander.
Don’t miss the comments by Bill keller, Judy Kneepads, et al.
punaise, 14:”Is that Duke Cunningham’s lava lamp?”
No, it is the cauldron of the three witches — Coulter, Malkin, and … you pick the third…so many to choose from.
Second thought, there is a question whether Coulter truly qualifies as a witch. Gender thing, ya know (wink wink).
Warlock?
Jane, don’t get pissed. I asked A.J., Jerry McNerney’s campaign manager, to find you there and introduce himself. He’s a good guy, only 27 and he just pulled off a miracle by absolutely slaughtering the DCCC-hack in California’s 11th congressional district, one of the biggest wins for a progressive, grassroots candidate all year. I told him to be sure and meet Christy and Pach too.
Punaise, don’t be obtuse, I called you a longish square.
How do you talk to beligerant right wingers? They are baiters - they try to get us to act as juveniley as they do. Do not react with anger, it plays into their stereotype of us. It’s deliberate. Not easy to do.
Get together socially to learn to talk about progressive values. When you are drinking with friends and especially with people with whom you have disagreements, buy a pitcher of beer! Nothing like sharing to live your values. THEY buy a bottle of beer - I want what I want and I’m not sharing - but a pitcher is symbolic of our values.
The misogyny of the right has it’s roots in strict-father morality (one of Lakoff’s books,interesting read). (Lakoff is putting together a national network to help us frame). If you want to reach wingers , be what you want to see in them (caring); ask about the women in their lives to see their softer side.
Fifty three percent of unwanted pregnancies come from people whohave had no sex ed. Conservatives are killing babies with their politics - infant mortality rate way up. Do you think the gov. should decide what your moral values should be?
End of panel. See ya soon.
PS Dan Froomkin is sooooo nice.
Jerry, it’s not about targetting, as in some sort of enemies list. It’s about getting them to do their jobs. I just posted a comment on Chris Cilizza’s WaPo blog, suggesting that the convention was about much more than which politicians showed up. He wrote a “People magazine” piece. I pointed out that the Plame panel had a really informative discussion on the case and the role of the press. Yet, his post was all about what Richardson had to say, Clark, Vilsack, whatever.
When the Plame panel goes up on C-SPAN, go listen. As Froomkin said, “Investigative journalism: What a concept.”
ck- Yeah- there is a media advantage. Part of it is incumbency- part of it is corporate ideology. Still- that has nothing to do with the Busby mispeak. She did that to herself and it was appropriately reported here. It was a bad gaffe at the worst possible moment.
(sure there are explanations- and sure it was blown out of proportion- but that’s politics- when you make a mistake- someone makes you pay).
Watching C-Span cover the “framing” panel: Lakoff is firing on all cylinders. How to reframe hot-button issues, how to talk with dittoheads, the need to reclaim as progressive issues like “life”, “freedom”.
C-Span just announced they would re-broadcast Joe Wilson’s comments from YKos on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Is this blog hosted in Bahgdad or something? It’s only up like 14 hours a day.
Hey everyone, let’s not get bent out of shape.
punaise @14…gah!
heh heh, from the Ad Nags “comments”:
Freshly EPU’d:
Well well well, a friend just sent me the LexNex of MoDo’s column for today. Without busting copyright entirely, here’s most of it:
HEADLINE: Bloggers Double Down
BYLINE: By MAUREEN DOWD
DATELINE: Las Vegas
If I had to be relegated to the Dustbin of History, I’m glad it was in Vegas.
I, Old Media, came here to attend a New Media convention of progressive political bloggers aiming for a technological revolution that would dispatch mainstream media to the tumbrels. It was the journalistic equivalent of mingling with your own pod replicant in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
“Bloggers meet mainstream media,” crowed one young man, as he had a friend take a picture of us together at the Riviera Hotel. His friend chimed in: “Where the rubber meets the road.”
Old media and new circled each other “like kids at a seventh-grade dance,” said Jennifer Palmieri, a Democratic operative.
(snip)
John Laesch, who is running to unseat Denny Hastert in Illinois, was ubiquitous, even kneeling before one blogger in the hall, seeking a “Netroots” endorsement.
Technology has enabled the not-meek to inherit the earth, and Democrats and others who refuse to drink the cyber-Kool-Aid will, Mr. Moulitsas said, go into the old “dustbin of history.”
The fast-talking former Army artillery scout with the boyish demeanor and dark brown buggy eyes is no one to take lightly. Some may think the Internet messiah who put Mr. Dean on the map in 2003 is “a fame hound, a loudmouthed
nerd at the back of the room,” as The Washington Monthly wrote. But others, including adoring conventioneers who called the scene at the debut YearlyKos gathering “magic” and “a rock concert,” see him the way Ana Marie Cox, nee Wonkette, described him this week in Time.com: “He’s the left’s own Kurt Cobain and Che Guevara rolled into one.”
I tracked down the cult leader, wading through a sea of Kossacks, who were sitting on the floor in the hall with their laptops or at tables where they blogged, BlackBerried, texted and cellphoned — sometimes contacting someone only a few feet away. They were paler and more earnest than your typical Vegas visitors, but the mood was like a masquerade. This was the first time many of the bloggers had met, and they delighted in discovering whether their online companions were, as one woman told me, male, female, black, white, old, young or “in a wheelchair.”
Mr. Moulitsas assured me he didn’t see himself as a journalist, only a Democratic activist. “I don’t plan on doing any original reporting — screw that. I need people like you,” he said, agreeing that since he still often had to pivot off the reporting of the inadequate mainstream media to form his inflammatory opinions, our relationship was, by necessity, “symbiotic.”
As I wandered around workshops, I began to wonder if the outsiders just wanted to get in. One was devoted to training bloggers, who had heretofore not given much thought to grooming and glossy presentation, on how to be TV pundits
and avoid the stereotype of nutty radical kids.
Mr. Moulitsas said he had a media coach who taught him how to stand, dress, speak, breathe and even get up from his chair. Another workshop coached Kossacks on how to talk back to Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. “One of my favorite points,” the workshop leader said, “is that the French were right.”
Even as Old Media is cowed by New Media, New Media is trying to become, rather than upend, Old Media. Ms. Cox has left her Wonkette gig to be a novelist and Time essayist. Mr. Moulitsas and Mr. Armstrong wrote a book called “Crashing the Gate,” and hit “Meet the Press” and the book tour circuit. Mr. Armstrong left his liberal blog to become a senior adviser to Mr. Warner. What could be more mainstream than that?
Were the revolutionaries simply eager to be co-opted? Mr. Moulitsas grinned. “Traditionally it was hard to get your job,” he said. “Now regular
people can score your job.”
Fine. I’ll be at the Cleopatra slot machine pondering a career in blogging, which will set me up to get back into mainstream media someday.
Here is a link to some YearlyKos pics….
http://www.flickr.com/search/?.....amp;m=tags
Is it true Byron York is call for tax breaks for the dreadful?
What watertiger said at 9:52.
Sounds to me as though MoDo has been
swallowedbitten by the “green monster?”Hey MoDo, check your
damnego, at the door. Remember, the other side still has control of both Houses, the Oval Office, and if Justice Steven’s 87-year-old health fades, the SC. Remember MoDo, there’s no “I” in TEAM.Who is MoDO?
mommybrain 45, wrecked angle, fair enough.
(actually, trapezoid is a better fit).
where’s Evil Parallel Universe when you need her (?) - she could straighten this out.
Maureen Dowd, NYT
Thanks Punaise!
Interesting read about the NH GOP operative that served time for the phone jamming scam.
Notice he talks about the “win at all cost” strategy of Republicans.
http://www.rawstory.com/showar.....cs?mode=PF
-GSD
rw, I’ve got a big hunka her column today in moderation — coming right up, I hope.
punaise at 10:16
LMAO.
D. Mason, 10 “A couple of weeks ago there was a small uproar about some toothless legislation that declared English to be the national language.”
I am not sure how such a legislation could be “toothless” but I am sure that it flies in the face of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, and that means freedom to speak in any language, including ASL (American Sign Language).
Not to mention that if we were to hew to a tradition of speaking a “national” language, there would be nearly 500 of them, since at the time of the arrival of the Puritans, there were as many as 500 Native American tribes, each with their own language or dialect.
How do you say “bullshit” in Choctaw or Apache?
Think about it: if it came to the Supreme Court, what are the ancestral tongues of the people there? How are they going to uphold a law like that without denying their own heritage?
The stupidity of the conservatives has no bounds.
Thanks for the picks, ccmask.
I loved the last one, of the sign,
“NSA, working without warrants since 2003.”
Read up on the Mark Warner event downstairs. It strikes me how boring, bland and predictable the politicians appear in direct contrast with the bloggers at YKos. I’m really hoping we can tug that rope and pull them further towards the light side!
Yeah, John that was my fav too.
rwcole –
I probably should have ended the Robert Parry excerpt with a different paragraph. I take it for granted that we are at a tremendous disadvantage media-wise — but what is killing us the Beltway Dems timidity and self serving consultants driving us into the ground.
What Does The Democratic Party Stand For?
Until we can answer that question with a series of short sharp soundbites that persuade folks to support us, the Democrats will continue to lose.
As for the Busby loss, Brad Friedman is not convinced she did lose — except in the Diebold vote counting software. ES&S just got nailed flipping an election in Iowa, and who’s to say it didn’t happen in the CA-50?
http://www.bradblog.com/
Personally, I think Busby did lose, and it was because of low turnout — not the gaffe. If she was going to win, she needed a much higher percentage of Democrats and Independents to go to the polls; that didn’t happen, and she lost.
I think all of those robo-calls you were getting are the reason why she lost — I’ll bet Democrats and Independents received different calls from Republicans, and many more calls to boot. The calls were not intended to persuade — they were designed to suppress turnout and make Democratic phone banking ineffective. I’d say it worked.
Still haven’t seen the CSPAN tape of our panel, if anyone gets a link to a stream or knows when they’ll be rerunning in it would be nice to know.
tryggth @ 22 -
C Span will pre broadcast Plame Panel
Sunday 3:30 pm EST
Re: What does the Dem Party stand for?
Maybe they should bill themselves as PROBLEM-SOLVERS. They could actually address problems such as health care, energy policy, national security, hurricane preparation etc., while the Repukes are busy making up IMAGINARY problems (gay marriage, flag burning, terror, etc.). to distract people from the real ones.
crap, Re Broadcast Plame Panel tomorrow at 3:30
and although I started watching intermittently,
the ‘framing panel’ should be Porgressive 101 -
lotsa good stuff
more live reports from the field: (Damn, I wish someone more thoughful, like Mary, could be doing this. We are thinking about y’all.)
Raw Story panel (of 1)on investigative journalism.
What’s the guy’s name, the founder of Raw Story? I missed his intro.
Anyone can do investigative journalism. Just start calling people, make sure you know what you’re talking about. They will often talk to you and give you information. There’s a lot reporters know that they don’t report (oh, well, everyone knows that! It’s old/not news. ie Mehlman’s orientation.)
Google searches work amazingly well. You can find all kinds of stuff on google. Corporate media not as willing anymore to fund (expensive) investigative journalism.
Very important to show your knowledge when calling around to get information. Ask “Well, who else knows about this issue?” and you will often get referrals.
Double sourcing is very important - we’ve learned our lesson. Drudge often makes shit up.
Getting your story out: email around to bloggers, make sure you have a good subject headline to get their attention.
More in a minute. Or should I stop?
Jane,
“Still haven’t seen the CSPAN tape of our panel, if anyone gets a link to a stream or knows when they’ll be rerunning in it would be nice to know.”
Sunday, 3:30 ET. That will make the 4th airing by my count!
I’m attending a navel gazing blogosphere panel, but it doesn’t suck. It’s moderated by Chris Bowers and includes cool people. But I’m finding I’m really mentally wiped. Should find a time to rest.
Thanks for the pics at #53 ccmask! The one of “girls meet boys” on p. 3 is HIL-arious! :)
Don’t stop mommybrain!
Thank you, Pach, Jane, and Christy and everyone for doing everything you are to bring the convention to us shut-ins. We’re all so proud of you. The panel yesterday was outstanding. So refreshing to hear these people speak without Mary Matalin or Ol’ 60 Grit cutting them off and interrupting them to spew some half-retarded talking point.
I’ve actually been really surprised at how favorable the MSM coverage has been. The guys at Red State must be chewing the scenery about now.
If you’re down past 53, run back up there for the MoDo excerpt. Meanwhile, I gotta bolt for gawf and then Greek food. Y’all have fun, and I’ll cashew later . . .
Orangejumpsuit said:
I will start my reply to you by knocking down this strawman. All the law does is state that english is our national language and that the government shall not be required to provide services in another language. There is no assault on people who speak another language. It sets an official standard for the government. That’s also why I refered to it as toothless.
What do tribal languages have to do with our national language? The united States was never part of any Native American tribe. We took their land, for better or for worse, and we are not tied to them linguistically. We never were.
My point, which you chose to miss, was that non-english speaking people should not be able to use the courts to force bi-lingualism in small businesses. It should be those establishments choice to offer services in another language or not. English is the prevailing language in this country and business owners should not be required by abuse of law to hire multi-lingual employees. Agree or disagree?
ck- I think Busby lost because she was a poor candidate and ran a poor campaign. I think the race was winnable- but with a fourteen point registration disadvantage- it required a very good campaign to win it. Hackett, for example, would have won the race.
I keep having nightmares of Francine doing her “I’m a soccer mom from Cardiff- send me to Washington to clean up the place” speech. Gives me the cold shivers.
She actually HAS some business experience and refused to run on it. Stupid.
Candidates need to understand the growing attachment that people have to their jobs and to their employers. They admire CEOs and upper management. They want candidates who are somewhat in that mode- powerful, articulate, and knowledgable.
Francine deliberately chose to “power down”- that’s OK if you are say- Bill Clinton- it’s not OK if you are someone no one knows.
With all the apparent misperceptions on the part of the MSM and other sundry onlookers, I wouldn’t be surprised if Joementum showed up, begging for votes. :)
Wish I could have gone, but poverty demands will power. It would have been a lot of fun to snicker and point at Byron York in person. :)
Re: overall diversity of blogosphere:
This is a problem that starts way below the blogs. The percentage of people who own computers at all is disproportionately white. A problem exacerbated of course by the class-war policies of this administration.
I’m sitting in the Privacy Rights in the Conservative Era forum at the moment. Gonna go to Christy’s pannel next at 11:20 (in Royale 1).
I’m also gonna attend the Net Neutrality session at 2:45 pm.
Everyone needs to read the Lessig OpEd in the WaPo on ‘net neutrality:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....tml?sub=AR
The Bushies and their crony Suits wanna turn the internet into a gated community.
Fab MoDo article up at #53–
“It was the journalistic equivalent of mingling with your own pod replicant in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’”
ROFL!
In the C-Span yKos panel this morning, someone cited Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer –
Issues Divide Us — Values Unite Us.
This is one of the most profound insights anyone has ever offered.
Issues are about process and legislation and specificity — all of which induce MEGO in voters, and create attack opportunities for the other side. The GOP rose to power on Frank Luntz list of words, that were emotionally charged but content free.
What Do Democrats Stand For?
Hope — Opportunity — and Fairness.
Republicans have destroyed the American Dream — Democrats want to give everyone the opportunity to succeed.
Republicans give us Lies –
Democrats give us Hope . . .
Snip from Lessig:
“Congress is about to cast a historic vote on the future of the Internet. It will decide whether the Internet remains a free and open technology fostering innovation, economic growth and democratic communication, or instead becomes the property of cable and phone companies that can put toll booths at every on-ramp and exit on the information superhighway.
At the center of the debate is the most important public policy you’ve probably never heard of: “network neutrality.” Net neutrality means simply that all like Internet content must be treated alike and move at the same speed over the network. The owners of the Internet’s wires cannot discriminate. This is the simple but brilliant “end-to-end” design of the Internet that has made it such a powerful force for economic and social good: All of the intelligence and control is held by producers and users, not the networks that connect them…”
“…these gatekeepers would determine who gets premium treatment and who doesn’t.
Their idea is to stand between the content provider and the consumer, demanding a toll to guarantee quality delivery. It’s what Timothy Wu, an Internet policy expert at Columbia University, calls “the Tony Soprano business model”: By extorting protection money from every Web site — from the smallest blogger to Google — network owners would earn huge profits. Meanwhile, they could slow or even block the Web sites and services of their competitors or those who refuse to pay up. They’d like Congress to “trust them” to behave.
Without net neutrality, the Internet would start to look like cable TV. A handful of massive companies would control access and distribution of content, deciding what you get to see and how much it costs…”
IMPORTANCE.CANNOT.BE.OVERSTATED
punaise says: “anybody angling to do that would be obtuse, and would probably suffer an acute response.”
June 10th, 2006 at 9:33 am
Especially if adjacent to you? (g)
Oscarsmom 89:
But Modo’s wrong …. Going to a Tony Snow press briefing is the journalistic equivalent of mingling w/ yr own replicant from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
OT, World Cup, just in:
Trinidad & Tobago 0, Sweden 0
bit of an “upset”
SP, CPA - you’re so complementary
While Busby had her problems as a candidate, I think that article by Robert Parry (post#19) is right on. Progressives need a rapid response ‘war room’ system to counter republican spin and talking points. Every candidate makes gaffes, but the republican machine amplifies and spreads dem gaffes like wildfire. The gaffe doesn’t even have to be real - the usual suspects (Drudge, Rush, the National Review, Fox News) will sometimes make stuff up and push it to the MSM.
Candidates need to aggressively counter the republican spin with the help of a rapid response democratic media team that links to the blogs, and will push to the MSM. Fighting back is the only thing that works. It worked for Clinton, after all.
Doesn’t anyone read important stuff like “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”? Sheesh. Of course adnags is right, at least in the large.
The revolutionaries of today are the conservatives of tomorrow. That’s the way it goes.
The conservative-leaning press of today was the wacky liberals of the 60s.
As for the blogosphere you can see the congealing of power-centers now. That’s the way it goes. In a few years - or decades (who knows?) - we’ll be tracing the conservative-resistant-to-change blogosphere (or whatever’s around then) to the Jane Hampshers, the Atrios’, the Kos’ - all liberal and loosey-goosey - of today.
But the romantic idea of “oh no no no, we’ll NEVER become like THEM - that’s what we hate the MOST” - that idea is patently asinine. It’s just a matter of time.
Look at the continuing separation of the blogosphere “power brokers” and the unwashed masses. Who are these “power brokers”? They’re at yearlykos.
I’m not bitching at anyone for this phenomenon - just reporting it.
You can view the plame panel online by going to this C-SPAN link:
http://www.c-span.org/VideoArc.....=Issue,MP;
It’s currently the first one listed.
Looks like unless someboy TIVO’d it, I’ll never see the Plame panel.
What MaryAnn says –
Clinton won in 1992 because of his War Room — they shot down smears before they could gel in the public consciousness. That is the way to short circuit the GOP-MSM Axis of Propaganda.
The other factor in Busby’s loss — timid campaigning, using the tried and true failed strategies of the Beltway Consultants.
Memo to the DC Democrats — “Culture of Corruption” is a sure fire message to LOSE the election.
Mr. Lakoff nailed it and taught me so much! Reframing is essential– I am thinking a gazillion thoughts now. Listen and reframe. The added benefit is my anger dissipates to a more reasonable level when I try it. Even works for issues that mean the most to me– like the wars.
The DINO’s ought to try it and then come out swinging– I want to see them with some fire in their bellies!
Jane –
In one of yesterday’s threads, someone said they Tivo’d the panel discussion, and would NEVER erase it. Not sure who it was — but there can’t be more than several hundred comments since then.
Well crap,CSPAN had to stop coverage of the convention because of technical SNAFUs.Looks like I actually have to go do something else today now,lol.
So, are any of the Democrats at YKos discussing this?
Iraq war bill deletes US military base prohibition
because, after all, establishing permanent forward bases in Iraq was among the real reasons our troops are dying there today.
At the very end of the article, the tiniest glimmer of hope:
That both the mainstream media and the Democrats have been unwilling to discuss this issue openly for so many years is appalling. The deep desire by this administration for forward bases in Iraq has been well-known since at least September of 2000, two years prior to the start of the Iraq war.
The issue, and how it is decided, will have far more impact on US/Middle East relations, the price of oil, and long term stability in the region, and the future deaths of our children, than will the death of the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Yet al-Zarqawi is front page news for days, while this issue… well, if we’re lucky, it’s page 20, bottom of the fold.
Just where are the Democrats on this?
punaise says
June 10th, 2006 at 10:55 am
There may be some more angles to explore…
After the dems. lost in ‘04, Dems. were instructed to be more christian. I find the Bradblog Busby/Bilbray election in doubt interesting. I also find intesting the huge Armando contributor for Kos works for a lawfirm that represents WalMart. Seems as if this type of person never wants to mention election fraud as part of the problem. LIKE DEMOCRACY. What is it with you guys? Who are you working for?
Jane,
I thought I read some earlier threads, Thursday, that some were making DVD’s.
Also I changed my mind, again. My latest favorite line in your opening was, “crack ombudsman.”
I’ve been able to watch a lot of the speeches and panels thanks to the great coverage by CSPAN, LinkTV, and AirAmerica Radio (which actually includes a video feed). Biggest disappointments - the camera remained on the panel when Pach asked his question and no coverage of the FDL breakfast!
By the way, someone asked about oilfieldguy in a previous thread… He is just like his online persona, except with a perfect Okie drawl. This blog attracts fine people.
More RAw Story on investigating:
Ask specific questions, not general fishing questions. Cultivate sources.
Be absolutely sure before you publish. Double source, at least.
Rove/Leopold and Rather - were they set-ups? Black-ops? Absolutely. RS got a document that purported to be about Iran’s nuclear program - RS decided it was suspect and declined to run it. He thinks the document is being passed around Congress right now, he doesn’t think they’re aware it’s fake.
Sydney Blumenthal wrote that Daddy Bush and/or his peeps (Scowcroft etc) is trying to get Rummy thrown overboard. That’s why Bush decided to declare his Decider status.
Man, I have to pee so bad but all the panels are going long and I don’t want to miss anything and the bathrooms are miles away.
You can watch the Cspan coverage of the YearlyKos here. The Plame segment plays first on the one date 06/09/06. Watch it whenever you want to.
http://www.c-span.org/search/b.....ge1=Submit
Also, I have the CIA Leak panel on DVR. If not available elsewhere, I could provide my copy. Just thought I’s offer. You can contact me at the email addr I use to post with.
Jane, it was so cool to see you on that panel –
You had a librarian/schoolmarm-ish demeanor, with a bit of leather boots and riding crop attitude. It was great!!!