• Politics, Schmolitics

    Obama’s War Chest Drives a 50-State Strategy – NYTimes.com

    Obama’s War Chest Drives a 50-State Strategy – NYTimes.com Less than three weeks after securing the Democratic nomination, Mr. Obama is already dispatching paid staff members to all 50 states, an unusual move by the standards of modern presidential campaigns so often fought in just a contained group of contested territories. His aides and advisers said they did not believe Obama necessarily has a serious chance of winning in many of the traditionally Republican states, but rather that he can at least draw Mr. McCain into spending time and money there while also swelling the rolls of Democratic voters and…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics - The Never-Ending Bloga

    A Test Of One’s Own Google Reader Shared Items

    Recently, Dave over at DDtB noted that Google Reader’s shared items can scroll off one’s web page widget pretty quickly, but that it set up a fairly nice unordered list if you copied it off the widget for further commentary on your blog. And so it does, especially if you choose Paste Special > Remove MS Word formatting, which also removes Mozilla- and Google-added style elements. This is handy if you have a number of links grouped together and want to grab them for a quick omnibus post. Not so easy if they’ve already scrolled off the widget and are on either your…

  • Politics, Schmolitics - Uncategorical Weirdness

    Tit for Tat: As Ye Ambush, So Shall Ye Be Ambushed

    Check it out: a producer for FOX’s Bill O’Reilly attempts to beard the dragon in his den, and ambushes Bill Moyers at the National Conference for Media Reform. He tried the “repeat the question, repeat the question” badgering tactic, asking Moyers about his political affiliation, with the obvious implication that the conference is a nest of disloyal, pinko leftists. But Bill turns the tables on him, attempting to engage him, upbraiding him for acting as a shill for a man he calls “not a journalist, but a pugilist,” and challenges him to go back to his boss with an offer…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    I Am A Demographic Anomaly

    This is one of the top stories of the day: Democrats Agree to Compromise on Delegates : NPR I’ve heard or read dozens of stories in the lead-up to this decision, listened with only passing attention to soundbites, and frankly, I’m tired of being lumped in with the wrong demographic group. I am a white, middle-aged suburban woman. I am a Democrat. I am NOT a Hillary Clinton supporter – in fact, I’ve never liked her, although I gave her grudging props during her husband’s term for trying to get her health policies through a hostile Congress. When she insisted…

  • Mini-Posts - Politics, Schmolitics

    The “Rally Base” Button Is Broken

    Democrat Wins House Seat in Mississippi – New York Times They sent Cheney. They sent Barbour. They sent Huckabee. They had Bush and McCain record robocalls.  And still the Republicans lost the Mississippi special election, the third “bellweather” election they’ve lost this year.  It appears the vaunted Republican “rally base!!1!” button must be broken.

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics - Religion

    Hagee in the hot seat

    Pastor who endorsed McCain apologizes for remarks about Catholics – Los Angeles Times Commenters on liberal-Christian, Episcopalian blogs I read have been complaining for weeks about John Hagee’s apparent invisibility on the media radar, while Rev. Wright was in the crosshairs of the right wing, hoping to pick off Obama from a tangent. Well, what goes around comes around; McCain’s pet pastor, whose support he needs in order to gain grudging favor from the religious right, finally gains albatross status.

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Zimbabwe: Lloyd’s MIU – 20017525399 Over The Horizon

    The An Yue Jiang may have been turned around and headed back to China, as reported by the Beeb and the NYT, but maybe they’re just headed out to sea to do a little “over-the-horizon” transfer work. Sokwanele/This is Zimbabwe says “Don’t celebrate just yet:” Lloyd’s MIU – 20017525399 But the following is invaluable information for activists in many countries: Given the public interest in following the movements of the ship An Yue Jiang, which is reported to be carrying arms to Zimbabwe, Lloyd’s MIU (www.lloydsmiu.com) is tracking this vessel via satellites and agents covering all African ports. The vessel…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Please Don’t Send Lawyers, Guns and Money

    Rift Over Zimbabwe Unity Plan – New York Times But on Wednesday, The Herald, the state-run newspaper often used as a mouthpiece for Mr. Mugabe and the ruling party, described the country’s political dynamics as “so distorted that holding a free and fair election runoff in the immediate term is literally impossible.” Swiftly disavowing that position, Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told the BBC on Wednesday that the editorial had not been sanctioned by the government, and that the ruling party, ZANU-PF, was still gearing up for a runoff. Hey, here’s a handy definition of electioneering, ZANU-PF style:  Gearing up…