Dyre PortentsDyre PortentsThe Political Rantings and Raving of a Radical Moderate. Speaking truthiness to power since February. 
Articles
Tired of the Endless Spin
2008-09-11 22:57:00 Sept 12 2006: Press Secretary Tony Snow: Osama bin Laden, mastermind of September 11th, the person that many people talk about and still have concerns about, calls this fight, the fight in Iraq, ?the third world war.? Sept 10 2008: Press Secretary Dana Perino: Q: But Osama bin Laden is the one that ? you keep talking about his lieutenants, and, yes, they are very important, but Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of 9/11 PERINO: No, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind of 9/11, and he?s sitting in jail right now. h/t More About: Spin , Tired , Endless
Bob Barr to Change His Veep?
2008-09-10 23:17:00 To Ron Paul? Considering how much money Ron Paul raised compared to how much Barr has raised (less than a million) it makes a whole lot of sense. However given the fact that Ron Paul's supporters haven't already flocked to Barr's banner and Paul endorsed all third party presidential candidates rather then Barr specifically I'm doubting that Paul will accept.However it would be really interesting if I were wrong. More About: Change
Sliming Sarah
2008-09-10 06:18:00 I think its important for bloggers to lay their biases out in the open. Particularly if one happens to be a moderate/centrist/independent. Moderates are supposed to be more objective than their more partisan counterparts. Having said that here's my latest bias. I don't like Sarah Palin. Not one bit. And I don't have a good reason for it. Literally as soon as she came onto my radar the alarms started going off. The last time that happened during a presidential race was in 2000 when W declared his candidacy. So I'm going to trust my instincts about her but for the purposes of this blog try to be as objective as possible.Having said that I do think that the feeding frenzy the media and blogtopia has gotten in over Sarah Palin has reached unprecedented levels. Certain actions of hers have been misrepresented and then in turn presented as the truth repeatedlyby both liberal and moderate bloggers. In particular the book banning inquiry and subsequent firing of the questioned libraria...
Gaffe Master B Strikes Again
2008-09-10 01:00:00 Remember what I said about Biden's negatives as a VP choice? He has serious problems staying on message. Here's an example from today of what I meant by that...From the Politico:I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy, because there's joy to it as well, the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect. Well guess what folks? If you care about it, why don't you support stem cell research?I'm left wondering if Biden's support of stem cell research is based on the hope that they'll eventually find a cure for foot in mouth disease.H/T TMV More About: Master
Obama Calling in the Cavalry?
2008-09-09 23:27:00 Looks like the RNC and McCain have finally caught up with Obama financially. The problem? The 527s aligned with McCain have put them over the top. Apparently Obama's campaign has opted to stop pressuring the Dems 527s to lay low.Courtesy of Marc Ambinder:An Obama adviser privy to the campaign's internal thinking on the matter says that,with less than two months before the election and with the realization that Republicans have achieved financial parity with Democrats, they hope that Democratic allies -- what another campaign aide termed "the cavalry" -- will come to Obama's aid.The Obama campaign can't ask donors to form outside groups; it can only communicate, through the public and the media, with body language, tells and hints.While I was hoping for a cleaner campaign season than this given how tight the race has been I suppose it was bound to happen. Although I have to say that while I understand how important having a monetary advantage over ones opponent is I can't help ... More About: Barack Obama , Calling
McCain's Post Convention Bounce
2008-09-08 23:43:00 Is pretty impressive...From RCP:PollDateSampleMcCain (R)Obama (D)SpreadRCP Average09/05 - 09/07--48.645.4McCain +3.2CNN09/05 - 09/07942 RV4848TieUSA Today/Gallup09/05 - 09/07823 LV5444McCain +10Rasmussen Tracking09/05 - 09/073000 LV4847McCain +1Hotline/FD Tracking09/05 - 09/07924 RV4444TieGallup Tracking09/05 - 09/072733 RV4944McCain +5Look like its going to be an extremely close race since all polls save USA Today are within or close to the margin of error. Although I for one am curious as to how much of his recent gains are a post convention bounce and how are due to Palin. More About: Post , Bounce , Convention
Turning 42
2008-09-08 23:39:00 On this day forty two years today go geeky history was made.The launch of the starship Enterprise...P.S. The next movie about the original crew is set come out on 05/08/2009
McCain Speech Reaction
2008-09-08 23:15:00 Yeah I know its a few days late. I watched (and Twittered) the McCain acceptance speech (then went to bed and dreamed that John McCain had moved his campaign's national HQ to my house while I was at work. Hilarity and strangeness ensued.) in full. Personally I thought the speech was mediocre. It seemed very disjointed. Considering that McCain is not the best at giving speeches I expected his speech writer to at least rev up the quality of the speech itself to help him out.As for the actual message most of it was pretty much what I expected from any GOP presidential candidate drilling, lower taxes, victory in Iraq, etc etc etc. Having said that there were a few points in the speech in which McCain v2000 seemed to have worked in a few lines...Like:Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We'll go at it over the next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, ... More About: Speech , Reaction
Unintended Consequences
2008-09-05 02:00:00 Looks like Palin is a cash cow. The only problem is that its Obama who is reaping the rewards...Obama's coffers have been filling since Sarah Palin attacked him repeatedly in St. Paul last night.An Obama aide confirms Drudge's report that Obama has raised about $8 million from more than 130,000 donors and is on pace to raise $10 million by the time McCain reaches the stage tonight. More About: Consequences
Hypocrisy Watch
2008-09-05 01:38:00 The Daily Show doing what it does best p@wning partisans... More About: Watch , Hypocrisy
Saving Superman
2008-09-04 03:11:00 Or at least the house in which the idea of him was born.More information is available at Neil Gaiman's Journal.Also if you'd be so kind as to Digg that post I'd greatly appreciate it. Its also on Reddit.*Update*As always I put my money where my mouth is.*Further Update*According to a tweet from internet icon Jonathan Coulton Mr Rogers is in a bit of danger too. More About: Superman , Saving
Palin Bikini Pictures
2008-09-03 17:05:00 Looks like somebody whipped one up since none seem to exist online. The original is here and the photoshopped one is here.Don't you just love what passes for political discourse during an election year?H/T Polimom More About: Pictures , Bikini
Google Releases New Browser
2008-09-02 23:21:00 Google beta released its new browser called Chrome today. I of course downloaded it and took it for a test drive. While its decidedly minimalist browser I give it really high marks for speed. It opens fast and loads multimedia laden pages like CNN in the blink of an eye. I've yet to get it to crash which is impressive for a beta version of any program. Given the fact that Google can market the crap out of its browser for free and the fact that Google is known for high quality useful products Microsoft has some serious cause for concern. More About: Google , Browser
The Palin Drone
2008-09-02 19:16:00 In case you haven't noticed the coverage of McCain's veep pick has all but dominated the news cycle over the holiday weekend. And if the MSM's coverage has been excessive then the political blogosphere's coverage has been to the saturation point. One benefit of this flood of coverage has been that much was made known about Palin in a very short period of time. Unfortunately both the MSM and and many in blogtopia went beyond sifting Palin's past and also put her family under a microscope. That's a line that shouldn't be crossed. The result has been days of ad hominem attacks on both Palin and her family, rank condescension by the MSM, and a stream of vitriol on the left that is normally reserved only for W himself. In fact the treatment of her family became so bad that even Obama tried to reign it in.A side effect of this has been that the base has circled the wagons around Palin and by extension McCain. Additionally I think the nonstop coverage of McCain's decision to make ...
At Least Its Not Romney
2008-08-30 05:11:00 That was my original thought when I heard Palin was announced as VP. Having given it a little more thought though I have to say that McCain's decision is a calculated risk. McCain had to know that this would generate more buzz than Biden being tapped for veep would ever get. Additionally during an election that is about change it allows him to have a a running mate that doesn't promote the GOP old white guy stereotype. To some degree Palin's views will help assuage part of the GOP base. It could also greatly influence the outcome of the VP debates.Because Biden repeatedly ripping Romney (or Jindal or Pawlenty) a new one would have the equivalent of political bloodsport if he does the same thing to Palin he'll just appear to be a bully. That means Biden will have to walk a fine line and that's not something he's particularly good at.On the other hand he chose an inexperienced governor of a sparsely populated state. But if she's as personable and as smart as I hear, campaigns ...
McCain's Message to Obama
2008-08-29 00:38:00 Apparently scheduled to run tonight during the convention... Speaking as someone who donated to both Obama and McCain during the primaries in the hopes that we'd see the cleanest election in years I can say that I don't believe that any other GOP candidate other than John McCain would have bothered to do this. More About: Message
Obama is the Official Nominee
2008-08-28 03:07:00 Now all the talking heads can stop saying "presumptive nominee" when talking about Obama ...From MSNBC:DENVER - Barack Obama , a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, became the first African-American ever nominated for president by a major political party after delegates to the Democratic National Convention chose him as their standard-bearer Wednesday. The nomination process, a subject of debate and speculation right up until the voting began late in the afternoon, ended when Obama?s chief rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, asked her supporters to join in accepting Obama?s historic nomination by acclamation. Regardless of how you feel about Obama you have to admit that his nomination represents a milestone in American history. In less than a generation we've gone from legalized discrimination to placing a minority member one step away from leading the nation. Now the question is, in regards to the history books, can he pull a twofer? More About: Official
Bob Barr Cements Texas
2008-08-28 01:40:00 By being the only presidential candidate on the ballot. Apparently the other two parties forgot to file in time...From Ballot Access News:Section 192.031 of the Texas election code says that political parties must certify their presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the November ballot no later than 70 days before the general election. It says, ?A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice-president placed on the ballot if before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential election day, the party?s state chair signs and delivers to the secretary of state a written certification of the name?s of the party?s nominees for president and vice-president.? This year, that deadline is August 26. UPDATE: At 2:30 pm Texas time, August 27, Kim Kizer of the Texas Secretary of State?s elections division says neither major party?s certification has been received in the Elections Division. The Executive Office of the Secretary of State refers all... More About: Barr
Obama Losing the Middle?
2008-08-27 18:59:00 Looks like he may be losing both conservative Democrats and some independents...From Gallup polls:...support for Obama among all Democratic registered voters fell from 81% in early August (Aug. 4-10) to 78% last week (Aug. 18-24). Obama's support from Republicans over this period also dipped from 9% to 7%, while 42% to 43% of independents have consistently supported him.Now I realize that polls are little more than snapshot of current public opinion but this particular one happens to mirror some of the talk I'm hearing amongst moderates both online and off. I can't help but think that part of this loss of support from the middle has to do with the fact that many moderates were waiting for Obama to unveil innovative and thoughtful policies. However as the race has moved to the middle and the distinctions between Obama's economic and energy policies and McCain's become less clear the more that works in McCain's favor. He is after all a figure that the political center of this co... More About: Middle
Of Note
2008-08-27 01:38:00 Over at Middle East Journal Michael J Totten has an enlightening post up regarding who actually fired the first shot in Georgia and the circumstances that led up to the conflict in the first place. Its long but well worth the read. More About: Note
A Bit About Biden
2008-08-26 07:27:00 Obama's choice for VP didn't surprise me out side of the fact that Biden denied being tapped for the job till the very end. To me Biden was the safe choice. He's got the credentials and experience that Obama lacks. While some think that the choice of Biden highlights Obama's faults I don't see it that way. Personally I can't fault a man that sees his weaknesses and then brings on someone who can help compensate for them. Of the primary candidates there were two people capable of doing that Biden and Richardson. Since America isn't ready for an all minority ticket Biden was the logical choice.Yeah, Biden is prone to slips of the tongue and he's got a bit of a temper but in a weird way that's part of his appeal. He's one of the most human people in politics. I can also see where his faults can be turned to Obama's advantage. He can play bad cop to Obama's good cop. If they can get that act down pat it'll pay off for Obama in the long run. Additionally Biden has one major ... More About: Barack Obama
Off the Deep End
2008-08-21 00:08:00 Looks like scifi writer Orson Scott Card can now add a Malkin award to his Hugo and Nebula awards. "Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn. Biological imperatives trump laws. American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die,"I am now officially glad I never bought any of his books. It is disturbing though to find yet another American that shares the same mindset of members of Al Qaeda. It makes me wonder how long it will be before they start trying to use the same methods. More About: Deep
McCain Ahead of Obama?
2008-08-20 17:14:00 According to recent polls McCain has actually gained ground Obama and pulled ahead. Zogby polls has McCain at a five percent lead which represents an eleven point gain from last months poll.From Zogby:McCain leads Obama by a 46% to 41% margin. And McCain not only enjoys a five-point edge in a two-way race against Obama, but also in a four-way contest including liberal independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr, the poll reveals. In the four-way contest, McCain wins 44% support, Obama 39%, Barr 3% and Nader 2%. This latest Reuters/Zogby poll is a dramatic reversal from the identical survey taken last month ? in the July 9-13 Reuters/Zogby survey, Obama led McCain, 47% to 40%. In the four-way race last month, Obama held a 10-point lead over McCain.So what happened? There are several possibilities like Obama burnout, summer doldrums, a post Georgia bump, a post Saddleback bump, or all of the above. Additionally I think that Obama's run to the center has caused a w... More About: Ahead
The Veepstakes: No Clear Winner Yet
2008-08-20 06:50:00 Earlier today the blogospheric buzz was all about Biden. That was until Biden himself threw a crowbar into the gears of the e-rumour machine.From ABC's Political Radar:As Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was leaving his house in Wilmington this afternoon, he slowed down and said to the gathered news reporters outside his home: "Hey guys, I'm not the guy. See ya."Members of the news media camped outside his Wilmington home today as speculation swirled that Biden is on Democratic Sen. Barack Obama 's short list of vice presidential candidates.I've generally avoided covering the Veepstakes since up until now most coverage of the topic has been pure speculation largely based on disinformation campaigns run by both candidates' campaigns. The Biden buzz though made a certain amount of sense. He does have the experience and the foreign policy chops that Obama lacks. However he also represents a solidly blue state and has a hard time staying on message. I'm guessing that Obama plans on using th... More About: Winner , Clear
Saying Goodbye
2008-08-19 06:28:00 I'm sorry to announce that over at Done With Mirrors Callimachus is hanging up his hat. Personally I considered Cal one of the finest thinkers and writers in the 'sphere. His insights will be missed. More About: Goodbye
The WaPo on Bob Barr
2008-08-19 01:48:00 The Washington post did a two page article on Bob Barr today. I'd like to say it was well written, thoughtful, insightful but unfortunately I can't In fact over at TMV Jazz Shaw called it a "hit piece". Personally I can't agree. First of all its hard to call anything in the style section of the WaPo a political hit piece. What it was in fact was an attempt to marginalize Bob Barr. I mean any article that talks more about his dimples than his political positions isn't trying to take the man seriously.I really have to wonder if there isn't some ulterior motive in both the content and the placement of the article. I mean after all Bob Barr is the most politically viable candidate the Libertarian party has run in a long time. Thats bound to ruffle a few feather. But the least the WaPo can do is tackle the man on his merits rather than try to portray him as a flaky Libertarian also-ran. NPR managed to at least do that much. I'll leave it to you to divine what what that means about ...
TGIF
2008-08-15 23:06:00 Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Janealthough I would have preferred Cause Cheap is How I feel
Credibility Lost
2008-08-14 05:05:00 Is almost impossible to regain.For the second time in a week an author on the Huffington Post is claiming that the war in Georgia was a GOP plot. This time its Truthdig editor and former journalist Robert Scheer...Scheunemann is at the center of the neoconservative cabal (emphasis added) that has come to dominate the Republican candidate's foreign policy stance in a replay of the run-up to the war against Iraq. These folks are always looking for a foreign enemy on which to base a new Cold War, and with the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime it was Putin's Russia that came increasingly to fit the bill. Yes, it sounds diabolical, but that may be the most accurate way to assess the designs of the McCain campaign in matters of war and peace. There is every indication that the candidate's demonization of Russian leader Putin is an even grander plan than the previous use of Saddam to fuel American militarism with the fearsome enemy that it desperately needs. McCain gets to look tou... More About: Lost
You Get What You Pay For
More articles from this author:2008-08-13 07:54:00 Earlier:ZoneLabs has just released Zone Alarm forcefield and its free until 4pm tomorrow CSTFrom The Cheapskate:"The software relies on a technique called "virtual browsing" to protect your PC against unauthorized downloads, malware installations, phishers, keyloggers, and the like. It also promises total privacy by erasing the (virtual) browser's cache, cookies, history, and passwords. According to Check Point, the program won't interfere with any existing security software you might already have."Updated: Having used their free firewall off and on for years I really expected a better product. It slowed surfing down to a crawl on all of my browsers. Additionally its security warnings took at least a minute to disappear and I couldn't browse until they did. Finally it caused Firefox 3.01 to crash. A truly disappointing product . 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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