Friday, October 08, 2004
Max on Jobs
Max has more on the jobs numbers. As he notes, the household survey number, which the wingnuts claims is the "right number" when it's good and then pretend doesn't exist when it's bad, is down 200,000 for September. Oops.
Gutter Media
I have to say even I've been shocked that ever newsreader on TV has decided that it's appropriate humor for them to talk about how Martha Stewart is going to be strip searched, with a smirk and a giggle.
Seems to be the media obsession of the day.
Seems to be the media obsession of the day.
What Kerry Should Say
About the "global test." From the Rude Pundit.
The Rude Pundit is indeed rude, so if such things offend you can refrain from clicking through.
The Rude Pundit is indeed rude, so if such things offend you can refrain from clicking through.
Extremist Organizations
Lois Murphy is running against Jim Gerlach, who is a liar.
I've added Murphy to my list of candidates. If you're feeling generous... I think she needs some money from members of this "extremist organization."
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Officials for the reelection campaign of freshman GOP incumbent Jim Gerlach attacked his Sixth Congressional District Democratic opponent, Lois Murphy, for accepting money from MoveOn.org PAC, an Internet-based grassroots organization that supports Democrats.
"It is a wacko, extremist group," Gerlach spokesman John Gentzel said. A press release from the Gerlach camp stated that the group's "radical agenda" included spending millions of dollars on advertisements comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler. It called on the Murphy campaign to return any money it received from the PAC.
Hannah Pingree, national candidate outreach coordinator for the MoveOn.org PAC, said the group had never run any such ad. She said that last year, the organization held an online ad contest which attracted 175,000 participants and generated more than 1,500 responses, including one that compared the President to Hitler.
"That ad went up online, and as soon as we knew it was there, we took it down," she said. "We did not create it, endorse it, or run it."
I've added Murphy to my list of candidates. If you're feeling generous... I think she needs some money from members of this "extremist organization."
What About Poland?
Oops.
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The new GOP strategy contained some risks to Bush: Some of the countries possibly implicated in wrongdoing in the program include U.S. allies in Iraq, particularly Poland, as well as Russia — countries the administration does not want to alienate.
+96K
That is a pretty crappy jobs number. Need about 150,000 per month just to keep up with the growth in the working age population.
...god, it's so predictable. Kudlow spends a week before the number comes out gloating over how great the jobs number is going to be, then he spends the day it comes out shrieking about how it doesn't matter.
What hacks.
...god, it's so predictable. Kudlow spends a week before the number comes out gloating over how great the jobs number is going to be, then he spends the day it comes out shrieking about how it doesn't matter.
What hacks.
All Your Job Are Belong To Bush -- Final Edition
Max gives the monthly reminder.
Given the apparent lack of administration flaks gloating this evening (I believe the executive gets a heads up the evening before, although I may have dreamt that), I'm guessing tomorrow's number won't be all that scrumdillyicious. I hope it's horrible. And, no I'm not actually hoping the economy's horrible and no one's working - what I hope is that one imperfectly measured data point comes in low to rob this administration of a spin point for tomorrow's debate.
Given the apparent lack of administration flaks gloating this evening (I believe the executive gets a heads up the evening before, although I may have dreamt that), I'm guessing tomorrow's number won't be all that scrumdillyicious. I hope it's horrible. And, no I'm not actually hoping the economy's horrible and no one's working - what I hope is that one imperfectly measured data point comes in low to rob this administration of a spin point for tomorrow's debate.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
BlogPac
I've joined up with Markos and Jerome on BlogPac. And, when I say "joined up," I mean that they've done 100% of the work and I've thrown my name in.
Anyway, so far what they've been doing is running web-based ads targetting local congressional districts. Kos has the latest. And, as he says, we're going to have a big conversation about where to take it post-election. The general idea, of course, is controlling the board for the '06 midterms and making people weep before the all powerful force that is the blogosphere.. But, for now, if you think what's being done is useful, chip in a few bucks.
Anyway, so far what they've been doing is running web-based ads targetting local congressional districts. Kos has the latest. And, as he says, we're going to have a big conversation about where to take it post-election. The general idea, of course, is controlling the board for the '06 midterms and making people weep before the all powerful force that is the blogosphere.. But, for now, if you think what's being done is useful, chip in a few bucks.
Nutty as Hell
I'm watching Newsnight and the Bush shill just said, regarding the Bush's misuse of Iraq intelligence, something like "Every one who has looked at this in a non-partisan way, including the 9/11 commission and others, have concluded that the president did not spin the intelligence..."
Actually, he said roughly the same thing twice.
What the hell did the 9/11 commission have to do with intelligence on Iraq?
Actually, he said roughly the same thing twice.
What the hell did the 9/11 commission have to do with intelligence on Iraq?
Debate Prep the 2nd
I didn't do so badly last time with my debate prediction:
So, let me try again and throw in a little bit of advice. What Kerry needs to do is mostly what he did the first time. Most of all he needs to be presidential. He needs to recognize the reality of the format - reg'lar folks will be asking the questions - and adjust to that. All that'll really take is making sure to be respectful of and sympathetic to the questioners, and perhaps be willing to speak conversationally (though, not verbosely). Kerry's quite capable of that.
As for how he treats Bush, I say that as much as possible he ignores him. Not in a disrepectful way, but Kerry should be there to talk to the people. He should goad him a bit, to knock him off stride, but not too obviously or pointedly. Mentioning his father seems to work nicely. Of course, if Bush throws a punch Kerry should block and throw one back. And, if Bush throws another punch Kerry can consider pummeling him until he's bloody (metaphorically speaking, of course).
But, here's the deal. Coming into debate 2, Bush hasn't got anything. He can't hide behind his "compassionate conservatism face" which he used in 2000 - that was tossed in the garbage. He can't hide behind "war president face" because last week we all saw what a joke that is. All he's got left is the real face - sulky fratboy/petulant child.
As long as Kerry is presidential in a way that Bush cannot be, he'll do fine.
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As for my pre-debate spin, which has the added benefit of being honest, is that what we're going to get from Bush is the exact same thing we've been getting from him throughout his presidency. We'll get "happy talk" on Iraq which contradicts reality. We'll get "tough talk" on unnamed terrrorists, despite the fact that Ashcroft hasn't managed to convict any. We'll get "happy talk" on Afghanistan, with Bush doing things like hilariously claiming that the "Taliban is no longer in existence." We'll probably get some shockingingly unpresidential behavior, including the inappropriate humor he so loves.
But, what we probably won't get is anything new. Same shit, different night, as Iraq continues to burn.
So, let me try again and throw in a little bit of advice. What Kerry needs to do is mostly what he did the first time. Most of all he needs to be presidential. He needs to recognize the reality of the format - reg'lar folks will be asking the questions - and adjust to that. All that'll really take is making sure to be respectful of and sympathetic to the questioners, and perhaps be willing to speak conversationally (though, not verbosely). Kerry's quite capable of that.
As for how he treats Bush, I say that as much as possible he ignores him. Not in a disrepectful way, but Kerry should be there to talk to the people. He should goad him a bit, to knock him off stride, but not too obviously or pointedly. Mentioning his father seems to work nicely. Of course, if Bush throws a punch Kerry should block and throw one back. And, if Bush throws another punch Kerry can consider pummeling him until he's bloody (metaphorically speaking, of course).
But, here's the deal. Coming into debate 2, Bush hasn't got anything. He can't hide behind his "compassionate conservatism face" which he used in 2000 - that was tossed in the garbage. He can't hide behind "war president face" because last week we all saw what a joke that is. All he's got left is the real face - sulky fratboy/petulant child.
As long as Kerry is presidential in a way that Bush cannot be, he'll do fine.
Trippi
Went to see Trippi and EJ Dionne and a Princeton professor chat about various things. The subject was ostensibly "does your vote matter?" but of course the conversation wandered around quite a bit.
There's one point Trippi made which I want to expand upon. And, hey, since I have a blog I can do that. The point Trippi made was that even if all the electronic voting machines are 100% accurate and 100% fraud-free, the fact that the like a verifiable paper trail is going to cast a cloud over the legitimacy of the election.
I want to add that the sad thing is both sides (or at least, I hope both sides) are of course gearing up to fight the post-election battle, both the legal one and the publicc relations battle. No matter what happens, if the election is anything approaching "close," both sides are going to cast a cloud of illegitimacy over the other person's victory. Whether or not any side can try to use the legal system to yank back a victory is one question, but the noise machine will be cranked up high. The Right will scream "voter fraud" everytime a Hispanic person votes, and the Left will be screaming about voter intimidation and voting machines. Aside from the individual merits of any of those claims, both sides will inevitably be making them in order to control the post-election day spin.
There's one point Trippi made which I want to expand upon. And, hey, since I have a blog I can do that. The point Trippi made was that even if all the electronic voting machines are 100% accurate and 100% fraud-free, the fact that the like a verifiable paper trail is going to cast a cloud over the legitimacy of the election.
I want to add that the sad thing is both sides (or at least, I hope both sides) are of course gearing up to fight the post-election battle, both the legal one and the publicc relations battle. No matter what happens, if the election is anything approaching "close," both sides are going to cast a cloud of illegitimacy over the other person's victory. Whether or not any side can try to use the legal system to yank back a victory is one question, but the noise machine will be cranked up high. The Right will scream "voter fraud" everytime a Hispanic person votes, and the Left will be screaming about voter intimidation and voting machines. Aside from the individual merits of any of those claims, both sides will inevitably be making them in order to control the post-election day spin.
Pre-Writing
I understand why stories are often, at least in part, pre-written. I understand how they sometimes get posted too early. But, a story about Bush winning the election 4 weeks early?
Big Mo
AP says Kerry ahead:
Can we stop hearing about how Bush is more likable now?
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Among 944 likely voters, the Kerry-Edwards ticket led Bush-Cheney 50 percent to 46 percent. The Oct. 4-6 survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
...
Bush and Kerry are considered equally likable, after Bush's ratings went down and Kerry's went up for an 11-point swing.
Can we stop hearing about how Bush is more likable now?
Your Kids Are Going to DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These people are shameless:
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WASHINGTON - The Education Department has advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege in Russia.
The warning follows an analysis by the FBI (news - web sites) and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed nearly 340 people, many of them students, in the city of Beslan last month.
"The horror of this attack may have created significant anxiety in our own country among parents, students, faculty staff and other community members," Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said in a letter to schools and education groups.
The safety advice is based on lessons learned from the Russia incident. But there is "no specific information indicating that there is a terrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States," Hickok said.
Judith Miller to Jail
Lock her up...
Soon, perhaps, anyway...
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WASHINGTON -- A federal judge held a reporter in contempt Thursday for refusing to divulge confidential sources to prosecutors investigating the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.
U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan ordered New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed until she agrees to testify about her sources before a grand jury, but said she could remain free while pursuing an appeal. Miller could be jailed up to 18 months.
Soon, perhaps, anyway...
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