alternative hippopotamus

Nate Silver interviews an anti-Obama documentary maker. It’s a strange and hostile interview, especially given that the anti-Obama guy requested the interview. You gotta love this:

NS: Would you consider yourself well-informed
JZ: I’d consider myself extremely well-informed.

NS: Who are the two senators from South Dakota
JZ: Thune and, uh, Johnson.

NS: Very good. South Carolina?
JZ: Go fuck yourself. I’m done with this interview if you’re going to ask me stupid questions like that. Obviously I know who Lindsay Graham is.

NS: Well, since you’re running a website calling people misinformed, I’d like to see if — there are certain things you’ve said that I would consider misinformed.
JZ: Misinformed? You’re a piece of work! You are never going to have the guts to post a representative transcript on your website! I thought you actually ran a legitimate website!

NS: Thank you, have a good day.
JZ: Go fuck yourself.

JZ reminds me a bit of the PUMAs. In particular, the radio show described here. The similarity is that both believe they have some special and heretofore hidden knowledge, and that once this knowledge is revealed, they that can hear will rise up. And there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Oh, and they’re thin-skinned.

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In other news, things on the whole appear to be going quite well in the Obama transition. I was reading Dan Froomkin’s column, and noted the uniformly unmixed approval for Eric Holder, Obama’s pick for AG. I think it’s interesting to note that PUMA Lite has been writing about how awful this and that person is on the Obama transition team. When it comes to an appointment that would critically align with progressive ideals, the Correntians are silent. Is their aim as a blog to discuss why they hate Obama for the next 4 years?

I’m glad to see that DCblogger got Katie Robbins of HealthCare Now lined up for a live blog this Sunday at 5. It’s efforts like this that move the discussion forward. And, hey I might steal her as a guest.

Meanwhile, I got Mark Benjamin from Salon.com lined up for Dec 4 at DL. Among other things I hope to talk about his article on prosecuting torture in the Obama administration.

Yes, Joe’s a shmuck. He’ll get his eventually. Did he exercise poor judgment? Does the Pope excercise Catholicism?

We’ve got other fish to fry that are closer to basic premises of our experiment or democracy.

First, this story about an executive order that in theory could amount to severely limiting contraception or abortion. If you live in Small Town, USA, where the fetus is king, then it may be that everyone refuses to provide either contraception or abortion. Our founding fathers, who hated unlimited executive power, would object that the Executive branch was not created to work around the Legislative and Judicial branches on issues that it disagrees with. Yes, the Bushies are hacks. And crazy as loons. But, they still need to act within the framework of our democratic experiment.

Second, this story about prospective prosecutions for the enablers of torture within the Bush presidency. One of the most intelligent pieces I’ve read recently, btw. As Scott Horton points out, the discussion of prosecutions is weird, because there hasn’t been a formal investigation yet. The only conceivable way I could see Obama granting clemency on this and other abuses by Bush Justice is if there is a truth and reconciliation committee modelled after that of South Africa’s.

I’ve been going through some of the left wing blogs and have gleaned some tips for better blogging:

1.) Engage your commenters in an encouraging manner to promote a more gracious civil discourse:

Are you really this far gone? Seriously? Why do you want to comment in my posts? Just to piss me off? I want you to be better. I want a real engagement of ideas but you are just too effing much now.

2.) Listen to and respect the views of those who might support a different candidate, but substantially support you politically:

Actually, my own preference was not for “cult,” the word BTD chooses to use, but for “Obama fan base,” as being historically accurate (MySpace being heavily populated by fans), playing off the idea of “the base” (Bush’s Christianist loons), and being less offensive (that would be my Teddy Bear personality), but who am I to argue with BTD?

3.) Acknowledge the efforts others have made on your behalf and the behalf of your cause:

I shudder to read the mindless, uninformed drivel that comes out of the mouths of high-profile women these days. Melissa Etheridge, a gay woman who supported Barack Obama, was devastated when Proposition 8 passed in California. But she soon found comfort in her new Messiah of Unity and Rainbows.

Note by the way, that last quote was in reference to Etheridge repeating that famous bit of “drivel”: Judge not, lest ye yourself be judged.

Okay, maybe those aren’t the best examples of better blogging. But they’re great examples of how to alienate people. I guess in theory if you want to build a coalition of people who hate things in the same way you hate things, then there’s merit to these examples. If that’s what you want, I just don’t want to live in your world.

As far as I can tell, the most successful activists make a point of helping other people. This, in turn, helps them to build coalitions of like-minded individuals. Judging by the examples of Gandhi, MLK, and others (the Trancendentalists of the 19th century come to mind. And let’s not forgot the schools of Plato and Aristotle) it appears to be the most sure path to a better world.

The Washington Post has a nice graphic here talking about the proposed Purple Line.

Currently, parts of the DC area just north of the DC line are underserved public transportation-wise. For example, if you live in Chevy Chase Lake, you’re pretty much hosed. On the other hand, you could bike to Bethesda and take the Metro there, but that would mean you’d have to restrict travel to times when it’s light out. The trail is unlit, not to mention unpaved.

I also notice the folks in Silver Spring starting to mobilize against the Purple Line, as they don’t want the construction. It’s hard to tell how many there are, but they have signs to the effect of “No Trains in Our Back Yard.” People can be difficult, particularly when it involves public transportation.

Serial Liar Mark Steyn:

The Obama middle-class limbo dance descends further. First, it was $250,000. Then $200,000. Just a couple of days ago, Joe Biden reduced it to $150,000. And now…

For the second time in a week, a prominent Democrat has downgraded Barack Obama’s definition of the middle class — leading Republicans to question whether he’ll stick to his promise not to raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000.

The latest hiccup in the campaign message came Friday morning on KOA-AM, when New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson pegged the middle class as those making $120,000 and under.

“What Obama wants to do is he is basically looking at $120,000 and under among those that are in the middle class, and there is a tax cut for those,” Richardson said in the interview…

$120,000? I’m confident Senator Biden can cut that in half by Tuesday morning. Bottom line: If you make over 30 grand, you might want to restructure yourself as an offshore corporation in the Turks & Caicos.

If you make between $120K and $250K you are admittedly on the upper fringes of “Middle Class.” But, according to the Obama administration, you’re not going to see a tax increase.

That means if you make $30K you should most definitely not be worried about tax shelters.

Is it just me, or is Steyn a total dick?

Little Isis (emphasis mine):

MCCain takes PA-$ 21 million Dollars
McCain takes Florida Virginia and North Carolina-$ 39 million dollars
McCain Takes Ohio-40 million dollars
Rachel Maddow in tears, an Obama Concession speech, and a pity party in Grant Park in Chicago for 250,000 worshipers….Priceless!

I will LAUGH!!! I will laugh a million laughs and then I and my vibrating friend will laugh and we will have a laughathon.

Good luck with that! Here’s hoping you and your vibrating friend blow a fuse.

NYT:

Mr. Buckley said he had “been effectively fatwahed by the conservative movement” after endorsing Barack Obama in a blog posting on TheDailyBeast.com; since then, he said he has been blanketed with hate mail at the blog and at the National Review, where he has written a column.

As a result, he wrote to Richard Lowry, the editor of the National Review, and its publisher, Jack Fowler, offering to resign, and “this offer was rather briskly accepted,” Mr. Buckley said.

While I don’t agree with Mr. Buckley often, or his father almost ever, I do appreciate their sense of elan. NRO is a creepy place occupied by hollow people.

As this TPM thread points out, there’s something minimalistically and syntactically just right about turning Palin’s “Drill, Baby, Drill” to Hillary’s “Jobs, Baby, Jobs.” If I had to choose one moment that captures the essence of this race, this might be the one.

Other things I wish I’d said: (Ygles) “I think the epithet of choice has something to do with revenge being a dish best served atop a Nobel Prize. “

Lambert,

I can see from reading this thread that you don’t see that people are trying to be and do what a friend should do: tell you when you’ve missed the mark. I don’t know all the circumstances, and for that matter no one of us can entirely walk a mile in another’s moccasins, but I do pick up that something painful happened to you. I’m sorry about whatever happened. I’ve had my own rough patch over the last couple of years. I know how that can cut into one’s sense of well-being.

I wanted to pick up on one aspect of the linked post, and that’s the issue of snark.

I’d like to start with an example. When I talk about Jonah Goldberg I usually refer to him as Doughy Pantload, or Lucianne’s Precious, or Cheeto Swiller. When I do that I’m being snarky. I’m really just trying to say that Jonah hasn’t really earned his place in the world, and represents a type of “conservative” that gets by with no particular ability. It’s not that Jonah occasionally says something that’s just kind of goofy, and indicative of someone without basic skills being thrust into a visible position. No, the center of gravity in Jonah’s case is vapidness. I don’t think that I’m exaggerating here, but I’d welcome alternative viewpoints.

On the other hand, when you, Lambert, refer to Josh Marshall as WKJM (Who Kidnapped Josh Marshall), or the popular political blogs as the OFB (Obama Fan Boiz) you’re referring to the anti-Clinton stance that a number of us came around to during the Democratic primary. But hardly the center of gravity of these blogs, even if you don’t agree with them on who they supported in the primary.

I’m sorry Lambert, but the sarcasm you’ve shown to a variety of blog authors hasn’t been warranted. If anything, it’s a form of intellectual laziness. Instead of rebutting Obama supporters on the issues, you’ve got into the habit of name-calling. And then, justifying that on the basis of snark. Tonight you posted this as part of a comment:

The snark (carefully honed, and apparently, as designed, painful; good) comes from lessons that I learned very well through careful study of, and experience with, the Obama campaign, both online and off — links, if you like. The snark is no less designed and full of intent — and, when the cartoony-y snark nature is stripped, as supported by evidence and reasoning — than the snark I developed under the Bush adminstration.

Why do you say: “carefully honed, and apparently, as designed, painful; good” ? What I’m asking is what is your aim or objective in what you write on your blog these days? I would certainly hope that inflicting pain is not your objective, or if it is, you at least save that for the real offenders. And, no, I don’t believe Obama qualifies as a real offender. Nor does Josh Marshall or Open Left, America Blog, Daily Kos, or any of the other blogs you regularly criticize.

I would have to agree with the folks at NRO, if you want to pass the bail-out bill, do as suggested:

I have no visibility into the current machinations on Capitol Hill, but I’m with Noah Millman: as far as I can see, if I were a senior Democrat right now, I’d introduce a Democratic alternative tomorrow and pass it on a party line vote.

This assumes you agree with folks like Brad Delong that the $700B is not going to effect progressive initiatives including health care.