Get home from some appointments and what am I greeted by? More ODP State Dinner flap. Ann Fisher reports, both Russell and Tim blog about it.
Russell is absolutely correct in his point about Brian likening us to newspaper reporters. In my conversation with him, he appeared to be using any means necessary to not have to work with bloggers. His first method was defining us as newspaper reporters and saying the press pass issue had not been worked out yet. When I replied that I wasn’t press, but defined myself as a “citizen-activist-journalist” he seemed happy to say, “Well, if you aren’t press then that answers that…no press passes for you guys”. His answer about activists was parrotted in this article again and is a straw man really. What does it matter that there are any number of people who do work for the party or on the progressive agenda and they won’t get a ticket. Hell, make some available (which they did via some contest). Why not be creative and have a blogging contest. Best post on why Dems will be successful in ‘06 gets a ticket?
Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is not exactly the strong suit of the ODP apparently. So we do what we do. Circumvent, adapt, improvise, overcome. Obama does what he does: come up with simple solutions to apparently complex problems. Real leaders do such things. Faux leaders say things like:
In the end, Obama paid for a blogger table. Still, Rothenberg is troubled, likening bloggers to the pamphleteers of the Revolutionary War period, without form or rules. “In time, they are going to start selfpolicing or they are going to be policed.”
Yes, we are pamphleteers…and the revolution will not be televised! I love Russell’s zen-like definition of bloggers. Brian would be good to sit with it until he gets it:
I don’t think you can say bloggers are press or they are activists – it’s one bucket or the other.
It’s both and it’s neither.
I also think it would have made sense for Ann to contact some bloggers. Unless, of course, this was an ODP designed piece to get in a dig at us 3 days before the event. Hell, like they can control the message anyway. See you on Saturday Brian. Let’s talk about the revolution then, k?
Ann does hit the nail squarely on the head when she says:
Campaigns can get with it, establish some ad-hoc rules, or get out of the way.
We’re not going away. We’re only going to grow…that is if I have anything to say about it.
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from ContraCostaTimes:
WASHINGTON – An Ohio Republican at the center of two corruption investigations is the only member of his party’s congressional delegation kept off an invitation to a Washington fundraiser next month.
Rep. Bob Ney was not asked to lend his name to a June 7 fundraiser for Lorain Mayor Craig Foltin, the GOP’s hope to replace seven-term Democrat Sherrod Brown in an Akron-area district. On an invitation, the state’s two senators and the 11 other Republican House members invite donors to a lobbying firm’s Capitol Hill town house, asking them to give $250 each, or $1,000 per political organization.
It’s one of the first signs of GOP distance from Ney since his former chief of staff, Neil Volz, pleaded guilty May 8 to conspiring to corrupt Ney with free travel, meals, events and campaign contributions in exchange for official acts. Ney is the subject of criminal and ethics investigations.
Whoops. Ney is becoming newcular. You gotta love the spin coming out of Walsh on this one:
Ney’s spokesman, Brian Walsh, said his congressional colleagues’ support has not diminished.
“If the false allegations that have been made against him are an issue for a particular Washington fundraising consultant or two, then we certainly don’t have any knowledge of that,” Walsh said Tuesday. “U.S. Rep. Ney’s focus is on delivering for his constituents and setting the record straight on the Abramoff matter, not on having his name listed on fundraising invitations.”
Go Brian Go! God love ya boy. Helluva college try there. Time for a bit of butter and jam, cuz your guy is toast!
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Memorial Day Parade. Pryce supporters show up. Kilroy supporters show up. We learn about the word juxtapose.
jux·ta·pose (j?k’st?-p?z’) pronunciation
tr.v., -posed, -pos·ing, -pos·es.
To place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.
OK, so let’s begin. We have to have a subject A and a subject B in order to juxtapose. Subject A: Pryce supporters in the parade:
Now, subject B: Kilroy supporters in the parade:
OK, one more look just to make sure we get it right:
Now for the juxtapose:
Any questions?
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The Shamansky camp blasts Tiberi for his uninformed and dismissive retort to Bob’s Memorial Day comments regarding bringing troops home from Iraq and out of the failed war. Senior advisor Dale Butland:
“Like President Bush – for whose policies he continues to be a rubber-stamp – Mr. Tiberi assures us that “progress” is being made in Iraq – and that we must “stay the course.” But the people of the 12th District just aren’t buying it anymore. They know Iraqi security forces are no closer to being able to take over the war effort than they were before. Every night the tv news is full of new atrocities committed by the death squads that have infiltrated the Iraqi police and security forces, and new killings of our soldiers who are sitting ducks. Some progress. It’s like that old joke: who are you going to believe…Mr. Tiberi or your own lying eyes?
“Except this time, its not funny. Almost 2,500 American soldiers have already been killed, and another almost 18,000 seriously wounded. How many more lives and how many more billions of dollars does Mr. Tiberi believe we should spend? And especially now that we know there were no weapons of mass destruction, no link between Iraq and 9-11, and no ties between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden, on what basis does Mr. Tiberi think our troops should stay?
“If Mr. Tiberi wants to know what “message we should send to the Iraqis”, it is that after 3 long years of American involvement, it is time Iraqis got their act together, and assumed responsibility for their own country..
“Pat Tiberi has shown once again that he does not believe America needs a change in policy or direction in Iraq. Like the President, Mr. Tiberi favors an open-ended commitment with no exit strategy. Bob Shamansky disagrees. And we think the people of the 12th District do, too.” (emphasis mine)
Tiberi, along with Bush, want to stay the course because it is THEIR course. Their fatally flawed and failed course. But pay no attention to the news you might hear on your TV, in the blogs, or in the papers. It is all just a mass conspiracy of the liberal elite media. Yeah…Right!
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The New York Times is reporting that more troops will be sent into Iraq via Kuwait:
WASHINGTON, May 29 — The top American commander in Iraq has decided to move reserve troops now deployed in Kuwait into the volatile Anbar Province in western Iraq to help quell a rise in insurgent attacks there, two American officials said Monday.
Although some soldiers from the 3,500-member brigade in Kuwait have moved into Iraq in recent months, Gen. George W. Casey Jr. has decided to send in the remainder of the unit after consultations with Iraqi officials in recent days, the officials said.
The confirmation that the number of American forces in Iraq would grow came on a day of soaring violence in Baghdad. Two Britons working as members of a CBS News television crew were killed on Monday and an American correspondent for the network was critically wounded when a military patrol they were accompanying was hit by a roadside bomb.
The movement of the brigade comes as several senior American officials in Iraq have begun to raise doubts about whether security conditions there will permit significant troop reductions in coming months.
Great. We honor you by sending more of you into the abyss. Lovely. I’d love to hear Mr. Tiberi’s position on this one. Probably something that includes the moronic phrase “stand up so we can stand down”. They remain hopeful that they can cut levels by 25%? With this type of thinking, not likely. They’ll be plugging human gaps in the dike for years to come, you can bet. Or, no, up until like November or something. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
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I’m looking forward to attending this event: Bloggapalooza 2006
Meet the Bloggers is hosting a gathering of food, music, and good times aimed at helping reduce the transcript deficit.
Music will be provided by six bands playing outside the venue where the street will be barricaded. Inside, grab a table, order a meal and a drink.
Certain to be Cleveland’s best little street festival.
Should be a great time for a good cause. Hoping all bloggers will try to make it up north. I’ll see you there!
During a stressfull period of what will from this point be referred to as “the accident”, I did up some graphics to go along with the event. Fooling with graphics helps to relieve such stress. I think they came out decent:
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Funny I was just speaking of Pat Tiberi’s Bush prostrations. A reader emailed me the following graphics. Such creative readers!
Oh, yeah, and Pryce too!
They obeyed…and what did it get us? They are such good deck chair re-arrangers though!
Update: It occurs to me that these would make great posters for protests or other gatherings. I sized them down from hi-res versions to fit in this post and be easier to use on the web, but if you need larger versions just let me know as I have them handy.
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The Dispatch online (Ohio Elects) picks up on Bob’s Memorial Day presser. The most interesting thing on the page, though is a little box highlighting the “Debate of the Day”. In it, they quote Shamansky as saying:
“If I am elected to Congress, I will vote to end the war in Iraq and to bring our troops home as quickly as the military experts tell us is safely possible.”
Translation: I am not an expert on the Iraq War, but I know bad when I see it.
They quote Pat as saying:
“Leaving now could cancel out the progress made to date and send the wrong message to the Iraqis and the rest of the world.”
Translation: I’ve been blindly going along with Bush for so long now, I don’t know any other way to react. Guess I’ll go down with this sinking ship.
The contrast could not be clearer. Pat is a follower. Bob is a leader.
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So audioblog (now hipcast) is not currently working with my nicely upgraded Wordpress 2.02 blog, but EVDO is in full effect. Right now I’m posting via high speed Verizon Wireless EVDO. I’m not connected via WiFi (though I could be), nor am I connected via Cat5 cable (though I could be). I’m completely free of cables and hotspots. What this means, we’ll never know…but I’m thinking the Obama dinner just got a bit more interesting! Liveblogging Gone Wild! Plunderbund style…
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(via email) I hear the news conference went well and this should get some pretty good coverage. Gotta get my reserved Shamansky shirt! I get more and more excited about this guy.
Candidate is Joined by Military Families at Bexley War Memorial
Columbus: Former Congressman Bob Shamansky, candidate for The United State’s House of Representatives in Ohio’s 12th congressional district called for an end to the Iraq war today. Speaking at the Bexley War Memorial on Drexel Circle, Shamansky was joined by members of Military Families Speak Out – an organization of parents and family of servicemen and servicewomen opposed to the Bush Administration’s Iraq policy.
Shamansky praised those in military service, and called for an end the war in Iraq, saying:
“Our troops have fought bravely, done everything asked of them, and have accomplished everything that can be accomplished militarily.
The time has come to bring our troops home – as quickly as their safe withdrawal will allow. This time, we must listen to the generals and military experts. We cannot allow politicians to set the time table to political reasons.”
Military Families Speak Out is a national organization, representing more than 3,000 families nationwide that have family members who are a part of our nation’s armed services.
Bob Shamansky is a lifelong Central Ohio resident, local businessman, and lawyer. He is a Korean War veteran, and former United States Congressman who is seeking election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District.
Full text of Fmr. Congressman Shamansky’s remarks after the break.
[click to continue…]
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Well, folks. I’m back! I’d have to characterize the past two weeks as brutal. First an attempt to upgrade Wordpress leaves me with an unworkable website. One I couldn’t even figure out how to add a post that says “Hey, site is fucked…workin’ on it!”. Thanks to Tim for doing that and for those who emailed and asked wtf?
Second, and most definately the worst part of it is my wife. Holly decided it would be fun to fall down and injure BOTH ankles. Shakes out like this. Late night at the in-laws. Little family. Little fun. Few drinks. Kids all having fun as well as adults. Time to leave and the littlest of our little ones needs to be carried. The oldest and I are apparently anxious to hit our own hay and wait patiently in the van.
Holly exits with the youngest in her arms and misjudges that last step. Right ankle turns awkwardly. In a split second attempt to ensure her daughter gets the lightest fall possible, she turns and left ankle turns awkwardly. Kablam. Face in gravel. I do the holy shit maneuver out of the van and help her into it. End result: Left ankle with third degree sprain, right fibula broken in two places requiring surgery. That was Thursday. All hands have been on deck since then in all pursuits relative to Holly’s maneuverability and pain management.
So, I’m back, and will hopefully be back in full, thought slightly limited, Plunderbundness. Thanks tons to all the well wishers. I appreciate it more than you’ll know. Now, let’s get back to business. What have I missed? Someone wanna give me a run-down in comments?
If any comments have disappeared, it is because I had to completely reload Wordpress and update the database from one I did just before the broken update. I think only a couple have been deleted. Carry on…
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Good stuff from Russell on this event.
The most striking thing about the event was the energy level in the room. We are talking about a mid week event on a rainy evening in May just after a primary election and it felt like early October. Not only were the activists and attendees fired up but the speakers brought the A game and a lot of entertainment too.
He also has audio of John Glenn up along with some photos. Great work man!
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Well, it seems something in Wordpress/Audioblog is screwed up again and I can’t get audio or video up. Too bad too as there is just a plethora of stuff i want you to see right about now. Going to try an upgrade of Wordpress and get things working again. Damned xmlrpc!
Going to need it to be working as there are several things where live audio via cell phone will be good to have. Of course, once I have EVDO set up it will be a moot point.
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Salon Exposes Big Box Blog Payola
by Eric on May 31, 2006 · Comments
Russell gets a nice mention in this article (sorry, might have to sit through a damned Visa ad – Bugmenot no seem to worky):
While I hate the term “Blogfather” (especially as applied to a practicing Buddhist), but what I hate more is political money influencing blogs to the point where a blogborne candidate is nixed in favor of someone who buys Blogger Balm by the case!.
I don’t intend to dredge up old shit (OK, too late), but this is serious enough to continue to talk about. The Blogfather and his Blogson both flipped on Paul Hackett and the timing seems to indicate why – Sherrod Brown money. Salon’s Scherer exposes this quite nicely within the piece:
How the hell else do you explain this other than Brown was Jerome’s guy and that affected Kos’ take? “Encouraged an online rebellion”. Well put. This is the precise reason that I stopped going to Kos and started to focus more on in-state blogs and bloggers. That, and like Jill, I too get Comment Tunnel Syndrome!
Blogs are self-policing only if such things are talked about and exposed for what they are. Kos telling us one comment was heart driven and one brain driven not only doesn’t pass the smell test, it doesn’t pass my 5 year old test. I’d have to give Markos that smirky look until he admitted the bullshit outright.
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