August 23, 2005
8/23: A Lot Of People Say What's That? It's Pat!
And then out of nowhere, Pat Robertson said something wacky, perhaps even dangerously wacky, and the whole blogosphere (or what seems like it) took an enjoyable detour into unanimous denunciation. On the "The 700 Club" yesterday, he advocated the assassination of anti-American Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez. Plenty of reax follow below.
In other news, MO Dem consultant/blogger Roy Temple is seeking to have his network of blogs recognized by the FEC as a legit media enterprise -- the so-called "exempt media." Since a cross-partisan coalition of bloggers testified on possible new restrictions earlier this year (see 6/29 and 7/30 Blogometers) many have been watching the FEC closely.
In WH'08 politics, BC'04's blog guru opens up a unique "straw poll" for readers, introducing the option of indicating a preference for a fantasy candidate and measuring candidates' state-by-state support. Meanwhile, liberal Daily Kos hints at a top secret anti-DLC project which is set to roll out in early Sept.
Also, the Able Danger roller-coaster continues. After falling off yesterday, a new military source has come forward, and the story rolls on for (at least) another day. And via its blog, John Podesta's CAP continues to go after conservative bloggers who have criticized 9/11 commis. Jamie Gorelick.
Plus, don't miss our latest Blogger Spotlight.
ROBERTSON: Hugo Pool
- Left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters prints excerpts of Robertson's remarks. Media Matters emphasizes the following: "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." Also: "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
Many treat it as humorous; a few on the left call him an American mullah or make a similar comparison; a few on the right note that Robertson incorrectly cites the Monroe Doctrine as granting the U.S. power of assassination in South America.
>> Header at AMERICAblog: "Who would Jesus assassinate?" Header at Sploid: "Psychotic TV Preacher Calls For Assassination of Hugo Chavez."
Atrios, who is a fellow at Media Matters, criticizes the AP for reporting the story but not crediting Media Matters for the catch. Some credit for the rapid pile-on is due to the website Memeorandum, which keeps track of which particular news articles are linked by which blogs. Once the release started gaining attention it rose to the top of Memeorandum, and there attracted even more comments. Although originally posted in the mid-afternoon yesterday, it's still the top story at deadline.>> From the left... Mark A.R. Kleiman: "I strongly disapprove of political murder, but the day Chavez and Robertson both die will be a pretty good day for the cause of civilization."
The Talent Show suggests Dems "borrow a page" from the GOP "playbook and insist that high-profile conservatives ... go on record about whether or not they agree" with Robertson. American Leftist defends Chavez as democratically-elected and wildly popular to boot. Beautiful Horizons: "Nothing makes Chavez happier than when Washington is demonizing him. Nothing motivates his supporters even more.">> From the right... MN-based Captain's Quarters, on Robertson's invocation of the Monroe Doctrine: "Er, no. The Monroe Doctrine forbade Europe from interfering in Western Hemisphere politics, establishing American independence on both continents. It did not mean that we reserved the right to stuff Chavez into a trunk and toss him into the Pacific."
James Joyner: "The usual suspects on the Left are weighing in, of course, lumping all of the Right in with Robertson. Since many on the Right do the same with Jesse Jackson and Michael Moore, I suppose that's par for the course.">> Conservative Sundries Shack begins an unequivocal denunciation of Robertson: "Pat Robertson dos not speak for me." And alluding to Muslim non-confrontation of terrorists, concludes: "There. See how easy that was, my Muslim friends?"
Liberal David Sirota makes a related comparison: "To an objective non-American ... is there really much of a difference between a terrorist leader going on television and issuing a fatwa against American political leaders, and Pat Robertson going on television and essentially issuing a fatwa against democratically-elected leaders in other countries?">> Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum: "Excuse me for a second while I peruse my Bible. Was there a part I missed where Jesus taught the parable about killing people who make trouble for you?" But fellow liberal Ezra Klein disagrees: "The Bible, after all, offers no shortage of grounds on which you can put a man to death."
>> You want more? There's more, almost all of it from the left: Blogs of War; QandO; Left in the West; Pandagon; In the Bullpen; Oliver Willis; AintNoBadDude; The Left Coaster; Suburban Guerrilla; Best of the Blogs.
BLOGS VS. THE FEC: By The Time WH'08 Rolls Around, Will Karl Rove And Matthew Dowd Be Big-Time Bloggers And Accredited Journalists?
Ex-Sen. Jean Carnahan CoS/MO Dem consultant Roy Temple is seeking an FEC advisory opinion on whether the nat'l "network of progressive blogs" he runs as a part of Fired Up! LLC company "falls within the press exemption" of fed'l campaign finance laws. The FEC is required to deliver a response within 60 days. Temple's post announcing his request can be found at his "flagship" site, Fired Up! America.
For those unfamiliar with the websites, Temple launched Fired Up! Missouri earlier this year, followed by the nat'lly-focused site, plus Fired up! Washington (the state) and Fired Up! Maryland.
In the official request -- available here (PDF) -- Temple atty Marc Elias describes Fired Up LLC as a "network of web sites that provide a progressive viewpoint on political issues of the day," which "conducts original news reporting of its own," and "publishes commentary on social, political and economic justice issues," and is "neither owned nor controlled by any political party, political committee or candidate." Elias provides examples where online-only news orgs. were granted status as a "press entity," and argues that Fired Up! LLC meets the criteria for a press exemption.
Update: Lawrence Norton is General Counsel to the FEC, not Temple's atty. Our goof.
WHITE HOUSE '08: Who Needs Fantasy Football When You've Got Fantasy Politics?
GOP consultant Patrick Ruffini announces his latest WH'04 straw poll, which this time asks voters to choose from among the many presumed GOP candidates on the "Main Ballot" and allows for voters to indicate a preference for an unlikely candidate on the "Fantasy Ballot." With 1400+ votes accounted for, Rudy Giuliani (29%) leads on the main ballot, followed by VA Sen. George Allen (25%), ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich (17%), MA Gov. Mitt Romney (9%) and CO Rep. Tom Tancredo (6%). With the fantasy candidates in play, the results look much different: Sec/State Condoleezza Rice (40%) leads by a wide margin, VP Cheney (17%), FL Gov. Jeb Bush (10%) Fred Thompson (8%) and Giuliani (7%). Note: %ages have been rounded like they taught us in elementary school. Ruffini also shows which fantasy candidates take votes away from which expected candidates: Bush and Cheney take support away from Allen more than Giuliani; Rice and Thompson take support away from Giuliani more than Allen. The results are also split up by state, region and (as usual) which blog they came in from.
At RedState, the somewhat cryptic "Thompson to run for President?" post causes some initial confusion, but quickly all realize the prospective WH'08 GOPer is ex-HHS Sec. Tommy Thompson, not Fred Thompson. Discussion commences on Fred Thompson's unlikely WH prospects, and Hunter S. Thompson's even less likelier ones.
John Hawkins of Right Wing News interviewed Gingrich and posts the transcript to his blog. Issues discussed include Iraq, health care, border security, gay marriage and others. The WH'08 race was not addressed specifically. Gingrich, asks if he reads any blogs regularly: "No, I flip around but I don't read any one blog in particular."
BLOGS VS. THE BELTWAY: So Much Drama In The DLC
At Daily Kos yesterday, site founder Markos Moulitsas intimated that an under-wraps project targeting the DLC will be made public soon: "Two more weeks, folks, before we take them on, head on. No calls for a truce will be brooked. ... We need to make the DLC radioactive. And we will. With everyone's help, we really can. Stay tuned."
Little Green Footballs has some fun at his expense, photoshopping Kos's face onto the head of Dr. Evil, counting down the days until he "unveils his top secret plan to destroy" the DLC. David Wissing offers the now-commonplace criticism that no Kos-backed candidates have won office.
DLCers Marshall Wittmann and Ed Kilgore both have written favorable posts focusing mostly or in part on writer/musician/indie TX GOV candidate Kinky Friedman in the past few days.
DEMOCRATS: The Tone Wars
At TPM Cafe, Matthew Yglesias quotes ex-House candidate Paul Hackett (D-OH) talking about Iraq in a non-inflammatory manner, and comments: "It warmed my heart to hear ... Hackett's Bush-bashing. But I'd much rather live with a moderate tone and an anti-war policy than live with the reverse. Liberals need to be clear about what our priorities are." Digby at Hullabaloo disagrees: "he immoderate tone that thrills the netroots is not just for emotional satisfaction; it is a political strategy for beating the opposition. I think that many in the netroots are no different than the vast majority of Americans everywhere." Digby writes, Dems "have been successfully tagged as being soft on terrorism, crime, national security" and more because they let GOPers "bash, swift-boat and deride with impunity."
ABLE DANGER: Like That Zombie You Thought You Already Killed ...
The New York Times reports, Navy Capt. Scott Philpott is stepping forward, saying Able Danger did in fact identify Mohammed Atta as a Qaedist as early as 1/00. The story attracts some attention, such as from conservative Balloon Juice, but not a great deal of commentary yet. War and Piece's Laura Rozen, one of the few liberals following the Able Danger as close as many on the right, reported ahead of the New York Times story that they had a different photo of Atta than the infamous passport shot. More is likely to come.
William Tate of What's In The News finds what he believes may be the "smoking gun" in a controversial memo [PDF] written in '95 by then-dep. AG Jamie Gorelick. He points out that the memo, which outlines the intel "wall" between DoJ and DoD agencies, explicitly states that it "goes beyond what is legally required," and Tate points out that it was delivered to the Office of Intel Policy Review, which advises the gov't agencies including DoD. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker writes, "Tate points out that the current political points being scored by Clinton and Gorelick defenders in citing Pentagon lawyers as the ones blocking intelligence sharing are irrelevant."
- Think Progress' Judd Legum: "This argument is an embarrassment. Gorelick's 1995 memo would never be used to provide legal guidance to the Department of Defense. It was a memo that laid out procedures between the FBI and the criminal division of the Justice Department. It imposed no restrictions on information sharing between the DoD and the FBI."
- Ed Morrissey writes a critical post about Gorelick, which he later updates: "I'm getting some visibility over at Think Progress, because the mass e-mails have started again. They're pretty easy to spot -- they contain no argument whatsoever, just mindless regurgitation of the talking points of TP..."
- In a follow-up post, Legum reiterates his point above, heading the post "Ahoy Captain Ed: You're Still Wrong."
Pseudonymous Juan Non-Volokh, at the Volokh Conspiracy: "Time will tell whether there is anything to the Able Danger story ... but it is clearer than ever that Jamie Gorelick should not have served on the 9/11 Commission." Regardless of the truth about the "wall," Gorelick "undermines its credibility, and provides undo fodder for political partisans and conspiracy theorists."
SHEEHAN: Bring Back Plamegate! Bring Back Michael Jackson! Anything But This!
Sheehan writes at Daily Kos: "I love you people on the Daily Kos so much. My mom is stable and is moving to her own room today to begin physical therapy. ... I am going back to Camp Casey soon. In the next couple of days. Thank you for all of your support and love." At The Huffington Post, enviro activist Kelly Meyer "came to a new and profound understanding" of the Sheehan protest while "listening to Sting's song "They Dance Alone"; lyrics and an explanation are provided. Reporting from the scene in Crawford, NRO's The Buzz has gone to an all-Sheehan format, with lots of photos of the goings-on.
Sadly, No! reports that GOP-leaning 527 Move America Forward is behind a new website, Casey's Kids-To-Kids. Casey is, in this case, a spaniel recovered from a Sacramento dog pound. Sadly, No! notes the similarity of names to Army Spc. Casey Sheehan: "Yeah, you think I'm kidding, like this is the Onion or something." Much more derision follows. On the other hand, the website says Casey the dog was recovered in '01. The site is also set up for sending supplies to Iraqi children.
Matt Margolis at Blogs for Bush posts results of a BlogPulse trend search for the terms "Cindy Sheehan" and "Casey Sheehan." It shows Cindy Sheehan's meteoric rise to prominence: "In the beginning, the difference in percentage of blog posts mentioning Cindy Sheehan and Casey Sheehan was minimal. As time went on, and her story got more popular, Casey Sheehan became much, much less relevant than his mother." But it also shows a sharp drop-off where she left Crawford for CA. He adds: "If there is anything this graph proves, it is that Cindy Sheehan's 15 minutes of fame are near over."
IRAQ: In Limbo
Liberal Univ. of MI prof Juan Cole, on the 3-day delay before the constitution is now supposed to be finished: "The rule of law is no longer operating in Iraq, and no pretence of constitutional procedure is being striven for. In essence, the prime minister and president have made a sort of coup, simply disregarding the interim constitution." John Hinderaker takes a more optimistic view: "All of the parties appear to be united on the main point: there really is a country called Iraq, and they really are debating its future." As long as that remains true, I am pretty confident that the outcome of the current bargaining will be positive.
Lisa Ramaci-Vincent, wife of murdered journalist Steven Vincent (see 8/3 Blogometer), writes an outraged response to Cole, who had speculated that Vincent was murdered by locals because he was sleeping with his Iraqi translator (see 8/10 Blogometer). Ramaci-Vincent argues that the relationship was not a sexual one: "Cheap shot, Mr. Cole, against a remarkable woman who does not in any wise deserve it." The comment is posted with editorial emphasis by Murdoc Online.
New York Post's Ralph Peters notes that the U.S. writes that U.S. recruitment is up, and each of the Army's 10 divisions will meet its YTD expectations. Conservative Betsy Newmark calls it a "story that hasn't got much press although if the news were the opposite, you know you'd be reading about it all over."
BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: The Julian System
Today the Blogometer talks to libertarian Julian Sanchez, who blogs at Notes from the Lounge, as well as for his employer, Reason, at Hit and Run.
What is your full name?
Miguel Frederick Julian Sanchez, though I've always gone by Julian. There's also a whole string of lineage-revealing Spanish appendices that I've never bothered to fully memorize.
What is your age?
The space age. Also, 26.
Where did you grow up?
Norwood, New Jersey.
Where do you live now?
Washington, DC, in the U street neighborhood.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
Assistant editor for Reason magazine. Not sure that counts as "mainstream," but it's a print monthly that's been around for a good while. And I'm on the record with too many preposterous opinions to ever be anything but a liability to a political campaign.
When did you start blogging and why?
Early 2002, because my former college debate partner had started one, and it looked like fun. I thought it might kick my ass to get more writing done if I imagined someone out there might conceivably be reading my output. And I started blogging at Reason's Hit and Run blog because, well, they pay me to.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
Well, the thing that got the most attention was when I exposed gun scholar John Lott's penchant for posing as one of his own former students (the fictitious "Mary Rosh") in various online discussion fora. The most fun might have been an extended debate with conservative blogger Eve Tushnet about abortion and (eventually) infanticide, which one of my blogging friends referred to as a "Highlander-style intellectual duel."
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I blog at least a few times a day on Reason's "Hit and Run" weblog, typically I just scan through whatever my RSS reader has turned up first thing in the morning and find a couple things worthy of comment. On my own site, I'll usually let it languish for a few days, then be motivated to churn out a mini-essay and a couple shorter squibs.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Political blogger's tough; probably a tossup between Radley Balko at The Agitator, Matt Yglesias, and Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution. Among the non-political folks, probably Grant McCracken at cultureby.com, though some politics sneaks in from time to time.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
(Sound of crickets.) Can I count Virginia Postrel as a columnist? If so, her. I'm watching to see how John Tierney grows into the new column, which has been interesting so far.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I don't really watch TV news, but I suppose "The Daily Show," if that counts as a news program.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Slate, NY Times, American Prospect, New Republic, Nat'l Review, The Nation, Wired, The Economist, Washington Monthly, BBC.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Slashdot, Boing Boing, Volokh Conspiracy, Eschaton, The Agitator, TPM Cafe/Matt Yglesias, A&L Daily, Andrew Sullivan, Overlawyered, Dan Drezner, Marginal Revolution, Catallarchy, Culture by Commotion, Crescat Sententia, The Fly Bottle, Unqualified Offerings, Cafe Hayek, Agoraphilia, Lawrence Lessig, Brad DeLong, Crooked Timber, Amptoons.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I still skim at least the A section of the NY Times and the Washington Post over breakfast each morning; often I'll spend longer with the Sunday NY Times.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
First, I think the distinction will cease to be as sharp as that -- "old media" and "new media" -- if it even makes sense now. In that vein, part of the effect we're already seeing is that "new media" provide an efficient filter mechanism for "old media." Whereas an editorial page or political mag editor might once have waited for writers to bubble up from smaller papers, or popped in to the offices at the Harvard Crimson to ask about bright prospects, writers can increasingly just start writing and prove to the editors that they're capable of building an audience by... actually building an audience. The boundary's already quite porous; scan a random New York Times Book Review and you're likely to find a blogger's name. And I'm one of a handful of journalists I know who basically got their jobs as a result of their blogging. And plenty of the top bloggers -- Andrew Sullivan, say -- are established "old media" writers.
The current division of labor seems likely to persist for a while, with traditional outlets retaining the advantage on actual reporting, while the distributed intelligence of the blogosphere brings expertise to bear for opinion, news analysis, and fact checking. But it'd be interesting to see whether the ubiquity of wireless access and small, cheap portable recording technology will create a wave of genuine citizen journalists -- something like what Indymedia is already doing (with mixed results). That would probably have the effect of diminishing further whatever remains of the aura of authority of mainstream media -- again, I think, a mixed blessing: Part of the upshot of that is a tendency to dismiss stories you find ideologically uncongenial because, hey, everyone's just grinding their own axe. But it also means further attenuating the "gatekeeper" power of pro journalists and editors to decide what's news, and a denser, more Roshamon-style perspective on the news.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Here And Yon
At his blog, Mosul-based journalist Michael Yon tries to explain an overlooked difficulty in reporting from Iraq: "The greatest paradox I have seen in this war results from 'proximity delay.' The proximity delay for me is caused by being embedded so closely with Duece Four soldiers that I often see things unfolding before they happen, and then I am in the thick of events as they occur. But then I am asked not to write about events." Writes Yon: "And so, I never release the slightest hint. But then somebody in Baghdad -- three steps removed from the action here in Mosul -- releases it to CNN and the rest of the world. What is seen on television and in the papers is practically always inaccurate, or is at least poorly framed. But I rarely waste a breath trying to correct the information. It's too late. Life is busy here."
LEST WE FORGET: Wait Until You're Older
News you can use from the Newark Star-Ledger: "Too close for comfort: Blogs put teens at risk." A chilling excerpt: "To be sure, one of the blogs created by teenagers who hail from such New Jersey towns as Fair Lawn, Midland Park and Bloomfield -- to name a few -- carries a link to a place called 'Pimps that Have Their Hos on Chains.'"
Posted by at August 23, 2005 12:28 PM
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