August 09, 2005
8/9: Blog Days Of Summer
Note for web readers: To go directly to the SCOTUS coverage (or what there is of it) click here.
If there's one thing that's markedly different about the blogosphere than the MSM, it's that seasonal cycles -- such as the accepted fact of slow or silly news days during August -- don't always apply. This a.m., most news cablers and websites focus on the Shuttle landing or celebrity illness, shootings and disappearances; at best, Yahoo! News' AP wire leads with a yawner about Pres. Bush's econ. team assembling in Crawford. We'll often look to Memeorandum to see which news story the blogosphere is swarming around, but there isn't much -- as of this moment, the most talked-about story is arguably a New York Times column by John Tierney about crystal meth. A big news day this isn't.
Yet the top tier of political blogs seem to treat August like any other month; just because there isn't a major newspaper story to follow doesn't mean that bloggers are at a loss for things to talk about. A number of liberal blogs are getting behind anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, the mother of slain Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who is waiting outside Bush's Crawford ranch with the intention of confronting him about the Iraq war. Conservative bloggers continue to do heavy lifting on their current obsession -- the troubled and possibly illegal financial dealings of liberal radio outfit Air America. In the ever-present Rove-Plame-Miller CIA leak investigation, James Carville's comments to Don Imus last a.m. sounded like they could have come from a blog -- and indeed several bloggers take note of what he said and zero in on the New York Times' editors. Beyond those stories, there are all kinds of interesting nuggets in today's news, about Jack Abramoff, PA political websites, Dem infighting, and the sequel to Justice Sunday.
What makes for a big news story among bloggers and their readers do not always make for a big story on TV or in the press. The threshold for what constitutes news on a blog is different, and often lower, than would be necessary to justify a TV segment or wire story. It's not always easy to compare the MSM and the blogosphere. August is just one reason.
IRAQ: Travels With Cindy
Sheehan is getting attention from the blogosphere, and as of this a.m., Sheehan's name ranked 3rd on Technorati's top searches, behind Peter Jennings and ahead of other top searches for Robert Novak and Air America.
At Democrats.com and Daily Kos, activist David Swanson reports: "Cindy Sheehan phoned me from Texas a few minutes ago to say that she's been informed that beginning Thursday, she and her companions will be considered a threat to national security and will be arrested. Coincidentally, Thursday is the day that [Sec/State Condoleezza] Rice and [Defense Sec. Donald] Rumsfeld visit the ranch, and Friday is a fundraiser event for the haves and the have mores. Cindy said that she and others plan to be arrested." Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Sheehan posted her own diary to Daily Kos, telling her story of waiting outside "Camp Casey" in Crawford.
Some debate whether or not she should expect to have an audience with Bush. A Meet With Cindy has a petition urging Bush to do so. The Mahablog discounts a WH official's assertion that because Bush met with her previously, he cannot meet with her again, and finds precedent involving Lincoln. Liberal Steve Gilliard: "Somehow, the longer she dogs Bush, the worse it becomes. And if someone should be as stupid as to have her arrested, it will become a major story. As a Gold Star Mother, she should have her question answered."
Reporting from Crawford, NRO's Byron York posts a photo of Sheehan sitting on lawn chairs with a small group sitting around her. He writes: "The man sitting on the pavement" is NSA Stephen Hadley, "while the man sitting in the chair to the right" is WH dep. CoS Joe Hagin. He adds: "They discussed with Sheehan at length the president's thinking in the decision to go to war in Iraq, and Sheehan simply refused to believe that they might have been sincere."
Right Wing News thinks the left is exploiting Sheehan, adding: "I don't like saying this, but I find people like Cindy Sheehan and Kristin Breitweiser, who've parlayed the death of a loved one into 15 minutes of fame, to be more than a little bit ghoulish. Sheehan's son died over a year ago and Breitweiser's husband died on 9/11, yet they're still out publicly demanding attention and sympathy for their loss."
Drudge Report contends that Sheehan "dramatically changed her account" of meeting with Bush, quoting from a Vacaville Reporter news story. But Raw Story contends that Drudge "grossly took Sheehan out of context" and that Sheehan and her husband "were not adulatory as the article by Drudge suggests." The 6/24/04 Reporter article is available online; decide for yourself.
PULPIT POLITICS: Incredible Sunday
Centrist Jeff Jarvis mentions an e-mail offer he has turned down: "I got a most odd invitation to come to Nashville to blog Justice Sunday II Tom DeLay, Zell Miller, Chuck Colson, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Phyllis Schlafly. ... That's most odd, since I've held these events -- and politicians sucking up to them -- in disdain. But what's interesting is that they offered to cover travel expenses. I said no thanks for a few reasons: don't want to publicize their event, don't want to take the money. But if any blogger does take their money, I hope it is disclosed." Jarvis links to conservative Reasoned Audacity, who on 8/4 posted an open call for bloggers who want credentials to liveblog the event.
ROVE-PLAME-MILLER: Faster, Patrick Fitzgerald! Keller! Keller!
Arianna Huffington's report that New York Times' Doug Jehl "has been assigned to do an in-house investigative report" for the paper, and Carville's 8/8 Times-questioning "Imus" appearance -- as reported by conservative Newsmax -- are the grounds for more questions about what Times editors knew about Miller's reporting.
- The Next Hurrah points out that Jehl and Miller "have a bit of history" -- he has "done a lot of work to discredit" some Miller stories, but also "he has been burned" by her in the past.
- At Hullabaloo, Digby points out that Carville wife Mary Matalin "is up to her ears in this thing. She was, after all, hired back specifically to handle the post Novak damage control.
- Film producer Jane Hamsher, at Fire Dog Lake homes in on Exec. Editor Bill Keller, whom she writes "has been playing violin accompaniment in the sonata of the martyred Judy" and has "never explained her apparent lack of any supervision..."
- Digby adds, "their loyalty to Judith Miller is misplaced and it's hurting their reputations. They are going to have to start making some tough choices about what is really important to them."
DEMOCRATS: Define "Centrist"
Working Life reposts a vitriolic e-mail sent out by a staff member for Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) to fellow Dems. Meeks supported CAFTA; his aide makes allegations of racism against its opponents, and concludes: "Put that in your elitist pipe and choke on it!" Working Life follows up with a series of questions.
At TPM Cafe, centrist Michael Lind makes an argument he has made elsewhere, that the Dems should adopt a line of economic liberalism and social conservatism. At Instapundit, centrist guest-blogger Michael Totten disagrees: "As far as I'm concerned, social liberalism is the best thing the Democratic Party has going for it. They should keep that and drop the pacifism and isolationism instead." But Centerfield doesn't think can work for them: "As I see it, social liberalism is THE core value of the contemporary Democratic Party. ... It is such cultural issues which define the Red/Blue divide much more than economic issues." NRO's Ramesh Ponnuru has a different response: "[T]he views of commentators are likely to be skewed because they are more likely than the public at large to be socially liberal and economically conservative. In general it remains true that national-security and social issues tend to favor the Republicans, and economic issues the Democrats." He adds, "if Lind's analysis of the electorate is right ... then their inability to shed this electoral liability should be a cause for gloom among Democrats."
Liberal Street Fighter writes an open letter to DNC chair Howard Dean opposing the idea of state-by-state "medical practice boards," asking: "how can you ... endorse such a terrible imposition onto the privacy of women in states where our party might not hold the majority?
SENATE '06: Tester-ing The Waters And Doing Pirro-uettes
MT Dems have been running a TV spot tying Sen. Conrad Burns (R) to GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and now GOPers there have sent a letter to station managers requesting that the spot be taken down. Crooks and Liars reproduces the letter, and previously furnished the video. The Dems have a response out, although we couldn't find it online at press time. On a related note, Talking Points Memo looks into money "funneled" to Abramoff through Guam. In a subsequent post, a reader suggests the malefactor in this instance is more likely Guam court officials rather than Abramoff himself.
>> Swing State Project reports that liberal blogger Matt Singer has signed on with the campaign of MT SEN candidate Jon Tester (D). Singer's blog, Left in the West, now has now added a disclosure message to the top of the page. Tester has an ActBlue fundraising page, where he has raised just shy of $17K from 22 donors. And while we're on the subject, it bears mentioning that Pearl Jam is playing an 8/29 benefit concert for Tester in Missoula.
Daily Kos' DavidNYC, on announced NY SEN candidate Jeanine Pirro (R): "Amusingly, the GOP is saying that the sins of the husband should not be imputed to the wife - while at the same time claiming that Hillary's ancient marital issues will "cancel out" Pirro's problems. Not the first time the GOP has talked out of both sides of its mouth. Pirro is allegedly the GOP's dream candidate for this race - but I ain't buyin' it. There's no chance she'll beat Clinton." PoliPundit's Jayson Javitz, on the same: "[E]ven a half-decent run by Pirro would set her up for major races down the line. By 2010, for example, so many businesses will have fled the Empire State, to avoid Spitzer's upcoming tyranny, it's hard to see how Mr. Overregulation would not be a vulnerable incumbent..."
BLOGGERS VS. BLOGGERS: Gimme Some Sugar, Baby
Business consultant Joe Sherlock is upset that a diarist on Daily Kos has "hotlinked" an image from his site, i.e. used an image hosted on Sherlock's server for display on a page at Daily Kos. As Sherlock explains, the diarist used his costly and "limited bandwidth to fuel part of his big blog so to speak. No credit, acknowledgement, hat tip, or link to my site, however." He writes: "Despite all the cash coming in from blog-ads, his store, etc., this cheapskate is doing the equivalent of siphoning gasoline from my little old Plymouth coupe to fuel his big party limo. Talk about a Limousine Liberal! What to do? Well, what if I routed the Plymouth's filler neck to a tank filled with sugared water? ... That's sort of what I did." Sherlock replaces the image on his server with one that reads: "The operator of this site is a cheapstake, a bandwith thief, and a jerk." Later, Markos Moulitsas protests that he has "no control over the diarists," but adds, that "doesn't negate the fact that he's got a point." The picture was removed, the diarist apologized to Sherlock, and the matter ended amicably.
Ezra Klein criticizes Dem activist David Sirota for taking a too-confrontational tack with fellow liberal bloggers who don't agree CAFTA is necessarily as bad an agreement as he does.
Protein Wisdom has a substantive round-up of commentary on the critical "taxonomy" of conservative blogs (see 8/4 and 8/8 Blogometers). Meanwhile, the author of the original post issues a non-apology.
MyDD's Chris Bowers -- a critic of PoliticsPA and its sister sites -- notes they revised a story originally posted without being verified: "I want to highlight this first, because it shows quite clearly that back on Friday PoliticsPA was lying. Had I not bothered to point out that they were lying, they would never have bothered to post their 'retraction.'"
AIR AMERICA: Flying Blind
New developments in the Air America financial situation, with the New York Post reporting that Al Franken told listeners he hasn't been paid since the start. Michelle Malkin comments: "Cue the violins." Meanwhile, Radio Equalizer's Brian Maloney reports that Air America was "days late" with its most recent payroll. He reprints part of a letter from Air America brass stating that it's just a processing issue, but Maloney posts comments from those who have handled payroll, and don't buy that explanation.
WHITE HOUSE '08: Case Closed?
Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum is distinctly underwhelmed by New York Press' Matt Taibbi's promised reporting on WH'04 vote fraud in OH. Drum is skeptical about claims of a stolen election in OH, but was willing to consider new info. Instead, he comments: "It's pretty silly stuff, not worth wasting your time on. ... But at least there's a lesson here: don't tell people you're going to blow the lid off a story until you actually have a smoking gun in hand."
MISCELLANY: Good News And Bad News
- This a.m. righty Arthur Chrenkoff presents the latest in his "good news" series -- Good News from Afthanistan #15. Chrenkoff also recently announced that a new job he has taken will require him to cease blogging.
- WILLisms provides a chart showing how U.S. tourism has rebounded since 9/11, in fact to well-above immediate pre-9/11 levels.
- Mike the Mad Biologist and Pandagon take issue with a post by fellow liberal Matt Yglesias at TAPPED. They believe he underestimates the danger of teaching Intelligent Design.
- Right-leaning Marginal Revolution: "Your chance of dying from avian flu is much greater than your chance of dying from terrorism. Yet the Bush Administration is still doing virtually nothing." Left-leaning Seeing the Forest adds: "Actually, so far there is a 50% death rate in people who catch this from handling birds. If this virus mutates an ability to pass from human to human it is estimated that 50% of the planet will be infected within a year. You do the math."
- Grim's Hall asks if conservatism is a "character defect." In a lengthy response, Cassandra at Villainous Company argues it is not, and the 2 continue to debate it in the comments below her post. On a related note, Neo-Neocon addresses the subject of whether a psychological disorder explains left-wing terrorist sympathizers.
- Stirling Newberry at BOPnews comments on the Oil-for-Food, a topic usually the province of conservative bloggers: "Paul Volcker's investigation has been thorough and unflinching, and promises another installment in a definitive report. If the UN believes in its mission then it should take the opportunity to clean house."
BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: Mystery Man
Today the Blogometer talks to Dem pollster Mark Blumenthal, who blogs at Mystery Pollster.
What is your full name?
Mark Blumenthal
What is your age?
42
Where did you grow up?
Cleveland, Ohio
Where do you live now?
Washington, DC
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
Pollster. I'm currently a partner in the Democratic polling firm Bennett, Petts and Blumenthal. I volunteered on various Ohio campaigns as a teenager and worked on the national field staff of Gary Hart's 1984 presidential campaign.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started writing Mystery Pollster in September 2004. I thought there might be an audience in the blogosphere for commentary about polls, not just through them; something that would help explain what pollsters do and the emerging methodological challenges we face.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
The post that got the most attention by far was the one that ran on Election Day titled, "Exit Polls, What You Should Know." I urged readers not to put blind faith in leaked mid-day numbers, suggesting that given the statistical sampling error involved they would be "better off flipping a coin to determine the outcomes of states like Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc." That first item led to several months of posts on exit poll controversy. Although I know considerably more about exit polls now than I did then, the original post still holds up pretty well.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
In the weeks leading up to the election, I was posting at least once a day, sometimes more often. In 2005, I've been averaging about 3 posts a week. I tend to write longer than most bloggers, so that's still quite a bit.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Political blogger: Mickey Kaus. Non political: A tie between PVRblog and Tour de France 2005 blog
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Hard to chose just one, but if I must: Michael Kinsley.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
If the "Daily Show" doesn't count, then "Inside Politics" ... er, "CBS Evening News."
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Typically NYTimes.com and Slate.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Daily: Kaus, Andrew Sullivan, Wonkette, Josh Marshall, RealClearPolitics. Many, many others a few times a week.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I try to read the Washington Post every day, NY Times on weekends.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
The lines between new and old media are already blurring rapidly, and I expect that trend to accelerate over the next five years. The more interesting question is how the online media sphere will evolve as economic pressures build on "mainstream" news organizations to make up revenue lost on the shrinking pool of "dead tree" subscribers.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Has The Blog Boom Not Even Truly Begun?
This week ComScore released the results of a months-long study (PDF) of blog readership, sponsored by LiveJournal/Movable Type creator SixApart and Wonkette/Defamer publisher Gawker Media. Having read the study, BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis presents a number of charts, including a list of which websites reach the best unique audience. Conservative non-blogs FreeRepublic.com and the Drudge Report stand out far ahead of the pack. Most are non-political humor, fashion, celebrity and technology sites; Daily Kos barely rates on their top lists, coming in 3rd to last. Gawker founder Nick Denton is pleased to report that blog readers tend to be "young, rich and influential," just as his sales staff tells advertisers. Jarvis writes that the survey "should help persuade advertisers to shift more of their online budgets to blogs." While a few "adventurous brands, such as Nike, Absolut and Audi, have experimented with blog advertising ... the vast majority of advertisers have been waiting for data. Here it is."
LEST WE FORGET: Doesn't Anyone Remember Any Other Lines From Animal House?
Instead of an actual Author Bio like other Huffington Post contributors, Maxim UK editor Greg Gutfeld uses the space for his Double Secret Hidden Blog. Much of it concerns his workout routine. Among his idle thoughts, verbatim: "THE janitor at my apartment complex approached me as i was returning from the gym this morning. i have a ground floor apartment. he was mopping. he smiled at me, and said, 'hey you ever hear any noise outside your window?' i said, 'no, but then i sleep like a rock.' He said, 'good.' NOW I AM SCARED. VERY SCARED."
SCOTUS SPECIAL: Will NARAL Ad Have Blog Legs?
A contributor to My Left Wing defends a new NARAL ad "essentially arguing" that John Roberts "endorses the violent tactics of Operation Rescue and its band of loonies," arguing that the right already uses such tactics, and they need to "swiftboat" Roberts.
- Bench Memos calls the NARAL ad "particularly mendacious," adding: "There are plenty of laws that criminalize violence outside abortion clinics. Roberts never took any action to undermine any of them. It is NARAL that has the 'ideology' that every law should be distorted to advance the cause of abortion."
- Daily Kos then responds to Bench Memos, calling the NARAL ad "inflammatory" but "not untruthful."
- Center-left Brendan Nyhan comments on same: "The irony is that this is the same sort of black-or-white logic that liberals denounce when the shoe is on the other foot. Criticizing the execution of the war on terror doesn't mean you support Osama bin Laden. And filing a brief against the application of a law to violent anti-abortion protestors doesn't mean you support their actions. If we can't make these sorts of elementary logical distinctions, our democracy is doomed."
Posted by at August 9, 2005 12:14 PM
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