9/13: Crickets Chirping

The confirmation hearings for John Roberts emerged as a bigger focus in the blogosphere today, but most react today with a sense of boredom. The question seems to be whether Dems will step up once questioning begins, or lie down and see Roberts confirmed as the new Chief. It is somewhat surprising, outside of the few who've followed closely SCOTUS all along, how little focus there is at this point though. There were probably as many references to a cricket match between England and Australia as to Roberts on some of the blogs checked this am.

Also today, now-ex FEMA Dir. Michael Brown's resignation stirs up the Katrina pot, with a few wondering why he didn't just resign immediately. Even some moderate and conservative bloggers see this as a negative reflection on Pres. Bush's leadership style. Elsewhere, there's an interesting debate on what conservative gov't has wrought. Also, don't miss our latest blogger spotlight.

ROBERTS: It's On (Sort Of)

This is one of those events made for live blogging, and Blogs For Bush, MyDD, and our own Newsblog had lengthy play-by-play. The Buzz offered some on-the-scene photos. Althouse reviewed the performance of each Sen., and eventually Roberts. Patrick Ruffini kept his SCOTUS Wire updated.

For the left, one of the things that seemed to stand out about Roberts' statement was his baseball analogy. Daily Kos' "Armando" says that "seems to me to be an excellent argument for why Judge Roberts must answer the questions put to him by the Senate. As any baseball fan knows, umpires are not uniform in the delineation of the strike zone. ... And when it comes to the Supreme Court of the United States, it is important that we know what Judge Roberts' 'strike zone' is." NewDonkey picks up and runs with the ball, offering some ways Dem Sens. can incorporate that analogy into questions on specific Court issues.

Conservative RedState writes: "A foreigner arriving in the US and turning on the TV to see [the hearings] would be forgiven if they believed the President had instead nominated someone named Katrina. To be sure, her name was invoked far more than the nominee's in the early salvos fired by Sens Leahy and Kennedy."

Liberal David Corn believes Senate Dems "spent too much time on countering the Republican strategy (questioning the questioning of judicial nominees) and not enough on dissecting what's already known about Roberts." More: "Why not frame the real debate -- or attempt to do so -- from the get-go? ... True, the game was over before it began. But it seemed that the Democrats lost the chance to fight the best fight possible."

Aforementioned Matt Margolis called the hearings "boring" and summed up the day by saying: "It was basically all the Democrats repeating the same points each time in their own way, and the Republicans repeating the same points each time in their own way... At times there were some good lines... good sound bytes... but in the end it will be what Roberts says in response to questions that will matter more than the grandstanding of Senators." Liberal Marc Cooper says he "had to prematurely check out" of the hearings "because I felt a deep numbness setting in. Or was it a nausea?"

Conservative Captain's Quarters explains a tepid start that surprised WaPo's Dan Balz: "The Democrats ... have to present themselves as credible judges of Roberts' credentials. Thanks to their allies at PFAW and especially at NARAL, the kind of firebrand stemwinder speech that Balz appears to have expected would only serve to reinforce the notions that the Democrats have gone completely rabid. ... The real test of whether the Democrats have given up will come today."

Liberal Chris Bowers at MyDD criticizes Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) based on this photo that seems to show he was planning on filling in a crossword during the hearing. "The more I think about it, the more important I think this picture is. All day, Republicans pounded home the idea that they were all already going to vote for Roberts, and that Roberts didn't have to really say anything during the hearings."

Nico Pitney at the liberal blog Think Progress criticizes Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for what he sees as Grassley's dig at bloggers for pushing for comprehensive hearings.

BROWN: Why The Delay?

Moderate Jeff Jarvis writes that "l'affaire Brownie" "reveals how indecisive the Bush White House is. ... What was gained versus just getting rid of him in one swift cut? Why be indecisive when indecisiveness is exactly the problem with the government's response to the storm? If local and state governments hadn't screwed up, too, I think the downfall of the Bush legacy wouldn't be Iraq after all, but Katrina."

Typically right-leaning Galley Slaves is confused: "If he was doing a heck of a job, why is he being allowed to resign? And why did he wait to resign until the Roberts confirmation had begun, instead of stepping down sooner, if it really was in the 'best interest of the agency and best interest of the president'? Was it not in FEMA's best interest to resign sooner? Or was it not in the best interest of the president to resign sooner?"

At TAPPED, Garance Franke-Ruta writes: "What's totally inexplicable to me about the Brown resignation and replacement is why it wasn't done at the president's request early in the process, rather than on account of the exposes of the news media at a point at which Bush can no longer reap any image benefits (as, say, a take-charge leader) from the change. Instead it looks like Brown resigned out of pure humiliation, and Bush stuck with him just long enough for Brown to become a scandal and, very likely, a lasting cultural joke."

At The Moderate Voice, Michael Stickings writes: "The problem is, Brown isn't the only official who needs to be held accountable for what went wrong. After all, someone appointed him to the position, no? Again, I know there's a lot of blame to go around, but clearly some of it needs to be directed at President Bush, even if he himself won't take responsibility for what went wrong."

Xark has some ideas on what Brown can do now.

KATRINA: Where's Rudy?

Liberal Marshall Wittmann writes: "It is truly stunning to contemplate that this President won re-election by touting his 'decisive leadership.' If this is 'decisive' give the Moose a 'French flip-flopper' any day of the week."

Liberal Matthew Yglesias hears Bush's defense of the fed's response, that "a lot of people said we dodged a bullet" in the initial MSM reporting, and responds: "[I]t's plausible that that explains the Bush administration's day-late, dollar-short approach to the crisis. But just as we liberals like to say when talking about 'root causes,' to explain is not to excuse. The president of the United States, the director of FEMA, and the secretary of Homeland Security have no business relying on inaccurate CNN reports for facts on the ground when the state, local, and federal agencies responsible for monitoring the levees and the flooding situation all knew what was happening."

Even liberal blog Daily Howler criticizes LA Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) for her "utterly woeful" performance on "Fox News Sunday."

Mickey Kaus hears that the Bush admin is considering a "a public jobs program for Katrina victims," and asks: "Why only for Katrina victims? If the wage is set low enough-- i.e. below the minimum private-sector wage--a public jobs program can be made available to all comers."

The issue of the body count comes up again, with Big Rick.fm wondering why the MSM kept giving a count of up to 10K when it appears much lower. Instapundit agrees: "So they were off by 9700, so far. That's good news, but it's also reason to take other things they tell us with many grains of salt."

A Daily Kos contributor calls GOPers "the real victims" of Hurricane Katrina, noting the price tag of recovery.

Right Wing News lists the "20 Most Obnoxious Hurricane Katrina Quotes." Are you listening, John Edwards? At The View Through The Windshield, Joe Sherlock gives us not 1, not 2, but "Eight Americas."

REPUBLICANS: Not So Conservative

Ross Douthat at The American Scene notes the "pessimistic view" of the state of conservatism by Weekly Standard's Andrew Ferguson, and the rebuttal by PowerLine. He then asks 9 questions, including a request to "name a major legislative accomplishment other than the Bush tax cuts that made you proud to have a conservative majority in power."

Lefty Kevin Drum adds: "Despite all the griping that liberals do about George Bush, Ross is right." He lists 12 of the major legislative actions in Bush's term and calls 4 "just plain liberal," 4 "basically neutral or bipartisan" with only 2 "clearly conservative." He continues: "The fact is, conservatives haven't won much of anything in the last 10 years except a PR triumph."

Conservative Ramesh Ponnuru at "The Corner" chimes in: "Douthat's premise that conservatives have controlled both chambers of Congress for ten years strikes me as inaccurate. We have had a majority of a majority in both chambers for most of that time. We have not had an absolute majority -- and it's odd to find Douthat, of all people, equating conservatives with Republicans. ... It's fine to criticize conservatives and Republicans in Congress, and I agree with some of the specific criticisms that Douthat makes. But too much of the criticism seems romantic and, worse, nostalgic for a time that never existed."

Libertarian Vodkapundut, who is "no huge fan of President Bush," admits he "giggled -- actually giggled, like a schoolgirl -- when Instapundit described Bush as 'adequate.' Talk about killing with kindness." Instapundit was referring to poll numbers showing that Bush loses in a head-to-head matchup with every recent ex-POTUS, but not to John Kerry.

ELECTIONS '05: Start Spreading The News

Today is primary election day in New York. Swing State Project highlights some of the blog-supported candidates, including Andrew Rasiej for Public Advocate. A look at the blog search engine Technorati.com/ listed "Rasiej" as the 2nd-most searched item today, beat only by "Impeach Bush." To show just how tepid the SCOTUS hearings have been, "John Roberts" was a mere 6th.

TNR Online's &c. continues a series on the NYC elections, with guest blogger Fred Siegel, author of The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American Life. Siegel writes today that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (R) team "has been salivating at the prospect of running against" ex-Bronx BP/'01 candidate Freddy Ferrer (D) in the general. "A strong opponent would hammer home the point that while Bloomberg wasted time and energy on his failed project for the Olympics and a West Side stadium, the rebuilding of Ground Zero languished." In '01, Ferrer said the attacks didn't change his priorities, and this year, Katrina "has placed additional emphasis on emergency management, an area in which Ferrer has done little to hide his disinterest." He continues: "For his part, [Rep. Anthony] Weiner [(D)] sounds like an increasingly confident candidate -- one who is certain, should he lose, that he has a future as a mayoral candidate four years from now."

ELECTIONS '06: Dems, Dems, Everywhere

Daily Kos and the DCCC's Stakeholder seem to think the NRCC is feeling the heat. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga says "it's clear" that NRCC Chair Tom Reynolds "is cracking under the strain." But right-leaning PoliPundit notes that Dem numbers in the Senate and House have only dropped in each decade since LBJ. "Regarding next year, suffice it to say that if the media somehow defeated each and every vulnerable GOP House Member, and then somehow prevailed in each and every one of its own vulnerable House Districts, the GOP would ... still retain the majority of seats in the House."

TX-Based Burnt Orange Report has thoughts on '05 San Antonio Mayor mayoral candidate/'04 TX-21 nominee/ex-security guard Rhett Smith joining the GOV race.

Moderate Oxblog checks in on DC Mayor candidate Adrian Fenty, and is unimpressed.

WHITE HOUSE '08: Checking In

Mike Huckabee President 2008 runs a hearty list of blog commentary RE: the AR Gov. Also, Russ Feingold for President returns after a hiatus with a "surrogate stump speech" about why he supports the WI Sen., called "Forward with Feingold."

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: All About Reporting

Hearing that Yahoo! has hired an Iraq war correspondent, Jeff Jarvis writes: "Yahoo emphasizes that this doesn't mean they are 'building any kind of news organization.' So that means, instead, that they're just going for the bloody bits?"

DavidNYC at Daily Kos reminds readers that 9/19 is the day when the New York Times "is putting most of its op-ed content behind a subscription firewall," and laments the loss of "important voices" like Paul Krugman.

MISCELLANY: A Final Hat Tip

A number of conservative bloggers bid farewell to Chrenkoff, who posts his final entry today. Most will miss his regular "Good News From Iraq" features.

The Blog topic hub Memeorandum is up with new design today, as well as a tech-oriented sister site. Robert Scoble explains how they work.

A number of blogs noted that they were impacted by the L.A. blackout. Patterico's Pontifications took it a step further, and with tongue-in-cheek blamed Bush for his "failure to act."

BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: Chronicle Of The Conspiracy

Today the Blogometer talks to UCLA law prof Eugene Volokh, founder of the popular academic blog Volokh Conspiracy.

What is your full name?

Eugene Volokh

What is your age?

37

Where did you grow up?

Los Angeles, to which my family moved from Kiev when I was 7.

Where do you live now?

Los Angeles

What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?

Professor of Law. I was a legal advisor to the California Yes on 209 campaign in 1996, and to the Washington State I-200 campaign in 1998; both were initiatives that prohibited race and sex discrimination and preferences in government employment, education, and contracting.

When did you start blogging and why?

Spring 2002. I'd been writing op-eds and doing other public commentary since 1994, and I thought this would be another good way to spread ideas to the public.

What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?

This post on the myth of the median hyper-promiscuous gay male, and (a much more picayune example) this oneon a misquote of Rep. Cynthia McKinney [(D-GA)]. Naturally, I blog about many other matters, including many that are more general and less detail-oriented -- but (and perhaps this is the academic in me showing) I particularly like it if I can identify an error, even a small one, that others have missed, and try to correct it.

Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?

Several posts a day, posted whenever I'm inclined to post them.

Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?

Political and politicalish: InstaPundit, James Taranto on Best of the Web, Mickey Kaus at Slate, Ann Althouse, Virginia Postrel at Dynamist. Non-political: GeekPress.

Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?

Jonathan Rauch, Stuart Taylor, Max Boot, Heather MacDonald.

What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?

I don't watch TV news.

What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?

Slate.com, plus whatever sites InstaPundit and other blogs link to, for the specific stories to which they link.

What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?

InstaPundit, KausFiles, Best of the Web, Althouse, Dynamist (see #9).

How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?

About once a week, usually on Sundays.

How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?

My hope is that the new media will keep correcting -- and perhaps even deterring -- old media mistakes, and will push good stories that the old media would otherwise ignore.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: This Calls For ... A Think Tank!

Daniel Drezner wonders about the value of think tanks, given that the bigger ones seem to have "switched their focus from churning out deep policy proposals in favor of op-eds. Indeed, the staffing at many think tanks had shifted, with the communications and PR sides receiving a much larger share of the pie relative to the policy wonks." He said he doesn't necessarily know if it's a good or bad thing, and leaves it to commenters to discuss.

LEST WE FORGET: I'll Always Be A (201)er, Even With My (410)

Notes From The Lounge laments the "Death of the Area Code": "I noticed that the area codes on folks' phone numbers were far more varied than the addresses of their owners. ... [T]he numbers in general were much more likely to reveal where someonegone to college (or, for some of the younger ones who had cell phones in utero, where they grew up) than where the currently live. ... [T]he number tells you where someone came from -- or, at any rate, what place they want to identify themselves with. I kept my 917 number in part to avoid the hassle of disseminating a new number, but also in part to keep a link to Manhattan."