Open Thread: Making Up for 1932 Edition

Did anyone catch Hillary yesterday? (0.00 / 0)

How was it?

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

---

by: Dean Barker @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 05:27:18 AM CDT

Crowd of around 300 to 500 give or take (0.00 / 0)

From what i've been told, the woman that fell off the stage will be ok.  

---

by: Andrew Sylvia @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 14:44:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Great enthusiam and her message was spot on (0.00 / 0)

Large crowds filled with excited and happy people filled with hope. It was terrific.

She is in great spirits but seriously cautious about the polls.  

What have you done to make NH Blue today?

---

by: Ray Buckley @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 05:38:12 AM CDT

Thanks. (0.00 / 0)

The hardest part about being a part-time blogger with a day job is missing so many events. I wish I could have been at this.

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

---

by: Dean Barker @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 05:47:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

with apologies (4.00 / 5)

Dean,
Many of us work, and can't go to events. In fact, after the last hurrah, our lives are not about events. They are about raising kids, taking care of our folks, and figuring out how we will retire. I have often pondered whether Darwin has more to do with electoral outcomes than any other force. It has been rare in my lifetime, that any politician on the national stage has made a real big difference in our national dialogue. It has gone progressively downhill to name calling, stereotyping and epithets tossed. We Hope President Obama will be that transitional character, who puts us on a new path in the world community. The world's biggest arms dealer needs a timeout.

We NH'ites are so caught up in the 'game' of politics. Its not about Head Start and Medicare, but whether we got our picture taken, whether one is invited to the White House Christmas party, and if so, were you invited upstairs? That's how you know you are from NH.
Not if you worked for Prescription drugs and Transportation,not if you want to end AIDS in Africa, but did you get close, did you shake his hand ?
To the good people who never go to an event, care deeply about the process, live elsewhere and never get the attention that NH does, this Bud's for you.

Without deviation from the norm, 'progress' is not possible.
~Frank Zappa

---

by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 06:04:41 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I guess it depends on what you call the national dialogue, (4.00 / 1)

but it seems to me that Clinton and, especially, Bush II changed had big impacts on the national dialogue.  Bush II changed the dialogue and the nation in ways that will take generations to remedy.

Attending political events is probably a luxury, but it's also where the evolving dialogue gets hammered out, isn't it?

Give Democrats the next 3 weeks and Democrats will give you back your country.

---

by: Bill Duncan @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:51:35 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

it's theater (0.00 / 0)

with a message
"Buy My Brand"

Without deviation from the norm, 'progress' is not possible.
~Frank Zappa

---

by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:44:00 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Whistle stop (0.00 / 0)

But it's good that candidates still have to put themselves out there.

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 09:02:15 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bud? (0.00 / 0)

Sorry, I only drink American beer. How about a Sam Adams?

(Not true -- I act locally, drink globally.)

But no salt on the side of the glass, please. Salt goes here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:43:22 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

who said anything bout beer n/t (4.00 / 1)

Without deviation from the norm, 'progress' is not possible.
~Frank Zappa

---

by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 14:45:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

McCain is out of ideas (4.00 / 1)

and out of touch...please share

this is a defining moment

Without deviation from the norm, 'progress' is not possible.
~Frank Zappa

---

by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 06:08:10 AM CDT

Apocalypse (4.00 / 3)

I just saw a CNN report about the rabid scare tactics now being used by the rad right and other whackos, claiming that an Obama election will, inter alia, result in the Apocalypse.  

These people have lost their minds.  

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt   [I'm an advisor to the NHDP Coordinated Campaign]

---

by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 06:40:16 AM CDT

They are also inconsistent. (4.00 / 1)

I thought the people who "believe" this want    the apocalypse to some so they could be "raptured" to heaven.

---

by: jbd @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:22:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm picturing a St. Peter (4.00 / 4)

who is grinning as he says, "Oh, you don't have a state-issued picture ID with you? Sorry..."

---

by: elwood @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:28:48 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Lovely thought n/t (0.00 / 0)

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:44:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

"[Sarah Palin] looked in my eyes and said, 'Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.'" (0.00 / 0)

http://www.salon.com/news/feat...

Only the Republican Party could nominate for President and Vice President an uber-hawk with a short temper and a running mate who's expecting to see the world end in her lifetime.

--
Don't believe the pollsters--this part is just warm-up.  Game Day is November 4th, so get out and vote no matter what.

---

by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:39:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

"[Sarah Palin] looked in my eyes and said, 'Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.'" (0.00 / 0)

http://www.salon.com/news/feat...

Only the Republican Party could nominate for President and Vice President an uber-hawk with a short temper and a running mate who's expecting to see the world end in her lifetime.

--
Don't believe the pollsters--this part is just warm-up.  Game Day is November 4th, so get out and vote no matter what.

---

by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:40:00 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

That's my real fear.. (0.00 / 0)

The rallies are the tip of the iceberg.  A dip into the emails, videos and blogs of these folks is a scary experience.  Given any kind of opening, I think Obama could overcome their fears, but it's going to be a very tough process.

Give Democrats the next 3 weeks and Democrats will give you back your country.

---

by: Bill Duncan @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:56:22 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Has everybody been watching Campbell Brown's new show, "No Bias, No Bull"? (0.00 / 0)

Me neither, but I do love how CNN is always telling us that they, CNN, are trustworthy and fair, but that neither other news sources nor public officials can be.  Always glad to know that The Best Political Team on Television is Keeping Them Honest.

--
Don't believe the pollsters--this part is just warm-up.  Game Day is November 4th, so get out and vote no matter what.

---

by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:28:58 AM CDT

Advocacy and bias are different things (0.00 / 0)

Take it from me. I do both.

MSNBC was shocked, shocked when Olbermann went overboard, or whatever they said. He had to be punished with a timeslot change.

What complete nonsense. He changed his show to take on O'Reilly, and they let him, while it suited them.

People says politics is scripted. Politics is freewheeling and spontaneous compared to television.

All this said, I think Campbell's OK. I haven't seen her show, other than clips.

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:36:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

The hope of Barack Obama is that his leadership has the potential to break the mindset that has led us, as a nation, to this destructive mentality perpetuated by CNN. (4.00 / 3)

Campbell Brown is not the problem.  I admire her for the Tucker Bounds incident.

The problem is CNN's constant insistence not only that they are perfect and fair and hard hitting and neutral, but that everyone else is full of it, and equally so, both in media and in everything they cover.

The only thing CNN does that deserves such credit is investigation, which FOX thinks means sending producers to badger people on the way to their car, and MSNBC rarely does, except for Olbermann's occasional dot-connecting detective work (his piece on Phil Gramm and the Enron loophole several months ago was excellent), but even in investigative reporting, CNN insists that they're "Keeping Them Honest", to remind you that you can trust CNN, but you can't trust the people they're covering.  They named Campbell Brown's show "No Bias, No Bull", to remind you that you can trust CNN, but you can't trust FOX or MSNBC.  I was disappointed that Jon Stewart didn't skewer her for this when she was on his show two nights ago--there's no better critic of the news media.

CNN is balanced only in that they are equally cynical about both sides, but unwilling to go after them on anything that matters unless the public is already, unanimously, on their side.  Never mind wiretapping, rationale for war, etc.  The polls are divided!

Flaw #1: Lou Dobbs is the most self-important commentator on television.  Yes, more than O'Reilly; he takes credit for the success of people he likes, while Dobbs simply hates everyone with any influence, and poisons the well of the political process by hinting at starting a backlash/revolt of what he thinks is common sense--will he or won't he run for President?  Nobody else does that.

Flaw #2: The hardest hitting interviewer in cable news is not CNN's Larry King, but MSNBC's Chris Matthews.  Love him or hate him (and he says a lot of things I wish he wouldn't), nobody else will spend entire segments forcing a radio host accusing a Presidential candidate of appeasement to admit he doesn't know what appeasement is, or coaxing a McCarthyite wingnut Congresswoman to come out and say the ridiculous things she implies.  He's kind of like Biden--often says more than he should, but you know he's knowledgeable and you know he's genuine.

Flaw #3: Balance is not fair.  Put aside, for the moment, that CNN doesn't stand up to the big wigs when it counts.  Very often, one side is not just as bad as the other. Very often, one side lies more, is more divisive, is less substantive, the list goes on. In that situation, you can't respond with things like "politicians lie", "they're all the same", and all the other ubiquitous, cynical mantras.  That's not fair.  If someone lies, call them out on it.  If someone with half a billion dollars calls his rags-to-moderate-wealth opponent an elitist and then spends a hundred and fifty thousand dollars of political contributions on clothes for his running mate, you can't let that go. After everything that's happened in this campaign, including the incitement of racism against black people and arabs, including hammering home implied almost-accusations against a black candidate that nobody would dream of leveling against a white candidate (Hillary and McCain don't wear flag pins--and by the way, who cares?), there is a side that has done far, far more that's deserving of ridicule than the other, and that happens to be the same side that has done more damage to this country in the past eight years than has anyone else in any era of leadership in the history of the United States (not just failure to prevent damage; creation of damage). And maybe if we as a nation weren't trapped in this 'pox on every house' mentality that CNN perpetuates, we'd be able to truly come together to reject the true culprits behind a war we should never have fought, a financial crisis comparable only to the worst in distant memory, a world less safe, a people less secure, a nation less whole, and yes, a loss of trust and honor in Washington, and John McCain would not, despite everything he has done and supported doing, still have close to half the country on his side.

CNN features either reporters feeding that fire, or semi-retired legendary political hacks screaming talking points at each other. Fox is a mouthpiece for the Republican Party.  MSNBC features reporters giving analysis.  And yes, MSNBC's primetime hosts are biased.  Yes, they show that bias too much sometimes.  But their opinions are based on the real analysis of real issues that they give every night, and they say things, real things, that nobody on CNN will say because undermines their wretched "balance".

Forget balance.  Give us fair.  Give us real.

--
Don't believe the pollsters--this part is just warm-up.  Game Day is November 4th, so get out and vote no matter what.

---

by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 12:01:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Spot on, Doug (0.00 / 0)

n/t

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 12:10:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Now I KNOW They Are Desperate (4.00 / 3)

Someone or ones stole my Obama sign last night, plus the two Obama signs on my neighbors' proeprty. Left all the other signs in place.  Like stealing my Obama sign is going to win the election for John McCain?  I think not!  

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt   [I'm an advisor to the NHDP Coordinated Campaign]

---

by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:46:54 AM CDT

Here's one solution to sign stealing: (4.00 / 1)

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/p...

---

by: cmnh @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 07:57:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hmmm.... (0.00 / 0)

I'm thinking maybe put superglue on the sign, so that if someone steals the next one (already picked it up this morning), they'll be walking around with the sign stuck to their hands for the next couple of days!!!  

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt   [I'm an advisor to the NHDP Coordinated Campaign]

---

by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:59:52 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

An Organic Alternative (0.00 / 0)

You might want to try what a Strafford County activist developed...

Harvest and mash up (carefully, while wearing gloves) poison ivy then rub the liquified gook all over the signs.

Be liberal with your application.

---

by: Tim Ashwell @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 10:07:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

more likely ? (0.00 / 0)

they thought you had enough signs and Obama would look better at their house...

Without deviation from the norm, 'progress' is not possible.
~Frank Zappa

---

by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:46:25 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Jokes that serve as political parables (0.00 / 0)

Today's reading is the Story of the Drunk and the Housekey.

Coming home late from the bar, John dropped his housekey into the street and was unable to unlock the front door. His friend Sarah found him crawling under the streetlamp, trying to locate the key.

"Did you drop it here?" she asked. "No, I dropped it over there," John replied, pointing twenty feet away. "Then why look here?"

"Because it's too dark over there - I'll never find it!" John explained.

(Today's reading explains the McCain campaign's focus on Pennsylvania.)

---

by: elwood @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 09:02:09 AM CDT

Note the tracking (0.00 / 0)

http://www.electoral-vote.com/...

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 10:02:58 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Monitor to end print edition (0.00 / 0)

The Christian Science Monitor, also known as the best newspaper no one reads, is eliminating its print edition in April.

WBUR -- http://www.wbur.org/news/2008/...

NYT -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10...

David Carr in the NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10...

I love this line from Carr:

Clearly, the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it.

And here is what I would say. This is good news. The Monitor, as its editor states in one of the links, is merely taking the step that a lot of papers will have to take in the next five years. This is good for the environment, and is a healthy, mature decision.

But I can pretty much guarantee that someone, perhaps the editor himself, will weep uncontrollably when the last print edition of the Monitor rolls off the press.

---

by: JimC @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 09:38:04 AM CDT