Reading between the lines - one more Olbermann diary

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Sunday January 23, 2011 · 9:43 AM PST

2011/01/23 · 09:43

A tale of two stories: Olbermann’s MSNBC Exit Was Weeks in the Making and An NBC Departure Before Comcast Takeover. Is there any connection between these two stories?

Join me after the jump and decide for yourself.

KarenJG

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Sunday August 10, 2008 · 11:52 AM PDT

2008/08/10 · 11:52

Today’s New York Times carries a story in its "politics" section that raised red flags in my mind, but apparently not in reporter Christopher Maag’s... The title alone, "Inquiry in Ohio Could Hurt Obama Vote," might seem to suggest a political motivation for the inquiry, and the details of the story only heighten the question of whether the inquiry might be politically motivated–the investigation targets the top Democratic Party members in Cuyahoga County, which, as the reporter notes, is the most populous and Democratic-leaning county in Ohio.

KarenJG

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Saturday October 13, 2007 · 1:52 PM PDT

2007/10/13 · 13:52

Yesterday, I posted a poll asking Michigan voters what impact the Great Candidate Pull-Out might have on their votes and/or activities for the general election. I know how I feel, but I wondered if I was representative of the "general" feeling among Democrats in Michigan. (If you're a Michigan voter, and haven't voted in the poll, you can find it here. Go ahead, I'll wait for you...)

Thirty people voted, and I think the results are interesting enough to call attention to in a separate diary. (Of course, part of the reason for doing it this way is to try to get more Michganders (or Michiganians, if you prefer) to weigh in on the issue. If the numbers change appreciably, I'll update this diary to reflect the changes.)

More results are after the jump, but here's the headline number: 52% of the respondents either won't work for/donate to, or worse, won't even vote for a GE candidate who pulled their names off the ballot. That number concerns me greatly. Michigan is a closely divided state--Kerry only got 51% in 2004, and even getting that much took a lot of work--and the activists who hang out here are the sort of people who did that work. Read More

Michigan Pullout--What's the damage?

KarenJG

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Friday October 12, 2007 · 3:22 PM PDT

2007/10/12 · 15:22

I've been posting over at DU, and some news stories have noted, that the candidates pulling their names off the ballots might put Michigan's electoral votes at risk in the general election. But is that true? I know how I feel... As I said in one of my posts (on DU), I understand the "no campaigning" and the taking away of delegates, really I do. The National party has to enforce its rules. Not campaigning is a passive affirmation (by the candidates) of the rules.

But the candidates who took their names off the ballot actively slapped Michigan voters in the face in a pure pander to Iowa and New Hampshire voters. They essentially said "out loud and in our faces" that Iowa and New Hampshire voters are more important to them than Michigan voters. That doesn't sit well with me, and I think, not with many people here in Michigan. Read More

Poll
44 votes Show Results
If the eventual Democratic nominee is one of the candidates who pulled their name off the ballot, will you

Vote for, donate to, and volunteer for him

Vote for and donate to, but not volunteer for him

Vote for and volunteer for, but not donate to him

Only vote for him

Not vote for him

Don't know

44 votes Vote Now!
If the eventual Democratic nominee is one of the candidates who pulled their name off the ballot, will you

Vote for, donate to, and volunteer for him

16 votes

Vote for and donate to, but not volunteer for him

5%

2 votes

Vote for and volunteer for, but not donate to him

2%

1 vote

Only vote for him

12 votes

Not vote for him

8 votes

Don't know

5 votes

Are they "giving" us the House?

KarenJG

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Wednesday October 04, 2006 · 3:02 PM PDT

2006/10/04 · 15:02

I first posed this question a couple of months ago on the Democratic Underground, where it was widely pooh-poohed. This was before the torture vote, before the NIE, before Woodward, and before Foley. I've tried to put it out of my mind, but my suspicions have only grown stronger since all of those.

Obviously, the Republican'ts would love to keep both the House and the Senate... but, if it comes down to having to choose, I believe keeping the Senate is more important to their long-term strategy. Have they made a determination to "give us" the House, and concentrate on keeping the Senate?

I don't mean that we shouldn't use the PagePredator Cover-up for all its worth to try and take the House, just that we should not let it overwhelm our other efforts to take the Senate. We can walk and chew gum at the same time, right?

Follow my reasoning past the jump, and let me know what you think of it. Read More

LTTE - Foley as local politics - help

KarenJG

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Sunday October 01, 2006 · 11:06 AM PDT

2006/10/01 · 11:06

Below is my draft letter to the editor about Foley, making it "local" for constituents of my Republican Rep, Thaddeus McCotter.

I am as appalled as anyone else about Representative Mark Foley's (R-FL) sexual predation on teenage boys in the Congressional Page program. But somebody once said that "all politics is local," and I guess he was right, because what really outrages me is the thought that maybe our Republican Representative, Thaddeus McCotter, knew about it and looked the other way. Reports in the news keep saying that "the Republican leaders knew" but they don't say what they mean by that. McCotter touts himself as part of the "leadership" (his website says he's an "Assistant Majority Whip" whatever that means). Was he one of those "Republican leaders" who knew?

What about it, Mr. McCotter? Did you know about this sexual predator stalking teenage boys and do nothing? Did you help cover it up? To coin a cliche, what did you know, and when did you know it? To which I would add, if you knew, what did you do (or not do) about it?

Any critique or thoughts would be appreciated.

Making America Safe for the Sheeple

KarenJG

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Tuesday May 24, 2005 · 2:00 PM PDT

2005/05/24 · 14:00

Ok, I've finally had to come to terms with the real reason for my disappointment with The Deal. I struggled to define it last night. I struggled to deny it this morning. But my inner radical wasn't buying any of it. Here's the real source of my disappointment: What this deal does is confirm the belief by the anti-extremist wing of the Republican party that it's ok to keep voting for Republicans, even if they are extremists, because "the system" or "the moderates" or the somebodies will prevent the extremists from going too far. Read More

HEADS UP! "Secret" PATRIOT ACT renewal proposal

KarenJG

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Saturday May 21, 2005 · 12:20 PM PDT

2005/05/21 · 12:20

The Senate Intelligence committe is holding "closed door meetings" on a proposal to renew the expiring provisions of the USA-PATRIOT Act (AKA, Fascists' Toolkit Act) and also expand the "government's terrorism powers" as the New York Times calls it (deliberate? an oversight? you decide).

This has not gotten a lot of press, and that which is known has been provided officials who have "insisted on anonymity because the proposal remains confidential"

A google news search on the terms "Patriot," "Act" and "Renewal" combined with the phrase "Senate Intelligence Committee" turned up only nine hits.

Hearings are to be held next week. More info below the fold. Read More

Meta-Theme: Who Decides?

KarenJG

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Saturday March 26, 2005 · 12:24 PM PST

2005/03/26 · 12:24

I am struck by the arguments being used by many of the people who oppose Congress's intervention in the Terri Schiavo case: That the decision should be left to the doctors and those who love Terri. The fact that those who love Terri disagree is what brings the issue to the courts, but the question there, too, is "who decides?" However, the courts are choosing between two people (or sets of people) - the parents or the spouse. In the arena of public opinion, the choice is between "the government" and "the individuals involved." Public sentiment has come down overwhelmingly on the side of "the individuals involved." Read More

Who are we, and who decides?

KarenJG

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Sunday March 20, 2005 · 7:47 PM PST

2005/03/20 · 19:47

This is adapted from an entry on my blog, asking the question Who Are You?

Who are you, who-who, who-who?
Who are you, who-who, who-who?
I really want to know

With the theme song from CSI running through my head (borrowed, of course, from The Who), and the events of last week still fresh in my mind, I think this is the question a lot of us here (as well as approximately 30% of American voters - the so-called "swing voters") are asking the Democratic Party.

Of course, considering this question leads to two other questions that the Democratic "rank and file" must answer: 1) How do we present a consistent answer to "what do the Democrats stand for?" when so many Senators go "off the reservation" on such a regular basis, and 2) (and perhaps even more importantly) Who gets to decide what that "answer" is?

KarenJG

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Monday March 07, 2005 · 4:50 PM PST

2005/03/07 · 16:50

My first diary entry was supposed to be an "introduction" - but I think that there are much more interesting things to write about than myself. F'rinstance, did you know that even though Democratic Senators are in the minority, they actually represent 50.59% of the people in this country? That's assuming each Senator represents all the people of his or her state, of course. (A better way to do it might be to count up how many people actually voted for each Senator in his or her most recent election, but that information is hard to come by.) So, as I read about the Republican Senators considering the "nucular" option for stopping Democrats from filibustering Bush's reichwingnut Judicial nominees, I started wondering, how many people will they actually be telling to "go fuck themselves" if they do this? Read More

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Reading between the lines - one more Olbermann diary

A political prosecution in Ohio? NYT doesn’t ask.

[Updated] Michigan Pullout Damage - poll results

Michigan Pullout--What's the damage?

Are they "giving" us the House?

LTTE - Foley as local politics - help

Making America Safe for the Sheeple

HEADS UP! "Secret" PATRIOT ACT renewal proposal

Meta-Theme: Who Decides?

Who are we, and who decides?

Senate to extend Cheney Doctrine to 50.59% of Americans