The Popularity of Sarah Palin . . .

MRL

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Saturday August 30, 2008 · 7:12 AM PDT

2008/08/30 · 07:12

My old boss used to say that a case (I was a civil rights lawyer at the time) is never as good as the first time it walks through your door. What she meant was that when that person described their discrimination to you in the first meeting, it was inspriring to you and you wanted to go after the employer immediately.

Often -- too often -- you later came to discover facts and nuances about your client and their story that made the case less attractive, more difficult to pursue. Nevertheless, still often worth pursuing.

The point? Sarah Palin just walked into our proverbial offices and her case on many levels was pretty good. 80-90 approval ratings! Good God! Not since George W Bush . . .

If Sarah Palin continues to be the story (as opposed to John McCain's judgment, integrity, or patriotism, or lack thereof is not the story) I think that the shine will quickly be coming off of Palin under national media scrutiny. More below the fold:

MRL

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Tuesday May 06, 2008 · 9:22 AM PDT

2008/05/06 · 09:22

Josh Marshall has a couple of posts from readers who note that the media seems to "get it" about the gas-tax-holidy nonsense. IMHO, they (the media) and, it seems, many others, don't actually "get it." Some half, get it, but stop short of full understanding.

Those TMP reader comments (then, my thoughts below the jump).

MRL

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Wednesday October 12, 2005 · 10:27 AM PDT

2005/10/12 · 10:27

There is little, if any written legal legacy coming out on Harriet Miers. Hasn't been a judge, so no legal opinions. But the former (and current) clerks among us know that we had a tiny bit of influence over how opinions were shaped, and our input was sometimes sought in how they turned out. We were, in a sense, the lawyer for the judge.

Harriet Miers was a clerk, no? Chief Judge Estes in 1971 & 1972? Well Estes wasn't prolific either -- do a Lexis search for "opinionby" Estes and you get only about two dozen opinions. And for reasons not germane here, not even all of those are pertinent.

So what does this all mean? More below the flip, as they say. Read More

Stop Being So F$#@*cking Literal About Everything!

MRL

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Tuesday June 14, 2005 · 7:21 AM PDT

2005/06/14 · 07:21

[Subtitle this Diary -- What the Downing Street Minutes and Other Documents Really Mean]

There has been a ton of chatter and babble on dKos about what the Downing Street Minutes mean. A lot of hand wriging about the MSM/RWCM and their failure to highlight these documents.

And there has been all kinds of "see, I told you so" about these "smoking guns" and outrage that the long arm of the law is not arresting the man holding the gun.

Well, let me add my $0.02 to the conversation and offer an explanation as to why this is giving you all fits and what you might be able to do about it. Read More

RNC Stole My Logo UPDATED

MRL

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Tuesday April 19, 2005 · 10:46 AM PDT

2005/04/19 · 10:46

That's what Bush supporter, Jerry Gossett of Wichita Falls

is alleging.

More below the jump. *UPDATED* Read More

WSJ Making Sh!t Up (Demonstrable lies)

MRL

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Monday April 11, 2005 · 4:54 PM PDT

2005/04/11 · 16:54

Executive summary:

Todays' (April 11) "best of the web" on the WSJ site tells Kerry to be careful and "not embarrass" himself by (their assumption) quoting the Onion as fact.

Jim Taranto may want to be careful himself . . . putz - or liar, you decide.

[More below the fold.] Read More

Dean Changes Position on Abortion?

MRL

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Wednesday February 16, 2005 · 7:09 AM PST

2005/02/16 · 07:09

I read this piece in the New York Times this morning and can't decide what to make of it.

On the one hand, it seems to warn democrats about any "rethinking" of the position on abortion.

On the other hand, it seems to gleefully nudge the democrats for what the author sees as lack of a cohesive position on the issue.

What struck me most, though was this lead-in assertion:

Party leaders, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and the new chairman, Howard Dean, have repeatedly signaled an effort to recalibrate the party's thinking about new restrictions on abortion.

Now, I've not heard anything from either Clinton or Dean (set aside the fact that no one outside the 4th Estate considers Clinton a "party leader") on this issue. As for Clinton, it wouldn't surprise me that she'd stake out pragmatic positions on this.

But as to Dean -- our party's leader -- I would bet dollars to donuts that this is just an out and out false statement. Read More

Did we Get Max Benefit From this?

MRL

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Monday September 13, 2004 · 12:55 PM PDT

2004/09/13 · 12:55

When Bush asks the U.S. to trust him to best lead the nation in the war against terrorism, do we really need to look any further than the August 6, 2001 PDB?

I mean, c'mon. The POTUS gets a memo that says "bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" and his administration says that such an attack was unforeseeable.

Do we really need to go beyond this collossal fuck up? Can someone please make a pithy flash animimation commercial for widespread dissemination? Read More

Go North Young Chicago Man (and woman)

MRL

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Wednesday September 01, 2004 · 11:49 AM PDT

2004/09/01 · 11:49

In response to a recent story regarding new ad spends in "battleground" states, I commented that it was time for me (a Chicagoan) to venture north where my help could be used. Kerry and Obama seem to have Illinois pretty well sewn up.

Trouble was, I didn't know how to help or who to ask for help to help . . . you get the point.

Well, my request was granted. Daniel Biss is that man (see below). He's the man with the plan -- new to dKos (welcome Daniel). I repost below his e-mail to me.

I don't know as I can make this weekend, but I guarantee that I'll be up in Wisconsin helping Kerry carry the land of cheese and Brett Favre! Read More

Journalism in the Fly Over States (Really Long)

MRL

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Friday August 27, 2004 · 12:01 AM PDT

2004/08/27 · 00:01

I read an opinion piece by Sylvia Smith yesterday that I wasn't particularly taken by. Ms. Smith's main thesis was that the current debate about Vietnam service wasn't relevant to the question of who could be a better commander in chief.

Fair enough.

But in the process, I thought she was far too "even handed," as journalists are wont to do these days. Report what one side said, report what the other side said, don't evaluate either one for truth or credibility and claim that you are being "fair."

Well, I kinda had enough, so I wrote to Ms. Smith, who is, accoding to www.fortwayne.com,

A 31-year veteran of The Journal Gazette, Sylvia Smith has covered Washington for 15 years. She is the only Washington-based reporter who exclusively covers northeast Indiana. Her e-mail address is sylviasmith@jg.net, and her phone number is 202-879-6710.

Her Op Ed is excerpted below first. Then my letter to her. Finally, her response letter to me. In fairness to her, I'm going to respond and link this diary so she can join whatever discussion might ensue.

Interspersed, of course, is my additional commentary. Read More

Posner Guest Blogging on Lessig's Site

MRL

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Tuesday August 24, 2004 · 2:00 PM PDT

2004/08/24 · 14:00

You may recall that Lawrence Lessig invited Howard Dean to "guest blog" way back when.

Recently, Lessig's guest has been Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner. Its definitely worth a look. Read More

Cryptic Email - Attention dKos Techies

MRL

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Tuesday August 17, 2004 · 9:20 AM PDT

2004/08/17 · 09:20

OK, so I received an email today that was crytic enough to pique my curiousity, but I lack the techie skills and knowledge to decipher things completely.

The message appears to come from POTUS. The "from" in my Microsoft(R) Outlook Express inbox says "The President." The "to" line is "Jnimble11@comcast.net." I assume that I was "blind copied."

The subject is "Testy Test" and the only message text is "Attempting the Perfect Spoof."

I double clicked the "from" and it indeed appears to come from the POTUS's email address (President@whitehouse.gov). Since that exhausts the limits of my technical abilities, I'm posting more info in the "extended copy" for any tech wizards to decipher.

Curious if anyone else got a similar message or what to make of it.

I don't know if I'm late to the party on this one (was out of town on biz all last week so I had limited dKos exposure) or what. This just seemed like the sort of "War of the Worlds" explanatory message that precedes the "real news" and makes everyone forget that the "real news" is actually fake.

(I'm forwarding a copy to Kos if you want further info on it beyond the stuff in extended copy). Read More

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The Popularity of Sarah Palin . . .

Gas Tax -- Who's "Feels Your Pain"

Harriet Miers and Flag Burning

Stop Being So F$#@*cking Literal About Everything!

RNC Stole My Logo UPDATED

WSJ Making Sh!t Up (Demonstrable lies)

Dean Changes Position on Abortion?

Did we Get Max Benefit From this?

Go North Young Chicago Man (and woman)

Journalism in the Fly Over States (Really Long)

Posner Guest Blogging on Lessig's Site

Cryptic Email - Attention dKos Techies