How to answer the right-wing spin on Tucson?

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Saturday January 08, 2011 · 5:04 PM PST

2011/01/08 · 17:04

It's been awhile since I posted (more than a year), and my diary may be little more than a directionless rant, but I felt I had to post after this latest in a string of events that have activated the vast right-wing machine to spin the news in their favor. Most issues - health care, immigration, abortion - are ambiguous at best. A shooting like this ought to be less so. But a quick look at Free Republic aims to cast the shooter as some left-wing radical who probably came from Daily Kos.

My favorite line from the Maddow-Stewart interview was Jon saying, "You cannot control crazy." I'm starting to become of the opinion that if we can't, or at least don't try, America will suffer for it.

obligatorydiscord

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Monday July 20, 2009 · 5:21 AM PDT

2009/07/20 · 05:21

A pair of completely unrelated events got me thinking about this over the weekend. Republicans are chest-thumping mouthbreathers that would rather not educate their children in a formal school setting if it meant less time with the Southern White Man's Version of the Holy Bible. I get that. Theirs is not a party of deep thinkers. I'm sold.

But where does that leave us? Are we as open-minded to all avenues of science and scientific thinking as we seem to be? I'll lay all of my thinking on this after the jump.

obligatorydiscord

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Thursday February 19, 2009 · 6:32 AM PST

2009/02/19 · 06:32

And I'm not saying we don't, but merely that we should make it a bigger deal. And I don't mean just grab the right-of-center of voters who could be persuaded to vote Democratic, I mean we should be converting Republican politicians to join the Democratic Party.

At the moment, we are not, and that needs to be examined.

obligatorydiscord

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Tuesday January 20, 2009 · 5:17 AM PST

2009/01/20 · 05:17

I made this posting on my blog not minutes ago. I wrote this after thinking about it on the way home from work tonight (it's 10PM here in Japan): this is the moment I have spent the last two years hoping for.

Obama said that we came into this with not much support and not much money. All we had was a hope that our cause would win out in the end. It did. Mainly because we persuaded the most people, but also because those of us who were there from the beginning, knew from the beginning that our future was ours to take if we wanted it badly enough, if we were willing to take the hits and suffer the indignities everyone else threw at us.

If you were there from the start, feel welcome to comment (all, of course, are welcome, but let's take a moment to recognize everyone who started believing from that very first speech in Springfield, Illinois).

obligatorydiscord

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Friday December 19, 2008 · 7:08 AM PST

2008/12/19 · 07:08

Twice this month (with the Franken-Coleman recount raging on), I've had to hear about instant-runoff voting, and how great it is. It is the darling of political science majors who still cosplay at fan conventions or live with their parents. Admittedly, it sounds so much more attractive than the current simple plurality system in the US (in most cases: pick one, ONLY one) that it makes some people think that IRV is the best and only alternative out there.

It's overrated. I don't like it. It's a bad idea.

Not that the current setup is peaches and cream either. I'm gonna push my own preference in a bit, but first, let's talk about why IRV isn't all it's cracked up to be.

obligatorydiscord

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Wednesday November 05, 2008 · 2:42 AM PST

2008/11/05 · 02:42

Crossposted to Obligatory Discord

Because of the time difference, it has been the day after, much longer here in Japan than it is back in the States. When most Americans went to bed after Obama's acceptance speech (or, perhaps, continued checking the blogosphere all night long), those of us living in Japan, well, went straight back to work, or retreated onto limited express trains back to our homes across Japan, so we can get back to work. Much is to be done the moment after Election Day.

But let's enjoy the victory, first. Here are some pictures of the Democrats Abroad election watch party in Osaka, Japan earlier today. It starts, of course, with a picture of me (because I'm still single, people).

obligatorydiscord

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Friday October 17, 2008 · 7:53 AM PDT

2008/10/17 · 07:53

The day after the Giants beat the Packers in the NFC Championship, Mike Francesa on a program that was Mike and the Mad Dog dismissed any talk of the Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. BUT...should they end up winning the whole thing, he said (and I'm recalling from memory) it would be one of the greatest moments in the history of New York sports. And then...you know.

The October 16th edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann had Chris Kofinis of the Edwards campaign to talk about Obama's campaign strategy. Much was made of Obama's effort to quell any complacency voters may have when faced with the prospect of a landslide. And he's right. But one word came from Kofinis that rings in my ears (in bold in the block quote, click here and scroll to 3:30):

"I don't want to be presumptuous about it, but there's a chance that this could be a realignment election, kind of what we saw in 1980..." - Chris Kofinis

More after the jump.

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Monday September 22, 2008 · 8:29 AM PDT

2008/09/22 · 08:29

In a close election (and I don't know if it will be close or not), everything is going to matter. So let's look at the poll closing times this Election Day, and see if we can find some effects that the broadcast election coverage can bring to the general election. If nothing else, here's a single page of closing times for you to refer to (and for me to refer to, for I couldn't find a singular listing anywhere on the web).

obligatorydiscord

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Monday September 01, 2008 · 2:13 AM PDT

2008/09/01 · 02:13

Since Thursday, one line from the Democratic National Convention has echoed in my head since Barack Obama's introductory video:

"It is a promise we make to our children, that each of us can make what we want of our lives..."

David Strathairn delivers the quote much like an ordinary American would, echoed later in Obama's own speech:

"It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect."

Whether, or how strongly you believe in the former, it is easier for liberals to be attached to the latter. Going back to the days of Al Smith, the idea that government has a responsibility, not only to collect taxes in exchange for life and liberty, but also to provide the quality of life that makes such liberty worthwhile has always been central to the Democratic Party.

But the first part is just as instructive, and for the liberal cause to prosper, it must embrace the totality of Obama's message.

obligatorydiscord

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Sunday August 24, 2008 · 4:34 AM PDT

2008/08/24 · 04:34

Crossposted to Obligatory Discord

Alec Baldwin made one in 2000. House Democrats walked out on the certification of election results in 2001. Joe Lieberman abandoned the party in 2006. PUMAs with "you better be nice to me and send me fruit smoothies every day for the rest of my life or I'll support the Iraq war for four more years" in 2008.

All of them have threatened a walkout/exit/take-my-ball-and-go-home threat, and some of them have followed through, while others haven't.

You know what else they have in common? They haven't accomplished much. And they either come off as bitter and cynical (for following through) or weak and incompetent (for capitulating).

This is not productive for a democratic society, and if the liberal philosophy is "we're all in this together," then we better find some way to air out our differences that don't include hissy fit ultimatums that amount to absolutely nothing.

obligatorydiscord

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Tuesday June 24, 2008 · 8:41 AM PDT

2008/06/24 · 08:41

During my years at NYU, I would venture down to Chess Shop every so often and get my rear and its estimated rating of about 700 kicked until it was all red and sore by players left and right, young and old, lucid and not-so-much (God bless all of them). I can count on one hand how many times I've won over a period of eight years.

That's not the point. The point is how I played, once my position was lost and resignation was the smart thing to do. Once I was clearly losing, I played on, determined to force my opponent to take as many moves as necessary to force mate. I would take all but one moment shy of being bothersome before moving. I would count to fifty the number of non-pawn moves and non-captures my opponent made. I would utter these ridiculous one-liners to express my frustration ("yes, that move was definitely not worth the book deal").

I did all of that, because I knew it was too late. I didn't feel like admitting defeat. I just dug myself into a deep hole because that was the only way I would allow my opponent to win. But I always knew it was too late.

Sometimes, that's how I feel about the liberalism in American politics.

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Monday June 02, 2008 · 5:48 PM PDT

2008/06/02 · 17:48

Please rise, raise your right hand or put it on your heart or whatever, and repeat after me:

I do not know what the future will bring.

Otherwise I would have bought lottery tickets.

Otherwise I would have ran out and bought a hybrid before it was cool.

Otherwise I would have asked her out to the semi-formal, knowing full well I would have married her seven years later.

I do not know what the future will bring.

And because I do not know, I am smart enough not to raise expectations to the point where, given the events on the ground, there is a possibility where it won't be met.

And because I am smart enough, I will not declare victory in this primary season until victory is actually achieved.

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How to answer the right-wing spin on Tucson?

Are we for science, or just the science we like?

Democrats should welcome more moderates

Nearly two years: Yes, We Have

Instant-runoff voting is COMPLETELY overrated

Photos + Video: Election Night in Osaka, Japan

Victory, then landslide, then realignment

Poll closing times and hour-by-hour effects

The new liberal compact

Exit threats don't work anymore

Do we believe it's too late?

Obama supporters, please repeat after me