Mikes Blog Roundup

The Democratic Daily: Some Republicans claim to find Obama appealing…now. And the question of whom to support appears to be splitting families. Words of Power: An interview with Erica JongMercury Rising: Just another thing you’ll never see leading the U.S. evening news Pam’s House Blend: The blog less traveled…(h/t SteveAudio)The Young Turks: Differences between [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/04/mikes-blog-roundup-199/

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Michelle Obama Not Sure She Can Support Clinton

Michelle Obama Not Sure She Can Support ClintonTaylor Marsh LIVE!LISTEN LIVE Link above goes live when show airs 3:00 p.m. eastern - 12:00 pacific Here’s a rough transcript of Mrs. Obama on GMA:GMA: Could you see yourself working to support[...]

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http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=26944

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Gloria R. Lalumia's World Media Watch for
February 4, 2008

WORLD MEDIA WATCH

Summaries are excerpted from the source articles; the featured article follows the summary section. 

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong
TALIBAN TAKES A HIT, BUT THE FIGHT GOES ON

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COMPARISONS.

Via Matt, yesterday's Super Bowl press release from the Obama campaign doesn't look so good now that the Giants are the champs:A reminder - seven years ago, a patriotic group of Americans had to make a choice between conventional experience and change[...]

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http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=02&year=2008&base_name
=comparisons

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Hanlon's Razor and Super Tuesday

Expect trouble at the polls on Super Tuesday. It's almost inevitable that there'll be screw ups due to human error. But if the NH recount documented anything it's that such random glitches rarely amount to much and aren't worth getting exercised over.

And as elections-reformer Heather Gerken points out, many problems at the polls are caused by the under-funding of elections. We're too quick to attribute voting problems to partisanship, she argues:

We see a problem, we know that the officials involved are aligned with one candidate or another, and it's all too easy to connect the dots and conclude that someone was playing politics when in fact the problem is probably caused by a lack of resources. I suggest...that we follow a gentle version of the rule called "Hanlon’s Razor," which says that we should never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence. In the context of election administration, we should never attribute to partisanship that which can be explained by a lack of resources.

Conspiracy buffs don't seem to understand how much damage they do to the cause of election reform by looking instinctively for malice in every glitch and under every voting machine – even those with a paper trail. Sure, all voting machines need to have a verifiable paper trail. We all get that. But it's a battle that has to be won by convincing state officials there's a credible threat to election integrity, rather than by chasing phantom conspiracies up to their doorsteps.

It's worse than a distraction; it casts a shadow over well-documented election problems, both partisan and systematic, that can affect results decisively. Illegitimate "cleansing" of voter rolls and the inequitable assignment of voting machines by Republican party hacks; unnecessary obstacles to voter registration; exclusionary voter ID laws; abuse of voter challenges; as well as the disproportionate use of mediocre voting technologies and short-staffing in poorer districts – all these can have a significant impact in close races. These are real and pressing problems that we need to solve.

Gerken points to another complaint that has kept arising during the primaries. With record turnouts, scattered precincts have run out of ballots in NH and NV and again in FL. In SC the Republican primary created similar shortages, though the extra week before the Democratic primary gave SC election officials time to catch up with what everybody else seemed to know already - that these are tidal wave primaries where twice the normal number of ballots might not be adequate.

It's one of those amazing years where the nation is paying attention.

Elections officials in the Super Tuesday states should have learned from the earlier contests that they can't cut corners this time around. Sadly, even the most basic and critical improvements in elections seem to take ages to accomplish. Don't be surprised to see ballot shortages again on Tuesday. And don't, please, assume malice automatically whenever and wherever you do.

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It's about punishment, not compassion

As the presidential race continues to heat up, we're going to hear more and more about the need for unity on major issues. I'm not unsympathetic to that idea, and certainly compromise is a vital part of politics. I like a vibrant marketplace of ideas, and I'm certainly competitive to the extent that I like to win (who doesn't?), but part of sharing a nation (or state or town or street) with other people is making trade-offs. On the other hand, this kind of give-and-take requires good faith on both sides. On some important issues, many conservatives are disingenuous about their positions -- especially when it comes to social conservatism, where too often some policy fig-leaf is used as a cover for the basic desire to punish for perceived social transgressions.

Mark Kleinman writes about an amazing drug that can instantly reverse the effects of opiate overdoses. The drug is not addictive, cannot itself be overdosed on, costs less than $10 for an effective dose, and can be easily used by people with no medical training. Naturally, the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy opposes its distribution. The reason is, basically, that if heroin users died less, they'd have less incentive to quit. Seriously, that's the justification! Because so many junkies are super psyched about their addiction -- and would totally stop trying to quit if they thought it was less likely they might drop dead. And really, why should we help people -- by, y'know, allowing them to live -- who choose to do Bad Things when we can show them just how awful they are by helping bring about their death?

Right around the same time I read this, a report came out that women on the birth control pill are dramatically less likely to develop ovarian cancer -- even *decades after* they stop taking it. With the caveat that the pill isn't for everybody, for a variety of reasons, this is a great thing! To the extent that, I would imagine, it might be worth it for some women to take the pill simply for the anti-cancer benefit. But you're crazy if you think social conservatives will suddenly reverse course and promote the use of the pill, because it allows for -- horror of horrors -- sex without pregnancy, another Bad Thing. So some people are would rather women be twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer than even have the *possibility* of sex without pregnancy by virtue of the pill. Compassion, or punishment?

Compromise and unity does not equal progressives caving on these kinds of issues.

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Markets Dead Cat Bounce is Over

Get ready for another market pullback! Just when the economic pundits thought we were out of the water, it?s time to play contrarian and take advantage of their herd mentality. Sure, the gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other indices as well appear impressive. Actually, it was more of a short-term opportunity for [...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/jutiagroup/~3/228956780/

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Early Morning Jokes for February 4 -- Tony Peyser

From 1994-1997, I drew daily cartoons for Laugh Lines, the L.A. Times' humor page. I also wrote topical jokes every day. Since the WGA is now on strike, there will be no new jokes from the likes of Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. (David Letterman and Craig Ferguson have side agreements with the Writers Guild.) Since they've cornered the late-night market, I've decided to stake out a different time of day to call my own.

Welcome to ...

Early Morning Jokes
by Tony Peyser

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Howard Wolfson: This may go to the convention

I'm on a conference call with Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson of the Clinton campaign, and they are[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/229160592/showDiary.do

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ELI MANNING TO TOM BRADY: NO, YOU CAN'T.

I don't really have opinions on the Super Bowl. Worse, I don't even really have opinions on the ads. But I think Miller is proving themselves pretty savvy by releasing this YouTube the day after. It's going to go viral, and it's probably going to get[...]

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http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=02&year=2008&base_name
=eli_manning_to_tom_brady_no_yo

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