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McCain Asks Supporters To Campaign On Blogs
Vote McCain in 2000! writes "McCain is not the stranger to technology some think him to be. McCain is now asking supporters to stump for him on blogs. Republican Web 2.0 consultant David All was effluent with praise for this outreach, calling it 'smart' and 'unique.' McCain's blogger outreach section has a handy list of political blogs which might be interested in hearing about McCain, such as the DailyKos, Crooks and Liars, and Think Progress. You can even report your posts to the campaign and 'receive points for your success,' though the page doesn't say what exactly the points are good for." Slashdot is not on their suggested blogs list. Can't imagine why.
I think not. The old fart can go stump for himself.
If you haven't been down-modded lately, you aren't trying.
Sacred cows make the best hamburger.
I don't know who this "John McCain" is today, but he's definitely not that man I supported in 2000. I never thought I would see a John McCain who backed Bush, supported unprovoked preemptive wars, wanted to cut taxes at a time when the country is $9 *TRILLION* in debt, and sucked up to the religious right. But above all else, I NEVER NEVER NEVER thought I would see a man who was a torture victim and POW stand up and support that very torture by HIS OWN COUNTRY.
I was obviously naive to believe in him in 2000, to believe he was anything more than just another hyper-ambitious Washington scumbag who would sacrifice anything to win. I won't ever make that mistake again.
I guess he wants to hear from supporters. But this FORMER supporter wanted to chime in too.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers
This is a terrifying job title.
"Life has improved immeasurably since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously." - Hunter S. Thompson
McCain's key demographic just isn't as densely populated with young, tech-savvy individuals like Obama's (or other candidates) Besides, how does McCain expect his supporters to use a machine that he admittedly can't operate?
He must have recently seen this:
http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=John+McCain&word2=Barack+Obama
McCain has supporters who have blogs? Clearly the Internet belongs to Ron Paul, and we don't take too kindly to flippy-floppy neocons around these parts.
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
Because /. is neither primarily political, nor a blog, while the mentioned sites are both? Because there aren't a lot of disgruntled Hillary supporters here?
C'mon, Taco, you have lived through the careers of Lee Atwater, James Carville, Bill Clinton, and Karl Rove. Have you learned nothing about political strategy from the best in the business?
Sending McCain's supporters into the DailyKos is like sending lambs to the slaughter.
...not an inappropriate word choice, considering what "effluent" usually refers to...
"Spam lefty blogs with righty ranting to win points!" -- it's like someone created Internet Troll: The MMOG.
Does anyone really believe that he came up with the idea himself?
McCain is now asking supporters to stump for him on blogs.
Where do you draw the line between the ease of use of Joomla on a Fedora based LAMP vs the security of Mambo on a FreeBSD box when both use forum modules do allow users to express their opinions on product safety?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
to have bloggers write about you. It just happens. It's like trying to be cool. You either are, or you aren't. No amount of effort can change the fact your a nerd (or in this case, not a nerd).
He'll just end up coming across as creepy and forceful.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Sorry, the only blog space I will be dedicating to John McCain is space to ensure that people know I don't like him.
Another (at least) 4 years of war? No thanks.
Another (at least) 4 years of bad domestic policy? No thanks.
Another (at least) 4 years of homeland spying and deceit? No thanks.
I don't like many politicians that are in the game these days, but I definitely don't like Republicans right now. Not to mention, everyone knows the blogosphere belongs to Ron Paul.
Crackin' Wise - Blogging about whatever we want
Sorry, Juan, you and the assclowns in DC - all of them - suck. Blog *for* you? You're lucky you're not squirming on the end of a pitchfork.
any candidate. It's a tech news/Roland Picklepail blog promotion site - not a political shill site. Oh, wait...
It depends on how many disaffected Hillary voters still lurk there. DKos has been none too kind to Hillary supporters, and the general tone there towards them is one of incredible condescension at best, and mouth-frothing vitriol at worst. Most Hillary supporters have left the site, but it's worth putting forth a modicum of effort to find them there, nonetheless.
I think it's a smart move: get moderate Hillary supporters to believe that McCain wants their vote more than Obama does. You saw shades of this in the praise McCain heaped on Hillary in the weeks running up to her exit. It could also be enough to give him the election in November.
He would do the blogging himself but his wife doesn't have the time to help him with the puter. McCainlol
McCain is not the stranger to technology some think him to be.
Yes he is: McCain Admits He Doesn't Know How to Use a Computer.
>> "though the page doesn't say what exactly the points are good for."
About the same thing Slashdot points are good for: nothing.
Uh, effluent?
"Republican Web 2.0 consultant David All was effluent with praise"
From the MacOSX Dictionary:
liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or the sea : the bay was contaminated the effluent from an industrial plant.
See also:
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+effluent
Oh, wait. Politician talking about a propaganda plan. I guess effluent is the correct word then. Carry on.
I can certainly help him blog and get his name out there and what he stands for:
John McCain is a 'miserable failure', much like George W Bush. (Google take note, please) McCain wants to continue tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations at a time of huge national debt and rising unemployment. He wants to continue giving $2 billion/week to Iraq instead of spending that money in the US to fix infrastructure or develop mass transit to reduce use of fossil fuel. He supports torture of terror suspects. He does NOT support a new GI bill to give money for college education to veterans. He stated that he wants terrorists to see him as "their worst nightmare" (stated in an interview on the Daily Show).
I'm happy to help him get his name out there. The more people understand what he's now running for (instead of 8 years ago), the better.
http://github.com/gbook/nidb
Encouraging people to use a medium doesn't indicate you "get" that medium. You need to immerse yourself in it and really grok it's ins and outs, as well as it's pitfalls and strengths.
If he really got the web, he'd know better than to turn a bunch of anonymous trolls loose with permission to bandy about his name.
People who "get" the web understand that communities need to be groomed by moderators.
but then again, commenting on a katz story is almost as self-serving as the katz story itself. -tensionboy
Daily Kos *is* moderate.
They're mainstream American liberal, which is what the rest of the world calls moderate since the American conservative party is so far right of center.
DKos is opinionatedly, vehemently, emphatically moderate -- in opposition to the American far right. They're not balanced, but they're moderate.
A currency with a 1:1 exchange rate.
Every single negative stereotype you can think of about Democrats/liberals is exemplified by some of the comments on that site. Pulling out words like "racist" or "homophobe" in the middle of a conversation because someone has a principled disagreement with you. I asked once upon a time why that was any better than Republicans who pull out words like "cut and run" if you disagree with them -- needless to say that didn't win me many friends and I got about 30 replies explaining why it was "different" when Democrats do it as opposed to Republicans.
I consider myself a staunch Democrat and a liberal/progressive in most areas and that site still seems to extreme even for me. Half of the people that contribute there seem more interested in punishing the Republicans for the last seven years then they do in moving forward. They all seem to be extremely pro-Obama yet none of them pay anymore than lip service to the part of his message about disagreeing without being disagreeable and ending the partisan rancor in Washington.
I'm particularly concerned with the O'Reillyization of our political discourse. The manufactured anger. The one-sided reporting. Automatically assuming the absolute worst intentions of your opponents instead of assuming that they just have a principled disagreement with you. I flirted with Dailykos for about two weeks before my head started to hurt and I couldn't take it any longer. Ditto for Keith Olbermann. Tried watching him -- eventually came to the conclusion that he is little better than a left-wing version of Bill O'Reilly.
I would love to see a site where people on the left, right and center could come together to discuss the issues in a calm and principled manner. Hell for that matter, I'd love to see some real journalism that didn't slant to one side or the other. Closest thing I can come up with is the Newshour on PBS.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
So politicians too think it's cool to spam blogs and forums with their ideas.
Over my cold dead 2400 baud modem they will!
Privacy is terrorism.
You would have to be a fool to think Obama knows what he is doing or that McCain or Clinton would be any better than Bush.
If I was McCain, I wouldn't worry, Obama may have his "blogs", but McCain has an ENTIRE NETWORK! http://www.foxnews.com/
On tech issues, he's entirely wrong?
Obama is getting money in torrents from IP people from Hollywood to Silicon Valley precisely because he is a strong proponent of doing everything with intellectual property that many slashdotters would virulently oppose. Ultimately, this issue trumps, economically, every issue that influences humanity more than even the war in Iraq or even global warming. Then, to top it all off, he wants to chop NASA's budget. Do the people on slashdot who support him actually read his "Issues" section on his web site, or do they just stop at "Yes we can."
This is my sig.
ROFL. I do not think that word means what you think it means.
Effusive, perhaps?
Quote: "Republican Web 2.0 consultant David All was effluent with praise..."
Is that something like farting with praise?
Or defecating with praise?
Oh, and MOD PARENT UP. It's a reasonable opinion.
due to the Incumbent Re-election Act of 2002 (also known as McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance Reform), blogging about John "Wipe my ass with the first amendment" McCain within 60 days of an election is illegal.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Aren't you glad that the faker in 2000 who's got a new scam in 2008 didn't get all the power in 2000 that Bush got, and then showed everyone he's a fake in 2000, just like Bush did? OK, maybe you're not glad that Bush got those powers, but aren't you glad that McCain didn't lie his way into them the same way?
Does anyone think it's just a coincidence that both McCain and Bush have become wastefully spending warmongers, now that the 2000 election is over? Maybe you should think about how they're just spokesmodel puppets for a Republican Party that cannot be stopped from wasting American lives and money destroying our government that interferes with corporate rule.
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make install -not war
People actually wrote little journal entries on wooden logs and then would roll them down a hill or street. Eh, that's the best I could come up with. Someone else give it a try.
I think it's a smart move: get moderate Hillary supporters to believe that McCain wants their vote more than Obama does
This election has come down to race, sex, and oil.
Obama won the nomination because he won every state that had a large black population, and they overwhelmingly voted for him, and then, he split the white vote with Hillary. So now, McCain is reaching out to those white voters and po'd women that probably won't for Obama.
The PO'd women is a huge factor. If McCain picked a woman as his VP - say, Kay Hutchinson, then, that would be a smart move on his part, as, every time Obama attacked McCain on his age, it would serve to remind Hillary supporters that if McCain dies, a woman becomes president.
All McCain has to do now is flip flop a bit on drilling ANWR and off the coasts, and he can attack the Dems on supply. Let Obama defend not drilling for oil, or not supporting coal to liquids, when the price of gasoline hits $5/gal this November, and when diesel hits $6/gal. He'll make the AGW proponents happy, but no one else, and that's not enough to win an election.
McCain wins easily, carrying 40+ states.
This is my sig.
Which definition are we using here? Granted, effluent has positive connotations, but this is the definition that comes to mind whenever I hear the word:
noun: Sewage water that has been (partially) treated, and is released into a natural body of water; a flow of any liquid waste.
An Israeli spy threatened to publish pictures of McCain the pedophile?
An Israeli spy threatened to invent and then publish pictures of McCain the pedophile?
The secret government has the HAARP Array trained on his skull?
There are many ways, some less plausible than others, (and some more plausible than many realize), but I'd say that all of Congress has been affected to some degree. It's far, far easier to control people than they think.
-FL
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/6/3/224720.shtml McCain Opposes Net Neutrality Arizona Sen. John McCain has announced that he opposes "net neutrality." McCain appeared at the All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif., and said he did not think government regulation of internet service providers to stop them from censoring, slowing down, or otherwise disrupting consumerâ(TM)s access to the internet in order to stifle competitors or undesirable content was an appropriate solution. "When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment,â he said, according to TheDailyBackground.com. Later, McCain said: "Iâ(TM)m all for the government encouraging competition, but Iâ(TM)ve found over time that less government involvement is better. "Unless there is a clear-cut, unequivocal restraint of competition, the government should stay out of it,â McCain said. "These things will sort themselves out.â
Keep cool, but care [TRP] So vote for Obama [HM]
They do that to everyone who disagrees with them. IMHO they act more or less like a left-wing Bill O'Reilly.
I think it's a smart move: get moderate Hillary supporters to believe that McCain wants their vote more than Obama does. You saw shades of this in the praise McCain heaped on Hillary in the weeks running up to her exit. It could also be enough to give him the election in November.I don't think McCain is going to get as many Hillary supporters as you might think. He'll get some of the die-hards but most of her female supporters are eventually going to remember that McCain is staunchly pro-life and will come back to the Democratic Party. He'll get a lot of the working class supporters in places like WV or KT -- but the Democrats were never going to get those votes anyway -- we lost them in the 80s and haven't gotten them back since.
People have short memories.... remember all the McCain voters that swore they wouldn't vote for GWB in 2000? The overwhelming majority of them eventually did. I suspect it will be the same with HRC supporters.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I honestly can't think of anyone who is an honest, informed person that takes ANY blog they read seriously. The word "blog" to me interprets as "a LiveJournal account for old, opinionated people who have no idea what they're talking about". Besides, we get enough right-wing rhetoric nowadays through other medium, and the "blogosphere" (dumbest term ever invented next to Web 2.0) is infested with it as it is. Just my $0.02.
There are mountains to cross for those that are willing.
"Slashdot is not on their suggested blogs list. Can't imagine why."
Because unlike the left/liberal/whatever-leaning blogs listed, Slashdot is populated by rabid anarcho-capitalists that view Ron Paul as their messiah or will otherwise end up voting themseleves into utter meaninglessness this November.
I mean, the Illinois Nazis hate Bush too, and you don't see them on McCain's recommended spamming list.
but it's worth putting forth a modicum of effort to find them there, nonetheless.
No, it won't be. Have you looked at the front page of DailyKos lately? Any minute amount of goodwill they get from disaffected Hillary supporters will be vastly outweighed by the posters who will treat shills competing for McCain's favor as complete jokes, if not with outright hatred....And I doubt things are much different on the other lefty blogs mentioned.
If they want to be accepted with open arms, they're better off sticking to places like RedState where any true show of support of teh evil liberals is almost immediately nuked by trigger-happy moderators.
Those astroturf marching orders will produce nothing but an invasion of trolls into those Progressive blogs. Which will be smashed to dust and mocked roundly, just like their Troll King, McCain.
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make install -not war
Bigoted? I've seen more bigotry this year from Democrats than I've ever seen. And I don't mean black/white bigotry, though there's plenty of it. Obama is essentially a bigot. He surrounds himself with score of black bigots and purports to be clean from them. If a white candidate had attended KKK rallies for 20 years and tried to say he was just there with friends he'd be vilified. What's more is all of the anti-Hillary bigotry and anti-Republican bigotry. See we're all comfortable with our own bigotry, it's someone else's we get pissed about.
This election will come no closer to reuniting the country than anything in the last 20 years.
...Akismet is easy to configure. "McCain" took less than 10 seconds to add to my blacklist.
blog |
So I put in the word for slashdot at my secret neocon command in the bowels of Mt. Doom at GOP's secret conspiracy bunker. As I am only a low level functionary in the vast plan to corporatize the world for massive profits, I cannot guarantee success, but, let's see what happens.
Fingers crossed.
This is my sig.
'Moderation' to me means a willingness to at least listen to other ideas with an open mind. This is not exemplified by Dailykos.
'Moderation' to me means disagreeing with your opponents without being disagreeable. This is not an example of treating your opponent respectfully and trying to encourage a meaningful dialog.
They're mainstream American liberal, which is what the rest of the world calls moderate since the American conservative party is so far right of center.No, I'm sorry, they aren't 'mainstream American liberal'. They are far-left on the American political spectrum. There's nothing inherently wrong with that and they are certainly entitled to air their opinions -- but I wouldn't call them mainstream.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Done correctly, conservative comments on liberal blogs like Kos could draw firey responses which could then be held up as examples of the mainstream left.
Yep, any site where posters pile on Tony Snow and celebrate him having cancer must be moderate. Mainstream conservative blogs restrained themselves from such a disgusting, low-class attack on Ted Kennedy when it was revealed that he had a brain tumor.
Crooks and Liars? Really?
I mean, look at a few carefully cherry-picked blog posts from there:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/11/would-mccain-want-cheney-in-his-cabinet-hell-yeah/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/john-mccain-wont-let-the-war-stop-him-from-golfing/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/11/new-moveonorg-ad-featuring-john-cusack-take-the-bushmccain-pop-quiz/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/11/mccain-showcases-his-foreign-policy-expertise/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/11/mccains-evangelical-problem/
I didn't have to hunt far to find those, and I knew I'd find them even before looking, having seen a few posts from C&L in the past. Maybe McCain's old friend Putin, the president of Germany, tipped them off about that site.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
So if they're issuing points for trolling lefty forums and keeping score, what score is necessary to earn an appointment to some position in some agency where I'm completely incompetent, yet responsible for nothing; I enjoy a very impressive title and $230,000 a year in salary as well as the best pension and benefits befitting the last remaining superpower nation?
Or is that on a different scale, like gold stars?
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
"McCain's blogger outreach section has a handy list of political blogs which might be interested in hearing about McCain, such as the DailyKos, Crooks and Liars, and Think Progress."
I don't know Think Progress, but DailyKos and Crooks and Liars are prominent left-of-centre blogs. People who post there are probably quite familiar with Mr. McCain already, though that familiarity wouldn't be the kind his campaign might like.
This sounds to me like it isn't really about campaigning for John McCain, though. It's about setting a bunch of true believers loose to swamp sites that offer opposing viewpoints with trolls. If what I've seen is any indication, these blogs can soon expect to be flooded with posts that feature all caps and lots of pure, unadulterated nonsense.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Apples and Oranges. Comparing any country or institutions idea of what moderate is versus another is a silly idea. Even within continental Europe, I'm sure the idea of what "moderate" is has very different meanings.
That being said, I think we can all agree that DailyKos is most certaintly considered liberal in terms of the United States political system. It's not a bad or good thing, it is what it is.
And? So we should torture to?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Well it looks like you're holding water for Obama when you quote him. I agree this is a 'lesser of two evils' deal. Has been for a while (except '92 when it was the lesser of three evils.)
The opposite of progress is congress
which makes him one of the most pro-human-rights republicans in the Senate. I wish he was just a bit stronger.
I think we need to stop defining other parties in terms of our own definitions of what human rights are.
I mean, what if, instead of arguing over Democratic visions of human rights - redistribution of wealth, freedom of the press, and rights for minorities, and combined that with the Republican view of rights for entreprenuers, rights to keep and bear and arms, dispose of ones land as one sees fit, and so forth?
It seems to me that if we had a society where some folks could, gasp, put up with a manger and an xmas tree in a public square, and others could gasp, accept gay marriages, then, jeez, we might have a country where people respect each other more. Hell, we might even be all "growed up and stuff".
This is my sig.
In soviet russia, nothing does you! ... Wait, that's actually in my apartment, every friday night.
Please list the 'score' of black bigots that Senator Obama has surrounded himself with.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Just like everybody else, then All would be correct.
This is just a polite way to say "Please go to all the sites you can find and pollute them with lies and ranting."
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Would his reason being he want's more results on Google therefor making him "look like" a popular candidate?
Disclaimer: I am not god.
We may not be created equal
But we can be treated equal.
... the John McCain you knew died when his own party turned on him and sold him out in 2000.
What ARE you talking about?
As I recall it, back in the 2000 primaries most of the R candidates were anti-gun, with McCain the sole (apparent) exception. So the gunnies (myself included) were supporting him heavily.
Then, late in the primary cycle, he came out for gun control. And the gunnies dropped him like a hot rock. This tanked his run, like jumping off a cliff.
HE betrayed US. We were stabbed in the back. We will never trust him again, and we have LONG memories, spanning far more than one or two presidential election cycles.
Gunnies are a big component of the Republican base. Without their support McCain stands no chance. He'd have to pull a LOT of voters from the Democratic candidate to make up for this block. And he has nothing to offer the left that they can't get from their own candidate.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
John McCain: I really really really want to be President.
Bush, et. al. (GOP): Assimilate
McCain: But I don't believe in those policies
GOP: Get your priorities in order. You want to be President or not?
McCain: 100 year war! Bomb Iran! Make Bush tax cuts permanent! TORTURE TORTURE TORTURE TORTURE!
Fuck John McCain. This man has NO integrity. Do you want him to run YOUR country?
From Webster
ef.flu.ent
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Latin effluent-, effluens, present participle of effluere to flow out, from ex- + fluere to flow â" more at fluid
Date:
1726
: flowing out : emanating, outgoing <an effluent river>
Get it right you moron.
This is pretty much the opposite of a grassroots movement.
Grassroots: people spontaneously talk about you, support you. Their actions are unpredictable, because, well, they are people and are not guided by a central authority.
Monolithic: top-down approach where policritter issues organizational guidelines and tells people what to do.
Looks like McCain is using the monolithic model here. Oops.
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
Maybe because /. makes the DailyKos look moderate at times?
Look, for the last time, the fantasies you have while masturbating after dropping acid do not count as "at times".
The enemies of Democracy are
"race baiting? I've not heard that one before." So you've got all that info, but you haven't heard that one before? Your comment isn't worth reading because you're either pretending to know more than you are, lying/shaping your post around inconvenient info, or you drank a shit-ton of koolaid at proobama websites. Even huffpost covered the race-baiting
This is why Obama won't win in November. His supporters are running around trying to portray every aspect of his life as perfect, trying to ingore his faults.
The problem is very, very few people outside of the far left will buy into this. No one in their right mind wants to elect someone to the most important job in the world who hasn't proven he/she can handle it.
There is a small contingent of "deadenders" that rally at Hillaryis44. Most of the hard-core Hillary supporters who will not vote Obama have been chased off of Kos and MyDD.
Repugs stole your elections once, won another by going to an unnecessary war that caused terrorism to grow, not to linger; justified in a damned lie that your powerfull government imposed on the rest of the world (I mean, whos gonna stand in the way of an invading US... you have the most effective army in the history of the world).
And STILL, this mcain guy is really really close and may very well be chosen, by you guys, again, to lead your country; Which, like it or not, means leading -not RULING- the better chunk of the world -> occident.
I have no say, cause im not a voter, but damn, guys... I hope your people understand that we are in the brink of a cultural war, that the US is in the best position to unite occident behind her.
Diplomacy, from my standpoint (an outsider, what a surprise), should be on your mind. If the US cant get her head out of her ass and start thinking as the leader of occident it once was, we are ALL doomed to long term China domination and the subsecuent cultural death of the democratic ideals shared by all occident.
A good place to start is recognizing that democracy is not just an american trait, its an occidental vocation that affected every single country in occident. Having said this, the whole world recognizes that US democracy is clearly a great working model of a modern Republic.
Another good place to start is in the recovery of the language. GWB hollered to the world that he was spreading "liberty" in Asia by carpet bombing bagdahd. You see, the word liberty should never be tied to such stupid and mindless violence.
You let this asshole hijack the precepts that your forefathers died to preserve: take it back. Liberty means freedom, for ALL. The right to be rich, for ALL. The right to assembly, for ALL.
Liberty does not mean "im going to kill your children for oil, justified in that people that DRESS like you, and share your RELIGION, shot a couple of buildings down in Manhattan".
Take it back, you guys. Take your country back. Democracy is at great peril everywhere.
NO SIG
Fox News is probably the only major news network that leans anywhere but the far left. The other major networks are firmly in the pockets of the DNC.
While Fox News is the most watched news network, it does not cancel out the dozens of other left-leaning networks.
If you want the white house you've got to take the louse; McCain.
He appeals to your whackjob base, they set your pace; McCain.
He's not right, he's not right; McCain.
Hollywood's in the news, you wanna show them Jews; McCain.
Show them Muslim's too, a few bombs'll do; McCain.
He's not right, he's not right; McCain.
Hate radio is scared, they're saying their prayers; McCain.
Dont forget this fact, Chipmunk Cheek's is whacked; McCain.
He's not right, he's not right; McCain.
He's not right, he's not right; McCain.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
would have been correct and fitted with the seeming intent of the sentence.
Perhaps the idea is to so disrupt those blogs that they are unable to organize anti-McCain activities?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
All modern campaigns have coordinated astro-turfing. Some done directly via mailers and some by supporters "spontaneously" mailing/posting to go skew a online poll.
It was rather amusing seeing Obamatons trying to skew the AOL rolling poll of Obama vs Hillary. The demographics just didn't work out.
This is a REALLY bad idea! If you want to show your support for a candidate on your OWN blog, then all the more power to you. I own and run a lot of my own blogs and I will probably support McCain in some of those. But if oodles of McCainiacs suddenly hit partisan sites like DailyKOS, it will be rightly counted as comment spam. You aren't going to change anyone's mind there. It will just look you look like an army of slack-jawed droids. So, if you want to support a candidate, McCain or otherwise, do so on your OWN blog, where you can make your best arguments for their candidacy. Who knows, if you actually have something relevant and persuasive to say, you might have KOSites comment spamming you :-)
Be More, Be Manly, The Manly Geek Ubergeek Extraordinaire Blogger: www.manlygeek.com/blog Podcaster: podcast.man
What I hear is, "here's abortion; now shut up and pull the lever." It's condescending, and I have heard more than one HRC supporter say it isn't enough anymore.
Also, He's Apollo Creed, thats gotta count for something!
This really strikes me as an attack plan not a recruitment exercise: Post to as many liberal hubs as possible and post as much as possible. This would only be a viable plan to either kill the community or to direct the attacks coming out of these communities. The goal here is not to recruit new voters it is to control the opposition.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
There's already a word for faked grassroots movement: astroturfing. You know, after the brand of fake turf.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
No, it won't be. Have you looked at the front page of DailyKos lately? Any minute amount of goodwill they get from disaffected Hillary supporters will be vastly outweighed by the posters who will treat shills competing for McCain's favor as complete jokes, if not with outright hatred....
Your point? They're not the ones McCain is after.
You can easily ignore race and sex as a factor and still explain why minorities would go to Obama instead of Clinton. Obama hasn't been caught in blatant lies. Obama hasn't tried to change the rules in the middle of the game. Obama has a history of working with people in the inner city and is well aware of the problems they face. Injecting bigotry into this seems to be moreso a projection of your own psyche rather than a neutral analysis.
Your point? They're not the ones McCain is after.
My point is that it's not worth the effort. Again, as far as I can tell...whatever relatively tiny amount of support he gains from such ventures will be canceled out by the backlash from the DKos base, which in turn could very well convince people that were on the fence to stay away from McCain.
I think it's hilarious that one of the first sites they pick to try and woo away disaffected Democrats is DailyKos....As far as the strength of most people's party loyalty, it's like some teenager deciding to start his life of crime by breaking into Fort Knox as opposed to robbing a vending machine or something.
If they really think there's a massive wave of supporters just waiting to defect, though....They can go ahead and try it. It'll certainly be amusing, if nothing else.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-doesnt-k_n_106478.html
Effluent == raw sewage, which makes sense becase most politics is like a septic tank - the big chunks float to the top. Which is exactly what that is.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
As someone who studies and trades commodities, you do realize that OPEC isn't exactly the beacon of unbiased information, don't you?
Seriously. You might as well believe the RIAA numbers if you believe OPEC.
OPEC is a cartel. A cartel will say and do anything to remain a cartel. Even lie about what they can and can not produce. Do not kid yourself: supply is a very very very real issue. Moreso now than the "gas crunch" of the 70's or any other example you care to cite.
The simple fact is: the "world" is now competing for the same oil resources the US has enjoyed for almost 80 years. The competition for those resources has never been this fierce....but it is going to get worse as time goes on. Get used to it. The US is not the only one who NEEDS oil and who is willing to pay for it. Lots of countries fill that gap now.
OPEC would LOVE sell you more oil @ $135/bbl. The fact is, they can't because they can't increase their daily production enough to matter (pricing wise). Otherwise, they would.
"though the page doesn't say what exactly the points are good for"
Whose line is it anyways rings a bell.
alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls
I post on a lot of those sights and I consider myself a Progressive, for lack of any interest for Religious Kleptocrats (Republicans) or Marijuana enjoying Kleptocrats (Libertarians with Free-Market Happy Hour).
/kidding
Obama has NOT sent me to %METATAG=TITLE% to help inform everyone. Nor has %INSERT_WEEKLY_SPONSOR% informed my opinion. Just good detective work.
By asking McCain fans to blog on these Liberal websites, he may just risk the ire of the people who scrape by with $.10 a post already. Paid bloggers who rave about McCain are going to get really annoyed at all the "free help." In addition, the thousand or so volunteers, are probably already nephews and such of the Lobbyists who comprise MOST of McCain's staff -- so giving these miscreants something to do, might just save the Lobbyists time, money and Ritalin.
It really is a mixed bag. But by welcoming them, their internal deceitful and calculating natures are going to make them worry that we have an alternative motive -- and that will really irk them. Thus increasing the personal expenses of the Lobbyists again.
"Please, McCain bloggers -- we really enjoy your thoughts about how Obama's Muslim extremism helped him spend all those years in a Christian church -- come again!" Nothing bothers someone spoiling for a fight more than to cherish their flimsiest arguments.
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
I don't think they are single issue voters. I just think abortion is probably the most effective issue to reach them on. There are many others though -- practically every position that HRC championed is completely opposed by John McCain. Her signature issue was health care -- how well does McCain's plan (or lack thereof) stack up against hers or Obamas? How does McCain feel about taking another look at NAFTA as Hillary wanted to? What about lifting the ban on Federal-funding for stem cell research? How about a moratorium on foreclosures? How about gay rights?
November is a long way away. I just don't see McCain keeping that many of her Democratic supporters. He'll get some of them -- especially the Reagan Democrats that likely would have voted for him anyway even with her on the ticket -- but I think this idea that there is going to be a massive backlash of HRC supporters against Obama ignores political history.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I'm not saying McCain will keep them. I am saying he has an opportunity. I think it's possible to give ground on other issues than RvW, keep the core right, and still appeal to HRC moderates.
Whether he accomplishes that or not remains to be seen. Reagan pulled off something akin to this in '80, so I don't think democrats should dismiss the possibility to easily.
... and the "lesser evil" mentality...
You are going to continue being faced with the lesser of two evils until we have a viable third party. It's not a "wasted vote" if the third party can gain traction... you might not get a good president for four or eight or more years, but it's certain to not happen at all unless us disenchanted voters suck it up and vote for who we like instead of the lesser evil of who might win.
It's a long term goal.
And you can only hope that whoever wins screws things up badly enough that the third party gains traction even more quickly.
I'm voting for Bob Barr. Maybe Paul, if he runs independently, but I'd prefer to see libertarians get traction.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
http://www.facingup.org/image/entitlements-spending
Have a look at the chart comparing 1970 to today. Look at how much entitlements have consumed the federal budget.
This is my sig.
I don't think it will be nearly that easy. Did you see the recent flap he had with the base over his position on climate change? I think he could pull it off if the base trusted him (somehow GWB got away with claiming to be a moderate) but the base doesn't trust him and will ream him for any centrist/leftist moves. They also have an acceptable third party guy in Bob Barr, so McCain is really going to have to watch his flank.
Reagan pulled off something akin to this in '80Yeah, but Reagan had the advantage of a deeply unpopular President who appeared weak on the global stage and got all of the blame (right or wrong) for the failing economy and our weak position in the World. If anything, Obama is in a position to pull off what Reagan did as he has all of the same advantages -- a deeply unpopular President, a failing economy that people are blaming (right or wrong) on the GOP and the perception (correct or otherwise) that Obama hasn't (yet) been tainted by Washington.
so I don't think democrats should dismiss the possibility to easily.Oh I'd agree. Anyone on either side of the aisle that thinks their candidate is going to have a cakewalk this November is in for a rude surprise. This is going to be a hard fought contest all the way till the end and whomever underestimates the other side is likely to wake up Wednesday morning and find themselves on the losing side.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Here a site that talks about the real McCain
http://therealmccain.com/
They have a funny comparision with Dr Strangelove
Good points all around...
One thing, though: climate change will not be an issue for Republicans. By and large (and I say this as a hard-core Republican, and I think I'm pretty representative), the core right constituency doesn't take issue with GW legislation, and even those who actively disbelieve GW put arguing the issue pretty far down the list. I think it's something the average Republican is willing to give ground on. Absolutely no one I know is going to sit out the election because McCain disagrees with the base on GW.
Now, if you ask me, my pipe dream is for the GOP to push for nuclear, and at least try to own the GW and oil price issues. That those issues have been completely surrendered to progressives (with "lalalala" and fingers-in-the-ear to boot) is befuddling and aggravating.
I think there are quite a few paid Republican Trolls - especially on the Washington Post (I mean aside from the editorial staff) - there was quite a drumbeat of posts that looked very similiar of people claiming to be Clinton supporters who would never vote for Obama, and then any article about Bush gets some Bushbots in high gear. Isn't this kind of disturbing? - I was told once that at Italian Opera houses people would be paid to go to the opera and applaud (loudly) at the end - on the one hand it is sad republican have to pay people to say good things about them, but it is really kind of fascist in the way they try and manufacture consent and make it appear there is general support for really unpopular positions....
Get the meds you need and the pres you deserves! V|@gra, C|@l|s, McC@|n at affordable prices from C@nad|@n pharmacy! Show her you a real man with McC@|n!
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My debut novel AMITY now available: http://jeremydbrooks.c
Hear, hear! That's why I'll be voting for Kodos!
If you post it, they will read.
This post is misleading and, I suspect, factually incorrect.
/. crowd.
Barack Obama explicitly supports Net Neutrality ("I will take a back seat to no one when it comes to Network Neutrality"), media decentralization, and universal broadband access. He supports universal file/data formats ("we will put government data online in universally accessible formats"); and he understands the inherent risks to privacy created by our new technology ("Dramatic increases in computing power, decreases in storage costs and huge flows of information that characterize the digital age bring enormous benefits, but also create risk of abuse."). And if Obama advocates reducing the NASA budget (and I have no specific information about this, it would be nice if tjstork would provide a reference), such defunding would be a re-prioritization of spending only, as he "supports doubling federal funding for basic [scientific] research."
Furthermore, Barack Obama's policy regarding technology reflects a thorough and deep understanding of the underlying issues pertinent to technology and information. John McCain will never have any personal involvement in creating a technology policy promulgated by his administration; instead he will rely on his staff, who will inevitably rely on lobbyists. The fact is that John McCain knows very very little about these issues, and that he has also shown consistently that he has no problem giving industry lobbyists free reign in his campaign. Barack Obama understands technology, and won't compromise on the central issues.
Barack Obama's technology policy is located here on barackobama.com.
Another relevant link is a talk Obama gave at Googe, where he touches on many of these issues, here.
Finally, to conclude from the fact that Barack Obama has accepted money from the most consistently-Democratic industrial block in the US that he will necessarily back its most outrageous demands is logically spurious. tjstork writes that "he is a strong proponent of doing everything with IP that many slashdotters would virulently oppose." I do not have any information supporting such a claim, and I would ask tjstork to provide a reference. The fact is that slashdotters are very willing to balance the interests of IP "owners" against the interests of the general public and the interests of innovation. As long as Obama recognizes that there is a balance to be struck, and is willing to *act* knowing that things are currently out of balance, I am happy to support his positions on IP. If there is anything that Barack Obama is about, it is about creating a fair and informed balance between competing interests.
It seems to me that Barack Obama is almost, if not quite, the ideal candidate for the
no matter how tempting it might be.
David All is a genius. There is nothing more smart or unique than asking people on the internets to support you.
That's the problem with DKos logic: thinking you can get people to agree with you by calling them idiots. The only thing the "backlash" will do is harden the resolve of HRC democrats. You've already seen it during the primary.
"Slashdot is not on their suggested blogs list. Can't imagine why." It does seem odd. Their bloglist seems to contain far-left ideological sites and Slashdot is certainly one of those. Even a discussion of the scarcity of the Wii Fit recently was comprised almost entirely of talk about how Bush=Hitler and Iraq and how America sucks, interspersed only occasionally with posts from people who chose to talk about the topic at hand. I admit to not having read this thread yet, but I bet it's mostly anti-Bush rhetoric - unless it happens to diverge from the usual pattern around here.
Political candidate and his supporters mindlessly repeat meaningless slogans. News at 11.
I would consider voting for anyone that advocated nuclear as a solution to our energy woes. It's damn near carbon neutral, it's technology that we already have and it's something that we used to be a global leader at (we invented the damn technology) before we stopped developing it and ceded the intuitive to India, France, China and Canada.
By and large (and I say this as a hard-core Republican, and I think I'm pretty representative), the core right constituency doesn't take issue with GW legislation, and even those who actively disbelieve GW put arguing the issue pretty far down the listI think the Republican party actually has two "core right" constituencies -- the religious right and the fiscal/small government conservatives. May I ask which one you think of as home?
I think it's something the average Republican is willing to give ground onThe average Republican maybe. But most of your elected officials seem openly hostile to the idea of even acknowledging that GW exists let alone doing anything about it. There are some honorable exceptions. One of my favorite pols of all time was Sherwood Boehlert, my old Congressman and a Republican. I disagreed with him on a lot (voted to impeach Clinton and for the GWB tax cuts) but I had a great amount of respect for him and the work that he did on environmental and scientific/technological issues. He wasn't one to let his ideology override reality and I was pretty sad to hear him announce his retirement even though I no longer lived in his district.
Absolutely no one I know is going to sit out the election because McCain disagrees with the base on GW.No, but McCain still has a problem. A lot of the true Conservatives that I know are furious with the Republican party for abandoning the principles of small Government. Bob Barr presents a viable alternative for them. In a strange way he also manages to be a viable alternative for some of the neo-cons who distrust McCain -- they remember and respect Barr for leading the impeachment effort against Clinton.
I don't think as many Republicans will vote for him as the media thinks -- but if a few states come down to thin margins he could wind up making all the difference in the World. Obama isn't dealing with anything like this (yet) -- Nader just isn't that exciting anymore and most of the far-left seems to be happy with Obama. I think they are in for a rude surprise because I don't think Obama is as leftist as they think -- but I'm not going to argue with it as long as they are voting for my guy ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
he doesn't know much about the economy and doesn't really understand economics. He's said so himself!
http://politicalinquirer.com/2008/04/18/john-mccain-doesnt-know-much-about-the-economy-and-doesnt-really-understand-the-economy/
"DailyKos, Crooks and Liars, and Think Progress" -- could you get a more liberal list of blogs?
They are soo far left it's hard to imagine them supporting any republican, no mater how liberal he is. Now McCain is about as left leaning as you'll find in the republican party, but... these are blogs who will take people who are way out in left field and consider them on the right (not left enough). And somehow they are going to speak positively of McCain, when Obama has about as liberal a voting record as you'll find... fat chance.
If someone is a avid reader of DailyKos they are so far left McCain would seem like he's on the right... they will never vote for him when there is a more liberal alternative.
However if McCain starts pushing a heavy liberal agenda... to swoon the DailyKos readers... voter turnout of those on the right will be at historic lows, and a large majority of those voting left will vote Obama... so it's the wrong path for McCain to pursue those on the hard left, he needs to focus on those a bit closer to the center.
I've been beating the drum for John from AZ for a while -- does this count? (don't forget to watch the video too!)
Development is programmable; Discovery is not programmable. (Fuller)
So, where exactly is the secret conspiracy bunker? In Vegas, "disguised" as a brothel, perhaps?
With the first link, the chain is forged.
He's hoping to whip up discussions online to get people to research his take on the important issu
LOST CARRIER
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
That's the problem with DKos logic: thinking you can get people to agree with you by calling them idiots.
You sound kinda bitter...Have a bad run posting there or something?
Even assuming it does happen a significant amount of time for the moment (feel free to point out some specific posts aside from obvious trolls), that's not exactly exclusive to DKos and the left wing - try going to RedState, FreeRepublic, or other such sites, and you'll find plenty of people whos preferred method of trying to "convert" Democrats to their views is to treat them as lower life forms at every opportunity.
The only thing the "backlash" will do is harden the resolve of HRC democrats. You've already seen it during the primary.
Well, we'll see how it plays out from here....It'll be interesting no matter which way it goes, that's for sure.
That's as bad as not knowing how to use a telephone! That should say something about his attitude towards technology in general! The guy is literally COMPUTER-ILLITERATE! Just let that sink in. He is either too inept or too old to be doing anything as important as running a country, take your pick. A computer-illiterate person should not run a country in the year 2008! Hell, what jobs can you get nowadays without even some basic computer skills!?
That's my opinion, it's not a flame, it's just a very serious well-deserved dissing. Donate karma to this post, the neocon squad's on the way.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
try reading the post that was made 1/2 hour before yours that already answered that question.
> Likewise, letting it be known that McCain is a well know pedophile, who flies to Thailand twice a year to molest prepubescent boys, would be dirty. Sure, it's an outright lie (or at least I hope so), but if 16% of the people who would respond to surveys believe it, that means a whole lot more people are whispering about it.
If you're going to make up a rumor about McCain, invent a more reasonable one. Pretend he was one of those soldiers who raped women while at war. He was over there long enough, so who knows? All you need to do is quietly insinuate something like that.
You could also go with the true claim that he participated in a propaganda video. True, he *ruined* a few such videos and was beaten by his captors for years beforehand. But I wonder how it would play to a mass audience if that video were aired right before the election without any context?
Technically /.'s probably more of an aristocratic republic or some other arcane political hybrid, but the point is it's run mostly by majority (read: Lowest Common Denominator) rule.
The problem though, is that I support Kucinich, and then maybe Ron Paul. Definitely not McCain....
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
There's no reason to mock someone merely because they professed different political views than your own.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
http://quarkscrew.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/wheres-the-any-key/
Paying teachers more and putting more money into our crumbling infrastructure is not going to cut it. The American empire and its culture are rotting from the inside out and if you can't see it, you surely must be able to smell it. Look around the world. Whoever figures out the solution to free energy (economical fusion, solar, or whatever) first, and can most effectively couple this advance with information technology to propagate their culture, will win the century. Pardon my cynicism, but I think the 21st century will not belong to America.
It doesn't matter in the end -- electing Obama might stave off some of the inevitable decline we are facing. We transmillenial Americans won't suffer terribly, but we won't be setting the human agenda in 2100, either.
it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
no way in hell is he ever going to be president
I realized I used quite a few exclamation marks. I knew they guy didn't have a good understanding of tech issues, but the fact that he couldn't use a computer was quite alarming.
I think a better analogy would be machinists from Boeing complaining that a candidate doesn't know what an airplane is. Computers are very common mainstream things, unlike wrenching on an airplane.
I've compared using a computer to using a telephone, both vital tools people need every day, and while it's a huge leap of the imagination (at least for me) that a person who is entirely computer illiterate could have a decent grasp of computer technology issues, it says a lot about how inept or just plain out-of-date someone is when they can't use a computer, which is why I was so alarmed.
I'll try and take a few deep breaths next time I learn that a US presidential candidate (or a candidate for the leader of any country with electricity and a telecommunications infrastructure) can't use a computer, so that hopefully I won't use as many exclamation marks.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I know a handful of excellent teachers who were willing to work for the low pay
A lot of people seem to go and say that "this or that" teacher they know is "excellent", but, how do you really know? Do you have some empirical way of determining whether or not the children learned anything better than someone else? Or is it just, really, that you know a lot of people that impress you, that seem like they should be good teachers.
This is my sig.
You're absolutely right about the constituencies; the Republican is not a solid, ideological monolith. It's more of a coalition of disparate (and sometimes contradictory) ideologies. The trick is that each faction (religious, fiscal, and military) compromises their platform for the sake of the party, and each faction, while not getting exactly what they want, at least gets something. That's how, for instance, the religious right gets controls on abortion (something they would never achieve if they refused to budge on a constitutional ban) even though the majority of Republicans do not support banning abortion. To some degree, the Republican party is a parliamentary government in microcosm.
Sometimes that means that, in order to best please all sides, you have to choose someone no one likes. This is very important, IMO. For instance, I am probably closer to what you call the "religious right," but I was somewhat dubious of GWB in '99. He pleased the religious right, but did not have a record of fiscal conservative. The end result was my worst fear: the rampant spending I had always equated with fiscal liberalism as the party plank of the GOP. This could have been mitigated if the religious right had compromised more with fiscal conservatives*.
That said; fighting climate change legislation is almost entirely the domain of fiscal conservatives who fear harming business. Religious conservatives have helped them out of party loyalty, but there are cracks in the armor. The concept of "environmental stewardship" is becoming more popular in church pews these days, and it's only a matter of time before the official GOP plank changes. This will accelerate once economically beneficial alternative fuels (like nuclear) become more abundant. It will be harder, though, now that Goldwater conservatives are leery of letting the religious conservatives have the reins on any issue.
Now, even given this incredibly divisive primary for Republicans, I am absolutely amazed at the level of vitriol the two camps of the democratic party have hurled at each other, even though they are ideologically more united than the Republican party has ever been. The GOP had five front-runners who varied wildly in their views, and yet I still think the supporters of all but one (the Libertarian Who Shall Not Be Named) will vote for McCain without hesitation.
*As an aside, I'll say I was a fiscal conservative years before my religious conversion, and while they are theologically consistent with me, I do not consider neo-con's "conservative" at all. I also think the proof is in the pudding. Neo-conservatism as an ideology is dead.
The fact that McCain's campaign has to ask people to blog is a sad sign. Obama //can't stop// his supporters from blogging.
Paying teachers more and putting more money into our crumbling infrastructure is not going to cut it. The American empire and its culture are rotting from the inside out and if you can't see it, you surely must be able to smell it.
You know what? I disagree with Obama, what he stands for, and I think his followers are mostly dopes duped by a demagogue whose done nothing more than rehash old liberal ideas that won't work. However, with that said, the vast majority of liberals in the United States, just like conservatives, believe in the promise of a free land and a free people, and our differences are only the extent of what those freedoms are, not, whether we should have them at all.
The best days for the USA are ahead of it, not behind it. Americans remain an industrious and inventive people. Regardless of political persuasion, if you put a bunch of American engineers on a problem, they will come up with something cool. We have been doing it for 200 years and we will keep on doing it. Americans like to build and are going to keep on building, and, quite honestly, the whole backstory about global warming has as much support about an American desire to upgrade its infrastructure, regardless of the profitability of doing so, as it does about saving the planet. There's a lot of generators, that have been running for 50 years, that our engineers, builders, and designers, that would simply like to upgrade because we can.
The free market will come through for America, and the promise of getting stinking rich is going to motivate someone to come up with the needed energy products. And, American government will work for Americans. Our electoral process remains second to none, our democracy is responsive, and we have produced candidates that connect with their people. There are some people that really love Obama. Can you get that in many other countries? I don't think so.
In the private sector, we have American car companies working on leading the way to building newer, more fuel efficient vehicles, American bio companies working on more biofuels, American construction firms designing new nuclear reactors, American scientists leading on exotic new energy sources. American companies are building ever more powerful computers, faster aircraft, and are doing this in a time of war.
Let's not forget, that, as much as we bemoan the failures in Iraq, that there are quite a few successes. It is only by the American standards of perfection that we judge Iraq to be a failure. Alexander the Great or Napolean would be jealous of George Bush. We easily overthrew Saddam, we captured him and his henchmen and put them to death, we have killed numerous Al Qaeda, we have put in a new government and we have averted a national civil war. Iraqis now have more electricity, more cell phones, air conditioners, computers, and a greater share of their nation's oil revenues and political processes than they have ever had in their lives. To some extent, in this "defeat", of all people, Obama asked the ultimate question: "What more do we need to do to prove we've won." And that, our own military people can't answer. We've killed just about all the bad guys that there are to kill.
The USA has been down before and through worse before. The outcome of our country's birth was in doubt in the revolution, we destroyed ourselves in the civil war, we disrupted our society with industrialization, we weren't prepared for the Nazi onslaught, lost the space race to Soviets, yet, at the end, conservative vs liberal, social turmoil or not, the USA kicked the British out, created an industrial superpower, rebuilt after the civil war, beat the Nazis and then put a man on the moon. So, somehow, after every country on this planet counts the USA out, we American morons somehow manage to keep on winning.
So what's before us today? We have what, climate change? A change in the commodities economy? Man, the USA has been through worse than that and has come out on top. While the rest of the world has
This is my sig.
Tjstork:
Who is the shill here, exactly? I make no claims to being neutral in this race. I'm a supporter of Barack Obama; I became a supporter after seeing his Google speech. Does that invalidate the points that I have made? A shill is someone pretending to be neutral. Are you asserting that you are a neutral observer?
Thank you for posting that link about Obama, though. I was unaware of the fact that he would delay a manned mission to Mars. But as I noted in my previous post, such a defunding would be a re-prioritization of funding that may, in fact, help further the interests of science. I think that the question debated by the CJR article you link to is most pertinent: "Is manned spaceflight really necessary, however, especially if it costs an exorbitant amount of money that could be used to help things like inner-city schools?" I would say that decreasing the funding of NASA in order to improve science education in public schools and in order to develop clean energy technologies is a wise move.
You have not provided any evidence, however, to back up your assertion that fighting blatant piracy in China is the same thing as supporting frivolous and harmful RIAA litigation. I will be honest and say that I do not know how Barack Obama feels about the RIAA. I will say this, however: the RIAA's litigation tactics are a travesty of justice, and an abuse of corporate power to the highest order, but in spite of that being the case I nonetheless believe that it is wrong for connected Chinese entrepreneurs to sell unlicensed copies of Hollywood movies for profit. I cannot accept, as you assert, that fighting piracy in China is somehow equivalent to suing little old ladies for using bittorrent, if only for the reason that I personally support fighting Chinese piracy and condemn the RIAA's tactics. It is the case that the RIAA and MPAA have taken advantage of the ignorance of our policy makers in order to further a narrow corporate agenda. That does not mean, however, that Obama is so gullible that he will not be able to balance their legitimate interests against the interests of individual Americans, and the need for broad fair-use allowances. I will also say this, however: I personally believe that McCain *is* that gullible, engineering degree (894th in a class of 899?) or not.
And why you say that media decentralization and universal broadband access are "stupid" is beyond me ("stupid"? really?). One of the biggest threats to our democracy in the past decade has been the centralization of the control of broadcast media in the hands of an elite and wealthy group, and the most pertinent antidote to that threat has been the growth of the internet. Universal broadband access and net neutrality are the two internet policy objectives that our government can pursue that will produce the greatest democratic effect. Checking (and possibly reversing) media concentration is the flip-side of that same coin.
And one more thing: Do you really have to drag race into this discussion? "Rich white kids"? Seriously?
A shill is someone pretending to be neutral. Are you asserting that you are a neutral observer?
Oh, i thought a shill was an advocate. Me neutral, no!
And one more thing: Do you really have to drag race into this discussion? "Rich white kids"? Seriously?
It's a joke. You don't get it. Obama probably is a bit racist, but it doesn't matter. Richard Nixon couldn't stand jewish people but wound up saving Israel in its greatest hour of need.
As it is, I'm really disappointed about the manned mission to Mars being on the chopping block. Its important to me and to the USA for nationalistic reasons. Those things matter. Twenty years from now, when we finally get there, we aren't going to care about some poor slob not getting his teeth filled becuase he didn't have the money... we're going to care about the US Flag on Mars. It's going to be a good time and a great feat. On the other hand, pure and basic research is interesting, if it leads to new products for consumers... but, if it doesn't, then, you know, its not that big of a deal.
As for media decentralization goes, see, you guys put the cart before the horse. The media is what it is because of the internet. Newspapers took a beating from radio, and then TV, and adjusted and consolidated. Now computers make them pointless. Sucks, but that's just life. Radio has a role, but it will adjust, and when you have netradio and sirius and terrestrial radio you have a lot more choice than you did before. universal broadband access is just socialism.... what it basically means is that everyone else's broadband bill is going to go up so that poor people can get broadband and maybe if it doesn't go up too much, it will be ok...
But, if you really wanted to have money for inner city schools, then look at the whole USA budget. The lion's share of it is going to old people. if you really wanted to help the kids, you should have supported us when we wanted to privatize social security and medicare and capped the expenses. It would have screwed the elderly, but money would be pouring down on children, where its needed, and in droves. Cutting a few space ships out isn't going to cut it.
In general, I'm really disappointed with Obama's leftist leanings being repackaged as something new. He's really not doing anything all that dramatic or great. I can agree that the country tilts left or right depending on the challenges that face it and at this point, it looks like a federal response is more useful than a free market one. With that said, why not just go for the jugular then and really solve some basic problems? Let's take 50 billion dollars and have the Feds buy back a bunch of SUVs in exchange for American made small cars? Jeez, that would cut our gasoline bill in -half- and pay for itself in one year. For a deep thinker, Obama just doesn't cut it.... the idea of a strong and progressive government is to rally people around the flag, accomplish a national purpose. He should be saying, "yeah, we're going to rebuild America and then put a man on mars, to show the world how Americans do things."... but for him to say that manned flight isn't necessary tells me that he's not even really a good liberal. Nationalism is ESSENTIAL to good liberalism and paradoxically, the most successful "liberal" in the classic redistribution of wealth sense was none other than Bush.
FDR and Jack Kennedy are rolling over in their graves.
I'm a lifelong Republican, a Bush supporter, and a McCain supporter, but if Obama puts a man on Mars, he's got my vote.
This is my sig.
Considering his stance on net neutrality, and public investment in infrastructure (read that as jobs for engineers), I don't think that he's wrong on tech issues. But even if he were, Slashdotters are not merely tech nerds and nothing else. We are union members, civil rights advocates, environmentalists, victims of crime, soldiers, gun rights advocates, etc. When I vote, my primary issues are with labor, thus I typically support Democratic candidates. But I knew many staunch union members who voted Republican because gun rights, or an anti-abortion stance were more important to them as issues. Slashdotters are a diverse bunch.
McCain is not the stranger to technology some think him to be.
"Okay, here's what we're going do, my friends. First we've got a new phone number, "KLondike 3-4000". Just remember, don't accept any collect calls! Next we'll fire up the mimeograph machine and get those swell new flyers printed. And finally, the big one: we're gonna hire a skywriter to put our message up where everyone can see it!"
I won't say what userid I use at the Great Orange Satan, actually it's been several over the years, but there is actually a lot to learn from dailyKos, especially for a staunch Democrat who believes in Obama's message. Yes, there are people on the site who are extreme, but most are not. In the 5 years I've been reading/posting, I'd actually say most of the really extreme people get banned eventually. Even so, commenting there will teach you something. It will teach you how to respectfully disagree with others. You may not see it that way, but really that is how it works.
What I've learned over the years, is that you generally don't attract the worst commentors, unless you yourself are behaving badly. You may not even realize it, but it's possible that you sound like Joe Lieberman. "Oh, you are all extremists, and oh so stupid, if only I am smart! David Broder agrees with me, and you are extremists because you don't see my brilliance!" By watching what you post, and how you are responded to, you really learn a lot. It's a very good experience.
I used to be a Republican until the party abandoned American principles and values. I'm a moderate/centrist/squishy middle type Democrat, but I have absolutely no problem commenting on dailyKos and being received positively. That didn't used to be the case. It took me a while to understand, and I got beat up for it at first.
It's a great learning experience. Part of the learning experience is actually understanding that the way the media presents things is not reasonable or respectful. This is why the McCain people will be ripped to shreds, because they don't know how to disagree reasonably. Calling someone an appeaser, or a terrorist lover is not being reasonable, despite how our media portrays it.
Shoot me an email at ssheldon at sodablue dot org though, and I'll be happy to critique any comments you see there that are not being well received and explain why. Yours, anybodies. Back when I was a trusted user, I would sometimes respond to comments that were getting troll rated explaining what they were doing wrong. I don't read the site as much lately though, so I lost that power, but still...
Hillary Clinton supporters were some of the most rude, arrogant, obnoxious asshats I've ever seen. It was pretty bad in 2004, but maybe it's because it went on this long that it really brought the worst out of people.
They'd come in there all insulting, and then be SHOCKED! absolutely SHOCKED that they were not positively received.
Most of those Clinton supporters I saw were new to politics or they had not been around very long, or if they had, they were not people who had learned how to be respectful. Like Larry Johnson over at No Quarter. His early diaries on Plame were well received, even if he was just spewing bullshit because it was what some people wanted to hear. Later on though when he kept spewing the same level of bullshit, but this time inserted into a primary race, he got slammed and he cried about it.
> Obama is getting money in torrents from IP people from Hollywood to Silicon Valley precisely because he is a strong proponent of doing everything with intellectual property that many slashdotters would virulently oppose.
I won't pretend Obama is perfect, but he's not nearly as bad as you claim. For starters, most of his money comes from $20 donations from people like me, NOT from Hollywood. Next, he supports patent reform and has Laurence Lessig as a tech adviser. That's head & shoulders above the rest.
Or can you point me to where McCain has taken a stand on copyright reform? That might induce me to vote for the man. Except that I've read McCain's issue page, and he wants to strengthen copyrights, and he's against Net Neutrality to boot! Yeah, real helpful there.
Finally, he wants NASA to focus on the unmanned missions instead of the manned ones. This actually supports science & research. Yes, someday the Earth will die. The whole damn universe will die when entropy runs its course. There's NO escape. But if there is, we'll learn more from doing sound science than we will from sending people to plant flags or play golf on the moon.
I notice that you didn't try to claim that McCain is right on any of these tech issues. I hope that's because you support a 3rd party candidate, not because you want people to think that McCain knows anything about technology.
The truth of the matter is that both sides' supporters are full of morons and asshats. However, there seems to be this faulty "above the fray" attitude from holier-than-thou Obama supporters, taking advantage of all the tools of disingenuity, misdirection, and false superiority. The implication that Clinton supporters were poor and stupid was grounds for a virtual high-five from those tools, and still is.
This despicable high and mighty finger-pointing is what turns people off from Obama. It's also the biggest disappointment of the campaign--not the candidate, but the ignorant segment of his supporters and their hypocrisy.
To wit: "Most of those Clinton supporters I saw were new to politics or they had not been around very long..." In fact, it's young voters and the less involved upon which Obama draws a lot of strength. You can't use experience in whatever manner suits you while denying the other side the benefit. Both sides have a lot of people who are "new to politics".
while criticizing bigotry, you have exhibited much bigotry. what gives ?
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Ah, you've heard of it, then? --My first encounter was a "Get Off My Snowbanks" incident. (Similar to the "Get off my Lawn" variant, but with snow pants.)
I was scarred for life, truly believing that the old guy really would come after me with a shotgun if he caught me climbing on the snowbanks at the end of his driveway ever again. I was careful to walk a different route home from school from that point on. I can see why McCain is fearful.
-FL
Because slashdot is already covered by the 'media war' unit? Some sites are better handled with stealth propaganda.
+5 funny, best comment I've read all day. It's too bad I used all my mod points.
Ugh, you republicans... go make an online campaign thingy like Obama's and stuff and get some blogs in there
> LOTS of people who refuse to vote for McCain.
Add me to the list. I just sent the Party a letter telling them to save their postage on me because there ain't a chance in Hell of me sending them money this year. But I did invite them to keep my name on their lists in the hope that next time they wouldn't nominate someone who is a menace to our form of government.
I watched McCain blow off criticism of his McCain/Fiengold abomination by saying "People out in the country don't care about that, they never ask me about it." Well that is only because the only time the bastard enters my State it is to Karma Whore in New Orleans and I'm just not up to driving five hours to perhaps get a chance to ask the fool "English, Motherfucker! Do you speak it? 'What part of Congress shall make no law' goes over your pointed head?" (And get promptly escourted out by security.)
Seriously, I EXPECT Democrats to wipe their asses on the Constituition. They at least have the excuse that they don't pretend to believe in our form of government so they are at least being consistent. After all, that's the heart of the Change they Believe in, finishing the job of replacing our republican form of government with a Marxist Workers' Paridise.
Between now and election day Obama is likely to piss me off badly enough that I'll vote against him but if McCain thinks I support him just because he pretends to be a Republican he better think again. With luck I will just leave the top of the ballot blank and concentrate on electing a conservative Rep (we have two good ones running to replace the returing one) and ousting a bad Dem Senator for an OK Republican convert.
Democrat delenda est
You forgot to mention that Obama supporters are part of a cult.
I mean, while you are throwing insults and everything...
>it's like someone created Internet Troll: The MMOG.
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=176
Don't worry about the name, it's meant to be work-safe except for crude humor.
As it is, I'm really disappointed about the manned mission to Mars being on the chopping block. Its important to me and to the USA for nationalistic reasons. Those things matter. Twenty years from now, when we finally get there, we aren't going to care about some poor slob not getting his teeth filled becuase he didn't have the money... we're going to care about the US Flag on Mars. It's going to be a good time and a great feat. On the other hand, pure and basic research is interesting, if it leads to new products for consumers... but, if it doesn't, then, you know, its not that big of a deal.
I fully agree with you about the value of a dramatic, mind-blowing nationalistic project. Going to the moon (the first time) unified and inspired this country, and made most of the world stand in awe of what we had accomplished. But going to the moon inspired the world most because was the work of a free people, a society that had already achieved a level of prosperity and equality that was previously unknown to humanity. Dictators and aristocracies throughout history have broken the backs of their subjects to create magnificent testaments to their power. Reaching the moon, however, perhaps the greatest advancement of human technology and social organization, was accomplished by a society of equals, of free men and women who together decided that it was their prerogative to walk in the heavens.
I am not at all sure that we now live in that same free, egalitarian society. Only the wealthy and the lucky today can count on receiving a good education. The ability of the poor, and even the middle class, to escape their circumstances is limited by the constant specter of a surprise bankruptcy brought on by an accident or by chronic disease. And while the poor and middle class struggle to maintain their modest lifestyles under mountains of debt, a new class that is too wealthy simply to be called rich live gilded, isolated lives of decadence, self-absorption and frivolousness, increasingly powerful and at the same time unaccountable for their actions. Within this context, to seek glory by reaching for the stars seems a symptom of the worst hubris.
However, if what you want is a massive, governmentally-funded scientific research program that will astound the world and unite the American people, look no further than the effort to produce viable solar technology. The amount of government money that has gone into solar research (including subsidies) pales in comparison to money currently dedicated to researching and subsidizing fossil fuels. The spending discrepancy is even greater when you count the cost of the war in Iraq, which we wouldn't be fighting if it weren't for oil (without oil, Iraq would rank with Zaire and Zimbabwe in its level of importance in our foreign policy). And in spite of this handicap, the cost of solar energy has fallen dramatically over the years and is almost on par with the market price of electricity in many places (including the cost of delivery and the cost of capital, it is between 150% and 200% of the price of electricity in many places). Additional investment will yield results, and will eventually, and certainly, bring the price of solar electricity below the cost of other energy sources. Imagine if it is the United States that is able to give the world limitless energy from the sun, how inspiring that would be.
As for media decentralization goes, see, you guys put the cart before the horse. The media is what it is because of the internet. Newspapers took a beating from radio, and then TV, and adjusted and consolidated. Now computers make them pointless. Sucks, but that's just life. Radio has a role, but it will adjust, and when you have netradio and sirius and terrestrial radio you have a lot more choice than you did before. universal broadband access is just socialism.... what it basically means is that everyone else's broadband bill is going to go up so that poor people can get broadband and maybe if it doesn't go
Could it possibly be because this site is infested with Leftist Statists? Like the ones who cheered Kucinich's impeachment efforts just the other day?
In what possible way?
I'd argue his wife, for one, Rev. Wright, two, I forget the Catholic priest's name for three. Okay, not exactly a large collection but enough to get the average candidate into some serious hot water. I think it's part and parcel of Obama's thinking. The idea that he'd surround himself with this kind of thinking and be free from it is naive. He even referred to small town Americans as bigots, illustrating a disdain for them, imo. In the long run the man at the very least is comfortable around anti-American, racist leaning black leaders. In my book, that makes him if not a racist certainly comfortable with their rhetoric. We should move beyond ALL bogotry.
As for being modded "Flaimbait" it's just so typical.
"McCain is not the stranger to technology some think him to be." Can't possibly be true. By letting this get out, he has destroyed *any* credibility that *anyone* who posts anything positive about him anywhere might have had -- everyone will now assume that such comments are just shilling for the campaign. Nice move.
You are going to complain about throwing insults?
QED.
Actually, Americans are already benefiting from a similar source, but in someone else's backyard: Canada.
The USA imports more oil from Canada than from any Middle East country (yes, this is a little known fact in the USA).
That comes from Alberta (and recently from Saskatchewan too), which have seen an economic boom. Oil comes from the Oil Sands. While not shale, it has a negative environmental impact nonetheless.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
I wasn't throwing insults, just merely pointing out some relative facts pertinent to the discussion.
Seems to me that blogs are a good way to "preach to the converted." Doesn't sound to me like he has a handle on modern communication at all. His best bet would be to put something on places like Slashdot... oops.
Be as you would have the world become.
Uh huh...and through some metaphysical transconfiguration, when those exact words are repeated by someone else, it becomes "hurling insults".
Right.
...but only after the old war crim has served his time for the cowardly bombing of children in Vietnam!
Down with ALL dealers in death and destruction.
In spite of the fact that I would probably call myself a libertarian rather than a liberal or a conservative, I do see the merit of the government creating a level playing field for economic competition that discourages the concentration of power in any one social or economic group. Obama is new because it has been almost 50 years at least since we have had a president (Eisenhower? maybe Johnson?) who would see *basic fairness* as being an important goal for government.
Here's the thing. There's plenty of fairness in American society today and more opportunity than ever but we have a generation that is too lazy to see it or to reach for it.
I'm son of a trucking company manager who is the son of a coal miner. We're hardly unique but every step of the way, I have found that if you work extremely hard, you can get ahead, and I've not seen anything about America today that says that statement isn't true. If you talk to a lot of people who aren't succeeding in America today, quite honestly, they are not working nearly as hard as the people did a generation before. You have gen-xr's and gen-yr's going around and playing video games and listening to i-tunes and driving new cars, watching movies, complaining about how poor they are. It's utterly absurd. You can't spend your 20's partying, without paying an economic price, and that's what too many people have done. Economic success is not something that is handed to you, it is something that is earned.
I've made more than a few mistakes. I bought cars that used too much gas and a house that was more than I could afford. I spend too much on credit cards and I took a beating selling my house to extricate myself from a financial disaster that I made for myself, and so, when I see people blame George Bush for their problems, to me, I think they just can't own up to making mistakes. Everyone has to be a victim these days and no one can just say: "I f---- up." Big deal. You f---- up sometimes in life. Deal with it, like an adult, and move on. I know people that have gotten rich, rather rich, because they didn't make mistakes. They got a product out the door, they worked the really hard hours, or they got an education in a field that is actually demanded.
It's really simple, actually, and its the ugly truth of disparity. In a technological society, you don't just get 10% richer when you get a leg up, you get 100%. It's like skill sets in programming - programmers aren't just 5% better than each other...some are just magnitudes better than each other. At the top of the heap you got guys like Bill Joy that right entire operating systems... so yeah, inequality in wealth is going to be a fact of life, but it is an inequality based on intelligence and workmanship, not on some nefarious scheme. So long as the people at the bottom are buying flat screen tv's, ps3's, $100 shoes, new cars (and suv's at that), and above all, the country is by and large obese, then, I'm not seeing the victimization that you are, and I think this class warfare being waged by the likes of Obama and company is so much demagoguery, the product of a community that likes to blame everyone else for their mistakes, and admits to none of their own.
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n order, they were fired for: enforcing school plagiarism policy, fraternizing with students, student thought the course was too difficult, and student thought the course was too difficult. (Remember the latter two are the ones that empirically were, in statewide and national comparisons, highly successful in teaching the material.)
Students thought the work was too hard? That's the craziest thing I ever heard of. Criminy, education is a gift and students need to elevate themselves.
This is my sig.
your post was laden with preconceived convictions, some to rather extreme.
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Would you consider that because you were wrong about this that you may also be wrong about the other things that you wrote? I encourage you to "face facts" (as you put it).
You aren't facing facts. Read exactly what Obama said, and think about it without getting so stupidly getting caught up in feel good niceness.
a) Obama supports the USA government continuing to collect databases on all Americans.
b) Obama supports the existing of a security apparatus that allows the USA government to spy on all of its citizens.
Points c & d are a joke. Like some Russian guy is going to care one rat's behind about what Obama says about spam.
So basically, at the end of the day, you have a guy who promises to do the same thing Bush is reviled for doing - spying on US citizens, except that, he'll be "nicer about it." Sorry, tone doesn't cut it.
Give me a pledge that says that he will vote to
a) REPEAL the FISA law.
b) REPEAL the USA PATRIOT act.
And then you have something. But, as it stands, he's not doing anything more than George Bush is doing, functionally, except that he might get the cover of a law to make it feel better. Big deal. In the Soviet Union, spying on citizens was legal too. It didn't make it right.
Duh.
This is my sig.
Uncomfortable truth = troll. Gotcha.
Annoying, ain't it?
Thanks for clearing that up.
It might be 'smart' but it sure isn't all that 'unique'.