I'm too busy editing other folks' material right now to be posting much if my own. Luckily my students have been producing such great copy, all I have to do is repost it.
Here is a truly great piece by reporter Hillel Aron on Yosi Sergant, the former NEA Communications Director and top Obama Hipster who got eaten by the right-wing press machine after making some off-the-cuff remarks on a conference call. Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs and the usual crew pounced and that was that,
Sergant is credited with getting the iconic Obama "Hope" poster to go viral and he tells the story here,
This is his first in-depth interview since getting forced out and it's a real eye opener.
Here's a taste:
"Didn't it piss you off that no one spoke up for you?" I asked Yosi.
"No, I got it," he said.
"Really?" I asked incredulously, "cause you spent two years of your life helping this guy become president, and no one came to your defense. I'm pissed. Why aren't you pissed?"
"I wasn't worth defending."
"Really?"
"I don't believe that what I did was wrong," he said, "I believe that what I did came at a time when all the focus was on health care reform, and that that's where they needed to put their time and energy... could they have stood up for me if they wanted to? Sure. Am I worth the political capital? They had just lost Van Jones. READ THE WHOLE STORY.
—Marc Cooper on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 12:52AM |No Comments »
All of a sudden it has become fashionable for worried liberals to start pandering to the Tea Party fringies, saying how their anger and frustration is understandable and rational. Please count me OUT of that absurd trend.
The Washington Post wrote a "news story" that is little but a thinly-veiled press release for the National Tea Party Convention now underway. So, let's see, 600 people showed up there. And the crowd might double or triple by the time Sarah Palin shows up to deliver her $100k keynote speech. Give me en effin' break. That's a smaller crowd that hundreds of large urban churches get from one neighborhood every Sunday. Imagine sending three WaPo reporters to the services of the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Central L.A. so it could breathlessly report about how the election of Barack Obama was driving crowds of 10,000 people to gather every Sunday and demand an end to White Supremacist rule.
Look, anyone and everyone living in the U.S. right now has the right to be angry and frustrated. There'd be something wrong with you if you weren't. The question is: what are you angry about and who do you blame and what do you propose?
The fact that Tea party wingers dressed up as Minutemen and like, trained seals, applauding overt racists like Tom Tancredo and ignorant crackpots like Barracuda Palin seem to have what you might call misplaced priorities. They're angry alright.
Angry that the president of the U.S. is black.
Angry that the same president isn't really an American.
Angry that the same president wants the terrorists to win.
Angry that the president and half of congress are Socialists (even though the entire congress are servants of Goldman-Sachs).
Angry that the people who do all their dirty work for them speak Spanish.
Angry that the Judeo-Christian ethos (at best) isn't made mandatory (though many aren't so sure about that first half of that hyphenate).
Angry that their tax dollars might be used to bring us a civilized health care system but have no problem pissing away a trillion dollars in Iraq.
The Tea Partiers are, overwhelmingly, what we used to call white, right-wing Republicans (who historically are always angry when liberal Democrats are in power, even if unemployment was at 2%).
Are there some other, less ideological folks among them? No doubt there is a minority of such. But I am ready to affirm that those less ideologically inclined who show up at gatherings like the one in Nashville this weekend are what pollsters and consultants politely call "low-information voters." The rest of us call them dumb-asses.
When you applaud for a jerk like Tancredo. And when you stand in line and pay real money to be educated by such an obvious fraud as Ms. Palin, you surrender any rights to claiming to be an "independent." Independent, my ass.
You become an official Fool.
What liberals have to worry about isn't the support of the Tea Party fools (who would never support them in any case). What they have to worry about is their inability and unwillingness to fire up what could have been and should have been a much larger and powerful constituency who didn't feel the need to don a Paul Revere costume but who were lined up to hell push the real reform that a majority of Americans voted for a mere year ago.
—Marc Cooper on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 11:07PM |87 Comments
We live in a world that increasingly demands more dialogue than monologue. President Obama’s January 29th question-and-answer session with Republican leaders gave the public a remarkable window into the state of our union and governing process. It was riveting and educational. The exchanges were substantive, civil and candid. And in a rare break from our modern politics, sharp differences between elected leaders were on full public display without rancor or ridicule.
This was one of the best national political debates in many years. Citizens who watched the event were impressed, by many accounts. Journalists and commentators immediately responded by continuing the conversation of the ideas put forward by the president and his opponents — even the cable news cycle was disrupted for a day.
America could use more of this — an unfettered and public airing of political differences by our elected representatives. So we call on President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner to hold these sessions regularly — and allow them to be broadcast and webcast live and without commercial interruption, sponsorship or intermediaries. We also urge the President and the Republican Senate caucus to follow suit. And we ask the President and the House and Senate caucuses of his own party to consider mounting similar direct question-and-answer sessions. We will ask future Presidents and Congresses to do the same.
It is time to make Question Time a regular feature of our democracy.
Kate Albright-Hanna, Former Director of Online Video, Obama ‘08
David All, President, David All Group
David Almacy, White House Internet Director, 2005-2007
Michael Bassik, Former Chief Digital Officer of Air America; SVP at Global Strategy Group
Ralph Benko, author, The Websters’ Dictionary: How to Use the Web to Transform the World
L. Brent Bozell III, Founder and President, Media Research Center
Cheryl Contee, Co-founder, Jack & Jill Politics
David Corn, Washington Bureau Chief, Mother Jones, and columnist, PoliticsDaily.com
Ana Marie Cox, Founding editor of Wonkette
Susan Crawford, University of Michigan; former staff member, National Economic Council
Esther Dyson, chairman, EDventure Holdings; director, Sunlight Foundation
Allison Fine, Senior fellow, Demos
Mindy Finn, Republican political consultant, co-founder, Engage
Todd Gitlin, Columbia University
Scott Heiferman, Founder and CEO, Meetup
Jon Henke, Arts & Labs
Andrew Keen, Author and entrepreneur
Phil Kerpen, Vice President, Policy; Americans for Prosperity
Mark McKinnon, Former media advisor to President Bush
Ari Melber, Net movement correspondent, The Nation
Mike Moffo, VP at SS+K
David Moore, Director, OpenCongress.org
Ed Morrissey, Blogger, HotAir.com
Markos Moulitsas, Blogger, DailyKos
Craig Newmark, Founder and consumer service representative, Craigslist
Phil Noble, Founder, PoliticsOnline.com
Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
Pierre Omidyar, Founder, eBay
Tim O’Reilly, Founder & CEO O’Reilly Media
Eli Pariser, President of MoveOn.org
James Pinkerton, Fellow, New America Foundation
Harold Pollack, University of Chicago
Andrew Rasiej, Founder, Personal Democracy Forum
Glenn Reynolds, Blogger, Instapundit
James Rucker, Executive Director, Color of Change
Patrick Ruffini, Republican consultant, former Republican National Committee eCampaign Director
Leslie Sanchez, Author and Republican strategist
Clay Shirky, New York University
Nate Silver, Blogger, Fivethirtyeight.com
David L. Sifry, Founder of Technorati, CEO of Offbeat Guides
Micah L. Sifry, Editor, techPresident.com
Zephyr Teachout, Fordham University
Baratunde Thurston, Co-founder, Jack & Jill Politics
Mike Turk, Former e-Campaign Director, Bush-Cheney ‘04 and former RNC e-Campaign Director
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The Nation
Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia
Michael Wesch, Kansas State UniversityDeman
—Marc Cooper on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 07:27PM |59 Comments
No poofters among this sweaty bunch of fierce, manly soldiers. That much you can bank on. At least none that were public. You know than men never had sex with men in the year 1356.
A comforting thought we've made zero progress on that front in, say, the last 7-800 years. And if such Real Men as John McCain have their way, we will continue in the darkness. No matter that McCain has repeatedly said he was ready to scrap the absurd Don't Ask-Don't Tell policy as soon as U.S. military commanders said it was time.
Today, the top U.S. military uniformed and civilian officials --Admiral Mike Mullen and Republican Defense Secretary Robert Gates-- declared that such a time had come. And there was John McCain and the whole rest of the Republican pack saying no, no, a thousand times no.
Is there anybody at all in American politics today that has so squandered more of his moral capital that McCain? Here's a guy who really had a lot to admire some time back and now can be described as little more than a pathetic stumble-bum hack. He didn't even have the nuts to speak out forcefully against the gutting of his own campaign reform legislation by the conservative Supreme Court. Maybe, he's a poofter?
P.S. Of course, McCain has a growing base for his sort of unhinged politics. A new poll by Daily Kos reveals some pretty far-friggin'-out attitudes now popular among Republicans. Man, it really IS like the Dark Ages. Move over, Sarah Palin and let's get some real alchemists and wizards on the next ticket! Here are some highlights:
39 percent of Republicans believe Obama should be impeached, 29 percent are not sure, 32 percent said he should not be voted out of office.
36 percent of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the United States, 22 percent are not sure, 42 percent think he is a natural citizen.
31 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a "Racist who hates White people" -- the description once adopted by Fox News's Glenn Beck. 33 percent were not sure, and 36 percent said he was not a racist.
63 percent of Republicans think Obama is a socialist, 16 percent are not sure, 21 percent say he is not
24 percent of Republicans believe Obama wants "the terrorists to win," 33 percent aren't sure, 43 percent said he did not want the terrorist to win.
21 percent of Republicans believe ACORN stole the 2008 election, 55 percent are not sure, 24 percent said the community organizing group did not steal the election.
23 percent of Republicans believe that their state should secede from the United States, 19 percent aren't sure, 58 percent said no.
53 percent of Republicans said they believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama.
Still tabulating the percentage who believes the world is flat (waiting for the late returns from Wasilla).
P.P.S. Talking about politicians living on Mars or in some twisted time warp... as Health Care in any form, even the most-watered down form, begins to sink below the horizon, the Democratic Progressive Caucus made a tragi-comic stab today to revive the public option! Fantastic. We can't even get the House to pass the crappy Senate bill (which would be a whole lot better than the current void) and now we have a letter from progressives saying there should be a separate bill mandating a public option. In that case, why not a separate bill for single payer? They have equal chances of passage -- zero.
Is everyone into game playing rather than getting something done? And then you wonder why Americans don't give two flips about politics?
I had a lot of strange and straying thoughts about this blog today as I was stuck in traffic. Gridlock. As my post from yesterday was titled. I was thinking, hmmm, maybe I should at least temporarily make this enterprise totally self-indulgent and just write up a series of first person war stories from my 40 years in journalism. Or maybe I should devote this space to reporting on my poker playing. Or maybe a fishing blog. All these thoughts crossed my mind as I heard the same mind-numbing prattle from the fonts of conventional wisdom who populate CNN.
This blog is primarily a political blog. Occasionally, I veer off into some pet subject or another but it is, nevertheless, about 99% political. Here's my problem: I don't see anything happening politically this week. I don't foresee anything next week. And so on. Yes, there's going to be some hearings on Don't Ask -- Don't Tell. But early reports suggest a timid approach forward by the White House.
Otherwise, I sort of have the creeping feeling we are already knee-deep into the mid-term elections and neither party is gonna do nothin' for some time to come. Health care appears to be dead. The administration has capitulated on holding the terror trials in NYC. The race is on, again, to see which party can be the best deficit hawk. The Republicans are quite obviously determined to sabotage any and all policymaking by the White House. And the Democrats, the Democrats? Well, they are simply heading for the hills. Per usual, they have concluded their woes stem from not being Republican enough.
Just take as look at this bit of news from Virginia where the Dems won the presidential vote but have now lost the state house and, with it, any self-dignity. Reports The WaPo:
RICHMOND -- Virginia's Democratic-controlled state Senate passed measures Monday that would make it illegal to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a direct challenge to the party's efforts in Washington to reform health care.The bills, a top priority of Virginia's "tea party" movement, were approved 23 to 17 as five Democrats who represent swing areas of the state joined all 18 Republicans in the chamber in backing the legislation.
The votes came less than a week after President Obama implored Democrats in Washington not to abandon their health-care efforts, urging them in his State of the Union address not to "run for the hills" on the issue.But the action in Virginia, a state that backed Obama in 2008, could indicate that the president is failing to reassure members of his own party that current reform efforts remain worthwhile. The votes also suggest that Democrats on the state level fear that supporting health-care reform could be politically damaging, and their action could put pressure on members of the state's congressional delegation who have been behind the effort...
And so on and so on. Gonna go to bed and try to sleep it off. Maybe when I get up in the morning, there will be something political to write about.
I had the whole weekend and 48 hours of chatter, including the abominable Sunday shows, to digest the significance of barack Obama's historic question and answer session with the House Republican caucus. Trying to avoid being a simple fanboy of Obama, I have to say he did some pretty serious booty-kicking.
it's rather historic for any American president to walk right into the maw of a hyper-zealous opposition gathering and, on national TV, open it wide up for anybody and everything. Obama exuded confidence and for the most part and with wit, intelligence and a remarkable authenticity regarding the inauthenticity of politics-as-usual. he easily managed everything thrown his way. Watching that two hours on TV was a great reminder of what Obama's potential, his unrealized potential really is.
The president's strategy was rather obvious: make the GOP take ownership of what has been its blatant obstructionism and paint them into a corner. Here's my open hand, he said, take it, work with me or accept the consequences of being the Party of No.
All in all, a great performance. But I fear it is all for naught.
I've listened to the myriad Republican responses and everyone seems to have the same message: "We are ready for bi-partisan cooperation. So long s you fully accept OUR programs. And never mind that we lost the election and are a distinct minority."
One should laugh at such arrogance and hubris. Obama as much as did during his session in Maryland.
Or maybe better to cry. I could be wrong (though I don't think so) but it seems obvious that the GOP has set in its stone its electoral strategy for November. It will be absolutely obstructionist, meaning its betting the farm on winning the mid-terms by denying Obama any legislative victory, no matter how needed or not by the nation. The Republicans might be right in the short run -- though in the longer term I think it is a suicide pact. But who ever said either party was very smart?
The politics of NO, however, pretty much means stalemate.
The astounding part of this, of course, is that this is only possible because half the Democratic Party are really Republicans themselves. Obama commands the largest Democratic majority in modern times and makes absolutely no difference. This wasn't that difficult to predict, for some of us. It's just rather staggering that it was so easy.
The Democrats, if they had a collective brain, could have passed health care and a MASSIVE public works jobs program in their first 100 days. Instead, they began a year-long badminton match featuring such decrepit dinosaurs as Ben Nelson, Max Baucus and Holy Joe Lieberman (and a whole lot of other schmucks as well).
So here we are a year into the Big Muddy with the Democrats destined to be further weakened in November. And here we are, once again, talking about deficit reduction while an effective 15% of Americans have no jobs and equal number no health care.
A monumental historic crisis mounts. Our two major political parties continue to descend deeper into dementia. Not good.
—Marc Cooper on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 11:25PM |54 Comments
From the Venezuelan Paradise of Hugo Chavez. As student protests against his government policies of censorship grow, troops of the "revolutionary" National Guard have surrounded and threatened the universiy campuses. Here we see the debut of a new weapon being deployed -- a sort of medieval ball of hooks on a chain. "21st Century Socialism. " Fifteenth century repression.
—Marc Cooper on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 01:16PM |21 Comments
Under the partnership, students from USC will write dispatches for the Homicide Report. Among the goals is to provide more content for the blog and to offer crime-reporting experience to student journalists from Neon Tommy, the publication of Annenberg Digital News.
“Since the first days of the Homicide Report in 2007, our goal has been to tell two stories about violent death in Los Angeles – the overall statistical portrayal of who dies, how they are killed and where, as well as the individual portraits of the human beings behind those numbers,” said David Lauter, assistant managing editor at The Times. “Collaborating with USC will allow us to tell far more of those human stories and, at the same time, help develop the next generation of L.A. journalists.”
Annenberg Digital News director Marc Cooper called the move “an important step in redefining the future of journalism. “
“A partnership between the largest newspaper and the largest journalism school in Los Angeles can only produce good things. And the homicide blog is one of them,” he said. “ It's important for us at Annenberg that the capacity of our students to produce professional work be recognized and we thank The Times for the opportunity.”
Alan Mittelstaedt, Annenberg Digital News’ managing editor, will be working closely with Times editors on the student dispatches.
"Our reporters are hungry for real-world experiences, and this collaboration gives them a chance to put their best work on a crucial topic before a huge audience," he said. “The days when students' best work lands on a professor's desk and stays there are over."
-- Megan Garvey
—Marc Cooper on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 08:09PM |22 Comments
