Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Playing the al Qaeda Card
Crooks and Liars
When the situation in Iraq is deteriorating by the second and you refuse to call it what it is (aka a civil war), what's a desperate President to do? Blame al Qaeda, of course.
Video WMP Video MOV
However, as Olbermann and NBC's Sr. Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski point out, despite the President's newfound excuse that al Qaeda is to blame, Generals Caldwell, Abizaid and Mapes testified just two weeks ago that al Qaeda's influence in Iraq is negligible in the grand scheme of things.
When the situation in Iraq is deteriorating by the second and you refuse to call it what it is (aka a civil war), what's a desperate President to do? Blame al Qaeda, of course.
Video WMP Video MOV
However, as Olbermann and NBC's Sr. Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski point out, despite the President's newfound excuse that al Qaeda is to blame, Generals Caldwell, Abizaid and Mapes testified just two weeks ago that al Qaeda's influence in Iraq is negligible in the grand scheme of things.
Barack Hussein Obama
Crooks and Liars » Ed Rogers
That's his real middle name. Stay tuned for transparent, pathetic, long-term smear attempts based on this superficial bit of irrelevance.
What's in a name? We're going to find out I guess.
That's his real middle name. Stay tuned for transparent, pathetic, long-term smear attempts based on this superficial bit of irrelevance.
What's in a name? We're going to find out I guess.
No Slam Dunk for Net Neutrality (with apologies to George Tenet)
TPMCafe
It’s getting down to the end of this Congressional session, and any number of commentators are bemoaning the fact that telecom legislation has been stuffed, in large part, due to the opposition of those favoring Net Neutrality.
That’s fine. The bills that were up for consideration this year had some good things, but tremendous flaws as well, and shouldn’t have been considered in a hurry. At the same time, though, we shouldn’t rush to any conclusions about how the issue will play out next year, when the Democrats take over Congress. Some people are saying the Bell companies won’t want to pursue telecom legislation because they will work through the states to get what they want. Others are saying that Net Neutrality, the idea that telephone and cable companies can’t make special deals to favor transmission of some content over other content, will have a great chance next year with the Democrats in charge.
The best prediction is somewhere in the middle, in part because some of the factors involved aren’t yet known and in part because some of the old politics is still in play. In full.
It’s getting down to the end of this Congressional session, and any number of commentators are bemoaning the fact that telecom legislation has been stuffed, in large part, due to the opposition of those favoring Net Neutrality.
That’s fine. The bills that were up for consideration this year had some good things, but tremendous flaws as well, and shouldn’t have been considered in a hurry. At the same time, though, we shouldn’t rush to any conclusions about how the issue will play out next year, when the Democrats take over Congress. Some people are saying the Bell companies won’t want to pursue telecom legislation because they will work through the states to get what they want. Others are saying that Net Neutrality, the idea that telephone and cable companies can’t make special deals to favor transmission of some content over other content, will have a great chance next year with the Democrats in charge.
The best prediction is somewhere in the middle, in part because some of the factors involved aren’t yet known and in part because some of the old politics is still in play. In full.
Powell: Iraq Is In A Civil War And Bush Should Stop Denying It
Think Progress
Speaking with CNN reporter Hala Gorani in Dubai today, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq’s violence meets the standard of a civil war and thinks President Bush needs to acknowledge that. According to Gorani’s report, Powell said if he were heading the State Department right now, he would recommend that the Bush administration adopt that language “in order to come to terms with the reality on the ground.” Video & Transcript here.
Speaking with CNN reporter Hala Gorani in Dubai today, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq’s violence meets the standard of a civil war and thinks President Bush needs to acknowledge that. According to Gorani’s report, Powell said if he were heading the State Department right now, he would recommend that the Bush administration adopt that language “in order to come to terms with the reality on the ground.” Video & Transcript here.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
James Boyce: Netroots!
The Huffington Post
... But slowly there is a growing library of information that tears apart their dismissals of the online world. Over at DailyKos, an enterprising blogger (a phd with professional experience in polling by the way) has torn a hole in the myth that the bloggers are ranting youth online.
A poll of the age of the readers of DailyKos has been taken and with almost 12,000 people replying to the survey, the number one age bracket is 45-49 years old with 14% of those replying to survey. Second is the 50-54 age bracket with 13% replying and a full 83% are over the age of 30.
The rest of the results are here. But the answer is clear. The people online are the heart, the soul and the core of the Democratic Party and the energy and active base of the party. It is a huge diverse group of people who care and people who pay attention and give money and time and the future belongs to those outside of DC not those inside.
You can deny it. You can dismiss it. You can ignore it. You can also kiss your ass goodbye while you're at it.
... But slowly there is a growing library of information that tears apart their dismissals of the online world. Over at DailyKos, an enterprising blogger (a phd with professional experience in polling by the way) has torn a hole in the myth that the bloggers are ranting youth online.
A poll of the age of the readers of DailyKos has been taken and with almost 12,000 people replying to the survey, the number one age bracket is 45-49 years old with 14% of those replying to survey. Second is the 50-54 age bracket with 13% replying and a full 83% are over the age of 30.
The rest of the results are here. But the answer is clear. The people online are the heart, the soul and the core of the Democratic Party and the energy and active base of the party. It is a huge diverse group of people who care and people who pay attention and give money and time and the future belongs to those outside of DC not those inside.
You can deny it. You can dismiss it. You can ignore it. You can also kiss your ass goodbye while you're at it.
Bringing Bush to Court - by Elizabeth de la Vega and Tom Engelhardt
antiwar.com
Sometime last spring, I was on the phone with former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega talking about books she might someday write, when she suddenly said to me, "You know what I'd like to do?" When I asked what, she replied, "What I've done all my life."
"What's that?" I wondered innocently enough.
"I'd like to draft an indictment of President Bush and his senior aides, and present the case for prewar intelligence fraud to a grand jury, just as if it were an actual case of mine, using the evidence we already have in the public record. That's the book I'd like to do."
I assure you, this is a must-read event; no less important, this is a must-buy book that must be given over the holiday season to friends, relatives, those who politically disagree with you, and even perhaps sent to congressional representatives. Please get the investigative ball rolling by purchasing the book at Amazon.com.
Sometime last spring, I was on the phone with former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega talking about books she might someday write, when she suddenly said to me, "You know what I'd like to do?" When I asked what, she replied, "What I've done all my life."
"What's that?" I wondered innocently enough.
"I'd like to draft an indictment of President Bush and his senior aides, and present the case for prewar intelligence fraud to a grand jury, just as if it were an actual case of mine, using the evidence we already have in the public record. That's the book I'd like to do."
I assure you, this is a must-read event; no less important, this is a must-buy book that must be given over the holiday season to friends, relatives, those who politically disagree with you, and even perhaps sent to congressional representatives. Please get the investigative ball rolling by purchasing the book at Amazon.com.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Twistory
talkingpointsmemo.com
Was anyone besides me delighted to note that the last two Republican senators to concede were Burns and Allen?Say goodnight, Gracie.
-David Kurtz
one-time charge against earnings?
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall November 11, 2006 05:43 AM
You get the sense from the GOP that in its analysis of the election results the congressional seats lost due to Republican ties to public corruption shouldn't really count. Sort of like losing the game not because you got beat but because the refs made a bad call.
I think most people would view bribery, influence peddling, and sexually predatory congressmen as substantive problems, not mere technicalities. Maybe that's just me.
You get the sense from the GOP that in its analysis of the election results the congressional seats lost due to Republican ties to public corruption shouldn't really count. Sort of like losing the game not because you got beat but because the refs made a bad call.
I think most people would view bribery, influence peddling, and sexually predatory congressmen as substantive problems, not mere technicalities. Maybe that's just me.
BBC NEWS: Bolton unlikely to get confirmed
BBC NEWS
"[T]he senators who opposed Mr Bolton last time, including one Republican, are refusing to change their minds. 'I see no point in considering Mr Bolton's nomination again,' said Sen. Joseph Biden, Foreign Relations Committee.
Lincoln Chafee, who was defeated by his Democrat rival in Rhode Island this week, said it would be illogical to change his stance at the last minute. 'The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those fronts is on foreign policy,' Mr Chafee said."
"[T]he senators who opposed Mr Bolton last time, including one Republican, are refusing to change their minds. 'I see no point in considering Mr Bolton's nomination again,' said Sen. Joseph Biden, Foreign Relations Committee.
Lincoln Chafee, who was defeated by his Democrat rival in Rhode Island this week, said it would be illogical to change his stance at the last minute. 'The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those fronts is on foreign policy,' Mr Chafee said."
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: The Stewart Factor
I believe we said this too (a couple of years ago):
Andrew Sullivan The Daily Dish: The Stewart Factor
Andrew Sullivan The Daily Dish: The Stewart Factor
Thirty-eight dishonest rhetorical tricks
Thirty-eight dishonest rhetorical tricks and how to overcome them.
From Straight and Crooked Thinking by Robert H. Thouless, Pan Books, ISBN 0 330 24127 3, copyright 1930, 1953 and 1974, via this site.
In most textbooks of logic there is to be found a list of "fallacies", classified in accordance with the logical principles they violate.
Undoubtedly it is also important to be able to say of an argued case whether it has or has not been established by the arguments brought forward. Mere detection of crooked elements in the argument is not sufficient to settle this question since a good argumentative case may be disfigured by crooked arguments.
The study of crooked thinking is, however, an essential preliminary to this problem of judging the soundness of an argued case. It is only when we have cleared away the emotional thinking, the selected instances, the inappropriate analogies, etc., that we can see clearly the underlying case and make a sound judgement as to whether it is right or wrong.
The thirty-eight dishonest tricks of argument described in the present book are listed here [a more readable version of the list as shown on this page].
See also Arthur Schopenhauer's 38-item list in The Art of Controversy.
From Straight and Crooked Thinking by Robert H. Thouless, Pan Books, ISBN 0 330 24127 3, copyright 1930, 1953 and 1974, via this site.
In most textbooks of logic there is to be found a list of "fallacies", classified in accordance with the logical principles they violate.
Such collections are interesting and important, and it is to be hoped that any readers who wish to go more deeply into the principles of logical thought will turn to these works.
[Those who wish to go more deeply into the principles of effective communication and the art of persuasion should likewise consult treatises on Rhetoric and other readily available works on the subject of thinking straight.]The present list is, however, something quite different. Its aim is practical and not theoretical. It is intended to be a list which can be conveniently used for detecting dishonest modes of thought which we shall actually meet in arguments and speeches.
Sometimes more than one of the tricks mentioned would be classified by the logician under one heading, some he would omit altogether, while others that he would put in are not to be found here.Practical convenience and practical importance are the criteria I have used in this list.
If we have a plague of flies in the house we buy fly-papers and not a treatise on the zoological classification of Musca domestica. This implies no sort of disrespect for zoologists; or for the value of their work as a first step in the effective control of flies.
The present book bears to the treatises of logicians the relationship of fly-paper to zoological classifications.Other books have been concerned with the appraisal of the whole of an argumentative passage without such analysis into sound and unsound parts as I have attempted.
Undoubtedly it is also important to be able to say of an argued case whether it has or has not been established by the arguments brought forward. Mere detection of crooked elements in the argument is not sufficient to settle this question since a good argumentative case may be disfigured by crooked arguments.
The study of crooked thinking is, however, an essential preliminary to this problem of judging the soundness of an argued case. It is only when we have cleared away the emotional thinking, the selected instances, the inappropriate analogies, etc., that we can see clearly the underlying case and make a sound judgement as to whether it is right or wrong.
The thirty-eight dishonest tricks of argument described in the present book are listed here [a more readable version of the list as shown on this page].
See also Arthur Schopenhauer's 38-item list in The Art of Controversy.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Sunday, November 05, 2006
AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth
AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth
from The American Conservative
GOP MUST GO
....It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive “No” vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome....
Faced on Sept. 11, 2001 with a great challenge, President Bush made little effort to understand who had attacked us and why—thus ignoring the prerequisite for crafting an effective response. He seemingly did not want to find out, and he had staffed his national-security team with people who either did not want to know or were committed to a prefabricated answer.
As a consequence, he rushed America into a war against Iraq, a war we are now losing and cannot win, one that has done far more to strengthen Islamist terrorists than anything they could possibly have done for themselves. Bush’s decision to seize Iraq will almost surely leave behind a broken state divided into warring ethnic enclaves, with hundreds of thousands killed and maimed and thousands more thirsting for revenge against the country that crossed the ocean to attack them. The invasion failed at every level
...The war will continue as long as Bush is in office, for no other reason than the feckless president can’t face the embarrassment of admitting defeat. The chain of events is not complete: Bush, having learned little from his mistakes, may yet seek to embroil America in new wars against Iran and Syria.Meanwhile, America’s image in the world, its capacity to persuade others that its interests are common interests, is lower than it has been in memory. All over the world people look at Bush and yearn for this country—which once symbolized hope and justice—to be humbled
....There may be little Americans can do to atone for this presidency, which will stain our country’s reputation for a long time. But the process of recovering our good name must begin somewhere, and the logical place is in the voting booth this Nov. 7. If we are fortunate, we can produce a result that is seen—in Washington, in Peoria, and in world capitals from Prague to Kuala Lumpur—as a repudiation of George W. Bush and the war of aggression he launched against Iraq
....On Nov. 7, the world will be watching as we go to the polls, seeking to ascertain whether the American people have the wisdom to try to correct a disastrous course. Posterity will note too if their collective decision is one that captured the attention of historians—that of a people voting, again and again, to endorse a leader taking a country in a catastrophic direction. The choice is in our hands.
from The American Conservative
GOP MUST GO
....It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive “No” vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome....
Faced on Sept. 11, 2001 with a great challenge, President Bush made little effort to understand who had attacked us and why—thus ignoring the prerequisite for crafting an effective response. He seemingly did not want to find out, and he had staffed his national-security team with people who either did not want to know or were committed to a prefabricated answer.
As a consequence, he rushed America into a war against Iraq, a war we are now losing and cannot win, one that has done far more to strengthen Islamist terrorists than anything they could possibly have done for themselves. Bush’s decision to seize Iraq will almost surely leave behind a broken state divided into warring ethnic enclaves, with hundreds of thousands killed and maimed and thousands more thirsting for revenge against the country that crossed the ocean to attack them. The invasion failed at every level
...The war will continue as long as Bush is in office, for no other reason than the feckless president can’t face the embarrassment of admitting defeat. The chain of events is not complete: Bush, having learned little from his mistakes, may yet seek to embroil America in new wars against Iran and Syria.Meanwhile, America’s image in the world, its capacity to persuade others that its interests are common interests, is lower than it has been in memory. All over the world people look at Bush and yearn for this country—which once symbolized hope and justice—to be humbled
....There may be little Americans can do to atone for this presidency, which will stain our country’s reputation for a long time. But the process of recovering our good name must begin somewhere, and the logical place is in the voting booth this Nov. 7. If we are fortunate, we can produce a result that is seen—in Washington, in Peoria, and in world capitals from Prague to Kuala Lumpur—as a repudiation of George W. Bush and the war of aggression he launched against Iraq
....On Nov. 7, the world will be watching as we go to the polls, seeking to ascertain whether the American people have the wisdom to try to correct a disastrous course. Posterity will note too if their collective decision is one that captured the attention of historians—that of a people voting, again and again, to endorse a leader taking a country in a catastrophic direction. The choice is in our hands.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall
TPMmuckraker.com will be doing its usually cataloging of political muck and skullduggery of all sorts. But from now through the election muckrakers will be given special focus to voter suppression efforts, dirty tricks and all election related muck. You're in a far better position to see this stuff than any network news producer or prestige journalist in Washington or New York. Because you'll see it first in your mailbox, or hear it on your phone or you'll see it in the roadblocks thrown up on election day. These stunts come in all shapes and sizes. So keep your eyes and ears open.
TPMmuckraker.com will be doing its usually cataloging of political muck and skullduggery of all sorts. But from now through the election muckrakers will be given special focus to voter suppression efforts, dirty tricks and all election related muck. You're in a far better position to see this stuff than any network news producer or prestige journalist in Washington or New York. Because you'll see it first in your mailbox, or hear it on your phone or you'll see it in the roadblocks thrown up on election day. These stunts come in all shapes and sizes. So keep your eyes and ears open.
Army Times to call for Rumsfeld's resignation - CNN.com
Army Times to call for Rumsfeld's resignation - CNN.com:
An editorial to be published Monday in independent publications that serve the four main branches of the U.S. military will call for President Bush to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
'Basically, the editorial says, it's clear now, from some of the public statements that military leaders are making, that he's lost the support and respect of the military leadership,' said Robert Hodierne, senior managing editor for the publications' parent company Army Times Publications.
'That they're starting to go public with that now, with their disagreements, added up with all of the other missteps we believe he's made, that it's time for him to be replaced,' Hodierne.
Army Times Publications publishes the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and the Marine Corps Times.
It is the second time the publications have called for Rumsfeld to resign.
Bush has maintained that Rumsfeld will stay on the job until 2008. (Watch Bush say Rumsfeld is staying on the job -- 1:20 )
In May 2004, when the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal broke, an Army Times editorial said, 'This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential, even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war.'
The timing of Monday's editorial was prompted not by midterm elections, scheduled for Tuesday, but by Bush's statement earlier this week that he intends to keep Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney in their posts through the end of his term, Hodierne said.
No one running for midterm elections, he noted, would have the power to replace Rumsfeld.
Swaying conservative voters 'is not our aim"
An editorial to be published Monday in independent publications that serve the four main branches of the U.S. military will call for President Bush to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
'Basically, the editorial says, it's clear now, from some of the public statements that military leaders are making, that he's lost the support and respect of the military leadership,' said Robert Hodierne, senior managing editor for the publications' parent company Army Times Publications.
'That they're starting to go public with that now, with their disagreements, added up with all of the other missteps we believe he's made, that it's time for him to be replaced,' Hodierne.
Army Times Publications publishes the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and the Marine Corps Times.
It is the second time the publications have called for Rumsfeld to resign.
Bush has maintained that Rumsfeld will stay on the job until 2008. (Watch Bush say Rumsfeld is staying on the job -- 1:20 )
In May 2004, when the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal broke, an Army Times editorial said, 'This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential, even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war.'
The timing of Monday's editorial was prompted not by midterm elections, scheduled for Tuesday, but by Bush's statement earlier this week that he intends to keep Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney in their posts through the end of his term, Hodierne said.
No one running for midterm elections, he noted, would have the power to replace Rumsfeld.
Swaying conservative voters 'is not our aim"
Neo Culpa
vanityfair.com
As Iraq slips further into chaos, the war's neoconservative boosters have turned sharply on the Bush administration, charging that their grand designs have been undermined by White House incompetence. In a series of exclusive interviews, Richard Perle, Kenneth Adelman, David Frum, and others play the blame game with shocking frankness. Target No. 1: the president himself.
As Iraq slips further into chaos, the war's neoconservative boosters have turned sharply on the Bush administration, charging that their grand designs have been undermined by White House incompetence. In a series of exclusive interviews, Richard Perle, Kenneth Adelman, David Frum, and others play the blame game with shocking frankness. Target No. 1: the president himself.
Another Dingalink
BloggingHeads.tv: smart conservatives coming out of the woodwork who are equally appalled ...
e.g. Belgravia Dispatch blog
e.g. Belgravia Dispatch blog
Info Age Humor
The Blog Marty Kaplan: They Found The WMD! The Huffington Post
The idea, see, is that people all over the world could use the google to find the nucular needles in that docstack.
And it wikiworked! Classified information wants to be free. Poor kids in madrassas no longer have to suffer on the wrong side of the digital divide; now it's as easy to download a cached blueprint for catastrophe as it is to stoke your iPod. Rip, mix, and burn, baby, burn!
Clearly this is the just the beginning of open-source killware. As long as Republicans keep control of Congress, imagine the possibilities. They could put the contents of everyone's hard drive on the net. No more lonely, frantic searching for that honey-it-must-have-been-the-cable-guy-who-went-to-that-site you forgot to delete; now, the distributed intelligence of the whole world can be mobilized on your behalf. And think of it: when no one has any privacy any more, no one will need to worry about identity theft any more!
Forget MySpace -- MySpore is the new killer ap. Googlebombing will never be the same.
The idea, see, is that people all over the world could use the google to find the nucular needles in that docstack.
And it wikiworked! Classified information wants to be free. Poor kids in madrassas no longer have to suffer on the wrong side of the digital divide; now it's as easy to download a cached blueprint for catastrophe as it is to stoke your iPod. Rip, mix, and burn, baby, burn!
Clearly this is the just the beginning of open-source killware. As long as Republicans keep control of Congress, imagine the possibilities. They could put the contents of everyone's hard drive on the net. No more lonely, frantic searching for that honey-it-must-have-been-the-cable-guy-who-went-to-that-site you forgot to delete; now, the distributed intelligence of the whole world can be mobilized on your behalf. And think of it: when no one has any privacy any more, no one will need to worry about identity theft any more!
Forget MySpace -- MySpore is the new killer ap. Googlebombing will never be the same.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
SHOWDOWN 06: The Washington Monthly
SHOWDOWN 06: The Washington Monthly:
"Of course, the generic congressional contest does not tell you directly about how the myriad individual races will turn out (we'll get to the race by race data in a moment) so some caution is advised in assessing just what this gaudy lead is likely to mean for the Democrats on election day. But here's some food for thought. Three political scientists, Joseph Bafumi, Robert Erikson and Christopher Wlezien, have recently released a paper that forecasts the level of seat shifts from the generic congressional vote question, using model-based computer simulations of the 435 individual House contests.
"As I have continually stressed--and the mainstream press is now starting to pick up on--the Rovean fire-up-the-base-and-screw-the-middle strategy only works mathematically if losses in the political center can be minimized. Now they can't and the GOP is likely to pay the price--and very probably not just in this election....
"Let me also draw your attention to a very interesting study released by the Pew Research Center that, among other things, compares a wide range of demographic groups' current voting intentions to their voting intentions at this point in the 2002 campaign. If you read one poll in detail this election cycle, let it be this one. The Pew data show huge swings toward the Democrats among many important voter groups including seniors, middle income voters, non-college educated voters, whites, rural residents, married moms, white Catholics--the list goes on and on. In effect, these shifts have turned yesterday's swing voters into Democratic groups and many of yesterday's Republican groups into swing voters."
"Of course, the generic congressional contest does not tell you directly about how the myriad individual races will turn out (we'll get to the race by race data in a moment) so some caution is advised in assessing just what this gaudy lead is likely to mean for the Democrats on election day. But here's some food for thought. Three political scientists, Joseph Bafumi, Robert Erikson and Christopher Wlezien, have recently released a paper that forecasts the level of seat shifts from the generic congressional vote question, using model-based computer simulations of the 435 individual House contests.
"As I have continually stressed--and the mainstream press is now starting to pick up on--the Rovean fire-up-the-base-and-screw-the-middle strategy only works mathematically if losses in the political center can be minimized. Now they can't and the GOP is likely to pay the price--and very probably not just in this election....
"Let me also draw your attention to a very interesting study released by the Pew Research Center that, among other things, compares a wide range of demographic groups' current voting intentions to their voting intentions at this point in the 2002 campaign. If you read one poll in detail this election cycle, let it be this one. The Pew data show huge swings toward the Democrats among many important voter groups including seniors, middle income voters, non-college educated voters, whites, rural residents, married moms, white Catholics--the list goes on and on. In effect, these shifts have turned yesterday's swing voters into Democratic groups and many of yesterday's Republican groups into swing voters."
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Pollster.com releases charts to blogosphere
Pollster.com
Polster announced some new upgrades to their charts. Some changes are small, but if you're a blogger (or anyone else with a web site) we have one huge new feature we hope you will want to try. Here are the details ...
The blogger feature is simply this:
The chart is supposed to update automatically -- right on each embedding blog -- whenever Pollster adds new data. Readers can use the controls to turn data points, trend lines and confidence intervals on and off.
Polster announced some new upgrades to their charts. Some changes are small, but if you're a blogger (or anyone else with a web site) we have one huge new feature we hope you will want to try. Here are the details ...
The blogger feature is simply this:
- Embed Chart -- This is the big one for bloggers or anyone else with a web site. At the bottom of each chart you will now find a box labeled "Embed Chart," that works just like the one on YouTube. It includes some HTML code that when copied into a blog post or web page will produce a small version of that chart on your blog...just like this...
The chart is supposed to update automatically -- right on each embedding blog -- whenever Pollster adds new data. Readers can use the controls to turn data points, trend lines and confidence intervals on and off.
The Pathology of Compulsive Lying
Daily Kos: State of the Nation:
"What I find interesting (in a strictly car wreck, we're-all-going-to-die sort of way) is while the think tanks started out to provide thin but important-sounding justifications for whatever conservative graft or manipulation was being attempted during any particular period, the think tank model has now entirely transferred to the White House itself. Listening to Tony Snow (or any of the previous press secretaries) is like listening to an off-off-Broadway theatrical production exploring the pathology of compulsive lying. They don't care what the truth is: after spending every minute of every day reinforcing their fragile little bubbles of newspeak, in fact, it's not even clear they know what the actual truth is.
"Which is why, in a nutshell, we're in Iraq to begin with, the perfect think-tank-produced war -- because the policy came first, and actual knowledge was ignored as new 'facts' were fixed around that desired policy. And all of those facts -- nearly every single one of the 'big' facts used to enter the war -- turned out to be either fabricated or a product of extraordinary incompetence."
"What I find interesting (in a strictly car wreck, we're-all-going-to-die sort of way) is while the think tanks started out to provide thin but important-sounding justifications for whatever conservative graft or manipulation was being attempted during any particular period, the think tank model has now entirely transferred to the White House itself. Listening to Tony Snow (or any of the previous press secretaries) is like listening to an off-off-Broadway theatrical production exploring the pathology of compulsive lying. They don't care what the truth is: after spending every minute of every day reinforcing their fragile little bubbles of newspeak, in fact, it's not even clear they know what the actual truth is.
"Which is why, in a nutshell, we're in Iraq to begin with, the perfect think-tank-produced war -- because the policy came first, and actual knowledge was ignored as new 'facts' were fixed around that desired policy. And all of those facts -- nearly every single one of the 'big' facts used to enter the war -- turned out to be either fabricated or a product of extraordinary incompetence."
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