grist

a moment of liveblogging from the Fairest College

From our panel on Politics, the Internet and Journalism here at the Amherst College reunion, my fellow alum State Senator Craig Johnson (D-NY) says that elected officials can use the Internet "as a sword and a shield."

An amazing ability to fundraise and move fast, he says from his own experience, but it forces politicians to "watch what they say."

conservative soul-search

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn on whether and why the Republican party has drifted from its most basic tenets of governance, compassion and how to combine the two:

Compassionate conservatism's next step – its implicit claim that charity or compassion translates into a particular style of activist government involving massive spending increases and entitlement expansion – was its undoing. Common sense and the Scriptures show that true giving and compassion require sacrifice by the giver. This is why Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions, not his neighbor's possessions. Spending other people's money is not compassionate.

Regaining our brand is not about "messaging." It's about action. It's about courage. It's about priorities.

olbermann does his job

If you're one of the few loyal souls who've visited this page more than 2-3 times, you know that I think language and criticism about events do almost as much to influence the future as events themselves. That's one of the main reasons I think Barack Obama is not only a better candidate, but a better choice for president.

The press has been woefully delinquent over the last generation in their once-sacrosanct role as guardians of not only truth, but decency in our leaders. From the shameless warmongering of recent years to the eager clutching at every inch of the Lewinsky scandal, the mainstream media has chosen eyeballs over oversight nearly without exception.

So it's in that spirit that I'm posting this Keith Olbermann "Special Comment" on Hillary Clinton's feckless invocation of the RFK assassination. Not for what it says about Clinton and her poor judgment or bad priorities, but for its example of a journalist not afraid to hold a leader to full, historical account in an era still mired in the muck of prurient punditry for the sake of ratings, not for the sake of the public conscience.

Full transcript ...

Mc-Cane on his age

A 2000 clip dug out from the video archive by Crooks and Liars:

Jim Lehrer: Finally for the record, you have not lost your desire to be President of the United States have you?

John McCain: Certainly it’s been put in deep cold storage. haha..

Lehrer: You haven’t lost it?

McCain: Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there.

good news, bad news

Well, the good news is, Obama's toughening up:

"I want to be perfectly clear with George Bush and John McCain….If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate I’m willing to have anytime, anywhere because that is a debate that I will win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for."

Video of Obama

not burgess meredith, but larry bird

Mark Leibovich in NYT makes my same point from the other day. Obama post-Hillary is stronger than Obama post-sensation-sans-struggle:

Could competing against Mrs. Clinton have improved Mr. Obama as a candidate in the same way that competing against Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s made Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan champions in the 1990s? ...

Mr. Obama’s relentless hope-hope-hope campaign put him in danger of being seen as soft, a 2008 version of the “wimp factor” that haunted George H. W. Bush 20 years ago (before Mr. Bush, then vice president, embarked on one of the most aggressive, some say dirty, presidential campaigns in recent memory). The term “Obambi” entered the lexicon late last year, but has barely been heard of late.

Indeed, a candidate gains a certain political street credibility by being in a fight. Aides to the current President Bush when he was governor of Texas said he was greatly enhanced by the challenge posed by Mr. McCain in 2000.

“One of Bush’s liabilities coming in was that he was seen as a silver spooner who had lived a charmed political life,” said Dan Bartlett, a top aide to Mr. Bush in Texas and in the White House. Overcoming Mr. McCain, Mr. Bartlett said, was a show of toughness. “He took a punch and got up off the mat,” Mr. Bartlett said of Mr. Bush. “You could argue the same about Obama now.”

obama by 210,363 combined

Can this be the end of the beginning of the end for my party and their chances in November?

Tonight, many of the pundits have suggested that this party is inalterably divided – that Senator Clinton’s supporters will not support me, and that my supporters will not support her.

Well I’m here tonight to tell you that I don’t believe it. Yes, there have been bruised feelings on both sides. Yes, each side desperately wants their candidate to win. But ultimately, this race is not about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or John McCain. This election is about you – the American people – and whether we will have a president and a party that can lead us toward a brighter future.

This primary season may not be over, but when it is, we will have to remember who we are as Democrats – that we are the party of Jefferson and Jackson; of Roosevelt and Kennedy; and that we are at our best when we lead with principle; when we lead with conviction; when we summon an entire nation around a common purpose – a higher purpose. This fall, we intend to march forward as one Democratic Party, united by a common vision for this country. Because we all agree that at this defining moment in history – a moment when we’re facing two wars, an economy in turmoil, a planet in peril – we can’t afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush’s third term. We need change in America. Full Obama remarks as prepared ...

podcast: oil companies graded on transparency

New audio from Revenue Watch, with comments from my boss Karin Lissakers and Juanita Olaya of Transparency International on a new TI report that finds most oil and gas companies don't do very well when it comes to reporting what they pay governments, how their operations are structured or what anti-corruption measures are in place.

You can play or download the audio here, or read more from Transparency International.