Daily -Click and Print- NewspaperLibertyNewsprint.com U.S. Edition09/07/08 - 24/07/08

Study: American Voters Dumb as Ever!

By David Knowles (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 2:20:00 AM

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans,Featured Stories, Humor Back in 1960,four University of Michigan professorspublished a landmark study that, to thenation's utter shock, found that Americansare nothing but lemmings when it comes toour most sacred Democratic rite, voting.Titled " The American Voter," the studyrevealed that, by and large, Democrats andRepublicans voted for their respectiveparties for no better reason than that waswhat their parents had done before them.Independents, the study claimed, wereeven less informed than their partisanneighbors. In fact, if anything, they wereless interested and involved in politics thanthe donkeys or the elephants.Over the ensuing 48 years, a lot haschanged in our country. We've seen greatleaders assassinated, fought a disastrouswar in Vietnam, seen a president resign indisgrace, helped dismantle the SovietUnion, learned interesting uses for Altoids,and invaded Iraq based on faultyintelligence. In short, we've been givenevery reason to start paying attention to theissues that face our country so that we canmake an informed decision about who weelect to governmental office. What's thatold saying? Something about learning fromthe mistakes of the past so that we're notdoomed to repeat them in the present?Well, consider us doomed. That's the gistof an update to "The American Voter,"aptly titled, " The American VoterRevisited."Once again, four smart people havegotten together to look down from theirivory tower across the landscape populatedwith frighteningly unthoughtful voters.And, once again, we're learning about whatwe already knew. From The WashingtonPost:"The American Voter Revisited" is chock -full of depressing conclusions, couched inacademic understatement. In-depthinterviews conducted with 1,500 peopleduring the two most recent presidentialelections revealed that the "majority of people don't have many issues in mind"when they discuss voting, (study co-authorMichael) Lewis-Beck says. Sometimesthey say they're attracted to a candidatebecause "I just don't think we shouldchange parties right now." They tend toinherit their party allegiance from theirparents, and those beliefs tend to stay fixedthroughout their lives, he says.Just as in 1960, American voters aren'treally paying attention. Despite the 24-hour campaign coverage on the teevee andthe internets, for the most part, theelectorate seems to be set on auto-pilot, asLewis-Black, detailed in an interview withthe University of Michigan Press:...do socio-economic conditions and,especially, party identification, still largelydetermine how Americans vote? Arevoters still mostly inattentive to politics,with a rather low level of interest inpolitics, and very little under standing of the liberal-conservative debate raging atthe elite level? The answer to thesequestions, perhaps surprisingly, is "yes." Inother words, the typical American voterfollows pretty much the same cues as he orshe did fifty years ago.Yes, the Times They Are a Changin', andthe more they change, the more they staythe same.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Cross Jindal Off McCain VP List

By David Knowles (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:04:00 PM

Filed under: Republicans, John McCain,Breaking News, Veepstakes Via CNN,GOP rising star Bobby Jindal puts thebreaks on all the vice-presidentialspeculation:"I'm not going to be the vice presidentialnominee or vice president," Jindal said."I'm going to help Senator McCain getelected, as governor of Louisiana.""Let me be clear: I have said in everyprivate and public conversation, I've go the job I want," Jindal also said.One thing Jindal might do is deliver thekeynote address at the RepublicanConvention. Baring a McCain win inNovember, look for him to warm to theidea of being vice president (hey, maybeeven president) in 2012.Question: Did Mitt Romney's hopes justget that much brighter? How aboutMinnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty?And did Robert Novak run over thatperson in the crosswalk today because hewas still fuming about potentially beingduped by McCain's senior advisers overwhen John would announce his VP choice?Or does Novak simply have a thing againstpedestrians in general? So many questions.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Can We Call aGaffe Ceasefire,Please?

By Dave (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:35:00 PM

Filed under: 2008 President, GaffesRighty blogs highlight this:Lefty blogs highlight stuff like this:Can we stipulate, just for the sake of argument, that both candidates, heck allcandidates in all of history occasionallymisspeak themselves? I mean fine, one canprobably make a point that McCain at hisage is probably not as quick thinking as heonce was, one could also make a point thatObama isn't nearly as good off the cuff ashe is brilliant with a prepared speech.And so what? Do we really think itmeans anything about the judgements andthe decisions they will make as president?Our president does not appear before thecongress like the British Prime Ministerwhere a quick thinking wit is a decidedadvantage. (click here, for a good typicalexchange)Sound off in the comments; Keep up onthe gaffe coverage, or save it for theextreme and/or hilarious ones?Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

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Unsafe at Any Feed: Dinner With Nader

By Tommy Christopher (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 3:05:00 AM

Filed under: Democrats, 2008 President,Ralph Nader It was either that, or "FastenYour Seatbelts! It's Dinner with Nader!"I'm open to suggestions.Barack Obama is offering "All-Access"laminates to lucky donors, John McCain isoffering lucky winners a ride on the"Straight Talk Express," and Ron Paulsupporters can even buy their own blimps,but Ralph Nader will not be outdone: (viaTom Abrahams of ABC in Houston) Theperson who brings in the most e-mail sign-ups by August 7 at midnight tovotenader.org wins...During the course of the contest, you cankeep track of how you are doing on our"Win Dinner With Ralph E-mail ContestLeaderboard."It's sort of like kicking back on a Sundayafternoon and watching the PGAleaderboard.Except that this isn't golf. It's democracy.I have some questions, but first, doesn't thename of his website sound like a futuristiccyborg, sent from the future to dimplechads?More than that, though, I think peoplewill wonder:Do they get dinner with the young, hip-to-be-square Nader in the accompanyingphoto?Is this a "dutch treat" type of deal?If something spoils the dinner, does thewinner get to blame Ralph, and insist thathe never participate in future dinners?Does Ralph "put out?"Does Ralph expect the winner to "putout?"Even if you don't win the grand prize,Nader has lots of other goodies in store foryou. Second prize is dinner with Ralph'sVP running mate Matt Gonzalez.( Hemight ask you to buy him a drink becausehe "forgot his I.D.")Third prize is an invitation to ourelection night party in Washington,D.C.(Glow stix and ecstasy not included)Then the next seventeen people get anautographed copy of Unsafe at Any Speedand an autographed copy of the DVD AnUnreasonable Man.( At this time, there'sno substituting for an autographedbutterfly ballot or a DVD of "AnInconvenient Truth" inscribed, "Don'tblame me, loser! Xoxo Ralph")Everyone who brings in at least 25 emailsign-ups will receive a copy of theDeclaration of Independence.(This issimilar to McCain's consolation prize,except he gives you a copy of theConstitution and a paper shredder.) I think this contest could be pretty major,especially if Ralph can pick up theoverflow from ersatz McCain VPcandidate Bobby Jindal's "The Power of Christ Compels You...to VoteMcCain/Jindal" exorcism contest.So head on over to votenader.org to getin on the fun, and while you're there, check out Nader's platform. Despite Ralph'sextremely ill-advised statements earlier inthis campaign, he points out a lot of whatneeds fixing in our swing, to borrow hisgolf metaphor.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Columnist Bob NovakInvolved in Hit and Run

By Denise Williams (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:39:00 AM

Filed under: Breaking News, Gaffes,Humor, MediaLongest-running syndicated columnistEVER, Bob Novak, was cited today by DCpolice after hitting a pedestrian with hisblack Corvette and driving off. This isdifferent than his normal hit and run jobs -this time a person was physically injured.There is no early indication that a) theperson was a Democrat or b) it was road-rage induced by finding out that he hadbeen duped, yet again for politicalpurposes, by the McCain campaign.As luck would have it, a Politico reporterand film crew were nearby (thank goodness, I'd hate to have to wait 3 yearsfor a grand jury and Patrick Fitzgerald tofind out what happened) to record thegoings-on.As reported by Politico (via HuffPo):A Politico reporter saw Novak in thefront of a police car with a citation in hishand; a WJLA-TV crew and reporter sawNovak as well. The pedestrian, a 66-year-old male, was hospitalized at GeorgeWashington University Hospital withminor injuries, according to DC Fire andEMS. Novak was later released by policeand drove away from the scene."I didn't know I hit him. I feel terrible," ashaken Novak told reporters from Politicoand WJLA as he was returning to hiscar."He's not dead, that's the main thing."Novak said he was a block away from 18thand K streets Northwest, where theaccident happened, when a bicycliststopped him and said, "You hit someone."He said he was cited for failing to yield theright of way.[snip]As he traveled east on K Street, crossing18th, (bicyclist and witness) Bono said a"black Corvette convertible with top closedplowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield."Plenty more here and every other blogand new website.I think I have an idea what happened.Why is a 77 year-old crochety old dudedriving a 'vette?Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

McCain Redefines 'The Surge'

By David Knowles (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 2:35:00 AM

Filed under: Republicans, John McCain,Featured Stories Yesterday, Sen. JohnMcCain took pains to redefine the meaningof what he means when he says "TheSurge." In effect, McCain had made a sillygaffe when he declared that our infusion of troops into Iraq back in early 2007facilitated the Sunni Awakening, which, asmany were quick to point out, actuallyhappened months before. As PoliticalMachine's Dave reported earlier,candidates make mistakes on the campaigntrail. But rather than correct the record andwipe the egg off his face, McCain decidedto take another approach. Since historicalrevisionism could be easily exposed byeven the most novice fact-checker, McCaindecided to go after the English languageitself.In order to make it seem like he nevermade a gaffe in the first place, McCainemployed some Clintonian linguisticdeconstruction. You see, McCain didn'tmisspeak, it just depends on what themeaning of the word "surge" is. I have myproblems with Keith Olbermann and hisoverly-dramatic impersonation of EdwardR. Murrow, but on this story, he prettymuch nailed why McCain's re-explanationof the surge is going to get him into muchmore trouble than if he'd simply admittedan error.Of course, "the Surge" is the best card inMcCain's hand, so he knows he can'tafford to watch it be buried. Why on earth,then, does he insist on tossing more dirtupon it? Pretty soon, his chances of winning this election will be dead andburied.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Why Jailbreaking Your iPhone is Still Worth It [IPhone]

By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker)

Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:45:00 AM

Our brothers in gadgetry over at Gizmodomake the case for why jailbreaking youriPhone is worth it even with the App Storeopen. Here's why we still need the iPhoneapp black market.

Politico* Tech Tips*

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Obama Measures theDrapes

By Dave (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 7:03:00 AM

Filed under: Barack Obama, 2008President My first reaction: Isn't this a littlepremature? Doesn't he have to win anelection first?Marc Ambinder:With less than six months to go before hewould be sworn in as the nation's 44thpresident, Sen. Barack Obama has directedhis aides to begin planning for thetransition."Barack is well aware of the complexityand the organizational challenge involvedin the transition process and he has taskeds small group to begin thinking through theprocess," a senior campaign adviser said."Barack has made his expectations clearabout what he wants from such a process,how he wants it to move forward, and theestablishment and execution of his timelineis proceeding apace."...An aide confirms that Podesta willprobably be asked to head the transitionteam, which would take over from thecampaign if Obama wins in November,and would be tasked with ensuring asmooth handover of power.After thinking about it though, I willadmit that it's probably a good idea to havea plan in place in either eventuality. Thedumb here is not having a plan, it's intalking about a plan, especially whenyou're battling against a perception of arrogance. Well, maybe battling is not theright word, maybe it's more likeunderscoring.At the end of the article, the McCainteam said they wouldn't discuss their plans,which seems more appropriate at thispoint.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Foreign Service WorkersBanned from Speech

By Denise Williams (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 7:38:00 AM

Filed under: Barack Obama, ForeignPolicy100,000 200,000+ attended today'sspeech by Barack Obama in Berlin. ButUS foreign service workers and diplomatswere not among them.The LA Times reported a little after nooneastern time today:On orders from the State Department, therally has been declared off-limits toForeign Service personnel because it is a"partisan political activity." Under theHatch Act, civil servants in the UnitedStates are allowed to attend such rallies aslong as they do not make politicalcontributions to work for candidates.But State Department Undersecretary forManagement Patrick Kennedy told theWashington Post's Karen DeYoung thatthe administration wanted to draw a line inthe sand when it came to partisan stuff abroad. "We always maintain that no U.S.government Foreign Service personoverseas should be seen to be advocatingone side or the other," he said.The diplomats' union, the AmericanForeign Service Assn., is appealing theruling as "an unnecessarily narrowinterpretation" of the rules.Unnecessary, indeed. Is the Bushadministration that worried about JohnMcCain's prospects this fall???Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Obama Wows Berlin

By David Knowles (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 6:59:00 AM

Filed under: Barack Obama, JohnMcCain, Breaking News Barack Obama just finished delivering his speech inBerlin. Read the full text here. Thetakeaway image? A huge crowd of a fewhundred thousand Berliners, a great manyof them waving American flags.As Chuck Todd noted on MSNBC, therewas nothing in the text of the speech--which was neither here nor there, to mymind--that John McCain would necessarilydisagree with. Still, it's hard to imagineMcCain being able to deliver the samespeech as convincingly as Obama just did.Meanwhile, McCain ate sausage at aGerman restaurant someplace in Ohio.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Cheesy Campaign Images

By Denise Williams (Political Machine)

Submitted at 7/24/2008 5:57:00 AM

Filed under: Ads, John McCain,LOLectionFrom pedestrian to pompous.From an unscheduled trip to aPennsylvania supermarket and discussingcounterinsurgency strategy (at leastdelights is not spelled de-lites):And this one reminds me of a funeralMass card:Can this campaign hire some media-savvy people?Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|Comments

Wal-Mart stages marketingappearance to promotelocally-grown produce

By Brian White (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:25:00 AM

Filed under: Products and services, Wal-Mart (WMT) Not too long ago, I wroteabout Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:WMT) and the entrance of the world'slargest retailer more heavily into locally-grown fresh produce. As a way of differentiating itself, Wal-Mart is really onthe right track here. Partnering with localmerchants near each community it servescould help repair the rift between small-town merchants and the retailing behemoththat has steadily grown for the last twodecades.The retailer may finally be heeding theadvice of many critics. That is, when itdoes good, it needs to actively market andpromote that effort as much as possible.Last week, one of the retailer's locations inManteca, California along with localgrowers, put the positive word out abouthow Wal-Mart is joining with the localmerchants to ensure customers can buyproduce with confidence. This is great --but Wal-Mart needs these "workshops" atevery location where it has a significantand growing relationship with local foodsuppliers.Tiffany Moffatt, Wal-Mart's corporateaffairs director for the western U.S. region,stated that "In the (West Sacramento,Calif.) store, we carry more than 120locally grown products .. our partnershipswith local farmers have grown by 50%over the last two years." This is great PR,and Wal-Mart needs even more of itmoving forward. When you have localfood suppliers describing Wal-Mart as a "a demanding but loyal customer," then onehas to guess that Wal-Mart is indeedsowing the seeds to forming newrelationships with communities outside itsrather boring big-box store presence.Alerting the buying public is the nextphase in Wal-Mart's efforts -- and it can'thappen soon enough. Read| Permalink|Email this| Comments