Where’s the Outrage?

The Harris County, Texas Clerk’s office reports that nearly 150,000 voters with Hispanic sounding surnames are likely to vote in the county in 2008.

Houston, where I live, is in Harris County.

I’m pretty sure I’m one of those so-called Hispanic voters. My last name is A-Q-U-I-N-O.

I once worked with someone in Houston who after knowing me a year blurted out “You don’t seem Hispanic at all.”

Right she was—I’m Italian. At least I am everywhere except the Harris County Clerk’s office.

Or when I get an occasional piece of junk mail or a phone solicitation in Spanish.

My wife and I once went to Italy. Over there they thought she was the Italian. Really she’s Jewish. The dark curly hair tricked the Italians.

(Above is a picture of my homeland—Naples, Italy. I’m glad to report that the wife and I made it to Naples.)

Growing up on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island, I recall many teachers who would trip over the pronunciation of my name at the beginning of the school year. [Read more →]

Tags: Election 2008, Race by Texas Liberal
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Let me ask you the same question 2 different ways -

• Has the surge worked?
• Has the surge failed?

If you are hosting a Democratic debate which is the better question? If you want the democrats to look bad, frame the question so that they have to answer in the negative. If you want the Democrats to look good, then frame the question so that they answer in the positive.

Charles Gibson framed the question in the negative. He knew how each of the Democrats were going to answer the question. Therefore, I fault him for serving up a terrible question which he continues to push the Republican agenda even though Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson do a very good job at answering the question. His follow up question is torn right from the NeoCon play book, “Parliament meets, an oil law is under consideration, DeBaathication has progressed to some extend; and were it not for the surge instead of counting votes we would be counting body bags.” (rough transcript) Really???? That’s his follow up question. Obama does a great job not throwing up on his desk. Edwards also does a very good job at specifically focusing on what he is going to do.

Gibson should be transferred to the Fox News Channel instantly. An Oil law is under consideration? There has been an oil law under consideration for the last 4 years. No side has given up an inch of ground on this issue. Oil is power in Iraq. The Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites know it. No one is willing to give up squat and Charles Gibson knows this yet he serves it up like they are on the brink of some type of breakthrough.

All 4 candidates do a good job with this question or series of partisan questions.

 

 NH debate - The Surge [8:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Election 2008 by ecthompson
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Yesterday, there was a lot of yickity yack on several progressive blogs about John Edwards being snubbed by the mainstream media. I’m not exactly sure if John Edwards was snubbed by what I do know is that the mainstream media likes to boil things down to a dichotomy — wrong versus right, left versus right, good versus evil. The press is not so good at dealing with complex subjects which have multiple different angles. The Democrats have a number of great candidates running for president (I’m sorry that Joe Biden and Chris Dodd dropping out of the race). It appears that the press has committed a significant amount of time and energy covering Hillary Clinton. This is a story that they know. Therefore, she makes up one side of the story. The only question is who will make up the other side. For a while, it was Hillary Clinton versus the Republicans. Currently, it’s Hillary Clinton versus Barack Obama. I think if John Edwards would’ve won the Iowa caucuses the story would have been John Edwards versus Hillary Clinton.

The one thing that several of these blogs do bring up is a significant limitations of our media sources. There are so many stories that need to be covered that seem to get buried on page 35 or never make the nightly news. The 24-hour news channels would seem to be an excellent place for the stories to find an audience but instead of delving deeper into stories the 24-hour news channels seem to run the same three to four stories over and over throughout a 24-hour news cycle.

The bottom line is that John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul and all of the other candidates need more face time with the public. Here’s John Edward’s speech Thursday after coming in second at the Iowa Caucuses. (Although I loved Barack Obama’s speech, this speech was very good.)

 

 Edward's Iowa Speech [9:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Election 2008 by ecthompson
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It is not often that I’ve agreed with David Brooks of the New York Times. He has been an unrelenting apologist for conservatives in general and the neocons in specific but his analysis of Thursday night’s elections is surprisingly lucid. He recognizes the amazing feat that Barack Obama pulled off on Thursday night. One needs to sit back in think about those events of last Thursday night. A Black man from Illinois wins the Iowa caucuses.

Surprisingly, David Brooks recognizes the victory that Mike Huckabee had in Iowa. This was equally shocking. Mike Huckabee got very little press. His announcement of his candidacy received a yawn from the Washington talking heads and politicos. Mitt Romney was assumed to be the clear victor long before the votes were cast. He had enormous sums of money and spent them freely in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. According to some reports, Mike Huckabee was outspent 15 to one in Iowa by Mitt Romney. There was no way that that Romney could lose.

This is something I believe it is very important for Democrats to understand - Mike Huckabee is not going to disappear. He has the ability to connect with people. Notice I didn’t say Christians or evangelical Republicans. Mike Huckabee is a likable character. He has a good preacher’s ability to connect with his audience. He clearly has problems with details and answering reporters one on one but standing in front of a crowd, this is his strong suit. In my opinion, he does this better than any other Republican running for president.

I would like to publicly congratulate David Brooks for getting it right. I would like to congratulate him for noticing how two men really beat the odds. Both men have outstanding powers of persuasion. I would also like to congratulate him for not overreaching, a significant problem that the mainstream media seems to have. He recognizes that this is only one step in a long process to the nomination. Congratulations, David Brooks. (I suspect he’ll probably be another three to four years before I agree with him on anything else but this time he gets it right. What is that old saying, even a blind hog can find an acorn. )

Tags: Election 2008 by ecthompson
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This is football. Both games were fantastic. The Washington Redskins were pushed around for 3 quarters but the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t put the game away. The first play of the 4th quarter the Redskins score a touchdown. Hasselbeck throws an interception on the very next series. Redskins score another touchdown. A game that looked like Seahawks had in the bag is now slipping away. The Redskins do something on the kickoff. The ball was very short and bounces pass Nate Burleson. Redskins get the ball inside the Seahawks 20. Everything is going the Redskins way. The Redskins in a playoff game, in Seattle, come away with nada, zip, nothing. The 30 yard field goal is pushed to the left. Just as quickly as momentum was on the Redskins side, it was gone. Over the next 3 - 5 minutes, the Seahawks score a touchdown and a 2 point conversion. Seattle scores again on a Pick 6 (interception returned for a touchdown). Game over.

The second game looked like it was over at half-time. The Steelers are down 21 - 7. Ben Roethlisberger throws 3 ints. Um, no. The Steelers come out in the second half and lock down the Jacksonville Jaguars. Big Ben throws the ball well. His receivers begin to make plays. The Steelers are up late in the 4th quarter 29 - 28. David Garrard. David Garrard. This guy, like Tom Brady or Jeff Garcia or Tony Romo, proves that NFL coaches don’t have a clue. Garrard has been sitting on the bench? Give me a break. 4th and 2. Quarterback draw out of the shotgun formation. Garrard runs for over 30 yards (left tackle was holding but it wasn’t called) down to the 10 yard line. 25 yard field goal with 40 second left on the clock puts the Jacksonville Jaguars up by 2. Now, the Jags defense takes over and sacks Big Ben causing a fumble. The Jags recover and the game is over.

Great games. This is the best that the NFL can deliver.

Tags: Sports by ecthompson
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