Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Results are impending and I need to get out of work so I can get home in time to hear sweet nothings from Chris Matthews (and hopefully squeeze in some phone banking). However, let’s take a quick look back over the past year to highlight some of our coverage of this historic election.
The Beginning
Our first morning news ever, on December 13, 2007, mentioned Barack Obama. Also hilarious photos of MLB stars looking worried. I like to imagine them saying it in a Scooby Doo voice. (For those who are curious, our first post ever was about Speed Racer! What’s up with that?) January 14, 2007 was the first time we every consolidated into an “Election 2008″ tag. That post kinda sucked though. Surprise surprise.
The long, strange trip continues after the jump.
Keep reading
Friday, January 18, 2008
Today is a bit of a news vacuum, the majority of today’s stories are previews of things that might happen. The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified to Congress yesterday and said that he backs some kind of economic stimulus package to avoid a recession. Congress is getting all lovey-dovey and will supposedly have something together by the end of the month. The White House has also said they have a plan, which, surprise surprise, involves tax cuts.
Filed under, it sucks to live there, an interesting article on how Islamic militants are becoming a stronger presence in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. It is a symbol of how the kind of conflict that used to be restricted to the border is now spreading into major urban centers. Additionally, the CIA has figured out who killed Benazir Bhutto! It was… some tribal leader no one outside of Pakistan has ever heard of! Oh, AND AL-QAEDA! That is an assassination I can sink my teeth into.
This weekend will see the next two major Presidential primaries. The Republicans are having primaries in South Carolina and in Nevada while the Democrats only have a primary in Nevada. The Democrats primary in South Carolina is next week for some reason. This is Nevada’s first time being so early in the nominating process. They were moved up so that there would be some geographic and ethnic diversity in the nominating process and because the parties needed a good long reliever. Even though they are rookies, they have really stepped up their game and are performing like seasoned professionals — the first lawsuit between powerful special interests trying to manipulate voting was settled today. Speaking of voting, the David Brooks has a column in the Times that summarizes How Voters Think. Let’s see if I can summarize, “voters vote for someone for any number of reasons. Some of those reasons are smart. Some of those reasons are stupid, but I am still going to act like they make sense. I am really, really smart.”
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a deal with the major Hollywood studios. The DGA is the union that represents Hollywood film and television directors. Some people are saying that this deal could be the blueprint for a deal with the striking writers guild, which would mean that LOST would finally come back. However, if the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) does reach a deal, our supply of quirky and quirkier Op-Eds will dry up they all go back to writing for Two and a Half Men.
One last thing, the Iraqi National Security Advisor has an interesting OP-Ed in the Washington Post on a possible political solution for Iraq. I didn’t know he was a member of the WGA.
Monday, January 14, 2008
First, this story is why the morning news is not getting posted until 2 pm.
The Presidential campaign continues unabated. The New York Times put out a new poll that shows the race for both the Democratic and Republican nominations are in flux. Remember how last week, all anyone cared about was Iowa and New Hampshire? This week all anyone will care about is South Carolina and Michigan. The song is pretty much the same, just replace references to Farm Subsidies with references to Auto Makers and the new “Alternative Energy” Economy.
In the race for the Democratic nomination, the knives are starting to come out. People affiliated with the Clinton campaign have begun making veiled, and not-so-veiled comments about Obama and race. The most egregious comments are coming from people very loosely affiliated with the campaign. Having worked in campaigns before, I can briefly attest that sometimes whisper campaigns like this are started by the campaign itself, but more often then not prominent campaign supporters feel that they are “helping.” You have to make the judgment for yourself on which you think this is.
Iraq is showing some signs of political progress. That progress is in the form of patronage jobs. The short summary is that the majority of the insurgents are unemployed young men. If the government can provide them jobs, they will have money, something to do, and be less likely to try to undermine the government that is signing their checks. Garbagemen and Toll Booths = Political stability.
Finally, the Golden Globes were last night. There was no televised spectacular because of the ongoing writers strike. Not that anyone cares about the writers, but the Screen Actor’s Guild (The Actors Union) said that none of their members would attend out of solidarity. And what would the point of the awards show be without celebrity presenters and George Clooney on the Red Carpet. The only bit of interesting news from the awards themselves was that the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX) won, in total, 1 award (for Tina Fey and 30 Rock).
