I understand that GOP Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, R-KY, has expressed relief that Sen. John Ensign, the Senate GOP #4, has proven that he is neither gay nor a pedophile.
Archive for June, 2009
June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009June 16, 2009
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
Solidarity
Both William Kristol’s Weekly Standard on the right and David Corn’s The Nation on the left seem to have similar positions about the events in Iran. A couple of weeks ago, I’d have bet the farm those two mags couldn’t have agreed on Mom and Apple or Cherry Pie. Astounding. I suppose even highly improbable events seem to happen on a quantum level and, thus, chaos in the macro and random events will happen, no matter how unlikely.
Meanwhile, I’m glued to my computer. The internet has been far and away the best source of news out of Tehran compared with television, radio and newspapers — with very few exceptions (I’m thinking NPR, Fareed Zakaria at Newsweek and CNN, the NY Times blog, TheLede) — and those exceptions are vacuumed up instantaneously. It’s a one-way line, it appears. You would think those journalism outlets would try to link up when nobody can be “on the ground” under the present circumstances.
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June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15th, 2009Solidarity
June 15, 2009
Monday, June 15th, 2009
Blogblah
Well, there certainly was a lot of news over the weekend and today to keep one glued to the computer monitor. I mean, there are pictures and videos that are absolutely riviting. So, what about it? What do you think? IS Megan Fox’s thumb all wonky? Does that make her less than a perfect 10?
Meanwhile, in boring real news, a revolution is Twittered in Tehran because that’s the way the government of Iran left them after blocking websites, newspapers, radio broadcasts, etc.
It appears to be the police and militia against the hundreds of thousands who have filled the streets since Friday’s election “results” were announced that Ahmadinejad had received 2/3 of the votes within hours of the polls closing. That’s some mighty fast counting of 40 million paper ballots. I don’t know how many nights I’ve waited up until the wee hours for folks to count paper ballots in Oklahoma. Maybe we should send some observers to see how they can do it so fast.
I’ll just say it plainly. The mainstream and especially television network journalism/press did a horrible job on the events in Iran over the weekend. If it weren’t for Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic Magazine online gathering news from Farsi speakers, Americans — even the small elite that really TRIED to keep up with events — would be much less informed. On CNN, for example, there were 23 hours of self contratulatory anniversary blabbing and one segment by one non-journalist/academic about Iran. Pathetic. Most of the New York Times seemed paralyzed or in bed for their weekend pot and porn except for the blog The Lede, which did good work keeping the world informed.
Monday, there was live ammunition and at least one protester killed and others wounded as, again, hundreds of thousands flooded the main streets. At night, they are yelling from the rooftops that “God is Great”, but what they mean is “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.”
I wish we had taken to the streets in 2000, but that’s wistful fantasy.
Blogblah
June 14, 2009
Sunday, June 14th, 2009A FULL BOAT