Monthly Archives: August 2008

The Smallest Detail Will Tell Your Story

The Smallest Detail Will Tell Your Story

After consuming ludicrously large, possibly unhealthy, amounts of post-Democratic National Convention-Obama-acceptance-speech spin, lipflap, analysis, blog posts, whipping posts, live streams, generic coverage, video, columns, old media, new media, medium media, HDTV, jerks and twitches, post-morts, Twits, Tweets, Monday morning quarterbacking, bickering and rapturizing from every possible media source on the planet except maybe Al Jazeera, I finally tossed-in the towel and looked homeward, Spacey. Where I found Tom Baxter, writing for Southern Political Report, with your moment-in-time from last night’s stadium stands over Denver:

After every national convention I’ve ever been to (16, if you count one Libertarian convention in Atlanta and Ross Perot’s 2000 convention in Long Beach) the streets outside the hall have been littered with discarded signs and placards. Here there were practically none. The Democrats left clutching whatever souvenirs they had, as if they wanted to hold to the memory of this night forever.

Full article here.

Twittering Obama

Twittering Obama

I Twittered throughout Obama’s nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last night from a very crowded Manuel’s. So did @jenbrock, @rustytanton, @amberlrhea, @francesk. @shelbinator streamed live on his cell. Some of that is here. Tweets read from last to first:

Heck. He was just getting warmed up. It’s over? Bummer.

Preach it Brother. Now’s the moment!

My Twitter finger is toast.

Obama’s gives good Happy Talk!

Osama bin Laden first. Clayton County school board next!

Big applause from all young people with no kids on parenting stuff.

Folks pounding tables now. Free money for all!

Oh boy. Here comes the Santa Claus part.

A lobbyist once rescued my kid when I accidentally locked her outta the house. One for Wal-Mart no less. I hugged a lobbyist then.

Where’s Doug Teper?

When are we gonna get around to the “stick it to the Repugs” part of all this?

Man, I had a serious portfolio and 401K and bennies all through the 90′s. Ain’t got jack now except a DSL connection and a mortgage.

I got laid off in ’03. Doh.

I whined when I got laid off in ’93. (Didn’t cry though!)

A nation of whiners, eh? I wouldn’t know anything about that.

On November 4th, I am soooo not coming to Manuel’s. Fire Dept. might though.

Bigger applause for “when major American city drowns.”

Big applause here on “failed policies of George W. Bush.”

Nice big round ‘o applause for vid. Even bigger for Barack. And that’s good for America. But what’s with the Irish walk out music?

Did Rielle Hunter shoot some of this stuff?

All these youthi-people watching in awe.

Huge Manuel crowd very quiet to hear this video. Obviously @scobleizer not the producer.

I hear Candy Crowley is a tighty righty.

America obviously needs to party more often together.

Jeezus H. It’s like General Election night in here!

Video from Shelby’s live stream. I’m in the pink, @BBC: http://qik.com/video/243131

It is now getting seriously crowded in Manuel’s. When is this thing gonna start?

Ok, seriously underage kiddies, as in 12 or 10, just walked in. GA law is gonna have a cow. There are smokers in here. Oh the sin.

Why are all these young people here at Manuel’s?

@APNews. David Duchovny could’ve gotten a fix with me before checking in to rehab. Pity.

How are the King kids supposed to get on stage together when they’re in the middle of suing the crap outta each other? Awkward indeed.

Well that was particularly uninspiring.

No one can hear from Barack until I get my Kyte.tv channel working again. So just keep ‘em busy up there, Joe.

Destroying Entire Industries Is Hard Work!

Destroying Entire Industries Is Hard Work!

Craig Newmark (yes, the list dude) takes a moment off his tootsies to get a massage at the HuffPo’s Oasis lounge at the Democratic National Convention today. Blogging and hanging with the Power Dems and destroying newspapers singlehandedly is a TON of hard work. Take a load off, Craig. You’ve earned it!

What’s (Not) Happening Out There In Denver?

What’s (Not) Happening Out There In Denver?

Polls aren’t bumping that’s for sure. But could it all “turn on a dime” tonight when Obama gives it the rock start treatment from the stadium? A huge mistake, that stadium staging thing if you ask me, which of course no one did, but it will surely help fuel the visual fire for a flood of hideously negative ads from the Repugs. Talk about lying in wait. And I’m mixing more metaphors than I do martinis, so I’m gonna stop this post now!

I keep thinking Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers… with adults filling the role of thousands of screaming tweens. Towery has some observations:

The fact is that the Democrats on Monday night didn’t offer to America a coherent message that was palatable and digestible.

Nor did they on Tuesday, which only left the country wondering: Why did Obama pick another northeastern liberal male as his running mate when he could have chosen Hillary Clinton? She absolutely blew the convention hall away with a speech that had power and — surprise! — a discussion of meaty issues.

Now Obama has “a third running mate,” whether he wants her or not. Sen. Clinton has more charisma and substance in her little finger than Biden has in his entire body.

Now we know why the Obama team decided to move their candidate’s nomination acceptance speech to a giant stadium filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans. Having to follow Hillary and Bill Clinton in the same venue in which they appeared might lead to apple-to-apple comparisons that could leave Obama’s fruit looking bruised.

Full article here.

Missing John-John

Missing John-John

Watching the Democratic National Convention last night did nothing for me except make me miss John Kennedy Jr. He should have been there. It’s his legacy after all. And he should have married me and not that bleached-hair woman, but I diverge…

Lots of should haves, would haves and but fors… all lost to a flicker of circumstance. Sigh. I’ll go back to regularly scheduled programming tonight no doubt. Dems are even duller on Big TV than in real life.

As for media coverage, AC was neutered by too many really boring people on the set babbling away. And way too much Wolf Blitzer. The passive-aggressive attacks and retreats, from outright hostility to odd guilt-ridden patronization, between Juan Williams and Brit Hume on Fox News made for more interesting and uncomfortable viewing.

Fortunately for us media insatiables, we can escape the confines of the utterly predictable political media Pepsi palace and roam the streets of Denver for excellent street protests via numerous Internet sources. Whew.

Neal Boortz – Winner of The Debbie Downer Award For Excellence In Broadcasting Whine.

Neal Boortz – Winner of The Debbie Downer Award For Excellence In Broadcasting Whine.

Wanna know JUST how lost in space Cox Media Plantation really is? They spend good money to send a whiny brat, spoiled-rotten, ungrateful Neal Boortz out to Denver to bring his listening audience completely down with his complaining and humorless whining and bitching and griping about having to be there!

Only Boortz could go to an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event such as the DNC in 2008 and make everyone around him miserable because he had to actually show-up and blow. Why on earth is Boortz there in the first place?

Hell, I could take Elmo and Cheerios and a nap away from an already-fussy 2-year old, stick the kid into a cart at the grocery store, push it around each aisle slowly for an hour or so, refuse to buy it (the 2-year old) some candy and still have tons more more fun than I would listening to Boortz do the Democratic National Convention.

Cox suits – I understand it’s hard for you to get your tight butts around this concept, but I hear there are a few other media choices out there nowadays for political convention coverage. And I’m gonna go find me one right about now. I can’t take another minute of your “flagship” radio station gripe-fest. (And if I was an advertiser, with my pricey ad running today, I’d be Elizabeth Edwards-level “furious” too.)

Unbelievable.

Direct from Denver – Atlanta and Georgia Folk At The DNC

Direct from Denver – Atlanta and Georgia Folk At The DNC

I’ll add more as I find ‘em, but here are blogs where Atlanta/Georgia delegates and their peeps out in Denver at the Democratic National Convention will be posting updates, Tweets, video, streams… all the new media bells and whistles in other words.

The Unity Express

Emily Goes To Denver

Blog For Democracy

Blog Talk Radio LIVE 6pm

Georgia Women Vote

Franklin Delano Williams

Tondee’s Tavern

Please drop MM’s SpaceyG a DM Tweet or a message if you know of other sites where Georgians will be giving us their (not MSM) news and views directly from the convention and, more importantly, from surrounding parties and sights. And be sure to show some linky love to these folk by subscribing, commenting, and checking in with ‘em throughout the week.

Text Message Georgia Into The Blue?

Text Message Georgia Into The Blue?

It could happen. Now that Obama and Biden have our cell phone numbers, and they know how best to use ‘em, could texting people into the voting booth come November be just the thing to turn states like Georgia from red to blue? Could be. Heck, texting could make a difference even in S.C. if you ask me, which of course no one did. From another Off The Bus driver, Sara Granger:

Assuming the goal of the (texting Obama’s VP choice) exercise was not just to inform supporters, but to mobilize them, the database of SMS contacts is the newest member of the Obama – no, excuse me – Obama/Biden arsenal. GOTV efforts begin in earnest after the convention and text messaging has been shown to be quite an effective tool for that purpose. In the 2002 South Korean presidential election, Lee Hoi Chan held the lead until Roh Moo Hyun supporters sent out text messages and email to 800,000 voters on election day, turning the tides and winning the election by a 2% margin. A survey based on the 2006 election found that voting reminders via SMS produced an increase turnout by 4%. Besides, it’s cheaper and people don’t mind that it’s automated.

Full story here. I’ll be curious to hear what Mr. T has to say about all this catching up with the Koreans stuff. We are slow down here, but come on folks, even 8-year olds have cell phones and text capability of their own now. Like I’d know anything about that trend…

Live Blogging The Georgia Gang

Live Blogging The Georgia Gang

The entire Georgia Gang show was mostly total gibberish today as everyone talked wildly over each other about race, polls and Obama-as-rock star. Audio dudes the world over no doubt had complete meltdowns.

But I was able to make out at least one full statement worth quoting: Alexis Scott when discussing the specific amount of (Cindy McCain’s) houses that John McCain couldn’t recall last week, “He’s (McCain) struggling to prove he’s not a kept man.”

And on what planet does withholding liquor (but not beer and wine) “cut down on binge drinking?” as Dick Williams stated?

After listening to today’s Georgia Gangsta audio cluster-fuck, I need a cocktail. And it’s not even 9am!

Georgia Bloggers Invited To Brunch With Libertarians – August 23

Georgia Bloggers Invited To Brunch With Libertarians – August 23

Hope they’re serving Bloody Marys…

The Libertarian Party of Georgia
is proud to announce that we will
be hosting an event:

Brunch with Georgia Bloggers

Where:
The Crowne Plaza Ravinia
4355 Ashford Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA 30346-1521

When:
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Brunch begins at 10:30 AM
Discussion with Candidate(s) 11:00 AM

Purpose:
To give local political bloggers
one on one time with Libertarian
candidates leading up
to the night’s main event.

Please RSVP to:

Chairman@lpgeorgia.com

Also… later that evening, same place though, is an evening with Bob Barr and friends. More on that here.

MD-80 Series Too Old?

MD-80 Series Too Old?

The Economist raises some issues about the aging MD-80 series (“workhorse of the skies”) of commercial airplanes. Given that here in Atlanta we fly in and out of the ATL often on Delta and their fleet of MD-88s, this Madrid crash yesterday has me thankful I have no plans to fly anywhere for a while. And wishing for some “real” reporting on the matter from, say, the Cox Plantation.

However, early speculation about the 15-year old MD-82 Madrid airplane crash notes that an engine fire should not necessarily cause a plane to crash; thus bringing a strong possibility of human error into play. More on that here.

In other new media aviation matters, United Airlines’ pilots hate their CEO so much, they’ve started a blog to vent all about it! Gee what’s next? AJCManagementSucks dot com? I’m just sayin’…

Defending Georgia’s Indefendable

Defending Georgia’s Indefendable

Why pollster Matt Towery goes well out of his way to champion Georgia’s two most utterly loathsome political creatures, Ralph Reed and now Newt Gingrich, is beyond me. No, it’s not really beyond me, but it’s just icky. Talk about sniffing around the tainted goods. From Towery, writing today for Southern Political Report:

If John McCain and the GOP want to thank someone for helping turn around what seemed a dead-in-the-water campaign in a matter of weeks, they can thank former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich chose not to enter the 2008 presidential race, but his decision to use his “think tank” American Solutions organization to push for a “Drill Here, Drill Now” petition back in the spring is likely the source of John McCain’s miraculous rebound in the polls.

How stupid does Newt Gingrich still think we are? That we’ll fall for that good ‘ole empty-rhetoric bullshit and Rovian-style spin about Drill Here. Drill Now. As stupid as an arm-waving, hallucinating, religion-addled evangelical, the kind who get all glassy-eyed and foamy at the mouth (and mind) when John McCain responds to Pastor Rick Warren’s question about what in the gosh darn heck are we gonna do with Mr. Evil? Why Defeat it! of course, busted out a dogma-tarted-up McCain that fateful night on Saddleback Mountain. But I diverge…

John Stewart’s take on all that Drill Here. Drill Now yadayadayada is below. There’s absolutely no way I could say it better.

As for Republican campaign stalker Ralph Reed, the bad date that won’t go away for McCain, other than the new Obama ad running in Georgia painting him (Reed), whew, finally as the stinky cheesey shuckster he really is, I direct your attention yet again to… The Book of Ralph. One read says it all. Or just let Brother Bill Maher preach you the gospel for a few. (Always my preferred reality delivery device.)

And that, Mr. T, is the reality of how our peach-flavored tainted political goods play in the new political media powerhouse – the netroots political media comedy nation.

more about “Defending Georgia’s Undefendable“, posted with vodpod