A Day in Cambridge – Open Thread
We’ve had a fantastic whirlwind stop in Cambridge. I went to college in this neck of the woods, and it was a real treat being able to walk on the brick paths, and look at the beautiful old ivy covered buildings of the city again. The oldest building in Anchorage was built, I believe, in 1923. The lovely house that we’ve been staying in was built in 1907. The weather here has been HOT. It got well over 90 degrees today, and this Alaskan felt close to melting on more than one occasion. But still, I wouldn’t have missed walking…
Netroots – Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fountain. (Open Thread!)
After the second full day of Netroots Nation, I realize what a culture shock I’m experiencing. And when I say culture shock, I mean that in a good way. It feels nice… Out of the frying pan and in to the fountain. Let’s face it. It can get a little much being a small blue person in a big red sea. I am finding that here, in Pittsburgh, among the progressive blogging masses, I feel quite alarmingly and blissfully at home. Conversations happen freely and out loud about health care reform, and climate change, and how to get progressives elected. And…
Town Hall Meeting with Gov. Howard Dean
Can I say, as an Alaskan who is still in the recovery process, that it feels really nice to hear everyone around here at Netroots Nation saying “the governor” and meaning Howard Dean? Wow. I’m sitting right now listening to his Town Hall Health Care meeting at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh. One of the first question, which got a good laugh was “Regarding the death panels, is killing my grandmother mandatory or will there be an appeals process?” Governor Dean laughed too, but said he had a serious answer. This is not about health care. The people who are…
Netroots Nation – A Warming Web
This morning I attended a panel discussion entitled “A Warming Web – The Blogosphere and Climate Change” The panelists were Miles Grant from the National Wildlife Federation, Kate Shepperd a political reporter for grist.org, Tim Lang (Meteorblades) of Daily Kos, Brad Johnson from the Center for American Progress, Brent Monk a former Pittsburgh journalist working on issues of environmental justice, Miles Grant – National Wildlife Federation sitting in for Amanda Staudt who was unable to make the conference due to a family emergency. He pitches messages to bloggers and online activists. He noted with dismay the lack of coverage of…
Sarah Palin is the Easter Bunny.
“A thorn in Governor Palin’s side.” That’s how the latest article in Vanity Fair describes Andree McLeod. In government ethics, you can be on one side or the other – the side of the government, or the side of the people. Governments tend to want to conceal, and the governed tend to want to find out what is being concealed. It’s human nature. Considering the apathy of most people when it comes to holding their government accountable, we should all be raising a glass to Andree McLeod. In many ways, she’s doing our job. That’s not to say that…
More Bloggers on the Bus – Chapter 13a, Alaska Blogs and the End of a Very Short Era.
There’s no doubt it’s been an unbelievably bizarre ten months on the Last Frontier. I don’t know if there will ever be as much political drama again. Our sleepy little state, content to grouse over our own brand of colorful local political corruption, was completely unprepared for what happened on August 29. The woman who many considered barely, if at all qualified to be the governor of our sparsely populated state was now going to potentially be a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. And bloggers who had been following Palin’s unlikely career were horrified as much…
Pat Buchanan Says Levi Johston Should Be Killed. Isn’t That Funny?
Since even before the infamous David Letterman/Sarah Palin kerfuffle in recent weeks, I’ve been hearing a lot about how mean people are to Sarah Palin’s family. To some extent, I agree. There’s definitely a line between attacking someone’s policy decisions, and someone’s family. Granted, when the family or its members are specifically cited as living breathing examples of one’s policy leanings, (i.e. pro-life, pro-special needs families, pro-military, pro-abstinence) the line becomes a bit wiggly and blurry, and each person draws it in a different place. That said, there’s been a whole lot of “stupid slutty trailer trash” talk, and jokes…
Open Thread – Where Was Sarah?
Residents in Juneau felt left in the lurch on the 4th of July. Where was the governor? The governor spent the Fourth of July weekend in Juneau but was only spotted briefly on the sidelines of the capital city’s parade. She had been invited to ride in a convertible, as she did last year, but never told organizers whether she would attend. Juneau parade director Jean Sztuk said officials drew up banners in case Palin showed and was willing to take part. As the last of the parade’s clowns and marching bands headed past her, Sztuk gave up on Palin….
Michael Savage Tells Us “What Happened” to America.
Caller (with pronounced accent): What happened to us Dr. Savage? (speaking of the country) Savage: What happened to us? How many ways can I tell you who did this to us? It started 30 or 40 years ago with the radical left. It started with so many different pressure groups screaming for their own ends in order to suppress the white Christian heterosexual married male. The white, Christian, heterosexual, married male is the epitome of everything right with America, and yet it is the white, Christian, heterosexual, married male who has been made the beast of America. I can delimit for…
Open Thread
I’m back from the Assembly meeting, and I tried to type something up. These events really sap energy. I was literally falling asledp at the keys, which I noticed when I began a sentence: “The ofdoncde32…” and then jerked awake. So, with that, I bid you good night. I’ll check in with photos of the event tomorrow. The live blogging was fantastic for anyone who missed it. You can read over the comments on the last thread. It was like you all had a ring side seat. My Blackberry kept getting passed around so our little group could enjoy the…