Towse: views from the hill

February 22, 2008

For want of an accent mark …

Filed under: culture,life,politics — Towse @ 11:49 pm

A headzup to everyone writing in the blogosphere, in newspapers and in magazines: what César and Dolores and the UFW were all about was “¡Sí, se puede!” not “Si se puede.”

Sure, the two phrases sound the same, but the first means, “Yes, we can!” (or more accurately, ‘Yes, it’s possible’ or ‘Yes, it can be done.’) and the second, “If we can …”

Big difference.

(I kept, and never used, a freebie notepad the UFW sent me — along with a solicitation for a donation, natch — because they used “Si” instead of “Sí” in the tagline on the notepad. And don’t try to tell me that the accent mark has become superfluous in the twenty-first century. I ain’t buying it. …)

Thus ends the Spanish I lesson for the afternoon.

February 21, 2008

Just words …

Filed under: politics — Towse @ 2:59 am

Plagiarized?

The Agitator by Ryan Lizza: Barack Obama’s unlikely political education.
Post Date Monday, March 19, 2007.

sez Obama: Sometimes the tendency in community organizing of the sort done by Alinsky was to downplay the power of words and of ideas when in fact ideas and words are pretty powerful. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men are created equal.’ Those are just words. ‘I have a dream.’ Just words. But they help move things.

Obama to Patrick to Obama and a hissy fit from those folks who don’t think words and oratory count for anything without Substance [PDF]

(that’s Substance with a capital S)

The March 2007 TNR article is interesting above and beyond the fact that Obama’s “just words” echoes Patrick and predates Obama’s alleged “plagiarism” of Patrick’s speech.

Read the TNR article in full. It gives a =very= interesting insight into Obama’s background.

You know what’s really weird? I don’t know Alinsky from Adam, but I first saw his name this morning in re Hillary’s senior thesis at Wellesley which was allzabout Alinsky. Turns out Obama was allzabout Alinsky in his work on the southside of Chicago.

Oh, where is Kevin Bacon when you need him?

February 11, 2008

"Can Mrs. Clinton Lose?" — Peggy Noonan

Filed under: blog,politics — Towse @ 7:18 pm

If Hillary Clinton loses, does she know how to lose? What will that be, if she loses? Will she just say, “I concede” and go on vacation at a friend’s house on an island, and then go back to the Senate and wait?

Is it possible she could be so normal? Politicians lose battles, it’s part of what they do, win and lose. But she does not know how to lose. Can she lose with grace? But she does grace the way George W. Bush does nuance.

[continue …“Can Mrs. Clinton Lose?” — Peggy Noonan]

February 8, 2008

Michelle Obama – Be Not Afraid

Filed under: people,politics,video — Towse @ 12:34 am

[Note: Previous link went 404. New link added.]

February 7, 2008

ABC News: Don’t Tell Mama, Clinton-ites for Obama

Filed under: news,politics — Towse @ 6:40 am

ABC News: Don't Tell Mama, Clinton-ites for Obama

Interesting. …

February 3, 2008

Obama – Yes, we can.

Filed under: people,politics,video — Towse @ 8:07 pm

Liked this. 4:30m video. “Obama. Yes, we can” from Dipdive.com

Forwarded on to me by the younger younger Guy. Thanks.

February 2, 2008

Noonan’s take on Ted Kennedy, the Clintons, and Barack Obama (oh, and those pesky Republicans too …)

Filed under: news,people,politics,writing — Towse @ 3:00 am

A Rebellion and an Awkward Embrace
By PEGGY NOONAN
February 1, 2008 / Wall Street Journal

In the most exciting and confounding election cycle of my lifetime, Rudy Giuliani, the Prince of the City, is out because he was about to lose New York, John Edwards is out, the Clintons are fighting for their historical reputations, and the stalwart conservative New York Post has come out strong and stinging for Barack Obama. If you had asked me in December if I would write that sentence in February, I would have said: Um, no.

Noonan’s column continues …

January 22, 2008

What a waste. How much did this cost?

Filed under: life,politics,San Francisco — Towse @ 10:02 pm

We received our primary absentee voter ballots in the mail ten days or more ago. The ballots were the “unaffiliated” or whatever it is non-partisan ballots.

Well, we’d both requested to vote in the Democratic primary. What’s up with this? So we waited. And waited. And finally called the Registrar at the end of last week to ask what’s up and were told “Oh. The Democratic absentee ballots are just getting mailed.”

OK. So this means we got one ballot for the propositions and one ballot for the primary. That doesn’t make much sense but whatever …

Today we got our Democratic absentee ballots in the mail … along with a note that our previous ballots have been canceled and won’t be counted and we should tear them up and dispose of them.

Turns out the sharp as a tack folks down at the Registrar sent out who-knows-how-many unaffiliated non-partisan ballots to decline-to-state absentee voters who’d requested Democratic primary ballots. They then had to enter all the barcodes for the ballots that had been sent in error so that the system won’t count them, write up a nice note, print up the extra ballot work and … send out Democratic ballots to those voters.

How much is this flub going to cost?

And whose watch did it happen on?

Enquiring minds …

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Filed under: history,politics — Tags: , , — Towse @ 3:38 am

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Day, I reprise a view from the Hill.

Read the post and the Letter from Birmingham Jail. (the “letter” on the blog post is 404).

January 6, 2008

Dirty Tricks? Who would’ve guessed? (the Democratic campaign)

Filed under: news,politics — Towse @ 11:16 pm

I was trolling through political blogs and sites today for commentary on the political debates last night.

There in a comments tail, some someone posted an AP article that slammed Obama, followed by a paean to Clinton.

ASSOCIATED PRESS-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has lot of explaining to do.
He voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive. He supported allowing retired police officers to carry concealed weapons, but opposed allowing people to use banned handguns to defend against intruders in their homes. And the list of sensitive topics goes on. With only a slim, two-year record in the U.S. Senate, Obama doesn’t have many controversial congressional votes which political opponents can frame into attack ads. But his eight years as an Illinois state senator are sprinkled with potentially explosive land mines, such as his abortion and gun control votes. recent land purchase from a political supporter who is facing charges in an unrelated kickback scheme involving investment firms seeking state business. Abortion opponents see Obama’s vote on medical care for aborted fetuses as a refusal to protect the helpless. Some have even accused him of supporting infanticide.

[End excerpt. No indication that the article wasn't quoted in full. ...]

I checked out the AP reference. The reference isn’t a current reference but a reference to a Ryan Keith article from January 2007. This is how it reads:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have a lot of explaining to do.

He voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive. He supported allowing retired police officers to carry concealed weapons, but opposed allowing people to use banned handguns to defend against intruders in their homes. And the list of sensitive topics goes on.

With only a slim, two-year record in the U.S. Senate, Obama doesn’t have many controversial congressional votes which political opponents can frame into attack ads. But his eight years as an Illinois state senator are sprinkled with potentially explosive land mines, such as his abortion and gun control votes.

Obama _ who filed papers this week creating an exploratory committee to seek the 2008 Democratic nomination _ may also find himself fielding questions about his actions outside public office, from his acknowledgment of cocaine use in his youth to a more recent land purchase from a political supporter who is facing charges in an unrelated kickback scheme involving investment firms seeking state business.

Obama was known in the Illinois Capitol as a consistently liberal senator who reflected the views of voters in his Chicago district. He helped reform the state death penalty system and create tax breaks for the poor while developing a reputation as someone who would work with critics to build consensus.

He had a 100 percent rating from the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council for his support of abortion rights, family planning services and health insurance coverage for female contraceptives. [...]

Notice the slight changes? Notice where the AP quote in the comments tail stops?

Should you care? It’s only dirty tricks.

If you pop / Obama “lot of explaining”/ into Google, you’ll find a variety of people quoting the excerpted AP article in the comments tails at various news and blog sites.

Dirty tricks? We have

and on …

Come on Cary Sherry Lansing Davey dyck … Clean up your act. Either Clinton approves of what you’re doing (wouldn’t be a surprise) or you’re an overly ambitious volunteer.

Either way you’re doing no favors.

« Newer PostsOlder Posts »

Powered by WordPress