About
Captain Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather. He lives with his wife Marcia, also known as the First Mate, their two dogs, and frequently watch their granddaughter Kayla, whom Captain Ed calls The Little Admiral.
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The Crows Nest
Rule 1: Drag The Corpse On Over First
If I've learned anything in four years of blogging, don't try to be out in front of the death rumors, especially with the villains of the world. Saddam died a hundred deaths before we caught him alive in his spider hole, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi almost as many before his demise last year. Osama may or may not be alive, but everyone's avoided speculating on his fate for a while now. Maybe Val at Babalu Blog will get luckier with his "Castro Is Dead" story. We all hope so. I'll wait for the announcement ....
Hobbs Choice
Volunteer Voters is holding its annual "Best of Nashville" on-line polls, and one of the categories is for the best political writer. Our friend Bill Hobbs, now posting at Newsbusters, and he'd like his on-line fans to cast their votes. Drop by and put one in for Bill if you get a chance!
Murtha Getting Backlogged On Apologies
Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring sees another case collapsing on the Haditha charges. He's called for Murtha to apologize earlier, and adds another reason to the tally.
No Such Thing As 'Moderate' Islam?
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan told a television interviewer that he finds the label "moderate Islam" offensive. Shrink Wrapped has a lot more on this, but at least in the same interview Erdogan acknowledged that "radical Islam" exists, and that it's been a catastrophe. Be sure to read the whole post.
MS-NBC Gets Punk'd
Power Line has a great post on a lack of journalistic effort on the part of MS-NBC. In covering the Michael Vick story, they reported on what they thought was Al Sharpton's website proclaiming Vick's innocence. I guess Alex Johnson and two other MS-NBC reporters couldn't bother to read the title bar of the site, which proudly proclaims it as a "parody site".
New Instapundit Podcast On Pharmaceuticals
I just caught this e-mail from Glenn Reynolds about his new podcast with Richard Epstein, the author of Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but the topic is important enough to make sure I carve out time for it tomorrow. Get their first and tell me what I'm missing ....
Fed Trying A 'Stealth Easing'?
The Federal Reserve seems to have conducted a quiet campaign to steady markets that started spinning out of control, according to King Banaian at SCSU Scholars. He thinks that the Fed has conducted a "stealth easing". Be sure to read his explanation and follow his lnks.
A Shameless Bit Of Sel-Promotion
Gateway Pundit and Val at Babalu Blog note a crass PR move by Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has responded to Peru's eathquake disaster with food shipments -- and with Hugo's smiling picture on the cans. He also uses the tuna-can label to undermine President Garcia of Peru, who narrowly defeated Chavez' pal Ollanto Humalla, whom the labels extol for his "solidarity" with Chavez.
Tacky beyond belief.
Bush Going After Palestinian Terror Financing?
George Bush's new orders to USAID forces them to review the executive management of all NGOs to ensure that they have no terrorist connections. Carl in Jerusalem says at Israel Matzav that the order specifically intends to target Palestinian front groups for terrorists. Let's hope he's right.
Slow Start!
Yes, I'm off to a slow start today, thanks to some scripting issues, a bad back, and an alarm clock that needs replacing. Bear with me -- I'm ramping up, I promise...
And Now, In Little League Action Last Night ...
I once played in a Little League game where we lost, 30-1, obviously before mercy rules came into being. The only comfort during that shellacking was that 13-year-olds don't have to justify their salaries for being on the field. You have to wonder what the Baltimore Orioles have to feel without that caveat today, after losing 30-3 to the Texas Rangers. Sixteen of the runs came in the last two innings .... (via TMV)
Bush Speech On Iraq
I got a couple of e-mails wondering why I haven't linked to George Bush's speech today. I liked it; I just didn't have much to add. Rush Limbaugh covered it well on his site, and Power Line also links approvingly but has nothing much more to say. Michael Goldfarb notes that the Weekly Standard had made a similar argument regarding Vietnam a year ago.
Rove Fears Me -- No, Really!
Hot Air notes the latest fundraising letter from John Edwards. No longer content to indulge his paranoia when Ann Coulter mentions him, now he wants to indulge it when Karl Rove doesn't. Has any candidate seemed this desperate before now?
Racism Or Hard Truth?
Angela Winters looks at an editorial cartoon and the controvery it has caused in Jacksonville, Florida, especially in the black community. Truth or racism? When rap artists tell young listeners not to cooperate with the police, how much responsibility do they have for the victimization that follows? Read all of the essay at The Moderate Voice.
Support Citizen Journalism
Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal reminds us that there is a reporter shortage on the front lines. The best way to solve that problem? Donate to Public Multimedia, the citizen-journalist organization that supports Bill Roggio, Bill Ardolino, and others. (And a direct donation to Michael Yon would be much appreciated as well.)
Comments (2)
Posted by Carol_Herman | April 24, 2007 1:00 PM
Okay. I'm piping up with 2-cents. No radio sounds in sight, either.
But I'm coming to realize ALL politicians are like singers. Some are like Pavarotti. Or Frank Sinatra. The stage becomes their's. You leave the theater content that you could listen. As if there are no bad notes, anywhere else in the world.
Still, it's a schtick.
And, on my car's system, I've got Tom DeLay's new book, going. A Pavaroti, of sorts, for conservatives. BUT STILL JUST ONE VOICE. In his own range. And, he got shot out by the donks.
Probably, because the donks KNOW they're playing hardball! And, they're good at it. So, as far as how politics gets "played" I expect no changes at all.
ZERO CHANGES.
While Bush sits in the White House, unable to connect to most of the American people. And, leaving his hands, are the opportunities that should have knocked.
ANd, I don't mean that the right side convinces anyone NOT a member, of what they want in terms of social action. Just that Bush doesn't move the ball. And, yes. The ball happens to be in his court.
DeLay, whose more right wing than anything that meets my tastes, would still get my vote. How so? Votes are fluid. And, I know he's locked in a hard core, hard ball, battle. And, he's a punching bag. But he can also deliver, back, a few knocks.
(His book is top notch.) How does it work? Like a photograph. He starts with his own childhood. But he goes to DC, elected to the HOUSE, in 1980. Swept in (with 6 other Texas republicans). Coattails? Well, not quite. But he's THERE. INSIDE. And, he sees the GOP as a gang of jesters.
Today, if you look at Bush, you see the jester is in charge. And, you ain't going anywhere!
DeLay reminds people of the "read my lips" pledge made by the DORK, Bush #41. Did you know DeLay tried to reason with the elder Bush? Now, go guess. What was the results to the conversation that contained the information that Bush, the George Herbert Walker, one; was losing the American people?
Well, according to Dubya, he got outraged that Clinton won in 1992. So, in 1998, he went to Prince Bandar, of the House of Saud, and got green-lighted to run after Clinton left office! How does that fall into the neighborhood of revenge?
Anyway, The George Herbert Walker Bush LOST in 1992. By shedding 9-million GOP voters that he got in 1988.
HELLO.
I'm talking subscribers. I'm talking customers. I'm talking REACH. You name call for a living? How far is that gonna get the right, ahead?
When it comes to 50/50 politics. Divide what's there. And, take the Congress; the donks are so much more experienced than the Republicans, you have no idea, if you haven't been watching. And, tallying this up on your own.
Like racing sheets. People who really go to horse races don't depend just on their moods of the moment when they place bets. Some statistics they carry in their heads. But others? They get from sheets. That list a lot of the characteristics on the horses, themselves.
Gee. I used to think people picked colors. Or numbers. But then I usually hold onto my two-dollars. Leaving Santa Anita with the money I brought in. I haven't exactly got the hang of betting on a number coming up in the future. And, watching running horses scares me to death.
Well, they could run into each other. They can "spill." And, then they have to get shot on the field. As an act of kindness.
I understand that horse racing is similar to a gamble about life.
But if you look over to the White House, NOW, you might see the problem.
Bush was "given" this job, just like he collected a lot of top CEO jobs. Out of his dad's connections.
Wanna talk turkey?
Go ask Guiliani's spokesperson to come clean.
Not with what GUiliani can pander to the right; because all politicians pander. It's not just for panda bears, ya know? Ronald Reagan also dealt with being a SPOKESPERSON. For GE. Which was a form of "pandering.' Of taking a giant corporate image out there; and selling the idea that it was a cute, cuddly, baby. To the public.
Can't fool me.
The GOP needs a stronger guy IN the White House. Not the dud it has now. Where all you've got are your name-calling techniques.
Tom DeLay can't say "liberal" without attaching "stupid." As if it's ONE WORD. That's his line! And, because he talks to God, the message he got back is that he was being arrogrant. And, stupid. He's tried to learn a bit more Jesus. But as I said, he sings his tunes. ANd, he's not about to become a Soprano.
The other name-call that got my attention? DeLay says all liberals are communists. Well, then all right wingers are fascists.
Name calling is a waste of time.
And, the country will be better served without so much special interest politics grabbing the airwaves. When, right now, the problem is obvious to those who stop and look at this accident.
The two Bush's. Ain't listening to ya. And, neither one was a "prudent" choice.
Get over picking lemmings.
Try to look at how the mainstream is coping. Because the donks know everything that's needed to know, to run a ship that's divided 50/50.
Who sits in the commander's chair is very important to the whole operation. But, of course, the Captain knows that!
So, when you go out on the airwaves, don't try to challenger Guiliani's spokesperson as much as giving her, instead, a chance to TEACH.
Guiliani is a way better manager than anything the Bush family ever came up with. Of course, if they hired Guiliani, they'd have handed him a broom. And, shown him no respect.
That's why pelosi's rag grabbed all that attention. The donks know how to advertise and bullshit.
The right's a disgrace at that business. As well it should be, too. This looks like more than two-cents worth, huh?
Posted by Carol_Herman | April 24, 2007 8:48 PM
"Shuffling the personnel."
Let me see? When I was young, I thought candidates got a lot of people VOLUNTEERING. It meant you stuffed envelopes. Or made phone calls, trying to find homes that had lots of adults living inside. (That's how the old books used to be listed. And, the telephone company provided them, to "hopefuls." I kid you not.)
Then? There were the local band (kids), that got hired to make "noise" ... inside the back of a truck. This, too, was considered "campaigning."
And, there were buttons.
Of course, every politicians had a "place" ... called a "club." You could put republican (hardly anyone ever went there). Or democdrap. And, a lot of students studying in law schools, (in New York City), would hang around storefronts like that.
Sure. Some salaries were paid.
But the real mechanics of campaigning involved getting people to participate. Some even opened their homes. And, invited their own friends. So the candidate would show up. You'd be serving cookies. And, you'd get to shake hands. Of course, you'd hear a campaign speech!
It's like going to temple. At some point you know the rabbi talks. And, talks. And, talks. Even though no one in the audience is carrying any money. They've got these printed cards on the seats. And, you bend back the amount of money you intend to donate. This keeps the transfer of funds, kosher.
Today's world seems a bit different.
When hillary rolls out, she's got a team of females who fan about. I'm not even sure people show up. But the TV cameras are there. And, of course, it's a big production.
Now, if "big productions worked," Oprah would be president.
As to John McCain having to "re-shuffle the deck," I'm assuming there's so much FREE SPACE, he's looking for bodies to fill the seats. Lots of luck.
Even the reporters are no longer climbing on buses. (The Boys on the Bus became a book title back in 1972, I think. As did Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing.) And, people carried these books around with them. Just as they also carried around, the New York Times. No matter what day it was.
We're still pretty far out from November 2008. So how come there's all this campaigning? Is that what you call it? I don't. Most people are still too bored to buy the idea that any of these characters are electable.
And, if FDR was able to swing 4 TERMS, we have laws now, that indicate, no matter what happens, Bush is not running, again.
And, the messages that are gearing up? Doesn't look mainstream to me.
But, it's a given. Campaigns don't stay in one spot. Anyone that signs on pretty much decides to live out of a suitcase. Without a permanent address. (Ah. At least there are Blackberry's.) Otherwise you'd look at these "campaigns" as infestations. That use buses. To go to places. Where they won't even be tourists.
I guess in the tight circle though; where reporters gossip together, what passes for gossip in the work place; or even, who is sleeping with whom. We've now got people reporting stuff as if this held a future for wage earners?
Well, if McCain is shuffling, is he shuffling stuff without payrolls? The whole set up sounds fishy.
Back in the days of Camelot; and for JFK and his wife, Jackie, things heated up, on the personal tour, in the summer of 1960.
Today's gap, instead of months. You're milking the cow before the calf was born. Let me tell ya. Try again in the summer of '08. For the stories to have meaning. And resounding effects.