Politics
gregladen | June 6, 2008
Oh. No. Right. Bob Bar. Not Barbar. Whatever.
Did this guy know this was a comedy show before he went on?
[Hat tip: knee-jerk reactionary libertarian homeschooler "Bore me to tears"]
clock | June 6, 2008M. LeBlanc: Playing Cards
Melissa McEwan: For the Record
Echidne: Why Vote For Obama? and Well Worth Reading
Neil Sinhababu: TEN GOOD REASONS FOR AN OBAMA/EDWARDS TICKET....
Amanda Marcotte: Feminists: Not really stupid
Pam Spaulding: Mike Signorile tries to bore into the 'if not Hillary, I'm voting McCain' logic
I understand. I followed and supported Edwards for 10 years (his 1998 Senate race, 2004 and 2008 Presidential races). I had plenty of time to come to terms with things I did not like, e.g., votes I disagreed with, etc. I also spent a lot of time and effort on oppo research - I…
gregladen | June 5, 2008According to news breaking moments ago, Obama and Clinton are meeting at this very moment in a home in the Washington D.C. area.
There are no details available. But I thought you'd like to know.
UPDATE:
It is now thought that the "home in DC" was Hillary's place. It is believed that Hillary has snuck out the back of the house and she and Barack are going to meet somewhere quite.
And no, I am not making this up.
UPDATE (8:50PM CST):
It appears that Obama was in the DC area today with the press group that is assigned to him. Then they went to get on the plane and fly away. Well, they…
gregladen | June 5, 2008Minnesota's Sixth District is represented in congress by a lunatic right winger known as Michele Bachmann. She will be opposed in the next election by DFL Endorsed El Tinklenberg.
Tinklenberg is having a rally tonight in Saint Cloud.
Hat Tip PZ
pharyngula | June 5, 2008Michele Bachmann is the Minnesota representative who embarrasses us all. She is, of course, a Republican, and one of the dumber ones — she's our anti-gay, anti-science, anti-American, far-right-wing kook, and we need to get her out of office … she's up for re-election this year.
My oldest son Alaric is an activist and organizer for the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party here in Minnesota, and he's campaigning for the sensible opposition, El Tinklenberg. He's asked me to promote an event going on TONIGHT, a fundraiser and rally for Tinklenberg in St Cloud. If you're somewhere in the region, stop by.…
oracknows | June 5, 2008The organizers of the "Green Our Vaccines" rally yesterday went to great trouble to keep repeating a mantra that they "aren't anti-vaccine" but rather "pro-safe vaccine" (or, as Jenny McCarthy likes to put it, "anti-toxin"). I've argued that it's all a cynical ploy to hide their true agenda. What do some of the signs carried by marchers tell us?
You be the judge! (Pictures below the fold.)
Here's one that I predicted would show up:
And here's the one to top them all:
>br>
That's right. To these marchers, vaccines are weapons of mass destruction!
Of course, that's…
revere | June 5, 2008Does the Obama candidacy signal a return of "the sixties"? It's possible. What does that mean? Even those us who were there remember the sixties imperfectly. Not because we were permanently stoned. Memory is selective. We remember it as better than it was. We were young, and that makes a difference.Yet, as tristero observes over at Digby's place, the sixties were not just a time of flowering creativity and the securing of new freedoms, but also a terrible, difficult and dark time for anyone who had any political awareness.
The run-up to the sixties was in fact much like the last few years.…
gregladen | June 4, 2008According to press reports such as this one, and for all I know a zillion others (I've been totally out of touch at a graduation party over on Eat Street), Clinton will announce her move on Saturday. She had a conference call with party mucky mucks today, apparently. The announcement will come in connection with an end-of-primary event. The Obama campaign is pretty much staying out of the way.
Mr Obama had paid tribute to Mrs Clinton and hinted that she would play a role in any future Obama administration.
Mrs Clinton has said she would be "open" to the idea of being Mr Obama's vice-…
gregladen | June 4, 2008
I remember being shaken awake by my father. He did not want me to miss an historic event. During the election campaigns, the television is always on in my house, this has been true since I was a kid and we first got a TV. So the TV was on and he knew Robert Kennedy had been shot, and he woke me up to make sure I knew what was going on.
The next day, the same thing happened, this time with the news that Kennedy was dead.
Robert Kennedy had entered the Democratic Primary party late, after the sitting president, Kennedy's brother's Vice President, Lyndon Johnson, removed himself from the…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2008tags: presidential primaries, racism, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Democratic primaries
Image: NYTimes.
It isn't news any longer that Barack Obama has apparently won enough electoral votes to be nominated as this nation's democratic candidate for the presidency. However, what is news is the fact that a fair percentage of Hillary's supporters are, by their own assertions, a bunch of whiney, bigoted pigs because they claim they will either vote for Rethuglican John McCain instead of fellow Democrat, Barack Obama, or they will refuse to vote at all. So, while a lot of people are overjoyed…
oracknows | June 4, 2008Maybe I need to inaugurate some sort of monthly award for the best comment, as some other ScienceBloggers do. If I had such an award, surely this comment earlier today by Prometheus would be in serious contention for it:
Re: "Green Vaccines"
One of the things that the "Greens" are in favor of is biological diversity and protecting endangered species. This dovetails nicely with the "Green Vaccine" movement, since it is clear to me that they (the "Vaccine Greens") are simply trying to prevent the loss of valuable biological diversity.
Not too long ago, in 1977, one viral species (Variola or "…
oracknows | June 4, 2008I know I've been whining a lot about how blogging about antivaccinationists has taken over here of late. The reason, of course, is the "Green Our Vaccines" rally taking place in Washington, D.C. as this post first appears in your newsfeed. Yesterday, I wrote about how "Green Our Vaccines" is a sham and nothing more than an anti-vaccine rally as well as about how its organizers were causing a bit of a rift in the antivaccinationist movement by trying to adopt a kinder, gentler, crunchier, media- and (seemingly) eco-friendly message. Unfortunately, stuff keeps happening. So I've decided that,…
gregladen | June 4, 2008
The DNC does not always have a keynote speaker. Sometimes there is a speaker that can be thought of later as such, but was not necessarily labeled "keynote" at the time. So this list can certainly be argued with.
Obama was the DNC keynote during the last Presidential nominating convention. It is often presumed that the keynote speaker will be a key player in future elections. However, that is definitely not always the case. Sometimes the keynote is finishing old business (in which case their name is usually "Kennedy" and other times reorienting the party towards its traditional…
oracknows | June 4, 2008Something happened yesterday that rarely happens. I got back from ASCO rather late and was so tired that I didn't have time to post one of my characteristic, Respectfully Insolent magnum opuses (magnum opi?). Fortunately, I had just the thing prepared.
I'm not the only one who's expressed skepticism and pointed out that the whole "Green Our Vaccines" slogan" that you'll be seeing and hearing right around now is nothing more than a ploy to hide the true nature of the protest, which is an assault on the very concept of mass vaccination. I therefore thought that it would be useful for me to post…
drorzel | June 4, 2008I've written my last lecture for the first-year E&M class, and will be giving it at 10:30 this morning. (Friday's class will be given over to exam review). The spring term, which had felt like it would stretch into July, is basically over.
Oh, and some guy won an election.
evolvingthoughts | June 3, 2008
As an Australo-African ape, Snowflake is happy that one command from him was enough to ensure Obama won the Democrat selection. Now he wants you to ensure that John Edwards is the VP. Edwards will bring many votes and some level headedness to the campaign, without the nasty taste in the mouth that Clinton leaves. Go to it Americans.
gregladen | June 3, 2008 Paul Wellstone "There is an aspiration that binds us. It is the dream of justice for a beloved community. It is the belief that extremes and excesses of inequality must be reduced so that each person is free to develop his or her full potential."
gregladen | June 3, 2008Obama is the projected winner of this last primary, though no margin is estimated at this time.
Obama to speak from Saint Paul.
There is good information out there that Clinton and Obama are working out a meeting as soon as possible.
There is also excellent information out there indicating that Clinton is interested in being vice president.
These two things are probably related.
gregladen | June 3, 2008In Saint Paul, at the same stadium where the Republicans will hold their convention later this sumer.
I won't be live blogging this because it won't be as suspensful as Clinton's speech. He is expected to acknowledge his position as presumptive nominee.
gregladen | June 3, 2008Clinton thanks South Dakota who "had the last word" in this primary season (oops, that would be Montana, but whatever).
She honored Barak Obama and his supporters for "all they have accomplished."
Clinton noted the great increase in previously uninvolved voters and the unprecedented raising of money, as well as the importance of her campaign in relation to women's rights and political standing. (Especially noting the women in her campaign who were born before women were allowed to vote in the US.
She noted that people across the country and the territories all had a chance to vote for the…