Tom Watson

World Wide Webb

The netroots knives are out for Senator Chuck Schumer tonight, and for good reason. Although I admire Schumer - and have for years - for his pushy, uber-photo-opp, outwork-the-rest brand of Brooklyn politics, he has shown himself to be out of step with what's going on in the non-Republican Party. In indicating he'd back an independent run by near-former Democrat Joe Lieberman if insurgent Ned Lamont upsets him in the Connecticut Senate primary come August, Schumer reminded me of one of the most out-of-step, clueless political scenes in recent American history.

Forty-one. Poppy. Herbert Walker himself. Supermarket check-out line. Early 90s. Looking at the damned price-scanner like it was some futuristic gizmo from Star Wars. Wow, Barb, will ya get a look at that? Listen, oh Chef of the Future.

That's Chuck and his understanding of netroots and what it means here in the warm, unfolding summer of 2006.

Ol' Chuck (and I admire the man and share his polotical goals) needs to look away, look away, look away to Dixieland - well, just south of the District anyway - to the Commonwealth of Virginia. And to one James Webb, a centrist Democrat but don't call him a DLC boy. Webb, former combat Marine and Secretary of the Navy, defeated lobbyist Harris Miller - even though he was outspent three-to-one and did almost no television advertising. Webb will take on The Perpetual Smirk, the craven, right-wing political wrestler also known as George Allen in the November election ... and I would not bet against him.

Webb has a mission: return the Reagan Democrats to the fold. Well this liberal, for one, wants 'em back, welcomes them back. Our economic interests are in close alignment. This high-spending, cut taxes for the rich, rape the environment, send our boys to die for nothing Republican Party is starting to clear Reagan Democrats from its teeth like stray poppy seeds - having already fed on the fat of the muffin. Funny thing about those seeds though; they're growing. Webb gets this, I think, in an instinctual manner - he's connecting. Many, many Democrats far more liberal than he are backing his campaign and using the power of online cultivation - the open source landscape of netroots that also floats the ascendant Lamont boat in Connecticut. They are getting the job done.

Yet Schumer, my Senator, much-esteemed as I've noted repeatedly, doesn't get it. He's looking for ways to abandon the Democratic flag to help his friend Joe - who leads Ned Lamont (he of the anti-war, pro-business viewpoint) by an incredible six points in the latest poll. This is pathetic. Jane Hamsher has it nailed:

...this is all about incumbency protection.  The preservation of entrenched power and maintaining the status quo.  The big, fat bird that most Democrats flipped the netroots during the Alito confirmation?  Multiply it times ten, they’re flipping it to every registered Democrat in the nation now.  It’s All About Them.

Senator Schumer, here's a bulletin. It's all about us - all of us, legions of us. Clicks for dollars, comments for votes, tags for precincts, one at a time.

Tags:

James Webb, Ned Lamont, Chuck Schumer, Joe Lieberman

Fundraiser: Crashing Our Gate

Anyone who blogs DMI's benefit reception honoring Markos Moulitsas with the 2006 Drum Major for Justice Award (coming up next week in New YorkCity) gets in free. There, I've said it.

And to me, it's the ultimate compliment the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy can pay to the netroots community on the left, so deftly led by DailyKos - progressive activists who crash the gates of power in Washington and in state capitals and in lobbyists offices are vital to a real, honest, open discussion of public policy in the United States.

That's why a who's who of more than 30 progressive bloggers big and small - and, yeah it's an even playing field here, folks - have come together to form a virtual committee honoring Markos for his work in changing politics in this country. Some of 'em will be present on June 22 at Lotus to honor Markos, jazz great Wynton Marsalis, and labor activist Anna Burger at DMI's annual benefit - and some 'em are just happy to lend a hand online, posting links, banner ads, and tags to sell a few tickets or just spread the word.

This is the update committee - if you'd like to join (and get in free!) just drop a note to Elana Levin and get all the information and code you'll need. The more the merrier.

Co-Chairs:

Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake
Steve Gilliard of The News Blog
Lance Mannion
Ezra Klein
Tom Watson

Committee:

Emboldened
The Astounding Trickster
The Sawpit
Blue Wren
Brouhaha
Jessica Valenti of Feministing.com
Nathan Newman
Liza Sabater, publisher of culturekitchen and The Daily Gotham
Sean-Paul Kelley of The Agonist
Democracy in Action
jspot
Flaming Grasshopper
WFP Blog
Michael Berube
Blue Girl in a Red State
Michael Stickings' The Reaction
By Neddie Jingo
JD Lasica
Digby's Hullabaloo
The American Street
Jude Nagurney Camwell
Peter Daou
Arianna Huffington
Black Sky Theory
Brendan Tween
Phronesisaical
Prometheus 6
The Great Society
Swing State Project
Night Bird's Fountain
Jeffrey Feldman
The Oil Drum
Bob Fertik
Majikthise
[Your blog here!]

Fresh off of YearlyKos (and don't I wish I'd been there), the progressive netroots movement is on fire - but I think it means more than simply realigning one of the major parties in time for this year's election. I think it means a new, more open, more transparent way of conducting ourselves in the public arena - and when I say "ourselves," I do not mean the elected officials, candidates, party staff, consultants, and lobbyists. I mean everyone who wants a voice. Because if everyone who wants a voice has a voice, progressivism in American politics can't lose. And policy will matter.

I'll wrap with this quote from Markos today - we hope to see you next week:

We've had to crash the gate precisely because the insular DC bubble boys refused to acknowledge that we are the American mainstream. There is so much passion, talent, and ideas outside of Washington, yet it has been shut out of the political and media establishments. The more the DC elite acknowledge and embrace the movement, the less "gate crashing" will be needed.

NOTE: Details on the benefit are here. Hint: you can buy tickets or make a contribution right on our handy website.

Tags: HonoringKos | Drum Major | Drum Major Institute | DMI | Kos | DailyKos

The Real Thing?

Photo: Beltran, originally uploaded to Flickr by ferruggiaro.

Between now and the All-Star break, we'll find out if these streaking New York Mets are for real. They certainly look the part. This weekend's destruction of the Diamondbacks was nearly convincing: especially the defeat of the NL's leading pitcher Brandon Webb. The Mets now have the best record in the league and a 6.5 game lead in the East. Their everyday lineup is deep and balanced. They look like they can play with anyone. Over the next few weeks, we'll find out if this is truly a 100-win juggernaut out at Shea - they'll face the second place Phils, the first-place Reds, the Yankees and Red Sox, and the Blue Jays. If they maintain their lead, the'll breeze to a divisional title - their first since 1988. Their leader? Wright, Reyes, and Delgado are all terrific but this year's blockbuster player is Carlos Beltran. Despite missing two weeks, Beltran has 17 homers, 49 runs batted in, 12 steals, a .297 average and .406 on base percentage. He's third in the league with a 1.028 OPS. The Mets have a strong bench, a great running game (they lead MLB in steals), good defense, and a terrific pen. The starting pitching is strong at the top but weak on the bottom, although this Cuban kid Soler looks like a keeper. Another front-line starter would really close the loop. But this is Beltran's team - and this just might be this team's year.

UPDATE: Fred slags the Times for paying the surging Mets little heed, while focusing too much coverage on the sagging Yanks. And Lance says don't bring up '88. Good point. Mike Sciosca may be reading.

Tags: Mets, Carlos Beltran

Comment of the Week

I'm borrowing a technique I've seen on a bunch of blogs, and elevating a comment to front page status - hopefully, each week. Now, which to choose.....hmmm.....let's see. Think I'll go with this one:

Tom, Thanks for being first to comment on my Blog. Hope you're a Who fan because you get a free CD. You can always sell it to help a pet charity. Your Blog is fascinating and I will come back. Pete Townshend

So, no fair - Tom K., Bruce, Tony Alva, Steve-o, Ralph, Fitz, Brendog, Slappy and the rest will have to wait. And a rather suspect choice of weeks to open this little featurette? Yes, rather. But what the hell: it's been a long, tough slog of a week in other non-blogging aspects and I need a little shot of The Punk Meets the Godfather. I want to revel in the glory for a few more moments. Fred convinced me, actually. Knee-deep in a major Townshend jag (as am I), he noted:

When your idols become your readers, well that's just super cool.

Yeah, it is. And that's why Pete is my initial Comment of the Week.

UPDATE: Getting lots of email from really smart people, terrific writers all, reduced to basically saying "cool, man." I feel the same way - and, incidentally, haven't heard that much usage of that phrase since about 1979. I also like PowerPop's take on it - rings true to me:

You know that great scene in Annie Hall, when Woody and Diane are behind the guy in the movie line who's spewing complete nonsense about Marshall MacLuhan, so Woody steps out of the screen and brings MacLuhan in to say he's wrong, wrong, wrong?

How many times in your life have you wished for that opportunity?

It's now yours.

Cool, man.

Tags: Pete Townshend

Poor Accoulteration

Does the blinking skyscraper of a ranting, hate-spewing guttersnipe change what a blog actually says - what it means, why its author drags himself to the dusty keyboard every morning after tea?

That's the question I'm asking today after visiting the voluble online journal of John Cole - one of my only Republican faves - and receiving a slimy gob of digital spit in the face: a massive advertisement for aging Ann Coulter's latest anti-American tract. Johnny, we hardly knew ye. Is the twenty bucks worth it, man? Can't you see what this dirty Pajamas Media game is doing to you, to us, to the pact you've had with your readers?

More to the point: how will Steelers fans react to this deal with the aging she-devil? Mr. C., you must realize how bad this looks - if not, watch the video here, my friend. Or just enjoy this wonderful quote  from your proud advertiser, from the very book you're promoting, about 9/11 widows:

"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much."

Now maybe this is just a script, and you don't know what ads will appear where - you don't know that hate-speech is being sold on your site. But Roger L. Simon knows. Oh, Roger L. Simon knows all too well. And if he put that ad there without running it by you first, John me buck-o, he went way beyond any borders of decency - and does not deserve your patronage.

UPDATE: This just in: David Corn has not - repeat not - resigned from PM in horrified disgust at his network's sale of the above content. David, you're helping Ann Coulter.

UPDATE II: Mr. Rick Moran, who runs the self-titled Right Wing Nut House blog, says he sleeps very well at night despite getting paid to promote a hate-filled book he professes to detest. Interesting indeed.On reading my "meaningless, insufferable drivel," he claims that "ignorant, self important comments like yours acts just like a sedative." Happy to oblige Rick old man. And you took the ad down!

UPDATE III: Mr. Moran implies that I have "shit for brains" and claims he has no sway over what appears on his own site. "I have absolutely no control on what ads are placed on my site. None. Zero. Zilch," he writes in the comments here. Strangely, on his blog, he states: "The answer is, yes I could request that the ad be taken off this site." So to sum up, the ad is down but the blog-owner didn't request it, and has no power to request it, though he admits he could request it, and the ad would be taken down. Like voting for the resolution before voting against it. The horror.

UPDATE IV: John Cole responds: "Apparently can ask to have the ad removed, but I am not going to- I would run an ad for Code Pink or Michael Moore or whoever. Unlike Charles barkley, I would draw the line at the KKK and groups like that, but I really don’t think the Coulter ad is a big deal. I haven;t even seen the damned thing yet, so I have no idea how frequently it procs, but I am betting not too often." I respectfully disagree here.

Technorati tags: John Cole | Pajamas Media | Ann Coulter | Roger Simon | David Corn

The Man Who Hears Music

No sooner had I thought to myself "it's too bad Pete Townshend now only posts to his regular, old rock star web site - no more two-way communications with a core group of bloggers" than the landscape changed. This morning, Pete's reopened his Boy Who Heard Music site on Blogspot, probably in reaction to the outpouring of intense discussion that erupted earlier this week over the origins of Won't Get Fooled Again.

Wait, a rock anthem released in 1971, fully 35 years ago. A lanky 60ish rock geezer clutching maniacally to a pitted Telecaster. Uh, cutting edge of the Fab New Media Explosion?

Yeah man.

Townshend gets it. After a lifetime at the very cushioned pinnacle of big media - and there is no more cushioned environment than that of the mega rock star (just read the riders) - Pete is making music and other in closer collaboration with those who consume it than ever before...or at least since his days at Ealing. Earlier this week, I posted on the National Review's insane list of 50 most conservative rock songs, giving my own semi-humorous choices, but more importantly, touching off a nice little debate among regular readers - which centered, not surprisingly, on the No. 1 on the Right Wing Hit Parade. Multiply this blog by about three dozen other blogs with similar conversation and the news of the ongoing debate reached old man Townshend's ears toot-sweet:

Won't Get Fooled Again has been listed in the UK Independent Newspaper as the number one song with - as I understand it - the political message most often misunderstood - in this case the message is said to be 'conservative', a word that may mean different things in the UK and USA.

Of course the song has no party-allied political message at all. It is not precisely a song that decries revolution - it suggests that we will indeed fight in the streets - but that revolution, like all action can have results we cannot predict. Don't expect to see what you expect to see. Expect nothing and you might gain everything.

The song was meant to let politicians and revolutionaries alike know that what lay in the centre of my life was not for sale, and could not be co-opted into any obvious cause.

Has the world changed? When, in the past, could a group of writers essentially ping a rock star and get a thoughtful response in a matter of hours? I'll tell you when - never. But tag a bunch of posts with Pete Townshend, get the feeds fired up, and word gets passed up the big media food chain pretty quickly - or rather, pretty directly. The point is: there is no food chain now - no Under-Secertaries of A&R and Communications to keep us away from them.

This is something that Old Blue Eyes - always an artist before a rock star, really - understands quite well. In this post, he talks about live webcasting of music (which he and Roger Daltrey plan to do when The Who go on tour this summer) and how it changes the who, what, and when factors of media production and consumption.

...if you wish to address a Live audience, in real time, intimately, and free of interference from petty government regulation, broadcast restrictions, or even internet controls – Live webcasting is the future for you. On In The Attic we can smoke, swear, attack hypocrites, even be hypocrites. We can have fun and be funny. The most important thing is that we can play Live music when the whim takes us. No one can argue that you are a true performer if you can appear Live and do your thing. No tricks. No ‘auto-tune’. No computer fiddling. No puffed up personality stunts effected by extreme video editing (of the style that made Keith Moon – for example – appear insanely funny every moment of his life when in fact he was often depressed, serious and incisive). The beauty of Live webcasting is that it does not preclude the inclusion of small films, or even pre-recorded music; the Live presentation element makes it all hang together.

The circle here? Imagine logging on each day to a report from Robert Fisk on the ground in Baghdad and being able to send him a Blog comment that let him know you were with him as he exploded with frustration over what was going on around him. Imagine being logged on, and knowing there was probably less that a two or three second time delay, and witnessing a truck being blown up, or a group of police-volunteers being attacked. Such news could be relayed on Robert Fisk’s terms, and not his editor’s. Imagine knowing that you were in a small elite of subscribers who were seeing what was happening first hand, and had a duty to help spread the word. Journalism as we know it will be unravelled by Live webcasting – sadly (perhaps) it seems Rupert Murdoch is the only person on the planet who can see this ahead of time and is buying up web companies like candy. He is – like me – rather old to be so prescient. But there it is – I predicted music downloading in 1985 at a lecture at the RCA and most people walked out.

Sometimes it pays to watch the icons - especially those who prefer life off the pedestal. Oh, and something else. You may recall that Townshend supported the invasion of Iraq, and Britain's involvement. Well, he's changed his position a bit - and painfully - with an openness and honesty that's missing in Whitehall and Washington:

At first, personally knowing one of his torture victims, I wanted Sadam Hussein removed at any price. I also wanted to send a message to the Islamic world (again, a place full of many of my friends) that the West was run by dangerous men with powerful weapons and our going into Iraq to ‘tidy up’ was a better option for sending that message than dropping nuclear warheads on Afghanistan or Pakistan which has such deep and tenuous links with Britain. It is too easy to sanction war when you don’t know what is actually happening to the soldiers and civilians in the conflict, and pretty much all British newspapers have kept everyone abreast of the true horrors. The Independent through Robert Fisk has been a leader in speaking of the reality of the conflict in Iraq, and the real ‘price’ of removing Sadam. I won’t go back on my initial support for the invasion, but I feel blooded and humbled, deeply, deeply ashamed at the way things have turned out.

UPDATE: Pete's serious about video - the very first Who rehearsals are already up in QT. Oh yeah, PT welcomes TW here. And comments here. New world? Yeah... [He also hit Blue Girl and Mannion].

Technorati tags: Pete Townshend | Who | The Who

Paging Harry Truman

My friend Brendan - who runs the Hell Yeah! blog - is always telling me that a big portion of the right's motivation for the disastrous adventure in Iraq is business: and not just keeping the world safe for capitalism, either. Direct business. Big business. In short, profiteering.

Brendan argues that while Marines face trial for murder after more than three years of sitting duck duty, while the death toll nears 2,500, while insurgency melds into anarchy, the cash registers ring.

I was skeptical, but not very. And now I'm not - thanks to an ongoing series over at the wonderblog FireDogLake. In his original April post Merchants of Misery” and the “Do-Less-Than-Nothing” Congress FDL writer Matt O. remembers another backlash against profiteers:

Ironically, we intersect with another statement from the former president. Truman dubbed the 1948 Congress as the "Do-Nothing Congress" because they were in session for only 108 days. But I think the current collection of suits has them beat with only 97 days in session. It’s the "Do-Less-Than-Nothing" Congress and while they chase 12 million undocumented workers all over the country in the House and go off on gay-bashing tirades on the Senate floor, they are ignoring a major issue - war profiteering.

Later this year, director Robert Greenwald will release the film Irag for Sale: the War Profiteers. But FDL is already on top of this. Today, Matt fires off another well-researched installment on "security and logistics" startup Custer Battles (sadly apt for this war) and tales of "gangland-style payments." From FDL: In March, the company was ordered by a jury to pay $10 million "in damages and penalties for defrauding the government on its work in Iraq." Alan Grayson, an attorney for the whistleblowers said:

"Companies like Custer Battles go there with the idea of
stuffing their pockets with cash. This jury of eight people heard the
evidence and were repelled by it."

Clearly, we need another Truman Committee - thought we're not likely to get one without a big sweep in  November. As Matt sums up (read his whole series):

Rapacious corporations profit off of the death and misery of an
ill-fated plan for war and are protected by their enablers in the power
structure. Their cost-cutting actions put our armed forces at greater
risk, inflame tensions with the locals for piss poor work (of which
many use imported labor), and thus, undermine our efforts. All while
ripping off the American taxpayers. I can’t think of anything more
treasonous than that.

Me either. Here's a preview of the Greenwald project via YouTube:

Technorati Tags: Irag, Bush, Truman, Rumsfeld, Custer Battles, Halliburton

Holy Grail Tail

Congrats to the Blue Girl for hitting a big old milestone of bandwidth transferral, but I laughed till I cried at her explanation. Seems there's another Blue Girl, and she's not from a red state - indeed she's from a different state all-together, two-dimensional and - shall we say - always on the go. So she asks the anime porn surfers (who worship a super-heroine who uses sex as a weapon - imagine?) to stay awhile:

Well, animated porn is pretty darned popular, seeing that I've recently hit such a monumental hit count.  So, to all you out there with that crazy little cartoon fetish -- thanks for visiting blue girl!

To this I add my own little tale. Last week, I took a shot at the poor thriller (but full-fledged commercial empire) of Dan Brown and his Mary Magdelene tale. Well, turns out my headline, "The Da Vinci Load" is a big, new - uh - thriller from Hustler Studios. In this chase for a very different grail, researchers discover that "Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa using his own sperm." Cue the clicking stampede to this humble blog, which turns up before the equally modest Hustler site in Google, when search is enabled for the peculiar gesso technique. Talk about gross traffic numbers. As Blue Girl says: "But hey!  I'll take it."

Technorati Tags: Blue Girl, anime porn, DaVinci Load

These Little Town Blues

So Mr. Chertoff and his Homeland Security goons want to cut funding for anti-terrorism efforts in New York. The nerve. Five years ago, we lost more Americans here than have been killed in the Iraq war - to date, sadly. Reports ABC News's The Blotter:

The formula did not consider as landmarks or icons: The Empire State Building, The United Nations, The Statue of Liberty and others found on several terror target hit lists. It also left off notable landmarks, such as the New York Public Library, Times Square, City Hall and at least three of the nation's most renowned museums: The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan and The Museum of Natural History. The form ignored that New York City is the capital of the world financial markets and merely stated the city had four significant bank assets.

No landmarks? Well, that's easily answered: the list above will do - though it doesn't include Pete's Tavern, the Algonquin, the Oyster Bar, Fraunces Tavern, the Olde Town, or McSorley's.

But icons? Did they not notice Ms. Katie Couric and her courageous farewell to the peacock? Isn't Dave an icon, and Conan, and Jon? We've got icons by the dozen: geez, you trip over them on Fifth Avenue some days. Look, there's Woody, and Belafonte, and DeNiro. There goes rhymin' Simon. Cuomos, Kennedys, Careys, Clintons and Koch. Jeter, Namath, Willis, Mex, Whitey and Yogi.

Icons?! We got your stinkin' icons, Mr. Thin Man Wannabe G-Man (speaking of New York icons). I saw John Updike on line for the bank last week. Lou Reed was reading the Post on the 4 Train not long ago. He nodded at me. Gore Vidal poured himself from a cab on Seventh Avenue.

Keep this up and we're gonna go all Eddie Hayes on your scrawny Let New Orleans Drown Homeland Security neck, pallie. Sean Combs may be knockin'. Imus is listening. Trump is getting jiggy. Or maybe Tom Verlaine.

Helloooo Homeland pup - this is the homeland. Seinfeld? Little clan known as The Rockefellers? James Freaking Gandolfini? Marv??!!

Yeah, go buy s'more Segways for downtown Omaha, chump. You're an icon of failure, a monument to political disgrace and historic ignominy.

 

UPDATE: Homeland Security claims New York screwed up the paperwork and that NYPD drills are stupid. Hmm. So we're incompetent. Hmm. Bush-Cheney-Chertoff vs. Bloomberg (whom I didn't even support, truth be told). A battle of competency. Of managers. Let's see. Yes. Whom would you choose? [insert hummed Jeopardy music here]. Such a tough choice. I wonder....

Technorati tags: homeland security | Chertoff