(UPDATE: Republican Norm Coleman has now officially conceded in the hotly contested and litigious battle for Minnesota's Senate seat.) As an ex-mathematician, I like digits, numbers. While statistics can be made to lie, I don't believe pure numbers do, except when manipulated by Rush Limbaugh, as in the recent Supreme Court decision involving Sotomayor. Numbers haven't … [Read more...] about Franken vs. Coleman: Numbers Don’t Lie
Minnesota Supreme Court Rules for Franken
The Washington Post has just reported that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, and rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, "whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling." However, "Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention." … [Read more...] about Minnesota Supreme Court Rules for Franken
Breaking News: MN Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Al Franken
Minnesota Public Radio is reporting that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of Democrat Al Franken in the disputed 2008 Senate election case. Below is a summary of the court's findings: 1. Appellants (Norm Coleman) did not establish that, by requiring proof that statutory absentee voting standards were satisfied before counting a rejected absentee … [Read more...] about Breaking News: MN Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Al Franken
Update: U.S. Troop Pullback in Iraq—Cheney’s Dark Words and Thoughts
The day marking the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities and towns has been declared a national holiday, and Iraqis are celebrating. Of course everyone is hoping that the pullback and the eventual withdrawal of all 130,000 U.S. troops from Iraq will not lead to more violence, or worse. Sadly, The New York Times already reports: As if on cue, a car bomb … [Read more...] about Update: U.S. Troop Pullback in Iraq—Cheney’s Dark Words and Thoughts
Visions of Elections to Come
It seems that the GOP is setting its sights on some first and second term House Democrats who they see as being vulnerable. In particular, they're looking at the new members in traditionally red districts who voted for the energy bill. The National Republican Congressional Committee is planning to air TV and radio commercials and unleash robocalls against Democrats who hail … [Read more...] about Visions of Elections to Come
Wikipedians May Not Be Such Sourpusses After All
John Timmer at ArsTechnica raises good questions about the study I pointed to on Saturday. Says Timmer: The results need to be interpreted very cautiously, as they were based on only 69 contributors from a single nation [Israel], a tiny drop in the Wikipedian ocean. ... Wikipedia's own survey of its contributors racked up roughly 12,000 original contributors (and another … [Read more...] about Wikipedians May Not Be Such Sourpusses After All
Brooks, Bowers, Baker Berate Obama’s Prudence
In the July issue of Harper's, Kevin Baker compares Barack Obama to Herbert Hoover, a "very good man ... moving prudently, carefully, reasonably toward disaster." In other words, while top Republicans and their backers blast the President for being too radical, Baker blasts Obama for not being radical enough. Yesterday, Chris Bowers voiced a similar frustration. While he … [Read more...] about Brooks, Bowers, Baker Berate Obama’s Prudence
Poll: Americans Don’t Want To Intervene In Iran And Approve Of Obama Comments
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll provides yet another example of how the talk radio political culture is outside the country's emerging political center: it basically finds strong support for the Obama administration's non-intervention stand in the Iranian election as well as President Barack Obama's comments that have been soundly blasted by conservatives and on … [Read more...] about Poll: Americans Don’t Want To Intervene In Iran And Approve Of Obama Comments
Billy Mays RIP
Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Billy Mays RIP
McCain’s Campaign Team Disses Sarah Palin In Vanity Fair Piece
Members of Arizona Senator John McCain's 2008 Presidential campaign team have dissed McCain's former running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, the New York Daily News reports -- and in a big way: In an expansive story in the August edition of Vanity Fair, a slew of senior members of McCain's campaign team told reporter Todd S. Purdum that … [Read more...] about McCain’s Campaign Team Disses Sarah Palin In Vanity Fair Piece
Obama’s IT Dashboard Unveiled By US CIO At PdF09 In NYC
I'm liveblogging the Personal Democracy Forum all day today and you can follow the current session below. Vivek Kundra is the administration's Chief Information Officer and has demonstrated the beta version of the IT Dashboard which lets us access government data in an unprecedented way (whether that's good or bad, you decide). If you'd like to follow all the live-blogs … [Read more...] about Obama’s IT Dashboard Unveiled By US CIO At PdF09 In NYC
TV News And The Fairness Doctrine
TV News and the Fairness Doctrine by Martha Randolph Carr Let’s bring back the Fairness Doctrine that required television journalists to at least attempt to be fair. That’s right, there was a magic time in America when the suits at the three main networks, ABC, NBC and CBS had to set aside a certain amount of air time devoted to controversial topics or current affairs and … [Read more...] about TV News And The Fairness Doctrine
Michael Jackson And The Pearly Gates
Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Michael Jackson And The Pearly Gates
Most Americans, Even Nancy Pelosi, Are Not Necessarily ‘Anti-China’: Global Geographic Times, China
Has the Chinese government, to its own detriment, carelessly labeled people, particularly Americans and specifically House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 'anti-China'? That is the somewhat starling conclusion of this article published in China's state-controlled Global Geographic Times. First published in Singapore's United Morning News, Xue Haipei writes in part: "The tendency to … [Read more...] about Most Americans, Even Nancy Pelosi, Are Not Necessarily ‘Anti-China’: Global Geographic Times, China
Christian Science Monitor Begins Marketing Weekly Print Edition
The Christian Science Monitor -- that longtime oasis of thoughtful, issue oriented, balanced journalism -- is now actively marketing its new weekly print edition as the next step as it implements a unique newspaper business model that will be watched to see if a longtime media institution can survive in the Internet age. Last fall it was announced that the Monitor would axe … [Read more...] about Christian Science Monitor Begins Marketing Weekly Print Edition
Those GOP Congressmen Are Traitors! Traitors!
Andrew Stuttaford remembers the good old days when liberals defended the president's critics from accusations of deficient patriotism, or even treason. Normally, I wouldn't call out Paul Krugman twice in one day, but this exception is worth it. Krugman writes, As I watched the deniers [who voted against the Waxman-Markey climate change bill] make their arguments, I couldn’t … [Read more...] about Those GOP Congressmen Are Traitors! Traitors!
Read My Lips, (Almost) No New Taxes
This post is addressed only to those readers who earn less than $250,000 per year. George Stephanopoulos was doing his best yesterday morning to figure out if President Obama really meant it when he promised not to raise taxes on you. Steph put the question to David Axelrod:STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to show our viewers something the president said during the campaign back in … [Read more...] about Read My Lips, (Almost) No New Taxes
God Wants Mark Sanford To Stay On As Governor
I can imagine the pounding I'm going to get for this, but I feel repelled beyond words by this man and his self-serving conflating of his political ambitions with God's will: … [Read more...] about God Wants Mark Sanford To Stay On As Governor
U.S. Troop Pullback in Iraq: Cheney’s Dark Words and Thoughts
If all goes according to plan and schedule, by this time tomorrow night, most of the 130,000 American troops in Iraq should have safely withdrawn from Iraqi towns and cities to military operating bases, where they will be on call to provide support if and when needed. The American pullback was agreed upon as part of a security accord---a Status of Forces … [Read more...] about U.S. Troop Pullback in Iraq: Cheney’s Dark Words and Thoughts
Mark Sanford
David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Mark Sanford