TBogg nails it:
There was a disputed election in Iran and thousands of political bloggers who have never lived outside of the city in which they were born and who have absolutely no experience in Middle East affairs will now tell you what this all means, how this will impact the region, and what to expect by drawing upon their extensive background in World of Warcraft and a hardly used MCSE certification.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHT8-ps64w[/youtube]
It’s hard enough getting the straight news in your own language and culture. So when you spin the globe and move beyond your familiar languages, it can feel nearly impossible. There are, however, some universals. Check out TehranLive.org for photos of what’s happening in Iran right now. It’s not necessarily true that you can believe your own lyin’ eyes, but it’s probably more information than you’re going to get from your usual sources.
Update: As noted below, the photographer responsible for the image below (as well as the TehranLive.org site) has gone missing. Some info (and lots of speculation) in the last comment thread at his site.
Robert Reich lays it out:
[Big pharmaceutical and insurance companies] don’t want a public option that would compete with private insurers and use its bargaining power to negotiate better rates with drug companies. They argue that would be unfair. Unfair? Unfair to give more people better health care at lower cost? To Pharma and Insurance, “unfair” is anything that undermines their profits.
So they’re pulling out all the stops — pushing Democrats and a handful of so-called “moderate” Republicans who say they’re in favor of a public option to support legislation that would include it in name only. One of their proposals is to break up the public option into small pieces under multiple regional third-party administrators that would have little or no bargaining leverage. A second is to give the public option to the states where Big Pharma and Big Insurance can easily buy off legislators and officials, as they’ve been doing for years. A third is bind the public plan to the same rules private insurers have already wangled, thereby making it impossible for the public plan to put competitive pressure on the insurers.
Your understanding and participation in this battle really does matter. Do not assume that your representatives and senators are going to do the right thing as the result of a party label. The influence of Big Pharma and insurance companies is far greater than party affiliation. These folks need to know that citizen influence can occasionally be greater than either. Make sure they hear from you. Regularly.
Steve Thurston did a bang-up job of conducting and presenting interviews for four of the five candidates in the 47th District (of the Virginia House of Delegates). They’ll be competing in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, which is (sorry, Green Party) essentially the general election.
From TPM:
A new Gallup poll finds an overwhelming majority of Americans, 69%, in favor of allowing gays to serve openly in the military — it’s so big in fact, that even self-identified conservatives are for it.
The polling internals show 58% of conservatives in favor, plus 86% of liberals and 77% of moderates, for the overall top-line of 69%.
Fix it. Now. There is no excuse.
Really, that’s what these people are saying:
“An Italian hasn’t won the Nobel Peace Prize since 1907,†said Giammario Battaglia, a 36-year-old lawyer who helped start the initiative a few months ago. “We think it’s a good moment.â€
He appears to be serious.
The group contends that Mr. Berlusconi, operating behind the scenes and using his close friendship with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, helped end the conflict between Russia and Georgia last summer. “He saved human lives,†Mr. Battaglia said.
Let’s be clear. If I ever meet Silvio Berlusconi, I – Mark Blacknell – will slap him like his mother apparently didn’t when he was a child. This man is a clown of the lowest order. One that Italy, in its seemingly perpetual commitment to governance as envisioned by a 14 year old, has decided to make Prime Minister. Multiple times. Seriously, these people conquered the rest of of Europe?
E.J. Dionne’s got a completely legitimate claim that traditional media provides Newt and Rush a platform far broader than they deserve:
If you doubt that there is a conservative inclination in the media, consider which arguments you hear regularly and which you don’t. When Rush Limbaugh sneezes or Newt Gingrich tweets, their views ricochet from the Internet to cable television and into the traditional media. It is remarkable how successful they are in setting what passes for the news agenda.
But he gets to a more important point, I think:
For all the talk of a media love affair with Obama, there is a deep and largely unconscious conservative bias in the media’s discussion of policy. The range of acceptable opinion runs from the moderate left to the far right and cuts off more vigorous progressive perspectives.
And finally:
Democrats love to think that Limbaugh and Gingrich are weakening the conservative side. But guess what? By dragging the media to the right, Rush and Newt are winning.
This isn’t a new strategy. And it isn’t limited to national politics.
Honestly, I dislike so many of the people involved I just can’t pick who to cheer for. And the week is only half over.
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