by Peter | 29 Aug 2008 |
My initial reaction to McCain's choice of Sarah Palin to be his VP was: Who?This is very out of the box for McCain. On the one hand, you kind figured he'd try something like this, because after watching Obama's speech, he really to kickstart his campaign. On the other hand, picking a VP is supposed to be a serious choice, with the heartbeat away from the presidency thing and all. Palin, with zero, and I mean zero, national political profile,...
by Dan Nexon | 29 Aug 2008 |
Whadda ya know? Left-wing bloggers are extolling the speech and right-wing bloggers are talking it down. Gosh. You'd think they were all a bunch of partisans who not only watched it through their own filters, but consider it their duty to help or hurt Obama's cause. Nah. Bloggers are a new breed. They'd never do that.Image source: DemConvention on Flickr
by Dan Nexon | 28 Aug 2008 |
Russia encircled by enemies plotting against it?CNN's summary of its interview with Putin, passed along without comment:Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous...
by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 28 Aug 2008 |
Nancy Pelosi -- "Permanent Chair of the Convention," whatever that title means -- called for a motion to suspend the rules so that the convention could approve Joe Biden as the party's Vice-Presidential candidate by acclimation. The motion was moved and seconded, and then approved; I didn't hear any opposition when she called for "no" votes. So the motion passed, and Pelosi then announced that Biden had been nominated by acclimation. Strictly...
by Dan Nexon | 28 Aug 2008 |
I'm watching PBS coverage of the 2008 Democratic Convention. In response to Bill Clinton's line about how the world is more impressed by the power of the United States' example than the example of its power, Brooks quipped (I paraphrase): "I don't think Vladimir Putin or Ahmadinejad will be impressed by our example."But that completely misses the point. The wager of liberal internationalism is that the United States can better achieve its...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Aug 2008 |
The convention is so much kabuki theater, but a few minutes ago the Democrats nominated the first African-American major-party candidate for President of the United States... on a motion by a woman who nearly became the first female major-party candidate for President of the United States.I think we can all agree that, whatever our politics, this is a pretty amazing day in the history of the United State of America.... But I don't need every...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Aug 2008 |
A lot of people are buzzing about Michael Totten's report on Georgia, in which he claims to have discovered the real truth about the outbreak of the war: Tblisi launched a preemptive attack in the face of a sudden escalation by the South Ossetians that presaged a Russian attack.The report contains very interesting claims. But Totten's narrative comprises, in essence, a transcription of a presentation given to him by a public-relations adviser...
by Peter | 27 Aug 2008 |
I want to disagree with Dan (who is very insightful in these matters) slightly here. I want to more strongly disagree with all the talking heads on CNN (who are not as smart as Dan), who have been decrying the lack of "red meat" in the convention speeches going after McCain and Bush.First off, there is plenty of Red Meat available-- it just happens to come from speakers who are talking when Anderson Cooper and Paul Begala are busy discussing...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Aug 2008 |
Clinton gave a great speech. Lots of commentators say that it hurt the Republicans. But they're wrong; this was a tactical victory, not a strategic one.The Republicans won the last two days... the meta narrative was about Democratic unity, and not about the Democrats' agenda or their critiques of McCain.Image source: MSNBC
by Charli Carpenter | 27 Aug 2008 |
What you are looking at is Wordle's representation of 282 survey answers to the following question: "Name three or more specific issues that come to your mind when you think of human security today. An issue means something that human security specialists are actively concerned about."The survey was disseminated this summer to 6,000 individuals who subscribe to mailing lists of "hubs" in the human security network such as the Liu Institute, as...
by Dan Nexon | 26 Aug 2008 |
I would run a series of ads called "Friends." Each would begin with rapid cuts of McCain repeating his "My Friends" catchphrase. Then the screen would ominously fade to black, and the voice talent would read "Just who are McCain's friends, anyway?" The first add would feature of lobbyists in his campaign. The second would feature "people who brought you the Iraq War." The ads would conclude: "John McCain: his friends... are no friends of ours."...
by Dan Nexon | 26 Aug 2008 |
That was quick. So much for the resolution simply serving as "leverage" for Putin and Medvedev in negotiations with the US and NATO.As predicted, Moscow's rationale borrows directly from the west's argument in favor of Kosovo independence.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a televised broadcast Tuesday he had signed decrees to recognize the independence of Georgia's breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."This is not an easy...