I'm writing an article on the history of the word "liberal" and its slow evolution into the political equivalent of cooties.
So I thought, hey.... let's put the good people at dKos to work for me as unpaid research assistants.
Anyone know what was the first usage of the term, "Bleeding Heart Liberal"? As far as I can discern, it was first given to Viet Nam War protesters, but I can't get anything definitive.
Any other linguistic insights or relevant political trivia of course would be happily accepted.
Thanks!
Stop it! Just STOP IT. If I hear one more word about how Dems must renounce their commitment to social justice, get rid of the the gays, become pro-life, abandon minorities, give up gun-control, and start pimping political favors for coporations, I'm going to... I dunno, SHOOT SOMEONE with my democratically approved assault weapon!!!
The quiet this morning was positively eerie. Everyone was looking at the ground. The mood in the subway was leaden.
We New Yorkers are not known for our cheer, but this was a particularly black day. I personally feel like the US has been abducted by fear-mongering homophobic rednecks, and I can't sit by and watch. But national politics-- let me not kid myself-- is for now out of my hands, out of the hands of all ordinary citizens, and, to me, so hideously off-course, I feel I have to sit it out. Really, I couldn't figure out how to sit it in if I wanted to.
I have completely ignored local politics since W stole the 2000 election. Stadiums and alternate side of the street parking can't be what it's all about. I'm wondering if anyone out there (mole?) has an interest in trying to get involved on the local level? Or has any ideas?
Yes we all love the recommend diary function, but that does not excuse anyone from the rules of basic diary etiquette If there are already three diaries on the front page-- or even just one-- that means that you should NOT post a new diary about it. If you have something to say, use the thread of a diary that is already up.
For that matter, everyone here reads Rasmussen. Everyone follows the basic newsflow throughout the day. Unless you have some thoughtful analysis to add, being the first to trumpet the NEW DAILY TRACKING POLL does not make you an extra-special member of the Kos community.
I am not generally a stickler about such things, but it's gotten beyond ridiculous, and becomes offensive and rude to regular readers.
Perhaps there should be a permanent feature for poll-trackers on the front page? But please, unless and until that happens, refrain from posting and reposting the same blasted thing eight times.
Smooches!
--cranky persimmony
I just found out that I work in the same building as the homeland security department (as if being in Pataki's building wasn't creepy enough!) There was a protest scheduled for noon today. They have unloaded the barricades and unleashed the heavily armed police... but no protesters.
Anyone know what happened? Ptolemy?
A friend of mine just called from the lobby of the Unity Conference in DC, the largest journalist-of-color conference in the country, where Bush just spoke.
One journalist there, an African-American man named Ronald Martin (?) badgered Bush with a series of nuanced questions leading him from condemning affrimative action and "race quotas" to discussing "legacy quotas" and whether Bush 2 supports university policies that weight the sons and daughters of alumni with extra points toward admission. Following this line of reasoning, Mr. Martin ultimately got Bush to state: I believe colleges should act affirmatively.
Another journalist there, a Native American asked Bush what sovereignty meant to him. He responded: Sovereignty means just that, sovereignty. We have given you sovereignty, so now you are sovereign.
Can't wait for those debates!!!
This is going to be a brief one, but I didn't see this nugget mentioned in all the exhaustive poll-picking, and it's rainy here in New York. The abortion nattering is depressing me, and I wanted to throw out the opportunity to discuss something a little more fun, and a little lighter.
So. According to Rasmussen's demographic info on the respective audiences of The Passion vs. F911...
There is a bit of common ground between the movies. Fans of both named Rock'n'Roll as their favorite music. However, Classical music was the second choice of the Fahrenheit 9-11 audience while country music ranked second among the Passion audience.
What's YOUR favorite music? Does it say anything about your political (or personal) leanings? Pastordan, I know you have some words for us, here.
I, true to my lefty leaning, pierced & tattooed alienated lezbo self, am a huge fan of folk music. Bring on those girls & their guitars! Ani, the Melissas, the ones you never heard of until you stumbled upon them one dreary night playing in the subway....
I don't do polls, but it's an open question....
"President Bush should have easily knocked a question about Mr. Edwards -- nicknamed the Breck Girl by Bush officials -- out of the park. But he whiffed. Steve Holland of Reuters noted that Senator Edwards was being described "as charming, engaging, a nimble campaigner, a populist and even sexy. How does he stack up against Dick Cheney?"
W. should have given a sly smile and drawled, "You mean you don't find Vice sexy?" Instead, he looked irritated and spit out his answer: "Dick Cheney can be president." Indeed, he already is."
Hmmmm. Didn't JeffLeiber say something like that just yesterday?
I used to like Ms. Dowd, but lately she seems more preoccupied with the comportment of political wives as props for the husbands than making the incisive, witty comments on real political matters.
Why?
According to Rasmussen which has adjusted its electoral college predictions accordingly (Kerry 237- Bush 203.)
Too soon to be a bounce. An anomaly, a statistical glitch, perhaps. But I prefer to think that Kerry is gaining a little steam and that the scales are finally beginning to tip. ***********NEW******
And speaking of polling,
this gem shows that Bush is more popular that Saddam Hussein AND Osama Bin Laden-- as the MOST HATED figure of all time.
Hey dKosians,
I have an idea. I live in NYC, and there's much talk about stymied protests at the RNC; and there's also Democratic hand-ringing over the inevitable rowdiness of certain exceptionally angry protesters tarnishing the image of dems everywhere...
I am one of those exceptionally angry protesters, but I want to be constructive with my rage. There was some talk of wearing red bandanas as a form of silent protest during the RNC. But in gayland, it could be construed as something quite different. And bandanas are so 20 years ago. But I liked the idea.
Anyway, I was on the subway this morning, gnashing my teeth about the latest effort to force a vote on gay marriage, when it struck me. What about t-shirts that read on the back "101 reasons to boot Bush" and on the front have a numbered reason-- a simple two-four word sentence (e.g., "#1: I'm Gay."; "#37: I have no insurance"... etc...)
I thought who better to ask for pithy reasons that dKosians? I have friends (as every true hippie-at-heart does) who make t-shirts... so it's not a far-fetched idea.
Penny for your thoughts...
Apparently he DID get the signatures in Arizona. [Sorry to anyone who read my earlier version, which was patently wrong, an egregious error on my part.]
It looks like he's headed for trouble in Nevada, though, where the signatures he's already gotten are rendered worthless by a law that states any third-party candidate must petition with the name of the VP, too-- and Nader hasn't got one.
Now, assuming the Greens don't endorse him (odds, anyone?) how many states do you thinnk we're playing with here?
On another side note, does the GOP-funding-Nader story have any real credibility? Plausible, yes. But credible?
According the AP, The gig is up for the four MA towns that stood up to Romney's homophobic hate-mongering:
Attorney General Thomas Reilly said Friday that his office has sent letters to four rebellious clerks and instructed them to stop issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples, agreeing to a request from Gov. Mitt Romney.
<snip>
No surprises here, just another punch in the face to fags, just when we were finally getting somewhere.
A letter I wrote to Nader... I try to keep in contact with the campaign there, for what it's worth:
Dear Ralph Nader,
I am keeping my faith in you.
I believe that you want more than anything to leave this a better world than you came into.
And what stunning victories you have had over the years! Consumer protections, environmental legislation-- you have been a tireless campaigner for just causes throughout your career.
I am keeping my faith that you will continue to do good in the world.
I am keeping my faith that your 2004 candidacy is a way to bring to the table the issues that you care about, and not an exercise in self-defeatiing egomania.
I am keeping my faith that as the Novemeber election draw near you will be an advocate of Kerry's, not an adversary.
I believe you WILL designate the same electors as Kerry on ballots in swing states. Or, failing that, that you will gracefully withdraw from the race in swing states, once your point has been made, and before a single ballot has been cast.
I have faith that you will not gamble the sum total of your contributions to the world on a razor-thin margin of victory between Kerry, who will improve the ruin of a country that Bush has left us with, or Bush, who, unencumbered by the thought of having to run again, may well finish the job he started.
I am keeping my faith in you.
Please give me hope,
[my real name]
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Greenspan.html?hp
Well, who'da thunk? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Greenspan who defended W's tax cuts, saying deficits were no longer the cause for concern they once were, in the new world economy? Funny how he doesn't offer doing away with the enormous and preposterous tax cuts to the rich as a possible solution to the problem he's suddenly noticed.
Yes, Greenspan, the free lunch has been invented-- by George W. Bush. You just have to be very, very rich to get it.
On first glance, the personality polling in the Kerry/Bush match-up http://www.pollingreport.com/wh2004.htm#Misc (so sorry I'm an html moron) looks pretty grim. But look over there, way over, on the right. Kerry's 'don't know' column in almost every case is huge. Even if he gets half the don't knows to side with him, he equals or beats Bush in almost every category.
The question of who is best equipped to lead in Iraq (Dems, how, HOW, has it come to Kerry having to defend his spotless record and military acumen against a drunken deserter?!) is most telling. If it weren't broken down into four groups (Very, some, not very, and not at all) and instead divided in two groups, yes-ish and no-ish, Kerry beats Bush on yes-ish answers, and tramples him on no-ish; that is, people are more confident in Bush's ability to f--k sh-t up, and a little more confident that Kerry might just do fine.
It's all in the small print.
