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Feb
11
Morra Aarons: “Obama is the establishment”
Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Environment, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | 23 Comments
I’ve said some of the very same words, though not nearly as coherently as Morra Aarons does in this post, about how, for all the newness Barack Obama projects, he’s got some very not-so-new folks at his elbow and beyond.
Aarons writes:
Being a Hillary supporter is like being the person in the dorm who yells at her partying neighbors to shut up, because she’s studying for a final exam. You know you have a good reason, but you’re a little annoyed at yourself for being such a pill. At the same time, I get very indignant about Obama’s snow job on the Democratic electorate. The Will.i.am “Yes I Can” video? When I worked for John Kerry last election cycle, Will’s band the Black Eyed Peas were BFF with DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe (who is more Establishment?) and performed for many Kerry functions. I bet they would’ve made a video too if we’d had YouTube. My Dad said to me yesterday, “I don’t understand. There was this article in the New York Times about the emergence of Obama and the death of the establishment but I don’t understand how he emerged from nowhere without the aid of the establishment.”
Obama is aided by the establishment. This is his strength (it’s why he’s not been marginalized) but it’s also important to remember when we get swept up in his change-y exuberance. He spent more money on TV ads than Clinton. His campaign manager and senior team are DC veterans. A cursory glance at the FEC year end report by spending purpose says Obama spent almost twice as much as Hillary in the category “polling” (of course, who knows, since there are many other line items that absorb pollsters and related consultants).
After describing an anecdote that details how college students can sing in a chorus that Obama is about change but they “don’t really know what his positions are,” Aarons concludes with this:
To me, Obama rhetoric is like Splenda- “made from, tastes like.” Tastes like change, but it’s not really. It has no substance. It’s made from the same stuff as other politicians. I don’t understand exactly how Obama embodies change, except that he tells us he does.
Depends on what you want from a President. Obama has exhibited great leadership. He has created a brand and a message and it works. He’s brilliant and charismatic and he gets our zeitgeist. I suppose he can hire a great Cabinet, the way he clearly hired a crack campaign team.
But you won’t see me joining the cult of Obama. Not today at least.
This post of mine about the Obama “Join” ad has a similar tone in its comment thread. And I’m absolutely fine with being the one to tell the partying neighbors to be quiet. My name doesn’t rhyme with “pill” for nothing.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:47 pm February 11th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Environment, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | 23 Comments
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Feb
11
John Glenn endorses Hillary Clinton
Filed Under Announcements, Campaigning, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | Comments Off
The Dayton Daily News and one of the kindest journalists out there, Bill Hershey, is reporting that:
John Glenn, the former astronaut and four-term U.S. senator, is expected to endorse Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president on Tuesday.
Glenn, 86, the first American to orbit the earth and a long-time friend of both Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, is expected to announce his choice at a Columbus press conference, according to a source close to the Democrats.
Glenn’s expected endorsement comes as both Hilllary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama begin focusing on Ohio’s March 4 primary in their battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.
My inbox has been pummeled today with news, information, invites, pleas and other communications related to Hillary and Barack in Ohio. Ohio blogs are going bonkers making predictions about superdelegates, Ohio congressional districts, political blogs and everything and anything else that might have an influence on voters’ choices.
Folks. Get a grip. Calm down. Let us think. Listen to us, respond to us. But please, try not to overwhelm us so much. It will backfire.
Hattip to Holly who is undertaking a serious study project at the moment. 
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:08 pm February 11th, 2008 in Announcements, Campaigning, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Primary, WH2008 | Comments Off
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Feb
11
Three Cups of Tea co-author David Oliver Relin, 2/29, Beachwood Library
Filed Under Announcements, Culture, Education, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Religion, Social Issues, Writing | Comments Off
This post on Becky’s great blog, Deep Muck Big Rake, reminded me that just yesterday someone had told me that they thought that the author of Three Cups of Tea was going to be speaking at the Beachwood branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.
Sure enough, here’s the announcment:
Branch: Beachwood
Type of Event: Author Visit
Date: Friday, February 29, 2008 7:00 PM
David Oliver Relin is an award winning journalist and contributing editor for Parade and Skiing Magazine.
In Three Cups of Tea he collaborates with Greg Mortenson and tells the story of the unlikely journey that led Mortenson from a failed attempt to reach the peak of K2, the world’s second largest mountain, to the establishment of schools in the most remote areas of Central Asia.
A New York Times bestseller, the book has been featured on the Today Show and won numerous awards, including the Time Magazine Asia Book of the Year.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Library, books will be available for purchase.
Seating is on a first come/first serve basis!!
The event is on a Friday night so it’s doubtful I’ll be able to attend (Shabbat), but I’d encourage other people to read the book and go. You’ll be glad you did, I’m sure.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:55 pm February 11th, 2008 in Announcements, Culture, Education, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Religion, Social Issues, Writing | Comments Off
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Feb
11
Starbucks, AT&T join to offer free and/or cheaper WiFi
Filed Under Blogging, Business, Tech | 2 Comments
This sounds to me like what Caribou Coffee does:
Starbucks announced today it will give most any customer two consecutive hours a day of free Wi-Fi access. Specifically, that offer applies to anyone who uses its prepaid Starbucks Card at least once a month. That represents as many as 60 hours of access for the price of one $2 cup of coffee.
The offer comes as Starbucks switches the company providing it with wireless service to AT&T from T-Mobile. Most of AT&T’s broadband data customers will also have unlmited free access to Wi-Fi at 7,000 Starbucks. They have already been able to use AT&T’s other 10,000 hotspots free.
Even for paying customers, the price of using the service has gone down. AT&T will provide two hours of wireless access at Starbucks for $3.99, and an unlimited access plan from AT&T is $20 a month. T-Mobile had charged $6 per hour, $10 per day, or $40 per month. (Anyone who has other reasons to want to keep a T-Mobile account will be able to continue using Starbucks through a new roaming arrangement with AT&T.)
Here’s Starbucks’s announcement.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:01 pm February 11th, 2008 in Blogging, Business, Tech | 2 Comments
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Feb
11
Hillary Clinton in Cleveland on Friday, 2/15
Filed Under Announcements, Campaigning, Cleveland+, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Politics, WH2008 | 4 Comments
The Clinton clan will all but take up residency in Ohio over the next several weeks until the March 4 primary, evidence of the do-or-die importance of this state to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects.
The senator and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, will make frequent appearances in Ohio, beginning this week. Chelsea is expected to rally the youth vote for her mother at Ohio State University and Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware on Wednesday.
Sen. Clinton is expected to focus later in the week on Democrat-rich northeastern Ohio with stops in Youngstown on Thursday and Cleveland on Friday.
No doubt more details will emerge.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:25 pm February 11th, 2008 in Announcements, Campaigning, Cleveland+, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Politics, WH2008 | 4 Comments
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Feb
11
OH-10 Democratic primary candidates debate today; City Club debate sold out
Filed Under Announcements, Campaigning, Cleveland+, Congress, Debates, Dennis Kucinich, Elections, Joe Cimperman, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Rosemary Palmer | Comments Off
You can follow the live-blog of the debate here (thank you to candidate Rosemary Palmer and Anthony Fossaceca).
Read the Plain Dealer’s information about it here.
Watch it later:
The hourlong debate will be aired several times before the March 4 primary on Time Warner Cable, Channel 15 or Channel 22. The schedule is: at 8 p.m. every Wednesday; at 1 p.m. every Saturday; and at 9 p.m. every Sunday.
The next debate will be Tuesday, February 19 at the Crowne Plaza and the PD reports that it’s sold out. Unfortunately, I’ve been tending to myself before ensuring that I’d get a ticket to the debate, but we all can still watch it live, though I’m not exactly sure on which channel(s). I would assume WVIZ since Dan Moulthrop of WCPN/Ideastream is moderating. But perhaps other channels as well? I would also expect that WCPN will broadcast it live too.
I’ll see what I can find out.
UPDATE: From Dan Moulthrop, “WKYC [Channel 3] is broadcasting it and we’re airing the audio on WCPN.” And also WEWS, Channel 5.
I assume that’s all live. I actually really like live-blogging these things from my couch, though being there will no doubt be very fun.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:32 pm February 11th, 2008 in Announcements, Campaigning, Cleveland+, Congress, Debates, Dennis Kucinich, Elections, Joe Cimperman, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Rosemary Palmer | Comments Off
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Feb
11
Strickland casts vote for Hillary Clinton today
Filed Under Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Ted Strickland, Voting, WH2008 | Comments Off
From Joe Hallett at The Daily Briefing:
Strickland, who voted on a touch-screen electronic machine, said he voted early “to call attention to the fact that we can vote early in Ohio. We don’t want a repeat of past elections where people were required to stand in line for long periods of time, even in really bad weather. One of the ways to prevent that is to encourage people to vote as early as possible.”
You can view Cuyahoga County sample ballots here. My advice is to print one out, study it, research the choices and take it with you when you go to vote on March 4.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:15 pm February 11th, 2008 in Hillary Clinton, Ohio, Politics, Ted Strickland, Voting, WH2008 | Comments Off
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Feb
11
Meta on Congressman Tom Lantos, (D, CA-12), RIP
Filed Under Announcements, Congress, Jewish, Judaism, Politics, Religion, RIP | Comments Off
All the announcements and tributes mention Congressman Tom Lantos’ distinction as being the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. I don’t know how many Holocaust survivors have ever run for congress, but regardless, the fact that he will no longer bring the ideas and experience of that distinction to the legislative branch of our American government is unfortunate.
As the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, Tom Lantos devoted his life to shining a bright light on dark corners of oppression. He used his chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee to empower the powerless and give voice to the voiceless throughout the world.
Though a party-line Democrat on most issues, Lantos was known for teaming up with conservatives on the panel like Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) to bring scrutiny to the suppression of free speech in China and other issues. He also teamed up with many Republicans to back the Iraq war and advocate staunch support for Israel.
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt:
“Chairman Lantos will be remembered as a man of uncommon integrity and sincere moral conviction — and a public servant who never wavered in his pursuit of a better, freer and more religiously tolerant world,” House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said in a statement.
Lantos was not afraid to take on his allies. On the foreign affairs committee, he blasted Silicon Valley giants like Google and Yahho for colluding with China’s government in censorship. He authored tough Iran sanctions legislation but broke with pro-Israel orthodoxy by offering to meet with the Islamic Republic’s leaders. Pro-Israel groups also opposed a non-binding resolution that recognized the Ottoman era massacres of Armenians as a genocide, worried that it would cause a rift between Israel and Turkey — Lantos pushed it through the committee, unwilling to countenance what he saw as genocide revisionism.
His appeal crossed political aisles: Both the National Jewish Democratic Council and the Republican Jewish Coalition issued statements mourning his passing. Top Republicans on his committee also chimed in: “An unfailingly gracious and courageous man, Tom was recognized by friends and colleagues alike as a leader who left an enviable legacy of service to his country,” said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the committee’s ranking member.
Our nation has lost a great public servant with the passing of Representative Tom Lantos. In serving his constituents and his country, Tom never forgot the Democratic Party’s ideals of freedom, fairness, and opportunity for all. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he was an authority on foreign policy issues and a voice for the oppressed. The only Holocaust survivor in Congress, he was a forceful and passionate advocate for civil liberties and human rights. Today, I join with countless others across the country in offering my thoughts and prayers to Rep. Lantos’ family and friends as we honor his life and legacy.
Among his first major legislative accomplishments was legislation to give honorary citizenship to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, a hero, who protected Lantos and many others from the Nazis. He went on to sponsor U.S. aid for Eastern European countries that had broken the shackles of communism, and became a strong voice of conscience against human rights abuses in China He was one of the leading voices in the House for sanctioning Myanmar’s regime due to human rights abuses. Among his other accomplishments, Rep. Lantos teamed with the late GOP Rep. Henry Hyde to secure $1.3 billion to fight AIDS around the world and to incentivize India to cooperate with international weapons inspectors.
In October, when Dutch parliament members came to Washington to complain to congress about Guantanamo Bay, Lantos reminded them that if not for the United States, they would be a province of Nazi Germany. He also added that “Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay.”
Lantos himself was an opponent of the Bush administration on the prosecution of the war, on Guantanamo, and on most other issues. But he never balked at an opportunity to defend the United States against those that would denigrate it. He recognized that politics stops at the waters edge. He was a great man, and he will be missed in Washington.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:14 pm February 11th, 2008 in Announcements, Congress, Jewish, Judaism, Politics, Religion, RIP | Comments Off
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Feb
11
Joe Cimperman Meet the Bloggers audio now posted
Filed Under Announcements, Campaigning, Congress, Elections, Joe Cimperman, Media, Meet the Bloggers, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Voting | Comments Off
Listen here, courtesy of Meet the Bloggers. – I can’t wait. I’ve heard it was an excellent session.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:47 am February 11th, 2008 in Announcements, Campaigning, Congress, Elections, Joe Cimperman, Media, Meet the Bloggers, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Voting | Comments Off
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Feb
11
Youth vote outreach and impact in Ohio
Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Education, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Media, Mike Huckabee, Ohio, Politics, Predictions, Primary, WH2008 | 2 Comments
Redhorse wrote here about how he thinks the college students in Ohio could make a big difference.
And here in today’s Plain Dealer, my favorite PD writer, Margaret Bernstein, writes about that very topic.
It [instances of young voters being motivated] all suggests that a youthful revolution is taking place in American politics – but such trends have been forecast inaccurately in the past. Many thought Howard Dean’s innovative use of the Internet in 2004 would lead to a surge in youth activism that never materialized at the polls.
But experts say that political passions have steadily risen among young voters since then, and with hot-button issues such as Iraq on the table, emotion and idealism are now bubbling over.
Last week’s Super Tuesday elections brought out stunning numbers of young voters: When turnout figures for the 2000 and 2008 primaries are compared, the number of 18- to 29-year-olds voting doubled in Massachusetts, tripled in Georgia, Oklahoma and Missouri, and quadrupled in Tennessee.
And in Ohio, largely ignored by the national campaigns until recently because of its late primary date, young activists have kept up a noisy racket in an otherwise quiet state.
Please read the entire story. Margaret covers examples of how young voters are getting active, outreach to similarly aged voters who aren’t in college and the grafting of digital media into the campaign efforts.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:15 am February 11th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Education, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Media, Mike Huckabee, Ohio, Politics, Predictions, Primary, WH2008 | 2 Comments
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Feb
11
I’ve been given permission to share the following story about a little old Jewish grandmother who had just lost her husband to heart disease and the son and daughter-in-law who tried to cheer her up:
So here’s our Roy Scheider story: Shortly after Papa died we were visiting Nana in Florida and decided to try and cheer her up by taking her to dinner and a movie. Nice dinner, poor choice of movie. We thought All That Jazz was a fun musical. I guess it pays to read the reviews and not just judge from the title. An evening we would never forget, even if Nana did not always remind us of how we took her to see a story about a man who abused his body and then had to have graphic, bloody open heart surgery on a very very large screen while she was still in mourning over her husband who had recently died from heart failure, oy.
Nana: How could you take me to see such a thing about heart attacks and surgery and death?
Us: We thought it was a fun musical.
Roy Scheider will forever be in our memories!!!
Thank you, Mom, Dad and Nana (and Papa I suppose too – both of blessed memory as we say).
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:57 am February 11th, 2008 in Culture, RIP | Comments Off
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