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Jun

13

[UPDATED] McCain campaign cancels postpones event w/TX oilman who compared rape to the weather

Filed Under Campaigning, Gender, John McCain, Politics, Republicans, Scandal, Sexism, WH2008, Women | 12 Comments

[Update: John McCain's campaign says that it's only postponing the fundraiser to be hosted by Clayton Williams who suggested that women about to be raped lie back and enjoy it. Hattip Jeff Coryell.]

Just in case people can’t come up with enough reasons on their own why John McCain is not the choice for women, ABC News reports on how one Texas oilman, Clayton Williams, who is a McCain supporter slipped up:

ABC’s Rick Klein reports: Sen. John McCain on Friday abruptly cancelled a Monday fundraiser that had been scheduled at the home of a Texas oilman, after ABC News contacted the campaign inquiring about a verbal blunder the Texan made during an unsuccessful 1990 campaign for governor.

Clayton Williams stirred controversy during his 1990 campaign for governor of Texas with a botched attempt at humor in which he compared rape to weather. Within earshot of a reporter, Williams said: “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

McCain’s campaign is on the record for nixing the event due to those comments:

McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said the Monday event was being cancelled, given the offensive comments. He said he could not yet say what McCain would do with donations brought into the campaign by Williams.

“These were obviously incredibly offensive remarks that the campaign was unaware of at the time this event was scheduled,” Rogers said. He added that Williams apologized for the comments back in 1990, but he said that does not excuse them.

But, there’s one more thing, from the ABC item:

Williams told the Midland Reporter-Telegram recently that he had already raised more than $300,000 for McCain and the fundraiser to be held at his home in Midland. Williams said that he needed to help McCain raise money to stop an Obama campaign that would enact “socialist” policies if elected to office.

Really now? Tracy Russo of Rural Votes has this suggestion:

It’s not enough that Senator McCain cancels an event because the media got wind of it.

It’s not enough.

Senator McCain should publicly reject and denounce this man.

He should donate every single dirty dollar that this man has raised for him – all $300,000 – to an organization working to combat rape in our society – like RAINN or RVA.

And he should apologize immediately and completely to his female supporters for daring to entertain the thought of keeping company with this despicable, disgusting individual.

Rape isn’t something that’s funny, it’s tragic. It’s a blight on all of society. Women should be able to trust Senator McCain to recognize that, and to do the right thing.

I completely agree.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:33 pm June 13th, 2008 in Campaigning, Gender, John McCain, Politics, Republicans, Scandal, Sexism, WH2008, Women | 12 Comments 

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Jun

13

Tim Russert, 58, reportedly dies of heart attack

Filed Under Media, Ohio, Politics | 7 Comments

Wow. Twittering through Twitter too.

From News Net 5:

Tim Russert, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and a political analyst for “NBC Nightly News” and the “Today” program, has died of a heart attack, The New York Times reported Friday, citing family.

Russert, 58, joined NBC News in 1984. He took over the helm of “Meet the Press” in December 1991, according to his biography on the show’s Web site. Russert has interviewed every major figure on the American political scene, his biography said.

Earlier this year, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Russert was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He is a graduate of John Carroll University and also graduated with honors from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, his biography said.

Freaky.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:44 pm June 13th, 2008 in Media, Ohio, Politics | 7 Comments 

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Jun

13

LegiStorm posts latest Senate financial disclosures

Filed Under Announcements, Congress, Government, Ohio, Politics, Resources | Comments Off

Here’s some announcements about the disclosures and here’s where you can look up the legislators.

Thank you, LegiStorm.

Sherrod Brown is here, George Voinovich is here.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:19 pm June 13th, 2008 in Announcements, Congress, Government, Ohio, Politics, Resources | Comments Off 

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Jun

13

AP sends Drudge Retort cease & desist, Jeff Jarvis says, “FU AP”

Filed Under Blogging, Business, Cleveland+, Debates, Economy, Marketing, Media, Ohio, Tech, Writing | 4 Comments

From Liza at Culture Kitchen:

Rogers Cadenhead, founder and publisher of The Drudge Retort, has been Cease and Desisted by AP News for publishing fragments of their syndicated news articles and reports.

Yes, fragments, not the whole articles. Go to Rogers’ site to read the reasons given by AP.

Adding a quote to a blog post is very much like the sampling of a hook or a beat on a song. It’s why so many people were opposed to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. It’s not only that albums like Beck’s Odelay or Public Enemy’s Fear Of A Black Planet would never had happened. Documentaries, archival works, opinion or scholarly writing would be all but non-existent if it means that now journalists, bloggers, historians and scholars would need to pay publishing houses for every single quote and/or sample they need for their work.

Wow. We’re talking about some very serious slippery slopes here, depending on what happens. I’m not up on all this but I’m hoping some more with it lawyers than myself (inactive for four years now, I can hardly believe it) can chime in.

Here’s what Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine has to say (his words, not mine, of course):

FU AP

I talked to a reporter this week about the embattled Associated Press and said three times that I didn’t want it to die. I might take that back.

The AP has filed truly noxious takedown notices against Rogers Cadenhead’s community-created Drudge Retort, arguing copyright violations for quotes from 33 to 79 words long.

For shame, AP.

Read the whole post by Jarvis but here’s a bit more in which he says NICE things about Ohio’s media!

This complaint comes from an organization that leaches off original reporting and kills links and credit to the source of that journalism. Yes, it has a right to reproduce reporting from member news organizations. But as I point out here, the AP is hurting original reporting by not crediting and linking to the journalism at its source. We should be operating under an ethic of the link to original reporting; this is an ethic that the AP systematically violates.

What would be better for journalism would be for aggregators — Daylife (where I am a partner), Inform, Google News, Pro Publica — to link directly to original reporting without rewriting it through its mill. That is what is happening in Ohio, where newspapers are now sharing original stories. If the AP doesn’t watch out, that is what could happen everywhere.

What to do? Here’s Jarvis’ suggestion:

So let’s fire back. I urge bloggers everywhere to go to the AP and reproduce a story at length in solidarity with Cadenhead and Drudge Retort. Here’s mine:

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — The Cedar River poured over its banks here Thursday, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 homes, causing a railroad bridge to collapse and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.Officials estimated that 100 blocks were underwater in Cedar Rapids, where several days of preparation could not hold back the rain-swollen river. Rescuers had to use boats to reach many stranded residents, and people could be seen dragging suitcases up closed highway exit ramps to escape the water.

“We’re just kind of at God’s mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start,” Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. “We’re going to need a lot of prayers and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding.”

About 3,200 homes were evacuated and some 8,000 residents displaced, officials estimated….

That’s just the homogenized AP version of the news.

Here’s original journalism: a story from Gazette Online and another; aerial photos; users‘ photos (not the property of the AP, I’ll bet).

…

Who needs the AP tapioca when we can get reporting like this from the source wtih no more than a link? Isn’t it a better service to reader and journalist to link directly to the original reporting?

So, bloggers, unless the AP recants and apologizes to Cadenhead, I urge you to avoid linking to the AP and to link to reporting at its source.

Sigh. The dinosaurs really did die and they really did live before humans. For the love of life, AP, come into the 21st century.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:04 pm June 13th, 2008 in Blogging, Business, Cleveland+, Debates, Economy, Marketing, Media, Ohio, Tech, Writing | 4 Comments 

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Jun

13

Blog launch: Michelle Obama Watch

Filed Under Announcements, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Civil Rights, Culture, Debates, Democrats, Gender, Media, Michelle Obama, Ohio, Politics, Race, Sexism, WH2008, Women | 5 Comments

What About Our Daughters has started Michelle Obama Watch. I think it’s a great idea. I think it’s horrific that it has to exist and I pray that it doesn’t get maligned the way people who tried to sound the bell on sexism against Hillary Clinton did. But these are all efforts to stop the madness. And I cannot argue with that one second.

Just an aside, since I haven’t really taken the time to mention this, some of you may have noticed that I beefed up my “All Things Women” section of the blogroll about two or three months ago. There are several that are WOC (women of color) blogs from which I’m learning so much. I don’t always agree, but I don’t have to. Just being exposed and knowing what’s there, e-mailing the bloggers offline and asking questions, trying to figure out something about which I know embarrassingly little but about which I can do so much more than I am has made a huge difference in what sticks out to me and the range of perspectives I try to consider or seek out or notice are missing. I’ve got a long way to go, but I’ve met some incredible people along the way who, if you give them a chance, won’t give up on you or let you give up on yourself.

It’s weird to realize how few of the Ohio blogs I read have any links to blogs by POC (people of color) and I can’t judge others about that when I really hadn’t gone out of my way trying to find them, to link to them. But that’s really a whole ‘nother post – maybe a whole ‘nother blog.

Anyway, please visit Michelle Obama Watch. Gina, of What About Our Daughters, was credentialed by the DNC for the convention in Denver. If you’re going, please please let her know that you’ve read about her and maybe even read her blog and the new effort to keep everyone on their toes about the media and other’s wrongness in portrayals of Michelle Obama.

If you’re going to talk the talk about what’s racist and what isn’t, the least you can do is read what the people who are most affected have to say about it, you know?

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:42 pm June 13th, 2008 in Announcements, Barack Obama, Blogging, Campaigning, Civil Rights, Culture, Debates, Democrats, Gender, Media, Michelle Obama, Ohio, Politics, Race, Sexism, WH2008, Women | 5 Comments 

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Jun

13

The Sock Obama=Racist; Clinton TNR Cover=Sexist; English-only bills=Anti-immigrant

Filed Under Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Culture, Debates, Education, Gender, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Media, Politics, Race, Sexism, WH2008, Women | 16 Comments

[Redhorse: this rant's for you.  I know you love it when I get all angry and s**t.]

Sock Obama: started at Plunderbund, now it’s in the New York Magazine among other places.

Hillary The New Republic cover: read the debate here

English-only bills: picked up at TIME Magazine with a lengthy comment thread

I will not link to the Obama sock monkey “doll” website. Just know that many bloggers of different colors have written about it and, as I would have bet $1 million on, people are saying crap like they said about sexist stuff that went down with Hillary Clinton: “Racism? (Sexism?) What racism? (What sexism?) How is that racist? (How is that sexist?)” and the English-only bill: “Anti-immigrant? What do you mean anti-immigrant? How is that anti-immigrant?”

People: this is why we don’t do the hierarchy of oppression but we work to get rid of it ALL. Within ourselves (by becoming anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-anti-immigrant – I’m not even sure if that’s what it’s officially called but IT DOESN’T MATTER – it’s your behavior and attitudes that matter) and calling it out when others do it. Not by saying, “ha! you think that’s so bad? You should see THIS!” or by saying, “oh I know – it’s awful – but it happens.”

But by calling it out. And writing and saying over and over and over: IT. IS. WRONG.

Feel like slapping people down for selective outrage? Guess what? There’s so much of this crap out there now that it’s pretty tough to catch it all. I’m okay with that – especially on a blog where I know others will point it out.

And what if you don’t get any of those associations? Well, I do doubt whether some people ever will. Which makes me wonder, what are people learning – and where – that makes them unable to see this stuff as wrong? Where is the kinder, gentler nation of people? Where is the “if I don’t stand up for them now, who will stand up for me later” ethic in people?

Hmm, wait. Think having a president who calls other countries’ presidents names, regularly, as a matter of course and in the media as his brand of diplomacy has anything to do with setting an example? Nah.

Seven deadly sins proliferating everywhere. How about some virtues, people?

Here’s a reminder – what have you been practicing lately:

Sins:

luxuria (extravagance, later lust), gula (gluttony), avaritia (greed), acedia (sloth), ira (wrath), invidia (envy), and superbia (pride)

Virtues:

Okay. Let’s just say it – what the hell is wrong with people? Who can’t care about other people’s feelings? Who place protecting themselves and preserving their paradigms above everything else to the point of exclusion and hatred? Who can’t admit what they don’t know and then seek to figure it out rather than just assume and speculate and be done with it or worse, goad people into mind games rather than just debating?  No one knows everything. Talk, ask, question, LISTEN.

Enough.

Get yourself to a church, synagogue, mosque or quiet space and figure out what is WRONG with you instead of blathering about what is wrong with everyone else. Yes – I am saying that there is something wrong with a person who does not see the racism, sexism or anti-immigrant nature in the things I’ve mentioned.

To see it, by the way, does not mean you have to agree with the perspective. It doesn’t mean that you have to also not see the other perspectives of how other people see those things. It only means that you can imagine what other people are seeing that is wrong and you are choosing to say, “Well, you know, I can see how you see it that way. But I don’t.”

What’s the value in that? Because you then hope that when such prejudicial junk comes their way or happens to someone they know or love, they will recognize it – and this is how we work to build empathy where there is none. Understanding where there isn’t any.

Because right now? We got a boatload of not-understanding – and not caring that they don’t understand – dragging us down. And we will sink. We absolutely will.

Talk about feh.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:50 pm June 13th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Culture, Debates, Education, Gender, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Media, Politics, Race, Sexism, WH2008, Women | 16 Comments 

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