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Aug

24

Haveil Havalim #179 (Carnival of Jewish Blogging) posted; Internat’l Jewish Blogger Con

Filed Under Blogging, Carnivals, Israel, Jewish, Media, Tech, Writing | Comments Off

I think I missed a couple of Haveil Havalims while I was in Israel – kind of ironic when you think about it.

So here’s this week’s edition, hosted by Yehuda: Gaming and Blogging in the Holy Land.

Don’t miss his list of the bloggers who were involved with the first-ever International Jewish Blogger Convention.  I’m still reading posts about it, but here’s a quick article from Ha’aretz.  From what I’m gathering, the organization, Nefesh B’Nefesh organized it with the goal of helping people to consider making aliyah.  But I don’t exactly get that from the reviews I met – instead, it sounds as though it was an awesome meetup of folks who blog about all things Jewish and Israel.

Either way, kudos for it being conducted and since I missed it by two days this year, I hope I can plan a future trip to Israel around it. Hint, hint, hint.

Update: here’s a very nice post with photos.  I’m familiar with several of the blogs mentioned but mostly, I only know them from reading about them on a few others.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:59 pm August 24th, 2008 in Blogging, Carnivals, Israel, Jewish, Media, Tech, Writing | Comments Off 

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Aug

24

Deborah Solomon’s NYT interview of Dennis Kucinich

Filed Under Cleveland+, Dennis Kucinich, Media | 12 Comments

Not to be missed. Not a bad photo either.

An excerpt:

Is it hard to come together with people you have sharp disagreements with? When it comes to uniting for the American people, that’s what we do. That is what we have always done. Democrats are famous for their ability to come together.

I never thought of you as such a booster. I am not a booster by any means. But Barack Obama is our candidate. We have to be practical about this.

You’ve met with opposition from Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats for continuing to push for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The process of democracy is a slow process, and it’s important that I do what I know to be the right thing.

But why bother with impeachment when Bush is on his way out of Washington anyhow? This president is capable of taking us into war, in October, on the eve of an election, to try to change the outcome of the election. We need to keep the ability to impeach at the ready in the event that this president continues to exercise a wanton approach toward the use of power, particularly the war power. The events in Georgia are a premonition.

A premonition of what? A premonition of an attack on Iran. When Georgia moves against South Ossetia as the Olympics are starting, the Bush administration begins its own Olympics — the war Olympics.

Are you saying the Bush administration is likely to declare war soon just to help Republican candidates pick up some votes? Well, you know, they increased the funding to Georgia a while back for military purposes.

You think President Saakashvili of Georgia was encouraged, possibly by the American government, to cry victim? Look. Saakashvili had an American lobbyist who is now part of the McCain campaign, and I am sure he was given advice. The idea of striking during the Olympics would have to come out of Madison Avenue. We have to be able to see through this. And the one thing I have shown an ability to do is to cut through the b.s.

As I’ve written before, if you didn’t know it was Dennis, you would love what he is saying even more.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:20 am August 24th, 2008 in Cleveland+, Dennis Kucinich, Media | 12 Comments 

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Aug

24

The Wisdom of Choosing Joe Biden

Filed Under Barack Obama, Democrats, Elections, Joe Biden, Ohio, Politics, Vice President, Voting, WH2008, Women | 13 Comments

This post consolidates a number of prior comments I’ve made about the selection of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s VP choice:

To read the swing state of Ohio, listen to its delegates in Denver on the choice of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate (h/t Ohio Daily Blog,):

Attorney Jan Roller of Cleveland, a Clinton delegate, said Biden “adds great strength for the experience he brings to the ticket, especially in foreign policy.” Justin Zollars, a college instructor from Bowling Green, said he’s happy with what he called “a smart pick” because Biden is experienced with foreign policy.

Sonny Nardi, a Teamsters leader and a superdelegate pledged to Obama, is also happy with Biden but more due to his appeal to workers and the middle class. Biden has middle class Irish Catholic roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Nardi believes Biden’s story and personality are a good fit in Ohio.

Leslye Huff, a probate attorney in East Cleveland pledged to Clinton, had an interesting philosophical take on the Obama-Biden pairing. “It’s very clear that the American public is asking for two things – change, the kind of change that supports and protects, and they are also asking for stability,” she said. She illustrated the desire for stability by pointing out that Americans “don’t want strange and odd debacles like Hurricane Katrina, where people certainly needed support and assistance and didn’t get it.” Given that the party’s platform calls for constructive change and the party has a “change agent” as a presidential candidate, “it was wise to make sure there was a complementary force for stability, a force based on tremendous knowledge and experience. The seasoned quality of Joe Biden I think is something that nobody can question.”

Steve Lieber of University Heights, also a Clinton delegate, was a shade more qualified in his praise:

Well, out of all the selections he had, Biden is probably a good pick. I think he has a lot of experience, he balances Obama well, he was a good choice out of all the people Obama had out there to pick. I’m a Hillary delegate, I like Hillary, but Biden was probably the best one he could pick. My personal feeling is Hillary probably wouldn’t have wanted to run for vice president.

Some of the delegates are public officals who issued public statements about Biden today. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an unpledged superdelegate, said:

Joe Biden is a dedicated public servant and a devoted family man. He has spent his career working to protect American families and will be invaluable in helping Senator Obama fight for the middle class. It has been my pleasure to call Joe a friend and colleague. I look forward to working with him as part of an Obama White House in charting a new course for middle class families and for our nation.

UPDATE: Here’s the statement from Gov. Ted Strickland:

Joe Biden is an outstanding choice for vice president. His foreign policy knowledge is unparalleled, and his humble Pennsylvania roots give him a deep understanding of the challenges facing Ohio families. Ohioans will have a clear choice this Fall —- four more years of failed Bush economic policies under John McCain, or a new direction that will bring the the real change we need to Washington with an Obama-Biden ticket.

Lesley Huff’s analysis nails what I’ve been writing at places like BlogHer (which has a fantastic back and forth with debate and opinion and analysis from all perspectives) and The Point and in person – I was at three different social events yesterday and at all three, people wanted to talk about the Joe Biden pick.

Here are the highlights of why I posted my support of Obama’s decision within minutes of learning about the selection:

1. I’ve met him, I’ve heard him live, I loved his debate performances. I’m not forgetting his gaffes or that he’s a white male, but I was never a Hillary supporter and I’ve had my issues with the Obama campaign (more than with Obama himself I should add). I analogize this pick to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s pick of Lee Fisher, who had run and lost in the Ohio governor race the previous election cycle against Bob Taft who went on to have even more dismal ratings than Bush: a balance of personalities and appeals.

2. I understand people’s complaints about Biden not being new, Biden not being a governor, Biden being male and white and from a small state. But if there are lessons we’ve learned already, that we might not have had the advantage of learning until Obama became the candidate he now is (think back to a year ago when he was sparkling, but how much more did we see beyond that sparkle compared to what we’ve seen in 12-15 mos?), those lessons include trusting the people Obama trusts. Not all of them, and not all of them on every decision. But there’s no doubt that the team he’s assembled and relied on, by and large, over the last two years have some serious mojo and instincts and smarts. He had a VP selection committee – most people liked the people Obama named to help him. If we can’t trust this pick, if anyone who supported Obama can’t trust this pick, you’re going to have serious problems with him as a president, no?

3. I fell for this choice immediately because Biden has what Obama lacks: the double-edged sword of entrenchment. For all the ways in which it was used as a negative against HRC, entrenchment also carries with it many goodies for people who are elected to be in D.C. One of my concerns with Obama has involved the length of time it takes to build connections that can help you get what you want done actually done. My concerns included confidence that Obama and his people, as new and fresh as many, though not all of them, are, could and would find the literally thousands of people they’ll need to get done what they and we want them to get done. These are the realities of governing a federal government. It’s not sexy, it’s not Utopian – it’s what we have. Read more

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:17 am August 24th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Democrats, Elections, Joe Biden, Ohio, Politics, Vice President, Voting, WH2008, Women | 13 Comments 

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