Reality TV Politics
Steven Donegal has achieved what I'm pretty sure is an OTB first: An InstaLink to a comment, for this entry in yesterday's Obama as Jackie Robinson discussion. There's only one way to resolve this 3 am thing: reality TV. Set up a TV program where each candidate is called unexpectedly at 3am and tell them of some impending crisis in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 28, 2008 09:29
Americans Want Government Speech Control
A plurality of Americans want "government [to] require all radio and television stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary" and nearly a third believe even privately owned blogs should have that requirement, Rasmussen reports. Nearly half of Americans (47%) believe the government should require all radio and television stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 15, 2008 07:48
Google Search Moving Web 2.0
Michael Arrington previews what purports to be a prototype of a new Google search experience, incorporating user commenting and voting such as we see on Digg and other social media sites: The video above shows a user interface being bucket tested by Google to select (probably randomly determined) users. Earlier today we showed a screen shot of the interface and a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 17, 2008 09:09
‘World’s Greatest Dad’ Arrested in Internet Sex Sting
Not our standard fare but a hard one to resist: A man from Oakland County [Michigan] has been arrested and charged in an Internet sex sting. Daniel Everett, 33, of Clarkston was talking online with a 14-year-old girl who he met in a chat room. The two had graphic sexual conversations and Everett propositioned the teen to meet him for sex. But ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 16, 2008 09:56
Bloggers and Journalism: False Dichotomy
Stilgherrian has attended one too many Future of Media conferences and he has a long tirade for Old Media journalists whining about bloggers and professional standards. What’s tiring about this false dichotomy is that it compares the highest ideal of journalism with the lowest grade of personal blogging about what the cat did yesterday and — lo and behold! — they’re ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 16, 2008 07:09
Obama’s Surge Purge Emerges, Demonstrates Nerve, Verges on Scourge, Reactions Diverge
Barack Obama has taken things off his campaign site that might be used by opponents to embarrass him, James Gordon Meek reports in the NY Daily News under the headline "Obama Purges Web Critique of Surge." Why, it's our Outrage of the Day! Barack Obama's campaign scrubbed his presidential Web site over the weekend to remove criticism of the U.S. troop ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 15, 2008 12:27
Tony Snow Dies of Cancer
Tony Snow has died. He was only 53. CNN Breaking: Former White House press secretary Tony Snow has died at the age of 53 after a second battle with cancer. Snow, who had been undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a recurrence of the disease, left his White House job September. 14, 2007, and joined CNN as a conservative commentator. More from ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 12, 2008 07:37
McCain Killing Iranians with Cigarettes, Risks Killing Presidential Chances with Bad Jokes
John McCain's secret plan for Iran: kill them with cigarettes. Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be "a way of killing 'em." McCain, known for acerbic comments and for sometimes firing verbally from the hip, was ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 9, 2008 09:50
Jesse Helms Dead at 86
Former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms died this morning, joining John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the distinction of passing on Independence Day. Raleigh's WTVD notes, In North Carolina Helms was a polarizing figure, and he freely admitted that many people in the state strongly disliked him: "They (the Democrats) could nominate Mortimer Snerd and he'd automatically get 45 percent ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 4, 2008 11:00
James Cason, Ambassador, Paraguay Singing Sensation
James Cason, the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, has achieved rock star status in that country. Literally. [H]e learned the obscure Paraguayan Guaraní language, recorded a music album of indigenous folk songs and sold 1,000 tickets to a concert in a downtown theater. Now, in the final year of his four-decade diplomatic career, Cason has suddenly become the toast of Paraguay, or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 2, 2008 07:51
