78 Comments

1. David Thomson:

Sarah Palin must make a big deal about drilling for more oil. This is perhaps the number one issue which will decide the election. People who normally are indifferent about politics are upset by high gas prices. Barack Obama will try to con the American public that he is also for oil drilling. He will claim that he is for a “comprehensive bill.” The MSM will try to help him get away with it. Will it succeed?

Sep 2, 2008 - 11:22 am 2. Anthony (Los Angeles):

What lax vetting? This looks pretty thorough to me:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/01/mccain-camps-detailed-review-of-palin-1/

Sep 2, 2008 - 11:29 am 3. mishu:

This pregnancy vetting issue the dems and the moonbats keep bringing up smells of desperation on their part.

Sep 2, 2008 - 11:47 am 4. BMoon:

“There isn’t the excitement level that there was at the Democratic convention.”

You mean there will not be any mini-orgasms running up and down their legs, Chris Hitchens-style. No messianic hysteria or swooning. It will be like the differnce between snorting a line of cocaine, and sitting down to a fabulous meal with the perfect wine pairing.

Sep 2, 2008 - 12:05 pm 5. Dylan:

I don’t get the whole “convention is a bust” thing. McCain and Palins speeches matter, nothing else really does. In fact, the debates are far more important than conventions. I highly doubt a ruined convention will give Obama the election. The fact that the Dems are hoping for that shows how weak Obama is.

Sep 2, 2008 - 12:26 pm 6. Anthony (Los Angeles):

BMoon:

I think you mean Chris Matthews. I don’t think Hitch is a fan of The One.

Sep 2, 2008 - 12:42 pm 7. michael:

that is because the dem convention was a SHOW, and this one is all business…

Sep 2, 2008 - 12:54 pm 8. Steve W:

Some one should do research on:

1. Number of days Obama has actually served in the Senate (in DC, on the floor, in his office doing official business and not including campaigning) vs # of days Palin has served as governor performing gubernatorial responsibilies. Let’s see an apples to apples comparison.

2. The cabinet-like departments that reported to her as governor (transportation, health, safety, education, commerce, environment, finance and budget, etc) to make the case that her executive experience is wide-ranging and substantial. The title governor may not capture all that is involved for most people. And compare this to Obama’s experience.

A much more substantive case can be for Palin’s qualifications than is currently being made by both the McCain campaign and MSM. And then this comparison need to get into the media to quell the issue.

Sep 2, 2008 - 1:14 pm 9. BMoon:

“I think you mean Chris Matthews. I don’t think Hitch is a fan of The One.”

Shows how much attention I pay to either one of them.

Sep 2, 2008 - 1:21 pm 10. RevWright:

I wonder if this crowd will be as outraged to hear Palin’s pastor’s tirade about Iraq as they were about Reverand Wright? Nah, the ends justify the means right? Didn’t the last 8 years demonstrate that competence matters? That hiring a load of Liberty law school grads sucks for the country? That signing statements subvert the will of the people that separation of church and state is useful? If the tickets were reversed, ask yourself, honestly, who you would pick. This is NOT a zero-sum game or a team sport. You don’t “win” if McCain wins. Do you think our chief competitors, China, India, Japan, Germany, etc. are electing these sorts of people. If this was a Romney, Snowe ticket, you would have some real meat, some resumes and talent. C’mon people.

Sep 2, 2008 - 1:35 pm 11. misanthropicus:

The Palin brouhaha:
1) Ann Dunham was 18 when Obama junior was born;
2) at the time of his birth she was married with his father, Obama senior, a polygamist with two wives (legally so, according to the then Kenyan law).
3) where is the liberals’ cherished slogan “I want to be a single mother?”

Sep 2, 2008 - 1:42 pm 12. Lank:

I imagine the MSM coverage of the RNC convention will be significantly more biased in the days to come. Obama, their anointed candidate isn’t doing so well, so now it’s time for them to start ‘creating’ a problem. Good Luck, the American public knows they’re full of……soup.

Sep 2, 2008 - 1:43 pm 13. JB:

I used to give the American people credit for being smart but not this time. The so-called vetting done by the MSM will get elected an extreme socialist for the first time. The left is so blind to this and the MSM is more than happy to push it through. Don’t believe me? I don’t care. I saw it with Carter and I see it now. You younger ones are screwed. I hope there is an economy left when Obama is done. To you who say this is just fear mongering, you’ll see.

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:06 pm 14. Donna:

If this was a Romney, Snowe ticket, you would have some real meat, some resumes and talent

Oh, right. Like the Dems wouldn’t be attacking any VP candidate the GOP put up. The Obama camp was all set to howl about the number of houses McCain and Romney own. Palin’s selection threw them for a complete loop – so now Dems are telling us how much better some other Republican would have been.

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:09 pm 15. Cap'n Rusty:

I was told in a conversation at the State Fair with a reporter from Alaska who had followed Sarah’s political rise for quite some time: “Sarah Palin’s ascent is littered with the failed careers of powerful men who underestimated her.”

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:21 pm 16. George Clarke:

All Gov. Palin has to say, and I hope she can honestly say it, is that she in no way wants to criminalize abortion just because she knows the harm it can do the mother, not to mention the daughter who, mostly, will not survive the procedure. Sympathy for all the female victims, and no criminalization for those victims — that should be her message, which would blow the liberal label on her as “rabid opponent of abortion” right out of the water.

She won’t win over all 60% +/- of the women who are currently against her, but it would make a big impact. Enough of an impact, I’d wager, to win the election in the battleground states that matter.

If ever an election was lining up to be a one issue (or really a two issue) election — abortion and drilling — then this is it. And Sarah B. will be gliding her way right into the center of both of them, if I know my Sarah. If this works, the Palin pick will be seen as brilliant, but, of course, that initial predicate goes without saying.

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:27 pm 17. tim maguire:

RevWright, what in the world are you going on about?

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:39 pm 18. Fallon:

Garth Algar: Party on, Wayne.
Wayne Campbell: Party on, Garth.

Party on, Minnesota!

Party on, Senator McCain and Governor Palin!

Party on, biased, spiteful and malicious MSM!

No matter how hard you try to dissuade us,
we’re still behind Governor Palin, 110%!

McCain/Palin’08 “This changes everything!”

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:39 pm 19. RevWright:

Donna, nothing you said reduces the lack of intellectual horsepower on the ticket. I’m really not trying to fight with you. I want to be wowed by our civil servants – by their skill and acumen. I want someone who speaks 5 languages and understands how supply side economics or a flat tax might work in detail, how venture in the U.S. drives GDP growth, how Hu Jin Tao (sp) and his party view natural resources in Africa… That other leaders look to for answers.

I really do think there are wonderful Republican minds but this has become a ticket low on skill and you have to be honest about that. I really don’t like Obama’s plans to expand government services. We shouldn’t have a 3 trillion dollar sprawling federal enterprise. Do I believe McCain/Palin will reduce it? Not with preemptive militarism. Plus the past 3 republican administrations promised to reduce government spending and failed. I think Obama/Biden for all their flaws will do less harm than a CREATIONIST VP and a warhawk, who looks out of it on the campaign trail (I could link the videos but you’ve seen them from the left). McCain 10 years ago really WAS a maverick. I don’t recognize this guy.

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:40 pm 20. Peg C.:

Imagine the gasms on the left if Palin were the Dem veep pick. The noise would deafen all of us. She’s a conservative and thus must be destroyed – but the effort will fail spectacularly.

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:42 pm 21. Dee:

We had decided to sit out this election because of our distain for McCain. However, watching the media/liberals/females attact a seventeen year old girl who made a mistake, our check is in the mail.

If we heard half as much about Obama’s corruption and strong arm tactics as we are hearing about a teenage pregnancy, he would not even be Senator.

Besides if only 40% of the voters who have had an out of wedlock baby and/or someone arrested for DUI voted the Republicans, this election would be way over. E-gads, these things are the problems that everyday people in everyday lifes have to confront.

Sexism is alive and well!

Sep 2, 2008 - 3:41 pm 22. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: [OT] Compare & Contrast

Out of curiosity, I’d appreciate a report on how the cities of Denver and Minneapolis are dealing with protest marches/marchers.

As I recall the 2004 conventions of both parties, the DNC used a similar approach at their event then as they did in Denver 2008; protests were lawfully conducted in designated ‘Free Speech Zones’.

At the RNC 2004 convention, the protesters could protest in any public venue, as long as they abided by the same laws/ordinances as every other law-abiding citizen was required to observe. And, as I understand it, that’s true in Minneapolis this year as well.

Or am I mistaken?

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Sep 2, 2008 - 3:53 pm 23. HRPKathy:

Intellectual horsepower? Egads.

Being Governor of Alaska is for stupid people? Is that because you are bigot against red states, ignorant of what it takes to manage that state, or an ivy league snob?

There is no shortage of brain power on the Republican side, and compared with the character of the other side, its priorities and values, I’d rather have an Idaho State grad than a Harvard man any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Palin raises babies and kills taxes.
Obama kills babies and raises taxes.

How’s that for intellectual heft?

Sep 2, 2008 - 3:55 pm 24. Chuck Pelto:

TO: RevWright
RE: Okay….

I wonder if this crowd will be as outraged to hear Palin’s pastor’s tirade about Iraq as they were about Reverand Wright? — RevWright

….give us a link to where we can hear authentic original tirades.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Sep 2, 2008 - 3:57 pm 25. Chuck Pelto:

TO: HRPKathy
RE: TARGET!!!!!

Palin raises babies and kills taxes.
Obama kills babies and raises taxes.

How’s that for intellectual heft? — HRPKathy

Cease fire!

Shift to new target, RevWright. Load APERS. Fire at will.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[That's gonna leave a mark.]

Sep 2, 2008 - 4:07 pm 26. Mary in LA:

Back on topic [big grin!]: Is there anything we onlookers can do to help the bloggers on the ground (in Pamela’s case, literally)? I agree that the GOP leadership is still stuck in the 20th century with regard to using technology to get their message out.

It seems to me that we blog readers might be able to help if we remind the RNC of the incredible resource they have that they’re barely aware of. Surely the old-timers know that the traditional media have not been fair to both sides ever since Woodward and Bernstein got the bit in their teeth during Watergate. So who does that leave as the last honest news brokers? The bloggers. They may be partisan, but they never hide it, unlike the “objective” media, and they chase down all angles of stories the MSM would much rather bury.

Sep 2, 2008 - 5:30 pm 27. gs:

Althouse quotes McCain during his February 2008 phone call with bloggers:

“Listen, I’ll never forget you. You were the only guys who would listen to me for a couple of months. Do you think I’d ever forget you?”

Rick Moran: Do the Republicans have death wish? Many bloggers feel disrespected over their horrible accommodations.

I don’t know if they have a death wish, but they’re often called the Stupid Party–by their well-wishers.

Sep 2, 2008 - 5:33 pm 28. gs:

Rick,

On the off chance that you haven’t seen and used the convention’s blogger feedback form, it’s here.

Who knows if they pay any attention to the form? If they do, the more firm but civil complaints they get, the more likely they are to take action.
**********
Fwiw, the front page of the convention site has no sign of Palin.

Sep 2, 2008 - 7:04 pm 29. RevWright:

Well HRPKathy, getting into an Ivy-like school usually requires strong grades, exceptional extracurricular activities, top standardized test scores and critical thinking skills.

Graduates tend to innovate and generate tremendous wealth for this country (see resumes of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs / technologist, executives, and many writers / fine artists. Now there are exceptions, certainly, but as a whole the probability of finding an exceptional person from a top school versus Liberty University is much higher. That is my evidence that brains are a better criteria for hiring / voting that emotional evaluations of less relevant topics.

Further, smart people tend to support their arguments with facts. Idiots say things like

“Palin raises babies and kills taxes.
Obama kills babies and raises taxes.”

When in fact, Palin, according to Politco “racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla”

How do you like them apples Chuckles?

Sep 2, 2008 - 7:17 pm 30. CR:

Hey Rick – are you secretly a Democrat? That’s an awful lot of whining for one article. Do try to remember that you are a blogger, not an employee of a large media outlet, nor are you a delegate. You are basically the same as I am, just writing about your thoughts on the web and I would NOT expect any special treatment at a convention.

Hubris is not suiting you…

Sep 2, 2008 - 8:27 pm 31. Patterson:

BMoon

“It will be like the differnce between snorting a line of cocaine, and sitting down to a fabulous meal with the perfect wine pairing.”

That is an epic statement and needs to go in the hall of fame somewhere!

Sep 2, 2008 - 9:56 pm 32. ex-democrat:

revwright – i graduated at the top of a top 5 law school. can you match that? if not, from here you will simply think what I tell you to think, mmkay?

Sep 2, 2008 - 10:15 pm 33. Civilitas:

[quote]That’s an awful lot of whining for one article. Do try to remember that you are a blogger, not an employee of a large media outlet, nor are you a delegate. You are basically the same as I am, just writing about your thoughts on the web and I would NOT expect any special treatment at a convention.[/quote]

+1 on that. Effectively you showed up as a private citizen and wanted to blog anywhere, any time. I would have brought a wireless card, not an attitude and a desire to be subsidized.

Sep 2, 2008 - 10:24 pm 34. Brian:

I do disagree with your article Rick.There have been many things happening the last few months that are directly tied to the blogsphere.But CR is correct.We are bloggers and should not expect red carpet treatment.

Sep 2, 2008 - 11:00 pm 35. lee:

“Well HRPKathy, getting into an Ivy-like school usually requires strong grades, exceptional extracurricular activities, top standardized test scores and critical thinking skills.”

Ivy school credentials and academic skills aren’t prerequisites for the white house, much less a successful life. Many great figures in this country boasted exceptional “thinking skills” without participating in “extracurricular activities” or a high test score. (remember Lincoln?) I’ve attended UCSD and I’m familiar with the Berkeley crowd, and believe you me, there are dummies to be found there. Frankly, you sound like a member of a college recruting team trying to lure graduating high school seniors.

The kind of candidate you (apparently) envision is implausible. You’re not likely see a president with multiple degrees / expertise in foreign lanaguages, agriculture, economy, religion, diplomacy, law, etc. Cabinet members and advisors surround the president for a purpose.

Even if a candidate has a PHD in economics, he’s still a product of his party. Economic experts who can crunch numbers effectively are as nonpartisan as you can get. They’ll go after both parties for stupid policies, which include windfall tax on oil companies and gas tax holiday. It’s not hard to understand why these people aren’t likely to be elected.

Sep 2, 2008 - 11:44 pm 36. Andrew Ian Dodge:

Grumblng bloggers should realise they are far better treated by the RNC than say the Conservative Party in the UK. its bloody hard to get credentialed as a blogger.

Sep 3, 2008 - 4:08 am 37. RevWright:

Lee, congratulations. I’m certain there was a lot of hard work and critical thinking that went into your degree. I applaud your efforts. Now, if I can point you to the second paragraph where I discuss probabilities and not absolutes…Would you care to discuss the make-up of your Stanford law class? I’m guessing the majority graduated from an Ivy or sub-Ivy such as UCSD, which does have a competitive admissions policy and academic program. The difference is not Ivy vs. everyone else but picture a continuum of increasingly difficult universities. I would say that wages and “success” are correlated to these schools. In fact, I bet you are acutely aware of where Cravath recruits from and where it does not.

A few more points: (1) I own my own company and we’re doing just fine, so please no liberal demographic attacks. I’ve already stated that I’m closer to Ron Paul than any other politician, (2) there are, of course, slackwits at leading institutions (e.g. GWB), but I was speaking in general terms. You learned about fallacious arguments at Stanford, right? (3) my candidate MAY be implausible, but the crux of the argument that neither Palin (creationist) nor McCain (lost) are intellectually near the caliber of say Romney still holds true. I would still prefer a candidate who is informed and has original thoughts, with a resume that speaks to his/her intellectual capabilities. Being able to write your own speeches, serve as president of the Harvard Law Review and lead a class at U. Chicago are fairly impressive credentials. His ability to lead a 2,500+ organization for the past two years with far greater success than McCain is another indicator.

But please tell me what to think.

Sep 3, 2008 - 5:02 am 38. ZEITGEIST:

[...] MORAN: G.O.P. Disrespecting Bloggers. Stephen Green and I interviewed some folks on this yesterday, for a segment that’ll be up on PJTV [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 5:22 am 39. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Mary in LA & Rick Moran
RE: Back On-Topic

Is there anything we onlookers can do to help the bloggers on the ground (in Pamela’s case, literally)? — Mary in LA

Many bloggers feel disrespected over their horrible working conditions. — Rick Moran

As several sergeants I had the pleasure of knowing in my military career would say….

Shut up and soldier.

It wouldn’t matter if they put me up in an abandoned box-car—which the Army did on one occasion—as long as I could move to where I needed to be and talked with whom I needed to talk.

You want a cushy position with the cretin I saw on NBC who was telling outright LIES last night? That President Bush “…was not going to address the convention”? Because of low ratings in the polls?

You’ll be required to check your personal integrity at the door.

No get back in there and GET THE TRUTH out for the rest of us to see.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast. -- William Tecumseh Sherman]

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:17 am 40. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: [OT] Facts vs RevWright

Further, smart people tend to support their arguments with facts. Idiots say things like

“Palin raises babies and kills taxes.
Obama kills babies and raises taxes.” — RevWright

I guess RevWright must have slept through that business of Obama, as a state legislator, voting FOR the bill that would allow doctors who accidentally delivered a live baby in a failed abortion attempt to go ahead and KILL THE BABY anyway. And he ignores the fact that Democrats love to raise taxes.

But I guess that’s understandable. He was too busy damning this country and every person who wasn’t as dark-a-complexioned as the REAL good Reverend Wright.

This RevWright has SERIOUS issues with ‘facts’. I wonder what sort of ‘high’ he’s on. It’s probably hatred.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Just say NO to BO! -- Bumper Sticker]

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:22 am 41. Chuck Pelto:

TO: HRPKathy
RE: [OT] Looks Like….

….your gunnery is better than I had originally noticed.

There are a LOT of secondary, or more accurately, sympathetic detonations, from that initial ‘killer’ round.

Looking at the smoldering wreckage strewn about this field I am TRULY impressed.

I think I’ll suggest your item as a bumper sticker.

Palin raises babies and kills taxes. Obama does the opposite.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[But soft, what light through yonder bumper sticker breaks?]

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:31 am 42. “Magnificent. All of it.” « Gunservatively!:

[...] (I hope Pamela is still not “blogging on the floor”). [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:32 am 43. BC:

The GOP’s attitude is more than a little odd — conservative/right wing blog sites like the Free Republic, Little Green Footballs and such were instrumental (even if for all the wrong reasons) in helping Bush get reelected in 2004. While there has been grousing on things like border security and spending, it’s been those same blog sites that have been the most firm (if more than a teeny bit blind) in support of the Iraq War. Also conservatives in general seem, at least anecdotally, to use blogs more often as news sources than do moderates, liberals and progressives. So articles like this does not help their cause.

The only reason I can think of for the GOP’s attitude is that McCain was probably the least favorite GOP candidate among the conservative bloggers and he was for a while far more pilloried by them than by the liberal/progressive blog sites, but even that started fading once Hilary dropped out of contention.

Since I think McCain would be a terrible President, I’m totally down with the GOP dissing some of their most vocal and active supporters. But I have to still wonder what exactly are they thinking and whether the GOP leadership has become totally worthless for even their own people.

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:34 am 44. Jenny Wiley:

Anyone really give any thought to the most obvious explanation for all this. If Trig is Bristol’s, and they were covering it up in the first place (including not revealing the truth to the McCain campaign), and this was then discovered, what choice would the McCain camp have but to trump up some story such as: “Oh it can’t be Bristol’s, well, why?, well because she’s been…pregnant actually, for 5 months as a matter of fact, and the baby is 4 months old…see, impossible.” How perfectly convenient and how well the narrative could be sold to the evangelical right. Then a very sad miscarriage shortly after election day tragically happens, and all is forgotten. Does this seem so unlikely?? Has any independent source even confirmed the pregnancy? Maybe someone like a medical doctor!

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:42 am 45. Michael B.:

Rick, thanks for the update. We all miss you at the Nuthouse.

About the debates: Palin is probably 30 to 40 IQ points smarter than Biden, and actually answers questions and makes points (as opposed to rambling). I suspect that she will tear him a new asshole at the debate.

About her toughness: somebody that knows her well from AK politics said (paraphrase) “the Alaskan landscape is littered with the bodies of people that have underestimated Governor Palin”.

One more little anecdote that I got from Allah: somebody asked Governor Palin if she was ready for the media onslaught. She asked that person if they knew the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull. She informed him that pit-bulls don’t wear lipstick.

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:43 am 46. Daily Pundit » Gasp! McCain Doesn’t Like Bloggers?:

[...] Pajamas Media » Live from RNC: GOP Disrespecting Bloggers Another blogger, Fausta Wertz of Fausta’s Blog, wrote this on her [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 6:44 am 47. Tony Smith:

Bloggers have actually been quite despicable. I do not blame the RNC for shunning them – and I’m a DEMOCRAT. The level of bias and shoddy “reporting” in the major blogs – especially the so-called progressive ones is shameful. Blogs like Huffington and Daily Kos, for example, regularly ban people who are not orthodox liberals, and this year, that meant people who spoke out openly against Barack Obama.

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:02 am 48. RevWright:

Politics for you is a team sport. Abortion is your #1 issue but you’re ok with killing innocents on death row and not interested in helping your brother as Christ would have (taxes help facilitate that transfer of wealth). How Corporate Christian of you.

Meanwhile, our telecom and transportation infrastructure is lagging is Asia and Europe, our kids are lagging Asian students in hard sciences, we’ve expanded debt (transfer of wealth to next generation), real wages have fallen, and we’ve allowed torture, signing statements, judicial misconduct, and pork barreling to proliferate and yet you want to use your military quips like this is some ESPN special. No one wins with bad policy. I wish you would step outside of your little partisan box but you’re too emotionally invested to make rational arguments. I didn’t sleep through Obama’s vote. I don’t agree with and I don’t think abortion should be a federal issue. Now I do know he’s focused on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies with education and economic aid as a FIRST step. That whole charitable christian concept you want to dismiss. That said, the welfare of 300 million Americans, long term wealth creation, peace (no preemptive wars) and social justice are more meaningful to me than the small subset of the 1.2 million or so abortions that occur each year. It’s a scope issue for me and live birth abortions, the ten commandments, gay rights are ways that politicians sidestep more serious long-term issues. Again, you don’t seem to be up in arms about killing innocents on death row and you have no issue reconciling man’s ability to adjudicate guilt and death but his inability to determine when life begins.

Chuck we live in the same country and it may surprise you to learn that I really do want the same thing, to provide for my family and be a good neighbor in my community. Listen, I’m sorry I attacked you. It’s not productive. I just wish you would find it in yourself to first question what a federal system should be doing and whether McCain Palin are really the two best people to execute that mission. I respectfully suggest Obama/Biden has a better long-term vision for the country, albeit somewhat incongruous with my limited government beliefs. I’m done now.

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:19 am 49. Lynn:

To Jenny Wiley:
I find your post somewhat disgusting. Are you truly a liberal feminist?

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:25 am 50. Sadly, No! » A Little Respect (Sock It To Me):

[...] Yellow Men” Moran runs a wingnut blog called Right Wing Nut House and he’s wondering why the GOP isn’t showing him any love in Minneapolis: Here on what is passing for [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:30 am 51. Bod:

She’s certainly way behind the information cycle. But carry on with the “Trig’s Bristol’s kid actually” meme. Shout it loud and clear. Try and get published. Along with the Elvis sightings.

I’ll get the popcorn.

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:40 am 52. Conservative bloggers to RNC: “Do the Republicans have a death wish?” « The Eclectic One:

[...] by Bill Nance on September 3, 2008 Pajamas Media blogger Rick Moran is not happy with the way bloggers are being treated at the [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 8:03 am 53. bobby b:

Chucky P:

You asked if Minneapolis is enforcing its standard everyday ordinances during the RNC.

Yes, it is. No change. Protesters in Mpls face no new hurdles this week.

Of course, they’d be in the wrong city if they were trying to protest at a political convention, which can be considered to be at least similar to a hurdle, I guess.

Sep 3, 2008 - 8:16 am 54. Running Sarah Palin Thread of Hate & Doooom! | The Anchoress:

[...] AM Rick Moran writes that smaller bloggers are feeling dissed by the RNC. As a smaller blogger I know the feeling – it’s a Rodney Dangerfield sort of [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 8:33 am 55. radical_moderate:

Good Rev you are wasting your all too rational thoughts here at PJM…land of the right wing kool-aid sippers, but keep going, It is good to see an island of rationality in a sea of tin-foil hat bloviation.

Sep 3, 2008 - 8:41 am 56. Sandra M:

Rick Moran, you started a blog early which has made you a bigshot in the bloggers’ world. But I remember reading a very mediocre article by you recently and then being impressed by the intelligence and insight of the commenters.

This happens a lot. Taylor Marsh wrote a very mediocre article. The comments were brilliant.

I long for the day when I can block the usual idiots and just read the informative comments of those who have something to say.

PJM may not have the best columnists (VDH excepted) but it has the best commenters.

Rick, don’t be a legend in your own mind. You are not a first-class writer. A little humility wouldn’t hurt you.

Sep 3, 2008 - 9:11 am 57. Michael B.:

Actually, Sandra M., Rick is a superb political writer, with unusually good political instincts. While he has the occasional “mediocre article”, that is the exception, not the rule. Why don’t you try writing a thousand word post every day, about 325 days each year? Those who can’t “do” like to cast stones at those who “can”.

BTW, I wish you wrote this on his website (referenced above)- Rick’s response to this turd post of yours would have you curled up in a fetal position, crying and sucking your thumb. He seems to be somewhat restrained at PJM, so count your lucky stars.

Sep 3, 2008 - 10:19 am 58. Lane:

Rick,

Don’t feel too bad. At least you were credentialed.

We are the largest and most informative McCain blog on the net, yet someone from the GOP in their infinite wisdom decided we shouldn’t be there. LOL

Reading your description of how things are being run, I’m glad that they passed on us. We can blog this convention from home and save a lot of money in the process.

McCain told us bloggers that as President, he would continue to conduct conference calls with bloggers. I think McCain is not the one to blame for what’s going on at bloggers row, it’s the GOP that needs to find some better folks to handle things in 2012.

Lane
Blogs For John McCain
http://www.blogsforjohnmccain.com

Sep 3, 2008 - 10:27 am 59. C-SPAN Convention Hub: Republican National Convention (RNC) – John McCain 2008 » Blog Archive » GOP Disrespecting Bloggers?:

[...] GOP Disrespecting Bloggers? posted on September 3, 2008 at 1:37 pm [...]

Sep 3, 2008 - 10:37 am 60. greg:

UPDATE:

We should all quit our jobs, for the Big O will provide for us with his campaign money-making prowess. Sovereign Wealth Funds can buy American and provide for us! Social Security problem solved!

I had no incentive to work before but with O, I can actually live it!

Sep 3, 2008 - 11:06 am 61. DSB:

Suck it up! John McCain was a POW, you can at least give up your seat to Geller like a gentleman.

Sep 3, 2008 - 11:46 am 62. Chuck Pelto:

TO: bobby b
RE: There In Minneapolis

You asked if Minneapolis is enforcing its standard everyday ordinances during the RNC.

Yes, it is. No change. Protesters in Mpls face no new hurdles this week.– bobby b

So the City Fathers didn’t feel an ‘urge’ to pass special laws about improper disposal of human waste.

And I take it the City Fathers did not establish ‘Free Speech Zones’, based on a report of a mini-riot outside the convention center where the RNC is having its meetings.

If this understanding is correct, it’s another example of the ‘critical’ difference between the way the Republican’s run thinks and the way the Democrats suppress thinks.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. The distaff would like to know if the City Fathers of Minneapolis bribed the RNC to have their ToDo there by providing free cars and free gas, at taxpayers expense, like those of Denver did; issuing city cars to the DNC and having them fill up at city service facilities.

And now the CO SecState is after them to pay their state sales taxes on the use of the cars and the gasoline consumed.

Sep 3, 2008 - 1:04 pm 63. Chuck Pelto:

TO: RevWright
RE: Meanwhile:

our telecom and transportation infrastructure is lagging is Asia and Europe,– RevWright

I sit on my Area Council Of Governments commission on transportation.

I’ve seen how entitlements programs have eaten up the funding necessary to maintain the highway network.

You wanna blame someone? Blame those who are ‘eating up’ our highways. While doing nothing to maintain them, i.e., welfare.

our kids are lagging Asian students in hard sciences,– RevWright

I’m on the local commission that provides oversight and advice to city and county government.

And I am a judge of high school debate competitions, to include national-level qualification rounds.

I’ve seen how the teachers have trashed formal education for re-education. It used to be that education was to create an open mind. Now it is to create a closed one with only those ideas that are ‘politically correct’ installed.

At meetings, I continually hear from the local school board rep how everything is going ‘just fine’. And immediately thereafter, I listen to complaints about how students just out of high school are not up to the standards of the local university.

You wanna blame someone? Blame the powerful teachers union that is not interested in education.

we’ve expanded debt (transfer of wealth to next generation),– RevWright

There’s plenty of blame to go around. But all I see you doing is whining.

real wages have fallen,– RevWright

More of the same.

and we’ve allowed torture, signing statements, judicial misconduct, and pork barreling to proliferate– RevWright

Don’t get me started on judicial activism.

The most insidious and heinous action in the history of this nation was not Roe v. Wade. It was SCOTUS Reynolds v. Simms (1964) which destroyed the balance of legislative power at the state level by turning the state senates into nothing more than glorified, overpaid versions of the state house of representatives. We sit here, in our community, and watch Denver suck up more and more resources; money, water, etc., etc., etc. And we are powerless to overcome their choke hold on the state senate, where the Denver metropolitan area holds 17 of the 35 senate seats.

and yet you want to use your military quips like this is some ESPN special.– RevWright

My military background has only THIS to do with these discussions. Making your ilk look the cretins you are.

You don’t like that? Go enlist for a burst of six and come back and talk to me afterwards.

No one wins with bad policy.– RevWright

Indeed. And I think I’ve pointed out a LOT of bad policy from over the last 44 years.

I wish you would step outside of your little partisan box but you’re too emotionally invested to make rational arguments.– RevWright

Heck. I vote for Democrats as well as Republicans. I voted for Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell when he was a Democrat. He saw the light and became a Republican a year or so later.

Bottom line….I don’t vote party line so stop projecting your poor attitude on me.

I didn’t sleep through Obama’s vote. I don’t agree with and I don’t think abortion should be a federal issue.– RevWright

Well. I’m glad you finally remembered it.

Now I do know he’s focused on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies with education and economic aid as a FIRST step.– RevWright

Talk is cheap. And that’s all I think Obama and the Democrats have to offer. More talk and more demands for money to be thrown down into the bottomless pit. We’ve been doing that for decades and to no avail.

As your darling Clinton said at the ’92 DNC Convention, “Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.”

You want to know what the REAL problem is? Do a root-cause analysis. An honestly done one. You’ll find that the vast majority of these sorts of problems all come down to ONE ISSUE…..

That whole charitable christian concept you want to dismiss.– RevWright

…..and buckie have you got ME wrong.

Charity, especially of the Christian persuasion, begins in the home. But if you never had a home, a REAL home, in the first place, how ya gonna learn that?

Hilliary is a liar. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes a FAMILY; one man and one woman who love each other, completely and unselfishly.

The village helps, but it is not essential.

That said, the welfare of 300 million Americans, long term wealth creation, peace (no preemptive wars) and social justice are more meaningful to me than the small subset of the 1.2 million or so abortions that occur each year. It’s a scope issue for me and live birth abortions, the ten commandments, gay rights are ways that politicians sidestep more serious long-term issues.– RevWright

You never really WERE a student of history, were you, vis-a-vis ‘no preemptive wars’. We failed to move in a timely manner against Hitler, i.e., Rhineland, Sudetenland. And how many died? But you can’t think that far ahead, can you.

The Ten Commandments are ‘bad’? Which ones?

• Honor thy father and thy mother?
• Thou shalt not murder?
• Thou shalt not steal?
• Thou shalt not bear false testimony?

Which ones are bad?

Again, you don’t seem to be up in arms about killing innocents on death row and you have no issue reconciling man’s ability to adjudicate guilt and death but his inability to determine when life begins.– RevWright

You’ve got me wrong again, buckie. Quit trying to put words into my mouth and we might actually learn to get along.

Chuck we live in the same country and it may surprise you to learn that I really do want the same thing, to provide for my family and be a good neighbor in my community.– RevWright

Geographically that’s likely to be true. But I don’t know exactly where YOU live. But 120 miles up the pike from here there’s a place we ‘affectionately’ () refer to as the Republic of Boulder. Shortly after 9/11 I drove through there and say less than a handful of American flags flying.

Listen, I’m sorry I attacked you. It’s not productive.– RevWright

Apology accepted.

I just wish you would find it in yourself to first question what a federal system should be doing– RevWright

I question it all the time. Especially my Congressional delegation; 2 Democrats and 1 Republican.

and whether McCain Palin are really the two best people to execute that mission.– RevWright

Based on what I’ve seen so far….and the race is still young….I think they are. And here is evidence supporting that idea….

Palin v Obama, Compare & Contrast Analysis

I respectfully suggest Obama/Biden has a better long-term vision for the country, albeit somewhat incongruous with my limited government beliefs.– RevWright

I respectfully disagree. They are not ‘change’. They are just more of the same. And Biden, the long-time insider, as VP nominee is proof of that. Especially compared to Palin.

And if you are all that you want ME to be, after reading the article in that link, you may begin to come to my opinion.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Politics is a deleterious profession, like some poisonous handicrafts. Men in power have no opinions, but may be had cheap for any opinion, for any purpose. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson]

P.S. Palin looks, for all intents and purposes, to be a breath of fresh air.

Sep 3, 2008 - 1:44 pm 64. Pockmark Notorious:

Aren’t these the same bloggers who talk about how easy the prisoners in GITMO have it?

Sep 3, 2008 - 2:02 pm 65. Rubicon:

Sarah Palin did not push creationism as Governor of Alaska. Even if it was her belief, she felt schools should teach kids all theories, not just one.
Palin’s understanding of economics has allowed her to balance that states budget. Obama’s Chicago Annenberg Challenge project was an abysmal failure.
The RNC failed this convention to realize the potential of bloggers & accommodate them accordingly. This error shows they need to review those charged with communicating. Especially since the media have totally tanked for Obama, despite their disingenuous assertions to the contrary.
The despicable sexism the media have displayed since Governor Palin was picked, must finally show the American public that liberalism is a failed concept that applies only when it empowers liberals, but is never applicable to conservatives. The media are now desperately trying to paint this selection as an error & one that McCain regrets. They pathetically cling to invented stories of discourse & concern about her abilities, while they try to disguise their real motives of deflecting attention away from an Obama with no real experience or character.
The media has invested nearly millions already to vet Palin. Yet that same media has spent less than ten grand checking out Obama. That same media also ignored the Edwards story as rumor, while stating stories about Palin as fact, even if unchecked.
McCain was NOT my first pick. With Palin he gains credibility in my opinion.
Its possible folks that come January 2009, we may see John McCain sworn in as president, even though the media has incessantly told America to hate conservatives, Republicans & Christians.
In fact, its more possible today than it was two weeks ago!

Sep 3, 2008 - 2:43 pm 66. Mary in LA:

Chuck, I’m not a “soldier” — I don’t have a blog. I’m back on the home front, rolling bandages and hanging on every word of the battlefield reports. If all I can do to advance the cause is to hit bloggers’ tip jars, then I’m happy to do that.

Sep 3, 2008 - 3:47 pm 67. m. smith:

Stop whining for heaven’s sake; it is a convention not a high class private member’s club. Get a life

Sep 3, 2008 - 5:00 pm 68. ignatov:

“she felt schools should teach kids all theories, not just one.”

As a Pastafarian, I will be supporting McCain/Palin, since her view on teaching all theories of creation will include Flying Spaghetti Monsterism. May you be touched by his noodly appendage.

http://www.venganza.org/

Sep 3, 2008 - 5:07 pm 69. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Mary in LA
RE: Indeed

If all I can do to advance the cause is to hit bloggers’ tip jars, then I’m happy to do that. — Mary in LA

Keep up the good work….

….we’re all excited.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. And kick Rick back into ‘play’….

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:20 pm 70. Chuck Pelto:

TO: ignatov
RE: Uuuuuhhhh….

May you be touched by his noodly appendage. — ignatov

….you sure that isn’t Chthulu?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Why settle for the lesser of two evils? Vote for Chthulu!]

Sep 3, 2008 - 7:24 pm 71. AST:

Get over yourselves. The whole deal about blogging is that it works under the radar. This sounds like the kvetching of elite media types. Most bloggers aren’t in St. Paul, at least, few of the long tail bloggers are.

Once they start kissing your rings and treating you like you seem to want, how do we know we can trust you not to see yourselves as the new elites?

Just take a lesson from Katie Couric and get the name of Palin’s state right.

Sep 3, 2008 - 9:30 pm 72. gs:

…Many bloggers feel disrespected over their horrible working conditions.

I don’t care about the delicate sensibilities of bloggers at the convention. Per my comment of September 2 @ 5:33 pm, I do take note that the GOP and the nominee in particular, while running as underdogs, are being cavalier to a motivated group of supporters.

If this is how the Republicans operate, would a donation be a waste of my money?

Sep 4, 2008 - 9:55 am 73. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Rick Moran
RE: Lest I Forget

Isn’t there somethink in those old Rules of Ten that says one….

shalt not covet thy ‘neighbors’ box-seat? With catering?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Do the job and you HAVE the power.]

Sep 4, 2008 - 11:43 am 74. Jonathan’s blog » Blog Archive » Comparing the RNC to the Spanish Inquisition?:

[...] From Rick Moran at Pajamas Media: The dungeon that the GOP has put bloggers in this time around would be familiar to Torquemada and his buddies who made the Spanish Inquisition such a great party. And the labyrinth one has to navigate to find the darn place would tax the abilities of a carrier pigeon. I honestly felt like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs when I went out for a quick smoke. Not that it would do any good. The food on our level is so bad that I have no doubt some ravenously hungry media type would have preferred the breadcrumbs to the greasy, tasteless crud they were serving at the kiosks. If I wanted the same stuff they serve at a hockey game, I would go to the Libertarian convention down the way. [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 2:04 am 75. Chuck Pelto:

TO: RevWright
RE: I See….

…that you aren’t responding to my comments.

Too bad.

TO: All
RE: Insurance Rounds for the Good RevWright

Whereas RevWright was touting Senator Obama’s ‘desire’ vis-a-vis pregnant teenager girls and to do something more for them. I suspect it would be just ‘more of the same’; money down a bottomless pit to teach them more about having sex too soon, with the wrong person, for the wrong reasons with life-shattering after affects.

Here’s an article at Townhall which addresses the disaster we’ve experienced from ’sex education’ over the last 30 years….

….Read it and weep….

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[An intellectual is a person who has discovered something more interesting than sex. -- Aldous Huxley]

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:18 am 76. Panic {RE}_Programming » Blog Archive » Embedded at the RNC::Blogger Conditions Worsen as Many Defend Palin Pick:

[...] Rick Moran, a conservative blogger who is a Pajamas Media editor, said the treatment of bloggers was really disrespectful to them: The dungeon that the GOP has put bloggers in this time around would be familiar to Torquemada and [...]

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:05 pm 77. EckerNet.Com » Blog Archive » Deep Thoughts With Kevin:

[...] The Republican Party has historically done a piss-poor job of accommodating bloggers, and it remains so at the RNC. On the other hand, the Democrats have generally done a good job of accommodating bloggers (even [...]

Sep 7, 2008 - 11:33 pm 78. Aakash:

I was at, and referenced, this excellent summary piece, in my initial recaps of the Convention… I wanted to leave one of those “poor man’s trackbacks” for this entry:

Trackbacked from Pains, Trains, and Automobiles, University Blog

Thanks for your live-blogging (despite how difficult doing that turned out to be, considering the conditions!) from the Convention… I still need to get updates and recaps posted. Keep up the good work!!

Sep 13, 2008 - 3:56 pm