AOL's web site redesign includes BlogZone, a blog digest similar to the Daou Report on Salon.Com.

I found it because of the traffic it's sending to the Cindy Sheehan interview broadcast by Alan Colmes.

2005/08/10 · 4 COMMENTS · Link

All Cheer the SuperJews

Jerry Springer has a fill-in host on Air America Radio, a Colorado talk show host named Jay Marvin who's vastly more listenable than the mumbly panderer.

Today, a caller told Marvin about a bit of sports trivia that floored me: A European soccer team goes by the monicker "the Jews," which inspires some horrible taunts by rival fans.

I dug up the details for a post today on SportsFilter:

Cheering on the SuperJews Wonder what it would be like if a sports team used a Jewish mascot? For years, fans of Ajax Amsterdam, Holland's most popular football team, have called themselves super-Joden (super Jews), wearing Star of David tattoos and flying Israeli flags at matches, but not because of their religion -- the team's home pitch is near Amsterdam's Jewish neighborhood. Says one Holocaust survivor: "When other teams' supporters chant 'Hamas, Hamas, the Jews to the gas', the Ajax fans are not hurt, because they're not real Jews. But my family was murdered in the gas chambers, so I am very insulted.'"

Sports · Politics · 2005/08/09 · 2 COMMENTS · Link

It seems a little dumb to care about such things, but I'd like to see Elizabeth Vargas or another talented female newscaster replace Peter Jennings on World News Tonight. We've ventured far enough into the 21st century to retire the idea that the voice of authority in this country comes in only one octave.

Journalism · Politics · Television · 2005/08/09 · 2 COMMENTS · Link

An Hour with Cindy Sheehan

Matt Drudge ran a newsflash today on Cindy Sheehan, the military mom whose 24-year-old son's death in Iraq spurred her to protest the war.

Sheehan made international news last week when she visited Crawford, Texas with members of Gold Star Families for Peace. She wanted to ask him "why did my son die?"

In June, Alan Colmes interviewed Sheehan on his syndicated radio show, which I've enclosed as a 50-minute podcast. She takes several calls from irate members of the public, including an incredible exchange with a mother who supports the war.

This morning, Drudge ran excerpts of a 2004 interview she gave her local newspaper, cherry-picking quotes that made her sound effusive in praise for the president after her son's April 2004 death.

The full story, which was brought back online today, contains a quote omitted by Drudge that makes her feelings more clear:

"We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled," Cindy said. "The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached."

Radio · Politics · 2005/08/08 · 41 COMMENTS · Link

Grading the War in Iraq

Frontpage Magazine, the right-wing publication founded by David Horowitz, has been conducting a symposium with several experts on how well the Iraq War is going.

The discussion, which presumably was staged via e-mail, began with several panelists taking umbrage at Steven Vincent, a war correspondent working in Basra, Iraq, because he gave the war a letter grade of B-minus and Iraqi quality of life an F:

Judging the conflict by Saddam's removal -- and thank Allah the monster is gone -- is setting a pretty low bar. I mean, let's face it: military-wise Iraq was not Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Then you have to factor in U.S failures, such as not sealing the borders or halting the looting -- not to mention the fact that American military tactics have widely alienated the very people we liberated. Something's not working right.

Frontpage managing editor Jamie Glazov berated Vincent for not giving the war an A:

You blame America that you can't leave your hotel. But Mr. Vincent, sorry, you can't leave your hotel because the terrorists are a threat to you. Blame the terrorists, not America. ...

An F to America for the quality of Iraqis' lives? The terrorists are waging war on the country and doing everything in their power to destroy the quality of life. We need to blame the terrorists for that, not the side that is sacrificing its young boys and girls to give Iraq liberty and to nurture and protect its growth. The premise here is the height of the pathology of anti-Americanism -- blaming America for what the terrorists are doing.

The symposium was abruptly cancelled when word arrived that Vincent had been kidnapped and executed in Basra.

His last exchange with Glazov:

Vincent: You can blame terrorists all you want for ruining Iraq, but at the end of the day, it's our responsibility to make things right -- or at least get Iraqis to do the job themselves. Oh, and Jamie? You damn well better feel sorry I can't leave my Basra hotel without Iraqi protection -- because last year I could. Six months after the January 30th elections, lawlessness in this city is on the rise, whether by Iranian agents, rogue policemen or opportunistic tribal gangs. Hmmm, considering the bang-up job the Brits are doing here, I think I'll lower my estimation of the war effort to a C+.

Glazov: Sheesh. Okay Steven, I'm almost afraid what will happen in the next round of this discussion.

Politics · 2005/08/06 · Comment · Link

Air America Received Questionable Loans

A co-founder of Air America Radio reportedly loaned the network and himself more than $800,000 from a non-profit charity in New York while serving as its development director.

Evan Cohen made the highly questionable loans while a director of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, which serves 20,000 children, elderly residents, and people with disabilities. Some loans were directed to Air America as the fledgling liberal talk radio network was launched in March 2004; others went personally to Cohen, who claimed "he needed the money to pay for chemotherapy for himself and other medical expenses for his ill father," according to the New York Sun.

Air America broke its ties to Cohen several weeks after its March 31, 2004, launch and the network was sold by parent company Progress Media to Piquant LLC, a new company formed by some of the original investors. In a statement published last week, the network acknowledged the receipt of the funds, calling the allegations of corruption at the charity "absolutely disgraceful":

The current owners of Air America Radio have no obligation to Progress Media's business activities. We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction.

This story, which is starting to get mainstream coverage after percolating for days on conservative blogs, was sparked by a July 27 item from talk show host Brian Maloney, a frequent critic of the network who writes today that "Air America hosts are still pretending on-air as though nothing is happening."

Air America host Al Franken told the Sun he was unaware of the issue until last week. Few liberal blogs have covered the controversy to date, aside from a July 27 posting from a Daily Kos contributor skeptical of the story when its primary source was a small community newspaper.

In June, the Department of Investigation of New York suspended city grants and contracts with Gloria Wise, which amount to millions of dollars, while it investigates "inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were submitted to various city agencies."

Politics · 2005/08/04 · 22 COMMENTS · Link

Loss in Ohio, Losses in Iraq

The Democratic activists of the Swing State Project, some of whom went to Ohio to work for Congressional candidate Paul Hackett, are celebrating after his surprisingly close loss to Republican Jean Schmidt.

There is no doubt about it -- tonight's results represent a tidal wave in Ohio (and perhaps national) politics. In 2004, the Democrat running in OH-02 lost by 44 points. Tonight, the Democrat, Paul Hackett, lost by a mere 4 points -- just 4,000 votes out of over 114,000 cast.

This was a lot closer than it should have been, absent the activism by liberal bloggers and money that poured into the race to support an outspoken veteran who would have been the first to serve in both the Iraq War and Congress.

However, the jubilation reminds me of how some fans of my alma mater, the University of North Texas, react when the school's football team loses to a major program like Texas by a smaller margin than anticipated. With all the moral victories we've claimed, UNT should be declared moral national champions.

Had he won, Hackett would have been an important voice on the war at a time when they are sorely needed in Washington. This country just lost another 21 Marines in two days -- 14 to a roadside bomb, six to insurgents, and another in a suicide attack -- but our exit strategy for Iraq remains as elusive as Saddam Hussein's WMDs.

So I'll be skipping the party in Ohio. The victory party I want to attend is for the war in Iraq.

North Texas · Politics · 2005/08/03 · 4 COMMENTS · Link

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