DISQUS

You wrote: "And yet, many of those same people have become the most excited supporters of the McCain/Palin campaign, and it isn’t because of the social moderate at the top of the ticket."

You are perpetuating the myth that McCain is a social moderate. He is not. Look at his record and what he has to say about "social" issues such as choice and marriage equality. He is fervently against both. In that respect he and Palin are no different.

The melding of news with infotainment -- and that is what these interviews are -- should be a concern to all voters. Gibson is a news man. It is not his job to help Americans get to know Sarah Palin's views on domestic and foreign policy. His job is to report the news and not try to best Barbara Walters at her interview game.

Ever since the League of Women Voters withdrew their sponsorship of political debates the whole process of voters getting a deeper understanding of a candidate has been given up. But this fits well with McCain's campaign saying they were running on personalities, not issues.

The melding of news with infotainment -- and that is what these interviews are -- should be a concern to all voters. Gibson is a news man. It is not his job to help Americans get to know Sarah Palin's views on domestic and foreign policy. His job is to report the news and not try to best Barbara Walters at her interview game.

Ever since the League of Women Voters withdrew their sponsorship of political debates the whole process of voters getting a deeper understanding of a candidate has been given up. But this fits well with McCain's campaign saying they were running on personalities, not issues.

Before I moved to Santa Fe I was a neighbor of Baldwin's in Nyack, NY where he could always be seen holding forth in the local Starbucks. He was an outgoing guy, real loud and energetic. Baldwin always made certain everyone knew he was there but he was catching a plane "to the coast" the next day. He got religion after 9/11 and one of the first things he did was lead the charge to close down an "adult store" that was opening in a tacky strip mall outside the Village. I didn't have a problem with closing it down but Baldwin made it a religious crusade and was startng to look at bit nutty, wailing and praying in the parking lot of the proposed site. I see from this piece that Baldwin has greatly expanded his evangelical role and has taken it on the road with radical fervor. I suspect that acting jobs are few and far between now. Alec is the far better actor in that family.

Before I moved to Santa Fe I was a neighbor of Baldwin's in Nyack, NY where he could always be seen holding forth in the local Starbucks. He was an outgoing guy, real loud and energetic. Baldwin always made certain everyone knew he was there but he was catching a plane "to the coast" the next day. He got religion after 9/11 and one of the first things he did was lead the charge to close down an "adult store" that was opening in a tacky strip mall outside the Village. I didn't have a problem with closing it down but Baldwin made it a religious crusade and was startng to look at bit nutty, wailing and praying in the parking lot of the proposed site. I see from this piece that Baldwin has greatly expanded his evangelical role and has taken it on the road with radical fervor. I suspect that acting jobs are few and far between now. Alec is the far better actor in that family.

The party platforms are broad strokes and mean little in the face of trying to run a country faced with entrenched partisan politics, the interests of lobbyists and other special interest groups, and with politicians always thinking ahead to their next election prospects.

The party platforms are broad strokes and mean little in the face of trying to run a country faced with entrenched partisan politics, the interests of lobbyists and other special interest groups, and with politicians always thinking ahead to their next election prospects.

A community organizer is a priest or a nun feeding the homeless. A community organizer is someone who starts a neighborhood watch. A community organizer is someone who joins Habitat For Humanity and helps the working poor build their own house. A community organizer starts a campaign to get drunk drivers off the road, like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. A community organizer starts after school programs for kids.

The list of what defines a community organizer is endless. Don't ridicule the people who work so hard to make their communities better places to live!

A community organizer is a priest or a nun feeding the homeless. A community organizer is someone who starts a neighborhood watch. A community organizer is someone who joins Habitat For Humanity and helps the working poor build their own house. A community organizer starts a campaign to get drunk drivers off the road, like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. A community organizer starts after school programs for kids.

The list of what defines a community organizer is endless. Don't ridicule the people who work so hard to make their communities better places to live!

I disagree that Obama's statement on rural Pennsylvanians was "foolish." It was only "foolish" if he needed to think ahead that his detractors would take one sentence out of his entire speech and turn it into a failure on his part to grasp how people cope when they have to struggle day in and day out. In my opinion, Obama was right!

Here is a snippet from that talk: "Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

If Obama is wrong, why do Republicans keep encouraging the bitterness by manufacturing social problems to win elections?

I believe that Obama respects what average Americans are dealing with and takes their issues seriously. The Republicans are gleefully exploiting one inartful sentence to drive home the "elitist" label.

Now, could you take on the "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" sentence of McCain, please?

I disagree that Obama's statement on rural Pennsylvanians was "foolish." It was only "foolish" if he needed to think ahead that his detractors would take one sentence out of his entire speech and turn it into a failure on his part to grasp how people cope when they have to struggle day in and day out. In my opinion, Obama was right!

Here is a snippet from that talk: "Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

If Obama is wrong, why do Republicans keep encouraging the bitterness by manufacturing social problems to win elections?

I believe that Obama respects what average Americans are dealing with and takes their issues seriously. The Republicans are gleefully exploiting one inartful sentence to drive home the "elitist" label.

Now, could you take on the "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" sentence of McCain, please?

No big news here -- " ... mostly Latino crowd" is the key to Richardson stumping there. The Newark metro area has a large Latino population.

No big news here -- " ... mostly Latino crowd" is the key to Richardson stumping there. The Newark metro area has a large Latino population.

Of course the video was pandering. The video implies that former presidents, Democrats Carter and Clinton, were responsible for 9/11 and that Republicans will never let such an abomination happen here again.

Was using the victims of 9/11 (by the way, some 300 Brits and hundreds of other foreign nationals died in the towers that day) "inappropriate?" Was it appropriate for Rudy Giuliani to sneer in his keynote address that the Democrats never mentioned 9/11 during their convention?

The families and friends of people who perished that day and those of us, myself included, who were there to witness and live with the aftermath for months on end do not believe that a political party owns 9/11.

Yes, the video was inappropriate.

Of course the video was pandering. The video implies that former presidents, Democrats Carter and Clinton, were responsible for 9/11 and that Republicans will never let such an abomination happen here again.

Was using the victims of 9/11 (by the way, some 300 Brits and hundreds of other foreign nationals died in the towers that day) "inappropriate?" Was it appropriate for Rudy Giuliani to sneer in his keynote address that the Democrats never mentioned 9/11 during their convention?

The families and friends of people who perished that day and those of us, myself included, who were there to witness and live with the aftermath for months on end do not believe that a political party owns 9/11.

Yes, the video was inappropriate.

Good points about online advertising but most newspapers have lousy webpages so people do not gravitate to them. Many newspapers are stuck in the past as far as the web and if they are online at all the site is unattractive and hard to navigate. The real issue for newspapers is the loss of revenue due to Craig's List and similar free ad ventures, EBay has had an impact, a lousy retail economy that limits business ad budgets, and the real estate slow down that reduces those ads. Newspapers are shrinking their size, reducing or eliminating glossy magazines, collapsing bureaus, gutting their staff and are still struggling. I read newspapers online. I never read the ads. It would be interesting to find out how many readers of online newspapers are actually buying products based on the online ads.

Good points about online advertising but most newspapers have lousy webpages so people do not gravitate to them. Many newspapers are stuck in the past as far as the web and if they are online at all the site is unattractive and hard to navigate. The real issue for newspapers is the loss of revenue due to Craig's List and similar free ad ventures, EBay has had an impact, a lousy retail economy that limits business ad budgets, and the real estate slow down that reduces those ads. Newspapers are shrinking their size, reducing or eliminating glossy magazines, collapsing bureaus, gutting their staff and are still struggling. I read newspapers online. I never read the ads. It would be interesting to find out how many readers of online newspapers are actually buying products based on the online ads.

I forgot to add a comment on "objectivity." Many people don't realize that the AP is a nonprofit membership organization, a news service. I always counted on AP objectivity. If I want commentary I will read a columnist or an editorial page -- otherwise, give me straight news and I will make up my own mind. When the AP starts to blend reporting with commentary then newspaper readers, a decided minority these days, have lost the ability to read straight news reporting. Bloomberg is now attracting highly competent reporters and editors and expanding their news service. With Bloomberg, the LA Times, the NY Times and McClachy providing straight news reporting to their members newspapers should reconsider their dependence on the AP.

I forgot to add a comment on "objectivity." Many people don't realize that the AP is a nonprofit membership organization, a news service. I always counted on AP objectivity. If I want commentary I will read a columnist or an editorial page -- otherwise, give me straight news and I will make up my own mind. When the AP starts to blend reporting with commentary then newspaper readers, a decided minority these days, have lost the ability to read straight news reporting. Bloomberg is now attracting highly competent reporters and editors and expanding their news service. With Bloomberg, the LA Times, the NY Times and McClachy providing straight news reporting to their members newspapers should reconsider their dependence on the AP.

The AP began to change when Lou Boccardi retired as president and Tom Curley, formerly of USA Today, took his place. The board changed. There was a major reshuffling in New York, many excellent bureau chiefs were pushed out or left due to state consolidation, and the Washington bureau changed completely. Interestingly, the AP is losing membership and some members are complaining loudly about Fournier. The old objective AP is no more and its members have to make a decision whether or not to stay with that news service or look elsewhere.

The AP began to change when Lou Boccardi retired as president and Tom Curley, formerly of USA Today, took his place. The board changed. There was a major reshuffling in New York, many excellent bureau chiefs were pushed out or left due to state consolidation, and the Washington bureau changed completely. Interestingly, the AP is losing membership and some members are complaining loudly about Fournier. The old objective AP is no more and its members have to make a decision whether or not to stay with that news service or look elsewhere.