The adventures of an urbane bar-hopping transplant to New York.
I'm a storyteller in the New York area who is a regular on NPR's "This American Life" and at shows around the city. Moved to New York in 2006 and am working on selling a memoir of my years as a greeting card writer, and (as a personal, noncommercial obsession) a nonfiction book called "How to Love God Without Being a Jerk." My agent is Adam Chromy at Artists and Artisans. If you came here after hearing about my book on "This American Life" and Googling my name, the "How to Love God" book itself isn't in print yet, and may not even see print in its current form (I'm focusing on humorous memoir), but here's a sample I've posted in case you're curious anyway: Sample How To Love God Introduction, Pt. 1 of 3. Or just look through the archives for September 18, 2007.) The book you should be expecting is the greeting card book, about which more information is pending. Keep checking back!
posted by Cowboy Dave Dickerson | 10:04 PM
6 Comments:
Wait a minute -- where's the tape? In this modern day there were no recordings of this actually happening? This was covered by the media, right? Where's the camera crew? Where are the YouTube videos?
Of course, we do have film of protesters screaming obscenities at the Fox News crew -- should Obama be held responsible for those people's words? Are you ready to tie Obama to the words of every single Liberal in the nation?
You're an idiot.
You bought it David, because it fits a template, and you're just wired that way. Republicans are not racists, and Palin's stump speech is not fomenting Barak Obama's assassination.
Obama does appear to have significant ties to Bill "We didn't do enough" Ayers, who is an unapologetic, convicted domestic terrorist. This is about ideology. This has to do with the way you view America. This has to do with judgment.
Do you mean to suggest if McCain had launched his campaign for an Arizona office from the living room of a KKK member there wouldn't be 24/7 coverage about it? I'm just glad the random person in the audience didn't say "Macaca" -- that would have ended the McCain campaign completely.
This is a probably false report that says more about your bias than it does about the McCain campaign. It is only useful in demonizing Republicans and stifling dissent.
Dan, please take a moment to realize that you're speaking from inside the echo chamber. What you think of as media bias is the media not buying a particular narrative--Obama and Ayers have met a few times because they both work in and around Chicago politics. The actual parallel for the Republican side might be if McCain started his Arizona campaign in the living room of a guy who'd been a KKK member when McCain was eight, and who had since become an elected official. The very remoteness of the connection shows how difficult it has been to pin any evildoing on Obama. (Compare this to Clinton, where all you had to do was open his Rolodex and you had more shady characters than you knew who to profile.)
As for media bias, from where I sit it's a little frustrating to note that Palin has been MARRIED to a man who belonged to an Alaskan secessionist group that really did say "Down with America" on its website. (Not once, like Reverend Wright in the heat of passion, but as an actual foundational principle.) But of course, we can't discuss that, because she's never had a press conference.
And of course, this doesn't even mention the fact that McCain was one of the Keating Five, for which McCain now even refuses to apologize. Has this gotten any play on the news? More than the bullshit over Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment? Which of those got closer to "24/7" coverage. I also think it's appalling that Palin may become the first Vice President to never hold a press conference ever. Is that getting 24/7 coverage? Might it not be a little important?
I'm not suggesting that people are responsible for what those in the audience say. But they are responsible for the TONE of what they say. And if you're accusing a fellow American of being essentially a traitor and a threat to America, you have to know what you're doing. Before you raise conspiracy theories, Dan, we DO have video of a guy yelling "Traitor!" at a McCain rally where McCain mentioned Ayers, and it's clear that McCain and Palin are trying to play on anger and fear rather than, say. their economic policy.
Josh Marshall had a point about that today. (Sorry no links, but I've only got a few minutes before the debate.) At one of his speeches, Giuliani has said some spiteful things, but when he overheard someone in the audience yell "Kill them!" (or some such), he stopped and said, in essence, "Hey, calm down. We can get angry, but we're all Americans and we're all in this together." McCain and Palin, with their conscious adoption of a scorched-character plot of lies and smears, show absolutely no humanity, self-consciousness, remorse, or (if I may say it) any character at all. It's despicable.
And this, I think, is why Obama is suddenly winning. An independent observer from outside the Republican and Democratic shouting matches can look at the two candidates and at least see which one is calm, makes smart decisions, and isn't resorting to lies and ridiculous distortions to get their foot in the White House door. Obama is running a classy campaign. McCain and Palin are digging through so much filth--most of it not only false, but KNOWINGLY false and repeated after it's been disproven--that it's practically an insult to free speech.
I thought intelligence was genetic?
I like Daniel.
I wonder if he is still in Tucson.
I remember when he had a car that he drove to Church and had to stop halfway every time so it wouldn't overheat.
I thought that was cool, cause the car only cost a dollar.
I have to say, I agree with Daniel but I'm encouraged to see that Dave takes the time to respond with thoughtful elocution rather than anger filled vitriol such as: "Daniel is an Evil Sack of Shit." Way to go Dave!
And as for Obama getting the ax.. there's no need for his supporters to fear a thing. I read in a book somewhere that when The Beast suffers a head wound, he'll be out for only like three days and then miraculously come back to life. Obama's all good!
Seriously, love ya Dave... you crazy kid you.
Carl Bernstein pointed out recently that if McCain & Co. really want to press the Ayers issue, the clearest--and far more damning--analogue would be McCain's affiliation with G. Gordon Liddy, whose activities as Ayers's contemporary were at least as despicable, and arguably much worse. One can easily point out that Ayers has spent most of the last 35+ years working in various forms of community service. Liddy has been an irresponsible right-wing shock jock, one who has told his listeners how to kill government agents. Ayers belonged to a ham-fisted radical group that killed only its own, and that was accidental. Like many of the would-be terrorists that have made the news since 9/11, the Weather Underground members were bumblers, to say the least. Liddy's activities continue until the present, and McCain has publicly praised him and his values. What's more damning?
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