Awesome old ad, via Adam Thierer:
And of course my MacBook will look absurd some day.
Study finds Pentagon benefited from U.S. media ‘embed’ program in Iraq.
Writing in the American Sociological Association’s “Contexts” magazine, sociologist Andrew M. Lindner found that journalists embedded with American troops during the invasion of Iraq “emphasized military successes more often than they covered consequences for Iraqi citizens” which represented a “communications victory” for the Bush administration:
The embedded program proved to be a Pentagon victory because it kept reporters focused on the horrors facing the troops, not the horrors of the civilian war experience. [...] The end result: a communications victory for an administration that hoped to build support for the war by depicting it as a successful mission with limited cost.
The New York Times recently documented the Pentagon’s domestic propaganda program using “military analysts” in the media to garner support for the Iraq war.
The Uncanny Valley
I had never heard of the uncanny valley until I read Tyler Cowen and Jason Kottke blog it today. The basic idea is that when you get quasi-human images — cartoon people, talking animals, etc. — they get more appealing to audiences as they become more human like. More appealing, that is, until they become too human while still not quite looking right, at which point they become repugnant.
So animators who know they can’t perfectly replicate human appearance actually go out of their way to avoid getting too realistic.
Food Fight
The past eighty years or so of military history, as portrayed by food:
I’m not sure I would have picked beef stroganoff to symbolize Russia.
Huckabee: I thought McCain’s ‘bomb Iran’ song ‘was funny.’
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” today, host Tim Russert played a clip from Friday of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee joking about Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) ducking after seeing a gunman. Huckabee apologized for saying what he called “a dumb, off the cuff remark,” and pointed to similar “dumb” comments from other politicians:
It won’t be the last dumb thing I’ve ever said. I’m sure I’ll make other comments. I think we all in politics do. Ronald Reagan had an open mike and said ‘I’m gonna launch a nuclear attack against Russia,’ I remember John McCain saying ‘Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran.’ I thought that was funny, but I mean a lot of people didn’t.
Watch it:
Huckabee apologized on Friday for his “offensive” comments
Real Americans and Lobbying
Former Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler resigns as national co-chair of John McCain’s campaign rather than step down from his lobbying gigs. The most interesting part of the story is, I think, this blind quote:
“No one in real America cares,” said one key Republican. “But McCain cares.”
I think it’s true that no one in real America cares about this per se. But real Americans do care about hypocrisy, so the fact that McCain has made anti-lobbyist crusading the center of his public persona means he’d damn well better care. The other thing is that in real American the Bush administration is horribly unpopular, the Republican Party is horribly unpopular, but John McCain remains reasonably well-liked. That’s based on the perception that he’s not a business as usual corrupt Republican, which means that when he gets caught acting like a business as usual corrupt Republican it’s in his interests to move swiftly.
As for how much McCain really cares about this stuff, well let’s say he doesn’t care enough about keeping his campaign lobbyist-free to have avoided putting lobbyists in tons of key positions, but he does care enough to take action ex post when people complain.
The real John McCain.
The media have admitted that they are giving Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) a free ride. Brave New Films has put together a new video, The Real McCain 2, attempting to give an accurate portrayal of McCain and highlighting his inconsistencies on everything from taxes to his feelings on President Bush. Watch it:
Kyl: McCain’s ‘Tax Program Goes Far Beyond’ President Bush’s
On Fox News Sunday today, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), an ardent supporter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), defended McCain’s tax policies, saying that they aren’t just like President Bush’s because they go “far beyond” what Bush has proposed. “I can very enthusiastically support it,” said Kyl. Kyl said:
[McCain's] made it very clear now. In fact, I think his tax program goes far beyond what President Bush has proposed and I can very enthusiastically support it.
Watch it:
If he’s talking about increasing the deficit, then Kyl is certainly right that McCain’s tax plans do go “far beyond” Bush’s.
In fact, a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund found that McCain “would recklessly exacerbate the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration” by creating the largest deficit in 25 years and the highest amount of debt since World War II.
Apparently, Kyl is trying to argue that McCain isn’t a a third term of Bush economics because his tax policies are Bush’s on steroids.
Social Issues in 2013
A fascinating point from David Corn who notes that in John McCain’s vision of 2013 he doesn’t say anything whatsoever about hot button social issues. I assume John Paul Stevens won’t still be on the Supreme Court by then, so as long as McCain is forecasting the future it really would be nice if he could say something about whether or not he believes abortion will still be legal in 2013.
The Coal Calm in Kansas, for now
Ever since the Kansas House failed to override Governor Sebelius’ veto of two coal plants, the state’s chambers have fallen quiet. Not because the issue is dead; but the actors are laying low, reflecting, and figuring out their next move.
In the meantime, persona speculation is rampant. There is talk of the Governor’s potential as a running mate for Obama, should he be declared the Democrat nominee.
On the other side of things, there’s rumbling of Kansas Speaker Melvin Neufield’s utter disappointment to his party to deliver the votes to override Sebelius’ veto. My question for those critics is – to what extent did he fail because the coal plants are just bad ideas in and of themselves, and people finally recognized that? I’d argue that it is slightly erroneous to place full blame on the politician and miss an acknowledgment of how doomed the actual policy is/would be, regardless.
