The Big Lie and How It Travels

After White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer audaciously lied, in his first news media briefing, about the attendance estimates at Friday's presidential inauguration, a friend on Facebook posted an analysis that has since gone viral on social media, particularly on Twitter.  For instance, Oscar-winning composer John Legend, Helen Hayes award-winning actor Will Gartshore, and Republican political consultant Ana Navarro all tweeted a screenshot of the mini-essay to their thousands of Twitter followers.

The provocative analysis has caused a stir -- a real conversation about facts, lies, and propaganda -- so, since the original author gave his permission to "copy and paste" his status as long as his name was removed and the originator remained anonymous, I'm offering it here to expand its reach. It deserves to be read, reposted, restated, and challenged.

The White House

If you are puzzled by the bizarre "press conference" put on by the White House press secretary this evening (angrily claiming that Trump's inauguration had the largest audience in history, accusing them of faking photos and lying about attendance), let me help explain it. This spectacle served three purposes:

1. Establishing a norm with the press: they will be told things that are obviously wrong and they will have no opportunity to ask questions. That way, they will be grateful if they get anything more at any press conference. This is the PR equivalent of "negging," the odious pick-up practice of a particular kind of horrible man (e.g., Donald Trump).

2. Increasing the separation between Trump's base (1/3 of the population) from everybody else (the remaining 2/3). By being told something that is obviously wrong—that there is no evidence for and all evidence against, that anybody with eyes can see is wrong—they are forced to pick whether they are going to believe Trump or their lying eyes. The gamble here—likely to pay off—is that they will believe Trump. This means that they will regard media outlets that report the truth as "fake news" (because otherwise they'd be forced to confront their cognitive dissonance.)

U.S. Capitol

3. Creating a sense of uncertainty about whether facts are knowable, among a certain chunk of the population (which is a taking a page from the Kremlin, for whom this is their preferred disinformation tactic). A third of the population will say "clearly the White House is lying," a third will say "if Trump says it, it must be true," and the remaining third will say "gosh, I guess this is unknowable." The idea isn't to convince these people of untrue things, it's to fatigue them, so that they will stay out of the political process entirely, regarding the truth as just too difficult to determine.

This is laying important groundwork for the months ahead. If Trump's White House is willing to lie about something as obviously, unquestionably fake as this, just imagine what else they'll lie about. In particular, things that the public cannot possibly verify the truth of. It's gonna get real bad.

The point is, if the Trump administration and the President himself are willing to lie about such petty things as the number of people who were or were not on the National Mall on January 20, what will they do when they want to send American soldiers into battle in some far-off place? What will they do when the Bureau of Labor Statistics issues a monthly unemployment figures that is unflattering to the Administration? What will they do when the number of anti-Administration protesters far outnumbers the guests at the inauguration?

A final note: Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau proves himself amazingly adept at interpreting Donald Trump. His comic strip today, which had to have been drawn days before the inauguration, as the President in the White House challenging the news media's reports on the inauguration's attendance numbers. You can't make this stuff up.

Update: Russian chess champion and political dissident Garry Kasparov made a similar, and pithy, point on Twitter:

The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) December 13, 2016

From the Archives: Justin Bieber, Gary Becker, and the future of marijuana prohibition

Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on January 7, 2013. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016. I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Justin Bieber, Gary Becker, and the future of marijuana prohibition

What do teen heartthrob Justin Bieber and a Nobel prize-winning economist have in common?

It turns out that both, in their own way, have made a strong argument in favor of ending the War on Drugs.

Bieber, the Canadian singer and actor, was allegedly caught on film smoking a blunt (marijuana in a cigar wrapper), as reported by celebrity gossip site TMZ. The incident occurred not long after Bieber was involved in a traumatic accident that resulted in the death of a paparazzo trying to photograph the teen idol in his white Ferrari on a Los Angeles street.

Soon after the photographs surfaced, Bieber tweeted to his fans: “everyday growing and learning. trying to be better. u get knocked down, u get up” – not an apology but a subtle acknowledgment that the allegations may have substance.

Losing the war

The same day that TMZ published the Bieber photos, Nobel laureate economist Gary Becker published an article in the Wall Street Journal asking, “Have We Lost the War on Drugs?”

Becker and his co-author, University of Chicago economist Kevin Murphy, point out that the “paradox of the war on drugs is that the harder governments push the fight, the higher drug prices become to compensate for the greater risks. That leads to larger profits for traffickers who avoid being punished. This is why larger drug gangs often benefit from a tougher war on drugs, especially if the war mainly targets small-fry dealers and not the major drug gangs. Moreover, to the extent that a more aggressive war on drugs leads dealers to respond with higher levels of violence and corruption, an increase in enforcement can exacerbate the costs imposed on society.”

Becker and Murphy argue for, at the very least, decriminalizing now-illegal drugs, as Colorado and Washington state voters did with regard to marijuana in last November's election.

“Decriminalization of all drugs by the U.S. would be a major positive step away from the war on drugs,” the economists said in the Wall Street Journal.

“In recent years, states have begun to decriminalize marijuana, one of the least addictive and less damaging drugs. Marijuana is now decriminalized in some form in about 20 states, and it is de facto decriminalized in some others as well. If decriminalization of marijuana proves successful, the next step would be to decriminalize other drugs, perhaps starting with amphetamines. Gradually, this might lead to the full decriminalization of all drugs.”

Saving money, raising revenue

Becker and Murphy are not the first notable economists to argue for an end to the drug war on the grounds that it is economically indefensible.

In 2005, a statement signed by 500 economists, including Nobel laureate Milton Friedman and several from Virginia's George Mason University, argued that ending marijuana prohibition “would save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods. If, however, marijuana were taxed similarly to alcohol or tobacco, it might generate as much as $6.2 billion annually.”

The absence of a public outcry over Justin Bieber's alleged pot smoking, along with the Colorado and Washington initiatives and the adoption of laws permitting the medicinal use of marijuana in 18 states, suggest that the American people are more open to a rational discussion about ending the drug war. Bieber's non-apology on Twitter itself suggests that he views the incident as uncontroversial and unworthy of further attention.

While Gary Becker and other economists make erudite and logically rigorous arguments against drug prohibition, Bieber's near-silence is eloquent in its own way and equally compelling.

Politicians do not seem to be following expert opinion or public sentiment, however. While two years ago, then-Delegate Harvey Morgan (R-Gloucester) introduced legislation with the effect of decriminalizing marijuana possession, this year the emphasis in the Virginia General Assembly seems to be toward extending the reach of drug laws. Delegate Bill Carrico (R-Grayson County), for instance, has submitted a bill that would require welfare recipients to be tested for cannabis and other drugs. Nobody in Richmond seems to have taken on Delegate Morgan's mantle in the wake of his retirement.

Eventually, as Becker and similar thinkers point out, the law will catch up to public opinion.

Who Are the Top 10 Charlottesville News Media Personalities on Twitter?

Taking a cue from FishbowlDC, which this week ranked the top ten Washington, D.C.-based anchors for national news shows based on their number of Twitter followers, I became curious about how Twitter is used by broadcast personalities in the Charlottesville media market.

Looking at the on-air talent listed on the web sites for WVIR-TV NBC29, the Charlottesville Newsplex (CBS19, WAHU-TV27, WVAW-TV16), WINA-AM, and WCHV-AM&FM, and then looking for Twitter handles for each of those listed, I made a few surprising discoveries.

First, the vast majority of broadcast media reporters and anchors have very few Twitter followers. Only a relative handful have more than 300 and most have fewer than 200 followers -- and some are in the single digits.

Second, the Newsplex seems to be making the greatest effort to leverage social media -- or at least Twitter -- by making it easy for someone looking at the Newsplex web site to locate and follow talent on Twitter. Every nember of the Newsplex's on-air maintains a personal Twitter account, although Bradley Ussery's is designated as @CBS19Weather. With 2,418 followers, this is the top Twitter account among those I found, but since it is not a personal account, I do not include it in the top ten.

Third, WINA-AM seems to make virtually no effort at promoting itself and its programs on Twitter. I could not find accounts for WINA Morning News hosts Jane Foy and Rick Daniels, and noontime host Rob Schilling and afternoon host Les Sinclair have only 173 and 243 followers, respectively.

Fourth, although NBC29 seems not to be making as concerted an effort at Twitter engagement as its rival the Newsplex, its individual talent are not doing so badly under the circumstances. Reporter Henry Graff is ranked second while his colleague Matt Talhelm just missed the cut, coming in 12th according to my research.

Only one radio personality, Coy Barefoot of WCHV-FM, made the top ten list, but he also has a Sunday morning TV program on CBS19, which could possibly boost his following.

I did not include print media in this study, which now would include just The Daily Progress and C-VILLE, so the available sample of Twitter accounts may not be satisfying.

Here is the list of Charlottesville's top ten broadcast media personalities on Twitter:

1) Travis Koshko (Newsplex) / @TravisKoshko / 2,186 followers

2) Henry Graff (NBC29) / @HenryGraff / 1,529

3) Dan Schutte (Newsplex) / @schuttedan / 1,410

4) Coy Barefoot (WCHV-FM/CBS19) / @coybarefoot  / 1,289

5) Chris Stover (Newsplex) / @ChrisStover / 1,198

6) Michelle Rupp (Newsplex) /@MichelleRupp /1,000

7) Bo Sykes (Newsplex) / @bosykes / 972

8) Ed Sykes (NBC29) / @EdSykes29 / 963

9) Mary Dunleavy (NBC29) / @MaryDunleavy29 / 809

10) Evanne Armour (Newsplex) / @EvanneArmour / 802 

 I don't make any judgments about the quality of these broadcast journalists' work, other than to suggest that these ten are making a greater effort -- some with corporate support, some without -- to engage their audience through one social media platform, Twitter.

I would welcome any comments from the people listed about how they use Twitter, whether they are satisfied with the results of their experience, and whether they prefer Twitter over other social media platforms (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, for example) or vice versa.  What are your goals in using Twitter?

I would also be interested in hearing from those who follow these ten (or any other local media personalities).  What do you gain from following them on Twitter?  What suggestions do you have for improving their engagement with you as an audience member?  How can Twitter be better integrated with the broadcast experience? 

Leave your comments below, or Tweet them to me at @rick_sincere.

Obligatory Dylan Sprouse Nude Selfie Blog Post

Twitter is abuzz with conversation -- some adulatory, some snarky -- about the semi-nude selfies of Disney Channel actor Dylan Sprouse that have been making the rounds since they were leaked sometime on Sunday.

Sprouse himself -- who co-starred with his twin brother, Cole, on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and its sequel, The Suite Life on Deck -- has approached the situation with a great deal of equanimity and maturity for a 21-year-old celebrity on hiatus to earn a college degree at New York University, where he is studying video-game design, poetry, and studio art.

On his Tumblr page, Dylan Sprouse wrote:

First off, I will state that the reason I’m making light of the situation is because I don’t think what I did was wrong. To be blunt, I was proud of my progress in the gym, thought I looked hot, and wanted to share it. I’m of the mindset that whoever you are, if you are proud of your body and want to show it off, so be it! You do you. There is an odd taboo with the human form (especially in the USA) and I don’t particularly think its a good thing to teach people that you should “hide yourself” as something incredibly sacred. Blah blah blah, that’s a medieval notion.

Indeed, even a cursory look at the leaked photos shows that chunky teenage Dylan has been transformed into svelte young man Dylan, enough to stimulate salivation among (literally) thousands of fans on Twitter and Tumblr, both male and female.

Young Mr. Sprouse has approached this situation in a fashion that could teach a few things to Anthony Weiner, Geraldo Rivera, and other selfie-senders (even Justin Bieber, whose alleged nude selfies lack an identifiable face). He's a reflection of his generation, which lacks inhibition and recognizes that there's no reason to be embarrassed about something that most people would be proud of.

Dylan Sprouse even had a strong enough sense of humor to turn the most revealing photo into a t-shirt, which he apparently plans to wear around campus at NYU.  He also quipped on Twitter that "at least you can't see my third testicle," while his twin brother Cole -- an archaeology major at NYU known on Instagram for fighting "camera duels" with amateur paparazzi -- shyly admitted that "now they've basically seen me naked which is weird I guess."

Interestingly, this is the same Sprouse brother who recently posted an intelligent, insightful retort to Joe Jonas' self-pitying Vulture.com article about how badly he was treated by Disney as he piled up millions of dollars and myriad adoring fans.

And here's a final bit of Cole and Dylan Sprouse trivia:  The twins share the same birth date as President Barack Obama -- who is himself associated with a famous selfie.

The Little Typo That Could

Over on the most-neglected of my three blogs, Where Are the Copy Editors?, I have only created one post during the entire calendar year of 2011.  Yet it's proven to be unusually popular, with dozens of hits within a couple of hours of publication.

Headlined "By Far the Best Typo of 2011," it points the reader to a howler of a typographical error in a new book by Craig Shirley called December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World. (Suffice it to say that the book is rife with errors of all sorts. In the chapter I read last night, Shirley used the word "causality" when he meant "casualty." Every page has some kind of mistake like that, and each one could have easily been caught by an editor in the manuscript stage. Such things should never even make it to galley proofs.)

In any case, this very funny typo -- you have to read the original post to get the full impact -- has, relatively speaking, gone viral.  ("Relatively" meaning nowhere near as popular as the Lindsay Lohan Playboy photos.)

I Tweeted a link to the post that was reTweeted by the popular Wisconsin Twitter personality, MissPronouncer.

By Far the Best Typo of 2011:bit.ly/saOY4T
— Rick_Sincere (@Rick_Sincere) December 18, 2011

Then it got picked up elsewhere on Twitter and repackaged with a clever pun:

The caret and the shtick: Why everybody needs an edictor bit.ly/vMmBtq
— Jon Belmont (@jbelmont) December 18, 2011

I'm not sure whether the retweet by @MissPronouncer or the new Tweet by @jbelmont was the driver for it, but the thing is, for a blog that had an average of zero views over the past four weeks, to get 75 or 100 hits within a few hours is, as I say, "viral," in a humble and relative sense.  It's also great fun.

I have not yet finished reading December 1941 but I do wish that I had started with a blue pencil on page one, just to keep track of all the bad editing of an otherwise entertaining and educational book.

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'Beaded Curtain'

The other night, during his Tweets and emails segment, TV's Craig Ferguson naughtily coined a phrase:  "beaded curtain."

Well, he didn't coin it per se; the two-word term has been around for a long, long time.  What he did was add an air of mystery to it, making it a sexually suggestive phrase.

Shortly after the show signed off for the night, I signed on to Urban Dictionary to submit a new definition:

A vaguely sexual allusion intended to distract and confuse network television censors. Originally used by CBS late-night host Craig Ferguson on June 29, 2011, in response to a question posed by a viewer via email.

Geoff Peterson: "I enjoy a good beaded curtain now and again."
Craig Ferguson: "Go ahead, censors, look it up. We'll wait."

To my surprise and disappointment, Urban Dictionary rejected my submission.

I think that web site will come to regret this decision. "Beaded curtain" in this sense is going to begin to take root. The Robot Skeleton Army (the Craig Ferguson fan club, so to speak) has already taken up the cause of adding "beaded curtain" to the national lexicon:

Is Beaded Curtain a Thing?

If it wasn’t, it is now. Craig and Geoff’s conversation about beaded curtains got the RSA’s @doxieone1 inspired to come up with a fun poster.

Here's a link to that poster, which shows Geoff Peterson behind a beaded curtain.

I predict you'll be hearing the phrase "beaded curtain" before too long, and you'll titter when you hear it. (And maybe titter about it on Twitter soon afterward.)

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Social Media Mischief at The Washington Times?

The Washington Times has an article on its web site about Thursday's Capitol Hill hearing on Don't Ask Don't Tell, the now-repealed policy that prohibits the service of open and honest gay and lesbian Americans in the military.

The headline and subhead read:

Services OK with ending ‘don’t ask’
No ‘push-back,’ brass reports to Capitol Hill

The first paragraph says:

Preparations for repealing the military’s ban on openly homosexual service members have proceeded very well — even among Marines, who have not demonstrated any resistance, the Marine Corps commandant testified Thursday.

If you click to share the story on Facebook, however, the headline reads:

Lawmaker skeptical of repeal of 'don't ask' - Washington Times

And the excerpted first paragraph, designed to appear on Facebook's feed, says:

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said on Thursday that he is troubled by the rushed way the Obama administration is moving to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. military.

Similarly, if you click to share on Twitter, you get this retweet:

RT @washtimes Congress skeptical of repeal of military's gay ban - Washington Times http://bit.ly/i1eqHq

However, if you click on a different Twitter icon, you get this:

Services OK with ending 'don't ask' - Washington Times http://t.co/la0otOW via @AddThis

(Note that the shortened URLs are different in the two different Tweets.)

And if you click on a different Facebook button, you get this:

Services OK with ending 'don't ask' - Washington Times
Preparations for repealing the military's ban on openly homosexual service members have proceeded very well — even among Marines, who have not demonstrated any resistance, the Marine Corps commandant testified Thursday.

Confused? I was.

It looks like somebody at the Washington Times -- I don't know who, but it's certainly not the reporter who wrote the story, Shaun Waterman -- is attempting to put a spin on the story through social media that is not borne out by the actual report itself.

I just noticed this by chance.  An important question to ask is, does the Washington Times do this with other articles, or is this a one-off phenomenon?  What are the ethics of changing the headline and the emphasis of a story when spreading it through social media sites?  Is this worthy of criticism?

Your thoughts are welcome in the comments space, below.

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Election Day Twitter Feed

You can see what I did on Election Day (more or less) by reading this Twitter feed from bottom to top -- past to present.

I wasn't able to follow Twitter much during the day, but I was pleased to see this Tweet from Charlottesville Democrat Jennifer McKeever:

cville folks obviously should be following @rick_sincere for election turnout updates and other cool things

Thanks for the plug!

Remember, scroll down and read up:

I've posted Election Day photos of @creighdeeds and other politicians at http://tinyurl.com/yzxafau #cville #vapolitics #election
3 minutes ago from web

if Charlottesville is a bellwether, @creighdeeds has won in a landslide
about 5 hours ago from mobile web

five minutes left till close of polls!
about 5 hours ago from mobile web

Charlottesville has only 16 provisional votes so far, to be weighed at 11 a.m. Wednesday by Electoral Board #cville
about 7 hours ago from mobile web

most recent numbers from Recreation Precinct are 1305 eSlate, 385 eScan #cville #election
about 7 hours ago from mobile web

Clark Precinct has had 128 paper ballots on eScan and 731 eSlate ballots #cville #election
about 7 hours ago from mobile web

Tonsler precinct has voted 412 on eSlate and 104 on eScan #cville #election
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

Venable Precinct reports 758 voting eSlate and 88 voting paper ballot on eScan #cville #election
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

latest Carver precinct numbers: 481 on eSlate, 126 on eScan #cville #election
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

Liz Palka of CBS 19 interviewed me about turnout and gen'l Election Day topics #tv #cville
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

had a nice chat with former Mayor David Brown about upcoming Va Film Festival #cville
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

Alumni Hall Precinct, new figures: 358 electronic voters + 40 paper voters #cville #vapolitics
about 9 hours ago from mobile web

latest Jefferson Park numbers: 985 eSlate (DRE) and 121 eScan (paper ballot) #cville
about 9 hours ago from mobile web

Creigh Deeds is at Recreation Precinct #cville #vagov #vapolitics
about 12 hours ago from mobile web

documentary film crew following delegate candidate Brandon Smith is shooting inside Recreation #cville #vapolitics
about 13 hours ago from mobile web

Recreation Precinct has voted 165 paper ballots and 596 electronic ballots #cville #vapolitics
about 13 hours ago from mobile web

parking at Jefferson Park cleared up, much better now #cville
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

Jefferson Park voters prefer eSlate - 553 electronic, 65 paper ballots (eScan) #cville #vapolitics
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

parking at Jefferson Park precinct is at a premium right now #cville
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

Clark Precinct - 292 electronic voters, 49 paper voters #cville #vapolitics
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

Mayor Dave Norris is greeting voters at Clark Precinct; he posed for pic #cville #vapolitics
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

write-in City Council candidate Williams was at Walker Precinct a few minutes ago #cville
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

Carver Precinct - 175 voters choose eSlate, 17 choose paper ballots #cville #vapolitics
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

parking is tighter than usual at Carver Precinct (Jefferson School) #cville
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

Alumni Hall Precinct: 101 voters have chosen eSlate (DRE) and 7 have chosen paper ballot (eScan) #cville #vapolitics
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

at Walker Precinct, 239 have voted on eSlate (DRE) and 16 on eScan (paper ballot) #cville #vapolitics
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

City Councilor Huja is campaigning outside Walker Precinct #cville
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

92 voters at Venable have chosen eSlate (DRE) and 15 have chosen eScan (paper ballot) #cville #vapolitics
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

parking situation at Venable Precinct is tremendously improved over years past #cville
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

City Council write-in candidate Andrew Williams is greeting voters at Tonsler #cville #vapolitics
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

Tonsler Precinct has had 52 voters so far, 17 using paper ballots #cville #vapolitics
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

unexpected excitement: sudden smell of smoke brought firefighters to City Hall Annex. All is well!
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

now buying Spudnuts for voting office staff #cville
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

polls are open; just voted at Jefferson Park. About 13 voters queued up at 6 a.m.
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

Polls open in 75 minutes. #vapolitics
about 20 hours ago from web

RT @andylevy To be fair, why should the media understand that the Tea Partiers aren't Republicans when the GOP doesn't? #tcot #tlot
11:45 PM Nov 2nd from web

As I did during the June primary, I'll have an Election Day Twitter stream from early a.m. until after the polls close. #vapolitics #cville
9:31 PM Nov 2nd from web




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Exposing the 'Twitter Gap'

According to a news release from Project Virginia, a campaign consulting service, more Republican than Democratic candidates in the Old Dominion use Twitter as a means of campaign outreach.

As of 12:00 p.m. (does that mean 12:00 noon?) on October 7:

BY THE NUMBERS:
• Republicans in Virginia have more than twice as many total Twitter users following them as their Democratic counterparts. Followers: “R” = 13,074. “D” = 6,328.
• Republicans hold a 33-18 lead among candidates using a dedicated campaign Twitter account.
• 9 of the Top 10 Candidates for VA House of Delegates with the most Twitter followers are Republicans.
• Republican statewide candidates – McDonnell, Bolling, Cuccinelli – have 8,462 followers versus the 5,073 users following Democratic statewide candidates Deeds, Wagner, and Shannon.

Ford O'Connell, the president of Project Virginia, commented:

“It’s clear Virginia Republicans have taken the lead in using Twitter to connect with voters. Twitter’s overall impact on politics has yet to be fully realized or quantified, but it’s apparent that campaigns which are early adopters of social media tools will be more engaged with their supporters.”

The news release also provided a link to all of the Virginia politicians (at least those running for office this year) who have -- and don't have -- Twitter accounts.

I'm not sure whether the "Twitter gap" is significant enough to make a major difference in the outcome of this year's elections for the General Assembly and for statewide offices. It might make a difference in some close races or in contests for open seats, where a slight communications superiority could pull a candidate over the finish line.

I hope that on November 4, somebody does an analysis of Twitter vs. non-Twitter candidates, to see if tweeting gives candidates a winning edge.

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Read This Backwards/Tweet It Forward

Here is my rundown of primary election day in Charlottesville, via my Twitter feed that started shortly after 5:00 a.m.

You'll have to read this backwards (start at the bottom) to see the linear story.

has posted Virginia primary day photos to Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/klfe6m
6 minutes ago from web

has the video of Creigh Deeds' victory speech in Charlottesville tonight: http://tinyurl.com/deeds-omni
8 minutes ago from web

Deeds winning Charlottesville by wide wide margin
about 5 hours ago from mobile web

polls are now closed; it is 7:00 p.m.
about 5 hours ago from mobile web

Paul Long has qualified as a City Council candidate on the November ballot in Cville
about 5 hours ago from mobile web

if a tree falls on the White House and no one is there, does it make a sound?
about 6 hours ago from mobile web

thunderstorm knocked City Hall Annex onto temporary generator power
about 6 hours ago from mobile web

WINA is blown off the air by severe lightning storm approaching Cville
about 6 hours ago from mobile web

Charlottesville is already running 2 points ahead of June 2006 turnout at 8.2%
about 6 hours ago from mobile web

Recreation Precinct is at 522 voters
about 7 hours ago from mobile web

City Council candidate Paul Long is collecting petition signatures outside Venable School
about 7 hours ago from mobile web

Venable Precinct has had 248 voters, 20 short of 5% mark
about 7 hours ago from mobile web

Tonsler Precinct has now had 133 voters come through
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

@WCHVNEWS Va. law does not require specific ID at the polls - this is a non-federal election
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

Bob McDonnell is live on the Laura Ingraham Show on WINA and nationwide
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

Jefferson Park Precinct just reached 275 voters
about 8 hours ago from mobile web

Equality Virginia was supposed to have petitioners outside polls today but i've seen none
about 9 hours ago from mobile web

Alumni Hall Precinct has had 111 voters so far
about 9 hours ago from mobile web

one p.m. turnout %ages for both Ch'ville and Albemarle County = 4.9%
about 10 hours ago from mobile web

Walker Precinct has now had 314 voters
about 10 hours ago from mobile web

Carver Precinct has now had 144 voters
about 10 hours ago from mobile web

Clark Precinct has now had 123 voters
about 11 hours ago from mobile web

@jamesemartin Arlington turnout was 6% as of 11 a.m. - does that track O'Leary model?
about 11 hours ago from mobile web

Falls Church is reporting 7.5% turnout so far today
about 11 hours ago from mobile web

Robert Brandon Smith qualified for the ballot to run against David Toscano
about 11 hours ago from mobile web

Recreation Precinct has had 223 voters so far
about 13 hours ago from mobile web

Venable Precinct just logged its 96th voter
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

I see no yard signs anywhere for Jody Wagner but Mike Signer is everywhere
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

Tonsler Precinct has had 45 voters so far
about 14 hours ago from mobile web

Jefferson Park Precinct had 79 voters as of 9:00 a.m.
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

McAuliffe is making a final pitch w/ Rick & Jane on WINA-AM
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

no campaigners outside Alumni Hall - odd for a hotly contested election
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

Alumni Hall Precinct has had 35 voters so far
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

rain has stopped for now and clouds look less threatening
about 15 hours ago from mobile web

Walker Precinct has had 73 voters so far
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

Carver Precinct has had 24 voters
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

Deeds' internal polls show his TV ads flip undecideds to his column
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

the rain has begun to fall: apres ceci, le deluge?
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

there's one Moran volunteer outside Clark Precinct, no personnel from other campaigns
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

sees storm clouds swarming in the west
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

Clark Precinct has had 18 voters so far
about 16 hours ago from mobile web

our Registrar is doing a live interview on air with WINA-AM
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

Channel 19 is incorrectly reporting that voters must bring ID to polls
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

phones are not ringing ... that's always good news ... peaceful in the precincts
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

eating donuts provided by McAuliffe campaign ... challenge to Moran and Deeds to feed us :-)
about 17 hours ago from mobile web

polls are now open
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

Channel 19 reports a thunderstorm warning for Cville and environs
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

most of our precincts are up and ready to go ... just waiting for voters
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

polls open in 24 minutes but no campaign signs outside Recreation Precinct
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

this will be my first Tweeted election
about 19 hours ago from mobile web

just arrived at Voter Registration office ... it's primary day in Virginia!
about 19 hours ago from mobile web

My Twitter followers must have been dizzy from my prolific number of Tweets!

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