76% of Americans think country on wrong track

I didn't realize that Big Oil and Wall Street freeloaders could make up 24%, but I guess you learn something new every day..

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. Poll showed that 24 percent have a positive outlook for the country, while 76 percent say things are on the wrong track.

It is the lowest number on record since 1980 and the third time in four decades that the number has dropped so low.

Recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. polling has shown a steady drop in the country's mood. In April 2007, 51 percent said things in the country were going badly. A year later, 70 percent reiterated that position.

The poll questioned 1,041 adult Americans by telephone July 27-29, 2008. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

"Only three events -- Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, and the economic downturn of 1992 -- have driven below 30 percent the number who think things are going well," CNN's polling director Keating Holland said. The mood of the country has been assessed since 1974.

Only four presidents -- Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and the elder George Bush -- have seen that number drop below 30 percent during their time in office; their parties all lost the White House in the next presidential election.

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Only black reporter kicked out of McCain event for no reason

But race had nothing to do with it, McCain's staff assures us. Really. Some of McCain's best reporters are black. Well, no they're not. The only black one just got asked to leave. And lots of other white reporters were in the same "restricted" zone but they weren't asked to leave. Only the black one. Well that's not really true. When a white reporter asked why the black reporter was being asked to leave, they kicked her out too. Nice. Read the rest of this post...

Dissidents jailed during Olympics, for Olympics

Isn't it nice to know that because we gave China the Olympics, some people are in jail who otherwise wouldn't be? I'm so proud. Yeah, we have to deal with China because they're big. Doesn't make their government any less thuggish and third worldly. Read the rest of this post...

"For a man who will turn 72 this month, he's a surprisingly immature politician"

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter on the new John McCain. This is a must-read. Alter is a staple of inside-the-beltway journalism (whether or not he's actually inside the beltway). When people like Jonathan Alter start saying you've jumped the shark, your reputation is in serious danger:

For a man who will turn 72 this month, he's a surprisingly immature politician—erratic, impulsive and subject to peer pressure from the last knucklehead who offers him advice. The youthful insouciance that for many years has helped McCain charm reporters like me is now channeled into an ad that one GOP strategist labeled "juvenile," another termed "childish" and McCain's own mother called "stupid." The Obama campaign's new mantra is that McCain is "an honorable man running a dishonorable campaign." Lame is more like it. And out of sync with the real guy....

I misread McCain. On the night of the 2000 South Carolina primary, I was in his hotel suite and watched Cindy weeping over what Rove and his goons did. Her husband was plenty mad, too. Now he's got Rove's protégé, Steve Schmidt, running his campaign. Eight years ago, McCain profusely apologized for playing racial politics in South Carolina by backing efforts to fly the Confederate flag at the state capital. Now he's content to see race crowd out the economy in the battle for precious media oxygen. McCain argues that Obama opened himself up to attack by saying, "They're gonna say he doesn't look like those other presidents on the dollar bills." But if his campaign hadn't leaped on that Obama comment, it would have been another. Accusing the other guy of playing the race card is a not terribly subtle form of, well, playing the race card—and the victim.

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There are 6.6 degrees of separation online

Interesting, though I'd quibble with this assumption: "For the purposes of their experiment, two people were considered to be acquaintances if they had sent one another a text message." Judging by the rest of the story, I think the reporter means an instant message (sent computer to computer via MSN), not a text message (sent by phone, aka SMS). While anyone you've ever sent a text message to is probably accurate as an "acquaintance," I don't think that's the case at all for instant messages, unless you consider saying hi to someone in a bar, and having them say hi back, and then leave, an "acquaintance." Anyway, an interesting story. Read the rest of this post...

Why McCain's personal attacks on Obama may not work

I've been talking with Chris about whether we should be worried or not about McCain's ongoing personal attacks on Obama. (McCain's latest is an ad comparing Obama to the Messiah, which might cause some problems with Christians who don't appreciate McCain using God in a TV ad). And there are a few significant differences between the Swift Boating of John Kerry and McCain's sleazy attacks the past week or so.

George Bush had nothing to do with the Swift Boaters (at least putatively) - they were an outside group he was able to disavow any connection to. John McCain, on the other hand, has heartily endorsed the ongoing attacks against Obama, and is actually coordinating them - they're McCain's own statements and McCain's own ads. I think this matters for a number of reasons.

First, the degree to which the media, and the public, reject the ads and attacks as too negative and inappropriate, while the Swift Boaters' tactics wouldn't necessarily taint George Bush, John McCain will take full blame or credit for his attacks.

Second, the media has been far more critical of McCain's recent attacks than they were the Swift Boaters. The media treated the Swift Boat attacks as quite possibly true and worthy of further, and never-ending discussion. And while the media is still rebroadcasting McCain's sleazy attacks against Obama, they're making clear that the attacks are desperate, inaccurate, and kind of sleazy.

Third, George Bush's forté wasn't his status as a "maverick" who was above politics, someone who would never embrace the nasty, sleazy politics that seems to have engulfed Washington. McCain isn't just risking some bad press, he's risking his signature definition of self as someone different and better than traditional politicians and politics.

Finally, the country isn't in the same place it was four years ago. In 2004, we were still suffering from the September 11th effect - people were willing to forgive a lot because they were scared to death. Now people are just pissed. While McCain may still be able to tar Obama with whatever desperate absurdity he comes up with next, I think there's a reason that Karl Rove and his minions - that George Bush himself - are no longer the stars they once were. People have changed, the country has moved on. And while negative campaigning will never lose its potential punch, I just don't get the sense that McCain is handling this very well. It seems to be blowing up in his face. And that was not the impression any of us had during the Swift Boating of John Kerry. Read the rest of this post...

John McCain's Campaign on the D-List

Admittedly, I'm not too clued in to popular culture. However, I do love that Kathy Griffin and her reality show, "My Life on the D-List."

Kathy Griffin wants to win a grammy. She did a CD of one of her shows and has been pimping it for months. She wants to win at any cost. And, as a self-professed D-lister, she's willing to make herself look desperate in the process. She is, after all, also a comedian and there's no stunt that's too cheap for her. On last week's episode, Griffin hit a new low. In an effort to earn free publicity, she trolled around Hollywood with Britney Spear's boyfriend, Adnan Ghalib. It was a an over-the-top cry for attention. And, it was pretty funny.

John McCain wants to win the presidency. He has been running for practically ten years. He wants to win at any cost. And, the one-time self-proclaimed "maverick" is willing to make himself look desperate in the process. He is, after all, just a right wing Republican and theres' no stunt that's too cheap for him. On last week's insane episode of the McCain campaign, McCain hit a new low. In an effort to earn free publicity, he trolled around a television ad featuring Adnan Ghalib's girlfriend, Britney Spears. It was an over-the-top cry for attention. And, it was very pathetic.

It worked for Kathy Griffin. It made John McCain look ridiculous.

John McCain's campaign really shouldn't be mirroring Kathy Griffin's show. But, that's what it has come to. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Check out this week's poem, To Roosevelt, by Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario. Written to Teddy R., it's a poem about imperialism. We're told "It remains a strong statement about American power and the potential abuse of that power." Not like that's relevant, huh?

Start threading... Read the rest of this post...

Beijing "Olympics have reversed the clock" on human rights

It's probably best that we ignore the arrests and instead, shake hands with the government leaders and praise them for the show. Taking a firm position against blatant disregard for human rights isn't really proper etiquette and is best left at home, where you already have blatant disregard for human rights. We should all be thankful that we have a great leader like George Bush who stands for American values, or at they more communist China values or perhaps, Soviet Union values? Ahhh, it's so confusing.

The Olympic Games have become the occasion for a broad crackdown against dissidents, gadflies and malcontents this summer. Although human rights activists say they have no accurate estimate of how many people have been imprisoned, they believe the figure to be in the thousands.

The crackdown comes seven years after the secretary general of the Beijing Olympic Bid Committee declared that staging the Games in the Chinese capital would "not only promote our economy but also enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights."

Now, human rights have been set back rather than enhanced, activists say.

"The Olympics have reversed the clock," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based specialist for Human Rights in China.

Another foreign human rights advocacy group, Amnesty International, came to a similar conclusion in a report issued Monday titled "The Olympics Countdown -- Broken Promises."

"By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made when they were granted the Games seven years ago," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific deputy director. "The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games."

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