Terry McMahon's Awesome Blog

• Morning network TV shows like Today and Good Morning America make fun of Stephen Colbert for the dumb questions he asks on his show, so Colbert graciously concedes that he's got nothing on morning news.

• Now, listen, I enjoy reading Bill Simmons, though I understand not all my readers do. So if you're wondering what all this hubbub is about, I recommend reading about his decision of which English Premier League soccer team to support. It's hilarious, insightful, and like the best Bill Simmons columns, you become completely engrossed in a topic you never considered caring about fifteen minutes before.

• It's striking how many anti-war activists were completely accurate in their pre-war predictions. First read one of Tom Tomorrow's hilarious cartoons here (from April 2003), and then follow the links from one of his recent blog posts. They certainly showed us!

• Here's a pretty interesting Ask Slashdot on why movies are so bad these days. You know, honestly, there are a ton of movies I want to see, but very few that I regret missing. I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Smith? I'll wait for the sequel. On the other hand, hasn't it always been this way? I still think we're going to have day-and-date simultaneous releases of movies on all platforms (theater, DVD). TVs are getting to the point where the hassle and expense of a theater trip is no longer worth it, people will still wind up spending a fair chunk if they want to see a blockbuster its opening weekend (the rentals will probably sell out - rent out - pretty quickly), and the theaters can sell the same movie twice when they put out the special-features edition four months later.

• I think my current boss Eliot Spitzer is awesome. For a less favorable but more in-depth opinion, check out a couple reviews of his new biography here and here. The one from the member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board is ... not positive.

• I thought I was the only one whose Firefox crashed when linking to PDF files. Here's how to fix it.

Finally, to my two private bloglines subscribers: you freak me out.

Posted by Terry McMahon at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Due to a series of technical issues (my browswer windows crashing, a certain individual up on 34th street), I haven't gotten the chance to post on as many topics as I would have liked.

Right. Don't think you won't get your share of links to stuff you've probably already seen, though; they're a-coming. For now I'll just make two minor political points:

The GOP and the right wingers are going to scream bloody murder over these numbers and their coming from the DSCC. But it is important to remember that this poll was conducted by Bennett, Petts & Blumenthal who only make money as long as they're accurate. It is not in the DSCC's, or any other political orginization or candidate for that matter, interest to collect inaccurate data. Polls are used for formulating strategy and if those polls are wrong, the strategy will be flawed.

That comes from an analysis on the Minnesota Senate race (which, incidentally, is looking good, though you have to wonder about a supposedly Democratic-leaning state where your best Senate candidates are a county DA and, in 2008, a radio talk-show host), but the general point stands. Conventionally, internal polls are considered more or less worthless, which is not entirely appropriate. Granted, a campaign is only going to release its internal numbers when they look good, but having worked on cash-strapped campaigns before, I can say that spending untold thousands of dollars on a poll in the hopes of a great result is ridiculous. If we're going to base our strategic decisions (and spend untold hundreds of thousands of dollars) on the outcome of that poll, it sure as hell had better be right. There's no reason to make that stuff up.

Also, the Missouri Senate race is also going well. The Democratic candidate, Claire McCaskill, had a good interview with mydd.com a while ago. What I especially found compelling was this:

Singer: Final question. If there's one message you'd like to send out to the progressive blogosphere, to the Netroots, what would that be?

McCaskill: I think you're doing a great thing for our country. What I fear more than anything in the United States of America is an electorate that is not passionate. I may not agree with some of the views held by some of those who spend a lot of time on the progressive blogosphere. There may be times we disagree. But I love the passion, I love the commitment, I love the enthusiasm. It is probably what will save us in this country. And so I say type away and keep working at it. You'll keep us all honest.

Missouri is arguably trending Republican, and McCaskill has to come across as a centrist. Yet she's figured out how to endorse the online progressive community while leaving herself the option of distancing herself from anything in particular that may show up online. In my mind, that's an astute phrasing, and it reveals an excellent political skill: being able to clarify what's terrific about something without being caught up in what's bad. Online political organizing is exciting, innovative and wild, and eventually everyone will understand the dynamics well enough that a Senate candidate isn't going to be tarred for being thrilled with the "netroots" (and I won't feel like a dork for using that last word). And we're going to get there by people like Claire McCaskill not being ashamed of great trends in American politics. Kudos to her.

Speaking of great trends in American politics, check this out on the Edwards machine gearing up again. All hands on deck.

(Unless you're in law school.)

Posted by Terry McMahon at 2:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times Magazine's ten-questions host, Deborah Solomon, hits it out of the park in this Sunday's paper:

I always think the only real advantage of being rich is not having to fly coach.

Ain't that the truth. I can't think of another.

Posted by Terry McMahon at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of my favorite anecdotes about life in New York City is that my once and future residence of NYU Law's Mercer Street dorm is on the same block as a club that I had no idea even existed the first month I was there. It's a club with "a more underground nature" as the New York Times put it, where a "dim staircase descends into a brick-vaulted basement." That's right, if you check out their article before the dread cloud of TimesSelect takes hold, you can read about how the club at Broadway and Bleecker is now a Strokes/Drew Barrymore-spotted gay bar. That's right, if I win another dance-off there, this time it probably won't be against a girl. (Let's note that I did it on a messed-up knee too: when you got it, you got it.) But how weird is it that the New York Times is writing about a place that's right nearby?

Posted by Terry McMahon at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Political Wire posted this a few days ago:

[Connectict Republican Gov. Jodi] Rell, who served with [likely GOP Senate nominee Alan] Schlesinger in the legislature for 8 years, tried to bump him out of the race in the spring before the state GOP convention. The frenetic former Derby mayor, however, hustled his way to the nomination by gathering enough delegates to win before Rell acted. Rell’s unsuccessful assault on Schlesinger confirms Democratic suspicions that the lady can neither land nor take a punch. They are encouraged that they may be able to narrow the race against her with some attacks of their own.

(By the Hartford Courant's Kevin Rennie, a longtime observer of Connecticut politics.)

So after months upon months of being the most popular governor in the nation (aided by the fact that, unlike her predecessor, she's not in jail), Jodi Rell now might be vulnerable.* Unfortunately, Team Democrat's two candidates for the August 8th primary are the mayors of New Haven and Stamford, not exactly the most awe-inspiring of options. Wouldn't it be nice if there were some other Connecticut Democrat who's not going to win his own high-profile race but could probably jump into this one and pull it out? I suspect that there are certain Democrats who could switch from the Senate race to the governor's race and immediately become a hero to Connecticut Democrats. It might also prolong that someone's political career too.

* For the love of all that's holy, EVERYONE is vulnerable. A race is never over a year before the election, and Connecticut Democrats should have found a more well-known candidate to take Rell on.

Posted by Terry McMahon at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWSN2zbydKw

UPDATE: Somehow this never published, which I can't believe. This link is still worth visiting though.

Posted by Terry McMahon at 6:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Craig Crawford shows why he's a pundit and you're not:

I think Lamont, with all his money, could probably get a suit that fits.

Funny, if I were doing debate analysis on national television, I would have said the exact same thing.

(From MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, 7/6)

Posted by Terry McMahon at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Warren Buffett gets it:

Certainly neither Susie nor I ever thought we should pass huge amounts of money along to our children. Our kids are great. But I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway, in terms of how they grow up and the opportunities they have for education, including what they learn at home - I would say it's neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money.

In effect, they've had a gigantic headstart in a society that aspires to be a meritocracy. Dynastic mega-wealth would further tilt the playing field that we ought to be trying instead to level.

Look, pretty much everyone in middle-class America or above starts off with some advantages. Yeah, I know, you've got problems and that's why you deserve everything you've got. But why hide the fact that you're where you are in large part because you're lucky? Are you really that much better at everything than some kid from Bed-Stuy?

Posted by Terry McMahon at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found these two passages in the same "about this page" site:

he's brilliant and probably the only person on the planet who can keep up with me.

and...

thanks for stopping by our humble little corner of the web.

Christ almighty. Why is it that the smartest person on the planet has to spend all her time writing humble little blogs? That's worse than Clark Kent spending his time writing for newspapers that don't even exist. But don't get me started on that one.

Posted by Terry McMahon at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)