Hughes for America

15 seconds of fame

Blink and you may have missed it, but on tonight's Keith Olbermann broadcast on MSNBC, my logo for Political Insider appeared on screen in reference to a story about possible plagiarism by John McCain.

My brief time as a McCain supporter

Did you know that, at one point, I supported John McCain? Neither did I, and I only learned as much tonight when I received a notification e-mail thanking me for agreeing to volunteer for him in Ohio. For your viewing pleasure, here's a screen grab of my first, and last, interaction with the McCain campaign's online outreach (click on the image for a larger version):

A great blog

Okay, maybe I'm the last to read it, but Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney has a blog on NPR. Go check it out. Now.

Temper, temper

It's rather peculiar that the same night someone buys an ad from you they send you the following message:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

We can still choose clinton!

Save america from the mother fucker obama!!

Nice. And thanks for the money.

Yes they can

More of this please. Great speeches, especially Clinton's. The more she hits the trail to attack John McCain, the better.

Taking part in the uprising

It was great meeting David Sirota this evening in promotion of his new book, The Uprising. After a short talk, Sirota answered several questions and really took the time to interact with his audience. I was able to start the book before the event, and I can't wait to keep going. Sirota is doing a tremendous job both putting a face on the modern progressive movement and helping everyone come to understand the motivations and possible outcomes of the nation's rising populism, both progressive and conservative. It was inspiring. Ohioans, don't forget that Sirota has two events in the Buckeye State tomorrow, as well.

Just say it ...

Among things I heard about Barack Obama this weekend:

1. Obama is a "sleeper" who, this individual thought, was a closeted Muslim.
2. Obama was sworn in on the Qur'an.
3. Obama refuses to take the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now, thanks to sites like this, we realize how full of it anyone making these claims is. That said, the insanity I heard this weekend brings me to an important point that needs to be made, a request that should - but likely won't - be met by those doing disservice to the notion of an informed electorate:

If that's how you feel about Obama, if those are the reasons you cite, then why don't you just tell everyone why - really - you're planning on voting against the first presidential nominee who doesn't look like you? Just be honest. At least some bigots have the guts to come right out and say it. But you won't, because you are cowards. We know why you're voting the way you vote. You just don't have the guts to admit it in polite company.

A great day for America

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. More coverage here.

Design and Democracy meet

This is a great idea and I suggest you enter it if you're so inclined. I did. Mine are here, here, here, here and here. Here's more info about the project:

Beginning May 23, artists and designers are invited to submit yard signs to MyYardOurMessage.com around the theme of what it means to actively participate in a democracy.

Starting July 1, the public will be invited to vote on the artist-created design submissions. The top 50 vote-getting designs will be announced August 1 and, subsequently, made available to order as a full-sized political yard sign for $20 including shipping. Top designs will also be available as free downloads. In addition, the Walker Art Center and mnartists.org will print the winning yard sign creations and place them in neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities metro area, including those immediately surrounding the site of the Republican National Convention.

My Yard Our Message is a project conceived by Scott Sayre, is produced by the Walker Art Center and mnartists.org in collaboration with The UnConvention.

How it's done

When they write the textbook on how you fight back, there will be a chapter exclusively for Plunderbund.

Sad news

Our thoughts are with the family of NBC's Tim Russert, who died unexpectedly today. His shoes will be rather hard to fill.

On imagination and the benefits of failure

I highly suggest reading - and listening to - J.K. Rowling's Harvard commencement speech. Imagination, she says, "is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared." It is a truly stunning, and quite important, speech.

The Shocking Truth, Pt. 2

So, intrepid Pandagonian Jesse Taylor, in a scoop that is sure to make Larry Johnson clog his Flowbee, brings us "top secret video footage of a meeting between Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama". Well, Jesse, my sources in the Chicago area have brought me secret video of the Obama campaign office late Tuesday night, where both the Obama and Farrakhan families enjoyed a celebratory dance:

Just so it's clear

Trust me, I'm all for and all about unity within the party, but I'm 1000 percent in favor of seeking it while leaving behind the so-called "Democrats" that call Larry Johnson's third-rate blog home. They are beyond hope. The comment threads there conspire with embarrassingly Free Republic-like front-page post language to produce a site that dishonors everyone associated with it.

Hope is here.

Let the battle for the future of our country begin.

Quite telling

CNN, MSNBC and NBC, at 9 p.m. local time, either broke away from coverage of John McCain or broke in (in NBC's case) to report that Barack Obama was the presumptive Democratic nominee. Fox, on the other hand, stuck with McCain.

That's all you need to know.

The bottom line

If you consider yourself a Democrat, a liberal, a progressive, and supported Hillary Clinton, but would vote for John McCain if he were to face off against Barack Obama for the presidency, you are not a Democrat, a liberal, a progressive. You are a fool. And there's no two ways around it.

A fool.

Pleasantly surprised

Ignoring the reviews, and because I owed it to myself as a fan, I went to see the latest Indiana Jones installment last night. I thought it was pretty good. As good as the others, perhaps not. But not a complete embarrassment. It had its moments and I left happy knowing the franchise wasn't in ruins. No pun intended. What did you think?

Jesse's back at Pandagon

Look out. That's all I'm sayin'.

To wit

Jerome Armstrong:

One RCB vote changed everything.

Right. And my one vote for Ted Strickland in 2006 was his entire margin of victory over Ken Blackwell. I suppose as soon as Jerome crashed the gate he went right back to work re-erecting it.