Journalism and Truth

Great speech by John Walcott, DC bureau chief for McClatchy, upon his acceptance of the I.F. Stone award for journalistic independence. There's a lot there, including typical award-acceptance blather, but his critique of modern journalists is penetrating. Some key takeaways:

Some of my colleagues have cited the fact that the Democrats in Congress failed to challenge the administration on Iraq as a reason for their lapses, but the Democrats' dereliction of duty doesn't explain our own, much less excuse it.

And:

The idea that truth is merely a social construct, that it's subjective, in other words, first appeared in academia as a corruption of post-modernism, but it's taken root in our culture without our really realizing it or understanding its implications.

Although this kind of thinking, relativism and constructivism, started on the left, many conservatives now feel empowered by it, too, and some of them have embraced it with a vengeance on issues ranging from global warming and evolution to the war in Iraq.

And:

Fair is not always balanced, and balanced is not always fair.

I wrote a column with a similar take in my campus alternative newspaper about five or six years ago, when I was an undergrad, though my take was not half as insightful, penetrating or eloquent, and, as a fortunate result, will never again see the light of day.

Ahmadinejad the Overblown

If you read one thing today, make it this piece from Foreign Affairs, which dissects the power structure of the Iranian government and determines what many have acknowledged for some time: Ahmadinejad is, in fact, not the guy. Makes him seem less like an unhinged, legitimate Saddam-in-the-making, and more like a temporary nuisance, as the real power does not lie with him.

The Magic of Wikipedia

A screencap from a few moments ago. Note the URL (click to enlarge):

"That One" and the Phantom Handshake

The debate only a few minutes in the past, some bloggers (and apparently the Obama's post-debate spin machine) have already latched onto McCain's use of the phrase "that one" to refer to Obama, and to the apparent confusion over whether or not they shook hands.

Stop it. Just stop it.

You just saw our guy absolutely own John McCain for 90 minutes. He spoke eloquently, directly to the audience and the viewers at home, connected his abstract vision and principles with concrete policy proposals, he shared bits and pieces of his life with his mother and grandparents, he reminded us that yes, Democrats have teeth on national security, and he made a call for national service that left me stunned.

I really dislike the focus on trivia during elections, and this is yet another instance where it's totally distracting and entirely unnecessary. And it makes the people who focus on these perceived slights look like whiny beeatches.

When you've got a candidate like we do, you don't need phantom handshakes.

Ohio, Obama, and the Working Class

Another terrific piece of reporting from George Packer. There are a few things more interesting and enjoyable than his long-form journalism pieces, and this one - about the dynamics of the white working class and the election in Ohio, as a microcosm for the experience of the white working class everywhere - is no different. Some key takeaways:

Until the mid-seventies, the white working class—the heart of the New Deal coalition—voted largely Democratic. Since the Carter years, the percentages have declined from sixty to forty, and this shift has roughly coincided with the long hold of the Republican Party on the White House. The white working class—a group that often speaks of itself, and is spoken of, as forgotten, marginalized, even despised—is the golden key to political power in America...

And the unfortunate unraveling of the modern Democratic Party:

Having earlier moved to the right for economic reasons, the Arizona study concluded, the working class stayed there because of the rising prominence of social issues—Thomas Frank’s argument. But the Democrats fundamentally lost the white working class because these voters no longer believed the Party’s central tenet—that government could restore a sense of economic security.

Packer does a really nice job capturing the feel of economic stagnation and citizen anxiety, mixed with some of the remaining vestiges of racism and retrograde social attitudes that have kept many of this demographic in the GOP camp even as the GOP has royally screwed things up for all of us.

Another nice element is the light he sheds on the Obama ground game - bands of regular folks getting together to knock on doors, make calls, and get organized. That is the epitome of democracy in action, and it's inspiring to see no matter how modest.

A lot has been written about Obama's superior ground game already, but it will never stop being refreshing - and it makes you wonder, why for the love of Mariano did it take the Democrats so long to build this kind of volunteer army?

The 28th Amendment

James Fallows has the right idea. What is the point of a free press if you're going to subject said free press to KGB-style restrictions and controlled access?

The Resentment of Sarah Palin

An eye-opening read from the New Republic on the pathos and jealousy that appear to drive Palin to her own version of class warfare - and the unthinking politicization of trivia that have marked her career. Key line:

For her, it's not so much a political tool as a motivating principle. A trip through Palin's past reveals that almost every step of her career can be understood as a reaction to elitist condescension--much of it in her own mind.

And this:

"Sarah is intimidated, in my personal opinion, by people who are intelligent," [Wasilla council member] Laura Chase says.

And this:

"I would describe it this way: Sarah was not an in-depth person. Never has, never will be," [Wasilla City Attorney] Deuser says. "Her instincts are political as opposed to evaluative."

Thanks to stories like this, I've begun to see Palin's story as more tragic than anything else. It's a story that's all too common. Here is a woman who grew up with a working-class background - a natural Democrat - who fell into radical religious fundamentalism and bought the patronizing elite-bashing of the modern Republican party, and now fights the class war on the wrong side, for the party of the wealthy. Equally sad is that, in Palin's case, these decisions that led her to where she is seem partly to be the result of her own personal limitations.

In many ways, it's the tragedy of what-could-have-been not just for Sarah Palin, but for many, many other working-class Americans.

Obama Brings the Hammer Down

Cool Hand Barack & Co. have shown too much political skill, acumen, and foresight this election cycle to let McCain's background pass. The reasoning is perfectly clear: as long as Obama didn't have to bring it down, he wouldn't. But now it appears McCain/Palin is going to dig deep in the gutter with unfounded personal attacks to titillate the GOP core and alienate as many of everyone else as possible. So, says Team Obama: you want to play dirty? Let 'er rip.

He's built himself a steady 5-point national lead largely on the issues and, since the primaries through to the debate, building the public narrative that he's presidential material and fairly steady under fire. Calm, cool, and collected, and a "new" kind of politician (whatever that is). Keeping the high ground is the honorable thing to do, and he's done it for as long as he possibly could. Which really shows you: there's only one candidate with honor in this campaign, and it's not McCain. Further proof that you needn't have worn a uniform to have honor - as well as the opposite.

Canvassing Today

The crucial Obama ground game superiority is already well-documented. Conventional wisdom seems to be that the ground game will be worth a solid point or two additional on election day, if not more in some states where there's a more robust network, and it will be fun on election night and thereafter to parse the polls and see if this bears out.

Anyway, point is that in Virginia they can throw the conventional wisdom out the window because they haven't accounted for THE FINCH FACTOR. Yes, I've finally got time today to go back out for a couple hours. It's been a while - my grassroots have not been showing. Fairfax, here I come.

Where Have You Gone, Kevin Maas?

Oh. Really?