ShaunKenney.com

Fimian Launches New Website

2008-07-23T15:32:00.000-04:00

Here's the text:

FAIRFAX, VA – In a statement issued today, 11th District Congressional Candidate Keith Fimian announced the release of his new campaign website.

“This is one campaign that technology will not leave behind,” Fimian said. “The internet is becoming one of the best media I can use to communicate with the people of the 11th District. I want to demonstrate to the voters that I am here to engage in solid communication with them. There is no way I can physically meet and talk with every voter, so we have built a website for the people of the 11th District to interact with me and for me to interact with them.”

The new website allows voters to sign up and become “Fimian Fans.” They will then be able to access a personalized homepage and receive up-to-date news, information, and opportunities to get involved. Fimian Fans also have the opportunity to volunteer from their home by directly accessing the phone bank through their homepage.

“My campaign has been built on grassroots support. We want to empower our volunteers with the best and most efficient technology we can offer. Whether voters are using our automated Letter to the Editor feature or entering an endorsement, our supporters have unparalleled opportunities to be involved and informed,” said Fimian.

A small businessman, Fimian is the father of three grown daughters and lives in Oakton, VA with his wife of 26 years, Cathy. He is the Republican nominee in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.

Notice a problem? Try finding a link in the release...

The American Scholar: The Disadvantages of an Elite Education

2008-07-22T17:01:00.000-04:00

There is a line in a book I am reading (The Road to Monticello) that reflects on how Thomas Jefferson chose an education over a college degree, and did not continue attending William and Mary.

William Deresiewicz reflect on a variation of that theme on how higher education is creating careers, not educated minds:

It didn’t dawn on me that there might be a few holes in my education until I was about 35. I’d just bought a house, the pipes needed fixing, and the plumber was standing in my kitchen. There he was, a short, beefy guy with a goatee and a Red Sox cap and a thick Boston accent, and I suddenly learned that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to someone like him. So alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn’t succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got down to work. Fourteen years of higher education and a handful of Ivy League dees, and there I was, stiff and stupid, struck dumb by my own dumbness. “Ivy retardation,” a friend of mine calls this. I could carry on conversations with people from other countries, in other languages, but I couldn’t talk to the man who was standing in my own house.

True, there are a handful of my friends that I would attribute to being in the role of both common man and everyman. In a strange irony, most of them hail from either the University of Virginia or the United States military -- two institutions upon which Thomas Jefferson had a great deal of influence in their formation (think USMA).

Yet for all of the people bearing diplomas, it is typically what they have done beyond their education that separates them from the pack.

Still, I look at my wife's UVA diploma with a small degree of envy. While I attended Catholic University, I never graduated. While I read virtually every book I can lay a hand upon (ask Mrs. Kenney what she thinks about my library), one fact does bear reckoning -- much of what I have learned in an impromptu education has had no course, no guidance, and no mentor.

That above all else is what is missing. Most every "great" in history can point back to an exceptional teacher who laid the foundations, someone who guided that pupil to greatness.

Perhaps in the end that is the secret... a self-motivated learner and an exceptional teacher to guide the student. I suspect that exceptional teachers can do more to help create the former, though I doubt that the current American education system at any level provides for this.

How many professionals would love to teach, but refuse because they can make more in the professional sector? Similarly, how many career-oriented college grads are trained specifically in pedagogy (i.e. an education major)? Worse still, is it serving anyone at any level -- teachers, students, administrators, or the school system?

No quick fixes. Just raising questions.

Hot Seat: Who Will McCain Pick?

2008-07-22T14:38:00.000-04:00

Eric Cantor makes the top four -- vote NOW!

IHT: Obama's choice of site for speech splits Germans

2008-07-21T03:10:00.000-04:00

I was wondering when this problem was going to be raised:

Rainer Brüderle, deputy leader of the opposition Free Democrats, said Obama's advisers had little idea of the historical significance of the Victory Column. 'It was the symbol of German superiority over Denmark, Austria and France,' Brüderle told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

The monument was built in 1864 to commemorate Prussia's victory over Denmark. When it was inaugurated, Prussia had defeated Austria during the Austro-Prussian war in 1866 and the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71.

Get ready for all the "this isn't the first time a motivating speaker campaigned on hope and change in Berlin" commentary from the polemicists. Still, the choice of the Siegessäule was a bit surprising to me, to say the least, though it's more concerning that Obama's upper-level staff couldn't do the research to know better.

RWL: Warner spent the rent

2008-07-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

D.J. McGuire blasts a hole in Warner's legacy, doing the grunt research/reporting one used to expect out of the MSM:

The numbers are mind-boggling. The extra $1.5 billion for FY05-06 is more than Warner’s entire tax hike. Over the entire eight years, the difference is $6.7 billion - $2.2B more than raised by Warner’s tax hike over that six year period. Imagine how that $2.2 billion could have been improved, say, our transportation network.

So, if you want to know why your taxes went up, and (for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads) why you’re snarled in traffic, today’s debate gave the answer: it was so Mark Warner could knock out low-income private health insurance and expand government controlled health care.

With tabled goodness. Why the MSM has chosen to whistle past the graveyard on this one is to be expected... but with numbers this stark, if you're not outraged you simply don't know what's going on.

Waldo Jaquith: On Amtrak.

2008-07-20T19:43:00.000-04:00

Waldo Jaquith offers his thoughts on Amtrak, and I commented enough on the post to make it sufficiently my own.

Personally, if we could make rail work in America, I'd ride. Unfortunately, we'd need a level of planning that would seem positively rebellious with a side order of bacon in order to make it realistic.

Politico: Dobson to flip-flop on McCain

2008-07-20T18:49:00.001-04:00

No shocker here:

Dobson said on the radio program he must consider McCain's record against abortion rights and support for smaller government, and added McCain 'seems to understand the Muslim threat.' He also indicated McCain's choice of a running mate will be a factor.

Of his new position, Dobson said in the statement to the AP, 'If that is a flip-flop, then so be it.'

Yes it is, Dr. Dobson.

Of course, I always thought of terrorism as something different than faith (PLO, IRA, Provos, FARC, Red Army Faction, Action Direct, and ETA for any worthwhile examples), but who am I to take issue with conflating the two?

UPDATE: Reason and Revelation take similar issue with Dobson:

We have long thought that the likes of Dobson and the political evangelical right an embarrassment to people of Faith who happen to also hold conservative political views. They seem full of self-importance that their political views are the only right views and hence also tie biblical faith into those views. It is an embarrassment because Dobson places politics on the level of theology and then derides all who might disagree with his political position. Dobson seems to raise politics to the level of Biblical belief, and hence salvation. If Dobson and other fundamentalists are concerned for salvation, they should know that politics is not the way to conduct it--evangelizing is the way in the true meaning of the word.

I don't go as far as R&R in their critique of Dobson. While I certainly agree that Dobson's rhetoric could stand much improvement, Obama's question of "who's Christianity" doesn't present the same problems one might assume, for two reasons.

First, those of the so-called "religious left" drink their own Kool-Aid, honestly believing that evangelical Christians seek to impose a theocratic mullahcracy in America. That's rubbish... but again, it is believed for the sake of expediency (i.e. safer than discussing real problems with a society that enforces and upholds the lowest common denominator).

Second, with the bankruptcy of the religious left cast aside, there really is an evangelistic tone that gets continuously lost in the political spectrum of the debate. Ultimately, churches evangelize new members through persuasion, and not government program. Right action can never be subsidized through faith-based programs (as big-government conservatives might have it) or through government program (as their not-too-distant religious left cousins demand).

The frightening thing is that big-government conservativism embraced by the "compassionate conservative" ideal championed by President Bush and crystallized by Mike Huckabee this year share a great deal with the neo-evangelicals of the religious left.

The only difference is in the ends, because in packaging and rhetoric they sadly share a great deal. Dobson will hopefully stick to his guns and not formally endorse, because short of a handful of evangelical and Catholic leaders within the chorus, his voice is one McCain needs to hear.

Sun Versus Wind: SPAM in SWACistan?

2008-07-19T21:25:00.001-04:00

I wonder what Blog Net News' influence rankings would have to say about this?

Short version: Linking over and over again to a specific blog posts is a quick way to up your Google rating. It's called "Google bombing" and though the tactic is quite old, it's relevancy is in decline as Google continues to refine it's methodology.

Dems used it quite effectively in 2006. Is it any surprise that the handful of SWAC bloggers learned the ropes?

UPDATE: Yankee Phil hits back on the critique that SWAC bloggers might be "splogs":

It is perfectly clear that Swacgirl is not an "artificially created" web site. It is a site dedicated to the things in life that Swacgirl enjoys. She has lots of political stuff, but she has beautiful pictures of Augusta County. She has photo displays of the many events she attends. There is not one drop of "artificial" there.

Fair point.

Nice (spam) video, Yankee (spam) Phil!

Astroturf

2008-07-18T16:55:00.000-04:00

You know, artificial turf designed to look like grassroots? The WaPo explains in detail:

Simmons and Gardner are among 500 contract workers for Democracy Data & Communications (DDC), an Alexandria company that specializes in lobbying from the grass roots. DDC pays the two women to spend much of their day telephoning people around the country and asking them to sign letters to Congress that press for legislation.

The workers are paid $10 to $15 an hour, depending on their expertise. DDC says lobby groups pay the company $75 to $125 per letter sent, depending on the difficulty of the campaign.

Whether lawmakers know it or not -- and some might be disappointed to learn -- the practice is not only common but growing. Interest groups, preparing for a new president and the sweeping initiatives he no doubt will launch, are increasingly hiring folks like Simmons and Gardner to build lists of voters-back-home who can be called upon to contact Washington.

The seemingly heartfelt letters they produce are among the most persuasive kinds of communications that Congress receives, polls of congressional offices have shown.

It's the constituent difference between a piece of antique furniture with loads of character, or the cheap crap you'd find in any Wal-Mart; the heartfelt from the mass produced.

Just one more way you are being manipulated by people who think they are smarter than you.

Bob Schaffer Destroys Mark Udall

2008-07-18T14:31:00.000-04:00

Now this is the Bob Schaffer I know and love:

It's pretty apparent that the Denver Channel 9 reporter did not have a good handle on the crowd... still, that's one heck of a punch to the gut. I'm surprised Dick Wadhams let Schaffer hit that hard.

(h/t to Mason Conservative)

OTB Gets Farked

2008-07-17T19:54:00.000-04:00

Reason? For his participation in a con-call with LP Presidential Candidate Bob Barr... who received a grand total of three participants on his bloggers con-call.

Now given the strength of the Ron Paul campaign, this strikes me as beyond odd. Only three?

Sean Tevis for Kansas State Representative

2008-07-17T16:10:00.000-04:00

He may be a Democrat.

He might even be a communist.

But damn if his website isn't cool.

Long Tail vs. Big Head

2008-07-15T16:21:00.000-04:00

If true, this turns the online fundraising world upside down:

There is no winning this technical debate. (Elberse calls Anderson's definitions "arbitrary.") But even if Anderson is right and Elberse is wrong, the shift from hits to niches is obviously slight—we are not entering an era devoid of blockbusters. Anderson readily concedes this and points out that he's never predicted the end of big hits. Often, though, his fans have.

It's also clear that even in this supposed age of the Long Tail, companies that favor a slow, meticulous approach and a small catalog see enormous rewards.

Or as we might call it in a political universe, it's all about message control.

Good article.

Kottke: Just Don't Look

2008-07-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

Great advice (and yes, you should look).

Thank You Supervisor's Ott and Weaver

2008-07-15T13:00:00.000-04:00

Apparently county supervisors have been spurred along to support the Governor's now-failed transportation tax hike, and Republican supervisors in Fluvanna struck down a resolution advocating a tax increase.

Best news? House Republicans gave us more money for roads without a tax increase. Which isn't reform, but it's a step in the right direction.

QandO: How to try to spin the news

2008-07-15T12:35:00.000-04:00

File this one under objectivity and the MSM. As McQ so eloquently puts it:

But hey, they have those vaunted three layers of editors, so they have to be right, no?

Indeed.

I Want One: The 282mph Volkswagen

2008-07-14T17:40:00.000-04:00

Limited edition too... seats two, with some nice crash-test features:

The car reportedly has anti-lock brakes, stability control and airbags. According to Canadian Driver, "Volkswagen says the One-Liter Car is as safe as a GT sports car registered for racing. With the aid of computer crash simulations, the car was designed with built-in crash tubes, pressure sensors for airbag control and front crumple zones.

Nice.

Patton Oswalt: Hands Down, The Best Graduation Speech Ever

2008-07-14T17:15:00.000-04:00

Let me go back to that dinner, 21 years ago. There I was, shut off from this wise, amazing old man. Then he zaps me with one of the top 5 pieces of information I’ve ever received in this life, and all I was thankful for was how it benefited me.

I completely ignored the deeper lesson which is do not judge, and get outside yourself, and realize that everyone and everything has its own story, and something to teach you, and that they’re also trying – consciously or unconsciously – to learn and grow from you and everything else around them. And they’re trying with the same passion and hunger and confusion that I was feeling – no matter where they were in their lives, no matter how old or how young.

I’m not saying that you guys shouldn’t go out there and see and do everything there is to see and do. Go. As fast as you can. I don’t know how much longer this world has got, to be honest.

All of you have been given a harsh gift. It’s the same gift the graduating class of 1917, and 1938, and 1968 and now you guys got – the chance to enter adulthood when the world teeters on the rim of the sphincter of oblivion. You’re jumping into the deep end. You have no choice but to be exceptional.

The entire speech is well worth reading, and Patton Oswalt is indeed a Virginia (well... Northern Virginia) native.

EXACTLY!

2008-07-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

So now the Securities and Exchange Commission is gearing up for an investigation on the rank speculation going on inside Wall Street, speculation that almost tipped Lehman Bros. over and is threatening to do to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae what the speculators did to the housing market and Bear Stearns -- seed rumors, pick up the pieces, and profit hugely.

If there's an investigation to be done, start there. I've screamed about this before in August 2007 (and take some small conceit in being right), but this is out of control -- and getting worse.

BVBL: Hispandering?

2008-07-14T07:35:00.000-04:00

That's a new one.

The post is about Richard Vigeurie blasting John McCain... how Hispanics made it in there is a different question, but it does leave the question open as to how *you* would like to be pandered to.

Since I'm Irish-Lebanese, deep Virginia roots, and a Republican... perhaps a Guinness?

The Pulpit Speaks: "Backward, Christian Soldiers!"

2008-07-13T11:24:00.000-04:00

Another great installment of "The Pulpit Speaks" over at Vivian Paige's blog, an article that has long been a Sunday routine.

Fuhrman on Ethical Blogging

2008-07-13T10:14:00.000-04:00

Jerry Fuhrman over at From on High comments on the Roanoke Times editorial blasting Raising Kaine and other bloggers "on the take" for campaigns.

Obviously full disclosure is key. While bloggers on the take from politicians are one thing, pseudonymous bloggers that are actually reporters seeding stories are quite another (and yes, they have existed in the past).

Caveat emptor indeed. The best insurance? A blog, with a name behind a good reputation, that demands full disclosure.

Transparency. Authenticity. Confinement. It's a framework I've discussed before at a previous Sorenson Blog Summit, and it bears repeating over and over again. The first two are the responsibility of the author -- it's that third criteria where the reader needs to be able to take what they read for what it is, and confine the information in the package it's presented.

The Roanoke Times editorial is worth reading, save for the fact that political bloggers truly interested in the survival of the medium need to understand that cozying up to, abetting, or imitating the hired guns only waters down the medium.

Sadly, there's many on both sides that still don't get it.

Cynthia McKinney -- Your Green Party Nominee

2008-07-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

Yes folks... that Cynthia McKinney.

"The horribleness of commenters isn't really a mystery: Internet anonymity is disinhibiting, and people are basically mean anyway."

2008-07-12T18:54:00.000-04:00

TIME magazine's annoyingly (yet precise) opinion of you on the internet:

A random example: on June 11, a user called way21337 uploaded a video to YouTube. It's titled My new gerbil, and it shows, in fact, a black-and-white gerbil snuffling around cutely in somebody's hand. It is 11 seconds long. By press time, it had acquired 102 comments. Let's take a look! They begin with NewTyhuss, who writes, "sweet!" Things start going south with comment No. 4: "id hit it." (Good one, ZRace67!) After a week, we're down to eldergod: "why dont u shove that gerbil up yur ass and quit posting stupid videos." bwalhof writes, "kill yourself. fast." And so on.

Most people will wrongly judge the popularity of a website based on comment sections without really considering that the bloggers themselves will often say outrageous things on their own -- called "sock puppetry" to mimic one person talking between... himself. Other times, two people can banter back and forth 30 times on a website, and the casual observer will see 60 comments.

Must be popular.

On this blog, I have often received criticism for not opening up my comments section to anonymous bloggers. Still, the readership remains relatively high for Virginia-based blogs, and unlike most sites when comments are made, they do add to the conversation rather than detract (or distract).

The endgame results in two types of bloggers thus far. The old school, in it for the free exchange of ideas. Then there's the drama queen, splash-and-trash, attention-whoring folks that never quite overcame their obscurity in high school. And yes, if you take offense, you are clearly in the second category.

Better question: Does that make me basically mean? Perhaps... but at least I'm not being anonymous about it.

The Crypt: DCCC reserves ad time in 31 districts

2008-07-12T10:49:00.000-04:00

Most notable is where they do not reserve time in Virginia, as opposed to where they are reserving time elsewhere. VA-11 makes the cut, but Drake, Goode, and Wolf all are viewed as long-shots (read: unwinable) for the D-Trip.

Welcome to hard-nosed political reality.