tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52079802009-02-20T23:49:13.184-05:00Essays on politics and cultureMatthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1127839537846093562005-09-27T12:36:00.000-04:002005-09-27T12:47:09.396-04:00

My blog at sodsbrood.com has been resurrected from the dead, twice no less. After some more prodding of administrators via the site5 forums, my site was finally unlocked last night around eight o'clock. Within ten minutes, I had promptly, but accidentally, deleted the entire directory where my blog is stored, blog and all.That deletion has to rank up there with the most stupid things a man has

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1127735837766783372005-09-26T07:35:00.000-04:002005-09-26T07:57:18.886-04:00

On Friday, exactly seven days after my blog went dark, I finally had an email from technical support, from the same person who emailed originally to say the directory where my blog lives was being locked. Short and sweet, the email said that the directory could be unlocked if I could tell them what applications and scripts I was running. That I did. A profound silence ensued, and the blog

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1127480761690498902005-09-23T08:50:00.000-04:002005-09-23T09:08:05.583-04:00

Among other items I would have blogged about this week, if my stream of patter hadn't been interrupted with technical problems, was the introduction of the New York Times "Times Select." Otherwise known as yet another attempt by newspapers to start charging for what they have been giving us for free for nearly ten years.I was slightly annoyed on Wednesday to discover that I could not read

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1127392971161687492005-09-22T08:26:00.000-04:002005-09-22T08:52:16.740-04:00

The experiment at sodsbrood may be over, at least for me, anyway. I have been locked out of my blog since last Friday, and as another Friday is fast approaching, I have to consider that I may never post at sodsbrood again.My technical difficulties began sometime late in the afternoon on Friday the sixteenth. My friend, an administrator of sodsbrood, sent me an email he had received from the

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098635162895969792004-10-24T11:55:00.000-04:002004-10-24T16:51:54.193-04:00

This may be my last post here at my blogger site. I recently joined a group of friends, acquaintances, and strangers in founding a communal website at sodsbrood.com. It is founded in the spirit of other literary and social communes through history, from the seventeenth century to the modern era. An interest of mine in Graduate school was the radical Christian and political reform movements of

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098552196333139802004-10-23T13:21:00.000-04:002004-10-23T13:34:38.950-04:00

In the spirit of digression and disjuncture which seems to characterize my posts today, I wish to comment on some of the ads I've seen in these final days of the campaign. Last week I saw one for Kerry that I thought absolutely brilliant. It was not an ad designed by the Kerry campaign; it was designed by Rob Reiner for MoveOn, and it is perhaps the best ad this season. You can download the

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098547791579540942004-10-23T11:43:00.001-04:002004-10-23T13:21:45.996-04:00

Despite the frenzy that the candidates themselves feel in the final days of an election, these last two weeks always seem to me to be the quietest. Everyone I meet has already made up their mind and are for the most part tuning out the news and election coverage. Much of the campaigning, and almost all of the reporting, has turned negative anyway, as it aways does this time in the season. I

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098275182199813322004-10-20T08:26:00.000-04:002004-10-21T16:23:20.686-04:00

Pat Robertson was on Paula Zahn's CNN program last night. He had some pretty outrageous things to say, as usual, including the claim that he warned President Bush there would be casualties in the war in Iraq, and that Bush responded with confidence that he did not believe there would be any."And I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098220110269666132004-10-19T16:54:00.000-04:002004-10-19T17:10:58.906-04:00

Jon Stewart's Friday appearance on CNN's lame "Crossfire" show has generated lots of mixed press for Stewart. Happily, you, too, can watch the entire segment on-line. Considering that "Crossfire" is broadcast at 4:30 in the afternoon, at a time when only housewives and felons under house arrest are at home, it seems likely most people without TiVo will be viewing the segment online. Stewart's

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098216907223782012004-10-19T14:52:00.000-04:002004-10-19T16:20:27.120-04:00

Lately, the newspapers are full of frank foreboding about how and when Election 2004 is going to be decided this year. Litigiousness looms as the incalculable determining factor in the election. Among the pundit class, conservatives seem to be the most worried about a close election and the possibility of a run-off in the courts. For MSNBC today, George Will writes about the Dooomsday Scenario

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098203071926847822004-10-19T13:24:00.000-04:002004-10-19T13:40:07.526-04:00

I'm so tired. I slept badly last night. A couple nights a week now, this happens. If it happens on the weekend, it's not so bad because I can stay abed longer, dozing away the morning, or even sleeping deeply if I have finally sunk into somnolence. This morning, however, I gave it up at four-thirty and rose to get ready for work, after a night of wakefulness. I have blamed my insomnia on

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098130589593980922004-10-18T15:53:00.000-04:002004-10-18T16:16:29.593-04:00

At the risk of prolonging a story that, like an obnoxious, drunk party guest, refuses to go away, take a look at what Bush's campaign advisor said yesterday in response to a Tim Russert question about "Bush's bulge." The exchange is actually a three way between Russert, Ken Mehlman (the Bush advisor), and Bob Shrum, Kerry's campaign advisor.MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, Mr. Mehlman, clear up this

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098120778831951632004-10-18T13:34:00.000-04:002004-10-18T13:51:51.003-04:00

This week's New Yorker is an all-politics issue, so I am in Heaven on my daily commute to and from work. There is an article in it about John Zogby. You may remember last week I wrote here about a question in a recent Zogby poll. For whom would you vote, the Tin Man or the Scarecrow, in an election for the President of Oz? Several weeks ago, I signed up to take the Zogby on-line polls, and

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1098102430103317122004-10-18T06:40:00.000-04:002004-10-18T09:27:27.613-04:00

The last two weeks of an election cycle always seem to draw out both the best and worst characteristics of candidates for office. Mostly we see only the worst. I don't know if it is because the candidates begin to get a little panicky when they don't have a clear lead in the polls, or if its because their campaign team saves its dirtiest tricks for the bitter end. Maybe it's a little of both.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097787965168518232004-10-14T17:06:00.000-04:002004-10-14T17:25:57.036-04:00

After the debate last night, my wife said, "I sort of feel sorry for Bush." I said, "Don't feel sorry for him until November 3rd." My wife said she felt that at the end of the debate, after Bush had calmed the almost manic disposition he had displayed all night, he finally came across as at ease and likable. His sense of humor is self-deprecating, which makes it hard to blame him for faults he

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097702864420723652004-10-14T06:30:00.000-04:002004-10-14T09:20:40.686-04:00

Finally last night, John Kerry had a few words to say about his religious faith. To millions of Americans like myself who have made the decision to vote for John Kerry, or are leaning that way, there is no more important issue than the question of John Kerry's faith and what it means to him. It has increased in importance in my mind as Kerry has remained resolutely silent on the matter. Indeed

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097685704787609042004-10-13T13:36:00.001-04:002004-10-18T08:50:57.943-04:00

Oliver Stone has done an interview with Playboy in which he defends his newest film from charges that the gay sex in it is too explicit. He also has a few words to say about the election.The highly political Stone also discusses the presidential candidates in the interview, which hits newsstands later this week. Speaking of John Kerry, who was a senior at Yale when he was a freshman, Stone says:

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097671380673365812004-10-13T07:30:00.000-04:002004-10-18T08:49:24.200-04:00

Queen Elizabeth the First is reputed to have said that the past cannot be cured; and like some terrible disease, John Kerry's past keeps relapsing at the most inopportune times. There seems no cure for it. Last night, I was watching Special Report with Brit Hume and his clan of Talking Heads on Fox, and the subject on the table was John Kerry's anti-war actions following his return from Vietnam

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097586549392831052004-10-12T13:20:00.000-04:002004-10-13T07:30:30.640-04:00

FactCheck.org Distortions galore at second Presidential debate Apparently, Bush does indeed own a timber company.Kerry: The president got $84 from a timber company that he owns, and he's counted as a small business. Dick Cheney's counted as a small business. That's how they do things. That's just not right. Bush: I own a timber company? That's news to me. (LAUGHTER) Bush's Timber-Growing

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097582972523861212004-10-12T08:03:00.000-04:002004-10-12T14:44:48.200-04:00

For whom would you more likely vote for president - the Tin Man, who is all brains and no heart or the Scarecrow, who is all heart and no brain? I voted for the Tin Man. But what about the Cowardly Lion, who was all fear and no courage? Or even the Wicked Witch of the West, who was, well, wicked? Surely she has some redeeming feature, even if it be only her crystal ball in which she might

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097503305813127372004-10-11T09:42:00.000-04:002004-10-11T10:05:04.263-04:00

I sometimes wonder how and why a story enters the news cycle. CNN.com is reporting a story about a Bush campaign ad that has not aired yet, but which is based on a Kerry quote (perhaps taken out of context) from a New York Times Magazine interview. What exactly is newsworthy about this? Is it newsworthy because it is so egregious an example of demagoguery? Or is it newsworthy because CNN

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097501865928256472004-10-11T09:20:00.000-04:002004-10-11T09:42:09.726-04:00

Today is Columbus Day, if that matters to anyone who is not a Federal employee. My son is in school, my wife at work, as I suspect every other adult is as well. I am surprised some upstart crow of a congressman has not proposed doing away with this racist, colonialist holiday as a way of promoting himself. We went away for the weekend, so I did not have a chance to comment on the second debate

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097173819022368242004-10-07T14:30:00.000-04:002004-10-07T14:38:25.130-04:00

Is Bush Wired?: The Voice in Bush's Ear Conspiracy theories abound on-line. I read in the Washington Post this morning a story about a flash video popular on the Internet that supposedly illustrates the contention that the strike on the Pentagon on 9/11 was not a strike by terrorists, but by our own government. The article is titled Conspiracy Theories Flourish on the Internet. The theory's

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097158304282996882004-10-07T10:11:00.000-04:002004-10-07T10:11:44.283-04:00

Robert Novak: No victory in Iraq Despite being a Republican Party lapdog, Robert Novak has twice now puked on the GOP rug in two columns in about as many weeks. Presuming Novak is correct in this article and his previous article of September 20, the Bush Administration plans to cut our losses and exit Iraq after the elections in January. I think that is exactly what we need to do, but it

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207980.post-1097084077013292502004-10-06T13:34:00.000-04:002004-10-07T08:22:57.953-04:00

Report Discounts Iraqi Arms Threat (washingtonpost.com) One has to ask, is there a point at which the bad news for the Bush Administration actually starts to affect the President's approval ratings and reelect numbers? Or conversely, is there a point at which the news is so consistently bad that people just shrug and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge it, rather like the President himself? The

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06623287283750399460noreply@blogger.com3