--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2002-11-17 22:14:00 Subject: Green Party Why the Greens are also celebrating Election '02 (Buoyed by a handful of grass-roots victories, the Green Party claims the midterms showed the hollowness of its Democratic rival.)By Michelle Goldberg, in Salon. Nov. 18, 2002 | Republicans aren't the only ones feeling validated by the 2002 elections. For many Green Party leaders, the Democrats' defeat and the conventional wisdom explaining it confirm criticisms they've been making about the Democratic Party for years -- that it lacks backbone and has betrayed its progressive base. "There's no question that [the] election results demonstrate the structural weaknesses that the Democratic Party has," says Ben Mansky, co-chair of the Green Party steering committee. "It's dependent on corporate money for financing, and therefore the leadership is unable to deliver the political agenda that so many progressives expect." Some pundits are calling on Democrats to reenergize their activist base, but parts of that base may have already defected. After the messy 2000 election, some liberal Democrats hoped Greens would guiltily defect, or return, to the Democratic Party. There is no evidence that happened. "There were no prominent people who switched or major debates about strategy," says Green Party political coordinator Dean Myerson. Instead, the party has grown, posting small but significant victories in the midterm elections. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2002-12-12 12:31:00 Subject: Trent Lott When I first heard the news of Trent Lott making a snafu at Strom's birthday bash, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, I've put my foot in my mouth on more occasions than I care to remember. However, on further examination, <a href="http://www.fair.org/press-releases/lott-advisory.html" target="_blank">FAIR</a>, I agree with those who support his stepping down from the majority leader position. User Comments: MaryAnn ------ The Daily Show had the best take on this: hey, he only says these things every 22 years. He's like the Halley's Comet of bigotry. Yaga http://www.journalscape.com/yaga ------ Apparently he said almost the exact same thing back in 80 when he and Strom were stumping for Reagan. Regardless of whatever apology he makes, I'd have a hard time accepting it until he also explains exactly what he meant by "all these problems" we seem to be in. Kenny http://www.journalscape.com/kenny/ ------ That's pretty harsh.. I mean, he may have been trying to convey a different feeling or thought, but seriously a politician should think before saying kind words about a racist. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2002-12-13 09:19:00 Subject: Barney Cam I always watch C-Span in the mornings. I think Washington Journal is one of the best shows around, because the people running it do their darndest not to feature their point of view, but rather let the viewer decide. Fox News could take some lessons as they brag "we report...you decide"...yeah right! Anyway, Fridays are always my favorite WJ day as Brian Lamb hosts the show most times that day. Today, he had an assortment of subjects, but my favorite was his feature about the Barney Cam. If you haven't already, check it out! <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/" target="_blank">a small camera attached to Barney</a>, President Bush's dog. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2002-12-16 09:13:00 Subject: Al Gore I was really surprised by Al Gore's announcement last night that he's not running for president in 2004. I assumed that his book tour and recent vocal opposition to the policies of the current administration were a preface to the inevitable - that there would be a rematch of 2000. Now, this seems to open up the field, and I'm hoping that the Dems that are considering a run for it will focus on the issues and not "eat their own" so to speak. And did anyone catch Al on SNL? He was pretty good, I think. I was a little disappointed that Darrell Hammond didn't go one on one (playing Gore) with Gore. But the West Wing sketch was funny (and sad), the Stuart Smalley bit was good as always, and I really liked the Hardball bit! User Comments: Derek James <[email protected]> http://www.derekjames.net ------ Yeah, the skits with Al Gore were pretty funny. But the Weekend Update, the other skits, and Phish all stunk. So are you pumped yet? Lieberman in 2004! or, um... Gephardt in 2004! Yay! or how about: Kerry in 2004! Woo-hoo! No, I guess none of those sound all that great... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2002-12-16 10:31:00 Subject: Good Cause, Bad Website I have a friend who bases his opinion on an issue, in some part and probably a major part, by the quality of their website. When I was trying to get him to look at the Green candidates in the last election, he complained about the Green Party website...it just didn't match up to the bells and whistles that the Dems and Reps had on theirs. My question to him...how do grass roots organizations have a chance if everyone felt this way? Being in the web development business, I can understand that it doesn't take a huge amount of brains to develop a good website. On the other hand, my expertise in doing this may be matched equally by someone who doesn't know a thing about HTML, but has all the facts on an important issue of the day. The more I learn, in fact, I want to almost run the other way when I see a fancy, Madison Avenue type site trying to get my $$$$s, my votes, or my mind! User Comments: Luke McKibben <[email protected]> http://www.lukemckibben.org ------ This isn't about the topic at hand, but about this journal in general. I think it's awesome that you are keeping this kind of journal and I look forward to reading it! Derek James <[email protected]> http://www.derekjames.net ------ All right, dammit...my ears were burning. I <i>don't</i> judge the worthiness of a cause or candidate on how pretty their website is. I was complaining about the <b>content</b> of the site. If you recall, I said that the national Green Party site is well-organized and informative, unlike their Texas pages or especially, the pages for the Texas candidates. I thought they were severely lacking in substantive content, stuff like, oh...where the candidates stood on issues affecting Texans. So don't go paintin' me with that brush, sister. I'll be watching. ;) Kenny http://www.journalscape.com/kenny/ ------ It's unfortunate that the website makes people feel that way, but I can understand. If you saw a candidate (let's assume for this example it's a guy) and he was wearing dirty pants and his hair was messed up and he didn't speak English properly, you wouldn't vote for him. I guess it's kind of the same with the website, like if the person didn't care enough to present themselves in a nice fashion to the voters, then do I really want them representing us to the world? I'm split on the issue though, it really should be about substance.. however, impressions are a strong human reaction. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2002-12-18 08:36:00 Subject: Frida It may be too early for me to declare my favorite movie of the year, what with some blockbusters coming out shortly. I also didn't see too many movies this past year...not as many as I would have liked, anyway. But I'll have to say that my personal favorite as of right now is also on <a href="http://www.afi.com/about/afi2002.asp" target="_blank">AFIs list</a> so I don't feel too off base. The movie I enjoyed the most of the ones I saw this past year was <b>Frida</b>. It may have been, in part, because when Luke & I were in NYC in September attending the New Yorker Festival, we were able to see Julie Taymor. In my opinion she's a genius! Soon after seeing her speak, we went to see <b>The Lion King</b> at the New Amsterdam. Again, I was overwhelmed. I'm not that much into musicals, but this was way beyond that. Given my newly found admiration of Taymor's work, I was very anxious to see <b>Frida</b>, and I'll have to say that I wasn't let down. The performances were fantastic! The story was interesting! And, once again, I was bowled over by Taymor's ability to bring art to life! Of the upcoming movies, though, I'll have to say that <b>About Schmidt</b> might make me change my mind. Jack Nicholson's always a favorite with me. But at the end of the day (year), I'm thinking I'll still like <b>Frida</b> best! User Comments: Derek James <[email protected]> http://www.derekjames.net ------ Yeah, I hate musicals too. Selma Hayek, on the other hand, is hot <i>and</i> spicy, no matter how many eyebrows she has. Still, I'm content to wait for it on video. Luke McKibben <[email protected]> http://www.lukemckibben.org ------ I still haven't seen Frida, though I certainly want to. I too enjoyed Julie Taymor. It's easy to tell that she is very talented and pasionate at what she does.