Epiphany Season

So, I was walking around in Princeton, minding my own business, when who should I spot sitting on a stone bench but… Darragh Murphy???

{{double take}}

OK, it wasn’t entirely accidental. There was a reason why we were both there and I’ll be telling you more about that in time because we will need your help. But let’s just say that she’s just as charming and pretty in person and she has lovely green eyes. What was amazing is how easy to strike up a conversation. In fact, I think it was hard to shut us up. It was well after 10 before I drove her to the train station. But let’s just say that we weren’t the only ones swept up in the discussion. This election season has been one revelation after another. We keep peeling back layers of the onion. This is not to say that there is a single core at the center of what has transpired. There are many moving parts creating a synergistic whole that explains the rise of Obama.

There is a separate synergism at work in our counter movement. Darragh and I swept another player in the mix tonight. It’s new and good and exciting.

So, while you are all pondering what the hell I’m talking about (hint: “Snapping“), take a look at this retelling of the Lord of the Rings. How many of us are Tolkien fans? Hmmm… Coincidence?

By the way, don’t forget to check out another new member of our blogtalkradio lineup, MorningQ with BettyJean and Pagan.

Blog-Obama-Sphere?

From FOX News:

Some bloggers opposed to Barack Obama say they suspect Obama’s supporters — with the assistance of Google — may have tried to censor them when the Internet giant froze their Web sites for five days last month.

Seven blogs run by Democrats who oppose Obama’s nomination for the presidency were incorrectly flagged as spam sites by Blogger, the hosting service Google has owned since 2003. Google says it was an automated response from a spam filter.

But the bloggers believe that Web surfers who support Obama took advantage of a loophole in Blogger’s system that allows readers to report spam blogs, the artificial Web sites that abound on the Internet and are used to promote other sites.

“It appears that [Blogger’s] policy can be manipulated by people determined to shut down the free exchange of ideas,” said Carissa Snedeker, whose blog, BlueLyon, was among those that were frozen.

“It’s unusual — I’ve never heard of similar blogs of the same nature being shut down like that,” said Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of the tech site SearchEngineLand.com.

Google said in a press release that the blogs were blocked because an automatic spam filter had locked on to those seven Web sites.

“We believe this may have been caused by mass spam e-mails mentioning the ‘Just Say No Deal’ network of [anti-Obama] blogs, which in turn caused our system to classify the blog addresses mentioned in the e-mails as spam,” Google wrote, referring to a coalition of disaffected Democrats who oppose Obama’s candidacy.

Maybe Google is telling the truth, but then again, didn’t we just read that Silicon Valley (home to Google) is a hotbead of Obamamania?  One thing is for sure, the behavior of Obama supporters certainly makes this story plausible.

(Cross-posted at Klownhaus)

Tuesday: A Call to Action

Conflucians and PUMAs, maybe you’ve already booked your flight and made your hotel/campsite reservation for Denver but what will you be doing once you get there? And what is PUMA all about anyway? What is our purpose? Are we a movement? A new party?

Those are questions we are attempting to answer and for this purpose, the instigators of the PUMA movement propose an organizing meeting in Washington DC. The Pre-Convention PUMA Conference (PCPC) will be held on August 8-10 at the Marriott Wardham Hotel, the scene of the crime.

The purpose of PCPC will be to organize PUMA for the purposes of the Denver convention and to define our role going forward. We see great potential in PUMA as being an organization that keeps an eye on the major parties. Right now, there is no particular entity whose responsibility it is to make sure that the parties play by the rules. There is no group that holds the party players accountable to the voters for the decisions they make and the propaganda they generate. PUMAs are now to assume the mantle of responsibility that others have abandoned. We will become the referees. We hope to represent the voice of the voters who will give democracy back to the electorate. We want to make sure that our votes are counted, our primary results are respected, and what is important to us is recognized and included in party platforms. And unlike more ideologically motivated groups that have sprung up in the last several years, it is our desire to find that place where most Americans are and base our positions on principle, and to survey the political landscape from those principles, in order to resist the cults of personality and fad movements which have siphoned our strength and diminished our role as voters.

Right now, we are in the process of organizing this first conference. Our time is short. Our immediate goal is to plan for our presence in Denver. Our long term goals are to develop the infrastructure that will make us a powerful political force for future elections. Our tentative agenda is here: tentative-agenda There will be a number of organizing workshops on Saturday. For example, The Confluence has been asked to organize Saturday morning and afternoon workshops on blogging in its current and future manifestations.

Now, PUMAs, this conference is being planned with the help of event planners who have graciously donated their time and expertise to help make this happen. However, we are in a bit of a bind. We aren’t sure how many of you will attend. Some of you have already budgeted your money for Denver. The cost of PCPC is estimated to be ~$200/person. This does not include hotel accomodations that we are presently negotiating with the hotel. Since many blogs and organizations are founders of the PUMA movememt, we would like to hear from as many of you as possible in defining our role and organizing our coalition activities and strategy in Denver. But being mindful of budgets and time, we propose that these blogs and orgs send a few representatives. If there is more interest (we would be delighted at this prospect), we need to get a headcount so we can acquire facilities and equipment accordingly. So, I am asking those of you checking in this morning to copy this post shamelessly to your own sites and get a show of hands of those who are interested. If you can please let us know by this Friday how much interest there is, we will pass this information to the event organizers.

Let me know in the comments whether you are interested and we will collect this information. You can also contact Will Bower at PUMA/JustSayNoDeal and Darragh Murphy at PumaPac. The Confluence can be reached at theconfluence08@yahoo.com. We will be updating you with information as we get it.

Are you ready, PUMAs?

Email Tale

Recently, the following documents were recovered during the summer cleaning of dormitory housing of a nearby state college. Analysis reveals that the documents consist of email print-outs and are stained with a mixture of Cheeto residue, Kool-aid and “personal lubricant” Several pages also contain DNA samples of unknown origin.

Here are the documents in chronological order:

Date: 12/01/07

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Welcome to Obama Bloggers! We are happy to have you as a member of our team.

Senator Barack Obama needs elite and informed individuals like yourself to help spread the word about his post-partisan progressive vision for America. In order to accomplish this goal you will receive daily (sometimes hourly) updates with the latest talking points. We encourage you to register under as many aliases as possible at several different progressive blogs. When you receive an update, go to each blog and “spread the word.”

We must put an end to the politics of the past, exemplified by Hillary Clinton and her triangulating and “say anything to win” tactics.

Senator Obama looks forward to having patriotic and decent Americans like yourself employed in his administration. We are the change we’ve been waiting for!

Dave

 

Date: 01/10/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

What we feared most has come to pass. Bill Clinton is spreading racist smears about Senator Obama. He has referred to Senator Obama as a “kid” and said his claims about Iraq are a “fairy tale.”

We cannot allow such vile racism to go unchallenged! Go to your assigned blogs and protest.

Dave

 

Date: 01/31/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Our polls show that Senator Obama will sweep the Super Tuesday contests. Unfortunately, many Hillary supporters refuse to believe this and continue to support her. We suggest using the “recommend” and “rating” functions at the important blogs to shut those bitches up. Don’t be shy about expressing your opinion of these shrill dead-enders who are standing in the way of progress.

Dave

PS: Florida and Michigan don’t count!

 

Date: 02/06/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Apparently there are more racists in this nation than we expected, especially in California, Massachusetts and New Jersey. However, we expect the rest of February to be very favorable for Senator Obama.

We need volunteers to participate is some state caucuses, if you are interested please contact my office. Travel expenses paid.

Dave

 

 

Date: 02/28/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Despite the lies you may have heard, Senator Obama is a strong opponent of NAFTA. He is the most progressive candidate running, and Hillary only continues to run in order to damage him so that John McCain will win. In fact, we have reliable reports Hillary intends to be McCain’s running mate.

Dave

PS: Florida and Michigan don’t count!

 

Date: 03/17/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Senator Obama will be giving a speech tomorrow to put an end to the controversy surrounding Rev. Wright. It is important that you promptly post your overwhelmingly positive reaction to this speech, including how it affected you emotionally and moved you to tears.

Actually viewing the speech will be helpful to you in providing detailed comments, so check your local listings.

Dave

 

 

Date: 04/23/08 

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

As the polls have shown, Pennsylvania is infested with racists.

Dave

PS: Florida and Michigan don’t count!

 

 

Date: 05/13/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Senator Obama is the inevitable nominee, despite expected narrow losses in West Virginia and Kentucky, where we didn’t even try to compete anyway.

Dave

PS: Florida and Michigan don’t count!

 

Date: 06/01/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

The Rules and Bylaws Committee has rendered a fair and just compromise decision.

Dave

PS: Florida and Michigan count!

 

 

Date: 06/05/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

There seems to have been a slight miscalculation. It turns out that Senator Obama will be needing some or all of the former supporters of Senator Clinton after all. We need to you go to those pro-Hillary blogs and talk sense to those old bitches.

While you’re there, see if you can find out anything about something called “PUMA” that we’ve been hearing about.

Dave

 

 Date: 06/15/08

To: (name withheld)

From: David Axelrod

Senator Obama thanks you for your support in running a post-partisan centrist campaign. He looks forward to having patriotic and decent Americans like yourself employed in his administration. We are the change we’ve been waiting for!

Dave

PS: Don’t forget to donate!

 

Date: 07/01/08

To: (name withheld)

From: R. Chadwick Throckmorton III

Thank you for your interest in “Obama Fellows 2008.” We congratulate you on receiving you recent degree, however we are only accepting applications from graduates of nationally-accredited universities at this time.

Cordially

Chad

(Cross-posted at Klownhaus)