Like Ana, I also very much believe that McCain has not enjoyed the way his campaign has been run the past few weeks, and that it isn't in his character to run the type of campaign we've been seeing. I know that I have no evidence to make such a claim, and that it seems opposite to common-sense that a candidate's campaign would be completely out-of-character of the person that he is, and that almost certainly McCain would have been enjoying his campaign the past few weeks if the result had been him being up by 10 afterwards. But darn it, I just don't think he's that type of guy. And I know I have no evidence for that statement either, but darn it, I just believe it. Wow, I think that was the first diavlog I've watched where Ann Althouse seemed like the reasonable one.

Quoting fedorovingtonboop: palin is a joke, might as well have my mom run.

Did you just call your mom a joke? That's not very nice.

are you kidding me men of Ideas.
The republican's only idea is to deregulate bust unions and eliminate taxes.
The Democrat's only idea is to do as little progressiveness as they
can get away with ah that's rich.

I generally like Ana Marie's humorous style and I read Swampland all the time. And I will continue to... HOWEVER, I found her treacly defense of McCain kind of pathetic and weird. She says that she "adores" McCain, that she thinks he's "principled" and "honorable" and that she "honors his service to the country." And that's fine. The problem is that her "analysis" seems to suffer from George W. Bush's personalization fetish, in which a look in the eye and a firm handshake make up for someone's actions. It's dangerous, because magnetic people can make you trust them, make you see things their way, despite the facts (see: William Jefferson Clinton). And the rest of us who haven't met John McCain and eaten Dunkin' Donuts with him in the back of the bus can actually look at what kind of campaign he is running and judge it for what it is. Basically, I'm trying to say that Ana Marie's platitudinal praise about "honor" and such is not particularly informative. It tells us about Ana Marie and how it feels to really get to know a war hero and talk to his advisors about their feelings that life just

Quoting lamoose: I generally like Ana Marie's humorous style and I read Swampland all the time. And I will continue to...

HOWEVER, I found her treacly defense of McCain kind of pathetic and weird. She says that she "adores" McCain, that she thinks he's "principled" and "honorable" and that she "honors his service to the country." And that's fine.

The problem is that her "analysis" seems to suffer from George W. Bush's personalization fetish, in which a look in the eye and a firm handshake make up for someone's actions. It's dangerous, because magnetic people can make you trust them, make you see things their way, despite the facts (see: William Jefferson Clinton). And the rest of us who haven't met John McCain and eaten Dunkin' Donuts with him in the back of the bus can actually look at what kind of campaign he is running and judge it for what it is.

Basically, I'm trying to say that Ana Marie's platitudinal praise about "honor" and such is not particularly informative. It tells us about Ana Marie and how it feels to really get to know a war hero and talk to his advisors about their feelings that life just

According to this article from the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) website, Israel's is the only army in the world that requires its female citizens to enlist. While there isn't quite equality between men and women (as Ann fears would be the case if women were drafted in the US), it's getting closer all the time. As Ana points out, there are in principle (and in fact in the IDF) a wide range of duties available to women. Again, according the article I linked to above,

The IDF stands as the most advanced army in the world in the integration of women into its army. Women represent a third of the soldiers serving in the IDF, and almost a quarter of all officers in the IDF are female officers. Today, almost ninety percent of all positions in the army are open for women to serve in.

AA's feelings about the Clintons are so utterly over-the-top and predictably consistent that she probably ought not use them as illustrations of anything other than her unreasoning dislike of the pair of them.

AA is all over the place at 16-17 minutes. She was definitely caught off guard by AC's question, and no amount blabbering, doublespeak could hide it.

Quoting grits-n-gravy: AA is all over the place at 16-17 minutes. She was definitely caught off guard by AC's question, and no amount blabbering, doublespeak could hide it.

That AA? Good to know! I can read a book instead...

Quoting AemJeff: AA's feelings about the Clintons are so utterly over-the-top and predictably consistent that she probably ought not use them as illustrations of anything other than her unreasoning dislike of the pair of them.

dead on. i can't even remember why she dislikes them (for no good reason) so much. whoever said something about getting real economists and the like on here is right. can't we change from bloggers to people who actually know wtf they're talking about? how 'bout some people from FT or Wall St. or the NYT? bloggers just kinda do the same thing we normal people do which is read the news. it's nice when we get to hear real experts speak because they're the ones who actually do the work and research.

Quoting mmacklem: Like Ana, I also very much believe that McCain has not enjoyed the way his campaign has been run the past few weeks, and that it isn't in his character to run the type of campaign we've been seeing.

If only he could do something about it!

Quoting mmacklem: Like Ana, I also very much believe that McCain has not enjoyed the way his campaign has been run the past few weeks, and that it isn't in his character to run the type of campaign we've been seeing.

I'm amazed by the number of people who buy into this nonsense, and seem to beleive that John McCain is a mere bystander in his own freaking campaign. I think people need to get a grip, and realize that John McCain is the CEO of his campaign, and if he isn't running a campaign he doesn't "enjoy" or that is "in his character," he's not a very good CEO. Imagine: This is the defense of McCain being advanced by pro-McCain pundits; it's a hell of a way to defend a man who wants to be president to say that he's incapable of controlling his own campaign.

Quoting Ray: If only he could do something about it!

Exactly.

Quoting lamoose: I generally like Ana Marie's humorous style and I read Swampland all the time. And I will continue to...

HOWEVER, I found her treacly defense of McCain kind of pathetic and weird. She says that she "adores" McCain, that she thinks he's "principled" and "honorable" and that she "honors his service to the country." And that's fine.

The problem is that her "analysis" seems to suffer from George W. Bush's personalization fetish, in which a look in the eye and a firm handshake make up for someone's actions. It's dangerous, because magnetic people can make you trust them, make you see things their way, despite the facts (see: William Jefferson Clinton). And the rest of us who haven't met John McCain and eaten Dunkin' Donuts with him in the back of the bus can actually look at what kind of campaign he is running and judge it for what it is.

Basically, I'm trying to say that Ana Marie's platitudinal praise about "honor" and such is not particularly informative. It tells us about Ana Marie and how it feels to really get to know a war hero and talk to his advisors about their feelings that life just

Quoting kidneystones: ... the Chosen One ... both are completely wrong ... racism and and race-baiting ... Accusations of racism ... the lies, truth-twisting, and general evasiveness ... intelligent bully Dems ... Shut-up and clap ... profiting ... Obama's political ascent ... whipping stick ... cash cow ... Michelle and company ... screaming ... beating a black man ... demanding ... 'community organizer' ... weakness ... Ayers, Wright, and Rezko ... badly ... poor Barack down! ... a liberal dose ... 'they must hate us ... all the racism ... bhtv borg ... dissent is really racism ... a black man ... 'lingering resentment ... disgruntled Clinton supporters ... upset ... a 'young, black man and his wife' ... the Ministry of Truth ... spew ... Bitter, clingy, and racist ... branded ... Fuck the Clintons ... bhtv borg ... eight fucking months ... the Chosen One ... racism ... HRC cried ... racism ... the Chosen One ... fucking wham ... racist ... both racist ... bots ... racism ... The borg ... systematic effort ... smear the Clintons ... racists ... racism ... the bots ... the Chosen One ... 'playing the race card' ... blamed for everything ... The borg ... disgusting ... low-life pukes, every one of them ... no criticism ... the Chosen One ... assault ... a can of gasoline and a bucket of pitch ... whipped ... bad.

Shorter kidneystones: Pure rage. A typical Republican.

I'm really grossed out by Ann talking about "drafted women" as these people who would just be a drag on the military - as if they would be so much more useless than drafted men. Her view of the military seems very cartoonish and antiquated, and I find it kind of insulting (freaked as I would be to be drafted) that my parents "wouldn't stand for it" more than they wouldn't stand for my three brothers being drafted (all four of us, incidentally, would be pretty useless in combat, and I'm pretty sure the military is smart enough to find something else for us to do). Also gross thinking about women needing to stay home to repopulate the country. I'm pretty sure pregnant women would be exempt from the draft, but seriously, I'd rather be drafted than asked to pop out kids for the good of the country.

Quoting TwinSwords: Originally Posted by kidneystones View Post
... the Chosen One ... both are completely wrong ... racism and and race-baiting ... Accusations of racism ... the lies, truth-twisting, and general evasiveness ... intelligent bully Dems ... Shut-up and clap ... profiting ... Obama's political ascent ... whipping stick ... cash cow ... Michelle and company ... screaming ... beating a black man ... demanding ... 'community organizer' ... weakness ... Ayers, Wright, and Rezko ... badly ... poor Barack down! ... a liberal dose ... 'they must hate us ... all the racism ... bhtv borg ... dissent is really racism ... a black man ... 'lingering resentment ... disgruntled Clinton supporters ... upset ... a 'young, black man and his wife' ... the Ministry of Truth ... spew ... Bitter, clingy, and racist ... branded ... Fuck the Clintons ... bhtv borg ... eight fucking months ... the Chosen One ... racism ... HRC cried ... racism ... the Chosen One ... fucking wham ... racist ... both racist ... bots ... racism ... The borg ... systematic effort ... smear the Clintons ... racists ... racism ... the bots ... the Chosen One ... 'playing the race card' ... blamed for everything ... The borg ... disgusting ... low-life pukes, every one of them ... no criticism ... the Chosen One ... assault ... a can of gasoline and a bucket of pitch ... whipped ... bad.

Try reading this while listening to Aram Khachaturian's Saber Dance.
The troubled

Thoroughly enjoyable diavlog. I have read some of the comments. I think Ms. Althouse' thoughts about women in the military is more nuanced than the comments suggest. She emphasizes the draft and forced service as the main criteria to be considered.

Quoting TwinSwords: I'm amazed by the number of people who buy into this nonsense, and seem to beleive that John McCain is a mere bystander in his own freaking campaign.

I think people need to get a grip, and realize that John McCain is the CEO of his campaign, and if he isn't running a campaign he doesn't "enjoy" or that is "in his character," he's not a very good CEO.

Imagine: This is the defense of McCain being advanced by pro-McCain pundits; it's a hell of a way to defend a man who wants to be president to say that he's incapable of controlling his own campaign.

Apparently my sarcasm needs some work.

Re: McCain being stubborn and hard to influence. That flies in the face of the oft reported dismay of senior staff that every time McCain talked to someone, he wanted to pivot or change substance.
The code of honor is part of the facade. He is a petulant brat that's only "compass" is ambition

Hmm, I was super psyched for this but twenty minutes in I'm disappointed by the absence of snark from Ana in particular . . . I know that TIME demands a certain amount of gravitas, but election of ideas / weight of history my ass. As long as we're being joyless and serious, though, I'll add that I agree with Ann that debtor innumeracy has very little to do with the current financial crisis. Oh, and while not for Sarah Palin in particular, I'd be delighted to vote for most people's moms . . .

It's really quite sad to see how totally out of touch mainstream reporters are. I think this is a case, Ms. Cox, of your not being able to see the woods for the trees. Either that, or you've spent too much time covering McCain and have lost your sense of objectivity. The notion that John McCain is somehow a victim of his campaign (if that's true he isn't a real leader) and/or that he is an honorable man who stands up for Obama at his rallies is utterly BOGUS. McCain has spent the past few weeks doing everything he can to connect Obama with terrorists. They continued this tactic the day after the debate with a Obama is Pals with Terrorists phone campaign. This has been widely reported-- it's official. It's unfortunate that today's "journalists" are more concerned with earning their "media elite merit badge" (Ms. Cox's words, not mine) than reporting the truth. I highly recommend you check out Glenn Greenwald's blog over at Salon. He's doing work you could only dream of: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwa.../10/17/mccain/

Well, although I agree she at times sounded like it here Ana isn't your average MSM shill . . . check out Wonkette if you haven't done so : ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Marie_Cox

Here's as simple as I can make it: 1. In his final contribution to the end of the American Empire, Alan Greenspan lowers the Fed Funds rate to 1%, providing money to lenders at close to free. 2. A massive wave of refinancing inflates prices across all asset classes globally. 3. Unregulated non-bank lenders spring up across the country, insulated from the default risks of their underwriting by misaligned incentives and fraud. 4. Math whizzes repackage high-risk mortgages by disaggregating their cash flows, not unlike finding a way to make a 'C' grade the average of an 'A' and an 'F.' 5. Congress mandates an oligopoly to S&P, Moody's and Fitch to rate these securities. The issuers are involved in the rating process in a manner which would be considered criminal in any other industry. 6. The global liquidity bubble produces massive demand for "low risk" assets, particularly dollar assets, due to our current account deficit. In particular, China builds up huge dollar reserves, partly to contain inflation and partly to continue to pursue mercantilist policies, which need to be invested in "low risk" assets. Fixed-income products across the board are overpriced, or equivalently, the yields are too low to compensate for the

Quoting fedorovingtonboop: ann, how could you dislike Hillary but enjoy the presence of sarah palin?
palin is a joke, might as well have my mom run.

Your Mom is a joke? That's pretty mean. I'd hate to be her on Mother's day.

I like the "This American Life" shout out.

So, kidneystones, which commenters on bhtv have you liked?

Ann, your statements about the unacceptability of women being drafted to front line combat duty seems crudely sexist. Even your reproductive justification is self-serving. After all, when we factor in soaring global populations, it may well be better for the collective if women are just as fully engaged as men in knocking each other off. But that's beside the main point. Why is it acceptable for a woman to be on the front line only if she has volunteered to be there, but it's ok for a man to be dragged kicking and screaming (metaphorically) against his will into the same situation? Are you saying that women suffer more than men when they are wounded or that it's easier for men to shoot someone they don't know or want to shoot? Are you saying that woman feel more when they are terrified, lonely or lost in existential doubt about what they're doing than men do? Are you saying that a man experiences his own death in a less intense way than a woman does hers? That finally her life is worth more than his

Well, thanks for your compliments. I actually misphrased my original question, though. I was actually wondering which bloggingheads you liked the best. I will, however, read Ha'aretz. I have some cousins who live in Israel who are a lot tougher than I am. Maybe they read Ha'aretz too.

OK, Ok, the dems are going to be running the show soon and the repubs are tanking. Lets see how the "new emerging majority" will handle the following: 1). The left behind population (vocational not religious) due to the post industrial society: literally millions of middle income jobs lost since in the early 70's. 2). A deteriorated public school system in may locales: been this way since the late 60's and getting worse. 3). High cost of living: again, another modern phenomenon which was not here where I grew up in the 50s and 60's. 4). Crime and imprisonment: in California it's off the charts and has been so since the 80's. 5). Taxation: in California it's very high and by looking at the ballot propositions the pols want more. 6). Massive increases in higher education and medical care: in 1966 I was in a private hospital and it cost $30 a day and now it's $1,000 or some unbelieveable price - in the early 70's I paid $80 a semester at the state university whereas I am sure it's well over $1,000 now. The way I see it the two primary political parties and their presidential aspirants will do next to nothing to address the issues

My favorite heads: Frum (smart and so, so clear)
John McW (earnest and smart)
Glenn L (earnest and smart)
Mickey (always makes me laugh for some reason and always has an interesting spin)
Alterman (smart and clear)
Hitchens
Douthat (because of his views more than anything else)
Drezner (because of his likeable manner)

If I was trying to be ideologically balanced mine would be: Brink Lindsey
Glen Loury (though his anti-Obama schtick is getting old)
John McWhorter
Heather Hurlburt
Eric Alterman
Pinkerton (with Corn)
Rosa Brooks
Eli Lake
Ross Douthat
Dan Drezner I'm exempting Bob W, Mickey, Will W, Matt/Mark (UN) and the Sci Sat guys from the list, since they are all pretty much assumed. Really it's hard to make any meaningful list since other than a few notable exceptions, I enjoy almost everyone on BHTV.

Astounding! I'd heard about this in the blogosphere. She surpasses the descriptions. Ann Marie, are you in the services? I ask because you referred to him as "my commander in chief." For civilians, that is not accurate.

Wait a second. You can't just say "misogynistic," and leave it at that, regarding Sarah Palin. GET SPECIFIC. Trashing a woman? Who, what, where, when, how? HOW??? GET SPECIFIC. Name an event, tell us when it was, describe a slanderer, for crying out loud. Stop GENERATING controversy. GET SPECIFIC. I'm still listening, and you're both still talking in vague generalities.

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: Really it's hard to make any meaningful list since other than a few notable exceptions, I enjoy almost everyone on BHTV.

Good point. Across the spectrum, left to right, almost all of the 'heads are great.