Obama

Tom Barnett is justly excited about seeing the first printed copy of his forthcoming GREAT POWERS: AMERICA AND ThE WORLD AFTER BUSH, which will unquestionably be one of the most important books shaping the foreign policy debates of 2009.

Holy M–, M– of G–! The first galley is being overnighted! (Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog)
Holy M–, M– of G–! The first galley is being overnighted!

Exciting to think I’ll be reading the book in a few short hours!

This strikes me as an eminently sensible design decision. Previous campaigns were doing it wrong! There’s only one President.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » A sign of ego clashes to come?
Doug Ross at Director Blue points out a curiosity from yesterday’s joint appearance by Barack Obama and Joe Biden in Springfield, Illinois yesterday, and not just the fumbled announcement or Biden calling his running mate “Barack America”. Take a look at the signs passed out to the crowd (for free?) at the rally. Do you see a difference between the way the names are presented in this design?

Note how the “Biden” fades into the blue of the sign. This becomes more pronounced in the video of the event, and Doug has screencaps to demonstrate this. Now let’s take a look at how previous campaigns have juxtaposed the names of the running mates with those of the presidential contenders:

What a mammoth investment in reinforcing existing MSM media opinions. It would be a lot more interesting, and a lot cooler, if the Google Reader folks came up with something that would draw on sources outside the echo room.

Official Google Blog: Follow what Obama, McCain and leading political commentators are reading
At google.com/powerreaders now you can track the news sites and blogs Barack Obama and John McCain read (from Drudge to The Daily Show) and follow articles catching the eyes of leading political journalists

This nugget was buried in an otherwise pointless essay by Maureen Dowd whining about how hard it is to mock Obama.

Op-Ed Columnist - May We Mock, Barack? - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

The Wall Street Journal reported that the planners for Obama’s convention have hired the first-ever Director of Greening, the environmental activist Andrea Robinson. She in turn hired an Official Carbon Adviser to “measure the greenhouse-gas emissions of every placard, every plane trip, every appetizer prepared and every coffee cup tossed.”

The “lean ‘n’ green” catering guidelines, The Journal said, bar fried food and instruct that, “on the theory that nutritious food is more vibrant, each meal should include ‘at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white.’ (Garnishes don’t count.) At least 70% of the ingredients should be organic or grown locally, to minimize emissions from fuel during transportation.”

Op-Ed Columnist - Gail Collins - Obama’s Flip-Flopping - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

But if you look at the political fights he’s picked throughout his political career, the main theme is not any ideology. It’s that he hates stupidity. “I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war,” he said in 2002 in his big speech against the invasion of Iraq. He did not, you will notice, say he was against unilateral military action or pre-emptive attacks or nation-building. He was antidumb.

Very shrewd of Gail Collins. This is one nuance I didn’t pick up in my Obama book. I think she’s absolutely right.

Op-Ed Columnist - Gail Collins - Obama’s Flip-Flopping - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

But if you look at the political fights he’s picked throughout his political career, the main theme is not any ideology. It’s that he hates stupidity. “I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war,” he said in 2002 in his big speech against the invasion of Iraq. He did not, you will notice, say he was against unilateral military action or pre-emptive attacks or nation-building. He was antidumb.

Very shrewd of Gail Collins. This is one nuance I didn’t pick up in my Obama book. I think she’s absolutely right.

Children Seen, and Heard - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

On Wednesday morning, in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, Matt Lauer asked Mr. Obama whether he had made the right call in granting interviews with the girls. Mr. Obama said: “I think we got carried away in the moment. We were having a birthday party and everybody’s laughing and I didn’t catch it quickly enough … We wouldn’t do it again, and we won’t be doing it again.”

It’s absolutely ridiculous that he should feel the need to apologize for something so innocuous.

Books in print and forthcoming:

• Christianity
  • Misquotes in MISQUOTING JESUS: Why You Can Still Believe by Dillon Burroughs
  • The JESUS FAMILY TOMB Controversy: How the Evidence Falls Short by  Dillon Burroughs
  • THE SHACK: Unauthorized Theological Critique by Tim Challies
• Classics
  • Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Alexander Selkirk by Stevey Bruce
• Computers and Technology
  • A History of Computer Operating Systems: Unix, DOS, Lisa, Macintosh, Windows, Linux by Jon Watson
  • From Geek to Peak by Thomas Myer (Oct. 2008)
• Cool Maps
  • Cool Maps for Curious Kids #2: Afghanistan, an Unauthorized Tour of the Land of A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS and THE KITE RUNNER (Cool Maps for Curious Kids)
  • Cool Maps of Baghdad: the Emerald City and other cities of Iraq
  • Cool Maps of Cuba: An Atlas of History, Population, Resources Before and After Fidel Castro
  • Cool Maps of France: Paris and Beyond
  • Cool Maps of France’s Overseas Territories and Departments
  • Cool Maps of Indonesia: An Unauthorized View of the Land of EAT, PRAY, LOVE
  • Cool Maps of Iran: Persian History, Oil Wealth, Politics, Population, Religion, Satellite, WMD and More
  • Cool Maps of Iraq: History, Oil Wealth, Politics, Population, Religion, Satellite, and More
  • THE WORLD IS FLAT: NOT! Cool New World Maps for Kids
• Cool Science
  • Our Colorful Moon: Beautiful Images to Energize and Delight
  • Our Splendid Sun: Cool Science Images for Curious Kids #1
• Current Affairs
  • Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving Into Liquid War by Pepe Escobar
  • Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge by Pepe Escobar
  • Should Barack Obama Be President? DREAMS FROM MY FATHER, AUDACITY OF HOPE, … Obama in ‘08?
• Decisive Battles
  • Decisive Battles Remixed: Marathon
  • 9/11
  • Flight 93
  • Tora Bora
• Designing Organizations that Matter - series edited by Peter Jones of Redesign Research
  • We Tried to Warn You: Innovations in leadership for the learning organization by Peter H. Jones
• Modern Ships
  • CV-F THE FUTURE UK AIRCRAFT CARRIER, by Tim Mahon (2009)
  • CVN-68 NIMITZ, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-69 DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-70 CARL VINSON, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-71 THEODORE ROOSEVELT, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier]
  • CVN-72 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-73 GEORGE WASHINGTON, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-74 JOHN C. STENNIS, U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER
  • CVN-75 HARRY S. TRUMAN, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-76 RONALD REAGAN, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • CVN-77 GEORGE H. W. BUSH, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier (Colorful Ships #3) (Colorful Ships)
  • CVN-78 GERALD R. FORD, U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
  • DDG-81 WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, U.S. Navy Destroyer]
  • DDG-1000 ZUMWALT, U.S. Navy “Stealth” Destroyer
  • SSN-23 JIMMY CARTER, U.S. Navy Submarine (Seawolf class)
• Modern Weapons
  • X-47 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV)
  • War Bots: How U.S. Military Robots Are Transforming War in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Future by David Axe of WarIsBoring.com
    
  • YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE: European UAVs by Tim Mahon
• Napoleonic History
  • Borodino: Why It Matters Today
  • Napoleon In Moscow: Why It Matters Today
  • A MARINE OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD,  translated by Tim Mahon
• Popular Culture
  • Dan Brown — “The Solomon Key” and Beyond: DIGITAL FORTESS, ANGELS & DEMONS, DECEPTION POINT, THE DA VINCI CODE, and more …
  • Harry Potter
    • The Unauthorized Harry Potter Quiz Book: 165 Questions Ranging from The Sorcerer’s Stone to The Deathly Hallows by Graeme Davis
    • A Fandom of Magical Proportions: An Unauthorized History of The Harry Potter Phenomenon by Erin A. Pyne
    • Unauthorized Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows News: Harry Potter Book Seven and Half-Blood Prince Analysis
    • Unofficial “Half-Blood Prince” Update: News and Speculation about Harry Potter Book Six by J. K. Rowling
• Science Fiction
  • Through Stranger Eyes: Reviews, Introductions, Tributes & Iconoclastic Essays by Hugo and Nebula award winner David Brin
• Why [X] Matters Today - a cross-cutting series that includes Borodino: Why It Matters Today and Napoleon In Moscow: Why It Matters Today
• World War II Ships
  • Battleship v. Battleship: Task Force 34’s Moment of Glory by J. Lanham Pearson
  • Battleship YAMATO: Why She Matters Today
  • BB-67 MONTANA, U.S. Navy Battleship: Why She Matters Today
  • In the Shadow of the Battleship: Considering the Cruisers of World War II
  • Iowa Class Battleships and Alaska Class Large Cruisers Conversion Projects 1942-1964: An Illustrated Technical Reference by Wayne Scarpaci

TheHill.com - It’s over

Suggestion for Obama:

The next time Hillary uses the recycled red phone ad, counter with one of your own. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, have a woman’s voice, with a flat Midwestern accent, answer it and say, “Hold on” into the receiver. Then she should shout, “Bill! It’s for you!”

Dick Morris is a chumbucket, but a smart one.

Hillary’s Math Problem | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com

Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama. There’s only one problem with this analysis: they can’t count.

I’m no good at math either, but with the help of Slate’s Delegate Calculator I’ve scoped out the rest of the primaries, and even if you assume huge Hillary wins from here on out, the numbers don’t look good for Clinton. In order to show how deep a hole she’s in, I’ve given her the benefit of the doubt every week for the rest of the primaries.

I love definitive articles like this one. Tip of the hat to Jonathan Alter.