YearlyKos Timing

I’m madly cleaning the house (trust me, a very rare event chez emptywheel) in some kind of mad guilt for leaving mr. e-dub and McC alone again while I’m in Chicago at YKos. So I thought it a good time for a last post until I get to Chicago tomorrow mid-day (well, you know how promises like that go).

I’m hoping I’ll get to put more faces to names among our readers (heck, I hear some of my blog-mates may come out of the woodwork, too). Our "Live-blogging the Libby Trial" (me, Christy, and Shelly Snook from the Courthouse, along with Jeralyn keeping us in line) is at 9:30 on Thursday, which is likely before a lot of you get in. Then, rumor has it, I’m doing a book-signing at 2PM on Thursday. Other than that, I’ll just be wandering the halls aimlessly, mourning the chocolate fountain I bitched about last year.

Drop a note in the comments if you’ll be at YKos, so I know to keep a look-out for you.

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  1. pdaly says:

    I can’t make it to Chicago, but I’ll be floating about the convention in Second Life.
    (I think the flying ability is the best part of Second Life).
    I hope to see the Libby Trial panel this Thursday. Thanks for the heads up.

  2. marksb says:

    Well, someday….I’ll get out of the ice business and be free during August (peak ice/tourist/wedding season) to attend. I had to resort to meeting you in the congressional halls of D.C. in the cold of March. Ah, well, have a lovely time EW and everyone who is attending!

  3. Woodhall Hollow says:

    Curiouser and curiouser. Looks like Cheney slipped up and told Larry King that the program to be authorized was indeed the TSP, which was the program that Comey said he would not authorize.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Woodhall

    I saw that. I think we’ll get more leverage with things if we point out that TSP didn’t exist than vice versa–because one line of the letter says the NAME TSP was invented (no doubt on 12/16/05) as a way to parse off and admit to the legal bits of the program.

  5. Anonymous says:

    See you in Chicago, EW. I’m booked for other things thursday, so no-show is not on purpose.

  6. rosalind says:

    see you in chicago!!

    (guess i’ll leave my stack of â€anatomyâ€s at home and buy fresh stock at y-kos. every time i spot an idiot op-ed or hear a misguided commentator on the radio re. all things Libby/Plame related, i send ’em a copy of your book with a post-it note highlighting the appropriate pages to acquaint themselves with the facts. helps keeps me sane.)

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hey, I’ll see you there. One of the things I remember fondly from last year was sitting in the Think Progress â€how to be a pundit†training and watching you practice answering questions about the Libby case, which I then saw again on my ACTUAL TEEVEE with David Shuster not but a year later. That was fun.

    I’ll probably be there at 9:30. At 8am you can see the short film I helped edit, â€Crashing The States,†at the YKos screening series. It follows two bloggers who visited every netroots-endorsed campaign in the country in 2006.

  8. dipper says:

    Marcy, it breaks my heart that I won’t got to meet you this year. I had reservations and everything, but my daughter and granddaughter are coming to visit and it couldn’t be switched. So I’ll keep that space in your book for your personal touch!

  9. Neil says:

    EW, we’ll miss you. Have a great trip.

    Hey! Isn’t the conference being hosted by that left-wing Nazi KKK hate site DailyKos? Knock ’em dead. (

  10. John Lopresti says:

    There was a I †rel=â€nofollowâ€>thoughtful discussion reported humorously at that event last year. And a photo of a http://farm1.static.flickr.com…..ce7b_m.jpg

    †rel=â€nofollowâ€>presidential candidate, who cancelled candidacy by October 2006 in a local paper, which has removed the notice from online access now, so the link is only the paper frontpage; the statement discussed family events and business plans outweighing the trial campaign’s obvious demands. Maybe MWarner learned something from the questions at that soiree.

  11. Anonymous says:

    I’m wrapping up packing for Chicago tomorrow, EW. Unfortunately my flight doesn’t arrive until 9:15 am on Thursday, will be hurrying to catch as much as I can of the Liveblogging Libby round table (already booked my non-refundable, pain-in-the-ass-to-change flight when they rescheduled your round table from 2:00pm). Wanted to catch up with you and pick your brains about a gig in Washington I hear was opening…I’m rooming in with SharonRB, we’ll be looking for you. Have fun with your guilt trip, did my own guilt-driven hyper-cleaning last week before heading to the U.P.

  12. mlk says:

    EW,

    Lurker here mostly, but I’ll be at YKos and I’ll be coming straight from the airport to your Liveblogging Libby session. And I’m dragging Mr. MLK with me.

    Look forward to meeting everyone.

  13. phred says:

    Have a blast EW — I won’t be there this year, but I’m hoping for next year maybe. Assuming BillO hasn’t wiped Ykos off the map by then

  14. Anonymous says:

    i’ll certainly be attending the
    libby trial panel — though my
    schedule reads 10 a.m. — i’ll be sure
    to get there early to get a seat,
    and yes, will be listening and
    watching [and possibly v-blogging]
    intently. . .

    learning from the best. . .

    see ya’ in chi-town. . .

  15. Anonymous says:

    I think I caught you briefly to congratulate you on your Plameology, on your way out of the casino last time around — looking forward to the Thursday panel! Cheers

  16. Anonymous says:

    The media emphasis on one â€program†versus another is more of a semantic distinction and I believe distracts from the most spectacular perjury of all in Gonzales’ hearing last Tuesday. Under questioning by both Schumer and Whitehouse, Gonzales specifically claimed that it was at the urging of the Gang of Eight that he went to Ashcroft’s hospital room, paper in hand. Yes, I know he also claimed it was â€at the President’s behest†at another point, and refused to answer questions about Cheney. But he specifically said that the Gang of Eight, as a group, wanted him to get the â€other intelligence activities†continued. This is the heart of the perjury, not his bizarre nomenclature for the data-mining son-of-TIA aspects of Bush’s real â€broader†(McConnell’s words) program. How can we know it’s perjury? Look at EW’s recent handy list of the Gang of Eight as of March 2004. All four Democrats (Daschle, Pelosi, Rockefeller, Harman) have come forward and completely denied Gonzales’ claims not just about the topic but about the proceedings of the meeting. Frist, Hastert, Roberts and Goss have not said a word. And no one in the media will note that this is a total forfeit of the contest.

  17. phred says:

    EW, dday’s post above got me thinking last night… If YKos has a seminar for people to practice being pundits by answering questions, would you please ask someone to compile a list of people who are willing to serve as progressive pundits? Such a list could then be posted on various blogs to get the word out.

    I would love to use that list to start a letter writing campaign to NPR (PBS, pick your favorite network) to ask them to expand their guest list of pundits to get the progressive viewpoint out there.

    I’m really sick of the Rethug and Rethug-lite views that NPR airs (I listen quite a bit), but I don’t know who to suggest as alternatives (well, I do really, but I want to make sure the people I would suggest are willing to do it). Thanks!

  18. Anonymous says:

    Phred has a good idea, above, about networking a few of our bravest and brightest, to be a counterweight to the same, boring, usual suspects on the Bobblehead shows. It’s the segment producers and the bookers that make a majority of these decisions, regarding who goes on which individual show, from a deck of cards, (or in this case a rolodex or PDA’s, etc.) Getting said new volunteer pundits an AFTRA card and an Agent would really go a long way, (a REALLY long, long, way), toward getting this message that no-one is saying, (on the Mouse Circus Shows), out there.

    It’s all about shmoozing…

    FWIW…

  19. phred says:

    L.S./M.F.T. — What’s an AFTRA card and what does it take to get one? And how does one go about getting an agent? Not for me mind you, but I’d be happy to do some leg work for our A list Future Pundits of America, if I knew what to do…

  20. emptypockets says:

    phred: very good idea!

    having a list like that would definitely seem to help pressure news organizations with an infantile concept of â€balance†to at least pick a reasonable counterpart to the Right’s ’think tank’ part of the triangle.

    perhaps you should set up a web page for it — or just a blog to serve simply as a â€request for proposals†forum to flesh out the idea, and to act as a placeholder for what will come if the idea develops — and post a few diaries on the plan

  21. phred says:

    emptypockets — an excellent suggestion, but now you have forced my hand and I must confess that I am a closet Luddite. I don’t have a web page, nor have I ever set one up. I’ll see what I can do though, and will let you know when I have managed to put something together. However, if there are people more adept at such things who want to run with this rather than waiting for me, feel free to bail me out

  22. Anonymous says:

    Darn! First I’ve heard about the booksigning and I left my copy at home, while I have to head straight to the airport from work! Guess I’ll have to buy another, and demote the old one to floating among my friends and relatives.

    Of course, if I had tried to bring along all the books I might be able to get signed this weekend, I have to pack another (really heavy) bag!

  23. Anonymous says:

    Phred – I think you said you were a Mac user. If so, and you have a .mac account, it is ridiculously easy to do what you said. Also easy and effectively free on â€Blogger†(blogger.com), but not quite as simple as .mac

  24. phred says:

    Damn busted again — I got a copy of whatever it is I need to set up a .mac account over a year ago and it has remained safely tucked in its shrink wrapped box. I promise I’ll unwrap it this weekend and see how it goes… Thanks bmaz Speaking of Macs I hope your MacBook is better now…

  25. Neil says:

    House Dems Push Gonzales Impeachment; Specter Unhappy With WH Response

    â€Americans of all stripes believe that we deserve an attorney general who will not allow the politicization of the judicial system,†said the former prosecutor, flanked by other former officers of the law turned legislators. The attorney general should â€respect the laws of privacy†and â€be forthright with the American people and U.S. Congress,†Inslee added.

    If the resolution receives a simple majority, the House Judiciary Committee will conduct an investigation into whether Gonzales has committed any impeachable offenses, such as perjury.

    The months-long investigation into the politically tinged firings of U.S. attorneys last year, and a related one into a secret surveillance program considered by many in DOJ to be illegal, has cast Gonzales in an unflattering light. He was elevated to the job from White House counsel in February 2005.

    Democrats and Republicans alike have pushed for Gonzales to be fired or resign, but both the attorney general and President Bush, a longtime friend and career benefactor, have refused to give in. The White House has also ignored congressional subpoenas in the ongoing investigations.

    Calling impeachment a â€last resort,†Inslee said that Congress’ and the public’s loss of faith in Gonzales was harmful to the judicial system and therefore to democracy. â€Accordingly, I am here today with a number of colleagues to call on the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives to conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether articles of impeachment are appropriately lodged against the attorney general,†the Washington lawmaker said.

    In addition to fellow former prosecutors Michael Arcuri (N.Y.), Xavier Becerra (Calif.), Bruce Braley (Iowa), Ben Chandler (Ky.), Dennis Moore (Kan.), and Tom Udall (N.M.), nine other Democrats have signed on to the bill.

    Udall said that although the evidence was stacked against the AG, the group wanted a bipartisan investigation before weighing an impeachment vote in order to â€afford him due process [that] was denied to the people he fired.â€
    National Journal link

    H.RES.589 : Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. Sponsor: Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1]
    Cosponsors:
    Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Becerra, Xavier [CA-31] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Chandler, Ben [KY-6] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] – 7/31/2007
    Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Hooley, Darlene [OR-5] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Johnson, Henry C. â€Hank,†Jr. [GA-4] – 7/31/2007
    Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Udall, Tom [NM-3] – 7/31/2007
    Rep Wu, David [OR-1] – 7/31/2007

    If your congressmen has signed on as a co-sponsor check here consider writing and thanking them, if not consider writing them and and asking them to.

    http://WWW.CONGRESS.ORG is a handy way to do write your congressmen – click here.

  26. Anonymous says:

    Phred – Better now; but not totally back. My Safari is totally corrupted and doesn’t take to repairing, so I am having to rely on Firefox which, although sometimes a little faster than Safari, I just don’t find as usable for the fairly dim-bulb way I do things….

  27. phred says:

    bmaz — glad to hear it and good luck getting Safari back on its feet… But as for your â€dim-bulbâ€, I take issue with that, I thought I established above that I am the bass-ackward one in these parts… what are you trying to do, take my clear title to Luddite Supremacy away?

  28. emptypockets says:

    phred, if you don’t want to mess with .mac, try blogger as mentioned above — go to http://www.blogger.com and follow the 1, 2, 3.

    I suppose another way to go, since you just want a community-editable list, is to simply add a page at dkosopedia. But something in me likes the idea of not having this pegged directly to any single major blog, and letting it stand alone as a separate clearinghouse.

    What would you want the site to do? I guess you need a thread for collecting nominations for speakers, and for each speaker you want to know something about their area of expertise and perhaps credentials (book authorship, previous media appearances).

    You also want a way to recruit agents and to contact segment producers, as LS/MFT suggests above.

    If you really want to work on this, I’d suggest putting some thought this week into outlining what you’d want the organization to look like and then get a blogger/.mac site up this weekend — then, launch it with a dkos diary early next week when people are back from the convention.

    If you’d like me to post anything here (a â€request for comments†thread, or announcement, or whatever) I’m glad to summarize the idea and put it up, or if you email me something I can just post it for you here with your byline.

    You may want to contact folks like Marcy and the FDL crew, Mike Stark, Maryscott O’Connor, anyone else who has done some media. One decision you’ll need to make is whether you want to be big-tent and include anyone who blogs frequently, or if you want the group to be selective in the styles and opinions allowed to represent it.

  29. phred says:

    emptypockets — I think you and I have different ideas about my intentions here… What I suggested, was for the folks at YKos, participating in seminars related to becoming pundits, to put together an A List of people, representing the progressive blogosphere, who would be WILLING to go on radio and TV shows to present the progressive viewpoint.

    My original suggestion was motivated by my own frustration with NPR pundits tending towards the right and far right. Scarecrow’s post at FDL this morning made me think PBS should be included in this effort… And the effort I had in mind was to encourage people to write letters to NPR and PBS — not just to complain, but to offer a list of people who have views that should be included in our national discourse in the broadcast realm (not just the net).

    By writing letters (making phone calls, etc.) to apply pressure to various news outlets, perhaps we can persuade such organizations to broaden their views. Perhaps we won’t, who knows, but the recent success with Lowe’s regarding advertising on BillO’s show suggests such pressure works.

    If I set up a website to help in this effort, it would be mainly to post the list (with contact info, agents whatever), and possibly provide info on getting an AFTRA card and where to find agents (assuming I can find out anything useful on these topics). However, I am not suggesting that I put together such a list or vet it or anything else. It seems to me that the heavy hitters know who they are (the sites with the most traffic might be a good place to start or the folks on the stage with Digby recently or the ones running seminars at YKos). But before I write NPR asking them to include Markos, Marcy, Christy, Kagro, Jane, Scarecrow, etc., it seemed appropriate to make sure they were willing to venture into the broadcast realm. Perhaps it could be updated annually at YKos, it doesn’t need to be carved in stone, but it should be composed of articulate folks who are willing to go out there and do this sort of thing. Not everyone does well with public speaking (either before a microphone or a camera), so it seemed a bit forward of me to volunteer people off the top of my head.

    I’m happy to keep chewing over this idea with you and come up with something useful, but my original intent was to write NPR and ask for better representation, and I’m a little concerned that that intent could easily veer off into an area (mass media, agents, etc.) where I have no expertise whatsoever.

  30. emptypockets says:

    phred, I think we are thinking along the same lines, unless I’m misunderstanding your idea?… the key element of what you said, I thought, was a letter-writing campaign making use of a list of netroots talkshow guests.

    I didn’t really mean for you to just announce a list — I imagined that it would be a community effort. All I was saying above is that, whether the list is open for folks to nominate themselves or depends community nominations, there will arise a situation where some people think certain individuals shouldn’t be on the list. And there may genuinely be some people who volunteer themselves to be on the list but who are terrible on air (and don’t realize it) or hold viewpoints that half the community objects to.

    I’m just trying to think ahead to what happens next. What may happen is that the letter writing campaign starts being made up of letters that each ask for different lists of speakers, based on the letter-writer’s own preferences. That may be fine. Or maybe it’s better to try to have as many letters as possible asking for representatives from a single list — maybe that unified message carries more power. If each writer promotes a differnent list, I’m afraid the network will feel like there is no way they’re going to please everyone so why bother. And that promoting a single list is a more unified, and therefore more potent, message.

    What do you think? Am I worrying too much?

  31. phred says:

    Nope, we’re worrying about the same things. The two issues you refer to in the second paragraph are exactly why I don’t want this to be a self-nominated system. This is why I think it would be best to put something together at YKos, perhaps through a dedicated seminar for this purpose. First we want volunteers, people who are willing to go before the public, second they need to be articulate, and third they need to represent broadly held views of the progressive community. The last point is the knottiest problem, as I think the great strength of the progressive blogs is the wide open discourse and the range of views that are held. Conversely, the great weakness of the right is their obsessive control of â€the message†prevents them from weeding out the bad ideas and forming consensus behind good ones (ok, this is hypothetical of course, one must begin with the premise that the right _has_ good ideas

    Perhaps, we could have auditions for the A List pundits, again to be held at YKos. This would allow lesser known folks to toss their hat in the ring, get up on stage, and give it a shot. Then attendees could vote on those who expressed the views held by the voters best.

    Of course, there are infinite ways to proceed, but we don’t want to lose sight of the goal of putting together a relatively short list of go-to folks for the media to start inviting to their discussion shows. First up would be Public radio and television, because well, they are supposed to represent the public. After that, the big three network talking head shows.

    I’ll get that web page set up this weekend. Is there a way I can reach you via email? The last couple of times I’ve tried to email Marcy, the link here hasn’t worked. So if you have an email linked somewhere, let me know where and I’ll pop you a note to follow up some more on this…

  32. emptypockets says:

    phred, the only difference is about doing it at yearlykos — makes sense to do it there, in terms of being able to see people live and capitalizing on the enthusiasm surrounding the event. the question is, will it then be perceived as a dailykos media project?

    what I’m worrying about now is, first, the perception that the folks on the list â€represent†dailykos, which I think the site owner would object to. and second, but at least as importantly, that the people who book guests at pbs or npr would be more inclined to respond to a list of â€netroots advocates†than â€dailykos advocates.â€

    you can email me at [email protected] — typepad used to include the link with my name, I hadn’t realized they changed it.

  33. phred says:

    Ahh, now I see the problem with using YearlyKos as the venue. I hadn’t thought of it in quite that way…

    Thanks for the email — I’ll pop you a note over the weekend…