Of Sarah Palin, Africa, Martin Eisenstadt, fakery, confusion and the news media

2 comments November 12th, 2008

 

Whatever introduction I might write for this story, I can’t do it justice.

Suffice it to say that it’s a little complicated — and pretty funny.

Check HERE first, and then HERE and HERE.

UPDATE: You should also read THIS.

GOP grip on filibuster weapon is shaky

Add comment November 12th, 2008

 

The conventional political wisdom, based on simple mathematics, is that U.S. Senate Republicans retained filibuster power when Democrats failed to increase their number of seats to 60 in last week’s election.

This arrangement, the theory goes, will allow Republican senators to block any exceedingly liberal legislation pushed by the Democratic majority.

But the wisdom and the theory are both wrong — or least not nearly as solid as one might think.

Joe Conason EXPLAINS the situation.

POSTSCRIPT: If you need a refresher course on the filibuster, check HERE.

Election results vindicate the polls

Add comment November 12th, 2008

 

It’s an article of faith among some conservatives that America’s major polling organizations are biased toward the liberal side of the political spectrum.

These skeptics often contend that there’s a conspiracy among pollsters, and they love to cite anecdotal “proof” that the polls are way off base. (Consider, for example, the bleating by THIS GUY.)

And then there are the people (including a few of our regular commenters here on Applesauce) who don’t understand that the newspapers or networks that sponsor polls don’t actually conduct them themselves; they hire professionals to do the job. That’s why the results of Fox News polls don’t differ much from the surveys sponsored by The New York Times or NBC.

Funny thing, however. These critics of the polls have been mostly silent over the past week. I wonder why. Could it be that the pre-election polls were shown to be amazingly accurate? Yeah, that must be it.

Writing in the National Journal, Mark Blumenthal of  Pollster.com has an interesting SUMMARY.

Pitchfork brigades angry at hints that their beloved Fox News Channel is mellowing

7 comments November 12th, 2008

 

Talk about your schadenfreude!

THIS STUFF is just too, too delicious.

GOP Civil War: Reformers vs. Traditionalists

1 comment November 12th, 2008

David Brooks, a conservative himself, SETS THE STAGE for the coming battle between wings of the Republican Party in the wake of the disastrous Bush administration and the party’s losses at the ballot box.