DCDL

I see that NOW (WETA Friday 8:30 PM, MPT Saturday 1:30 PM) is doing a segment on the lefty blogosphere airing locally tonight and tomorrow afternoon:

NOW visited one of the blogosphere’s biggest events, the YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas, to see if the bloggers can turn their online advocacy into on-the-ground results.

[…]

NOW also talks to Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, one of the Internet’s biggest and most influential political blog sites. “You have a couple million people reading liberal blogs…and they’re looking for ways to get involved. And they’re looking for ways to participate and take hold of their own democracy. And that is powerful,” says Moulitsas.

I’m glad to hear that PBS is giving some visiblity to the lefty blogosphere. I do sort of wish we could get beyond the notion that Kos is the lefty blogosphere.

I should also mention they have a link for finding a progressive blog in your area, or a conservative blog.

Did you know that there’s no progressive blogs in DC? Sorry, you’re just out of luck. Plenty of conservative blogs, though.

The partnership between DC Drinking Liberally Wednesdays and Mark & Orlando’s has come to an end, so the group must find a new location. Here’s what Micha, the DCDL Wednesdays organizer, has to say about his search:

I am currently looking at other venues in Dupont Circle, and have contacted Frontpage about the possibility of moving there. However, my knowledge of DC bars is limited. We need a place which has either a separate room, or an area which is somewhat separate from the main bar so our speakers don’t have to shout over the rest of the bar. If the venue has a TV as well, we could continue to host occasional movie screenings as well. And, of course, if anyone knows the owner or manager of a place, that’s helpful as well. I am considering the Dupont Circle and Capital Hill areas right now. (and, for people who suggested Busboys and Poets, it is a wonderful venue, but they do charge for their space, and they already have events scheduled for most Wednesdays)

If you have any ideas or connections, e-mail Micha at dcwed{at}drinkingliberally.org.

Is a squeeker.

Al Wynn and Donna Edwards are neck and neck for House District 3. The Baltimore Sun has the online results.

Looks like it’s going to be a couple hundred votes either way.

Update: If you want to read a horrific first-hand account of voting in Maryland, I suggest Avi Rubin’s blog. I gather he’s a CompSci professor at Johns Hopkins and has been looking at issues of electronic voting.

Here’s a choice excerpt:

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but it’s all money. They are too cheap to do this right. They should have a real tech person in each precinct, but that costs too much, so they go out and hire a bunch of contractors the day before the election, and they think that they can train us, but it’s too compressed.” Around 4 pm, he came and told me that he wasn’t doing any good there, and that he was too frustrated, and that he was going home. We didn’t see him again.

Come see it.

I know it’s short notice, but I figure it’s a better alternative than watching ABC’s dreck.

Update: WOW it was well-done. It proposes no explanations, it only takes what information is publically available and verified and sets it in chronological order. Interesting to see a documentary, and hear the thoughts (or misgivings) expressed about things they couldn’t cover from the people who both were behind it and one of the people in it.

One interesting thing that came up is that al-Jazeera will be airing it Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

I think I’ll go see it again tomorrow just to get a better sense of it. It’s going to be at Ben’s Chili Bowl, which is right across from the U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro station. ^.^

Tonight at DC Drinking Liberally, we got to see a preview of the first episode of The Hill. First off, it was like any documentary - the production values were a little roughened, the camera cuts a little sharp, etc. But it did what it meant to do - get a sense of the people across. I was fortunate enough to be in the room with at least three of the staffers, looking back and forth between the screen and them. Yes, the people on the show are people on Congressman Wexler’s staff, and he is there as well.

But I’ll be honest - the show is all about the staffers, and even if it wasn’t, they would have stolen the show right from Wexler.

You hear political opinions you might or might not completely agree with, but you see human beings in the process - and you get to see political opinions expressed on television that you just don’t outside of say, the Daily Show. You see people whose goals are sane.

The scenes leading up to and during the 2004 election… are worth seeing the first episode alone, even if it tears your heart out. It did mine, but those moments are FAR from everything wonderful about that half-hour.

I couldn’t stay for the discussion afterwards. I very, very much wish I didn’t have to bolt out at the end of the show, and I wish I had enough time to give you a real idea of just how uplifting this was - not because it was a slick production, but because it shows some of the very real feelings and frustration with living under a GOP government, and still evokes the tremendous fight still left in us.

The DC Chapter of Drinking Liberally is pleased to announce a special pre-launch showing of the new Sundance Channel series “The Hill” Thursday, August 10, 6:30-9 at Timberlake’s, 1726 Connecticut Ave NW (Dupont Circle Metro). Things get rolling at 6:30 with free appetizers and $1 off on drinks. At 7:30 we’ll screen the premiere episode, “Fighting the Good Fight”, followed by Q&A with the documentary subjects Eric Johnson, Jonathan Katz, Lale Mamaux and Halie Soifer.

Set in the office of Congressman Robert Wexler (Democrat, Florida), “The Hill,” is a Sundance Channel documentary series offering a rare glimpse into the charged world of congressional politics. Set to premiere on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 at 9:00pm e/p., “The Hill” is produced by Roland Park Pictures, Inc. and directed by Ivy Meeropol, a filmmaker (Heir to An Execution) and a former Capitol Hill speechwriter and legislative aide. The six-part series peers into the personal and professional lives of Wexler’s young, smart and driven staff.

The DC chapter of Drinking Liberally hopes you can make it for Dinner & a Movie this Saturday featuring the DC premiere of “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

We’re meeting at 7 at the E Street Cinema, 555 11th Street NW (Metro Center station) for seating at 7:15. Dinner afterwards (9:30) is at the British-style pub Elephant & Castle, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

For background on the movie, and an interview with the director, Chris Paine, check out this episode of NOW.

For GM’s response to “Who Killed the Electric Car?” see this post on the GM blog.

Heh. Gotta love the 1% culture of life. Here are the rules:

1. If there’s even a fraction of a 1% chance that something will result in Republican voters having a baby, then it must be protected, and all contrary efforts are anathema.

2. Once a fetus hits puberty:

a. If it’s a boy (unless it’s brown, then see 2c, unless already directed here from another rule), give it a gun and point it at brown people. Or give it a keyboard and point it at Democrats or other undesirables. Otherwise, to hell with it; throw it in jail.
b. If it’s a girl (unless it’s brown, then see 2c, unless already directed here from that rule), administer under rule #1. Unless it objects, in which case see 2a.
c. If it’s brown, and it won’t talk like Anne Coulter or worse *cough* better, then see 2a.

Did I miss anything?

Couldn’t resist the opportunity to throw y’all some snark.

See y’all tomorrow at Timberlake’s.

Last night at DC Drinking Liberally Thursday we got Timberlake’s to turn on MSNBC so we could watch the debate in Connecticut between Bush’s best friend among Senate Democrats, Joe Lieberman, and his primary opponent, Ned Lamont. Yes, it cut into our time for socializing, but everyone was eager to see how the challenger stood up to the senator. I was worried about Lamont for the first few minutes, but he quickly got more comfortable and easily held his own even though Lieberman is much more experienced with debating and with being on television. And in this situation, holding his own is a win.

A few more observations:

• It seemed like Lieberman got a lot more rebuttals than Lamont.
• According to Lieberman, Lamont is (1) a wild-eyed leftist who’s also (2) a closet Republican and (3) has donated to Lieberman in the past and thus agrees with him on all issues other than the war.
• A bit of belated advice for Lieberman: If your opponent’s main point is that you’re too Republican, it’s probably not the best idea to repeatedly try a debating trick (“There you go again!”) stolen from Ronald Reagan.

For coverage of the race, I’ve been reading LamontBlog (currently featuring a disturbing shirtless Cheney, but that will pass), ConnecticutBlog, and the community site My Left Nutmeg, as well as the official Lamont campaign blog.

The conventional wisdom seems to be that while Republicans have badly blown their time in government and are becoming increasing unpopular with the American public, Democrats are failing to take political advantage of Republican corruption and incompetence and thus will still have a hard time in this year’s elections. How much of that is because of Rovian political brilliance among the Republicans? fondness for Republican talking points among the media? Democratic cowardice and ineffectuality?

Amy Sullivan is a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly and author of a forthcoming book on religion and politics. Hear what she thinks at Drinking Liberally Thursday, June 29, at 6:30pm in the back room at Timberlake’s, 1726 Connecticut Ave NW (Dupont Circle Metro). Her talk will be “Democrats: As Lame as You Think or Secretly Brilliant?” — riffing on the themes developed in her May article in the Washington Monthly.

As usual, we’ll have free appetizers and drink specials until 9. The talk will begin around 7:30, but get there early to be sure to get a seat — and to get in some socializing.

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