Friday, October 01, 2004

Broadband on the road, chapter the latest. Hotel InterContinental, Chicago. As one checks in, one notices a stack of red plastic boxes behind the counter, each marked with the words "StayOnline." One learns that each box contains a wireless modem, available to guests free of charge ($100 deposit, refunded on checkout). Plug it into the back of your computer, you have fast access, $9.99 for 24 hours. Works best by the window. StayOnline website. 6:49:31 PM    comment []

Fox News admits: sometimes we just make stuff up to make Kerry look bad. Lots more from Josh Marshall. 6:22:41 PM    comment []

Hmm...Instapundit pimped the Tim Chavez "good news from Iraq" column, but has yet to comment on Berenson's note blasting the columnist for using suspect sources and getting critical facts wrong. I even suggested to Glenn that he could print "Chavez" with a superscript, as he did in the 700 million references he made to the Rather memos... UPDATE: Glenn notes the corrections to Chavez at Romenesko's blog. 6:09:53 PM    comment []

Todd Morman drinks the Kool-Aid. "I hereby prostrate myself before the altar of Blogger Triumphalism." Actually, I'm a long-time critic of overstating the impact of blogs. Just Triumphant Enough, that's my motto. (And yes, Binker, I know they drank Flav-R-Aid at Jonestown, but I think it's time to give up the fact-checking fight and learn to love the metaphor.) 8:32:49 AM    comment []

I thought Kerry won the debate. Much more interesting: pro-Bush bloggers who thought Kerry won. Kos has a roundup. My take derives in some part from the fact that Kerry's message was one I believe: whatever the case for war in Iraq, Bush has mismanaged the situation there and should be held accountable. And while I try to get beyond style, the fact is that Bush is very weak in this format, and his peevish performance last night was far from his best. Kerry presented well. On the other hand, I'm a worst-caser, always trying to see how things might look to people who don't feel as I do...and in that light, I thought Kerry still looked strong. Atrios has polls that say lots of people agree. 8:24:04 AM    comment []

Debate transcript. Spin is everywhere. Roll your own. 8:12:54 AM    comment []

A Winston-Salem lawyer blogs about a controversial NC death penalty case. 7:59:33 AM    comment []

The Erskine Bowles campaign has raised over $200,000 online, from 1,685 donors. 7:19:01 AM    comment []

Another war correspondent, the WSJ's Farnaz Fassihi, sent an email to friends that has been widely distributed. From the email: "Despite President Bush's rosy assessments, Iraq remains a disaster. If under Saddam it was a 'potential' threat, under the Americans it has been transformed to 'imminent and active threat,' a foreign policy failure bound to haunt the United States for decades to come." Lots of detail. She's there, and she's verified that she wrote the email. 7:14:37 AM    comment []

NYT war reporter Alex Berenson calls a Tim Chavez column "a disgrace," says Tennessee writer should apologize to Iraq correspondents. Berenson writes Romenesko to call out Nashville columnist Chavez, who wrote a recent, Instapundit-approved column about the media coverage from Iraq. Berenson: "I can tell you firsthand that the report Tim Chavez supposedly received from a Marine lieutenant colonel claiming that  'HUNDREDS of dead women and children were brought out after Sadr left' the shrine of Imam Ali is entirely false. Does he really think that the correspondents on the scene would have covered that up, or that the Iraqi government and the American military would not have broadcast that fact around the world? Tim, let me ask you directly: Have you ever been a reporter? Do you have any idea what makes a good story?...Most of the rest of your piece is equally fictitious...Tim, your piece is a disgrace. You ought to apologize for it to the correspondents who are risking their lives on the ground in Iraq." 7:06:59 AM    comment []