Monday, March 08, 2004

A "Real Shooter" at the Kennedy School Earlier this year, Jesse Ventura promised to bring a "real shooter" to the Kennedy School to discuss counter terrorism from the perspective of an active participant.  It looks like Jesse will make good on his promise by having Richard Marcinko as his special guest tomorrow.  Here are the details. "Body Slamming the Political Establishment: Third Party Politics" "Fighting Terrorism at the Ground Level" Tuesday - March 9, 2004 @ 4:00-5:30 PM Led by: IOP Fellow JESSE VENTURA, Governor of Minnesota (1999 - 2004) Guest: Richard Marcinko, SEAL Team 6 commander and best-selling author Location: Lowell House JCR 1:18:46 PM    comment []

RNC Leans on TV Stations to Stop Moveon.org's Ads The Republican National Committee thinks Moveon.org's ads violate the Federal Elections law.  They sent a letter to roughly 250 TV stations to tell them so. Moveon.org is considered a "527" organization for the purposes of the Federal Election Commission rules.  Lynn Sweet over at the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics warned earlier this year that under the new Campaign Finance Reform regs (McCain-Feingold), these "527's" organizations would be playing a big role in the 2004 presidential race. Apparently the rules re "527's" are murky and subject to a wide variety of interpretations.  As usual, lawyers will be the primary beneficiaries of this ambiguity. This week's guest at Lynn's workshop will be Steven Moore, the president of Club for Growth.  This group is credited with wounding if not killing Dean in Iowa by funding the "Sushi eating, Volvo driving, latte drinking..." anti Dean ad.   Lynn's IOP workshop usually is held at 4pm on Thurs. in the faculty dining room.  For some reason her event has fallen off the IOP calendar.  It could just be a mechanical issue.  According to the IOP calendar, Steven Moore will be presenting at a JFK Forum at 6pm on Thurs. March 11 entitled "Why Bush's Tax Cuts Should be Made Permanent."    6:57:45 AM    comment []

Follow up on CNN's Dean "Documentary" I did get a chance to watch CNN's True Believers - Life Inside the Dean Campaign last night in a noisy sports bar.  They really should have entitled the piece... "The Rise and Fall of Howard Dean as Seen Through the Eyes of Joe Trippi."  The gist I get from the report is: 1. Howard Dean and Joe Trippi were not the best of friends. 2. Dean became increasingly suspicious of Trippi when Joe's mug started appearing on magazine covers. 3. Joe Trippi couldn't "control" Howard Dean and Howard would have a tendency to shot himself in the foot. 4. Joe is quirky and "get's it" whereas Howard is square and doesn't. 5. Joe takes no responsibility for a disorganized campaign in Iowa even though he was nominally the campaign manager. 6. That the movement "Dean for American" somehow got attached to the wrong guy and that the right guy is Joe Trippi.  You can demonstrate your support by sending your checks directly to Joe at his bucolic "farm" on "Cummings Creek" on Maryland's eastern shore. Maybe I'm too cynical.  If you were able to watch the show, I'd love to hear your comments.     6:20:39 AM    comment []

Sell, sell, sell ! Warren Buffet, the "Sage of Omaha," doesn't like where the economy is headed and he's a card carrying Republican.  You can read the CNN snopsis here or the full text of his annual letter to the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders here.   6:14:14 AM    comment []