Or something very much like it…

[via Raw Story]

There are some rather admirably bold and rather sneaky things afoot over at MyDD.

They have this plan to influence the information that voters will see in the last remaining days before the November 7th election they call “Google-Bombing the Election.”

Bowers writes (my emphasis)…

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the number one way that voters use the Internet for political action is to search for information on candidates. During the final two weeks of the election, it is reasonable to expect that as many as twenty million voters will be searching for information on candidates online. During this key time, this project will help push the most negative article written by a non-partisan media source on all key Republican candidates to the forefront of any search for that candidate. The negative article will appear both high on all Google searches for the candidates, and as an advertisement that appears whenever anyone searches for that candidate. By giving this article two prominent locations on Google searches for the candidate, and because it will come from a non-partisan source, it will increase the likelihood that the article will be seen and trusted by those searching for information on the candidate.

Man, is that some evil genius thinking, or what? And, in a matter of a few hours, they got most of the articles that they needed.

Also, in partnership now with MoveOn, they’re doing this really tough plan called Use or Lose It, that’s designed to guilt Democrats in safe seats to donate more money to candidates in the rapidly expanding list of possibly competitive races.

Again, Bowers…

Call the ultra-safe Democrats in your state on this list. When you call, you will be told that these Democrats have already given money to Democratic challengers and party committees. Don’t be daunted: Here are several ways to respond:

* Tell them that you know they have already given this cycle, but our target list hasn’t been this deep–60-70 Republicans seats!–in over twenty years, and it needs to be fully funded, so they need to give more.
* Tell them the grassroots have never given this much before, and safe Democratic incumbents need to do the same.
* Tell them the DCCC and the DNC are taking out loans of more than $10 million in order to fund seats that have not been competitive in a decade.
* Tell them the time to buy new media is running out, and with every passing day, media buys will become more expensive for our candidates.

MyDD also weighs in on the surprising (not) news that Barack Obama’s thinking about running for president.

Matt Stoller writes a reasonably sober piece on the prospect…

Though you probably know me as someone who’s not a fan of Barack Obama, I do want the Senator to run for President in 2008. I think it would be good for him, good for the party, and good for the country. I’m big on process, on public debate, on public deliberation, and we need his voice in the fray. We need to hear from him, what’s his vision? What are his principles? What kind of America does he support? How will he stand up to pressure when he is debating other Democrats? In other words, what, exactly is his voice? Is he the Barack Obama who criticizes our political system for its smallness, its lack of vision, as he puts it in his stump speech? Or is he the Barack Obama who praises George Bush, and goes along and gets along in the Senate, ruffling no feathers and making sure that the smallness of our system is what he embraces? Or is the Barack Obama that thinks that this country is not ready for the sacrifices he knows are coming, and so will revel in his symbolic emptiness?

I think there are two keys to understanding Barack. The first is to look at his formative political experience, the seering loss to machine politician Bobby Rush in the Democratic primary in 2000. Before Brand Obama emerged, the Senator got destroyed by bucking the system. Losing to a machine, as Cory Booker also did, does strange things to idealistic-appearing hyperambitious politicians. It makes them a lot more wary of picking fights and making enemies, and it makes them a lot more inclined to cultivate chits and work within a system they know isn’t working.

Well, I think it’s admirable to try to logically predict the pitfalls awaiting Obama if he ends up running, but c’mon…

He’s a superstar.

Despite how frustrating his actions in the Senate have been thus far to many of us in the Netroots, I doubt that anything can knock him off his rock star pedestal. Just read the latest Time magazine cover article.

I predict he’ll run, win the nomination, and win the Presidency with the widest margin since Reagan.

And finally, also in Time, I’d like to highlight the close to a rather favorable ariticle on Dean and the 50 state strategy.

I sometimes wonder if the editorial policy the world over is that the “Scream” must be referenced in any article about our former favorite Republican Governor (my emphasis)…

That Dean’s project might pay dividends this year is surprising to everyone, including its creator. “I didn’t expect much to come of this strategy for four or even six years,” Dean told TIME. And if one of the red-state candidates wins, Dean may show he can scream even louder in vindication than he once did in defeat.

Maybe, maybe not…

But, I’ve been milking the dozen or so doctored photos of my trip to Paris last spring, all taken with a disposable b+w camera, for quite some time.

And I think I’ve run out of ones that I’d want to post.

If you’re interested in seeing all of them, I think this might get you there.

Stravinsky Fountain - Paris, France - March 2006

I wanted to do something for Green Mountain Daily that was in keeping with the web community philosophy that the more you know about the people behind a web site, the more interested you’ll be in what they have to say — unless, of course, the extra information includes some rather disturbing IM messages.

So, based on a similar idea by James Boyce on Huffington Post, I decided I’d do a kind of Meet the Bloggers feature of my own to let people know the writers of GMD a little better.

But, the idea came with a bad omen…

Cuz, following Boyce’s original entry, he profiled Peter Daou, who soon disappeared from the blogosphere to work for Hillary Clinton. And then, almost on the day he posted his profile of Jerome Armstrong, news began to spread about Armstrong’s past run-in with the SEC and his fondness for astrology-based, political fortune telling.

And, with that, the series ended.

So, in order to appease the Stars, who are perhaps a little miffed about the demotion of Pluto, I decided to just post the responses to my first interview question: What is your first political memory?

And, so here they are:

Jack McCullough…

My first political memory was the night JFK won the nomination for presidency in 1960. This was a big deal for my family, and that election is the first one I really remember.

Odum…

Vietnam Cease Fire. What was it…january of…’73? I think it made an impression ‘cuz my family was watching so intently, and I was able by that time to read enough to recognize the words "cease fire" in the wipe/box over the anchorman’s (Harry Reasoner, maybe?) shoulder.

Ed Garcia…

Goodness, I forgot all about this.

Mine is being taken by my grandparents to see George McGovern at a whistle stop in Stockton, CA in the summer of ‘72. My grandmother told me, "When you see Senator McGovern, mijo, you tell him you’re going to be the first Mexican-American President of the United States!" And I did. He laughed and said, "Good for you!" and shook my little hand.

DAMN, I wish I had a picture of that. I was seven and a half.

Anyway, i left there with a baloon, and one of those blue-on-white McGovern stickers. Which I applied to the back bumper of my mom’s ‘67 Firebird. BOY, was she pissed. Especially since she couldn’t get it off. She didn’t dare spank me, though - she didn’t want to hear it from my dad and grandfather; she was already hearing it enough for supporting Nixon.

My parents were divorced. Hell, if my wife went Republican, I’d divorce her too. And she knows it.

Actually, i think that was a couple years after the day i asked my grandma what all those little stick men behind Walter Cronkite were. I was sitting in her lap. She drew me closer and crossed me and whispered, "Those are boys who died in the war."

Later on, I went to play in the garden with my army men, but it wasn’t as much fun that day. For some reason.

Mataliandy…

Mine was sitting in the back seat of our big old green station wagon, waiting in line at the Jack-in-the Box drive-through. It was just getting dark out. The radio was on, but I wasn’t paying attention. Then my parents both started exlaiming their utter disbelief that “he” had been elected. My Dad said something along the lines of “How could this happen? Doesn’t anyone remember?” Then we got a lecture on “this guy’s” history, and how important it is to vote, so that a “liar like this guy” could never be elected again. It seemed like a very loooong drive home. As annoying as it was to a little kid hankering for her hamburger and fries, it did sink in.

I did not know at the time who "he" was (I was a bit too young to have any clue). It was Nixon.

And here’s mine…

A discussion of Nixon’s resignation happening around me on a porch while on vacation in Maine. Based on the August 9th, 1974 resignation date, it well could have been right as it was happening and I must have been 4 years old… Conversation like “Thank God, we’re getting rid of that bastard…” is what I remember…

What’s interesting, aside from the obvious fact that, except for Jack, we’re all pretty much the same age, is that clearly we all grew up in families with a perhaps pathological interest in politics.

So, I suppose, this is how junkie bloggers are born.

(And, of course, you’re certainly encouraged to answer the question in the comments, too… )

John Zogby just announced yesterday in a press release that there will be a new liberal talk radio network launching with Mike Malloy Show on October 30th…

Malloy was let go from Air America recently, and, to be honest, I was never a huge fan. His style that mixes his sweet Georgia mountain accent with frequent contrived volume escalations usually rubbed me the wrong way.

And, though I appreciate the sentiments, his consistent use of the phrase “Bush Crime Family” and “Chuckle Nuts” to refer to the Bush clan and W. in particular, among many other similar rants, didn’t seem to be all that effective for growing an audience outside of the 9/11 truth movement.

Nova M will feature Malloy and John Zogby, and a few others at first, and Joe Trippi is listed as the main “Media Communications Consultant.”

Anyway, here’s a bit from the Nova M website…

It is with great excitement and optimism that I announce today the formation of a new progressive talk radio network. Myself along with my partners, Anita and Sheldon Drobny; the original cofounders of the Air America Radio Network, want to be the first to tell all you “truth seekers” that the original truth seeker himself Mike Malloy will be born again live on the public airwaves. The planned second coming (barring any apocalypse) is scheduled for October 30, 2006.

The Mike Malloy Show will initially broadcast live, from 9PM -12 Midnight (EST) on Nova M Radio affiliate 1480-AM KPHX Phoenix.

In addition, I’m equally excited to announce our strategic partnership with Joe Trippi and associates. Joe Trippi revolutionized electoral politics in America with his instrumental role in Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, raising over $40 million in small donor contributions over the internet. Joe created a new paradigm in how campaigns locally and nationally are conducted by leveraging the scope and breadth of innovative internet-based technologies and digital tools. Joe and his team will help us reach out to millions of us who share common values and common goals.

Also joining our team will be internationally renowned pollster John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International. John will be co-hosting a weekly one hour show, “The Pulse of the Nation” where John polls particular hot button issues from politics and pop culture to the War in Iraq and stem cell research. Each program will include expert guests and audience participation. At the end of each show John will reveal the secret results of the poll and each listener will then know whether or not they have their finger on “The Pulse of the Nation”!

Anybody who was involved with Dean for America, Democracy Fest, or Blog for America certainly knows the name Charlie Grapski, the Florida-based Democratic activist.

Well, Raw Story is reporting that he’s been formally charged with felony wiretapping because of his efforts to investigate the possibility of election fraud in the state of Florida.

Miriam Raftery writes…

Grapski is charged with felony wiretapping for making an audiotape of his efforts to obtain documents at City Hall. Those documents related to a lawsuit alleging fraud in the canvassing of absentee ballots in the election of Commissioner James A. Lewis, who won by 18 absentee votes.

“This is not the first time that sitting Commissioners who are candidates for an election have won by absentee votes. This seems to be a chronic problem here and nobody takes it seriously,” Thomas said. “Suddenly absentee ballots disappear. It’s outrageous.”

Grapski audiotaped City Manager Clovis Watson, who commented on the fact that he was being taped, consented, and kept talking, Thomas noted. Subsequently Watson, who also serves as Police Commissioner (an apparent violation of Florida law that prohibits officials from holding more than one public office at a time), ordered Grapski arrested.

“He didn’t do anything a newspaper reporter doesn’t do every day. It’s absurd,” Thomas said. “While he was being arrested, the editor of a newspaper was in there audiotaping this.” A third person, Green Party representative Michael Canney, was also present making audiotapes. Canney and Grapski have been threatened with additional charges, but the newspaper editor has not, Thomas said.

I had heard a while ago about this potential legal trouble from folks over at Howard Empowered, but I’m surprised that it’s gone this far. Check that site for updates, either in the comments, or in main blog posts.

Without knowing really any of the details, this Raw Story piece certainly makes the charges seem absurd.

Air America has filed for bankruptcy, but will remain on the air.

And for a closer look at the crazy inner workings of that quixotic start-up, see the documentary, Left of the Dial.

Passionate Late Update: Philip Baruth wrote one of his most well-written, moving and passionate posts today. It’s about today’s environmental rally at UVM featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. among others…

Read it (and weep if you’re trying this blogging thing yourself).

Now here’s another picture I took on a trip to Paris last spring…

Detail of Église de Saint-German-des-Prés - Paris - March 2006

Seriously…

News-7 Poll: Goode leads Weed in 5th District

Republican Congressman Virgil Goode holds a 24-point lead over his Democratic opponent, Al Weed, in the first SurveyUSA poll of the campaign.

Pollsters interviewed 1,000 adults in Virginia’s 5th District. Of them, 838 were registered voters, and 417 of them were judged to be “likely voters.”

Of the likely voters, 59 percent said they’d vote for Goode if the election were held today; 35 percent said they’d vote for Weed.

Goode got 93 percent of those identifying themselves as Republicans, while Weed got 82 percent of the Democrats. Independents back Goode by a five-to-four margin.

No comment necessary… Olbermann is just hilarious and cutting at the same time…

(h/t to the C to the B…)

I was browsing through TPM Muckraker this morning and saw the article “DIY Muckraking Gets Boost” and read that the Sunlight Foundation has been spreading around some grant money to fund a slew of new open government database-driven websites.

Paul Kiel writes…

Over at OMBWatch, they’ve just launched FedSpending.org, a searchable database of federal grants and contracts. It’s similar to the website recently mandated by the Coburn-Obama law, though that website will only be available in 2008. Curious what contracts add up to Lockheed Martin’s $24,779,249,050 this year? You can find out there.

At the Center for Responsive Politics, you can get a rundown of the net worth of every member of Congress and the administration, as well as breakdowns from their financial disclosure statements.

The group also launched a new travel database, where you see the sponsored trips taken by each member of Congress in the past two years.

This, after Vermont’s own Zephyr Teachout of the Sunlight Foundation was doing a great job yesterday on the Young Turks discussing some of the new organization’s (apparently funded in part by George Soros’ Open Society Institute… hey, for once someone actually is being funded by Soros!) initiatives, including their Congress in 30 Seconds ad contest and their Punch Clock campaign.

The ad contest asks people to mix their own ads about government accountability and the Punch Clock deal offers money to citizens who can get members of Congress or candidates for Congress to agree to post their daily schedules.

This is all for a good cause, since, right now, it’s so hard to find out what exactly these folks are up to.

But, if you look at the Center for Responsive Politics’ Personal Financial Disclosure database — looking just at the top 20 wealthiest members of the Senate — I think it’s clear that, for at least some of them, stewarding their vast fortunes must account for a big chunk of the day.

All I can say is… Um… Man, these folks are loaded. And, believe me, this is not a Republican-only issue.

I mean, I know Frist has money, but Tom Harkin? How the hell is Mr. Just-Plain-Folks-and-the-Conscience-of-Iowa worth between 5 and 10 million dollars?

I am definitely in the wrong line of work…

Or am I?

Cuz, on a related note, VDB has a tough assessment of the encroachment of Big Money into the worlds of the A-list bloggers of our day.

P.B. writes…

…this morning, I drop into Daily Kos, only to find that the banner is now rubbing elbows with the Chevron logo (many thanks to NJ [that ’s me, by the way] for technical assistance):

Yes, it’s Chevron talking about alternative energy. And yes, maybe in some way, that necessary dialogue — even though born of shameless New York City marketing pow-wows — requires the engagement of the netroots.

But it couldn’t be any clearer what Chevron is attempting, at the most basic level: a sort of frictionless synergy between Pretty Big Netroots and Really Big Oil.

When Unilever buys Ben&Jerry’s Ice Cream and then — after a decent interval — tells Ben and Jerry to down-size the social mission or hit the highway, we have a name for that deft corporate maneuvering, a name based on the metaphor of white-wash: we call it green-washing, and its common as dirt these days.

What to call it when Chevron speaks to you with the community-friendly Kos logo in the background?

“Net-washing” will do until a better term comes along.

Of course, Kos, Marshall, and Duncan Black are not at McCain levels of wealth and influence… Yet…

But, I think Baruth is right to draw our attention to the possibilty of increasing levels of influence of large corporate entities on the leading supposedly independent major netroots ventures.

I certainly don’t blame those folks for wanting to run profitable businesses. And, I’m quite sure I’d have a lot of trouble turning down a large “donation” from Chevron if I were in the same position. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not cause for concern.

So, kudos to Baruth (should that be “barudos?”) for not letting the left off the hook in the age-old discussion about the dangers of the confluence of money and power.