WKYC's Director's Cut with Frank Macek: Meet the Bloggers: Coverage of Ch 3's Debate

WKYC's Director's Cut with Frank Macek: Meet the Bloggers: Coverage of Ch 3's Debate, from BlogJock Frank Macek, the Tuesday-night view from the WKYC Information Center's Social Media Group.

One of the most inspiring and exciting things for me happened even before the blog software got rolling and the talking heads got to broadcasting, when Rita Andolson, the news director, related the story of how she had politely lobbied early on for the opportunity of having Cleveland host the debate, gotten the outside chance when Columbus balked, and put the whole thing together in a little over two weeks, with a little help from her friends at CSU. It was a story about a community that has it all and is perfectly positioned coming together quickly to seize an opportunity. I haven't felt this good about the way things are going around here since the 60s. We are poised for great things, and now is the time to act. Rita has taken the lead.

I think it's the women especially who are going to turn this thing around. On a dime. Stay tuned.

Guys, admit to it and have a far better existence: They're smarter than us, and they run everything anyway, so put aside your egos and submit to the inevitable eventuality of women running things, of the feminization of society coming into its own. I bring you this advice as a friend, as one of you, as a shadow husband whose life has improved immensely since retreating to the shadows of greatness.

video reprise of the debate night MTB command and control center

The Franchise Video Blog » Cleveland Democratic Presidential Debate LiveBlogging Video -- I am the balding/bald one to the left of Joel's new Flip Video Ultra camera which, according to the December issue of LAPTOP Magazine is the Editor's Choice and offers near-seamless integration with YouTube. I think Gloria needs to get one of these--the higher-end version can store up to 1 hour of content.

Joel Libava's constantly thinking about new angles, and I'm glad we have the opportunity to be working with him on these pioneering community-dialogue efforts. And now, I know what a Flip Vid is and does, and everybody ought to run out and get one.

2235--again, the ever-present I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I of Hilar-I

This lady is too much about herself, and not much about the rest of us. Her anecdotes are lame.

This debate was weak. I think I saw more of Hilar-I than I really needed. For me, Obama provided the only bright spots. I really have trouble being even-handed with Hilary.

Now, here comes Dan Moulthrop and somebody from the PD--Sabrina Eaton.

2234--here's who's been involved in this blogging tonight at WKYC

from Brian Lehman, to all of us:

Brian Layman to collisionbend, Derek, Will, Roger, gloria, Roger, gloria, George, me, Gloria, Derek, will, franpro, Jill, Jeff
show details 9:01 PM (1 hour ago) Reply

http://subsetofderek.blogspot.com/ Derek Arnold
http://Timferris.blogspot.com Tim Ferris
http://www.twitter.com/frampro Joel Libava
http://www.gloriaferris.net Gloria Ferris
http://www.collisionbend.com Will Kessel
http://fsgf.blogspot.com Roger Bundy
http://www.onevotematters.com Brian Layman
http://www.twitter.com/georgenemeth http://www.twitter.com/meetthebloggers George Nemeth
http://laurakessel.blogspot.com Laura Kessel

______________________________________________
Brian Layman
b5media Inc.
www.b5Media.com / www.TheCodeCave.com
Skype: BrianLayman
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brianlayman
Cell: (330) 858-3446
Fax: (416) 849-0347
TF: 866-652-7189

2224--reject and renounce are the new buzzwords

from before--

Hilary: "...spends most of his time praising pootin'"--just sounds funny--I can't take this lady too seriously, because she takes herself so seriously. No humor. None at all.

Hilary takes back her war stance from prior years. Then tries to anchor things in the present. Not convincing. Now, she is launching into some sort of prepared stump speech wrap-up

Obama points out his one failure to stand up, his inaction. He wraps better, speaking to the debates prior. She seems sort of deflated, disarmed. He is being gracious. George points out that she realizes now that she missed her chance to shine, to be gracious, to truly be Glinda the Good Witch. Gloria points out he;s certainly more of the statesman.

Russert goes to the issue of "worthiness."

2214--Obama and the Jewish community

Obama tries to clarify where he stands with the Jewish community. Hilary tries to glom on with her anecdote. Why do I feel that it's going to be a non sequitur?

Now, for the first time, Obama stares daggers at her. He recovers quickly and is composed. She overstepped, it seems. For the first time, here comes lots of applause on Obama's critical distinction between "reject" and "denounce."

2156--a Hannity focus group

Joel tells us a buncha Hannities have Hilary out front--lotta hogwash

the Hannities may want her to be in the runoff against McCain, so McCain won't have so tough a row to hoe.

Hilary now tells us what a fighter she is--it's all self-proclaimed. Now, she uses one of my lines, about "get that money back." Why is it I don't find her believable, even when she's telling me what I want to hear?

The table calls for Barack to interrupt, but he continues to be a gentleman. We're seeing way too much Hilary. Now, we cut to an Obama clip, about her. Our interest is flagging. George opines that Meet.The.Bloggers would do a much better job. I tend to agree. This is dragging, not hitting the right points or getting the proper inflection.

George is talking to Jill Zimon on the phone--she's down on the floor.

Obama talks about her talking out both sides of her mouth, railing against special interests and taking money from them at the same time.

Russert tries to nail Obama. Obama sidesteps, says he'll deal with it when he has parity with McCain. Then takes a broader tack, tries to carry the dialogue up to another level. Speaks to PACs, how he hasn't taken money. Russert can't get him to flap.

Now, Tim Russert goes to Hilary on finances, credibility, and she smirks, gives the impression it's all from "the American people." That covers a lot of ground.

Russert invokes the shade of Vince Foster--another blogger calls Hilary's performance "utterly horrid."

Obama speaks to anti-Semitic comments as being despicable--Russert won't quit--hammering away--trying to get Obama to take ownership of Farrakhan's comments--consensus at the table is that Tim needs to take this line of questioning somewhere else--I would have unloaded on Russert by now. As I have pointed out before, Obama is a gentleman.

2144--get out now, from Russert

Dick Russ comes in to tell us about the polling WKYC has done--it's sort of scary--sampling of 2,000 statewide--seems to be racially weighted--we need to get the race issue out of this race--gender, too--you'd think these two candidates could be considered Americans, at this point, and nothing more, and nothing less.

Hilary is interrupting and getting all strident, with Brian Williams, and we cut to a commercial.

2134--Glinda the Good Witch

Hilary now tries out her patronizing Glinda the Good Witch voice with Russert--now, we have the green-collar jobs created over the next 10 years--

Brian Williams talks about experience, lack of it, and tragedy, and invokes the spectre of George Bush's presidency. Obama scores again, making the critical distinction of the silliness of equating experience with time in Washington. Good point.

Obama says his judgment on critical issues has been sound, gives examples. Hilary now comes on and smirks. She reminds me of the nyah-nyah girl in class who always got things right, ratted us all out, and left for Radcliffe. This is not somebody most of us can like.

She now says Obama is full of beans on Pakistan, and she offers to be much tougher. Again, the dominatrix. Speaks to values. Offers herself as the fit opponent for Senator McCain.

Obama comes back as a deliberate debunker, talking about driving the bus into the ditch, and how Hilary helped facilitate and enable that. He is picking apart her smears. Point. Point. Matter of fact. Points out her changes of horse in midstream. Credible.

2120 hours--NAFTA for Hilary

she's been a critic of NAFTA, she says--she's been busy rewriting history--this woman is not credible--she's manufacturing stories, war stories about her experiences with real people--Now, the BIG MAMA wants to declare a big NAFTA time out--the dominatrix--again, lots of I's and my's. What she is saying is not believable--she seems to be babbling.

Obama calls her out. He's rational and matter of fact. He's cool. On balance, I'd say he's ahead at this point and gaining distance. He's credible. He's believable. He's coming across as a leader and unflappable. He's communicating: The cool hand prevails.

Russert--piles on with facts--Hilary is not embarrassed. She ignores the question. Babbles. Avoids. Then calls on Russert to be fair. She then declares herself to be consistent, if only Russert wasn't too stupid to see it. She's argumentative. She calls on the PeeDee as an authoritative source. She has no idea of the low esteem people around here have for the PeeDee.

She's now referring to David Gergen as a source who says she's not a NAFTA-ite. Barack advocates the same thing as Hilary, yet comes off way better. The assembly here says he's way more presidential.

This is turning into a mis-match.

2110 hours--Barack on defense over healthcare

--they are sitting close enough to smack each other--I'd have a hard time with restraining myself--Hilary is now staring daggers at Barack--he must be scoring points--she now butts in--

Hilary lumps insurance companies with Republicans--throwing tags around--hogging the time--invoking the ghost of Harry Truman--

Barack calls her inaccurate. He is a gentleman.

Hilary stares daggers again. She's trying to exercise mind control. Barack must be scoring. Hilary has her hand to her chin, and now she has to butt in again.

She talks to mandates, how they must be enforceable--she's now starting to babble early--invokes the ghost of Franklin Roosevelt--"MY PLAN"--too much ego here--I will limit--she's going to do it all herself--I-I-I-I-I-I--this is not a team player, not a collaborator--

Obama checks her and jumps in. He sounds more rational and reasonable. Her looks are awful--now she's smirking and condescending--this is not somebody you'd want to hang around with--he now pisses her off by addressing her by her first name--

She changes the subject--Roger begins comparing this to an SNL skit--this Saturday ought to be great--Hilary is starting to freak out--

2104 hours--Brian Williams wades in

a quick recap of the rules tonight--there really aren't any, per Brian

and now here comes Tim Russert, back to one of his places of beginning, near John Carroll University

Hilary speaks to tactics, Obama's flyers and mailers, NAFTA, and healthcare plans

Dick Russ just came in, replacing Paul Thomas at 2230 and 2300 with us

I guess these WKYC people are expecting the blogosphere to comment, so feel free to email me at taferris@gmail.com or leave a comment on one of these posts

2054 hours--the obligatory appearance by Jesse Jackson

logo on the big wall opposite me here at WKYC--

"Report the Facts

Respect the Truth"

2100--Bill Patmon's comments

and soon, the main event...

2027 hours--the bagpipes continue

and here comes Paul, to interview the assembled bloggers--Paul is married to Betsey the weather lady--

discussion evolves into our having another left-handed president, if Hilary loses...

Paul and the cameraman do a short routine, and then go back to waiting for their next "time in the barrel"

2049--Sherrod Brown, looking a little porkier than when we last saw him live at the Tower Press Building, when he was running for election, and a little more tired, too...does TV make you look heavier? Let's hope so.

2004 hours--the pre-debate, and the lead-in

candidates, and their endorsers--

for Clinton, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and for Obama, Tim Hagan

Tim speaks to "inspiration" and "new hope"

Tubbs Jones speaks to "poise" and being "the best president of the United States of America"

point: Hagan

And now, here come the firefighters and bagpipes...and then, the political commercials and sound bytes, delivered for maximum effect and efficiency.

fuhgeddaboutit

I just couldn't make CoverItLive go this time around, so I've taken it off the right sidebar, for now. Maybe later.

I'll be using Live Writer and posting with a bit more of a delay than I anticipated.

webware for tonight's event at WKYC

Ultimate liveblogging tool: CoverItLive Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone --Gloria and Brian Layman were mentioning using this service for the live-blogging going on this evening at our blogger collaboration with WKYC, and it may work out better for me than toodling along on LiveWriter and uploading from time to time.

I think we're going live around 7 PM tonight. Tune in, if you will. This is truly getting to be multimedia, and I have promised I will try to control the Tourette's.

counterpoints and comparisons

City of Knoxville - Mayor's Biography -- Over on BFD, Ed Morrison was mentioning a few things about Knoxville, and inviting contrast. Try this bio of the current mayor, to round out Ed's comparison of Chambers of Commerce (The GCP is actually the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce which, since it didn't do much to generate commerce, did the honest and forthright thing and took the word out of its title, replacing it with something more cosa-nostra-like, reflecting "our thing", the closed-off partnership of the mediocre who brook no new ideas--or any real, substantial, non-fluffy ideas at all.) (Oops! I got carried away, but let it stand. The comment might be bitchy, snarky, and a little unkind and unappreciative, but there's a lot of basis to it.)

open 24 hours, and just downriver from Marietta

The American Restaurant: Porstmouth [sic], Ohio's Only 24-Hour Restaurant - Associated Content
Here's another addition to our 24-hour listings, way down in New Boston, downriver from Marietta, below Columbus, to the side of Cincinnati. I added it so that, if anybody really wants to go down to see what we're allowing to happen to our neighbors in Meigs County with this 50-year coal con job, they'll have a place to refuel any time at all. The innumerate, fear-crazed Cleveland City Council is agonizing over this suckers' deal and hasn't, according to Bill Callahan over at Callahan's Cleveland Diary, had the good sense to engage experts, as Oberlin did. Based on expert advice, Oberlin had the informed foresight to reject the coal-price fear mongers last week.

There's just no sense to indenturing our next two generations to supporting a dying fuel industry and causing untold collateral damage to our neighbors down by the river, but how do you think our innumerate, and overpaid, and overrated, city council will vote?

We also need to begin talking about what our elected public servants are really worth, as they continue to give away the store, pay themselves as though they were expert and competent, and put us further and further behind the power curve, as it were.

this Kessler has a strange notion of greatness

Newsmax.com - The Real Barack Obama -- I tend to agree with Michelle, here. I haven't been too proud of America myself, lately, for about the last 40 years, since somewhere right around the ramping up of the sellout of our generation in the RVN conflict and that massive betrayal of public trust we now know as The Great Society.

We need to put whack jobs like this Kessler, the "Washington Insider," on notice that it is not "anti-American" to criticize and be dissatisfied with--to be unhappy about and ashamed of--the current state of affairs in this country and in our government, our culture, and our media.

I am beginning to see why "Washington Insiders" might be a little disturbed by the turn the community dialogue is taking; their little weasel world is about to change back to one of true American values. Don't blink; it's going to happen really fast.

the electronic wisdom young Bro T

Feature: How to Stop Checking Email on the Evenings and Weekends -- My sibilant younger counterpart Tim Ferriss has just posted a useful piece to LifeHacker, dealing with breaking the surly bonds of email, trying to control it instead of letting it jerk you around, too much.

new parlance, new symbols,

Guantánamo, Evil and Zany in Pop Culture - New York Times -- Language changes constantly. It's dynamic and living. Here's a new one; the article fleshes it all out:

But Guantánamo is no longer just a naval station or even just a detention center. It is an idea in worldwide culture — in more than 20 books and half a dozen movies and plays, with more coming out every month.

It has become shorthand for hopeless imprisonment and sweltering isolation. “The strange new Alcatraz,” one writer calls it, “the gulag of our times.”

quantify this

Greater Cleveland Partnership - Partner Network -- Ed Morrison's post yesterday on BFD about Dublin, Ireland, has me thinking. Does Dublin have a beautiful network structure like this? (Click on the link, go to the GCP Network Chart, and interact with it for a while.) When assets and other things go in one end of this beast, to feed it, what then comes out, and where, and how? How do you quantify what's going on here? Who ever tells us about results, beyond the creation of a new link, a new preference, an new entity, a new appendage in the sprawling COSE/GCP network? What gets spent, and what results happen, in what time frames? How do you measure any of this? Or, do you just give up, sit back, and feel good, trusting that we and our community are in good hands?

the decline of mediocrity

A Farewell Note From a Departing Yahoo - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog#comment-105418#comment-105418 -- I got such a kick out of the thread following the writer's column that I just had to draw your attention to it, and link to it. Here's the kickoff comment, and it gets better as everybody else chimes in (I came in myself after #38.):

Yahoo is on its last legs. And good riddance. While the internet is now turning into what it was invitable it would become–nothing but a forum for junky business and illiterate bloggers–yahoo has contributed to the rapid decline of mediocrity that is the hallmark of the United States of stupid people. The transition to News Corp would be a final decline into the abyss of nothingness from which it will,hopefully, never recover. Google is slighter better, but promotes the same mediocrity. It was a great shame that the internet was not,
and is not, confined only to academics, and only serious ones at that. Mediocrity is the hall mark of the United States, and the internet has helped the American populace to decline to the last stages of degradiation of all that was beautiful, intellectual and moral. If there were a god, it would have designed the internet because of its ability to turn a slightly literate populace a into totally brain dead sub-human blob of shivering jelley.

— Posted by jake moons

lay 'em off, or turn 'em out, but please, no Crack-Keno

'Crack-Keno' has revitalized the Michigan Lottery. Is Ohio next? - Cleveland Metro News – The Latest Breaking News, Photos and Stories from The Plain Dealer -- The governor faces some tough choices, which he seems to want to avoid by using Crack-Keno to get into the pockets, or aprons, of the waiters, waitresses, bar owners, and bartenders of The Great State of Ohio. It would be harder to lay off the excess employees and cut the fat, or sell off the car fleet and have them drive to work in their own cars like everybody else; I'd like to suggest starting with the planning and administrative staffs at ODOT, especially the shills who put on those public forums, the dog-and-pony shows where people get the look and feel of having something to say about their community's future. He could also keep them employed but make them earn their keep, by "turning them out" (as it were) to do something productive, for which they are suited by training or experience or birthright. But, no, he presses for gambling to help balance the books.

Heck. Turn them out. Turn them all out.

what's in a name, Horatio?

Sheriff's SWAT officer shoots man while serving warrant - Cleveland Metro News – The Latest Breaking News, Photos and Stories from The Plain Dealer -- SWAT shoots Montgomery Ward, who is a mere 26 years old. Do you suppose his naming has anything to do with his dysfunctionality? Here's the story:

Officer shoots man

A Cuyahoga County sheriff's SWAT officer shot a man in the face Tuesday after the man charged at deputies on the West Side. The bullet hit the man, Montgomery Ward, 26, and came out his cheek, said Cleveland police Lt. Thomas Stacho. Deputies and a SWAT team were serving a warrant at West 73rd Street and Dearborn Avenue at 6:40 a.m. Ward charged through the doorway when officers breached it. He was carrying something and lunged at SWAT officers, Sheriff's Chief Deputy Doug Burkhart said, and "did not respond to commands to stop." The SWAT officer fired his M4 rifle once. The bullet struck Ward in the lower jaw. He was in stable condition Tuesday at MetroHealth Medical Center. Ward's criminal record includes cocaine trafficking, gun charges and resisting arrest.

where are the safety nets for the middle class?

I was making a few phone calls around last week, talking to old friends, alumni of Chanel High School, chatting, catching up, casually asking what they thought of the school's new promotional idea of having a  Corn Hole Tournament (but that's a whole other story), and I happened to talk to a guy who has owned a title company for years, with whom I have a lot of people in common. The subject got around to one of our older friends, a Realtor, an insurance broker, a former CTS bus driver whom everybody knew and liked, a real connector. I hadn't seen him professionally for a few years, and I wondered how he was doing. He's 25 years older than I am, which puts him in his middle 80s. I heard a horror story.

The Realtor/broker/driver/connector had lived in his Cleveland Heights home (a newer one, in 44121) since at least the middle 1970s. He lost it last year at sheriff's sale. He had experienced back problems, had an operation that compounded and worsened the problem (I am told), suffered a loss of income, became encumbered with insurmountable debt, and last year lost his home of over 30 years, when he was 84 years old. Today, we have no idea where to find him. We understand he's alive and in poor health.

Somehow, it just doesn't seem right, it doesn't wash. Who stood up for him, to protect his interests when he got old? What about medical insurance? The plaintiff's bar? Mercy? Clemency? A compassionate life estate in his home?

I probably need to know a lot more, but on the surface, I just don't get it.

disingenuous blogs

The Cleveland Plain Dealer = Spin Machine » Clevelanders Who Haven’t Been Sucked in by the Spin Machine - Where are you? -- There's something fake about a blog that expresses outrage at the MSM's torqueing of the dialogue, yet moderates comments in order to reserve the right to torque things a little bit themselves. Some people must be afraid their candidate or their issue won't hold up to scrutiny, or come out too well in a two-sided discussion--or perhaps it's the candidate himself.

So, should I be surprised at another manifestation of fakery from this quarter?

Roger works it out

Cleveland Equanimous Philosopher: Oh, Philosopher, Where Art Thou? -- Like the chronically constipated novelist Henry James, Roger Bundy has worked through and unbound a complex issue; Henry used to do it with a pencil, Roger uses a blog.

Based on Roger's fine arguments, I, too, am resolving the issue of anonymity here and on the Save Our Land blog. Henceforth, I will no longer rail against or abuse the anonymous commentors, nor will I continue to collaborate with them or to host them; I will not moderate comment, but will instead require that the commentor at least be a registered Googler. That should help somewhat. Here's Attorney Bundy's well-reasoned if prolix take, pro bono publico:

I believe that one of the fundamental aspects of a blog necessary to accomplish the above goals is to be open to comments with no restrictions or editing. This gives a blog credibility. I also believe that one of the fundamental, if not THE fundamental, aspects of enlightened public discourse is that participants stand by their views, comments, thoughts and ideas with their name. This gives credibility to their participation in the discourse.

Unfortunately, these competing principles have created, for me, a conundrum -- accepting unresricted comments to be a credible blog permits anonymous posters with little or no credibility to hijack and crash the level of public discourse I hope to attain and maintain.

And that conundrum is a giant cold prickly that made me subconsciously avoid my blog since September. Until this morning.

I know there are many of you out there who are thinking right now -- Whoa, this guy is certifiable. Who cares, just post, you are WAY overthinking this. Well, part of me feels that way too. However, because I put my name on my blog and my posts, because I genuinely care about community, and because I sincerely want my blog to be a positive contributer in this new paradigm of communication; I'd rather err on the side of overthinking these matters than do otherwise. If nothing else, you now know that I take these matters very seriously. Hopefully, that will add to my credibility. If you just think I'm nuts, well that's fine too, as there is probably a grain of truth to that statement for all of us, even you.

If you look at the most recent posts prior to my hiatus, I spent a great deal of time sparring with Anonymous posters about issues that, as far as I am concerned, are in the gutter of public discourse and community dialogue. I made no bones about the fact that I think anonymous posting and anonymous blogs are an act of cowardice and are antithetical to enlightened community dialogue. After all, community and anonymity are practical antonyms. They cannot co-exist. You simply cannot have a community of anonymous people.

Therefore, beginning today, Cleveland Equanimous Philosopher has adopted a new commenting and posting policy.

Cleveland Equanimnous Philosopher will no longer accept unsigned, anonymous comments or posts. If you have factual information regarding a post or comment on my blog that contradicts or enhances the dialougue, but need to remain anonymous for extraordinary reasons, you may feel free to contact me directly to discuss your factual information and I will incorporate it into subsequent posts and/or comments and I will protect your identity. If you don't trust me, then you shouldn't be reading my blog anyway because you already believe I have no credibility. Opinion and commentary will not be entertained from anonymous sources under any circumstances.

The conundrum being, temporarily at least, resolved, Philosopher doth return.