Obama-Changing Minds, Winning Hearts

A particularly inspiring "man-up" on the Democratic Underground message boards:

During the primary, I was worried, even frantic, that Obama did not have the practical experience to be president. I was afraid we were nominating a slogan while throwing away a first class lady like Hillary Clinton.

Well, it seems I was mistaken. The President is doing a first rate job. He's smart, shrewd, tough and above all right. I saw the press conference last night and no longer saw Lincoln. This time, I saw FDR.

I am still pro-Hillary and I am glad to see we did not just ignore her abilities. After eight years of habitual screw-ups, the voting public finally got it right. The President is exactly who we need right now.

Regardless of what any whiny Republicans say, this poster had it right.

Actually, I'm pro-Hillary too. Always had been.

The best person won, but that doesn't mean the worst person lost. And, hey, we have Hill as State now. This, I believe, is what's known in the biz as a "win-win".

The Republicans can come along, or be on the wrong side of history. Seriously.

Sadness. No More Russ Belville. RIP The Radical Writ.

One of lefty talk radio's best kept secrets (and sadly so) was The Russ Belville Show. I say was because his program was just yanked:

It saddens me to report that I have just received a call from the VP of Original Talk for the newly-merged XM/Sirius Satellite Radio to inform me that, effective immediately, The Russ Belville Show will no longer air on satellite radio. This will also mean no more replays on AM 620 KPOJ as well.

It has been a fantastic experience, from entering the local KPOJ contest and winning to visiting Washington DC for the first time to win the national contest. I’ve met Thom Hartmann, Ed Schultz, Bill Press, and other behind-the-scenes radio professionals, all of whom have been extremely generous in helping me to become a talk radio host. I’ll never forget it.

Russ Belville "won" a spot on the dial because, about three years back, more or less, there was a "Next Great Progressive Talk Star" competition (you heard it on KPOJ). Russ won, with high praise from Ed Schultz.

He won a year's production and support and then he was on his own, but after that he had a cracking good show. He's an interesting bird, Russ: NORML activist, unapologetic liberal, and had a very enjoyable program. It was broadcast on Sundays in the morning, admittedly, not the best time to gain an audience.

If any of you thought that all you had to do was talk hard and have an opinion to have a future in the radio biz, I guess this is your proof that the stars also had to align for you.

Russ is going to be returning to his roots in pro-cannabis activism (a passion I don't share but I liked the way he challenged me to think deeply about it).

We wish him well. We'll be missing his show.

Thank You, Upper Left!

I just noticed that, during blogroll amnesty, Upper Left has tipped me.

Thanks, guy! I like your style. Where mine is prolix, yours is terse and tight, and that's good too.

For all of you who may visit here, say hay! If you want to link, we'll exchange.

Ass. Kick. Curb.

The always-readable (and posessed of a gimlet-like wit) James Wolcott on the demise of the Fuzzy-Drop'ems Media Blog Network and its most aggrieved victim, Protein Wisdom:

I don't gloat over anyone's loss of income in these parlous times,but I must say the brainstorming ideas of Jeff's chipmunk army as to the next possible stage of operations strike me as singularly unhelpful, impractically poppycock, ranging from "hold a fundraiser" to debating whether the next incarnation (if any) of Protein Wisdom should emphasize semiotics, boobs and guns, or define/refine/propogate "classical liberalism"** (that'll really draw them into the sideshow
tent). Between pouts and cryptic mutterings, Goldstein himself indulges in this almost endearing twitch of slapping leather and proclaiming himself an OUTLAW, sort of like James Lileks gone bad-ass. I suggest JG spend an absorbing evening watching The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and ponder the glum fate of those who adopt the outlaw lifestyle and have to ride lonesome in bleak weather. Sadly, salvos of internecine recrimination have already broken out between Goldstein's sidekicks and Roger L. Simon's baroncy (over Simon's haughty sideswipe at the disgruntled bloggers for behaving like a gaggle of welfare queens "kicking and screaming now that they are off the dole"), an outbreak of hostilities of which of course I heartily approve and encourage.

James Wolcott is the shiznit, yo. If you read him and don't enjoy him, you're probably brain-damaged. At the very least, you're a humorless Republican.

Append: Just a thought; I find it ironic that the person complaining the most and getting the most attention is a blogger with the same name as the #1 boogieman in 1984, which is of course a cautionary tale about why the Republican party shouldn't be allowed to touch anything for very long.