Mid Day Open Thread
Tomorrow morning's New York Times Magazine pays tribute to those who passed away in 2007, including the blogosphere's own Steve Gilliard.
UPDATE: John Amato: Jesse Wendell of "The Group News Blog" corrects some of the mistakes Matt Bai made in his article.
Gilly didn't lead a lonely life. It was rich and filled day to day with his work, family, friends and sports. From his niece and nephew, his mother and father, to his co-publisher Jen, and the bloggers and friends he hung out with on a regular basis in person and on-line, this was a man who had a full, rich life.
Gilly was a true friend to me. We talked on the phone and emailed quite often. He was a source of incredible encouragement to C&L and gave me solid advice numerous times on blogging and life in general. Please celebrate the life that is Steve Gilliard. He'll always be missed...
Open Thread below...
Just pay attention and don't push the wrong buttons or punch the wrong holes next November.
On Saturday, President Bush scored a triple victory when he quietly signed a bill extending the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) through March 2009. First, the President teed up "socialized medicine" as the definitive 2008 GOP talking point in response to any new health care initiatives coming from the Democratic Party. Second, he added another win for the GOP campaign of obstructionism, blocking Democratic successes at any cost in the hope of painting Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi as leaders of a "do-nothing" Congress. And last, George W. Bush kept intact his consistent record of fierce opposition to the popular children's health insurance program dating back to his days as Governor of Texas. And as in Texas, he went on to claim credit for it.
For the details, see:
"Bush a Block Off the Old S-CHIP."
The Central Bank of Sudan will deal only in the euro beginning in 2008 and advised local commercial banks to opt for convertible currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
NY Times Magazine: Steven Gilliard Jr.
"... Gently, I think it important to correct a few mistakes in Matt Bai's article. ..."
http://www.groupnewsblog.net/2007/12/ny-times-magazine-steven-gilliard-j...
Why am I not looking forward to 08? Could it be just another year of death, destruction, and who the hell knows what else awaits us?
So much for the Happy New Year game.
It was nice that the NYT Mag covered Gilliard, but hasn't Matt Bai been blogger-hostile and awfully clueless in other respects in the past? His "lonely black man" bit really seems to say much more about his dismissive stereotypes of bloggers than Gilliard. Bai is trying to be respectful, though, so that's something. But thanks to Jesse Wendel for putting it all in perspective.
Unlike rivals, Letterman has his writers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071229/ap_en_tv/hollywood_labor_letterman
A toast to Steve Gilliard and all others like him who live the courage of their convictions. I wish I'd had the honor to know him personally but what I know of him is all good. Here's to a great soul!
Boy, I miss SG. A gentle soul with a steel spirit. RIP.
Batocchio @ 6:
Not to put too fine a point on it Bai is an asshole. What he does ain't blogging and he knows very little about it. His 'performance' a the YearlyKos Presidential Forum was vapid, ignorant and set back the concept of bloggers having more talent than you cat some considerable length of time.
If he shows in Austion he'll be hearing from me.
Matt Bai?
I've shit him.
As for Steve, I spent many late night commenting at his site and he was the real deal. Knowledegable, opinionated and with a grasp of rhetoric which was rapier sharp.
There's only one thing to keep foremost in your mind when it comes to Steve:
Fight Back!
i so miss his writing; his knowledge of history -- esp military history -- was as informed -- if not moreso -- than the majority of gasbags dominating the discourse. if you're interested in reading his blog, it's archived here:
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/
updated 11:03 a.m. ET, Sat., Dec. 29, 2007
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Islamic militants said Saturday they had no link to Benazir Bhutto's assassination, dismissing government claims that a leader of pro-Taliban forces in Pakistan carried out the suicide attack on the opposition leader.
Bhutto's aides also said they doubted the militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack and accused the government of a cover-up.
The dispute and conflicting reports about Bhutto's exact cause of death was expected to further enflame the violence wracking this nuclear-armed nation two days after the popular former prime minister was killed in a suicide attack.
justabill @ 4:
The corrections ARE gentle, and paint a good friend's knowledge of the guy.
Steve was gone before I learned of his existence. From reading here and other sites, I know I missed someone very special.
On a totally different note, C-span has spent the entire day covering the Repubs and talking to people in Iowa. They have played speeches by all the repub candidates and done a hell of a job. Tomorrow they will do the same thing with the Democratic candidates.
I just made my coffee and arrived here, but what's on my mind is Pakistan. Does anyone else feel that the USA will have to (in some measure) send troops to Pakistan? Don't you feel they're softening us up with an(other) Al Qaeda scare and nuclear weapons falling into terrorists hands?
Yep. And interesting it comes right at primary time. Fox is apparently already playing it as Clinton + Ghouliani will win in Iowa because of the problems in Pakistan. They're strong on defense, don'cha know?
Didn't know the man at all, but have heard lots of good things about him.
Hats off to him, and to all those like him who practice real journalism, which in itself does include a lot of solitary work. Only a blockhead would fail to understand that necessity. Only a jackass would color it as something else.
Blockheads and jackasses. Boy howdy is it ever their day.
Edwin @ 16:
Nuclear weapons are already in terrorists hands, the CIA and ISI are Al Qaeda!
lafin gas @ 19:
One thing I am sure of, no truth will come of this. The assassination of Bhutto will be spun from so many angles, by and for so many political opportunists!!!! Just watch!!!
I only read the first few paragraphs of the article, but I have to ask. Did this guy interview anybody for it? How could he get stuff so wrong?
This is quite off-topic, but another obit of the New York Times is announced as this:
http://i19.tinypic.com/8c2c7t0.jpg
"winemaker who turned to cheese. "??!!!
:)
The News Blog was one of the first political blogs I read daily, and posted to regularly. It was a pretty rough-and-tumble environment where you’d better be prepared to back up your opinions. Gilliard was a perfect embodiment of the value of blogging: a unique voice that probably would not have been heard otherwise.
May he rest in peace and I hope that he understood that he is not alone in his thinking and that there are many of us that will attempt to continue his legacy forever.
Peace my brother
Never heard of this kid but I admire his courage and self initiative now that I've had a chance to brush up on what he was about.
To bad his life here was cut short for further duties elsewhere in the universe.
Steve Gilliard raised the standard of excellence
if john edwards gets the nomination, i'm going to tip my cap to him, because i really like the guy. but what i'd really like to see is an obama/edwards ticket, with an all-star team of advisers built around them.
obama and edwards are kind of similar, and they both have terrific wives.
plus, obama's vp should be another him, not someone totally different, like lieberman was for gore, or like johnson was for kennedy.
and even though edwards voted for iraq, it would be good to have a guy on the ticket who showed how to say sorry when he was wrong, and to not have our democratic ticket seem too "holier-than-thou".
I too miss Steve and I wish we could hear some from Jen! I enjoyed her writing tremendously!
let's be honest here, if we're seriously thinking about running an idealist like obama, we're going to have to be serious about protecting him. because idealists, as bhutto's untimely passing reminds us, have an unfortunate tendency to be taken out early.
we have to draw a line in the sand.
an obam/edwards ticket basically says to neocon scumbags: you take out our first guy, edwards ain't gonna help with your sorry cause, either.
and after edwards they'd be stuck with madame pelosi.
Loved the Gilliard blog and his writing. A real void is left.
I'm sorry to have missed him in life. I will drink a toast to him this evening. Then we should be sure to name one revolutionary brigade after him.
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