very interesting email

I was reading instapundit today, and came across an amazing post regarding an email from a reader. Here's an excerpt:

You rightly point out that we liberals must do our best to shout down, disassociate ourselves, do everything we can to make ourselves no longer the party of Michael Moore, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, et al.

And as you noted, the Right does do a better job of quieting its 'idiotarians'. The only problem is, they essentially do it with the "bribes and promises" approach. Jerry Falwell, even when muzzled, knows that to some degree he and the people he represents will get a hearing from the White House and congress, the American seats of power.

This makes so much sense to me, an average college student from the midwest who voted for the first time in the last election. I enjoy watching Michael Moore movies, but I always take them with a grain of salt: everyone is skewed. It's up to us to decipher the news and somehow make our own opinions.

The man or woman who only reads one newspaper each day, only watches one news channel, that is the person who desperately needs a kick in the pants. This is your country, this is your voice, and this is your time to decide where you want to go with it.

opposing the nomination

I really enjoy reading "Daily Kos" -- very insightful and interesting political commentary. A tad on the liberal side (alright, more than a tad), but I am a tad on the liberal side as well. Today's entry was an open letter opposing the nomination of Albert Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States of America.

I totally agree with this letter, but sadly I think that it won't make a bit of difference.

the fake news

I'm a big fan of "The Daily Show," and I am usually in front of my TV every week night at 11 to see what Jon Stewart and his band of merry men and women come up with that night. Stephen Colbert is definitely one of my favorite fake news purveyors, and my friend Sudiptya linked me to an NPR story (on "Fresh Air") about him. It's very witty and a must-hear for any fan of "The Daily Show."

(I LOVE how often the anchor of "Fresh Air" laughs -- it's definitely contagious.)

My favorite quote from the interview:

"I made a conscious effort to NOT do political stuff when I first started out, because I found political humor to be false and uninformative. ...Then, when I got to The Daily Show, they asked me to have a political opinion (or rather, John asked me), and it turned out that I had one. I didn't realize quite how liberal I was, until I was asked to make passionate comedic choices as opposed to necessarily successful comedic choices."

if you see death, you settle for a fever

I found an AMAZING blog from a woman who is in Iraq. The end of her most recent post sums it all up: "It's amazing how as things get worse, you begin to require less and less. We have a saying for that in Iraq, 'Ili yishoof il mawt, yirdha bil iskhooneh.' Which means, 'If you see death, you settle for a fever.' We've given up on democracy, security and even electricity. Just bring back the water."

back from under the snow...

Sorry for the lag in posts, I was in the snowy city of Cleveland for the weekend visiting my sister. There is a phenomenon called "lake effect" that makes the snow three times as worse in Cleveland than everywhere else hit by the storm. Oh joy.

But now I'm back in beautiful Athens, and I have been spending the past two hours surfing blogs and reading about the inauguration. Today on Joshua Micah Marshall's blog, Talking Points Memo, he says that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (a Republican) was "so incoherent and off-message that it was hard for me to believe he wasn't a Democrat." I find this highly amusing, even though I am a Democrat and this blogger is a Republican. I guess you have to have a sense of humor to survive, right?

Blogger.com was down for about 10 minutes when the President took the podium to give his speech, so I'm jut now posting, even though I've been glued to the tv.

MSNBC has coverage, but I think CNN has updated in real-time a lot better.

Surfing blogs a few minutes ago, I strayed off the beaten path to livejournal.com, a site notorious for young people to post their personal blogs. The first thing I ran into when I checked my friends page was a lot of the blogs I follow had only three words: NOT MY PRESIDENT. I checked for retialation from other blogs, but I suppose I'm not friends with fervent Republicans.

More about the pundits on both sides later...

counter-inaugural

I was reading our campus newspaper, The Post, this afternoon while waiting for my clothes to finish drying at the laundromat. I came upon an interesting ad for a local political action group that was organizing a trip to D.C. in order to protest the inauguration. They were leaving late Wednesday, getting to D.C. on Thursday, protesting, then returning to Athens. All of this for $30!

This got me thinking: what other websites are devoted to anti-inauguration events? This one stood out: Counter Inaugural. One event listed was the Women's March and Funeral Procession.
"The rally for women's voices and the funeral march—accompanied by a New Orleans-style jazz band—will mourn the multiple blows to the American people dealt by the Bush Administration (and the prospect of 4 more years of the same), as well as celebrate the possibilities of rebirth and regeneration. "

Anyway, more tomorrow when I am more awake. I'll leave you with this: There are three conservatives for every two liberals?

clinton's inaugural address

I remember listening to William J. Clinton's inaugural speech on January 20, 1993 with my mother and sister from our home in Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the first inaugural address that I could understand, so I listened intently as he spoke on that chilly day. Since then, one sentence has stood out in my mind, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right with America."

These words have inspired me ever since, and I hold on to them when I see tragedies in the United States. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with American that cannot be fixed by what is right in America.

GWB inauguration day on Thursday

Some inauguration facts: (from a C-Span video titled "Inauguration Exhibit at the White House Visitor's Center")

+ The presidential inauguration was not always on January 20.

+ George Washington, the first president, was inaugurated on April 30, 1789.

+ When January 20 falls on a Sunday, the new president is inaugurated in a private ceremony that day, but the public ceremony is moved to the next day.

+ Harry Truman's inauguration was the first to be broadcast on television.

+ Kennedy's inauguration in 1961 had the first television coverage in color.

+ There is usually some sort of parade, and the tradition started in Jefferson's time in 1801 with a haphazard move -- he walked from his boarding house and people followed.

+ LBJ was sworn in on Air Force One in an emergency inauguration.

+ Reagan in 1985 was sworn in inside the capitol building because it was so cold outside.

+ The inaugural balls are the culmination of the day, and they are very elaborate. There are 9 balls this year for George W. Bush's inauguration to a second term.

+ Article 2, Section 1 of the constitution expressely states the oath of office. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

+ George W. Bush will be inaugurated for his second term in office, with his first inauguration held on January 20, 2001. His speech can be viewed here.

+ This year's inauguration of George W. Bush will cost close to $80 million,

+ There will be about 11,000 participants in parade on Thursday, and will last about 2 hours.

le premiere

I usually hate introductions, so I'll make this as easy to swallow as possible. My name is Jessie Costello, and I am a senior online journalism major at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. I am currently holed up inside of my super-savvy dorm room hiding from the frigid temperatures that will most probably stay until March. As my friend Meg would say, I'm all layered up like a birthday cake.

This blog will be about other blogs, a marvelous idea if you ask me. I will try to do my best to link you to the most amazing blog entries every day, and tell you what I think about the blog revolution. I will also be digging up everything I can find about the details of the budding career of online journalism because I will be in that position starting June 11.

Please comment as often as you can. Without feedback, this entire blog will be just one big ego trip with me in the drivers seat, and some would contend that I'm not the best driver.

Enough of this, on to the good stuff...