BloggingHeads.tv: The Week in Blog

And please take this in the carmudgeonly, Auntie-esque way that it's intended, because my goal is to be constructive.  I only had time to watch about 20 minutes today, so here's what I observed during that time:

Scher admits there is plenty of oil (10B barrels in ANWR and 18B barrels on the shelf), his debate centers around prices in "2025".  Larry Kudlow has analyzed the way in which merely starting to drill now would  bring down the oil futures, which would in turn ratchet down the prices.  I would look into his analysis, among others on how speculation affects the prices.  But on the bright side, at least he admits there is oil as opposed to "salt water".  That's progress.

Regarding the review of your resume and the section on George Allen:  reminding  the listeners of the elephant in the room (no Republican pun intended of course) regarding "Macaca" might have seemed necessary, but was it?  And then when asked the question "Do you think he would have been a good President", to say you worked on his campaign but never even considered that thought seemed evasive and ineffective.  I'd say either go ahead and give your opinion, since you no longer work for Allen, in a professional way of course.  Something like "I think there were many good candidates available at the time, and Candidate X's policy positions reflected my goals and values better than George Allen's." 

Reiterating that conservatives feel McCain is unreliable, stabbed them in the back, a maverick who broke from the party which is either to his credit or discredit, again communicates weakness.  Unless you have a preference for McCaiin to lose, then find some position, any position. you can support and - like Macaca - it's not necessary to reiterate the negatives.    Yay! on the Rightosphere welcoming him back on the drilling issue.  Yay! on drilling not solving problem, but is an incremental step in right direction and the short term does eventually become the long term.

Scher brings up a very pertinent issue in stating that Bush has consistently talked about getting off oil and yet when he was in control and conservatives controlled congress, nothing was done on those fronts.  This is a major failure on the part of all Americans, including Bush.  What you did not mention, which I think needs to be completely driven home like a stake in the heart, is the passionate Liberal protests and stonewalls against nuclear power in addition to, or maybe even instead of bring up the flashy Manhattan Project and the fact that Bush provided incentives for corporations to perform R&D. 

Yay! you mentioned the lack of infrastructure - as it relates to hydrogen and electric, for example.  But you did not mention the sorry state of the Electrical Grid infrastructure and the NIMBY attitude of communities and private owners regarding building new power stations and running power lines. 

Yay!  you mentioned low consumer demand for alternative energy vehicles.  Tell them it's the market, stupid.  Sher hoisted himself on his own petard by mentioning that he purchased a hybrid at a time when he needed a new car and admitted that a Prius is a much more expensive car than the average family could possibly afford.  My Corolla gets the same mpg as a Prius, and cost $8,000 less with the same options.  Victor Davis Hansen wrote about this recently - it's the difference in mindset between Fresno conservative working class folks and San Francisco liberal professional elites (with no children or at a minum both parents earning good incomes).  Liberals are completely out of touch on this issue.

I disagree that the "gas tax holiday" appeared as much as a pander/gimmick to the general public as it did to Obama staffers.  Any relief at the pump at all would have seemed like a great idea to the Fresno working class people living from pay check to pay check, and again - Obama seems to be seriously out of touch with these good folks. 

Regarding the September 10 mindset that McCain accused Obama of having in regard to treating Islamic Terror as a law enforcement issue, the fact is that the only reason the perpetrators were apprehended and tried is because of a major mistake made by one of their cohorts ("God's Most Stupidest Creature", I believe they called him).  Any mishandling of evidence or illegal procedures used in apprehending these perpetrators would have easily resulted in their dismissal.  So saying that Obama has a "rapid response" to answering the "attacks" against him does not in any way indicate that those rapid responses are actually coherent or strategically correct.  And calling a debate an attack is a patently ridiculous, baby-man victim-centric response on Obama's part - this is a debate between McCain and Obama, not a war…that shows great weakness on Obama's part.  He'd be much better served by referring to McCain as "my worthy opponent" as opposed to "my attacker".  But I digress...

Scher was absolutely swaggering at this point in the conversation, with the "Let's Have It!" bring-it-on posturing.  Heh.  I was waiting for the cheerleaders to come out and compete, or for the Stomp-the-Yard scene from Meet The Spartans!  Through what I observed so far of the interview, you were on defense and Scher was playing heavy (albeit very polite, much to his credit) offense.  And if we can make the analogy as my husband always does that "Life is Football", then we really need to reposition ourselves to being on offense. 

If there is any way during these interviews to look at the camera and not down, that would greatly add to the image of confidence and self-assurance.  I've mentioned NLP in previous comments, and NLP includes body language as a means of persuasion.  Looking down generally indicates someone is having strong emotion.  Naturally it also means someone is reading or looking at their keyboard, LOL, but that's not the point.  Look at the people by looking at the camera, and you'll persuade them so much more of your POV. 

And what's this about you not being a Conservative?  Does that mean you're a Moderate?  If so, then do say so.  Saying what you're not is to distance yourself from it.  Saying you're a Moderate only helps other Moderates to relate to you.  Not saying what you are at all, again, indicates indecision, lack of commitment, and either are perceived as weakness.  And if you're a Liberal, then say it as well - especially if you're a Liberal who's not voting for Obama!

It was a good initial effort, but more homework and practice will make for an excellent effort next time. 

Slainte mhor
 

...and he doesn't want the government leaving our money in our pockets, if only for a while?

By the way what does this mean, "I don't think there would have been any significant "relief" at all, not over anything but the very shortest of terms.  In any event, there are so many negative externalities that aren't captured in the consumer price of oil, I don't think it's a good idea to distribute the composition of our tax revenues away from it.?"

18 cents per gallon is 18 cents per gallon that remains in my pocket,  and the government would pay hell trying to reestablish it if the gas price doesn't go down below $4.00 per gallon...and he doesn't think it's a good idea to distribute the composition of our tax revenues in this fashion?  What type of Libertarian is that?

ex animo

davidfarrar

your philosophies, positions and perspectives with the site members, Jon.  I really appreciate the work that you, Patrick and Soren are doing to try to bring us (meaning those of all persuasions on the Right) into the 21st Century. 

The technology issues of Right vs. Left remind me of the 90's when I worked with many COBOL programmers who were stubbornly committed to that language because it had worked for 30 years for them, and they were experts at it.  Some saw the light at the end of the tunnel and realized it was actually a freight train.  Some decided to bite the bullet and learn C and C++, others absolutely refused to change.  COBOL programmers were in very high demand right up until Y2K never happened, and then rapidly became dinosaurs. I was always fascinated that the dinosaurs refused to take any personal responsibility for their career choices and constantly blamed "the damned foreigners who stole our jobs".  Programmers in India and China were early adaptors of OOP, which made it easy for them to take C and C++ to the next level of what's now the gold standard on the Internet:  Java. 

I have a tremendous, albeit grudging, respect for the Left's adoption of technology as a strategy.  When I see the high quality and innovation that many of their members are producing, my first instinct is that we should hire them as consultants.  That could be somewhat risky, however.  Heh.  I know there are also really smart, wired, high-tech Conservatives out there as well, and the work you three are doing to define the problem and provide a community resource to proliferate knowledge is extremely timely and valuable.   As far as developing a curriculum goes, maybe that will just naturally evolve over time.  I'm still interested in exploring how R-IGG could be utilized as a knowledge base and toolbox. 

Meanwhile, please keep up the great visibility on diavlogs, YouTube, C-SPAN, Fox News, WaPo, wherever and whenever you can get the word out that might recruit anyone from the merely curious to the highly skilled to help evolve a party whose very survival depends on augmenting previously successful "COBOL" strategies with high-tech "Object-Oriented" strategies.  In IT we say that the pioneers get all the arrows, and you guys are definitely pioneers.