TIN « The Irate Nation

Re: the President’s poll numbers

Jay Cost, "Another Look at Obama's Job Approval" - from the article: The polls generally find Obama's overall job approval higher than his approval on various issues....One can't help but wonder if a legislative success on the health care package will result in a further decline in the President's job approval rating.

Lots more discussion at the link, all of it fairly thoughtful - it's hard to be dismissive of polls if they can consistently yield this sort of information. I haven't linked to this at my blog because it's not something I can comment responsibly on; electoral politics is not my field. There is a recent entry that might be of interest to TIN readers; "Re: Some Open Questions for Conservatives" - a friend has a survey-type post asking what exactly makes a conservative. The essential part of her prompt is quoted, as well as my response. Helping her out with responses is welcome.

Tagged as: Approval, article, blog, care, Conservatives, COST, Decline, electoral politics, Health, health care package, Jay, Job, job approval rating, legislative success, look, Obama, polls, success, survey type, TIN No Comments

I notice some TIN authors use Clipmarks…

...that's never been something I've (Ashok here) been good with. I did use it once, but I found it hard to "clip" in such a way that people would be interested in the rest of the article I was clipping.

I dunno. Tips, advice, recommendations? If you think it really helps with posting to TIN or promoting TIN, I'll definitely consider getting my account going again.

Tagged as: advice, article, clipmarks, dunno, rest, something, TIN, Tips, use, way No Comments

“Bloggers for Sarah Palin” blogroll links, 11/1/09

...three blog posts from different blogs TIN readers might like:

Conservative Girl with a Voice, "Heels On, Gloves Off" - Thought this was notable because of the relation many conservatives have to our cultural environment generally. fta: While those in Hollywood will try to preach that liberal is the only way to be, don't falter and don't fall- stick to your conservative values. I know I don't have to tell many of you this twice because you don't and never have listened to those liberal freaks in Hollywood. Do they know what it's like to earn a hard-earned living? Do they know what it's a like to live on Mainstreet U.S.A? Do they know what it is to have to sacrifice on the battlefield like our soldiers do day in and day out? Do they know what it's like to have to say goodbye to a family member who's in the military knowing that it will be months before they are reunited?
Conservative Matters, "Don't judge Obama on results only intentions" - Don't agree with everything here, but the overall assessment needs to be heard. fta: Iran has been able to accelerate its nuclear program to a point where it is now a serious threat and all Obama can do is throw away the missile defense plan for Eastern Europe. North Korea has thumbed its nose at us again... These are not paths to peace; these are paths to more severe conflicts in the future. This is a “bury your head in the sand approach to foreign policy” that will result in larger conflicts down the road. Never mind the disaster that is the Obama domestic policy, Obama hasn’t succeeded at anything other than getting elected and collecting awards based on “Hope” not results.
Finding Myself in Alaska, "Do it again" - Does God have the same sense of wonder toward Creation as a child does? fta: [Children] always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is.... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. - Chesterton

Hope all of you enjoy those links, and if that's not enough reading for you, I do have an analysis of Lincoln's Second Inaugural you can look at which I'm sure will be plenty of reading.

Tagged as: Alaska, blog, Conservative, conservative girl, conservative values, cultural environment, day, Don, Eastern Europe, fta, Girl, God, head in the sand, Hollywood, Hope, Iran, lincoln, missile defense plan, monotony, North Korea, Nuclear Program, Obama, Policy, reading, sense of wonder, TIN, U.S.A No Comments

Going through the “Bloggers for Sarah Palin” Blogroll…

...and found three links that TIN readers might really like:

All American Blogger, "Who's Best at Stopping Roadside Bombs?" - fta: For those folks who spend all their free time donning the headset, logging into XBOX Live and playing HALO, believe it or not, you will not see the roadside bomb that takes out your truck. You spend too much time narrowing your vision to the confines of a television screen...
Blatherings, "Cheney on the dithering Obama" - fta: dick cheney says we can win in afghanistan if we have courage. i believe that don’t you? but apparently the obama administration has little courage when it comes to afghanistan. they seem to be able to only muster a smug-like bravado over the war with foxnews! their constant dithering and indecisiveness signals to our enemies abroad that we are weal, making us vulnerable and less safe.
Caffeinated Thoughts, "The Final Word on the Palin in Des Moines Controversy" - a story proclaiming that Sarah Palin had charged an outrageous speaking fee for an Iowa appearance turns out to be less than truthful. Check out the details at this link.

Hope all of you enjoy those links: don't forget to leave a comment at those blogs if you visit (might even want to mention how you stumbled upon them). If none of that suits your reading pleasure, there's always this Commentary on the Gettysburg Address I wrote some time ago.

Tagged as: Afghanistan, American, blogger, bravado, cheney, courage, Des Moines, Dick Cheney, fta, gettysburg address, indecisiveness, Iowa, Obama, reading pleasure, Roadside, Roadside Bomb, Sarah Palin, television screen, time, TIN, xbox live 2 Comments

TIN Links, 10/31/09

Hey all, Ashok here - it's great to be able to blog at TIN again and help Nate out a bit. I don't want to make hypocritical requests - I don't know how much I'll be able to help out here, I'm thinking at least a link post a week - but I think if everyone chips in a post a week at least, this place could really take off. I'm posting a lot more at my own blog, and that makes all the difference in the world - you really do get more traffic for more posts, up to a point. And I have subscribed to TIN myself to boost that subscriber count, and I definitely hope that habit catches on with readers and authors here.

I used to comb conservative blogs when making these link posts, looking to shed light on little known bloggers. I doubt that's going to happen anymore: there's too much repetition in the conservative blogosphere, and readers of my blog know I have some pretty deep concerns about the atmosphere the Tea Parties and other pundits have generated.

Just a few links, probably things you've already seen. From my own blog:

Yet again - Under No Circumstances Should Jon Corzine Be Re-elected Governor of NJ - I think this is plenty self-explanatory.
A Sample of What American Political Life Needs Far More Of - Concerns the governor's race in VA.
Things Everyone Should Read - Richard Hofstadter, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" - I didn't write this to put anyone down, but if I told you that I didn't think right-wing extremism is a real problem, I'd be lying. I really thought we'd be better than "Obama = Hitler" signs and stocking up on ammo and gold coins because of things Glenn Beck says (and is never told he's wrong on. Shouldn't we all be in camps right now if his ranting had any relation to reality?). The problem many of you should immediately raise with me is whether I offer anything better. I don't know that I do politically, and I concede that point to a degree.

Other links you'll probably find useful:

Jay Cost, "The Problem with the Health Care Debate" - everyone should read Jay Cost: he's a political scientist who brings solid scholarship to bear on what's happening currently, and does it without getting complicated at all. In this post he discusses how much information we don't have about health care reform, and by implication demonstrates that sometimes it's better not to read too much news.
Karl Rove, "Obama Goes Wobbly on Afghanistan" - self-explanatory.
And one totally non-political link that you either like, or hate America for not liking: "Too young to remember Michael Jordan's prime? Not me"