Polinaut: March 28, 2006 Archive

In defense of bull****

Posted at 10:58 AM on March 28, 2006 by Bob Collins

Buzz Machine from Jeff Jarvis takes on the FCC today for its determination that the word, well you know, and its various derivatives is obscene.

Jeff argues that BS (is that a derivative?) is political speech, but it amazed me that he got through the entire article without mentioning the name Barry Commoner. He was the guy who proved it.

Commoner ran under the Citizens Party banner in 1980, and produced one of the more memorable political commercials (at least next to the daisies, Willie Horton, and Morning in America, which, by the way, sounds exactly like the ketchup commercials on A Prairie Home Companion.), it was memorable to me).

I don't remember the entire commercial. I only remember the first word. Yep, it was bull****. And it got your attention as he took the next 58 seconds describing how politicians threw it around back then.

He also was taking advantage of an FCC rule at the time which prevented broadcast stations from (a) rejecting the ad or (b) altering the ad. (Actually this was the FCC carrying out the wishes of the politicians who passed the laws that also included such self-serving provisions as stations had to sell them the airtime at the lowest rate on their "rate card").

So the FCC got what it deserved. To the extent that the word -- and its derivative -- has crept onto the airwaves, the FCC has nobody to blame but itself.

Oh, by the way, here's the ad via RealAudio.

Kids for Kennedy

Posted at 3:16 PM on March 28, 2006 by Bob Collins

It's still early, but I've been puzzled by the apparent lack of interest -- and I realize that's a broad generalization -- by many candidates in mobilizing the campus forces.

I'm not sure exactly why that is although the "young people" who were supposed to influence the election of 2004 ended up mostly taking a pass and reinforcing the stereotype.

So it's interesting to read in the Mankato State University newspaper that Mark Kennedy was working the crowd this week.

I don't know anymore whether college campuses are DFL or GOP turf, but Kennedy's going to find out.

Michael Bruner, a member of the College Republicans, said "I think students across the board are going to play a huge part in the elections coming up."

Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on what issues end up dominating. Health care? Good luck selling that one on campus.

In 2004, 51.6% of people under age 30 turns out to vote. That's relatively lame, although it was 10% higher than the previous election.

But listen to the comments of Ivan Frishberg, outreach and development coordinator at the New Voters Project, in an online chat at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Over the long course of this campaign, I don't think either party or either candidate made an exceptional effort to reach this population. Young people were clearly enegergized on both sides and I would expect that to continue. We all know that elections have winners and losers and most of us have the good fortune to experience life on both sides of that.

The good news about this turnout for the long term is that voting is a learned behavior, and the masses of young people who have been newly engaged in the political process are much more likely to keep civic participation as a part of their lives from here on out.

G'bye, whatsername

Posted at 3:35 PM on March 28, 2006 by Bob Collins

So Rebecca Yanisch has dropped out of the race for Congress, proving that a campaign really is a sprint, not a marathon.

What was your favorite Rebecca Yanisch for Congress moment?

(Update: Got an e-mail suggesting a gender bias and saying, "I’ll be curious to see if male candidates get the same treatment on your pages." By the way, I get this a lot. Not about gender but anytime we focus on, well, anything. After the Republican CD controversy, I got a bunch that said "I can't wait to see how you'll handle it when the Democrats get in trouble." To which I say: "meet Dean Johnson." But I haven't heard from those people again. Anyway, back to our story about my gender bias and curiosity with how I'd handle it when a man drops out of the race after 4 days. Well, why wait? I already did it.)

Man, facts are a drag on a good conspiracy.