GregsOpinion.com: Comments

Comment on "Rick's Gaffe"

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:24:30 -0600

That's an interesting take. Thanks.

Comment on "The Early Line on the Next Council"

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:27:15 -0600

I've heard in that race Annette Dwyer has some real driven camp mgt too and would identify with you on far more (likely almost all) the issues than you would ever imagine.

- Burt Levine

Comment on "The Early Line on the Next Council"

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:07:17 -0600

Max Cardenas

- Greg Wythe

Comment on "The Early Line on the Next Council"

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:29:56 -0600

Who is Menisha's campaign manager?

- Burt Levine

Comment on "Rick's Gaffe"

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:29:19 -0600

Vince,

Whether it was a guest-post or cut-and-pasted from an email, that point wasn't made clear from your post. It's also relatively minor.

What's still unclear from this comment of yours is whether Aldrete sent his statement to a broad group of blogs & news outlets ... or whether he (as you state) sent the response to you after asking for comment directly.

As someone who currently works in political campaigns and doesn't need to drop any fancy terminology to make myself sound important, I'll stand by my point: if you complain about context, don't let the whining stand on it's own ... clarify. That, of course, assumes that you've got the facts on your side. Aldrete would have been wiser to have taken his lead from Rick and just owned up to it being a mistake.

As for the coordination issue, it's clearly a touchy subject. Suffice it to say, a bunch of denials might get Ratcliffe off the scent, but it doesn't fool me.

- Greg Wythe

Comment on "Rick's Gaffe"

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:34:45 -0600

You noted:

Worth adding for now is Aldrete's guest post of his fuller take on RG's article over at one of those blogs where there's supposedly no coordination. Not sure why Aldrete felt compelled to write such a lengthy rebuttal but didn't bother to include either the quote in context (which he complains about) or the speech in full. Whatever the reason, Aldrete also derides "trolls" on "legitimate blogs" who "intentionally hiding their identities to spread misinformation."

That was not a guest post by James Aldrete. Aldrete sent that out to a number of people in the blogs and in the press. Some people reposted it in its entirety, some people didn't. I elected to do so, but it was no "guest post."

I'd also like to know what you mean by "blogs where there is supposedly no coordination?" Don't you think that bloggers who want to know something can just email somebody and ask? That's how I got Aldrete's response. I emailed him and asked him about that quote and he was kind enough to send a response. That's called good campaign communication.

And, as someone who has worked political campaigns, I'm sure you've heard of the term "cross pollution." It goes by different names, but it boils down to the fact that you don't repeat in a press release for wide distribution something that was quoted in one or two places as not to promote its wider distribution. It's a common campaign practice, so I think you may be making more of Aldrete failing to include the quote than is appropriate. Also, I'm sure if you emailed Aldrete, he'd gladly send you a copy of the entire speech. I have one, I'm sure you can get one as well.

- Vince Leibowitz

Comment on "When You're Too Busy Reading Talking Points ...."

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:03:44 -0600

Such stellar logic there, P-did ... but what qualified him to be Senator? Just looking to see if you can use any consistent logic here. So far, it doesn't look like it.

- Greg Wythe

Comment on "When You're Too Busy Reading Talking Points ...."

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:49:50 -0600

Remind me again how John Edwards got to be a Senator once upon a time?

Gee, I'm guessing he got elected by the voters of North Carolina.

Dude, sometimes you're just too obtuse for your own good. Oh, and Hillary still sucks.

- PDiddie

Comment on "Bell on the Hillary Effect"

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:03:51 -0600

G-Man,

That "song" was used by Rush to make the rubes snicker, and hardly deserves to be described as parody. The conservative black people I heard call the show about it were hardly amused.

- liquiddaddy

Comment on "When You're Too Busy Reading Talking Points ...."

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:39:23 -0600

Gee, it's good to know that said private contractor doesn't exist solely for the purpose of big government. Seriously, though ... it seems your complaint is with Dwight Silverman, not I. He - like any freeminded blogger or HTML artisan - is free to link to anything I write whether he agrees with me or not.

- Greg Wythe

Comment on "When You're Too Busy Reading Talking Points ...."

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:18:42 -0600

YES, just like big government space agencies.........luckily I work for a private contractor =)

- Dwight

Comment on "Bell on the Hillary Effect"

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:31:00 -0600

"Barack, the Magic Negro"

That song didn't parody Obama at all. It was a parody of those such as Al Sharpton who think that Obama isn't "black" enough.

- G-Man

Comment on "When You're Too Busy Reading Talking Points ...."

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:58:41 -0600

"... pointless and doesn't accomplish much"

You mean like big government space agencies?

- Greg Wythe

Comment on "County Attorney Mike Stafford: Government Knows Best!"

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:49:32 -0600

Nice catch on the Buckley influence. I'm curious what weird, obscure Charlie Peters references I've incorporated into my vernacular.

- Greg Wythe

Comment on "When You're Too Busy Reading Talking Points ...."

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:49:08 -0600

So, why did the Comical choose to highlight this comment? Seems pretty pointless and doesn't accomplish much. How much is the Chronicle paying YOU, Greg? LOL

- Dwight

Comment on "County Attorney Mike Stafford: Government Knows Best!"

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:06:33 -0600

Nice use of "whither," Mr. Buckley. Stafford does make a good, *conservative* point, though. Government is supposed to get work done at cost, not generate business opportunities.

It seems the Port Authority has taken a New Deal approach to legal representation.

- John

Comment on "A Morning Laugh"

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:39:40 -0600

Instead of obsessing over RP, you might as well get used to him being around a long time. His people barely ever spend money, and he has reserves to last him until January '08 at least after the matching funds. \

So people are going to be seeing a good bit more of him whether anyone likes it or not. Might as well stop obsessing.

- Gogli

Comment on "A Morning Laugh"

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:08:49 -0600

Ummm...did you look at anything else on that blog?

Hope it's not too representative of Paul's "netrootz."

- John

Comment on "Small Tent Democrats"

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:46:30 -0600

Nick Lampson is one of Matt's 'Bush dog' democrats.

Considering whom he replaced, you would Dems like Matt would be a bit more appreciative. Consider that his voting indicates a liberal view in several areas, including the environment, public health, workers rights, minority rights & Affirmative Action, and education.

It looks pretty silly to label a Dem a "Bush dog" (a Bush voter) but then ask for help profiling their voting records.

I have no problem with posting a list of Dems who voted a certain way on a particular and encouraging people to write them, but this goes beyond that. It's confusing *your* interests (as an outsider) with those who elected the representative, for one.

There are some areas in which a progressive will not win, but a moderate Democrat can. Being able to distinguish a Thurmond or a Ralph Hall from a Nick Lampson isn't that hard.

Consider that on the other side, they're painting Lampson as a liberal.

- Tx Bubba

Comment on "Sly's "Pull""

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:10:23 -0600

Hey Greg,
I think the paper headline for this article did not say "pull". It was something more like "does not support".
I saw your post, and remembered when I saw an old paper a day or two later.
How you doin?
---Adam

- Adam

Comment on "A Morning Laugh"

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:19:31 -0600

It's like the hoopla around former presidential candidate Michael Badnarik running for the 10th CD and how the Libertarians were so sure that he'd at least come in 2nd; he even called for Ankrum to drop out (the result? Badnarik got a whopping 4.3%). Libertarians are incredibly loud, but haven't figured out that most people haven't drunk their Kool-Aid and joined in the echo chamber (but, to give them credit, it is a very efficient echo chamber that amplifies and keeps the noise very well).

Even more amusing is the thought of an actual Paul Administration (just the thought - the reality would be horrid). Where would he get his Congressional coalition from? Bush imploded and he's actually in the mainstream of his own party. The Democrats? No way this side of the Styx River. All it would prove is that Dr. No comes by his nickname honestly and would wear out his Veto stamp, while at the same time smashing the presidential record for overridden vetoes. But, I guess the rabid Randians don't have time for such pithy things as foresight, pragmatism, and coalition-building.

- souperman

Comment on "Advantage Giuliani!!!"

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:04:07 -0600

Rudolph Giuliani, on wife three after quite public affairs, gets her family values support over Hillary? Why does the reporter even build a story around these people?

- Gary Denton

Comment on ""Thank You All for Coming Out Today""

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:55:54 -0600

As gross as this behavior is, it is all around us. I walked in on two guys once in the bathroom at the Jungman Branch Library on Westheimer -- and I had a child with me! The librarian told me they had lost their cop for security due to budget cut.

- Dale

Comment on ""Thank You All for Coming Out Today""

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:40:15 -0600

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

- John

Comment on ""Thank You All for Coming Out Today""

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:14:51 -0600

When "I am not gay" is your lead quote from the story, it's not your day. Jeez, this guy's got seedy accusations going back 25 years. Another shining star from the "family values" crowd.

- houtopia