Steve Duin shows us some love.
Somehow we missed this last week. Talking about local blogs on the Oregonian's blog, Steve Duin offered up this priceless one-liner:
BlueOregon is an endless lap dance for the Democratic Party.
Discuss.
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Dec. 27, 2006
Posted in open discussion. |
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connect with blueoregon
Dec 28, '06
Does this mean Kari has to wear a thong from now on?
Dec 28, '06
Duin has low standards with regard to what constitutes a sexual interaction. That comes from inexperience.
Dec 28, '06
Which is worse: Catching your parents having sex or imagining Steve Duin getting a lap dance from Kari Chisholm?
P.S. Thanks for nothing Pat for making me think of that...now I'm going to have to stick a hot poker in my brain.
9:32 a.m.
Dec 28, '06
It's a pretty good one-liner, but given that his own paper has abrogated its political coverage and the local TV stations are having their licensure challenged, it hardly seems like BlueOregon is such a malign influence on the public discourse. NWRepublican may be another matter....
Dec 28, '06
A lap dance!? Get a rope.
10:50 a.m.
Dec 28, '06
Oh, Pat... first you want me to run for the US Senate, now you want me to wear a thong? Good god!
(And, one more time... BlueOregon isn't me, and I'm not BlueOregon. We've got several co-editors, lots of contributors, and a seemingly-infinite number of commenters. BlueOregon is you. And you. And you. And you....)
Dec 28, '06
Funny, I thought the Oregonian was giving the GOP lapdances after the nomination of Saxton and the near nomination of Bush in 2004.
Dec 28, '06
Everything looks different to Steve, after all, he and his beloved newspaper are still on its knees, furoiously fellating a limp, shaky, alcoholic failure of a president.
Two nights ago, my own mother-in-law, Employee Number 3 at CNN, was amazed that bloggers (with no journalistic experience!) would be believed these days.
I said I have to believe them now that Judy Miller was found to be a worthless hack and fraud.
Bloggers couldn't do worse than Judith and the NY Times if they tried! Or little Stevie Duin.
11:42 a.m.
Dec 28, '06
Bloggers couldn't do worse than Judith and the NY Times if they tried! Or little Stevie Duin.
What I love about blogs is the insight they provide into the utter lack of perspective that even intelligent people can develop apparently without half trying.
Dec 28, '06
Let's show some respect for the hard-working lapdancers of this world.
Sid, I don't think you'll find much friendly to Shrub and his gang from Steve Duin. The Big O editorial board is a different matter. They've written so many logic and fact free editorials supporting Republicans and corporate interests that it's hardly worth a shrug any more.
Dec 28, '06
I like Steve Duin. He writes thoughtful, insigtful columns. While I don't agree with the referenced comment, I do think that some information, particularly posts, are often way over the top. I enjoy this site, but unfortunately, must sift through uninformed "Randi Rhodes" style analysis too much of the time.
Dec 28, '06
Sorry I left the "h" off insightful..
Dec 28, '06
Dennis,
IMHO, Randi Rhodes offers the most cogent analysis on commercial radio. Her style can be grating, but her views are on target.
2:46 p.m.
Dec 28, '06
I also like Steve Duin and find his comment slightly odd--he's sort of like an old school, proto blogger. Holding an opinion doesn't mean you're giving anyone a lapdance--as Steve well knows. I'm always a little irritated to hear blogs dismissed out of hand as partisan when in fact, that's where their value lies. With BlueOregon, at least you can see the bias, track back the references and see if they're worth anything, and make a judgment yourself. The criticism of the MSM is increasingly more potent: as the news and business side are increasingly blurred, readers don't know what the bias of the newspaper is, and that's worse than having a clear, obvious bias.
Dec 28, '06
Does it count if your lapdancer smacks you around?
Dec 28, '06
How about "Opportunity PAC?" Four years after blowing $400,000 on a similar bit of make-believe, Gov. Ted Kulongoski is planning a new exercise in smoke and mirrors, shaking down the party faithful at the inaugural ball so he can -- in the words of chief-of-staff Chip Terhune -- "start a dialogue" with Oregonians about how to do his job. "It's very easy in this process to just get into an echo chamber," Terhune told The Oregonian's Harry Esteve. "It's really vital to listen to external Oregonian voices."
Actually, Steve misses the point when he talks about BO and the Democratic Party. Whatever the result, there was intense debate and competition for the D nomination for Gov. this year and some candidates actually stood in front of audiences composed of ordinary folks and answered questions.
This was a Ted K. site all year, and people who asked when they could see Ted do live Q & A or see Ted outside of Portland (the website seemed to have more Portland events than anything else) were treated as almost subversive in some eyes.
So I think the above quote from Duin is pretty much on the mark.
This is a perceptive quote. "It's really vital to listen to external Oregonian voices."
Problem is, "external voices" which need to be heard are people who don't have a high enough income and can't afford to attend the inaugural ball, or live so far away from Portland they don't want to do the ball AND pay for a hotel room for the night.
I mean the folks John Edwards talks about--the folks barely making ends meet, or working multiple jobs, or working long hours, or one parent working full time while the other stays at home with an infant if they can do that on one income, or where parents of an infant need 2 incomes as soon as the mother is able to return to work and they can find infant daycare of some sort.
Here's hoping that in 2007 the folks in the Gov. office realize the need to communicate with those folks as well, and the new members (esp. the new young members) who represent such folks and probably spent lots of time this year talking to such folks in order to win a seat in the legislature.
5:55 p.m.
Dec 28, '06
LT wrote This was a Ted K. site all year
LT, that's bullshit, it's offensive, and you know it.
I'll point you to this comment posted in February by Jim Hill's campaign manager, Jef Green:
During the season, I also had similar communications from Pete Sorenson. Stacey Dycus, from the Westlund campaign, was similarly pleased with the openness of this forum.
During the primary season, we had LOTS of coverage about the other candidates. You might have to wade through more recent stuff, but take a look: Pete Sorenson, Jim Hill, Vicki Walker, Rick Metsger, and John Kitzhaber
Was this site pretty much pro-Ted in the general election? Sure! That's why it's called BLUE Oregon. Not Purple Oregon. Or Plaid Oregon. Or Shades of Gray Oregon. I refer you to Jeff Alworth's post on ethical blogging -- we're unabashedly partisan and progressive. As Jeff points out above, that's a good thing.
If you don't like it, start your own damn blog.
Dec 28, '06
Yeah, please don't rag too hard on Duin. He's the O's saving grace resident liberal counterpoint to that timberpole up the lower intestine resident wingnut conservative David Reinhard. Duin actually seems to have some personal sense of ethics that he expresses fairly regularly. Many people from time to time find it hard to resist using a controversial analogy like "lapdancer" to make a point.
As far as the point is concerned, as a listener and occassional commenter, though some people commenting here are very enthusiastic about getting the liberal mojo rolling, I've found that people visiting this site generally seem to be genuinely interested in learning about what all of the rest of the players on the field have to offer that might improve the state of the world for everybody.
6:55 p.m.
Dec 28, '06
Kari, It looks to me like LT is complaining about what she perceives as a dominant mentality - NOT necessarily taking a swipe at the "hosts of the party."
I think she's right, that the "pro-Ted" voices here were often louder than the alternatives. And they sometimes conveyed dismissive attitudes (though in that, surely they weren't alone.)
But I don't hear her saying that competing voices were unjustly silenced. (LT, correct me if I'm wrong.)
Kari, if as you say, BlueOregon is "you, and you, and you, and you..." - then why take offense at an observation of the predominant culture? If anyone holds you responsible for that culture, why let that be your problem?
In other words - expressing frustration doesn't imply a request that you change something about your approach or your policies. We're all still here, right?
As for Duin, he made a casual and joking observation...trying to read a lot of meaning into it seems like a pointless exercise.
Dec 28, '06
The only thing to appreciate about Steve Duin is his consistent ethical sense. Not that this necessarily leads him in the right direction, IMHO; he has consistently been a huge cheerleader for the death penalty.
8:17 p.m.
Dec 28, '06
a dominant mentality... the "pro-Ted" voices here were often louder than the alternatives.
Well, actually the Kulongoski folks would tell you that BlueOregon's commenters were overwhelmingly pro-Hill, pro-Sorenson, and pro-Westlund. It seems as if everyone always thinks that "their" guy is the one getting the short end of the stick.
Here's the deal: I believe that Pete Sorenson and Jim Hill got more notice and more coverage here on BlueOregon than on any other media outlet in the state. Beyond that, #1 I don't, can't, and won't attempt to control the balance of comments - and #2 they probably reflected the prevailing sense of the primary electorate, in which Ted K beat those guys by huge margins.
I didn't expect this joke of a post to actually generate much in the way of heated debate - but oh well, that shows you what I know.
10:31 p.m.
Dec 28, '06
Whether this is a "lapdance for the Democratic Party" or a shamelessly pro-Kulongski site is purely a subjective call. Given that we have 20+ writers and hundreds of commenters, if you choose a horse in this race, you'll find support for it.
During the primary, Ted was getting tagged so seriously in posts and on the comment threads that I felt the need to write a post about why I supported him (having earlier been for Pete). Several BlueOregon writers were for Jim Hill and at least one was avidly for Westlund.
I don't mind being called partisan or biased. But go back into the archives and see whether you think there's a serious argument for some of these charges.
11:28 p.m.
Dec 28, '06
Okay...except, I really never had "a guy." I voted enthusiastically for Ted in the general, and found that I was mistakenly still registered "I" in the primary. Not sure how I would have voted if I'd been "D."
Thing is, I agree that lots of folks might have differing opinions about the dominant mentality. The place where we diverge is that I'm not sure I get what's wrong with that.
Dec 29, '06
“BlueOregon is an endless lap dance for the Democratic Party.”
I know that sexism sells but Duin's sexist comment is adolescent and is no flattering commentary on his literary skills or his presumed attempt to have a discourse about partisan political blogging.
12:43 p.m.
Dec 29, '06
Thanks, Tina, for saying that.
Dec 29, '06
"Lapdance for the Democratic Party"? Duin should be looking at his own paper and the Dec. 26 (I think) fellation of the Portland Development Commission. Please, please don't let that awful Randy Leonard and the rest of the City Council have control of the PDC! They might stand in the way of our backroom deals!
Dec 29, '06
Thanks, Pete. Now that the election is over, and Ted's "running against 2 Republicans" sound bite looks a lot different now that Westlund is a Democrat, it is no skin off my nose that in the heat of a primary I was called a one trick pony. I have been called worse to my face, incl. "not a real Democrat" when I was on State Central Comm. 20 years ago because I chose the "wrong" primary candidate, the "wrong" side of a state or county resolution or ballot measure. I just hope the conversations about presidential candidates can be more civil than that--the stakes are a lot higher.
FYI to everyone, after reading this topic I went back and looked at my saved email. I'd written an email to someone I know who comments here regularly and said "please read the May 28 comments on this topic and let me know what you think." http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/05/rasmussen_poll_.html#c17856745
There was a long response incl.
"No credit, only criticism. Humm It strikes me that I have said the same thing (I like to think in different ways) and so have lots of others on BO. We seem to have the same sorts of debates and go in circles. It is the nature of this form of communication to never have an ending, and to never see minds changed. "
The subj. line of the email had been something like "people who regard Blue Oregon as their own, not a public forum".
I don't read Blue Oregon now as much as I sometimes have.
As my email friend mentioned, some of the discussions are good but some of them seem stale. Sometimes BO is the source of breaking news and intelligent conversation. But when it is neither then I don't read as often.
Dec 29, '06