Ben Nelson

Ben Nelson's right. In this week's NY Times article, "A Democrat Apart, he says "I think the party is challenged with getting ahead of the curve and defining itself, because its opposition has defined it." At a recent county Democratic Committee meeting, a newcomer asked what the committee does. There was a titter from the audience, not because the question was funny, but because people in the audience were nervous that they didn't have a answer. Irene Steiner, the chair, didn't hesitate with a good answer. The committee exists to identify and encourage candidates for public office.

Nelson goes on to say the party's been "defined as though Democrats want to ban the Bible, burn the flag, promote same-sex marriage, rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance, take away everybody's guns..." and that the new party leadership should "reverse that image." I admit I don't want to ban the Bible -- or any other book. And I don't want to burn the flag, tho' I find myself wondering why I think cars sporting flag decals are driven by people I should be careful around. I'd be happy if "God" was dropped from the Pledge of Allegiance, 'tho it's not a very high priority for me. And guns... Well, yeah, maybe...

This morning I was reading through some blogs I've bookmarked in the recent past. The Free Range Librarian linked to a Times article about Sideways. I'm glad to find something from people who don't think the movie was so great. They both refer to the alcoholic character. That didn't stand out for me when I saw it, but it certainly adds to the failure of the story. I've seen good movies made from bad stories. But Sideways failed in nearly every way. Bad directing, mostly bad acting... The only things I remember without negative thoughts are the sets and costumes.

The whole blog world is getting interesting. So much of it is about getting recognized, getting the most links, getting hits from Google. But getting links and getting hits doesn't seem to have much corelation to content (except other links) or quality of writing or design.