Archive for the 'Politics' Category

In which Chris says hello to the fine folks over at MetaFilter

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Yesterday I learned of a thing called MetaFilter. Someone in the MetaFilter community subsumed my recent blog posts into a MetaPost about theater economics.

The ensuing conversation is great fun to read, although a little difficult to follow; coherency suffers in the age of aggregated essays. Clarity also suffers: “Is this sentence addressed to [...]

Renewing Theater the Right Way

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

I’m a little scared to write this entry. You’ll see why in a minute. Hopefully by the end you’ll also see why I decided to do it anyway.

Welcome to the Recession, I’ll be your Impending Sense of Doom for the evening.

In a year of deep financial crisis the theater community—never far from financial [...]

Hillary: Stop.

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Last week NPR aired a brief interview with Hillary Clinton.

This interview made me furious.

Here’s the thing: I used to be happy about the possibility of voting for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. In January and early February, I listened to her in the debates and thought: “You know? Either way this goes, [...]

My Maryland Election-Eve Politics-Roundup Post

Monday, February 11th, 2008

What, too many political entries lately? Please forgive me. I’m from Kentucky. My presidential vote has never mattered before. Tomorrow I actually get to count, and it feels good.

If pop stars singing a stump speech isn’t…substantive enough for you (sheesh, you people with your “standards” and “analytical minds”), then maybe some [...]

Idle thought: Presidential Hairdressers

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Over the course of an election season, presidential candidates must get their hair cut at least, what, a handful of times.
Working backward:

American popular opinion is driven by the media.
The media is dominated by image.
A candidate’s appearance is their primary image.
A candidate’s appearance is, briefly, under the complete control of the person who cuts their hair.

Somewhere [...]

Superdelegates Suck

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

From the Washington Post:

The potential for superdelegates to play a critical role has some party leaders worried that the situation could lend the appearance that the nominee will be selected by insiders rather than by rank-and-file voters.

“Could lend the appearance”, eh? Damn straight it could lend the appearance. One might even say that [...]

Dear Michigan and Florida,

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Good call on moving your primaries earlier! Not like those loser states that vote after Super Tuesday. Those states don’t even matter. Suckers.

Yes We Can

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Okay, I know I’m supposed to be cynical about these sorts of things, but this is pretty cool:

The Next Four Weeks

Sunday, December 2nd, 2007

I believe the next four weeks may be the single most important factor in next year’s presidential election. Our presidential candidates, hitherto suspended in the country’s most ridiculously protracted presidential lead-up, are about to lay their chips down for reals. And it’s the big money chips. Especially for the Democrats.
So if you [...]

The War on the Unexpected

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

On November 1st, Bruce Schneier published his essay “The War on the Unexpected“. It made the rounds online, and it well deserved the attention. I won’t start copying in bits and pieces of that text, because you really owe it to yourself to read the whole thing. 
I didn’t link to the essay at [...]