What I'm Reading

I admit it: I've been a little obsessed with the presidential campaign. Okay, a lot obsessed. I do want to keep this blog a relatively politics-free zone, except when I can use politics as a platform for discussing language, names, and brands. But before I head off on the high road, here are some of the ways I'm following the news (in addition to the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Slate, etc.):

• Jon Stewart was terrific last night, skewering Republican inconsistencies on The Daily Show. Watch the video here.

• Crooks and Liars shreds John McCain's "delusional" claims about Sarah Palin's experience and qualifications.

• Laura McGann of the Washington Independent has been filing excellent reports from Gov. Palin's home state of Alaska. Ms. McGann is doing the tedious, important work of combing through files and microfiches to get at the truth. You can also follow her shorter dispatches on Twitter.

• NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen has written a provocative piece, "The Palin Convention and the Culture War Option," that's posted on his website, PressThink. He outlines, point by point, how the GOP might counter (truthful) charges leveled by the Democrats. I'm following Jay Rosen on Twitter, too.

• Trying to find time to read more of Politico and Talking Points Memo. My favorite line of the day comes from a reader of Politico's Jonathan Martin in reference to Sarah Palin's (and Rudy Giuliani's) snide remarks about Barack Obama's years as a Chicago community organizers: "Someone should remind her that Jesus Christ was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor."

• Linda Grant (of The Thoughtful Dresser blog) offers an English perspective on Sarah Palin in this article in today's Guardian about "two hopelessly incompatible Americas."

• Speaking of thoughtful, James Fallows of the Atlantic (he and Andrew Sullivan are just about the only Atlantic contributors I can bear to read anymore) gives a well-reasoned analysis of Palin's acceptance speech.

One more: Listen to Terry Gross's "Fresh Air" interview with New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick, who has written a series of articles about John McCain and who wrote a book about the conservative Christian movement. Among other things, he points out that the "maverick" label was attached to John McCain relatively recently.

If you missed Sarah Palin's acceptance speech last night, you can watch it (and read the text) here. (Notice, in the text just above the boldface section, the helpful "new-clear" spelling. Previously, Palin has pronounced "nuclear" as noo-kyoo-ler.)

I'm taking the next few days off to attend a (nonpolitical) funeral. In the meantime, discuss: Have you seen or heard any particularly good campaign coverage lately?

Comments

[julia7]

Here are few I'm glued to: www.eschatonblog.com, www.dailyhowler.com, and www.thinkprogress.org. This one doesn't have much to do with the convention but I've been glued to it lately too: reaskroicowl.blogspot.com.

[Editrix]

Oh my. This is dangerous.

I will not blow off work to watch Jon Stewart.

I will not blow off work to watch Jon Stewart.

I will not blow off work to watch Jon Stewart.