Yesterday after work I rushed home, changed clothes, and headed up to Divino Lounge in Bethesda for the first meeting of a local professional group that uses LinkedIn as our chief business networking tool. (You should all give it a try, by the way--it really works!) It was a small turnout, but the people were really cool and the restaurant was nice. I talked with the head of BuzzAnalytics about polling, marketing ideas, and why AOL is failing as a brand. He also dropped some science on the Jim Webb/George Allen race, saying that even beyond the current polls, Webb was going to blow Allen out of the water on Election Day. Good news if ever I'd heard it.

The folks were all quite interesting and I got leads on some potential new consulting offers, so I'd say it was a worthwhile way to kill an hour or two. On my way back to the Metro, I mused at how I've vaulted into a whole new sphere of influence when it comes to my career. I've been the big fish in a small pond for a while now, but now I'm playing on an entirely different level--meeting CEO's, self-starting entrepreneurs, and folks at the top of their game. I don't know where it's going to take me, but I'm gonna love the journey.

( But The Night Was Not Over...Collapse )

You might've read the scathing story from the Washington Post (and helpfully reprinted at MSNBC) about how the reconstruction team in Iraq was staffed full of party-loyal retards who couldn't balance a piggy bank. They wanted to use Iraq as their personal test lab for their pet policies, but as is often the way, found that not only were their half-baked theories ineffectual in real-world conditions, but they lacked the experience and smarts to make it happen. In case you didn't, I strongly recommend you do so--it's a brutal example of the modern GOP passion for incestuous nepotism and valuing public loyalty above all else.

But that's not the only place you can find it, sadly. A less-publicized, but just as important, story deals with how the excessive politicization and bureaucracy at the CDC is causing a huge morale drop, as well as a "brain drain" as scientists and analysts flee the agency for more hospitable pastures. This is exceptionally dangerous for the CDC--imagine all those potentially dangerous experiments and projects being overseen by BushCo morons--but it's yet another example of the death of institutional knowledge in our government. Read more about the CDC's deterioration at Daily KOS and MyDD.

Here's a Time story from last year that details the extent of how cronyism has infiltrated our government, as well as a Post story about the appointment of Julie Myers to head ICE, a choice even conservatives hated. When Michelle Malkin thinks you suck, etc.

Government's greatest strength is stability. It's not as sexy or innovative as the private sector, but it's not supposed to be. Its job is to provide useful services to its citizens, and this includes necessary research and analysis on important issues ranging from welfare to Internet access. Free of competing agendas (ideally), the public servants do their work and deliver their research. When you turn cornerstone government agencies into Communist Party cells where nothing matters but showing loyalty and padding conclusions to support his agenda, it will chill freedom of speech, weaken good science and policy, and destroy our institutional memory.

Government is not a business, and should not be run like one. But not only does Bush and his ilk want to merge the worst excesses of government (intrusiveness, bureaucracy, inefficiency) with private business (profit uber alles, lack of responsibility, turf wars, bureaucracy :)), they can't even run businesses well. Remember, Bush was a failure at every enterprise he undertook, and Halliburton only succeeds because Cheney feeds his company all the deals they need.

In case you forgot, remember what happened the last time a Bush crony (Joe Allbaugh) got another crony (Michael Brown) with no experience to head up a major government agency?:

You know that when the head of a major federal agency has to resort to penning cheesy op-eds in the Washington Post to make a point that it's all going to hell:

By comparing passenger name record (PNR) data and intelligence gathered on known terrorists -- such as cellphone numbers collected in Afghanistan -- we can identify unknown threats for additional screening and enhance our ability to assess risk. At the same time, that means we will spend less time with inconvenient screening of low-risk travelers.

Right, because things like CAPPS II, the TSA "Secure Flight" study, the terrorist watch list, and Secure Flight Itself were sterling examples of targeted security with the highest respect for privacy.

If you want to sell something, it is often a wise move to ensure the thing actually works before putting it on the market, don't you think?

I've prepared a simple visual guide to illustrate this point. This is Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff:



This is a tool:



While we need tools to accomplish both simple and complex tasks, you use the right tool for the right job. And if the tool doesn't work, you should replace it at the first opportunity.

And that, as they say, is one to grow on.

Crossposted at Private Intelligence.

courtesy of Marty Peretz at The New Republican:

I was for Joe Lieberman. I wrote an article about the race between him and Ned Lamont in Monday's Wall Street Journal.It was not neutral. But, though it got plenty of attention in the blogsand on television, it did not, alas, help Joe very much. Worse can be said of Bill Clinton's stumping in Connecticut for Joe (and Hillary's endorsement, too.) When Clinton came into the state, Lieberman and Lamont were running dead even in the polls, more or less. Clinton's appearance began Lieberman's decline. Within two or three days,Lieberman was down by ten points. (In the last few days of thecampaign, Lieberman recovered considerably ... but not enough.) I know there's some nostalgia in the Democratic Party for Clinton and for Hillary, too. But for many, in the party and out, the Clintons are a nightmare. A nightmare, as James Joyce said, from which we are trying to awake. The common wisdom is that Al Gore would have won in 2000 had he embraced Clinton more or had he allowed Clinton to embrace him.Well, look at what happened to Joe. (Emphases added.)

This is hysterical. Lieberman's failure had nothing to do with his putting loyalty to Bush ahead of duty to voters, or his support for a bullshit war, or his failure to address his constituents, or the incredible bottom-up efforts of the netroots, or maybe--gasp--that Lamont ran a better campaign. No, it's all about TEH EVAL KLINTONZ!!!!!!

If Peretz thinks the Democratic Party is stronger or better after six years of being kicked and whipped, and that Clinton, for all his faults (and they are many) was somehow not a better president than the Shrub, he, like Joe, needs to declare his own party, cut bait, and run like the loser he is. "Pundits for Peretz," perhaps. It won't be many, after all...the New Republican's got, what, 50,000 readers and falling? And the bigtime lefty blogs like Daily KOS, MyDD, and Firedoglake were getting so much traffic last night they could barely keep up.

Free market at work, Peretz. No one wants to buy your trust-fund kid rag, because you aren't giving the public what they want. I hear the National Review is hiring, though. :0

(And you wonder why I prefer being called "Martin." :) )

Mostly for the benefit of seeking4sophia, who I thought might be amused by some articles about Ana Maria Cox becoming the savior of old media:

"I've been trying to sell out for a very long time," Cox wrote in an e-mail to WWD. "I'm proud to say I finally have."

And from Reuters via CNet:

"You can only write three-sentence posts for so long before you start to crave the comparatively literary world of newsmagazines," she wrote in an e-mail message.

Cox posted sarcastic and frequently foul-mouthed gossip and political commentary on Washington's elite and their underlings on theInternet under the pseudonym "Wonkette," from 2004 until earlier thisyear.

"I thought it'd be nice to work somewhere where my mom would not be embarrassed to tell her bridge club about," she wrote of hermove to a prominent role in mainstream media.

It seems that Ana's plan for success came down to three easy steps:

1) Write lots of three-word sentences usually involving random Washington people, assfucking, and booze.

2) .....

3) Profit!

I suppose it's something to be proud of that bloggers are gaining more headway into revitalizing mainstream media institutions, but if the world is going to use her as a bellwether, perhaps we should rethink that.

I'm also depressed to think about all of the intelligent, genuinely talented, and thought-provoking female writers and bloggers out there (Amanda Marcotte and Echidne come to mind) who got passed over for someone who doesn't know her ass from her elbow when it comes to politics, but clearly is familiar with the concept of going ass to mouth--mostly because she sticks her head up in it on a regular basis.

This is mostly for squid_ink, rcdl, entropicalia, and those of you who follow the goings on in the blog world.

Apparently, The New Republic's Jason Zengerle, author of a much-maligned hit piece on Daily KOS founder Markos Moulitsas and his Machiavellian control of the blogosphere, basically pulled a Jason Leopold and made shit up to get his name out there. Of course, that shouldn't distract us from the "larger issues," he says.

Indeed! And what might those larger issues be?

1) Never trust an author named "Jason" with an ax to grind. It didn't work for horny coeds at Camp Crystal Lake, and it won't work for you.

2) Even the smartest blogger or writer will fall for the wonderful case of "Let's You And Him Fight," while real issues go ignored.

3) Daily Kos = One million unique hits a day. The New Republic = 55,000 regular subscribers. Zengerle getting name recognition from slagging the guy that's pwning his magazine = priceless.

4) It is the duty of right-thinking bloggers to fight wankers, WATBs, and blogofascists everywhere. As long as you let the scourge of blogofascism fester, the terrorists win.

Tuesday evening I caught "Night Watch" with the decadent demonic presence that is Larry. It was great to spend time with him outside of game, and as his journal relates, our snark powers were peerless. Let me be clear on one point: I don't hate Lindsay Lohan as long as she's curvaceous, redheaded, and willing to admit that she has no future in anything but Disney flicks and the eventual porno flameout. This skinny blonde crap is just done, though.

Last night I broke camp for a blogger happy hour hosted by the lusciously effervescent Kathryn and I-66. It was a very different scene than my regular Meetup crew. The crowd skewed much younger and attractive, with the alcohol flowing freely. Since I am not two of these things (I'll let you pick which :)), I felt more than a little out of place. Still, I got to hang out with Rob Goodspeed, who introduced me to a bunch of the folks from DCist. They're all nice folks--I noticed that everyone who works there seems to wear glasses. It was the first time I actually felt self-conscious for not wearing them. ;)

A big highlight was meeting I-66's friend House, who's every bit as big as his name implies. We naturally joked that if he was "House," I was "Condo." :) This led to a fascinating discussion with him about shady tactics condo owners are using to default on HUD-backed mortgages and resell the properties at a profit by asking for loans to "get them out" of default. We also touched upon the economics of the underserved "pink dollar" market, and how gay culture can remake an entire neighborhood and push up property values. Turns out he's an auditor for a big finance company. Very cool guy. I gave him my card, so perhaps we can kibitz some more.

I also have to send love to all of the cute female bloggers who literally dragged me into conversation at points, including EJtakeslife, Jessica, and Nicole, who got quoted in the Post Express the same day I did. Good times.

Overall, if my Meetup group is like "Freaks and Geeks," this was more like "Popular." :) Not a bad experience by any means, but very different. I will say that Mackey's has some great music--I heard classic Jane's Addiction, Gravity Kills, A Perfect Circle, and Depeche Mode spinning while I was in the place. :)

I also have to point out that I got a shout out in DC Blogs for my five-year-mission. :) I wrote Patrick and let him know--hey, if other people can be pioneers, so can I.

Random blogger: "I've been blogging for a long time now--like, six months!"
Me: "Of course you have, dear." :)