Positive Liberty

To be filed under “… to see ourselves as others see us,” I offer this BBC clip with mixed motives. First, I think the subtext of the story is interesting on several levels, none of which I think I’ll mention at the moment. Second, and perhaps more importantly, my older son appears briefly as one of the debaters at approximately 7:20 of the piece. (N.B. — I am reliably informed by the selfsame debater that sides were chosen arbitrarily. In other words, no endorsement should be inferred.)

There are lies, as the old line goes, damned lies and statistics. Insofar as polling data are statistics of a sort, it’s worth pointing out (probably not for the last time) that polls this early in the post-convention presidential race don’t mean too much. That said, they do at least generate new springboards for speculation and bickering which are pretty much the whole purpose of the blogosphere, anyway. So herewith a few factoids from the latest Gallup Poll:

McCain currently has a 6 point post convention bounce. Of course, the gravity of politics being what it is, that which bounces up eventually bounces down, too. For now, however, he has picked up support primarily from self-identified independents, an increase among independents from 40% at the end of August to a post-convention showing of 52%. Interestingly, also, his support among Democrats over the same period rose from 9% to 14% and, final curious factoid, an increase of support among men from 46% to 52% but a decrease among women, down from 46% to 41%.

What does this all mean? In my opinion, nothing. Convention memories are already fading into oblivion as far as the general electorate is concerned. And while the media (and the blogosphere, Positive Liberty included) is currently obsessed with Sarah Palin, when the focus shifts to the debates, etc., today’s poll numbers will be nothing more than plot points on the graph for statisticians, political scientists, etc. to ponder.

I seriously doubt any Positive Liberty readers are not already familiar with Radley Balko, a senior editor at reason and owner / operator of The Agitator. Mr. Balko will be appearing live (well, as live as things get on these here intertubes) over at The Art of the Possible this Wednesday, September 10 at 7. p.m. Eastern Time.

Just in case you don’t know anything about Balko and are too lazy to click on the link to his reason bio, herewith a snippet:

Balko’s work on paramilitary raids and the overuse of SWAT teams was featured by John Tierney in The New York Times, has been praised by outlets ranging from Human Events to the Daily Kos, and was cited by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s dissent in the case Hudson v. Michigan.

Balko is also credited with bringing national attention to the case of Cory Maye, a black man who prior to Balko’s work was on death row in Mississippi for shooting and killing a white police officer during a raid on Maye’s home. Balko’s Reason feature on Maye was also cited in an opinion by the Mississippi State Supreme Court. National Journal also profiled Balko’s coverage of the case.

Balko is among my favorite working journalists (what higher praise could there be?) and the sort of reporter who might even persuade his AoTP host Mona not to cancel her subscription!