Daily Blog Roundup: Tuesday, August 31, 2004
By David L. Sifry
Special to CNN.com
Editor's Note: David L. Sifry is the CEO and founder of Technorati, a Web-based company that tracks weblogs, or personal journals, on the Internet.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Arnold, the Bush sisters, voting machines, Kerry Campaign shakeup rumors, criticism of RNC bloggers, and censorship of Supreme Court decisions were on the minds of bloggers as the second day of the Republican National Convention wrapped up.
Arnold's speech polarizes: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger provoked strong reactions from both liberals and conservatives. Lots of conservative bloggers swelled with pride at his speech, according to the Technorati Conservative Politics Attention Index&trade. Such as Jay Redding
, who wrote: "His story of living under the shadow of Communism is an important reminder of why America is still admired across the globe." Technorati's Liberal Politics Attention Index&trade showed liberal bloggers reacting strongly to Arnold's jabs at Democrats: Luis Poza described the speech as "full of sound and fury and signifying nothing."
The Bush sisters: Jenna and Barbara Bush's speech provoked jeers from authoritative liberal bloggers, and conservatives largely remained silent on the speech. Keith Berry wrote: "Up until now, I've never really felt bad for anybody with the last name Bush, but watching the Bush twins at the GOP Convention was was just so sad I was nearly brought to tears. It was a train-wreck. An honest to God train-wreck." On a conservative blog, James K. Hat on Dummocrats.com wrote: "This convention has been great so far. (Edit -- great until the Bush daughters spoke... what in the world was that?)" And the Washingon Monthly reports on other conservative reactions.
Vote hackers?: Revelations on an easy way to hack voting machines made their way through the blogosphere today, in this article on Bev Harris' blog noting that the Diebold GEMS central tabulator, used in many states, may contain a stunning security hole.
Kerry campaign shakeup rumors: Mickey Kaus reports in Slate on the rumours, starting in the Washington Prowler that Kerry will shake up his campaign staff. This was later covered by MSNBC and CNN.
Blogger's Corner events, and critiques: General Tommy Franks came by the bloggers' area at the RNC for a photo opportunity and announced his support for President Bush, a prelude to his more official announcement on Sean Hannity's radio show. Salon publishes a biting article on the actions of the RNC credentialed bloggers.
Redactions of Supreme Court decisions in Patriot Act suit?: The Memory Hole reports on the "blacking out" of passages quoting U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the ACLU's suit against the Justice Department. This could be a breaking story in tomorrow's news.
