Netroots blog review: Daisy's Dead Air

Daisy's Dead Air, a blog by, um, Daisy, in upstate South Carolina is currently noting the visits by candidates and their surrogates to her neck of the woods as the state's primary approaches.

In Huckabee was here, she says that before his campaign event, he made a stop at a Spartanburg Christian anti-choice “pregnancy center.”

The fact that he made a point of touring this facility, speaks volumes. He used this backdrop to talk about his pro-life record, which includes passage of an amendment to the Arkansas state constitution officially recognizing that “life begins at conception.”

She also offers this bit of evangelical gossip:

Another message was sent by his choice of Furman University, which is a Baptist college, but not a cultish, backward school like Bob Jones University. (Bob Jones III already endorsed Mitt Romney, which most locals are making fun of, right about now.)

I loved her post Odds and Sods – primary edition in which she contemplates the irony of Senator Lindsay Graham riding the Straight Talk Express on behalf of presidential contender John McCain.

The place was jam-packed with southern hawks, diehard military fellas with shirts, buttons and patches letting you know which wars they were in. (One of them politely offered me his seat–yes, southern gentlemen!) This made me sweat a bit, suddenly conscious of my corduroy tie-dye skirt and long hair, but a few of the veterans had that scruffy, long-haired outsider-look Dennis Hopper used to have before he started shilling for Wall Street. These guys are SOLID behind McCain, and totally unapologetic for the Iraq War. They are there to WIN, as Lindsey repeatedly said, to cheers.

Lindsey Graham, to put it very honestly and bluntly, is one of the most charming people in the world. He is sweet, funny and whimsical. He has a million one-liners, delivered in his lilting, gee-whiz-I'm-a-Senator-can-you-dig-it? fashion. This seems like a sharp contrast to his style on the Senate floor, where he doesn't miss a trick. Nonetheless, when he started talking, I was jarred by the juxtaposition of the hard-ass, masculine veterans and sweet, nonmasculine Lindsey, and I am always surprised at how much they like him. Do they see it? If they do, they don't care. Lindsey, as usual, appealed to his military service, which he holds up like a banner in most political discussions of Iraq. And then he tells jokes. He'd be fine with ANY of the good men running for the GOP nomination, he said, except Ron Paul (whose name was met with a round of boos)…but Lindsey says he figures he'll have to worry about that when he is drafted for the NBA (he's short), so he isn't too worried.

Daisy makes a prediction on the SC Republican primary:

It's obviously between McCain and Huckabee here in the upstate, and judging by the tenor of the Tanner's crowd, I'd give the SC primary to McCain.

In another post, she looks at how the media — and her co-workers — are interpreting Hillary's so called crying episode in New Hampshire.

There is also a very distressing photo series on how a new Wal-Mart is ravaging her neighborhood.

You know, I understand capitalism. I understand marketing. I work in retail. But there is a Super-Wal-Mart about 10-12 miles south of here, and another about 15-20 miles northwest. It isn't like they haven't saturated the upstate South Carolina market already. Why do they keep taking more and more and more?

Yes, there are non-political posts. In It should be obvious, but it's not …, Daisy discusses the meaning of Issaac Assimov's Nightfall, and the black swan theory. In another, which I didn't read, she writes about Spiderman's divorce.

The blogroll includes the Catholic Worker, Billionaires for Bush, and the Farm Animal Reform Movement.

DDA's archives go back to June 2007, and in her first post, Postmenopausal Day!, she says that she is marking ta special anniversary.

I am starting this blog because it is now precisely ONE year since I have menstruated, making me officially an old woman.

It is now time for me to share my wisdom, look out upon the world and say hmmm. Yes. “Well, I remember back in the day…”

And, with that first post, she does in fact, impart some useful crone-ish wisdom for peacemakers:

Thing is, I DO remember back in the day. And history repeats itself, like the man said, the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce. And so, I will try to remind everyone of what has happened before. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

We see that now. The anti-war movement of my youth was large, dramatic, exhilarating…but we should always remember that it's strength was due to the DRAFT. It was not due to any moral or political superiority on our part, not by a long shot. Much of the anti-war movement was about the unbridled self-interest of the affluent classes. Once that fear (conscription) passed, and the draft abolished (by Nixon, that shrewd operator), the anti-war/peace movement virtually collapsed. And stayed that way.

What are the so-called “lessons of Vietnam”? Make sure the people fighting your war are people with absolutely no power. (emphasis added)

A very good blog by a feminist vegetarian herbalist in South Carolina; highly recommended, bookmarked.