Jason Calacanis - Comments

“oh wow, causecast shares space with mahal0 - that's interesting - probably a good way to keep tabs on their investment”

September 30 at 5:47 pm - Link

Allen, I know you hate yourself, but you gotta stop hating on me. Really dude, you're a good guy... take it easy. - Jason Calacanis

Allen Stern posted a message on Twitter

“I have received a sneak peek at Jas0n's next email, it's titled... "the sun will come up tomorrow"”

September 29 at 4:44 pm - Link

you better not publish my new email "(the) sun will come up!" ;-) - Jason Calacanis

Betcher bottom dollar that tommorrow... There'll be suuuuuun! - Jason Huebel

Evan Williams posted a message on Twitter

“People wishing my happy birthday: Thanks! Also? It's not my birthday.”

September 29 at 1:32 pm - Link

Charlie Anzman, Alex "Maverick" Scoble and santiromero liked this

perhaps you can save up the well wishes in case people don't greet you with them when it is, in fact, your birthday! - Aura Mae

2 more comments

Well happy birthday, then. - Jay Tannenbaum

happy birthday @Ev!!!!! ;-) - Jason Calacanis

A very merry un-birthday to me, to you, to me, to you!! - Ryan Cates

Well that's two rumors I wasn't able to spread around the web, Ev's birthday and Ev marrying Scarlett Johannson. - Mike Lewis

Robert Scoble posted a message

“FriendFeed celebrates its first birthday on Thursday. What a first year! Thank you to FF for being such a huge part of my life this year!”

September 29 at 1:10 am - Link

tinu, Eric, Alex Hammer and 174 other people liked this

I predict a birthday cake meme! - David Young

36 more comments

FF FTW *FIREWORKS AND CRACKLES* chick chak, what is to do then? - Zu aka ElijahBailey

Not if you got to do the private beta. I signed up on September 3, cuz I'm cool like that ;) - Shannon Jiménez

I joined a while ago but have only recently got the addiction. It's a great service, look forward to many years to come. - Kol Tregaskes

Hey, same as my birthday! Very cool! I suggest a "Party Hat" meme is in order. - Mark VandenBerg

Ohh, Happy Early Birthday FF! - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)

Well done FF and users, it's been a great year! - Mo "Killer Bee" Kargas

Does anyone have a printable party hat template... hmmmmmm - John Worthington

lol +1 John - Kyle Lacy

@robert scoble Is this 1 year birthday since launch of product or of the company overall? - Jason Goldberg

That went fast! - Charlie Anzman

FriendFeed helped me achieve my first Google PR5 ranking - Glenn Batuyong

YEAH!!! Congratulations FriendFeed!! What an amazing and productive first year...very impressive!! So happy for you guys!! Thank you Robert for reminding us of their birthday and to appreciate their product!! - Susan Beebe

Thank you FriendFeed, Robert Scoble and everyone else that has made FF the useful and entertaining tool that it is! - David Ward

I must thank the Twitter outages for pushing me here. - Eric @ CS Techcast

I look forward to seeing how FF moves forward, very good service, thanks to Paul and the team for their hard work creating a very useful utility. - Jeremy Campbell via twhirl

FriendFeed is so useful that I don't even know what I'd do without it. Congrats on completing your 1st year FF!! - J. D. Ebberly

Wow, its hard to believe that FF is already a year old. - Josh Smith

It took you almost a year to get me onto friendfeed? Dude, WTF? - Alex "Maverick" Scoble

I predict that I will be unemployed by this time next year if my first month's activity on FF is any indciation of what the next year will bring. :D I joke. I think. - ♥ pea ♥..!..♥..!..♥

Shannon: that wasn't even the private beta. That was the "are you a sibling of Bret beta," of which you were the only participant :) - Bret Taylor

Cake in the Logo time ?? - Charlie Anzman

Alex - LOL that was snarky!!! Ok Robert, what took you so long to get Alex on FF?!! ha, ha!! - Susan Beebe

Truly a great year for and on FF -- what an awesome service, a BIG thank you to the developers and to all the COOL PEOPLE on FF. - Nicholas Kreidberg

glad this is still the BEST item on "Best of the Day"! Bump!!! - Susan Beebe

Actually the birthday party is on Wednesday evening. Yikes. Well, it'll be Thursday in Australia! :-) - Robert Scoble

Congrats to Friendfeed - i predict BIG things :) - Zee from WeDoCreative

At first I didn't 'get' the point of FriendFeed, but after a while, its become my favorite internet hangout. - Nick Humphries

Happy Birthday Friend Feed--in a very short period of time, you have made yourself a critical part of my day. Kudos! - Amie Gillingham

Happy Birthday FriendFeed! Congrats to every FriendFeeder! - Cesar Cardoso

happy happy! - Jason Calacanis

I'm looking forward to seeing what they do in year two. - Chris Luckhardt

Boom shacka-lacka-lacka Happy Birthday! (in three more days) - Pete Delucchi

Wow only one year for FriendFeed, and it's already quite a hit, I only joined it last month - Alvin

Happy birthday FF,can't believe it was about a year,I joined it about two months ago,and now I can't live without it,kinda addictive. - Steve

Happy Birthday FF btw - Kol Tregaskes

is there a party somewhere? - Loic Le Meur

Happy Birthday, FF. I like it, a lot. - Leon Ho

First of many successful - Alex Hammer

Jason Calacanis favorited a video on YouTube

Wine, Healthy Fast Food, Shoes, and more on Mahalo Mondays Episode #2

September 29 at 2:26 pm - Link

Jeff Hoard, Kenton and Lon Harris liked this

very well done team Mahalo Daily! i give the first try a 5/6 and this one a 7... next week lets get to an 8/9! - Jason Calacanis

good one! I'm surprised though the at the 10-12 hours of editing time needed...WOW! - David Ward

loren feldman published photos on Flickr

September 28 at 3:01 pm - Link

Seamus Condron, Donna Mugavero and Robert "Maverick" Haas liked this

oh no....... oh no........ - Jason Calacanis

Are you bringing her next week? - Seamus Condron

loren feldman published a video on YouTube

Welcome To 1938 Enterprise

September 28 at 6:22 pm - Link

Lon Harris, Michelle Oshen, James Fuller and Jason Calacanis liked this

hahahahahahahaha - Jason Calacanis

Jason Calacanis posted a message on Twitter

“200 amazing emails about "(The) Startup Depression" email. Comments on TC+Alleyinsider? 80% anonymous hate. 100% email now, die haters die.”

September 28 at 1:22 pm - Link

Jason Kaneshiro, Jeff Douglass, Anthony K. Valley © and 2 other people liked this

You venting, Jason? - Roberto "Maverick" Bonini

4 more comments

Screw the haters. You should have left it up. I liked it and thought your 10 tips were on point, and there were a few good comments from @alexschleber @davemcclure and a couple others. There's always going to be haters and I say F*CK them! - Miiko Mentz

I agree to a certain extent, but frankly i'm tired of my words being fodder for losers who've done nothing in their lives to riff on. I'm much more comfortable just working with you guys. - Jason Calacanis

what happened to this post? Calacanis: Collapsing Economy Will Kill 50%-80% Of Startups - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

And coincidentally (completely unrelated to this) I signed up for you email today, Jason. - Mark VandenBerg

Here's some encouragement, man. I enjoyed the post, actually. Keep thinkin' man. - ChangeForge | Ken Stewart

Is this actually the reason the post was pulled from both SAI and TC? - Svetlana Gladkova

Carlos Ayala posted a message

“The First Presidential Debate 2008”

September 27 at 8:51 am - Link

Mike Fruchter, Team Frosick, Francois "Shoob" Lamotte and 14 other people liked this

I put this together from the entire transcript. It does not include the introduction and is made up of both Obama and McCain and includes Lehrer's questions. - Carlos Ayala

2 more comments

I can't find horseshit :p - zoblue (Zulema)

oh its in there zulema. - Carlos Ayala

very cool - Jason Calacanis

Afghanistan more important than Iraq now, shows shift in policy. - imran

Robert Scoble posted a message on Twitter

“Other tips I have? Put a simple statement of what they do for customers on top of the page (include most popular search terms).”

September 27 at 10:18 am - Link

MikeAmundsen and Mark VandenBerg liked this

Depends on where their customers are searching from. Adding key terms in the Boolean is an older tactic, as Google prioritizes based on page views and new material. What you do for a customer might take second look to a visual (depending on type of glass). and in my experience (I run a web design co, and do style consulting for a small indi-label), keep it short, people really don't want to spend 2 hours finding out what you do, when a short description and a visual might work. - Gina K

Video of the owner introducing themselves, why they started the company, and what they do better than anyone in the world. - Jason Calacanis

Robert Scoble posted a message on Twitter

“A friend has a glass company and is struggling. Their Web site sucks. What advice do you give? Any Web designers in Silicon Valley?”

September 27 at 10:13 am - Link

James Burgos, Danielle Closs, Wallace Wilson and 11 other people liked this

Link? - Evan

36 more comments

there should be the odd web designer in the valley somewhere. - Zee from WeDoCreative

They should be open, honest and 100% transparent when describing their issues. - Andy C

I would recommend that they first think what kind of content they want to have online. Product information is good bet, but what other things they should share to people? What about history of company? Telling stories make people feel more sympathy to company. (And yes, I could have some recommendation for those designers but I have to look from my bookmarks first...) - Daniel Schildt

Given the economy they need to consider only 2 things right now: 1) how do I acquire customers; 2) how do I keep the customers I get (return business/upsell) - That should be the only purpose of the site. HOW they get there is what a good creative can help them with. - Brian roy

SWOT analysis, strategies evaluation, objectives setting, execution planning. In that same order - Marcello Del Bono

engagement, loyalty, turn customers into sales-people. 'social-ize' your products - MikeAmundsen

Make sure your website is tested on all platforms, loads quickly, gets to the point and is attractive without being gaudy. Showcase your work in the most attractive manner possible, but keep in mind who your key customers are; What kind of glass they make (art?, Practical?, sheets for artists?) will determine how they market. One thing they teach you in an MBA is that you can't just sell a product, you have to market to a customer- the first q they should ask themselves is who do they want as their customer - Gina K

Evan: It is: http://www.southbayglassco.com... - Robert Scoble

My tips? First, think about how people are using Google to find you. Put those search terms in your title tag. Second, put a simple sentence about what you do for customers and how you are different from your competitors. Include those same search terms. Put that at the top of your page. After that, start a blog, make it personal. Add some stories of what you do. Tips for customers who are looking to hire you. That, too, will help you with Google. - Robert Scoble

It doesn't tell me their story. Doesn't give me any reason why I should pick them over any other glass company. - Alex "Maverick" Scoble

outsource it to asia for low cost upgrade, get a top notch result, can hook u up - imran

Agree with Alex. I want to know what makes them great, even without saying "we are better than everyone else." Maybe teach us something about glass. People may think a certain way about glass, but if we have a better understanding of what goes into giving us the product, we may gravitate towards them. - Evan

forget the Web site... how's the glass? perhaps that is the problem... - Jon Price

Make sure the fundamentals are covered. Easy to find address, phone number, other corporate info (you'd be amazed how many sites blow this). Make it easy for a customer to get in touch from every page--the moment they find what they want they can get in touch with the company and order it or get more answers. Another bit of advice is one page = one product. Get them into google on each individual item. Sitemaps are also important and good header tags. - Andrew Leyden

Marketing is more imp than product, right hand rule, unless u sell oil/gas - imran

I didn't find them on yelp. Might want to encourage customers to start some entries. I didn't see any customer reviews. There's no tag line. I like to see something about good prices, good work, leave the place clean, on time, that sort of thing. The examples of their work are too big and there are no descriptions of what makes their work good. - todd

Better yet, move to Dubai, your friend will be sold out in a month or so - imran

Start a blog and a short video show on YouTube. Write the most basic posts about glass company themes. go to Yahoo Answers and answer every questions related to glass/windows. - Jason Calacanis

Selling your friends isn't very friendly. - todd

Follow/learn from Jcal, Arrington, Scoble's marketing lifestyle - imran

I'd volunteer to help your friend - most businesses have fundamental biz development issues - they need to develop referral systems, focus on client education, reactivate dead leads, develop backend email system w/frontend free ebook optin above the fold answering most common client questions, and personalize the website with owner profile. It's cold and not that informative. Position yourself as an expert by providing helpful information. Conversion is the first thing to focus on w/only minor tweaks needed to the website at this point. Joint ventures are a big help for relatively fast money. - Vicki

Robert- I would be happy to send an complete analysis / recommendation. It sucks watching a good business fail with a bad site. I have some business basics articles I can narrow them in with, I know translating all this "net jargon" is hard for most brick and mortar businesses. - 123socialmedia

Thanks for all the tips, I just forwarded this. - Robert Scoble

they are struggling not because of their web site - this is for sure. They need to focus on their overall integrated sales/marketing strategies: like partnerships with contractors, etc; cross-marketing, referral-based incentives. People in general do not purchase these types of services because of the nice looking web site - period. There are few simple things that could be done to beautify their web site, even they will somehow drive folks to this web site-will not lead to more closed business- more needed - glfceo

more content, should have a unique page for every major glass company out there. a page for every major style of glass/glass doors.Should have a nice section that can be used as a resource by potential customers to draw them in and generate a lead. Also all the META info for the homepage(and i imagine every other page) needs a revamp. - sean percival

Answer three questions before you start: 1. Who am I talking to? 2. What do I want from them? 3. What do they want from me? - Michael Markman

also the mom and pop stuff is always very hard, ive done about 200 ecommerce sites, mostly for small companies like this. their focus is always on the biz first and website last, today it and in some cases it should be the other way around. - sean percival

Scobleizer, I guess it depends on their budget. If they have some budget allocated to improving their website, they should hire a consulting firm specializing in web and graphics design, like Emily Chang. However, if their budget is limited, they can search for students at nearby universities and see if any student designers will take it as a student project, or even have it as a class project competition. - imabonehead

Nothing says personal like some raw videos going up now and then showing some aspect of the business. Be it some cutting taking place and the owner talking about the business somewhat. Once it's genuine and not a "well I saw someone say to do this so let me do this" kind of thing. You would know what I mean, Robert. I think. - Evan

I'd like to see an http://www.englishcut.com style site go up for them and think that could work well. Of course using the web effectively might not translate well into business for a glass company...The other question is how effectively are they exploiting other avenues of advertising. Are they going the extra mile to get and maintain good word of mouth solicitations from current/past customers? Etc. - Alex "Maverick" Scoble

selling glass during real estate troubles is interesting way to to target potential customers with sense of humor - silpol

also, making search on google maps with string "glass near 63 Washington Street Santa Clara, CA 95050" (remove parethesis before search) and zooming out shows how many glass ships around -- I don't know what they are counting for... - silpol

they don't appear on page 1 of google results for "santa clara glass." lot of drilling down to find them using maps, and they have NO reviews. on web site, gotta scroll down to find out "What we do." also, glass product named "Windows 95" does not inspire confidence - Karim

They need to do more then an overhaul of their website. They need to work on SEO and targetted traffic such as through PPC campaigns. Plus wouldn't offline marketing be more effective for them? - Nicholas James

The good news is, they can do a lot more. Be compelling. Details. Engage. It's about motivation from the client-side. Go beyond the website with the "service or products that are offered... Offer something of value and show it. Talk about it. Be seen... - kilbuda

I would say that the bottom line comes down to storytelling. If I can go to their site and learn about them - what is their story? how did they get into the glass business? what makes them great? - I will gain an emotional connection and they've got my (and many others') business. Tell me the story of the process, let me gain the knowledge and make me feel like an insider because I know the terms and processes and don't feel like a fool when I call. That will make me a customer too. - Shawn Kelley

I sent a lengthy e-mail to your fastcompany addy. Please forward to your friend. :) - 123socialmedia

Before the glass company invests a lot of time, effort, and money into upgrading their Web site, they should run a small PPC (Google Adwords is your best bet) campaign to test the waters locally (under product/service related keywords like auto glass, glass windows, etc.). They can direct the Google ads to specialized landing pages that provide a call-to-action for the visitor - a small format questionnaire works great (three questions at most), with the promise of a same day response. Then, analyze the traffic to see if it's worth investing a full-blown online marketing campaign (new Web site, organic SEO, paid search placement, display ads, etc.). They may find that either their locale or customer base are more inclined to turn to the yellow pages (making their Web site unnecessary). It sounds funny saying this, being a Web guy, but sometimes adding up the niche, location, and demographic data will tell you that online is the wrong space to market your business. Best of luck to your friend - Rick from - Drive Thru

Ethan Kaplan posted a message on Twitter

“its super hot out but I still need to do a long run. 7 or 8 miles at least. wish me luck”

September 27 at 10:37 am - Link

good luck out there! - Jason Calacanis

Jason Calacanis posted a link

Sarah Palin Swimsuit Video

September 26 at 2:09 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Russellreno, Aaron Strout and Mavericks of Troy, NV! liked this

wow. - Jason Calacanis via Bookmarklet

7 more comments

like wow wow - Jason Calacanis

Well, I'm sold. Where do I vote? - dkb

NOW who needs foreign policy experience? - Matthew Davidson via twhirl

But can she lead?...you guys realize she will VP to a 72 year old man with medical records thicker then a phone book? - Jeff Hoard via twhirl

Actually, to be fair, I think we should give Obama a shot at the swimsuit competition too. - dkb

I'm sure she can lead. She lead us right off a cliff. - Victor Ganata

You asked for it. Obama's Swim Suit Photo - http://time-blog.com/real_clea... Granted he grew up in Hawaii and probably lived in the water in his free time. - Christopher Welle

My guess is that Obama would hold his own. He's a pretty fit dude. ;) - Aaron Strout via twhirl

Hmm … well, I'd have to judge her the winner of the swimsuit round. And the evening gown round, too. Gosh, that's thrown my whole Presidential vote into question, what am I to do?! - dkb

michael arrington posted an entry on TechCrunch

Why Twitter Needs to Do More

September 26 at 7:50 am - Link

Jayavasanthan J, Dave Martin, Mavericks of Troy, NV! and 2 other people liked this

A stable product should be a higher priority - Cains

2 more comments

use FriendFeed and stability is not an issue. - Jon

actually, the product is very stable these days. The real issue is that they haven't provided groups (i.e. like Yammer) and they havent given users more control of their pages (i.e. javascript, analytics, etc). The team is getting to the point at which they are stable enough to add features again from what I understand. this is the same exact thing that happened with EBAY for those of you who remember.... massive scale issues, no new features for some time. that turned out very well and so will twitter - Jason Calacanis

Not stable from what I've seen and if you do a search on here, you'll see plenty of gripes about failwhales and outages. Comparing twitter and eBay is ludicrous, eBay actually had a revenue stream. Twitter plans to make money how? - Cains

They've brought in a lot of good minds as of late. Don't assume they don't have a revenue strategy because they haven't announced any. - Chris

michael arrington posted an entry on TechCrunch

Ex-Friendster CEO’s Uber Heads To The Deadpool

September 26 at 1:34 pm - Link

Nicholas James, Jason Calacanis and (teh)Kenny liked this

Uber was terrible. - (teh)Kenny

This is going to be the first of many, many "B round" companies that can't complete the mission. Uber.com gave it their best shot... i'm sure they will wind up doing fine in their future efforts. - Jason Calacanis

Jason Calacanis posted a link

MALINTENT knows if you're lying... scary

September 24 at 11:39 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Jeff Douglass liked this

"MALINTENT is a new Homeland Security screening device that detects non-verbal cues and can predict whether a person has terrorist of criminal intentions.1 Fast Facts Created by the Human Factors division of Homeland Security's directorate for Science and Technology1" - Jason Calacanis via Bookmarklet

2 more comments

that is scary. why do we, taxpayers, allow our government to spend money on these types of devices? - Jon

You want to stop people who are guilty and free those that are innocent? Obviously that is the why, whether true or not. - Sam Pullara

Yeah, you're either a terrorist or you're nervous about being late for your flight... one of those - Jason Carreira

Minority Report, anyone? - Mavericks of Troy, NV!

Jason Calacanis commented on a story on Digg

Ready for a new Tech site?

September 23 at 7:23 pm - Link

Nicholas James liked this

"well done" - Jason Calacanis

Sorry, but the site layout must not be set to attract me :( - LPH™

Jason Calacanis posted a link

Google’s G1: First Impressions | Walt Mossberg | Mossblog | AllThingsD

September 23 at 3:05 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Bret Taylor, Jackie Peters and Ranjith Antony liked this

reading - Jason Calacanis via Bookmarklet

michael arrington posted an entry on TechCrunch

Sergey Brin Launches A Personal Blog, Talks About His Risk Of Parkinson’s

September 18 at 2:25 pm - Link

Chuck Schultz, Rob Kniaz, gfurry and 7 other people liked this

should have never patronized 23me - Gregory Lent

really great blog post - Jason Calacanis

Jason Calacanis published a photo on Flickr

We got a sign!

September 16 at 2:02 pm - Link

Nicholas James, burcu doğan, Joshua Smith and 8 other people liked this

congrats - Jeff Woelker via twhirl

5 more comments

looks like a lunch cafe! no? - imran

If I didn't know any better I would think this was a Hawaiian Restaurant. - Percival Carti3r

You're going to have a lot of people looking for some sweet Hawaiian roast! - Mike Lewis

Looks like a dry cleaners - Ryan

Car wash anyone? - Fleagle

u guys are too much! - Jason Calacanis

You guys are all wrong... Pizza joint! - Mark VandenBerg

Jason Calacanis dugg a story on Digg

GoodGuide: Helps you see what's behind the product label

September 15 at 3:32 pm - Link

Ivan, Mike Coulter, Janet Fouts and 5 other people liked this

Jason, what kept them from winning TC50? I watched all the presentations on ustream and really thought they had the best product and business potential. - David Ward

David: I think they are a very close second to Yammer. Intelligent folks can argue either ones merits, but I think Yammer is going to be a bigger business. of course the prize at TC50 is determined by two votes at the end of the day: me and Mike. It's highly imperfect, but we're very comfortable with our selection of Mint last year and Yammer this year. - Jason Calacanis

They're both great ideas that boil down to execution.The question is will GoodGuide become a household name to consumers before Yammer can overcome the tech-related security issues they face in the workplace? - Mohammad Ocean

Christopher Sacca favorited a video on YouTube

Sarah Palin ABC News First Interview with Charlie Gibson **CHARLIE THE UNICORN**

September 14 at 10:02 am - Link

Billy Warhol, Kevin Gough, Jeremiah Palmer and 13 other people liked this

The original Charlie the Unicorn video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... That should help with anyone who doesn't understand this reference. - Christopher Sacca

7 more comments

awesome. - Ňicķ

funny! - Susan Beebe

@Sacca: I don't think I understand the original either - Jim Norris

holy mother o' awful (and I don't mean just Palin). Not only did I not get that unicorn video, it made me want to tear out the vocal cords of the people who made it. Double, triple, quadruple unlike. - Adam Lasnik

@jim @adam did you see how many viewers of the unicorn video there were? it was a cultural phenomenon. fascinating, no? - Christopher Sacca

Candy mountain Charlie!!! CHAAAAARRLIIIEEEEE!!! - Erica Baker

wow - Jason Calacanis

Sacca... clearly I'm a cranky old man. For instance... from what I recall, YouTube celebrity "Fred" amassed tens of millions of views. He had a voice that made you want to spork your eyes out, too. No accounting for taste. Or memes. Fascinating? Maybe. Doesn't mean I gotta like it :P - Adam Lasnik

THANK U Tweeters!! FREE Michael Moore Movie!! Spread It!! http://slackeruprising.com/# OBAMA ALL THE WAY!! No more Bush! + No McANUS!! Peace - Billy Warhol

Jason Calacanis posted a message on Twitter

“Feeling like such a media elite because I know what the Bush Doctine is & I've traveld 20x more than next VP of USA! I said Obama would lose”

September 14 at 10:22 am - Link

Billy Warhol, Percival Carti3r, Squirrel Girl and 2 other people liked this

Admit that you looked it up on Wikipedia. Do it. Doooooo it ! :) - Mattb4rd

42 more comments

When did traveling become a requirement become VP? And as for the "Bush Doctrine", have you read this? http://townhall.com/columnists... - Charles LePage

Charles, I've read it. It says, "Palin didn't know what [the Bush Doctrine] is". Was there something else relevant? - Chris "Iceman" Hollander

Well, when I read it, it said there are four definitions of the "Bush Doctrine." - Charles LePage

It also said " If I were in any public foreign policy debate today, and my adversary were to raise the Bush doctrine, both I and the audience would assume -- unless my interlocutor annotated the reference otherwise -- that he was speaking about Bush's grandly proclaimed (and widely attacked) freedom agenda. Not the Gibson doctrine of pre-emption. " - Charles LePage

It also said "Yes, Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know -- while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the phenom who presumes to play on their stage." - Charles LePage

Charles, are you assuming Jason's interpretation is the same as Charlie Gibson's? The only point in posting a link would be to say that Jason's interpretation is wrong (he didn't tell you what his is, just that he knows what it is), or that Palin's interpretation is right (and the link clearly says it wasn't). So, back to Chris's point: Was there something relevant about that link? - Kevin Hessel

Jason stated he knew what the Bush Doctrine was, and added he had traveled more than Palin. Clearly he was questioning her knowledge and experience. The story I linked makes it clear there have been at least four definitions of the Bush Doctrine, and the one Gibson assumed Palin would know about isn't the currently used and accepted definition. Asking her if she agreed with the Doctrine without explaining which Doctrine he meant was stupid.... - Charles LePage

And criticizing her for not knowing what Gibson was talking about is silly at best. - Charles LePage

What difference does it make what Gibson knows? who cares about Gibson? the point is this: Palin should know what the current Presidential Doctrine is. Palin should know more than Gibson, more than Jason, more than You, more than I, and more than Krauthammer. And she doesn't. We all have a right to criticize her for that. Don't we? - Chris "Iceman" Hollander

Chris, there's a difference between asking "do you agree with the Bush administration notion of preemptive attacks" and asking "do you agree with the Bush Doctrine", given the various things "Bush Doctrine" could mean. If you can't see the difference, then there's really nothing left to be said. - Charles LePage

Well, I think I've learned my lesson on neocons telling me unilateralism and preventive war are really about freedom and liberation -- and not everyone agrees with The Hammer that this is the most widely accepted definition, even if he's technically correct that it should be. Regardless of this, shouldn't it have been Palin's opportunity to silence her critics and shine? Shouldn't she have asked Gibson, "Are you referring to anticipatory self-defense or the mission to spread democracy?" when he asked the first time, instead of waiting for three promptings and a definition? Shouldn't she have corrected Gibson when he "got it wrong"? That would have shut us all up. Fact of the matter is, she still got it wrong. She didn't have four answers, depending on the doctrine. She had no answers and needed it explained to her. - Kevin Hessel

The "Bush doctrine" is a commonly used and widely understood precept. Anyone who follows U.S. politics would be familiar with it. The fact that Palin isn't is an indictment of her involvement and knowledge of what is going on in her country and certainly is cause for great concern as she is potentially in line for the most powerful position in the U.S. - Rod Bauer via twhirl

Charles, I can see the difference clearly. The first is a "softball" yes or no question. The second is a challenging question, that forces the person answering the question to either demand more context, or provide their own definition for purposes of the discussion. I'm no political analyst, but I've interviewed hundreds of prospective employees over the past few years, and i'm much more inclined to ask questions in the latter form. - Chris "Iceman" Hollander

Here's Joe Biden's definition: "An absolute repudiation of this president’s doctrine, which has only three legs in the stool: one, push the mute button, don’t talk to anybody; two, preemption; and three, regime change." Is this the commonly used and widely accepted definition? http://thinkonthesethings.word... - Charles LePage

Here, the WSJ calls the Bush Doctrine the "promotion of democracy." I thought it was attacking our enemies preemptively? http://www.opinionjournal.com/... - Charles LePage

Here's what the NY Sun calls it: "President Bush has put it in enunciating what has come to be known as the Bush Doctrine: "For decades, free nations tolerated oppression in the Middle East for the sake of stability. In practice, this approach brought little stability and much oppression, so I have changed this policy."" - Charles LePage

So, is it promotion of democracy in the Middle East, promotion of democracy anywhere, or preemption? - Charles LePage

During the January 5 ABC News-Facebook Democratic presidential debate, moderator Charlie Gibson referred to Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) August 1, 2007, foreign policy speech -- in which Obama said that, as president, he would take action against "high-value terrorist targets" in Pakistan -- and asked Obama, "You stand by that?" Obama answered: "I absolutely do stand by it" and went on to say, "[B]ack in August, I said we should ... press them [the Pakistani government] to do more to take on Al Qaeda in their territory. What I said was, if they could not or would not do so, and we had actionable intelligence, then I would strike." Gibson replied, "[W]hat you just outlined is essentially the Bush doctrine: We can attack if we want to, no matter the sovereignty of the Pakistanis." - Charles LePage

The next VP of the United States is Palin? Great. - Michael Tefft

http://mediamatters.org/items/... Presumably this is what Gibson believes the "Bush Doctrine" to mean. And he believes Obama believes it is the correct doctrine. Sweet. - Charles LePage

@Charles. You seem to argue that because the Bush Doctrine has different facets, this somehow excuses Palin's confusion about the term. She clearly had NO idea of any aspect of the Bush Doctrine. I think Gibson showed great restraint during the interview as Palin attempted to gloss every answer she gave with verbiage to avoid direct answers. He could of and should have hit harder. - Rod Bauer via twhirl

Palin gave the wrong answer because she didn't give any answer. It was an opportunity to show what she knows, and that's exactly what she did. She could have said "what policy do you mean, the policy of preemptive attacks, the hands-off approach to disaster relief? etc etc. She should have used her knowledge to clarify the question and distance herself from Bush. But she didn't. - sergiooo

No, if I'm arguing, I'm arguing that 1) "Bush Doctrine" means different things to different people, so if one is asking about it, one should define which "Bush Doctrine" they are referring to, and 2) during two debates, when Gibson brought it up, he explained what he thought "Bush Doctrine" meant so the Presidential candidates would know what he was asking. But he couldn't do that for Palin? Gibson deserves the criticism he has received and more. - Charles LePage

Gibson's "evolving" understanding of the Bush Doctrine: http://www.weeklystandard.com/... - Charles LePage

Here's Palin's "non answer" to the Bush Doctrine question: "Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend." She and Obama have something in common, I see. - Charles LePage

It even says on Wikipedia...the source for all knowledge in the free world...that the Bush Doctrine is based partly on a policy of preemptive war. - Alex "Maverick" Scoble

Criticism Gibson has received? I think you're misreading the responses. Gibson is largely being supported and lauded for his conduct of the interivew. - Rod Bauer via twhirl

No, her answer was to give him a dirty look and ask "In what respect, Charlie? His world view?" Someone who knows their stuff would be able to do a few sentences about what Charlie could mean by that question. - sergiooo

@Rod... maybe here on ff. but the people are pissed. Charlie never gave Sarah Palin the same respect when she avoided answering details in foreign policy. It is the job of a world leader to avoid talking about international catch 22s in diplomacy, unless the situation is already at hand... like where Obama is asked about Israel's right to Jerusalem. I am so disgusted. Charlie Gibson needs to be demoted. please note in the Obama interview: Charlie doesn't role his eyes,repeat himself& Obama avoids question. Gibson needs 2b fired 4being a bigot or at least demoted like Keith Olbermann http://beta.friendfeed.com/e/7... - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

For those at all familiar with foreign policy, the "Bush Doctrine" is an obvious referral to Bush's complete about-face against the history of US policy with regard to pre-emptive strike, and it's not at all amiss to expect someone running for VP to be at the very least as aware of that as an undergrad polisci student. *disgust* - ωαřмaiden

two the 2nd question, given that over the last 30 years every VP has had foreign travel prior to election, some might feel it is important. As someone stated earlier I want someone who has a greater understanding of key matters, including the top issues not only in America but those outside our borders which impact us ---- given our global economy, terrorism, and the need for strategic partners. - Ruth Ferguson

I didn't know what it was, either: http://blog.broadpool.com/2008... - Glen Campbell

think your wrong Jason - Steve Mann via twhirl

crikey... you people aren't good at spin at all. she knew what is was. she didn't want to talk about it because then you would say "Sabre Rattling" - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

As far as I can tell Palin has no grasp on the fundamentals of any of the top issues of the day: Economy, eduction, foreign policy, health care. Any issues outside of these are just window dressing. - Alex "Maverick" Scoble

She did what I would have done except I would have said, "Charles, can you reword that obviously loaded question please?" - Mike Lewis

I would of said, "You want to see the Bush Doctine?"... then I would of kicked Gibson in the balls - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

I wish joking everyone. :-) - Jason Calacanis

Sarah Palin should kick you in the balls too Jason. Bush Doctrine says you are harboring @1938Media & a puppet in a hot tub. - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

But can you see Russia from your house? - Percival Carti3r

Russians? they can contain their terrorists. I'm talking about dangerous puppets running amuck allied with @aMANdaCHAPel - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

Through this entire, pathetic thread there is no evidence that anyone knows what the Bush Doctrine is. Not anyone, - eggsy

The pretense that Sarah Palin was heroically having trouble defining a difficult and erudite concept is amusing given that it's obvious from her panicked look during the interview and query of Charlie Gibson that she'd never so much as heard of the term before. The woman who could be president doesn't even know that there's an issue here? - Neil H

THANK U Tweeters!! FREE Michael Moore Movie!! Spread It!! http://slackeruprising.com/# OBAMA ALL THE WAY!! No more Bush! + No McANUS!! Peace - Billy Warhol

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“Reading: "Smashing Pumpkins to Debut Single via "Guitar Hero" ( http://tinyurl.com/6csn8h )”

September 2 at 2:12 pm - Link

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crazy... but it might just work. - Phil Brown via twhirl

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two of my favorite things ;) - Veronica

uhhhh..... cool? - Jason Calacanis

Yeah, i don't know how anyone's gonna get out of singing any of their songs with their larynx intact. -