By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Nov 6, 2012 at 12:15 PM ET  Tuesday night, beginning at 6PM EST, when the polls close in Kentucky (We’re #1 at something other than hoops!), our contributing recovering politicians will be offering their instant thoughts on the election returns, speechifying and mainstream media coverage via Twitter. We will be broadcasting their live Twitter feed here on The Recovering Politician home page.
Even better, YOU are invited to join in the debate. You can participate in the discussion by using you own Twitter account and adding the hashtag #RecoveringPol to your tweets. We encourage you to participate through the evening, and please free free to engage, question, and challenge our contributing RPs.
So please join us Tuesday night at 6PM EST, until the wee hours Wednesday morning — and who knows, maybe even longer…
By Bradford Queen, Managing Editor, on Tue Nov 6, 2012 at 9:00 AM ET Today’s the day: Election Day 2012
Ladies and gentlemen, it has arrived: Election Day 2012. Did you ever think this day would come?
For a moment, let’s put our politics aside and ponder. Today, we show the world democracy in action in our free elections. This is a day on which people from all parties and affiliations came be proud of our this country we call the United States of America.
Mike Allen, writing in today’s POLITICO Playbook: “Soak it in, have fun, pop some popcorn: This is an amazing, romantic day in our history and for our democracy.”
Now, some links to get you through Election Day:
9 takeaways from 2012. … “8. Both parties have soul-searching to do” [POLITICO]
A great interactive on the NYT – ‘What will swing the states’ [NYT]
It all comes down to turnout. [The Daily Beast]
A complete guide to the key U.S. Senate races. [The Guardian]
Nate Silver’s final look. [FiveThirtyEight/NYT]
POLITICO takes a look at the ‘what ifs’: Obama loses. Romney loses.
Are exit polls still relevant? With media trends changing, so do methods. [USA Today]
And the BIG ONE – “Suppose it’s close,” writes Jeffrey Toobin. [The New Yorker]
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Nov 6, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET As you prepare to head out to the polls, we offer you this link to the dozens of “closing argument” pieces written by our contributing recovering politicians and the brilliant members of the RP Nation. You will see plenty of advocacy for Obama and Romney, and even the cases made for Green Party standard-bearer Jill Stein, Libertarian Gary Johnson and even Mos Def.
Maybe these arguments have helped you make up your mind. Maybe their have strengthened your prior determination. Or maybe you just feel a little more educated and/or entertained. Anyway, it has been a great week at The Recovering Politician, and we appreciate that you’ve played along.
Our Electoral College contest entry period has closed, but you can view what dozens of members of the RP Nation have predicted for tonight, by clicking here and reading through the comments section.
And tonight, beginning at 6 PM EST, this home page will be the site of a live twitter feed of our contributing RPs as they assess the vote-counting and speechifying. And as always, you are invited to join in the live debate, by tweeting from your own Twitter account, using the hashtag #RecoveringPol. Your tweets will be broadcast live at this Web site, along side our team of recovering pols..
So join us tonight. Good luck to the candidates of your choice. And get ready to join us in healing the nation tomorrow.
By Jonathan Miller, on Sat Nov 3, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET Tuesday night, beginning at 6PM EST, our contributing recovering politicians will be offering their instant thoughts on the election returns, speechifying and mainstream media coverage via Twitter. We will be broadcasting their live Twitter feed here on The Recovering Politician home page.
Even better, YOU are invited to join in the debate. You can participate in the discussion by using you own Twitter account and adding the hashtag #RecoveringPol to your tweets. We encourage you to participate through the evening, and please free free to engage, question, and challenge our contributing RPs.
So please join us Tuesday night at 6PM EST, until the wee hours Wednesday morning — and who knows, maybe even longer…
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
 The Pinterest Principle.
Want to have many interests?
Wade into the pool. And keep going.
My daughter persuaded me to join Pinterest tonight so I did. It’s a website where you select things you like —a sort of personality and style social medium.
At first because it was awkward and new, I was extremely selective and hardly “liked” anything.
But once I waded in and got comfortable with Pinterest, I started liking everything.
In fact, there was little I didn’t like!
Lesson?
Hobbies and interests aren’t a function of our curiosity or tastes or temperament. They are essentially a matter of getting comfortable in our environment.
Once that is accomplished the world becomes a friendlier place with much about it to like.
At least that’s my pet theory for the day. ; )
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Oct 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET KLOUT overreach?
We’ve all heard about the KLOUT hype-mania with employers asking job applicants about their KLOUT scores and using it to decide who gets hired….but this is going too far.
Depression symptoms include:
- Feelings of sadness or unhappiness
- Irritability or frustration, even over small matters
- Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities
- Reduced sex drive
- Insomnia or excessive sleeping
- Changes in appetite
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt,
- Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
- A lowered KLOUT score
 For some people, depression symptoms are so severe that it’s obvious something isn’t right. Other people feel generally miserable or unhappy without really knowing why.
But a drop in one’s KLOUT score of 3 or more points within a few weeks is usually an unambiguous sign of major depression—or at least should be!
By RP Staff, on Mon Oct 22, 2012 at 9:00 PM ET As Barack Obama and Mitt Romney duke it out, several of our contributing RPs — including Krystal Ball, Michael Steele, Jeff Smith, Rod Jetton, Jason Grill, John Y. Bornw, III, and The RP himself — will be providing their live commentary of the debate. Read below.
And you too can join the fun. Simply go to your normal Twitter account and use the hashtag #RecoveringPol. Your tweets will appear below LIVE!
Feel free to interact with the RPs by using their handle (i.e. @JeffSmithMO) in your tweets. They are likely to respond and engage.
<
By RP Staff, on Mon Oct 22, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET After a successful debut of our new virtual debate feature last week during the second presidential debate, we’ve decided to try it again — bigger and better.
Tonight, at 9 PM EDT, when President Obama and Governor Romney square off for the third and final time, more than a half dozen of our contributing RPs — ranging from Michael Steele to Krystal Ball to Jeff Smith to Rod Jetton to Jason Grill to John Y. Brown, III to The RP himself — will be offering their contemporaneous comments via Twitter, and The Recovering Politician’s home page will provide a live feed of their tweets.
Even better, you are asked to join in. Simply go to your own Twitter account, make your statement and be sure to type the hashtag #RecoveringPol somewhere in your tweet. Your tweets will also be broadcast live here at The Recovering Politician. If you agree or disagree with a point a certain RP is making, you are encourage to call them out — type in their handle (i.e. @JeffSmithMO) to your tweet. In all likelihood, they will respond to you.
So, please join us tonight for some fun civil dialogue as the presidential candidates make their final case to the American people.
By RP Staff, on Thu Oct 18, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET  If you are a fellow fan of MSNBC’s The Cycle who just learned about The Recovering Politician through Jonathan Miller’s appearance on the show this afternoon, we wish you a very hearty welcome!
Don’t forget to check out NoLabels.Org, the web site of the grassroots movement co-founded by Miller (We call him”The RP”) that has brought together more than 500,000 Democrats, Republicans and Independents in critical efforts to promote bi-partisan problem-solving to fix our broken political system.
We also encourage you to surf through The Recovering Politician, a web site dedicated to civil dialogue, led by those who’ve served in the political arena and now are using their experiences to offer lessons to fix our political system. Here’s a sampling of some of our most popular posts and contributors:
 We’ll start with The RP because, well…uh…he paid for that microphone. In his most popular piece, The RP shared his impossible journey to the final table of the World Series of Poker. Over the course of the past year and a half, The RP has explained Why Kentucky Basketball Matters, he’s made The Liberal Case for Israel, outlined Debt Ceilings and Credit Downgrade for Dummies, and shared his Top Five lists for about everything. (Our favorite –The Top Five Jew-ish Gentiles in Pop Culture).
 The Cycle‘s very own Krystal Ball, generated considerable reader interest with her first piece about Why We Need More Women in Politics. Krystal should know; her first campaign for office was interrupted by a ridiculous media inquiry into pictures taken of her in college; PG-13 pictures that caused a mini-national-sensation only because of Krystal’s gender.
 MSNBC’s commentary crew is also represented by Michael Steele –whom you also know as the former Lt. Governor of Maryland, as well as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Michael has shared with RP readers his vision of the new American Dream, and assessed both President Barack Obama and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
 Our most popular writer, hands down, has been contributing RP and former Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith. Jeff’s first piece — the story of his rise into national celebrity, his dramatic fall that resulted in a prison term, and his hopes for redemption — put the RP on the national map, earning recognition from New York magazine’s “Approval Matrix.” Jeff’s followup — about love and sex behind bars — drew in nearly 100,000 readers, literally crashing the Web site. Every few weeks, Jeff offers a political advice column — “Do As I Say” — and just this week, he shares the ugly fate of convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky as he enters prison.
Read the rest of…
Welcome “The Cycle” Viewers!
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Oct 16, 2012 at 9:00 PM ET As Barack Obama and Mitt Romney duke it out, several of our contributing RPs — including Krystal Ball, Michael Steele, Jeff Smith, and Rod Jetton — will be providing their live commentary of the debate. Read below.
And you too can join the fun. Simply go to your normal Twitter account and use the hashtag #RecoveringPol. Your tweets will appear below LIVE!
|
The Recovering Politician Bookstore
|
Tuesday night, beginning at 6PM EST, when the polls close in Kentucky (We’re #1 at something other than hoops!), our contributing recovering politicians will be offering their instant thoughts on the election returns, speechifying and mainstream media coverage via Twitter. We will be broadcasting their live Twitter feed here on The Recovering Politician home page.
