Former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein told CNN's Fareed Zakaria Friday he intends to vote for Democrat Barack Obama this Tuesday.
Duberstein said he was influenced by another prominent Reagan official - Colin Powell - in his decision.
"Well let's put it this way - I think Colin Powell's decision is in fact the good housekeeping seal of approval on Barack Obama."
Powell served as national security advisor to Reagan during Duberstein's tenure as chief of staff.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Top 10 Scary Movies
This is my list. CNN's: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/30/creature.features/index.html, was lame.
10. The Strangers -- I just watched this. Its pretty good. If you haven't seen it, watch it in the dark after a cup of coffee -- there's lots of down time.
9. Pan's Labrynth -- I think the creepy characters are what make this one a winner. I mean, sure the storyline is dark and disturbing, but that weird half horse thing gives me goosebumps.
8. Rosemary's Baby -- My mom first saw this when she was pregnant with my sister. She almost didn't have any more kids.
7. The Thing -- This is one of those movies I can watch over and over again...and still get freaked out everytime that guy is half-alien and half-man and gets blasted by Kurt Russel. Ick.
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original) -- I'm putting this on the list not because its ultra weird, not because its scary. I mean, the whole thing gives me the willies, so I guess mission accomplished.
5. The Shining -- I saw this the first time with my cousin and we were entrenched throughout. Then, at the end, with Jack frozen in the snow I said to her: Wow. That image will stick with me the rest of my life. She looked at me and said: Great. Me too NOW.
4. The Blair Witch Project -- I don't care what anyone says, if you bought into the hype of this movie (like I did), it would FREAK you out. Especially if you got home from the movies late at night and you live near huge, dark trees and no one's home. I'm just saying...
3. Night of the Living Dead -- I know it seems a bit campy now, because of all the ripping off on other movies that's gone on, but honestly...its still fucking scary. I mean, what the hell would you do if zombies were real? Or are they...???
2. The Orphanage -- If you haven't seen this (subtitled, but you barely notice), SEE IT. Not only is it eerie, its downright depressing. All the while keeping you hooked.
1. The Exorcist -- This one is still scary, I don't care who you are. The music, the plot, the imagination...you'll pee your pants. And if you don't, you're doing it wrong.
10. The Strangers -- I just watched this. Its pretty good. If you haven't seen it, watch it in the dark after a cup of coffee -- there's lots of down time.
9. Pan's Labrynth -- I think the creepy characters are what make this one a winner. I mean, sure the storyline is dark and disturbing, but that weird half horse thing gives me goosebumps.
8. Rosemary's Baby -- My mom first saw this when she was pregnant with my sister. She almost didn't have any more kids.
7. The Thing -- This is one of those movies I can watch over and over again...and still get freaked out everytime that guy is half-alien and half-man and gets blasted by Kurt Russel. Ick.
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original) -- I'm putting this on the list not because its ultra weird, not because its scary. I mean, the whole thing gives me the willies, so I guess mission accomplished.
5. The Shining -- I saw this the first time with my cousin and we were entrenched throughout. Then, at the end, with Jack frozen in the snow I said to her: Wow. That image will stick with me the rest of my life. She looked at me and said: Great. Me too NOW.
4. The Blair Witch Project -- I don't care what anyone says, if you bought into the hype of this movie (like I did), it would FREAK you out. Especially if you got home from the movies late at night and you live near huge, dark trees and no one's home. I'm just saying...
3. Night of the Living Dead -- I know it seems a bit campy now, because of all the ripping off on other movies that's gone on, but honestly...its still fucking scary. I mean, what the hell would you do if zombies were real? Or are they...???
2. The Orphanage -- If you haven't seen this (subtitled, but you barely notice), SEE IT. Not only is it eerie, its downright depressing. All the while keeping you hooked.
1. The Exorcist -- This one is still scary, I don't care who you are. The music, the plot, the imagination...you'll pee your pants. And if you don't, you're doing it wrong.
I think the negative attacks are working...
I really do. I think, as a country, we are still so divided and so angry that when someone like McCain tries to tap into our frustration, he has little trouble doing it.
We're also very skeptical, with good reason. Mark Foley, Coingate, Ted Stevens, Tom Delay, Nixon...the list is endless. At every turn, we expect our politicans and leaders to disappoint us and when they do, we throw up our hands and say: forget it! it doesn't matter anyway!
I think it does matter. I watched the 2004 Keynote Address Obama made with my mom. We sat in her kitchen, watching on the small 13 inch screen TV and we both cried. We were so overcome with emotion, thinking: wow. THIS is possible.
We both were convinced by Obama that it doesn't have to be about egos and favors, that politics can be about doing things that are fair and just. We don't have to accept the status quo and say: well, they have more money. they have more power. they will win anyway.
Instead, we can make a REAL decision this year with our heads and our hearts.
I heard someone on Fox News say that Obama supporters are like cultists -- that they just believe whatever he tells us.
Guess what? McCain supporters do the same thing. You believe what he says about his committment to keep us safe, to not give up in Iraq, that Obama will restribute the wealth.
Here's the thing...I WANT to believe more what Obama says. Its not that I think either one is telling more or less truths than the other. Its that what Obama says is what I want. Elections shouldn't be about what people have done or what they will do -- but what they make YOU do.
I'm not naive. I don't think that politicans can do everything and to claim that they can is setting yourself up for failure.
But what I do think they can do is make me believe in something greater than myself. To help me to understand why the world is the way it is. And to inspire me to want a better life for myself and my family.
That's what Obama does. McCain doesn't tap into that fundamental urge I have to get my life on track and put some good out into the world.
McCain doesn't speak to the desire in me to see others around me succeed while I succeed. He doesn't convince me that he will work hard for my rights...because he already has his.
My life isn't awful. Neither is anyone else's who gets to live in the country with the most freedom and prosperity of any other on the planet.
But I think that now is the time to believe that everyone deserves more.
For the child who has HIV -- that they can get their medications and treatment and live a long and healthy life.
For the senior citizen who is living on a fixed income -- that they will see their social security payments increase with inflation and know that they can get their medications without breaking the bank.
For the young person of color who struggles to overcome the shadows of the past -- that they will go to college and get a job and not be thought of as "affirmative action", but as just one of the team.
For the young woman who knows she cannot bring a baby into this world and protect it, feed it, nuture it and give it a good life -- that she has the choice to do what she believes is best and that we put the faith in her to do that.
For the young immigrant who comes here with hope -- that he can keep his culture and learn American culture without the oppression and hate that exists in other places in the world.
I believe that Barack Obama wants this too. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe all these months have gone by and I wasn't paying close enough attention or I just blindly believed what I wanted to because Obama is so well spoken and tugs at my heart strings.
But if he spends the next four years tugging at those heart strings, and inspring me to be better, to want more and do everything I can for my fellow man, then he really is the "Commander in Chief" we need.
Mandy for Obama
We're also very skeptical, with good reason. Mark Foley, Coingate, Ted Stevens, Tom Delay, Nixon...the list is endless. At every turn, we expect our politicans and leaders to disappoint us and when they do, we throw up our hands and say: forget it! it doesn't matter anyway!
I think it does matter. I watched the 2004 Keynote Address Obama made with my mom. We sat in her kitchen, watching on the small 13 inch screen TV and we both cried. We were so overcome with emotion, thinking: wow. THIS is possible.
We both were convinced by Obama that it doesn't have to be about egos and favors, that politics can be about doing things that are fair and just. We don't have to accept the status quo and say: well, they have more money. they have more power. they will win anyway.
Instead, we can make a REAL decision this year with our heads and our hearts.
I heard someone on Fox News say that Obama supporters are like cultists -- that they just believe whatever he tells us.
Guess what? McCain supporters do the same thing. You believe what he says about his committment to keep us safe, to not give up in Iraq, that Obama will restribute the wealth.
Here's the thing...I WANT to believe more what Obama says. Its not that I think either one is telling more or less truths than the other. Its that what Obama says is what I want. Elections shouldn't be about what people have done or what they will do -- but what they make YOU do.
I'm not naive. I don't think that politicans can do everything and to claim that they can is setting yourself up for failure.
But what I do think they can do is make me believe in something greater than myself. To help me to understand why the world is the way it is. And to inspire me to want a better life for myself and my family.
That's what Obama does. McCain doesn't tap into that fundamental urge I have to get my life on track and put some good out into the world.
McCain doesn't speak to the desire in me to see others around me succeed while I succeed. He doesn't convince me that he will work hard for my rights...because he already has his.
My life isn't awful. Neither is anyone else's who gets to live in the country with the most freedom and prosperity of any other on the planet.
But I think that now is the time to believe that everyone deserves more.
For the child who has HIV -- that they can get their medications and treatment and live a long and healthy life.
For the senior citizen who is living on a fixed income -- that they will see their social security payments increase with inflation and know that they can get their medications without breaking the bank.
For the young person of color who struggles to overcome the shadows of the past -- that they will go to college and get a job and not be thought of as "affirmative action", but as just one of the team.
For the young woman who knows she cannot bring a baby into this world and protect it, feed it, nuture it and give it a good life -- that she has the choice to do what she believes is best and that we put the faith in her to do that.
For the young immigrant who comes here with hope -- that he can keep his culture and learn American culture without the oppression and hate that exists in other places in the world.
I believe that Barack Obama wants this too. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe all these months have gone by and I wasn't paying close enough attention or I just blindly believed what I wanted to because Obama is so well spoken and tugs at my heart strings.
But if he spends the next four years tugging at those heart strings, and inspring me to be better, to want more and do everything I can for my fellow man, then he really is the "Commander in Chief" we need.
Mandy for Obama
I thought this was good...
Georgia State junior Justin Godbey said he considers Obama and McCain as "exactly the same." He created both backgrounds with the words, "Their system doesn't work for you."
NOOOOOOOOO...
McCain to appear on SNL this weekend
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNN) — Mandatory stops on the GOP campaign trail this year: Pennsylvania. Florida. Saturday Night Live.
Two weeks after running mate Sarah Palin made an appearance on the late-night comedy show, a McCain campaign aide tells CNN that the Republican presidential nominee will appear on the NBC program tomorrow night.
The Arizona senator has appeared on the show several times over the years.
McCain's most memorable appearance on the long running show was in October 2002, when he hosted the program for a night: In a spoof commercial hawking an album called "McCain Sings Streisand," sang several of the Democratic loyalist's songs.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNN) — Mandatory stops on the GOP campaign trail this year: Pennsylvania. Florida. Saturday Night Live.
Two weeks after running mate Sarah Palin made an appearance on the late-night comedy show, a McCain campaign aide tells CNN that the Republican presidential nominee will appear on the NBC program tomorrow night.
The Arizona senator has appeared on the show several times over the years.
McCain's most memorable appearance on the long running show was in October 2002, when he hosted the program for a night: In a spoof commercial hawking an album called "McCain Sings Streisand," sang several of the Democratic loyalist's songs.
No Wonder They Still <3 GWB
A new poll finds that 23 percent of registered voters in Texas believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim, even though the Democratic candidate has repeatedly explained that he is a church-going Christian.
The poll, conducted by the Texas Politics Project and Department of Government at The University of Texas in Austin, showed Obama trailing John McCain by 11 points in the Lone Star State.
Forty-five percent of those polled accurately described Obama as a Protestant. But the 23 percent who identified his religion as Islam is about twice as high as in typical national polls.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Obama has been fighting false rumors, largely hatched on the Internet, that he is secretly a Muslim.
On Obama's Fight the Smears Web site, which his campaign set up to battle harmful claims, it says that Obama is a "committed Christian" who regularly attends church with his family.
The Texas poll interviewed 550 registered voters in Texas from Oct. 15-22, and had a margin of error of 4.2 percent.
The poll, conducted by the Texas Politics Project and Department of Government at The University of Texas in Austin, showed Obama trailing John McCain by 11 points in the Lone Star State.
Forty-five percent of those polled accurately described Obama as a Protestant. But the 23 percent who identified his religion as Islam is about twice as high as in typical national polls.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Obama has been fighting false rumors, largely hatched on the Internet, that he is secretly a Muslim.
On Obama's Fight the Smears Web site, which his campaign set up to battle harmful claims, it says that Obama is a "committed Christian" who regularly attends church with his family.
The Texas poll interviewed 550 registered voters in Texas from Oct. 15-22, and had a margin of error of 4.2 percent.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Say its so, Joe.
Joe the no show
(CNN) — Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, has become an integral part of John McCain's presidential bid, but it appears the Arizona senator's campaign and the now-famous Toledo plumber need to work on their communication skills.
McCain aides told CNN's Dana Bash Wurzelbacher would appear with the Republican presidential candidate at his first campaign event in Defiance, Ohio. But in what was a slightly awkward moment for McCain, Wurzelbacher was nowhere to be seen when the Arizona senator called out for him.
A campaign aide later said Wurzelbacher had "decided not to come" and may join McCain later in the day.
But reached at his home by CNN's Mary Snow, Wurzelbacher said it was "news to him" that he was supposed to be at the McCain rally. Wurzelbacher said nobody from the McCain campaign confirmed he was attending the event and called the incident a "miscommunication."
Wurzelbacher also said he is headed to Philadelphia for a charity event unrelated to the campaign and has no plans to meet up with McCain today.
UPDATE: Contacted by CNN a second time, Wurzelbacher said the campaign only called him to confirm after the event in question already took place. He will now try to meet up with McCain later in the day.
Wurzelbacher also said he had gotten an initial call about coming to the morning rally, "but no one called back to confirm," and was "not happy" that McCain had called out his name and he wasn't there.
(CNN) — Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, has become an integral part of John McCain's presidential bid, but it appears the Arizona senator's campaign and the now-famous Toledo plumber need to work on their communication skills.
McCain aides told CNN's Dana Bash Wurzelbacher would appear with the Republican presidential candidate at his first campaign event in Defiance, Ohio. But in what was a slightly awkward moment for McCain, Wurzelbacher was nowhere to be seen when the Arizona senator called out for him.
A campaign aide later said Wurzelbacher had "decided not to come" and may join McCain later in the day.
But reached at his home by CNN's Mary Snow, Wurzelbacher said it was "news to him" that he was supposed to be at the McCain rally. Wurzelbacher said nobody from the McCain campaign confirmed he was attending the event and called the incident a "miscommunication."
Wurzelbacher also said he is headed to Philadelphia for a charity event unrelated to the campaign and has no plans to meet up with McCain today.
UPDATE: Contacted by CNN a second time, Wurzelbacher said the campaign only called him to confirm after the event in question already took place. He will now try to meet up with McCain later in the day.
Wurzelbacher also said he had gotten an initial call about coming to the morning rally, "but no one called back to confirm," and was "not happy" that McCain had called out his name and he wasn't there.
I'm not doing my blog for naught either, Sarah.
(From Guardian UK) Sarah Palin yesterday increased speculation over her intentions to remain in the presidential hunt for 2012, remarking pointedly that "I'm not doing this for naught," when asked about her political future.
Palin's prospects as a presidential nominee in four years' time have sparked heated debate inside the Republican party, while angering some in the McCain camp who privately fret that their number two is "going rogue".
Her remarks to ABC news are unlikely to quiet that internal tension. When asked about mounting a campaign in 2012, if McCain loses on Tuesday, Palin said she is "thinking that it's going to go our way" but declared she would not return to Alaska if she failed.
"Absolutely not," Palin told ABC. "I think that if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken ... I'm not doing this for naught."
ABC news issued an initial press release interpreting the phrase as a promise to be a "player in 2012".
That drew fire from Republicans last night. Palin adviser Tucker Eskew told reporters travelling with the candidate that ABC had apologised for "a terrifically misleading headline" on the interview, according to the New York Times.
Eskew said: "I think it's a time for us, as this campaign builds an occasionally acknowledged but real momentum towards a very fast-approaching Election Day, that this record get corrected … [Palin] felt there was an error."
ABC later sent out a second transcript of the Palin interview without a 2012-related headline, but the early coverage ensured questions over the Alaska governor's political ambitions would continue for another day.
Palin was asked during the ABC interview about her suggestions during campaign rallies that Barack Obama is less American than McCain, particularly her quip that the Democrat was "palling around with terrorists" – a reference to Obama's past link to 1960s radical Bill Ayers. Challenged on that issue, the vice-presidential nominee notably softened her rhetoric.
"I am sure that Senator Obama cares as much for this country as McCain does," Palin said.
Meanwhile, McCain defended his running mate during a separate interview last night with CNN, telling chat-show host Larry King that he has "total" confidence in Palin's ability to assume the presidency, should circumstances necessitate it.
"She not only would take over, she would inspire Americans," McCain said, calling Palin the "most popular governor in America".
Although Palin's popularity rating in Alaska had neared 90% before she joined the Republican ticket, her current 63% approval means that she no longer holds the title of the most popular US governor.
Palin's prospects as a presidential nominee in four years' time have sparked heated debate inside the Republican party, while angering some in the McCain camp who privately fret that their number two is "going rogue".
Her remarks to ABC news are unlikely to quiet that internal tension. When asked about mounting a campaign in 2012, if McCain loses on Tuesday, Palin said she is "thinking that it's going to go our way" but declared she would not return to Alaska if she failed.
"Absolutely not," Palin told ABC. "I think that if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken ... I'm not doing this for naught."
ABC news issued an initial press release interpreting the phrase as a promise to be a "player in 2012".
That drew fire from Republicans last night. Palin adviser Tucker Eskew told reporters travelling with the candidate that ABC had apologised for "a terrifically misleading headline" on the interview, according to the New York Times.
Eskew said: "I think it's a time for us, as this campaign builds an occasionally acknowledged but real momentum towards a very fast-approaching Election Day, that this record get corrected … [Palin] felt there was an error."
ABC later sent out a second transcript of the Palin interview without a 2012-related headline, but the early coverage ensured questions over the Alaska governor's political ambitions would continue for another day.
Palin was asked during the ABC interview about her suggestions during campaign rallies that Barack Obama is less American than McCain, particularly her quip that the Democrat was "palling around with terrorists" – a reference to Obama's past link to 1960s radical Bill Ayers. Challenged on that issue, the vice-presidential nominee notably softened her rhetoric.
"I am sure that Senator Obama cares as much for this country as McCain does," Palin said.
Meanwhile, McCain defended his running mate during a separate interview last night with CNN, telling chat-show host Larry King that he has "total" confidence in Palin's ability to assume the presidency, should circumstances necessitate it.
"She not only would take over, she would inspire Americans," McCain said, calling Palin the "most popular governor in America".
Although Palin's popularity rating in Alaska had neared 90% before she joined the Republican ticket, her current 63% approval means that she no longer holds the title of the most popular US governor.
First Read from Chuck Todd
MSNBC...
The Barack-umentary: Last night’s Obama infomercial seemed to pull out all the stops. Details for his plans? Check. Profiles of families from key battleground states? Check. Testimonials from popular politicians from battleground states? Check. Climax at the end with a jam-packed rally? Check. Still, it was pretty clear the Obama camp took to heart the potential criticism of the infomercial being over-the-top. Large parts of it were pretty subdued. It was interesting how it was focused on voters -- and not himself. One might have expected a little more biography. Then again, if he felt the need to fix his bio with voters at this late date, he'd be in trouble. The end was impressive. Not since Reagan have we seen a candidate so adept at hitting his time cues. Even if you didn’t like the 30-minute spot -- and even if it didn't win over a single undecided voter -- this much is true: It gobbled up a day’s worth of attention. And we now have just five days left…
The Barack-umentary: Last night’s Obama infomercial seemed to pull out all the stops. Details for his plans? Check. Profiles of families from key battleground states? Check. Testimonials from popular politicians from battleground states? Check. Climax at the end with a jam-packed rally? Check. Still, it was pretty clear the Obama camp took to heart the potential criticism of the infomercial being over-the-top. Large parts of it were pretty subdued. It was interesting how it was focused on voters -- and not himself. One might have expected a little more biography. Then again, if he felt the need to fix his bio with voters at this late date, he'd be in trouble. The end was impressive. Not since Reagan have we seen a candidate so adept at hitting his time cues. Even if you didn’t like the 30-minute spot -- and even if it didn't win over a single undecided voter -- this much is true: It gobbled up a day’s worth of attention. And we now have just five days left…
Sarah Strikes Again (maybe...)
Ooooooh, Barracuda!
Allies of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are now trying to throw McCain aide Nicolle Wallace under the proverbial bus, and as they do so those in McCain’s circle are wary of the impact on Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., himself.
Since becoming McCain's running mate, there have been a host of issues where Palin publicly challenged decisions made by McCain – withdrawing from competition in Michigan, for instance, or for not attacking Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for his longtime relationship with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (See "McCannibals," from earlier this week.)
But nothing has seemed so resonant as $150,000 in clothes purchased for Palin and her family by the Republican National Committee.
Palin has taken to blaming the entire incident – as well as her introduction to the nation – on her “handlers,” presumably meaning Wallace, who was a key part of the team that handled Palin's successful announcement speech, her successful convention speech, and her interviews with Charlie Gibson, Sean Hannity and Katie Couric.
McCain allies say that Palin allies talked to Fox News commentator Fred Barnes to further throw Wallace under the bus. Barnes yesterday said, “the person who went and bought the clothes and, as I understand it put the clothes on her credit card, went to Saks and Neiman Marcus...the staffer who did that has been a coward” for not coming forward and accepting the blame for the $150,000 shopping spree. Barnes clarified that he was talking about Wallace.
But Wallace didn’t buy the clothes, put the clothes on her credit card, or go to Saks and Neiman Marcus, sources on the McCain campaign say.
And plenty of people on the McCain campaign are mystified as to how the $150,000 charges were racked up.
Moreover, McCain campaign sources say, Palin has developed quite a reputation on the campaign trail for shopping.
During this controversy, McCain insiders were appalled to read a blog account from Nevada noting that the day before Palin held an event in Reno, “Palin's assistant stopped in at the Ann Taylor at the Summit Sierra Mall and bought the skirt suit that she wore during to her speech Tuesday at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. ‘She bought a short, three-quarter sleeve jacket, a skirt and a couple other items,’ store manager Suzette Ludden said.”
All the while, Palin herself has given the wardrobe story more media coverage by denying that she had anything to do with it.
"It is so nice to be back here in the Sunshine State and quite warm which I love and grabbed a jacket this morning to put on not realizing how warm it would be,” she said in Florida. “My own jacket, yes…"
“This whole thing with the wardrobe you know I have tried to just ignore it because it is so ridiculous,” she continued. “Those clothes they are not my property, just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased. I am not taking them with me, I'm back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska.”
At McCain HQ, senior aides rolled their eyes, unable to believe that Palin was continuing to give the story more airtime.
And some Republicans are starting to now say they should have seen this coming, since Palin has a reputation for making friends who can help her and then screwing them over.
The list is long:
* Former Wasilla Mayor John Stein says he mentored Palin during her 1994 run for City Council. Then she decided to challenge him and run for Mayor. “Things got very ugly,’ Naomi Tigner, a friend of the Steins, told Salon.com. “Sarah became very mean-spirited.” Palin allies suggested she would he “Wasilla's first Christian mayor,” even though Stein is Protestant. Palin allies also whispered that Stein and his wife – who hadn’t taken his name - were not legally wed. “We actually had to produce our marriage certificate,’ Stein said. His wife died in 2005 without ever reconciling with Palin. “I had a hand in creating Sarah, but in the end she blew me out of the water,” Stein told Salon. “Sarah's on a mission, she's an opportunist.”
* Former City Councilman Nick Carney also helped mentor Palin in her first city council run. They later had a falling out when Palin accused him of corruptly advocating that the city use his trash hauling business. “The episode might serve as a compelling, if small-bore, example of Palin's reformer instincts,” the New Republic reported. :Except that, according to those who were present, Carney wasn't quite the crooked trash magnate Palin makes him out to be. For one thing, Carney couldn't have proposed the ordinance because he'd recused himself from the matter. The council, in fact, had asked him to appear as a kind of expert witness on the relevant rules and regulations.” Carney endorsed Stein in the 1996 mayoral race against Palin, and news reports say she subsequently as mayor refused to call on him. Carney told Salon that Palin – without council authorization -- spent more than $50,000 in city funds to redecorate her office. “I braced her about it,” he said. “I told her it was against the law to make such a large expenditure without the council taking a vote. She said, 'I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.”
* State Senate President Lyda Green from Wasilla, is a fellow conservative and was an ally of Palin’s throughout the 1990s. “If you had looked at our résumés, as far as being pro-life, pro-N.R.A., pro-family, pro-parental control, saving taxpayer dollars, keeping government out of our lives, we would have been identical,” Green told the New Yorker. “She traces the chill in their relationship to her decision not to endorse Palin in her 2006 gubernatorial primary. (She stayed neutral.)…
“The animosity became public last January, when Palin turned up on an Anchorage shock-jock radio program, ‘The Bob and Mark Show.’ Bob Lester said that he knew Palin believed Green was ‘a bitch’ and ‘a cancer.’ Palin laughed at the comments. ‘Sarah can be heard in the background tittering, hee-heeing,’ Green said, ‘never saying, ‘That’s not appropriate, let’s not talk like that, let’s change the subject,’ or anything.’ Green was devastated. ‘I worked through it,’ she said. ‘The difficult thing about it was when my children read about it online. They were dumbfounded, because they had known Sarah. I had breast cancer in ’97 and had a radical mastectomy. Sarah certainly knew I had breast cancer, because she sent me flowers when I was ill.’”
* Former Gov. Frank Murkowski made Palin the chair of a state commission overseeing oil and gas drilling. Four years later she challenged him – and beat him – for governor.
* Prominent Alaska conservative talk radio host Dan Fagan was a longtime friend. But he found himself on the outs after he criticized her for raising taxes on oil companies. “He found himself branded a ‘hater,’” the New York Times reported. “It is part of a pattern, Mr. Fagan said, in which Ms. Palin characterizes critics as ‘bad people who are anti-Alaska.’”
**
Now, I don’t know what happened with all of these former allies. Certainly Murkowski was much-criticized. And certainly Palin views all these publications as left-leaning and hostile to her views.
But that said, all I can tell you is that some McCain allies are now quite suspect of Palin and worried that Sen. McCain is going to become just the latest Palin ally whom she uses – and then discards -- in her rapid ascendance to power.
-- jpt
Allies of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are now trying to throw McCain aide Nicolle Wallace under the proverbial bus, and as they do so those in McCain’s circle are wary of the impact on Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., himself.
Since becoming McCain's running mate, there have been a host of issues where Palin publicly challenged decisions made by McCain – withdrawing from competition in Michigan, for instance, or for not attacking Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for his longtime relationship with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (See "McCannibals," from earlier this week.)
But nothing has seemed so resonant as $150,000 in clothes purchased for Palin and her family by the Republican National Committee.
Palin has taken to blaming the entire incident – as well as her introduction to the nation – on her “handlers,” presumably meaning Wallace, who was a key part of the team that handled Palin's successful announcement speech, her successful convention speech, and her interviews with Charlie Gibson, Sean Hannity and Katie Couric.
McCain allies say that Palin allies talked to Fox News commentator Fred Barnes to further throw Wallace under the bus. Barnes yesterday said, “the person who went and bought the clothes and, as I understand it put the clothes on her credit card, went to Saks and Neiman Marcus...the staffer who did that has been a coward” for not coming forward and accepting the blame for the $150,000 shopping spree. Barnes clarified that he was talking about Wallace.
But Wallace didn’t buy the clothes, put the clothes on her credit card, or go to Saks and Neiman Marcus, sources on the McCain campaign say.
And plenty of people on the McCain campaign are mystified as to how the $150,000 charges were racked up.
Moreover, McCain campaign sources say, Palin has developed quite a reputation on the campaign trail for shopping.
During this controversy, McCain insiders were appalled to read a blog account from Nevada noting that the day before Palin held an event in Reno, “Palin's assistant stopped in at the Ann Taylor at the Summit Sierra Mall and bought the skirt suit that she wore during to her speech Tuesday at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. ‘She bought a short, three-quarter sleeve jacket, a skirt and a couple other items,’ store manager Suzette Ludden said.”
All the while, Palin herself has given the wardrobe story more media coverage by denying that she had anything to do with it.
"It is so nice to be back here in the Sunshine State and quite warm which I love and grabbed a jacket this morning to put on not realizing how warm it would be,” she said in Florida. “My own jacket, yes…"
“This whole thing with the wardrobe you know I have tried to just ignore it because it is so ridiculous,” she continued. “Those clothes they are not my property, just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased. I am not taking them with me, I'm back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska.”
At McCain HQ, senior aides rolled their eyes, unable to believe that Palin was continuing to give the story more airtime.
And some Republicans are starting to now say they should have seen this coming, since Palin has a reputation for making friends who can help her and then screwing them over.
The list is long:
* Former Wasilla Mayor John Stein says he mentored Palin during her 1994 run for City Council. Then she decided to challenge him and run for Mayor. “Things got very ugly,’ Naomi Tigner, a friend of the Steins, told Salon.com. “Sarah became very mean-spirited.” Palin allies suggested she would he “Wasilla's first Christian mayor,” even though Stein is Protestant. Palin allies also whispered that Stein and his wife – who hadn’t taken his name - were not legally wed. “We actually had to produce our marriage certificate,’ Stein said. His wife died in 2005 without ever reconciling with Palin. “I had a hand in creating Sarah, but in the end she blew me out of the water,” Stein told Salon. “Sarah's on a mission, she's an opportunist.”
* Former City Councilman Nick Carney also helped mentor Palin in her first city council run. They later had a falling out when Palin accused him of corruptly advocating that the city use his trash hauling business. “The episode might serve as a compelling, if small-bore, example of Palin's reformer instincts,” the New Republic reported. :Except that, according to those who were present, Carney wasn't quite the crooked trash magnate Palin makes him out to be. For one thing, Carney couldn't have proposed the ordinance because he'd recused himself from the matter. The council, in fact, had asked him to appear as a kind of expert witness on the relevant rules and regulations.” Carney endorsed Stein in the 1996 mayoral race against Palin, and news reports say she subsequently as mayor refused to call on him. Carney told Salon that Palin – without council authorization -- spent more than $50,000 in city funds to redecorate her office. “I braced her about it,” he said. “I told her it was against the law to make such a large expenditure without the council taking a vote. She said, 'I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.”
* State Senate President Lyda Green from Wasilla, is a fellow conservative and was an ally of Palin’s throughout the 1990s. “If you had looked at our résumés, as far as being pro-life, pro-N.R.A., pro-family, pro-parental control, saving taxpayer dollars, keeping government out of our lives, we would have been identical,” Green told the New Yorker. “She traces the chill in their relationship to her decision not to endorse Palin in her 2006 gubernatorial primary. (She stayed neutral.)…
“The animosity became public last January, when Palin turned up on an Anchorage shock-jock radio program, ‘The Bob and Mark Show.’ Bob Lester said that he knew Palin believed Green was ‘a bitch’ and ‘a cancer.’ Palin laughed at the comments. ‘Sarah can be heard in the background tittering, hee-heeing,’ Green said, ‘never saying, ‘That’s not appropriate, let’s not talk like that, let’s change the subject,’ or anything.’ Green was devastated. ‘I worked through it,’ she said. ‘The difficult thing about it was when my children read about it online. They were dumbfounded, because they had known Sarah. I had breast cancer in ’97 and had a radical mastectomy. Sarah certainly knew I had breast cancer, because she sent me flowers when I was ill.’”
* Former Gov. Frank Murkowski made Palin the chair of a state commission overseeing oil and gas drilling. Four years later she challenged him – and beat him – for governor.
* Prominent Alaska conservative talk radio host Dan Fagan was a longtime friend. But he found himself on the outs after he criticized her for raising taxes on oil companies. “He found himself branded a ‘hater,’” the New York Times reported. “It is part of a pattern, Mr. Fagan said, in which Ms. Palin characterizes critics as ‘bad people who are anti-Alaska.’”
**
Now, I don’t know what happened with all of these former allies. Certainly Murkowski was much-criticized. And certainly Palin views all these publications as left-leaning and hostile to her views.
But that said, all I can tell you is that some McCain allies are now quite suspect of Palin and worried that Sen. McCain is going to become just the latest Palin ally whom she uses – and then discards -- in her rapid ascendance to power.
-- jpt
Pic(k) of the Day and PSoftheD -- in one!
Heidi Montag has certainly been vocal about her support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, but it turns out that "The Hills" hottie was like, totally honored that famed artist/curator Steven Corfe went to the trouble of mocking her and her chest region."I am so honored! When I heard about this I seriously almost cried," Heidi Montag exclaimed when the portrait was unveiled at the party, before immediately purchasing it for $2000.
Maybe Miss Montag thinks her new politically-related pic will bring the Republican team good luck in next week's election.
"I'm praying for them," she said. "Sarah Palin will do well. She is such a strong, independent woman. I'm her biggest fan."
Clueless and Ridiculous
McCain: Racism will barely affect election
He says the issue will be trumped by the nation's economic problems
TAMPA, Fla. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain says racism will play virtually no role when voters head to the polls next Tuesday because it will be trumped by the nation's economic problems.
In a transcript of an interview taped for broadcast Wednesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," McCain said people will vote "for the best of reasons, not the worst of reasons." He said most people will vote based on who they want to lead the country.
Referring to people who might vote against Democrat Barack Obama because he is black, McCain added: "It would be a tiny, tiny, minority. Because people are hurting too much now. I mean, they're worried about staying in their homes, keeping their jobs."
The sharp economic downturn and calamity in the financial industry has become the campaign's dominant issue.
Repudiates suggestion by LimbaughMcCain also repudiated a suggestion by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh that Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama was because both men are black. Powell is a Republican and served President Bush as secretary of state.
"I reject it," he said of Limbaugh's statement. "Look, there is racism in America. We all know that because we can't stop working against it. But I am totally convinced that 99 and 44 one-hundredths percent of the American people are going to make a decision on who is best to lead this country."
McCain's comments came six days before Election Day. Polls show only small percentages of people saying the race of the candidates will be a factor in their vote, but analysts and political professionals will be watching the results for evidence of any role racial attitudes may play.
He says the issue will be trumped by the nation's economic problems
TAMPA, Fla. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain says racism will play virtually no role when voters head to the polls next Tuesday because it will be trumped by the nation's economic problems.
In a transcript of an interview taped for broadcast Wednesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," McCain said people will vote "for the best of reasons, not the worst of reasons." He said most people will vote based on who they want to lead the country.
Referring to people who might vote against Democrat Barack Obama because he is black, McCain added: "It would be a tiny, tiny, minority. Because people are hurting too much now. I mean, they're worried about staying in their homes, keeping their jobs."
The sharp economic downturn and calamity in the financial industry has become the campaign's dominant issue.
Repudiates suggestion by LimbaughMcCain also repudiated a suggestion by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh that Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama was because both men are black. Powell is a Republican and served President Bush as secretary of state.
"I reject it," he said of Limbaugh's statement. "Look, there is racism in America. We all know that because we can't stop working against it. But I am totally convinced that 99 and 44 one-hundredths percent of the American people are going to make a decision on who is best to lead this country."
McCain's comments came six days before Election Day. Polls show only small percentages of people saying the race of the candidates will be a factor in their vote, but analysts and political professionals will be watching the results for evidence of any role racial attitudes may play.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I hate what fox news tries to do
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed.
Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.
The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations.
Dan Pfeiffer, Obama's communication's director, said that "no organization can fully insulate itself from these problems. The McCain campaign has accepted contributions from fraudulent contributors like 'A for You,' 'Adorable Manabat,' 'The Gun Shop,' and 'Jesus II' and hundreds of anonymous donors."
But R. Rebecca Donatelli, who handles online contributions for the McCain operation and the RNC, said security measures have been standard in the GOP nominee's fundraising efforts throughout the campaign. She said she was "flabbergasted" to learn that the Obama campaign accepts prepaid cards.
"Yes, a gift card would go through the same process as a regular credit card and be subject to our same back-end review," the Obama campaign said in its response to questions about the use of such cards.
Campaign finance lawyers said there is a long history of debate within the FEC about how to ensure that donors use their own credit cards.
Election lawyer Brett Kappel said the FEC has never grappled with the question of cash cards. "The whole system is set up for them to accept the payment, then determine whether it is legal or not. And if it's not, send it back. That's what the statute requires," he said.
Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.
The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations.
Dan Pfeiffer, Obama's communication's director, said that "no organization can fully insulate itself from these problems. The McCain campaign has accepted contributions from fraudulent contributors like 'A for You,' 'Adorable Manabat,' 'The Gun Shop,' and 'Jesus II' and hundreds of anonymous donors."
But R. Rebecca Donatelli, who handles online contributions for the McCain operation and the RNC, said security measures have been standard in the GOP nominee's fundraising efforts throughout the campaign. She said she was "flabbergasted" to learn that the Obama campaign accepts prepaid cards.
"Yes, a gift card would go through the same process as a regular credit card and be subject to our same back-end review," the Obama campaign said in its response to questions about the use of such cards.
Campaign finance lawyers said there is a long history of debate within the FEC about how to ensure that donors use their own credit cards.
Election lawyer Brett Kappel said the FEC has never grappled with the question of cash cards. "The whole system is set up for them to accept the payment, then determine whether it is legal or not. And if it's not, send it back. That's what the statute requires," he said.
God NOOOOOOOO
Melrose Place Spin-Off in the Works
Coming off the success of their remake of "Beverly Hills 90210," the CW network is in discussions to remake "Melrose Place," the prime-time soap that Locklear helped make one of the 1990s' most popular dramas.
Click here for a walk down "Melrose" Memory Lane.
Network spokesman Paul Hewitt said the CW and the CBS Paramout Network Television studio are looking at a possible release for the 2009-10 TV season, as the CW looks to bring in even more of their prized demographic: young women.
"Melrose Place" was a Fox staple from 1992 to 1999, centered on a Los Angeles rental building with an interior courtyard that was host to the romantic shenanigans of the building's tenants, played by actors including including Andrew Shue, Courtney Thorne-Smith and "Desperate Housewives" star Marcia Cross.
This year's "90210" spin-off has featured cameos by "90210" alums Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty, so appearances by former cast members on any new "Melrose Place" are also to be expected.
**** coming off the success of the remake of 90210??!?! are you fucking kidding me?!!? how is it successful? because no one on the show has slit their wrists between scenes yet?!?! this is going to be WAY worse.....oh god. and i'm going to HAVE to watch it. i'm demented.
Coming off the success of their remake of "Beverly Hills 90210," the CW network is in discussions to remake "Melrose Place," the prime-time soap that Locklear helped make one of the 1990s' most popular dramas.
Click here for a walk down "Melrose" Memory Lane.
Network spokesman Paul Hewitt said the CW and the CBS Paramout Network Television studio are looking at a possible release for the 2009-10 TV season, as the CW looks to bring in even more of their prized demographic: young women.
"Melrose Place" was a Fox staple from 1992 to 1999, centered on a Los Angeles rental building with an interior courtyard that was host to the romantic shenanigans of the building's tenants, played by actors including including Andrew Shue, Courtney Thorne-Smith and "Desperate Housewives" star Marcia Cross.
This year's "90210" spin-off has featured cameos by "90210" alums Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty, so appearances by former cast members on any new "Melrose Place" are also to be expected.
**** coming off the success of the remake of 90210??!?! are you fucking kidding me?!!? how is it successful? because no one on the show has slit their wrists between scenes yet?!?! this is going to be WAY worse.....oh god. and i'm going to HAVE to watch it. i'm demented.
90210. Yeah, I know.
Its fucking horrible. Imagine the worst show you've ever seen. Maybe its a movie (Zombie Bikers comes to mind). Or Darma and Greg. Then take that show, vomit it on it, piss on it and roll tape. That's 90210.
This week's episode was Homecoming, cleverly titled "There's No Place Like Homecoming", because as you may remember, the family is from Kansas. And they are STILL beating the Wizard of Oz dead horse.
What I find best about this episode are the dresses these girls wear to the dance. Its like something they bought off the rack at TJMaxx. Um, aren't you in Beverly Hills? Isn't this like a formal event? Guess not. I'll just toss on this red cotton t-shirt and put a belt over it. TA-DA! Assholes...
I also enjoy the fact that the Kansians are completely clueless to everyone's true motives. Like: Oh, Naomi. Of course I want to be friends more than I want to make out with your exboyfriend!
Wait, why? She's been a nasty bitch to you all season long. But you so badly need companionship you're willing to overlook it? Okay...I want to be friends with you, too. Because I guess I can crash your car, ruin your life and watch you die and you'll be like: Hey BFF! I <3 you! You suck.
And this whole Arianna on drugs thing is overplayed. Great, she did cocaine. Its not like she was elected mayor of Detroit and then cheated on her wife, stole millions of dollars, lied underoath and assaulted a cop. (OH SNAP!)
I also enjoy how everyone is coupling off. This is classic sign of impending show-cancellization. You're like giving us everything we wanted 4 episodes in. I'm going to take this television-disaster will self destruct in 3 weeks.
Fingers crossed...
This week's episode was Homecoming, cleverly titled "There's No Place Like Homecoming", because as you may remember, the family is from Kansas. And they are STILL beating the Wizard of Oz dead horse.
What I find best about this episode are the dresses these girls wear to the dance. Its like something they bought off the rack at TJMaxx. Um, aren't you in Beverly Hills? Isn't this like a formal event? Guess not. I'll just toss on this red cotton t-shirt and put a belt over it. TA-DA! Assholes...
I also enjoy the fact that the Kansians are completely clueless to everyone's true motives. Like: Oh, Naomi. Of course I want to be friends more than I want to make out with your exboyfriend!
Wait, why? She's been a nasty bitch to you all season long. But you so badly need companionship you're willing to overlook it? Okay...I want to be friends with you, too. Because I guess I can crash your car, ruin your life and watch you die and you'll be like: Hey BFF! I <3 you! You suck.
And this whole Arianna on drugs thing is overplayed. Great, she did cocaine. Its not like she was elected mayor of Detroit and then cheated on her wife, stole millions of dollars, lied underoath and assaulted a cop. (OH SNAP!)
I also enjoy how everyone is coupling off. This is classic sign of impending show-cancellization. You're like giving us everything we wanted 4 episodes in. I'm going to take this television-disaster will self destruct in 3 weeks.
Fingers crossed...
Heroes Blog...a Day Late and WAY too f'ing Long...
Okay, here's the deal. I don't want to watch Heroes anymore.
I mean, I'm totally biased now and everything that happens I'm like: Yeah right! Like that's possible!! Oh, of course that happened!! Oh my god, give me a break!! (and so on and so forth). I mean, even the dogs are starting to hate Monday nights.
But Jeff insists we continue to watch this garbage, because I think he's hoping its going to get better. Its sort of sweet how completely retarded he is.
Its not going to get better. It cannot save itself now. And here's why: (enumerated, as usual)...
1. They kill people off without really exploring where they can go with the character (matt's dad). They also bring people back from the dead with no explanation. (peter's dad). And they completely neglect riveting storylines that had us wondering all the first season (mohinder's dad).
2. Why does Claire want to get rid of her power exactly? I mean, I understand with Elle since she nearly crashed a plane...but Claire's like: no thanks, I don't want to be indestructible. Hey. Moron. This is the coolest power you could have. And you're like: I'm a whiney bitch, get rid of it. What you REALLY need to get rid of are those thunder thighs. (I know, I'm getting personal. I have to...Heroes has pushed me to this).
3. I like Sylar being a hero now, but why is everyone so quick to believe that he's a flip-flopping piece of playdough. I mean, come on. Peter's dad has every power imaginable and can't figure out that Sylar isn't on his side? (by the way, I love how peter was running away from henchmen and then miraculously appeared in his dad's office, unrestricted. that's plausible).
4. Why does no one listen to anyone else on this show? That would save ALOT of time and energy. Its like no one trusts anyone anymore, when they all saved the world together just a season and a half ago. Is one of the side effects of having powers no long term memory? Its obviously what is plaguing the writers because they can't figure out dick.
5. I'm still pissed Adam Monroe is dead.
If you're still watching, I applaud you for your efforts. If you're not, you're WAY smarter than me.
I mean, I'm totally biased now and everything that happens I'm like: Yeah right! Like that's possible!! Oh, of course that happened!! Oh my god, give me a break!! (and so on and so forth). I mean, even the dogs are starting to hate Monday nights.
But Jeff insists we continue to watch this garbage, because I think he's hoping its going to get better. Its sort of sweet how completely retarded he is.
Its not going to get better. It cannot save itself now. And here's why: (enumerated, as usual)...
1. They kill people off without really exploring where they can go with the character (matt's dad). They also bring people back from the dead with no explanation. (peter's dad). And they completely neglect riveting storylines that had us wondering all the first season (mohinder's dad).
2. Why does Claire want to get rid of her power exactly? I mean, I understand with Elle since she nearly crashed a plane...but Claire's like: no thanks, I don't want to be indestructible. Hey. Moron. This is the coolest power you could have. And you're like: I'm a whiney bitch, get rid of it. What you REALLY need to get rid of are those thunder thighs. (I know, I'm getting personal. I have to...Heroes has pushed me to this).
3. I like Sylar being a hero now, but why is everyone so quick to believe that he's a flip-flopping piece of playdough. I mean, come on. Peter's dad has every power imaginable and can't figure out that Sylar isn't on his side? (by the way, I love how peter was running away from henchmen and then miraculously appeared in his dad's office, unrestricted. that's plausible).
4. Why does no one listen to anyone else on this show? That would save ALOT of time and energy. Its like no one trusts anyone anymore, when they all saved the world together just a season and a half ago. Is one of the side effects of having powers no long term memory? Its obviously what is plaguing the writers because they can't figure out dick.
5. I'm still pissed Adam Monroe is dead.
If you're still watching, I applaud you for your efforts. If you're not, you're WAY smarter than me.
Because baseball is more important than who is POTUS
McCain says pundits being fooled, promises victory
(AP) Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin told a Pennsylvania audience Tuesday that "it's wonderful to fool the pundits" and vowed to pull out an upset win over Democratic rival Barack Obama.
"I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," said McCain, continuing his sharp assault on Obama in a noisy rally opening his campaign day.
Palin defended the campaign's harsh attacks on Obama.
"Our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plans," said Palin. "It is not mean-spirited, and it is not negative campaigning to call out someone on their record."
The rally was interrupted briefly by Obama backers waving signs, a move Palin dismissed.
"When we get a protest like that I'm always tempted to tell security, 'let them stay, maybe they'll learn a thing or two,'" said Palin.
The campaign day was complicated by wintry weather, which forced the cancellation of an outdoor event in Quakertown. McCain was heading to North Carolina and Florida before the day was over. Palin was heading on her own to other events in Pennsylvania after the rally in Hershey.
Sagging in polls nationally and in battleground states, McCain worked to light a fire under his supporters.
"Nothing is inevitable, we never give up," said McCain. "Let's go win this election and get this country moving again."
Most polls have shown Obama with a lead in the race for Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, but McCain dismissed those surveys and urged a sprint to the finish.
"It's wonderful to be back in Pennsylvania," said McCain. "It's wonderful to fool the pundits because we're going to win the state of Pennsylvania."
Pennsylvania is the only state won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004 where McCain is still mounting a full-scale campaign. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are focusing heavily in the closing days on a few key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Virginia.
McCain continued to label Obama a traditional liberal Democrat seeking to redistribute the wealth.
"Sen. Obama is running to be redistributor in chief, I'm running to be commander in chief," said McCain. "Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful, I'm running to make everyone successful."
McCain also returned to the theme that he's the candidate who is ready to take office, seasoned by a military career and his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He brought up their differences over the Iraq war. McCain opposes and Obama favors a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops.
"Have you ever heard the word 'victory' pass through Obama's lips?" McCain asked backers. "My friends, we're winning in Iraq."
McCain left few openings untouched, even bashing Obama for airing a 30-minute commercial Wednesday night that will delay the opening of a World Series baseball game if the series goes to six games.
"No one will delay a World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president," said McCain.
While Palin has caused some headaches for the ticket, she's very popular with the Republican base and she added energy to a rally before nearly 10,000 cheering backers.
"You are such a welcoming and patriotic state," Palin said. "I know we have many patriots in the crowd today."
Palin also predicted a tight election: "It's going to be a hard-fought contest and it's going to come down to the wire."
The Alaska governor reprised her standard criticism of Obama's economic plan. Labeling the Illinois senator "Barack the wealth spreader," she said, "Joe the Plumber said it sounded to him like socialism. Now is not the time to experiment with that."
Find this article at:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081028/POLITICS01/810280448
(AP) Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin told a Pennsylvania audience Tuesday that "it's wonderful to fool the pundits" and vowed to pull out an upset win over Democratic rival Barack Obama.
"I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," said McCain, continuing his sharp assault on Obama in a noisy rally opening his campaign day.
Palin defended the campaign's harsh attacks on Obama.
"Our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plans," said Palin. "It is not mean-spirited, and it is not negative campaigning to call out someone on their record."
The rally was interrupted briefly by Obama backers waving signs, a move Palin dismissed.
"When we get a protest like that I'm always tempted to tell security, 'let them stay, maybe they'll learn a thing or two,'" said Palin.
The campaign day was complicated by wintry weather, which forced the cancellation of an outdoor event in Quakertown. McCain was heading to North Carolina and Florida before the day was over. Palin was heading on her own to other events in Pennsylvania after the rally in Hershey.
Sagging in polls nationally and in battleground states, McCain worked to light a fire under his supporters.
"Nothing is inevitable, we never give up," said McCain. "Let's go win this election and get this country moving again."
Most polls have shown Obama with a lead in the race for Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, but McCain dismissed those surveys and urged a sprint to the finish.
"It's wonderful to be back in Pennsylvania," said McCain. "It's wonderful to fool the pundits because we're going to win the state of Pennsylvania."
Pennsylvania is the only state won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004 where McCain is still mounting a full-scale campaign. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are focusing heavily in the closing days on a few key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Virginia.
McCain continued to label Obama a traditional liberal Democrat seeking to redistribute the wealth.
"Sen. Obama is running to be redistributor in chief, I'm running to be commander in chief," said McCain. "Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful, I'm running to make everyone successful."
McCain also returned to the theme that he's the candidate who is ready to take office, seasoned by a military career and his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He brought up their differences over the Iraq war. McCain opposes and Obama favors a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops.
"Have you ever heard the word 'victory' pass through Obama's lips?" McCain asked backers. "My friends, we're winning in Iraq."
McCain left few openings untouched, even bashing Obama for airing a 30-minute commercial Wednesday night that will delay the opening of a World Series baseball game if the series goes to six games.
"No one will delay a World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president," said McCain.
While Palin has caused some headaches for the ticket, she's very popular with the Republican base and she added energy to a rally before nearly 10,000 cheering backers.
"You are such a welcoming and patriotic state," Palin said. "I know we have many patriots in the crowd today."
Palin also predicted a tight election: "It's going to be a hard-fought contest and it's going to come down to the wire."
The Alaska governor reprised her standard criticism of Obama's economic plan. Labeling the Illinois senator "Barack the wealth spreader," she said, "Joe the Plumber said it sounded to him like socialism. Now is not the time to experiment with that."
Find this article at:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081028/POLITICS01/810280448
PSoftheD
(From the Detroit News) Campaign officials said they hope to contact 1.4 million Michigan voters in the final four days of the campaign as part of their get-out-the-vote drive.
Those efforts could help Democrats in close races, which in Michigan include two high-profile congressional races, a dozen or more state House contests and a contentious Supreme Court battle.
The Obama campaign has kept roughly 200 paid staffers in Michigan to coordinate thousands of volunteers, who began shifting last week from contacting and persuading voters to encouraging absentee voting and laying the ground work for Election Day efforts.
Donald Green, a Yale University professor and one of the nation's leading experts on motivating voters to get to the polls, expects Obama's teams across the country to be "very, very effective."
"They are the beneficiaries of an unprecedented allocation of financial resources, coupled with an immense reservoir of activism and enthusiasm," Green said.
Republicans in Michigan, he said, may well suffer from the opposite: reduced money and less energy.
"Once you say, 'I'm leaving that state for dead,' you do run the risk of creating an effect that's even worse than the financial resources you lose," he said. "You undercut the enthusiasm of activists who may be less willing to work the very, very long hours a campaign needs."
Those efforts could help Democrats in close races, which in Michigan include two high-profile congressional races, a dozen or more state House contests and a contentious Supreme Court battle.
The Obama campaign has kept roughly 200 paid staffers in Michigan to coordinate thousands of volunteers, who began shifting last week from contacting and persuading voters to encouraging absentee voting and laying the ground work for Election Day efforts.
Donald Green, a Yale University professor and one of the nation's leading experts on motivating voters to get to the polls, expects Obama's teams across the country to be "very, very effective."
"They are the beneficiaries of an unprecedented allocation of financial resources, coupled with an immense reservoir of activism and enthusiasm," Green said.
Republicans in Michigan, he said, may well suffer from the opposite: reduced money and less energy.
"Once you say, 'I'm leaving that state for dead,' you do run the risk of creating an effect that's even worse than the financial resources you lose," he said. "You undercut the enthusiasm of activists who may be less willing to work the very, very long hours a campaign needs."
Disgusting
http://www.newsweek.com/id/166173/output/print
A License to Kill
A new anti-Obama group runs a bunk-filled ad implying he'd give a driver's license to Mohammed Atta.
A License to Kill
A new anti-Obama group runs a bunk-filled ad implying he'd give a driver's license to Mohammed Atta.
WTF?!
Teen shot over vandalized McCain sign, police say
(CNN) -- A Warren Township, Ohio, man faces charges of felonious assault after authorities say he fired his rifle at two teens who were attempting to deface his McCain presidential campaign yard sign.
Kenneth Rowles, 50, pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday, according to CNN affiliate WBNS.
Bail was set at $10,000.
Rowles told police he was sitting on his porch Saturday when a tan SUV pulled up and a black youth jumped out and ran toward his house, screaming, "This is for Obama."
He said another male was hanging out of the passenger window screaming the same thing.
Rowles said he went inside, got his rifle and fired three shots to scare the youths away, according to a Warren Township police report.
He told officers he believes that the men "were the same two that have been destroying his McCain sign."
Just hours before the shooting, Rowles called police and said that a car had stopped in front of his house and that a black male "ran up and said something about Obama," according to the report, and "damaged his sign again."
One of the youths, 17-year-old Kyree Flowers, was shot in the arm, according to a police report. He and the second youth, Patrick Wise Jr., 16, told police they were in the car attempting to leave when Rowles fired at them.
"Kyree stated that he witnessed the homeowner trying to shoot Patrick but he was having trouble chambering a round," the police report said.
The teens admitted that they had defaced the McCain sign several times, Warren Township police Lt. Don Bishop told CNN.
Rowles' is the only McCain sign on a street full of Obama signs, he said.
Bishop said the teenagers probably will not be charged -- and are unlikely to damage campaign signs again, as the incident scared them.
Warren Township is in Trumbull County not far from Cleveland, Ohio.
(CNN) -- A Warren Township, Ohio, man faces charges of felonious assault after authorities say he fired his rifle at two teens who were attempting to deface his McCain presidential campaign yard sign.
Kenneth Rowles, 50, pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday, according to CNN affiliate WBNS.
Bail was set at $10,000.
Rowles told police he was sitting on his porch Saturday when a tan SUV pulled up and a black youth jumped out and ran toward his house, screaming, "This is for Obama."
He said another male was hanging out of the passenger window screaming the same thing.
Rowles said he went inside, got his rifle and fired three shots to scare the youths away, according to a Warren Township police report.
He told officers he believes that the men "were the same two that have been destroying his McCain sign."
Just hours before the shooting, Rowles called police and said that a car had stopped in front of his house and that a black male "ran up and said something about Obama," according to the report, and "damaged his sign again."
One of the youths, 17-year-old Kyree Flowers, was shot in the arm, according to a police report. He and the second youth, Patrick Wise Jr., 16, told police they were in the car attempting to leave when Rowles fired at them.
"Kyree stated that he witnessed the homeowner trying to shoot Patrick but he was having trouble chambering a round," the police report said.
The teens admitted that they had defaced the McCain sign several times, Warren Township police Lt. Don Bishop told CNN.
Rowles' is the only McCain sign on a street full of Obama signs, he said.
Bishop said the teenagers probably will not be charged -- and are unlikely to damage campaign signs again, as the incident scared them.
Warren Township is in Trumbull County not far from Cleveland, Ohio.
God I Hope So...
McCain attacks could backfire with undecideds, analyst says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain needs to close the gap by persuading undecided voters to back him, but attacks on Sen. Barack Obama could turn off the very voters he needs to swing his way, a political analyst said Tuesday.
"McCain should go big at the end. But if he wants to win over independents and undecideds, he should not go big by going negative. That's the worst thing he could do," said John Avalon, author of the book "Independent Nation."
With just one week before Election Day, a CNN poll of polls calculated Monday shows Obama leading McCain by 8 points, 51 percent to 43 percent, with 6 percent undecided. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted October 17-19 found a slightly smaller gap -- 52 percent for Obama, 46 percent for McCain -- among independent voters.
Recent polls have consistently showed Obama in the lead, and independent voters may be bothered by the "inevitable" nature that is surrounding the Democratic campaign streak, said Patricia Murphy, editor of citizenjanepolitics.com. Watch how McCain has an uphill climb »
"Independents are also sometimes late deciders. They are also extremely persuadable at any point during the election," Murphy said. "They don't want to know that this decision has already been made for them, so they'll exercise their power at the polls."
To draw undecided and independent voters, Murphy said, the McCain camp would be smart to raise doubts about Obama in the final week of the campaign because the race has become a "referendum on Barack Obama."
"If anybody is still undecided, it may be because they just haven't made up their minds about this man," she said. Watch CNN political editor discuss the final week of campaigning »
But Avalon warns that personal attacks on Obama, such as saying the Democrat is leading the country toward socialism, will not work.
"I think if it's about the economic differences between candidates, that's a positive contrast," he added. "It if goes into silly season by calling Barack Obama a socialist, that's an insult, and it's decisive."
McCain would be better served, Avalon said, by emphasizing the fact that an Obama presidency would put the Democrats in charge of the White House and both branches of Congress.
"McCain should run against unified control. ... Do you really want to turn over the United States government to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and the liberal super majority?" Avalon asked, referring to the Democratic Senate majority leader and the speaker of the House, respectively. "That's a rational case he can make. It's not insulting, and it will appeal to independents and undecideds."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain needs to close the gap by persuading undecided voters to back him, but attacks on Sen. Barack Obama could turn off the very voters he needs to swing his way, a political analyst said Tuesday.
"McCain should go big at the end. But if he wants to win over independents and undecideds, he should not go big by going negative. That's the worst thing he could do," said John Avalon, author of the book "Independent Nation."
With just one week before Election Day, a CNN poll of polls calculated Monday shows Obama leading McCain by 8 points, 51 percent to 43 percent, with 6 percent undecided. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted October 17-19 found a slightly smaller gap -- 52 percent for Obama, 46 percent for McCain -- among independent voters.
Recent polls have consistently showed Obama in the lead, and independent voters may be bothered by the "inevitable" nature that is surrounding the Democratic campaign streak, said Patricia Murphy, editor of citizenjanepolitics.com. Watch how McCain has an uphill climb »
"Independents are also sometimes late deciders. They are also extremely persuadable at any point during the election," Murphy said. "They don't want to know that this decision has already been made for them, so they'll exercise their power at the polls."
To draw undecided and independent voters, Murphy said, the McCain camp would be smart to raise doubts about Obama in the final week of the campaign because the race has become a "referendum on Barack Obama."
"If anybody is still undecided, it may be because they just haven't made up their minds about this man," she said. Watch CNN political editor discuss the final week of campaigning »
But Avalon warns that personal attacks on Obama, such as saying the Democrat is leading the country toward socialism, will not work.
"I think if it's about the economic differences between candidates, that's a positive contrast," he added. "It if goes into silly season by calling Barack Obama a socialist, that's an insult, and it's decisive."
McCain would be better served, Avalon said, by emphasizing the fact that an Obama presidency would put the Democrats in charge of the White House and both branches of Congress.
"McCain should run against unified control. ... Do you really want to turn over the United States government to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and the liberal super majority?" Avalon asked, referring to the Democratic Senate majority leader and the speaker of the House, respectively. "That's a rational case he can make. It's not insulting, and it will appeal to independents and undecideds."
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
PSoftheD
Proclaiming his innocence, convicted Republican Sen. Ted Stevens asked Alaskans to "stand with me" as he pledged to defend the Senate seat he has held since 1968.
"I ask that Alaskans and my Senate colleagues stand with me as I pursue my rights," Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, said in a statement Monday. " I remain a candidate for the United States Senate."
A jury on Monday convicted Stevens of seven counts of making false statements on Senate ethics forms to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and work on his Alaska home from an oilfield contractor at the center of a corruption investigation in the state.
"This verdict is the result of the unconscionable manner in which the Justice Department lawyers conducted this trial," he said
"I will fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have. I am innocent."
The senator's attorneys twice sought to have the charges thrown out during the monthlong trial, accusing prosecutors of hiding evidence favorable to the defense. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected those efforts but faulted prosecutors for "hiding the ball."
Stevens faces a maximum sentence of up to to 35 years in prison -- five years for each of the seven counts.
Legal experts note the judge has the discretion to give Stevens as little as no jail time and probation when he is sentenced.
The judge scheduled a hearing on any pending motions for February 25.
*** I love how he doesn't have any restrictions on losing his seat, AND he won't be sentenced until WAY after the election and inaguration. so, he could win, go to DC and then serve time in PRISON while still a senator. This is what our country allows...amazing.
"I ask that Alaskans and my Senate colleagues stand with me as I pursue my rights," Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, said in a statement Monday. " I remain a candidate for the United States Senate."
A jury on Monday convicted Stevens of seven counts of making false statements on Senate ethics forms to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and work on his Alaska home from an oilfield contractor at the center of a corruption investigation in the state.
"This verdict is the result of the unconscionable manner in which the Justice Department lawyers conducted this trial," he said
"I will fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have. I am innocent."
The senator's attorneys twice sought to have the charges thrown out during the monthlong trial, accusing prosecutors of hiding evidence favorable to the defense. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected those efforts but faulted prosecutors for "hiding the ball."
Stevens faces a maximum sentence of up to to 35 years in prison -- five years for each of the seven counts.
Legal experts note the judge has the discretion to give Stevens as little as no jail time and probation when he is sentenced.
The judge scheduled a hearing on any pending motions for February 25.
*** I love how he doesn't have any restrictions on losing his seat, AND he won't be sentenced until WAY after the election and inaguration. so, he could win, go to DC and then serve time in PRISON while still a senator. This is what our country allows...amazing.
I know I'm with him...
(From Newsweek) Like FDR and Ronald Reagan, Obama is an innovator in organizing and communicating. Roosevelt was the first to rely on labor unions, and he talked intimately to voters through the then new medium of radio. Reagan built and benefited from a new conservative movement that perfected direct mail and established think tanks to conjure ideas that the former actor could mass-market.
FDR and Reagan communicated mainly in one direction—down. But Obama is claiming to be more: the first communal candidate, a man of twoway streets. Campaign volunteers make key organizing decisions; they also have access to voter lists, traditionally guarded by headquarters. "We have a very trusting organization," David Plouffe, the campaign manager, told me.
The resulting bottom line is astounding: 3.1 million contributors, 5 million volunteers, 2.2 million supporters on his main Facebook page, 800,000 on his MySpace page and perhaps a million more names on Obama's own campaign Web site. Even discounting for likely duplicates, Plouffe says he could end up "knowing" almost 7 million voters by Election Day—roughly one in 10 of Obama's likely total. "These are people who are responsive," he says. "They want to be respected and to continue to be involved in what we do."
And so they will be if Obama is elected. "If he wins, he's going to have a personal following he can use to press his agenda," says Marshall. "He can use these millions to reach over the heads of the Washington insiders, the Democrats on the Hill. It could be powerful."
It could also cause Obama problems. Much of America may be gung-ho about putting more troops into Afghanistan, but it's not clear Obamaworld is; he could run into opposition if he seriously pursues it. On the other hand, initiating talks with Iranian and Venezuelan dictators enjoys more support on his e-mail lists than in the rest of the country. If the Democrats win bigger majorities in the House and Senate, they (if not Obama) may well be eager to exact vengeance on Republicans, or at least cram Democratic ideas down GOP throats. Obama supporters might prefer more reaching-out. As Marshall sees it, most of them want a "transpartisan" approach that jettisons the old labels. "These people feel a close, personal tie to Obama, just as conservatives did to Reagan," he says. "But if and when he starts governing, he is going to start disappointing them."
At that point, the names on those voter and e-mail lists may start talking to each other, and may start saying things that Barack Obama—and White House aides hunched over their computers—don't want to hear. That's when we'll know how "trusting" an organization it really is.
FDR and Reagan communicated mainly in one direction—down. But Obama is claiming to be more: the first communal candidate, a man of twoway streets. Campaign volunteers make key organizing decisions; they also have access to voter lists, traditionally guarded by headquarters. "We have a very trusting organization," David Plouffe, the campaign manager, told me.
The resulting bottom line is astounding: 3.1 million contributors, 5 million volunteers, 2.2 million supporters on his main Facebook page, 800,000 on his MySpace page and perhaps a million more names on Obama's own campaign Web site. Even discounting for likely duplicates, Plouffe says he could end up "knowing" almost 7 million voters by Election Day—roughly one in 10 of Obama's likely total. "These are people who are responsive," he says. "They want to be respected and to continue to be involved in what we do."
And so they will be if Obama is elected. "If he wins, he's going to have a personal following he can use to press his agenda," says Marshall. "He can use these millions to reach over the heads of the Washington insiders, the Democrats on the Hill. It could be powerful."
It could also cause Obama problems. Much of America may be gung-ho about putting more troops into Afghanistan, but it's not clear Obamaworld is; he could run into opposition if he seriously pursues it. On the other hand, initiating talks with Iranian and Venezuelan dictators enjoys more support on his e-mail lists than in the rest of the country. If the Democrats win bigger majorities in the House and Senate, they (if not Obama) may well be eager to exact vengeance on Republicans, or at least cram Democratic ideas down GOP throats. Obama supporters might prefer more reaching-out. As Marshall sees it, most of them want a "transpartisan" approach that jettisons the old labels. "These people feel a close, personal tie to Obama, just as conservatives did to Reagan," he says. "But if and when he starts governing, he is going to start disappointing them."
At that point, the names on those voter and e-mail lists may start talking to each other, and may start saying things that Barack Obama—and White House aides hunched over their computers—don't want to hear. That's when we'll know how "trusting" an organization it really is.
NAACP and VA
(CNN) — The Virginia branch of the NAACP sued Gov. Tim Kaine and state election officials on Monday, claiming that the state is "inadequately prepared" for the record number of voters expected to turn out in next week's presidential election.
The complaint, filed Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Richmond, says state officials have not set up enough polling sites to keep up with the turnout.
"The allocation of polling place resources is plainly irrational, non-uniform and likely discriminatory," the suit states.
It cites the 2004 presidential election, arguing that too few polling places in Virginia at the time led to long lines and forced some voters to turn away.
"To adhere stubbornly to inadequate levels of resources in the face of the increased registration and increased turnout will result in a meltdown on Election Day," the suit says. "Voters will face even longer lines than existed in 2004, and many more voters will lose their right to vote in this Presidential election than in the last."
Kaine's office confirmed receiving the lawsuit Monday, saying Virginia's Board of Elections will respond to it in court.
Kaine is "confident that the Board of elections is taking the appropriate steps to mitigate lines on Election Day," said Delacey Skinner, a spokeswoman for the governor.
The complaint, filed Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Richmond, says state officials have not set up enough polling sites to keep up with the turnout.
"The allocation of polling place resources is plainly irrational, non-uniform and likely discriminatory," the suit states.
It cites the 2004 presidential election, arguing that too few polling places in Virginia at the time led to long lines and forced some voters to turn away.
"To adhere stubbornly to inadequate levels of resources in the face of the increased registration and increased turnout will result in a meltdown on Election Day," the suit says. "Voters will face even longer lines than existed in 2004, and many more voters will lose their right to vote in this Presidential election than in the last."
Kaine's office confirmed receiving the lawsuit Monday, saying Virginia's Board of Elections will respond to it in court.
Kaine is "confident that the Board of elections is taking the appropriate steps to mitigate lines on Election Day," said Delacey Skinner, a spokeswoman for the governor.
I Agree...Speak Up and Lead. But lose, too...
Olbermann to McCain: Speak up and lead!
By Keith Olbermann
Finally tonight, a Campaign Comment about the fraudulent race attack claim, since acknowledged and recanted, by a John McCain campaign volunteer in Pennsylvania. You know the story quite well by now.
It is a sad, demoralizing tale of a woman who can easily be summarized by the term "B-Actress." Ashley Todd was not sexually assaulted by a big black man.
He did not carve the letter "B" onto her face to punish her for supporting John McCain. It apparently never dawned on her, or resembled less a cut, than an abrasion done by a weapon no more sinister than a nail file. She was not even at the ATM where she claimed the attack took place. It apparently never dawned on her that the machine had security video and she wouldn't be on it.
And clearly somewhere in her mind was a calculation that a story like this one, with layer upon layer of racial threat, could be some kind of game changer for the presidential candidate she worked to get elected in at least two states for at least two months.
Her saga is pathetic. She now claims mental illness. If this too is not true, Ms. Todd might think she's pulling another fast one over on the rest of us. In fact her claim seems to be accurate whether she knows it or not.
And much more disturbingly, so was her calculation. At least until her story, in retrospect a ludicrous confection, fell apart and she had to confess her crime, she had inspired dozens, perhaps hundreds, of journalists and bloggers and all those in between on both political sides, to stand over this nation's ever-present tinderbox of racial prejudice, and racial fear, and racial hatred.
And she had brought them all matches. We already know what the executive Vice President of Fox News had written while his organization was collectively perched next to that tinderbox, waiting for the slightest excuse to light it, and our nation, ablaze – the over-the-top caveat, thrown in for a window-dressing "balance" with not the slightest intent that it should be taken seriously:
"If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Sen. McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."
That is the well-known part of what John Moody wrote. What preceded it was far less publicized, and far more important.
"Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Sen. Obama's campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party's presidential nomination."That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election."If Ms. Todd's allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Sen. Obama, not because they are racists, with due respect to Rep. John Murtha, but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee."
Moody wrote that.
It wouldn't be racism to suddenly blame Barack Obama for an attack on a white woman by a black man intending to punish her not supporting another black man. It would be a "watershed moment" because it somehow meant "they suddenly feel as if they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee."
Its only connection would be racial, but the response would not be racism. The tinderbox, again. And a very large match, provided by John Moody. I know this man. He is not stupid, not careless. He has, in fact, an educational background identical to my own, right down to the same college radio station. He knew what he was writing: a rationalization for racism.
That Moody should be fired, goes without saying. That if not fired, he should resign in shame, is also obvious.
Neither will happen, because there is no one of sufficient authority to reproach him and the others who but for Ashley Todd's inability to maintain her inner hoaxster for more than two days, would have solemnly and grimly, and some secretly, happily, set the presidential campaign on its ear, and knocked this nation's tenuous grip on the relationship between the races, off its axis.
Because there was nobody to say "no, don't." This is where you come in, Sen. McCain. No histrionics from me to you this time, Senator. No yelling. Just a plea. Say something about this. Now. Say something strongly and succinctly about the unacceptability of what happened and how some of your supporters tried to exploit it.
I am not asking you to assume the responsibility for this, no matter how your campaign pushed this story. I have no doubt that in the mirror-image scenario, many of Senator Obama's supporters would do the same.
But I also have no doubt that by this point in that mirror-image scenario, Sen. Obama would have said something to try to stop the next Ashley Todd and the next John Moody.
Senator, of all the things I don't like about you or your campaign I have never thought you a racist. As imperfect as was your moment with the Minnesota woman, mumbling about Arabs, I thought it was the finest moment of your campaign.
I believe that you feel as I do – that racial hatred and prejudice have no place in this campaign, or in this country. I believe that you feel as I do – as Clarence Darrow said in a different time and different context: "I am pleading for the future; I am pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty will not control the hearts of men. When we can learn by reason and judgment and understanding and faith…"
Sometimes, Sen. McCain, it is as if we are almost there. And then some unthinking act, like the one by Ashley Todd, throws us back against the rocks and we barely escape with our ship intact. In that time of foundering, Sen. McCain, far too few of us have a chance, to personally right the ship, to heal, instead of stand idly by, to make a difference in this oldest and most wearying of our struggles as a nation.
This chance, Sir, is yours. Say something. Or better yet, say something with Sen. Obama, about race and how we live with one another. Let this last week of the campaign be remembered, no matter how it turns out next Tuesday, as something other than the time Ashley Todd lied, and the John Moodys threatened, and you said nothing.
Sen. McCain , once again—grab the microphone.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27406602/
By Keith Olbermann
Finally tonight, a Campaign Comment about the fraudulent race attack claim, since acknowledged and recanted, by a John McCain campaign volunteer in Pennsylvania. You know the story quite well by now.
It is a sad, demoralizing tale of a woman who can easily be summarized by the term "B-Actress." Ashley Todd was not sexually assaulted by a big black man.
He did not carve the letter "B" onto her face to punish her for supporting John McCain. It apparently never dawned on her, or resembled less a cut, than an abrasion done by a weapon no more sinister than a nail file. She was not even at the ATM where she claimed the attack took place. It apparently never dawned on her that the machine had security video and she wouldn't be on it.
And clearly somewhere in her mind was a calculation that a story like this one, with layer upon layer of racial threat, could be some kind of game changer for the presidential candidate she worked to get elected in at least two states for at least two months.
Her saga is pathetic. She now claims mental illness. If this too is not true, Ms. Todd might think she's pulling another fast one over on the rest of us. In fact her claim seems to be accurate whether she knows it or not.
And much more disturbingly, so was her calculation. At least until her story, in retrospect a ludicrous confection, fell apart and she had to confess her crime, she had inspired dozens, perhaps hundreds, of journalists and bloggers and all those in between on both political sides, to stand over this nation's ever-present tinderbox of racial prejudice, and racial fear, and racial hatred.
And she had brought them all matches. We already know what the executive Vice President of Fox News had written while his organization was collectively perched next to that tinderbox, waiting for the slightest excuse to light it, and our nation, ablaze – the over-the-top caveat, thrown in for a window-dressing "balance" with not the slightest intent that it should be taken seriously:
"If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Sen. McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."
That is the well-known part of what John Moody wrote. What preceded it was far less publicized, and far more important.
"Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Sen. Obama's campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party's presidential nomination."That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election."If Ms. Todd's allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Sen. Obama, not because they are racists, with due respect to Rep. John Murtha, but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee."
Moody wrote that.
It wouldn't be racism to suddenly blame Barack Obama for an attack on a white woman by a black man intending to punish her not supporting another black man. It would be a "watershed moment" because it somehow meant "they suddenly feel as if they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee."
Its only connection would be racial, but the response would not be racism. The tinderbox, again. And a very large match, provided by John Moody. I know this man. He is not stupid, not careless. He has, in fact, an educational background identical to my own, right down to the same college radio station. He knew what he was writing: a rationalization for racism.
That Moody should be fired, goes without saying. That if not fired, he should resign in shame, is also obvious.
Neither will happen, because there is no one of sufficient authority to reproach him and the others who but for Ashley Todd's inability to maintain her inner hoaxster for more than two days, would have solemnly and grimly, and some secretly, happily, set the presidential campaign on its ear, and knocked this nation's tenuous grip on the relationship between the races, off its axis.
Because there was nobody to say "no, don't." This is where you come in, Sen. McCain. No histrionics from me to you this time, Senator. No yelling. Just a plea. Say something about this. Now. Say something strongly and succinctly about the unacceptability of what happened and how some of your supporters tried to exploit it.
I am not asking you to assume the responsibility for this, no matter how your campaign pushed this story. I have no doubt that in the mirror-image scenario, many of Senator Obama's supporters would do the same.
But I also have no doubt that by this point in that mirror-image scenario, Sen. Obama would have said something to try to stop the next Ashley Todd and the next John Moody.
Senator, of all the things I don't like about you or your campaign I have never thought you a racist. As imperfect as was your moment with the Minnesota woman, mumbling about Arabs, I thought it was the finest moment of your campaign.
I believe that you feel as I do – that racial hatred and prejudice have no place in this campaign, or in this country. I believe that you feel as I do – as Clarence Darrow said in a different time and different context: "I am pleading for the future; I am pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty will not control the hearts of men. When we can learn by reason and judgment and understanding and faith…"
Sometimes, Sen. McCain, it is as if we are almost there. And then some unthinking act, like the one by Ashley Todd, throws us back against the rocks and we barely escape with our ship intact. In that time of foundering, Sen. McCain, far too few of us have a chance, to personally right the ship, to heal, instead of stand idly by, to make a difference in this oldest and most wearying of our struggles as a nation.
This chance, Sir, is yours. Say something. Or better yet, say something with Sen. Obama, about race and how we live with one another. Let this last week of the campaign be remembered, no matter how it turns out next Tuesday, as something other than the time Ashley Todd lied, and the John Moodys threatened, and you said nothing.
Sen. McCain , once again—grab the microphone.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27406602/
Monday, October 27, 2008
She sucks too.
Madonna's Rocky Romances (From the Onion)
In the latest chapter of Madonna's romantic history, it was announced last week that she and director Guy Ritchie are going to get a divorce. Here are some highlights from Madonna's romantic past:
1977—While still living in Michigan, a teenaged Madonna has a brief affair with a young pizza delivery driver—the last time she would do anything spontaneous and uncalculated
1985—Madonna's tumultuous love affair with noted Keynesian economist John Kenneth Galbraith finally ends after a loud public spat about the merits of heterodox institutional economics
1987—Madonna makes Emo Philips a man
1990—In a move that divides feminists, Madonna gives hand jobs to the first two rows of the audience at a Madrid concert during her Blond Ambition tour
1991—A disappointed Jose Canseco ends his relationship with Madonna after discovering that the pop star's breasts are not as conical as he was led to believe
1996—Personal trainer Carlos Leon is summoned to Madonna's bedchamber, where he impregnates her with future daughter Lourdes before being immediately returned to the gyms of New York
1998—Despite three or four very pleasant dates, things just never really click between Madonna and Omaha-based systems analyst Sam Biederman
2004—Guy Ritchie and Madonna agree to separate as soon as Madonna has time
Red Vs Blue
Dear Red States:
We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85% of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22% lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines, 90% of all cheese, 90% of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you believe you have higher morals then we lefties. Let's just see how that works for ya'll.
Peace out,
Blue States
We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85% of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22% lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines, 90% of all cheese, 90% of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you believe you have higher morals then we lefties. Let's just see how that works for ya'll.
Peace out,
Blue States
Does this even make sense?
She's (Sarah Palin) also begun to make her own ad hoc calls about the campaign's direction and the ticket's policy. McCain, for instance, has remained silent on Democrats' calls for a stimulus package of new spending, a move many conservatives oppose but that could be broadly popular. But in an interview with the conservative radio host Glenn Beck earlier this week, Palin went "off the reservation" to make the campaign policy, one aide said.
"I say, you know, when is enough enough of taxpayer dollars being thrown into this bill out there?" she asked. "This next one of the Democrats being proposed should be very, very concerning to all Americans because to me it sends a message that $700 billion bailout, maybe that was just the tip of the iceberg. No, you know, we were told when we've got to be believing if we have enough elected officials who are going to be standing strong on fiscal conservative principles and free enterprise and we have to believe that there are enough of those elected officials to say, 'No, OK, that's enough.'"
"I say, you know, when is enough enough of taxpayer dollars being thrown into this bill out there?" she asked. "This next one of the Democrats being proposed should be very, very concerning to all Americans because to me it sends a message that $700 billion bailout, maybe that was just the tip of the iceberg. No, you know, we were told when we've got to be believing if we have enough elected officials who are going to be standing strong on fiscal conservative principles and free enterprise and we have to believe that there are enough of those elected officials to say, 'No, OK, that's enough.'"
I really don't like her. Can you tell?
Palin's 'going rogue,' McCain aide says
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.
Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."
A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.
McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan. Watch why the campaign is fighting »
A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.
"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."
A Palin associate defended her, saying that she is "not good at process questions" and that her comments on Michigan and the robocalls were answers to process questions.
But this Palin source acknowledged that Palin is trying to take more control of her message, pointing to last week's impromptu news conference on a Colorado tarmac.
Tracey Schmitt, Palin's press secretary, was urgently called over after Palin wandered over to the press and started talking. Schmitt tried several times to end the unscheduled session.
"We acknowledge that perhaps she should have been out there doing more," a different Palin adviser recently said, arguing that "it's not fair to judge her off one or two sound bites" from the network interviews.
The Politico reported Saturday on Palin's frustration, specifically with McCain advisers Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt. They helped decide to limit Palin's initial press contact to high-profile interviews with Charlie Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, which all McCain sources admit were highly damaging.
In response, Wallace e-mailed CNN the same quote she gave the Politico: "If people want to throw me under the bus, my personal belief is that the most honorable thing to do is to lie there."
But two sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser, defended the decision to keep her press interaction limited after she was picked, both saying flatly that she was not ready and that the missteps could have been a lot worse.
They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and international issues and on McCain's record.
"Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."
Schmitt came to the back of the plane Saturday to deliver a statement to traveling reporters: "Unnamed sources with their own agenda will say what they want, but from Gov. Palin down, we have one agenda, and that's to win on Election Day."
Yet another senior McCain adviser lamented the public recriminations.
"This is what happens with a campaign that's behind; it brings out the worst in people, finger-pointing and scapegoating," this senior adviser said.
This adviser also decried the double standard, noting that Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, has gone off the reservation as well, most recently by telling donors at a fundraiser that America's enemies will try to "test" Obama.
Tensions like those within the McCain-Palin campaign are not unusual; vice presidential candidates also have a history of butting heads with the top of the ticket.
John Edwards and his inner circle repeatedly questioned Sen. John Kerry's strategy in 2004, and Kerry loyalists repeatedly aired in public their view that Edwards would not play the traditional attack dog role with relish because he wanted to protect his future political interests.
Even in a winning campaign like Bill Clinton's, some of Al Gore's aides in 1992 and again in 1996 questioned how Gore was being scheduled for campaign events.
Jack Kemp's aides distrusted the Bob Dole camp and vice versa, and Dan Quayle loyalists had a list of gripes remarkably similar to those now being aired by Gov. Palin's aides.
With the presidential race in its final days and polls suggesting that McCain's chances of pulling out a win are growing slim, Palin may be looking after her own future.
"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.
Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."
A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.
McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan. Watch why the campaign is fighting »
A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.
"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."
A Palin associate defended her, saying that she is "not good at process questions" and that her comments on Michigan and the robocalls were answers to process questions.
But this Palin source acknowledged that Palin is trying to take more control of her message, pointing to last week's impromptu news conference on a Colorado tarmac.
Tracey Schmitt, Palin's press secretary, was urgently called over after Palin wandered over to the press and started talking. Schmitt tried several times to end the unscheduled session.
"We acknowledge that perhaps she should have been out there doing more," a different Palin adviser recently said, arguing that "it's not fair to judge her off one or two sound bites" from the network interviews.
The Politico reported Saturday on Palin's frustration, specifically with McCain advisers Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt. They helped decide to limit Palin's initial press contact to high-profile interviews with Charlie Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, which all McCain sources admit were highly damaging.
In response, Wallace e-mailed CNN the same quote she gave the Politico: "If people want to throw me under the bus, my personal belief is that the most honorable thing to do is to lie there."
But two sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser, defended the decision to keep her press interaction limited after she was picked, both saying flatly that she was not ready and that the missteps could have been a lot worse.
They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and international issues and on McCain's record.
"Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."
Schmitt came to the back of the plane Saturday to deliver a statement to traveling reporters: "Unnamed sources with their own agenda will say what they want, but from Gov. Palin down, we have one agenda, and that's to win on Election Day."
Yet another senior McCain adviser lamented the public recriminations.
"This is what happens with a campaign that's behind; it brings out the worst in people, finger-pointing and scapegoating," this senior adviser said.
This adviser also decried the double standard, noting that Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, has gone off the reservation as well, most recently by telling donors at a fundraiser that America's enemies will try to "test" Obama.
Tensions like those within the McCain-Palin campaign are not unusual; vice presidential candidates also have a history of butting heads with the top of the ticket.
John Edwards and his inner circle repeatedly questioned Sen. John Kerry's strategy in 2004, and Kerry loyalists repeatedly aired in public their view that Edwards would not play the traditional attack dog role with relish because he wanted to protect his future political interests.
Even in a winning campaign like Bill Clinton's, some of Al Gore's aides in 1992 and again in 1996 questioned how Gore was being scheduled for campaign events.
Jack Kemp's aides distrusted the Bob Dole camp and vice versa, and Dan Quayle loyalists had a list of gripes remarkably similar to those now being aired by Gov. Palin's aides.
With the presidential race in its final days and polls suggesting that McCain's chances of pulling out a win are growing slim, Palin may be looking after her own future.
"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."
Nicely stated.
Yet their connection was tested a year ago when several top contributors were dismayed that Mr. Obama seemed to be mired in a distant second place in the Democratic primary race, behind Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. Mr. Obama convened a meeting in a downtown Chicago office building with a small circle of advisers to question the approach of his team.
A few people who had Mr. Obama’s ear began quietly asking whether Mr. Axelrod and other aides were too close to the candidate to dispense dispassionate advice. In the end, Mr. Obama stuck with Mr. Axelrod and the rest of his team, and with the strategy they had devised.
“He is always at his best when we’re at our worst; that’s sustained us through some difficult times,” Mr. Axelrod said. “This is unusual for a national campaign, but everybody likes each other.”
When campaigns struggle, candidates often substitute their top players by showing them the door or by layering them with other strategists. But neither is the case with Mr. Obama. The team that surrounded him two years ago as he made his decision to run for president is the same group with him at the finish line.
A few people who had Mr. Obama’s ear began quietly asking whether Mr. Axelrod and other aides were too close to the candidate to dispense dispassionate advice. In the end, Mr. Obama stuck with Mr. Axelrod and the rest of his team, and with the strategy they had devised.
“He is always at his best when we’re at our worst; that’s sustained us through some difficult times,” Mr. Axelrod said. “This is unusual for a national campaign, but everybody likes each other.”
When campaigns struggle, candidates often substitute their top players by showing them the door or by layering them with other strategists. But neither is the case with Mr. Obama. The team that surrounded him two years ago as he made his decision to run for president is the same group with him at the finish line.
Its getting WEIRD out there...
WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think?
West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment.
"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.
West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.
"I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.
Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.
"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."
Here's a link to the interview: http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html
WFTV news director Bob Jordan said, "When you get a shot to ask these candidates, you want to make the most of it. They usually give you five minutes."
Jordan said political campaigns in general pick and choose the stations they like. And stations often pose softball questions during the satellite interviews.
"Mr. Biden didn't like the questions," Jordan said. "We choose not to ask softball questions."
Jordan added, "I'm crying foul on this one."
West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment.
"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.
West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.
"I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.
Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.
"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."
Here's a link to the interview: http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html
WFTV news director Bob Jordan said, "When you get a shot to ask these candidates, you want to make the most of it. They usually give you five minutes."
Jordan said political campaigns in general pick and choose the stations they like. And stations often pose softball questions during the satellite interviews.
"Mr. Biden didn't like the questions," Jordan said. "We choose not to ask softball questions."
Jordan added, "I'm crying foul on this one."
Pic(k) of the Day
I can just see this taking place at Walmart in Kentucky or something. It actually makes me feel physically ill...and REALLY sorry for these kids.
NYT Magazine Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/magazine/26mccain-t.html?fta=y&pagewanted=print
good stuff. the much anticipated article did not disappoint. McCain is just a cranky old guy...I wonder if even HE knows why he's fighting so hard still.
good stuff. the much anticipated article did not disappoint. McCain is just a cranky old guy...I wonder if even HE knows why he's fighting so hard still.
If Palin read this, she'd probably claim Maureen was being "deliberately sexist."
A Makeover With an Ugly Gloss
McCain advisers have been scathing about the “sexism” of critics who dismiss Sarah Palin as Caribou Barbie.
How odd then, to learn that McCain advisers have been treating their own vice presidential candidate like Valentino Barbie, dressing her up in fancy clothes and endlessly playing with her hair.
In 1991, with Americans fretting about a shaky economy, Poppy Bush visited a J. C. Penney and bought $28 worth of tube socks and a toddler’s sweat suit in a desperate effort to seem in touch with the common folk. Palin might have followed that example and popped into Penney’s to buy some new American-made duds. She is so naturally good-looking, there is no need to gild the Last Frontier lily.
Instead, with the economy cratering and the McCain campaign running on an “average Joe” theme, dunderheaded aides, led by the former Bushies Nicolle Wallace and Tracey Schmitt, costumed their Eliza Doolittle for a ball when she should have been dressing for a bailout.
The Republicans’ attempt to make the case that Barack Obama is hoity-toity and they’re hoi polloi has fallen under the sheer weight of the stunning numbers:
The McCains own 13 cars, eight homes and access to a corporate jet, and Cindy had her Marie Antoinette moment at the convention. Vanity Fair calculated that her outfit cost $300,000, with three-carat diamond earrings worth $280,000, an Oscar de la Renta dress valued at $3,000, a Chanel white ceramic watch clocking in at $4,500 and a four-strand pearl necklace worth between $11,000 and $25,000. While presenting herself as an I’m-just-like-you hockey mom frugal enough to put the Alaska state plane up for sale on eBay, Palin made her big speech at the convention wearing a $2,500 cream silk Valentino jacket that the McCain staff had gotten her at Saks.
At that point, Palin should have been savvy enough to tell those doing her makeover that she was a Wal-Mart mom. The sartorial upgrade was bound to turn into a strategy downgrade, as Palin pressed her case as a homespun gal who was ever so much more American than the elite, foreignish Obama, while she was gussied up in Italian couture.
Politico broke the news that the Republican National Committee spent over $150,000 on a “Pretty Woman”-style shopping spree for Palin, including about $75,000 at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis and nearly $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and St. Louis.
Palin advisers did their best to spin the fashion explosion during the economic implosion, telling The Times that she needed new outfits to match the climate changes across 50 states.
Republicans once more charged the media with sexism for reporting on Palin’s Imelda Marcos closet. “No one would blink if this was a male candidate buying Brooks Brothers suits,” said William F. B. O’Reilly, a G.O.P. consultant.
It doesn’t wash to cry sexism now any more than it did at the beginning, when the campaign tried to use that dodge to divert attention from Palin’s lacunae in the sort of knowledge you need to run the world. The press has written plenty about the vanities and extravagances of male candidates. (See: Haircuts, John Edwards and Bill Clinton.) Sexism would be to treat Palin differently, or more delicately, than one of the guys.
The governor who spent all her time talking about how she had cleaned up excesses in Alaska, and would do the same in Washington, also went over the top on hair and makeup. As a former beauty pageant contestant and sports anchor on TV, Palin already seemed on top of her grooming before the McCain campaign made her traveling makeup artist, Amy Strozzi, the highest-paid individual on the campaign for the first two weeks of October. Ms. Strozzi, who earned an Emmy nomination for her war paint skills on the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance,” made $22,800 for the first half of this month.
Governor Palin, who used to get her hair done at the Beehive in Wasilla and shop at an Anchorage consignment shop called Out of the Closet, paid her traveling hairstylist — recommended by Cindy McCain — $10,000 for the first half of October.
In The New York Times Magazine today, Robert Draper reveals that the campaign also hired a former New York stage and screen actress, Priscilla Shanks, to be her voice coach for the convention. The expense was listed in finance reports as Operating Expenditures and Get-Out-The-Vote consulting. Apparently getting out the vote includes teaching a potential vice president the correct way to pronounce “nuclear.”
The conservative big shots who have not deserted Palin and still think she can be Reagan in a Valentino skirt are furious at those who have mishandled the governor and dimmed her star power. They mourn that she may have to wait now until 2016 to get rid of the phony stench of designer populism.
Makeovers are every woman’s dream. But this makeover has simply pushed back Palin’s dream of being president.
McCain advisers have been scathing about the “sexism” of critics who dismiss Sarah Palin as Caribou Barbie.
How odd then, to learn that McCain advisers have been treating their own vice presidential candidate like Valentino Barbie, dressing her up in fancy clothes and endlessly playing with her hair.
In 1991, with Americans fretting about a shaky economy, Poppy Bush visited a J. C. Penney and bought $28 worth of tube socks and a toddler’s sweat suit in a desperate effort to seem in touch with the common folk. Palin might have followed that example and popped into Penney’s to buy some new American-made duds. She is so naturally good-looking, there is no need to gild the Last Frontier lily.
Instead, with the economy cratering and the McCain campaign running on an “average Joe” theme, dunderheaded aides, led by the former Bushies Nicolle Wallace and Tracey Schmitt, costumed their Eliza Doolittle for a ball when she should have been dressing for a bailout.
The Republicans’ attempt to make the case that Barack Obama is hoity-toity and they’re hoi polloi has fallen under the sheer weight of the stunning numbers:
The McCains own 13 cars, eight homes and access to a corporate jet, and Cindy had her Marie Antoinette moment at the convention. Vanity Fair calculated that her outfit cost $300,000, with three-carat diamond earrings worth $280,000, an Oscar de la Renta dress valued at $3,000, a Chanel white ceramic watch clocking in at $4,500 and a four-strand pearl necklace worth between $11,000 and $25,000. While presenting herself as an I’m-just-like-you hockey mom frugal enough to put the Alaska state plane up for sale on eBay, Palin made her big speech at the convention wearing a $2,500 cream silk Valentino jacket that the McCain staff had gotten her at Saks.
At that point, Palin should have been savvy enough to tell those doing her makeover that she was a Wal-Mart mom. The sartorial upgrade was bound to turn into a strategy downgrade, as Palin pressed her case as a homespun gal who was ever so much more American than the elite, foreignish Obama, while she was gussied up in Italian couture.
Politico broke the news that the Republican National Committee spent over $150,000 on a “Pretty Woman”-style shopping spree for Palin, including about $75,000 at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis and nearly $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and St. Louis.
Palin advisers did their best to spin the fashion explosion during the economic implosion, telling The Times that she needed new outfits to match the climate changes across 50 states.
Republicans once more charged the media with sexism for reporting on Palin’s Imelda Marcos closet. “No one would blink if this was a male candidate buying Brooks Brothers suits,” said William F. B. O’Reilly, a G.O.P. consultant.
It doesn’t wash to cry sexism now any more than it did at the beginning, when the campaign tried to use that dodge to divert attention from Palin’s lacunae in the sort of knowledge you need to run the world. The press has written plenty about the vanities and extravagances of male candidates. (See: Haircuts, John Edwards and Bill Clinton.) Sexism would be to treat Palin differently, or more delicately, than one of the guys.
The governor who spent all her time talking about how she had cleaned up excesses in Alaska, and would do the same in Washington, also went over the top on hair and makeup. As a former beauty pageant contestant and sports anchor on TV, Palin already seemed on top of her grooming before the McCain campaign made her traveling makeup artist, Amy Strozzi, the highest-paid individual on the campaign for the first two weeks of October. Ms. Strozzi, who earned an Emmy nomination for her war paint skills on the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance,” made $22,800 for the first half of this month.
Governor Palin, who used to get her hair done at the Beehive in Wasilla and shop at an Anchorage consignment shop called Out of the Closet, paid her traveling hairstylist — recommended by Cindy McCain — $10,000 for the first half of October.
In The New York Times Magazine today, Robert Draper reveals that the campaign also hired a former New York stage and screen actress, Priscilla Shanks, to be her voice coach for the convention. The expense was listed in finance reports as Operating Expenditures and Get-Out-The-Vote consulting. Apparently getting out the vote includes teaching a potential vice president the correct way to pronounce “nuclear.”
The conservative big shots who have not deserted Palin and still think she can be Reagan in a Valentino skirt are furious at those who have mishandled the governor and dimmed her star power. They mourn that she may have to wait now until 2016 to get rid of the phony stench of designer populism.
Makeovers are every woman’s dream. But this makeover has simply pushed back Palin’s dream of being president.
PSoftheD
Andrew Bacevich: Bush's response to 9/11 reflected this widespread sense of assurance and entitlement. The Bush doctrine of preventive war, the president's impatient, with-us-or-against-us attitude, his disdain for international opinion and international law, his confidence that American military power, once unleashed, would quickly bring evildoers to justice or justice to evildoers -- and above all his conviction that the people of the Islamic world thirsted for freedom American-style -- all of these made explicit precepts that had been germinating during the post-Cold War decade of the 1990s. Bush was merely expressing in a crude vernacular -- "Bring 'em on!" -- ideas and attitudes to which the majority of Americans already subscribed.
Today those ideas and attitudes have become the equivalent of an oversized SUV: They no longer sell. Not least among Bush's errors in judgment has been his failure to appreciate just how ephemeral the Age of Triumphalism would prove to be.
Today those ideas and attitudes have become the equivalent of an oversized SUV: They no longer sell. Not least among Bush's errors in judgment has been his failure to appreciate just how ephemeral the Age of Triumphalism would prove to be.
I wouldn't take this job no matter what they paid...
Top Salary in McCain Camp? Palin’s Makeup Stylist
Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?
Not Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser; not Nicolle Wallace, his senior communications staffer. It was Amy Strozzi, Gov. Sarah Palin’s traveling makeup artist, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday night.
Ms. Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her makeup work on the television show “So You Think You Can Dance?”, was paid $22,800 for the first two weeks of October alone, according to the records. The campaign categorized Ms. Strozzi’s payment as “Personnel Svc/Equipment.”
In addition, Angela Lew, who is Ms. Palin’s traveling hair stylist, got $10,000 for “Communications Consulting” in the first half of October. Ms. Lew’s address listed in F.E.C. records traces to an Angela M. Lew in Thousands Oaks, Calif., which matches with a license issued by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. The board said Ms. Lew works at a salon called Hair Grove in Westlake Village, Calif.
W Magazine’s blog reported earlier this month that “the Guv has been traveling with a hairstylist named Angela, who usually works out of a salon called the Hair Grove,” and that she was directed to the salon by none other than Cindy McCain, whose own hair stylist, Piper, works at the Hair Grove as well. (Related: To Look Good, How Much Is Too Much?)
The campaign’s payment on Oct. 10 to Ms. Strozzi made her the single highest-paid individual in the campaign for that two week period. (There were more than two-dozen companies that got larger payments than Ms. Strozzi). She easily beat out Mr. Scheunemann, who received $12,500 in the first half of October, and Ms. Wallace, who got $12,000. Ms. Lew was the fourth highest paid person in the campaign during that span.
In September, Ms. Strozzi, who was first identified by the Washington Post this week as Ms. Palin’s makeup artist, was also paid $13,200 for “communications consulting.” But several individuals were paid more by the McCain campaign that month, including Mike DuHaime, the political director, who received $25,000 for “Gotv Consulting,” and Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s senior advisers, who got $13,224 in salary.
Ms. Lew collected $8,825 in September for what the campaign labeled in its report as “GOTV Consulting.”
There has been much attention this week, of course, on the $150,000 Republican National Committee spent outfitting Ms. Palin in September at high-end department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, as well as for makeup services.
The campaign finance reports filed on Thursday night, which showed the McCain campaign and the R.N.C. had about $84 million left in the bank on Oct. 15, did not immediately appear to show any similar payments in the first half of October.
Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?
Not Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser; not Nicolle Wallace, his senior communications staffer. It was Amy Strozzi, Gov. Sarah Palin’s traveling makeup artist, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday night.
Ms. Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her makeup work on the television show “So You Think You Can Dance?”, was paid $22,800 for the first two weeks of October alone, according to the records. The campaign categorized Ms. Strozzi’s payment as “Personnel Svc/Equipment.”
In addition, Angela Lew, who is Ms. Palin’s traveling hair stylist, got $10,000 for “Communications Consulting” in the first half of October. Ms. Lew’s address listed in F.E.C. records traces to an Angela M. Lew in Thousands Oaks, Calif., which matches with a license issued by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. The board said Ms. Lew works at a salon called Hair Grove in Westlake Village, Calif.
W Magazine’s blog reported earlier this month that “the Guv has been traveling with a hairstylist named Angela, who usually works out of a salon called the Hair Grove,” and that she was directed to the salon by none other than Cindy McCain, whose own hair stylist, Piper, works at the Hair Grove as well. (Related: To Look Good, How Much Is Too Much?)
The campaign’s payment on Oct. 10 to Ms. Strozzi made her the single highest-paid individual in the campaign for that two week period. (There were more than two-dozen companies that got larger payments than Ms. Strozzi). She easily beat out Mr. Scheunemann, who received $12,500 in the first half of October, and Ms. Wallace, who got $12,000. Ms. Lew was the fourth highest paid person in the campaign during that span.
In September, Ms. Strozzi, who was first identified by the Washington Post this week as Ms. Palin’s makeup artist, was also paid $13,200 for “communications consulting.” But several individuals were paid more by the McCain campaign that month, including Mike DuHaime, the political director, who received $25,000 for “Gotv Consulting,” and Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s senior advisers, who got $13,224 in salary.
Ms. Lew collected $8,825 in September for what the campaign labeled in its report as “GOTV Consulting.”
There has been much attention this week, of course, on the $150,000 Republican National Committee spent outfitting Ms. Palin in September at high-end department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, as well as for makeup services.
The campaign finance reports filed on Thursday night, which showed the McCain campaign and the R.N.C. had about $84 million left in the bank on Oct. 15, did not immediately appear to show any similar payments in the first half of October.
Friday, October 24, 2008
OPEC O-SUX
OPEC Cuts Oil Production in Move to Boost Prices
The international oil cartel agreed Friday to cut daily production by 1.5 million barrels in a move to drive up prices on the international market — and, at the gas pump.
But, crude oil futures went in the other direction, falling 5 percent Friday in London trading on speculation that demand will continue to fall.
Oil fell sharply in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with light sweet crude priced for December delivery at $64.40.
Hardline OPEC members Iran and Venezuela had been pushing members to slice production by 2 million barrels a day, with Iran's oil minister declaring, "The era of cheap oil is finished." When asked before Friday's meeting what price Iran would want for its oil, Gholam Hossein Nozari boasted, "The more the better."
OPEC, meanwhile, cited lower demand and market surpluses as reason for reducing output.
"The financial crisis is already having a noticeable impact on the world economy, dampening the demand for energy...and oil in particular," OPEC said in a press release after the decision was announced. "This slowdown in oil demand is serving to exacerbate the situation in a market which has been oversupplied with crude for some time."
It also noted that the collapse in oil prices — which have fallen over 55 percent since their mid-July peaks — may jeopardize oil projects and threaten supply growth in the medium term.
Iran is a traditional OPEC hardliner on prices and production and is the second largest producer within the organization. Saudi Arabia leads OPEC production, and was expected to lobby ministers for a smaller cut than proposed by Iran and Venezuela.
Iran has taken a liking to astronomical oil prices, using its newfound wealth to fuel its nuclear program in defiance of the U.S. and the global community.
Sam Gault, president of Gault Inc., a fifth-generation, family-owned oil business in Westport, Conn., said the Saudis still control OPEC's actions.
"Its really going to come down to whether Saudi Arabia wants to cut production, because they're the ones that can afford to cut production," Gault told FOXNews.com. "A lot of times the different members of OPEC wind up cheating on their quotas."
Analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria, said that the oil cartel is likely to request non-OPEC producers, including Russia, to cooperate with them "in order to hinder the price slide."
"Behind the scenes negotiations (with Russia) are going on and a well-publicized joint cut is still possible," the analysts wrote in a report Thursday.
Over the last four weeks, gasoline demand fell 4.3 percent from the same period last year,a ccording to industry analysts. Distillate fuel demand was down 5.8 percent, and jet fuel demand was down 9.2 percent.
FOXNews.com's Jennifer Lawinski, the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Reuters contributed to this report.
The international oil cartel agreed Friday to cut daily production by 1.5 million barrels in a move to drive up prices on the international market — and, at the gas pump.
But, crude oil futures went in the other direction, falling 5 percent Friday in London trading on speculation that demand will continue to fall.
Oil fell sharply in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with light sweet crude priced for December delivery at $64.40.
Hardline OPEC members Iran and Venezuela had been pushing members to slice production by 2 million barrels a day, with Iran's oil minister declaring, "The era of cheap oil is finished." When asked before Friday's meeting what price Iran would want for its oil, Gholam Hossein Nozari boasted, "The more the better."
OPEC, meanwhile, cited lower demand and market surpluses as reason for reducing output.
"The financial crisis is already having a noticeable impact on the world economy, dampening the demand for energy...and oil in particular," OPEC said in a press release after the decision was announced. "This slowdown in oil demand is serving to exacerbate the situation in a market which has been oversupplied with crude for some time."
It also noted that the collapse in oil prices — which have fallen over 55 percent since their mid-July peaks — may jeopardize oil projects and threaten supply growth in the medium term.
Iran is a traditional OPEC hardliner on prices and production and is the second largest producer within the organization. Saudi Arabia leads OPEC production, and was expected to lobby ministers for a smaller cut than proposed by Iran and Venezuela.
Iran has taken a liking to astronomical oil prices, using its newfound wealth to fuel its nuclear program in defiance of the U.S. and the global community.
Sam Gault, president of Gault Inc., a fifth-generation, family-owned oil business in Westport, Conn., said the Saudis still control OPEC's actions.
"Its really going to come down to whether Saudi Arabia wants to cut production, because they're the ones that can afford to cut production," Gault told FOXNews.com. "A lot of times the different members of OPEC wind up cheating on their quotas."
Analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria, said that the oil cartel is likely to request non-OPEC producers, including Russia, to cooperate with them "in order to hinder the price slide."
"Behind the scenes negotiations (with Russia) are going on and a well-publicized joint cut is still possible," the analysts wrote in a report Thursday.
Over the last four weeks, gasoline demand fell 4.3 percent from the same period last year,a ccording to industry analysts. Distillate fuel demand was down 5.8 percent, and jet fuel demand was down 9.2 percent.
FOXNews.com's Jennifer Lawinski, the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Reuters contributed to this report.
Kwame "The Man"
Texts reveal mayor living large
He traveled to lush resorts. He stretched the rules on the spending of public money. He cheated on his wife and cheated on his mistress.
And, when warned about untoward behavior becoming public, he laughed out loud.
In 650 pages of text messages released Thursday, disgraced former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is described as a high-flying chief executive, unbound by social norms or mores, as he jetted around the country, living life large. He engaged in relationships with other women as he traveled in and out of the country on pleasure trips.
It was good to be king, even as the kingdom of Detroit was withering financially.
The messages, which date from 2002 to 2004, also show Kilpatrick fretting about media coverage and a slight from presidential candidate John Kerry, and provide new information about past controversies, including a rumored party at the Manoogian Mansion.
Sometimes, the mayor's behavior was just plain tawdry, a Mayor Gone Wild segment, according to the text messages.
"Are you working, or is it personal?" he wrote Christine Beatty after she suggested meeting at City Hall.
"Strictly personal," she responded.
"TRUE! LOL."
In November 2002, he appears to instruct Beatty to use a check from his nonprofit group, the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, to pay for a getaway they planned for Vail, Colo.
"They are now saying $407 a piece," she wrote in an apparent reference to plane tickets.
"Get a Civic Ck out of my bag," the mayor responded. "I'll be there in 15 minutes."
The civic fund is tax exempt because its stated purpose is supporting voter education and social welfare.
Wife sends messages
While the relationship between Kilpatrick and Beatty has been discussed in text messages released earlier, the messages Thursday -- contained in a motion by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to show that the exchanges are authentic -- give fresh insight into his wife's view of the Manoogian party, where she supposedly beat up a stripper.
Carlita Kilpatrick wrote to her assistant, Andrea Carroll, that a member of the mayor's Executive Protection Unit was talking to police internal affairs about the alleged party.
"(Harold) Nelthrope went to IA and told them that the party did happen and that I did beat up some girl," she wrote in May 2003. "What (in) the world is going on?"
"DID HE?" Carroll responded. "NO WAY! HE COULD NOT HAVE."
During the same week, the first lady wrote to Carroll that she was upset that another EPU officer also was talking to internal affairs.
"Renee is going to be fired off of EPU!" Carlita Kilpatrick wrote. "Found out she been talking to IA about things going on over here."
"YES! Dang, you're scaring me," Carroll responded.
"I don't know any particulars," Carlita Kilpatrick wrote. "But if she has said anything, she's GOTTA GO! It's the worst when you like someone and they don't do right. This is an issue I'm going to totally defer to God. I don't want to worry about it anymore."
In other parts of the messages, the mayor worried about his treatment by the media and other pols.
In May 2003, Kilpatrick sent a text to an unknown party complaining that Kerry had slighted him.
"John Kerry dissed me," he wrote. "I'm trippin!"
The details of the slight weren't known, and weren't mentioned further.
Many texts intimate
Most of the messages released as part of a criminal case against Kilpatrick's chief of staff, Christine Beatty, involved their sexual relationship. She is charged with perjury for allegedly lying about the relationship in a whistle-blower lawsuit that eventually led to an $8.4 million settlement.
Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice in the case and will be sentenced Tuesday to 120 days in jail, 5 years probation and $1 million in restitution. He also is barred from running for office for five years.
Their often intimate conversations included talk of getting married, the planning and recounting of trysts, and Kilpatrick's relationship with his wife.
At one point, he bragged that he and his wife put up a good front for his kids and the public.
"They absolutely don't see that," he wrote. "Nobody does! WE are real good at masking that (stuff). Plus I do a lot of stuff with my family."
Beatty wasn't the mayor's only paramour. The messages refer to others.
In July 2003, he tried to arrange a liaison with an unidentified woman less than five minutes after receiving a text from Beatty.
Another time, in May 2004, he exchanged messages with a woman as they separately attended the same sporting event.
"Do I get to bump into you tonight, or is it too tight?" the woman wrote.
"I'm back to my seat," the mayor wrote.
"Are you by yourself? What's up with a couple of drinks after somewhere quiet?"
"I'm with my wife."
"OK, I guess it's on for MIA! Cuz it doesn't look like we're connecting b4 then."
Erasing texts discussed
Beatty sometimes warned Kilpatrick to erase the messages, whose discovery in January eventually led to their ousters from public office.
While discussing an upcoming trip together to Colorado, Beatty wrote in November 2002:
"Thank you and goodnight. Erase (your) messages! Sent and received!"
"Worry about your getting caught," Kilpatrick responded. "Stop trying to micromanage my 2way! LOL."
Another time, in August 2002, the mayor told Beatty that he loved her spirit and soul.
"The outside aint so bad either!" he wrote. "Erase and throw away msgs, Ms. Get Caught!"
"LOL!" she responded. "Whatever. That's what I'm doing as we speak! LOL. However I like to sometimes reread my messages from you. They make me smile and I can feel you when I do. Just an FYI. LOL"
In September 2002, long before either lover could envision the legal storm that would swirl about them this year, they discussed supporting each other in a crisis.
"I'd rather be beside you in a storm, than safe and warm myself," Kilpatrick wrote. "Because it can't happen. If you are in a storm I'm in it, too."
"I truly believe that too!" Beatty responded. "There's no storm that I ever want to go through without you. That was my message last night and promise."
Marriage talked about
The messages describe a romantic relationship between the pair where, like most things in Kilpatrick's life, he enjoyed the upper hand.
Beatty is often the one pursuing a deeper relationship, even marriage. Kilpatrick usually is noncommittal. He sometimes says he wants the same thing, but his promises are empty.
"Will you marry me," Beatty asks in December 2003.
"Yes. When?" the mayor responds.
"I don't know when, all I know is that I want to be your wife!"
"Yes. Yes. Yes. I really knew I would be with you since 12th grade. Just a matter of time."
The two have been friends since childhood.
While most of the exchanges between the two are romantic, and sometimes graphically titillating, the mayor scolded his chief aide when she worried that he seemed to be distancing himself from her.
"Oh Boy! Its no way we can have this conversation through the 2way," he wrote in August 2003.
His next message, written in capital letters, shouted: "PLEASE STOP FORMING YOUR OWN OPINIONS ABOUT ME AND INTERPRETING WHAT I SAID I SAID UNTIL THEN. PLEASE!"
"Will do," Beatty responded.
In March 2004, Beatty probed Kilpatrick about his relationship with his wife.
"Can I ask you a question?" she wrote.
"Yes," he said.
"What do you get from CEK (Carlita Ebony Kilpatrick) that you don't get from me?"
If she was hoping to hear something soothing, to be placated by her lover, she was disappointed.
"The tremendous bond of Parenthood," Kilpatrick told her. "J, J & J's (the couple's three children) Mama. The Birth Experiences and the Dreams for our children."
"Is that it?"
"That's it. Its ALL the Family thing. Structure and Comfort."
The messages also describe the point when Beatty learns about the lawsuit that would eventually lead to the discovery of the text messages, which would lead to the demise of her career.
"Clerk just bought me a copy of lawsuit filed today against Mayor, Chief and Bob Berg by Gary Brown and Nelthrope," she messaged the mayor.
Nelthorpe and Brown, a deputy police chief, argued in the lawsuit that they were fired for refusing to end an investigation of police conduct. It was during the ensuing trial where Beatty's and Kilpatrick's testimony led to perjury charges against them.
Find this article at:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081024/METRO/810240376
He traveled to lush resorts. He stretched the rules on the spending of public money. He cheated on his wife and cheated on his mistress.
And, when warned about untoward behavior becoming public, he laughed out loud.
In 650 pages of text messages released Thursday, disgraced former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is described as a high-flying chief executive, unbound by social norms or mores, as he jetted around the country, living life large. He engaged in relationships with other women as he traveled in and out of the country on pleasure trips.
It was good to be king, even as the kingdom of Detroit was withering financially.
The messages, which date from 2002 to 2004, also show Kilpatrick fretting about media coverage and a slight from presidential candidate John Kerry, and provide new information about past controversies, including a rumored party at the Manoogian Mansion.
Sometimes, the mayor's behavior was just plain tawdry, a Mayor Gone Wild segment, according to the text messages.
"Are you working, or is it personal?" he wrote Christine Beatty after she suggested meeting at City Hall.
"Strictly personal," she responded.
"TRUE! LOL."
In November 2002, he appears to instruct Beatty to use a check from his nonprofit group, the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, to pay for a getaway they planned for Vail, Colo.
"They are now saying $407 a piece," she wrote in an apparent reference to plane tickets.
"Get a Civic Ck out of my bag," the mayor responded. "I'll be there in 15 minutes."
The civic fund is tax exempt because its stated purpose is supporting voter education and social welfare.
Wife sends messages
While the relationship between Kilpatrick and Beatty has been discussed in text messages released earlier, the messages Thursday -- contained in a motion by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to show that the exchanges are authentic -- give fresh insight into his wife's view of the Manoogian party, where she supposedly beat up a stripper.
Carlita Kilpatrick wrote to her assistant, Andrea Carroll, that a member of the mayor's Executive Protection Unit was talking to police internal affairs about the alleged party.
"(Harold) Nelthrope went to IA and told them that the party did happen and that I did beat up some girl," she wrote in May 2003. "What (in) the world is going on?"
"DID HE?" Carroll responded. "NO WAY! HE COULD NOT HAVE."
During the same week, the first lady wrote to Carroll that she was upset that another EPU officer also was talking to internal affairs.
"Renee is going to be fired off of EPU!" Carlita Kilpatrick wrote. "Found out she been talking to IA about things going on over here."
"YES! Dang, you're scaring me," Carroll responded.
"I don't know any particulars," Carlita Kilpatrick wrote. "But if she has said anything, she's GOTTA GO! It's the worst when you like someone and they don't do right. This is an issue I'm going to totally defer to God. I don't want to worry about it anymore."
In other parts of the messages, the mayor worried about his treatment by the media and other pols.
In May 2003, Kilpatrick sent a text to an unknown party complaining that Kerry had slighted him.
"John Kerry dissed me," he wrote. "I'm trippin!"
The details of the slight weren't known, and weren't mentioned further.
Many texts intimate
Most of the messages released as part of a criminal case against Kilpatrick's chief of staff, Christine Beatty, involved their sexual relationship. She is charged with perjury for allegedly lying about the relationship in a whistle-blower lawsuit that eventually led to an $8.4 million settlement.
Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice in the case and will be sentenced Tuesday to 120 days in jail, 5 years probation and $1 million in restitution. He also is barred from running for office for five years.
Their often intimate conversations included talk of getting married, the planning and recounting of trysts, and Kilpatrick's relationship with his wife.
At one point, he bragged that he and his wife put up a good front for his kids and the public.
"They absolutely don't see that," he wrote. "Nobody does! WE are real good at masking that (stuff). Plus I do a lot of stuff with my family."
Beatty wasn't the mayor's only paramour. The messages refer to others.
In July 2003, he tried to arrange a liaison with an unidentified woman less than five minutes after receiving a text from Beatty.
Another time, in May 2004, he exchanged messages with a woman as they separately attended the same sporting event.
"Do I get to bump into you tonight, or is it too tight?" the woman wrote.
"I'm back to my seat," the mayor wrote.
"Are you by yourself? What's up with a couple of drinks after somewhere quiet?"
"I'm with my wife."
"OK, I guess it's on for MIA! Cuz it doesn't look like we're connecting b4 then."
Erasing texts discussed
Beatty sometimes warned Kilpatrick to erase the messages, whose discovery in January eventually led to their ousters from public office.
While discussing an upcoming trip together to Colorado, Beatty wrote in November 2002:
"Thank you and goodnight. Erase (your) messages! Sent and received!"
"Worry about your getting caught," Kilpatrick responded. "Stop trying to micromanage my 2way! LOL."
Another time, in August 2002, the mayor told Beatty that he loved her spirit and soul.
"The outside aint so bad either!" he wrote. "Erase and throw away msgs, Ms. Get Caught!"
"LOL!" she responded. "Whatever. That's what I'm doing as we speak! LOL. However I like to sometimes reread my messages from you. They make me smile and I can feel you when I do. Just an FYI. LOL"
In September 2002, long before either lover could envision the legal storm that would swirl about them this year, they discussed supporting each other in a crisis.
"I'd rather be beside you in a storm, than safe and warm myself," Kilpatrick wrote. "Because it can't happen. If you are in a storm I'm in it, too."
"I truly believe that too!" Beatty responded. "There's no storm that I ever want to go through without you. That was my message last night and promise."
Marriage talked about
The messages describe a romantic relationship between the pair where, like most things in Kilpatrick's life, he enjoyed the upper hand.
Beatty is often the one pursuing a deeper relationship, even marriage. Kilpatrick usually is noncommittal. He sometimes says he wants the same thing, but his promises are empty.
"Will you marry me," Beatty asks in December 2003.
"Yes. When?" the mayor responds.
"I don't know when, all I know is that I want to be your wife!"
"Yes. Yes. Yes. I really knew I would be with you since 12th grade. Just a matter of time."
The two have been friends since childhood.
While most of the exchanges between the two are romantic, and sometimes graphically titillating, the mayor scolded his chief aide when she worried that he seemed to be distancing himself from her.
"Oh Boy! Its no way we can have this conversation through the 2way," he wrote in August 2003.
His next message, written in capital letters, shouted: "PLEASE STOP FORMING YOUR OWN OPINIONS ABOUT ME AND INTERPRETING WHAT I SAID I SAID UNTIL THEN. PLEASE!"
"Will do," Beatty responded.
In March 2004, Beatty probed Kilpatrick about his relationship with his wife.
"Can I ask you a question?" she wrote.
"Yes," he said.
"What do you get from CEK (Carlita Ebony Kilpatrick) that you don't get from me?"
If she was hoping to hear something soothing, to be placated by her lover, she was disappointed.
"The tremendous bond of Parenthood," Kilpatrick told her. "J, J & J's (the couple's three children) Mama. The Birth Experiences and the Dreams for our children."
"Is that it?"
"That's it. Its ALL the Family thing. Structure and Comfort."
The messages also describe the point when Beatty learns about the lawsuit that would eventually lead to the discovery of the text messages, which would lead to the demise of her career.
"Clerk just bought me a copy of lawsuit filed today against Mayor, Chief and Bob Berg by Gary Brown and Nelthrope," she messaged the mayor.
Nelthorpe and Brown, a deputy police chief, argued in the lawsuit that they were fired for refusing to end an investigation of police conduct. It was during the ensuing trial where Beatty's and Kilpatrick's testimony led to perjury charges against them.
Find this article at:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081024/METRO/810240376
I'm calling shenanigans...this chick is making it up.
Woman says attack on her linked to McCain bumper sticker
(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania woman told police she was attacked at an ATM in Pittsburgh by a robber who became angry when he saw a John McCain bumper sticker on her car, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh Police Department said Thursday.
Public Information Officer Diane Richard said police cannot substantiate her story, however, and the investigation is ongoing.
Richard said the 20-year-old told investigators a man approached her Wednesday night at an ATM in the city's East End, put a blade to her neck and demanded money.
She said she gave him $60 and stepped away from him, Richard said.
She further stated the man "punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground, and he continued to punch and kick her while threatening to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter," according to a police statement.
The woman also told police her attacker "called her a lot of names and stated that 'You are going to be a Barack supporter,' at which time she states he sat on her chest, pinning both her hands down with his knees, and scratched into her face a backward letter 'B' on the right side of her face using what she believed to be a very dull knife."
The alleged assailant fled on foot, Richard said.
"We, the police, cannot substantiate this yet," she said. "This is what she told police."
The woman, who is from Texas, refused medical attention, Richard said, although she told the investigating officer she would see a doctor Thursday. There was no update on her condition, she said.
Richard said the woman described her alleged attacker as a dark-skinned African-American, 6 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build and short dark hair, wearing dark clothing and shiny shoes.
McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told CNN that McCain and running mate Sarah Palin "spoke to the victim and her family after learning about the incident earlier this afternoon."
Hazelbaker said the campaign would not offer more detail out of respect for the woman's privacy.
The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama responded to the report with a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."
(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania woman told police she was attacked at an ATM in Pittsburgh by a robber who became angry when he saw a John McCain bumper sticker on her car, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh Police Department said Thursday.
Public Information Officer Diane Richard said police cannot substantiate her story, however, and the investigation is ongoing.
Richard said the 20-year-old told investigators a man approached her Wednesday night at an ATM in the city's East End, put a blade to her neck and demanded money.
She said she gave him $60 and stepped away from him, Richard said.
She further stated the man "punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground, and he continued to punch and kick her while threatening to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter," according to a police statement.
The woman also told police her attacker "called her a lot of names and stated that 'You are going to be a Barack supporter,' at which time she states he sat on her chest, pinning both her hands down with his knees, and scratched into her face a backward letter 'B' on the right side of her face using what she believed to be a very dull knife."
The alleged assailant fled on foot, Richard said.
"We, the police, cannot substantiate this yet," she said. "This is what she told police."
The woman, who is from Texas, refused medical attention, Richard said, although she told the investigating officer she would see a doctor Thursday. There was no update on her condition, she said.
Richard said the woman described her alleged attacker as a dark-skinned African-American, 6 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build and short dark hair, wearing dark clothing and shiny shoes.
McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told CNN that McCain and running mate Sarah Palin "spoke to the victim and her family after learning about the incident earlier this afternoon."
Hazelbaker said the campaign would not offer more detail out of respect for the woman's privacy.
The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama responded to the report with a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."
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