This is indeed turning into a strange election season, made even more strange by the news out of Georgia: looks like incumbent Republican and Bush rubber-stamp Saxby Chambliss has an actual race on his hands.
For those unacquainted with the delightful Sen. Chambliss, he’s the one who unseated incumbent Democratic Senator and actual war hero Max Cleland, in part by running an ad that morphed Cleland’s face into that of Osama bin Laden. [YouTube link].
The guy giving Chambliss a run for his money is one Jim Martin, who’s running on an actual progressive agenda rather than the usual Southern “Blue Dog” moderate platform. Rasmussen currently puts the race within single digits, which is incredible territory for a challenger to be in at this point.
This would be a great pickup for the Dems, not only because Chambliss has been a right-wing empty suit but also because of the absolutely reprehensible way he trashed Max Cleland. Keep your eyes on this one, and help out if you’re able/so inclined.
The more Democratic nooks of Blogtopia (yes, Skippy coined that phrase) are all a-twitter about new West Virginia poll results that shows Obama up 8 points — indeed, hardly ten minutes goes by without a brand-spanking-new utterly breathless BREAKING!!1!!!!ZOMG!!!! diary on dKos trumpeting what has already been trumpeted ad nauseum. Even more sober-minded and cautious sites like RCP, Pollster and even Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight have moved West Virginia into the “toss-up” column.
All this based on an ARG poll. A freakin’ ARG poll! For reference, ARG this year has proven themselves to be the equivalent of a Magic 8-Ball in terms of accuracy and consistency (to take just one example, I don’t recall Obama winning the NH primary by double digits, as predicted by ARG. Whoops).
Considering the source, can we perhaps tamp down the exuberance and hold the order for balloons, confetti and clean coal plants for just a bit longer?
Sure, in this environment winning West Virginia isn’t out of the realm of possibility, especially what with Virginia and Pennsylvania trending bluer and the UMW coming out full-force for Obama. But to base rising hopes and changes of status on a poll from the least accurate polling outfit this side of Raul’s Magic Chicken Entrail Emporium is rushing things just a tad.
In an effort to seem relevant, John McCain’s campaign announced that they would have big news sometime this morning, but they couldn’t talk about what it was. After all of McCain’s crazy stunts I thought it would be that he was going off to hunt down bin Laden, or personally buying off every bad mortgage. Scott Lemieux thought the elusive “whitey tape” would finally be revealed. But after all that build up, it turns out nope, it’s just a 90-second web ad.
That’s all you’ve got? ‘Cause Barack Obama came up with nearly 15 minutes, and a whole website, about you and Charles Keating. And I bet he wouldn’t be afraid to say it to your face, either.
And while I know the Weathermen weren’t a good group of people, I just think the issue is clouded by the fact that William Ayers is 1)not dangerous enough to be in jail, and 2)boring enough to be on the board of an education foundation. As radical as it might be.
XKCD recently published the above comic, Listen to Yourself. YouTube has already made the concept a reality. There is now an optional audio preview button present when users are submitting a comment on a video. Time will tell whether idiots will have a moment of self reflection when they hear themselves.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have essentially dared John McCain to make the Ayers accusations to Obama’s face. The next opportunity for McCain to do so would be the presidential debate focusing on the economy. Obama could win a debate on the economy by showing up and taking a nap on stage. John McCain doesn’t think John McCain’s strongpoint is the economy.
McCain can refrain from mentioning Ayers in the debate and look like he lacks the backbone and conviction to stand behind his claims or mention it and give Obama a very public chance to discredit the story while also making it seem like McCain’s only trying to distract people from his lack of economic knowledge. It is a lose-lose situation.
Obama made his comments during an interview with Charles Gibson:
“Well, I am surprised that, you know, we’ve been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days that he wasn’t willing to say it to my face,” Obama said. “But I guess we’ve got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.”
“All of the things they said about Barack Obama in the TV, on the TV, at their rallies, and now on YouTube … John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him,” Biden said this morning. “In my neighborhood, when you’ve got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him.”
Update: I somehow missed the fact that Acallidryas had already posted the Obama quote with video here. My bad.
Sheriff Tom Dart of Cook County, Illinois announced yesterday that he will no longer serve foreclosure eviction notices. Dart feels that the lenders sending his employees out to serve evictions haven’t done enough work on their end to find out who is living in the property being foreclosed. Landlords who have not informed their tenants that the building has been foreclosed are a typical problem.
In Cook County, foreclosures are expected to reach a record high of 43,000 this year, compared with 18,916 in 2006.
The sheriff’s office is on pace to conduct 4,500 foreclosure-related evictions, compared with less than half that number in 2006. About one-third of those are rent-paying individuals.
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Dart acknowledged he is at risk of violating court orders to evict and could be found in contempt. But he says he also is responsible for making sure justice is being done. “We will no longer be a party to something that’s so unjust,” he said.
Cook County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Evans could not be reached for comment. Dart planned to meet with judges Thursday.
Dart’s action will only stall the foreclosure process, not terminate it. And lenders may be less likely to lend to homeowners in Cook County knowing that they may not be able to collect on their collateral if the time comes.
Blogger Interrupted has a video of McPalin supporters showing up to a rally in Strongsville, Ohio. Many volunteer to speak on camera which shows right away that they’re definitely not the brightest of the bunch. Though I’m not a fan of the forceful way the interview asks each person straight out if they think Obama’s a terrorist (these people are perfectly able of sinking their own ship), the video does portray the ignorance, fear and hatred that has become typical of Sarah Palin events.
Palin apparently didn’t mention Ayers during her appearance in Strongsville, possibly warned away from doing so by the Secret Service (who had to try and investigate that death threat made from a Clearwater audience earlier this week). But the campaign did release an ad today focusing on Ayers- interesting, considering McCain didn’t mention it at all in the debate two days ago.
I by no means think John McCain is the congenial guy that the press made him out to be before this election cycle. But he’s had a long career in the military (which involves politics) and in national politics. He’s smart enough to know that Palin’s lynch mobs in training are not going to reflect well upon him if (or when) they do turn to actual violence. That may be why he seems halfhearted in spreading the Ayers story himself and why his heart wasn’t in it at the debate.
There’s a new short film out from Brave New Films called “John McCain’s Rage“. More than 30 people- including citizens, journalists and those in the government and military- have testified about experiences they’ve had with McCain’s rage. These experiences include an incident where McCain shoved a woman against a wall outside his office. This well documented side of his personality contrasts how he tried to portray himself during the debate. He’s less interested in walking softly than having a big stick. And he might hit you with that.
This etsy-based shop caters to a particular aesthetic that I know has some detractors but that I thoroughly enjoy: a neo-Victorian and at times steampunk sensibility. But Vintage Filigree Jewels does so with pieces that are exquisitely detailed and without losing touch of classic design standards. These read as carefully composed tiny works of art, without treading the dangerous ground of “costume-y” as Tim Gunn might say.
I posted earlier this week about the comments made by the sheriff of Lee County, Florida during a speech at a Sarah Palin rally. Sheriff Mike Scott, in uniform, called the Democratic presidential candidate “Barack Hussein Obama”. He did not call either Palin or John McCain by their full name. This selective usage combined with the setting of a Republican rally in the deep South makes the intent pretty clear.
The local ACLU and NAACP chapters are demanding apologies and citizens are calling the sheriff’s office by the hundreds to complain. But Scott’s largest problem is a looming federal investigation into whether it was legal for him to make those comments:
A complaint sent to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel alleges that Scott violated the Hatch Act because his agency receives federal dollars, and Scott was engaging in political activity while on duty and in uniform. Erica S. Hamrick, senior attorney for the agency, said in an e-mail Tuesday that an investigation was being opened. Neither she nor her office could be reached for further comment Tuesday.
Sheriff Scott stands by his comment and says that there were no implications behind it, which suggests he’s been living in a cave this election season. Some icing on the ignorance cake:
“I just wanted to use his full name,” Scott said. “And frankly, if this is such a hot-button issue, he, as a Harvard lawyer, could have changed it if he didn’t like it.”
Take note, anyone who has even a vaguely ethnic sounding name: if you want to run for a political office, you’d better switch it to something American like Tommy or Roger if you don’t want to be portrayed as a Muslim/terrorist/”other”. Screw your family heritage! It’s hard for the voters to think.
Sadly, Sheriff Scott is actually a picture of sanity compared to his predecessor, John McDougall:
Former Sheriff John McDougall twice appeared on the “Today Show,” once denouncing abortion and again to warn tourists away from Lee County, saying it wasn’t safe. In 2000, he was arrested after he left office, when he tried bringing water to dying hospice patient Terri Schiavo in Pinellas Park.
I’ve lived in Fort Myers (within Lee County) almost all of my life and when newcomers to the area- tricked by the large number of Northerners inside the city limits-remark that this isn’t the Deep South, I have a good chuckle.
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