So after taking a deep breath and stepping back to look at the overall campaign situation and the history of the last couple of weeks, here's my take on the Clinton campaign going all out negative on Barack Obama: desperation.
1 - Obama has won 11 straight contests, beating Clinton by wide margins.
2 - Clinton going negative (but not all the way) in Wisconsin was viewed by their campaign as a boost for them. They've been quoted as saying the didn't lose by as much (17 points) as they thought they would.
3 - Her closing statement in the Texas debate was viewed by many as conciliatory, which probably prompted the Clinton campaign heads to work overtime to negate that view, else be perceived as giving up.
4 - The Obama mailers on health care and NAFTA caused Hillary's campaign to see red and go off the deep end.
Now, it's one thing to challenge Obama and call him out on it: "Shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public — that's what I expect from you... Meet me in Ohio, and let's have a debate about your tactics."
It's another matter entirely to mock his message and compare him to the second coming of Jeebus. And here, in my opinion, is where the flaw with Clinton's reactionary attacks get the best of her.
Does she not remember the painting of Howard Dean in 2004 as unhinged because of his overenthusiastic "YAAARRR!" during a rally that sunk him? Seeing the anger in her eyes (scary) reminds me of the Dean incident, not in seeming like a nut, but in how it may be perceived.
The latest polls show Obama beating Clinton or in a statistical dead heat in Texas and Ohio after Clinton had 20 point leads in both states just two weeks ago. The Clinton campaign is not conceding and actually turning 180° in the attacks, looking for a fight to the bitter end.
One thing's for sure: it's going to be a very interesting debate on Tuesday in Cleveland.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Why, Hillary? Why?
Hillary Explodes With Mockery - Shows True Self
How do you really feel, Hillary? Hillary Clinton mocked Barack Obama in her latest rally.
Thank you Hillary Clinton for finally being honest and confirming what I suspected you believed the whole time while claiming to be the real change candidate.
T Minus 330 Days
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Strike One Against Mr. Straight Talk
It only took two days. After John McCain's vehement denial of every facet of the New York Times article regarding his relationship with Paxson Communications lobbyist Vicki Iseman, here comes the first contradiction... from Lowell Paxson!Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson today contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf.
Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.
Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post today. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."
The recollection of the now-retired Paxson conflicted with the account provided by McCain about two letters at the center of a controversy about the senator's ties to Iseman, a partner at the lobbying firm of Alcalde & Fay.
Ohhhhh..... THAT Lowell Paxson....
This thing is far from over. Sniff, sniff... do you smell it?... sniff.. that's the stench of death.
T Minus 332/331 Days
Friday, February 22, 2008
Obama's Accomplishments?
The next time someone tries to tell you that Barack Obama is all words and no substance, just let them know that they're lazy. If they really wanted to know what he's accomplished, all they'd have to is hit a computer and Google it.
Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings does quite nicely with the list below. I suggest you print it out and keep it in your wallet for future reference when speaking to a Hillary supporter or a McCain wingnut who comes up with the false "substance" argument.
...I follow some issues pretty closely, and over and over again, Barack Obama kept popping up, doing really good substantive things. There he was, working for nuclear non-proliferation and securing loose stockpiles of conventional weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles. There he was again, passing what the Washington Post called "the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet" -- though not as strong as Obama would have liked. Look -- he's over there, passing a bill that created a searchable database of recipients of federal contracts and grants, proposing legislation on avian flu back when most people hadn't even heard of it, working to make sure that soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan were screened for traumatic brain injury and to prevent homelessness among veterans, successfully fighting a proposal by the VA to reexamine all PTSD cases in which full benefits had been awarded, working to ban no-bid contracts in Katrina reconstruction, and introducing legislation to criminalize deceptive political tactics and voter intimidation.This doesn't even begin to discuss the success he's had at bipartisan legislation that most cynics think is impossible to acheive.
...bad bipartisanship is the kind practiced by Joe Lieberman. Bad bipartisans are so eager to establish credentials for moderation and reasonableness that they go out of their way to criticize their (supposed) ideological allies and praise their (supposed) opponents. They also compromise on principle, and when their opponents don't reciprocate, they compromise some more, until over time their positions become indistinguishable from those on the other side.Definitely read the longer complete post.
This isn't what Obama does.
UPDATE: I Refuse To Buy Into The Obama Hype (now a supporter)
Music Break! Eminem
Never saw this video before. Great lyrics - nothing has changed since it was released in 2004. ...Maybe this year.
Sirota: A Trade Transition
David Sirota's latest article about Hillary Clinton and her NAFTA position... or positions.
Read the whole article here.When it came to sex, Bill Clinton made us debate the definition of "is." Now, when it comes to economics, Hillary Clinton wants to debate the definition of "long," claiming this week in Ohio that "I've long been a critic of the shortcomings of NAFTA."
True, Clinton has recently criticized NAFTA — the 1993 trade policy whose lack of labor and environmental protections encourages companies to move American jobs overseas. But cheap campaign rhetoric over a few months does not make one a longtime critic — especially considering the record....in this, the age of stenographic journalism... Clinton simply figures that if she says she has "long been a critic" of NAFTA, then the assertion will be transcribed as truth.
That said, her U-turn is about more than dishonesty — it is about the public will.
T Minus 333 Days
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And, having said that, all options are on the table."
Democratic Debate No.19
Watching the Democratic debate tonight, I was very proud of both candidates. Either Obama or Clinton will kick McCain's wrinkled ass come November.
I personally thought Hillary's plagiarism attack and the horrible "lifting whole passages... is not change you can believe in, it's change you can xerox" line is where she lost the debate. It fell flat and the audience booed. Ironic that she would challenge Obama on plagiarism with a bad joke that obviously was written for her.
But then a funny thing happened. In wrapping up the end of the debate, the candidates were asked what moment in their life did they feel most tested. Obama went first and gave a decent answer.
Then it was Clinton's turn. She stated that most people already know what she's been through (although she didn't specifically mention the "vast right wing conspiracy" or Bill & Monica, but we knew what she meant). Then she went into a story about visiting with injured soldiers and that nothing she's been through can compare with what Joe Average people go through every day. Great line and lovely sentiment. And she ended with "You know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that's what this election should be about."
The audience got up to its feet for a standing ovation, one of a few during the evening. But in watching every pundit afterwards, they all had the impression that although it sounded conciliatory she won the debate with that last line. People were cheering, she got a standing ovation, it was great.
How did I see it? She got a standing ovation because the audience knew the thing was over. It was the last answer to the last question at the end of the night and they were applauding both candidates. So when I heard that it was her best moment (it was) but that she won on points, I did a double take.
So there I am flipping from station to station looking for the one pundit that would bring it up, just say it was the standard standing ovation at the end of all these things, and nobody did! They all got the impression that Hillary had won the crowd over. They were booing her 30 minutes earlier and now they love her? Jeebus! Okay... whatever.
I still think Obama won this debate, on his Cuba answer, on his rebuttal with the plagiarism scuffle, his thoughts on immigration and border security, flipping around the "ready on Day One" Hillary standard line with "having the right judgement" on Day One, etc.
It was a fun debate to watch. The next debate is scheduled for February 26th in Cleveland, Ohio on MSNBC.
By the way, Obama's winning streak has now hit 11.Barack Obama has won the Democrats Abroad global primary, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in more than 30 countries voted by Internet, mail and in person. The voting took place over the course of a week, beginning Feb. 5.
Oh, and one more thing regarding Hillary's plagiarism attack. Keith Olbermann reported that Politico.com had this to say about Clinton's final lines.
From Ben Smith at Politico:Clinton Tonight:
And boy, those YouTubers are fast!
You know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that's what this election should be about.
Edwards the December 13 debate:
What's not at stake are any of us. All of us are going to be just fine no matter what happens in this election. But what's at stake is whether America is going to be fine.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
US Embassy Attacked in Belgrade
Rioters attacked the US Embassy in protest today. They're not too happy about the US support for Kosovo's declaration of independence. And it looks like the guy that broke in a set a fire inside the ebassy died in the flames.
What To Care About in the John McCain Scandal
Everyone and their whore is latching on to the "who banged who" non-story in the NY Times assertion that John McCain had an improper relationship with Vicki Iseman during his 2000 presidential campaign. The real story is that Mr. Straight Talk was friendly with a lobbyist for Paxson Communications and received over $20,000 in campaign contributions from the company.
This is after Maverick being on the "straight and narrow" due to the Keating Five Scandal had supposedly had scared him "straight." Some straight talk.RUDE PUNDIT: What's important is that, more and more, it seems like John McCain's push for campaign finance reform was to protect himself from himself - since the Keating Five scandal, the man has raked in lobbyists-and-their-clients' cash like a cheap whore on buck-a-blow night at the brothel: "In late 1999, McCain twice wrote letters to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Florida-based Paxson Communications — which had paid Iseman as its lobbyist — urging quick consideration of a proposal to buy a television station license in Pittsburgh. At the time, Paxson's chief executive, Lowell W. 'Bud' Paxson, also was a major contributor to McCain's 2000 presidential campaign...McCain wrote the letters after he received more than $20,000 in contributions from Paxson executives and lobbyists. Paxson also lent McCain his company's jet at least four times during 1999 for campaign travel."
The Rude Pundit may be reading this wrong, but it doesn't seem to square with McCain's assertion today that "At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust or make a decision which in any way would not be in the public interest or would favor anyone or organization." (And what a bizarro thing to say - as a member of Congress, McCain is constantly put in a position where he has to favor some individuals and organizations over others.)
Time For Bill O'Reilly To Go
Don Imus gets fired for his "nappy headed hos" comment regarding the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. Kelly Tilghman was suspended for two weeks from the Golf Channel for saying last week that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley." David Shuster was suspended from MSNBC for his "pimped out" comment regarding Chelsea Clinton's role in her mother's presidential campaign bid. The list goes on and on as far back as Howard Cosell and Jimmy the Greek.
And now we have Mr. No Spin Zone, Bill O'Reilly with his "lynching Michelle Obama" comment regarding her misquoted statement about "truly" being proud of her country. The man is unhinged and has proven time and again that he is a racist and it's high time he should be fired or forced to resign.
Of course, we know it's never going to happen.
Bob Cesca: It's not just his flippant threat to "lynch" Michelle Obama. It's the Sylvia's Restaurant rant. It's the wetback remarks. It's the white power remarks. All of it. How many other reporters, personalities and celebrities need to be suspended and fired while Bill O'Reilly, time and time again, gets a pass? Instead, FOX News and Roger Ailes enable his prime time behavior because Bill O'Reilly's radio and TV shows are, of course, somewhat popular among similarly simplistic dolts.
Let's get this straight. This is what Michelle Obama said. "For the first time in my adult lifetime I'm really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." Immediately, Fox News and all the right wing nuts actually edited out the word "really" to make it sound as if she'd never been proud before this statement. Take a look. Or just Google "Michelle Obama proud country" and you'll get dozens of wingnut websites and edited videos to peruse for yourself. It's so ridiculously obvious that it is outrageous to me that those who want to believe the smear actually do. And yet everyone jumps on the bandwagon including Cindy McCain without knowing the actual quote.
Well, here's an actual quote by O'Reilly. "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down. "
Unless there's evidence?! We'll track it down?! Jeebus Christ! The man is putting conditions on the idea of lynching someone. It just so happens that the "someone" is the African-American wife of the likely African-American Democratic presidential candidate.
Here's Olbermann last night:
It's time for O'Reilly the Racist to go. Fired? Angry... mob? Either would suit me fine.
US Missile Strikes US Spy Satellite
NY TIMES: A missile interceptor launched from a Navy warship has struck a dying American spy satellite orbiting 130 miles over the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon announced late Wednesday.
Completing a mission in which an interceptor designed for missile defense was used for the first time to attack a satellite, the Lake Erie, an Aegis-class cruiser, fired a single missile on Wednesday night. Officials cautioned that while early information indicated that the interceptor’s “kill vehicle” had hit the satellite, it would be 24 hours before it could be determined whether the fuel tank with 1,000 pounds of toxic hydrazine had been destroyed as planned.
Was the reason we shot this thing down really because of a possible toxic fuel spill? Or is it that now we have proven to China that we can shoot down a satellite in space just like they did last year? I always thought that inoperable satellites and falling debris from space burned up as it reentered the atmosphere.
Steve Benen at Carpetbagger notes:
...Some experts said the military is seizing an opportunity to test its controversial missile defense system against a satellite target.
But others noted that the Standard Missile-3 has successfully been tested against warhead targets, which are far smaller than the satellite.
“There has to be another reason behind this,” said Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a liberal arms-control advocacy organization. “In the history of the space age, there has not been a single human being who has been harmed by man-made objects falling from space.”
An even closer look suggests most of the explanation for shooting the satellite down don’t hold up — the gas isn’t especially dangerous, and other hydrazine-filled objects have crashed on Earth to no effect.
The always-great Noah Shachtman quoted one military satellite observer saying, “Everything they said made sense except for the reason for doing the intercept in the first place.”
“The hydrazine tank is a 1-meter sphere containing about 400 liters of hydrazine. The stated hazard area is about 2 hectares, something like 1/10,000,000,000 of the area under the orbit,” he adds. The potential for actual harm in unbelievably small. Which means the hydrazine rationale just doesn’t hold up, literally not within orders of magnitude.”
“The cynic in me says that the idea that this is being done to protect the lives of humans is simply a feel-good cover story tossed to the media,” another veteran space security specialist adds. “It is true that hydrazine is very toxic and could result injury or death, but the odds of this happening are minuscule. The average person in American is many thousands of times more likely to be killed in a car accident than by any falling debris. In fact, no one has ever been killed by space debris (I have heard of one or two being struck but only minor injuries). So pretty much everything else you can think of (including getting hit by an asteroid/comet) is many times more likely than dying from this. Having the US government spend millions of dollars to destroy a billion-dollar failure to save zero lives is comedic gold.” […]So what could that other reason be?
Our veteran space security specialist believes there are several. To him, the satellite shot is a chance for the military to try out its missile defense capabilities; a way to keep secret material out of the wrong hands; and a warning to the Chinese, after they destroyed a satellite about a year ago.
But the real kicker for me one line that gave me goosebumps in the Times article challenging Murphy's Law: "In the event that any of the hydrazine fuel falls on a populated area, the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday issued directions to communities on how to deal with dangerous debris from the satellite."
FEMA?! ...Holy shit.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Breaking: NY Times - McCain Implicated In Improper Relationship with Female Lobbyist...
...during his 2000 presidential campaign.
NY TIMES: ...A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, in his offices and aboard a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.
When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s clients, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.
Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.
I'm guessing the other presidential candidates will steer clear of this story, as they should, at least until more facts arise. I don't know what wingnuts like Rush Limbaugh or Laura Ingraham will say about it though.
Obama Wins Hawaii Handily
Time is running out. It's now ten straight states for Barack Obama, as he easily beat Clinton in Hawaii by an amazing 52 points, 76-24! O-mentum is sweeping the nation. I don't know how the Clinton campaign can stand it.
T Minus 335 Days
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Obama Wins Wisconsin - Update
Reporting for MSNBC at about 11:20pm, Andrea Mitchell has stated that although there were no congratulatory or concessionary words for Barack Obama in Hillary Clinton's speech tonight, that she did call Obama soon after their speeches for a short, cordial conversation.
If you were watching the returns, you witnessed that Clinton's speech interrupted by Obama declaring victory in Wisconsin at a rally in Houston, TX. Every cable news outlet cut away from Hillary Clinton to cover the Obama speech, a lengthier one than usual. The Obama camp has stated that the interruption was not intentional. They had set an approximate time and went with it. Mitchell reports that the Clinton campaign decided to go with Hillary's speech earlier than expected, and speculated that perhaps it was an attempt to preempt Obama.
Meanwhile, as John "No We Can't" McCain gave his victory speech this evening, he immediately attacked Obama. "I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change."
Great job, Maverick. Don't get the American people too excited about anything that you wouldn't be able to deliver.
Hardball: WHAT THE FUCK?!
Obama/Osama Screw Up
I can understand an occasional flub or slip of the tongue when you're on television and accidentally blurt out "Osama" instead of "Obama", especially if it's in the back of your mind and you pressure yourself NOT to say it. Murphy's law.
But who's the dipshit in the MSNBC Hardball control booth who put up a graphic of Osama bin Laden when Matthews was talking about Barack Obama? My other question is: has he/she been fired yet?
He apologized after the break and after the damage had been done.
Fidel Castro Steps Down
NY Times: HAVANA — Fidel Castro stepped down Tuesday morning as the president of Cuba after a long illness. The announcement was made in a letter to the nation under Mr. Castro’s name, which was read on radio and television programs that many Cubans heard as they headed to work.
Plagiarism Schmlagiarism
The desperation and panic in the Clinton campaign reared its ugly head again as a spokesman for Hillary Clinton has accused Barack Obama of plagiarism.
Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson said: “Sen. Obama is running on the strength of his rhetoric and the strength of his promises and, as we have seen in the last couple of days, he’s breaking his promises and his rhetoric isn’t his own.”
Wolfson's reference was even accompanied by video.
But is it plagiarism when the subject supposedly being plagiarized isn't the one calling foul and actually "applauds" it?
The Massachusetts governor said in a statement: “Sen. Obama and I are longtime friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language. The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I applaud him [for] responding in just the way he did.”Governor Patrick has also been credited by Obama in the past when using an idea or paraphrasing a speech that Patrick has used. Keith Olbermann has already debunked the plagiarism swipe:
"...the purported victim of the plaigarism, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, says he and Senator Obama use each other's wordings all the time and he has no complaint. On at least one occasion Senator Obama explicitly credited the source anyway... And the issue of the overlap of language was discussed by both men in a Boston Globe article from April of last year."He also goes on to add that if he can vet this story, then other reporters will as well. (On a side note, I'm skimming through comments sections in blogs and sadly see Hillary supporters so hungry for something positive to turn their way, they're eating up the plagiarism story like piranhas.)
But if we're really gonna play the "plagiarism" game, it really isn't all that hard to debunk. And I submit to you a couple of videos to show you just what I mean.
"Fired up and ready to go!"
T Minus 336 Days
"Recession means that people's incomes, at the employer level, are going down, basically, relative to costs, people are getting laid off."
Protect America Act Expired... And We're Not Dead Yet
The Protect America Act that made wiretapping and government spying into your home legal expired at midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning, and despite the heavy duty fear mongering by the President and his minions, we're still here.
Now I don't mean to sound glib about the whole thing, but it really pisses me off that the same people that fell asleep at the switch on 9/11 have been using the fear tactic for the last 6½ years whenever it was convenient to distract, deceive and draw the American people into a false sense of panic. Any time presidential approval ratings were down or any time another scandal surfaced, the threat of terrorism was used by the Bush administration as a form of smoke and mirrors. Pay no attention to the retarded man behind the curtain.
And then came the end of last week with Bush insisting that the House pass the "good bill" that a weak-kneed Senate voted in favor of, that not only expanded the eavesdropping that has been going on for years, but that also granted retroactive immunity for telecom companies that aided and abetted the Bush administration of conducting illegal wiretapping, and that failure to do so would allow the terrorists "to bring destruction to our shores that would make September the 11th pale by comparison."
That dirty motherfucker... he dares to scare ignorant Americans and blame Congress after he said he would veto any bill that didn't grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies and refused to grant any temporary extension to allow further debate. Watch the video (link above). Even national intelligence director Mike McConnell's jaw hit the floor when Bush spewed out the 9/11 "pale by comparison" line.
What does immunity have to do with anything? Everyone knows that normal FISA procedures would continue after the sunset of the PAA. The FISA court still exisits. All you need to do is actually follow the law and obtain a warrant, which by the way, can also be gotten retroactively.
And how ridiculous is it that the Heritage Foundation has actually put a "FISA Overtime Clock" on their website. Are they hoping for an attack so they can play the "I told you so" game? For fuck's sake! And to top it off, the time clock isn't even correct!
Sorry George, we're not dead yet.
President's Day Trivia
What did you do on President's Day? As the official title of the federal holiday, Washington's Birthday was originally implemented by the federal government of the United States in 1880 in the District of Columbia (20 Stat. 277) and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices (23 Stat. 516). As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. On January 1, 1971 the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. A draft of the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 would have renamed the holiday to Presidents' Day to honor both Washington and Lincoln, but this proposal failed in committee and the bill as voted on and signed into law on June 28, 1968 simply moved Washington's Birthday. It is also interesting to note that "Presidents Day" is not always an all-inclusive term. In Massachusetts, while the state officially celebrates "Washington's Birthday," state law also prescribes that the governor issue an annual Presidents Day proclamation honoring the presidents that have come from Massachusetts: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John F. Kennedy. (Coolidge, the only one born outside of Massachusetts, spent his entire political career before the vice presidency there. George H. W. Bush, on the other hand, was born in Massachusetts, but has spent most of his life elsewhere.) Alabama uniquely observes the day as "Washington and Jefferson Day", even though Jefferson's birthday was in April. In Connecticut, while Presidents Day is a federal holiday, Abraham Lincoln's birthday is still a state holiday, falling on February 12 regardless of the day of the week.
I spent some time with my wife and caught a couple of movies: Juno and There Will Be Blood. Both were excellent and I recommend them highly.
Although I didn't blog on this, my normal day off, I did think about President's Day and what it was meant to celebrate. Here is the official origin of President's Day courtesy of Wikipedia. Who knew?
In the late 1980s, with a push from advertisers, the term Presidents Day began its public appearance. The theme has expanded the focus of the holiday to honor another President born in February, Abraham Lincoln, and often other Presidents of the United States. Although Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances as "Presidents Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other such designations.
In Washington's home state of Virginia the holiday is legally known as "George Washington Day."
Monday, February 18, 2008
Bush: Kosovo Independent? Maybe
It's so nice of Bush to give a definite "maybe" regarding the independence of Kosovo."We'll watch to see how the events unfold today," Bush said in a live interview aired on NBC television from Arusha, Tanzania. "The Kosovars are now independent. It's something I've advocated along with my government."
I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool. They don't care what Bush has to say. They know they're independent.
T Minus 337 Days
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Mark Penn Has Jumped The Shark
Well... I really don't know what to say about the latest comments from Clinton Campaign chief strategist Mark Penn except that it seems Hillary should have fired his ass a long, long time ago.
In his most recent effort to garner support for his candidate, Penn came up with this gem:“Winning Democratic primaries is not a qualification or a sign of who can win the general election. If it were, every nominee would win because every nominee wins Democratic primaries.”
So, let me get this straight, Mr. Penn: you are suggesting that even though Barack Obama is kicking your candidate's ass in primary after primary, winning in almost every demographic, raising $1 million a day in online donations and swinging some superdelegates over to his his side even after they've initially supported Clinton, the primaries really don't mean anything in terms of who can win in November.
Two questions: 1 - How did you get this job? and 2 - From what position were you fired previously?
The notion that Hillary has a better shot to win the general election when she can't even get a majority of Democratic voters to support her in the primaries would be a laughable one if it weren't so sad.
Bob Cesca analyzes Penn's tortured logic by stating, " [Penn is saying that] what the DNC should do is actually nominate the person who gets fewer votes/delegates/states in the primary process. Okay, okay, Mark. Bring on Democratic Nominee Joe Biden!"
Mark Penn has jumped the shark.
(H/T Cesca)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
T Minus 339/338 Days
"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have - he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."
-About Sen. John McCain,
Florence, SC, February 17, 2000
Chicken George the Fearmonger
Once again, Chimpy has stated that "our country is in more danger of an attack" because of Congress' failure to adopt a Senate bill that includes telecom immunity protecting them from liability in possible lawsuits for violating Fourth Amendment rights.
"American citizens must understand, clearly understand that there's still a threat on the homeland. There's still an enemy which would like to do us harm," Bush said. "We've got to give our professionals the tools they need, to be able to figure out what the enemy is up to so we can stop it."
As usual, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow explain it so simply, even a moron can understand it... uh, that is, almost any moron.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Andrew McCarthy on FISA Bill
This is just a laugh.
Steve Benen at C & L notes National Review's Andrew McCarthy and his latest editorial calling House Democrats out for playing partisan politics by not passing the horrible FISA bill with retroactive telecom immunity, which he admits is a bad bill, but what other choice do we have?
Here's another choice. No immunity. As Kevin Drum points out: , "...if it’s that important, there’s a simple answer: pass the bill without telecom immunity. Then come back and introduce immunity in a separate bill. If you’ve got the votes for it, fine. If not, too bad. I’m against immunity myself — though hardly hellbent on the subject — but whichever way the vote went, in the meantime we’d have the FISA extension and surveillance could continue normally."
Drum also notes that the "FISA extension" is shorthand for the Protect America Act, which passed last November and extended (i.e., changed) the then-current FISA legislation in various ways. PAA sunsets on Saturday if a new bill isn't passed, but the original FISA legislation will stay in place. It just doesn't magically disappear thereby materializing nasty Muslims on the streets who want to kill us for our freedoms.
As I said before, if it were truly a matter of life and death, why would the president effectively veto the bill by threatening to do as much without the immunity provision? Answer: Because there's no "there" there. The only reasons the administration wants immunity passed is so they can get away with the further erosion of the Constitution, protect corporations yet again while screwing its citizens and hide the crimes they have committed. Immunity equals no investigation.
So who's playing political football with national security? The Democrats who are trying to preserve Fourth Amendment rights for US citizens, or the Republicans who walk out of Congress, holding their breath til they get their way, crying "it's my ball and I'm going home"?
This false argument that we need to protect the telecoms from lawsuits or else they won't help us is complete bullshit. Case in point were the telecoms who stopped providing the information because the FBI failed to pay their phone bills! If they were really doing it "in good faith", then the information would have kept on flowing. So there goes that argument.
If the US government has a warrant, then the telecoms HAVE TO comply and no lawsuit would stand up in court. But the fact of the matter is that the US government doesn't want to pick and choose who they need to surveil on real facts and real leads. They just want to look like they're doing something so they record and read EVERYTHING from EVERYONE... how in hell can they effectively sort through all that data? It's the equivalent of the "no-fly"watch list being 800,000 people long (and including Senator Ted Kennedy). If everyone's on it, then it's absolutely useless.
I'll have more on this later because in skimming through McCarthy's editorial, it reads like your basic GOP talking points memo through and through, so I feel the need to stab a few holes in it when I have more time... much more time.
Wexler's Email: Defending the Constitution
Here's his webiste: Wexler for CongressToday, thanks in great part to your advocacy and persistence, the House of Representatives took a major, tangible step towards holding the Bush Administration accountable.
In a vote on the House floor, we acted to enforce the law and our Constitution, and hold former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten in Contempt of Congress.
Bolten and Miers have ignored congressional subpoenas for nine months and thumbed their noses at Congress and the American people.Executive privilege has never permitted officials to avoid appearing altogether when subpoenaed. This behavior is unprecedented and outrageous. Now, these two renegade officials must face up to their blatant disregard of the law and constitution.
Our message of accountability for Bush/Cheney is finally resonating on Capitol Hill. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers fought hard to bring this to a vote, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself took the floor to support contempt.
While Democrats may not all agree on how to press this Administration, one thing is clear: Today, Congress has asserted its rights under the Constitution. We must not back down. We must never cede the rights of the Congress to the Executive. I am pleased to inform you that today's legislation allows Congress to bypass the Attorney General (who has stated to me this week that he would not enforce contempt) and immediately take action in the courts.
Today, Congress finally defended the Constitution and our rights as an equal branch of government.
Yours truly,
Congressman Robert Wexler
T Minus 340 Days
GOP Walks Out Of House - Dems Say Keep Walking
Today, House Minority Leader John Boehner accused the Democrats in the House of Representatives of "political stunts" in bringing to the floor a vote on a resolution to hold Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas isued by the Judiciary Committee. Then he and his rat bastards colleagues pulled their political stunt and walked out of the chamber in a seemingly "impromptu" moment... to a waiting podium and microphones on the Senate steps.
All this under the guise of accusing the Dems of wasting valuable time instead of bending over and letting the Bush Crime Family fuck them again, and by using the fear card (the only card in their deck) to attempt to scare the American people yet again, with threats of terrorism and imminent attacks if the House didn't acquiesce and give telecom companies immunity in the latest FISA bill.
But who knew that finally, Nancy "Impeachment Is Off The Table" Pelosi would show more balls than Harry Reid and continue with the vote while the Rethuglicans froze their asses out on the Senate steps?
It's about fucking time you started showing you're in the majority, Nancy. Thank you!
And yet we have Chimpy saying he'd delay his trip to Africa so he can sign the legislation that the House must pass, then only to find out that the whole "walk out" backfired... so he decided to leave anyway.
To Mr. Bush I say this: Get a warrant, you fucking criminal. It's worked for 200 years.
And I say this to Boehner and the rest of the filthy pigs who walked out on their oath to defend the Constitution agaist ALL enemies, foreign and domestic: Keep walking you miserable motherfuckers. You are useless, obstructionist, do-nothing assholes with absolutely no regard for the rule of law, complete neglect for the system of checks and balances and you have spit in the face of Congressional oversight.
If we truly were in imminent danger as these Chicken Littles suggest, they why in the hell would Bush threaten to veto any legislation without telecom immunity attached and also deny an extension of the current law? The answer is because there is no imminent danger.
Here's Keith Olbermann with another amazing Special Comment, in which he calls Bush a liar and a facist! Incredible!
So, fuck off George. Fuck off, John "Boner". And fuck off, all you Republicans who walked out of the House of Representatives today.
Here's the "did not vote because God forbid we expose the administration for what it truly is and we can't do that because we are cowardly bastards, so we'd rather walk out and make believe we're doing it to protect the people" list. File it. Keep it. Highlight it. Do whatever you need to do to remember these names and do everything you can to vote them out of office when the time comes.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Waxman Bitchslaps Clemens
Looks like Roger Clemens isn't used to being in a situation where he isn't the domineering intimidator, after interrupting the Committee Chairman during his closing statements.
And as John Amato notes, "Watching the Republicans on the committee go out of their way to protect Roger Clemens, a Texan and fellow Bush supporter was sad. Steroids in sports is not a partisan issue. Andy Pettitte’s testimony, another Texan and Clemens pal is most damaging to his case... [Waxman] also apologized for the hatchet job that was done to McNamee by Chris Shays, Davis, Burton and Co."
(H/T C & L)
Senate Ethics Panel Admonishes Craig
The Senate Ethics Committee sent a letter to Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) saying he was a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
In a letter to the Republican senator, the ethics panel said Craig's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea after his arrest at a Minneapolis airport was an effort to evade legal consequences of his own actions.
Craig's actions constitute "improper conduct which has reflected discreditably on the Senate," the letter said.
...The six members of the committee - three Democrats and three Republicans - told Craig they believed he "committed the offense to which you pled guilty" and that "you entered your plea knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently."
The panel said Craig only tried to remove his guilty plea after his attempts to avoid public disclosure had failed.
"Your claims to the court ... to the effect that your guilty plea resulted from improper pressure or coercion, or that you did not, as a legal matter, know what you were doing when you pled guilty do not appear credible," the letter said.
The panel also said Craig should have received permission from the ethics panel before using campaign funds to pay his legal bills. Craig, who is not running for re-election, has spent more than $213,000 in campaign money for legal expense and public relations work in the wake of his arrest and conviction last summer.
Bill Kristol On "A" Daily Show
Isn't is sad when a Republican operative disguised as a "political pundit" gets schooled by... a comedian?
My favorite line: Stewart after Kristol is still trying to sell the Iraq occupation and escalation as a good thing - "I understand why you feel like you have to say that a lot to yourself, because if I had suggested going in there ten years ago and it turned out this way, I'd feel shit too."
T Minus 341 Days
"[Laura is] out campaigning along with our girls. And she speaks English a lot better than I do. I think people understand what she's saying."
Bush to House: Approve Immunity Or We All Die
NY Times: President Bush strongly urged the House of Representatives on Wednesday to quickly approve a surveillance bill passed by the Senate Tuesday evening, saying he would not agree to a further extension of the current eavesdropping law.
The president effectively gave the House a deadline to act, since the current authority to intercept telephone conversations or electronic communications expires at midnight on Saturday.
“There is no reason why Republicans and Democrats in the House cannot pass the bill immediately,” he said in comments made at the White House, adding that the failure to do so “will jeopardize the security of our citizens.”
Keith Olbermann and Jonathan Turley have more:
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
McCain Votes FOR Waterboarding
Can we stop calling him "Maverick" now?
Faced with a vote to ban waterboarding or to acquiesce to President Bush and side with him on torture, Mr. Straight Talk decided to bend over, spread wide for the Republicans and vote against the bill that contains a provision from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that establishes one interrogation standard, requiring the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and banning waterboarding.
The bill still passed 51-45, with every Republican voting against it, save Dick Luger and Chuck Hagel. Holy Joe LIEberman, Independent "Democrat" voted against banning waterboarding as well. The Republicans didn't put up much of a fight in expectation of a Bush veto.
Thank you for playing, Mr. McCain. We have some lovely parting gifts for you.
T Minus 342 Days
"The relations with, uhh - Europe are important relations, and they've , uhh - because, we do share values. And, they're universal values, they're not Americn values or, you know - Eurpoean values, they're universal values. And those values - uhh - being universal, ought to be applied everywhere."
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Obama Overruns Potomac Primaries
Barack Obama is literally sweeping the nation with big wins in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia tonight. He's getting 2 votes for every 1 Clinton vote in VA and MD and 3 to 1 in DC.
After tonight, Hillary Clinton can no longer claim that she leads in the popular vote.
Bob Cesca was liveblogging at Huffington Post and came up with this:
Total delegate count according to MSNBC:
Obama 1078
Clinton 969
Both campaigns told Howard Fineman that Senator Clinton will not be able to win a majority of pledged delegates.
Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign is falling apart. Clinton's Deputy Campaign Manager Mike Henry has resigned so that Maggie Williams can build her own team.
Democratic Senate Caves Again!
MOTHERFUCKER!The Senate rejected a series of amendments that would have restricted the government’s surveillance powers and eliminated immunity for the phone carriers, and it voted in convincing fashion — 69 to 29 — to end debate and bring the issue to a final vote. That vote is expected later this afternoon, with the result all but assured. On the vote to end debate, 28 Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, opposed the measure. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Lindsey Graham did not vote.
...Beyond the immunity provision, the Senate measure would also widen the executive branch’s surveillance powers by allowing the National Security Agency and intelligence agencies to use broad orders — without getting court orders in advance — to eavesdrop on groups of overseas targets, rather than using individualized warrants.
Here are the 20, TWENTY! Democrats that voted for ending debate. I suggest you right this list down for future reference because these are the scumbags we don't want representing the Democratic party.
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA),Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Johnson (D-SD),
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea - They still list this motherfucker as an Independent Democrat.
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Webb (D-VA), Yea - Jim, what the fuck?!
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
And our presidential candidates, how did they vote?
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), DID NOT VOTE.
Is Paul Krugman Watching A Different Election?
In Paul Krugman's latest column in the New York Times "Hate Springs Eternal," the journalist seems to be fretting about the "bitterness of the fight for the Democratic nomination" and wonders why "is there so much venom out there?"
Now, I've been watching a lot of the politics that have been going on this last year, more than I ever have in the past. And I've been keeping a closer eye on the Democratic side, and I have no idea where Krugman gets his feeling from. How many times does he have to hear the candidates say they like each other, they were friends before this campaign started and they'll be friends after?
Sure, he goes on to mention David Shuster and MSNBC, as if that's the first time that the network has said something negative against the Clinton camp, but he accuses not the media, but specifically Barack Obama of using "Clinton rules"... well not so much Obama but Obama supporters. Maybe he's been reading too many comments on the internet.
But the problem is that Krugman is using guilt by association and indirectly accusing Obama. I had to reread sections of the article for it to become clear to me that he was actually accusing supporters and not Obama, likening them to a cult.I won’t try for fake evenhandedness here: most of the venom I see is coming from supporters of Mr. Obama, who want their hero or nobody. I’m not the first to point out that the Obama campaign seems dangerously close to becoming a cult of personality.
Unfortunately, Clinton fans will read this and assume it's Obama using harsh words and not the more than occasional rant in the comment sections of liberal blogs. And it's not like Clinton supporters haven't been just as vitiolic at those same sites.
What does Mr. Krugman have to say about Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" comment, or Mark Penn bringing up Obama's drug use when he was a teenager, which was already part of the public record? The Clinton's have not been playing with kid gloves through any of this campaign, they are in it to win, as well they should be; and if the public in general has a feeling or suspicion of the Clintons, it's only due to the fact that the media itself have been playing by Clinton rules for the last 15 years. Paul Krugman's own colleagues have been the ones aiming for the Clintons.
The funny thing is that I'm a Krugman fan, but he wears his heart of his sleeve with this opinion in defense of the Clintons.
Stop reading the blogs, Mr. Krugman. The comments you read are not what the mainstream voter feels. Instead, why not try watching and listening to the actual candidates and reading their words instead of biased opinions and acerbic critiques of anonymous commenters in a blog.
T Minus 343 Days
Another silly post in the countdown calendar about Bush being added to the roster of bad rhinoplasties at awfulplasticsurgery.com, so I'll find a quote myself on the Internets... yes, I know how to use The Google.
"One of the things I’ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It’s very interesting to see — I’ve forgot the name of the program — but you get the satellite, and you can — like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It remind me of where I wanna be sometimes."
-CNBC Interview with Maria Bartiromo, October 23, 2006
Monday, February 11, 2008
No We Can't! McCain Parody Video
This is awesome. As soon as I post the video below, (it's been out for a week or two) out comes a new parody!
By the way, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have endorsed John McCain today.
Rep. Tom Lantos Dead at 80
MercuryNews.com: Rep. Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress, died early Monday after a six-week fight with cancer, his spokeswoman said.
Spokeswoman Lynne Weil said this morning that the 80-year-old Lantos died at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland. He was surrounded by his wife Annette Lantos, daughters Annette and Katrina, and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
His wife said in a statement that her husband's life was "defined by courage, optimism, and unwavering dedication to his principles and to his family."
Obama's Already Been Tested By Clintons
Jumpypants brought this up regarding Obama's lack of experience and Hillary Clinton saying as much on 60 Minutes (only click on the link if you can stomach Katie Couric's softball interview and another "Day One" quote). Her argument is that he'll be unprepared to handle the Republican Smear Machine which she has experience in dealng with. The problem is that any vetting the Republicans do to Obama has already been done... by the Clintons.
Daily Kos' davefromqueens has a laundry list.
NY Times: Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning
Michael Gordon reports that the RAND Corporation submitted a study in the summer of 2005 critical of and identifying problems with every organization or leader involved in the reconstruction of Iraq. The report was buried by the Army.Asked why the report has not been published, Timothy Muchmore, a civilian Army official, said... “After carefully reviewing the findings and recommendations of the thorough RAND assessment, the Army determined that the analysts had in some cases taken a broader perspective on the early planning and operational phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom than desired or chartered by the Army... Some of the RAND findings and recommendations were determined to be outside the purview of the Army and therefore of limited value in informing Army policies, programs and priorities.”
In other words, the report was too detail-oriented to be of any use to the government. We don't want details. It just needed to state that all was well in the rabbit hole. Anything other than that could undermine the propaganda.
Could it also be due to the fact that the study was critical of George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Gen. Tommy Franks?One serious problem the study described was the Bush administration’s assumption that the reconstruction requirements would be minimal. There was also little incentive to challenge that assumption, the report said.
“Building public support for any pre-emptive or preventative war is inherently challenging, since by definition, action is being taken before the threat has fully manifested itself,” it said. “Any serious discussion of the costs and challenges of reconstruction might undermine efforts to build that support.”
Another problem described was a general lack of coordination. “There was never an attempt to develop a single national plan that integrated humanitarian assistance, reconstruction, governance, infrastructure development and postwar security,” the study said.
Lack of coordination? On only has to look at Hurricane Katrina and the FEMA fiasco to know that "lack of coordination" is the Bush administration's middle name. Besides, it's hard work to coordinate the running of a country when all coordination recources are being used for voter supression, firing US attorneys, rendition, torture, rigged elections and caging lists, not to mention the coordination of hiding the truth in any study done or report published (or not published) from the American public.
T Minus 344 Days
While hunting for quail in Texas on February 11, 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots his hunting partner Harry M. Whittington with 200 pellets of buckshot... in the face.
Obama Wins Grammy
Barack Obama couldn't lose anything this weekend! Not only did he take four states, he also won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling) beating out Maya Angelou, Alan Alda, Jimmy Carter and ... Bill Clinton.
Obama won for "The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream".
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Roy Scheider Dead at 75
Roy Scheider, a versatile and appealing actor who appeared in more than 70 films, including Steven Spielberg's Jaws and William Friedkin's French Connection, died on February 10 at 75.
Matt Taibbi: The Chicken Doves
Great story by Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone about the spineless Democratic Congress and how they sold us down the river.The story of how the Democrats finally betrayed the voters who handed them both houses of Congress a year ago is a depressing preview of what's to come if they win the White House. And if we don't pay attention to this sorry tale now, while there's still time to change our minds about whom to nominate, we might be stuck with this same bunch of spineless creeps for four more years. With no one but ourselves to blame.
By no means is he suggesting to vote Republican, just to vote for the right Democrats.
Obama Leading In Maine - Edwards Meets With Candidates
With 59% of the precincts reporting, Barack Obama is leading Hillary Clinton 57%-42%.
I think that'll seal it for Obama in Maine. Meanwhile, CNN reports that John Edwards met with Hillary Clinton Thursday, and is meeting with Barack Obama Monday, to discuss a possible primary endorsement.
Clinton Campaign Manager "Steps Down"
NY TIMES: Patti Solis Doyle has stepped down as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign manager, the campaign announced on Sunday.
She will be replaced by Maggie Williams, a senior adviser to the campaign.
Ms. Solis Doyle will stay on as a senior adviser and “will continue to be a key part of the campaign,” said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman.
Smooth transition, I'm sure. But it does seem odd, doesn't it? A little panick perhaps? The campaign claims it is not a "shakeup."
I got a real kick out of this:
The announcement of Ms. Solis Doyle’s replacement came minutes after Mrs. Clinton was grounded by what her campaign said were high winds at Dulles Airport. After arriving at the airport for a charter flight to Roanoke, Mrs. Clinton, her staff and the traveling press corps were not allowed to board the plane.Well, Senator Clinton, you're too important to let fly in this dangerous weather, but fuck these other plebians. They fly coach anyway.
A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton said high winds at the airport had forced “a number of planes” to be kept on the ground, and that some planes that had taken off today had suffered structural damage. (Other planes at the airport were taking off as Mrs. Clinton’s motorcade drove away, en route to Washington.)
Frank Rich on Clinton's Hallmark Town Hall
...However boring, this show was a dramatic encapsulation of how a once-invincible candidate ended up in a dead heat, crippled by poll-tested corporate packaging that markets her as a synthetic product leeched of most human qualities. What’s more, it offered a naked preview of how nastily the Clintons will fight, whatever the collateral damage to the Democratic Party, in the endgame to come.
For a campaign that began with tightly monitored Web “chats” and then planted questions at its earlier town-hall meetings, a Bush-style pseudo-event like the Hallmark special is nothing new, of course. What’s remarkable is that instead of learning from these mistakes, Mrs. Clinton’s handlers keep doubling down.
Mets Original Sign Man Dies
NY TIMES: Karl Ehrhardt, who through championship seasons and woeful ones and grand slams and botched plays let the Mets know what he thought of them by raising block-lettered signs from his box seat behind third base at Shea Stadium, died Tuesday at his home in Glen Oaks, Queens. He was 83.
...On Oct. 16, 1969, when left fielder Cleon Jones caught the final out of the World Series, a choked-up Sign Man held up, “There Are No Words.”
...In an interview with The New York Times in 2006, Mr. Ehrhardt said, “I just called them the way I saw them.”
Matthew Artus, Metsblog: So raise a glass for Karl Ehrhardt, and think of him the next time you hear the Cowbell Man banging away - because it's these small gestures that make going to a baseball game all the more memorable.Four days til pitchers and catchers.
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