Oh, to be part of John McCain's "Middle Class"

At last night's two-hour forum at Orange County's Saddleback Church, Republican presidential nominee John McCain was asked:

"GIVE ME A NUMBER, GIVE ME A SPECIFIC NUMBER WHERE DO YOU MOVE FROM MIDDLE CLASS TO RICH? IS IT 100 THOUSAND, IS IT 50 THOUSAND, 2 HUNDRED?"

After going on a bit, he finally came up with a number:

"SO — SO I THINK IF YOU’RE JUST TALKING ABOUT INCOME, HOW ABOUT FIVE MILLION."

I knew inflation was getting out of hand, but I had no idea that an income of S4,999,999.99 was still considered middle class. I'm such a slacker!

Then again, I guess if you wear $500 loafers, maintain nine or ten homes, and are married to an extremely wealthy heiress who believes that the only way to get around your state is by private jet, anything less than $5,000,000 a year is pretty trifflin'.

Penny for your thoughts?


(Transcript here. H/t to Daily Kos.)
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Isn't He Supposed To Be An EXPERT In Foreign Policy??

Listen carefully as Senator McCain says:

My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War.

Did Joe Lieberman's man-crush MISS 9/11? The War in Afghanistan? The War in Iraq? The North Korean nukes, The Pakistani nukes, The Indian nukes? Darfur? Battlefield Earth?

Ok, that last one was a joke. It was a horrendous movie, though.

Fundraiser with Howard Dean

I arrived a bit early at the fundraiser last night. When I got there, the volunteers were busy checking people's names while other volunteers were busy handing out free bottles of water (I was offered three, I think, while still drinking the one I'd accepted) and ushered inside. The mood was "up" without being hurried.

And Bruce Springsteen, of course, was playing on the sound system.

All politics aside, if you haven't been to the Church Brew works, you really should treat yourself. The building used to house the St. John The Baptist church and was built in 1902. It ceased being a church in the early nineties.

The menu is good and the beer is tasty.

A few minutes after arriving, I meandered around, bottled water in hand, greeting the few people there I already knew.

"Hey, have you seen the Hillary protestors outside?" I was asked.

I hadn't. I'd only been there a few minutes. When did the protestors arrive? In any event, here they are - all six of them.

I know you probably can't read the signs as the picture is too small. So out of fairness to the protestors as well as to make sure their views are represented, the signs the Hillary Clinton supporters were carrying read (roughly from left to right):

• With friends like Rezko, Kilpatrick, Wright, who has time for Russia?
• No voice no democracy Nobama.
• I am one of the 18 million of "those people"
• Honk for Hillary
• The associates of Barack Obama; Nadhami Auchi, Tony Rezko, M Marzook, Rev Wright, Quadaffi, William Ayers, The Woods Fund, Odinga, Allison Davis, Rashid Khalidi, Obongo Obama, Farrakhan, James Meeks. Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Obama)
• Equal pay for women starting with Obama staff
• FISA is not democratic
• Where is the Birth certificate Barack Hussien (sic) Obama
• Bitter Bullets N'Faith
• No vote no democracy
• Is this 2000 or 2008
• 18 million deni(ed) 18 million not hea(rd)
• Rise Hillary rise

There were considerably more people in the hall.

The place was crowded; enough to feel cramped not crowded enough to start obsessing about Soylent Green. Among the crowd was Patrick Dowd (all smiles fresh from a rousing few days on City Council) and Dan Onorato (bravely milling about in what is obvious enemy drink tax territory).

By 7pm the festivities started. Patrick Dowd introduced the celebrity of the evening, Kal Penn. For those who don't know the name, he was "Kumar" in the two "Harold and Kumar" movies. He told a story of a friend of his from Texas. A guy who was working minimum wage and was offered $90k by Halliburton to drive a truck in Iraq. Only in America, Penn said, can a guy be given the choice of making some nice cash (though in a war zone) or struggling on minimum wage in Texas. He said he became a fan of Obama after hearing the Keynote address the last Democratic Convention in 2004. He said he became a bigger fan after learning that Obama had taught Constitutional Law. He said that he remembers thinking that it would be nice to have a President who'd READ the Constitution.

That got a laugh.

Next up was County Executive Dan Onorato. When he was introduced, I thought I could hear a boo or two, but in a room of 2 to 3 hundred I might have mis-heard. Dan's big point was "party unity." "We're unified" he said. "If I can show up at Sean Casey's place" (meaning the Brew Works) "that means we're unified." He said that there's too much at stake to have any interparty tensions. No idea if the protestors outside got the message.

Next up was DNC Chair Howard Dean.

He gave a rousing talk to the faithful. It's time for a President who's President to all the people, not just those who agree with him, he said. He talked about the cost of the war in Iraq, the need for health care and why the $10 billion a month being spent in Iraq would be better spent here in America. He talked a bit about the battle ground states in the next election, but had to stop short as "he's not allowed to give a lists of states any more."

When he got to the election he said that Dan Onorato is not going to win this election, the state party is not going to win this election, Barack Obama is not going to win this election, "You," he said, "You are going to win this election."

He said that when Barack Obama is the next President, he'll have two different jobs;

• Healing America and
• Restoring America's moral authority

Healing America from the divisiveness brought on by 8 years of Bush disrespect and restoring America's moral authority so that we can work with other nations again. He said he was never so proud as when a few weeks ago when Barack Obama spoke to 200,000 cheering Europeans "all waving American flags." How long has it been since Europeans did that?

In the end, he said that he wants a President who stands for what's best about America not what's worst.

Could not agree more.

Pintek Hits The Big Time!

Local embarrassment Mike Pintek has apparently been sitting in for two other local embarrassments, Quinn and Rose, on their highly entertaining radio show.

Good to see he's not limiting his "foot in mouth" disease to television.

Media Matters has the story:

On The War Room With Quinn & Rose, guest host Mike Pintek echoed right-wing websites in questioning the authenticity of Sen. Barack Obama's birth certificate, claiming: "I still keep wondering about his birthplace and his birth certificate. I'm still not convinced that he actually was born a natural-born citizen."

We've written about this smear before. Here's John Steigerwald's version of the smear and here's Pintek's.

The bottom line comes from Politifact:

At PolitiFact.com, we’re all about original sources. We don’t take anyone at their word or take the reporting of other media organizations as proof. We go to the heart of the story, the source of the truth — original, corroborating documents.

When the official documents were questioned, we went looking for more answers. We circled back to the Department of Health, had a newsroom colleague bring in her own Hawaii birth certificate to see if it looks the same (it’s identical). But every answer triggered more questions.

And soon enough, after going to every length possible to confirm the birth certificate’s authenticity, you start asking, what is reasonable here?

Because if this document is forged, then they all are.

If this document is forged, a U.S. senator and his presidential campaign have perpetrated a vast, long-term fraud. They have done it with conspiring officials at the Hawaii Department of Health, the Cook County (Ill.) Bureau of Vital Statistics, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois and many other government agencies.

Indeed Jim Geraghty at the NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE who says that the rumor is "unlikely":

as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene.

And:

I spoke to Ms. Okubo late Wednesday afternoon, and she said she had seen the version of Obama’s certificate of live birth posted on the sites. While her office cannot verify the information on a form without the permission of the certificate holder (Obama), she said "the form is exactly the same" and it has "all the components of a birth certificate" record issued by the state. In other words, she sees no reason to think the version posted on Obama's web site and Daily Kos is not genuine.

That's the NATIONAL REVIEW. Pintek should read more, I guess. For Pintek to be right, all those people would have to by out and out lying.

Which is more likely? The certificate is genuine or all those people are lying and have been lying for years.

Mike Doyle on The Election

That's Mike Doyle. He's in Congress representing Pennsylvania's Congressional 14th District, the district I live in. This election cycle, he's got no Republican opponent.

I was lucky enough to get some time with him this week to discuss the other local elections.

Pennsylvania 3rd

Before I got into the discussion Doyle began talking about the English/Dahlkemper race. He was cautiously optimistic. "I think we've got a chance to win that one," he said. Even the DCCC thinks English's seat is vulnerable. According to politickerpa, The Cook Political Report recently changed the district from "likely Republican" to "leans Republican." There's even some polling showing the race "competitive" with only 29% of those polled saying they'd like to see English re-elected.

Pennsylvania 12th

Doyle doesn't see much of a race here. Congressman Murtha's being challenged by Republican William Russell. Initially, Doyle was surprised to read that Russell's fundraising was huge but then after sifting through the FEC documents online, he realized the reality behind the numbers. We've written about it here.

Pennsylvania 18th

This is Tim Murphy's district. While it has the most favorable "blue" demographic of any district not represented by a Democrat (there are 75K more Democrats registered there than Republicans), challenger Steve O'Donnell, Doyle says, "has got some work to do." He's certainly within striking distance though, Doyle added. At this point 2 years ago, Jason Altmire was in much the same situation; not on the radar screen, trying to raise money and so on. The good news is that in that district if Democrats vote solely by party, O'Donnell wins. The trick, I am guessing, would be to raise enough money to get the word out to the district.

Pennsylvania 4th

This is the race I'm really interested in. Doyle seemed optimistic about this race as well (and he admits to being extremely cautious in these matters - he always assumes the possibility of a worse case). Congressman Altmire's got a huge cash advantage (somewhere around 2-1) and Doyle added that he hasn't heard anything bad about him. He added that he wonders why the constituents would want the representative back that they voted out of office.

National Race

Doyle thinks the Democrats are in good shape, but he's not "ready to pop the champagne cork" just yet. He said that the Democrats will clearly pick up some seats in Congress - it's just a question of how many. If there's an Obama landslide we could see a gain of 25-30 seats. If it's a squeaker or if McCain wins, we may only see a gain of 10-15 seats. The Democrats in the Senate could end up with as many as 58 seats.

He thinks Pennsylvania will go to the Democrats, but it won't be as easy as people think and criticized what he saw as some over confidence on the part of some Obama supporters. Like O'Donnell, Obama's got some work to do - especially outside of the city. While it's great for Obama to fill stadium after stadium with tens of thousands of supporters, what won large chunks of Western Pennsylvania in the primary was Senator Clinton going out and mingling with the people, one on one. That's what Western Pennsylvanians like, he said. Senator Obama needs to do both.

He also needs to address economic issues. People are nervous about the economy.

The complication for this state in this Presidential election is this: McCain can with the Presidency without winning Pennsylvania. Obama can't. He has to win Pennsylvania in order to win the White House.

UPDATE: An astute reader graciously informed me of an error of mine. I have just as graciously corrected my posting

What Women Have Mouths For

The answer is blow jobs according to Rush Limbaugh.

Rush's ideal companion
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Classical Top Ten

I know it's self indulgent, but what the heck. You only live once. Since we did our pop/jazz top ten, here's my classical top ten (again, in no apparent order):

• BWV 1009, Prelude to the 3rd Suite for Cello by JS Bach. Far more introspective than a great deal of his other works, the cello suites always conjured up a picture, to me, of a deeply religious man speaking to contemplating the Creation.
• BWV 1047, the Second Brandenberg. It's all trumpet, baby.
• Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, K492 by Mozart. This is the only piece I ever wanted to conduct. The Opera itself of the great achievements of human history.
• Adagio for Strings, Op 11 no 1 by Samuel Barber. Gut wrenchingly beautiful.
• Ein deutsches Requiem, op 45 by Johannes Brahms. Written not as a prayer for the dead but as a comfort for those who grieve.
• Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118 by Franz Schubert. Text by Goethe from Faust Part I. Gretchen is sitting at the spinning wheel. Listen to the piano accompanyment and you'll hear it spinning.
• Egmont Overture, Op 84 by Ludwig van Beethoven. You have to hear this.
• Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 by Richard Strauss (the final trio and then the final duo). Check out the words.
• 4:33 by John Cage. You can perform this one yourself.
• Symphony 9, Op 125 by Ludwig van Beethoven. This is the big one. Hamlet, the Sistine Chapel, The David all rolled into one.

Again, subject to change at any moment.

Howard Dean Fundraiser in Pittsburgh!

Thursday (August 14) at 6pm

The Church Brew Works (Pittsburgh, PA)
3525 Liberty AvenuePittsburgh,
PA 15201

Tickets are $25

The full details.

The quick details:

To RSVP.

Ticket Info: No paper tickets issued; names of paid guests will be added to the guest list. The hosts prefer to have tickets purchased via the website.

Yep, nothing to see here.

Nope, the new John McCain web ad featuring one young white women after another* talking about how dreamy Barack Obama is which even ends with the line "Hot chicks dig Obama" is in no way playing the race card because there is no race card unless it's Obama playing it.

Got it?

Good!


* Note: They had to have all white chicks in the ad because everyone knows that black folk just don't dig him!
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When is a crime not a crime? When Bush's AG says so!

From The Carpetbagger Report:

It’s been about two weeks since the Justice Department’s inspector general released a report on the unprecedented politicization of employment practices at the Justice Department. The IG report concluded that disgraced officials such as Monica Goodling and former chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson “routinely broke the law” by applying political litmus tests, even when hiring prosecutors and immigration judges.

And, what does Attorney General Michael Mukasey have to say about this?

[snip]

"But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”

Wait, not every violation of the law is a crime? Isn’t that the definition of a “crime”?

I realize that prosecutors may consider extenuating circumstances and prefer leniency, but this laissez faire attitude on the corruption of the Department of Justice is more than a little discouraging, especially from an attorney general. An entire team of people broke the law, violated the public trust, and got caught. The evidence is unambiguous.

But not every violation of the law is a crime. Here’s hoping someone puts that on a bumper sticker and sells it at the Republican National Convention — it seems to be a slogan that summarizes the GOP attitude on law-breaking.

Remember, kiddies: IOKIYAR (It's OK if you are Republican)
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So THAT'S Why They Think Global Warming's A Hoax

Michelle Bachman is a republican member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota.

She's on record saying that the Democrats who control Congress are "standing in the way" of $2/gallon gasoline by not allowing "common sense" Republican legislation - if that legislation were to go forward, according to Bachman, gas would go back to being $2/gallon or less in four years time.

What planet is she from?

Recently Bachmann had this to say on Nancy Pelosi and climate change:

"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she's just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet -- we didn't need Nancy Pelosi to do that," says Bachmann.

There it is. It's all unnecessary because Jesus saved the planet 2,000 years ago.

This is not surprising, this "fool for Christ" (her words, not mine) has also said that it was God who called on her to run for Congress.

By the way, I spoke to God this morning. God said unto me and I quote, "Bachmann is a loon."

Amen.

(H/T Talking Points Memo)

This is freaking impossible...

(A follow-up to this post)

UGH! I've been trying to pick just ten songs for hours now. I'm sure my list would change tomorrow...or in five minutes. Here it is...for now:

Sweet Jane, The Velvet Underground

This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody), Talking Heads

A Case of You, Joni Mitchell

Monkey Gone to Heaven, The Pixies

St. Elmo's Fire, Brian Eno

Piss Factory, Patti Smith

When the Sun Comes Shining Through (The Ladder), LaBelle

Gimme Shelter, The Rolling Stones

(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave, Martha and the Vandellas

Hurt, Johnny Cash

(And, Perfect Day, Heart of Gold, Let's Get It On, (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding, That's Entertainment)

There! I cheated. I can never be President!

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Top Ten Best Songs

Now we know each candidate's Top Ten list for favorite song, Maria and I decided to post our own Top Ten. Here's mine. Maria's will follow.

In no particular order, here they are:

• Across The Universe - Or most anything by The Beatles
• So What - or anything from Kind of Blue. Truly a subversive piece. No V-I harmonies to speak of. Just a bridge that's a half-step above tonic. Miles was a genius.
• Pleasant Valley Sunday - Yes, they were prefabricated. But the subtle satire on the blandness of mid-60s suburbia is heads above the bubblegum pop of the time.
• A Night in Tunisia - Diz. No need to say anything more.
• Tempted - Squeeze. From when I was in college.
• Radio Radio - I want to bite the hand that feeds me. I want to bite that hand so badly.
• I Can't Get Started - Bunny Berrigan. Listen to the words. Trumpet playing's pretty good, too.
• Concerto For Cootie - I have a degree in trumpet performance and I have no idea how Cootie Williams did what he did. No frickin idea.
• You Send Me - Sam Cooke. How smooth can that voice get?
• She's Leaving Home - Bernstein was right. This song is as good as anything written by Schubert or Schumann.

Of course, subject to change at any moment.

Known By The Company He Keeps (Local Edition)

I watched Mike Pintek again last night. He had on one of his favorite conservative pundits, Dr Harvey Kushner, contributing editor to a website called Family Security Matters.

They, of course, were pounding the Edwards story - all while (do I really have to say it?) excusing Senator McCain's similarly checkered marital past. Typical and not at all suprising.

I wanted to take a look see at this "Family Security Matters" site. In my search I found this at Hullabaloo. Digby wrote a year or so ago:

I've been getting a lot of emails about this group Family Security Matters which boasts such right wing luminaries as Barbara Comstock, Monica Crowley, Frank Gaffney, Laura Ingraham and James Woolsey among others on its board of directors. It seems like they are just another of the dozens of wingnut welfare programs devoted to throwing good money after bad keeping conservative operatives gainfully employed.

The emails I'm getting say they are busily scrubbing articles all over the place. When you look at what they've left up you have to wonder what could possibly be so bad they have to scrub it.

Then digby shows us an example of something that's been scrubbed. By someone named Philip Atkinson, it talks about the limits of democracy:

The inadequacy of Democracy, rule by the majority, is undeniable – for it demands adopting ideas because they are popular, rather than because they are wise.

And what George W. Bush's only wise choice should have been regarding Iraq:

The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead.

With an illustration of the "inadequacy of Democracy" sure to follow:

But if he did this, his cowardly electorate would have instantly ended his term of office, if not his freedom or his life.

" Cowardly electorate"? Here's more of Atkinson's political genius:

By elevating popular fancy over truth, Democracy is clearly an enemy of not just truth, but duty and justice, which makes it the worst form of government.

Atkinson's final solution to Bush's "Democracy" problem is simple. Follow the example of Julius Caesar:

If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies.

Which, of course, leads to the inevitable:

He could then follow Caesar's example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court.

Finally:

For only an America united under one ruler has the power to save humanity from the threat of a new Dark Age wrought by terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.

For some reason that column was scrubbed by Family Security Matters. I wonder why.

Bush Entertains Crowds at Olympics

...By doing a really good impersonation of a drunk:







You get the feeling that he might be tossed out on his ass if he attended a football game under the NFL's new "fan-friendly" rules...

(h/t to FourWinds10 and Gawker)
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EVENTS

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Drinking Liberally Pittsburgh
WHAT: Drinking Liberally Pittsburgh
WHEN: TODAY! Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 7:00 PM
WHERE: Buffalo Blues (upper deck) on 216 S. Highland Ave. in Shadyside

Drinking Liberally Pittsburgh meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at Buffalo Blues. "Come and meet with us for an evening of progressive conversation about what's going on in the city, state, country and the world!" Special Guest: Steve Hvozdovich, the Allegheny & Washington Co. Field Director for Steve O'Donnell's campaign for US Congress, will be attending this Tuesday's gathering. Steve O'Donnell, for those not aware, is the Democratic challenger to Tim Murphy in the 18th district.

For more info: http://livingliberally.org/drinking/chapters/PA/pittsburgh or email pittsburgh@drinkingliberally.org


Thursday, August 14, 2008

Howard Dean Reception Benefiting Obama Victory Fund
WHAT: Gov. Howard Dean at a reception benefiting the Obama Victory Fund
WHEN: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 6:00 PM
WHERE: The Church Brew Works, 3525 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA

COST: $25 per person

To R.S.V.P. please go to
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/DeanAug14PA
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See?

If anyone's listening to KDKA right now, Kevin Miller is currently mid-rant regarding, of course, John Edwards. Of course, he's doing his best to avoid the topic of John McCain's past (and similar) infidelities.

He asked (and I am paraphrasing), "What's the difference between Edwards' story and Newt Gingrich? With John McCain? Well Newt Gingrich isn't running for anything and John McCain's affairs are well documented."

He went on to ask "what sort of man" has an affair with a woman recovering from cancer?

In discussing Edwards, he's right. What sort of man does that?

It's Miller's ease at excusing McCain's infidelities that proves my point about the hypocrisy of the guardians of "our" moral fiber when they (not incorrectly) criticize John Edwards' infidelities while curiously ignoring John McCain's.

Kevin Miller, hypocrite.

UPDATE: Here's a picture of with another pillar of conservative ethics, indicted and disgraced former member of Congress, Tom Delay:

Known By The Company He Keeps

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

On Thursday afternoon, Republicans around Georgia received an invitation from Reed, who will serve as a host of a “special event” for McCain at the downtown Marriot Marquis on Aug. 18.

“John McCain believes in a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, steady economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values,” wrote Reed, whose 2006 campaign for lieutenant governor sank under the weight of evidence detailing his relationship with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff — much of it uncovered by McCain’s Indian Affairs Committee.

See the part about "traditional values"? I still have to wonder whether that includes abandoning your first wife in order to marry your second.

But I digress.

It's Ralph Reed who's hosting this fundraiser. Remember him? He's the guy who was paid by Jack Abramoff to set up some anti-gambling grass roots efforts. Jack Abramoff was working as a lobbyist for the Choctaw gambling interests. The grass-roots efforts were to scare the Choctaw into paying Abramoff more.

Reed knew about it and took the money and it derailed his efforts to become Lt Governor.

Are these the traditional values the Republicans espouse? Why would Maverick McCain want to even be in the same room as Ralph Reed?

Oh yea, it's a fundraiser.

Republican values.

Must Read

A must read article which outlines John McCain's confusing back and forth on Russia in the last few months (not like that country's in the news much these days or anything).
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Classy!

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