Veracifier

Obama hits the mark

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:42:34 EDT

Obama clinched the critical delegate count today, and our friends at The Uptake are there, covering live. Watch the speech live or archived in the embedded player below at a slightly different angle than the televised speech, from their live cam at the event. Read the full text of the speech on TPM Election Central.

Meanwhile, our friends at TPM watched McCain's "prerebuttal" to Obama's speech, and say it's a "frighteningly sad" performance. As Josh Marshall writes:

...I'm curious to hear what other people think, but I really feel like he would have served himself much better by just going to ground for the evening.
McCain is often very good when he speaks extemporaneously. Even better in 2000. But still good. He's also good in debates. But giving set piece speeches, let's face it, he's simply awful. He finds it impossible to pretend he's actually thinking what he's saying.

Stay tuned for more thoughts and recaps from Veracifier's partners, and for full video of Obama's and Hillary's speeches from tonight. McCain's prebuttal speech is embedded below.

Sharon Stone Call is Karma, China Calls it "BAN"

Thu, 29 May 2008 11:31:57 EDT

Back in Reality TV Politics, the good people of China won't be watching Basic Instinct anytime soon. China has banned Sharon Stone from the silver screen after making the completely ridiculous comment that the earthquake was karma.

Sharon! How did you go from Left Wing We-Love-You Liberal to Crazy Hawk Talking Nonsense in one election cycle! What happened!

More from Cheras

Thu, 29 May 2008 10:30:40 EDT

In Malaysia, Fracas Leads to Police Violence

Thu, 29 May 2008 09:27:52 EDT

It was a night of chaos in Kuala Lampur last night. The Malay Mail reports:

On a night filled with tension and anger, police detained three men and a woman for allegedly trying to ram a car into a line of riot police. Five people also lodged police reports stating that they had been assaulted and one for damage to a car.

Residents at the scene alleged that as many as 20 people had been injured and several cars smashed by the unknown assailants.

Protests started when residents woke up to a concrete barricade rebuilt at the controversial access road earlier in the morning by Grand Saga. By evening, a crowd of at least 250 residents had gathered.

At 7.20pm, when residents pushed off a slab of concrete from the barricade a group of unidentified men rushed towards them wielding wooden sticks, bike helmets and, some residents claimed, metal rods and parang. The armed men shouted at the residents to stay away from the barricade.

Ean Yong Hian Wah, the State assemblyman for Seri Kembangan, arrived at 9pm and had to calm some riled-up residents, some of whom wanted to take quick revenge by destroying the Batu 11 toll booth.

“This problem should not be solved by violence. This is a legal matter and can only be settled in court,” he told residents, adding that he would be bringing up the issue at the Selangor exco meeting today.

Goodbye, Mike!

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:26:09 EDT

Veracifier favorite Mike Gravel exited the race, stage left this week.

Ex-Press Sec Publishes CV for Left-Wing Bloggers

Wed, 28 May 2008 12:35:04 EDT

... in the form of a book. Scott McClellan has published a tell-all (or tell-most) book where the great truth is revealed, for the very first time ever: GW kinda lied about that Iraq war thing. I'm shocked, shocked that gambling's going on here! Here are your winnings, sir...

Obama's History a Little Fuzzy... or Uncle Was a Soviet

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:54:10 EDT

Apparently Obama's uncle was among those who liberated Auschwitz. Incredible service not to be slighted. Except, um, the Americans didn't liberate Auschwitz. The Soviets did.

Hillary's Biggest Liability Still Has Functioning Mouth

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:49:00 EDT

It's amazing that the campaign hasn't bought a "Vote Hillary!" muzzle for him yet. Is Bill seriously going to keep talking? Doesn't he worry he's committing political suicide too, or is this the "I got away with Presidential Knee-Pads, I'm immortal!" syndrome?

Liz Trotta Says She's Sorry

Tue, 27 May 2008 14:37:46 EDT

High time.

FOX News: Knocking off Osama, Obama, or Both...

Tue, 27 May 2008 13:23:43 EDT

... "if we could."

This is one of those times when you wonder (a) how you can say "f*ck" on the air but you can say this without being fined, (b) how this woman can even chuckle after saying it, and (c) please, dear Lord, let the next Fox News correspondent be reporting from prison!

Tuesday Morning Must-Reads

Tue, 27 May 2008 09:06:30 EDT

Rove Refuses to Deny Contacting DOJ about Siegelman Prosecution [Raw Story] ABC's George Stephanopoulos talked with Karl Rove about his role in the prosecution of Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Rove repeated the claim that he learned about the prosecution in the newspaper but refused to deny that he had contacted the Justice Department to discuss the prosecution. Partial Transcript: STEPHANOPOULOS: We're just about out of time. As we know and our viewers probably know you were subpoenaed this week by the house Judiciary Committee to give testimony on any involvement you may have had with the prosecution of the former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. He's claiming there was selective prosecution. He's out on bail now even though he was convicted. He said your fingerprints are all over it. The House report said -- "in Selma 2007 a Republican attorney for northern Alabama named Jill Simpson wrote an affidavit stating that in November 2002 she heard a prominent Alabama Republican operative named Bill Canary say that Karl Rove had contacted the Justice Department about bringing a prosecution of Don Siegelman. The question for Mr. Rove is whether he directly or indirectly discussed the possibility of prosecuting Don Siegelman with either the Justice Department or Alabama Republicans." did you?

McCain's Distortations on the Webb GI Bill [MyDD] This past week John McCain failed to show up for the important vote on a measure that would increase benefits for veterans -- a 21st century update to the G.I. bill -- legislation that he opposed in rhetoric but would not officially do so in the congressional record. Today, McCain went further, taking a swing at the legislation, saying that the increased benefits could lower the number of troops serving in the U.S. military. Sen. John McCain asserted that the G.I. Bill sponsored by Virginia Sen. James Webb will drive soldiers out of the armed services at a time when the country is trying to expand the size of the military. Speaking at a Memorial Day ceremony, McCain praised Webb as "an honorable man who takes his responsibility to veterans very seriously." And he said the bill, which would increase benefits for veterans after serving one tour, is a way of offering the nation's "deep appreciation" for the veterans who have served. But McCain insisted that he takes "a backseat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans." And he predicted that Webb's bill would reduce the military's retention rate by 16 percent.

Time to Take Back the White House [Taylor Marsh] I will never forget election night, November 2000. I was living overseas, hosting a party for a rowdy Democrats Abroad group. I'll never forget the ecstasy of Al Gore being declared winner of Florida after a nail-biting night of state-by-state returns. We cheered and jumped around like kids, dialed up relatives in the US, popped the cork... Well...you know the rest of the story: chads, lawsuits, Supreme Court briefs, outrage, heartbreak, regret. Mostly, though, the injustice of it all. The injustice was wrenching. Our candidate lost the White House over a handful of votes in the swing state of Florida even though he won more votes nationwide. There you have it. Reality sunk in and George Bush moved into Al's house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Dual about Iraq Moves to NM [Tribune] Sen. John McCain stood before hundreds of flag-waving veterans and their families Monday and vowed not to waver in his support of the Iraq War. "Even," he said, "if I must stand athwart popular opinion." Sen. Barack Obama addressed a separate audience of veterans and received vigorous applause when he declared, "As many of you know, my intention is to bring this war in Iraq to a close and to start bringing home our troops in an orderly fashion." If Labor Day is the traditional opener to the fall presidential race, this Memorial Day offered at least a preview into the summertime duel between McCain and Obama, who for the first time were campaigning in the same swing state on the same day. As McCain spoke about the costs and sacrifices of the Iraq War at the Veterans' Memorial in Albuquerque, Obama praised the patriotism of America's soldiers before taking voters' questions—and hearing their frustrations about Iraq and a host of other concerns—at an outdoor forum here.

Bad News for GOP/Good News for McCain [Real Clear] The recent loss of formerly deep-red congressional districts to Democrats is supposed to be awful news for John McCain. Actually, the opposite could be true. We keep hearing that if Republicans can't hold onto voters in northeastern Mississippi -- or in Baton Rouge, La., or in the Chicago suburbs where former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert held sway -- they're done for. The GOP's rocket is hurtling to earth, and not even a special-case Republican like McCain can stop it.

The Running Mate Choice [NYT] My first thought on the running mate question is that to balance his ticket, Barack Obama should pick a really old white general. Therefore, he should pick Dwight Eisenhower. John McCain, on the other hand, needs to pick someone younger than himself. Therefore, he also should pick Dwight Eisenhower. My second thought is that most of the commentary on vice president picks is completely backward. Most discussion focuses on what state or constituency this or that running mate could help carry in the fall. But, as a rule, recent vice presidential nominees haven’t had any effect on key states or constituencies. They haven’t had much effect on elections at all, except occasionally as hapless distractions.

10 Things Better Left Unsaid

Fri, 23 May 2008 13:26:45 EDT

10. "The growing fear of Obama, who remains something of an unknown, will drag every last white Republican male off the golf course to vote for McCain." - Dick Morris

9. "When required by law to verify that your evidence was accurate you simpy resubmitted it with phrases amounting to "See, I done proved it!" virtually written in the margins in crayon." - Keith Olbermann

8. "I think playing golf during the war just sends the wrong signal." - Our ever-noble president, GW

[as noted in Keith Olbermann's Special Comment]

7. "Hold on one second, sweetie." - Obama to female reporter

6. "There are a large number of voters that are turned off of Obama because of his connections to Rev. Wright, his connections to William Ayers, his possible connections to Louis Farrakhan. It would be as if there were a white candidate who was allied with the Ku Klux Klan and with the Aryan racial leagues." - Dick Morris

5. "I hear there's a last primary on June 3 and we're certainly going to... I'm not even sure which state it's in..." - Ron Paul

4. "How do the liberal-leaning Governor of New York and Mr. Conservative from Arizona wind up holding hands?" - Rowland Evans and Bob Novak in a recent WaPo article on Goldwater and the Rock.

3. You can be green without being gullible! ... making stewardship a priority does not mean that we should surrender our national autonomy and sacrifice family incomes to fight environmental threats that are speculative at best. - Environmental proclamations from the FRC (the sponser of the Values Voters Summit)

2. "McCain: Victory in Iraq by 2013" - CNN headline. [The copyeditor must have thought the extra "1" in "2113" was just a mistake.]

1. "The poor guy's been suffering for years, you know? Unfairly he's been accused of alcoholism, but we see now that it was something much more deep-stead. Andso, to cut this out in some respect for Ted Kennedy, here's a tune coming at you from the Dead Kennedys. Go ahead and play it, please." - Michael Savage "pays respect to" Ted Kennedy

Lanny Goes to FOX!

Thu, 22 May 2008 11:36:00 EDT

Clintonite Lenny Davis has turned to the dark side - or, at least the fair and balanced side - he's gone to FOX. (Meanwhile, let's not forget that January study that suggested FOX actually is the most balanced, and when the liberal media is fawning over Obama, does that not make FOX an ironically appropriate ally for the Clintons?)

Achmed the Terrorist

Thu, 22 May 2008 11:32:12 EDT

Are we so scared of muslim people that we have to put a puppet in a turban and give him a funny accent?

A video challenge from MobLogic.tv.

Downing Street 2.0

Thu, 22 May 2008 11:24:09 EDT

If the value of the dollar hasn't done it for you yet and you aren't wooed by delicious curry 'round every corner, here's just another reason to move to London: Ask the PM. Downing Street has gone online with YouTube in a really incredible new outreach program where the lowly citizenry can ask all their burning questions of the PM in return for a three minute soundbite on how to fix the housing problem or solve global warming. But Downing Street actually has a pretty neat online presence.... meanwhile, YouTube.com/WhiteHouse goes nowhere. God Bless America, where our leaders regulate YouTube instead of using it.

Worst Political Ads

Wed, 21 May 2008 14:49:56 EDT

As soon as you watch this, you'll have "Democrats, apply directly to the problem," stuck in your head to the tune of the ever-grating HeadOn ads. That's because tonight, the economic think tank Growth & Justice will hand out awards for the worst political advertising in America. Our Ground Hound Mike McIntee at the Uptake bring us a preview of the awards with an interview of Growth & Justice President Dane Smith. We’ll bring you the winners of the non-partisan lampooning after they’re announced.

I love you back, Iowa!

Wed, 21 May 2008 13:04:49 EDT

It's just about time for the general, and Obama is still fired up and ready to go. Clinton's still making waves, but at this point, it would look bad if she dropped out. Think of it - if she had dropped out four weeks ago (when it made sense), she would have still been on the ballot in West Virginia and Kentucky, and she still would have won those states. They've long been Clinton Country and it's certainly not changing any time soon (until November, at least). If Obama were the official candidate, and she were winning states though no longer officially in the race, it might not look so hot. And at this point, now that we've let everybody and their mother - even Guam - have a primary say, the only thing that makes sense is to see it all the way through. No alienating the states that are left, no bad-looking wins, just an honest race for America's vote. In the end, the nasty battle seems to have become kind of cool. For once, every Democrat in America will have their say about who they want to run this nation. It may be the most democratic thing we've ever done.

No More LOST for W, The White House Hates NBC

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:02:01 EDT

It seems that the White House hates NBC. And not just because the last episode of LOST left us all on the cliff (although we all hate them for that), but mostly because of the recent interview with GW they aired on Sunday's Nightly News. Dan Froomkin explains the problem in full in "the President v. the Peacock:"

There is more to the White House's unprecedented attack on NBC News yesterday than meets the eye.

The blistering letter to NBC from White House Counselor Ed Gillespie ostensibly focuses on the way President Bush's interview with NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel was edited for presentation on Sunday's Nightly News.

But NBC's handling of the interview was not atypical for a tightly-edited broadcast and did not violate any journalistic norms. The White House may believe that news outlets are obliged to reproduce all of Bush's non-answers in their rambling entirety, but that's not the way the news business works.

Here is video of the edited interview as shown on the Nightly News. Here is video of the entire interview, which was 15 minutes long. Here is the full White House transcript.

A major topic was Bush's controversial speech to the Israeli parliament last week. (See Friday's column for background.)

Read the full story - and the unedited interview exchange in full - here.

John McCain's Fake SNL Commercial

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:25:24 EDT

"Jamming gaydar is not a federal responsibility. That's something best left to state and local governments."

John McCain made a star-spangled apperance on SNL this weekend - The Swamp has the full story and more videos - but this is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen John McCain do. And I saw him sign a baby in New Hampshire. With Sharpie.

Campaign Financing: Love it or Fix it

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:19:31 EDT

We've long looked to Good for great reporting and awesome videos, but this one is the best I've seen yet. It takes us into the Wild West of campaign fundraising where I have so far learned two things I didn't know before: Ron Paul was the beneficiary of a profound amount of military support, and I'll never be able to afford living in Manhattan. Hello, New Jersey... and the billion dollar mark.

And they're off...

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:22:06 EDT

Obama v. McCain: Let the fight begin. Trading blows on foreign policy:

McCain: The Problem with Video

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:35:46 EDT

From Brave New Films: The Real McCain, Part 2: proving that most politicians still don't understand the premise of "record" and "play."

There's no question John McCain is getting a free ride from the mainstream press. But with the power of YouTube and the blogosphere, we can provide an accurate portrayal of the so-called Maverick. We can put the brakes on his free ride!

Since we first released The Real McCain a year ago, our REAL McCain series has garnered close to 2 million views, with over 13,000 comments and tens of thousands more in petition signatures! Clearly, John McCain's record is something the public wants to discuss, and yet the corporate media is doing NOTHING to present the truth. We feel obliged to continue countering the mainstream media's love of McCain. And so we thought it was high time for a sequel: The Real McCain 2.

Monday Morning Must-Reads

Mon, 19 May 2008 08:44:51 EDT

Huckabee Tries for #2 Spot [AP] Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Sunday he'd like to be John McCain's running mate. "There's no one I would rather be on a ticket with than John McCain," said Huckabee, who was a stronger than expected challenger against McCain for the Republican presidential nomination. "All during the campaign when I was his rival, not a running mate, there was no one who was more complimentary of him publicly and privately. ... I still wanted to win, but if I couldn't, John McCain was always the guy I would have supported and have now supported. "But whether or not I do the best for him, that's something that only he can decide," Huckabee said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Immigration Raid Jars a Small Town [WaPo] Antonio Escobedo ran to get his wife Monday when he saw a helicopter circling overhead and immigration agents approaching the meatpacking plant where they both work. The couple hid for hours inside the plant before obtaining refuge in the pews and hall at St. Bridget's Catholic Church, where hundreds of other Guatemalan and Mexican families gathered, hoping to avoid arrest. "I like my job. I like my work. I like it here in Iowa," said Escobedo, 38, an illegal immigrant from Yescas, Mexico, who has raised his three children for 11 years in Postville. "Are they mad because I'm working?"

Texas Group Sues to Stop Border Fence [UPI] The Texas Border Coalition, which includes a number of cities along the U.S.-Mexico border has filed a lawsuit against the border fence. In court papers filed Friday in Washington, the group asked a court to block the construction of the fence in the Rio Grande Valley. The coalition, which also includes business groups, charges that the Department of Homeland Security did not consult landowners in the area. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff denied that in a news conference Friday. Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, who chairs the coalition, called the fence "an antiquated solution for a 21st century problem."

Endgame in Oregon [Taylor Marsh] After spending Friday and Saturday doing "visibility" for the Clinton campaign here Portland, Oregon, yesterday I began to switch gears. Still in Portland, but now focused on voter protection efforts. Yesterday, I attended a meeting at Senator Clinton's campaign office. Representatives from the Oregon Democratic Lawyers Council briefed us on Oregon voting laws and regulations, specifically those most relevant to yesterday and today and on Tuesday, Oregon's actual primary day. In Oregon, there is a huge spike in voting starting on the Saturday before election day and going to its highest on election day itself. Even though many Oregonians mail in their ballots long before election day, the real action is starting now and running through Tuesday as people drop off their ballots.

With McCain on Hand, Knives Won't Cut it at NRA Gunfest [Daily News] A small but startling sign welcomed the gun lovers who arrived at the National Rifle Association's annual gathering Friday. "Firearms WILL NOT be allowed in Hall A during the Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum." Beyond this sign at the Kentucky Exposition Center was a row of 10 metal detectors. They were manned by uniformed Secret Service officers deployed because the scheduled speakers included presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. The Secret Service sets the rules in such circumstances, and even NRA big shots had to go through the screening. Thousands found themselves standing in a long, slow, feeder line before they even reached one of the lines that stretched in front of each metal detector.

Obama Draws Largest Crowd of Campaign at Portland Rally [KGW] In this famously liberal city, under skies that obligingly turned from habitual gray to clear blue, Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama on Sunday drew the largest crowd of his 15-month marathon campaign for the presidency. Sixty-thousand people packed into a park alongside the banks of the Willamette River to listen to Obama, with another 15,000 left standing outside the gates, according to city fire officials. Hundreds more anchored their motorboats, or floated in kayaks and canoes. That's far more than the 35,000 people who showed up to hear Obama in Philadelphia last month, at his previous biggest rally. Even after months on the trail, Obama seemed slightly stunned by the size of the crowd. "Wow, wow, wow," he said as he surveyed the audience.

Soldier Shot at Qaran for Practice [AP] An American soldier used a Quran, the Islamic holy book, for target practice in a predominantly Sunni area west of Baghdad, prompting an apology from the U.S. military, a spokesman said Sunday. Separately, mortar shells slammed into a residential area north of the Iraqi capital, killing at least four people and wounding 30, most children playing outside, officials said Sunday. The shelling occurred as clashes broke out in Shiite areas late Saturday despite a truce reached last week by Shiite politicians and followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled Quran with graffiti inside the cover on a small-arms range near a police station in Radwaniyah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Col. Bill Buckner said in an e-mailed response to a query.

Edwards still says 'no' to VP slot

Fri, 16 May 2008 14:21:07 EDT

After the big Edwards endorsement, the man himself, John Edwards, flatly denied that he would run with Barack Obama. He didn't speculate on a possible Attorney General position, however. From CNN:

(CNN) — Seeing John Edwards and Barack Obama on the same stage earlier this week left political pundits buzzing: Could these two be an unbeatable presidential ticket?

They appeared to have natural chemistry — something Edwards and then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry seemed to lack in 2004 — and the former North Carolina senator remains popular among a key demographic that has been reluctant to support Obama — working class white voters.

But Edwards flatly said Friday, as he had before he endorsed a candidate, that he's not interested in making a second run for vice president.

"No," Edwards said in no uncertain terms on NBC's the Today show when asked about the possibility. "Won't happen.…It's just not something I am interested in."

As for another position in an Obama administration, specifically Attorney General, Edwards was decidedly more coy.

"I don't really want to get involved in that speculation," he said. "Right now we have to focus on getting Barack Obama elected to President of the United States, then we’ll worry about those things."

Edwards formally endorsed Obama Wednesday evening, the day after Clinton scored a 41 point victory over the Illinois senator in West Virginia. Edwards also said Friday the timing of his announcement was not specifically designed by the Obama campaign to direct the media coverage away from the New York senator's win.

"That's not true," he said. "I know it's not true because I am the one who made the decision about when to do this. I believe this was the right time to do it. I made a decision that the public should know at this point my view."

McCain on Hamas: Sooner or later, we're going to have to deal with them

Fri, 16 May 2008 12:02:07 EDT

That was 2006. James Rubin on the legacy of that conversation:

I am a supporter of Hillary Clinton and believe that she was right to say, about McCain's statement on Hamas, "I don't think that anybody should take that seriously." Unfortunately, the Republicans know that some people will. That's why they say such things.
But given his own position on Hamas, McCain is the last politician who should be attacking Obama. Two years ago, just after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections, I interviewed McCain for the British network Sky News's "World News Tonight" program. Here is the crucial part of our exchange:

I asked: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

McCain answered: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

For some Europeans in Davos, Switzerland, where the interview took place, that's a perfectly reasonable answer. But it is an unusual if not unique response for an American politician from either party. And it is most certainly not how the newly conservative presumptive Republican nominee would reply today.

Given that exchange, the new John McCain might say that Hamas should be rooting for the old John McCain to win the presidential election. The old John McCain, it appears, was ready to do business with a Hamas-led government, while both Clinton and Obama have said that Hamas must change its policies toward Israel and terrorism before it can have diplomatic relations with the United States.

Even if McCain had not favored doing business with Hamas two years ago, he had no business smearing Barack Obama. But given his stated position then, it is either the height of hypocrisy or a case of political amnesia for McCain to inject Hamas into the American election.

Andrew Sullivan on McCain and Hamas today:

McCain's performance on the Daily Show and his remarks today are, in word, slimy. Here's the gist:
"It's very obvious to everyone that Senator Obama shares nothing of the values or goals of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization," McCain said. "But it's also a fact that a spokesperson from Hamas said that he approves of Obama's candidacy. I think that's of interest to the American people."
The right answer is that nominees for president do not legitimize the attempts of foreign terrorist groups to intervene in American elections. But what's galling here is the Clintonian passive-aggressive pose: I'm not saying it, but the "America people" are "interested". It's a way to peddle slime while pretending that you're not. At some point, McCain will have to choose. But the signs aren't too good.

Obama apologizes to his "Sweetie"

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:33:14 EDT

Obama called a reporter "sweetie" on the trail in Detroit yesterday, and was getting some flak for it. As word spread, Obama decided to call the reporter, and aplogize, saying it was a "bad habit." The reporter told the Detroit Free Press she has been called worse. "I felt more offended that he didn't answer the question," she said. Read more here, or click here to listen to the voice mail and watch the report.

This is ugly

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:25:40 EDT

Chris Matthews schools his guest. It's almost too hard to watch. Note to Hardball guests: Know the context of your talking points before you sputter them out.

Ron Paul on FOX

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:48:13 EDT

Ron Paul may be out of the race at this point, but he's still talking... most recently on FOX Business about the economy. His take on the current crisis: legalized fraud.

Olbermann: You're not driving straight, Sir

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:14:24 EDT

Last night's Special Comment was one for the books: George Bush gives up Golf for the Iraqis, Olbermann says no mulligans. Highlights: "See, I done proved it! Written in the margins in crayon." Part one:

Part two:

Obama to female reporter: Hold on, Sweetie

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:22:09 EDT

This is the second time Obama has called a woman "sweetie" on the trail. The first time, it was a factory worker in Pa. This time, it was a reporter in West Virginia. Earth to Obama, that's not going to score you any points with Hillary voters, a.k.a the ones you will need in the fall. Read more here, and watch the reporter's reaction below.

John Edwards endorses Obama

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:12:29 EDT

Too little, too late? Not too sure this will help with those white-working class voters, but it may. What it does more than anything, is wipe away last night's West Virginia pummeling.

While Edwards isn't a superdelegate, he can ask his 18 pledged delegates to support Obama. Read more here. For what it's worth, Elizabeth Edwards, who has been rumored to favor Clinton, isn't scheduled to appear at tonight's endorsement ceremony with her husband.

Myanmar, Day 2

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:08:18 EDT

This video is from Operation Blessing International -- one of the first NGOs to get clearance from the Burmese government to go bring relief to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. OBI staff on the ground brought cameras with them and take us to a remote village to deliver much needed rice and water purification tablets.

Clinton's generational movement

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:56:34 EDT

I was browsing the LA Times the other day, and came across this story about Hillary Clinton and the women who support her. We talk all the time about the new voters Barack Obama has brought in, but an underreported story is the new voters Clinton has brought in, many of whom are women. The historic nature of this election and the droves of passionate supporters have electrified the Democratic Party. But as this nomination fight comes to a close, the bittersweet reality that only one candidate can be the nominee, and it will probably be Obama, is beginning to dawn on Clinton voters. Many of Clinton's most loyal female supporters are older, and for some, Clinton represents their last chance to see a female president in their lifetime. MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews calls these women "militant," and balks at their obstinate optimism, sneering that it must be nice to live in "Hillaryland." But his insensitivity just underscores his ignorance. They say Barack Obama represents a movement, and that he speaks for a new generation. But as evinced by the LA Times article, Clinton is leading her own movement, it might not be as new, or as glamorous, but it still exists. She speaks for a generation of women who have been waiting for a leader who can battle with the boys, and rise up, tougher, stronger and all the more resilient.

Obama's tattoo

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:48:10 EDT

No, he doesn't have one, but if he did.....what would Barack Obama's tattoo be, and where would he put it? It's a silly question to ponder, but it was on the mind of one Oregon reporter. From the LA Times:

Barack Obama confronts the all-important tattoo question

From the no-question-gets-unasked department:

While he was blowing off West Virginia (and paying the price for that on Tuesday), Barack Obama spent several recent days campaigning in Oregon (where the May 20 primary now looms as his latest must-win). As part of his foray into the state, he made time for a brief chat with Portland's alternative newspaper, the Willamette Week.

The session wrapped up with this query:

Question: "If you had a tattoo, what would it be and where would you put it?"

Obama: "Uh, I cannot imagine any circumstances in which I would get a tattoo."

The candidate then allowed that if placed under gunpoint, "then I suppose I’d have to have [my wife] Michelle’s name tattooed somewhere very discreet."

The rest of the interview, which covered more conventional ground, can be read here.

"Dear American Voter..."

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:51:50 EDT

What does the rest of the world think American voters should keep in mind this election cycle? Link TV is asking people on the street around the world just this. This is their highlight reel, but it's an interesting discussion. More at linktv. Join the discussion!

Hillary, the "Al Sharpton of White People"

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:32:27 EDT

A rousing commentary from Chris Matthews yesterday. His runner-up for the night: "We're not sociologists, We're Americans." I guess that's the end of his play for an honorary doctorate from the Foucault University of Sociological Brilliance. And after all his hard work educating America about "white ethnics!"

Hillary gives Obama a 41-point W.Va thumping

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:48:04 EDT

Here's Clinton's speech after she beat Obama in W.Va. Tuesday night.

Clinton wins W.Va. by a landslide, exit polls troubling for Obama

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:59:24 EDT

All networks have called it for Clinton. The margin is yet to be seen, but it seems big and will help her with the popular vote. It looks like the Clinton camp is marching forward. Campaign strategist Howard Wolfson said on CNN that Clinton will not go into the convention without Michigan and Florida being seated. Currently, Chelsea is in Puerto Rico. Michelle Obama is expected to make a visit tomorrow.

In regards to this primary, even if the result doesn't change much, what's troubling for Obama is that exit polls show how big a factor race is in the critical swing state. Read more here.

Yangon Nagris Cyclone: Floods and Famine

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:51:11 EDT

Things in Burma aren't getting any better (although news that the RNC's former convention head - a man reportedly hand-picked by John McCain - was the Junta's K Street lobbyist ought to wake up a few sleepy eyes in the District), and the death toll there, as in China, continues to rice. Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish connects us with a blogger there who logically asks, will famine now follow? Monsoon season is around the corner, so now is the time when this agriculurally-dependent nation should be planting its rice for next year's harvest. With everything under water already, though, no planting can be done. An almost automatic effect was the increase in the already sky-rocketing price of rice around the world. But on the ground, erikoo152 has more footage; the sound is wonky in the beginning (keep watching).

Anti-China Protest in Kathmandu, 562 Women Arrested

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:10:57 EDT

[video: No Comment TV]

Reuters reports that Sunday, 562 women were arrested in the Nepali capital Kathmandu in an otherwise peaceful anti-China rally:

Nepali police detained 562 Tibetan women at an anti-China rally in Kathmandu on Sunday, the first all-women protest against Chinese rule in their homeland, officials said.

Some shouted "We want free Tibet" while others wept as they were dragged along the road to police vans and trucks and driven to detention centres. Many were wearing black armbands and had their mouths gagged with cloths.

Nepal considers Tibet part of China, a key donor and trade partner, and has been cracking down on protests by the exiled Tibetans against Beijing.

Police said the protesters would be freed later.

Exiled Tibetans have been protesting regularly ever since deadly riots broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March, followed by demonstrations in other Tibetan areas of China. Keep reading.

Hagee Joins Zionist Forces, Threatens Washington with "Judgment"

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:04:57 EDT

Apparently missing the "thou shall not judge others" message in the otherwise Good Book, McCain supporter and Bible Thumping Fanatic, John Hagee proclaimed today that God will unleash terrorists on Washington for their treatment of Israel:

*swat* Man! The locusts are already here!

On the Streets of Beirut

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:32:13 EDT

This one from Al-Jazeera English, it's a taste of what's happening on the streets of Beirut now that Hezbollah has taken control of many parts of the city. Euronews and No Comment tv have more of the fighting:

From Sichuan University

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:29:39 EDT

More out of Sichuan - this from about 100 miles away from the epicenter, recorded by a student at Sichuan University.

Videos out of Sichuan

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:17:43 EDT

This video from giorgiusgam comes from a security camera in Sichuan. Start paying attention at 4:45 and to get a real sense for the strength of the quake, watch the goldfish bowl in the bottom right corner. RheinOnline has more below, all of it frankly terrifying. The NYT also has a photo essay worth checking out. The death toll, now at 12,000, is still climbing; relief workers warn that as more buildings are uncovered (80 percent of those in downtown Chengdu are said to have fallen), bodies will continue to surface. The NYT suggests that as many as 10,000 names could be added to the lists of those gone at the hands of the quake which the LAT reports was felt from "Beijing to Bangkok." Human disaster aside - the NP warns that this might mean financial disaster, too.

Spoof on Obama's "Yes we can" video

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:18:25 EDT

G4TV, a gaming channel, released this spoof of the now famous "Yes we can" video. This one, entitled "Yes we shall," features celebrities, but the candidate they are supporting isn't Obama. It's completely silly, but amusing, nonetheless. Check it out below.

Previewing tomorrow's W.Va primary

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:43:02 EDT

It looks as though Hillary Clinton is well-positioned for a big win in Tuesday's West Virginia primary, according to polls. The latest poll coming out of the state has her up 36 percentage points over Barack Obama. With daunting math in front of her, and the media already crowning Obama, what significance might tomorrow's contest have on the nomination battle? CNN's Bill Schneider writes that a huge win could send a message to superdelegates that a lot Dems are not ready to join team Obama. It also may cause Obama to think twice about putting Clinton on the ticket, he writes. I'm not so sure about that, but a big win will probably be a slight wake-up call for superdelegates-not a game changer, however CNN:

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (CNN) -- West Virginians will head to the polls Tuesday for the state's Democratic primary between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But what will the vote there really mean after new delegate totals show Obama with a sizable lead?

Some say it could send a sobering message to Obama's Democratic supporters.

West Virginia is expected to go for Clinton big time -- and the polls show it.

Clinton has a 43-point advantage over Obama, 66 percent to 23 percent, according to a survey from the American Research Group released Friday.

The poll was conducted after Tuesday's primary results and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

"This state is really Hillary Clinton's wheelhouse. It's an older population, socially conservative, blue-collar workers," said Kennie Bass, a political reporter for WCHS in West Virginia. Watch more on the West Virginia primary »

Obama acknowledges that West Virginians favor Clinton.

"She is going to do very well in West Virginia and Kentucky. She will win those states, in all likelihood, by significant margins," Obama said this week.

According to CNN's latest estimate, Obama has 1,860 total delegates to Clinton's 1,696.

A big Clinton win will send a powerful message that there are a lot of Democrats not ready to get on the Obama bandwagon. Watch more on the Democratic primary race. »

"There was just an AP article posted that found how Sen. Obama's support among hardworking Americans, white Americans is weakening again, and how the whites in both states that have not completed college were supporting me," Clinton said in a USA Today interview May 7.

For the last two-thirds of the 20th century, West Virginia was a solidly Democratic state, and it still is in state politics.

West Virginia had not voted for a non-incumbent Republican for president since Herbert Hoover. It even voted for Michael Dukakis in 1988.

Then came 2000, when George W. Bush surprised everyone by winning West Virginia. How did he do it? With social issues, such as abortion, gays and -- most important -- guns, in a state where more than 70 percent of the voters have a gun in their households.

What you get in West Virginia is not so much Reagan Democrats as Bush Democrats.

Republicans believe that they know how to beat Obama here.

"They would likely paint him, if he's the nominee, as a far-left liberal who is pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-civil union. That will not play well in West Virginia. Social issues register very high on the meter here," Bass said.

Democrats can fight back by running hard on the Bush economy. But they could be in for a surprise.

"As coal goes, so goes the economy of West Virginia in many respects. Coal prices right now are about $100 a ton; metallurgical coal is trading at nearly twice that. So these are not difficult times in West Virginia economically, so to speak," Bass said.

If Obama gets the nomination and it looks like the only way he can win is to get those West Virginia Democrats back, you can be sure he will think seriously about asking Clinton to go on the ticket.

Welcome Daniel!

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:46:47 EDT

A huge congratulations to Josh and Millet and welcome (already adorable) Daniel Marshall to the world.

Obama adviser who met with Hamas resigns

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:39:11 EDT

Call me crazy, but I don't think this will help Obama with the Jewish vote. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

May 11, 2008
LYNN SWEET blogs.suntimes.com/sweet

Rob Malley, a Middle East policy adviser to likely Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, resigned after news surfaced that he had been meeting with Hamas -- something Obama pledged he himself would never do.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Saturday Malley called the Obama campaign on Friday to sever ties with the candidate after learning the Times of London was publishing a story about his contacts with the terrorist group.

Malley is an analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based International Crisis Group, specializing in the Israeli-Arab conflict. He told NBC News that his job "is to meet with all sorts of savory and unsavory people and report on what they say. I've never denied whom I meet with; that's what I do."

LaBolt said, "Sen. Obama strongly opposes talking to Hamas, a terrorist group committed to Israel's destruction. As president, he will work to isolate Hamas and target its resources, and rejects any dialogue until Hamas recognizes Israel, renounces terrorism, and abides by previous agreements."

LaBolt, downplaying Malley's role, said, "Rob Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future."

The issue of whether to have dealings with Hamas is a particularly sensitive matter for Obama, who needs to persuade skeptical Jewish voters that he is a strong supporter of Israel. Last week, presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) highlighted a Hamas leader's statement that he hoped Obama would win the White House. Asked about McCain's suggestion that Obama is "favored by Hamas," Obama said McCain was "losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination."

Last month, as former President Jimmy Carter was set to meet with Hamas leaders, Obama told a group of Jewish activists and clergy in Philadelphia that he would not sit down with Hamas.

For Missouri voters, you better have proof you're American

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:13:06 EDT

The battle of voter identification may get nastier. Now, lawmakers in Missouri are expected to support a proposed constitutional amendment to enable election officials to require proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote, according to the New York Times. This would allow even stricter demands than the current voter ID requirements, in which voters have to prove their identity with a government-issued card. NYT:

"Sponsors of the amendment — which requires the approval of voters to go into effect, possibly in an August referendum — say it is part of an effort to prevent illegal immigrants from affecting the political process. Critics say the measure could lead to the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of legal residents who would find it difficult to prove their citizenship.Voting experts say the Missouri amendment represents the next logical step for those who have supported stronger voter ID requirements and the next battleground in how elections are conducted."

While similar measures requiring proof of citizenship are under consideration in at least 19 state legislatures, including Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina, its only in Missouri that this requirement has a chance of taking effect before the presidential election.

Such an act could reduce voter fraud, but the more obvious implication is that it could disenfranchise many voters

Monday Morning Must-Reads

Mon, 12 May 2008 05:26:41 EDT

Leader of GOP Convention Resigns after Myanmar Ties Reported [AP] The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement: "Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign." Goodyear, chief executive of lobbying firm DCI Group, resigned a few hours after Newsweek posted a story posted online that the company was paid $348,000 in 2002 and 2003 to represent Myanmar's junta.

Michelle Vetoes Hillary [Real Clear] Close-in supporters of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign are convinced he never will offer the vice presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Clinton for one overriding reason: Michelle Obama. The Democratic front-runner's wife did not comment on other rival candidates for the party's nomination, but she has been sniping at Clinton since last summer. According to Obama sources, those public utterances do not reveal the extent of her hostility.

Clinton + Obama on Al-Jazeera [Salon] Last Wednesday morning, Al-Jazeera's Arabic service reported from Indianapolis on the split results of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. For analysis, the anchor in Doha, Qatar, interviewed the network's Washington correspondent, Fady Mansour. "A state for each candidate, is that right?" she asked. Mansour replied that it might seem so from the outside, but in fact winning states was less important than winning delegates, and Barack Obama had bettered his lead over Clinton in that regard. He also said that behind the scenes the Clinton camp was seized with anxiety over whether their candidate's showing meant the end of the road. -- Juan Cole

Is It Just "W." or Is It Hot in Here? [TNR] In their long-standing campaign against environmental protections, American conservatives have taken a kitchen sink approach: First they exalted states' rights and attacked the Environmental Protection Agency; later, they reversed course, attacking states' rights and exalting the EPA. The only consistent objective was to thwart regulation, and the only question was which strategy would be most effective in achieving that goal. But their political opportunism may soon come to haunt them. By abandoning their strict states'-rights principles for a broad view of the EPA's authority, conservatives have boxed themselves into a corner. If Congress and the White House are in a more environmental mood after November, conservative anti-environmentalists may find that they have laid the legal groundwork for their ultimate defeat. -- Jeffrey Rosen

Fierce Fighting Erupts in Areas of East Beirut [NYT] Fierce clashes broke out on Sunday in the mountains east of Beirut between supporters of the Western-backed government and followers of Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Iran. The fighting, in the Shouf and Aley districts in the mountains overlooking the capital, Beirut, followed overnight clashes in the northern city of Tripoli that left at least two people dead and five wounded, according to security officials. Beirut, where there had been heavy fighting between Sunnis and Shiites since Wednesday, was calm on Sunday. Hezbollah and its allies began withdrawing their gunmen from the capital on Saturday evening, raising hopes for a truce after four days of street battles there. -- Nada Bakri

Race is All the Clintons Have Left [HuffPo] Sitting there on the set, listening to the endless wrap-ups and explanation of the exit polls, I was on the verge of faking my own death on national TV in order to go talk to myself about the obvious, unspoken equation in the little there is left to this fight between Obama and Clinton. The beast that is nearly always there in American life, the danger that rustles the shrubs at the edge of our daily existence -- race -- was routinely ignored in the recitation of numbers pouring out of North Carolina and Indiana. Now, faced with a mathematical mountain climb that even Stephen Hawking could not ascend, the Clintons -- and it is indeed both of them -- are just about to paste a bumper sticker on the rear of the collapsing vehicle that carries her campaign. It reads: VOTE WHITE. -- Mike Barnicle

Aid Trickles into Burma: But Toll Could Reach 1 Million [Times Online] Relief deliveries into cyclone-hit Burma increased today but aid groups said supplies fell far short of the enormous need and that foreign experts were still barred from the country. A cargo plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) carrying 35 tonnes of aid was one of the latest to arrive. The ICRC said the medical supplies on board were sufficient to treat some 250 trauma patients and provide three months of basic health care for 10,000 people. The plane was also carrying sanitation equipment, including a mobile water-treatment plant to provide drinking water for 10,000 people, it said.

Chavez Slams Merkel's Comments [TVNZ] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez almost told German Chancellor Angela Merkel to go to hell, but stopped short of insulting the woman leader on Mother's Day. Instead he called her a political descendant of Adolf Hitler and German fascism. "Ms Chancellor, you can go to...," he said, pausing for effect and eliciting giggles from the audience, a group of military officers, cabinet ministers and government officials. "Because she's a woman I won't say anything else." The leftist leader, who famously called US President George Bush the devil at a United Nations assembly, slammed Merkel for calling on Latin American leaders to distance themselves from Chavez. "She is from the German right, the same that supported Hitler, that supported fascism, that's the Chancellor of Germany today," he said. Chavez said he could confront her about the statements if he attends an upcoming summit of heads of state from Europe and Latin America in Peru.

Oil Steady Above $126 [Reuters] Oil hovered close to record levels above $126 a barrel on Monday as violence in the Middle East heightened worries of supply disruptions in the world's largest crude producing region. U.S. light crude for June delivery rose 18 cents to $126.14 a barrel by 2359 GMT. It closed $2.27 higher at $125.96 a barrel on Friday, before rising to a record $126.27 in late post-settlement trade. Oil has jumped nearly 14 percent since slipping as low as $110.53 a barrel on May 1, as investors seized on supply disruptions in the North Sea and Nigeria, as well as galloping demand for distillate fuels, a category that includes diesel fuel and heating oil.

Score one for the good guys

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:20:31 EDT

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff reports earlier today:

After John McCain nailed down the Republican nomination in March, his campaign began wrestling with a sensitive personnel issue: who would manage this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.? The campaign recently tapped Doug Goodyear for the job, a veteran operative and Arizonan who was chosen for his "management experience and expertise," according to McCain press secretary Jill Hazelbaker. But some allies worry that Goodyear's selection could fuel perceptions that McCain—who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests—is surrounded by lobbyists. Goodyear is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil, General Motors and other clients.

Potentially more problematic: the firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today. Justice Department lobbying records show DCI pushed to "begin a dialogue of political reconciliation" with the regime. It also led a PR campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing "falsehoods" by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses. "It was our only foreign representation, it was for a short tenure, and it was six years ago," Goodyear told NEWSWEEK, adding the junta's record in the current cyclone crisis is "reprehensible."

AP reports just now:

The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar.

Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement:

"Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign."

Funny what you find when you look under a rock; I suspect there are more stones to look under in the GOP's future. Still, the interesting question this leads to though: will the GOP drive hard against the DNC's picked manager once things get worked out? With the nomination process and who runs the convention likely to get locked up so late, plucking out a convention manager could cause some chaos given how close we are to convention day in the Rockies.

Smoke without fire

Sat, 10 May 2008 16:39:39 EDT

You have to hand it to the nation's press corps. Jenna Bush's wedding is a private as private can be, and they're doing the public job of reporting on something that there's nothing to report about. "There will be absolutely no readout, whatsoever," a White House spokesman told reporters. But they're still trying and trying and trying.

Bloomberg News gives us 708 words on how they can't get into the wedding. The Associated Press cranks it up to 987 words! Wow, almost a thousand words observing things like, "Few if any Crawford residents have been invited, but they say they don't feel snubbed." I bet the AP does! And on CBS, a reporter was actually inane enough to have this exchange in the morning:

CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports that press is not allowed onto the ranch this morning, at least not without an invite to the wedding. "I keep asking and, darn it, can't get an invitation," Cobiella said on CBS' Early Show.

However, CBS also seems to be implying that Bush would have no trouble making political hay out of the event, quoting another correspondent as saying that, "if it was up to President Bush, he'd blab the whole thing. He keeps giving up more and more details while his staffers keep stonewalling."

To boot, they say that some woman's wedding has been preempted by Jenna's nuptials because her husband was called on duty by the sheriff's department for which he works. "Jenna," CBS News says, "you ignorant slut."

Agence France Presse editorializes for, well, I guess, the French, that the wedding is "a welcome break from two wars, terrorism, soaring oil prices and other woes" for the president. And before it gets into some navel-gazing about how much the press hates the Bush family, the Washington Times spins in the other direction, stating that, "Jenna Bush becomes America's quiet sweetheart today — a bride wrapped in delicate organza, bound for a new destiny as wife, honeymooner, teacher, author and occasional first daughter, at least for a few more months."

The Times also notes that there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms in Crawford. Well, let's just say that the President's approval rating is around 30% too, and that doesn't seem to matter too much to him.

People says that some Texans in Salado where a wedding-related party was held Friday night were holding up signs that read, "W '08." A republic, if you can keep it that way.

But don't worry - the New York Times uses the wedding as an occasion to begin the eulogies and soliloquies for the end of Bush's 8 years. Doris Kearns Goodwin, the presidential historian/biographer, is quoted as saying, "“For previous presidents, leaving the White House felt like a terrible loss...This wedding reinforces the feeling that going to Texas will be a welcome relief to him.”

And, finally, if you really want to see how much blood you can squeeze from a stone, here's the Austin American-Statesman's Live from Crawford wedding blog:

“Who’s she marrying?,” the tattooed man asked the woman. “

“Umm…Henry Hager,” she slowly read from a photo in the gift shop’s window.

“It might be Sammy Hagar’s son,” the man replied back.

The woman shrugged her shoulders.