Dec 31 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 31, 2008
Here's your story of the day. Former AG Alberto Gonzales -- he of domestic wiretapping, waterboarding, firing U.S. Attorneys and so on -- tells 
the WSJ that he was "a casualty" of the war on terror:
During a lunch meeting two blocks from the White House, where he served under
his longtime friend, President George W. Bush, Mr. Gonzales said that "for some
reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that
people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties
of the war on terror."
Gonzales has never been one for words -- witness his "I don't recall" comments to Congress -- but this is beyond the pale. "Many casualties" indeed.
Not counting terrorists, 2,973 died in the 9/11 terror attacks, by CNN's estimate.
At least 4,200 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some 150,000 wounded. Estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths vary from nearly 100,000 confirmed deaths to an estimated 1.2 million.
Dec 31 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 31, 2008
While you're hungover, the Obamas will be moving to Washington. They're leaving Hawaii tomorrow and going to Washington at the end of the week, as the Obama girls start at their new school Monday.
They're staying at a hotel through mid-January, since the White House had already booked up its guest residence, called Blair House.
Dec 31 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 31, 2008
In case you missed it -- and it's rather hard to do so -- below is the burial plot Blago's Senate pick Roland Burris has already built for himself, listing his accomplishments in Illinois politics, and leaving additional space for more titles.
And just how into himself is Mr. Burris? He named his children Rolanda and Roland II.
Dec 30 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 30, 2008
Remember the NYT's hatchet job on McCain lobbyist Vicki Iseman early this year, which seemed to hint at an affair between McCain and the 
blonde courtier, without ever proving one? (The McCain camp certainly does.) Now she's returning fire, suing the Grey Lady for $27 million, during some brutal economic times for the paper. From Politico:
Vikki Iseman, the D.C. lobbyist who was alleged to have an improper
relationship with Sen. John McCain in an explosive
New York Times story last February, is now suing the paper for $27 million.
Long
Island Business News reports that "the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in
Richmond on Tuesday, alleges the article falsely communicated that Iseman and
McCain had an illicit 'romantic' relationship in 1999 when he was chair of the
Senate Commerce Committee and she was a lobbyist representing clients before
Congress."
Both McCain and Iseman denied any romantic relationship.
Also named
in the 36-page
suit as defendants are exexcutive editor Bill Keller, Washington bureau
chief Dean Baquet, and reporters Jim Rutenberg, David Kirkpatrick, Stephen
Labaton and Marilyn Thompson (who's since joined the Washington Post).
Suing for defamation, Iseman is said to have suffered mentally,
emotionally, and in her health. She still works as a lobbyist.
The Times
piece, which never proved there was any romantic involvment, received ample
criticism on the left and right. The McCain campaign vowed to go to war
with the paper, and there was friction between the two sides throughout
2008.
Dec 30 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 30, 2008
Reminders of the Pennsylvania primary -- the source of Obama's "bitter" comments and his Altoona gutter balls -- continue to dog Obama. It 
was probably his most off-kilter and tone-deaf period of the entire campaign and people, even in Hawaii, won't let him forget it. From the Chicago Trib:
"At 5:37 p.m. the pool could see Obama get out of his golf cart and approach
his ball located in the middle of the fairway on the 414 yard, par 4, 18th hole.
He took three practice swings before centering the ball and hitting a shot that
flew low and straight for about 75 yards before landing at the front,
center-edge of the green.
"More than 100 people sitting on a rock wall along the fairway applauded as
Obama approached and he put his gloved right hand to his mouth to signal for
quiet, pointing to another member of his group who was getting ready to shoot.
As he got close to his ball, (Obama) turned to the crowd and said 'Hey guys.
That was pretty good right? That almost made up for my 20 yard drive.'
"That drew applause and laughter and prompted one member of the crowd to
shout, 'Better than your bowling.'
"Obama replied, 'That's right,' and smiled and laughed before turning back to
walk toward the green to size up his putt. Obama lined up his putt then tapped
the ball about a dozen feet before it stopped within a foot of the cup. The
crowd applauded and Obama turned to them, put his hand above the bill of his
baseball cap, and bowed.
Dec 30 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 30, 2008
An intriguing aside here from Chris Briem: with all the noise county councilman Chuck McCullough is making over Onorato's drink tax, might he be vying for a Republican nod as county executive in 2011 (or earlier, if Onorato grabs another job)? The GOP didn't even bother to put up a candidate in 2007.
The most recent person I heard trying to develop the idea was the ever-active David Tessitor who I know had some sort of comprehensive transit plan for the region that included regional rail and the AVRR. Have not heard from Dave much of late. Last news he made was when he was a third party candidate for one of the county council at large seats. That was the seat some may recall where Republican Chuck McCullough won the primary despite having dropped out of the race too
late to have his name removed from the ballot. Who did he beat in the
Republican primary? Kevin Acklin, who has popped up in the news again
of late as considering a run for Mayor this
time around... a race that BP dropped out of just before the filing
deadline 2 years ago. And lest I forget, Dave himself ran for mayor as
well not long ago. I suppose that if there are any formal announcements
we can get around to handicapping a Ravenstahl-Acklin race, but quite
honestly I suspect there is a larger chance that a local D will
register as an independent to run in the fall mayoral race than any R
going that far. We will see.
. . . Honestly, my prediction is that Chuck M. may wind up being a candidate
for County executive someday just because there are not many high
profile R's in the county. He seems to get more press than most
including today where he has put himself in the middle of the opposition to the drink tax. I was wondering what ever happened to the issue that prompted him to try and drop out of the county council race back
then. You would think it was either resolved or lead to serious legal
issues for him, but in either case there has just been little real
follow up in the news which is odd. The only item I see must have been
lost amid all the political news leading up to the fall elections was
this news snippet on what is up with that. Has there really been a grand jury looking into this for more than a year?
Dec 30 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 30, 2008
Remember the huge kerfuffle in September when Sarah Palin's then 17-year-old daughter was announced to be pregnant, making the Alaska guv's family to become the major story around her convention speech in St. Paul?
This weekend, her daughter Bristol gave birth to a 7 1/2 lb baby boy named Tripp, People Mag reports:
Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of former Republican vice-presidential
candidate Sarah Palin, gave birth on Saturday to a healthy 7 lb., 7 oz., baby
boy in Palmer, Alaska.
"We think it's wonderful," said Colleen Jones,
the sister of Bristol's grandmother Sally Heath, who confirmed the news. "The
baby is fine and Bristol is doing well. Everyone is excited."
The baby's
name is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston and he was born at 5:30 a.m., according
to Jones.
Baby Tripp takes his surname from his dad, Levi Johnston, an
apprentice electrician and former Wasilla High School hockey player who has been
dating Bristol for three years.
Bristol Palin is currently
residing in Wasilla and completing her high-school diploma through
correspondence courses.
Johnston is studying to become an electrician.
He told the Associated Press in October that he and fiancée Bristol plan to wed in 2009 and raise the
child together.
UPDATE: And no wonder People got the story. The mag -- which took Palin's side during the campaign, after rival US Mag printed a tough cover story called "Babies, Lies and Scandal" about the governor -- is reportedly paying the family $300 grand for baby photos.
Dec 30 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 30, 2008
In the topsy-turvy world of the post-Bush GOP, Chip Saltsman's distribution of the "Barack the Magic Negro" song may actually help his bid to become RNC chairman, Politico reports. Why? Due to backlash against the evil mainstream media:
Four days after news broke that the former Tennessee GOP chairman had sent a CD
that included a song titled "Barack the Magic Negro" to the RNC members he is
courting, some of those officials are rallying around the embattled Saltsman,
with a few questioning whether the national media and his opponents are piling
on.
"When I heard about the story I had to figure out what was going on
for myself," said Mark Ellis, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party. "When
I found out what this was about I had to ask, ‘boy, what's the big deal here?'
because there wasn't any."
Alabama Republican committeeman Paul Reynolds
said the fact the Saltsman sent him a CD with the song on it "didn't bother me
one bit."
"Chip probably could have thought it through a bit more, but
he was doing everyone a favor by giving us a gift," he said. "This is just
people looking for something to make an issue of."
"I don't think he intended it as any kind of racial slur. I think he intended it
as a humor gift," Oklahoma GOP committeewoman Carolyn McClarty added. "I think
it was innocently done by Chip."
Dec 29 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 29, 2008
Wow.
Here's the song parody distributed at Christmas by longtime GOP operative Chip Saltsman of Tennessee, who is vying to lead the Republican National Committee. Saltsman sent out the song -- which was played on Rush Limbaugh's radio show -- as a holiday gift to supporters.
From the NYT:
To the issues that divide the Republican
Party, there comes one more. Some Republicans find humor in the song "Barack
the Magic Negro." Some most definitely do not.
The debate was joined last week after a candidate for party chairman from
Tennessee, Chip Saltsman, distributed the parody, which was broadcast on the Rush
Limbaugh radio show last year and questions President-elect Barack
Obama's racial authenticity.
Speaking to The Hill newspaper on Friday, Mr. Saltsman, a longtime Republican
operative, described it as a "light-hearted" gift that would be received in
"good humor" by members of the Republican
National Committee.
In a party that had big losses this year among minority voters, not everyone
took it that way.
"I am shocked and appalled," Mike Duncan, the current party chairman, said in
a statement released Saturday. Mr. Duncan is competing for a second term against
Mr. Saltsman and four others.
"This is so inappropriate that it should disqualify any Republican National
Committee candidate who would use it," Newt
Gingrich, a Republican former House speaker, said in an e-mail message.
Referring to Mr. Obama, Mr. Gingrich said, "There are no grounds for demeaning
him or for using racist descriptions."
. . . The parody is sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon" by a character
meant to be the Rev. Al
Sharpton, the civil rights advocate and sometime political candidate. The
character laments that white liberals vote for Mr. Obama while shunning his
brand of more confrontational racial politics.
"Barack the Magic Negro," the character says, "made guilty whites feel
good/They'll vote for him and not for me/Cause he's not from the 'hood."
The song was written by a parodist, Paul Shanklin, whose work frequently airs
on Mr. Limbaugh's show, and Mr. Limbaugh has defended it against critics who
called it racist. Mr. Limbaugh said that it was inspired by an opinion column in
The Los Angeles Times by a black writer, David Ehrenstein, who likened Mr. Obama
to "warm and unthreatening" black figures like the actors Sidney
Poitier and Morgan
Freeman.
Dec 29 2008
Timothy McNulty | December 29, 2008
Some things never change, like the Al Franken/Norm Coleman Senate race in Minnesota. In case you've been out of it, like me, for the past week or so here's your update: Franken is unofficially up by less than 50 votes but there are still 1,350 absentee ballots at issue. And the two campaigns are still taking shots at each other.
From the Star-Tribune:
Preparing for their next round of battling ballots this week, campaign
workers in the unresolved U.S. Senate race spent the weekend poring over a list
of about 1,350 rejected absentee ballots and preparing their arguments about
whether each one should be counted after all.
The ballots on the list -- all of which are still unopened -- could weigh
heavily in the race, which unofficially has DFLer Al Franken leading incumbent
Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, by 46 votes.
Last week, local elections officials identified the 1,350 ballots as
improperly rejected. But each campaign must agree with that assessment before
they can be sent to the secretary of state's office Jan. 2 to be counted, under
a state Supreme Court order on Dec. 18.
Franken sent the Coleman campaign a letter Saturday proposing to accept all
the ballots on the list and forgo any additions to the list "in the interests of
avoiding further disputes and ensuring that votes are counted."
Coleman spokesman Mark Drake called the Franken campaign proposal not
credible, not in good faith and not serious. "We agreed that there would be a
certain process, and the Franken campaign is not interested in following that
process," Drake said Sunday.
Campaign representatives are likely to hash over the list at 12 regional
meetings scheduled throughout the state on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
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