I've decided to resurrect the Crack the Bell brand, primarily because I need somewhere to write about all the stuff in my life besides politics. My political ramblings are over at Indigo Journal, and I also have a gig on Examiner.com.
But if you're more interested in the bellybutton lint [...]
Jennifer Read, my partner at Indigo Journal, has breaking news that SC-01 candidate Linda Ketner has been added to the DNCC's "Red to Blue" program.
[...]A source contacted me today with evidence that Cynthia Bensch, Second Congressional District representative on the S.C. State Election Commission, has violated state law by campaigning on behalf of Sen. John McCain. Read all about it at Indigo Journal.
[...]School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties is developing an innovative strategy for addressing overcrowding in district schools: encouraging Chapin-Ballentine parents to move to Northeast Columbia.
Read the rest at Indigo Journal.
Crack the Bell has been my blogging home for over four years, a place where I've vented, raged and, I hope, occassionally entertained and enlightened readers. I've sometimes tried to write about different subjects with different blogs, but at heart I'm a political hack, and I've always returned to writing [...]
I don't know much about Rep. Gresham Barrett. I think I met him once up in Oconee County in 1994. As I recall, he had a pretty unremarkable career in the S.C. legislature before heading on to a so far unremarkable career in the U.S. House. I hear he's going [...]
Questioner: Governor Palin, you've mentioned Alaska's proximity to Russia as evidence of your foreign policy credentials. In all fairness to you, we want to give you yet another opportunity to explain what you meant.
Palin: See, John McCain puts country first, and if planes leave Russia headed east, the first part [...]
FITSNews - or as we like to call it, the house organ for Howie Rich and company (and we do mean "organ") - spares no effort in it's quest to make sure wealthy white people get paid to send their children to public schools. So it's no surprise that Will's' [...]
Here's a thought. Â If John McCain wants to hold the debate previously scheduled for tomorrow on the date of the sole VP debate, let's really switch the dates. Â Let's let Joe Biden and Sarah Palin fly on down to Mississippi tonight and do their debate tomorrow. Â I mean, both these [...]
For the first time in the history of this blog, I am going to agree with and reprint something Jim Demint said:
“After reviewing the Administration’s proposed bailout plan, I believe it is completely unacceptable. This plan does nothing to address the misguided government policies that created this mess and it [...]
Sorry about the link, but I'm driving. Obama is within striking distance of McCain in SC, according to Rasmussen:
http://rasmussenreports.getmobile.com/site?t=1IKy66L6nllaI.HxbkLE9w&tsid=QWS69FBA1A050B700BBD36133A504D6C742136c116&tcid=QWCb86418ef88924781b5765043ee48a76e www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
[...]"Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress [...]
Jump over to MSNBC real quick to watch the rest of "Morning Joe." The whole gang is suddenly cognizant of the fact that the disastrous economic news this week could turn the election into the Obama blowout they can't believe hasn't materialized already - i.e., why can't Obama close the [...]
Between The Donald and The Baroness from yesterday, McCain has the idle rich caucus all but wrapped up.
www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
I had a history teacher in high school who told me that he ended up as a Religious Studies major because he couldn't spell - he signed up for a class called "Sects and Cults" because he thought he could meet some cute, pliable girls.
That has nothing do with what [...]
I don't understand business as well as Carly Fiorina, and though I'm a man, I don't really care all that much about cars. As long as the air conditioner works and there's satellite radio or a cd player so I don't have to listen to WNOK, I'm pretty cool with [...]
You just can't make this stuff up:
Lynn Forester de Rothschild has said she thinks Democratic nominee Barack Obama is arrogant and has a problem connecting with average Americans.
Rothschild is a member of the DNC's Democrats Abroad chapter and splits her time living in London and New York.
First, the McCain campaign attacked Barack Obama for supporting legislation that would have taught kindergartners to defend themselves from sexual predators. Now, we find out that Sarah Palin didn't fire Walt Monegan because he wouldn't can her former brother-in-law, but because he was too aggressive in pursuing federal funding [...]
Earlier today, my mom received one of the more scurrilous emails about Barack Obama that I have seen. In exasperation she sent it to me. I think she hoped I might whip up a reply that she could send back, but impulsive son that I am, I instead responded directly. [...]
It's only been about 24 hours, and already the McCain Lie Counter has been updated twice. The latest:
Senator John McCain’s truth-deficient campaign hit another low last Friday with a fraudulent new ad, this time about immigration.The ad, in Spanish, accuses Senator Barack Obama and his Congressional allies [...]
Brad Warthen's always telling us how he agonizes over which columns to run in the state. I nominate this one by Richard Cohen, a guy as in the tank for McCain as Brad is:
Following his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary, John McCain did something [...]This is graft we can believe in:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Gov. Sarah Palin may eventually have said "no thanks" to a federally funded Bridge to Nowhere.
But a bridge to her hometown of Wasilla, that's a different story.
A $600 million bridge and highway project to link Alaska's largest city to [...]
Campaigns usually like to tip-toe around the "L word" - no, not that, FITS. Usually, you stick to saying your opponent is being "misleading," that he's "distorting" this or "exaggerating" that, or that circumstances are being "misrepresented."
You have to lob some real whoppers and have a [...]
I think MSNBC clearly pissed off Matthews when they elevated the bland David Gregory to anchor duties. He just said Palin's answer that she wouldn't second guess Israel if it were about to launch a strike on Iran "the stupidest answer I've ever heard."
www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Upon reading Joe Darby's op-ed piece that appears in The State today, Brad Warthen said he was struck by "...the apparently unbridgeable cognitive divide between black and white Americans."Â
Having read both pieces, what I'm struck by is the cognitive divide between Brad Warthen's ears.
No rational observer of [...]
In the wee hours before I actually crawled out of bed this morning - that time when I find myself most susceptible to sober reflection - it occurred to me that I've been wrong to try to explain that I wasn't really calling Sarah Palin a "shrill bitch" only to [...]
Just got this in a email from Gallup:
"Seven years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, only 38% of Americans are worried that they or a family member will become a victim of terrorism and about half (52%) are satisfied with U.S. efforts to battle the threat."
Anybody else [...]
I don't usually respond to criticism because if started that I'd have to get more haircuts and clean up my side of the bathroom more often. I also write here because I don't give a damn who agrees with me, and if I get it out of my system here, [...]
Brad asks the inevitable question we hear every four years, "How are we feeling about the Electoral College?"
In the abstract, he thinks it's a fine thing because "...it forces a candidate to have appeal across the country, rather than just a few population centers."
Here's what I wrote over there, [...]
Slack blogging today, since one kid's ride to school didn't show up this morning, another started a three-morning per week pre-school program, and The Boy got on the wrong school bus this afternoon.
There's nothing quite as good for inducing sheer panic as not seeing your second grader emerge from the [...]
Blog without me, guys, I'm playing with my kid today.
I did watch some of the McCain speech. Not surprisingly, I was underwhelmed, but I felt none of the anger I had after listening to the Wednesday. I suspect most Republicans probably have similar feelings.
I did think the ending was [...]
Again, I didn't watch much GOP convention coverage last night. But Robert Gibbs of the Obama campaign was just on "Morning Joe" and said that our own Lindsey Graham was up on stage last night and sounded like Niedermeyer from Animal House. [...]
As a bad American, I watched football instead. I have it on the DVR, and I'll give it a gander.
Someone remind me to not waste any more of my life watching USC play football.
www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Because of this:
Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.Just now in York, PA:
"For two nights I've heard a lot about Sen. McCain - he's got a compelling biography as a POW. I've heard a lot about me, most of it untrue. But I haven't heard a lot about you."
www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
If I'm Sarah Palin, you know what I'm most afraid of?
That unbeknownest to me, somewhere in Ohio one of the Rovian operatives that plucked me out of obscurity is focus group testing whether you get more votes from standing on a tarmac to say goodbye to your son shipping out [...]
Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC just made the most salient argument I've heard yet for judging the two tickets:
On September 11, 2001, Dick Cheney was on the phone with the President of the United States requesting authorization to shoot down civilian airliners that were a threat - that's the new world, [...]
Before I knew what a blog was, I had a personal website full of book reviews and general talk about stuff I like. I also had a section about things I hate that I called "Rant of the Day." I still think that prick Dennis Miller stole half his schtick [...]
...because his plane got shot down." www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
[...]http://www.washingtonindependent.com/4328/more-on-palins-true-stand-on-earmarks www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
[...]Palin excerpts: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Palin_will_attack_Obama.html www.crackthebell.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
[...]Remember those PT-109 tie clips that JFK used to hand out to friends and loyalists? If anybody up in St. Paul can get me one of those silver lapel hooches that John McCain's giving away, I'll pay big money for it.
[...]...because he spent five years in a POW camp without drawing a paycheck."
Just trying to help the GOP come up with some talking points on the economy for their convention.
[...]When word broke the other day that the McCain campaign had hired South Carolina's Tucker Eskew to hold Sarah Palin's hand and take care of the plumbing, there was lot of tut-tuting and aghastiness (huh, I just made up a pretty cool word) that The Original MaverickTM had gotten [...]
I'll try to objectively talk about What I Saw at the Devolution, but I'm sure I'll fail. Let me start with what I thought was good.
The Teddy, Georgie and Ronny videos were good. I mean, most people forget that John McCain was Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Teddy Roosevelt, [...]
It's September, and I find myself in the unbelievable position of rooting for the New York Yankees to win a few games because they are playing the formerly hapless Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
This is not unlike pulling for the Taliban, but a man does what he has to do.
www.crackthebell.com Sent [...]
Just caught a glimpse of Tucker Eskew with Sarah Palin as she surveys the stage she'll speak from tonight. More of my thoughts on Tucker's hiring in a bit, but for now let me say it might be one of the smartest things tactically the McCain campaign has done recently.
www.communikpr.com [...]
As I've said before, I love all things shiny and new. So it should come as no surprise that I've downloaded Google Chrome, the brand spankin' new web browser from the people who bring me my default search engine, my email, my calendar and, increasingly, my word processor.
I'm pretty [...]
In a statement all but guaranteed to drive Brad Warthen bat-shit crazy, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told the Washington Post, "This election is not about issues."
Of course, most of us already knew they felt that way. After all, for months, McCain's whole campaign was based on telling [...]
For any Republicans who happen to wander in here because of the title of this post, be forewarned. From here on out, this will not be one of those blogs you turn to for sympathetic portrayals of Sarah Palin. I happen to believe she is laughably unqualified to be President [...]
This is pretty funny. CNN is running a piece right now - I can't actually see it just hear it over typical airport cacophony - where they went out on the street and asked women if they will vote for McCain since he picked a woman most of them have [...]
Traveling back to SC, no time to fire up the computer. What's the right side of the 'sphere saying about Palin? Post some links for in the comments that I can read when I get in.
I agree with what I just saw on the crawl on CNN: McCain in a [...]
As I noted earlier in the week, being in the middle of the action here in Denver actually allowed very little time for analysis. I decided early on that my job here - and where I would have the most fun - was to just record my impressions. I hope [...]
About 40,000 Flags in the air
www.communikpr.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
“This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here [...]
***
"We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have [...]
I'm briefly in the pressbox to upload some visual goodness for you. Go here for my stuff and here for video and picture updates from other PoliticsBlue Bloggers.
I have a choice: go to the press box where it's cool and I have power and Internet, or stay on the field where it is hot with neither. I'm opting for the latter, so you'll get blogging by Blackberry for a while. There will be regular photo updates posted [...]
Democratic candidate Barack Obama gained ground in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking average from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and now leads Republican John McCain among registered voters by a 48% to 42% margin.
Read more at GALLUP.com.
www.communikpr.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
[...]Barack Obama is now officially the nominee of the Democratic Party. The vote was remarkably orchestrated to allow Hillary Clinton to put him over the top. I'm sure the networks will find one sobbing, bitter Clinton delegate to interview, but believe me, the unity in this room is palpable.
And while [...]
I'm currently at a panel discussion at the Starz Green Room on viral video, starring will.i.am of "Yes We Can" fame. Pretty good stuff - video to follow.
www.communikpr.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tonight's live blog is brought to you by Elonkey. Sign up here for an email reminder, and login this evening here or over at her place.
[...]One of the cool things about being out here in Denver is the chance to meet other bloggers.Â
My new friend Steve Mellon is a staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of America's great newspapers, and he's doing a video blog called Unconventional. He's capturing some really interesting [...]
My grandmother would have been 101-years-old this month. She loved me fiercely. But I don't think she would have ever been prouder of me than had she been around to see me interviewing Dr. Marlena Evans.
[...]
