Could Barack Obama Really Win?

Over at The Carpetbagger Report, guest-poster Anonymous Liberal has a terrific piece that looks ahead to what kind of Presidential campaign Obama would run.

Are you curious what a Barack Obama presidential campaign would look like? Well, anyone who lives in Massachusetts already has a pretty good idea. That’s because Deval Patrick, who just won the gubernatorial race there—becoming only the second black governor in U.S. history–did so by borrowing Obama’s chief political consultant, David Axelrod, and using the same playbook Obama is likely to use if he runs for president in 2008. Patrick ran a campaign promising a new kind of politics; he ran on the twin themes of hope and change, much like Bill Clinton did in 1992, and perhaps most notably, he capitalized on the widespread feeling among voters that his campaign represented an historic moment for their state and their country. All in all, it was an extraordinarily effective campaign.

I think there a lot of people waiting to cast affirmative, positive votes, not defensive, fear-based votes. Obama could really resonate with voters who are turned off by the last few cycles. Go read the whole thing, t's not long and really left me feeling upbeat about politics for a change.

Water is Wet...

...and Bob Knight is an intense guy who can be mean to his players. Since Coach Sociopath is in the news again for "striking" a player, I thought I'd share this video I saw over at Deadspin...

Good stuff. Say what you want about Knight, apparently he has a sense of humor...

ESPN link on the incident. Thanks for not giving me any video, you chumps. UPDATE: Video here. Not a big deal. But Knight's spin is bullshit. At least that's my completely uninformed judgement...

Lame Duck Hunt

Russ Feingold warns about the danger of looking past the lame duck session. He's right. The Republicans have one last chance to shove the White house Wish List through. Number one on the agenda is Bush's Warrantless Wiretapping... there is no excuse for letting any of this shit pass. The Dems have to hold the line.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald with an excellent column on Feingold and the ineptitude of the Beltway punditry.

Walk the Walk

The lame duck session is underway, and after that, begins the Era of Honest Leadership and Open Govenment. Since we won back both Houses in no small part to the GOP's appearance, reputation and, indeed, practice of corruption—the number one objective of the Democratic leadership should be to set up a clean shop. And the faces out front need to be squeaky clean.

Throw chrome-dome Henry Waxman into that picture up there, and you are looking at an All-Star team of good-looking, honest-type faces, with reputations to match. Guys (and gals) you can trust to know what the fuck is going on and to do the right thing. Seriously, these guys could be the cast of a new Sorkin or Kelley drama. As opposed to the Dick Tracy Rogue's Gallery of Denny "Named after the restaurant or vice versa?" Hastert, Tom "Toxic Smile" DeLay, and John "Oompa Loompa Face" Boehner.

THE FACES
It's no surprise the party is going to invest heavily in Barack Obama and feature him whenever possible. Good. The GOP has no one who can cover him. It's not even close.

I've become an avowed Reid fan, and always love to recall the Vegas strangle story...

In July of 1978, a man named Jack Gordon, who was later married to LaToya Jackson, offered Reid twelve thousand dollars to approve two new, carnival-like gaming devices for casino use. Reid reported the attempted bribe to the F.B.I. and arranged a meeting with Gordon in his office. By agreement, F.B.I. agents burst in to arrest Gordon at the point where Reid asked, “Is this the money?” Although he was taking part in a sting, Reid was unable to control his temper; the videotape shows him getting up from his chair and saying, “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” and attempting to choke Gordon, before startled agents pulled him off.

That shit is gold. Try to imagine that scenario playing out in Tom Delay's office... There has been some bullshit thrwon against the wall on Reid over the last year or so, but it seems to always be total crap and comes from the same AP reporter who must be related to Jack Gordon, judging by the grudge he bears Reid.

Pelosi has grown on me. and as much as I wish the new Speaker wasn't right out of central casting for the Republican sterotype of liberal Democrat, she is proving she can hold her own. Anybody who continues to call the President "incompetent" and sticks by it is okay by me.

PRESSURE'S ON
With majority status comes Commitee Chairmanships and the power to not only set the agenda, but the players, and to lay out the rules and the field. This needs to be done carefully and with calculation. Not just because the Republicans are watching, but because the media is watching—they want nothing more than to latch onto the very first "Democrats are the same scumbags as the Republicans" story that pops up. And both of those groups will be working in concert to see that it happens.

And above all, becauser the people who put them in power are watching. I. Am. Watching. It's not good enough that my Party is in power. I actually have expectations of them, and I want them to do the right thing. First, last and fucking always. I am going to be every bit as hard on my Party, if not harder, because I expect and demand better.

THE FIRST CHALLENGE
Committee Chairs are supposed to go to the most senior ranking member on a Committee of the party in power. That's going to be a problem for the Dems: I've never heard of Rep. Alcee Hastings before this thread at Balloon juice. I'd like to keep it that way for everybody else...

In 1989, Hastings was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for bribery and perjury. The Democratic-controlled Senate convicted Judge Hastings of accepting a $150,000 bribe in 1981 in exchange for a lenient sentence and of perjury in his testimony about the case. He became only the sixth Judge in the history of United States to be removed from office by the United States Senate. (The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again, but did not do so.)

If this guy was GOP I'd be quick to assume the worst. Just because he's a Dem, I'm not exactly giving him a pass. there appears to be some doubt about his guilt and then there's the fact that he's kept his nose clean since, but to me that doesn't cut any ice with me. Hastings' history is a political nightmare for a Party trying to establish itself as an alternative to the "Culture of Corruption" of the GOP. Appearances count. Big time.

Put simply, former corrupt judges convicted of taking bribes need to be as far in the background as possible if they are even going to hold office. Good for Hastings (I suppose) for having a successful legislative career after whatever occured back in the day, and if the people in his district want to keep sending him to Congress, I guess that's their business. But elevating him to chair-level makes it the my business and everyone else's. The Democratic leadership has an obligation to protect it's political interest and the institution of congress and to serve as a brake for sitiuations like this.

What's good for Florida's 23rd District isn't necessarily what's good for the party or the country. Sorry, Alcee, keep doing a bang-up job serving your constituents, but you will not be holding a gavel ever again if it's up to me.

THE MURTHA PROBLEM
Everybody knows who Jack Murtha is, he's the grandfatherly former drill sergeant and Viet Nam vet who called Bush out on the War. He stuck his neck out at a time when no other Dem (in office) seemed willing to. He deserves a lot of credit for setting much of the narrative that swept us into power. Pelosi obviously feels indebted to him for that, and has endorsed him to be Majority Leader over current second-in-charge man Steny Hoyer. I don't know anything about Hoyer, but the fact that Murtha appears on this list is NOT a good thing.

While I suspect his larger than life anti-war Vet persona will overshadow any sketchy accusations of wrongdoings—much as McCain has escaped a legacy as one of the Keating Five—Murtha appears not to fit my squeaky clean requirements for leadership. I am hoping Hoyer prevails when that postition comes to a vote.

That's all I got right now, but I will be watching how these things play out, and I want to remind everyone who is drunk on the fact that we are taking back Congress to remember that it's now on us. Trust but verify.

UPDATE: I was under the (hopeful) impression that Pelosi's support for Murtha was a perfunctory gesture to repay him for his loyalty and work on the midterms...endorse him for Leader, and the debt is paid. Hoyer appeared to have the votes over Murtha. According to Josh Marshall, that might not be the case. If Pelosi is calling out the Party on this one, I respect her stones for the move, but I don't necessarily agree with her selection. I want the best (wo)man for the job, not a hand-picked insider. For unity's sake, I hope it all goes down smoothly. I don't want Pelosi effectively neutered right off the bat for backing the wrong horse. More than anything else I want a good Congressional term from the Dems, and I want good things done, and the party needs to be effective and united, not fractured.

UPDATE 2: The more I learn about Murtha, the less I like him as Leader [WSJ link, via John Cole]

That Was Fast...

Good. Fucking. Riddance.

And Bush is offering the job to former CIA Director (and Iran/Contra enabler) Bob Gates. Guess that means Lieberman is out of play, and so will be the Senate.

As to the rest of Bush's remarks today, he was much more conciliatory than I thought he would be, and acknowledged he and his party took "a thumpin'." I'll have more to say later after seeing a transcript, but from what I heard there were several remarks that would NEVER have come out of his mouth before the election. Things along the lines of "Democrats care as much as Republicans about protecting the country" and "supporting the troops."

More to come.

Getting Closer...

From the DSCC [via Kos]:

Both Jon Tester and Jim Webb have won their races in Montana and Virginia but want to make sure that every vote is counted. We expect to have official results soon but can happily declare today that Democrats have taken the majority in the U.S. Senate.

Montana Vote Situation: Jon Tester leads Conrad Burns by approximately 1,700 votes (as of 11am EDT) and counting. In Silver Bow County (Butte), a Democratic stronghold, votes are still being counted but Tester is winning there with 66% of the vote. We expect to gain the majority of these uncounted votes and to add to Tester's margin.

Montana Process: When the counting phase is completed, a canvass will verify the vote tallies. That process could take as long as 48 hours, and must begin within three days and end within seven. Unless the canvass shows the margin to be within ¼ of 1%, there is no recount. As the loser, Burns would have to request the recount. When the votes are all counted, we expect to be outside that recount margin.

Virginia Vote Situation: Jim Webb is up by approximately 8,000 votes and once the provisional ballots are counted, we expect Webb's margin to increase. (Please note that VA absentees were included in the tallies from last night.)

Virginia Process: A canvass is underway to verify the results and we expect that process to finish within a day or so. To be in recount, the margin needs to be less than 1% and Allen (as the loser) would have to request it. Because of Virginia voting laws, the margin would have to be much tighter than it currently is to see any change in the outcome. Given the current margins, that is highly, highly unlikely.

Very encouraging indeed. The House was great, but the Senate is fantastic. Sort of the backhand follow-up to the forehand slap Bush got last night.

Good Morning, America

Say, this feels pretty good! Much as I'd love to gloat and ramble on about the kick in the balls we gave the Republican Party last night, I am swamped. I will leave you with a few links and photos for now...

First, this one...


"Sit the fuck down, Ricky." And...


(Hopefully) "Right next to Ricky, Macaca."

Worth noting...


Minnesota's U.S. Congressman-elect Keith Ellison addresses a crowd gathered to celebrate his victory in Minneapolis. Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

QUOTES AND LINKS:

LA Times:

... and the loser
President Bush wasn't on the ballot, but the election was a referendum on his divisiveness. Voters don't like it.

ON THIS MORNING AFTER, the Republican base seems less impregnable and the genius of Karl Rove less radiant. The president and his surrogates in recent weeks tried to emulate past successes by calling Democrats tax-raising, gay-marriage-loving, terrorist-appeasing clones of John Kerry. But their dog-eared playbook — bequeathed by Lee Atwater to "the architect" Rove — failed them. The center still matters.

So George W. Bush, the "divided we win" president, emerges as the day's biggest loser.

Greenwald:

The outcome of this election -- even with the not-yet-fully-finalized Senate victories in Virginia and Montana -- is as resounding and clear as it gets.

[...] This is a shattering and humiliating defeat for the Republican Party. The excuse that it is just run-of-the-mill, standard sixth-presidential-year impatience is pure nonsense...

[...] when a President is deeply unpopular and his party perceived to be rife with radicalism and corruption, they lose. And when that perception is particularly strong and widespread, they lose badly. That is what happened here, and there is nothing mundane about. These results are extraordinary, and every Bush follower knows it.

Shattering the myth of the Dems "conservative" victory, Greenwald counters:

Democratic candidates won -- in every part of the country and regardless of their ideology -- by committing themselves to one basic platform. They vigorously opposed what have become the defining attributes of the Republican Party and they pledged to put a stop to them: unchecked Presidential power, mindless warmongering, a refusal to accept or acknowledge realities (both in Iraq and generally), and the deep-seated, fundamental corruption fueling the Bush movement and sustaining their power.

Virtually every Democratic winner, from the most conservative to the most liberal, in the reddest and bluest states, have that in common. They all ran on a platform of putting a stop to the radicalism, deceit and corruption that drives the so-called "conservative" political movement.

[...] Democrats didn't win by pretending to be anything. Democrats won because they emphatically and unapologetically vowed to oppose what the Republican Party has become and to put an end to its deeply corrupt and destructive one-party rule -- and that is what Americans, more than anything else, wanted.

[...] The notion that this is a victory for some sort of mealy-mouthed, Bush-lite, glorified centrism is absurd on its face. Democrats won by aggressively attacking the Bush movement, not by trying to be a slightly modified and duller version of it. The accommodationist tack is what they attempted in 2002 and 2004 when they were crushed. They won in this election by making their opposition clear and assertive.

Carpetbagger:

Just as importantly, as far as I can tell, not single incumbent Democrat lost in Congress or in gubernatorial races. None. Think about that — every Republican challenger in the country lost yesterday. It's a dramatic historical rarity, if not an outright historical first. As Chris Bowers cleverly put it, "No one can ever do worse than they did this year."

With this in mind, yesterday wasn't just a defeat for Bush and the Republican Party; it was a repudiation.

And the Line of the Night? Otto Man:

11:17 pm: Fox News is so somber, they've done everything but break out the black armbands. They just called the House for the Democrats, and by their math, it came on Tom DeLay's old seat. Brit Hume looks like someone just shot his dog and then gay married the corpse.

That's all for now. Enjoy the day.

[It's worth noting that Blogger is surprisingly responsive this morning. I thought it would be a nightmare. Nice work, guys.]

Calling it a Night

Things are really looking good, and I must admit better than I anticipated. I am pleasantly surprised to say the least. the House is locked up with a 30-40 seat advantage. The Senate is down to three seats remaining. The Dems need all three to take the Senate and they are currently leading all three. They might pull this off.

McKaskill and Webb have announced victory. Premature perhaps, but I like it. Chris Matthews is lamenting the passing of the time-honored tradition of the loser conceding first. Get over it, Tweety. I like the aggressive stance on this by Dems. Heading into potential recounts, I think it helps to go in as the perceived winner.

Today's the Day

While walking the dog this morning I was greeted with this sign:

TODAY'S THE DAY
VOTE DEMOCRATIC

On the way back home, my neighbors and their baby piled out of the car, flashing their "I Voted" stickers at me.

I am exhilarated about voting today. I don't know what will things will look like tomorrow, but I cannot wait to do my part and cast the ballot. I was going to vote on the way home from work, but I'm not sure I can wait that long...

Oh, and those "Fire the Republicans" stickers I mentioned several weeks back? I gave some away, and put the rest all over my car. Even on the sides. Combined with the other stuff on my car, I'm cruising town like a MoveOn.org-sponsored NASCAR.

I'll make some predictions later on. I've already thrown out my Lieberman scenarios here. Others? John Cole & Co.; entertaining ones from TBogg;

--

UPDATE In a trumped-up display of "I don't care about fucking polls" Dick Cheney is going hunting today. Wow, that guys got fucking ice water Prestone coursing through his veins cyborg cooling system.

Nowhere could I find what he'll be hunting, but you can be sure Harry Whittington is on Mediterranean cruise. As for Cheney's trip, I'm hoping it turns out something like this...

"Yeeeeaaaarrrrrrgghhhhhh!!!"

Simple, sober and convincing. Nice job, Chairman.

"October Surprise?" How 'bout "November Carefully Scheduled Event"...

It's only 9:00 a.m. eastern on Sunday morning, and I already know what every single Republican that shows up on the talk shows will be bragging about—as if it in any way justifies what this country has endured over the last four years...

Iraqi tribunal sentences Saddam to hang
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer 27 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted "God is great!"

As he, his half brother and another senior official in his regime were convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!"

In a surprising moment of class, Saddam issued this statement...

Later, his lawyer said the former dictator had called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and refrain from revenge against U.S. forces.

I would figure Saddam to be much more of a sore loser than that, calling for all sorts of retaliation...

As for the trial itself, I'm sure it was a relative sham, and all, but I am not interested in Ramsey Clark's complaints or anyone else who is going to bitch about the process. Saddam IS getting no less than he deserves. I just think the timing is suspect to say the least.

I'm sure the scheduling of Saddam's death sentence had absolutely nothing to do with Tuesday's election here in the U.S. I mean, seriously, Sunday, November 5 at 8:00 a.m.? What are the odds?

Here's hoping voters see this for the cynical ploy that it is.

FRT: Lazy-ass style

Listening to the iTunes shuffle as I try and make a deadline. It's late (crossing over to early), and I don't have time to give it the full treatment...Click the image to enlarge and read the playlist.

The Kerry Problem

Just quickly, since I am swamped... I wanted to weigh in on theis whole "Kerry Bashed the Troops" bullshit. All of this stuff seemed to explode in a short time and people have already accused Kerry of costing the Democrats the election due to his comments. Here's what he said:

What Kerry said Monday at a campaign rally was this: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Firstly, even at their worst, those comments are simply bone-headed, and not worthy of much attention. They certainly should not be considered election-jeopardizing—but that's not the political atmosphere we all breathe in.

I know John Kerry wouldn't actually bash anybody in the military, despite the Right's accusations, but I really wondered what the hell he meant and why he opened his big pompous mouth. I basically thought to myself, "you're not even running, could you please shut the fuck up?"

That was last night.

An article this morning, entitled "White House—and Dems—want Kerry apology", caught my attention (emphasis mine). Of course, the "Dems" part of the headline is the reason it caught my attention—but buried deep at the bottom of the article is actually a clear explanation of what Kerry meant and what happened, but you have to read past the quotes of all of the Dems eager to throw Kerry under the bus, and the Republican histrionics, before you ever get there.

A Kerry spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, said later that the senator's prepared text had called for him to say: "Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."

That should BE the end of the story, not a small detail thrown in at the end of a story.

If Kerry had come out forcefully and explained that himself (not a spokewoman), and repeatedly, this might have been contained. Instead, Kerry put up the bravado front and lobbed a non-apology apology attack at the White House and others:

Kerry, who fought in the Vietnam War, shot back that the charge was a "crazy" distortion of what he said.

"If anybody thinks that a veteran would somehow criticize more than 140,000 troops serving in Iraq and not the president and his people who put them there, they're crazy," he said at a news conference in Seattle, Washington.

"If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the president and his failed team and a Republican majority in the Congress that has been willing to rubber-stamp policies that have done injury to our troops and to their families," Kerry said.

I'm glad he learned how to punch back, but in this case it was actually the wrong play. He DID fuck up. He fucked up his own joke. A joke I'd contend should never have made it to the podium. But it did and he botched it. His own exact, in context quote skewers him without any help or "distortion" from Republicans. Therefore he does own an explanation. If he properly explained what he meant, an apology "to the troops" would be unnecessary.

Get the record straight. Kerry should be appearing on every forum that will have him and making a clear, simple explanation of what he was supposed to say. Period. Once that is out there and established, you can come back and punch back against stuff like this:

Vice President Dick Cheney at a Montana campaign rally, scolded Kerry for taking "another swipe at the U. S. military."

"Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke, and he botched it up. I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it," Cheney said in a line meant to recall Bush's skewering of Kerry in their 2004 race for saying he had voted for war funds before he voted against them.

GOP Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran and possible 2008 contender, said Wednesday he wasn't sure "how you could construe" Kerry's comment as a joke.

And White House spokesman Tony Snow said Kerry's apology on Imus didn't pass muster. "He's insisting on pointing fingers at the president," Snow said. "Just say you're sorry. It's not hard."

As for the Dems that came out and asked for an apology (Harold Ford and Jon Tester among them), absent a clear explanation from Kerry I can hardly blame them. If Kerry sets the record straight however, they should back off.

Kerry is in a tough position. If he sits on his hands and doesn't help campaign for Dems in the midterms, he'll be criticized for it. He should be stumping, and to his credit, he is. And it appears, by the number of cancellations today, he had an aggressive schedule planned. Good for him. He is after all the party's past-Presidential candidate. That said, he needs to be smart, and safe in what he does. Standing alongside another candidate actually IS the time for carefully planned and calculated comments—something he was criticized for in his own campaign. Instead, he tried to get cute, and it blew up on him and everyone else. When you're a fucking stiff, stick to the script. And keep the script simple.

The best thing Kerry can do now is take some of his now-free time and get out there and attempt to "catapult the propaganda" He should make the rounds on tv and issue his mea culpa, briefly explain exactly what he meant to say, and finish with "I hope that makes perfectly clear that I never meant any insult to our brave troops, and I never would insult them, nor would I make a joke at their expense. End of story. Anybody who continues to insinuate that from this point going forward, is a liar."

UPDATE: Olbermann

Wait 'til Next Year...

Well, that wasn't pretty. The post-season for the Tigers played out just like a condensed version of the regular season—the bats falling silent just like the last few weeks of September. Over the last month of the regular season, the Tigers had an annoying habit of scoring a few runs early in the game, very early, and that's it. Against even teams like Kansas City, if you let the opposition hang around, you're asking for trouble. Do that in the playoffs? You will lose most of the time.

The Tigers still pitched well, but holding the other team to three runs a game only works if you can score more than two. The Tigers couldn't. And to make it worse, the Tigers gave the Cardinals half their runs with Steve Sax throws to first and third.

The patience at the plate the hitters showed against the Yankees and A's disappeared. Credit is due to the Cards pitchers throwing strike one, but clearly the Tigers hitters were unable to adjust. It was late September all over again. They won't use it as an excuse, but I will. I was worried about the week off before the Series started, and I believe it had a lot to do with the problems at the plate. I thought the Tigers still pitched well, but their hitting was screwed. And the inexperience and youth of the team showed in the fielding miscues. Nearly every error by a pitcher was a straight-up yip due to nerves.

I don't have a lot of second-guessing. I thought pulling Casey for a runner would end up costing the Tigers last night, but in the end it didn't matter. Not starting Rogers last night? Irrelevant. I do think Bonderman and Verlander should have been flipped in the rotation, but over the Series, starting pitching really only cost this team Game 1. Leyland's lineups? Aside from the inexplicable lack of ABs for Marcus Thames, no complaints. Leyland did his job, the players didn't do theirs. The hitters didn't hit, and the defense was brutal.

The good news? This team is young. Very young. All of the pitchers except Jones and Rogers are under 30. Bonderman, Verlander, Miner and Ledezma are all 25 or under. Zumaya is 21. Most of the position players are between 27 and 32—the prime of most careers. Everybody but Casey is signed for next year.

I've been saying it all year, this team, with its pitching, has the makings of a contender for years to come. Yes, they have some holes, but the only glaring one is the lack of a lefty power hitter, but Detroit is now an attractive free agent destination, and they can now compete for those players.

They've had their taste, and next year they'll be hungry.

RANDOM SHOTS: Yadier Molina looks like some kind of a weird drag queen... I cannot stand Eckstein. I hate the whole forced hustle act and the oversized hat schtick. FireJoeMorgan is all over G. David Eckstein (the G. stands for Grit)... I've always really like Edmonds, and I am glad to see him get his ring. Same for Pujols. It would've sucked for him to become the next Marino, Bonds, etc.—great player who never won the big one... St. Louis fans are dorks, but they know how to make some professional-ass signs... The Tigers have the best looking road jerseys in baseball... Fernando Rodney is closer to taking over for Todd Jones than Zumaya... Billy Ray Cyrus? Are you kidding?... For some reason, the Ann Arbor radio station was giving me the ESPN radio feed, so I listened to a lot of John Miller and Joe Morgan. I enjoy those guys immensely. It's too bad I can't synch up the radio with the DirecTV so I don't have to endure McCarver.

photo: Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press

Are You Part of This Kakistocracy?

Got an email from the Raconteurs today:

Hi Everyone,

From now until November 1st, you can watch The Raconteurs' performance at the Electric Ballroom in London for Radio 1's John Peel Night by visiting: BBC Electric Proms

You can also watch a live webcast of The Raconteurs set at Vegoose tomorrow at 3:50 pm PST by visiting: ATT Blueroom

Thanks,
The Raconteurs newsletter team
http://www.theraconteurs.com

Listening to the first show right now. Sound quality isn't too great, but the boys are tight.

Enjoy.

Can't You Feel the Recovery?

Today's headlines...

Home price drop is largest in 35 years
WASHINGTON - The median price of a new home plunged in September by the largest amount in more than 35 years, even as the pace of sales rebounded for a second month.

The Commerce Department reported that the median price for a new home sold in September was $217,100, a drop of 9.7 percent from September 2005. It was the lowest median price for a new home since September 2004 and the sharpest year-over-year decline since December 1970. The weakness in new home prices was even sharper than a 2.5 percent fall in the price of existing homes last month, which had been the biggest drop on record.

Jobless, wageless, now your over-mortgaged home is worth less. Exactly who is the "great economic recovery" working for?

Oh, thats right...

Exxon posts $10.49B profit; shares up
DALLAS - Oil industry behemoth Exxon Mobil's earnings rose to $10.49 billion in the third quarter, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. Its shares briefly rose to a 52-week high.

The report Thursday comes as high crude prices this year have fueled record profits in the oil industry, triggering an outcry from consumers who were being asked to pay about $3 a gallon for gasoline in early August.

The largest quarterly profit ever was Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $10.71 billion profit in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The company may beat that next quarter, said Howard Silverblatt Standard & Poor's Senior Index Analyst. "Then in all likelihood they will be at that $40 billion mark for the year."

That would put the company on track for the highest annual profit ever by a U.S. company. Exxon Mobil holds that record with a 2005 profit of $36.1 billion.

BONUS CONSPIRACY THEORY: I disagree with that projection by the way. They will exceed the $36.1 billion record, but they will fall short of $10 billion for the 4th quarter and $40 billion for the year. Why? Because I really think they've agreed to take a hit for the GOP this fall, and lower gas prices. ExxonMobil has maintained it's $10 billion margin for over a year now, if the next quarter comes in "short" at $8 or $9 billion, still huge, I think it proves my point.

The Church of St. Derek

Something smells alright, and it's not citrus and sandalwood.

We all know that Joe Buck and Tim McCarver hold each other gently while crying themselves to sleep in their king-size Holiday Inn bed because the Yankees and Mr. Driven are sitting at home and they have to stoop to once again covering a World Series outside the Bronx.

We all know how happy that makes me. That the Tigers eliminated the MFYs and went on to the Series is just icing. So what do I have left to get pissed off about? The forthcoming Derek Jeter Coronation and Awards Spectacular.

Everyone pretty much concedes that Jeter will win his first MVP this season. He had a fine season. Arguably an MVP caliber season. But I think he wins this award more on reputation and less for what he actually did, and for what happened around him—namely the Sox imploding and David Ortiz literally putting his heart into the game, and the fact that the two other (more?) deserving candidates, Joe Mauer and Travis Hafner toil in relative obscurity. To reiterate what I've already stated...

FOX continued to hype this Yankees team as one of, if not THE greatest lineup in history. If that's true, Jeter does not deserve the MVP. Even with the loss of Sheffield and Matsui. Sorry, they still had five guys score a hundred runs. Jeter is an MVP caliber player to be sure, and this may have been his best season, but I still think Joe Mauer deserves it more. He hits in a lineup with one other big stick. He won the batting crown over Jeter. People talk about the grind of Jeter playing short. Mauer plays catcher. Shortstop is a physical and mental vacation compared to catching.

But apparently, Derek deserves the 2006 MVP as some bullshit Lifetime Achievement Award. As if his rings and undeserved Gold Gloves aren't enough. But, this season, they say, he had to "carry" a team through the "adversity" of only six other All-Stars and MVPs in the lineup instead of eight. Please. And his leadership? Please. I think it’s pretty clear that Jeter left A-Rod hung out to dry and continues to do so. His behavior over the last season or two regarding A-Rod should pretty much unravel the overhyped captain myth.

And as Seth Mnookin points out...

The endless articles celebrating Jeter’s desire to play in the World Series are ridiculous. Yes, we know Jeter likes the Series; that’s about as far from unique as is possible. And yes, we know he, along with the rest of the Yankees, he thinks of the Series as more of a right and less of a privilege; that’s the unique part. If you want to point something out, focus on that.

Nicely put, Seth. And this one from Chad Finn bears repeating as well...

It's hard to pin any of this on Teflon Jeter, who at least looks like he sincerely gives a damn and always plays his ass off 'til the last drop . . . but at some point, doesn't all the talk about the "businesslike" clubhouse and the 25 players, 25 private planes mentality reflect a negative light on the Yankees' captain? Rather than unifying this team, in tough times he always seems to go out of his way to make the point that this is a "different group" than the 4-time champs, almost as if he's disingenuously distancing himself from the mess. He's a wonderful player, but the more I see, the more I believe his leadership is entirely by example - at best.

As we all know, the MVP votes are already counted, but we won't find out who wins 'til next month. If yesterday's announcement of Derek Jeter winning the Hank Aaron Award is any indicator, Mr. Driven has it in the bag. Let me point you to this breakdown of the top AL hitters and where Jeter fits in the list. There are a slew of stats to back up this conclusion:

Travis Hafner is a better hitter than Derek Jeter. So are lots of other people. Jeter might deserve the MVP, because he put up his very very good stats from the SS position, which makes those stats very very valuable. But the Hank Aaron Award is not the MVP.

So there you have it, folks. Derek Jeter. Winner of the Hank Aaron Award for being the first-or-second-best-hitting SS in the AL, and probably like the third- or fourth-best hitter on his own team.

That's what we give the award out for, correct?

I don’t even know what the fuck "SecA" and "IsoP" are, but I know Jeter sure as hell didn’t deserve this award. There is nothing “intangible” about the Aaron Award. It is hitting and stats. Period. Jeter didn't actually lead the League in anything except perfume sales. And looking closely at the obscure stats as that post does, choosing Jeter as the winner looks even worse. This is the one award where a guy like Ortiz should be able to say, “So what if I’m a DH. Hand it over.”

I guess Jeter should just clear a space on his mantle for his MVP now. At this rate, leave room for another undeserved Gold Glove and, what the hell, give him the Cy Young and a freaking Grammy as well.

I'm Back

I've been on vacation for a week and blissfully unaware of the events of the outside (non-Disney) world.

It does a body good.

Not until the last couple things I saw at Epcot did politics begin to reenter my mind... Little things just kept creeping in like how all of the good things and advances in our civilization seem to come from a liberal mentality rather than capitalist or conservative. It all hit home after watching the "Circle of Life" video hosted by Simba the Lion channeling Al Gore, that Republicans might, in fact, be evil. At least as evil as a Disney villain anyway...

I am now slammed with backed-up freelance work, so posting might continue to be light for a while. But I am back

Corrupt Republican of the Day

You don't even need to read the article. The photo caption pretty much sums it all up...

In this Feb. 15, 2005, file photo, Lester M. Crawford talks to FDA employees in Rockville, Md. Crawford, the former FDA chief, was charged Monday with lying about his ownership of stock in companies regulated by his agency. (AP Photo/Stephen J. Boitano)

He's pleading guilty, so I guess we'll miss the round of right-wing whines about how George Soros and the Dems are really behind this. The way things are going, immediate guilty pleas may be the best thing Republicans can do. Try to get it out of the papers before anybody notices...

[h/t Balloon Juice]

They're Grrreat!

The Tigers finished off the sweep of the A's tonite. It was a tight game with plenty of tension and a dramatic walk-off finish. During the Rogers game last week against the Yanks, it just seemed like the Tigers might not lose again. They haven't. They've now won seven in a row and await the winner of the NLCS. The way the AL has dominated the NL lately, plus the way this Tigers team is pitching, hitting and picking it, I think they will make a meal out of whoever they face in the World Series.

Psycho Babble

Apparently there is a line that talking heads at FOX cannot cross. No, not Hannity, "Five in the Noggin" Gibson or O'Reilly...it only applies to sportscasters... The annoying Steve Lyons was fired by FOX after Friday's game when he made a "racially insensitive comment" in the booth...

Later, Piniella said the A's needed Thomas to get "en fuego" -- hot in Spanish -- because he was currently "frio" -- or cold. After Brennaman praised Piniella for being bilingual, Lyons spoke up.

Lyons said that Piniella was "hablaing Espanol" -- butchering the conjugation for the word "to speak" -- and added, "I still can't find my wallet."

"I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now," Lyons continued.

FOX executives told Lyons after the game he had been fired.

That sounds pretty bad. And that's the way I read the news at David Pinto's site, but there is actually a plausible excuse for what Lyons said. Sort of...

In the second inning of Friday's game between Detroit and Oakland, Piniella talked about the success light-hitting A's infielder Marco Scutaro had in the first round of the playoffs. Piniella said that slugger Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez needed to contribute, comparing Scutaro's production to "finding a wallet on Friday" and hoping it happened again the next week.

Without the context of Piniella's earlier wallet analogy, it looks pretty bad for Lyons. But I believe him when he says he was kidding...

"If I offended anybody, I'm truly sorry," Lyons said in a phone interview. "But my comment about Lou taking my wallet was a joke and in no way racially motivated."

It was a joke about Piniella, not a joke about Hispanics being pickpockets. I won't miss Lyons in the booth because I found him annoying (though his replacement today was actually worse), but he deserved to be fired for being a tool and a shitty analyst, not for being a trumped-up racist.

Friday Night Videos

Here's the video for what will presumably be the next single from The Raconteurs—"Level." Good choice. It's one of my favorite songs off the best album of the year. Quicktime link


I've already watched/listened to this video at least five or six times today. It's everything I want in a music video. Namely, the band playing. And instead of synching to the album, the boys just invited some fans to an old warehouse and played live for the cameras. My only complaint is too much Jack and Brendan and not enough drummer. You can never show too much drumming.

My great regret is that I bought this album on iTunes instead of the physical CD. Otherwise, I'd have mailed everyone I know a copy.

FRT: Read it and Weep...

1. "Crooked Teeth" - Death Cab Pretty good tune. I'm happy to see a solid band like this make headway into the crapstorm that is popular music. 7

2. "Street Fighting Man" - Stones Since this is a "Hot Rocks" and radio staple it's easy to dismiss this song as overplayed. It's been a while since I've heard it, and, damn, this is good shit. Songs like this are the reason why I always rank the Stones ahead of the Beatles. 10

3. "I Walk the Line" - John Cash The Man in Black. 'nuff said. 8

4. "Dollar Bill" - Screaming Trees The Guinness Book Twins back for an encore. 7

5. "Ball and Biscuit" - White Stripes Is it blues? Rock? Whatever. It kicks total and complete ass. Jack and Meg at the top pf their game. 10

6. "Perfect Strangers'" - Deep Purple For the crunchy blues riffs of "B&B" to transition straight into Jon Lord's majestic keys? "Oh, yeah..." 9

7. "Oh!" - Sleater Kinney Always a big fan of good chick-rock. File under Magnapop. Another one from the well-stocked AA library. 7

8. "4 Degrees" - Tool Starts out eerily like a Stone Temple Pilots tune, then shifts into typical Tool. Which is a good thing. 8

9. "Juicebox" - The Strokes Another fake-out. Opening bassline fools me into thinking it's Tad's "Jack Pepsi" every time.... 7

10. "Police and Thieves" - The Clash When you hear a song like this, it's easy to forget this was considered a punk band. Sort of. Well, they had mohawks. At least Joe Strummer did... 9

8.2 average. Kneel before Zod.

"Let's Go To The Videotape..."

Watch this. One of those (many) clips that leaves me cringing, "I cannot believe this fucking moron/penis is our President." No wonder everything's so screwed.


Seriously, after watching something like that I can almost understand why, and forgive the press for not asking Bush the tough questions. It's quite clearly a fucking waste of time, and has to be immensely frustrating. Malveaux doggedly keeps after Bush, yet he just leans over the podium, takes cracks at her, lies, and then makes utterly no sense at all.

If I were her, I'd have thrown my mike at him and walked out of the room after about ten seconds of his bullshit.

[h/t C&L]

UPDATE: When checking the link, I realized this exchange took place in July. His moron/penisness still stands. And since then he's been proven wrong as well.

Test a Dud? Doesn't Matter.

It seems to some experts that certain signatures of the "event" in North Korea indicate a failed rather than a successful nuclear test [link]. There was an exposion, radiation and a meaasurable seismic impact, but none of those was as big as it should have been. This is undoubtedly good news, for now, but we are unlikely to get much confirmation one way or another, since all parties concerned are served by the scare factor of a nuclear NK: Obviously Kim Jong-il want everyone to think he was successful—badly enough to blow up a giant pile of "dirty" TNT to claim a nuke? And on this side of the ocean, a high-profile pursuit of nukes by NK plays right into Bush's rhetoric, and will be a major plank for him in his bullshit platform supporting Congressmen for the rest of the election cycle—he certainly won't be walking the "threat" back. When all you have is fear, use fear itself...

If North Korea's test was a fake or a bust, you might expect me to calm down from my post yesterday. Not blood-y like-ly. Everything I wrote still holds true regarding Bush's failure, and even if the North Korean half of the equation is postponed, I'd just be writing the same post in another 12-18 months. Once the election passes, Bush will stop his tough talk and go back to fucking off in regards to North Korea, and no progress will be made as a result of this event.

This latest foreign relations "opportunity" will be a washout just like all the rest.

UPDATE: Title modified. Cartoon added to replace previous art.