Republicans Assault Democratic Tracker While Rep. Wolf Does Nothing

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 26, 2008 at 10:11 pm

Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) is in what must be a tough race against Judy Feder because suddenly he’s breaking out the attack ads on TV. And also looking on peacefully while his goons assault members of Feder’s staff:

That’s via Matt Stoller. Lowell Feld explains:

On Friday, two Feder staffers approached Congressman Wolf in a public location to ask him some questions. Two different individuals who were accompanying Congressman Wolf (staffers? relatives? friends?) assaulted the Feder staffers, as you can see quite clearly in the video. The first Feder staffer was hit with a cane and then punched. The second staffer (as you will see on the video) was pinned to a wall and forcibly held there. All of this took place in the presence of Congressman Wolf, who stood by and did nothing to intervene.

I’m sure he’s a nice guy, though.

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Politics

Many Kentucky voters misinformed about Obama’s faith.

By Faiz Shakir on Oct 26, 2008 at 10:09 pm

A poll of likely Kentucky voters finds that, “despite heavy national media attention about Obama’s faith, more than half of likely Republican voters — 54 percent — and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian.” The poll indicated that “14 percent of likely Kentucky voters — 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents — think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith.” Mahmoud Shalash, imam of the Islamic Center of Lexington, argued that the poll numbers are the result of a deliberate fear-mongering campaign:

“I am concerned that some people are spreading this rumor for political purposes, trying to exploit the anti-Islamic sentiment in this country that ties Muslims with terrorists,” Shalash said. “I don’t blame the ignorant bigots as much as the educated people who try to perpetrate this.

Update

Flashback: Colin Powell on Meet the Press last Sunday: “Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that [Obama] is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”

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Climate Progress

OT election humor

By Joe Romm on Oct 26, 2008 at 9:31 pm

Via HuffingtonPost:

Incredible Obama/McCain dance-off
Funny and poignant return of the Waaaasup! guys
Opie and the Fonz weigh in.

Culture

Pittsburgh FAIL

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 26, 2008 at 7:12 pm

Turns out you need to make sure your backup long snapper has practiced throwing the long snap. Just saying.

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Yglesias

Quote of the Day

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 26, 2008 at 6:25 pm

Bill Kristol: “Neville Chamberlain also had a fine temperament and a good intellect.”

By the same token, I suppose, Adolf Hitler was a hothead who took on the special interests.

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Yglesias

The Solution

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 26, 2008 at 5:12 pm

The Hill reports that Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) would like to be appointed to fill the vacancy that would be left behind if Barack Obama moves into the White House:

But Jackson Jr.’s path is by no means assured. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) also wants to replace Sen. Obama (Ill.) in the upper chamber if he is elected president.

This gives Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who must choose between an African-American political scion and a close ally of the labor movement, a difficult decision.

I think the obvious solution is to give the job to Chicago’s 1997 Person of the Year — William Ayers.

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Yglesias

McCain: Vote for Me and I’ll Create an International Crisis

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 26, 2008 at 4:27 pm

Lately, John McCain’s been trying to dine out on Joe Biden’s weird remark that electing Barack Obama would somehow prompt others to “test” him within six months. But the rhetoric around it is a bit weird:

“I have been tested,” McCain said, with a certain gritted-teeth look at the state fairgrounds in New Mexico. “I’m gonna test them. They’re not gonna test me.”

So rather than respond to an international crisis provoked by others, McCain intends to provoke one himself? Why? Sounds dangerous.

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Politics

Kyl Says Bush Is Blame-Free In Financial Mess: ‘The President Doesn’t Run The Economy’

By Satyam Khanna on Oct 26, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Today on CNN’s Late Edition, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) claimed President Bush’s economic agenda had nothing to do with the current financial crisis, insisting defiantly that Bush “doesn’t run the economy”:

KYL: George Bush doesn’t run the economy. He didn’t create this problem. His tax rates being lower actually helped for six years create the second largest economic growth that we’ve had in the history of the country in recent years. … The President doesn’t run the economy.

Watch it:

The current financial crisis is a direct result of Bush running the economy. Bush’s massive tax cuts for the wealthy have contributed to record inequality and historic deficits and debt. The administration gutted several “specific regulations” of the financial system, helping plunge Wall Street into the mess it is facing today.

Embracing a common conservative talking point, Kyl tried to lay all the blame for the crisis on the lack of regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As Alan Greenspan, SEC Chairman Chris Cox, and former Treasury Secretary John Snow — along with the Wonk Room — have stated, this is false.

CAP’s Scott Lilly noted that for the past eight years “we have papered over the fact that American consumers do not have the purchasing power to sustain economic expansion.” Why? Bush’s policies have done nothing for the majority of Americans.

If Bush or any president doesn’t run the economy, then who does, Sen. Kyl?

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Yglesias

O’Hanlon for Obama

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 26, 2008 at 3:22 pm

An endorsement from my favorite very serious person:

Although a lifelong Democrat who hasn’t wavered in his presidential vote since 1980, I have been unable to support Senator Barack Obama over the past two years. But after weighing the options in the closing months, I have decided to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket.

Political scientists tell us that VP choices don’t matter much, but for me, a tie among the heads of the two tickets means that the VP choice is determinative. And Senator Biden, whatever his flaws and limits, is clearly a much better choice than Governor Palin, at least at this point in their respective careers.

O’Hanlon seems to be saying here that he’s in the rare category of people who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and then flipped to Walter Mondale in 1984.