More (Mostly Stupid) News About the Election (Update: Hill Retracts Boxer Expose)
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; send your tips here.]
I considered just updating my last post about election news, but I figured instead I would start a new post.
Let’s start with the big news in Alaska. A CBS affiliate called Joe Miller’s campaign and left a voicemail. But then they failed to hang up the phone properly and the result was golden as they were caught cooking up ways to embarrass Joe Miller. They did send a “sorry we got caught” apology blaming iphone. Then later they released a statement claiming it wasn’t what it sounded like. And this might be quote of the day material. Palin both tweeted and said on Chris Wallace’s show (at about the 2:40 mark) that the persons in the recording were “corrupt bastards.” That tape is worth watching, too, because Palin is asked about her endorsement of O’Donnell.
Now, to welcome Patterico back, we move to California. First we get Barbara Boxer telling us that the greatest threat to national security is war driven by carbon. Not demand of oil, mind you, but apparently over fear regarding global warming. And Manbearpig.
[Major Update: There was originally in this spot a story exposing potential corruption with Barbara Boxer. The Hill, which published it, has withdrawn the story declaring that it had factual inaccuracies. So bluntly this entire item is defunct. I will preserve the original item at the end of this post, rather than pretend I never wrote it (like some people), but it would be completely unfair at this point to credit the Hill story at all. And with that PSA, we now resume our original mocking roundup.]
Next, one thing I forgot to include, but knew of before the last post was the story about video of Jerry Brown admitting that the last time he ran for governor he pretended to have a clue but didn’t. Well, Whitman turned that sound bite into a very harsh ad.
Another harsh ad is really an update of an item in the last post. I wrote:
For a palate cleanser, we get Representative Betty McCollum (D-itsy), previously remembered for leaving out the words “under God” when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, telling us al Qaeda is not a threat anymore. Well, thank God.
Well, Teresa Collett, her challenger, put out an ad incorporating the recent news of package bombs. That’s gonna leave a mark.
Barney Frank, meanwhile, obviously feels a little threatened. So he has decided to bring in the big guns to help him. Namely, Michael Dukakis. Um, good luck with that.
Meanwhile in Florida, Crist (I-ndecorous) has confirmed that voting for him pretty much is a vote for a Democrat, saying he will caucus with them if he wins. He’s the Charles Johnson of Florida politics. And the story of the pressure put on Meek, the official Democrat in the race, to drop out gets even weirder with this revelation:
Florida independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist personally lobbied Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek to exit the race this week, offering him a cross that had been a gift from his sister, Mr. Meek said Friday.
The gesture occurred Monday as Mr. Crist and Mr. Meek were surrounded by local Jewish leaders at a Hollywood, Fla., meeting of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
“I was shocked when he did it,” Mr. Meek said in an interview late Friday. “I told him to keep the cross and that I carry my Christianity in my heart.”
Creepy. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton, after having urged Meeks to drop out, is now going to stump for him. That should be awkward.
And hey, remember Alvin Greene, the guy who apparently randomly won the Democratic Senate primary South Carolina? Well, surprise! He is losing and looking back and trying to figure out why he is losing. Psst, Alvin, maybe it was because you acted like a nut. I mean there is that.
Speaking of memorably nutty candidates, Jimmy McMillan, a.k.a. the “Rent is Too Damn High” guy has an action figure:
It costs $50, leading Buzzfeed to snark that the action figure is priced too damn high.
And in truly stupid news, in Broward County, Florida Jaemi Levine (D-elicate) filed criminal charges because her opponent, David Thomas, squeezed her hand too hard in a pre-debate handshake. By the way, this is not a picture of her challenger:
Nor is this:
And this is not his foundation for adoption, but it’s a good cause, so I figured I would link to it. (That is the charity created by the founder of Wendy’s, Dave Thomas, and motivated by his own history as an adoptee. May he rest in peace.)
Finally, Hot Air suggested that Morgan Freeman was the narrator of this ad for Republican William Lawson. Um, I don’t think so. The Blaze seems skeptical, too. More likely it is a sound alike. But hey, listen for yourself and tell me what you think.
Anyway, one more day to go. Who wants to guess whether it gets crazier today, or more sane?
Update (cont): The following is from the original text, moved down here for the sake of clenliness. Mind you, as noted above, this story is defunct and not to be trusted, but rather than just delete it and pretend I never wrote it (like some people) I am shunting it to the end of the post).
—————-
Meanwhile, the Hill published a story yesterday about Barbara Boxer getting a sweetheart deal in relation to a tribal casino. Some highlights:
In 1998, Lynn Woolsey introduced legislation reinstating an Indian tribe in the wine country of Northern California that had been declared defunct by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1958…. In 2000, Boxer helpfully picked up the Woolsey bill, but changed the prohibition against gaming, and designated any land that the group owned to be considered as a reservation.
In the same year, Boxer got her language into the Omnibus Indian Advancement Act of 2000, and with the changes unbeknownst to either fellow Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) or House sponsor Woolsey (D), the bill was signed into law by then-President Clinton…
Shortly after passage, the newly minted Indian tribe declared that after much soul-searching, the only thing it could do was open a casino on the outskirts of San Francisco in the town of Rohnert Park.
The tribe turned its fortunes over to two firms to make its dreams of wealth come true — Platinum Advisers, a political consulting/lobbying firm, and Kenwood Investments 2. Amazingly, and I’m certain quite coincidentally, Barbara Boxer’s son, Doug, was a partner in each firm.
It goes through a few more steps to point out that Doug Boxer ended up making $10 million out of this. Good work if you can find it, eh? As they say, read the whole thing. But as you will notice, that is the cached version of it. The original, which I originally learned of through Hot Air has been removed from the site. So, did they decide it wasn’t true? Or did Barbara Boxer’s lawyers scare them into silence? I think I will see what googling around show me, but for now that is a mystery.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=162262986416
enough said – well worth the 4 minutes
EricPWJohnson (2d1c68) — 11/1/2010 @ 5:54 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBTyTWOZCM
Sorry here is the link
EricPWJohnson (2d1c68) — 11/1/2010 @ 6:02 amI’m going to go out on a big limb and bet crazier. Of course if that bet was placed with Barbara Boxer, apparently I might end up hitting a sweeeet jackpot.
Best midterm election news… Obama has finished his “This isn’t about me, but it’s all about me” tour.
I hear a referendum comin’ round the bend and I suspect it’s going to be a well-deserved train wreck for “The Bowing One” and the “Transformational” Progressive agenda.
“TWO INCREDIBLY INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS ON WHICH TO REFLECT AS YOU PREPARE TO VOTE NOVEMBER 2nd”
heir2freedom (d9456e) — 11/1/2010 @ 6:46 amhttp://heir2freedom.blogspot.com/2010/10/two-incredibly-inspirational-videos-on.html
The Boxer story was beautiful. She helps to resurrect a defunct Indian tribe, her son options land next to where they will establish their reservation/casino exempt from all California environmental and zoning approval processes and Dougie Boxer hits the jackpot on advisory fees. It no wonder the Hill felt incredible heat to pull the story down.
During October we also learned that Boxer had seven previously undisclosed mortgage loans from Countrywide while she was presiding over the ethics probe of Chris Dodd for similar issues. Undisclosed because they were on non income producing properties or something.
Shame on you Babs.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 7:24 amHelp!
My state is about to elct Andrew Cuomo. I think we would be better off electing the ex Madam Davis. At least she believes in lowering taxas.
The Last Tradition
samuel gonzalez (4e0dda) — 11/1/2010 @ 7:30 amI would definitely like to see/hear any of these hit pieces done by this station, rather than hearing “claims” of them, because obviously if they’ve discussed then they have broadcasted these type of hit pieces.
Right?
Or is this another case of it has to be true just because Andrew says it is?????
JEA (4ddf0a) — 11/1/2010 @ 7:35 amDo not believe the reporters actual words. Nothing to see here. Move along. Good Allah.
JD (803412) — 11/1/2010 @ 7:52 amA.W. – Comment filtrated.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 9:24 amI’m sure you would.
I’m sure you liked rathergate being aired too.
What liberal media?
Dustin (b54cdc) — 11/1/2010 @ 9:27 amDaley, retrieved, but i will point out the big update in the post. it looks like the hill is completely disowning it.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 11/1/2010 @ 9:29 amDems are all lying scum and Boxer isn’t no exception at to the rule! She have must to be voted off out of office; I does hope the Califfornians does the right things tomorrow!
The Anonymous Tea-Partier (0692b1) — 11/1/2010 @ 9:39 amA.W. – Thanks, but I’m unclear exactly what part of the Hill’s story is being disputed. It certainly does not sound like the substance. So Doug Boxer was not a partner in one of the firms advising the fake Indian tribes, did he have another title or was he a mere consultant? Did he still make mint off the deal or not? The Sacramento Bee covered the story on October 10. The Hill should correct the alleged inaccuracies and reissue the story instead of caving in to threats.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 10:40 amA.W. – I think now anything with a link is being filtrated. I linked the SacBee story from 10/10.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 11:12 amdaley
fished out. links have an issue.
if you email patterico about it, he might be able to do something i can’t.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 11/1/2010 @ 11:33 amA.W. – My point is that Boxer and her son were both involved in this fake Indian tribe’s resurrection and gaming licensure and negative environmental impact on the affected area. To pretend otherwise is to ignore the evidence. The only question is getting the facts right, not suppressing them.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:04 pmThe KTVA “reporters” deserve a nice check from the Murky campaign for their faithful service. I couldn’t believe how much Ben Smith spun this one to exculpate them.
The Jerry Brown lie quote is not only damning for Moonbeam, but especially for Whitman’s highly paid staff. They should have had this long ago. Now it’s probably too late.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:13 pmNo kidding.
Good grief. This ad would have worked wonders before California was so tired of ads at this late stage.
This and the Clinton debate comments and Meg talking about her success would have won this election.
I hope it’s not too late. The stakes are high.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:19 pmWell, I’m going to hold my nose and vote for her anyway. Both choices are noisome, but Brown is more so.
Whitman is like a rotting piece of meat, pulsating with maggots. Brown is like a glass of poison.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:29 pm“Whitman is like a rotting piece of meat, pulsating with maggots.”
Bradley – That sounds like Olbermann talking about Palin or Malkin. Nicely done.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:33 pm“I’m sure you would. I’m sure you liked rathergate being aired too.”
I did, actually.
Because there was real evidence Rather and his buds fabricated evidence. Unlike here, where I HEAR – rather than see – anything like actual stories which shows supposed ‘intent.’
(I thought you people knew the law…)
Yet I’m supposed to take Breitbart’s word for it because I should be like all of you – gullible to worthless statements of political hacks ‘backed’ by heavily edited video.
I believe Andrew Breitbart like I believe Keith Olbermann.
JEA (4ddf0a) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:44 pmJEA – do you dispute the words of the JournoListers?
Barcky is going on-air with Ryan Seacrest tomorrow.
JD (b8ac0e) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:46 pmEven the JournoListers do not dispute the words. But the non partisan thinker JEA does.
JD (b8ac0e) — 11/1/2010 @ 12:51 pmJEA,
KTVA accepted the audio’s authenticity by preparing an explanation, not too successfully IMO.
Of course, you can bend over backward and pretend all the talk about finding a molester on Miller’s staff or a Rand Paul incident was just harmless talk. But you really have to work at it.
daleyrocks,
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:02 pmI was merely expressing my exasperation at voting for a horribly flawed candidate in hopes of averting utter catastrophe. It would feel more self-righteous for me to vote Libertarian, say a pox on both houses, but the stakes are too high. At least Whitman appears likely to fight the public employee unions. That’s the one positive reason I can find to vote for her, as opposed to against Moonbeam.
I caught a couple of minutes of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann last night.
Neo (7830e6) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:03 pmHis worry … that some Republican was going to extort Obama to make his birth certificate public.
Now there are a lot of problems in this world, but, frankly, this sits near the bottom. There is no death involved .. at least not by the electorate. There is no money involved .. especially not the taxpayers money.
If the worst that can happen as a result of Republicans taking over DC on Tuesday, is the revelation of Barack Obama’s “long form” birth certificate, then there is no better reason to go out and vote for Republicans.
Still on journolist huh? In 5 years you’ll be shocked to find out people have facebook groups where they plot your destruction.
imdw (3a28bb) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:04 pmI think Meg has run a weak campaign for all the money she spent. Still, I think it might be a good thing for Cal if she tried to run the state like a business. She will quickly run into the same suspects that attacked Arnold’s initiatives but he made a tactical error by running a special election which allowed the unions to whine about how expensive that was.
I think the state will have to go into some sort of receivership to get things fixed. The latest news about the teachers’ pension fund is just the cherry on top.
If Moonbeam wins, it is game, set, match.
Mike K (568408) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:08 pm“His worry … that some Republican was going to extort Obama to make his birth certificate public.”
Neo – That’s hilarious. Even Olbermann is a Birther.
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:09 pm“Barcky is going on-air with Ryan Seacrest tomorrow.”
JD – I thought he was doing Justin Bieber? Or is it both?
daleyrocks (940075) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:12 pmJEA
actually rather probably didn’t fabricate anything. he was just duped.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:13 pmimdw,
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:15 pmIt was very thoughtful of Ezra Klein to identify the lefty agenda-setters. Whenever someone is identified as a JournoList alum, think of it as homage to his labors.
Agenda setters. I like that one.
imdw (150cd7) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:18 pmMike K.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:20 pmEven if Moonbeam wins, there will soon be a budgetary collision between California’s public unions and the lefty social-service supporters. It will be interesting to see which side the Ds choose.
Bradley, they’ll blame the taxpayers for not coughing up more.
SPQR (26be8b) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:22 pmSPQR,
Of course they will. But they’ll still fight each other over what money there is.
BTW, I’ll be part of a team live-blogging election results in San Diego. It’s a good eclectic bunch.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:26 pmDustin: some enormous percentage of Californians vote absentee. It’s too late for anything but the most egregious scandal to change the results.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:29 pmComment by SPQR — 11/1/2010 @ 1:22 pm
They’ll probably try to set up toll booths at all the major and minor exits from the State to collect “Exit Fees”.
AD-RtR/OS! (273260) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:30 pminsert frowny face
Dustin (b54cdc) — 11/1/2010 @ 1:42 pmIn the past, I’ve seen people on this blog urge that others vote absentee so they couldn’t be effected by last-minute october-surprise media firestorms directed at conservative candidates.
That one cuts both ways: making people immune to that also makes them immune to last-minute attack ads sponsored by conservative candidates.
Easy absentee voting means the election takes place over a month, and makes last-minute attacks substantially less effective.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 11/1/2010 @ 2:12 pmAphrael, that’s a very good point, but we’re both opposed to rampant absentee voting for different reasons.
This ad should have been out several months ago, making the surprise element a complete non-factor. I’m really frustrated.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 11/1/2010 @ 2:17 pmEven if Moonbeam wins, there will soon be a budgetary collision between California’s public unions and the lefty social-service supporters. It will be interesting to see which side the Ds choose.
At this point I am hoping for an “Only Nixon could go to China” sort of deal with Brown getting serious about the looming trainwreck of public pensions. It all depends on what Brown is thinking. I am guessing that he is basically a smart enough guy to understand the magnitude of the problem, but up until now he has never been willing to really cross the Dem interest groups because he has always lusted after higher office. If he does see this as his swan song, maybe he will decide that the only possible positive legacy he can have is to go down as the governor who saved California by getting real on spending reform. A longshot maybe, but about the only hope we have short of reorganizing the state after the anticipated financial meltdown.
JVW (eccfd6) — 11/1/2010 @ 2:35 pmIf he does that, JVW, I will be his biggest fan.
However, we’re talking about a man who lies to win office. He actually seems proud of it. For this reason, it is not reasonable to believe in this very unlikely promise.
I hope you’re right, though. At this point, hard to do more than just hope California is saved by some miraculous leadership.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 11/1/2010 @ 2:44 pmDefinitely a longshot, JVW, there is no reason to believe that Brown has any such intention or ability.
SPQR (26be8b) — 11/1/2010 @ 2:44 pmI recently read somewhere the expression
“Obama = Keynesian”
I have to wonder how many at the Rally for Sanity would have given grief for being a Birther to the bearer of such a sign …
I can hear it now … “You Birthers are all alike ! President Obama warn’t born in no Keynesia !” …
Alasdair (e7cb73) — 11/1/2010 @ 3:26 pmDefinitely a longshot, JVW, there is no reason to believe that Brown has any such intention or ability.
Perhaps you are right, SPQR (and Dustin), but I am hoping that Brown’s ego is his saving grace. His father has the legacy of building the California higher education system (for better or worse) and much of the expansion infrastructure. I am hoping that the younger Brown also wants to be remembered by history and knows that if he does not have a substantial long-lasting accomplishment this time around he will never be anything more than Governor Moonbeam.
JVW (eccfd6) — 11/1/2010 @ 3:58 pmAlasdair, have you seen the video about this on the National Review homepage (it’s nationalreview-dot-com which I won’t hyperlink since A.W. reports that links are being sent to moderation)? It’s from the Second City Network and can also probably be found at their site secondcity-dot-com.
JVW (eccfd6) — 11/1/2010 @ 4:04 pmAt this point I am hoping for an “Only Nixon could go to China” sort of deal with Brown getting serious about the looming trainwreck of public pensions. It all depends on what Brown is thinking.
Ask yourself why Jerry Brown would want to be governor of California, with this looming budget catastrophe. I think he’s playing chess: Brown will demand that Obama bail out the state. If Obama does, Brown is a hero. If Obama doesn’t, Brown runs against him for the 2012 Democratic nomination.
Mike G in Corvallis (fd5fcd) — 11/2/2010 @ 2:45 am