August 2008

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Hard Cell: Amnesty International to Bring a Gitmo Cell to RNC

Filed under: St. Paul

If you're not arrested for protesting the Republican National Convention, don't worry. You can still spend some time inside a prison cell. Amnesty International is bringing it's full-scale replica of the boxy rooms the US government uses to confine suspected terrorists to St. Paul during the RNC. The room features a small bed, steel toilet, shackles, and a camera and monitor for visitors to record a 30-second message with their thoughts about the prison.

If you're too claustrophobic to actually go, you can get visit the virtual cell here..

The cell will be at 270 W. Seventh Street Saint Paul
Sunday, August 31 (3-7:30 p.m.) through Wednesday, September 3 (10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.)

This puppy wants you to tear Guantanamo Bay down.

Fresh off the assembly line at the Gitmo replica cell factory.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at August 29, 2008 2:49 PM | Comments (0)

 

Swastikas, Big Brother, and Image Control: You name it, it's coming to the Twin Cities

Filed under: Bullshit

Apparently there is nothing that makes Republican strategists more nervous than the possibility of being photographed in front of a Nazi flag during the convention. Albeit, even if it is a historic memento and reminder of American servicemen fighting on the right side of what is perhaps one of the more socially justified wars in American history.

Throughout the past week, Republican party planners have made numerous requests to TRACES Center for History and Culture in St. Paul, that it remove a Nazi banner on display at the front of its museum in the Landmark Center, says Museum Executive Director Michael Luick-Thrams.

A RNC party is being planned for inside the building and the flag is visible from the room where the party will be hosted, says Dina Vaynerman, program and marketing manager for Minnesota Landmark, the company commissioned by Ramsey County to manage the building. However, the lights at the museum will be turned off during the event.

Initially staff at Minnesota Landmarks contacted the museum to take down the display, on behalf of a client. "We have lots of events going on during the convention and get a lot of high class demands," says Dina Vaynerman, program and marketing manager at the company. "I don’t think this has been ever asked of us before," she later added.

Vaynerman wont won’t comment on who the client is, but museum staff says they were told it was a large law firm. "It’s a big swastika flag and they were uncomfortable with that," says Vaynerman. "They were afraid someone might see it and get offended."

Luick-Thrams says he was told that the client renting the building next Thursday was worried that "a delegate or some official might inadvertently be photographed" by it.

"Both parties, during both conventions, care about impression management—but this move seems to my staff and me to go too far," said Luick-Thrams in a press release.

The museum is refusing to take down the display.

"This is a museum, telling a historical story. Who can 'erase' the past, and for what reasons?" wrote Luick-Thrams, who holds a doctorate degree in modern European history. "...Our museum is all about learning from the past, even the complicated and 'messy' past.”

The TRACES Center for History and Culture documents encounters between Midwesterners and Germans and Austrians from 1933 to 1948. The flag in question, taken by an American soldier from a German city hall, is part of an exhibit on the Nazi book burning of 1933.

Minnesota Landmark respects the museum’s decision. They have the right to do what they want in their private museum space, Vaynerman says. “We don’t want to ruin the integrity of the exhibit. We told our client they said no and that was the end of our involvement."

But, that, says Luick-Thrams, wasn't the end of the story. When people who wouldn’t identify themselves kept calling the museum, even after it told Minnesota Landmark no, things started getting out of control. Luick Thrams says St. Paul police followed him for almost two miles Thursday as he drove a van to the museum’s storage space.

"For me, that was it," he says. "I kept thinking, this is over the top, this is nuts. I've been to the Soviet Union twice, Cuba, Vietnam, this kind of behavior in unacceptable."

"This sort of Big Brother-ism is counter to America’s tradition of unrestrained freedom. I feel like we've slipped into some netherworld of smoke and mirrors, where appearances count more than substance or any semblance of reality."

"John McCain endured years of captivity as a POW… Wouldn’t this museum—about the effects of war—be an exceptionally relevant story to feature, as the nation considers choosing this man to lead it? We think that the legacy of Nazism’s defeat by America and its allies in the Second World War remains an inspiring and relevant one. Why, then, are we being asked to alter our exhibit during the convention?"

Posted by Beth Walton at August 29, 2008 1:14 PM | Comments (2)

 

Oh, Cooper, where art thou?

Absolutely horrendous news broke this morning: Anderson Cooper might not come to Minnesota. The impeccably moisturized superstar anchor of CNN, whom we featured in our guide to the RNC, is instead preparing himself to do actual journalism. With hurricane Gustav barreling toward Louisiana, the pre-eminent heartthrob of the modern era will once again report from ground zero.

Hear that noise? It’s the sound of The Eagle patrons crying into their leather chaps.

The Tampa Bay Tribune broke the news earlier:

Today, as other cable TV news anchors focus on John McCain’s announcement of his running mate for vice president in Minnesota, Cooper will be preparing to anchor Anderson Cooper 360 from New Orleans, watching weather reports over the weekend to see if he’ll need to stay through next week.

“I’m not torn at all…there’s plenty of reporters covering the Republican convention,” said Cooper, who made a mark with passionate reporting on the failure of government to respond well to Katrina three years ago.

Yes, Anderson, we understand there will be 14,999 journalists around. But not a single talking head can fill your custom Italian kicks. Without you here there will be no Anderson Cooper moments of insight, no slim fitting suits to look at, and, honestly, no CNN.

This news totally kills the CNN after parties, too. You think anyone wants to swill vodka tonics with Lou Dobbs? We’d rather drink barf from a keg cup.

Anderson, please know the entire state of Minnesota will miss your presence. Although, we will be watching you from a distance, streaming your aura through our iPhones.

Posted by Bradley Campbell at August 29, 2008 12:50 PM | Comments (0)

 

Sarah Palin: Ready to lead?

Filed under: National Republicans

After months of railing on the need for experience, John McCain has chosen a 44-year-old running mate with two years as a state governor under her belt. Talk about staying on message.

Of course, this Palin advocacy site stays on message with the oh-so-subtle URL: VPILF.com. So at least there's some comedy value of the pick to go along with the historical value (McCain should be commended for picking a woman as his running mate, even if it is a callow strategy to peel away Hillary supporters and undercuts all of what he's been saying for months).

If there's one truly awful thing about this pick, it's that we won't be seeing these amazing shirts all around Minnesota. I snapped this at the Obama speech last night:

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 29, 2008 10:50 AM | Comments (2)

 

Meet the protestors on their way from the DNC to the RNC

Filed under: Republican National Convention

Heard rumors about the demonstrators here in Denver? Whipsawed with fright about potential disruptions to your life during the Republican National Convention next week? We talked with several protestors who plan to make the trip, and here's what we found: mostly, they want to talk. Talk and feed you.

FOOD NOT BOMBS: LET'S DO LUNCH

Oz, a slender, t-shirt-clad 20-something with a journal he's handwriting in between time serving meals, looks like the activist he is. A student from Vermont, Oz is working with the group Food Not Bombs handing out free sustenance to community members here in Denver.

Like many who have come to protest at the DNC, he's trying to catch a ride to Minneapolis-St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. But if you're expecting to hear overheated political rhetoric about confrontation, you'll have to look elsewhere. Oz talks a mile a minute about issues, and strategy, and most of all dialogue.

Oz trolls for a ride to the RNC with the sign on his back.

"A lot of people go [to the RNC] just to yell at the Republicans -- but we've got to talk and listen to them, too," he says. "We're on different sides of the political spectrum, but we're all Americans."

Oz has come to talk to Democrats, including delegates from all over the country, about a bevy of issues from Iraq to the economy, from gay marriage to a comprehensive energy policy. While the Dems are more likely, he says, to be close to his stances and hence listen, he's disappointed about the limits on protest in Denver. Because a number of demonstrations have been confined to a structure that's been dubbed the "freedom cage," real barriers are in place against the discourse Oz and others like him crave.

He does expect more confrontation in the Twin Cities than has been in evidence this week, but opines that the vast majority of demonstrators here just want to talk.

"The people going up there are using this week to articulate the issues that matter to them," says Oz. "That's what I think the Republicans -- and the Democrats -- need right now: dialogue with actual Americans."

THE WORLD IS LISTENING

See someone in a pink shirt, nodding intently with compassionate eyes? Like Oz, they're here for dialogue. Unlike him, they're not here to protest. They're here to listen. To you.

"We think the key to peace is listening to peoples' vision for the world," says Eric Smith of Denver, whose organization is called The World is Listening. The group has about 60 listeners in Denver this week, some of whom will make the trip to the Twin Cities in shirts with "What is Your Vision?" on the front and "I Am Here to Listen" on the back.

Eric Smith of The World is Listening.

And that's what the do. They tease your dreams out of you and put them on the Internet, recording your ideas for blogosphere posterity.

The volunteers go through listening training, a process that helps the listener shape a raw vision into something focused that can appear in short form online. After a week in Denver, many have refined their techniques, which they'll bring -- along with bright pink attire -- out to the Midwest.

EVERYBODY'S KITCHEN: UP WITH FOOD, DOWN WITH WEAK BEER

Two former Minneapolis residents, Neal and Shon, are headed back in a bus. The group they work with, Everybody's Kitchen, serves meals to homeless people. But that's not the only political issue that speaks to Shon, a Brainerd native:

In Minneapolis or Colorado, Shon (right) is not having the 3.2 beer. Neal had no comment.

Both left the Twin Cities about a year ago to travel in the bus, serving food and living wherever. "Home is where the street is," says Shon. Since 1991, three different buses have been used for Everybody's Kitchen.

They're trying to raise funds for gas and travel expenses, including beer that's stronger than the 3.2 percent alcohol content stuff that Shon so reviles. Passersby notice his sign as much as they do the huge, steaming vats of stew the group is cooking.

"No 3.2 beer: that's what I'm talking about!" shouts an African American woman passing by. "And legalize marijuana." "Fuck yeah," Shon responds. Then they get back to the business of the day, business they hope to continue in Minnesota next week.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 29, 2008 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

 

Paulbots to Descend on Booksellers

Republican Texas Representative Ron Paul apparently won't be hitting up fancy parties and schmooze-fests while in Minneapolis next week. The former presidential long shot has not been asked to speak at the RNC. Instead, Paul and his scrappy band of Paulbots are throwing their own party: The Rally for the Republic at the Target Center which will feature an impressive lineup of offbeat political types including soon-to-be cable TV judge Jesse Ventura and bow-tied pundit Tucker Carlson. While he's in town, Paul is also going to make a few bucks by signing copies of his book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, at Barnes & Noble in Roseville.

And if you thought Paul's supporters were anything less than jubilant, ultra-devoted fanboys, check out the user reviews for his book on Amazon. Of the 643 reviews up there right now, 599 are five-star reviews! That's more than 93 percent. By comparison, only 73.5 percent of reviews for To Kill A Mocking Bird are five-star. Move over, Harper Lee.

Now enjoy this hilariously over-the-top look back on Paul's career.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at August 28, 2008 4:44 PM | Comments (0)

 

Activist journalists get their gear back

Filed under: Cops and Cameras

Early Tuesday morning, police detained three visiting activist journalists in town to videotape cops during RNC protests as the three walked in northeast Minneapolis. The officers confiscated their belongings, which included computers, cameras, cash, and personal effects.

Yesterday, the cops gave it all back.

In between, the wronged parties, who belong to the Glass Bead Collective, managed to kick up a bit of a media storm, with everyone from the Strib to Newsday reporting on the incident.

All the publicity, says Glass Bead Collective co-founder Vlad Teichberg, has brought in a torrent of phone calls from like-minded videographers descending on the Twin Cities to document police behavior during the RNC.

Teichberg's group, which he says consists of about eight or nine people, therefore may become something of an informal assignment editor for videographers in town to monitor cops, with an eye toward ensuring that they spread out their coverage and so maximize their potential impact.

Says Teichberg of his brush with the law: "Maybe something good has come of it."

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at August 28, 2008 4:07 PM | Comments (0)

 

Pawlenty cancels appearances as veep announcement nears

Filed under: VP Pawlenty Watch

Tim Pawlenty abruptly canceled several media appearances on behalf of John McCain today without explanation, reports the AP:

Pawlenty, in Denver to criticize Democrats on McCain's behalf, canceled without explanation an afternoon roundtable interview with the AP as well as other media interviews. Questioned about the vice presidential selection earlier, Pawlenty would only say that he is to be in Minnesota on Friday for the state fair. He had cautioned during a series of morning TV interviews that while speculation might be fun, "most of it turns out to be inaccurate."

Does it mean anything? Who knows. But according to others who may know something, expect an announcement tomorrow morning, or maybe even tonight. And keep your fingers crossed for that Biden-Pawlenty match-up.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at August 28, 2008 3:25 PM | Comments (0)

 

Hey John McCain, who you calling a "celebrity"?

Filed under: John McCain

The John McCain campaign's favorite smear-of-the-moment against Obama is that he's a "celebrity". McCain famously launched the attack in this ad, which in turn led to this response from Paris Hilton. It's a pretty clear attempt to make up for McCain's obvious shortcoming of not being able to attract and electrify a crowd the way Obama can.

But a better measure of "celebrity" would be appearances on late-night talk shows, and by that metric, McCain is 13x the celebrity Obama is, as Ana Marie Cox of Swampland points out:

John McCain was on the Tonight Show last night for the thirteenth time.

A little bird points out who else has been on the couch with Leno that many times: "Pamela Anderson, Dr. Phil, Larry the Cable Guy, Simon Cowell, Jennifer Love Hewitt." Schwarzenegger has been on twelve times; Obama has been on once.

Obama's response ad:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 28, 2008 1:37 PM | Comments (0)

 

McCain exhibits media savvy, will release VP pick as everyone is leaving for the weekend

Filed under: John McCain

As Denver prepares for Barack Obama's speech today at Invesco Field, the McCain camp have a canny counterpunch planned. They will release the name of John McCain's running mate tomorrow.

This is an attempt to blunt the impact of a potential post-convention bounce for Obama. It's also the latest instance of strange timing in an odd year for releasing such news: McCain's doing it on a Friday, the day when people always try to bury bad news. Maybe that says something about who the pick is going to be.

Funny bitt about Mitt:

A self-made millionaire whose father was the governor of Michigan, Romney is also credited with saving the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, staged successfully in 2002.

"Governor Romney would help shore up (McCain's) perceived lack of economic experience," said Heath Hall, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.

First, Mitt Romney is not a self-made millionaire. His father was the chair of American Motors, so Mittens was silly rich before he was out of diapers. Second, why is there an assumption that rich people automatically have economic expertise? If that was the case, the GOP should have nominated Cindy McCain instead of John.

A quick and unscientific prediction: the pick's 55 percent likely to be Romney, 35 percent likely to be Tim Pawlenty, and 10 percent likely to be from the field (other candidates are rumored to be Tom Ridge and possibly Joe "Stench of Failure" Lieberman). Your thoughts?

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 28, 2008 11:59 AM | Comments (2)

 

What does Hillary Clinton have to do to get you to vote for Obama?

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

A day later, Hillary Clinton's stirring endorsement of Barack Obama is still the talk of Denver. Remarkably, some in the press and some recalcitrant Clinton backers are still clinging to the idea that this is somehow a sham. She didn't go far enough, a noisy few are saying.

To which I say: What does Hillary have to do to convince you? Defeated candidates don't have the endorse the nominee -- she did. They don't have to campaign for the nominee -- she did. And then after all of that, under enormous pressure to be all things to all people, she gave an impassioned and moving speech full of grace at a pivotal time. She went above and beyond what might have been expected even of a president, let alone someone in her position. Clinton was warm, fiery, gracious, and inclusive.

And the response is, "Well she didn't say Obama was qualified to be the pope, raise the dead, and turn sewer water into fine cologne."

Senator Clinton often consults with City Pages for image advice. And I have it on good authority that she has had it with this sentiment. She's willing to go that extra mile to convince you that she really, really means it. Here are three things she is willing to do for you.

3. Send Bill over to wash your car.
He's served as the proud and supportive spouse on the campaign trail. Now, since Hilary's done all the heavy lifting up to this point, Bill can take the lumps. If you are a Clinton supporter that is still unsure of whether to vote for Barack Obama, Bill Clinton will come over and wash your car. One car per family. Offer void if Bill is to joined by bikini-clad fellow washers.

2. Be on retainer to provide free legal advice for all 18 million Clinton voters.
Before she was a brilliant senator, Clinton was a brilliant lawyer. Vote for Barack Obama? Hillary Clinton will be on call for you. How about she serves as your personal attorney? Say goodbye to that DUI and hello to successful tort judgments against your enemies! Supplying pro bono legal aid would also bolster her credentials for a Supreme Court appointment by President Obama.

1. Serve as celebrity bartender at your block party.
The New York senator will make boilermakers. Boilermakers for everyone! She will not, however, bake you any goddamn cookies.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 27, 2008 5:56 PM | Comments (0)

 

Cop at DNC brutally cross-checks female protester (w/video)

Filed under: Cops and Cameras

Hopefully St. Paul Police will be shown this video as an example of "What not to do" next week. This tough guy cop brutally cross-checks a CodePink protester with his baton:

A staffer at our sister paper, Denver Westword, was on hand to witness and photograph the incident:

Bert Ross, a veteran of Westword's sales department who also happens to be an accomplished photographer, was driving in the Civic Center area when he saw what looked to be an impending confrontation between a large group of protesters and a sizable contingent of police officers -- so he hurriedly parked his car, grabbed a camera and rushed to the scene. "The people were coming out of the park, and the police were saying, 'Get back. Get back,'" Ross recalls. "I got out and started snapping." Shortly thereafter, he saw the aforementioned officer face off against a woman identified in the Rocky article as Alicia Forrest, 24, a member of CodePink, an anti-war organization that advocates non-violent protest. "He was coming forward and she wasn't backing up," he notes, adding that although obscenities were flying, he can't say for certain if any of them came from Forrest.

The officer "was directing all of his attention at her, and he was getting worked up," Ross says. "You could see him gritting his teeth. And then he corked her, and down she went." Afterward, "a lot of people swarmed around her and she got shuffled off" -- and apparently, so did the officer. According to Ross, the contingent of police dispersed within minutes amidst shouts from protesters about"fascist pigs."

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 27, 2008 3:01 PM | Comments (8)

 

Michele Bachmann out of step with GOP on "Democrat" vs. "Democratic" Party

Filed under: Bullshit

As Jeff Shaw notes here, Michele Bachmann repeatedly referred to the "Democrat Party" on Larry King yesterday. It's a stupid slur invented by the Republicans as part of their platform in 1996. From Wikipedia:

Democrat Party is a political epithet used in the United States by some people (in many cases, conservative commentators or some members of the Republican Party in speeches and press releases) instead of the name (or more precisely, the proper noun) Democratic Party.

Many members of the Democratic Party object to the term. New Yorker commentator Hendrik Hertzberg wrote: "There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. 'Democrat Party' is a slur, or intended to be - a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but 'Democrat Party' is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams 'rat.'"

But Bachmann's continued use of the phrase puts her out of step with the GOP, which voted on Tuesday in Minneapolis to start referring to the Democratic Party by its proper name:

On Tuesday, members of the Republican platform committee meeting in Minneapolis voted down a proposal to call the opposition the "Democrat Party" in the 2008 platform. Instead, they'll go with the proper Democratic Party.

"We probably should use what the actual name is," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the panel's chairman. "At least in writing."

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 27, 2008 1:17 PM | Comments (5)

 

Michele Bachmann on Larry King: gives Hillary a fashion review, gets name of her party wrong

Filed under: Local Republicans

With speech reviews rolling in, our own Michele Bachmann (R-Neptune) rolled onto CNN to give her glassy-eyed take on Hillary Clinton's just-delivered oration.

After Kay Bailey Hutchinson half-heartedly delivered a talking point or two and Dennis Prager went on a bizarre anti-government rant that had nothing to do with Clinton's speech, Bachmann was asked if Clinton had scored.

"I think she did make a score, especially with her tangerine-colored pantsuit."

Fair enough. But her fashion review but the only benchmark of coherency in a rambling 30 seconds that included a hit on John Edwards (?) and two frivolous references to the nonexistent "Democrat Party." Then, Larry King asked her for a prediction on who John McCain would choose for his vice presidential selection.

"I think he's going to pick to the right individual to lead the country."

Way to go out on a limb there, Stepford.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 26, 2008 11:11 PM | Comments (6)

 

So which one is St. Paul? Hillary Clinton references Twin Cities in line of the night

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton gave the Twin Cities a shoutout in the line of the night during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

After ticking off John McCain's agenda--with a pointed reference to him not believing women deserve equal pay for equal work--Hillary used the geography of the Republican National Convention to deliver a bon mot that cemented the "McSame" meme:

"With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart."

Here's the YouTube clip of that part of the speech:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 26, 2008 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

 

Hillary's speech: a home run at the most critical moment

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

A few days ago, I wrote about how Hillary Clinton's speech tonight was pivotal. Moments after watching her speech, I think she knocked it clean out of the park.

Criticism of Hillary (unfair in my view) said that her campaign support for Obama had been tepid. With the world watching -- and John McCain running attach ads name-checking Sen. Clinton -- I thought she needed to deliver an impassioned oration that would answer these critiques. In a speech that sounded all the right notes, and that culminated with a stirring allusion to Harriet Tubman, she did.

Hillary didn't take the path I suggested in that earlier post -- rebuke John McCain for invoking her name in an attempt to divide Democrats -- and instead took a more positive approach, asking her supporters to remember the people affected by the policies she and Barack Obama both endorse. That's why she's a senator and I'm an armchair quarterback. Her criticisms of McCain took up comparatively little of her speech, but that wound up fitting the tenor of the time perfectly. It was a rallying cry centered around common human issues.

The floor was electrified. Even David Gergen said it might be her "finest moment in politics."

That might not be true. The best for Hillary Clinton might still be yet to come. But on this essential night, she came through for Barack Obama, big time.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 26, 2008 10:10 PM | Comments (6)

 

McCain owns zero houses--he's crashing with "Eldon Smith"

Filed under: John McCain

Remember how John McCain didn't seem to know how many houses he had? Well, now the housing drama has gotten even weirder. It turns out at least one of McCain's houses was in fact owned by a man calling himself "Eldon Smith," which is apparently a fake name used by McCain to disguise the fact that he was moving out of the Phoenix congressional district he represented. From Politico:

In 1986, when then-Rep. McCain was running for the Senate seat vacated by Barry Goldwater, he quietly began remodeling a $500,000 house in central Phoenix owned by his wealthy father-in-law James Hensley. The $225,000 project -- which included the construction of a 4,000-square-foot addition, swimming pool, jacuzzi, cabana and barbecue -- held political peril for McCain, who was already fighting charges that he was as an opportunistic carpetbagger.

The new house was located in Phoenix's fourth congressional district -- outside of the first district in Tempe which he represented at the time.

AP caught wind of the work at 7110 North Central Ave. shortly before the general election and dispatched a reporter to examine blueprints at the planning department. They found the permit applicants were listed as Hensley and a mysterious "Mr. Smith."

The reporter tracked down McCain's plumber, who told him he'd been told Mr. Smith's first name was "Eldon."

Eldon Smith, it turned out, was John McCain.

When confronted with the blueprints, McCain's spokeswoman didn't deny that the renovation was being done for McCain and his wife Cindy -- and suggested that Smith was Cindy's mother's maiden name. She didn't explain why Marguerite Hensley might have been listed as "Mr. Smith."

Separated at birth: John McCain (Left) and Eldon Smith (Right).

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 26, 2008 3:38 PM | Comments (0)

 

Minneapolis cops detain activist journalists, confiscate their cameras

Filed under: Cops and Cameras

Three activist journalists in town to videotape the RNC protests were stopped, questioned, and searched by police officers early this morning and had their cameras, a computer, and personal effects seized, one of the three, Vlad Teichberg, told City Pages this afternoon.

Teichberg, 36, and his two colleagues are members of the NYC-based Glass Bead Collective, which grabbed headlines a couple weeks back when it sponsored the infamous YouTube video of an NYPD cop who tackled a Critical Mass biker on July 25. The cop, as yet unidentified, was quickly stripped of his gun and shield and transferred to desk duty pending the outcome of a police investigation.

Teichberg says that he and his two friends were walking near 26th Ave. and 6th St. NE at around 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning when two police cars pulled up alongside them. Officers exited the vehicles, Teichberg says, questioned the three, and then searched their possessions and took their small video cameras, a laptop, a portable hard drive, and other personal effects.

"At no time did we consent to the search," Teichberg says.

The officers said that they could get their possessions back the next day, Teichberg adds.

Teichberg says that he and another of the alleged victims had just picked up their colleague at a bus stop after she'd arrived from Chicago, and that they were walking back to the house where they were staying in northeast Minneapolis when the cops stopped them.

"I don’t see any legal basis at all for seizing the video equipment," says the trio's lawyer, Bruce Nestor, who is president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, a volunteer group whose members will be present during RNC protests to monitor law enforcement behavior.

Nestor says he spoke with an MPD lieutenant who told him the police are investigating the three for trespassing on railroad property and that the property is being kept to determine its true owners.

Messages left with a supervisor at the second precinct, where the alleged incident occurred, and with MPD spokesman Jesse Garcia, were not returned.

Teichberg, his friends, and their lawyers have scheduled a press conference for 4 p.m.

Of concern, it seems, is whether the officers in this instance were targeting Teichberg et al as members of an anti-cop group armed with cameras. If that's the case--and we're not saying it is, just that the whole thing seems a bit weird--then that would be a bad thing.

***

On a slightly related note, a few days back MPR's Tim Nelson talked about cameras and cops (and pretend cops) ahead of the convention:

At least three times in recent weeks, photographers say they've been stopped on public streets or sidewalks [in St. Paul], told to stop taking pictures or produce identification or leave the area.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at August 26, 2008 2:17 PM | Comments (1)

 

Obama's kids at the DNC: You can't script something this cute

Filed under: Barack Obama

For those of you who missed Michelle Obama's speech last night, the best part came at the end, when Barack appeared on the TV screen and his children, Malia and Sasha, said hi to their daddy. The White House hasn't seen kids this cute since Kennedy.

The best part was how Sasha helped clean up Obama's gaffe--he mistakenly said he was in St. Louis, but when she asked, "Daddy, what city are you in?" he was able to correct himself and tell her, "I'm in Kansas City, sweetie."

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 26, 2008 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

 

Nader - Kilmer 2008!

Filed under: Republican National Convention

Alright, so back in 2000 Ralph Nader was all the rage. He convinced plenty of folks that Bush and Gore were the same dude. He filled areas with his cynical campaign speeches. Hell, Eddie Vedder opened for him. He was the shit of the millennium.

And then, well, gullible humanities majors discovered he was flat ass wrong.

But somehow this dude doesn’t quit. And he still draws semi-famous people to his speeches. On September 4, Nader will hold some sort of super-rally at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Though we don’t know for sure, we’re guessing the Republicans, who love this guy, sponsor it.

D-rated celebrities like Ike Reilly, Jello Biafra, Nellie McKay, Val Kilmer (Ice Man), Tom Morello, and Cindy Sheehan could make an appearance.

From a quick glance of this list it seems like Nader has wrapped up the critical support of pissed off mothers and dudes who make funny sounds with their guitars. He also gets the military endorsement by including Iceman on the ticket.

Actually, Iceman could be the one who tips the scales in Nader’s favor, as he appeals to both fanboys and Jews. Most folks know about Iceman as one of the forgettable Batmen, but few remember his starring role as Moses in The Ten Commandments: The Musical.

Okay, so Kilmer is still pretty much dope. But Kilmer shouldn’t be running around the nation campaigning for a hopeless loser. He needs to stay in our dreams, prancing around in cut-off denim.

Posted by Bradley Campbell at August 25, 2008 4:14 PM | Comments (10)

 

St. Paul prepares for the RNC

In St. Paul, with the RNC heading in our direction like an anvil shaped cloud, the neighborhoods remain calm. Weekend shoppers make their way down Grand Avenue, popping their heads into clothing stores and coffee shops. And on can listen to the laughter and noise of bar stories getting swapped on Selby Avenue at night.

But the mood is somehow different. It feels like people are on edge. Much like a batter in the hole adjusting the Velcro on his gloves, St. Paul seems nervous.

At Nina’s café up on Cathedral Hill, patrons sift through newspapers while baristas make small talk with folks at the register. The conversations tend to focus upon the RNC and jokes are told to soften any concerns, like how delegates holding slogans-on-a-stick will soon out number kids holding pronto-pups at the state fair.

Up the street, signs are popping up in the windows of stores and restaurants, proclaiming their establishments as the favorite in town. And down the hill at Seven Corners, media technicians venture out to sample the local haunts. Most of them look the same. They walk with smiles and subtly show off the small emblem embroidered on their polo-shirts, reminding all that they run with the big boys.

Few are impressed.

As the storm approaches, folks in St. Paul are doing normal stuff, like barricading themselves in novels. Kling and King and Orlean and Diaz are out in full effect like they always are, but the readers seem to look up from the books more than usual. It’s difficult to concentrate when the big eyes of the nation will soon focus in on their city.

Or maybe it’s just a sign that summer is coming to an end. And this year, it closes with a symbol crash, rather than a soft fade out of an Ella Fitzgerald tune.

Posted by Bradley Campbell at August 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Comments (0)

 

Best. Obama Slogan. Ever.

Filed under: Barack Obama

Usually, reading long comment threads on major news sites is like wading into quicksand trying to find a nickel. Just get a new nickel. Looking for treasure among the noise is just too tiring.

But buried in the muck of this long Washington Post thread is the following succinct pearl, more like a Franklin than a nickel:

"One Spouse.
One House.
Obama."

There's some family values for you.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 25, 2008 2:33 PM | Comments (0)

 

McCain VP: It's Pawlenty!

Filed under: VP Pawlenty Watch

Will Governor Tim Pawlenty become our nation's next vice president? It's hard to keep track of all the many factors at play. Each week, the VP Pawlenty Meter (TM) provides an odds sheet to ensure you make your best bet.

OK, first a confession: We have no inside dope, so we don't really know for sure that Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty will be chosen by McCain this week. Which means we may very well look just as foolish as the rest of the media when they were prematurely forecasting Obama's pick. But the stars are certainly seeming to line up in his favor.

The first bit of evidence that T-Paw is the chosen one comes in the form of a McCain campaign email sent to Minnesota Republicans yesterday announcing a late-September fundraiser that will feature the Veep. Jonathan Martin at Politco has the scoop:

The e-mail invite touts the "Special Guest" as "The Vice Presidential Nominee."

The event is to be held Sept. 22 at the Hilton Minneapolis.

Major cautionary note/"To Be Sure" line: There is no reason to think that Mitt Romney or somebody else couldn't help raise money for the party ... But nobody would be a draw among Minnesota Republicans more than the Gopher State's own Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

McCain's reaction to Obama's selection of Biden also would seem to favor Pawlenty over Mitt Romney.

Within moments of the announcement, the McCain machine rolled out its line of attack on the Obama/Biden ticket. In addition to suggesting that Hillary got snubbed--an obvious grab for the Hillary supporters who still have wounded feelings--McCain also alleged that choosing Biden was a betrayal of Obama's core principles. Biden is a creature of Washington (as is McCain), which doesn't exactly comport with Barack's message of "Change."

Yet if McCain were to pick Romney, he would be doing exactly what he's accusing Obama of doing: choosing political expediency over loyalty to his own beliefs. Pawlenty has been one of McCain's most ardent supporters and friends, while there's no love lost between McCain and Romney. Siding with an enemy just to get elected doesn't sound like the kind of thing a straight-talkin' maverick would do.

McCain has also released attack ads featuring criticism of Obama from Biden and Hillary during the Democratic primary. Selecting Romney would hand Obama's campaign the same loaded gun. Meanwhile, T-Paw has been nothing but effusive in his praise for McCain from the moment he announced he was running for president.

Pawlenty, whose visit to Pennsylvania might be a trial run for a national campaign, remains tight-lipped about the decision, but he did seem to subtly deep-six Romney and Gov. Tom Ridge's chances in this interview published Sunday:

The way I look at it, Sen. McCain has said his administration including the senior leaders of the administration would share and reflect his priorities and values for the country. If you want any more on that you would have to ask Sen. McCain.

T-Paw is also throwing down the gauntlet and spoiling for a fight with Biden:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, long-rumored to be on Sen. John McCain’s short list for vice president, told CNN’s “Late Edition” he isn’t concerned about newly chosen Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

Calling Biden “long-winded,” Pawlenty told host Wolf Blitzer, “I think any of the people that Senator McCain is thinking about for vice president will be more than able to hold their own against Senator Biden.” The Republican vice presidential nominee will get his or her chance to face Biden during the vice presidential debate on October 2 in St. Louis, Missouri.

We've been following the veep speculation around T-Paw for quite some time. In our most recent edition of VP Pawlenty Watch, we raised the Meter to Red Alert for the first time in its history. In light of recent information, we are maintaining Red Alert status:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 25, 2008 6:45 AM | Comments (7)

 

Five Must-Have Items For the Convention Tourist

Filed under: Republican National Convention

You don't want any trouble. You just want a front seat at history, to be a witness to the dance of democracy. Gentle reader, I implore you: by all means, stroll with camera in hand throughout the thoroughfares of your town's convention. But come prepared!

I've been through a few of these mass gatherings – including the famous one that went sour in a hurry, the Seattle World Trade Organization riots a decade ago. Not every convention is going to be Chicago '68, and not every enormous event features black-clad police sweeping the streets to do battle with anarchists. Still, if WTO taught me one thing, it was to anticipate shit getting three times as bad as you believe it will and then plan accordingly. You'll see why below.

Generally, bring the goods (a first-aid kit, sunscreen) that you would take camping. Here are some other items to keep in that rucksack, messenger bag, or hobo knapsack.

5. MUFFINS
Journalist, activist, or tourist, you're going to get hungry. The tasty, portable muffin keeps your glucose levels from dropping precipitously – and will win you friends among the teeming throngs. Journalists love free food, especially food that creates crumbs. Also, you might just save the life of that sickly, earnest young idealist who is more concerned with waving a sign than supplying himself sustenance. “Are those muffins vegan?” his desperate, Oliver Twist eyes will say. Sure they are, hippie. Sure they are.

4. A WATER BOTTLE

A must, and not just to hydrate yourself during potentially long days in the sun. If pepper spray and tear gas are flying near you, your sensitive membranes are going to get irritated. If, perish forbid, an overzealous public servant deems it necessary to mace your face, you're going to need a healthy supply of H20 to wash out your eyes. You can also use it to wet down ...

3.A HANDKERCHIEF

Useful for so many things, the handkerchief should never be considered out of style. It's a napkin. It's a bandanna. It covers your head if you're hatless in the sun. And if you, like most will, get caught without Item No. 1, it can cover your mouth and nose. This is especially important if you get stuck next to a shower-allergic crusty punk from Eugene, Ore. who has become inured to his own stench. Plus, a wet hanky over your face is the next-best thing for preventing tear gas intrusion.

2. A FLASK

You can fill this with vinegar, like Zach from Rage Against the Machine suggested. Yeah, vinegar. But not the kind of vinegar that angries up the blood. Just the kind that undermines the effects of tear gas.

1. A GAS MASK
People tend to look at me like I'm crazy when I suggest this. Think of it like insurance, I tell them.

Sure, the convention will probably go fine. Sure, even if there are tear gas incidents, you probably won't be anywhere near them. Just as you pay car insurance every month even though you probably won't get into an accident, though, it's worth stopping into a military surplus store to grab an old-school brand of risk avoidance.

The first day of WTO, a friend talked me into buying one of the gas masks Israel used to distribute around the time of the Seven Days War. I scoffed at first. Hours later, I was a believer. Not only did I avoid the crying and choking, I could actually see during the riot cops' efforts to clear out protest blockades. Best $10 I ever spent.

Despite this foresight, I can still tell you what it's like to be tear gassed. Why? Well, I'm an idiot.

My wife at the time, also a journalist, got separated from me while doing some reporting. We had agreed to meet at a certain street corner at 9 p.m., not knowing when we made this accord that the city would make a sideways turn toward Lebanon in the 80s. From there, the plan went, we could take a ferry out of Seattle and back home.

Flash forward to a city wracked by brutality. Mayor Paul Schell has declared a curfew where anyone on the street after 9 will be arrested. It's approaching that time, and she's nowhere to be found. A cadre of police in riot gear are marching block-by-block to clear the streets – and they're rapidly approaching the spot where we're supposed to meet.

I walk toward the line of cops, thinking I'll explain the situation. They're having none of it. They tell me not to come any closer, and that if I stick in that meeting spot, I'll wind up three hots and cot. Fortunately, off in the distance, I see my spouse approaching.

“It's fine!” I shout to the cops. “That's her! We're out of here!” And, in what was retrospectively a most unwise choice, I flash them a peace sign. We turn and start to walk away from the advancing line, toward the boat. Then I hear multiple “thunk-thunk” sounds.

They've fired off several tear gas canisters about 10 yards in front of us. I can't speak to why, but I've always suspecting it was just for fun, blowing off steam at the end of a day suffused with the insane. The tiny metal cylinders start to open, and the pure white death began to leak out toward our nostrils.

There is one right thing to do in this spot, and it's to give up your mask for the lady.

Embracing my inner gentleman, I strapped the apparatus – the same one pictured above -- around her dome while the gas cloud rose around us. I affixed it just in time. Just in time for her, anyway. “You'll have to lead me to the ferry,” I choked out. She nodded.

Then the gas mask fogged up. So the tear-gassed guy, eyes swollen nearly shut, was leading the utterly blind (but comfortable!) lady in the Israeli surplus gear. We waddled to the boat, my mucous membranes shrieking, and made our escape.

The lessons here: Don't get married. If you're going to get married: Buy two gas masks. And if you hear a guy telling you that it's worth the $10-$20 so you don't have to worry about this during your town's convention, listen to him.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 25, 2008 6:34 AM | Comments (6)

 

"Don't shake my hand, Joe Biden!"

Filed under: Dems

On paper, Joe Biden shines as a vice president pick. Not only is the man a formidable politico in his own right (ample experience, foreign relations credibility, and a moving back story), but his qualities also nicely compliment Obama— which is a polite way of saying he’s an establishment-approved, nonthreatening party steward whose appearance at a country club would elicit exactly zero double takes.

But can an Obama/Biden ticket can parlay this commingling of strengths and sensibilities into swing state victories?

Maybe. But don’t count on it. Here’s why.

An anecdote...

I began to have serious doubts about Biden-as-electoral-everyman on Halloween Day in 2006. Writing for The Daily Iowan at the time, I was assigned to cover his meet-and-greet in a Cedar Rapids grocery store deli. The pretense for Biden’s visit was he was stumping for Democrat congressional candidate Dave Loebsack. The real reason, of course, is that Biden was running for president in ’08 and, like nearly every other candidate, opted to get a jump in Iowa, home of the first (and therefore most crucial) caucus.

Wearing a slick black trench court, the Delaware senator sashayed through the deli to the subdued cheers of the three-dozen-or-so patrons. His aura was unmistakably Clintonian— debonair yet personable, cocky yet self-deprecating. Even more Clintonesque was his knack for making those with whom he conversed feel as if they were the only person in the room. When talking to patrons one-on-one, he would clasp their hand, put his other hand on their shoulder and lean his face in close and peer into their eyes with a mix of sympathy, intrigue, and mirth. The guy was good. No question.

But then something weird happened.

An elderly farmer, probably just in from the fields, sat in the corner, a corn seed trucker hat propped on his thick gray hair. He hovered over his eggs and hash browns oblivious to the smirking shitshow unfolding around him.

“Hi, how are ya?” said a beaming Biden, who was now standing directly above the seated farmer. He shot his hand downward for a shake. Thus began the most socially awkward exchange between two human beings I’ve ever seen. In any circumstance.

The farmer put down his fork without making eye contact, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and gazed up. He looked Biden straight in the eye and grumbled a stern warning:

“Don’t shake my hand.”

He turned his attention back to his pepper-doused hash browns.

For a full three seconds after this utterance, Biden’s hand remained outstretched, his charismatic grin unable to compensate for the befuddled look now creeping into the corners of his eyes. It was apparent he’d never before encountered such unrestrained disdain; you could almost see the gears turning in Biden’s head; Did this man not know who he was? Was he perhaps joking? Is this what passes for humor in these weird parts?

Just when it appeared all composure was crumbling and mutiny imminent, Biden snapped out of it. His urbane confidence returned and he carried on schmoozing with the deli patrons as if nothing had happened.

He proceeded to jerk-off the war-weary audience with the reigning platitude of the day. (“We need to bring our troops home.”) At the time, Democrats were pinning their midterm hopes on the notion that they represented something of a robust opposition party in the minds of voters. As preposterous as this was, most left-thinking Americans bought into it. Why shouldn’t they? Kick the warmongering cretins out and replace ‘em with the other team. End the war. Bring the troops home. It was that simple. That's why nobody laughed when Biden deadpanned, “If the Democrats win this election I think you'll see a fundamental shift in foreign policy in the U.S. because a Democratically controlled House of Representatives will put a break on Bush's dangerous policies.” It was as if he were serious.

While this was transpiring, the fuming farmer had scooted out of his chair, got up, and left the deli shaking his head in disgust. Half of his hash browns remained on the plate untouched.

A little more than a year later, Biden finished a distant fifth in the Iowa caucuses with 1.3 percent of the vote.

Posted by Matt Snyders at August 25, 2008 6:00 AM | Comments (0)

 

Biden: Hardcore Dems say "meh," public gives thumbs up. Meanwhile, everyone hates Pawlenty

Filed under: Dems

Among the Democratic Party Reptiles here at the convention, enthusiasm for Joe Biden as VP is more "he'll do" than "woo-hoo." No one's speaking for attribution on that score, of course, but the pick so far is being met with mild enthusiasm at best. Biden speaks here Wednesday, so perhaps he can change some minds and fire up the base.

With the general public, Biden's regarded much more favorably, according to a just-released Zogby Poll. That same poll has very bad news for Tim Pawlenty's VP hopes.

Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who was an also-ran in the GOP presidential primary this spring, is far and away the favorite to be picked as the veep candidate on the Republican side. Almost half - 47% - said they would prefer him as McCain's running mate, including 49% of Republicans. No other candidate even reached double digits - Sen. Joe Lieberman was second at 7%, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was third with 5%.

This is an interesting finding, because I think Mitt Romney's an absolute albatross as a running mate. His inherited wealth would play right into the Obama campaign's populist narrative, his Mormonism would undercut support among those bigoted against the LDC church (a chunk of the Republican base), and his assaults on McCain and policy flip-flops are drawbacks, too.

Typically the notion that a VP candidate can dramatically swing an election is untrue. Signs this year buck that trend, thought, with many voters saying McCain's advancing age and Obama's perceived inexperience make the second banana an important choice. This is another Zogby finding:

Remarkably, while just 7 percent said that they have ever voted for a presidential ticket specifically because of the vice presidential candidate, 74% said they think the Number Two on the ticket is important this year. Democrat Obama has been hit by opponents as being too inexperienced for the job, while others have charged that Republican John McCain, at age 71 (he turns 72 this week), is too old.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 24, 2008 4:40 PM | Comments (2)

 

McCain opens the door: Will Hillary walk through Tuesday night?

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

Mere hours after I arrived in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, John McCain came out with a new ad that began running early this morning, hitting Obama for not selecting Clinton as his running mate.

Hillary Clinton speaks here Tuesday night. This ad -- the full text of which you'll find after the jump -- is the political equivalent of a hanging curveball. If you believe, as many do, that on-the-fence Clinton supporters are a critical swing population in this election, then what she says could make a huge difference in deciding this election.

Will Hillary use this ad, "Passed Over," as a pivot point?

“She won millions of votes. But isn’t on his ticket. Why?” an announcer says in the 30-second spot.

The answer? “For speaking the truth.”

The ad, which has not yet been released, then ticks off a litany of criticism Clinton used against Obama in the prolonged primary, according to a transcript sent to reporters.

“You never hear the specifics,” Clinton says.

“On the Rezko scandal,” the voice says.

“We still don’t have a lot of answers about Senator Obama,” Clinton says in footage from the primaries.

“Senator Obama’s campaign has become increasingly negative,” Clinton says in another scene.

The announcer closes by saying “The truth hurt. And Obama didn’t like it.”

A Clinton adviser has already issued a mild rebuke, pointing out that Obama and Clinton were close on most policy matters, certainly closer than McCain. But with the eyes of the nation on her this Tuesday, a stinging criticism from Hillary herself would be a different matter.

Something like this, coupled with a rousing Obama endorsement, would cut this line of argument off at the knees:

"Shame on you, John McCain. Shame on you for taking my words out of context. Shame on you for distorting the truth. Shame on you for pursuing the failed policies of the Bush administration, and trying to cover up for it by misleading the American people. My message to Senator McCain is this: keep my name out of your false and negative campaign ads. My message to the millions of Americans who voted for me is this: it is of the utmost importance that we elect Barack Obama to the office of President, and I urge each and every one of you to work to make that happen."

Rightly or wrongly, many Obama supporters feel that Clinton hasn't campaigned hard enough to rally her supporters toward the Obama candidacy. Tuesday is a chance to silence those critics. Will she take it? We'll see.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 24, 2008 10:32 AM | Comments (3)

 

It's official: Obama chooses Biden for VP, media is completely irrelevant (Updated with text message)

Filed under: Barack Obama

Forget being the first black president. Obama has already made history by creating the first leak-proof campaign.

As if to prove the point--or spike the football and do the worm in the endzone--Obama pulled the biggest hoodwink yet when the media fell for a phony Obama/Bayh bumper sticker and trumpeted the story, only to be undone when it was revealed that the actual vice president would be Joe Biden.

Well, I guess it wasn't totally leak proof:

Sen. Barack Obama has picked Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, multiple Democratic sources tell CNN.

Still, for this to be kept secret for so long is a real testament to Obama's campaign. Here's what it tells me:

1) This was a closely guarded secret that only a few people knew, meaning that Obama is not cut from the Bill Clinton mold of indiscriminite loquatiousness.

2) The people close to Obama are extremely loyal in a way that has not been seen in modern politics.

3) The Obama campaign are master media manipulators.

4) They are not above head fakes, jukes, and other such cleverness--did they actually create fake bumper stickers to throw media off the trail?

5) Joe Biden was lying when he said, "I'm not the guy."

Update: Here's the text message:

August 23, 2008 3:12:23 AM

Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 23, 2008 1:21 AM | Comments (4)

 

The fake Hillary Clinton vetting controversy

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

I am utterly baffled by the stupidity of the top story on the Drudge Report today.

"HE NEVER VETTED HER" the headline screams under a picture of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The idea here is that if Obama was ever really considering Hillary for the veep slot, he would have gone to the trouble of vetting her.

This overlooks a very important fact: Hillary Clinton is probably the most vetted person in world history.

Drudge links to a story by Mike Allen of Politico that is no less hysterical. "Hillary gets stiffed," reads the headline. Turns out the whole story is basically sourced to an unnamed Democratic operative (Is that you Bill?):

“She was never vetted,” a Democratic official reported. “She was not asked for a single piece of paper.”

Hillary was the first lady for eight years, then a high profile senator in the biggest media market in the world, then the Democratic frontrunner for president--I'm pretty sure she's been vetted.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 22, 2008 11:45 AM | Comments (14)

 

A kept man: McCain's wife owns so many houses, he can't remember them all

Filed under: John McCain

John McCain often uses the "I can't remember, I'll have my people get back to you" dodge. The most notable time was when he was asked how he voted on women's birth control. He barely got away with that one--his squirming and discomfort could be chalked up to an old man being asked about girl parts--but now he's gone to the well once too often and got caught in a truly ridiculous Senior Moment.

It turns out McCain--the man who wants to be President of the United States, Commander in Chief, and leader of our country--does not even know how many houses he and his wife own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

It turns out the answer is seven, worth a total of $13 million.

Now, it's no secret that McCain is a kept man. After escaping the tiger cage, he threw over his old wife--who had been disfigured in a terrible car crash in his absence--in favor of the new model. Here's the McCain wife that didn't get to look pretty on the cover of Newsweek.

Today, she stands at just 5ft4in and still walks awkwardly, with a pronounced limp. Her body is held together by screws and metal plates and, at 70, her face is worn by wrinkles that speak of decades of silent suffering.

In addition to not being disfigured, Cindy also had the advantage of being fabulously wealthy:

Republican Sen. John McCain's family wealth is almost exclusively held by his wife, Cindy. An heiress to a major beer distribution company, Cindy McCain has several trust funds, money markets and other accounts, some more than $1 million.

So it's natural that McCain, being a kept man, can't be trifled with a little thing like remembering how many houses he owns. Nor can he specify which one holds the vault of gold dubloons that he swims through during his morning constitutionals, a la Scrooge McDuck.

Scrooge McDuck makes it rain on dem ho's.

Of course, there's a reason why McCain would want to keep his wealth hush hush. Maybe you've heard, but a lot of people in this country actually think there's some sort of "recession" and are whining about it:

Senator John McCain has spent the week trying to tell people that he feels their economic pain. So it was more than a little unhelpful when one of his top economic advisers was quoted Thursday as saying that the United States was only in a “mental recession” and that it had become a “nation of whiners.”

McCain can't quite wrap his mind around the foreclosure crisis--why don't they just move into one of their other six houses? he wonders.

The Obama campaign has packed all this into a tidy 30 second package, which you can watch here:

Feeling like the video, even at 30 seconds, was not quite succinct enough, I have re-edited it to boil it down to a three-second clip:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 21, 2008 11:12 AM | Comments (4)

 

Why not Hillary? A new case for Clinton as VP

Filed under: Hillary Clinton

The pick could be announced any moment now. It probably won't be Hillary Clinton. And for a long time, I was convinced that it shouldn't be.

Yet here's a new argument for why Hillary might just be the best VP candidate. The McCain camp have shown their hand, and it's a conservative hand. The primary worry about Clinton was that she'd fire up the Republican base in a way that McCain alone could not -- but that seems to be happening anyway.

Also, some worried that Hillary as veep would create a huge money bomb for McCain -- but now, the fundraising argument is undermined by timing:

Clinton's presence may be able to gin up Republican fundraising...except, because they are taking public financing, the McCain campaign will have precisely one week to both collect AND spend that money. In short, absent some increase in RNC money and possibly 527 money, for the most part McCain's advantage here would be completely neutralized by the clock. If Hillary had been the VP nominee all summer long the Republicans would be dining out on this--but now they simply would not have enough time to do it.

Of course, Hillary turned off a good deal of Obama's liberal base by going so negative during the course of the campaign, so there could be backlash from that circle.

All items to consider for Barack Obama. Perhaps Kathleen Sebelius captures most of the advantage of Hillary with none of the baggage. But this is one of the more intriguing takes on the potential choice that I've read lately.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at August 21, 2008 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

 

Google to convention bloggers: Welcome to Google!

Filed under: Media

Word is that Google will be offering Google-like accommodations to bloggers visiting both the Democratic and Republican conventions.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Not only will bloggers have Internet access, workspaces and couches for napping in the "Big Tent" headquarters, they will be provided food and beverages, Google-sponsored massages, smoothies and a candy buffet.

All that for $100 a head.

With bloggers getting the royal treatment from Patron Saint Google, will traditional reporters be banging on the tent flaps, clamoring for equal time with the masseuses and, you know, a little effing respect?

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at August 19, 2008 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

 

Green and Red: RNC makes like Gore... on a bike.

Filed under: Republican National Convention

Okay, so this is the not the first time it’s happened. And it’s certainly a continuation of things to come as the Pio-Press tag teams with Politico. But it’s still strange-- and slightly awesome-- to click on a headline from the national website and be sent to a story written by a local. It reminds me of when Rowdy Roddy Piper got his big break and went from a powerhouse local fighter in Portland to a powerhouse national fighter. Though, I’m not sure if the Pio-press can rock a kilt quite as well… And to compare Politico to the likes of Randy Savage is completely unfair and demeaning to the hero who is the Macho Man.

Oh. Yeah!

Now, to the meat of it: within the Piolitico article, Dennis Lien talks about the green things that are being planned for the RNC.

Think hybrid electric trucks delivering soft drinks to the Xcel Energy Center. Almost 300 containers for used cans, bottles, paper and all other things recyclable. A thousand bicycles available for convention-goers to get around the Twin Cities. Recycled desk chairs, cubicles and carpeting. Even 45,000 biodegradable discount cards for visitors.

OK. Nothing too ground breaking going on. When are we going to get bloviate powered Teleprompters? Sheesh. That’s an untapped energy source. But the bike idea is interesting…

The bike effort, sponsored by the Humana health insurance company in conjunction with the Bikes Belong cycling advocacy group, is aimed at providing an emissions-free alternative to driving. Riders can use credit cards to check out bikes at no charge. The cards are to make sure they bring the bikes back.

Great idea, but downtown St. Paul is one of the worst places to ride a bike. It’s a barren landscape filled with skyways, crabby old men and bums hunting for fresh bottles of Colt 45. And while there are ways to avoid hills, getting out of downtown St. Paul requires constant spinning in the granny gear.

So where the hell are the convention goers going to travel to? And don’t Republicans travel solely by stretch-hummers that run on puppies? That’s what deluded Kucinich supporters seem to believe.

We can only assume the bikes will be used by interns, too poor to afford a rental car. But we hope the statesmen will take the opportunity to hop on a bike and hit the bars around Seven-Corners. And the car ban around the Xcel could turn the downtown in a mini bicycle utopia for the entire week.

Just think, Lindsey Graham on a cruiser. It could happen… maybe.

OK. Probably not.

Posted by Bradley Campbell at August 18, 2008 5:04 PM | Comments (0)

 

John Kerry: A Great VP Choice for Obama?

Filed under: Dems

Jon Keller makes the case:

But consider some reasons why Obama might now turn to Kerry as a running mate.

Polls show many voters question Obama's foreign policy credentials to be a wartime president. As a decorated veteran and longtime member of the senate foreign relations committee, Kerry could fill that gap.

Obama suffers from being a new face on the political scene, but Kerry - warts and all - is well known to the voters, and in 2004, he did draw more votes than any democrat ever has.

And judging from a new anti-smear web site funded by Kerry's political action committee, Kerry would eagerly assume the role of attack dog... Allowing a nominee who prefers to float above the fray to minimize the amount of political hardball he has to play.

Hey, it beats John Edwards, right?

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 15, 2008 7:35 PM | Comments (1)

 

Minnesota Poll: McCain Gaining Ground for Some Reason

Filed under: Poll Dancing

A Rasmussen poll released yesterday shows that Barack Obama’s once-commanding 12-point lead over John McCain has whittled away to just four percentage points in Minnesota (46 to 42). Even more baffling: the bloodthirsty faux maverick enjoys a 60 percent favorability rating among Minnesotans. (Obama’s is 56 percent.) So with the state’s economy enduring historic lethargy, we’re evidently warming up to a guy whose “straight talk” includes the line, “I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

Speaking of foreign policy issues: how a man who once called Vladimir Putin "the president of Germany" can know even less about the economy is beyond comprehension. Which brings us to a quick question that sounds rhetorical, but genuinely isn't: Just where, exactly, do we dig up these cretins? (We almost forgot-- having the misfortune of being shot down and subsequently tortured during a losing war effort empowers one with magical administrative powers not to be questioned by anyone.)

So what gives? Perhaps McCain is benefiting from Russia’s current, uh, “peacekeeping” venture in Georgia. Or, as summed up aptly in the McCain campaign’s recently unveiled slogan, “It’s the long-dormant Cold War anxieties fanned by a reemerging, hegemonic Russian state, stupid.”

And then there’s this little ditty contained within the same poll:

Picking Minnesota’s Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty as his running mate might cost McCain more votes in the state than he will gain. Thirty-four percent (34%) of Minnesota voters say they are less likely to vote for the GOP candidate if Pawlenty is the vice presidential nominee, while 28% say it makes them more likely to vote for McCain. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it will have no impact on how they vote.

Posted by Matt Snyders at August 15, 2008 2:40 PM | Comments (5)

 

Colin Powell betrays John McCain, endorses Obama for president

Filed under: Celebrity Endorsements

Colin Powell's break from the dark side is complete:

Sources say former Secretary of State Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol told FOX News exclusively on Thursday.

“He may well give a speech at the Democratic convention explaining his endorsement of Obama,” Kristol said, citing inside sources.

“This is not an absolute done deal, but these people are very confident that Powell will endorse Obama,” Kristol said, adding that he thinks Powell still has “a high respect” for John McCain, Obama’s Republican rival.

But before you get to excited there's this:

Powell spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino strongly denied the report.

“There’s absolutely no truth to it whatsoever,” Cifrino told FOXNews.com. “Colin Powell will not be at either convention. There’s absolutely no truth to this.”

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at August 13, 2008 4:55 PM | Comments (5)

 

McCain rattles the saber with Russia again -- and Obama should pounce

Filed under: John McCain

I don't like to blog so soon about the same topic, but this Russia-Georgia situation just keeps getting worse. The right-wing saber-rattling is a great opportunity for Barack Obama to address the commander-in-chief issue while tarring his opponent as reckless and out of touch.

Yesterday, John McCain seemed to endorse a NATO peacekeeping force in South Ossetia. This was for reasons based partially on the Georgians' religious proclivities, which is odd, but whatever reason you want to come up with, it's a terrible idea. The armed forces are stretched thin, the blood's piling up in Iraq as the treasure depletes, and by the way, Russia's a dangerous nuclear power that we'd be taking on in their sphere of influence. Ask Germany how that works out.

Seriously, this attack ad writes itself. I wrote one in 30 seconds that you can find after the jump.

FADE IN to a grainy photo of a befuddled-looking McCain

VOICEOVER: "John McCain doesn't always know who the President of Russia is."

CUT TO: Video of McCain calling Vladmir Putin "President Putin of Germany."

VOICEOVER: "But he knows he wants to start a war with him."

CUT TO: Video of tanks rolling through Georgia. Text overlay of news clips saying "McCain endorses troops in Georgia," and the like.

VOICEOVER: "After taking us into one disastrous war in Iraq, why do George Bush and John McCain want to recklessly send American troops into harm's way again so soon?" Text overlay of Newsweek article endorsing sending the 82nd Airbor