Here's the latest on what has to be the weekend's most anticipated story:

Sources close to the retired four-star general and American icon cautioned that Powell's support for Obama over John McCain might stop short of a formal endorsement when he's interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.

Given Powell's cautious nature, he might decide to make his endorsement of Obama implied, rather than explicit. Even so, a well-informed source told the Daily News:

"After Sunday people aren't going to have any doubt who he's voting for."

Two other colleagues Powell has consulted in recent weeks told The News that while Powell admires McCain, he's roubled that the GOP candidate has surrounded himself with hardline national security advisers.

"McCain has too many neocons working for him," said one Republican source familiar with Powell's thinking. 

***

"He wishes McCain could give him a reason to vote for him, but he hasn't yet," a Powell associate told The News.

The entire post can be read at Jonathan Martin's blog at Politco.com 

 

(third update)

UPDATE with fundraising numbers:

24 hours ago, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann announced that all those who disagree with her are "Anti-American."  Since then, the outpouring of support for my campaign has been extraordinary.  Since Congresswoman Bachmann's outrageous remarks, my campaign has raised $438,346.57, and we're working to reach $500,000 by 5 p.m. today.  Congresswoman Bachmann's extreme ideology divides people, but her comments on MSNBC's Hardball have united all of those who believe that I will jump start the ecomomy on Main Street by creating jobs and rebuilding our infrastructure.  As a Minister and Mayor, I brought people together.  I believe that we build by addition, not division.  I want to thank you all.  It is now clear that we have the momentum to win and I ask for your financial support.  I will keep everyone posted.

Thank you,

El Tinklenberg

 

(second update) Elwyn Tinklen berg has posted the following thank-you note at Daily Kos:

Kossacks:
The last few hours have been nothing short of astounding.  Since Congresswoman Michele Bachmann appeared on MSNBC's Hardball earlier tonight, there's been a deluge of support unlike anything we have seen.  We are so grateful to the Daily Kos community and others who've sounded the alarm on Bachmann's extremist, shameful rhetoric and pitched in with whatever they can to help end her tenure in Congress.
 
Our phones haven't stopped ringing.  Many have called in to say they're sorry they can only send money and wish they could be here to help.  We want you to know what a difference your funds are making and that, thanks in part to your help, we are confident that we will be able to win this race.  We are preparing to get out the vote on an unprecedented scale, and with supporters like you we will have the resources we need to get the job done.  

I am both hopeful and humbled at the reminder you gave me tonight - that in our country's darkest times, it is the strength and belief and action of ordinary Americans that ultimately brings about the change we need.  From the hardworking folks in Minnesota's Sixth District to all of you: we are proud to have you on our side.  

Thank you,

El Tinklenberg

 

(update) The Act Blue website is now showing $110,000 for our guy El!

The story is on the front page and at Election Central here at TPM, and all over the blogs. Michele Bachmann's comments on Chris Matthews' Hardball tonight have kicked a nationwide fundraising drive into high gear.Over 1500 people have now donated over $60,000 to Act Blue to benefit the campaign of El Tinklenberg in the space of about five hours tonight.

Read about it here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/17/17297/266/761/633857

here:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/17/171212/66/782/633844

and to participate in donating go here:

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/nonewmccarthy?refcode=thermometer

and to see the curent total ($68,000 at the time of this posting) go here:

http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18660

Amazing! Sign the petition to demand that congress censure Michele Bachmann here:

http://www.censurebachmann.com/

Update:

From CNN - Add the Denver Post and the Miami Herald to the list!

In an editorial posted on the paper's Web site and set to run in its Sunday edition, the Denver Post praised the Illinois senator as "the right man to lead America back to prosperity."

"In unsteady times, it may seem obvious to gravitate toward the veteran politician, but in this campaign, it's been the newcomer who has had the steady hand," the paper's editorial said.

The Denver Post also praised Obama's history as a community organizer and said it well prepared him to lead the country through its current financial woes.

"Republicans love to mock Obama's history as a community organizer," the paper said. "But here was a man with no money to offer, no patronage to dispense, no way to punish his opponents. All he could do was to work with people from all walks of life, liberals and conservatives, business people and the unemployed, and bring them together in common cause for a better community. Could there really be better preparation to reunite a worried and divided America to again pursue our "more perfect union"?

***

The Miami Herald lauded Obama's handling of the nearly two-year long presidential campaign and said he offers "pragmatic solutions for problems instead of relying on ideology and worn-out slogans."

"Sen. Obama represents the best chance for America to make a clean break with the culture wars and failed policies of the past, and begin to restore the hope and promise of America as the world's greatest democracy," The Herald wrote.

 

Barack Obama for President

Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them.

We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.

~snip~

McCain failed in his most important executive decision. Give him credit for choosing a female running mate--but he passed up any number of supremely qualified Republican women who could have served. Having called Obama not ready to lead, McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. His campaign has tried to stage-manage Palin's exposure to the public. But it's clear she is not prepared to step in at a moment's notice and serve as president. McCain put his campaign before his country.

~snip~

It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.

update -

Add the Los Angeles Times to today's list:

The Times without hesitation endorses Barack Obama for president.

Our nation has never before had a candidate like Obama, a man born in the 1960s, of black African and white heritage, raised and educated abroad as well as in the United States, and bringing with him a personal narrative that encompasses much of the American story but that, until now, has been reflected in little of its elected leadership. The excitement of Obama's early campaign was amplified by that newness. But as the presidential race draws to its conclusion, it is Obama's character and temperament that come to the fore. It is his steadiness. His maturity.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-endorse19-2008oct19,0,5198206.story

and conservative talk-radio host Michael Smerconish:

"I've decided," he said. "My conclusion comes after reading the candidates' memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general election debates. 
 
"John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I'm voting for a Democrat for president.

His full op-ed will be in tomorrow's Philadelphia Enquirer.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/in-philly-conse.html

Are you a poll number addict? I am. I must check the stats at www.fivethirtyeight.com and www.pollster.com a dozen times a day, just to see if there has been any kind of update in polling or analysis. If you haven't checked out Nate Silver's site at 538, do so, he's the wunderkind of new polling models this year, so much so, that even Keith Olbermann is having him on his show.

One of my favorite graphics at Nate's site is the "Win Percentage" pie-chart graphic in the upper left corner of the page. That percentage has slowly been rising for weeks or months now, but OH MY GOD! IT WENT DOWN 0.4% TODAY! I'm freaking out and losing it! Talk me down! (as Rachel Maddow would say). How can this be happening? Obama's numbers are only supposed to go up, Up, UP! Right?

Oh wait, calm down, this is what is supposed to happen at this point. The last debate is over, there are only twenty days left until the election, and the undecideds are finally getting off the fence (one hopes). Some of them will go to McCain, some will go to Obama, and the point spread is, yes it's true, going to tighten some.

So what about these dire pronouncements by some in the media and on the right, that Obama is underachieving, that given the current conditions, his numbers should be much higher? Why isn't he "closing the deal" as I saw one article title ask the other day?

Here's the conclusion from an article by someone much smarter than I am (which is why I stole his title), that anwers that question, and points out that Obama's numbers are exactly where they should be at this point in the race:

Despite the fact that pundits have claimed that Obama is not performing as well as he should be given the economic and political conditions, the models used by political scientists to predict election outcomes--models based on these very conditions--tell a different story. Obama is currently out-pacing the predictions made by some models and lagging only a few percentage points behind others. But his support does not stray more than 4.2% away from any of these predictions. Thus, there isn't much support here for the notion that Obama is greatly underachieving in this election. At least not at this point in the race.

So there you have it. Make sure you read the article. And make sure you tighten your onion belt, this pressure cooker we are currently travelling in is going to start popping like one of those deep-diving submarines you see in the movies, but this is exactly as it is supposed to be. 

So the truth, at least some of it, comes out:

Wurzelbacher said a McCain campaign official contacted him several days before the debate to ask him to appear with the candidate at a Toledo rally scheduled for Sunday.

The New York Times has the whole update to the story, but the above line pretty much says it all: cheap, deceitful, and ultimately, a lame gimmick.

But he is a local businessman, although what his business is, has yet to be determined.

Just up by uniongirl at blogspot:

Good morning Mr. Burga

I know, you've probably gotten a ton of these inquiries, but I'm hoping, I'm a little different.

I run a union website, am a registered voter and native of Ohio (Ashtabula) and I'd like to know how to find out if Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacker is a member of a pipefitters, steamfitters or plumbers unions.  How would I go about that for the Toledo area.  I've gotten a couple of the locals numbers, should I just call them?

Thanks so much

--
XXXXXX
http://uniongal.blogspot.com

::

Mr. Burga's quote:

You can quote me as saying, "Joe is not a plumber he's a businessman.  If we don't elect Barack Obama, the plumbing business and working families dreams will go down the drain."

 

So what kind of businessman is he? Last night, a Daily Kos diarist did a little digging and came up with this:

First, he seems to own a few companies:
#1:

Joseph Wurzelbacher (Joseph Wurzelbacher Cnstr Co)
12172 Stone Mill Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45251-4134

#2:

JCC INVESTMENTS INC in the Investors, N.E.C. industry in CINCINNATI, OH. This company currently has approximately 1 to 5 employees and annual sales of Under $500,000.
Location Information Edit
12172 STONE MILL RD
CINCINNATI, OH  45251

#3:

Wurzelbacher Painting
12148 Stone Mill Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45251-4134  (Map)

#4:

Wurzelbacher Brothers
(513) 385-6666
11260 Colerain Avenue,
Cincinnati, OH 45252
Specialties:  
REPAIR OF SEPTIC TANKS
Phone: (513) 385-5264

Is this our same Samuel Joseph Wurlzebacher? I have no idea, and in many ways don't care, or think that it's important. I guess I'm only in it to see if this whole thing blows up in the McCain campaign's face. Here's to hoping. 

More bad news for John McCain. Tired of reading about unlicensed plumber's assistants? Hers's an excellent article in the UK's Independent:

Iraq and the United States have finally agreed on a security pact which would mean that US forces would withdraw from Iraq by 2011, American and Iraqi officials said yesterday.

The accord became a major test of strength between the Iraqi government and Washington since negotiations began in March with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, pictured below, demanding US concessions on the date of the troop withdrawal and immunity for US troops. The pact replaces the UN Security Council resolution enacted after the American invasion of 2003.

~snip~

The Republican contender, Senator John McCain, started off his campaign by saying that US troops might stay for 100 years and there should be no date for their withdrawal. The Democratic candidate, Senator Barack Obama, wants combat troops home by the middle of 2010, which was also the date originally proposed by Mr Maliki.

Iraq has faded as an issue in the presidential election as the financial crisis worsened. However, claims that the Republicans had won a victory in Iraq looked increasingly unreal as it became clear that a withdrawal date would be determined by Mr Maliki, and not by the US.

It's hard to keep up with the McCain camp plants. I can't even remember the name of the black, right-wing radio host that "appeared" at the McCain rally and "begged" McCain to take off the gloves and fight, but he obviously was in colusion with the campaign.

And now we have a plethora of Joe the Plumber stories this morning, many calling him the "game changer" and other such nonsense. But we also have a number of stories looking into the man's actual background.

From Jake Tapper's blog, Political Punch:

ABC News' Chris Bury is outside Toledo, near the home of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber," and reports that Wurzelbacher -- such a key part of Sen. John McCain's critique of Sen. Barack Obama's economic proposals -- acknowledged that he wants to purchase the plumbing business for $250-280,000, not that he would net that much in profits.

He would make much less, he said.

Which would seem to indicate that he would be eligible for an Obama tax cut, not that he would be subject to the tax increase from 36% to 39% Obama would impose on those making more than $200,000 per person, or $250,000 per family.

Wurzelbacher this morning told ABC News' Diane Sawyer that he was talking about, in Diane's words, the prospect, the hope that someday he would make $250,000.

Sounds to me like Joe "misrepresented" his concerns about falling into Obama's above-$250,000 tax margin. And then there's the whole "I'm an undecided voter" position that Mr. Wurzelbacher was claimed to occupy. Turns out the he wasn't very "undecided" after all, according to Ben Smith's blog:

Linda Howe, executive director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said a Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher, whose address and age match Joe the Plumber's, registered in Lucas County on Sept. 10, 1992. He voted in his first primary on March 4, 2008, registering as a Republican.

But maybe he was an undecided, registered Republican? Let's ask Joe, or more correctly, let's let Katie Couric ask him, as noted with a video clip on The Jed Report, and see what the result was:

We don't know much about Joe The Plumber, but we do know this: he made up his mind who he was voting for before last night's debate.

Speaking with Katie Couric, "Joe" said that he "wasn't swayed" by the debate last night, yet pretty much knew who he was going to vote for. So if (a) he wasn't swayed by the debate and (b) knows who he is going to vote for, then (c) he had already made up his mind before the debate.

OK, so undecided, concerned about making a $250,000 profit, Joe-whose-real-name-is-Sam at least wasn't directly prepped by the McCain campaign. Again from Ben Smith:

McCain aides say there was no heads-up for Joe the Plumber, who's headed out to the morning shows tomorrow.

   "Joe didn't know" that he'd be at the center of the debate," said Matt McDonald.

   "We tried to call him during the debate, but his phone was busy," he said. "We're not going to put him through media training."

So the McCain campaign says they never contacted Joe the Plumber...but they also had his phone number. Now it's very possible someone in the media gave them his phone number, but if you can find any listing for Joe Wurzelbacher in Holland, Ohio, you're more industrious than I am.

Well, I'm not that industrious, and why shouldn't I believe what Joe the Plumber says, or the McCain campaign for that matter?

 

update: looks like Joe is behind by about $1200 in his taxes, according to a Clerk of Courts docket just posted at Daily Kos.

Joe doesn't appear to hold a valid license to be a plumber, either, according to these queries.

And yes, there is Joe's father Robert Wurzlebacher. Is this the same Robert Wurzlebacher who is better known as the right wing fanatic and contributor who is the son in law of Charles Keating?

And is it possible that he is related to another Wurzelbacher by the name of Doug Wurzelbacher? Doug is active in competitive dog sled racing. Guess where he lives? Wasilla, Alaska. 

I've been watching the post-debate coverage and Chris Matthews just dwelled in some length on this huge, huge mistake by McCain. He thinks there will be much back-tracking on this comment in the next few days. I agree.

If there is one moment that shows McCain's complete lack of compassion and understanding, this is it.

update - Thanks for the recs! It's not looking good for John on this key issue, and this is just the beginning of the response. Here are a few excellent columns in today's press on the subject:

Nancy Keenan - Mocking Women's Health and Losing Their Votes (With "Air Quotes")

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-keenan/mocking-womens-health-and_b_135251.html

Cecile Richards - McCain Said Women's Health is "Extreme"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/mccain-says-womens-health_b_135205.html

Judy Muller - McCain's Debate Air Quotes Badly "Misfired"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-muller/mccains-debate-air-quotes_b_135296.html

I wish I had thought of it first, but it was David Gergen on CNN that just made the best assessment of the evening.

Props to LisB and all the others at the live chat during the debate. That was fun!

 Cheers!

 Go Obama!

ps - I think Obama just made Joe the Plumber a millionaire.

Will Todd Palin's associations with John Birch Society members and the anti-american Alaska Independence Party affect his chances at receiving security clearance?

Although Sarah Palin smack talks Barack Obama for "palling around with terrorists," it turns out that the Palin family has its own history of palling around with Alaska's own unique brand of America-haters. Palin's husband Todd was once an actual member of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party (AIP). Palin herself was not a member of AIP -- but many AIP luminaries claim her as a kindred spirit and "one of their own."

A charitable characterization of AIP might be "quirky down-home Alaska politics." However, the security processes that govern access to our defense and national security institutions might not look so kindly on Todd Palin's past political associations. Indeed, if Todd Palin were applying for a job in the US government or at a contractor that required access to sensitive classified information -- a security clearance -- he would very likely be ineligible.

Read more here.

Too funny:

DOVER, New Hampshire (CNN) - The campaign of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said the Alaska governor was unaware of a visit by Russian energy officials to Anchorage on Monday.

Eight high-level officials from Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled energy conglomerate, traveled to Anchorage earlier this week to meet with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the chief executive of ConocoPhillips to discuss energy projects and the possibility of expanding into new markets.

The meeting on Alaskan soil comes at a time of chilly relations between Russia and the United States following Russia's invasion of Georgia in August. Both Palin and John McCain have been critical of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the campaign trail, and Palin raised eyebrows last month in an interview by saying that Putin "rears his head" by dispatching Russian jets into Alaska's airspace.

Hey, that's unfair! Doesn't everyone know that the McCain campaign is in charge of Alaska now?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/15/palin-unaware-of-russian-energ-meeting-in-alaska/

Thomas Frank, well-known author, journalist and columnist, has a great article up in the WSJ today. As long as the McCain campaign chooses to stand on the opposite side of truth, they will continue to sink.

My Friend Bill Ayers

excerpt:

I can personally attest to the idiocy of it all because I am a friend of Mr. Ayers. In fact, I met him in the same way Mr. Obama says he did: 10 years ago, Mr. Ayers was a guy in my neighborhood in Chicago who knew something about fundraising. I knew nothing about it, I needed to learn, and a friend referred me to Bill.

Bill's got lots of friends, and that's because he is today a dedicated servant of those less fortunate than himself; because he is unfailingly generous to people who ask for his help; and because he is kind and affable and even humble. Moral qualities which, by the way, were celebrated boisterously on day one of the GOP convention in September.

Mr. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where his work is esteemed by colleagues of different political viewpoints. Herbert Walberg, an advocate of school vouchers who is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, told me he remembers Mr. Ayers as "a responsible colleague, in the professional sense of the word." Bill Schubert, who served as the chairman of UIC's Department of Curriculum and Instruction for many years, thinks so highly of Mr. Ayers that, in response to the current allegations, he compiled a lengthy résumé of the man's books, journal articles, guest lectures and keynote speeches. Mr. Ayers has been involved with countless foundation efforts and has received various awards. He volunteers for everything. He may once have been wanted by the FBI, but in the intervening years the man has become such a good citizen he ought to be an honorary Eagle Scout.

I do not defend the things Mr. Ayers did in his Weatherman days. Nor will I quibble with those who find Mr. Ayers wanting in contrition. His 2001 memoir is shot through with regret, but it lacks the abject style our culture prefers.

Instead I want to note that, in its haste to convict a man merely for associating with Mr. Ayers, the GOP is effectively proposing to make the upcoming election into the largest mass trial in history, with all those professors and all those do-gooders on the hook for someone else's deeds four decades ago. Also in the dock: the demonic city (Chicago) that once named Mr. Ayers its "Citizen of the Year." Fire up Hurricane Katrina and point it toward Lake Michigan!

Yesterday I put forward the words of Rabbi Wolf of Chicago, "We held the first coffee for Obama," and asked why no one was challenging the McCain/GOP's attack line about Obama launching his political careeer in the living room of Bill Ayers:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/astral66/2008/10/obamas-political-career-was-la.php

Today Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times has a piece up called

McCain misleading public in role Ayers played in Obama political career

 

I quoted Rabbi Wolf in my piece:

That was one of several such neighborhood events as Mr. Obama prepared to run, said A. J. Wolf, the 84-year-old emeritus rabbi of KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue, across the street from Mr. Obama's current house.

"If you ask my wife, we had the first coffee for Barack," Rabbi Wolf said.

Lynn Sweet writes:

"I was certainly (hosting) one of the first," said Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, rabbi emeritus at Chicago's KAM Isaiah Israel--located across the street from the Obama home.

Coincidence? No one has looked into this issue of the coffees that were hosted at the beginning of Obama's political career, which is why I posted my query into it here at TPM and cross-posted at Daily Kos yesterday. I also emailed my post to some of the major news organizations, mainly in the hopes that someone would take a look and do the real work to flesh out this story, and to counter the McCain smear-machines false statements.

Maybe Lynn Sweet arrived at the same place I did yesterday, after hearing the Ayers living room smear one too many times. Or maybe someone did see my post here, and thought it was worth looking into a bit more. Maybe the work we do here day after day, posting our thoughts and concerns, really can effect some kind of change?

I hope so. Either way, thanks to Lynn Sweet for her in-depth piece on this topic today, it goes a lot furthur than mine did, as she called and emailed many of the parties involved. Make sure you check it out.

excerpt:

I was certainly (hosting) one of the first," said Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, rabbi emeritus at Chicago's KAM Isaiah Israel--located across the street from the Obama home.

"There were several every week," he recalled on Tuesday night when we spoke. "I remember what I said to him: 'Someday you are going to be vice president of the United States.' He laughed and said, 'Why not president?'''

~snip~

"As a starter, I know that Barack went to Alice Palmer," Martha Ackerman told me. "...Then the question was, 'how do you go about doing this in the Hyde Park way," she said, a reference to the personal touch needed in the Hyde Park- Kenwood neighborhoods, at the time immune to the dictates of the remnants of the Chicago machine and Mayor Daley's City Hall.

"...the way to launch the campaign was to have coffee, and not one coffee, as in 'this is the start of everything.' Barack went around to a number of people and requested that they hold coffees for him."

But the Ackerman's did not want to host an event for Obama without meeting him first. So he came over to their house and spent more than an hour with the couple.

When Obama left, "I said to Sam, 'this guy could be the first African American president of the United States."

Martha Ackerman, said "I know there were a number of coffees. It wasn't just one or two."

"We had the first coffee for Barack," Rabbi Wolf said.

The Republicans have been very effective in their smear campaign against Obama to always use the phrase "unrepentant terrorism" in reference to Bill Ayers, whether identified by name, or more recently as it's own stand-alone identifier. I don't think there is a GOP or McCain statement coming out that doesn't include the words "unrepentant terrorist", regardless of what the main topic of the statement is. If nothing else, it has been their most consistent and effective line of attack, in print, radio, and in video advertisements.

The other line that is constantly included in this character assassination barage is the line, "Launched his political career in the living room of an unrepentant terrorist." Just today, in the most recent statement from the McCain campaign, we see this line repeated again:

In 1995, Barack Obama launched his political career in the house of William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.

It is surprising that this smear is constantly allowed to pass by without being challenged. As of yet, we don't have a specific timeline of the several house or coffee gatherings that are mentioned as having launched Obama's political campaign, although we know that one of these did take place in the Ayers house:

It was later in 1995 that Mr. Ayers and Ms. Dohrn hosted the gathering, in their town house three blocks from Mr. Obama's home, at which State Senator Alice J. Palmer, who planned to run for Congress, introduced Mr. Obama to a few Democratic friends as her chosen successor.

This quote comes from the October 3rd New York Times article, "Obama and a 60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths." Barely noticed or commented on, though, is the statement that followed this passage:

That was one of several such neighborhood events as Mr. Obama prepared to run, said A. J. Wolf, the 84-year-old emeritus rabbi of KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue, across the street from Mr. Obama's current house.

"If you ask my wife, we had the first coffee for Barack," Rabbi Wolf said. He said he had known Mr. Ayers for decades but added, "Bill's mad at me because I told a reporter he's a toothless ex-radical."

"It was kind of a nasty shot," Mr. Wolf said. "But it's true. For God's sake, he's a professor."

So here is the one statement on this issue whereby a person who was involved in these first "coffees" claims to have hosted the first. Not William Ayers and wife Bernadine, but a Jewish rabbi by the name of A. J. Wolf. Would the emeritus rabbi from the synagogue across the street from the Obama's house have any reason to not tell the truth?

The Obama campaign, in one of its recent television ads, show a picture of a Ramada Inn where they state that Obama officialy launched his campaign. That, of course, would have been the first major public event. But it appears from the record that we have, that Obama launched his political career in the home of a rabbi.

The McCain campaign has just released a statement in reference to David Plouffe's video statement this morning on the Ayers controversy.

excerpt:

"This much is clear: Barack Obama and William Ayers were friends before that relationship became a political embarrassment for the Illinois Senator-Obama did pal around with a terrorist. According to his campaign, Barack Obama no longer believes Ayers has been rehabilitated. And William Ayers did target his own country. So what part of Governor's Palin's remarks are 'beyond the pale.' Perhaps Mr. Plouffe does not like Governor Palin's inference that Barack Obama palled around with Ayers because Barack Obama has a different view of America than most of us. Yet the Obama campaign has offered no alternate explanation-they have not conceded that the relationship was simply the result of a serious error in judgment.

"The only thing 'beyond the pale' here is the Obama campaign's failure to explain how it is that Barack Obama carried on a decade long friendship with a man who sought to topple the U.S. government through violence."-Michael Goldfarb, McCain-Palin Spokesman

http://thepage.time.com/mccain-response-to-plouffe-video/

The Obama campaign has released its first ad specifically mentioning Bill Ayers by name:

"Bill Ayers is a professor of education who once served with Obama on a school reform board, a board funded by conservative Republicans tied to McCain," says the ad's narrator. "When Ayers committed crimes in the '60s, Obama was 8 years old. Obama condemned those despicable acts. Ayers has had no role in Obama's campaign, and will have no role in his administration."

The audio file can be heard at Ben Smith's blog on Politico.com.

China's state-owned oil group, CNPC, has already agreed a $3bn (£1.78bn) oil services contract with the government of Iraq to pump oil from the Ahdab oil field.

The deal is the first major oil contract with a foreign firm since the US-led war and was followed up by an agreement with Shell, potentially worth $4bn, to develop a joint venture with the South Gas Company in Basra.

I don't know why Ieven bother to read the US press anymore, all of the good stuff is in the UK and European news sites. I don't think I saw a single mention of this in the MSM today, but maybe I missed while trying to figure out the new TPM (which is a very good improvement, by the way).

Iraqi government fuels 'war for oil' theories by putting reserves up for biggest ever sale

OK, so my title is my own interpretation of the story, but regardless, it's a pretty clear-cut, slam dunk of a mission accomplished sort of watershed event. A bit more:

The biggest ever sale of oil assets will take place today, when the Iraqi government puts 40bn barrels of recoverable reserves up for offer in London.

BP, Shell and ExxonMobil are all expected to attend a meeting at the Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair with the Iraqi oil minister, Hussein al-Shahristani.

Access is being given to eight fields, representing about 40% of the Middle Eastern nation's reserves, at a time when the country remains under occupation by US and British forces.

Two smaller agreements have already been signed with Shell and the China National Petroleum Corporation, but today's sale will ignite arguments over whether the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was a "war for oil" that is now to be consummated by western multinationals seizing control of strategic Iraqi reserves.

Now why would anyone think that? So let me get this straight: Bush funded this war in a large part on huge, cheap loans from China, our men and women in uniform do all of the work to seize the country, then China takes the profit from their loans to the US, not to mention all of the cheap goods produced by slave labor that they sell us through Wal-Mart, and then scoops up the choice oil contracts to send the crude flowing in their direction? Maybe I'm delusional here?

I still haven't figured out any of this rich text yet, but I figure if I keep posting, I'll figure it out eventually.

Here's a good one:

In recent days, McCain officials say, interest picked up. By Monday, pledges totaled $7 million. About 1,000 people paid $1,000 each for the reception. The more exclusive dinner with the Republican ticket drew about 200 contributors.

"Reality set in," one fund-raiser said. "Donors realized they could face an Obama administration next month." They are petrified they will face steep increases in personal and corporate tax rates, this person said.

Several executives resisted the fund-raiser because of their own financial pain. But Mr. Fasso didn't let up, telling them, "Obama will be a disaster for you."

This is from an article in today's Wall Street Journal on how McCain is alienating his uber-wealthy base:

"Wall Street Donors Resent Being Blamed by McCain"

NEW YORK -- Sen. John McCain badly needs the cash infusion and momentum from a Tuesday night fund-raiser in New York. But the senator's recent demonizing of Wall Street made it tough to lure contributors, with Wall Street and corporate executives balancing their aggravation with the Republican presidential hopeful against their rising unease about his Democratic opponent.

The McCain campaign hopes to raise $7 million at the event at a midtown Manhattan hotel. For $25,000, guests get a sit-down dinner and a photo with the Arizona lawmaker and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Guests who pay $1,000 can attend a reception. 

Gee, if only I has $25,000 so I could have my photo taken with the first presidentail ticket to have two abuse-of-power ethics violaters on it!

Looks like Gov. Palin doesn't have much regard for some of her own citizens:

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Gov. Sarah Palin's rural adviser resigned Monday amid criticism of the governor's record on hiring Alaska Natives. Rhonda McBride, who is not an Alaska Native, made the announcement in an e-mail to several Native leaders, saying there needs to be more Native voices in Palin's administration. "I definitely think it would help to have an Alaska Native in this position," McBride told The Associated Press.

Many Alaska Natives have said they felt neglected when Palin, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, made appointments to her administration, including the rural adviser post. State Sen. Al Kookesh, a Democrat, said Palin left the position unfilled her first year in office and ignored Native leaders' suggestions on the selection process. "We were really disappointed when an Alaska Native wasn't appointed," said Kookesh, a Tlingit Indian who held the job in a previous administration.

Natives bristled early in Palin's administration when she named a white woman to a game board seat held by a Native for more than 25 years. An Athabascan Indian eventually was named to the post after protests. Relations worsened after Palin didn't remove a game board chairman who once suggested that Alaska Natives missed a meeting because they were drinking beer, seen as insensitive since the Alaska Native community has high rates of alcohol abuse. Alaska Natives make up about 20 percent of the population.

Read the entire article here:

Palin's rural adviser quits

One of the constants of the John McCain legend is that he suffered brutal torture at the hands of his captors. Various reports over the past few years suggest that mcCain suffered most of his injuries in his near-fatal plane crash that led to his capture. The Guardian has an interesting article up today that includes an interview with the chief prison guard where McCain was held:

"In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Nguyen Tien Tran acknowledged that conditions in the prison were "tough, though not inhuman". But, he added: "We never tortured McCain. On the contrary, we saved his life, curing him with extremely valuable medicines that at times were not available to our own wounded.""

"Tran, now 75, said McCain reached Hanoi with the worst injuries he had seen in a downed pilot. But he denied torturing him, saying it was his mission to ensure that McCain survived. As the son of the US naval commander in Vietnam, he offered a potential valuable propaganda weapon."

"Tran told Corriere that McCain was sent to hospital the day after he was brought to Hanoi and stayed there for a month. "I never lost him from sight. I was frightened a doctor or nurse might do him harm.""

"Tran dismissed as "absolutely impossible" perhaps the most famous story from McCain's autobiography: that one Christmas, a guard traced a cross in the mud in front of him. "My men were all communists and atheists," he said."

So who are we to trust?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/14/uselections2008-johnmccain

 

 

I've been thinking about the current adminstration's response to the current financial crisis. I'm no economic or financial expert, but I'm hearing from the GOP side that we have a situation that was caused by giving high-risk loans to banks, institutions and/or people that had little or no collateral to back up those loans.

Is it just my misunderstanding of these complex issues, or did the Bush/Paulson plan basically center around giving high-risk taxpayer-funded loans, to banks, institutions and/or people that have little or no collateral to back them up?
Am I missing something here?