Clever progressive fundraiser, mentioned in today's NYT Caucus Blog.  Check it out HERE.

The plot thickens--and may involve the Obama people.

HBO's response to a blogger query is suggestive, as are the questions in this Kansas City TV column.

I heard the opening of the inaugural concert live on NPR and then watched the rebroadcast on HBO--no invocation by gay bishop Gene Robinson.  More details and a link to write HBO here at JoeMyGod's blog, but while we wait for HBO to explain, here are my top ten reasons the invocation was not broadcast:

1. HBO sound system cannot broadcast gay voices.
2. Program ran over schedule, so HBO went back in their time machine and cut the beginning of the live broadcast.
3. Appearance of a gay men's chorus went way over HBO's 'gay quota' for the event.
4. HBO is a family-friendly network that does not carry offensive material like frontal nudity, profanity, or bishops.
5. Ellen DeGeneres was jealous.
6. Dumbledore was jealous.
7. HBO was warned that terrorists were watching for a signal that America was gay weak.
8. Rick Warren was jealous.
9. Everyone knows all gays are atheists.
10. Sarah Palin used her special anti-Russian spyware to block the signal.

1-19-09
UPDATE: NPR, who interviewed Robinson earlier today (audio here), blames HBO, claiming that they were dependent on HBO for their audio feed.  Meanwhile HBO is blaming the inauguration committee, who claim it was a mixup (e.g. here on Huffington Post).

7 p.m.  Now the PIC has apologized and will include clips of the invocation in tomorrow's ceremonies, according to Atlantic.

8 p.m. The Gray Lady weighs in.  

So I'm watching TPMTV Sunday Show roundup, all about Mumbai, and the chirpy little algorithm that displays GoogleAd popups across the bottom of the video gives me...
Discount Hotels in Mumbai!!

I bet the Taj has some rooms available.

Minnesota Majority, a conservative advocacy group, has been calling 
voters, implying (falsely) that they are calling for the secretary of 
state, and browbeating those who have recently changed addresses:

See the Star Tribune story HERE.

Bret Stephens has an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that Powell is a man of no principles who endorsed Obama only because Powell is "a man with an unfailing sense of the political breeze"--in other words, a sleazy opportunist jumping on the bandwagon now that Obama is ahead in the polls.  This is not surprising (in the same issue, Bernanke's endorsement of Obama's economic proposals is characterized as a 'job application' for the Obama White House).  What IS surprising is the photo of Powell which accompanies the op-ed essay.  There are at least fifty photos of Powell from Sunday's Meet the Press on the first two pages of Google images.  But the WSJ web editors somehow dug up a photo which shows Powell dancing onstage with two black rappers at a London charity event last week.  (Original BBC report of this event here.)  The message is clear:

1. Powell is black first, a statesman second.
2. He is a washed-up has-been who is willing to make a fool of himself in public.
3. He pals around with terrorists gangsta types.

I must say I did not expect this type of sleaze from the Wall Street Journal.

If I can figure out how to insert the photo, I will.

My daughter is in college out of state and therefore has not voted in any primaries.  The RNC appears to be targeting her as an 'independent' voter.  There were two phone calls last weekend, both opening with some variation of 'Hi, I'm so-and-so, an independent supporting John McCain'.  Yesterday two flyers from the RNC arrived addressed to her.  The first shows McCain and Palin waving to an adoring crowd and promises stem cell funding, climate change control, and fiscal discipline.  On the reverse, a USA Today story headlined "In targeting big oil, Palin 'governed from the center'/She didn't press conservative views to state lawmakers"  The inside text is headed: 'Sensible Solutions for America's Families' and begins:

 "John McCain and Sarah Palin will work with Democrats and Republicans for sensible solutions to the problems facing American families.

As the mother of a special needs child, Sarah Palin knows first hand the value of advanced medical treatments and research, which is why she and John McCain will push for advances in stem cell research.

And the McCain-Palin plan for confronting climate change will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, shift to cleaner energy and create American jobs.  In the Senate, John McCain has worked with Democrats and Republicans on climate change.  As Governor, Sarah Palin went after big oil companies and won.  Together, they'll address climate change to leave a cleaner, better future for our children."

The text goes on to promise cuts in wasteful spending and concludes with the footer: "Leadership that reaches across party lines.  McCain-Palin.  Change is coming."

Minnesota is a big technology transfer state--Medtronic, 3M, Unisys and Honeywell all have large facilities near my house--and our med school boasts one of the leading stem-cell research groups in the world.  It's clear this mailing is intended to address concerns about Palin's positions on science and the environment.  We are also a state which actually elects third-party candidates at times (Jesse Ventura; Independent Dean Barkley is polling at just under 15% in the MN senate race); the mailer portrays McCain as a bipartisan leader.

The second mailer (on this mailer, also distributed in NC, see the TPM story) offers a very unflattering picture of Obama next to gloomy economic headers (Turmoil on Wall Street') and asks "Do Democratic leaders REALLY think he is ready to lead?"  The inside features a collage of quotes from Democrats criticizing Obama.  Most, of course, are from the primary season.  Only one quote is less than six months old.  The others are six, eight, ten, ten, and fourteen months old respectively.  The mailer does give the sources and dates for the quotes, in small but legible type.

Together, the mailers are a 1-2 punch: Obama is scarier than you thought; we are less scary than you thought.  Personally, I think the first flyer is a classic example of The Audacity of Hype (a snide phrase frequently used against Obama): the image of Sarah Palin leading the charge on stem-cell research and green energy policy is so implausible I don't even know where to start...

NKA

ABC's Political Radar has picked up the story of two women who sent an email to 40 friends asking for responses to the Palin nomination. They set up a moderated blog, 'Women Against Sarah Palin'. A few days later they had 13,000 replies. A week later (yesterday) they had almost 100,000. The two editors have done a great job excerpting and posting samples of this flood of mail, which comes from all over the country and includes women of every age and every political affiliation. I found it very therapeutic--it's reassuring to know that my reaction to McCain's choice (stunned nausea) was not anomalous. NKA ABC posting: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/women-against-s.html Women Against Sarah Palin: http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/