BlatherWatch

The Day After--Update: Ted Nugent Death Watch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day of reckoning has arrived, otherwise known as the second worst hangover day or post election night blues.

 

To be sure, we weren't sure the outcome nationally would be in as soon as it was, and in a few places including the Inslee/Mckenna race, it still may not be decided for awhile.  We do know this, it was the year of the woman and minority vote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For schadenfreude, we tuned into FOX news when Ohio put the President at 274, clinching the electoral college vote.  Karl Rove was busy with his calculator saying Ohio should be 'challenged'   FOX was already calling the election though at 9pm PST. 

 

We know to the victor goes the spoils, including conservative talk radio, with hosts like Limbaugh et al who will spend the next 4 years calling voters 'stupid' and woman 'sluts' and of course 'rigged elections'.    More women and minorities turned out than in previous times, including the elections of Elizabeth Warren and the 2 Tammies, Duckworth and Baldwin to what were considered long shots to win, weeks earlier.  Should we mention SCOTUS appointments?

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will follow the chatter from the blogosphere and talk radio and teevee as it makes for interesting analysis or just plain intervention on the part of public safety as the next 4 years promise to either change the party that lost into a more mainstream message or one that will go the way of the Whigs.  We leave you with Diane Sawyer last night, somewhat out of it.

 

 

This just in, Ted Nugent is still alive

“If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

 

A trip to Disneyland on the public dime

Josh Felt from Publicola reports: "State taxpayers funded a $1,500 trip to Disneyland for state Attorney General Rob McKenna last summer, during which McKenna held a fundraiser for his gubernatorial campaign, according to records obtained by PubliCola. This latest news comes just a few days after the Seattle Times reported on McKenna's record of taking free trips as AG that were paid for by various outside groups such as the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the Government Leadership Foundation, a Republican advocacy group—but nothing at taxpayers' expense, the paper said. McKenna's campaign finance disclosure reports show that McKenna held a fundraiser at the hotel on July 25, the second-to-last day of his taxpayer-funded stay at the Disney Grand. However, McKenna's round-trip flight and four-day stay at the Disney Grand California Hotel in Anaheim, California for the Conference of Western Attorneys General summer meeting between July 22 and July 26, were publicly funded, PubliCola found. While the main itinerary of the Disneyland trip appears to be legit—McKenna's calendar details seminars and panels on everything from cyber-bullying to regulating the tax preperation industry—aspects of the trip raise ethical questions. McKenna's wife Marilyn accompanied McKenna on the trip—and taxpayers covered the four-night, $1,212.12 bill for McKenna's room, plus $376.60 in reimbursements for his round-trip flight and two meals, according to bank statements from the Attorney General's office. (McKenna covered his wife's airfare.) McKenna's campaign finance disclosure reports also show that McKenna, as a gubernatorial candidate, held a fundraiser at the hotel on July 25, the second-to-last day of his taxpayer-funded stay at the Disney Grand. McKenna's campaign fundraising records show that he raised close to $4,000 in late July from California donors.Was it kosher for McKenna to hold a campaign fundraiser in the hotel while the public was paying for him and his wife to be there for an AG's conference? (McKenna's children appear to have accompanied him and his wife to Disneyland, according to tweets and tweet pics published by McKenna's daughter Madeleine from Disneyland: "Dubs up on Splash Mountain at Disneyland! Love my Huskies!" Madeleine tweeted along with a roller coaster picture on the evening of July 24th.)

We found no account of airline tickets or hotel bills for McKenna's kids.

The details about this trip don't jibe with McKenna's account in this weekend's Seattle Times article about McKenna's travel records. McKenna, responding to the Times' inquiries about the trips he's taken as Attorney General, said: "All the trips have been at no cost to state taxpayers."

The Times noted that some of McKenna's "trips were paid for by the Conference of Western Attorneys General," but they make no mention of the July CWAG trip that was, in fact, funded in part by the public.

The Washington State Republican Party said, in a press release on Monday, "None of these trips were paid for with taxpayer dollars."

I do not know if the trips that the Times scrutinized include the McKenna family trip to Disneyland, but portions of this trip were certainly billed to the public."

Mitt Needs all the help he can muster

  Why Meatloaf's dashboard light is still fading. We're waiting for the endorsement from Couscous.  Discuss...

McKenna ads will be free: Seattle Times

Joel Connelly, long time columnist for the Seattle P-I, writes in his blog:

The Seattle Times announced Wednesday that it will develop and run ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna as an “independent expenditure” that is supposed to show the value of political advertising in newspapers.

The news, three weeks before the November election — and appearance of a big Times-created McKenna ad on page B6 of the newspaper’s Wednesday editions — immediately raised two questions:

Can Seattle Times reporters and editors be trusted to fairly cover McKenna’s opponent Jay Inslee?  Can the newspaper fairly report on a campaign where the Times has a vested financial interest in the outcome?"

“There is absolutely no interface between our news coverage and this effort:  We realize some people may question the approach, but we hope they will give us the benefit of the doubt as we try an innovative approach to new revenue and, at the same time, raise awareness of the credibility and effectiveness of newspaper advertising for political campaigns,” Jill Mackie, the Times’ vice president for public affairs, said in an e-mail."

According to Jim Brunner, a Times political reporter, the news department was not a part of this decision, leaving us to wonder if Frank Blethen is once again using the Times as his personal soap box.

Connelly continues,  "In announcing the “Seattle Times Initiative for Political Newspaper Advertising,” the newspaper stated:

“Our involvement in this (McKenna-Inslee) race will be via an independent expenditure in which The Seattle Times runs ads that have in no way been coordinated with the McKenna campaign.  As required by law, we will report such contributions to the Public Disclosure Commission.

“Independent expenditures are allowed under Washington State law and are not subject to limits on spending.”

The ad on B6 extolled McKenna as an architect of “change that will make us all proud.”  It carried the disclaimer that the ad was paid for by the Seattle Times and “no candidate paid for this ad.”

The Times is also making an “in kind donation of ad space” to the Washington United for Marriage, the campaign to approve Referendum 74 and same-sex marriage on the November ballot.

“This political advertising initiative was developed as a one-time approach for this election to demonstrate the effectiveness of political advertising in the Seattle Times,” Fairview Fannie added in its statement."

Well we are SHOCKED!! Shocked, I tell you!  The Seattle Times, endorsing a Republican???? Nawwwwwwwwww.

Connelly writes:  "It twice backed Republican Dino Rossi against incumbent Gov.  Chris Gregoire.  In the 1960′s and 1970′s, the newspaper supported GOP Gov. Dan Evans as well as Gov. John Spellman, the last Republican to hold the state’s top executive job.

The newspaper, in years gone by, has allowed its biases to leave the editorial page for the front page.  It ran major front-page hit pieces on Democratic Gov. Al Rosellini in 1964, and gave front-page play to the gambling activities of 1968 Democratic gubernatorial candidate John O’Connell.

Will this transparent effort to elect McKenna pay off?  In the August primary, Inslee beat McKenna 3-to-2 in votes in King  County. 

What do you think?

2nd post debate thread

 

 

 

 

 

President comes out swinging,  Better moderation,  Willard claiming Ambassador killing wasn't related to terrorism... Did Willard really run the Olympics...?  Romney's job record.  Discuss.

Dana Loesch' vagina violated; other vaginas and dead corpse' not so lucky

 

 

 

 

 

 

CNN/Brietbart contributor, 1 station talk host and defender of all things out of Rush' pie hole, Dana Loesch stated today that her hoo received a pat down, beyond pat downs recently, while waiting to board a flight in Phoenix.  You might remember Loesch as the editor in-chief of the late Andrew Breitbart's Big journalism website who defended the urination by Marines on the dead bodies of afghan fighters. 

Loesch also tweeted earlier that Rep Todd Akin's comments about "legitimate rape" was "Akin failed a soundbite. Wah. Bloomberg and Harkin talked about controlling women's bodies and you want to act offended?"

She also sent this out after the Sandra Fluke controversy in which Rush Limbaugh called Fluke a slut over health insurance covering contraceptives.

" More have admonished Limbaugh’s description of Sandra Fluke than admonished a 30 year-old woman embarrassing herself before congress by testifying that she simply cannot stop getting it on and her inability to control her urges constitutes infringing upon everyone else for a bailout." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You want bacon on that?

Evidently Loesch' vagina is more sacred than those testifying before congress.  To be fair, Loesch's husband, Chris Loesch, was also stopped by the TSA back in June coming back from Netroots Nation when screeners responded to an  alarm detecting nitrates.  After asking if Chris Loesch had fired a gun in his pants, it was determined only bacon was smeared on his junk.

Dana was allowed to proceed after the same-sex pat down in which the TSA gave her some advice:   

"After concluding that I wasn’t a terrorist hiding weapons in my vagina, the TSA agents allowed me to go. They also gave me information about pre-check, which they said would help me avoid such procedures."

Sunday night potpourri

A mix of what is passing through our mailbox this weekend:

From our good friend B.T.: "KIRO TV's Chief Meteorologist Rebecca Stevenson has parted company with the station, and her name's been deleted from the station's website."  Stevenson is a very accomplished and capable on-air personality, so her departure is a mystery. Did she ask to leave, or did the recent arrival of News Director Bob Jordan have anything to do with it??

My oh My. It seems some people on the right are not as confident as our resident conservatives here at BlatherWatch. Here is a sampling of comments posted this weekend:

" 3 gay men from Obamas church were found dead within a matter of months, 2 with bullets to the head and supposedly one died of natural causes. Larry Sinclair is a gay man who has stated that he had a drug and sex tryst with Obama. Sinclair had a press conference in D.C. , he was arrested and sent Delaware where he was held for 2 weeks without ANY CHARGES , he was also denied his medication. 2 weeks after Biden was picked as Obamas running mate . Bidens son is the attorney general of Delaware. Again he was held without charges"

"Hillary needs to bury Odumya so far under the bus he wouldn't dare step back in the white house. They are all so corrupt that is so sad for the real Americans working in government and those that try to do the right things.

We need to vote them all out in Nov.all of the crooks and power hungrey idiots and save our country and get things back on the irght path. Please heavenly father help us all and our Country .When all else fails we can always trust in prayer.....and I have been doing a lot of that lately.....I just can't imagine the Muslim being reelected....surely people with a brain aren't brain washed!....We MUST all stand together.....and pray t ogether!!!"

"If Obama loses, (and I'm also praying he does), we all know he'll create complete chaos from November 7th til January 20th (I hope America lasts that long), and only God knows how many bugs, cameras, and maybe even bombs he'll leave in the White House so he and all his Muslim cronies can keep tabs on our military secrets. We'll have to bulldoze the whole thing and start over!"

And the typing award tonight goes to Eileen:

"have you all noticed that it's visiting all the collages & universitys that what helped to put him in as p.o.t.u.s. ( and the p stands for pretender not pres.) the first time with his change but they didn't expect this type of change hopefuly this time around their a lot smarter and vote for the Americam that's for America .the clinton's should have known that if things went south he would blame her saying it was her fault about security . deing the democrats like they are they would have done the same thing trying to distance themselfs from the wlole mess . nuf said"

Yes, Eileen. 'Nuf said.

VP debate thread

How many times did Ryan take a drink?  Did Martha do a better job than the so-called "Dean of Moderators"? Was the religion question just stoopid to be asked considering seperations of church and state?   Discuss...

Is McKenna really a "moderate"?

AP reporter Mike Baker weighs in on Rob McKenna's ties to not-so-moderate groups and individuals. 

 

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Before casting himself as a moderate in the campaign for governor, Rob McKenna met last year with members of a conservative group that has been targeted by activists as being too extreme.

The invitation-only dinner allowed McKenna to speak with a small gathering of corporate and political leaders, and he focused his remarks on efforts to combat President Barack Obama's health care law. After the event at an Olympia restaurant, the Republican sent a note to an organizer for the American Legislative Exchange Council.

"Thanks again for the opportunity," McKenna wrote to Dann Smith, according to records obtained by The Associated Press under public records laws. "Congratulations on the success you're seeing with ALEC in Washington."

Over the past decade, McKenna has portrayed himself as a centrist fit to lead this Democratic-leaning state. At the same time, he has worked closely with conservatives who might give some independents pause: He raised money for President George W. Bush, touted his work for ALEC members and has attended tea party events to talk about the Constitution.

Now, part of McKenna's quest for governor has been a public relations battle over whether his views are too conservative for Washington state.

A political action committee funded by unions has been running attack ads with the message that McKenna is "not who he says he is." A recent ad from the group tries to tie McKenna - in misleading or incorrect ways - to Republican positions on abortion, the national budget and health care.

McKenna, meanwhile, has worked to tout the support he has from some Democrats, a union of public school employees and an independent education group.

He has also staked out positions that don't align with typical Republicans. He supports the state's current laws on abortion. He believes illegal immigrants should qualify for in-state tuition. He believes women should have access to emergency contraception at all pharmacies. He says more revenue will be needed to fund future transportation projects. He supports the state's domestic partnership law - though he opposes gay marriage.

McKenna's campaign declined to comment on his work with conservative groups, but his work for Bush is detailed in archived records from his stint at the King County Council. At the time, he touted his work as a fundraiser for Bush on his resume, saying he raised $15,000 at three fundraisers before the 2000 election and volunteered at a phone bank, according to documents reviewed by the AP. Other records indicate McKenna later raised money in 2002 to support Bush's agenda as president.

ALEC has been the target of liberal activists in recent months for its support of voter ID laws and so-called "Stand Your Ground" self-defense laws, coordinating a campaign against the group in the wake of the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. The organization brings together companies and lawmakers to jointly develop model legislation that the lawmakers then bring back to their states to pass - and that closed-door coordination irks open government advocates.

Several companies have dropped participation in ALEC in recent months amid public pressure.

McKenna spoke to ALEC in March at the Waterstreet Cafe in Olympia, according to documents. ALEC organizers touted that members in attendance included Walmart, AT&T and Koch Industries - the latter being another flashpoint in politics because the Koch brothers are major funders for conservative causes.

Records suggest McKenna focused his remarks on his involvement in a lawsuit challenging Obama's health care law.

McKenna's appearances at tea party events also focused on the health care issue and whether it was constitutional. Still, McKenna was never really a tea party favorite - and another Republican, Shahram Hadian, ran in the primary with support from the far right side of the party.

Unlike his Democratic counterpart Jay Inslee, who spent more than a decade in Congress, McKenna lacks a long track record of votes that can help people discern his political leanings, said Matt Barreto, an associate professor of political science at the University of Washington. That's left a sort of information vacuum that opponents are now trying to fill with the new ads.

Barreto said McKenna needs to have broad appeal. Since Obama is expected to win the state by a wide margin, McKenna needs to persuade some of the president's voters to support a Republican later on their ballot. McKenna has clearly been trying to distance himself from contentious Republican leaders like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, but Barreto said his ties to groups like ALEC can create problems.

"That framing of McKenna's politics could end up being extremely important," Barreto said. "For a Republican to win here in Washington state, they absolutely have to convince voters that they are a moderate - that they are centrist."

Post-debate open thread

We are waiting for the next debate where Mitt Romney changes his mind on everything he said in this debate

(pictured: Mitt "I never said 5 trillion!" Romney)