Show Me the Money

I wrote yesterday about the odd financial flows that have been taking place in this election cycle and the news today indicates that there are some real problems afoot. I'm especially interested in what Patrick Ruffini, who was George W. Bush's web guy in 2004, has to say about the Obama campaign's, uh, laissez faire approach to handling donations. Ruffini is using the F-word:

I just contributed $5 to Barack Obama.

I didn't want to. Ideally, I could have contributed $0.01 and cost them money. But it was the only way to confirm the root cause of the fraudulent micro-donations to the Obama campaign ("Doodad Pro" for $17,300 and "Good Will" for $11,000).

Obama campaign has turned its security settings for accepting online contributions down to the bare minimum -- possibly to juice the numbers, and turning a blind eye towards the potential for fraud not just against the FEC, but against unsuspecting victims of credit card fraud.

The issue centers around the Address Verification Service (or AVS) that credit card processors use to sniff out phony transactions. I was able to contribute money using an address other than the one on file with my bank account (I used an address I control, just not the one on my account), showing that the Obama campaign deliberately disabled AVS for its online donors.

AVS is generally the first line of defense against credit card fraud online. AVS ensures that not only is your credit card number accurate, but the street address you've submitted with a transaction matches the one on file with your bank.

Authorize.net, the largest credit card gateway provider in the country, lists AVS as a "Standard Transaction Security Setting," recommends merchants use it, and turns it on by default. So, in order for AVS to be turned off, it has to be intentional, at least with Authorize.net.

That is apparently what the Obama campaign has done. Why would they do that? I can think of two reasons off the top of my head:

1. There are limits on what any one individual can give to any candidate. Personally, I don't think there should be, but that's the law right now and Obama knows it. If there is a mechanism for someone to give money with a credit card but then offer a different name, as would be the case in this instance, that's an easy way to cheat. Especially if the campaign doesn't release the names of its small donors, which is how the Obama campaign operates.


2. It is also illegal for foreigners to give money to a presidential campaign. If one were so inclined - say, for example, a certain European financier who fancies Democrats - such a system would make it possible for money from overseas to find the coffers of a campaign.

It might all be an honest mistake. Perhaps a rogue webbie on the Obama staff decided to open the spigot a little wider and the campaign will be aghast at all this and return all the money. But maybe not. Ruffini:

"Donors" like "Doodad Pro" can submit tons of donations totaling well above the $2,300 limit using different bogus addresses (this does clarify how donations from "Palestine", or PA, got through). And the campaign has no way to reliably de-dupe these donations, besides looking at the last four digits of the credit card number, which with 3.1 million donors is an identifier that could be shared by literally hundreds of donors, and is not as easy to eyeball like a common name or address would be. The ability to contribute with a false address, when the technology to prevent it not only exists but comes standard, is a green light for fraud.

The hour is late and these revelations, even if they start to leak over the retaining wall that the MSM has constructed around the Obama campaign, are probably not going to be enough to derail Obama's quest for the White House. But this much is certain -- the revelations will come out eventually. And if it turns out that the Obama campaign turned a blind eye toward fraudulent financial transactions on its behalf, he's going to have a hell of a time governing what's already a very fractious country.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - Hated Omro Edition

Back in my high school days, my beloved Xavier Hawks used to play in a league that was mostly other Catholic high schools. There were some long road trips as a result - Marinette Catholic Central was up on the Michigan border, 90 minutes away, but the rivalries were fun. That's over now and Xavier now plays schools from smaller towns in the area. Like this week's opponent, Omro. (Word to the wise -- if you click the link, you'll get blasted with an annoying civic jingle. Don't do it. I'm serious. You've been warned.) Omro is an innocuous little town on the Upper Fox River, west of Oshkosh somewhere. I'm sure that everyone in Omro is lovely. And that's the problem. Rivalries are what make high school sports fun. There was always a special glow when a Xavier squad dispatched one of the hegemonic Green Bay schools, or the satisfaction of keeping our boot on the throat of Oshkosh Lourdes. That's all gone now. Now we have Omro. It's not the same.

Xavier Hawks 34, Hated Omro Fighting Foxes 10. No history here. But Xavier will beat them. They might beat them worse if they pretend that Omro is Lourdes. Just sayin'.

ACTUAL RESULT: XAVIER 33, OMRO 0. Easy stuff. Now the playoffs begin and it gets tough right out of the box - Xavier gets the #1 seed in their bracket in the first game, mysterious Wautoma. Game is on Tuesday at Wautoma. If Xavier makes an early exit, we'll pick up the trail with my brother Stinger's alma mater, the mighty Kimberly Papermakers.

Mounds View Mustangs 41, Stillwater Ponies 14. Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, our Mustangs have a rematch with a team they crushed earlier in the season. And they'll crush 'em again.

ACTUAL RESULT: MOUNDS VIEW 21, STILLWATER 7. Next up for the Mustangs, it's resurgent Roseville, which followed up its upset over our beloved Irondale Knights by knocking off White Bear Lake (Go Bears). Good for Roseville, I suppose.

Washburn Millers 41, Simley Spartans 27. This is a step up in class for the Millers, who dispatched Holy Angels pretty easily on Tuesday. Simley is a mid-level team in a good league that has some larger schools, so they are battle-tested. But this is a very good Millers team and they carry the hopes of the City with them. For at least this week, they should hold up the banner.

ACTUAL RESULT: SIMLEY 21, WASHBURN 14. Give Simley the nod - they really played fine defense, especially in the second half, and used their size to wear down the Millers. Another nice season for the Millers.

Lawrence Vikings 17, Beloit Bucs 10. I'm a proud Beloit alum, but I do have a spot in my heart for the Larrys, since the school is in Appleton. There was a time when Lawrence was a small school powerhouse, but that time has long past. Since the game is up in Appleton, favor the homestanding Vikings.

ACTUAL RESULT: BELOIT 21, LAWRENCE 6. Good win for the Bucs on the road. Next week it's nasty ol' St. Norbert, league scourge.

Illinois Fighting Obamas 31, Don Morton Nation 24. My beloved Badgers are again putting the BAD in Badgers -- last week's loss at Iowa City was highly alarming. The Illini are an erratic bunch and the game is in Madison, but that doesn't seem to matter so much right now. Hope I'm wrong, but I suspect I'm not.

ACTUAL RESULT: WISCONSIN 27, ILLINOIS 17. A potentially season-salvaging game for Bucky. And I managed to offend Mr. Stover in yet another way. That's what you get for being a Cubs/Cowboys/Illini guy, Dan -- that's a pretty tough parlay.

Minnesota Golden Gophers 27, Purdon't Boilermakers 17. The Boilers are down this year, so this is a good opportunity for the Gophers to assert themselves as an actual factor in the Big 10. The guess here is that they will.

ACTUAL RESULT: GOPHERS 17, PURDUE 6. You know what's really strange about the Gophers? They play defense. I've lived here for 16 years and the Gophers never play defense. A nice road win. Next up -- puzzling Northwestern.

Our pro teams are on bye, so no NFL this time!

Deus Ex Cash Machina

UPDATE: This is getting good. Read this.

So Michele Bachmann showed up on Hardball last week and let Chris Matthews steer her into a bad corner. Now, a week later, she's in the fight of her political life. That's the story. Do you sense that there's a lot more than meets the eye?

First, as far as Bachmann's comments go -- I'm not convinced that she meant to call Barack Obama anti-American, but there's no doubt that she did. So be it. Defining someone as un-American is hardly new -- Nancy Pelosi described Republicans as unpatriotic less than a month ago. I'm guessing that if someone is unpatriotic, they're anti-American, too; maybe there's a distinction that one of the resident portside Bertrand Russells around here can make for us, but it's most likely a distinction without a difference. As far as I can tell, Nancy Pelosi hasn't suffered too much for making that statement.

Bachmann is a different matter, apparently. Chris Matthews's show is seen by far less than 1% of Americans, so it's passing strange that Bachmann's appearance on such a small platform would lead to nearly a million dollars coming into the campaign of her opponent in less than two days, especially since her comments didn't really reach that many people in her district over the weekend. One might conclude that Matthews's audience is amazingly well-heeled and disposed to providing large sums of money to anyone who speaks ill of Obama. That might be the answer. But I wonder about that.

The recent flow of money to Elwyn Tinklenberg's campaign was nearly entirely over the Internet. This is where Barack Obama's seemingly endless supply of money comes from. Now I have it on good authority that there's money to be made on the Internet -- you could ask this guy whether it's true or not. But Ty Coughlin has nothing on Barack Obama. The very mention of Obama's name seems to cause money to fall from the sky, either to build a fabulous campaign on The One's behalf, or to bury his opponents.

Where does the money come from? Well, we are told that it mostly comes from small contributions, mostly concerned people who give $50, or $100, or maybe $200 if they're feeling flush. But it's hard to tell for sure, since the Obama campaign hasn't been willing to disclose much about its small donor base. What we have learned suggests that money might be coming from places it shouldn't, like overseas. These financial practices have raised plenty of eyebrows, even in liberal enclaves like Seattle. And what we are told is that these famous small donors are the ones ponying up for the cash infusion that Tinklenberg is getting. If these small donors are really the silent sufferers from the forgotten middle class who have been tossed to the curb by Chimpy McBushitlerburton and his sidekick Evil Dick, I do have to wonder -- where are they getting the money to send to E-Tink? I thought they were deciding between paying their mortgages or filling their vehicles with gasoline, and that they were living paycheck to paycheck. That's what you hear, no? So where do they come up with the Jackson or the Benjamin for an obscure congressional candidate in Minnesota?

One thing has been pretty clear -- there's a lot of funny money flowing into Democratic coffers in this election cycle. Is it possible that E-Tink has gotten some? I hope it's not anti-American of me to wonder about that. And if you think it doesn't matter, remember what P. J. O'Rourke said -- when buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first thing bought and sold are the legislators. So here's my question -- who's buying Elwyn Tinklenberg?

Cross-posted at True North

Give the Meme a Twist

My brother the Stinger is playing the old "Next Five" game over at his place. You've probably seen this one before; in fact, I'm pretty sure I've played it here. The game is to put your music player (iPod or whatever else) on shuffle and report what the next five songs are. It's usually fun and it tells you a little about the person who plays.

We need a break from politics anyway, so here's my twist on the game:

• Find the next five songs on your player (in my place, the Media player on my laptop)


• Find an accompanying video for each on YouTube (if you can)


• Report your results and say one thing about each song

So, here is what I've come up with:

First, it's Donald Fagen with New Frontier. This one reminds me of my sophomore year in college - it was a minor hit in 1982.

Second, we get Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell in a classic from 1968, You're All I Need to Get By. This one doesn't have any special resonance for me, other than the fact it's a great song.

Third, we get the pride of Tulsa, the Gap Band, with Early in the Morning. This is also from 1982. Another college song for me - we weren't always too much into dance music in those days, but this was a good one. Also, you gotta love the cowboy hats.

Fourth, we return to the 60s, and we get Jimi Hendrix with Freedom. This song is pure 60s and an example of something that's easy to forget with Hendrix -- for all the guitar pyrotechnics, he was pretty firmly grounded in traditional song forms and there's a little bit of everything here - 12 bar blues, a great bridge and some excellent countermelodies. Man, he left too soon.

Last, we get someone else who left way too soon, also a guitar hero and sometime Hendrix acolyte, Stevie Ray Vaughan, with Life By the Drop. Stevie died in August, 1990, in a helicopter crash after a triumphant concert with Eric Clapton and Robert Cray at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. It's easy to remember that, because my dad died four days later. This particular song came out posthumously but it's an apt summation of how Vaughan was living his life following the wild times he'd had earlier. He was really great and was poised for outright superstardom. Sometimes fate intervenes.

Totally random selection -- I have thousands of songs. Music can tell you many things. So if you're interested, put a few links in the comments section and tell me a story or two.

The Chicago Way

In a previous life I attended a few National Restaurant Association shows at McCormick Place in Chicago. One story you always heard is how exhibitors got squeezed for money if they wanted to participate – our vendors who were exhibiting there told us horror stories about the number of palms you had to grease to get your booth set up.

So I wasn’t surprised at all to hear that the MSM, which has provided such yeoman assistance to the Obama campaign, is going to have to grease a few palms in order to cover the coronation of The One:

A memo sent to news organizations on Tuesday by the Obama campaign says credentials will cost $715 to $1,815, depending on whether electrical and phone lines are needed and whether an indoor or outdoor seat is requested for the event, which is expected to be held outside the evening of Nov. 4 in Grant Park.

The only free admissions are for a “general media” area. But, the memo says, “Please note that the general media area is outdoors, unassigned and may have obstructed views . . . standing room only.”

The area also does not include access to top Obama campaign officials, whose statements likely are to be in hot demand on Election Night. They apparently will be available only in the “press file” tent, to which an additional admission fee of $935 per person is being imposed.

Change You Can Believe In.

Everlasting Gobstopper of Obama Goodness

If you want a comprehensive argument against Barack Obama's candidacy, click this link. Lotsa stuff to read and view. Ed Morrissey, Mary Katherine Ham and Guy Benson have done a great job with this extended post.

Highly recommended.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions – Always Listen to Mrs. D Edition

This feature keeps getting earlier and earlier during the week, but we have to do that because the Minnesota football playoffs begin tonight. I am officially adding another school to the mix – Mrs. D’s beloved alma mater, Washburn High School. She has asked for it and I have found that it’s always wise to agree to reasonable requests from Mrs. D.

So, here are the first two picks – more later:

Irondale Knights 31, Roseville Raiders 17. Irondale got smoked at Hopkins but this is a below-average team by Roseville standards. Mounds View got the bye in the section.

ACTUAL RESULT: ROSEVILLE 28, IRONDALE 20. Another good season ends way too soon. There was a reason that Irondale joined the North Suburban a number of years ago -- they still apparently can't compete with the larger suburban schools. Too bad.

Washburn Millers 41, Holy Angels Stars 34. This is an interesting game. Holy Angels usually has a lot of talent – it’s the alma mater of Larry Fitzgerald and former Badger quarterback John Stocco, but the Stars won’t have an answer for Washburn’s gigantic tight end, RaShede Hegeman.

ACTUAL RESULT: WASHBURN 35, HOLY ANGELS 0. An impressive win for the Millers.

Stop Me If You've Heard This Before

It's the centerpiece of Barack Obama's pitch. 95% of Americans, The One assures us, will get a tax cut. Well, there's a problem with that -- as many as 40% of the public doesn't actually pay income taxes - they might have taxes withheld, but they get every penny back and sometimes more. So how do you give someone who isn't paying income tax a refund?

You take it from someone else, of course. The Wall Street Journal's William McGurn explains it well - the real bone of contention is the payroll tax, which funds Social Security. You can't take money out of the "lockbox" of course, so what's happening is really a bait and switch where money is taken from taxpayers and given to those who aren't paying taxes. You could call it what it really is, which is welfare. You could also call it what Obama discussed with our old pal Joe the Plumber, which is "spreading the wealth around." Or you could call it buying votes.

But my guess is that, in the end, what we're going to call it is a mirage. I'm old enough to remember 1992, when then-candidate Bill Clinton, who ran as a fiscal conservative, told us that a tax cut, specifically for the middle class was in the offing. Oddly, I never got that. If Barack Obama wins, we'll hear that, darn the luck, that $700 billion bailout has the government tapped out.

If you really believe that Barack Obama is a better candidate than John McCain, go ahead and vote for him. If you really believe that a guy who has never been an executive can suddenly take on the largest, most divergent executive job imaginable, then cast your vote accordingly. But if you are voting for Barack Obama because he's promised you a tax cut, you really need to think it through.

The Global Test

You might remember that John Kerry came in for more than a little grief in the last election cycle when he made reference to a "global test." Well, it sounds like Joe (I'm from Scranton) Biden is concerned about that, too, but in a far different way than Kerry meant:

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Well, if Biden is concerned about that, there's an obvious solution -- elect John McCain instead. Somehow I don't think that's what Biden is suggesting.

What's also interesting is that Biden suspects that the halo will come off The One pretty quickly. How else would one parse the meaning of "it's not gonna be apparent that we're right." Well, why would that be?

Biden suggests 4 or 5 possible scenarios. I'm going to suggest one. Israel understands something that I'm not sure Obama really does -- Iran represents an existential threat to its existence. Israel will not let the the Iranians develop their nuclear program to the point that a bomb could land in Tel Aviv. Obama can claim that he is the best friend Israel could want, but the Israelis will be rightly skeptical. If Obama wins, the Israelis will not depend on Obama. They will attack Iran. What will Obama do?

We've got 2 weeks before Election Day. The election, as a practical matter, is going to be a referendum on Obama. Is he ready to handle the entirety of the Presidency? Joe Biden, bless his heart, has raised an issue that voters should consider.

Order Before Midnight Tomorrow

I guess I'm supposed to be impressed that Colin Powell endorsed The One today. Okay. I'm impressed. Another ostensible Republican orders a Strange New Respect award. You can, too - just call 1-800-BARACKME. Operators are standing by. Rumor has it they'll throw in the spiral slicer, too, just like they used to with the Ginsu Knives.

The ever-insightful Brad Carlson makes the point I really wanted to make about this. So you might as well read it over at his place. Click the link, y'all.

Well, the DFL Does Believe in Recycling. . . .

We're often lectured to by our DFL betters about the importance of sustainability and recycling to protect the environment. Lately we've been getting some mixed messages on that front. Voters in 50B recently received a bunch of mailings from the DFL, some extolling the virtues of Kate Knuth, and others attacking challenger Lori Grivna. We can assume that the DFL has no compunction about killing trees (apparently, they deserved to die), but the recycling comes in when it involves the attacks. The ever-sagacious Thrifty Scot over at Boots On has the skinny, so I won't belabor the point. Let's put it this way -- the attack was a lie two years ago and it hasn't become true since then. Nor, might I add, has the DFL become more honest.

Lori Grivna has served the residents of this area well as a member of the school board. She won't raise your taxes by billions of dollars or spend your hard-earned dollars on boondoggles, as Kate Knuth already has. Lori deserves your support.

Online Predators

It's an unfortunate reality of the digital age - young people who have Facebook accounts are often the target of online predators, who trade in the trusting nature of youth and attempt to use that trust for their own perverted purposes. It's important that we share these sorts of stories so we can prevent something tragic from happening.

The story begins this way: a 16-year-old girl gets an unexpected note. The note inquires about a girl who might attend the same school. The writer wants to know more about this other girl and, oddly, about her relationship with her mother. The reasons? Well, let the note speak for itself:

I saw on facebook that you went to Xavier, and if you don’t mind, I’d love to ask you some advice about a story. I’m a reporter at the New York Times, writing a profile of Cindy McCain, and we are trying to get a sense of what she is like as a mother. So I’m reaching out to fellow parents at her kids’ schools. My understanding is that some of her older kids went to Brophy/Xavier, but I’m trying to figure out what school her 16 year old daughter Bridget attends– and a few people said it was PCDS. Do you know if that’s right? Again, we’re not really reporting on the kids, just seeking some fellow parents who can talk about what Mrs. McCain is like.

Also, if you know anyone else who I should talk to– basically anyone who has encountered Mrs. McCain and might be able to share impressions– that would be great.

Thanks so much for any help you can give me.

Jodi Kantor
Political correspondent
New York Times

Not too suprisingly, the note came to the attention of the McCain campaign, which released its contents. The McCains indeed do have a daughter named Bridget. She is the girl that the McCains adopted from Bangladesh. It's a well-known story.

Where to begin on something like this? Let's just list off a few of the pieties we've heard in recent years about families of politicians should be treated. The Clintons famously asked that their daughter Chelsea be kept off-limits from scrutiny. It was a reasonable request and the MSM largely respected it. The Obamas have asked that their daughters be free from scrutiny as well, also a reasonable request and the MSM has complied. Barack Obama has asked that his wife be kept off-limits, a more problematic request since she is an integral part of his campaign, but coverage of her has been limited. I am glad that the MSM has chosen to respect the privacy of Chelsea Clinton and the two Obama daughters.

What would be nice is if the same courtesy were to apply to both sides. Clearly, that is not the case. The piece that Kantor was working on ran in today's edition of the Times. It's a remarkably catty piece that doesn't seek to illuminate as much as to diminish. It would be unthinkable that the Times would publish anything remotely as critical of Michelle Obama or Jill Biden. You can even see the hole that Kantor was trying to fill in the story:

Some of Mr. McCain’s Washington friends say they have barely met Mrs. McCain, while fellow mothers at their children’s schools say they have little sense of her husband.

That may or may not be true. It may not even be relevant. But as this campaign continues, more and more people are getting a sense of people like Jodi Kantor.

(H/T: Ed Morrissey)

Cross-posted at True North

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Just a reminder: if you don't regularly read my friends at BootsOn, you need to. They have several excellent posts up right now over at their place. Just click that link and keep scrolling.

Levi Stubbs, RIP

It's been a tough year for Motown fans. We lost Norman Whitfield a while back and today comes word that one of the greatest voices from Motown's glory days, Levi Stubbs, has died. The Tops weren't as consistent as the Temptations, as innovative as Smokey Robinson or as touched by genius as Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder. But when they hit a song on the nose, they were awesome.

And never more awesome than in this smash from 1966, one of my all-time favorite songs.

Reach Out I'll Be There

Rest in peace, Levi.

Guilty Pleasures Part Thirty - Joe the Plumber Edition

Let's give all those Average Joes a little love. In honor of our favorite Ohio plumber, select from the following:

Jimi Hendrix singing Hey Joe at Monterey and likey infuriating 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed by playing guitar with his teeth - my daughter Maria suggests that perhaps Jimi was just flossing?

Simon and Garfunkel discussing the departure of Joltin' Joe in the context of their classic Mrs. Robinson, here rendered in Central Park in 1981.

I apologize in advance for this, but you had to see it coming. Next, in honor of the shabby treatment that JtP has received today, we break out one of the all-time bad ones. Yes, it's the immortal David Geddes performing with cheeseball splendor the horrifying earworm Run Joey Run.

Then, we have Roger Daltrey covering a song by, of all people, Murray Head of "One Night in Bangkok" fame. Yep, it's time to implore: Say It Ain't So, Joe

And we'll wrap it up with Boz Scaggs from 1980 with one of his last big hits -- Jojo.

Pick your favorite Joe!

Who Will Rid Me of this Troublesome Plumber?

I wrote a brief midday piece about the trashing of Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher earlier today, but what has happened since is really pretty sickening. This gloating article from National Journal is pretty typical of the whirlwind that this guy has been reaping ever since his question to Barack Obama got airplay.

Obama showed his class by piling on, as this video shows. Click the link before it disappears and listen to the contempt in Obama's voice as he says "plumber."

The invaluable Ed Morrissey pretty much sums it up over at Hot Air:

Now, we have people crawling over his tax records, his voter registration, his professional licensing, and whatever else they can find in the public record. Someone has linked him to the long-deceased Charles Keating, suggesting that somehow Obama managed to pick a McCain plant out of a ropeline full of people by accident. How much longer before a certain blogger at The Atlantic demands a paternity test to see if Joe the Plumber fathered Sarah Palin’s baby — or Bristol’s, for that matter?

The guy just asked Obama a question, for goodness sakes. He surely didn't expect that Obama's answer would be as controversial as it was. He didn't ask for his situation to come up in the debate. He is just a guy who works in the plumbing business in Ohio. Whether he's a fully credentialed plumber is beside the point. What matters is that he asked the leading presidential candidate a pretty simple question. If you watch the video, you'll see that he wasn't combative. He wasn't rude, nor was he threatening to Obama in any way. He's just a face in the crowd.

The good news is that the shabby treatment he's received today will probably mean that some wealthy conservative will hook him up with a better gig than what he has now. In a way, it's about as good as winning the lotto. So in the end he'll be fine.

But the question remains -- why would so many people fall on a guy like Joe Wurzelbacher like jackals? There is something uniquely disturbing about this incident, something far more disturbing than what happened to Sarah Palin and her family after she was nominated for the Vice Presidency. Sarah Palin willingly stepped into the arena. Whether she and her family deserved the beating they took, they had reason to know it would happen. Joe the Plumber didn't ask for this. He just asked a question and now he gets to stand naked in the public square for his troubles.

I'm not sure what is worse -- that Obama doesn't seem to have any sympathy for this guy, or that so many people were so eager to rid him of this troublesome plumber. There's a real moral sickness on display here and Senator Obama would do well to address it. And if he won't, I sincerely hope the voters will address it for him on November 4.

Doing Oppo on Joe the Plumber

While I remain pessimistic about the election, there is a chance that Obama and his people could still screw the pooch. How? Well, one way is by sliming someone like Joe the Plumber. Obama and his flying monkeys aren’t very nice people, but most voters don’t understand that. If they do gratuitous things like attack a guy no one heard of a few days ago, we might see an epiphany or two from some of those who are under the spell of The One.

Game, Set, Match

In a different world, John McCain might have had a chance. But in the world we live in, tonight was probably the last chance he had to turn things around in his campaign for the Presidency. From where I sit, he didn't get it done. A few observations:

• One of my favorite moments of the debate was a Freudian slip that McCain made, where he inadvertently (or not?) called Barack Obama "Senator Government." If he'd meant it, it would have been apt and even witty. But wit has been the one thing that McCain has lacked throughout this campaign. And when I say wit I mean being ingenious, clever, sagacious -- pick your term. McCain just seems like a plodder when he shares a stage with Obama. And it hurts him.


• Moderator Bob Schieffer was not a factor at all. That means he was effective.


• Obama was running the four corners tonight and was pretty much able to get by with it. He said a few things that were demonstrably wrong -- his claim that McCain has run 100% negative ads is ridiculous, and his assertion that he can save the average family $2500 in health insurance doesn't stand up to scrutiny, nor does his repeated assertion that he will provide tax cuts to 95% of Americans. He may give refunds to people, but those refunds will be something akin to the Earned Income Tax Credit, because as many as 40% of Americans do not actually pay income tax. Income taxes are withheld, of course, but a lot of Americans have sufficient tax credits that the entirety of the amount is refunded. But try explaining that in a 30-second ad.


• Joe the Plumber apparently is a hell of a guy. He must be, because he was the focus of a good portion of the debate and both candidates were pandering like hell for his vote. Joe probably understands that he'll lose out under Obama's plan, but he isn't saying who he'll vote for. Good for him, by the way. And I do hope that he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame. Someday he'll be on a Trivial Pursuit card, right after the one for Quemoy and Matsu.


• It was probably six months too late, but it was about time that McCain said what he did about George W. Bush, especially saying that if Obama wanted to run against Bush, he should have done so four years ago. I don't think it will help McCain at this late hour, but Obama deeply deserved that particular rebuke.


• The one avenue of attack on Obama that I have been waiting for McCain to make almost came up today, but he didn't follow up. Early on, McCain challenged Obama to name one time that he had bucked his party's leadership. Obama essentially sidestepped the question and that was the end of it. But the question that McCain really ought to be asking for the remainder of the campaign is this: what has Obama ever really accomplished? I asked this question a while back in a long comment thread regarding the Palin-Biden debate and my one of my portside posters submitted a list of eight rather pedestrian achievements, including writing a bill in the Illinois Senate that passed 58-0 (a real profile in courage, that) and another about the time that Obama took a public AIDS test in Africa to show people there that they don't need to fear testing. What's become increasingly clear is the disconnect between the faith that a lot of voters have in Obama's rhetoric and the actual record of accomplishment that he has produced. His career as the junior senator from Illinois is remarkably undistinguished: Amy Klobuchar has done more in two years than Obama has in four and no one would suggest that she should be President. But McCain has never made this case effectively. Truth be told, he hasn't really tried.

Unless there's some sort of deus ex machina in the next three weeks, Obama is going to become President of the United States. There is a fair amount of smoke coming from the ongoing revelations about ACORN (and a RICO suit would focus the issue nicely) and there's a chance that Tony Rezko could still cause Obama some heartburn, but none of that will come out until after the election, because Patrick Fitzgerald isn't Lawrence Walsh. Besides, my guess is that Fitzgerald is really after Mayor Daley, not Obama. Let's put it this way: Obama had better be as good as my portside friends think he is, because he will inherit a real mess. If it turns out that Obama is an empty suit, God help us.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions – Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooher Edition

Since Education Minnesota essentially controls the calendar in the month of October, I’m putting out a few picks now because of games that will be played this evening.

Hopkins Royals 42, Irondale Knights 35. An interesting non-conference game for the Knights, who face an explosive Hopkins squad. The game is at Hopkins, so I expect the Royals to prevail, but Irondale has been awfully good.

ACTUAL RESULT: HOPKINS 42, IRONDALE 24. Hopkins is really good, especially on their home field. That Classic Lake is a bizarre league - only 5 teams and 4 of them (Hopkins, Edina, Minnetonka and Wayzata) might be Top 10 caliber.

Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders 24, Mounds View Mustangs 14. Cretin is the reigning royalty in the Suburban East and is, as usual, loaded. The Mustangs have played very well since an opening loss to an excellent Woodbury team, but this is a real step up in class.

ACTUAL RESULT: CDH 33, MOUNDS VIEW 0. I'm guessing CDH will play for the championship this time around - Wayzata and Eden Prairie would be the other favorites. Meanwhile, Mounds View waits to see if it will be a 1 or 2 seed in its sectional. Whatever MV is, Irondale should be the other.

Waupaca Comets 24, Xavier Hawks 17. Just a hunch that the Hawks won't have enough against the league bully. Hope I'm wrong!

ACTUAL RESULT: WAUPACA 34, XAVIER 0. Guess they didn't. Next week it's hated Omro.

Beloit College Bucs 27, Illinois College Blueboys 17. Yes Virginia, the Blueboys. The term comes from the Civil War. The nickname for the Illinois College womens' teams is infinitely cooler: they are the Lady Blues. This is a team my beloved Buccos should beat, especially at home.

ACTUAL RESULT: IC 58, BELOIT 42. Ya see, to win football games, there's this thing called defense. Winning teams play it.

Wisconsin Badgers 24, Iowa Hawkeyes 14. Who knows about the Badgers any more? The last three weeks have been bad, worse and then catastrophic. Iowa City is usually a tough port of call for Bucky, but this year's Hawkeye squad just might be the one to get Kirk Ferentz fired.

ACTUAL RESULT: IOWA 38, BAD-GERS 16. Brett Bielema has a call in to Don Morton, asking about where he rented that coffin for his coaches' show. I don't think I've ever seen a season go off the rails this badly. Every other team in the Big 10 is playing some version of the spread offense. What do they know that the Badgers don't?

Gophers have a bye, so let's pick this game:

Mount Union Purple Raiders 74, Heidelberg Student Princes 0. Any school whose nickname is Student Princes deserves to get their butts beat. And perennial D-III power Mount Union is just the team to do it. No word on who the Amherst Lord Jeffs are playing, by the way.

ACTUAL RESULT: MOUNT UNION 49, HEIDELBERG 0. Not much else to say -- gotta love that D-III Ohio football.

Green Bay Packers 27, Indianapolis Colts 24. Probably being too optimistic on this, but it's my blog.

ACTUAL RESULT: PACKERS 34, COLTS 14. The most satisfying game of the year so far, by some measure. And now Aaron Rodgers gets a bye to rest that shoulder and get ready for a tough second half of the season.

Chicago "Focus of Evil in the Modern World" Bears 7, Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 2. Figure that Kyle Orton will be so busy stroking his porn star moustache that he'll inadvertently step out of the endzone like that guy for the Lions did last week. There's no reason to presume that the Viking offense will score in Soldier Field.

ACTUAL RESULT: BEARS 48, VIKINGS 41. I don't think I've ever been more wrong on a pick. The Vikings give up 48 points to da Bears? How's that Jared Allen thing workin' out for ya there, Purple fans?

A Moment of Clarity

It's been an interesting few weeks on the starboard side. Even though the election is still 3 weeks away, the long knives have been out and we've seen something of a schism develop regarding the state of conservatism.





The flashpoint of this debate has been the nomination of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. Gov. Palin is an outsider; hell, you don't get much more outsider than a moose hunting governor with a Marge Gunderson accent. The credentialed, establishment East Coast commentariat, conservative division, does not like Gov. Palin. She's been reviled by Kathleen Parker, David Brooks, George Will, Peggy Noonan and now, most notably, Christopher Buckley. I would imagine there are others, too. Buckley has even come out publicly for Barack Obama and subsequently resigned from his father's beloved National Review, a resignation that was quickly accepted.





All of these individuals share common traits. They are all denizens of the eastern media nexus and they all spend a lot of time hobnobbing with people who share an animus toward people like Palin. They live in a world where verbal ability (being glib, really) is the coin of the realm. Some, most notably Will, have a long-standing animus against John McCain. And the world where they live is quite inhospitable to upstarts from the hinterlands.





From my perch in the Midwest, it's an odd thing to watch. I admire Sarah Palin a great deal and think that when the election is over, she will come out of the aftermath well positioned for another run at national office. The complaint you hear is that she is absurdly unqualified for the position, a view that was set in amber following substandard performances in the nationally televised pop quizzes that she took from Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. Yet, strangely, she has become a sensation out on the hustings, drawing far more enthusiastic crowds than McCain does. It must mean something.





My suspicion is this: the nation has twice tried to send outsiders to Washington to clean things up, only to find that Washington spits out the outsiders utterly transformed. Bill Clinton ran as a reformer and part of a new breed of politician, avatar of his Baby Boom generation. George W. Bush ran as a prodigal son, returning from the wilds of Texas. Clinton left as a quintessential insider, while Bush is leaving essentially unloved in any quarter, a traitor to his class and a disappointment to his followers. Barack Obama is yet another putative outsider, but with a fully Washingtonized sheen. He hasn't been in Washington long enough to do much of anything in the Senate, but that reality hasn't seemed to hurt him thus far. Obama's cynicism and careerism don't particularly bother world-weary people like Will, Parker, Brooks, Noonan and Buckley. He's utterly recognizable and seems safer, more reasonable than someone like Palin, who doesn't necessarily know which fork to use. McCain should haven known better than to bring a ruffian to the party.

Palin is popular among the Republican base precisely because she's not part of the nexus. She's something totally unexpected - a frontier woman who shares the moral code of a certain type of man. She may sound like Marge Gunderson, but her personality and approach is something different -- fearless, unsentimental and lacking deference to the social constructs that govern polite society. Palin is not impressed with what she's seen so far and that's particularly troublesome to pundits who are themselves viewed with suspicion among their social betters. That's why Parker talks about cringing when she hears Palin speak.

The question for conservatives at this point is this: do you accept the worldview of the Parkers and Wills of the world, or do you look at Palin as only the first of a new wave of Republican leaders? The irony that Barack Obama will face if he wins is this: he may be an attractive new face, but the apparatus of the Democratic Party is ashen and hidebound in ways that will hurt him. He'll have to share the podium with Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, with people like John Murtha, Steny Hoyer and Christopher Dodd in the background. These are the people that George Will has known for his many years in Washington. These are the folks who will likely take the reins of power in 2009. Many of the people pulling the lever for Obama will be quite surprised to see that their votes will enable an elderly generation of insiders.





It may go badly for the Republican Party three weeks from tonight. Perhaps Christopher Buckley will enjoy his sinecure on the Obama bandwagon. What I suspect we are learning is this: the future of the Republican Party may begin on November 5. And it's considerably more likely that the standard-bearer for that future will be from Wasilla (or Baton Rouge or perhaps St. Paul) than from Bethesda or Westchester County.

Fight the Power Part Two -- House District 50B

In an election cycle where big government seems to be in the saddle, it's important for conservatives to look at first principles. While it's easy to pay attention the big show taking place in Washington, what happens in St. Paul will likely have a greater impact on how you live your life each day. The previous legislative session was eventful in ways that most conservatives would find distressing. A huge tax increase of over $6 billion was essentially rammed down the throats of Minnesotans when the legislature was able to override Gov. Pawlenty's veto.

There's a strong chance that the Minnesota House will remain in DFL hands after this cycle, which means that there is also a strong chance that Speaker Kelliher and her minions will be back looking for more next year. The current incumbent in District 50B, Kate Knuth, will support whatever Speaker Kelliher wants.

Perhaps the voters of 50B are okay with that. Perhaps the new taxes that 50B will pay to fund a train that most 50B residents will never use are just part of the cost of doing business with the leviathan state. Maybe some day the DFL will deign to throw 50B a bone. And perhaps the residents of 50B are eager to accept broad increases in environmental regulation of the sort that Kate Knuth endorses.

But there's a better alternative. Instead, the residents of 50B can send Lori Grivna, a proven, conservative leader to St. Paul to represent our interests. Lori has a distinguished record serving the residents of 50B as a member of the Mounds View School Board and as a legislative consultant. She has been an observer and participant at all levels of local government and has positive working relationships with representatives at the municipal, county and state level. She will not be a foot soldier; rather she will be able to make a positive difference in St. Paul from the first day in office.

But more importantly, Lori Grivna understands conservative first principles, especially where fiscal discipline is concerned. Lori will ask tough questions and demand accountability from government. She understands the impact that taxation and regulation have on local businesses and the citizenry in general. Unlike her opponent, she has spent the majority of her career working in the private sector and brings an understanding of the real world effects of government depredations. Kate Knuth is very young and has not ventured outside of the world of academe in her brief career, which has meant that she doesn't quite understand the impact of her decisions on working families. Lori Grivna and her husband Wally have a made a life together and Lori understands what's at stake.

To that end, Lori will cast a cold eye on the current process. She won't simply accept baseline budgeting that keeps a permanent upward ratchet on budgets and expenditures. She'll challenge programs that have outlived their useful life. And most importantly, she'll not impose one-size-fits-all solutions to education, transportation and energy issues.

District 50B isn't a gilded precinct. Citizens in our area work hard and are productive citizens. They understand the value of a dollar and effort needed to earn one. Lori Grivna understands these things, too. She will ensure that the dollars the citizens of 50B send to St. Paul are used wisely. She richly deserves your support.

Cross-posted at True North

Fight the Power Part One -- 4th CD

John McCain has declared a rhetorical cease-fire and Norm Coleman has decided that he's going to try to play nice against the most loathsome opponent a politician could ever hope to have. If you wonder why conservatives are angry, it's because of stuff like that. So what to do?

Anger is understandable, but it has its limitatations. The better alternative is to spend time on campaigns for conservatives who are willing to fight, who aren't afraid to call their opponents out, who understand the real danger inherent in a complete governmental takeover by the Party of Government. For the next few days, we'll turn our attention back to people who are willing to fight.

In a year where the Democrats are riding high, not many people would expect a candidate running against an incumbent DFLer for a seat that has been in DFL hands for over 60 years to win. But in the 4th Congressional District, the Republicans are running the best candidate they've had for a long time. After chasing Betty McCollum for months, Ed Matthews finally gets to share a stage with the incumbent. The occasion is a "candidate forum" at Hamline University that takes place tomorow night, Monday, October 13. The event, sponsored by the theoretically non-partisan League of Women Voters, takes place at the Klas Center on the Hamline University campus at 7 p.m. The Hamline campus is just south of Pierce Butler Route on Snelling Avenue in the Midway district of St. Paul and the Klas Center itself is part of the athletic complex at Hamline.

Here is the key - all questions will come from the audience. Betty McCollum has done pretty well for the last eight years because (a) she has the right three letters after her name and (b) she's been able to avoid any real scrutiny. As a practical matter, McCollum is simply a foot soldier in the Pelosi army. Her only real distinction is the shrillness of her rhetoric, which has at times been audible only to domesticated animals. Her reputation as a leader is obvious by the noticeable lack of buzz surrounding her career. Ordinarily a 4-term congresswoman would be on the short list for potential higher office; say, for example, running for Governor in 2010. When a person like the disgraced Matt Entenza is on the short list and McCollum is not, it speaks volumes about the esteem with which Betty McCollum is held in her own caucus.

If Ed is able to get some of his supporters to attend the event and ask Rep. McCollum some questions beyond the usual NPR-style boilerplate, she can be exposed. Ed is a very sharp fellow with absolute mastery of the issues and excellent stage presence; he'll command respect that previous McCollum opponents have not been able to get. Ed Matthews isn't running as a sacrificial lamb - he's in it to win.

If you can get to Hamline tomorrow night, please do so. Almost all the local media attention for congressional races in this cycle has gone to the scurrilous campaign that Aswin Madia and his bobos have run against Erik Paulsen for the open seat in the 3rd CD, so a strong, visible showing by Ed Matthews would give the chattering classes something else to talk about for the next 3 weeks.

Cross-posted at True North

Camp

Young Ben is at the Boy Scout Camporee in Cannon Falls today and I'm driving down to join him this afternoon. Mrs. D and Maria will be bachleloretting it tonight, although a steady stream of Maria's 3rd grade pals seem to be arriving on an hourly basis. Ah, testosterone! Back tomorrow.

Good Will Punting

So Norm Coleman forswears negative campaigning. How does Al Franken's campaign respond? Take it away, Andy Barr:

It's like an arsonist burning down every house in the village and then asking to be named fire chief.

Stay classy.

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

For they shall inherit the earth. They aren't likely to run the government, though.

I don't know if the Republicans raised the white flag yesterday, but you could make that argument based on comportment of the gentle, gentle gentlemen at the top of the ticket this year. John McCain was in Lakeville yesterday and he basically shut down some of his supporters who were calling for him to attack Barack Obama. At one point he was even booed when he spoke well of the junior senator from Illinois.

Meanwhile, Norm Coleman has announced that he will stop running negative ads against Al Franken. Over half of Coleman's negative ads have consisted of showing footage of Franken in full rant mode, swearing, swaggering, cursing and acting like a low-rent thug. But recent polls suggest that showing Franken in his own words doesn't seem to hurt Franken as much as it does Coleman. Franken will of course continue to run his scurrilities.

Perhaps the internal polling that the campaigns are doing is saying something that's not immediately apparent, but it seems passing strange to start playing Mr. Nice Guy at this late hour. People always say that they hate negative advertising, but it inevitably works. That's why it is done in every election cycle. It's why Franken may win and why a nothingburger like Aswin Madia has a good chance of taking the open 3rd CD seat away. Madia and his surrogates have run an especially appalling campaign against opponent Erik Paulsen that has been pretty much 100% false. And his reward may very well be a seat in Congress. Madia is apparently Change You Can Believe In. To his credit, Paulsen has been fighting back, but the damage may have been done.

It's possible that McCain and Coleman may be rewarded for taking the high road from here on out. But I'd be very surprised.

A Premonition Explained

Most of us haven't lived through a panic before. It's been nearly 80 years since the Crash of 1929 and the actors who brought us that particular drama been gone for a long time. You don't always notice it as it's happening to you, but I'd be willing to wager that the past 2-3 weeks will turn out to be one of the most momentous periods in the history of this nation.

Back in February I wrote this post. I used Carole King's song "It's Too Late" as a jumping off point to talk about something I couldn't quite explain. I had a sense that something pretty big was up, but I wasn't sure what it was. Here is what I wrote back then:

So here's my weird thought - I hear the song and it makes me think of what's happening right now, and not only in this election cycle. I've done my fair share of alternately mocking and cringing at the Obama campaign in recent days. But it's becoming increasingly evident that there's something else in the air, something that's only tangentially related to Obama, his campaign or even what his adminstration would look like should he ultimately prevail in November. I'm not sure what's happening, but whatever is happening is bigger and more momentous than all that. My sense is that there are forces at play right now that are a lot more powerful than anything else that we've experienced in my lifetime. I think that the next 4-8 years are going to be transformative regardless of the occupant of the Oval Office. Something very new and potentially quite strange is on the horizon. I'm not worried or fearful about it, because there's no use in worrying about things you cannot control. But my sense is that we're in for a hell of a ride, and soon.

What's happened, it would seem, is a panic that stems from a systemic crisis of confidence in many institutions, but primarily the financial industry and the government. We have seen a Treasury Secretary who has feet very much in both worlds essentially demand that the taxpayers save Wall Street. The apparatus of government has complied. And the markets have sent an unmistakable message about the efficacy this unprecedented government intervention, with one of the largest drops in the Dow Jones average in history.

And what now seems likely to happen is that the American people are going to turn the government over to the Party of Government. Barring something really unforeseen, John McCain is not going to win the election. There's an excellent chance that he might lose in an electoral landslide. And at a time where we need an experienced hand at the tiller, it looks likely that we will be sending an inexperienced product of the Chicago political machine to become Leader of the Free World. It also appears quite possible that the citizens of this state are prepared to toss aside a reasonable senator for a guy who began his political career by writing ad hominem screeds.

It's possible that this may turn out well. My social betters in the East Coast commentariat have lately been trying to reassure us that the Senator from ACORN has a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament, and that Obama surely won't do what it would seem he plans to do, because if he did, "he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr."

Just a guess - if this doesn't turn out well, Barack Obama won't be the only one reaping a whirlwind.

Cross-posted at True North

The Lake Winnebago Election

I grew up not far from Lake Winnebago, the largest lake entirely within the borders of Wisconsin. Lake Winnebago is an odd lake, because while it has a vast surface area (almost 138,000 acres) it doesn't really hold that much water. It may be 30 miles from north to south and 10 miles from east to west, but the maximum depth of the lake is only 21 feet and much of the lake is no more than 8-9 feet deep. There are places where you can walk out into the lake for a half mile or more and the water is only four or five feet high.

I've been thinking that this election is a lot like Lake Winnebago. It appears that the advantage the Democrats have is pretty wide, but my sense is the depth of support is pretty small. Aside from the true believers, many people who are considering voting for Obama aren't really sure it's the right thing to do. As I've been watching things this week, and as I've talked to people I know, I've sensed that Obama's support could yet fade.

The problem that the McCain campaign is having is that there is no one defining matter that would reach enough people to turn the campaign. Should the campaign be talking about Bill Ayers, as it has been lately? Should it be talking about Congress, especially people like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd? Should it be talking about ACORN? Or something else?

As an amateur pundit, I don't have to have all the answers. But I like to ask questions. So my question for tonight is this - what should the McCain campaign be talking about for the remainder of the campaign? And can McCain drain Lake Winnebago?

It's a Gas Gas Gas

You might remember this post from back in June. It was a contest concerning what the average price of gas will be in the Twin Cities on 1/1/09. I predicted $2.49/gallon; a number of other people are playing, too, with a range of predictions from Right Hook's optimistic $2.67 to Uncle Ben's more pessimistic $3.90.

Just so you know, the price of gasoline at the gas stations nearest my house -- the SuperAmerica and PDQ that battle it out at the corner of Old Highway 8 and County Road D, hard by the New Brighton/Roseville border, currently stands at $2.819.

Mind you, the rest of the economy is in the crapper, but hey, that's something.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - Bread and Circuses Edition

It's easy to fall prey to despair with the unceasing torrent of bad news - I think my 401(k) is now a -401(k), or perhaps Fahrenheit 451, but I'm not certain. But the games go on. Bread and circuses for everybody!





Xavier Hawks 31, Fox Valley Lutheran Foxes 17. Ah, it's the ancient intra-city rivalry between my beloved Hawks and the Other. FVL is a WELS school and historically they aren't especially fond of Catholic boys, which goes a long ways toward explaining the animosity in this series. The X and the Lutherans have been playing for well over 40 years now and it's always interesting. This year my boys are better. We'll leave the theological component aside.

ACTUAL RESULT: FVL 28, XAVIER 14. It would appear that my faith in this matter had no justification.





Irondale Knights 51, St. Francis Saints 0. Catholics know that St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes and that St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals. The Saints are the dregs of the North Suburban and either they ought to be praying to St. Jude or they may just accept the fact that the Knights will likely give them the rented mule treatment. Next week it gets much tougher for the Knights.

ACTUAL RESULT: IRONDALE 53, ST. FRANCIS 7. The halftime score and the final score were the same, which should tell you everything you need to know. Next week the Knights get Hopkins, which is a significant step up in class.

Mounds View Mustangs 34, Forest Lake Rangers 16. The Rangers are a middling team in the Suburban East and have historically played the Mustangs tough, especially on their home field. This game is at Mounds View, though, and it won't be close. Irondale and Mounds View continue on their collision course in the playoffs.

ACTUAL RESULT: MOUNDS VIEW 40, FOREST LAKE 9. A dominating performance for the Mustangs. Next week it's mighty Cretin-Derham Hall.





Ripon Red Hawks 42, Beloit Bucs 20. The mighty Buccos are improving and I'm happy for Chris Brann and his staff. Beloit once went 28 years between victories against Ripon (1959-1987). Things have equalized somewhat since then, but lately the Red Hawks have been dominating the series. Won't change on Saturday.

ACTUAL RESULT: RIPON 30, BELOIT 0. Next!



Penn State Nittany Lions 27, Wisconsin Badgers 26. Heartbreaking losses are becoming this Badger squad's forte. Maybe the band's return will make a difference, but from this corner it looks like Penn State is better than the Ohio State team that beat the Badgers last week. Too bad - this season looked like it would be a good one, but I'm sure El Paso or Shreveport or somesuch will be lovely around Christmastime.

ACTUAL RESULT: PENN STATE 48, WISCONSIN 7. Well, at least it wasn't a heartbreaking loss. There is that. This is Don Morton stuff, though. Certainly the worst lost the Badgers have had since those dark days. Lotta work to be done.


Illinois Fighting Obamas 41, Minnesota Golden Frankens 24. All hail our new socialist overlords!

ACTUAL RESULT: MINNESOTA 27, ILLINOIS 20. On the other hand, this is a very impressive victory. Good for the Gophers, who continue to improve each week under Tim Brewster and are only a victory or two away from a fairly decent bowl.


Green Bay Packers 24, Seattle Walrus Nation 17. Usually the Seabags are really tough to beat at home, but their entire team is on the injured reserve list this year. I believe that Dave Krieg and Brian Bosworth will be suiting up for Mike "Why Didn't I Retire When I Had the Chance" Holmgren.

ACTUAL RESULT: GREEN BAY 27, SEATTLE 17. That was pretty close. Charlie Frye is chicken soup. Next week against the Colts will be tougher.


Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 31, Motor City Kitties 10. It should go well for the Vikings this week so long as Chris Kluwe doesn't see the field. Fortunately for the Vikings, he won't.

ACTUAL RESULT: MINNESOTA ZEBRA BENEFICIARIES 12, LIONS 10. Wow. The last time an official missed a call that badly on Minnesota soil in an NFL game, he got hit in the head with a whiskey bottle. Chilly continues to demonstrate that it's better to be lucky than good.

Guilty Pleasures Part Twenty-Nine -- Simple But Not Easy

No politics today and because the baseball series ended so soon, there's not a lot of sports to talk about. So let's play some tunes.

Four choices today - nice basslines, good guitar and plenty of attitude. Rock and roll as I understand the term.

First one is to prove that I actually know a song that was recorded in this millennium. I am pairing it with the second song because: (a) both songs have essentially the same bassline and (b) both singers really could use some shampoo.

So it's Jet with:

Are You Gonna Be My Girl

And it's Iggy Pop from his great 1977 awakening, before the cruise ships denatured him. He's just a modern guy - of course he's had it in the ear before. Too much information, there, Ig. But that's okay because he's got a

Lust for Life

Then we go forward one year, to 1978, to one of the key songs of my high school years, as rendered at Budokan. Got my KISS records out with Cheap Trick because it's time to

Surrender

And one more from the very end of the 1970s, from the Only Band That Matters. Menace abounds as the Clash gets deep into the dub. You'll have to answer to:

The Guns of Brixton

The floor is open!

Another Election That Matters

Now more than ever, we need CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN. We stand on the edge of a New Frontier, now that it's Morning in America. So don't forget to do your part and vote in the election that really matters - Mayor of the MOB. Vote over at Foot's place.

And here's a hint: vote for this guy. Or maybe this guy, who really seems to want the job.

The Needle Does Not Move

I missed the first half hour of the debate (had to go to Boy Scouts with my son) but saw the rest. John McCain needed to do a lot better tonight than he did. The game is not over, but it's now going to be much tougher for McCain to win and things weren't looking good before. A few observations:

• Tom Brokaw was absolutely abysmal. Self-important, whining, petulant and grandstanding the whole time. He was more concerned about his timekeeping and ensuring that the candidates paid fealty to the rules than letting the conservation develop to the point where a candidate might say something interesting. You want a moderator for these things - Brokaw was a gatekeeper. But it's worth remembering that only losers complain about the referees. Winners overcome bad calls.


• Obama has gotten better at debating. He's still full of balloon juice on most everything but he's very good at spouting his line, especially when he's not interrupted. And he wasn't tonight. He pretty much got to hit his marks on every question and McCain really never laid a glove on him. Obama had to look plausible and if you don't know any better (and most people don't), he did.


• McCain needed to be much better than he was. He didn't do anything egregiously bad, but he never seemed to make the killer point that would differentiate himself and make an affirmative case for why he should be elected. He kept saying that "I know how to do this." That may be, but it's argument by assertion. McCain didn't explain how he knows how to do whatever this is. More importantly, he also didn't explain why Obama won't be able to do what Obama claims he will do. That's the thing that nags me the most about Obama, besides his ridiculous policy ideas -- what evidence is there that a guy with his resume and his go-along get-along history will be able to demonstrate leadership and actually get anything done if his butt hits the seat in the Oval Office. McCain needed to hammer that point home and he didn't.


• The whole point of having a town hall forum is to get offbeat questions from the audience. We didn't get any from either the internet or the audience in the auditorium. It may as well have been the White House press corps in the room. The last two questions - about defending Israel militarily and the silly one about what the candidates don't know (a whole lot from what I can tell) - approached interesting. Of course Obama sidestepped the first one and then used his time to make a closing statement at the end. And McCain didn't do a hell of a lot better.


• If this were a football game, we'd be in the middle of the 4th quarter now. To extend the analogy, McCain is down by 11 points. He needs two scores to win. He just went 3 and out. Obama now has the ball and will try to play ball control the rest of the way. And he has an excellent offensive line in the MSM.

Just a Reminder That

Iowahawk is a genius.

Maybe It Doesn't Matter. . . .

After all, that's what my portsider friends tell me. It's all OVAH. Obama has won. McCain can never catch up now that everyone has decided that Obama is the only person who can provide the change America needs.

But it is worth noting that Tony Rezko is talking and Obama's bogus donors have finally drawn the attention of the MSM. Meanwhile, McCain and Palin are firing.

They may be right. But at least it now looks like the American people will get full disclosure. If the people decide to elect Obama anyway, then we'll have to tip our hats to him and wish him well. But there are four weeks left.

We Have Always Been At War With Eastasia

So Saturday Night Live ran a very fun skit last week about the bailout that actually named some names, like Barney Frank and George Soros. Funny - you can't get that bit anymore on the SNL website. But you can get it here.

You can have a memory hole, kids, but that doesn't mean things stay there.

Comedy Gold

So the Obama campaign has decided to roll out John McCain’s membership in the Keating Five. Fair enough – it’s part of McCain’s record.

Simultaneously, he’s using former Senator John Glenn as a surrogate in Ohio. Uh, Senator Obama: I know you were pretty young when the Keating Five business was going on, but you would think that someone on your staff is old enough to remember that John Glenn was part of the Keating Five, too.

I’m glad that the Obama campaign has started taking victory laps already. Bill Ayers may not bring Obama down, but hubris and sloppiness could.

(H/T: Captain Ed)

Glad the AP Could Clear That Up

Sarah Palin criticizes Barack Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers. Bill Ayers is a white guy.

According to writer Douglass Daniel at the Associated Press, that means Palin is being racist.

Palin's words avoid repulsing voters with overt racism. But is there another subtext for creating the false image of a black presidential nominee "palling around" with terrorists while assuring a predominantly white audience that he doesn't see their America?

In a post-Sept. 11 America, terrorists are envisioned as dark-skinned radical Muslims, not the homegrown anarchists of Ayers' day 40 years ago. With Obama a relative unknown when he began his campaign, the Internet hummed with false e-mails about ties to radical Islam of a foreign-born candidate.

Whether intended or not by the McCain campaign, portraying Obama as "not like us" is another potential appeal to racism. It suggests that the Hawaiian-born Christian is, at heart, un-American.

Emphasis mine. There are so many canards in this AP "analysis" that I could spend 1000+ words on it. Don't have time to right now, but I'd simply suggest the following:

Ayers wasn't a "homegrown anarchist." He was and is a committed leftist of the limousine liberal type - his entree into polite Chicago society is directly related to his lineage as the scion of the head honcho at Commonwealth Edison, the utility that has served Chicago for decades. In the go-along to get-along world of Chicago politics, Ayers's bombing campaign is simply a youthful indiscretion and no big thing. Mayor Daley himself has said that Ayers and Obama are pals. Maybe Daley is mistaken, but he knows where things stand in his fiefdom.

And as far as the distinction about what motivates terrorists is concerned, I don't think that John Murtagh would be any more bothered by the bombing that his family suffered if it had come from a radical Islamist instead of Ayers. The technique was the same and the desired result was, too.

I posted Mohammed Atta's picture with this piece on purpose. When this AP analysis says that terrorists are seen as "dark-skinned radical Muslims," it's worth remembering that Atta (and bin Laden and Zawahiri, for that matter) aren't especially dark-skinned. I share the ethnic heritage of the people who blew up Lord Mountbatten. Doesn't matter - the IRA were (and are) scum, too.

Obama isn't a terrorist. But he comes from a place where "community organizers" and unrepentant terrorists are absorbed into the bosom of the all-encompassing political machine. It's all good. Maybe it's okay with America. We'll find out on November 4.

Mirage

So what was the pennant race all about again? We're less than a week into the baseball playoffs and the Cubs and the Brewers are both gone (and the Whities might be before the day is over).

The Brewers weren't really good enough to win -- bullpen was shaky, starting pitching was shaky once you got past the magnificent CC Sabathia (note to Brewers brain trust: sign him! Sign him! C'mon, back up the Brinks truck!) but there might be hope for the future if Yovani Gallardo is able to come back strong next year. Still a lot of young talent in the Brewer pipeline, too.

The Cubs? I'm not sure what happened. The team that pitched and hit better than anyone else in the National League all season long ceased doing anything against the Dodgers. It was very weird. Just another chapter in the history that the old Chicago folkie Steve Goodman so memorably described in his song "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request"

Do they still play the blues in Chicago

When baseball season rolls around

When the snow melts away,

Do the Cubbies still play

In their ivy-covered burial ground

When I was a boy they were my pride and joy

But now they only bring fatigue

To the home of the brave

The land of the free

And the doormat of the National League

For the 101th straight time, just wait'll next year.

Two Quick Things

I'm entering a very busy stretch and posting may be a little light the next few days. Two things worth your attention this morning:

• McCain is finally going to go after Barack Obama about his relationship with Bill Ayers. One of the standard lines about the Ayers/Obama relationship is that Obama was only 8 years old when the Weathermen were active. True, as far as it goes. But for an important perspective on why palling around with an unrepentant terrorist (as Gov. Palin would have it) is a poor idea, read this piece.


• Why the Republicans won't go after the Democrats about their role in Fannie and Freddie is beyond me. Even Saturday Night Live has figured it out. The skit I've linked to actually does an excellent job of explaining what really happened in the last five years. I especially like the caption they gave George Soros. If Obama becomes President, we'll need all the jesters we can get.