Memo to T-Paw, Kate Knuth, The One, Etc.

Before you start crafting your Brave New World carbon emissions cap-and-trade scheme, think hard about what you are doing. And read this piece from Canada's National Post. If author Norman Solomon is right, carbon could become a de facto currency. And a very volatile one. If you think the mortgage-backed securities and other Byzantine financial instruments that Wall Street conjured were complicated, just imagine what happens when you try to securitize carbon.

(h/t: Instapundit)

Housekeeping

Catching up on a few loose ends. . . .

• Sidebar changes: I decided to move some blogs that are moribund to a new section called "Gone But Not Forgotten." The good news is that two of the bloggers in question, Leo Pusateri and esteemed MOB Mayor JRoosh, are still in the game, but now blogging at Freedom Dogs and Shot in the Dark, respectively. I still recommend all these blogs as a resource, because they were really good. But we need to look forward. I've also added six new blogs to my recommended blog list. Two of these bloggers, Cuffy Meigs and Jim Treacher, have well-deserved national followings. I've also added Currency Lad, an Australian blogger that I came across recently who is really a wonderful essayist. And I've added three MOB blogs that I like: Bike Bubba's Bits, Joe Repya's Eagle's Nest and The Far Wright.


• The election is over, so I've deleted the links to the campaign websites. I sincerely hope that I get to add some of those websites back to my sidebar when the next election cycle begins. That will probably be in about 10-15 days, I'm afraid.
• I'm considering a few changes to my comments section. I've always allowed anonymous commenters, but I'm not sure that I want to continue that practice. As it happens, my most prominent anonymous commenter isn't anonymous at all because he signs every comment he makes. Still, as this feature continues to mature, I'm feeling a little less comfortable with having anonymous commentary. I haven't decided on anything yet, but that may change. Let me know your thoughts on this.

More soon - thanks to all for your continuing support of this feature.

Basketball Jones -- Irondale Team 3 Action

It kinda snuck up on us with the election and all, but basketball season is again underway for Irondale Youth Basketball. This year Ben is on Team 3, a/k/a Big Blue. And their opening foray was highly successful, as his squad cruised to a 43-22 victory over Irondale 7 (wearing red). Ben scored one basket, had a few rebounds and played lockdown defense against the Irondale 7 point guard. A very satisfying beginning and Ben's team looks like it could be pretty good this time.

Next week Big Blue will take the mysterious Roseville 6 squad at Brimhall Elementary in Roseville. As always, Mr. Dilettante is your source for exciting Irondale Youth Basketball action.

You Don't Say

Already we have disgruntled interest groups worrying about whether or not President-elect Obama will keep his campaign promises:

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-styled head of the al-Qaida front group the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a speech posted on an extremist Web site that it would be better "for you and us" to "withdraw your forces," according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors militant Web sites.

Emhpasis mine. Meanwhile, al-Baghdadi released this video concerning the results of a recent battle.

Who They Are, What They Do

I had really, really hoped that it wouldn't be this way. Should have known better. Al Franken and his bobos are working feverishly to steal the election. The miraculous reports keep coming in -- oops, we missed 100 votes in Pine Island, and another 100 in Mountain Iron, and a few more here and there. Pretty soon Al Franken will be leading by a vote or two. And then it will be time to stop counting. This is what happened in Florida in 2000. It didn't work. This is also what happened in Washington state in 2004. It did work then.

Pretty simple, GOP. Pretty simple, Tim Pawlenty. You have to stop this now. Are there mistakes made on election day? Sure. But it would stand to reason that some of the mistakes would redound to the benefit of Coleman, or maybe Dean Barkley. That they all seem to be working to benefit Franken leaves an unmistakable smell. You know exactly who the Secretary of State is and his history. You can't let this stand, folks.

You know what's happening, kids. It's not the people who vote who decide a close election. It's the people who count the votes. If you wonder who I'm paraphrasing, here's a hint. And if you think I'm overreacting, think again.

Raise your voices. Don't let this happen.

Guilty Pleasures Part Thirty-Two: Music Is Life Edition

If you've spent any time around here, you know that music is one of my great passions. I can't imagine how someone can go through life without music. No matter how dire the circumstances, a song, if it hits you just right, can instantly change your mood and make things seem better. So after what's been a very disheartening week on the political scene, let's go back to something better. Let's go back to music.

I let my media player pick five songs for tonight. As it happens, it picked well. There's outright joy, great songwriting and some remarkable talent on display. And I was able to find something representative on YouTube for all five songs.

First up, we have a very young Frank Sinatra, from 1943, as always reaching into the Great American Songbook for one of the greatest of all American songs. This is a song he returned to with different, more swinging arrangements later on; as usual, I prefer the 1950s version that he recorded during his great period at Capitol Records. But this more formal, old-fashioned version has plenty to recommend it. Whether near to me or far, it's no matter, darling, where you are. I think of you. . . .

Night and Day

Next, we head to the end of the 1960s. This group had already nearly 20 years in the business when they hit it big with a song that clings very closely to the zeitgeist of that era. Still one of the best horn charts in the history of rock, too. I can't tell you who to sock it to, because it's the Isley Brothers singing

It's Your Thing

Next we go further another six years, to 1975. We're in that odd time, at the dawn of the disco era, when the music world had essentially bifurcated and the music lovers were starting to form opposing camps. Still, there were some records that got played everywhere, mostly because they were really good. I'm especially fond of this big hit from one of the best singles acts of the decade, the Spinners. It's one of their sweetest songs, but listen carefully because there's more than a little undercurrent going on, too. Why, mostly because

They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)

Then we move forward four more years, to 1979. Disco is at its zenith but about to head for a precipitous fall. A child star who had consistently charted throughout the decade with his brothers now was ready to take the stage by himself and dominate. This was a huge hit back in 1979 and while disco itself hasn't necessarily aged that well, the vocal performance and the dazzling Quincy Jones arrangement still sound fresh and vital nearly 30 years later. My goodness -- has it really been 30 years? It's pre-weird, pre-facelift Michael Jackson with

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Finally, we head back about 30-40 years. It's perhaps the greatest all-around American musician of the 20th century, leading his orchestra through its paces with another durable from the Great American Songbook. As Stevie Wonder so memorably described him, it's the king of all, Sir Duke, with:

Satin Doll

Now tell me -- how can you listen to such great music and not feel better about life? There's plenty of stupidity and hatred in the world, plenty of people cutting you off in traffic or selling you a line of crap. We have entire industries that spend their days chronicling our worst moments. But we have music. God has blessed us, indeed.

Pick your favorite or, if you'd like, suggest a song that makes you feel better about life, and tell us why.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - We're Running Out of Games Edition

It's the time of year when seasons start to end, so this week's list is shorter than before. But as long as there are games to pick, we're picking 'em. Here goes:

Mounds View Mustangs 21, Rosemount Irish 17. We're down to the final 8 in Minnesota and this game pits our beloved Mustangs against the confusing Irish of Rosemount, a Lake Conference power with the nickname of Notre Dame and the uniforms of Michigan (maize and blue with the winged helmet). Mounds View's colors are the same as Michigan State, which beat Michigan. So we'll go with our heroes.

ACTUAL RESULT: ROSEMOUNT 12, MOUNDS VIEW 0. Good season for the Mustangs, but they lose tonight to a superior opponent.

Kimberly Papermakers 45, Kaukauna Ghosts 14. It's a rivalry game for the right to go to State in Wisconsin. Kimberly has crushed everyone in its path thus far, including Kaukauna earlier in the year. Not gonna change this week.

ACTUAL RESULT: KIMBERLY 55, KAUKAUNA 7. This was the state quarterfinals, mind you. Kaukauna is a very good team, you see. I have to wonder if Kimberly isn't the best team in Wisconsin, period. Marshfield is the next pebble in the path of the Papermaker juggernaut.

Beloit Bucs 31, Grinnell Pioneers 24. Beloit closes out its season against the perennial footwipe of the Midwest Conference. You may not know this, but back in the 1920s Grinnell used to play in the same conference as Nebraska, Missouri and the other schools that eventually formed the Big XII. But they haven't been good in at least 70 years. And my beloved Bucs are improving.

ACTUAL RESULT: BELOIT 34, GRINNELL 12. A nice way to end the season. Last year my beloved Bucs were 1-9 on merit, including a loss to (ahem) Macalester. This year? 5-5. That's real progress.

Wisconsin Badgers 41, Indiana Hoosiers 17. Bucky has had a tough year, but Indiana loses to teams like Central Michigan. Bucky is a lot better than Central Michigan.

ACTUAL RESULT: WISCONSIN 55, INDIANA 20. 441 yards rushing? Now that's a Badger result that I can recognize. Meanwhile, the Gophers await.

Minnesota Golden Gophers 31, Meeshegan Wooolverines 24. Beat 'em while you can, Coach Brewster. Go Blue is down, but they'll be back.

ACTUAL RESULT: MEESHEGAN 29, GAFFERS 6. No little brown jug. I don't suspect the Ax coming back here, either, and probably not the pig. But the Gophers should really enjoy the Motor City Bowl.

Green Bay Packers 27, Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 19. I see the Packers scoring touchdowns and the Vikings kicking field goals. Not the result the locals will want unless they have Ryan Longwell on their fantasy team. My beloved Packers are playing well and getting healthier. That's not what's happening in Minnesota.

ACTUAL RESULT: VIKINGS 28, PACKERS 27. One of the stranger football games I've seen. Not too often do you see two safeties, an interception return for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown. Give the Vikings the nod; despite Gus Frerotte's repeated attempts to give the Packers a win, the Purple was the better team today. My guess is that the inevitable four-game losing streak starts whenever the Williamses finally have their appeals run out.

The Saddest Video You'll Ever See

Oh, the humanity!

One Recrimination and Three Things to Watch

Now that the McCain campaign has lost, the long knives and finger pointing have begun. Ya know something? It's been less than 24 hours and I don't suspect that anyone really gives a rat's ass who is to blame. It doesn't change the result.

I am going to offer only one recrimination, because I think it speaks to the larger problem that Republicans have to overcome. John McCain made one absolutely crucial mistake in this campaign, which was this: he accepted the framing of the debate that the MSM and the Obama campaign offered and spent the entire election arguing on their terms.

A pertinent example of how this played out -- McCain and his handlers let people who didn't support Sarah Palin create the narrative for her portion of the campaign. Why, precisely, were the interviews with Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric so consequential? Because the McCain campaign let them be. We could see what was coming. We had every reason to know that the networks would edit Palin's responses in an unflattering manner. This is standard procedure. But instead of putting Palin out there more frequently, on local channels, or on cable interviews, or with talk radio broadcasters, they accepted the self-appointed role of the the MSM.

Another example -- since Obama didn't want to talk about Jeremiah Wright, and the MSM didn't either, McCain dutfully pulled it from the table. Well, considering the central role that Rev. Wright has played in the President-elect's life, it sure the heck seemed like it shouldn't have been off limits. I can only assume that McCain didn't want to be accused of doing something dishonorable or racist. Well, he faced those accusations anyway. Would this association have made a difference? We'll never know. Meanwhile, a 527 rushed out a Wright ad in the last week of the campaign, and I was treated last night to watching Tom Brokaw and David Axelrod discussing how dishonorable the McCain campaign was for running the ad, even though it hadn't. If you're going to get blamed anyway, there's no good reason to keep your powder dry.

The next Republican candidate will have options. And the option I'd recommend is to go over the heads of the MSM. Take your message directly to the people, whether it's over the internet, through alternative media outlets or on television spots. Your message may not get to the general audience unscathed, but you can reach the audiences who are receptive to your message and make sure they hear it without mediation.

Now, three quick things to watch in the coming days:

• The fate of Patrick Fitzgerald. I have written about this issue a number of times in the past and it still matters. I don't harbor any dreams that somehow Tony Rezko is going to turn state's evidence and send Obama to the federal pen. But cleaning up politics in Illinois matters greatly. Patrick Fitzgerald is working on getting the information needed to prosecute the corrupt governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. He's also working on matters that could eventually point all the way back to the real power in Illinois, which is in the mayor's office. Obama could pretty easily protect his pals. He has pledged not to get rid of Fitzgerald. If he does, you'll learn something pretty ugly about the new Leader of the Free World.


• The early hires. The first pick out of the box is not a good one -- it's Rahm Emanuel, the former Clinton hand and current congressman/button man, for Obama's chief of staff. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this guy has the potential to be an H.R. Haldeman type. Obama needs an effective, cool-headed executive in this role. Bill Clinton to his credit chose Leon Panetta, who was exactly the right sort of guy. Obama doesn't need a hot-headed, take no prisoners partisan. But that is who he has hired. It doesn't send the right message. I'll be watching the next few choices closely. They will tell you a lot about how Obama will govern.


• Watch the lame duck session closely. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will certainly feel emboldened and they are likely to try to get a head start on the next four years in the upcoming lame duck session, with the first order of business being another "stimulus" package that will be a festival of pork. Obama could establish a healthy precedent by talking Pelosi and Reid out of this idea. I hope he will.

Something to tide you over. . .

. . .while I think of my own list of recriminations. The amazingly prolific Jennifer Rubin already has a list of 30 items. Interestingly, she doesn't have my top one on her list. More on that anon.

Local Heroes

UPDATE (6 a.m. Wednesday): Wow, is the Senate race close. 99.7% in, and Coleman leads by just over 1,000 votes. We are headed for a recount, without question. I remain confident that Al Franken has lost, but my goodness, this should not have been this close. That 11th hour attack from Texas hurt Norm more than seemed likely. Meanwhile, Erik Paulsen ends up winning comfortably and Michele Bachmann squeaks by. Actually, that's probably the best possible result. As much as I like Michele Bachmann, her propensity to shoot from the hip is something that she needs to curb. I hope she learns the right lessons from this near-death experience.

Meanwhile, closer to home. . . .

We may be up a while tonight on the Senate race, but as the numbers continue to come in, it's looking like Norm Coleman will narrowly win over the execrable Al Franken. As I write, 80% of the vote is in and Norm has maintained a lead. I'm not going to stay up all night, but I'm pretty confident based on the precincts that seem to be outstanding.

Meanwhile, it looks like Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen will be going to Washington. Their opponents, Elwyn Tinklenberg and Aswin Madia, are both as execrable as Al Franken. Both richly deserve the defeat that apparently is coming. I'm especially happy for Paulsen, who has been the victim of a highly dishonest campaign from Madia and his surrogates.

Our local candidates, Ed Matthews and Lori Grivna, did not win, either. Ed Matthews has a bright future -- he's a very talented guy and I really hope he stays in the mix. Lori ran a good and honorable campaign but she ended up getting swamped by outside money and an especially pernicious last-minute ad blitz that she could not counter. I'm not sure what Lori is going to do going forward, but I still believe that Kate Knuth can be beaten. Lori has a positive role to play in this community and I hope that she stays visible in the district, since things may look very different in 2010.

Sometimes You Lose

There will be time for recriminations later. But not much time. There is work to do.

First, you do have to congratulate Barack Obama for winning the election. The popular vote will be fairly close, but electorally this is shaping up to be a landslide. He has run an excellent campaign. It would be churlish to deny that.

Everyone is telling us that this is an historic moment. And of course it is. President-elect Obama is African-American. He did rise from modest circumstances and has managed to convince over 50% of the electorate that he is the right man to lead this nation. No matter how much I disagree with this sentiment, I have to accept it. And we all have to accept that this man has an extraordinarily difficult job in front of him. And he will need help.

What do conservatives have to do? We have to support President-elect Obama when he does the right thing, and we have to challenge him when he does the wrong thing. He will do some of both. We have to ensure that we are clear in our focus and our arguments. We have to accept that, however narrow the margin, the electorate has not chosen a conservative presidential candidate. As I said, we have work to do. And it will start soon.

Happy Election Day!

Get out there and vote. But watch this link first.

Dispatches at 11:59

At 11:59, some of the truth finally starts to come out.

Item: The Alaska State Personnel Board releases a report that exonerates Sarah Palin of any wrongdoing in the so-called Troopergate scandal. It won't help Palin tomorrow, but it will be useful for her future. And she has a future, no matter what happens tomorrow.

Item: An administrative law judge rules sets a hearing to determine if Al Franken violated Minnesota law by running a false ad. Again, it probably won't help Coleman tomorrow, but at least the truth will be known.

Item: The Bishop of Kansas City, Robert Finn, puts it on the line for Catholic voters considering Obama:

I would say, “Give consideration to your eternal salvation.” Because to vote for a person who has expressed a fanatical determination to not only support abortion as it exists now but to remove all limitations on it through the Freedom of Choice Act, and to extend it without any recourse, throwing out all of the efforts of citizens over the last 35 years to place reasonable limits on abortion, that voting for a person who has expressed his determination to do this to Planned Parenthood, to NARAL — that you make yourself a participant in the act of abortion. That’s gravely wrong, and you mustn’t do it because your eternal salvation is tied up in that important choice.

Again, it might be too late, but at least it's been said. Catholics who vote tomorrow need to be mindful of Church teaching regarding the sanctity of life. Ask yourself how you square a vote for the Democratic candidate with the clear teaching of the Church regarding life issues.

If Obama Wins. . . .

Be sure to watch what happens to Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney who has been in the midst of cleaning the swamps in Chicago. Obama has promised to keep Fitzgerald on the job. He'd better. As the indispensable John Kass points out:

Will the next president keep Patrick Fitzgerald as the U.S. attorney in Chicago?

I really can't say. What are political promises worth from politicians with debts to pay?

But here's what I do know. There is no story more important to the people of Chicago and of Illinois than the future of Fitzgerald, who has systematically hunted down the corruption.

Corruption the Chicago Way doesn't only waste money and burden taxpayers. This isn't only about isolated instances of graft and amusing, earthy rapscallions. That is a cartoon. The reality is that Illinois political corruption is an infection that spreads. The people either are numbed and deny it, or they feel pressured to suck up to their overlords. That's not American. That's positively Medieval.

Emphasis mine. Read the whole thing.

The Big Shoulders

I've been babysitting my friend Gino's blog while he recuperates from surgery. In one of our conversations prior to his surgery, we talked about Chicago. Gino grew up in California but was born in Chicago and his family has basically shuttled between Chicago and the old country (Italy). As it happens, I was born in Chicago, too, but my family moved to Wisconsin when I was a baby. Given the excellent possibility that a Chicagoan may soon be Leader of the Free World, it seems like a good time to talk about The City of the Big Shoulders. It's feeling like this may be a series of posts -- fair warning.

Chicago is a lot of things, but most of all it's a magnet. It attracts people. The talented, the dreamers, the reprobates -- they all come to Chicago. They come to perform in its venues, work in its offices, drink in its saloons. It's a place of dazzling architecture, amazing physical beauty and unspeakable cruelty. But mostly it's a place where normal people live and work and endure. And what they endure a lot of is corrupt government.

And one of the things that is most interesting about the saga of Barack Obama is that he was attracted to Chicago. As it happens, Obama and I moved to Chicago about the same time, for very different reasons. I was just looking for a job where I could write. Never did find one, exactly, but I did end up working for a large corporate law firm in Chicago. Since I wasn't a lawyer, I ended up doing mostly administrative work and never wrote much more than memoranda.

The intersection of law and politics is a strong one no matter you go, but it's especially important in Chicago. The largest law firms were completely wired into City Hall and people with political connections were highly valued, especially as rainmakers. The firm I worked at hired a longtime Chicago politician and judge, Seymour Simon, mostly to have his name on the letterhead. We also had a one-time federal prosecutor named Joseph Hartzler, who eventually returned to the Justice Department and served as lead prosecutor in the Timothy McVeigh trial. The big law firms in Chicago have always had talented, powerful people. And without question, there was more than a little glamor there, even for those of us who were simply hired help.

Barack Obama spent time in this environment, too -- he served as a summer associate for one of the largest firms in Chicago, Sidley & Austin. He met his wife Michelle there. He met Bernardine Dohrn there as well, but that's another post. He could have pursued a safe corporate litigation career and lived a comfortable life in some fashionable Chicago enclave. Instead, he pursued a political career and now may be moving to the most famous address in the world.

What always struck me about working there was that, more than anything else, it was a very mercernary business. Our attorneys worked on huge, complicated transactions -- I recall working for several days at a closing for the sale of a large regional shopping mall, notarizing documents and helping to assemble closing books that looked like unabridged dictionaries. Often attorneys represented the other side of the transaction would be there as well and there would be an elaborate minuet going on, with cellphones and faxes. One New York firm that often came would outfit all of their attorneys in blue shirts -- it was apparently some sort of trademark thing. The sums that our firm would charge were amazing -- I would be working on a project until 10 or 11 at night and they would pay for a cab to take me home (the El was pretty dicey after about 9 p.m. in those days) and charge it to the client. What I also sensed is that a lot of the work I had to do was strictly because of the need to comply with strange regulations. This was especially true of transactions involving properties in Chicago itself. No one seemed to sweat the costs much, but I knew that the costs involved were enormous because I sometimes saw the bills.

One of the reasons that I ultimately left Chicago is that it always felt needlessly complicated. It became clear that much of the complication came from not only the regulations, but the arbitrary ways they were enforced. There are many reasons why having a Chicago politician in the White House concern me, but this sense of complication is one of the strongest. I don't sense that a lot of voters really understand what they might be voting for. I worry that the reality is going to be pretty complicated indeed. More on this in the coming days.

Sunday Papers

We get the Sunday papers mostly because of the ad circulars these days. If you want news and commentary that tells you something, you need to go online. I'd like to commend these two items to your attention:

• I am often instructed by my betters to be less provincial and to pay more attention to the views of "the world." Okay. Here's an essay from Australian blogger Currency Lad with some excellent insights.


• Yesterday we talked about Sen. Obama's notion of the government sending price signals. Well, watch this video. You tell me -- why the hell should anyone in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia or Colorado vote for Barack Obama? And on a local level, for those of you entranced by Kate Knuth and her "cap and trade" ideas, have you really thought that through?

(HT: Captain Ed)

Reverse Auction

Just a reminder on those vaunted Obama tax cuts -- the number is moving. Where will it get by January 20? We can find out, or try this suggestion -- make the reverse auction moot with a vote for John McCain on November 4.

Obama's Left-Turn Signal

It won't last, but for now I'm really enjoying the gas prices. If you click on that link, it shows that gas is $1.97/gallon at 3 gas stations in the Roseville/New Brighton area. As it happens, those are the three gas stations in the Twin Cities that are closest to my house. The sign I've posted here is from the SuperAmerica by my house. It's a lovely, lovely image.

But it won't last. And if you want to know one reason why, consider this. Barack Obama believes that the government needs to be sending price signals. From an interview with Iowa public television:

Q: How do you convince people to change their lifestyles, to live differently, or to turn the question on its ear, are voters ahead of the politicians on this stuff? Do they get it, and maybe the politicians don’t?

A: Well, I think, uh, I think voters do understand it. I think it is important for us to send some price signals to change behavior.

And why shouldn't the government do it? They do such a good job of it, right?

How does a government send "price signals?" Typically, what they can do is impose taxes or tariffs. In other words, they put their thumb on the scale. And the costs to businesses are inevitably passed on to consumers. Whether you know it our not, you have certainly paid a "fuel surcharge" on something you've purchased this year. Chances are, you can't pass your added costs on to someone else. Go ahead, demand a fuel surcharge from your employer and see how far it gets you.

Obama and his pals in Congress have a lot of big ideas in store for the electorate. While there's little doubt that a lot of people have convinced themselves that they need to punish the Republicans for sins real and imagined, it's not clear that people really want a return to the Great Society. That's what is coming if Obama wins and has coattails. It's not too late to send a ballot signal, folks.

Random Crap from the 70s - More Odd Kid Shows

It's Friday night and it's Halloween. So let's remember how scary things were for some of us when we were growing up.

I didn't watch this first show that much, but it was always especially strange the few times I watched it. It was our favorite secret agent:

Lancelot Link

So do you suppose that PETA would let something like this go by nowadays? You also have to love the stereotypes -- nothing like putting a Fu Manchu mustache on a chimpanzee.

I hate to admit this, but one year I carried this lunch box. Mercifully, it was only for a year and only because I had broken an infinitely cooler one. But I do remember watching the show in question, a bizarre cross between Scooby Doo and Yogi Bear. Help, help! Here come the bears

The Hair Bear Bunch

A few years on, we were treated to the "U.S. of Archie," where for reasons that are hard to understand at this point, someone decided to use the durable teenagers as instruments of learning. Only in the 70s could you have something like this, as the Archies celebrate Thomas Edison with an odd, dirgy song.

Meanwhile, Sid and Marty Krofft continued to pursue their empire of oddness with the Krofft Supershow. This clip brings back a lot of very bad memories. They're all here -- Captain Kool and the Kongs, Superbug, Doctor Shrinker and of course, the delight of any number of boys approaching puberty with some trepidation -- it's

ElectraWoman and DynaGirl

And they're electra-annoying! But they were a stopgap between this (which had a few subtexts that I didn't get at the time) and this (which was to arrive soon thereafter). They did have some happening theme music in the 70s, too.

And it's worth remembering that as weird as the shows were, the ads were perhaps even stranger. Besides the perfidy of Mr. Owl, let's consider this interlude between Big Jim and Big Josh. What was Mattel selling here, really? At least it wasn't as odd as this ad for Calgon, which I swear ran for 20 years. But it could have been worse -- you could have spent $4.99 for this "20 Top Hits" record, with fake versions of bad songs. "Because of low royalties, we can't reveal the artists," but they were pretty good ones, like Ringo Sturr, Kat Stephens and Gladys Night and the Peps. Don't forget, order before midnight tomorrow.

I Feel Better About Obama Now. . . .

You will, too, once you've seen this report from America's Finest News Source. And if you need any further convincing, I'm guessing this dispatch should also ease your troubled mind.

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - Playoff Feevah Edition

We've lost a few favorites in the past week, but we still have games to pick as high school football feevah continues. Cowbell is not yet indicated.

Kimberly Papermakers 40, Oshkosh North Spartans 17. Stinger's beloved wasp-like fellows should have no trouble with North, which they defeated rather handily earlier in the season. And that wasp looks nasty, don't he?

Mounds View Mustangs 28, Roseville Raiders 20. Roseville has been a big surprise, knocking off our beloved Irondale squad and White Bear Lake (Go Bears) in successive games. The run ends here as the Mustangs will prevail. But it won't be easy.

St. Norbert Green Knights 34, Beloit Bucs 17. Beloit doesn't beat St. Norbert much. And while they've really improved this year, they won't win on Saturday. The day may be arriving, though.

Michigan State Spartans 34, Wisconsin Badgers 27. I had figured this one for a tough game even before the Badgers went into their tailspin. While beating the Illini was a positive sign, I don't see them stopping Javon Ringer, especially in East Lansing.

Minnesota Golden Gophers 34, Northwestern Wildcats 20. Yes, the Gophers could be playing on New Year's Day. Northwestern started out well but has been fading of late, while the Gophers are not fading.

Tennessee Tuxedos 21, Green Bay Packers 17. I'm hoping to be wrong on this one. I still think there's reason to believe that the Packers are the best team in the division, but this is probably the toughest assignment left on the schedule. I think those powder blue unis that the Titans sport throw people off.

Houston Texans 31, Purple Helmeted Love Warriors 27. Everyone is worried about the Viking defense losing the Williamses. They should. But this week they need to worry more about Andre Johnson blowing by the aging Vikings secondary.

How Bad are The One's Numbers?

Even CBS has noticed. It's getting so bad that there's a pending report over there on the Tiffany Network that Obama was AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard.

Developing. . . .

Moonlighting at Gino's

I'm going to be splitting time between here and my friend Gino's blog for the next week or so. It may mean that things here are a little slow for a few days, but I'll try to post at least something each day here. I would expect that many of you are already readers of Gino's blog. If you aren't, you really should be, because Gino is one of the most honest and fearless bloggers I know.

If you don't know, Gino is undergoing surgery tomorrow to remove a carotid tumor. His prognosis is excellent, but he's going to be in the hospital for probably a week. I'm deeply honored that he has asked me to keep the lights on over at his place. I will keep his readers posted on Gino's progress and probably do a few things over there to tweak him just a bit. Not gonna tip my hand on just how, though....

What was on television tonight?

I guess The One took over the airwaves tonight for a half hour. I missed the broadcast for an excellent reason -- I was at church doing my weekly duties as a Faith Formation teacher. With All Saint's Day nigh, we spent the night discussing why the lives of saints are worth studying.

I don't know about you, but my suspicion is that there is far greater value in learning about St. Francis, or St. Joan of Arc, or St. Thomas Aquinas, or St. Peter Claver, than spending a half hour listening to a messianic politician.

Political Differences Destroy Yet Another Family

As we all know this has been an especially contentious election cycle and the strains have been evident in many families. Voters in House District 50B may not have been aware of the tragedy unfolding within their midst, but we need to be mindful of, and sympathetic to, those families who have fallen victim to the raw partisan anger that has been on display.

We received what can only be categorized as a cry for help in the mail yesterday. The mailing was sent under the auspices of the ever-caring Minnesota DFL State Committee. This is an organization with a well-earned reputation for honesty and for the well-documented assertions that it makes concerning the passing scene. Because of the gentle nature of this organization, I was somewhat taken aback by the ferocious illustration on the cover of the brochure, which features feral lobbyists caged behind a glass door. It's a disturbing, alarming image.

Upon opening the brochure, I learned that it concerned the corrosive nature of lobbyists in St. Paul and the courageous efforts of certain local legislators to stem the tide of corruption that emanates from these jackals in Ferragamo shoes. I was alarmed to learn that a candidate for whom I offered support, Lori Grivna, apparently registered as a lobbyist. While it would have been easy to feel as betrayed, it seemed prudent to find out what evils she had perpetrated. As it turns out, she had indeed spoken with a number of legislators in 2007 on behalf of the Mounds View School Board. Once Lori's work was done at the end of the 2007 session, she ceased this activity.

I read on. The DFL brochure assured me that Grivna's opponent, Representative Kate Knuth, "stands up to the special interests." I learned from the brochure that Rep. Knuth "locked the lobbyists' revolving door," and that her commitment included refusing meals and gifts from lobbyists, and that, further, she was "putting solutions for our families ahead of lobbyists."

It all sounds noble, but there's a sad undercurrent to the tale. Since we know the DFL's reputation for probity, it is clear from the brochure that Rep. Knuth will have nothing to do with lobbyists. Unfortunately, that means that she has had to break openly with her own family. You see, her father is a lobbyist. Among his other clients, Dan Knuth has lobbied for Fresh Energy, an organization that has lobbied at the Capitol for years. As it turns out, Rep. Knuth introduced legislation establishing an environmental cap and trade policy that would directly benefit Fresh Energy. Imagine the betrayal Rep. Knuth must have felt when she learned that the policies that she was offering would benefit not only a lobbyist, but her own father.

The rift is so serious that one must assume that Rep. Knuth won't even eat at her father's house any more, because the DFL State Committee assures us that she eschews meals with lobbyists. One can imagine an unwrapped birthday gift sitting in a forlorn corner of her parent's house, gathering dust because their daughter would never accept any gifts from a lobbyist. Principled behavior is a lonely thing.

It's a cautionary tale and a reminder that politics are an ugly business. One can only hope that some day, once Rep. Knuth leaves the legislature, there will be a chance for this fractured family to heal.

Cross-posted at True North

Barnum Obama

I can only assume that Obama thinks he has it in the bag. How else do you parse this?

What we’re saying is that $87 billion tax break doesn’t need to go to people making an average of 1.4 million, it should go like it used to. It should go to middle class people — people making under $150,000 a year.”

That's what Joe Biden said yesterday. Haven't we been hearing incessantly that the threshold for Obama's tax manipulations would be $250,000?

Any bets that the number will change again after November 5?

Fearless Dilettante Football Predictions - Wisconsin Playoff Opening Round Edition

Wisconsin high school football playoffs begin tomorrow, so we start picking early again this week. Okay, so Xavier got a tough hop in the seedings. But we don't give up hope. But as a failsafe, we do pick up Stinger's beloved Kimberly Papermakers so we someone to follow if the Hawks fall short.

Xavier Hawks 21, Wautoma Hornets 17. I have no reason to believe this will come to pass. But it's my blog. Go get 'em, Blue and White!

ACTUAL RESULT: WAUTOMA 47, XAVIER 46. A heartbreaker. Goes double-overtime, but the Hawks fall short. No shame in losing to the #1 seed, either.

Kimberly Papermakers 42, Green Bay Southwest Trojans 17. Kimberly is the defending state champion in Division 2 and they rolled through their conference without too much of a sweat. I don't see them sweating much tomorrow night.

ACTUAL RESULT: KIMBERLY 48, GBSW 13. I was in the neighborhood. Kimberly looks at Oshkosh North next.

More picks later this week!

It's a Gas Gas Gas Redux

You can get gas for $2.10/gallon at the SA by my house (County Road D and Old Highway 8) as of this morning. Think I'm gonna win my contest.

Hilarious

A practical application of Obamanomics in Charleston, SC.

Two Quick Shots

(photo Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune)

Blogging has been lighter than I planned for the past few days, but sometimes life intervenes. Anyway, here's two quick shots before I have go to work:

• The most important local story of the past year is finally near closure. The Star Tribune reports that the NTSB report on the 35W bridge collapse will indicate that the bridge was doomed from the start because of a design error. That's an important finding for a number of reasons, but in the current political season it matters because some of the most prominent voices in the early days of the collapse attempted to pin the collapse on Tim Pawlenty, Carol Molnau and any other Republican who happened to be in view. Among the most prominent voices doing that was Elwyn Tinklenberg, who now thinks he deserves a seat in Congress. I would hope that Tinklenberg will get asked about that every single day until Election Day. He should be -- I can still remember watching Tinklenberg standing near the collapsed bridge, while rescue efforts were still under way, throwing blame around everywhere he could. Then again, with that skill set, he'd make a perfect member of the Democratic caucus in Washington.


• This feature strongly supports Lori Grivna, who is running to unseat incumbent Kate Knuth for the seat representing District 50B in the Minnesota House. Lori has run a positive, issues-oriented campaign and has asked that no negative ads be run on her behalf. None have. The same can't be said for Knuth, who has benefited from some really sleazy crap from the DFL. Our friend Right Hook over at Boots On has all the details -- go read it. It's a classic example of why no good deed goes unpunished.

Morning Reading

Two interesting things this morning:

Michael Brodkorb is reporting that the Star Tribune has endorsed Norm Coleman. It's not on the Star Tribune website yet, but Brodkorb found an early Sunday edition that had it. If one of the most reliably leftist editorial pages in the country can't countenance an endorsement for Al Franken, that should tell you something.

I know, I know, we're beating a dead horse with the constant complaints about media bias. It's like complaining about the amount of nitrogen in the air. Still, I want to call this piece to your attention. Michael Malone's piece is full of good stuff, but here's the money quote, at least from my perspective:

The absolute nadir (though I hate to commit to that, as we still have two weeks before the election) came with Joe the Plumber. Middle America, even when they didn’t agree with Joe, looked on in horror as the press took apart the private life of an average person who had the temerity to ask a tough question of a Presidential candidate. So much for the Standing Up for the Little Man, so much for Speaking Truth to Power, so much for Comforting the Afflicted and Afflicting the Comfortable, and all of those other catchphrases we journalists used to believe we lived by.

All I can hope is this: if Obama is elected, it turns out to be worth it for all the people in the MSM who've become his Praetorian Guard. In poker parlance, a lot of them are now all in.

Guilty Pleasures Part Thirty-One -- Sister Renita/WKAU Edition

In keeping with our celebration of Sister Renita, let's think back to what it sounded like on the radio at that time. Right around Christmas of the 1977-78 school year, disco really exploded on the national scene with the release of Saturday Night Fever. But I'm not sure Appleton really got with the program, at least right away. You would hear the Bee Gees and Donna Summer on the radio, but there was always a fair amount of pushback to it.

Some kids at XHS listened to WAPL, the "progressive" rock station in Appleton that eventually became a repository of metal mindlessness. I can still hear the dulcet tones of David Lee, a dude from Milwaukee who ended up working at "Apple 106" during the era, whose voice was an unholy cross between John Facenda and Barry White:

Apple 106. . . this is David Lee, kicking off a forty minute APPLE JAM, featuring the Scorps, Y & T, Twisted Sister, and Ratt. Let's kick it off with Axe -- Big Stick Goes Boom! Kick-ass rock and roll, on the Apple!

If you wanted Top 40, the pick was usually WKAU, out of nearby Kaukauna. They were a fairly pedestrian station but you would hear at least some of what was popular nationally on their airwaves. I remember listening to KAU a lot in those days and you would hear songs like these:

Lonely Boy, by Andrew Gold

Thunder Island, by Jay Ferguson

What'cha Gonna Do, by Pablo Cruise

And even, once in a great while, a song that was a little more, ahem, urban - like these:

Don't Leave Me This Way, by Thelma Houston

Strawberry Letter 23, by the Brothers Johnson

Musically, it wasn't very challenging stuff. And since I was about 13 or 14 at the time, I wasn't really ready to be challenged. There was such an amazing amount of music to discover that didn't usually penetrate the consciousness of a kid growing up in the Valley. But if you're like me, every one of those songs takes you right back. If you're so inclined, pick your favorite. I can't prove it, but I heard that Sister Renita was a big Brothers Johnson fan....

Responding to the Demand For Posts About Sister Renita

I've gotten some funny responses from anonymous posters from my beloved alma mater, Xavier High School, in the past day or so. One I recognize immediately, but the others are, well, a little mysterious. But the key is this - the request mentioned one of the most important names in my my high school days -- Sister Renita. So Sister Renita it is.

I scanned a page from my 1979 yearbook that features Sister Renita, along with the rest of the English department. Sister Renita is at the top left.

I wrote about Sister Renita a year ago in this post. From that post, here is a story of Sister Renita. I was talking about where I was 30 years ago (now 31). And one place was Sister Renita's Honors English class -4th hour, if I remember correctly.

A quick sketch: I was sitting in Sister Renita's Honors English class. Sister Renita was the best teacher I ever had, bar none. But she was also the most intimidating teacher I ever had, too. We used to say she ran her class the way Mao ruled China. One of the students in the class was a cheerleader and she was wearing her cheerleading outfit on this day. I was half daydreaming, half admiring this cheerleader's budding feminine form from across the room when suddenly Sister Renita pounced on the cheerleader, who was staring somewhat absent-mindedly at the blackboard. Sister Renita asked the cheerleader her opinion about something we read - the Odyssey, I think - and the cheerleader started to answer in a very soft voice. Sister Renita shot a withering glance at the cheerleader and thus began the following exchange:

"Miss, what are you wearing?"

"My cheerleading outfit, Sister."

"You are a cheerleader, but you can't speak up in my class? How are you able to lead the cheers, miss?"

"I can, Sister."

"But in here, you're a mouse?"

"But Sister--"

"You know, I ought to lock you in that broom closet and see if you can scream your way out. Maybe that will teach you how to speak up in class."

The rest of the class stared at Sister Renita, mouths agape. I was amazed and almost wanted to go over and offer comfort to the cheerleader, maybe give her a big hug. Not that I had any ulterior motive beyond the milk of human decency, of course. But Sister had her reasons for this exchange - she wanted the girls to be strong in their opinions, to not be mousy, to share their thoughts with the same enthusiasm that the boys did.

And it worked. The cheerleader in question did very well in Sister Renita's class. And the demanding standards that Sister Renita maintained benefited everyone who was in that room. The tough teachers are the ones you remember, because they are the ones who care.

I don't know if anyone who was in that class with me remembers that story, but I'll never forget it. Going to a Catholic high school in that era was odd, because there was a real tension between some of the religious who were teaching -- most were pre-Vatican II types -- and the sometimes touchy-feely ways of the younger lay teachers. (We also had some lay teachers who were more than a little bit sadistic, especially a certain math teacher who had a penchant for wearing a monochromatic wardrobe, but we'll let that pass for now.) There was one other bad cop nun in the school, Sister Alexandra, a/k/a Big Al. She taught typing class and was the sort who wouldn't hesitate to rap you over the knuckles with a ruler if you didn't have your nose lined up to the J key. It happened to me once and I never forgot. Even today when I approach a keyboard my nose lines up with the J key. And I can still type 65 words a minute if I need to.

I don't know if Big Al or Sister Renita are still around, but if they are -- thank you. You made a difference in my life.

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.