FBI Set to Probe ACORN

ACORN has become the latest Republican obsession over the past couple of weeks, as was evinced by John McCain's attack of it during Wednesday night's debate only . It is no suprise that the GOP feels alarm towards any voter registtration group at a time where they are losing countless voters to the Democratic party, who has registered an unprecedented amount of voters.

The AP has sources that are 'leaking' that the FBI has begun an investigation into voter-registration fraud at ACORN only weeks before the election.
Fromer US Attorney David Iglesias, spoke to TPM, and said he is shocked by this AP article saying:

"Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic." In 2006, Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney thanks partly to his reluctance to pursue voter-fraud cases as aggressively as DOJ wanted -- one of several U.S. attorneys fired for inappropriate political reasons, according to a recently released report by DOJ's Office of the Inspector General

The Final Debate

After watching the final Presidential debate last night, my blood was boiling. Several times I wanted to jump out of my seat, and go over to Hofstra University which is only 5 miles from my house, and call both presidential candidates bluffs. Covering the prolific election season endlessly through reading the paper to watching more TV news then I would like to admit, I am exhausted, frusturated, sick of the lies, the blase media coverage and lack of anything substantial being said.

I am feeling jaded perhaps. I could not even watch any media election coverage or commentary afterwards, I knew what I thought of the debate and I did not want to be told what to think or how to think.

This morning I of course could not escape the browsing over op-ed opinions, which I would rahter not quote because they all basically read the same.

I am feeling election burn-out and need to vent. I just filled out my absentee ballot...and I am happy to cast my vote and be done with. I wish that everyone could feel the relief I am feeling now. Now that my ballot is cast, I am no longer hanging on the words of the candidates and their spin and all the pundits out there. The only day left for me is election day.....

I say this now....I am sure I will be back to covering all the media and political banter within 24 hours...but for now I feel some peace.

Worst Debate Ever....?

While I have not seen them all, I admittingly must say Tuesday nights debate was pretty darn Vanilla. I have to say Politco's Harris and Vandehei may have got it right today when they said:

The day after leaves behind a puzzle: How the hell did candidates
manage to be so timid and uninspiring at a time when American troops are in two
problematic wars, the world financial markets are in scary free fall and the Dow
has lost 1,400 points since Oct. 1? This is a moment history rarely sees — and
both men blew it.

Last Night's Debate

Last nights second presidential debate held at Belmont University in Tennessee, was supposed to be a different kind of debate, a town-hall style debate whose format is not supposed to lend it self well to talking points.

Unfortunately, to anyone who has been following this election, it is evident that the talking points of both candidates were as evident as ever. Both McCain and Obama answered questions in the manner they liked irregardless of the question, each time falling back on the same talking points that have become central to their campaigns. It is not fair to say the debate was boring, rather it was tired, there were no revelations, no moments of truth and clarification from either side.

While Elbows were thrown, particularly about the others associations with the now disgraced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both candidates kept the debate relatively bloodless, neither bringing up William Ayers or Charles Keating.

The real star of the debate was of course the economy, absorbing over 60minutes have questioning and answers leaving ownly a paltry 30 minutes to foreign affairs and other domestic issues, which in turn kept coming back to the economy.

Now, obviously the economy is the numero uno issue on voters minds, and likewise it should be, but it is also important to address other issues afflicting this nation. I think Obama tied in the issues of the economy with another monumental issues eloquently when he said:

Now, if we get our tax policies right so that they're good for the middle class, if we reverse the policies of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place, and that Senator McCain supported, then we are going to be in a position to deal with Social Security and deal with Medicare because we will have a health care plan that actually works for you, reduces spending and costs over the long term, and Social Security that is stable and solvent for all Americans and not just some.

Even FOX News in there post-election coverage asserted that, McCain lead until healthcare, the anchor said it himself.

McCain in one of his opening remarks said

Americans are angry, they’re upset, and they’re a little fearful. It’s our job to fix the problem.

But from there are on we heard very little in the way of how he would fix it.

And the Winner is...

On MSNBC, Hardball host Christ Matthews just opened the 7pm edition of his pre-debate show in Tennessee with this:

"The democrats have won the debates 3-1, can Obama make it 3 to zil?"

Gotta love the horserace....

Speaking of "Palling Around......" McCain is Not Doing Much These Days

According to Politico's Mike Allen, there has been a lot of "grumpy McCain" going around lately, like when a Politico reporter tried asking him a question and responded"

"Excuse me, you’re bothering me," McCain said.
It was a surprising rebuke from a politician who once was famous for palling around with reporters, and who was so media-friendly that he was sometimes known as “the senator from ‘Meet the Press.’”

In another example of McCain's crabbiness Allen writes:

McCain sat down with Time magazine, a reporter asked him to define honor, and he snarled, “Read it in my books.” The magazine headlined its prickly McCain interview, “McCain’s prickly Time interview.

Other examples in the article show Politico's and other news organizations perturbed with McCains recent unfriendliness. For the MSM this is like losing a good friend. McCain has often been a darling of the media but has fallen to much criticism as of late, shutting out the media more then they would like. It is clear from this article there is a peevishness being felt in the media.

But beyond what this means to the media....what does this say about McCain.....

The article muses whether McCain's unhappy, crabbiness is the result of not running a "campaign that’s antithetical to his persona." McCain pledged to run a platform in which there would be no smears no 'politics as usual.' But as of late the campaign has become a model for 'politics as usual.' If McCain wanted to run a campaign free of smears, he can. If McCain is unhappy because he has become a slave of the conservative right and is no longer a maverick, only he can change that. By not running on platforms that he truly believes in and serving the conservative agenda, he is choosing to be just another 'grumpy old man.'

Radio Host Has Choice Words for Obama

The viral video of Sarah Palin accusing Obama of "palling around with terrorists," after she botched and distorted the NYT article she was referring to....It seems some people do not get that what she said was a complete twisting of the facts, and just another smear.

In response to Palin's comments Minneapolis Radio Host Chris Baker went off on a rant directed at Obama's response to what he obviously sees a truthful accusations asserted by Palin.

You really need to this to understand the full extent of the comments made by Minneapolis Radio Host Chris Baker.

During yesterday's broadcast Baker was discussing Palin's assertion that Obama was "palling around with terrorists," a reference to former Weather Underground member William Ayers. Bakerhe then went on to call Obama a "little bitch" who won't even stand up to a smoking-hot chick from Alaska.

As Mediamatters.org points out he obviously forgot to read or look into last weeks NYT article about Obama's relations with Ayers. In the second paragraph of the NYT article it says:

"Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama’s first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors."

After the publication of this article, Palin, used the article as fodder to call Obama anti-American, once again.