So I thought, "What's the worse that can happen?" Turns out the guy was pretty cool, we'll see if he butchers me. I don't think he will, but who knows.

More Sloppiness: It was a phone interview. It's been transcribed for print. So it'll be on their website, not actually on TV.

Posted by: Ace at 11:25 AM | Comments (46)
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Hah. Apparently they don't wish to elevate Obama in stature by meeting with him without preconditions.

TEHRAN (FNA) -Vice President for Media Affairs Mehdi Kalhor said on Saturday that Iran has set two preconditions for holding talks with the United States of America.

In an exclusive interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency, he said as long as U.S. forces have not left the Middle East region and continues its support for the Zionist regime, talks between Iran and U.S. is off the agenda.

Well, no problem! I expect President Obama will clear both of those stumbling blocks by January 2010.

I posted this an hour ago, but apparently it got eaten.

Posted by: Ace at 10:41 AM | Comments (15)
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Hillbuzz was exactly right about this story-- they said it would involve homosexuality. I didn't link them, because I didn't believe them.

But that's because I didn't understand the angle they were going for.

So, yeah, Obama's mentor, pervert, pedophile, pinko.

No, this is not the girlfriend story or the other story, obviously. I was sort of confused when Hillbuzz said a story would come out this week about a "sex scandal" with male names. I thought they were so hopelessly off-base I didn't bother linking them. Now I get it.

Thanks to Confederate Yankee. He notes the story is old; the Telegraph ran a similar one. So what, I say. It's new to me.

Posted by: Ace at 10:35 AM | Comments (55)
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Gee do you think this will plastered all over the media as proof the Democrats should lose control of the House of Representatives? IÂ’m guessing reactions to Congressman Mahoney's behavior will be slightly more nuanced.

West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee.

Â… The affair between Mahoney and Allen began, according to the current and former staffers, in 2006 when Mahoney was campaigning for Congress against Foley, promising "a world that is safer, more moral."

At the time, Mahoney's campaign ads featured a picture of him with his wife, Terry, with the line, "Restoring America's Values Begins at Home."

There are recorded phone calls between the two where she accuses him of firing her because of the affair and allegations that he was lining up a job for her to keep her quiet.

Remember how Republicans in Congress were beat up for not taking care of Foley sooner? Well it turns out a top Democrat may have been working to help keep Mahoney safe from problems.

Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter from hurting his re-election campaign, the Mahoney staffers said.

EmanuelÂ’s office denies this.

IÂ’m sure all the people on the left who were outraged about Foley will banging the drums to get Mahoney and Emanuel kicked out for their behavior. And I may get to date Diane Kruger someday. In reality, neither is very likely.

[Update - PA]
Audio clip of the mistress getting fired here. TPM is reporting this too, so the dems must not be too happy about Mahoney. Mahoney has been a massive tool, and sounds like a perfect asshole. Let's hope he goes down in flames this time around. His district isn't particularly predisposed to vote democrat to begin with.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:31 AM | Comments (21)
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Major, Tentative Walk-Back: The "US Attorney" part has been deleted from the headline. Not bait and switch; just can't stand by that at the moment.

Damnit. In all likelihood this is not as great as first reported. So yes, I am aware that this is very disappointing. I am disappointed too. I didn't mislead or make a mistake; that was the information I had.

I also can't say for sure the old headline is wrong, but it strongly appears that way at the moment.

I'm really sorry. I can only say again "This is the information I had." Cowbell and flaming skull canceled.

IMPACTING HARD MILDLY...

Posted by: Ace at 12:15 PM | Comments (470)
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Thirty six accounts. He raids with all thirty six different dudes.

Monthly bill from Blizzard alone? $5711. Correction: That's a yearly bill.

On the plus side: No Leeroy Jenkins.

n what is perhaps the most shining example of obsession and geekiness I have ever seen, a fella by the name of Bradster has 36 World of WarCraft accounts that he plays on 11 computers simultaneously. He mainly seems to be doing it because he doesnÂ’t like to rely on so many other people to get a raid going, which includes attacking the Alliance capital cities, and on that front I can totally see where heÂ’s coming from.

I hate those Alliance douchebags too, but IÂ’m not about to drop $5711 per year like Bradster is. The best way to get to them is to just live well, right? Well, Bradster doesnÂ’t appear to be letting the Alliance off the hook so easily, as he plans on picking up 36 copies of Wrath of the Lich King on day one, spending around $1500, just so he can have a raid group of level 80 Shamans terrorizing Stormwind as soon as possible.

He defends his excess, stating that there are more expensive hobbies out there.

Apart from Def Leppard level coke addiction or amateur hobbyist skyscraper construction, I'm not sure I can think of many.

Thanks to DaveR.

Posted by: Ace at 08:43 AM | Comments (74)
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I can say I'm sorry about this but I'd be lying.

Posted by: Ace at 07:57 AM | Comments (47)
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With 3 weeks to go before the election McCain seems to be trying out a new tact on the trail. He's not retooling his entire campaign as Bill Kristol suggested in the NY Times, nor will he be trotting out new economic plans as some thought as late as yesterday. He's about to speak in Virginia (it's on FNC right now) and he's giving a state of the race speech where he hearkens back to the end of his convention speech and promises to fight for the country.

We have 22 days to go. WeÂ’re 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, weÂ’ve got them just where we want them.

What America needs in this hour is a fighter; someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people. I come from a long line of McCains who believed that to love America is to fight for her. I have fought for you most of my life. There are other ways to love this country, but IÂ’ve never been the kind to do it from the sidelines.

I know youÂ’re worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. Will we continue to lead the worldÂ’s economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildrenÂ’s future be brighter than ours?

My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.

No mention of Ayers and no mention of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.

It's hard to say if this is a new approach (though Fox did call it 'a new stump speech') or just a one day thing and we'll get back to the other stuff for the rest of the campaign.

Personally, I was hopeful at the reports that he was going to offer some conservative, market oriented economic policies to deal with the economy but I'm not surprised he backed off that.

Bottom line...it's not good news when the Republican candidate has to stump in Virginia Beach 3 weeks out from the election. Here's hoping he finds the right message.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:30 AM | Comments (113)
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Ben Smith wrote:

I mentioned the shirts in passing earlier, and one of their creators, emailing under the name Rhiannon Volpe, objected to my suggestion that she was a Democrat:

I personally am a registered Libertarian, supporting Obama this year.

Supporting Obama? I'll say!

Here's the Number Two google hit for Rhiannon Volpe (um, yeah, and I'm Max Howitzer):

This shit is on Obama's own website.

How charming. Now, before people say he can't control every supporter...

I suppose not, and yet McCain and Palin are expected to, eh? I can guarantee you that if a supporter showed up at a rally in a "Obama is a N*gger" t-shirt, we'd hear a little something about it.

Well, it Was: Here's the Google Cache.

She's cleaned it up now.

Tell me, MSM: Will you have Monkey Man like coverage of the hate bubbling up in the Obama camp?

Thanks to KevinG. And also TomV.

Posted by: Ace at 07:28 AM | Comments (210)
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Happy Columbus Day and congratulations to those who have the day off. On that note...I'm going back to bed!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:18 AM | Comments (22)
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