Finally. We're being heard.

If my comments caused any harm or hurt to the hard working Americans who play Dungeons & Dragons, I apologize. This campaign is committed to increasing the strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma scores of every American.
--Michael Goldfarb

I think he meant to make that crack about Rifts or Vampire or some gay-wad game anyway.

BumperStickerist:

what alignment is Barack Obama?

Chaotic Awesome?

I think that's right.

Posted by: Ace at 11:55 AM | Comments (64)
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So says Stratfor-- noting the rumor, that is, not confirming it.

No additional information is available without subscription.

Of course. Zawahiri is probably not Al Qaeda's Number Two; since bin Ladin seems to be dead, he's probably Al Qaeda's Number One.

Via Hot Air's headlines.

Posted by: Ace at 11:00 AM | Comments (37)
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And yet he, and the media, continue to insist that it was McCain who injected race into the campaign.

Despite the fact that Obama specifically said McCain (and Bush, and "they") would attack Obama for "not looking" like other presidents, i.e. being half-black.

See, in Obamaworld, this makes sense. And our media lives in downtown Obamaworld.

Sen. Barack Obama’s chief strategist conceded that the Democratic presidential candidate was referring to his race when he said Republicans were trying to scare voters by suggesting Obama “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”…

When pressed to explain the comment, Axelrod told “GMA” it meant, “He’s not from central casting when it comes to candidates for president of the United States. He’s new to Washington. Yes, he’s African-American.”

This after yesterday's strident insistence that the remark had nothing to do with race whatsoever.

Captain Bullshit rides again.

If you watch the video at Hot Air, note that Matt Lauer elicits -- possibly accidentally -- this crucial admission from Axelrod, and then changes the subject as quickly as he can rather than ask follow-up questions.

Either he's stone cold stupid, or he realized quickly Axelrod had made a damaging admission, and tried to help his buddy out of a jam as quickly as possible.

To steal more from Hot Air: Oddly, the Times "editorial" I posted last night was in fact written by the NYT editorial board, but oddly enough ran as a blog post, not as an actual editorial on the Op-Ed pages.

Why?

McCain's campaign guesses:

That the Times made this allegation in a blog post rather than running it on the editorial page indicates that they either knew the charge was bogus or they didnÂ’t have the nerve to make their case in full view of the public. But in their new role as bloggers, the paperÂ’s editors seem to have all the intelligence and reason of the average Daily Kos diarist sitting at home in his motherÂ’s basement and ranting into the ether between games of dungeons and dragons.

Hey, buddy, are you trying to lose my vote now?

That's capitalized by the way, douchebags.

Andrea Mitchell is a Fucking Lying Whore; She insists that she doesn't think Obama injected race into the argument, and neither did anyone else in the media.

The problem? Mitchell and everyone in the media knows that Obama's people were pushing the race attack on the celebrity ad for a full night and a day. They got the calls. They know damn well Obama wanted the MSM to brand the ad as racist (as the New York Times editorial board did, in a blog post; as Obama's favorite race-based bloggers at TPM did, etc.).

Andrea Mitchell is now swearing to facts she knows to be 100% false.

Posted by: Ace at 10:44 AM | Comments (35)
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The House adjourned for its August vacation but a handful of Republicans decided to keep talking about their energy plans and what the Democrats won't do. That's when things got amusing.

They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. and are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.

At one point, the lights went off in the House and the microphones were turned off in the chamber, meaning Republicans were talking in the dark. But as Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz..) was speaking, the lights went back on, and the microphones have been turned on as well.

But C-SPAN, which has no control over the cameras in the chamber, has stopped broadcasting the House floor, meaning no one is witnessing this except the assembled Republicans, their aides, and one Democrat, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has now left.

Only about a half-dozen Republicans were on the floor when this began, but the crowd has grown to about 20 now, according to Patrick O'Connor.

"You're not covering this, are you?" complaing one senior Democratic aide. Another called the Republicans "morons" for staying on the floor.

Republicans were trying to find bullhorns so their 'debate' can be heard.

It's good to see the Republicans acting a little feisty (even if its a little goofy as well). I think it's the kind of thing Newt would have done leading up to '94. Now, if you don't marry this with some good policy and strategy like they did with the Contract for America, you'll beclown yourself pretty quickly. Still, it's good to see Republicans getting their moxy back.

UPDATE: CSPAN isn't airing this because they don't control the cameras in the House, the majority does and Nancy shut that down with the official adjournment. But a tech savy Congressman, John Culberson (TX) has some video up and a Twitter feed going.

Redstate is following it as well and they say the Republicans are getting set for a long run, they've ordered in pizza.

Thanks to Topsecretk9 and MommaAJ for the tips in the comments.

Another Update [Gabe]: It sounds like it's turning into a real circus.

Update 4 - The scene on the floor is kind of crazy. Normally, members are not allowed to speak directly to the visitor galleries, or visitors are prohibited from cheering. But in this case, the members are walking up and down on the floor during their speeches, standing on cheers, the visitors are cheering loudly. Some members even brought in visitors, who are now sitting on the House floor in the seats normally filled by lawmakers, cheering and clapping. Very funny.

Democrats faced a choice here - should they leave the cameras on and let Republicans rip Pelosi & Co. on C-Span, or should they leave the cameras off and let the Republicans have their "tantrum," as one Democratic aide characterized it, with the cameras off. So the cameras are off, but Republicans, and the crowd, are clearly enjoying the scene. [...]

Update 6 - Rep Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) just pretended to be a Democrat. He stood on the other side of the chaber and listed all of the GOP bills that the Dems killed.

He then said "I am a Democrat and here is my energy plan" and he held up a picture of an old VW Bug with a sail attached to it. He paraded around he house floor with the sign while the crowd cheered.

I hope they manage to get more video out.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:59 AM | Comments (49)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:18 AM | Comments (13)
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Let the conspiracy theories begin.

A U.S. government scientist suspected in the 2001 anthrax attacks died July 29 in an apparent suicide, after learning the Justice Department planned to file criminal charges against him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Bruce E. Ivins, 62, died from an overdose of Tylenol with codeine at Frederick Memorial Hospital in Frederick, Maryland, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified friend and colleague. Federal prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty against him, the Associated Press reported, citing an unidentified U.S. official. Ivins was a scientist at the U.S. biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland, for 18 years, the Times said.

Ivins, who helped U.S. investigators analyze anthrax samples used in the attacks, had been told he was about to be charged, the newspaper said, citing unidentified people familiar with Ivins and the investigation.

I don't think a lot of people had heard of Ivins or realized how far along the investigation was. That's because after totally botching their initial case against Steven Hatfill, another scientist at Ft. Detrick, they kept this case quiet. Ultimately Hatfil reached a settlement of almost $6 million from the federal government.

Hopefully the government will now release the evidence they had against Ivins so most people will be able to close the books on a crime spree that rocked the nation following the 9/11 attacks. I say most people because given the fact that the FBI screwed up the initial case, there will be no trial and the suicide will undoubtedly give those given to conspiracy theories plenty of fodder.

Shocking [ace]: Non-ironically. Obviously they kept this under wraps, and I'm closed to shocked a prosecution had advanced this far.

Now that he's dead, I hope they'll present all the evidence against him, so as not to encourage irresponsible conspiracy theories of a cover-up and failure to pursue more likely Al Qaeda culprits.

Because I'll be first in line making those irresponsible conspiracy theories, of course. I always thought this was an Al Qaeda plot, and that the FBI was in Richard Jewell mode looking for domestic suspects to the exclusion of any other.

Unlike a Truther, though, I can be persuaded otherwise. I hope they will actually bother trying.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:33 AM | Comments (56)
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