Russians Invade Alaska
Gov. Palin has spent the last six weeks telling us she's out lookout if Russia tries to mount an invasion of the US through Alaska. But while she's down here in the Lower 48 trying to get her crowds to think that Barack Obama is in league with Muslim terrorists, the Russians themselves just landed in Anchorage. According to Bloomberg, more or less the entire senior management of the Russian oil and gas monopoly Gazprom just showed up in Alaska to meet with Palin's Department of Natural Resources and the CEO of ConocoPhillips to see if they can get in on that big pipeline projects she keeps bragging about that she says is going to lead us to energy independence.
--Josh Marshall
The Purge Begins
You know that millions of new voters have registered to vote in this election. And they're disproportionately Democrats. So Republicans across the country are pulling out every stop to disqualify as many of those voters as possible or gum up the works with procedural delays they're not eligible to vote on election day.
They just had a big victory in Ohio.
The court ruling applies to more than 600,000 new registrations in Ohio. And there's some question whether the new ruling can even be put into effect in time for the November election.
This article from last week provides more detail on the lawsuit in question.
--Josh Marshall
The Tire Swing That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Roger Simon: It's honorable of John McCain to try to calm down some of the crowds his campaign has spent months inciting.
(ed.note: Simon's article actually hits McCain's campaign pretty hard -- that it's out of control, tanking, that his crowds bear an uncomfortable resemblance to the crowds that usually end up storming the castle at the end of each Frankenstein movie. But still, deep down, McCain's a very honorable man. I thought conservatism made a big play about personal responsibility. At a certain point, folks need to come to grips with the fact that this is John McCain. The race he chose to run. And stop making excuses for him.)
--Josh Marshall
FOX Alert: Hans On the Loose
Since last Friday, Fox News has mentioned ACORN 342 times, according to Media Matters. It's all ACORN all the time over there (which by itself should tell you a little bit about the credibility of the allegations of widespread voter fraud).
But I wanted to draw your attention to one of the so-called voting experts Fox has been using lately. Everyone remembers Hans Von Spakovsky, right? He's the former official in the Bush Justice Department who got a recess appointment to the FEC but whose nomination failed to get through the Senate because he's made a career of finding ways to restrict access to the polls.
The politicization of DOJ was wide and deep, and the U.S. attorney firings was just a part. The civil rights division, particularly the voting rights section, was thoroughly politicized. Von Spakovsky was one of the key players in that effort, along with Bradley Schlozman. It was Schlozman who later replaced the ousted U.S. attorney in Kansas City and filed federal charges against ACORN workers there on the eve of the 2006 elections. And so we come full circle.
Last time we checked in with Von Spakovsky, he was being hired by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights where he was to help oversee a report the Commission will produce on the Justice Department's monitoring of this year's election. Here's Von Spakovsky this afternoon on Fox:
--David Kurtz
Sad
Endangered Mississippi senator plays the Village People card against socially conservative Dem opponent.
--Josh Marshall
TPMtv: myTPM: So New, So Cool
Many of you might not know that in addition to being a network of news blogs, TPM is a community with thousands of members. Anyone who wants to can sign in to have his or her own blog, comment on the posts of other readers or TPM staffers, or recommend favorite posts to others.
Today we're announcing myTPM, an upgrade to the current system and a new set of tools that allow you to customize your community experience and choose your favorite contributors to follow. I explain in today's TPMtv...
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
PS: A written explanation of the new tools is here.
--Andrew Golis
Another Day, Another Palin Rally
At today's Palin rally in Pennsylvania a supporter yelled "Kill him!" when Sarah Palin a speaker mentioned Barack Obama. Yesterday, at a joint McCain-Palin rally in Virginia, another supporter was moved to shout "Obama bin Laden" as Palin spoke.
--David Kurtz
We Be Jammin'
The new indictment of Jim Tobin in the 6-year-old New Hampshire phone jamming case, which we first reported today at TPMmuckraker, requires some reconsideration of whether the Justice Department has been insufficiently aggressive in the case -- or perhaps whether new hands at DOJ are taking a more aggressive tack.
The big question in the case has always been how high up in the GOP political apparatus did knowledge of and involvement with the phone jamming scheme go?
At the time of the 2002 scheme, Tobin was the New England regional political director for the RNC and regional director for the NRSC. As the phone jamming case heated up, Tobin was forced to resign as New England campaign chairman for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.
On Election Day 2002, as the scheme was falling apart, Tobin made 12 calls between 11:20 a.m. and 11:42 p.m. EST to the White House political office, then run by Ken Mehlman, who later became RNC chairman. (Mehlman has denied that any of the calls that day had anything to do with the phone-jamming scheme.) The RNC has spent nearly $3 million defending Tobin against the criminal charges. (Two other GOP operatives did jail time over the incident.)
The case looked all but dead earlier this year. Tobin won his appeal of his conviction so convincingly that the trial judge felt he had no choice but to acquit him. The government's appeal of that decision is pending, but frankly looked like a long shot. If the feds were inclined to let this case die a natural death, you would have expected it to end with that appeal.
For the government now to come back with a new indictment based on new facts completely unrelated to the initial phone jamming incident, but instead focused on Tobin's alleged false statements to FBI agents investigating the case (presumably to avoid the double jeopardy trap), is definitely an aggressive move, especially less than a month before the next election.
Are the feds taking another look at the RNC and the White House, too?
--David Kurtz
More on the Scam
If you have any question what this ACORN/vote fraud con-job is about. Here's an episode of TPMtv from April 2007. It includes video from a speech Karl Rove gave in April 2006 about claims of election fraud. Rove reels off what he calls the "hot spots". And surprise, surprise: half of them are cases where the US Attorneys ended up getting fired, or were slated to be fired. It's all a scam. Take a look.
--Josh Marshall
Queen of the Liars
Sarah Palin denounces the "unconscionable voter fraud" going on in Pennsylvania ...
Needless to say Palin's record leaves little doubt that she'd be canning the next round of US Attorneys who confirmed that the charges of voter fraud were bogus.
--Josh Marshall
Pretty Please?
Is John Danforth really saying that the Obama campaign should team up with McCain's and RNC's voter suppression efforts? Aren't they usually able to handle that stuff on their own? It just seems like it's asking a bit much.
--Josh Marshall
Excellent News for McCain
John McCain's transition chief helped lobby for Saddam Hussein back in the 1990s.
--Josh Marshall
Character Assassination is Hard Work!
Jonah Goldberg: Obama's being black is making it even harder for Republicans to smear him.
--Josh Marshall
Remember the US Attorneys
It's time again to remember the backstory of the US Attorney Firing scandal. The firings were one thing. But the story behind the firings, what led to them, is key to understanding the current 'vote fraud' scam being played by the Republicans and the media outlets that are going along with the scam.
Remember, the US Attorneys in question were all either Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. In every case, they were appointed by George W. Bush. In most of the cases their firing was tied to 'vote fraud' claims stemming from the 2004 election.
The pattern was very consistent. During the final weeks of the 2004 campaign Republican partisans started pressing claims of widespread voter fraud. In many, though not all cases, the examples they pointed to were not even allegations of voter fraud, but allegations of voter registration fraud: examples of people being registered more than once, non-existent people being registered, etc.
The Republicans making these claims argued that these problems with registration cards were opening the coming election up to widespread vote fraud. Logically, this makes no sense. And, more importantly, all evidence shows this has never happened, certainly not in any widespread sense. Every person who claims otherwise is either ignorant or speaking in bad faith.
Nonetheless, CNN and other national news outlets and especially local media outlets, either out of ignorance or bad faith, ran hard with these stories -- just as CNN is doing now.
After the election, there was a lot of pressure from Republicans in states like Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, etc. (not surprisingly, all key swing states) to have local US Attorneys prosecute these cases. The word came down from Washington, DC, particularly the political office at the White House that this was a top priority. And the local US Attorneys launched into it.
But there was a problem. Most of these were ethical prosecutors. And when they looked into it there just wasn't anything there. Most of the stories weren't even true. And those that were, were obviously isolated and in most cases not done with malice. The number of people who could actually be prosecuted could be counted on one hand. Local Republicans got angry; Karl Rove got angry. And the US Attorneys got fired.
That's the real story of the US Attorney firing scandal. And what we're seeing today is textbook -- exactly the same as what we saw in 2004 and 2006. It's a scam. And the very recent history should be enough for news networks like CNN and others not to let themselves become complicit in this disgrace.
--Josh Marshall
Disgrace
I always used to think former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO) was a respectable guy. So why is he prostituting himself for the McCain campaign phony 'vote fraud' scam. Just disgraceful.
Let's be clear about what this is. These are random stories about fake vote registrations. The Drudges and Fox scoundrels of the world seem to think that if someone fills out a voter registration card for Mickey Mouse, that Mickey Mouse might show up and cast a vote they're not entitled to cast. It doesn't and there is zero evidence of any voter fraud or anything that would make voter fraud more likely. The level of lying, bad faith or at best ignorance of the people making these claims is really beyond imagining. This isn't vote fraud. There's no evidence of vote fraud. Nothing. This is an effort of a losing political party to a) lay the groundwork for challenging their defeat at the polls b) lay the groundwork to pass laws to make it harder for poor people and minorities to vote.
For more on this scam, see this earlier post.
--Josh Marshall
Virtual Ads for Your Virtual World
Look closely. That's not a picture of an Obama billboard ad in front of a few cool cars. That's a screen capture from the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise. Advertisers can buy space on the billboards in the game. And the game publisher has confirmed to GigaOm.com that that's an official Obama ad, placed by the campaign.
--Josh Marshall
McSleazy
It's important not to get distracted by McCain's phony nods to contrition since what he's doing and saying on the campaign trail makes it clear he's committed to all-sleaze, all-the-time until November 4th.
--Josh Marshall
EXCLUSIVE: NH Phone Jamming Redux!
GOP phone-jamming guru James Tobin indicted on two counts of making false statements to the FBI.
More soon.
--David Kurtz
Suckers
You can judge the magnitude of the smashing defeat Republicans believe they are approaching by the scale of lying and bogus charges of vote fraud. But organized lying from partisans should not surprise us. What does deserve censure is how readily mainstream media organizations, including CNN, are picking up these bogus stories and running with them. We'd like to start calling them out. So please send us examples when you see them.
--Josh Marshall
Must Read
Here's the best, most pointed article I've read today on the current state of play in the financial crisis: Post columnist Steven Pearlstein's piece on how it's time for the Street titans to step up to the plate, not pretend they're doing anyone any favors by 'accepting' injections of capital from the US Taxpayer.
Late Point Taken Update: A number of readers have written in to ask why I'm recommending this article when it contains such fulsome praise for Hank Paulson. Good point. What I was recommending was this more general statement about the stance now being taken by the leadership of the top banks and Wall Street firms. But just to be clear, I don't subscribe to his take on Paulson being out in front and decisive over recent weeks. Paulson himself now seems to grasp that his original bailout proposal was fatally flawed. He's consistently followed events. And he's still overmatched, in terms of rising to the requirements of the crisis, by the UK's Gordon Brown.
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Morning Roundup
Obama up big in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, according to the latest Quinnipiac polls. That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
Public Ownership Watch
It turns out Krugman's winning the Nobel was a very bad thing in as much as it's cut down pretty dramatically on his economics blogging during these critical days. In any case, we now have a limited if not quite mini-bank recapitalization of $250 billion. But I'm curious to find out more about just how this is being organized. Yesterday Neel Kashkari, the guy Paulson's put in charge of this whole operation, said "We are designing a standardized program to purchase equity in a broad array of financial institutions. As with the other programs, the equity purchase program will be voluntary and designed with attractive terms to encourage participation from healthy institutions. It will also encourage firms to raise new private capital to complement public capital."
A couple questions. What kind of stock is the taxpayer getting? This strikes me as different from what they're doing in the UK -- and not as good a deal for the taxpayers. Second, a purely voluntary approach troubles to me. All things being equal, it would be nice for everything to be voluntary. But given the balance here between what secures the viability of individual institutions vs. what stabilizes the whole banking and credit system, I think this probably sets up some perverse game theory incentives. More to the point, the US taxpayer has no particular interest in saving individual institutions for their own sake. Taxpayers have a strong interest in stabilization the whole banking sector. And obviously the two are intrinsically connected. But given that priority I think the government needs to be more in the driver's seat about the best strategic allocation of resources. Let's be frank, even a lot of the 'healthy' institutions would likely go under, if we just let the market panic take its course. So for all of them beggars can't be choosers.
Late Update: Two articles in the Post this morning suggest that while technically voluntary, the 9 national banks who will be getting half the money were told, in so many words, that it was an offer they could not refuse. That at least sounds like the USG is making the decisions about the best allocation of resources. But given that all of these banks, even the 'healthy' ones have been begging for and receiving immense taxpayer largesse over recent weeks, the suggestion of compulsion seems a bit overplayed.
Later Update: Post columnist Steven Pearlstein has an excellent column today basically arguing that it's time for the Street to step up. Key passage ...
"After yesterday's "historic" meeting, we are told by industry apologists that we are supposed to be grateful to nine leading banks for having "volunteered" to accept additional capital from the Treasury, along with a government guarantee for newly issued bank debt, even if it means having to accept a dilution of existing shares and a few harmless restrictions on their operations.Pardon me if I'm less than blown over by this munificent offer, but it hardly seems commensurate either with the severity of the current crisis or the depth of the banks' culpability in fomenting it.
This is really key. The US taxpayer has put trillions (direct in the sense of the bailout, but also the money flooding out of the Fed) on the line to save these guys, because at some level we need to save them, or at least most of them, to save ourselves. And we're supposed to be grateful they're 'accepting' infusions of capital?
--Josh Marshall
No Questions, Please
From the Journal ...
Then came the event in Wilmington, N.C., held at -- irony alert!- Cape Fear Community College. McCain stood in front of the crowd and said he would take questions or comments after he delivered his remarks. He finished his prepared speech and tacked on a longtime stump story about the bracelet he wears. But then the music and handshaking began. No questions or comments to be heard--at least those directed at the senator. "I thought this was a town hall meeting?" a man asked the press corps.
Curious. And this isn't a rhetorical question. Has McCain taken audience questions since the Obama/Arab question last week?
--Josh Marshall
Losing Everything
I'm just listening to John McCain be interviewed on CNN complaining about the coverage of the ugliness of his recent rallies and his own campaign's campaign of character assassination of Barack Obama. Apparently all the criticism is outrageous and out of bounds and 'not what America's about'. Watching makes me actually wonder whether he doesn't realize he's simply lost all credibility on this issue.
--Josh Marshall
My God is Bigger Than Your God
In case you missed it over the weekend, a minister who gave the invocation at a McCain rally in Iowa couched his prayer in terms I've never heard before: God's own reputation is at stake in this election, he said, because so many Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists around the world are praying for an Obama victory that if Obama wins, they'll think "their god is bigger" than the Christian god.
It conjures up bad Japanese movies, or the fanciful musings of 10-year-old boys. Who would win between King Kong and Godzilla? Between Allah and Vishnu? Does the Christian god have an unfair advantage because he's three in one? His "theological" take also suggests some influences from Greek mythology, but instead of angry gods hurling lightning bolts at one another, they're trying to throw an election one way or the other, which is almost post-modern in its own way.
--David Kurtz
Excellent News for McCain!
So first it was the bold new economic proposals from McCain. Then that was called off. Then it was a bold new speech. Now we have late breaking news that the bold new economic proposals are back on.
--Josh Marshall
Buggin' Out
Given the convergence between the polls and the calendar, the next logical move is for John McCain to start pulling out of blue states that John Kerry won in 2004 and make his stand exclusively on trying to hold the states President Bush won in 2004.
And this is where we could use your help. We're picking up word of McCain ads drying up in states like Pennsylvania and contested states in the upper Midwest. But keep your eyes peeled and see if you see a change. And if you do, let us know.
--Josh Marshall
Nate's Genius
Just in time for the three bumpy weeks ahead Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com has unveiled this new McCain Stunt Alert Level system ...
By my own reckoning, I'm not sure whether we're at "nervous" or "edgy". But I feel like we're heading up to the warmer colors.
--Josh Marshall
Closing the Loop
We've now got video from the front of that woman at the McCain rally on Friday. And this view makes it clear that while she said "Arab terrorist" in the subsequent interview, she clearly only said "Arab" on the stage with McCain ...
--Josh Marshall
Can We Get A Rewrite Here?
Sarah Palin knows a thing or two about abuse of power when she says John McCain is ready to put a stop to it:
--David Kurtz
Not North Dakota?
I'm going to see this as an outlier until I see some other confirming evidence but the Minnesota State University Moorhead has a new poll out of North Dakota that shows it all tied up -- Obama 45%, McCain 43%, but with a 4% margin of error.
--Josh Marshall
TPMtv: Sunday Show Roundup: Don't Fear the Reaper
For the past few weeks John McCain and Sarah Palin have been running a systematic campaign of fear against Barack Obama. But when their campaign crowds got too rowdy, McCain was forced to concede that "you do not have to be scared" of an Obama presidency. How will the campaign hold up under the weight of that contradiction?
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
--Ben Craw
Gordon Brown
Is Gordon Brown, Labour Prime Minister of the UK, the man of the hour? So says newly-minted Nobelist Paul Krugman. The major economic powers are quickly converging on direct bank recapitalization as the road to economic stabilization. And it's Brown's government that has moved most rapidly and most decisively in this direction.
Brown's action -- and what now appears to be a united Europe following his lead -- provides an unflattering contrast with the indecision and reactive response from Paulson.
--Josh Marshall
Respectful
McCain can't quite bring himself to condemn a Virginia GOP official's comparison of Obama and Osama.
Late Update: The video:
--David Kurtz
Palin-isms
Sarah Palin declares that the Trooper-Gate probe cleared her of any wrongdoing (and that "rogue," as she applied it to the state official she fired, is not a "negative term").
--David Kurtz
Election Central Morning Roundup
McCain has added a new line to his stump speech: "We've got them just where we want them." That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
Late Update: Here's the video:
--David Kurtz
Whatever It Takes
A we noted yesterday, over the weekend John McCain's campaign leaked word he would release a major new economic policy aimed at the middle class. It later ended up to be aimed at investors. And then a few hours later the campaign scrapped the idea of releasing a new economic plan entirely.
Now word comes that in place of a new economic policy they're releasing a new stump speech.
"My friends, we've got them just where we want them," McCain will say.
--Josh Marshall
Krugman Wins Nobel
Wow. With the election and the collapse of the economy, I don't think I even realized we were about to hear this award announced. But Paul Krugman, Princeton professor and Times columnist, has won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
A hearty congrats from TPM.
Late update: We've set up an open thread at Cafe to offer congratulations and discuss.
--Josh Marshall