Reading this article got me freaking fired up, hence the title before the dots. But after some consideration.. “or don’t?” Story first. Lots of (parentheses) follow.
From this WaPo article entitled “Lieberman Contributed to GOP Senate, House Candidates”
..Having ridden the wave of support for President-elect Barack Obama, (new democratic senators) Udall and Merkley spoke out in favor of the spirit of reconciliation and moving on from the campaign, in which Lieberman was one of the highest profile supporters of the Republican presidential ticket.
But no one in the room knew, as Merkley spoke, that Lieberman had supported Merkley’s opponent, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.). Lieberman, through his Reuniting Our Country PAC, gave Smith’s reelection bid $5,000 on Oct. 10, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Lieberman’s support of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the presidency was well known, punctuated by his nationally televised speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul criticizing Obama as not prepared to be president. His endorsement of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has served as the top Republican beside him at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also was well known in Democratic circles.
But not even Merkley knew of Lieberman’s backing of Smith in their critical Senate race, until Capitol Briefing alerted his staff today.
“We were surprised to hear this news, but it’s time to put the election behind us. Jeff Merkley is looking forward to working with all his new colleagues on an agenda that will put our nation back on track,” said Julie Edwards, spokeswoman for Merkley.
Lieberman’s support of Smith came the same weekend he wrote an op-ed in the St. Paul Pioneer Press defending Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) for his work as chairman of an investigative subcommittee on Lieberman’s homeland security committee. The same day he wrote a check to Smith, Lieberman’s ROC PAC gave $5,000 to Rep. Peter King, the Long Island Republican. In radio and TV appearances the final days of the campaign, Lieberman also frequently said that a Democratic majority of 60 votes, a filibuster-proof level, would be a bad thing.
Lieberman’s $5,000 check was clearly not a difference maker for Smith, as Merkley still won by more than 50,000 votes. And Coleman is clinging to a razor-thin lead during a recount of his race against Democrat Al Franken.
But the internal Democratic caucus debate over Lieberman’s fate almost always focused on Lieberman’s criticism of Obama, not on his support of Republicans in Senate races. Edwards, Merkley’s spokeswoman, has said that Merkley also expressed how much Lieberman’s actions in the presidential race angered him. He did not encourage other Democrats to vote one way or the other, but did talk about moving on from the bitter fights of the campaign.
Then, on a 42-13 vote, Democrats supported keeping Lieberman as chairman of the committee with broad oversight of the Obama administration and removing him from the Environment and Public Works Committee…
The formatting above is mine, for emphasis.
So, let me get this straight. This former VP candidate for the Democratic party contributed AT LEAST $10,000 cash dollars to help GOP Senators and Representatives, and priceless endorsements of John McCain and other GOP members, and the Dems (Obama) want to keep him.
My first reaction is “Yeah fucking right! Kick this dipshit to the curb!”
This guy is basically a god damn turncoat. HE SPOKE AT THE RNC! Jesus Christ!
It takes a lot of chutzpah for Dems (Obama) to let bygones be bygones and welcome ol’ Joe back. Or are they (hopefully) being crafty?
Consider: Connecticut went overwhelmingly for Obama. Lieberman’s approval ratings in his state are not what they used to be. Sleeping with the enemy doesn’t help.Could part of this also be a decision to not fight this battle now, but to hang in there until Lieberman is up for re-election in 2010 and let Connecticut voters bury Joe on election day?
This guy is scum, and I HOPE that Dems (Obama) are just planning to let the voters of the fine state of Connecticut do their dirty work for them. Joe has no place in this party. He’s now put his money where his mouth has been, and shown his true colors.
Basically: Joe’s ass better be on the curb by 2010.
The Dems (Obama) have punted. Your ball Connecticut.
Photographer Gregory Crewdson elaborately stages all of his photos. To create a single photo he pretty much uses a film crew, including everything from the lighting equipment to the set designers. Thus, his work is very highly polished and perfect in the technical sense. He favors photos over films because they convey one decisive moment of a narrative. A photograph gives the viewer the opportunity to imagine what happened before and what happens after. There is a first impression beauty to his photos, but as you keep looking the underlying anxiety, fear and isolation become overwhelming.
I really like Crewdson’s work because he stages everything; he defies the norms of photography. He forces us to ask the question of whether or not his work is photography. Furthermore, I like that his photos look absolutely normal at first glance then you take another look and think “What the heck?” You have to try to figure out what happened, why is this woman floating on a sea of water in her house? The photos below convey his eery aesthetic a little better.
If I had to pick an all time favorite sports moment, this would most definitely be it.
I’m not one of those people that has an answer to questions like “What’s your all time favorite sports moment?” Too many fields are too all encompassing to have concise answers. But at the ripe age of 21, I can say right now my all time favorite sports moment is the 2007 Fiesta Bowl: 11-0 Boise State vs. 11-1 Oklahoma.
Boise state was the Cinderella story in College Football in 2007: an undefeated team from the Western Athletic Conference. Being undefeated in the WAC doesn’t mean as much as say, being undefeated in the SEC or Big 10, because the caliber teams you play just aren’t as good, so it’s easier to go 11-0. Regardless, they got a major bowl game vs an “establishment” team in the Sooners. No one really knew how good Boise State was, since they didn’t have to play the top tier of NCAA teams. Everyone knew after this game.
I remember being superbly interested in this game, mainly because a no-name team that played on a blue field was going to play the Fiesta bowl vs the freaking Sooners. That’s storyline enough. Add in a perfect season being on the line, you have the makings of a thriller. If Jason Hobbs is reading this, maybe he’ll remember this game too: he came over near the end of regulation. I don’t know how big of a football fan he is, but I remember us both being fairly glued to the television for the duration.
For full disclosures sake: I am a big sucker for gadget plays and trickery on the field. In Madden I constantly run fake punts and HB passes. There’s something about it. In a game as scrutinized and micro-analyzed as (Pro or College) football, there’s something mystifying about still being able to trick the other team. That’s probably what solidified this as my favorite all time sports moments: the game coming down to basically 3 gadget plays (see second video below). Not to take away from the rest of the game, it was a thriller, from both sides.
I’ll close without overly stating my case: this was an amazing game. Everyone wants the underdog to win (unless they have a dog in the race). And the underdog won, in amazing fashion. A great end, to a great story: 12-0 Broncos.
I’ve dug up a condensed highlight reel and a more introspective look at the 3 gadget plays that won the game. The videos are below:
I’m not the biggest Beyonce fan, but this performance was pretty hot.
Also, the new Kanye cd (808’s & Heartbreak) drops officially today.
Buy it through itunes or kanye or amazon
After half a dozen listens, the CD is alright. It’s probably the worst Kanye West album yet. Kanye’s worst is still something though. 808’s has definitely grown on me, and maybe will continue to do so over time. I won’t “rate” it just yet.
I can safely say it’s his worst, but I don’t know how good or bad it truly is. A lot of it is just.. whiny. And I know allegedly this album is “for him” and he’s putting out another album like spring/summer ‘09 but still. If you make a album with 4/5 of the songs about.. the same thing.. then I lose interest.
I don’t know. I won’t rush to judgment. I won’t be crowning it album of year (Graduation was my ‘07 album of the year). So time will tell for Mr. West. He’s still young and already has a discography almost second to none. Including those 2 AMA’s he picked up last night. (Favorite Rap Album [Graduation] & Favorite Male Rap Artist)
A handful of bloggers have been abuzz in the past week with news of the latest under-the-radar Burger King promotion. The fast food chain has dispensed agents across major U.S. cities (indications are it’s just been Chicago and Orlando and places in AZ) to “lose” wallets. However, when unsuspecting passersby find these wallets and open them, they discover an interesting message:
Yep, the wallets include notes telling the individuals who find them to go ahead and keep the wallets. Time Out Chicago reported on November 12th that Burger King planned to drop 5,000 of these wallets around urban hot spots in Chicago. According to reports from bloggers, the wallets contain actual cash, ranging from a $1 bill to a $100 bill, a gift card to Burger King, a “Drivers License” featuring The King, and a map of Chicago or Orlando area Burger King’s.
Several bloggers have posted about their experience, or their friend’s experience, finding one of these wallets. See HERE, HERE and HERE for more on their stories. A couple of PR and marketing bloggers are weighing in as well, praising the promotion and calling it “unexpected and well-timed” given the current state of the economy.
This story hasn’t even bubbled up to the mainstream media yet. A Google News search for “Burger King” + “wallet” yields only one mainstream media story, from an NBC station in Chicago. Nor have stories about this promotion appeared yet on major marketing sites such as Adage or Adfreak.
This is a brilliant marketing move, and the mainstream media is obviously lagging behind on discovering it - but creative and unique marketing ideas like this one don’t go unnoticed forever. I expect much more widespread attention for this promotion as the word-of-mouth affect begins to trickle up the mainstream media.
Awesome!
My Favorite part is the id. “Whopper Donor” and “Sex:Yes”.
Stay classy, BK.
Loading ...