¡Viva! Obama!

¡Viva! Por un gran nacion.

The Lone Star Debate Shows Two Different Candidates

Whoa nellie, what a debate that was. After mulling over issues, there was that pointed moment in the back and forth where Clinton went after Obama for "plagiarizing" his campaign co-chairs words that Gov. Patrick wanted him to use. As Obama said, that was silly and not what America wants to hear about in politics.

Lets go back to the issues now. Although there were many similarities, differences abounded. On Cuba, Hillary said no dice to talking to Raul Castro. Obama said he'll talk to but wanted to demand human rights from the communist nation. When it comes to foreign relations, we need to talk to everyone, friend or foe. Score that one for Obama.

On Iraq....it isn't even close. Her votes show that she is a hawk that only tries to mildly placate Democrats that have been passionately against the war. She proved that when she voted for the resolution against Iran not too long ago and far enough after her Iraq vote when the folly of this type of war is already well known.

Health care is something she did very well on. We do need universal care and it must be mandated. Barack wants to negotiate more between the two parties. He thinks that instead of ram-rodding a policy through we should do it in a more bi-partisan way. While it would be great to work with everyone, Hillary is right that you got to be tough when it comes to putting a comprehensive program together you have to fight for it.

Now what everyone is talking about are two things from the debate. One is the xerox comment that fell flat when she attacked Obama. The other is her closing line. It sure did sound good and probably won her the debate. Though doesn't it sound similar to a couple of other speeches? Regardless if she took lines from her husband or John Edwards, the key thing to take from tonight is whether Hillary won big or not. Many agree that she won, but not enough. As Donna Brazile said on CNN a few moments ago, both candidates spoke to their supporters and held onto them...neither won anyone from the other side. In the moment, that news is good for the front runner in this campaign.

Fool Me Once, Shame On You, Fooled By McCain Twice? Shame On Us

After the story broke about Vicki Iseman and her relationship with John McCain, the Senator from Arizona and his minions went into attack mode (and they're good at it too). That is, attack the messenger mode. All of them decried the New York Times and that John McCain is a maverick and man of integrity. Damn, even his "blogger" daughter turned out an 'aww, shucks' piece about dear old Dad. The man who is seen as a maverick by many however, has a past that shows he isn't immune from deviating from the character he pretends to be.

From The Albany Project:

It seems John McCain has had his own Rudy Giuliani moments in the past.

In 2000, Nicholas Kristof wrote a profile piece on McCain described how his marriage to present wife Cindy came to form:

It was 1979, and it was becoming clear that he would never make admiral like his father and grandfather. He had always dreamed of doing something great, of imprinting his name on the history books, but at age 42 he found himself with a stuttering military career and no base from which to go into politics.

On top of that, his personal life was a mess: Although he was still living with his wife, he was aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich.

And as this far-right website puts it:

While still married to Carol, McCain began an adulterous relationship with Cindy. He married Cindy in May 1980 -- just a month after dumping Carol and securing a divorce. The newlyweds honeymooned in Hawaii.

This is all true. John McCain divorced his first wife Carol in April 1980. Then, a month later in May 1980, he marries current wife Cindy.

Hmmm. Could a guilty man be capable of sinning again?

Len Levitt Scorned By The NYPD

Len used to write a police column for Newsday and now does it by himself with his great blog NYPD Confidential. Apparently some of his writings have pissed off the wrong people (e.g. Police Commish Kelly) and they decided to pull his press pass. Well Len has words for them, care of the New York Civil Liberties Union:

2.2 Million Excuses And Counting

That is the amount of money that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is spending (along with the city) to retain outside legal help in the aftermath of the Deutsche Bank Building fire. More than six months after the blaze that claimed the lives of two firefighters, much remains to be answered. The funds are being used to help those that are being targeted by D.A. Robert Morganthau which sounds normal, but where are the funds coming from?

From The NY Times:

Michael Murphy, a spokesman for the development agency, said it would seek to recover the costs of the outside legal counsel through insurance policies on the project, and through claims stemming from its contract with Bovis.

But other potential costs — and more work for the outside lawyers — loom.

As the Times points out, those costs include lawsuits from the victims' families and ultimately more legal fees. Regardless, Murphy says that the money could possibly come from the insurance companies but are they really going to part with millions in compensation? Out of all the experience I've had with recovering insurance money....I'm going to take a small leap and deduce that the taxpayers of New York will ultimately pay for the legal fees and especially for the demolition. Unless of course someone can convince me otherwise.

Hypocritical Con Ed

You know that saying "Do as I say, not as I do?" It's commonly used by parents that preach to their children instead setting examples. They want the best for them of course, but are often unwilling to do the same for themselves and subsequently screw both the preacher and 'preached to.' This also seems to go on at our friendly Con Edison office. They love to preach energy conservation, but do they practice being good environmental stewards?

From Cajun Boy in the City:

If you've ever visited coned.com you'd know that much of the energy provider's website is devoted to touting energy conservation and increasing awareness of wasteful environmental practices.

Funny thing then that a reader whose apartment faces the Con Edison headquarters on 14th street snapped this picture from her bedroom window over the holiday weekend of a well-lit but seemingly devoid of Con Ed employees building...



I'm just saying...

Hmm, that looks pretty wasteful to me. I'm not going to waste more energy after hearing about this of course, but come on Con Ed...practice what you preach and stop wasting the juice. By the way, does anyone pay for their power bill or is that just a perk for being the master of all switches?

What Does Elitism And Arrogance Get You?

Well I'll let Mike Huckabee tell you all himself:

America, Meet Vicki

Forget American Idol, the newest star on the political stage is Vicki Iseman. Vicki is a telecom lobbyist that works for Alcalde and Fay (here's the link, but it has mysteriously been disabled) and has done so right out of college. For the last eighteen years or so, she has been making deals with politicians so that her clients get sweetheart treatment inside the hallowed walls of Congress.

Now we are beginning to learn that one of her contacts might literally be in bed with her. He happens to be the front runner for the Republican nomination and in a few contests, he will most likely have enough votes to make it official. What a time for her to make her infamous debut. McCain must be kicking himself for ever meeting her, taking her on trips, doing favors for her clients, etc etc.

Despite being seen as some toy of McCain's, she has been a hard worker at Alcalde and Fay. As Hillary Clinton said that lobbyists are people too, there are some very grateful men and women out there, with strange names like AstraZeneca, CACI International (you know that torturer?), Paxson Communications and PriceWaterhouseCooper.

Welcome to the public world Ms. Iseman, we are all very glad to meet you! Oh I forgot to mention, you look so similar to Mrs. McCain, isn't that odd?

Oh Man McCain!

Wow what a crazy night/morning it has been. McCain is under siege by the press, wondering what the hell McCain was up to with a lobbyist by the name of Vicki Iseman. Vicki was seen as a close 'buddy' by his advisers back in 2000 when he last ran for the Presidency. When they got scared of the implications that he might have been having an affair with a telecommunications lobbyist, they ran her off from their precious "Maverick." Oh this story is too bad for him, the press will be like rabid dogs, hunting for more and more of McCain's blood political future.

From The NY Times:

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

It had been just a decade since an official favor for a friend with regulatory problems had nearly ended Mr. McCain’s political career by ensnaring him in the Keating Five scandal. In the years that followed, he reinvented himself as the scourge of special interests, a crusader for stricter ethics and campaign finance rules, a man of honor chastened by a brush with shame.

But the concerns about Mr. McCain’s relationship with Ms. Iseman underscored an enduring paradox of his post-Keating career. Even as he has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest.

Oooh. Thats gotta hurt. Well McCain came out swinging and is dismissing the article as hogwash (without being able to completely deny the evidence). He's going to have a press conference later to do, but won't take any questions (bad idea). We'll see him deny away, but that only gives the signal to the press to keep hunting.....and hunt they will. Watching this mess unfold should be interesting, with only bad news for the Maverick on the horizon.

This Ad Is Against The Law

The short ad you are about to say make look legitimate at first glance. The problem is that it is paid for by a 527 formed expressly to get Hillary elected.....and that my friends, is a big no no:

Bloomberg Accuses Elections Board Of Fraud

Never one to miss a chance to opine on Presidential politics, our Mayor was served a nice juicy fastball up the plate after the NYC Board of Elections severely screwed up the count on February 5th. We were all told that New York would deliver for Hillary and for the most part it did, but the BoE under-counted Obama's votes in quite a few precincts. So our Mayor, being the pseudo-candidate astute observer of politics that he is had a few things to say about the vote counters.

From The NY Post:

February 20, 2008 -- Mayor Bloomberg charged yesterday that "fraud" was behind the unofficial results in the New York Democratic presidential primary that produced zero votes for Barack Obama in some districts.

"If you want to call it significant undercounting, I guess that's a euphemism for fraud," said the mayor.

Unofficial tallies on election night gave Obama no votes in 78 out of more than 6,000 election districts.

Hmm, 78 out of 6,000 equals what? 1.3 percent or something like that? I wouldn't go as far as saying that there was active fraud going on for Hillary, you know there were precincts that didn't register votes for her either. Of course Bloomberg has the ability to say anything about anything, even if the ground to say it on is shaky.

Let's see some proof before throwing that kind of crap around Mr. Mayor....besides, there is plenty more out there to accuse her of that can stick better than a few under-counted votes that ended up being counted.

Congratulations Florida!

I'd like to personally welcome the state of Florida back to the reality-based community...at least for the sake of their science classes. After a long time of dodging the question, a slight majority on the board of education allowed the "E" word make it into the textbooks. Of course, it didn't happen without a fight from the religious freaks who do not believe in the separation of church and state.

From RawStory:

Florida's public school science standards for the first time will use the word "evolution," although the biological concept already was being taught under code words such as "change over time."

The standards state that evolution is "the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence." That statement rankled opponents, some of whom had urged the board to add an academic freedom provision that would have allowed teachers to "engage students in a critical analysis of that evidence."

Evolution supporters, including mainstream scientists and clergy, told the board the academic freedom proposal was a wedge designed to open the door for injecting religious arguments into science studies.

Of course the creationists opposed the legislation, they do want God in the classroom, as much as they publicly deny it. They know that by allowing teachers to teach science rather than religion, they will lose the battle that faith be taught as fact in our public schools, those schools that funded by the taxes paid by people of many different faiths or no faith at all.