What does this mean?

From Steve Benen @ Political Animal:
The combined overall household rating for Senator Barack Obama’s Wednesday night infomercial, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 21.7.
…
But looking solely at the numbers, I’m left with the impression that there are actually quite a few Americans interested in politics this year. [...]

Biting the hand that feeds you

From the NYT:
Big banks have formed an unusual alliance with consumer advocates to urge the government to allow huge portions of credit card debt to be forgiven, a turnabout from recent years when the banking industry lobbied strenuously to make it harder for consumers to erase their credit card debts in bankruptcy.
Remember the bankruptcy bill?  [...]

Oregon ballot measures according to Oregon newspapers

Courtesy of Loaded Orygun:

I think 57 is terrible, but other than that, I tend to agree.  In fact, it appears that I agree with the GT’s recommendations. How about that….
P.S.  This is post #1003!  Somehow I missed post #1000…. oh well.

I think it’s called ‘chilling’

No, not that kind.  This kind:
“I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said ‘Why are you crying? and she said ‘I already voted for McCain, I’m a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn’t look right,’” [...]

The Economist endorses Obama

This discovery prompted several long seconds of speechlessness in the room.
One particularly notable bit:
There is no getting around the fact that Mr Obama’s résumé is thin for the world’s biggest job. But the exceptionally assured way in which he has run his campaign is a considerable comfort. It is not just that he has more [...]

Where ’straight talking’ takes on a whole new meaning

I think McCain is either confused (possible) or actually confident that people will believe this (also possible).  Needless to say, neither option is good.  McCain in July:
Americans have got to understand that we are paying present day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers…and that’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace.
Yes, he was actually [...]

It’s not funny

From a frequent letter-writer to the DH:

Next time, sign thief …
I had my McCain/Palin sign stolen off my property the other day. At first I though it might be someone following the Obama mantra, you know, take from those who have and give to the have-nots. Thought it would be nice to give a McCain/Palin [...]

“Law allows deal for Lebanon’s Robinson”

Jennifer Moody in the DH:
LEBANON — Jim Robinson’s near-$400,000 severance package to resign as superintendent of the Lebanon Community School District didn’t violate Oregon’s “golden parachute” law, a Senate committee has decided.
But Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, chair of the Senate Education and General Government Committee, said she’s determined to amend the law to see that [...]

A bit of policy wonkery

Via Kevin Drum @ Mother Jones, this, from EFI:

Funny – I don’t see “send everyone a check for $300 in an election year” on that list, do you?
Please note how the things that provide less than $1 of benefit for every $1 invested are things that benefit corporations.  The things that provide the most benefit [...]

Charles meets Barack

Watch it.  Just watch it:

Fun with Juxtaposition

From the DH, a veeeerrrrrrrry crazy letter:

What I fear Obama will do
If Obama gets to be the next president these are 10 things he will try to change:
1. Ban use of firearms for home defense.
2. Pass federal laws eliminating your right to carry firearms.
3. Close down 90 percent of the gun shops in America.
4. Ban [...]

DH story on Sand Ridge

Impressive:
Saturday’s event began with the arrival of more than 130 people to take on projects such as painting and landscaping. Work began at 9 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m.
In addition to the larger tasks of painting and landscaping, the roof, gym, and computer lab were being cleaned, and computers were fixed.
It’s never a good [...]

The Power of Obama Jesus

I thought this piece from Stanley Fish was hilarious and full of really nice rhetoric:
What’s going on here? I find an answer in a most unlikely place, John Milton’s “Paradise Regained,” a four-book poem in which a very busy and agitated Satan dances around a preternaturally still Jesus until, driven half-crazy by the response he’s [...]

It burned my eyes

No, it has nothing to do with the LCSD.  Someone gave this person a law degree?  Seriously?
The most important function of a vice president is to serve as a spare president. Using the spare president in the ordinary course of business is as unwise as driving on one’s spare tire. Spares should be kept pristine, [...]

Obama is….

From The Editors:
Obama is a Marxist Muslim Arab Jesus Black White Terrorist Technocrat Racist Do-Gooder Liberal FDR Stalin Hilter Commie Fascist Gay Womanizing Naive Cynical Insider Noob Boring Radical Unaccomplished Elite Slick Gaffe-Prone Pedophile Pedophile-Seducing Liberation Theology Atheist Etc. & Anti-Etc. with a bunch of scary friends from – wait for it! – the Nineteen [...]