Meanwhile, the Hill has this really exceptional story about the conservative blogosphere:

Conservative groups are not celebrating the election of Barack Obama, with perhaps one exception: right-wing bloggers, who see a ripe opportunity to catch up with the left.

A Washington in the hands of Democrats offers online pundits on the right a fresh political target and a chance to vent against their ideological opponents. The reverse scenario allowed their liberal counterparts to blossom during the blogosphere’s infancy, when the GOP controlled the Congress and the Bush administration held power between 2003 and 2006.

But the aptly named “rightosphere,” much like its liberal counterpart, “the netroots,” doesn’t simply want to criticize the other team. It sees this as its time to reshape the Republican Party.

“The rightosphere will be much better when the right has something to oppose,” said Jon Henke, who writes at The Next Right.

Obama and Democrats will eventually provide conservatives with a “unifying grievance” that they can seize on. On the Democratic agenda could be universal healthcare proposals that would expand government programs, union-backed card-check legislation that would allow workers to bypass secret-ballot elections when unionizing, and calls to reverse momentum to expand offshore drilling, Henke said.

Being in the opposition is also a natural posture for conservatives, who want smaller government but have seen GOP lawmakers in the last few years create more federal programs, expand the deficit and spend greater sums of taxpayer dollars.

“It’s hard to be anti-state when you are state,” Henke said.

Read the rest of the story here.

Personal note: Not accepting advertising revenues from Exxon Mobil; the advertisement just kinda invaded my website when I cut and paste an excerpt of the above article.

Update: the advertisment has morphed into other things, which is fine.  More than happy– indeed glad– to give an add to the Hill.  Hope it doesn’t change back to an Exxon Mobil add again.  I will keep having to update this post again… and again… 

But how many players win an MVP while hitting just 19 home runs (other than a pitcher, of course)? Not that I am saying that Pedroia didn’t deserve the award. Hardly. I am pretty sure he would have been my first ballot selection if Major League Baseball allowed bloggers who intermittently write about baseball to vote instead of some not so bright Texas sportswriter. (At least the guy had the grace to publicly eat some crow.)

Pedroia is the type of old school player I loved to watch in my youth. Players like Larry Bowa or Roberto Clemente who would not have gotten as much attention in the until recently ended steroid era. With home run numbers having come back down to earth because it is harder to do steroids– and probably for other reasons as well, among them recent crops of good young pitching arms– players like Pedroia are as much, hopefully, the wave of the future instead of just a reminder for baseball of another era.

Besides hitting just 19 home runs, Pedroia also just batted .326. But this year that was still second in the league only to Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer (.328 B.A.).

So what else did Pedroia do except just being edged out as having the league’s highest batting average? He hit 54 doubles. He scored 118 runs. He won the gold glove at second base. He stole 20 bases– which is not that high a number. But he was only caught stealing once. Not only fans but baseball writers and even baseball GMs probably don’t consider the statistic of how many steals in comparison to how many times a player is caught stealing.

Would you rather have a player like Pedroia who stole 20 out of 21 or one who had stolen 39 bases but caught 16 times? Players like Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Beltran are perhaps slightly underrated because they steal a moderate number of bases but hardly ever get caught.

The selection of Dustin Pedroia hopefully is a symbol that the steroid era of baseball is over. No more 60 plus home run and even 70 plus home run seasons by players who cheated and one– like Barry Bonds who is under indictment for allegedly committing perjury for lying to a federal grand jury about his steroid use.

We can now enjoy the finesse and fudamentals and small things about baseball– the bunt single, the play made by the short stop deep in the hole– instead of just over sized home runs by players with over sized heads.

And maybe next year… for Joe Mauer!

But most pervasive in my thoughts was my hope or prayer that Barack Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, would still be alive on election day, to see the grandson that she raised elected President of the United States. In the end, she probably knew that he would win– whether or not she made it to election day or not.

Even at age 86, she was called home too soon for anyone who had the life she had. She might have been one of those “quiet Americans”, but because of her quiet act of raising one grandchild the way that she and her husband did, she has already changed the lives of 280 million Americans…

Here is what Barack Obama had to say tonight about the passing of his grandmother:

As it turns out, Scott Wheeler, the executive director of the National Republican Trust PAC, the group which paid for and produced the ad buy– worked on the infamous Clinton Chronicles– the discredited documentary that accused Bill Clinton of murdering his political opponents, engaging in drug running, and all kinds of other nefarious things that were largely either imaginary or fabricated. For those who don’t recall, or are too young to know, with the backing of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, more than 400,000 copies of the video were distributed and although the film’s allegations were rightfully marginalized in the mainstream, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page amplified– sometimes as legitimate– many of the film’s most lurid allegations.

Here is an article I did way back in 1998 about how the Falwell backed Citizens for Honest Government often paid “witnesses” who had lurid stories to tell about Clinton to compensate them for appearing in the Clinton Chronicles and other conspiratorial films about Clinton which they produced. Many of the false allegations made by the “witnesses”– sometimes influenced by payments arranged by the group– were repeated as gospel on the Wall Street Journal editorial page, on the pages of the American Spectator, and on talk radio. (Other articles I wrote about the adventures of Citizens for Honest Government and those they paid can be found here, here, and here.)

Greg Sargent at TPM has the latest information about the expense and reach of the ad buy:

The National Republican Trust PAC, which has been airing an ad attacking Barack Obama’s association with Reverend Wright in three battleground states, has now put down for a national buy on five networks that will last from now through election day, a consultant with the group confirms to me.

The ad will run nationally on Fox, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC for the next five days, the consultant, Rick Wilson, says — “all the way until election day.”

The ad, which you can watch here, features the now-infamous footage of Wright’s livelier sermons, and intones that Obama “never complained” about Wright “until he ran for President,” adding that Obama is “too radical, too risky.”

Previously, the ad was only running in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, as Ben Smith reported the other day.

Now, however, the ad will run nationally, Wilson says, adding that the group just got through getting the spot vetted with network lawyers and is good to go.

Late Update: Wilson tells me that the PAC will have spent $2 million on this national buy by the end of tomorrow.

Here is the video of the ad itself:

Update: if the television networks are going to run these ads, shouldn’t there be an obligation for them– even if they just do short stories on their websites– to tell the public a little more about who is behind them?

This from a New York Times story after Obama makes the endorsement a campaign issue:

A spokesman for the McCain campaign issued a statement responding to Mr. Obama’s remarks, reminding voters that it was Mr. McCain who had opposed the Bush administration’s energy policy. Mr. Obama supported it.

“Barack Obama and Dick Cheney aren’t just cousins, they’ve shared support for the Bush energy policy and the out-of-control spending that John McCain has fought to oppose,” said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign.

So is McCain half-repudiating the endorsement? Extraordinary that nobody has been making a big deal of this– at least to me. The ultimate triangulation: accept the endorsement on the one hand and then run from it the next moment or not even the next moment.

One more thought: They would have to be distant cousins, it would seem.

Update: Sunday: The Obama-Biden campaign has been so happy about Cheney’s endorsement of McCain that they have a a new commercial out to make sure everyone knows. And now it has also become a staple of both Obama’s and Biden’s stump speeches with only a day and a half to go…

Here is the new Obama televison spot:

John Venners, a Washington D.C. based public relations man who aided an influence effort to ease international economic sanctions against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, made $40,000 in campaign contributions since 2004 to the Republican House and Senate Campaign Committees, according to public records.

Venners was a partner in the influence venture on behalf of Saddam Hussein’s regime with William Timmons, a Washington lobbyist who was tapped by John McCain to play a leading role in his presidential transition team, according to federal court records and pubic investigative reports by the United Nations.

As first disclosed by Huffington Post, Timmons played a central role over a five year period in the lobbying campaign on behalf of Saddam’s regime to ease sanctions against Iraq shortly after the end of the first Gulf War.

Timmons declined to comment for that article as well as for this one. Venners did not respond to messages seeking comment at his office, or that of his wife, a Washington political consultant.

Samir Vincent, an Iraqi born American citizen who Timmons and Venners worked closely with on the influence campaign, pleaded guilty to criminal charges in January 2005 that he acted as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Tongsun Park, a second lobbyist who Timmons and Venners also worked closely with, was convicted by a federal jury in July 2006 on charges that he too violated the Foreign Agent Registration

During the same period beginning in 1992, when Timmons and Venners worked closely with Vincent and Park on the lobbying campaign, they were also attempting to negotiate a contract with the Iraqi government to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. The four men stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through. In the end, the arrangement failed because the sanctions were not lifted.

Federal campaign finance records, some of which are available online, show that between 2004 and 2008, Venners made some $40,000 in campaign contributions to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raise money to finance, respectively, Republican Senate and House candidates. Between 2006 and 2008, Venners made more than $16,000 in additional campaign contributions to individual campaigns of House and Senate Republicans, according to public records. He contributed during the same period to a single Democrat during that period, Sen. Max Baucus, of Montana, whom he gave $1,000.

On its website, the NRSC says of itself: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee is the only political committee solely dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate, and re-taking the majority in 2008.

“The NRSC provides invaluable support and assistance to current and prospective Republican U.S. Senate candidates in the areas of budget planning, election law compliance, fundraising, communications tools and messaging, research and strategy.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee does much the same thing for Republican House candidates.

Timmons and Venners were cooperating witnesses in the federal investigations of Vincent and Park and were never charged by prosecutors with wrongdoing. And information made public during the case indicated that Vincent and Park often engaged in illegal activity–such as acting as middlemen on behalf of the Iraqi regime to pay millions of dollars in bribes to U.N. officials to ease economic sanctions against Iraq–was done without Timmons and Venners knowing what Vincent and Park were up to.

But other evidence made public during the trial demonstrated that Timmons knew that he and Vincent were working closely with top aides to Saddam Hussein in the lobbying campaign to ease or lift economic sanctions against the Iraqi regime.

Testimony and records made public during Park’s criminal trial detail that virtually everything Timmons did while working on the lobbying campaign was within days conveyed by Vincent to either one or both of Saddam Hussein’s top aides, Tariq Aziz and Nizar Hamdoon. Vincent also testified that he almost always relayed input from the Iraqi aides back to Timmons.

Talking points that Timmons produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were reviewed ahead of time by Aziz, Vincent testified in court. Proposals that Timmons himself circulated to U.S. officials as part of the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and were also sent ahead of time with Timmons’ approval to Aziz, other records show.

Timmons’ activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. His dealings on behalf of the deceased Iraqi leader stand in stark contrast to the views his current employer held at the time.

John McCain strongly supported the 1991 military action against Iraq, and as recently as Sunday described Saddam Hussein as a one-time to the region who “stated categorically that he would acquire weapons of mass destruction and that he would use them whenever he could.”

At Park’s trial, Vincent testified that Venners, who was already working closely with Vincent on the influence campaign, first suggeted that they needed help from “people that he knew very well” who “used to be high up in the government.” Venners recommended Timmons and the three of them then began working close together, Vincent testified.

Timmons in turn introduced Park to the others, whereupon they worked closely together on the influence campaign over a five year period.

At the time that Timmons introduced Park to the others, Park’s notorious background was well known:

In the 1970s, Park had amitted to making hundreds of thousands in payments and illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress on behalf of the South Korean government. Park was indicted on 36 felony counts by a federal grand jury for his alleged role in bribing members of Congress, making illegal campaign contributions, and acting as an unregistered agent of the South Korean government.  But the charges were dropped in exchange for Park testifying against those he corrupted.

Park did not fare so with federal authorities the last time around. He was sentenced to five years in prison for acting as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

A shorter version of this column was also posted at the Huffington Post.

The Bush administration is trying to push through a wave of new regulations despite a promise by the White House to ban last-ditch rule-making in the waning days of the presidency, say watchdog groups and experts.

Every administration tries to pass last minute rules in hopes of leaving a lasting mark. But experts say the Bush administration is expected to approve a greater number more quickly than previous administrations–  something they said could lead to bad and costly policy.

“The administration wants to leave a legacy,” said Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, which has been critical of these proposals. “But across the board it means less protection for the public.”

The proposed regulations are of particular concern to watchdog groups who say they could hurt public safety, the environment and consumers.

Among the newest proposed regulations, according to OMB Watch:

Permit health care professionals at federally funded institutions to opt out of providing abortion and sterilization if such processes create “a problem of conscience for the provider.” Women’s groups have attacked this proposals as a way to limit access to abortions.

Require drug testing for miners. Critics have questioned why this would be a priority given the high safety concerns associated with mining facilities.

Change how occupational safety agencies calculate job-risk for miners, despite opposition from health and safety groups, which said it would “undermine” health rules.

Allow Interior Department officials to approve development projects without full consulting federal wildlife and habitat scientists on the impact on endangered species.

Ease rules for police on allowing them to launch criminal intelligence investigation if the target is suspected of links to terrorism. Proponents say it brings policy in line with current process but critics say it infringes on first amendment rights.

The Washington Post also weighs in:

The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.

“They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office,” said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration’s penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the coming deluge “a last-minute assault on the public . . . happening on multiple fronts.”…

As many as 90 new regulations are in the works, and at least nine of them are considered “economically significant” because they impose costs or promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually. They include new rules governing employees who take family- and medical-related leaves, new standards for preventing or containing oil spills, and a simplified process for settling real estate transactions.

(more…)

]]> http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/137/feed/ http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/we-all-know-who-we-are-talking-about/ http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/we-all-know-who-we-are-talking-about/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:57:30 +0000 murrayw http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/we-all-know-who-we-are-talking-about/

]]> http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/we-all-know-who-we-are-talking-about/feed/ http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/robert-byrd-not-to-go-quietly-into-the-night/ http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/robert-byrd-not-to-go-quietly-into-the-night/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:27:48 +0000 murrayw http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/robert-byrd-not-to-go-quietly-into-the-night/ Senator Robert Byrd– 90 years old, the longest serving senator in the U.S. history, former Senate Majority Leader, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and as the president pro tem of the Senate is the third in line in constitutional succession to the President– if pushing back in a hard way against reports that there are efforts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to push Byrd out as chair of the Appropriations Committee.

From CQ politics:

Sen. Robert C. Byrd is serving notice that he will not relinquish the gavel of the Appropriations Committee quietly as Democratic leaders consider whether to replace 90-year-old West Virginian before the start of the new Congress.

Because of his age and health, Byrd’s hold on the chairmanship has been an open question. Byrd, the longest-serving senator in the history of the chamber, beat back attempts to replace him earlier in the year. But the issue has come up again as Democrats look past next week’s election, when they believe they will not only build on their majorities in the House and Senate but also win the presidency.

Byrd made clear Tuesday he was not happy about any talks that concern replacing him as the head of one of Congress’ most powerful committees. Most recently, Politico, citing anonymous sources, reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., has discussed with Sen. Daniel K. Inouye , the committee’s second-ranking Democrat, the possibility of having the Hawaiian replace Byrd as chairman.

“I am disappointed that, according to press accounts, the Majority Leader is talking to others about the Chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee,” Byrd said in a statement. “This is the sort of Washington back-room gossip which ill serves the Democratic Party in a year when Democratic unity should be paramount.”

Meanwhile, Reid is making no commitments. More from CQ:

Reid’s office left Byrd’s future somewhat ambiguous.

“Senator Byrd has ably served the people of West Virginia as a member of the Democratic caucus and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee for more than 50 years,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. “At the beginning of each Congress, the Democratic Caucus determines committee membership. Unless something changes, Senator Byrd will continue to be Chairman of the Appropriations Committee.”

Also: Increasing noise that Joe Lieberman will also lose his committee chairmanship. That is more of a done deal. Will be reporting more on both.

]]> http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/30/robert-byrd-not-to-go-quietly-into-the-night/feed/ http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/24/elwyn-tinklenberg-seriously/ http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/24/elwyn-tinklenberg-seriously/#comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:13:21 +0000 murrayw http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/24/elwyn-tinklenberg-seriously/ This from the Los Angeles Times:

Reporting from Blaine, Minn. — Elwyn Tinklenberg is living the long-shot candidate’s political dream.

There weren’t enough chairs for the volunteers crammed inside the four-room campaign office Wednesday morning. Every time aides hit “refresh” on their computers, hundreds more online donations appeared. Downstairs, the postal carrier spent 10 minutes trying to cram a two-foot stack of envelopes stuffed with checks into the mail slot.

“It’s been raining money,” said Beth DeZiel, 39, the campaign’s dazed deputy finance director. “There’s so much, we can barely keep up. It’s unbelievable.”

But this unsolicited good fortune — $1.3 million since Friday — isn’t based on anything the Democratic former mayor and grandfather of seven did. It’s all because of something his rival, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, said.

On Friday afternoon, Bachmann appeared on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and made what has been dubbed the million-dollar mistake: Bachmann, 52, alleged that presidential candidate Barack Obama may hold “anti-American” views, and proposed a media investigation into “the views of the people in Congress [to] find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?”

While Sen. Obama’s presidential bid has transformed the way campaigns use the Internet to reach volunteers and donors, the technology has also become a way for the public to instantly react — even to races in which they can’t vote.

Those quick reactions, often in the form of donations, can influence the outcome of a campaign, said Julie Barko Germany, director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.

Barko German said “the Internet can be an amplifier,” enabling viewers to react instantly to something that incites strong support or fury.

“It’s an excellent fundraising tool,” she added, citing research indicating that “when you show someone a video online, they donate 10% more.”

Bachmann’s interview has turned the race into one of the country’s most intensely watched. It also unleashed an online backlash against Bachmann, who many local political observers assumed would easily win reelection.

President Bush won the district in 2004 with 57% of the vote. In 2006, former state Sen. Bachmann was heralded as the first female Republican to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the district, which is dominated by blue-collar and farming communities.

And this summer, one of the few polls conducted in the race showed that Bachmann held a 13-point lead over Tinklenberg.

But on Wednesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee pulled all of its TV advertising supporting Bachmann in the 6th District, according to a GOP source. Since her “Hardball” appearance, Bachmann’s lawn signs have been vandalized. Callers spew profanity at volunteers and obscenities about the congresswoman at her district campaign office.

Bachmann has retreated from her statements at nearly every campaign stop. She blamed the brouhaha on falling into a “trap” she said Matthews laid for her, and on having her words twisted by bloggers.

“This has been a game of telephone gone into overdrive — nothing more,” said Bachmann spokeswoman Michelle Marston. “A week ago, our competitor had no name identification. If they think that they’ll win by throwing a million dollars worth of mud, I can tell you right now it won’t be enough.”

To read the rest of the story, click here. The reporter’s name who wrote the story is H.J. Huffstutter. Seriously. Huffstutter on Tinklenberg.

Update:  Tinklenberg now actually ahead in the polls.

]]> http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/24/elwyn-tinklenberg-seriously/feed/