Unless a prosecution appeal passes, it looks like Detroit Mayor/criminal defendant Kwame Kilpatrick (Unknown Party) will be heading to Denver.  I bet Obama's just thrilled about that development.

Speaking of Obama being thrilled with Kilpatrick, click on the link for some schadenfreude-y video goodness.

Update: Or, maybe not.

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Beth at MyVRWC got a 21.  I got a 14.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 07:31 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Usually, when I debate a person, I sprinkle my talk with profanity and offers to settle things via a drinking contest.

But it seems a professor at a college in Kansas has displayed the ultimate debate winning tool by exposing some of his naughty parts.

Bill Shanahan, a professor at Fort Hays State University, was at a debate with the Fort Hays State debate team last March when the incident occurred.School officials said they believe things got out of control when the team got low scores from two of the judges.Shanahan is seen on the video jumping up and down, ranting and then mooning the crowd in the room.

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America's favorite felonious mayor of unknown party identification, Kwame Kilpatrick, is hoping his continued legal troubles don't get in the way of his fun (emphasis and links in the original):

Detroit's embattled mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, is holding out the possibility that he'll actually be able to go to Denver this month. In other words, the Hip-Hop mayor could get a new nickname: the Most Unwanted Man at the Convention. (Besides maybe John Edwards.)

Even though he's currently wearing an electronic tether that prevents him from traveling outside the Detroit area, Kilpatrick hopes a judge will grant him permission to fulfill his superdelegate duty of nominating Barack Obama for president at his party's convention, the start of which is just a week and-a-half away.

I'm assuming that Kilpatrick is a Democrat since he plans on going to the DNC Convention.  But then again, Sean Hannity is going, so we can't be too sure. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 04:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Some guy over at Newsweek takes a look at the "Obamacan" phenomenon and discovers that it's—gasp!—mostly hype.

No, really?  There aren't massive numbers of Republicans flocking to vote for Sen. Hopeandchange?  Up is down!  Black is white!  Penn is Teller!

(h/t) 

Posted by: Sean M. at 12:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This time, it's the dead.
It appears as though the descendants of many deceased Detroiters (is that a word?) are trying to reinter their loved ones in cemeteries farther away from the city. Needless to say, Kwame Kilpatrick and the Hope and Change Express will have to fight in the suburbs to retain yet another of their key voting blocs.

The practice appears to be most common among families like the Imbrunones: former east side Catholic Detroiters who moved to Macomb County years ago, miles away from their dearly departed. The cemetery that appears to lose the most is Mount Olivet, located in the heart of the wild east side, with about 100 disinterments a year. The destination of choice seems to be Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township, which is now home to 11 members of the Imbrunone family.

Although there is little information or statistical evidence regarding the phenomenon across the country, it is quite likely that Detroit and its surrounding communities lead the way, as it does in population loss among the living.

The reasons are two-fold, surmises Patrick Lynch, a Clawson funeral home director and executive board member of the National Funeral Directors Association. "People have to drive to a place that may take them through neighborhoods they otherwise may never go," he said. "Their safety might be compromised. Whether that is real or perceived, it's real to them.

"Second, families have left the city and they want to bring their family members closer to them," Lynch said. "People have grown older and they simply don't or can't drive to the city anymore. They want to be near to those they love."

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Remember Rick Husong, the creator of the Obama hand salute? Well, he was apparently "pretty depressed" by the initial reaction to his big, bright idea, which garnered a lot of criticism, including some along the lines of what I said in that post. Then, he heard a story about some dude strolling along Venice Beach wearing a shirt with the logo on it, and he got his second wind:

In fact, despite the tsunami of criticism, the artwork has been downloaded 7,700 times and his site has been hit 214,000 times since the first Whisper went live. "I would call that a raving success," he says, adding that he plans to make his Big-O the "peace sign of our generation."

He also E-mailed me last night to say that the hits on the artwork have inspired him to push even harder to build a movement around the hand signal. Here's what he wrote: "Our symbol 'O' is about much more than Barack Obama. It's a symbol of unity, hope, solidarity, and an end to the divisiveness that has plagued this country for too long. It is the peace sign of our generation; a sign for those who are tired of the fear, the hatred, the greed, and the ignorance. There will be resistance, democracy requires it, but we believe that the good in the American people will persevere."

Believe it or not, he blathers on like that about peace symbols and their "inherent goodness" for an entire paragraph more. God help us if people like this prevail and elect their new Secular Savior.

(Via heh, indeed.)

Update: I decided to have a little fun with Rick's baby, below the fold...

Posted by: Sean M. at 07:41 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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...when this story makes it's way through the lefty sites.  Looks like Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Cheney was dismissed in appeals.  (h/t)

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 06:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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That's what Kathryn Jean Lopez is hearing. 

Personally, any time Democrats want to highlight Nancy "14%" Pelosi as a standard-bearer for their party, I'm happy.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 06:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fox News got a list of each candidates' top ten favorite songs.  Now, usually I would ignore "news" stories like this because I'm terrified about what the GOP nominee will say, but this makes it worth it (emphasis mine):

Obama, the Illinois Democrat, chose Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” as his No. 2 pick after the Fugees. Songs “I’m on Fire” by Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” and Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” rounded out his leading five.

Other artists on Obama’s list were Kanye West, U2 and Aretha Franklin. The contender also gave a nod to will.i.am and his Internet sensation, “Yes We Can,” which was written for Obama.

Why is this not surprising?

***Thanks for the link, Allah!  Everyone make sure to check out the rest of doubleplusundead.

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The #1 (domestic) thing I like about Gen. Petraeus' surge strategy in Iraq is how it forces the Blue Dog Democrats to say things that sound like something out of Nancy Pelosi's press shop.  Take Rep. Nick Lampson of Texas' 22nd District, for example.  Take this quote from a fawning article in the Fort Bend Herald (emphasis mine):

Much has been said of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, with al-Qaida and Taliban possibly coming back into power. Lampson said the U.S. needs to “shore up” its efforts to prevent a downfall.

The country needs to scale down combat efforts in Iraq and use a combination of ramped-up intelligence resources and targeted use of Special Forces troops to aid the government.

“Whether the surge helped or not, forget all that. We’re caught up in combat activity, where we really need a police kind of action. I think we’re not accomplishing a great deal when we’re perceived as occupiers.”

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 03:01 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Remember Accountable America?  They're the liberal group that is planning on threatening donors to conservative groups with everything from legal action to public exposure.  Ya know.  For the Children^tm.  And tolerance.  All that good stuff. 

It turns out that any such action would probably violate federal law.  I'm not smart enough to figure out if that's accurate.  Such things are better left to those of us who didn't get a 142 on the LSAT. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 10:50 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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All signs point to this being one of the most smarmy Democratic tickets of my short lifetime (links in original):

My colleague Sam Stein reported earlier today that Barack Obama's VP choice will speak on the veteran-themed third night of the Democratic convention. As he noted, top Obama officials immediately poured water on any speculation that this coincidence necessarily signals a VP with military experience.

[...]

According to USA Today, the theme for Wednesday, Aug. 27 is "Securing America's Future," which just also happens to be the name of Gen. Wesley Clark's political action committee. (The URL for its website is simply "SecuringAmerica.com," but FEC filings list the full name.)

If any Obama staffers are reading this, please don't pick this man.  We're, like, totally scared of him!

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 05:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Our Lord and Savior is quite the salesman, that's right, Obama's got another book coming out to cash in on His small army of cultists.  Basically it's a collection of The Chairman's Our Lord and Savior's sayings.  Wasn't He already pushing a CD/DVD collection of His Spoken Word?  How many copies do these people need? Then of course there are all the sellers of tacky trinkets with His name and face on them. 

On the flipside of that, I saw my first McCain bumper sticker yesterday.  I can only imagine that it must have be like when a birdwatcher catches a glimpse of some obscure, endangered species.  I thought about taking a cell pic just to prove that I saw one.  I'd just note I saw three faded/torn up W or Bush/Cheney stickers on that same trip and another four or five Obama stickers and four or five signs.  And this is a pretty conservative city.

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Given the infamous Townhouse coordination that takes place in the leftysphere, very little in the way of coordination would surpise me.

But, to use that wimpy leftwing canard of "just airing a theory", something is starting to smell fishy in the left's response to the Edwards' Affair story and their attempts to "suggest" what The Deciders do next.

Ace has two separate posts up from two lefty bloggers suggesting that The Deciders start looking into John McCain's private life. This is one of them.
And Amanda Marcotte is in on the fun as well.

Is it just me, or does the fact that at least two lefty bloggers are calling for the same thing just seem a little too coincidental? How long before the networks and MSNBC start doing the same?

Again, just "airing a theory".

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I'm shocked, shocked!

In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 44-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her.

Edwards also denied he was the father of Hunter's baby girl, Frances Quinn, although the one-time Democratic Presidential candidate said he has not taken a paternity test.

Update: Bryon York has some questions for the MSM:

The question now that Edwards has admitted the Rielle Hunter affair is whether the big media outlets that ignored the story will now report it.  If it wasn't news because Edwards is finished on the national political stage, why would it be news now?  If it wasn't news because it would be painful for Edwards' ailing wife, why would it be news now?  If it wasn't news because it was "tabloid trash," in Edwards' words, why would it be news now?

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 02:12 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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These are memos that were sent out by bigwigs in the Clinton campaign, and will be released as part of an article that looks at what went wrong in Camp Clinton.  I bet the Clintonistas are absolutely losing it.  They've gotta be scared to see what got released, I would be if I were them.  We know how tight they are about keeping things calculated and scripted.  It's going to be fun watching them squirm. 

The other thing to consider is the effect this could have on the Clinton supporters, particularly the ones that have the potential to stir shit up in Denver.  If there's something outrageous in these emails, it might shake the Clinton loyalists or shame them into backing away from any rebellion plans at the convention. 

It could maybe even shake up some of the McCain supporting Hillary supporters, given that Hillary's loss is their sole reason for supporting McCain.  If this Atlantic article exposes something that will destroy loyalty to Hillary, it might prove to be a boost for Obama.  I'm thinking that's the reason this was leaked.  Theoretically, McCain could be the big loser in this.

(h/t)

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:15 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Rick Husong, a guy who works for a Los Angeles "creative agency" wants to create a hand salute for his candidate of choice, who just wowed a massive crowd in Berlin. "Our goal is to see a crowd of 75,000 people at Obama's nomination speech holding their hands above their heads," Rick told Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report. Further, Rick said [with a little bit of redacted info, just for the hell of it]:

"We thought, 'Let's try and start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the [hand salute] and you would know that they were for Obama,' " says Husong.

Posted by: Sean M. at 03:01 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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