Archive - Aug 2008

Press Release from RNC 2008:

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - At the recommendation of Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican National Convention announced substantial changes to the convention's program and actions being taken to help with Hurricane Gustav relief efforts. On Monday, all program activities beyond the official business that must be conducted in accordance with party rules will be cancelled. Among the other actions announced today are the formation of the Affected States Working Group, the establishment of an Affected States Information Center, and the chartering of a DC-9 to transport affected delegates.

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain 2008, announced that the upcoming Republican National Nominating Convention is making serious revisions to the convention program and surrounding activities. Davis said, "We are deeply concerned about the safety and welfare of the residents of the Gulf State region. Our top priority is to assist those who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav. This is not a time for politics or celebration; it is a time for us to come together as Americans and assist the residents of the Gulf States."

Davis also discussed what the changes in the program will mean for the nomination process. "In order for the Republican Party to officially exist and for Senator McCain to qualify for the ballot, we are - by law - required to conduct specific official business. At this point, our program on Monday has been scaled back and will only include what party rules governing the nomination of our candidates for president and vice president require. We will perform the official business as required. In addition, we have set aside time to make delegates and Americans watching our proceedings at home aware of what they can do to assist in relief efforts designed to help those who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav."

Davis concluded: "At some point between Monday and Thursday evening, we will convene once again to complete the activities needed to qualify Senator McCain and Governor Palin for the ballot in all 50 states. Beyond that, all we can say is that we will monitor what is happening and make decisions about other convention business as details become available."

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Robert M. "Mike" Duncan added, "The safety and well-being of the people of the Gulf States remains our top concern. We are doing everything we can on the ground in Minneapolis-Saint Paul to ensure that the delegations affected by this storm have the resources and information that they need. As Senator McCain said this morning, we must redirect our attention and efforts. We will act as Americans - not Republicans - to help our fellow citizens in need."{...}

So, my best guess is that tomorrow we will have the nominations, the nomination acception speeches and then the convention will be closed.  I can't imagine them keeping everyone in town if nothing's going to be happening the rest of the week. 

UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more this could actually work well for McCain.  First off, you have his campaign theme of "Country First,"---the RNC's theme is the same.  What more could possibly show that you mean what you say by doing just that?  Second, well, McCain's big deal is efficiency in government, right?  Again, it's a 'walk the walk' moment---run an efficient convention and save money in the process.  What's not to like? 

Well, besides the decreased media coverage, that is. 

I meandered down to the convention center and picked up my credentials for the convention, and low and behold what I received as well...

A swag bag!  Containing what I suspect will be the one and only free thing I'll ever get off Northworst Airlines: a luggage tag!  And guess what my favorite thing in it was...

I kid you not: that is a Limited Convention Edition box of Kraft Mac and Cheese.  On the back is the history of the party and a silly little quiz.  The husband, of course, has forbidden me from eating it, in case it should be worth something, someday.  @#@$@!

Of course, however, these are the real deal...

I have no idea if I'm in the cheap seats or not.  I really don't care.  I'm just happy to be going.  The protesters should be loud, obnoxious and plentiful, the wi-fi should be rocking, and God Willing, Arianna Huffington will have her little spa set up like she did in Denver so I can mooch massages on the HuffPo's dime! (They hotlinked enough images from me back in the day so a little payback is in order.)

I would like to offer a very sincere and LARGE 'thank you' to the lovely Hayden Pruett and all the wonderful people on the RNC Convention 2008 Staff who have been working diligently setting things up for "Special Press" aka The Bloggers.   They've been incredibly helpful and deserve a large round of applause for their hard work. 

As for the rest of it...well, my devoted Cake Eater readers, CONVENTION COVERAGE STARTS ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2008!

I just got off the phone with the Cake Eater mother, who volubly demanded to know why twenty-four hours had passed and I hadn't posted on McCain's VP pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  Whom, I gather, the Cake Eater Mother, likes a lot.  ("Did you see her speech?  She did really well, even if she didn't really have much time to prepare one!"  For the record, the Cake Eater sister was really stoked by the pick as well, when I chatted with her yesterday.  "It was a great speech!  She had the whole place roaring. And even Rush Limbaugh likes her!")

Here's a replay, in case you missed it:

The main reason I hadn't chimed in was that I was trying to let everything play out, to see how excited people were going to be, after the fact, to gauge actual reaction, and not just that which inevitably comes with the announcement.  And, judging by what I'm seeing across the right half of the blogosphere, who haven't let it die even with Labor Day Weekend upon us, I would say they're pretty stoked.  She hits all the right points and has, definitely, shored up the base for McCain.  If she actually gets him to change his mind on ANWR, well, her job will officially be considered done in my book.  Never mind the fact that I think she's going to HAMMER Biden in the VP debate.  

As far as stealing Obama's Thursday night thunder, I would also have to say she accomplished her goal as well.  I was down at the Minneapolis Convention Center yesterday, picking up my credentials, and everyone there seemed to be walking a littler taller, there was definitely a spring to their steps.  Granted, the place was mainly filled with staffers, but you got the feeling they were excited that this convention wasn't just going to be the coronation of a candidate they weren't all that thrilled about.  It was going to be something more, something exciting, something big, and that all their hard work was going to be put toward a greater purpose than simply throwing a pep rally for the Republican party. 

Now, I don't know if the fact that McCain picked a woman as a running mate is going to do anything to bring over disaffected Hillary supporters.  I would like to think that we're beyond people voting for someone because the candidate's sex matches the sex of the voter.  I don't want anyone voting for Obama simply because he's a black man, and I don't want anyone voting for McCain/Palin just because there's a woman on the ticket.  I would like IDEAS to have something to do with their choice.  I would like to think that America really can be beyond voting for or against someone simply because of something that was decided at the moment of their conception, when the chromomes started lining up.  Really and truly, people, we should be beyond this crap.  That said, however, I don't think we are, and the fact Palin's a woman just may have swung the election toward McCain.  How else to explain CNN's John Roberts' spin that Palin might be neglecting her disabled son because she's running for VP?   That worry undoubtedly was planted in Roberts' ear by some Obama staffer with a misogynistic bent.  They're running scared.  The media has dumped all their eggs into the chosen one's basket, and they really don't know what to do now that it appears that might not have been a wise thing to do. 

Sarah Palin is a good pick, if for no other reason, than she's pissing off all the right people.  And we likes that.

Here's your chuckle of the day:

DENVER--An unusual phenomenon has recently appeared on Craigslist's Denver Web site. Sex-wanted ads spiked this week, which happens to coincide with the Democratic National Convention.

Ads seeking casual sexual encounters through the Denver Craigslist site increased an average of roughly 70 percent to 80 percent over the same days of the week earlier in August.

{...}The general content is what you might expect. Posts suggested "Here 4 DNC? Come get sexual with me"; "Does the DNC make you hot?"; and "Looking to service a young Democrat." (Most are far more explicit, but unsuitable for our upstanding, discriminating readers. Use your imagination.)

Other days showed the same week-over-week jump. Monday increased 77 percent over the average of earlier in the month; Tuesday increased 69 percent; Wednesday's increase was 74 percent.

While the author is quick to point out that "correlation does not equal causation," I think we all know what the story is here.

I totally expect the same thing to happen here, in the Twin Cities, when the Republicans come to town next week. 

Oh, for the love of God. 

 MOSCOW — As Russia struggled to rally international support for its military action in Georgia, Vladimir V. Putin, the country’s paramount leader, lashed out at the United States on Thursday, contending that the White House may have orchestrated the conflict to benefit one of the candidates in the American presidential election.

Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, seen during his interview with CNN in Sochi, Russia's Black Sea resort. Mr. Putin has suggested the United States pushed Georgia toward war and said he suspects a connection to the American presidential campaign.

Mr. Putin’s comments in a television interview, his most extensive to date on Russia’s decision to send troops into Georgia earlier this month, sought to present the military operation as a response to brazen, cold war-style provocations by the United States. In tones that seemed alternately angry and mischievous, he suggested that the Bush administration may have tried to create a crisis that would influence American voters in the choice of a successor to President Bush.

“The suspicion would arise that someone in the United States created this conflict on purpose to stir up the situation and to create an advantage for one of the candidates in the competitive race for the presidency in the United States,” Mr. Putin said in an interview with CNN.

He added, “They needed a small victorious war.”

Oh, but wait, it gets better...

{...}“We have serious reasons to believe that directly, in the combat zone, citizens of the United States were present.”

“If the facts are confirmed,” he added, “that United States citizens were present in the combat zone, that means only one thing — that they could be there only on the direct instruction of their leadership. And if this is so, then it means that American citizens are in the combat zone, performing their duties, and they can only do that following a direct order from their leader, and not on their own initiative.”{...}

{my emphasis}

Is he serious?  Does he really think this crap is going to play?  Nobody's getting behind the Russians---well, no one who could claim respectability---and their actions in Georgia.  So, it would seem the next logical move, according to Vlad's playbook, is to blame it on the US and the evil imperialist, George W. Bush.  After all, everyone HATES the US.  Why wouldn't the US have started a war in Georgia?  We're evil!  It's something Bush would totally do: start a war to win an election.  He did it with Iraq---why wouldn't he with Georgia?

If anyone in the UN buys this line, I swear to God, we should, as I've said before, ship in mounds of the finest cheese, and when the lactose intolerance kicks in, a highly trained spy should light a match and send that stupid place to the sky. 

I watched the speech. 

The only question I have is this: is Barack Obama still the Messiah if he blows his acceptance speech?

Because he did.  He blew it.  Here you have a historic nomination.  He is the first African-American nominee for President.  Delegates in the Pepsi Center cried yesterday when the roll call vote was over and he was announced as the nominee.  They were genuinely touched by the fact an African-American had received a major party's nomination for the office of President of the United States.  Whatever you think of his politics, this is a historic moment that will be pulled out time and again, no matter what happens with the election.  It's a big deal.  A moment to celebrate.  A moment to ensure that the candidate was deserving of the historic moment.  The Dems ran the table for him.  They set up an elaborate stage at a different stadium, which was filled to brink with 85,000 people, all waving flags and "Change" signs, clearly fired up for the moment at hand.  An unknown number of people watched on tee vee.  All these people were anxious to hear what he had to say, to mark this moment in history.  

And what does Barry pull out of his hat?

A stump speech. 

What the hell? 

Sure he delivered it well, but the content?  Bleh.  A laundry list of Democratic whines?  How does that represent "change"?  And the attacks on McCain?  Sheesh.  You'd think Dick Cheney had fallen dead and McCain had, somehow, without anyone knowing it, been sworn in as Vice President.  Bleh. 

I can hardly believe that Barack Obama, the man who always has a sense of the occasion about him, completely blew his acceptance speech.  Is he still the Messiah?  I suppose so, but only for the people willing to drink the kool-aid without asking what's in it. 

I'm going to throw something out there for all the people who think the RNC is going to be held in Minneapolis starting on Monday. 

It's not. 

There are two cities, hence the moniker "The Twin Cities."   One city is Minneapolis, on the west side of the Mississippi River.  The other, on the east side of the Mississippi, is St. Paul, the state capitol, and home of the Xcel Energy Center, which the locals call "The X,"  where the Republican National Convention is to be held, but which usually hosts Minnesota Wild hockey games. (And is home to a sweet statue of Herbie Brooks.)   And to make things even more bewildering, the Mississippi runs through both cities.  How's that for confusing, eh?

Don't confuse the two.  Especially if you're coming to town for the convention, because if you call St. Paul, "Minneapolis," in front of the natives, you're likely to get your ass kicked.  St. Paul residents being somewhat more "down-to-earth" than the Minneapolitans.

Last night, after our anniversary celebration was over and done with, the husband vacated the living room because I sat down to watch what Hillary had to say to the democrats assembled in Denver. 

On the whole, I thought she did a pretty good job delivering her speech, which contained, as most pundits have already commented, the least amount of Obama pimping on record.   It was about her.  Her beliefs.  Her thoughts and wishes for the country.  Her demands for universal healthcare, etc....and how she thought Obama would honor those beliefs.  Not that she thought he'd be a good commander in chief.  Not that she thought he was actually qualified to lead.  But that her platform was suddenly now Obama's. 

However, it's not like I'm writing anything you haven't already heard or read from a thousand other bloggers and pundits. 

What was different though, was when the husband came back into the room, after the speech was over with.  The conversation went something like this:

Me: "You know, I couldn't tell if Bill Clinton was crying because he really was proud of his wife or..."

The Husband {interrupting}: "...If he has a really painful case of crotch rot?" 

Me: "Well, what I was going to say was that he was crying because he misses all the power he used to wield, and could have potentially had,  had Hillary received the nomination.  But, I suppose, your answer works just as well."

The Husband: "It's Bill Clinton.  I just can't help myself."

I wouldn't want you to, darling.  

Putin's presidential lackey, Dmitry Medvedev, explains "Why He Had To Recognize Georgia's Breakaway Regions" in today's FT.

Let's jump in after the introduction:

{...}Not all of the world’s nations have their own statehood. Many exist happily within boundaries shared with other nations. The Russian Federation is an example of largely harmonious coexistence by many dozens of nations and nationalities. But some nations find it impossible to live under the tutelage of another. Relations between nations living “under one roof” need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity.

The Russian Federation is an example of largely harmonious coexistence by many dozens of nations and nationalities?  Ummm, is the word Chechnya ringing a bell? 

But moving right along...

After the collapse of communism, Russia reconciled itself to the “loss” of 14 former Soviet republics, which became states in their own right, even though some 25m Russians were left stranded in countries no longer their own. Some of those nations were un­able to treat their own minorities with the respect they deserved. Georgia immediately stripped its “autonomous regions” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia of their autonomy.

Can you imagine what it was like for the Abkhaz people to have their university in Sukhumi closed down by the Tbilisi government on the grounds that they allegedly had no proper language or history or culture and so did not need a university? The newly independent Georgia inflicted a vicious war on its minority nations, displacing thousands of people and sowing seeds of discontent that could only grow. These were tinderboxes, right on Russia’s doorstep, which Russian peacekeepers strove to keep from igniting.

But the west, ignoring the delicacy of the situation, unwittingly (or wittingly) fed the hopes of the South Ossetians and Abkhazians for freedom. They clasped to their bosom a Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, whose first move was to crush the autonomy of another region, Adjaria, and made no secret of his intention to squash the Ossetians and Abkhazians.

Meanwhile, ignoring Russia’s warnings, western countries rushed to recognise Kosovo’s illegal declaration of independence from Serbia. We argued consistently that it would be impossible, after that, to tell the Abkhazians and Ossetians (and dozens of other groups around the world) that what was good for the Kosovo Albanians was not good for them. In international relations, you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others.{...}? 

Chechnya?  No bells are ringing?  Nothing comes to mind here, at all? 

"You cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others".  Oh, really?  Forgive me if I'm wrong here, but when has Russia ever been a defender of "the rule of law"?  Of equality of law?  Please.  Supposedly, this is Medvedev's line, and the one major plank in his campaign platform which he was adamant about: that the rule of law would be upheld in Russia under his administration.  I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that what he really meant was, "We'll talk about upholding the law when it serves our purposes and change the law when we need to."  Everything needs to be nice and legal.  Yep.  Because Russia is all about upholding the Rule of Law, international and otherwise.  

Just one question, though: have you guys extradited Andrei Lugovoi to Britain yet to stand charges for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko?

Oh, you have?  Really?  So I should expect to see him in the dock at the Old Bailey any day now...right?  Right?

{...}Only a madman could have taken such a gamble. Did he {Saakashvili} believe Russia would stand idly by as he launched an all-out assault on the sleeping city of Tskhinvali, murdering hundreds of peaceful civilians, most of them Russian citizens? Did he believe Russia would stand by as his “peacekeeping” troops fired on Russian comrades with whom they were supposed to be preventing trouble in South Ossetia?

Russia had no option but to crush the attack to save lives. This was not a war of our choice. We have no designs on Georgian territory. Our troops entered Georgia to destroy bases from which the attack was launched and then left. We restored the peace but could not calm the fears and aspirations of the South Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples – not when Mr Saakashvili continued (with the complicity and encouragement of the US and some other Nato members) to talk of rearming his forces and reclaiming “Georgian territory”. The presidents of the two republics appealed to Russia to recognise their independence.

A heavy decision weighed on my shoulders. Taking into account the freely expressed views of the Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples, and based on the principles of the United Nations charter and other documents of international law, I signed a decree on the Russian Federation’s recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I sincerely hope that the Georgian people, to whom we feel historic friendship and sympathy, will one day have leaders they deserve, who care about their country and who develop mutually respectful relations with all the peoples in the Caucasus. Russia is ready to support the achievement of such a goal.

So, basically, Medvedev had to act because, well, Saakashvili started it.   And like any frustrated father, whose kids are acting up in the backseat while he's driving around town, doing the Saturday errands, he replied, in essence, I'll come back there and END IT. Just you never mind that it suits my purposes quite nicely to do so anyway.  Never mind that there's evidence to the contrary on that claim.  Because not only did he get to invade Georgia, he also, pretty much, annihilated their military, killing their soldiers and civilians, invading their ports, blocking their commerce, and stripping any and all hardware the Georgians could use to press the Russian's exit from Georgia's sovereign territory.   It works out so much nicer this way.  

If there was any hope left that Medvedev would stand up to Putin, despite the fact that he's Vlad's handpicked successor---and I'm not saying there was much to begin with---it has completely disappeared.  Medvedev is Putin's bitch.  And that's a fact, Jack.

Also, if I had any investments in Russia, even in a smallish mutual fund, which had invested in a smallish way in some project to reach the Russian market, I would bang on to my stockbroker about pulling my money out of there AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  Same goes if I had invested in companies with a large presence in Russia, like Exxon Mobil or Royal Dutch Shell.  Get thy money out of that country, people.  You'll lose it otherwise.  Not that I'm a stockbroker or anything, but it would seem the wise thing to do.  If they don't have any problems invading a sovereign nation under the guise of trumped up charges of genocide, what's to stop them from going whole hog and appropriating western investment  under the "rule of law?"  They've done it before.  They'll do it again, and this time around they're high on their "success" in Georgia and won't give a damn about any consequences they might face.  

Ugh.  Another "celebrity" is pregnant.

Jenna Jameson, whore for hire, is preggers with Tito Ortiz's spawn.

Adult film star Jenna Jameson is going to be a mommy.

“Yes, I can confirm I’m pregnant. It’s still early, so I’m being cautious. I’m resting as much as possible," she tells Usmagazine.com exclusively. "I'm so happy!"

She adds that she and boyfriend of two years, mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz, "are still in a state of shock.

"I'm just saying super healthy," she says. "I’ve moved down to the beach with Tito — I love being by the beach.”

Oh, isn't that sweet?  A whore whose vagina, by all rights, should have fallen out by now from overuse, is preggers with her boyfriend's baby.  Wow.  My heart just melts.   Where can I send a layette? 

But the thing that REALLY gets me is Us Weekly's description of her:

But the devout Catholic — who has tried in vitro — told Us, "It was all in God's plan."

Jenna Jameson is a devout Catholic?  Really?  Because, you know, in vitro ain't exactly on the Vatican's list of approved activities. Neither is divorce.   Neither is having premarital sex with your boyfriend, or getting knocked up with his child outside the bonds of holy wedlock. (And it was, reportedly, "God's plan."  Methinks the man downstairs must have had something to do with it.)  And, most definitely, I think BEING A PR0N STAR DISQUALIFIES YOU FROM "DEVOUT" STATUS, Jenna.

Crikeys.  I am so sick of the media describing anyone who attends mass on Christmas and Easter as "devout."  Divorced, pro-choice John Kerry is, reportedly, a "devout" Catholic.  Divorced Nicole Kidman is a "devout" Catholic.  I'm not a devout Catholic.  I'll fully admit I don't qualify.  My father, however, is a devout Catholic.  He goes to mass just about every day, sometimes twice a day, and says the roasary twice as much as he goes to mass.  He qualifies.  Jenna Jameson does NOT qualify as a devout Catholic. 

If the word 'devout' is to have any meaning whatsoever, it should be used infrequently, to describe actual piety and devotion to a particular faith.  It should definitely not be used to describe a pr0n star (who regularly ignores the mandates of the Church of which she claims to be a member) simply because she's "famous" and her PR agent wants her to look nice and motherly, instead of like the whore who was paid gobsmackingly huge amounts of money to have sex in front of a camera that she actually is.