Oliver Willis

Right wing nutters issue October 15th threat versus President Obama…

More pollution we can thank the Bush administration and – more importantly – big business for. Look, I’m far from a green eco-dude, but it is criminal the sort of looting and pillaging we allow big business to do to our planet.

A woman writes to the NY Times:
When the Letterman and Sen. John Ensign blackmail stories broke yesterday, I couldn’t help wondering if anybody but me noticed how differently they were handled. The funny man did the honorable thing. The man who was elected on the ‘values’ ticket did everything he could to keep the story [...]

Of course it isn’t as simple as this, but I like the positive idea.

One of the businesses featured, Cakelove, is not too far from my house. I first read about the guy who founded it in Po Bronson’s What Should I Do with My Life? which helped kick me in the pants when I needed [...]

Like I said, Corzine’s going to win this one.
As the battle for New Jersey governor continues to heat up, a new survey conducted for Stan Greenberg and James Carville’s organization Democracy Corps by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research finds that that race is now a dead heat with Republican Chris Christie at 40 percent, Democratic Governor [...]

Shame. He may be a Democrat, but he’s living up to the conservative label.
Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross — a Blue Dog Democrat playing a key role in the health care debate — sold a piece of commercial property in 2007 for substantially more than a county assessment [2] (PDF) and an independent appraisal [3] (PDF) [...]

She failed at HP. She failed on the McCain campaign. Time to fail again?

Sadly, this kind of thing is becoming common on the right.

The Virginia gubernatorial election is tightening, a positive sign for Democrat Creigh Deeds. Women are shifting to him in light of Bob Mcdonnell’s cro-magnon writings that were uncovered.
My guess is that the race still favors McDonnell slightly.
(And I still think Corzine will be reelected in New Jersey)

Yeah, when the President’s folks put out signals to a governor like David Paterson that he should drop out of the race… that’s not a good sign.

As conservative as Texas might be, I doubt most people there would appreciate the governor laughing off the idea that the country is in recession.
Then again, Rick Perry was lieutenant governor to George W. Bush so this kind of stupidity is a feature, not a bug.

Link
I see a lot of commentary that compares Joe Wilson’s ‘You Lie!’ outburst with the ruckus that often happens in the House of Commons. But one thing you are not allowed to shout in the Commons is that another speaker is a liar. A lot of circumlocutions evolved to bypass this – ‘terminological inexactitude’ is [...]

Of course, a “czar” doesn’t go through senate confirmation, but…
Cass Sunstein won Senate confirmation Thursday as President Obama’s director of regulatory affairs, taking on the role of chief arbiter of debates on whether federal regulations are worth the cost.
The Senate approved Sunstein’s nomination by a vote of 57 to 40.
And I don’t even like Sunstein’s [...]

From – heh – John Zogby, August 30, 2008:
Republican John McCain’s surprise announcement Friday of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate – some 16 hours after Democrat Barack Obama’s historic speech accepting his party’s presidential nomination – has possibly stunted any Obama convention bump, the latest Zogby Interactive flash poll of the [...]

Per NBC
The righties get a scalp. Of course under a GOP administration the people with the really kooky ideas become defense secretary or vice president.
UPDATE: Here’s his statment.
“I am resigning my post at the Council on Environmental Quality, effective today,” Jones said in a resignation letter released by the CEQ late Saturday.
“On the eve of [...]

Just say it plainly.

You should check out this New Yorker story on Cameron Todd Willingham. Especially if, like me, you are a death penalty supporter. The story didn’t change my mind on the issue – I think some crimes are just so heinous we must have the ultimate penalty.
That said, it should be really hard to execute someone. [...]

She was a dachshund.
Chanel celebrated her 21st birthday in May, according to Guinness. That’s 147 years old in human years.
Earlier this year, the dog’s owners, Karl and Denice Shaughnessy of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., said Chanel was still feisty and in good health despite her advanced age. She did, however, wear sunglasses for her cataracts.

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
August 26, 2009
Statement from President Obama:
Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy.
For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name [...]

NBC Reporting.
ABC:
Sen. Ted Kennedy died shortly before midnight Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 77.
The man known as the “liberal lion of the Senate” had fought a more than year-long battle with brain cancer, and according to his son had lived longer with the disease than his doctors expected him to.
“We’ve [...]