Dante Atkins, John Amato, Digby

I didn't mention that I was throwing a C&L Election Party because I didn't want to jinx Obama's chances (really), but I wanted to spend Tuesday night with bloggers, activists, friends and some of the people that have helped put C&L together. Susan Klos graciously let me use Big Time Pictures for the C&L Election Nite Party.

As I was driving to the studio to set up for the party, I must say that tears welled up in my eyes with joy. It's been a long road to this Nov. 4th. There was no official word yet about the results, but I was so proud of the work that the entire liberal blogosphere offered to help in its own way to try and bring Obama and a host of Congressional candidates a historic victory.

Howie Klein and Digby co-hosted the party and we watched it unfold together. We had about 60-70 people show up and it was a great night to celebrate. Everyone felt that Obama's victory was at hand after PA fell so early. I put on Fox News (everyone booed me) for a minute after OH was called for Obama and Carl Cameron gave a report to Hume. They both seemed like depressed zombies. Later on, Karl Rove was crying that Obama didn't give a clear vision of what changes he was going to bring. Please Karl, just crawl back to the rock you came out of and let this country heal.

As I waited to be interviewed by Abbi Tatton of CNN, word came in that Obama had officially won the election and again tears came pouring down my face with happiness. A sense of relief washed over me because I realized that the Lee Atwater playbook had finally failed the Republicans in a general election and the better person won the presidency and his name is Obama.

Here are some photos from the night:

John Klos, Amato, Big Time Pictures staff and friends...

Max Bernstein (of Max and the Marginals) Cortney Rock, Amato, Skippy of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

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Bob Cesca caught this interesting top item at Drudge last night:

This headline of a mad man doesn't link to anything, it just sits there like something rapped out on the keyboard out of frustration. It seems like Drudge is implying that everyone is wrong but him. Perhaps he is upset that the media didn't take his lead and report on the unreliable poll he posted a couple of weeks ago showing Obama with only a two point lead. Maybe he is just trying to steer away attention from the story turned hoax that he pushed so hard last week of Ashley Todd.

No matter what the reasoning for this odd headline, it is obvious Drudge has had a rough time lately pushing his misleading and just plain wrong stories. As matter of fact times have been so rough for Drudge that it looks like he just want to end 2008 now:

Notice the title of his page? Poor Matt Drudge has now transported himself to 2009. I really doubt 2009 is going to be much better for him.

Eric Boehlert thinks that might be the case:

The race is unrecognizable in terms of where the players are situated now and where they were five weeks ago. (Between September 15 and October 19, there was a 12-point swing in the Gallup daily tracking poll.) Now ask yourself: What role has the Drudge Report played in that burst of campaign movement? The answer, of course, is zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. His trademark flashing red lights have gone missing.

The dynamics of the campaign have irrevocably changed, and the mighty Drudge Report, the news site Beltway journalists trip over themselves to genuflect in front of, has been a complete bystander in the closing weeks of the 2008 campaign. [..]

The reason is simple. Because of the unprecedented economic turmoil, we're now in serious times. (Fifty thousand home foreclosures this year, in the state of New Jersey alone, is serious business.) And the Drudge Report doesn't do serious. The American public's attention has shifted from the campaign to the economy, and that's why the Drudge Report remains largely irrelevant to that unfolding story.[..]

As long as those patterns hold, Drudge finds himself in no-man's-land with no levers of power to pull.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving hack. While we're looking at influence exerted during this campaign, Peter Daou urges the netroots not to underestimate our power.

Rocky Mountain News: 

Planned Parenthood is suddenly a lot richer because of Sarah Palin.

And the Republican vice presidential nominee will soon be receiving tens of thousands of thank-you notes.

A three-week-old Internet campaign is asking abortion-rights activists to send donations to Planned Parenthood in honor of the Alaska governor.[..]

One e-mail making the rounds on the Internet says: "Instead of (actually, in addition to) all of us all sending more e-mails about how absolutely horrible she is, let's all make a donation to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name."

Katie Groke Ellis, field manager for the Planned Parenthood of the Rockies Action Fund, predicts that the five-state chapter of the group alone could draw $100,000 in donations.[..]

Planned Parenthood sends a handwritten thank-you card to the donor. If a donation is made in someone's name, he or she gets one, too.

In this case, the Palin cards will go to Republican presidential nominee John McCain's national headquarters.

Never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for Sarah Palin!

Today we take time to remember, and to hope....  A great cartoon from CurrentTV. 

In an interview with CBS' Katie Couric Wednesday, Cindy McCain seemed surprised to learn that her husband John wants to see Roe v. Wade overturned. But as it turns out, the surprises hardly end there for the McCains when it comes to abortion and the 2008 Republican platform. By rejecting John McCain's limited proposed exemptions for cases involving rape, incest and the life of the mother, the GOP's hard-line abortion banning plank echoes not its presidential nominee, but his running mate Sarah Palin.

That result was to be expected.  During a July 30 interview, John McCain admitted he had "not gotten into the platform discussions." And it shows. Unlike Barack Obama, who personally intervened to help create a new abortion plank in the Democratic platform, John McCain left the GOP committee to its own devices in producing a document that is far more radical than even McCain's own draconian anti-abortion stand.

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      Over at Blackfive, Uncle Jimbo is hyping Sarah Palin's position as Commander in Chief of the Alaskan National Guard to give her pretensions of national security experience befitting a Vice President.

He says that because of an Alaskan National Guard unit operating a missile defense base in Alaska she has a "unique role in our national security and homeland defense" and approvingly cites an email from one of his readers to that effect. He goes on to claim in comments that "she's privy to military and intelligence secrets no other governor is. She has to be. There's no way she could function as governor if she weren't." It's a story approvingly accepted by the likes of Jonah Goldberg and Kim Priestap.

There's a bit of a problem with his narrative though.

Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, considers Palin "extremely responsive and smart" and says she is in charge when it comes to in-state services, such as emergencies and natural disasters where the National Guard is the first responder.

But, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.

A couple of Jimbo's commenters pointed this out to him and he his readers  (EDIT: corrected attribution) went apoplectic, going so far as to denigrate the officer in charge of the ANG.

He's the commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The fact that he has no role in national defense activities is a given. All you have to do is read his title.

And to claim that just because the Alaska National Guard's Strategic Plan for 2008-12 was written "in line with Governor Palin's priorities", Palin herself drew up the criteria for that plan  - even though that phrase is the only time Palin is mentioned in the whole document.

What a rotten milblogger Jimbo is - or simply dishonestly defending his thesis by focusing on only one of the Adjutant General's duties. Perhaps Jimbo should have corrected his readers, but he didn't. Here's the relevant part of Gen, Campbell's bio:

Major General Craig E. Campbell is the adjutant general for the State of Alaska, commander of the Alaska National Guard and the commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. He is responsible to provide Army and Air National Guard military forces, a State Defense Force, and a Navy Militia that are fully prepared to protect Alaska from any threat, disaster, or emergency. He is also responsible to ensure that Alaska’s National Guard forces are ready to deploy worldwide and accomplish military missions in support of the national defense strategy. As adjutant general and commissioner for the State of Alaska, he is responsible for emergency services, homeland security, veteran affairs, a Counter-Drug Support Team, a Civil Support Team, and a Youth Challenge Program.

What a great way to support the military...by boosting your wingnut Veep candidate at the expense of a general with 34 years in uniform. Classy.

Crossposted from Newshoggers.

(Note: Jimbo emailed to note that I'd wrongly attributed words from his commenter "Tom W" to Jimbo himself. As of this writing, Jimbo hasn't corrected his commenter, but he has my apology for the wrongful attribution anyway. The post has been edited accordingly.)

Glenn Greenwald reports:

Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 -- with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas canisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured.

... Perhaps most extraordinarily, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now -- the radio and TV broadcaster who has been a working journalist for close to 20 years -- was arrested on the street and charged with "conspiracy to riot." Audio of her arrest, which truly shocked and angered the crowd of observers, is here. I just attended a Press Conference with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Police Chief John M. Harrington and -- after they boasted of how "restrained" their police actions were -- asked about the journalists and lawyers who had been detained and/or arrested both today and over the weekend. They said they wouldn't give any information about journalists who had been arrested today, though they said they believed that "one journalist" had been, and that she "was a participant in the riots, not simply a non-participant."

Tear gas has also been used.

Do you think maybe that events in St. Paul would have gotten more attention already if we weren't all distracted by the Palin circus show?

Update: Amy has been released, but her two producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, are still being held.

"I was down on the convention floor interviewing delegates when I heard that two of our producers had been arrested," said Goodman. "I ran down to Jackson and 7th Street, where the police had moved in."

Goodman said that when she ran up to find out what was going on, she was also arrested.

"They seriously manhandled me and handcuffed my hands behind my back. The top ID [at the convention] is to get on the floor and the Secret Service ripped that off me. I had my Democracy Now! ID too. I was clearly a reporter."

Goodman, who was released after being charged with a misdemeanor, said that Salazar had been hurt in the face, while Kouddous had been thrown up against a wall and hurt his elbow.

"Nicole told me that as they moved in on three sides, she asked them 'How do I get away from this?' and they jumped on her."

Both Kouddous and Salazar could be held for up to 36 hours.

"One of the police kept shouting at me 'Shut up, shut up," she said. "It was extremely threatening."

Update 2: Democracy Now! reports that both Kouddous and Salazar have now been released too. (H/t Kat)

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You have to love the line "Celebrities don't have to worry about family budgets, but we sure do."  Oh really, Mr. $100 Million Man?  Most family budgets don't include $273,000 for servants.  In fact, the average American house is only worth $218,000, significantly less than you pay for butlers.

Just when you thought the wingnut spin on McCain's home ownership amnesia couldn't get any worse, we are presented with this from Powerline:

 The latest campaign kerfuffle is Obama's effort to make hay out of John McCain's inability to tell a reporter how many houses he owns. McCain mumbled something about condos and said the reporter should talk to his wife. Predictably, Obama is trying to spin this exchange as showing that McCain is "out of touch."  (emphasis added)

First let's refresh everyone's memory with a little audio from McCain's now infamous comments of yesterday. The audio is still here, in which McCain clearly states (the opposite of mumbling) that he would have to have his staff get back to the reporter. No wife and no mumbling.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg from wingnut spintopia. The second paragraph is even more telling:

 I can relate, though. For example, if a reporter asked me how many ties I own, there's no way I could answer. Just like McCain, I'd tell him he has to ask my wife. Likewise if someone wants to know how many Wii games my kids have.

Let's overlook the sexist overtone given in that statement; I don't think many wives out there would consider themselves the keeper of inventory for their husbands.  Instead let's look at this very poor comparison being made. I couldn't tell you how many socks I own, yet I can sure answer how many houses I own. I believe this is something a vast majority of Americans could claim. Instead, for the Republicans, ties are now the equivalent of homes, which begs the most important question  - how many ties are in foreclosure?

Digby discusses the Corsi book and how the press reacts to it:

Rutten says this is all about making money, and I don't disagree that there's probably some money to be made by the wingnut welfare recipients in the food chain. But money isn't the motive of the people who buy those books in bulk. They are making an investment in Republican politics. And the most telling thing about it is that one of the most mainstream Republican figures in the country -- so mainstream that she regularly appears with her Democratic operative husband on Meet the Press with their two daughters at Christmas time --- is giving her imprimatur to a book written by a known delusional, right wing racist. On that side of the dial the separation between the mainstream and the violent fringe isn't even one degree. 

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As long as the villagers are in agreement that the only people who are truly beyond the pale in American politics are on the left, then this will continue. Mary Matalin will still be considered a perfectly respectable person by both the "right" and the "left" (as if there's any discernible difference among the cognoscenti) and there will be no professional or social repercussions. Meanwhile even staid, old organizations like the ACLU suffer from the myth of being some sort of far left fringe organization and Democratic politicians run for cover when the right wing publicly "tars" them with guilt by association.

This is an ongoing problem that we see being played out once again in a national election. And I don't think the progressive movement has fully come to grips yet with just how powerful this image of scary left wing freaks still is in the national imagination --- or how thoroughly the right's extremist views have been accepted by the political establishment. It's something...read on.

This is something that he can't run away from anymore. Ladies, he's not your man. He said he will run a pro-life---or---anti-choice White House. Apparently---the innocent Iraqis that have been killed didn't get a chance to share in his vision for America.

Thanks Jed for the vid...

On Saturday, August 16th, megachurch preacher and Purpose-Driven Life author Rick Warren will host the first joint appearance of campaign '08 by Barack Obama and John McCain. In what CNN is billing as the "Compassionate Leader Forum," Warren will lead separate conversations with Obama and McCain, who will meet on stage at the beginning and/or end of the event at Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.

While the anti-gay Warren and his co-sponsor the multi-denominational group Faith in Public Life will apparently be the arbiters of presidential compassion, Reverend Warren insists Saturday's event is not about "gotcha" questions for the candidates:

"This is a critical time for our nation and the American people deserve to hear both candidates speak from the heart -- without interruption -- in a civil and thoughtful format absent the partisan 'gotcha' questions that typically produce heat instead of light."

But for the good people at the Red State blog, that's simply not good enough. Declaring that "abortion on demand is non-negotiable," Red State's open letter to Reverend Warren insists he promise to confront Obama on the issue. Failing to do so at the event, "it would be better to cancel it." No doubt, Rick Warren will ask Barack Obama about his views on abortion and women's reproductive rights.

But among the questions on AIDS, poverty, climate change and the candidates' personal faith, the notoriously reserved on religion John McCain can rest assured he won't face tough questions about his own.

Here, then, are 10 questions Rick Warren won't ask John McCain.

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Digby discusses the "Draft Democratic Platform Rejects Anti-Abortion "Reduction" Plank"

You can read the relevant pieces of the platform at the link. I've always felt that the emphasis in the party should be less on reducing abortion and more on reducing unwanted pregnancies, which every liberal, pro-choice or pro-life, can agree upon. This does that while acknowledging that reducing unwanted pregnancies naturally leads to reduced abortions, which is true without unnecessarily stigmatizing the procedure or the women who find themselves in need of it.

Pro-choice advocates have always been in the forefront of reducing unwanted pregnancies. If we had our way the government would give free birth control and reproductive health information to all Americans. But then, that's really the issue. We don't think sex is the problem (it's pretty uhm, unstoppable) --- we think unwanted pregnancies are the problem. The social conservatives clearly do think sex is the problem or they wouldn't be intent upon keeping kids ignorant, making birth control unavailable and then forcing women to have children against their will.

Good for the platform committee for adopting language that everyone who is engaging in good faith can probably support.

When even Reader's Digest goes after the Federal Government, watch out:

A 2007 Justice Department audit found that the FBI was somehow losing 2.6 laptops per month, many with sensitive or classified information. More than 1,400 Energy Department laptops went missing in a six-year period, according to another audit. So much for homeland security.

Despite growing awareness of the problem, real safeguards are not in place. A February report by the Government Accountability Office found that only two of 24 agencies the GAO reviewed had implemented all the security measures recommended by the government. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the GAO also found that at least 19 of 24 agencies had experienced one or more breaches that could expose people's personal information to identity theft.

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K-Lo---Please, make it stop. It hurts.

If Obama could go to Germany and give a speech in English and be not only understood but well-received, why does he say we all need to learn another language?