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Factcheck.org: McCain and Palin Lie During RNC Speeches
Factcheck.org, a non-partisan campaign fact-checking site run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania reported today that John McCain "made some flubs in accepting the nomination." Following is the verbatim summary of the McCain factcheck; go to the report for full details and attribution:
Eminem's October Surprise
His new video.
Libertarian Attacks Palin for Wanting to Expand Veep Role
[Verbatim from Libertarian candidate Bob Barr]
McCain Ticket Assumes Expanded Presidential Powers: Governor Palin looks forward to greater legislative power as Vice President
McCain Screwing Ole Miss?
Folo's got some good chat going over how McCain's stunt is going Ole Miss (and Mississippi). I mean, our economy can't handle getting ready for a huge political party that doesn't show. I like how olemissreb put it:
Former Bush Staffer Working for Kerry
AP is reporting: "Randy Beers sat on the porch steps next to his longtime friend and colleague Dick Clarke and the words came tumbling out in a torrent. 'I think I have to quit. ... I can't work for these people. I'm sorry, I just can't.' It was a few days before the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, and Beers was President Bush's special assistant for combating terrorism, a job he had held for only a matter of months. But Beers was no newcomer to government; he had worked on foreign policy for four presidents.
Factcheck.org: Kerry's Tax Ad: Literally Accurate, But Misleading
[Verbatim alert] [Kerry's] ad says "the middle class is paying a bigger share of America's tax burden." True. But it's a smaller burden all around. And the richest still pay the most.
Michelle Obama: Have a Debate Party!
OK, it's just a campaign letter, but here is what Michelle Obama sent out today about the Friday debate, verbatim, of course:
Salter on Barbour Inauguration
The Clarion-Ledger's Sid Salter writes today: "Coupled with the state's money problems is the political reality that Barbour, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, House Speaker Billy McCoy and the vast majority of lawmakers in both houses ran for election or re-election on the strength of a no-new-taxes platform. Barbour inherits 'built-in' expenses from the previous administration that include the latter phases of the $338 million, six-year phased teacher pay increases, economic development incentives to Nissan, Northrup Grumman and Howard Industries and state bonded indebtedness that approaches 7 percent of the state's general fund."
Cocktails That Make You Go ‘Boo!'
To scare up a formidable Black Cat, pour 1 ounce vodka and 1 ounce cherry brandy into a highball glass over ice. Fill with equal parts Coke and cranberry juice.
Todd's Secret Poison Ring, and Other Fashion Statements
Check out the video of Bunny's Fashion Report from The Storyteller's Ball, in which I demonstrate how Todd's secret poison James Bond ring works. Tee, hee. (More Bunny reports here.)
FLOTUS Dress-Gate: Weigh In on Michelle Obama's Dress
Maybe people are bored after the election, but we have something new to talk about. And it's not just the puppy question. Fashionistas may love it (I at least like it), but others are complaining about the dress first lady-elect (or FLOTUS) Michelle Obama chose for Tuesday night. Care to weigh in? See the dress here
Bob Moses
Robert P. Moses, who turned 70 Sunday, is usually surrounded by young people, especially Lanier students and college-age mentors for the Algebra Project, which he runs from his classroom in Midtown.
Bill Minor
Bill Minor is proof that the best way to keep a muscle fit is to exercise it. Rigorously. When I arrived at his Broadmoor home the Friday after Thanksgiving, the brain of this 80-year-old journalist and columnist immediately started churning, and for the next two hours, he exploded with facts, details and opinions and quirkobilia. I didn't need to ask a single question of the man who has made a career out of asking questions in the state of Mississippi.
Keke Lowe
Marquise "Keke" Lowe has lived in Jackson his whole 19-year-old life. Lowe, a slim teenager with amused chestnut eyes and a small, sculpted face, grew up in Shady Oaks, attended Bailey Magnet High School and now lives Downtown. He's studying computer science and business at Tougaloo College so he can own his own computer-programming company. "Technology is trying to run things right now," he says.
Dan Joyner
I met with Dan Joyner recently at Cups, in the heart of the Fondren district where, as Joyner puts it, people interested in the arts can hang out together. Joyner, 28, himself is an example of creativity nurtured. Now he is the area manager for Cups, but when I first met him in the spring of 1993, his senior year at Forest Hill High School in South Jackson, I also met his parents Evelyn and Robert. Like many supportive parents, they were again involved with one of Dan's creative undertakings—Colonel's Classics, a Forest Hill tradition that gave high school students, aided by dedicated teachers, a place to hang out: to write scripts, build sets, rehearse and present skits to an audience of their peers and loved ones in packed auditoriums.
Monique Guillory
Dr. Monique Guillory has been busy for the last few years. As deputy chief of staff for Jackson State University President Ronald Mason since 2000, the 34-year-old New Orleanian met myriad goals: the restoration of Gibbs-Green Week at Jackson State, commemorating two young men killed on campus by police in 1970; starting the President's Newsletter that keeps 35,000 alumni up-to-date; strategic planning for the university's Millennium Agenda; and writing a grant to fund a collaborative education project. And two years ago her son Julien was born. "The French spelling," she explained. "It's those Louisiana roots."
Jimmy King
We sit on the concrete steps that protrude out of the grass on an empty lot near the corner of Pearl and Minerva, I on a white handkerchief that Jimmy King has put down and he on the cold concrete. I've known King, whom I call Mr. Jimmy, for almost 10 years. He is the proprietor of the Subway Lounge, in the basement of the abandoned Summer's Hotel, which opened Dec. 16, 1966. He is also the elegant presence in the documentary "Last of the Mississippi Jukes," which just debuted on the Black STARZ network.
James Meredith
Talking to Mr. James Meredith is a right-brain experience. The conversation isn't linear, organized, disciplined. It jumps around to topics that the thin, intense grandfather is interested in at the very instant. As the 70-year-old Kosciusko native talks first about the legacy of slavery in Brazil (where he just visited); the need for people to "blend" in society; Ole Miss back in 1962 when he integrated the stubborn old institution; the oddity of growing older; and finally young people's need to work harder, you can easily see why his name ended up in lights. It's hard to imagine someone more unique, more creative, more daring, more willing to offend one or another status quo.
Jill Conner Browne
Mississippians are so used to being on the bottom that, without provocation, we'll take aim at our own feet and fire at will just to prove we can blow a damned toe off. That's my thought whenever I hear someone whine about how Mal's St. Paddy's Parade has gotten "too big," or balk at joining the thousands of tiara-ed and sequined "wannabes" who drive, fly and hitchhike into Jackson every March to eat, drink and be friggin' merry enough to last another 11 months or so. It is unfathomable to me that a single Jacksonian would take for granted what Jill Conner Browne has done for this city and its residents.
Rob McDuff
Robert B. McDuff, 46, looks too rumpled and carefree to be about to argue the Democrats' congressional redistricting case before the U.S. Supreme Court in December. But, a cursory look around the Jackson attorney's office—in a slightly crumbling North Congress house with crooked steps and peeling gray paint—reveals that he's about more than power. He wants to make a difference.