Please Help Debunk the CRA Lies
In a campaign increasingly filled with ugliness, the worst thing I've seen happen is the false and racist campaign to blame the current financial crisis on poor people of colorthrough lies spread about the Community Redevelopment Act. We've been on this one for weeks now, starting with threads on the site, then this editorial, then Adam's story, A New Blame in Town. (We were glad to see that The Clarion-Ledger joined us yesterday in a good editorial, but I can't find the link on that awful site of theirs.) Now McClatchy has a news story out debunking the myths (quotes after the jump below).
The Man Who Started the False Obama ‘Muslim' Rumors
The New York Times has a story about the guy who started the false rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim:
St. Louis Daily Endorses Obama ... with Style
Perhaps egged on by the hate week that John McCain and Sarah Palin just put the country through, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch decided not to wait to publish its endorsement of Barack Obama. It's beautifully and thoughtfully written:
Please, McCain, Attack the 'Arab'
Since Gov. Sarah Palin started scaremongering against Barack Obama last weekend, John McCain's rallies are turning into surreal displays of bigotry. Today in Minnesota, finally, he tried to tamp down the hate somebefore contining his attempt to associate Obama with Bill Ayers in the same gathering. Following is a video of his exchanges with angry supporters, including a disraught woman who tells McCain she is scared of Obama because he is an "Arab."
BREAKING: ‘Troopergate' Report Finds Palin Abused Power
The Anchorage Daily News just posted a PDF of the full report on Gov. Sarah Palin's "Troopergate" investigation. Read it here. The report says that the investigation found that Palin "abused her power" by engaging in "unethical conduct" (see page 48 of report for reasoning). The investigator also found that she fired Walt Monegan under her authority, although his refusal to fire Mike Wooten was likely part of the reason she fired him. On page 67, the investigator concludes that her claims of fear of Wooten were "not bona fide."
Millsaps Scholar-Athletes Have Highest 5-Year Graduation Rate
[Verbatim] JACKSON, Miss.Millsaps scholar-athletes have once again proved they have what it takes to win both on the field and in the classroom. Millsaps College recently won the David M. Halbrook Award for having the highest percentage of graduating athletes for the five-year period, 2003-04 to 2007-08, with a 98 percent graduation rate in the Independent College Division. The award was presented during the 75th Annual Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities Conference.
Barack the Vote on Facebook
FACEBOOK MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED RIGHT NOW:
This week we launched our innovative Get Out The Vote campaign which focuses on each of us getting the people we know to vote for Obama by Election Day. Today, we're making it even easier to reach out to friends using the nation's most popular social networking site: Facebook.
Who Are ‘Generation We'?
Well, it's the "millennials," and this new book and Web site will tell you about it:
Obama ‘Pulling Away'; Leads Men, Women, Every Age Group, Even Over-65
Newsweek's new numbers are in, and show why the McCain campaign is acting so erratic and desperate:
Barbour Calls for ‘Conservative Spending' Due to Crisis
[Verbatim statement] (JACKSON, Mississippi) Governor Haley Barbour asked legislators and state agency directors to find ways to cut spending this year and in Fiscal Year 2010 as a result of lower tax collections during the current economic crisis. "Just as Mississippi families and businesses are revising their budgets and looking for ways to save money, we in state government must tighten our belts, too," Governor Haley Barbour said. "High fuel costs and lower-than-expected tax collections mean we must further control our spending.
Palin-McCain Spreading Hate in the Lower 48
And they need to reel it in. Fast. This is ugly, and dangerous. Watch this one, as Palin encourages more.
Gen. Petraeus: ‘You Have to Talk to Enemies'
Gen. Petraeus agrees with Barack Obama:
Bobby Kennedy Jr.: Media Must Cover Palin's Radical Ties
Kennedy complained today that the media, such as The New York Times, have not done front-page stories on Sarah Palin's close ties to the un-American Alaska Independence Party in the same way that they are covering Barack Obama's acquaintance, Bill Ayers:
Hey McCain: Don't Insult a Man with a Facebook Page
Oliver Clark, the African American man that McCain insulted during the second debate, is striking back on his Facebook page, per MSNBC:
DOW Plunges 700 Points, Again
More bad news:
Stocks plunged in the final minutes of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrials down more than 675 points, or more than 7 percent, to their lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was considering cutting its rating on General Motors Corp. (GM) The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell more than 7 percent. The sell-off came as Standard & Poor's Ratings Services put GM and its finance affiliate GMAC LLC (GOM) under review to see if its rating should be cut. GM has been struggling with weak car sales in North America.
CNN: Obama Wins Debate 56-30 Over McCain
With three debates down, it would seem that Barack Oback and Joe Biden are working on a sweep. In addition, the CNN polls showed 59 percenet said Obama would handle the economy better over 37 percent for McCain. And Obama has passed McCain on both likeability and leadership polls.
Second Presidential Debate - Open Thread
Talk among yourselves.
Who Will Be Jackson's Next Mayor?
As national politics swirl, and the news that one of Frank Melton's bodyguards is turning on him comes in, thoughts are turning to the mayoral race ahead in Jackson. What are your thoughts? Who do you want? Go for it.
UPDATED: Melton Bodyguard Wright Pleads Guilty, Resigns
Read: Adam Lynch's breaking Ridgeway coverage
OK, Class, What's Wrong With This Story?
This is the lead paragraph from a story in the Anchorage Daily News today about a state ethics investigation:
Debate Time: No Red Room Party Tonight; Next One, Though
Due to the schedule at Hal & Mal's tonight, we are not holding a debate party there, so you get to watch this one at home! We will have a party for the last debate, as well as election night, in the Red Room, though. So make plans now!
McCain Attacks Open His and Palin's Closets to Scrutiny
The McCain-Palin campaign opened the floodgates when they told the media this weekend that they were about to start launching personal attacks against Barack Obama in order to "change the subject" away from the economy. In response to their (and especially Palin's) "terrorist" jabs (because Obama knows William Ayers, formerly of the Weathermen, when Obama was 8), media from national to local newspapers in Nevada are opening the doors of McCain and Palin's closets, revealing plenty. A sampling since yesterday:
Unbelievable: Press Can't Interview Palin Supporters
Press kept under a watchful eye
The St. Petersburg Times in Florida reports:
GOP Senator's Wife and Ike's Granddaughter to Endorse Obama Tuesday
Nice. You start playing the race/terrorist card and look what happens. Associated Press:
Will New Palin ‘Racially Tinged' Attacks Backfire on McCain?
Bizarrely, the McCain campaign announced to media over the weekend that it was going to launch personal attacks on Barack Obama to try to turn attention away from the economy, which is helping drive national and battleground state polls way up for Obama. Sarah Palin is already on the campaign trail trying to tie Obama to terrorists, prompting the Associated Press to warn that McCain may pay deeply for this tactic:
Oops, Another Fake McCain-Palin Debate Ad Slips Through
It's hilarious, though.
OK, this is wacky. For two debates in a row, the McCain campaign has let an ad praising first McCain and and now Palin prematurely appear on a major news outlet, either before the debate happened (McCain) or showing that they were putting praise ("She killed. ... She was the star") in someone else's mouth (Palin ad). How can they be so sloppy?
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
Project Vote Blasts GOP Attack on Montana Voters
[Verbatim statement]As reported yesterday in the online news outlet The Missoulian, the Republican Party of Montana is challenging the eligibility to vote of at least 6,000 residents of that statemostly in key Democratic strongholdsbased solely on the fact that the residents have filed change-of-address cards with the U.S. Postal Service. While state GOP Executive Director Jacob Eaton claims the challenges are an attempt to protect "the integrity of the voting process," such massive challenges at this late date threaten to overwhelm election officials, suppress turnout of eligible voters, and create chaos at the polls.
JUST IN: House Passes Bailout Plan 263-171; Stocks Rally, Then Fall
See: JFP Business Blog
The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Senate's bailout plan on the second try. Mississippi congressmen voted the same as they did Mondaywith the three Democrats opposing the bailout and the lone Republican, Rep. Chip Pickering, voting for it. Roll call vote here.
McCain Damage Control on Palin Bankruptcy Gaffe
ABC News is reporting that the campaign is frantically backtracking on her misstatement of the campaign's position on some protections for homeowners under foreclosuregiving them too much:
The ‘Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere'
In the veep debate, Gov. Sarah Palin dramatically mischaracterized John McCain's health-care plan, saying among other things that is "revenue-neutral." She set up one of Joe Biden's best moments in a night of many. Here's the Obama campaign's ad response to her health-care gaffe:
More Bad Economic NewsHuge Job Losses in September
The New York Times is reporting:
BAM! The JFP Biden-Palin Drinking Game
1. Biden looks at Palin like she's stupid.
In honor of the vice presidential debate tonight, the JFP staff put our heads together to create a drinking game. So print this out, study it a bit (debate practice?), then drink every time ...
Odds of V.P. Palin Becoming President
I just saw a report that 30 percent of vice presidents have become president. Gulp. This is what Roger Cohen of the New York Times says about the odds:
It's P-Day! Debate Party in the Red Room!
Here at the office, I'm referring to today as P-Day. Take that as you will. To celebrate it, we are gathering tonight to watch the vice presidential debate in the Red Room, along with Lawyers for Obama and local Democratic folks. Now, you are welcome as long as you do not mind a room tilted toward Obama. It doesn't matter what party you are (I'm an Independent for Obama, for instance); you are welcome. Word is that the bartenders will look suspiciously like Sarah Palin, and that beehives and glasses will rule the evening. So come on out if you dare. ;-)
The Palins: What They Earn and Own
The Anchorage Daily News today reports on financial information about Sarah and Todd Palin that hasn't previously been disclosed, and prior to her federal tax records, which she has not yet released. Love those socialistic oil royalties:
Veep Debate: Possible Pitfalls for Both Sides
Interesting preview on the New York Times' Caucus blog. In part:
McCain Gives Up on Michigan
Politico just broke the news that John McCain is giving up on Michigan:
DNA Exonerates Sunflower County Man After 16 Years
[Verbatim from Innocence Project] Sixteen years after his arrest, all charges were dropped against Arthur Johnson today when it was revealed that the DNA testing that led to his release in February pointed directly to another man who is in prison for sexual assault. Arthur Johnson is the fourth man to be exonerated in Mississippi since 2006. Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks were exonerated in January due to post conviction DNA testing. Cedric Willis was also exonerated in Jackson in 2006, but DNA testing in that case was completed before trial. As in this case, in the Brewer and Brooks cases, the DNA tests that exonerated them led to the identification of the real perpetrator.
Senate Passes Bailout Plan 74-25; Wicker and Cochran Oppose
In start contrast to the House of Representatives Monday, a bipartisan majority of senators voted for a bailout plan tonight. Mississippi Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker were among the small number of senators who voted against the plan.Read more.
AG Hood Warns Against Misleading Voter Registration Info
[Verbatim from AG Hood] Jackson, MS -- Phone calls to the Attorney General's Office suggest some mis-information may be circulating about the upcoming election and designated deadlines. Attorney General Jim Hood would like to clarify what Mississippi law mandates for Mississippi voters. Per state statute, the deadline for voter registration in Mississippi is Saturday, October 4 at NOON. "The Secretary of State's Office has done a good job in letting Mississippians know the deadline to register to vote is October 4 for those counties that will be open on that day," said Attorney General Hood. "However, it is important to note, that the law specifically says NOON on October 4. Calls in to our office suggest that some people may think they have the entire day, when in fact they do not."
Does Sarah Palin Know What Hamas Is?
I'd read the transcript of her answer to Katie Couric's Hamas question, but I hadn't seen the video. This is really disturbing. Watch for yourself.
Is Palin Causing McCain's Dramatic Poll Drops?
Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic says that's what the latest polls show:
Daily Journal: ‘Childers, Musgrove, Davis Talk About Crisis'
Patsy Brumfield of the Daily Journal talks to several of the state's congressionals and candidates for Congress about the financial crisis. (Interestingly, the paper's headline leaves out the name of senatorial candidate Erik Fleming of Jackson, who is also quoted in the piece. OK, we will refrain from pointing out that they left out the black candidate because we're sure it was on oversight.) Anyway:
Coca-Cola Providing Recycling at State Fair
[Verbatim] JACKSON, Oct. 1, 2008- Jackson Coca-Cola Bottling Company, in partnership with the Mississippi State Fair Commission, Hinds Community College and the Hinds County Sheriff's Office, announced today plans to make recycling an option for visitors at this year's Mississippi State Fair. Jackson Coca-Cola Bottling Company employees will place 20 recycling bins, shaped like Coca-Cola bottles, on the state fairground's Midway near concession stands during the State Fair, October 1-12, 2008.
Crye-Leike Realtors Achieves 100% in United Way Campaign
[Verbatim] RIDGELAND, MS., – Crye-Leike, Realtors congratulates it's sales associates and employees in Ridgeland Mississippi for their support of the 2008 United Way Campaign. Under the leadership of Broker Associate Shari Lackey-Culver, the sales team achieved 100% participation. "I want to thank my fellow associates for their support and for realizing that we really can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate," said Shari. "While we always hope to raise more money than we did the year before, it's equally important to have everyone participate and together we can have a profound impact on the lives of our neighbors.
Alltell Arena Update Thursday and on WLEZ Wednesday
[Verbatim from Ben Allen of Downtown Jackson Partners] ARENA MEETING UPDATE
If you are receiving this email, you are one of 70 people confirmed for our Arena Meeting and Luncheon, Thursday October 2nd, at theTelCom Center. The time for lunch has been changed to 11:30 until 12:20. Representatives from the Governor's Office, the Senate, the House, the Council, the Board of Supervisors, MDA, JRA, the Mayor, Chamber, JCVB, DFA, UMMC, JSU, the City, Clarion Ledger, JFP, JPD, JPS, HCEDD, WAPT, CCCC, Arts Council, Mississippi Mainstreet, Mississippi Business Journal, Jackson Progressives and a host of citizens are pre-registered. The program will begin at 12:30 sharp. If you know of others who wish to come to the meeting at 12:30, please ask them to e-mail me at [e-mail missing]. Seating is limited. *The 11:30 until 12:20 "Deli Sandwich Buffet Luncheon" is filled.
Barr Praises House for Rejecting Wall Street Bailout
[Verbatim] Atlanta, GA – "Few people thought it could be done, but members of Congress listened to the people rather than the establishment to vote down the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street," notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. "Their courageous action gives us a chance to start over. Our starting point should not be a government bailout. It should be a market work-out," says Barr. "The bailout package was flawed from front to back, starting with its price tag," Barr explains, noting that a Treasury Department spokesman admitted to Forbes.com that the data was 'not based on any particular data point.'
Hosemann Travels Abroad to Promote Military Voting
[Verbatim] Jackson, MSAt the request of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is one of five Secretaries of State from across the nation currently visiting our troops overseas. The bipartisan trip was designed to connect personally in the field with military men and women, to encourage them to cast their vote in the 2008 General Election and to discuss the process of military voting.Â
297,000-square-foot Distribution Facility Available in Baldwyn, Miss.
* 202,320 square feet -Distribution/Manufacturing
A 297,000-square-foot Distribution / Warehouse / Manufacturing facility is available 20 miles from new Toyota plant in Blue Springs, Miss.: