All Politics Are Local - TomW's Blog - Bakersfield.com

All Politics Are Local - TomW's Blog - Bakersfield.com http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW Politics and news. Politics and news. en-us Not Yet Drinking Liberally http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/29507 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/29507 <p>Hey Folks,</p> <p>We're on for tomorrow (Thursday 7/3/08) night at Pizzaville on Oak Street.  I'll be there at 7:30.  We won't be an official chapter until I file some stuff, but this is a good "dry" run.  If you haven't seen me, here I am working.</p> <p><img alt="" src="http://people.bakersfield.com/file/picture/111698/0/0/" /></p> <p>So, who is coming out to help the pre-lauch of our very own chapter of Drinking Liberally?</p> Drinking Liberally? http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/28867 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/28867 <p>So folks, how about it?  I'm thinking of starting up a chapter of the much loved <a href="http://livingliberally.org/drinking/">Drinking Liberally</a> right here in good ole B-town.  I'm thinking Thursday nights and someplace downtown like Jerry's Pizza.  I'd like to do something with a bit of food and something other than just booze for the teetollers and abstainers.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> Bush Announces The End of the Surge http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/24606 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/24606 <p>President Bush, in a speech this morning, announced that the US will be withdrawing 5 brigades from Iraq.  He also says that we have "revived the prospect of success" in Iraq which has become a common talking point by those who are supportive of continuing our engagement there.  Further, he is "decreasing" the deployment lengths from 15 months to 12, but the new deployment lengths will kick in for troops that deploy after August 1st.</p> <p>There are a few problems with this announcement, most notably that we've known for over a year now that we would be compelled to withdraw at least 5 brigades from Iraq this year.  The surge itself was simply an overlap of deployments where some troops were deployed early and others were stop-lossed into extended tours.  Our military has been over-extended, over-deployed and under-supported.  The draw down is simply an acknowledgement that any further surge would have, in the words of many in the military "pushed the military over a cliff."</p> <p>On the decreased deployment lengths, these decreases still leave deployments at longer lengths than they have been historically and much longer than everyone who knows these things knows troops should be deployed.  Secondly, by decreasing the tour length of troops only for troops deployed after August 1st, he makes yet another promise that he will not be responsible for fulfilling.</p> <p>Lastly, President Bush spoke at length about defeating Al-Queda.  It's probably a mistake, but "Al-Queda" (the people associated with Osama bin Laden) aren't actually in Iraq.  There is a group called "Al-Queda In Iraq", which has nothing to do with "Al-Queda".</p> <p>I'm glad that some of our troops are coming home, no doubt, and I'm also proud of them for their service.  We need to get more of them home sooner, give them real time off between deployments (the military recommends 2 years), and get them the support they need when they get here.</p> McCain Breaks His Own Laws http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/24547 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/24547 <p>John McCain is in violation of the McCain-Feingold Act in his campaign for President.  He took a loan earlier when his campaign went bankrupt and used an assurance of public funding to secure the loan.  Now that he has money coming in (at least a little), he has decided not to take public financing.  Unfortunately, the law that he wrote says that even if you don't you the funds and only use the promise of funds, you're now bound to public financing.  That bit of the law was written specifically so that shady politicians couldn't use the system as collateral and then not be bound by its rules.</p> <p>What's worse is that McCain is already over the limit for the amount he is allow to spend as a publicly financed candidate.</p> <p>More from FOX "News": http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/02/25/democrats-to-seek-fec-investigation-of-mccain-financing/</p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">The national Democratic party wants campaign finance regulators to investigate whether Sen. John McCain would violate money-in-politics laws by withdrawing from the primary election’s public finance system, filing an official complaint Monday with the Federal Election Commission. </span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">McCain, who had been entitled to $5.8 million in federal funds for the primary, has decided to bypass the system so he can avoid spending limits between now and the GOP’s national convention in September.</span></p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://elections.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/DNC_McCain_FEC_Complaint_AS_FILED.pdf"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">Click here to read the full complaint from the Democratic National Committee (.pdf).</span></a></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">FEC Chairman David Mason notified McCain last week that he can only withdraw from public financing if he answers questions about a campaign loan and obtains approval from four members of the six-member commission. Such approval is doubtful in the short term because the commission has four vacancies and cannot convene a quorum.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">“John McCain poses as a reformer but seems to think reforms apply to everyone but him,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">Part of the issue centers on a loan McCain obtained late last year. The loan was not directly secured by McCain’s potential access to public funds. But his agreement with the bank required him to reapply for public funds if he lost early primary contests and to use that money as collateral.</span></p> McCain's Idea of Love http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/24531 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/24531 <p>We all know John McCain has a temper.  He's called his fellow Senators "F***ing Jerk" and "A**hole" and has said charming things like "I hate gooks".  Now another story has come to light about John and Cindy McCain:</p> <p>http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_temper_boiled_over_in_92_0407.html [WARNING: This link contains profanity.]</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, <b>Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c***."</b> McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.</span></p> <p>Now, I'm no prude, but there's a line somewhere between an f-bomb and calling your wife a trollop.  There's a real bright line between cursing and calling your wife a c***.</p> <p>He needs to be confronted with this as do the witnesses so we can either put this to bed or put him to bed.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

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th_john-mccain.jpg Unofficial "Bloggers' Brunch" at Dagny's Saturday http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/23779 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/23779 <p>We haven't had a Bloggers' Brunch for a while and I thought I'd just invite my fellow bloggers out for a meet-n-greet this Saturday.  I'll be there from noon to 4 and I'll even bring nametags if folks want them.  We've got a ton of new bloggers who it would be nice to meet and of course the regulars are all a treat.  Even the folks who just read but never post should stop by and see that we're all just regular folks.  Well, mostly regular folks.</p> <p>I think that events like this help us to remember that as we fire our missives off into cyberspace, there are real people on the receiving end of those comments.</p> <p>This will of course be a non-sanctioned event so you'll have to buy your own drinks.  :)</p> <p>Actually on that same note, I do want to emphasize that this is a community meetup.  Folks from the paper are welcome to be there as guests of the community.  Heck, I might even buy drinks for a few of them.</p> <p>Who's in?</p> 35.377206 -119.020056 Republican State Parties in Disarray http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/23691 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/23691 <p>Interesting article from Politico here.  Democrats are just barely recovering from this same thing.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9175.html</p> <div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" class="storyheaderlarge"><b>GOP state parties are in dire straits</b></div> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">At a time when the GOP presidential nominee will need more assistance than ever, a number of state Republican parties are struggling through troubled times, suffering from internal strife, poor fundraising, onerous debt, scandal or voting trends that are conspiring to relegate the local branches of the party to near-irrelevance. <br /> <br /> In some of the largest, smallest, reddest and bluest states in the nation, many state Republican organizations are still reeling in the aftermath of the devastating 2006 election cycle, raising questions about how much grassroots help the state parties will be able to deliver to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. <br /> <br /> The state party woes are especially ill-timed since McCain will face a Democratic nominee who may be considerably better funded and organized, and since Republicans will be facing an energized Democratic party that is shattering primary election turnout records.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"> “After twelve years of being in power, you tend to get fat and lazy, and in some cases arrogant with respect to your positions,” said Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican party. “There is no doubt that we have had people who have gotten caught up in both illegal activities and immoral activities and none of that helps the party as a whole. <br /> <br /> “If you go back to 2006 most people would agree that not only did we lose our brand, that we damaged our brand significantly,” Anuzis said. “We are clearly rebuilding.” <br /> <br /> Nowhere is that clearer than in two of the nation’s largest states, California and New York. <br /> <br /> According to figures compiled by the California secretary of state’s office, the number of registered Republicans there has dropped by roughly 207,000 since October 2006. At the end of January, California’s Republican party was in the red, with $3.2 million cash on hand but more than $3.4 million in debts. California Democrats, by contrast, had $5.5 million in the bank and just $83,000 in debts. <br /> <br /> Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has clashed with conservatives in his party, used Hollywood terminology to paint a dire picture last fall at a state party convention. <br /> <br /> “We are dying at the box office,” Schwarzenegger said. “We are not filling the seats.”</span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> Publican's Political Genius http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/23632 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/23632 <p>I have to say I'm impressed the genius of Publican, one of our newer posters here.  His understanding of Presidential Politics is greater than mine and in an objective test, I was roundly beaten.  I am both impressed and humbled by his presence here and can only hope he'll spend more time with us so that I may better learn.</p> <p>Thank you, sir, for your time and patience.</p> I did not have sexual relations with that woman! http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/21763 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/21763 <p>Oh, boy, talk about a strong start to the scandal season.  The New York Times just broke a story that John McCain may have been having an affair with a lobbyist:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin</p> <p><i>WASHINGTON — Early in Senator </i><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/john_mccain/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about John McCain."><i>John McCain</i></a><i>’s first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.</i></p> <p><i>A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.</i></p> <p><i>When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.</i></p> <p><i>Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.</i></p> <p><i>It had been just a decade since an official favor for a friend with regulatory problems had nearly ended Mr. McCain’s political career by ensnaring him in the Keating Five scandal. In the years that followed, he reinvented himself as the scourge of special interests, a crusader for stricter ethics and campaign finance rules, a man of honor chastened by a brush with shame.</i></p> <p>Interesting stuff.  More smoke than fire here?  The only reason it has any legs is because he got married to his current wife very shortly after he was divorced his first one.</p> <p>Also, you should check the link.  Iseman is quite a looker.</p>

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vickiiseman.jpg TomW Amazing Obama Video http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/20783 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/20783 <p>Wow.  This is probably one of the best ads ever, political or otherwise.  Not sure what else to say about it.</p> <p>Anyone going out tomorrow night to watch the returns come in?  Any hot spots to watch the numbers come in?</p>