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 Bloggers and Lagers: This Saturday from Noon to Three at Pizzaville http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31942 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31942 <p>Some would say bloggers and beer don't mix.  Some would say bloggers and sunlight don't mix.  Some might even say that bloggers don't mix.  They'd be wrong 2 out of 3 times.</p> <p>C'mon out and join your fellow bloggers for some of the best pizza in town at the very fun PizzaVille USA on Oak Street.  I'll be there in my Bakersfield.com shirt from noon to three and yes, by popular demand I'll bring the name tags.</p> <p>Hope to see you all there!</p> <p>Here are some pics from previous meetups:</p> <p>http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/BdotCOM/6642</p> <p>http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/bmweerman/8285/</p> <p> </p> 35.364062 -119.038215 Bloggers' Beer and Pizza at PizzaVille on Saturday http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31810 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31810 <p>By popular demand, we're going to have a bloggers' get together this Saturday (8/16/08) from noon to 3 at PizzaVilleUSA.  The address is 700 Oak Street and I'll be there in my Bakersfield.com shirt.  C'mon out and bring an appetite for some of the best pizza in town.</p> <p>Who's in?</p> 35.364062 -119.038215 Drinking Liberally - The bar is now open! http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31741 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31741 <p>Well folks, we've finally done it.   Our official page up and running: http://livingliberally.org/drinking/chapters/CA/bakersfield </p> <p>I haven't gotten any schwag yet for our founders, but I'll place an order soon.  In the meantime, get on over there and sign up for the notifications.  For now we'll be doing our regular events on the first and third Thursdays of every month at <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=700+oak+street+bakersfield,+ca&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.210175,111.796875&ie=UTF8&ll=35.366498,-119.038754&spn=0.006754,0.013647&z=16&iwloc=addr">PizzaVille (700 Oak Street)</a> and we may add some occasional other time slots.</p> <p>Thanks all for the patience and pitchers.  We are now live.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> Drinking Liberally Thursday Night http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31299 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/TomW/31299 <p>It looks like the folks a Drinking Liberally (actually Living Liberally) have gotten a bit swamped by Netroots Nation among other things so our "official page" isn't up quite yet.  In the meantime, we've never been a crew that waits for others to give us the green light.</p> <p>In that spirit, I'm opening the first Drinking Liberally gathering this Thursday night at Pizzaville USA (See map above).  We'll be there at 7:30.  C'mon out , grab a beer or a soda and some of the best pizza in town and help kick this off right.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> 35.364062 -119.038215 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