Although I expect him to win the mere fact that there is a poll showing Dingell trailing in what has been a solidly Democratic district is telling. Between them, he and his father have represented the district for going on 80 years and the seat has never really been in play.

Bank of America has announced they will be halting foreclosures in all 50 states. This follows up on reports last week they would stop them in about 25 of the 50. The problems stem from the fact that in states where judicial foreclosure is required the lender has to formally verify the documentation that they own the loan/etc. It seems that the banks had been winking and nodding at the process, just signing off on the paperwork without properly reviewing things. In states like California the formal...

In another campaign blunder in a season filled with them (on a very bipartisan basis) an aide to Jerry Brown suggested calling opponent Meg Whitman a whore. The discussion was caught accidentally on a voice mail with a police union. When I first heard this story I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal. So some aide in a room somewhere made some comment about Whitman. But then I heard the audio (available in the linked article) and it turns out Brown was in the room at the time and didn’t...

President Obama has used a pocket veto to reject a bill that critics say could loosen standards for foreclosure in states where judicial foreclosure is the law. The bill was intended to clear up a relatively modest legal issue, whether one state would recognize notarizations from other states. But critics are worried that this could allow banks to short cut the process of foreclosure by not properly reviewing lending documents. The question now is how the bill managed to sail through Congress so...

Chris Colfer of Glee has a message for us all The last few weeks have been tragic, and good for him for speaking out. It DOES get better folks !

The latest update from RCP shows the projected Senate at 50/50. I remain skeptical as to the extent of the GOP win next month but it looks like things could be very interesting

Jack Kelly has an interesting article up on RCP about the number of minorities running for office as Republicans in 2010 as well as the general lack of media attention. I do think he has a point. Admittedly some of them have no chance of winning, but you would think that with our first black President that having black Republicans running for office would be worthy of some discussion.

In perhaps the least surprising move in Chicago political history, former Congressman and White House COS Rahm Emmanuel has announced he is running for mayor of Chicago. At this point I am not sure what his chances are. On the surface he certainly has lots of political connections and probably will have the unofficial backing of the Daley machine. But if the black vote unites behind one candidate that could make it difficult in a Democratic primary. In addition Emmanuel has certainly made enemies...

The woman is a Goddess of Music

This is a truly tragic story and one that demonstrates just how cruel some people can be. An 18 year old student at Rutgers college reportedly killed himself after some fellow students recorded him having sex with a man and broadcast it on the internet. Tyler Clementi was by all accounts a gentle, kind and talented music student, one who was very sensitive about things and who was humiliated by the crude jokes that went with the event. I would think even the most callous person would find this horrifying,...

Still one of the best scenes in all of movies, and I do agree that nobody here is acting.

As readers of my posts will know I have plenty of reasons to be critical of President Obama. I disagree with him on a number of issues and would probably not vote for his re-election. Having said that I am begging, pleading and praying that people will finally shut up about him being a Muslim. He’s been quite plain about the fact that he is a Christian. Indeed during the 2008 campaign one of the issues used against him by his critics was that he attended a Christian church with a radical pastor....

With tighter economic times people are looking for every way possible to save every penny they can and given my work I am obviously in touch with people trying to economize. One topic of recent interest to me was just how much the average person spends on food every day. I read a study that said the figure is in the $ 5 to $ 7 range and that seemed somehow low, so I decided to run the math and see if it works and to my surprise I found that not only does it work but that the lower figures may well...

No, this isn’t a reference to his mental stability, or serious lack thereof, but rather the growing speculation that he is probably quite ill. Analysts say that his decision to make the moves to designate Kim Jong Un as his successor may be a sign that he is quite near death. Under normal circumstances the death of a crazy monster like Kim Jong Il would be only of mild interest as to just which circle of Hell he is destined to inhabit and how the reunion with his dad would go. But with North...

Rick Lazio has dropped out of the race for NY Governor in an effort to help GOP nominee Paladio. However expect AG Cuomo to follow his father into the Governors Mansion.

Legislative elections are being held this week in Venezuela and there is much speculation as to what will happen with the power of strongman Hugo Chavez. Chavez has not looked kindly on the idea of people voting against him and has done a lot to make sure his side wins, but there seems to be considerable opposition to his government. It seems likely his party will retain control of the legislature but they may not keep the 2/3rds majority needed to run the show without opposition. I thought it interesting...

Since this week would have marked Jim Henson’s 74th birthday it only seems fitting to watch a video of the amazing Muppet Show. These masks were created for the one sketch and never used again. Amazing.

It takes an awful lot for Kos to go after a Democrat, especially when it is a fairly liberal one. From the video it sure seems like Sanchez implied that her Vietnamese opponent is a racist and that her district is ‘a Latino one’.

Given all of the negative stories we see, especially involving high school kids, it’s nice to be able to report a good one. For most of the US, it’s not lacrosse season yet, but it is at a high school in Florida where a school team arranged a special game to allow one player to perform for her dad. You might ask why they felt the need to do so now, with lacrosse season only a few months away. The sad answer is that in a few months, one dad won’t be around anymore. He’s dying...

In a move that I think most people can understand, a leading Mexican newspaper in the border city of Ciudad Juarez has conceded that the drug cartel is the de facto government of the region and has asked them to tell the news media what they can and cannot report. Given that a number of reporters in the border regions have been killed for being critical of the cartel, one can hardly blame the choice. But it certainly emphasizes the need for stronger border security. How long will it be before US...

Senator Murkowski (R-AK) is running a write in campaign, possibly turning this in to a real 3 way race.

Today I stopped at the grocery store to get some food for dinner. When I got out to car I realized they had undercharged me by $ 1.50 so I went back in and told them and paid the extra. I mentioned this to a friend (whom I consider quite honest) and he said that he never bothers for less than $ 5. Which prompted me to offer this weekend post for your consideration When dealing with shopping, how much do you have to be undercharged before you go in and say something ? Is it different amount when they...

When Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) ran for office in 2006 he wore his sons combat boots to signal his support for his son, who was fighting in Iraq. Those boots are now displayed in his DC office. Well he just got some more boots. These boots bear the signatures of some of the 14,000 service members who were discharged under DADT. A very fitting symbol for the Senator to consider. How about supporting ALL of the troops ?

Neither he nor the people he quotes are anything but solidly conservative, yet he thinks that the right made a huge mistake. I think he’s right.

The Crystal Ball, ever the informative resource, has provided us with an analysis of how Gallup and their final pre election poll correlate to election outcomes. The basic message seems to be that if the GOP has even a modest lead in the final poll that Speaker Pelosi will be moving into new digs come January. With a result of about +4R the new numbers would be 223-213 (right now the number seems to be around 5). If the number goes as high as the 10 point edge in a recent poll we’d see a GOP...