Via Americablog.

If there’s lipstick in your santorum you’re, um, doing it wrong.

Palin appeared at the bar on 20th and Walnut streets last night to shake hands with her fans for about an hour before the first presidential debate. While the crowd inside was friendly, hundreds of people lined the street outside in protest with signs that read things like “Palin is Santorum With Lipstick.”

A few more details from Palin’s visit to a bar in Philadelphia last night…

Palin did not take questions from reporters nor did she talk policy. She posed for pictures and chatted with supporters, many of whom were from outside the city limits, and made an approximately minute-long statement.

And where was Joe Biden last night? Taking questions from reporters.

Did John McCain say Obama was full of “horseshit” on national television?

Incidentally, it was pretty clear to me last night that Obama won the debate, because debates are supposed to be aimed at the people who haven’t really been paying attention up ‘till now. Obama was perfect in this respect: he was calm, direct, clear, and not condescending or angry. The “slam dunk” or “knockout punch” or whatever shitty sports analogy all these commentators are talking about would only serve to make the Democratic base really happy; Obama was appealing to undecideds and independents, and he did so effectively. Unless you’re given a clear and simple and guaranteed “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine” kind of opening, it’s best to be solid, not splashy. All McCain had was talk of Reagan and the KGB and past glories. That works for Republican primary debates, but presidential debates are about what you will do, or what you’ve done for us lately.

That said, I still donated to the Obama camp last night, and you should too. You get a free t-shirt if you donate more than thirty bucks.

Film

Couch Fest

• See what else is happening in Film on Saturday »

Decibel Festival

Carl Craig

• See what else is happening in Music on Saturday »

Slog commenter Ed writes this about our debate liveblog from last night:

After reading all of the polls this morning, pretty much all declaring Obama certainly the winner, if not a pretty clear winner, can we all now agree that you guys know nothing about how “average” Americans are going to view anything? Particularly how they view a debate?

You know, Ed, I’m almost ready to admit that. I want to see a few more post-debate polls before I completely discard the way I was viewing last night’s debate, but for the moment: Yes, it seems like those of us who thought Obama wasn’t tough enough were completely wrong.

First, the polls I believe Ed is talking about:

A CNN snap poll right after the debate found Obama way ahead of McCain on key measures:

• Was more intelligent: Obama 55%, McCain 30%

• Expressed his views more clearly: Obama 53%, McCain 36%

• Spent more time attacking his opponent: McCain 60%, Obama 23%

• Was more sincere and authentic: Obama 46%, McCain 38%

• Seemed to be the stronger leader: Obama 49%, McCain 43%

• Was more likeable: Obama 61%, McCain 26%

And a CBS poll found similar results among undecided voters. With them, Obama won by a huge 15-point margin.

And, on top of that, check out the reactions of people in this Fox News focus group. Even they gave Obama the win:

For what it’s worth, we here at the Slog were not alone in failing to realize how well Obama was doing.

But that’s probably not worth much.

So, with the caveat that the CNN and CBS polls are snap polls, and that further polling could show something different, it’s obviously time to ask: What happened? Are we crazy?

I think Ben Smith provided a good first answer last night, blogging from the press file room at the debate:

The mild consensus in the press file was that McCain won, if not in particularly dramatic fashion. The two insta-polls out — from CBS and CNN — found the opposite: That Obama won by a wide margin. CBS had it 39% to 25% for Obama, CNN 51% to 38%.

Maybe the difference was expectations. People covering the campaigns think of Obama as a much-improved debater, and McCain as at times a weak one. McCain, by that standard, overperformed. But people tuning into the race now now think of McCain as an experienced hand, and Obama as a newcomer. Obama more than held his own, and McCain failed to expose him — as he tried — as out of his depth.

Yes, to the different expectations.

And here are two other theories I have on my brain at the moment:

1) People covering the campaign, or watching it closely over the last 20 or so months, have had a long time to get used to watching an African-American make a credible run for the presidency. That part is old news to us. But for people just tuning in, it’s not. Check out the surprise of some of the viewers in Fox’s focus group—Obama is “very articulate,” he “seemed to know what he was doing,” he “seemed to care.” All of those reactions suggest very low expectations for Obama on those scores. Now, really, the only way you can think that Obama isn’t articulate or on top of the issues is if you haven’t been watching and/or have certain assumptions about African-American leaders. Obama won over doubters last night, and many of them probably had unspoken, inchoate, and maybe even blatantly prejudiced concerns about a black man leading them. The press has moved beyond the race question for the most part, but my guess is that’s a huge mistake. For Americans just tuning in, the debates are the moment when they try on the historic idea of this African-American leading the country. Apparently, many find it not as bad as they thought.

2) PTSD. Or, maybe PTKLD. (Post-traumatic Kerry Loss Disorder.) My guess is that liberals who watched the debate through the lens of the last eight years wanted Obama to completely destroy McCain (and their memories of wimpy Democratic candidates, and their fears about how this election will go). Clearly, he didn’t need to do that to win. In fact, based on the insta-poll reactions, too much forcefulness and aggression from Obama would probably have been a mistake.

So, to return to Ed’s question: Am I ready to declare that I’m out of touch with the average American? Almost. I want to see a few more polls, but yeah, I’m almost ready.

But: Really, I’ve never thought that I view the election like an average American. Most normal (and sane) people don’t spend as much time following the race as I do. It’s always a trick to figure out how “average” people will react to things, and if anyone had that answer definitively, he or she would be making a killing in campaign consulting fees (and not, say, blogging on a Saturday morning). What these polls are suggesting to me is that the average American—or, probably more accurately, the average undecided America—is way more average that I was thinking.

UPDATE: Or… maybe we here at the Slog are just way more in touch with the mindset of Washington State voters—who, apparently, think McCain won.

It didn’t make it up in time for This Weekend at the Movies yesterday, but if anyone is wondering about Spike Lee’s new WWII drama Miracle at St. Anna, you can now read Charles Mudede’s review here:

The pre–civil rights black American soldier is the ultimate contradiction. And Spike Lee is well aware of this; he knows that the men in his new film, four black American soldiers in Italy at the end of World War II, are caught in a complex web of contradictions: black Americans in white Europe, black Americans battling racist Germans for their racist American government. And then there are all of those lonely and lovely white ladies in the Italian villages. Good lord, how can a brother keep his head straight in this most trying of situations?

We have an open mic and three readings today.

First, at Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Ann Littlewood reads from Night Kill, which is about a woman accused of murder by lion. There was never a Murder, She Wrote about that, I bet.

Up at Third Place Books, John Robison reads from Look Me in the Eye. That book is his memoir about growing up with Asperger’s. It’s also a memoir about growing up as Augusten Burroughs’ brother.

And at Elliott Bay Book Company, Emily Warn reads from Shadow Architect, her most recent book of poems. I think that Warn is a beautiful poet. Here is a link to a page that features her reading one of her poems aloud. You should go to this.

The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here.

Says Slog tipper Reggie…

I had a dream last night where I was talking to Obama. It seemed very surreal. We were in a diner talking to each other for a few minutes about the debate and a couple of other things. You should ask the Slog asking people whether they have dreams about Obama too. My roommate has them and other friends have had them. Before Obama came into the picture politically, I’ve never had a dream about any politician. Since then, I’ve had at least 3-4 of these dreams.

I’ve had dreams about the Queen of England. Never Obama. You?

…is dead.

The future is here:

Hello all. At this moment John McCain and Barack Obama are in Oxford, Mississippi, just a half hour away from their first head-to-head debate, and your Stranger debate captains for the night—Erica C. Barnett, Dan Savage, and yours truly—are here online, ready to talk you through all the angst and argument and political garbage. Let’s begin.

Drinking game rules are below. And most of you know how this liveblogging widget works, but in case you’re new: Drop your comments into the widget window and we’ll post them if they’re worthy.

Yesterday we asked the Sloggosphere for insight on this not-so-elusive voter, and a few of their stories are below.

Folks fear Palin but tolerate Obama. Some think Rossi is a straight-shootin’, calm guy, while Gregoire is feckless and reactionary. While these anecdotes give some insight to individuals, they don’t fully identify common threads among this slice of the electorate. My theory is many of Obama-Rossi voters are middle-aged male swing Democrats from the exurbs who want roads, but think Republicans are hurting the national economy. But we can’t be sure. I’ve got calls in to pollsters and will report back.

In the meantime, he are some tidbits from readers on how they reconcile the candidates’ conflict on issues—between a man who wants to decide what happens in a woman’s uterus to a Democrats with a 100-percent rating from NARAL—on a single ballot.

A woman, who asks to be known as Winston, on abortion and asphalt:

I’m voting for a split ticket. I believe Obama believes what he says, and will attempt to bring some kind of rational mindset back to the Presidency. As for Rossi, I voted Kerry/Rossi four years ago. I’ve worked with both Rossi and Gregoire on and off over the years and my experiences with them are significantly different. Gregoire has made statements to me, then turned and did the opposite two separate times - a disconcerting act for someone whom I greatly admired as AG. Rossi has consistently been straight with me: when he agreed with me, he agreed. When he disagreed, he stayed on point. No empty promises or lip service.

Choice issues on a state level are irrelevant. Not only was the right to choose confirmed by voters 20 years ago via initiative, but the essentially super majorities in the state House and Senate would prevent any kind of repeal legislation from even getting a hearing. On the federal level, however, choice is a real issue, and genuinely threatened. Obama would pick a Supreme Court justice to protect our right.

On Iraq, I opposed the war, and believe we should have finished the work in Afganistan FIRST. Now that we’re there and have dismantled the country, we have to finish the mess we’ve created. I believe Obama will actually move toward that local control we’ve all been hoping for.

As for roads, we need them. Commerce cannot move by bus. I do support lightrail with the hope that the system will allow us to move those buses to other, underserved areas that need transit. Lightrail only works if you get people to the depot. We will always need highways and rail lines to move product. 1000’s of grocery stores receive product in this state by 7 a.m. each day. Painters, vendors, school kids on buses - they’ve all got places to go each morning.

Luke Renner on loving a gay son and loving the real estate market:

My folks are voting for Obama and not for Gregoire.

My mom is afraid McCain will die in office and thinks Palin is a fucking idiot.

My dad’s a Republican and said he didn’t really believe in Obama, but he admitted the Democrats are much better on gay rights and he said that I - his gay son - matter more to him than any of the candidates. My mother, of course, immediately naysayed and warned him not to make promises he couldn’t keep, but… he’s never said anything like that before and I, for one, believe him.

Of course, it’s the states that are more responsible for many rights currently not afforded to my people, but it’ll be impossible to prevent them from voting for Rossi. Both are in Real Estate and they think he’s going to make them money.

Losing sports teams, tight ends, and registering voters who destest Gregoire after the jump.

Continue reading "About Those Obama-Rossi Voters" »

Created by you, our politically savvy (and, it appears, spectacularly boozy) readers. One hour to go before the debate. Get ready…

Drink every time:

• McCain flashes that creepy grimace/smile.

• Obama says, “Now, listen.”

• McCain refers to himself as a maverick.

• Barack Obama says “What you need to understand is…” or “The important thing to remember is that…” or “What these people don’t realize is that…”

• John McCain mentions “change.”

• McCain looks as if he expects (but doesn’t get) applause for something he just said.

• Obama gets applause for saying something that normally wouldn’t deserve applause.

Take a shot whenever:

• McCain talks about his POW status.

• Obama says “multi-task.”

• Hillary Clinton’s name is spoken (by any of the three).

• Obama mentions God. (Congrats, you’re the designated driver.)

Finish drink and pour two more if:

• Anyone says “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

• John McCain tries to move his arms above his shoulders.

Do a line if:

• Obama refers to past drug use and calls it “bitchin’.”

Put on lipstick and kiss your dog if:

• The pitbull/lipstick/hockey mom thing is mentioned.

Earlier today, the apparent owner of Seahawkshuddle.com threw up a classy post on his site in anticipation of next week’s Hawks/Giants game titled ” Welcome Giants fans: Wednesday’s Jokes of the Day!”

It looked like this:

and contained oh-so-classy 9/11 jokes like these:

Q: What was the last thing going through Mr. Jones’ head when he was working on the World Trade Center’s 90th floor? A: The 91st floor.

Q: What’s the last thing that went through the minds of the 9/11 jumpers?
A: Their ankles.

Q: What is the New York City Fire Department’s favorite song?
A: “It’s Raining Men”

Q: What’s Al Qaida’s favorite football team?
A: The New York Jets

The Internets went crazy and the story ended up on the Deadspin sports blog and in the New York Daily News. Meanwhile, Giants fans have tracked down the site owner and are undoubtedly on their way over to his house with torches and pitchforks.

The original Seahawkshuddle post has been taken down but can be found in Google’s cache here.

What a dick.

Google, Google, Google. I was mad at you for making such a shitty-looking first phone, but I can never stay mad at you for long.

…when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition — further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text — it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 — we should not eliminate anyone’s fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

I love you, Google.

Jeff does—required viewing!

Due to a schedule conflict and a lack of cable, I missed last night’s debate between Dino Rossi and Gov. Christine Gregoire in Blaine, but Josh (AKA the Competition, nee the Boss) was there (word is he stayed in a SWANK hotel), and he blogged about it for Horse’s Ass this morning.

Josh focuses in his post on the debate over the minimum wage (a Rossi-supporting convenience store clerk he talked to is “pissed” that Rossi opposes Washington State’s inflation-indexed minimum wage), but the thing that jumped out at me from the coverage of last night was this: Gregoire, who has bent over backwards to differentiate herself on “values” from “George W. Bush Republican” Rossi, vowed not to fund a paid family leave program passed by the legislature, a response to the projected $3.2 billion budget deficit. That program has been a major priority for Democratic legislators; targeting it as a cost-cutting measure smacks of pandering to exactly wrong audience.

The next Rossi-Gregoire debate will be on Wednesday, October 1, at 7:00 pm; it will air on PBS affiliates.

Richard Green, Imperial Wizard of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, says that the KKK will be attending to tonight’s presidential debate at the University of Mississippi. But rest easy, Obama supporters! Green promises that the Klan isn’t coming to make “a big hoopla” or anything.

The Klan will, however, have pamphlets and membership applications on hand for any audience members who happen to share the Klansmen’s views. Some examples of those views: Obama’s election “could be the destruction of America,” says Greene, who states categorically that he would not vote for a black candidate.

More here.

Hello! Sorry about the yelling earlier. I can’t stay mad at you guys.

Opening this week, regardless of temperature:

I liked the quiet and angry XXY: “Alex’s fierce, battered confidence in the rightness of her own body; her father’s heartbreaking pronoun confusion; and XXY’s gentle refusal to judge anyone’s choices (or, more importantly, to force choice on anyone) make it a powerful—and refreshingly sensitive—lesson on modern gender.”

Paul Constant calls Choke “an inept, poorly made movie for die-hard Palahniuk fans only.”

But he liked Humboldt County slightly better: “Though three-quarters of the film’s characters make their living solely from the cultivation of marijuana, there isn’t even one fusty pot pun in the whole movie.”

Charles Mudede details Year of the Fish’s many failures: “Seeing the exploitation of the teenager indirectly (through the thick and colorful lens of a fairy tale—the Chinese version of the Cinderella story) distorts the reality to such an extent that the serious elements (sex slavery, sweatshops, urban loneliness) cannot be taken seriously. What one wants to see instead is an unforgiving, unremitting, and undistorted indictment of global capitalism—a monster that makes life impossible for billions of people every day.”

I am here to tell you that The Lucky Ones is weird and dumb: “Daring to ask the question, “What would happen if three tired movie clichés had post-traumatic stress disorder?” the film seems to be based entirely on some screenwriter’s precious bon mot: They survived Iraq, but how will they survive on the battleground OF AMERICAN LIFE?!”

And Megan Seling would have enjoyed Eagle Eye, if real life weren’t so goddamned scary already: “Any other day, I’d watch it, eat my popcorn, cheer for the good guy, and be done with it. But given my current state of paranoia, I left the theater scared shitless that my cell phone was going to ring and it’d be Dick Cheney trying to ‘activate’ me.”

In Concessions, I wrote about some stupid straight-to-DVD shit.

And in Limited Runs:

Couch Fest Films sounds like fun (see our Suggests page). Northwest Film Forum is hosting the Decibel Festival Optical Multimedia Showcase tonight and tomorrow; Jasper Johns something-or-other Painters Painting starting on Sunday; and, as per usual, the totally fun Sprocket Society Secret Sunday Matinee. Central Cinema has, like, five straight nights of Dirty Dancing. I Vitelloni and Mafioso are playing at SIFF Cinema as part of Festa Italiana; also at SIFF Cinema, Still Life. Late nights are The Host (Egyptian) and Repo Man (Grand Illusion). The Grand Illusion also has The Corporal’s Diary, a war documentary. And all weekend long it’s the Tasveer Independent South Asian Film Festival at Broadway Performance Hall.

Ta-daaah! Have a lovely weekend, everyone.
Don’t forget that you can comment on articles!

Update: And, of course, there’s the Port Townsend Film Festival going on all weekend in uber-lovely Port Townsend.

I’m not saying anything but…

…isn’t that Sarah Brown? You know, the spouse of Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I’m not saying anything but isn’t he 57 and his lady 44? As for Tyson Beckford, the model with the muscles, isn’t he 37? Believe me, I’m saying nothing at all.

The 19-year-old man arrested following Wednesday night’s shooting in Maple Leaf will be released as police continue to investigate the case.

The 19-year-old man, who is an art and design student in Seattle, is suspected of shooting a 21-year-old man outside of the North Manor apartment complex in the 9700 block of 5th Ave NE just before 7pm Wednesday night. Police recovered a rifle at the scene.

According to the Seattle Times, the shooting may have stemmed from a car prowl. A 2001 Toyota Camry is registered to the 19-year-old man.

Earlier this afternoon Barack texted me (and you and everyone he knows) saying people should watch the debate on CNN. Looks like that got him into a little bit of trouble. Here’s the new text I just received from Barack:

Watch Barack debate John McCain tonight at 9 pm ET on any of the major networks or cable. Fwd this msg & remind friends to register to vote at VoteForChange.com.

Oops!

“Here are two questions my law partner came up with that I very much like,” writes Slog tipper Bob. “Please get Gwen Ifill or whomever it is to ask these—you can do that, right?”

1. To Sen. Obama: Would the nation be better off today if Senator McCain rather than George Bush had won the nomination and Presidency in 2000?

2. To Sen. McCain: Would the nation be better off today if Al Gore rather than George Bush had won the Presidency in 2000?

These are great questions—and I’m certain Gwen reads Slog, Bob, and I’m confident that she’ll feel the same way, and put these to the candidates.

I wrote to you a while ago—I’m the first letter in this column—about dealing with being out in a crappy little school, in a crappy little town. You helped a lot and I kept in mind much of what you said on bad days. I thought you might like an update: tomorrow I’m starting university—great course, big city, high queer population. I have officially escaped, and I’m just about to start that better life you talked about. (I would ask advice about making friends, but I already have this whole plan of look hot and be drunk, which is pretty comprehensive.) The icing on the cake is knowing most of the fuckers who made the last year so shitty screwed up their A levels or just plain don’t have enough aspiration in them to even want to have any kind of interesting life. Actually no; that’s a petty and vindictive and gets nowhere near my collegey goodness cake—thoughts like that are left behind as of tomorrow.

The important thing is that months after getting cast out, I’m finally able to fucking leave, and I couldn’t be happier. I hope if I ever have cause to write to you again, it’ll be about some sweaty kinky fun.

No Longer ‘Tired And Losing It’

Thanks for the update, NLTALI, it made my day.

Or, at least, prominent conservative and syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker of the National Review. Today she calls on Sarah Palin to drop out of the race:

It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted…

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself…

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

Listen, people. Two weeks ago (after I heard the weather would reach 86 degrees) I opened up “This Weekend at the Movies” with the gentle suggestion that the overheated could enjoy themselves in air-conditioned theaters. Then you got all aggro on me:

Air conditioned theaters? It’s 75 degrees outside. Folks need to be outside now; the remaining 10 months of the year when it’s 45 and drizzly they can park their big butts in a theater seat and watch a movie.
Posted by Sargon Bighorn | September 12, 2008 8:38 PM

The weather is perfect. This is the weather I crossed half the country to find. We walked twice as far today because we didn’t have any of that spring-break, titty-flashing sun beating down on us. Back when it was all freaking hot I wanted to be inside an air conditioned movie theater, but now? Now outdoors in Seattle is the only place to be.

If you don’t love overcast weather, you’re crazy to be paying the fortune it costs to live in this market. There a a million sunny places with cheap housing, you know.
Posted by elenchos | September 19, 2008 5:50 PM

The real “This Weekend at the Movies” coming shortly.

Love,
Lindy

As long as we’re talking financial collapse and government bailouts and whether or not D.C. needs Senator McCain in a moment of economic crisis:

^{Thanks to Sullivan, who posted from Huffington, who probably paid some college intern in drink tickets—at tonight’s debate party—to find the footage. So thanks, soon-to-be-drunk college intern!}

Alaska doesn’t seem to be a—um, how do you say?—culture of ideas. Has any writer/thinker/artist of distinction ever come from Alaska?

UPDATE: Brendan Kiley was born in Alaska. The question stands.

UPDATE 2: Jen posted about this yesterday. (Not even The Stranger’s own staff can keep up with Slog.)

No one at the Stranger—judging from the lack of posts about the subject—really seems to give a flying fuck about Nickelsville. This despite the fact that we may all be homeless soon.

Discuss.

Dino Rossi and other Republicans may list “GOP” as their party preference on general-election ballots, King County Superior Court Judge Richard Eadie announced this morning. Democrats had sued the Washington Secretary of State, which oversees elections, requesting an emergency order to stop printing ballots because the GOP label was deceptive.

A poll by Elway Research in June found that 25 percent of the state’s voters didn’t know GOP means Republican. And more recently the opinion research firm reported that Rossi gained 6 percent when he used the “GOP” label instead of “Republican.”

“They are trying to steal the fucking election,” says Dwight Pelz, chair for the Washington State Democratic Party. He says that in addition to Rossi, 22 legislative candidates have filed this year using the GOP label, which obscures their political leanings and benefits Republicans. “We find that when we identify candidates as Democrats, they get more votes.” The Republican name “is toxic,” says Pelz.

Eadie ruled that the “GOP” and other non-traditional party preferences could remain mostly for logistical reasons. Revising ballots would burden county elections offices and potentially disrupt the election because there are only about 40 days remaining until polls close.

Dave Ammons, a spokesman for the Washington Secretary of State, says King County has already printed 200,000 ballots and other counties have have already mailed military and oversees ballots. “In a sense, the election is underway already,” he says. He also says the judge decided labels on ballots must remain consistent with those on ballots in the primary election in August.

Since courts struck down Washington’s blanket primary, which forwarded one candidate from each leading party to the general election, and the state implemented a top-two primary system, candidates can list their party preference any way they like. Sam Reed, Secretary of State, said in a statement today, “This ruling again underscores that the new system is driven by and for the voters, not the political parties, and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome,”

But the “new system” clearly benefits Republicans. The state Washington State Republican Party—which doesn’t call itself the GOP party, ahem—even joined the state’s legal defense.

Pelz says state Democrats will go to the legislature in the 2009 session to “try to get them to close this loophole of deception.” If that fails, he says, the they will sue the state again next year.

Back out of a debate he’s convinced he’s going to lose? John McCain has done it before.

Another news story to toss in the faces of people who insist that marriage equality for same-sex couples is an attack on religion:

Proposition 8 is stirring great fervor this election season, as supporters and opponents of gay marriage gear up for their Nov. 4 duel at the ballot box. Now comes the latest group to weigh in—the Board of Rabbis of Southern California.

The board—a collection of leaders from the Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements—this week declared its opposition to the measure, which would amend the California Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Leaders of the board said they wanted protect the civil rights of gay and lesbian couples…. The board has more than 290 members. Roughly 120 took part in Wednesday’s vote, the largest number of rabbis to weigh in on such an issue in recent memory. Vogel said Friday that 93% of those who cast votes supported the resolution.

California’s “six most senior Episcopal bishops” are also urging a “no” vote on Prop 8.

From a text message I just received from Barack:

Watch Barack debate John McCain tonight at 9 pm Eastern on CNN. Also, remind friends to register to vote at VoteForChange.com. Please forward this message.

Barack Obama: bringing peace to the remote control wars since 2008.

It took this long for video from the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant to surface? Or did I miss it earlier? In any case, here it is, via Sullivan (and with a 50-second intro by some guy in Juneau who apparently keeps VHS tapes of such things). UPDATE: That first video was removed, so I’ve swapped it out with a new one:

Did you see this? It’s great.

Someone turn on the bat signal. We need help.

In an email with the subject “Metaphors for Capitalism - Illustration #1,” Matt Sussman “presented me with a beautiful present” (if I may borrow a few words from a standard translation of the Old Testament):

BLOODTHIRSTY shark fights in one of the world’s biggest aquariums are threatening the opening celebrations of a new Dubai shopping centre.

Razor-toothed Sand Tiger sharks have killed at least 40 smaller reef sharks and have been aggressive towards divers working on final preparations in the giant tank.

The ten million-litre aquarium features the world’s largest school of sharks and is the centrepiece of the new 5.9million sq ft Burj Dubai Mall.

Many of you are experts in both politics and boozing. So how about you help us with our debate drinking game and finish the following sentences in the comments?

First, a reminder of tonight’s cast of characters: Barack Obama, John McCain, and Jim Lehrer.

And now, the sentences:

Drink every time…

Take a shot whenever…

Finish drink and pour two more if…

^{And, you know, if you have other sentences you want to finish, go crazy. We’ll take the best of these and make them into our Official Stranger Debate Drinking Game™, which will be released just before our big debate liveblog.}

If you need an LED processor and you are a person anywhere in the world, I am sorry.

The world is out of LED processors right now.

This I heard from a man who needs them to finish an artwork at Harborview Medical Center, where the new building at Ninth and Jefferson is having an art opening next Thursday.

Slog reader Brian writes:

Does SLOG know of good places to watch debates (& drink)? if so it’d be a great slog entry! I know there must be some bars that are going to turn off the jukebox and turn full attention to the debates while others, many others, will be all like, ah who cares, and play sports and music or nothing instead. But I’m not in the know of good places to go for watching the debate tonight at 6.

Fear not, we are in the know. In addition to preparing for our big debate liveblog (featuring Dan Savage, Erica Barnett, and myself), I’ve also been putting together a list of places where you can go to watch the debate (preferably with your laptop so you can participate in our liveblog as well).

The full list in the jump. If you’re throwing a public party and want to add it, just email me and I’ll put your party on the list, too.

Among the party people and party places that you’ll find more information about when this blog post continues:

Galaxy Theater (Gig Harbor); Spitfire; Michele Frix (Renton); various Obama house parties around the state; Neighbours; Cafe Metropolitan; Cafe Presse; Twilight Exit; The Bottleneck Lounge; Tini Bigs & Hula Hula’s; the Columbia City Theater; Moe Bar; and various bars and restaurants and community centers from Spokane to Olympia.

Continue reading "The Stranger's Debate Party List" »

Sometimes you’ve gone to every single election page you can think of and there’s no updates at all, and nothing new to look at. Well, fuck that shit: Twitter now has an election page.

It’s totally useless, but it updates like 900 times a minute.

The people who really dislike this bailout are starting to speak out. John Washburn at The Brad Blog thinks Paulson’s plan could allow Paulson to buy Microsoft for a buck? (Thank you to slog tipper, Jeremy.) I’m not entirely convinced.

A financially savvy slog reader made the following point to me in an email:

The point of the bailout was to inject liquidity back in the market, which was supposed to have occurred after people had confidence in their banks again. That’s not going to happen. We do already have a much better method of injecting that liquidity directly though, and I feel dumb for not having thought of it before: the Small Business Administration.

Let’s stick with the $700 billion number. $500 billion in loans for any business with 100 or fewer employees that wants to expand. If you’ve been profitable three out of the past five years, guaranteed approval up to $1 million. $200 billion for startups, normal (meaning 1990s normal) application standards apply.

If we buy bad debt, it means that there’s one step with no multiplier effect. Really, it’ll mean smaller writedowns for the banks, so they may go all conservative and not lend at all, so their books look even better. If we give it directly to the small businesses, it’s got a multiplier immediately, since it’s going into the banks as actual deposits, that then get spent on equipment, buildings, supplies and so on. Cuts out the fat cats altogether, gets liquidity back in the market, indirectly helps the banks, and is guaranteed to create millions of jobs.

It’s a great point. Allow me to attempt to translate this to plainer language:

Let’s say you have an extra four thousand dollars available to you. (How? You’re a Stranger reader, and thus have a completely reliable, irrefutable source of financial advice upon which to draw. We brought down WaMu. We can make you rich!)

You want to help the economy get back on it’s feet. So, you’re going to lend out this money to help one of your friends who is struggling, giving out a no interest loan that can be paid back at leisure.

Two friends come to mind.

One guy took out a home equity loan at the peak of the bubble, and spent the money on a bunch of get-rich-quick schemes—like buying up the original iPhones to flip on ebay. He’s lost about a quarter of what he borrowed when these schemes failed. His original plan was to pay back the loan by selling his house, but then the bubble popped and his house is worth about 20% less. He needs your money to pay back the difference he now owes on his home equity loan.

A gal you know has opened a small but thriving bakery on Broadway. She needs a little cash to buy a new commercial mixer—to keep up with demand. But the banks aren’t lending money to “risky” small businesses anymore. With your four thousand dollars, she could buy the mixer, hire a person to run it each morning and grow her business.

Which is the better choice, for the economy as a whole? Let’s follow the money.

If you give the money to your guy friend, he will indeed pay off his loan. The bank will take his money and, most likely, keep it. The banks are really sweating things now and are hoarding cash. Rather than lending out your guy friend’s money, they’ll probably keep most of it as cash. The impact on the economy stops with the money sitting around in an ATM, waiting to be withdrawn in the next panic.

Give the money to your gal friend, and she’ll go out and spend it on a new mixer, plus start paying a new salary to an employee to work the mixer. Her employee with spend part of her paycheck around town, helping many other businesses. The mixer company can, in turn, spend your money on employee salaries. The employees of the mixer company will probably save some of their salaries, but spend most of it. The places where these employees spend their money will in turn spend the income. This multiplier effect makes your four thousand dollar initial investment have an impact of many thousands of dollars.

Go with the gal and her bakery. The Federal government should do the same.

Dan, no butt dimples for me. What I want most is the back of a beautiful neck…

So smooth, so slender. It’s like the stem of a lily.

Especially for a corporate tower: pretty good. I especially liked its thin skin and small parts. It was light. Everything about it was waferly, not too hard or too thick, just flying upward. Now when I look at it I think about the evacuation of the regular-folks side of the business, the part that dealt in things like single, thin, waferly dollar bills. The building looks like stacks of bills to me. I think about them all just flying away.

^{(Image from here.)}

The other thing that is remarkable about this photograph, besides the way it depicts what now feels like the irresponsible airiness of the building, is that the old Washington Mutual Tower is reflected on its side. That old 1980s building is a hefty thing, stocky and packed with heavy-handed references to history. It’s not a good building. But it has the sort of reassuring sturdiness I wish I could believe in again when it comes to banking. That was always an illusion, I guess. The new building was, unfortunately, more honest.

Philip¹, who works in the Washington Mutual tower downtown, says his first instant message of the day came from a co-worker:

Woo-hoo?

All the Washington Mutual employees received an email announcing the buyout last night², giving people time to freak out in the privacy of their own homes before coming to work.

“Most everybody’s been resigned for weeks that something like this would happen,” Philip says. “Some people are working, others are slacking off, people taking extra-long coffee breaks together, joking around.”

The most popular jokes in the Washington Mutual tower this morning:

As people arrived: “Welcome to J.P. Chase!”

Intermittently, as people pass each other: “It feels good working here!” and “I like this new office!”

Regarding a branding campaign—”fair, caring, human, dynamic, and driven!”—that Washington Mutual employees had beaten into their skulls a few years ago: “Do we still have to ‘live the brand’?”

Philip, who works as a low-level compliance analyst, says he wouldn’t mind being laid off. “But some of the older people,” he says, “are looking pretty nervous. I haven’t seen anybody crying. Not in my department.”

The only material difference in the office, Philip says, is that they finally took down a portrait of Kerry Killinger—Washington Mutual’s CEO, ousted earlier this month—and replaced it with a picture of an abacus.

“None of us,” he says, “have any idea what’s going to happen.”

¹Not his real name.

² Full text of the “we’ve just been bought out but don’t you worry!” email below the jump.

Continue reading "Inside WaMu" »

(If it ever was.)

This week is a total disaster, politics-wise, for John McCain. Maybe he’ll blow everyone’s mind at the debate tonight and as a result his strange gambits over the last few days will be forgotten. But I doubt that.

Let’s review, briefly.

McCain began the week with his standing in the polls sinking, the economy imploding, and Sarah Palin continuing to give embarrasing interviews (and, for the most part, not giving public interviews, which was also embarrassing). On Wednesday, trying to get the spotlight back on himself and attempting to appear presidential and above politics, McCain announced he would be suspending his campaign and heading back to D.C. to help push an economic rescue plan through, and that he would not be attending the presidential debate on Friday if the economy wasn’t saved by then.

That’s quite a marker to throw down. And if you do that, you better be thinking several steps ahead about possible moves by your opponents. But it seems like McCain wasn’t.

First, Obama gave a press conference in Florida announcing that he believed the debate should go on, and saying, essentially, that a president needs to be able to multi-task. He also warned that injecting presidential politics into complex economic negotiations in D.C. could be a bad idea.

Then, when McCain landed in D.C., it turned out that lawmakers were already close to an economic bailout deal. Without him. Then, at a big White House meeting that McCain appears to have requested, the deal fell apart. (Who predicted that?)

Then, today, still with no deal, McCain put his tail between his legs, reversed himself, and put out a statement saying he would be at the debate despite the little progress being made.

Thats a total reversal, and again, a total disaster.

McCain, through a series of impulsive decisions, has managed this week to set traps for himself and give Obama an opportunity to look calm, deliberative, multi-tasky, and presidential. At the same time, McCain has left a lot of people with the impression that all he does is create an atmosphere of utter confusion around himself—an atmosphere that impedes real progress.

I don’t know how much of this week’s machinations will filter through to the general public. And, of course, more drama at the debate could sweep all of this out of the media spotlight. But if this week enters the collective consciousness as an object lesson in how McCain would run the country, then McCain is toast.

Nicolai Ourousoff says Brad Cloepfil has become part of the aggressive sanitation crew in New York City.

Meanwhile in Seattle, the building Cloepfil adapted—Robert Venturi’s pomo-deco Seattle Art Museum; these impossible collage projects make Cloepfil seem like a glutton for punishment!—is attached to the WaMu tower (designed by other architects), where a certain cleaning-out of its own is taking place…

Music

The Cave Singers

• See what else is happening in Music on Friday »
• More Stranger Suggests for this week »

Yesterday it was sexy armpit day, today it’s…

…what are those dimples called, anyway? Those lower-back/above-the-ass-cheeks/either-side-of-the-spine dimples? Is there a name for them? Whatever they’re called, they’re today’s body part. Click on the image above for the full shot.

Your move, Charles.

You should be too!

After the week it’s been, tonight’s debate is sure to be AWESOME.

Obama has so much ammo with McCain’s “suspended campaign” bullshit. I can’t wait to hear what he’ll say. I’m also looking forward to watching McCain, who’s apparently really confused right now, babble through the answers the same way he babbled through his protest-ridden speech at the RNC.

This is gonna be great.

Texas:

Police: Pastor sent child pornography from church

After his arrest in connection to a child pornography case, Pastor Steve Richardson appeared in court for the first time Thursday in downtown Dallas…. Now, federal investigators say the 36-year-old pastor used the church’s office computer for child pornography.

According to court documents, Richardson, under the user name “cowboysspades,” sent dozens of pictures of girls under the age 10, including infants, engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Richardson was busted after he allegedly sent images to