Rahm Emanuel

According to NBC News, Rahm Emanuel has accepted the job of Chief of Staff in the Obama White House.  Everyone I’ve talked to or heard from, save Joe Scarborough, thinks this is a fantastic pick.  Emanuel is smart, hard nosed, and knows how to get things done.  While I have some disappointment in Emanuel’s abandonment of his quest to become Speaker of the House, it should be a fantastic partnership.

I heard Colin Powell’s name floated …. *not* by the campaign … as a possibility for Secretary of Education this morning.  Thoughts?

Update:  10 minutes later, NBC News reports that Emanuel’s spokesperson denies that he has accepted the job.  Interesting ….

Update:  11.6 12:54  NBC News “confirmed” that Emanuel has accepted the job.  He apparently has been thinking this over since June.  With the chaos over the last 24 hours surrounding his on-the-fence position over this appointment, he almost couldn’t have turned it down.  I sympathize with his family’s position and wish them well on the transition.

Rednecks for Obama: Live from Asheville!

Oh my Lord, this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.  Maybe it’s because I come from rednecks; maybe it’s because this has been one crappy day; I don’t know, but this had me on the floor.  This is so not work safe and completely not appropriate for children or if you have a stick up your butt ….  Funny as hell, though.  Y’all enjoy.

And where are my manners?  Thanks to the folks at Blind Lyle Films for sending my way.  Rednecks for Obama, Unite!

There’s a lot of hot air this morning

There’s a lot of hot air this morning about the VP debate tonight.  Everyone’s prognosticating and most of it, frankly, makes me yawn and roll my eyes.  I’ve found one piece, though, that I think is actually worth a read.  Check out Brad Listi over at HuffPo with Biden vs. Palin: A Preface to Live-Blogging the Debate.  Of course, I may simply like the whole article for this one little bit:

Barring disaster, Governor Palin will enjoy a marginal triumph by, um, not self-destructing entirely. She maintains bladder control, she gets the ‘W.’

The Irish are pissed

The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization, is calling John McCain out for an ethnic joke he told about the Irish at a town hall in Scranton, PA, on Monday.  Saying that Irish jokes are the only ethnic jokes you can tell in American politics anymore, he let it loose.  Watch the tape:

Seamus Boyle, National President of the AOHA, sent a letter to McCain expressing his concern over the joke:

Dear Senator McCain,

Thank you for meeting with us on Monday September 22 in Scranton Pennsylvania to discuss our issues concerning the Irish American community. You did address the seven issues which we had given to you on a previous occasion and we were generally satisfied with your answers and your ideas to implement action on our behalf should you be elected in November.  It was a great meeting but when you began your speech with a joke about the Irish, I and many of our fellow Irish Americans in the Ancient Order of Hibernians, were shocked. It was really an insult to a whole nationality to be stereotyped as drunks. The Irish are a jovial people who enjoy life, work hard, help the needy, support our community and our country yet get depicted as drunkards and partiers. As you stated in your speech yesterday the Irish have a great education and work ethic.  Senator, I was not the only one offended and I received numerous complaints from a variety of people throughout Pennsylvania and other parts of the country. On behalf of these people, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and myself and my family, I wish you would refrain from demeaning the Irish or any other ethnic group by telling such jokes in the future. I think an apology is in order to those millions of Irish in the United States who were offended by your joke.

Sincerely,
Seamus Boyle National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America

Do we think this says something about McCain’s judgment?

 

Do I really have to move to Alabama?

Yes, I really am moving to Alabama.  And stories like this one over at GayWired.com make me unsure whether I’m happy or sad.  OK, I’m sad, but maybe living among such hypocrisy might provide some humor, after all. 

The deal is that Alabama Attorney General Troy King was found having fun in his marital bed (that would be the one he shares with his wife) with a male assistant.  Troy King, however, isn’t only the AL Attorney General.  He’s also, or at least was also, the chairman of John McCain’s Alabama Leadership Team.  Quite recently, however, (that would be since this whole thing blew up), all references to Atty Gen King have been removed from McCain’s website.  You really just can’t make this stuff up. 

As usual, King is claiming that the all-boy-romp is purely rumor and he is totally innocent.  I don’t know.  Looks like another case for our boy Dobson’s “Love Won Out” program.  (Yes, for you new readers, that is sarcasm.)  Read the whole article at GayWired to judge for yourself. 

As a PS, let me send sympathies to Troy King’s wife and family.  I’m not sad for you that he may be gay.  But I am sad that he chose this particular method of coming out.