January 28, 2008
Morning Roundup: Electability Edition
Good morning, Washington. Have you finally succumbed to presidential primary fever? With just about a week left to go until Super Tuesday, and only a week more than that until D.C., Virginia and Maryland all head to the polls on the same day, the Washington Post is hyping our region's primaries as actually mattering this year in terms of making a big impact on who the nominees will be. What does that mean for you? The candidates will now be swinging through the metro area for more than just casting an occasional Senate vote (Obama is having a rally at American University today, for example), and you can bet we'll start being subjected to the same TV spots our brethren in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina already have. Um. Can we still go back to no one caring about our votes?
Nickles Ordered Stop to Bank Lawsuit: The Post also brings word that Peter Nickles, then Fenty's general counsel and current acting attorney general, ordered former attorney general Linda Singer's office to drop its plans to sue Bank of America for its role in cashing the bogus checks that were part of the Office of Tax and Revenue scandal. A former assistant branch manager at a Bank of America branch in Baltimore is one of the 10 people arrested in the case. Nickles said he stopped Singer from pursuing a suit because he didn't want to jeopardize Bank of America's assistance in providing records to federal prosecutors. Singer resigned less than two weeks after Nickles ordered a halt to the suit, leaking word of "interference" from the general counsel's office -- this story helps paint a better picture of exactly what that interference entailed.
OMG Dulles Rail is Totally Effed!!1!: Well, probably. Actually, there don't seem to be many more details to have come out about the potential demise of Dulles rail since Friday, but nearly every local news outlet has a follow-up this morning about the madness that's taken place over the weekend among the project's supporters. WTOP says that politicians are "scrambling" to save the project, the Post looks at the potential for private funding should federal involvement no longer be an option, and the Examiner tells us who is blaming who for this whole debacle. Oh, and a lot of people are blaming Metro. Va. Gov. Tim Kaine promised to respond to the FTA's major concerns over the project by today.
Briefly Noted: Four-alarm fire in NW apartment building Friday night ... Man shot to death in Southeast ... Water boil alert issued for Walkersville, Md. ... Two-alarm fire in Southeast.
Photo by sintixerr
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So when's Obama going to take a walk down Georgia Avenue, eat fried seafood, and talk about how, as President, he will do everything in his power to bring economic development and voting rights to DC?
Monkey,
I was trying to read this story but was distracted by this sentence:
Is it just me or should any editor that allows the word "catty-corner" to be used in the Washington Post be fired immediately?
If I recall, Clinton finally put the "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on the presidential limos a few days before he left office. And those plates were then immediately removed as soon as Bush was sworn in.
The past few weeks of Clinton drama in SC has reminded me of how scuzzy and douchey the Clintons are. I'm not much of an Obama fan, but the Billary performances really skeeved me out and make me dread another 4 years of Clinton soap operas.
joe jackson ads everywhere? are they sure they're pitching to the right demographic here?
The Nickles thing is interesting. I understand his legal argument, but think it still would make sense to have had Singer file the lawsuit and then have it stayed pending the criminal case. That would have dealt with any statute of limitations issues, while still allowing Bank of America to cooperate and maybe get off the hook form the city's suit.
I can sense the outrage that is developing over Nickles' intervention, particularly given that his former firm counts Bank of America as one of its biggest clients. I believe Phil Mendelson is holding a hearing today on his bill for new requirements for the DC Attorney General position (the bill basically ensures that another Linda Singer would never become AG). No doubt he will use this to rail against Nickels, Fenty and everyone else.
The past few weeks of Clinton drama in SC has reminded me of how scuzzy and douchey the Clintons are.
You are, of course, correct about Clintonian scumbaggery; but at least Al Gore never shot anyone in the face.
It's kind of weird that despite the fact that I absolutely loathe W, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al. they some how manage to seem . . . I don't want to say more dignified, but maybe it's just that my expectations of the current assclown brigade were so low that I've never been disappointed by them like I was by Billary.
"but at least Al Gore never shot anyone in the face"
To be fair, I believe the initial target was Monica’s dress.
Well, one could argue Bush/Cheney et al are just less obvious about it. If you don't think Republicans are good at finding wedge issues or divisive arguments in campaigns, you aren't paying attention.
Is it just me or should any editor that allows the word "catty-corner" to be used in the Washington Post be fired immediately?
I CAN NOT HAZ MOCHA-HUT?
As for Al Gore shooting anyone in the face, my crack team of helper monkeys is even now tracking down Tipper's phone number. Stay tuned.
Well, one could argue Bush/Cheney et al are just less obvious about it.
True, true, but I think that I hold Bush/Cheney in such low regard that nothing they do surprises or disappoints me.
The Bush Brigades has a smile on its face as it screws you and is very polite about it.
The Billary duo aren't as nice, but they do promise to call you afterwards, even though you know they won't.
They're both alike in that they make YOU sleep in the wet spot.
"True, true, but I think that I hold Bush/Cheney in such low regard that nothing they do surprises or disappoints me."
Hillrat, you've just nailed the secret to their success. Lower the bar so much that anything W or Vice succeeds in doing, like speaking a complete sentence without grievously mispronouncing something or tripping over their own words, or not bombing a random third-world country today, appears Nobel-worthy.
And people are criticizing Obama for not being specific enough in his policy proposals? Or going after McCain for not baiting immigrants? Christ, at least these guys can tie their shoelaces without falling over!
When all is said and done in this Office of Tax and Revenue scandal, Fenty is going down!
@Monkey: Ew.
@Cranky: I didn't feel very strongly one way or another about the Clinton/Obama split until the Clintons kicked their shenanigans into high gear. Now I'm definitely leaning toward Obama.
@Hillrat: I always preferred "kitty corner" myself... :)
Why is Fenty going down b/c of the tax refund scandal? That's the same line of paranoia regularly tossed out by He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Um, maybe because his own former General Counsel is now tied up in this mess?
Damn, with all of the people drinking the Fenty Kool-Aid these days, I no longer question how Marion Barry has attained Teflon status in this town, despite being one hell of a crappy mayor.
@turkeyrotica:
I don't know about how Barry got all of those votes; but Barry's office earned the late GrandMaRat's undying loyalty when after a constituent services phone call, they made sure that the garbage men on her route went into her alley, got her trash cans, emptied them, and put them back in place. Needless to say, GrandMaRat always got a ride to and from the polls.