Senator Barbara Boxer Calls Foul on General’s Protocol
Bloggers from the right have gotten their collective knickers in a twist over a moment from Wednesday's Environment and Public Works committee hearing in which California Senator Barbara Boxer interrupted testimony by Brigadier General Michael Walsh to request he not refer to her as "ma'am."
Boxer: You know, do me a favor. Could say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?
Walsh: Yes, ma'am.
Boxer: It’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I’d appreciate it, yes, thank you.
Boxer: Yes, senator.
Watch the exchange below:
Exclusive: Note left by Bush for New Prez Obama
In his first official statement Wednesday morning, the new White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs revealed this schedule of Obama's day:
At 8:35 AM, the President arrived in the Oval Office and spent 10 minutes alone in the office. He read the note left to him by President Bush that was in an envelope marked “To: #44, From: #43”.
Through an outgoing White House intern, I just got leaked a copy of the secret letter.
Check it out below:
McPainin Ticket Courts Average Joes
In a bid to retain some relevance with middle America, the Republican ticket-- led by that two-headed beast McPainin-- has discovered a long-overlooked demographic that they're now mining for votes: Average Joes.
So far, Sarah has spoken frequenty of her being a "normal Joe Sixpack American", while John has found his new BFF, Joe the Plumber, whom he mentioned more than a dozen times during the debates last night, as someone who would supposedly be affected by Obama's tax proposals.
But it turns out that 'ol Joe (Wurzelbacher, not as McCain called him, "Wurzburger") not only doesn't like to pay more taxes -- he doesn't like to pay taxes at all: he owes Ohio nearly $1200 in state taxes.
And then there's the bit of a vocational problem: seems he doesn't actually have a license to plumb -- and didn't even realize that he needed one.
Nor is he apparently serious about buying out his boss's business, which according to records pulls down just $100,000 in gross revenues -- not the $250,000 profits that Joe was oh-so-worried about. So in short, none of the claims that McCain made against Obama, using his pal Joe, turn out to carry water.
So who's up next? Joe Schmoe and Joe Camel?
Sexing up politics – BarelyPolitical.com
Debate '08 girls posse -- Politics laid bare?
Launched last month with the "I Got a Crush on Obama" viral video, BarelyPolitical.com has staked out a space that no one has yet dared (or thought about) getting into: hot chicks pretending they care about the electoral process.Their latest entry pits Obama Girl (Amber Lee Ettinger) against an equally attractive Guiliani supporter. It's "Debate '08" Girls Gone Wild-style. The video ends with the two sets of flygirls in a hip-hop shake-off in the streets, and fades to an admonishment to "learn more about politics..." by visiting the site.
Brown out in DC, and Black out in LA
Punnish ironies abound, as Mike Brown, (former) head of FEMA, resigns... and Los Angeles electricity goes black. Related? Probably not, but it makes for an amusing headline.
Brown's resignation was no surprise; he's been weathering heavy fire as the scapegoat for mishandling of emergency efforts in the wake of Katrina, but what's going on in LA is still a mystery. Yesterday, ABC aired a supposed tape by someone claiming to be an Al Qaida member, threatening in an impeccable American accent to hit LA... and Melbourne (of all places!)
Addendum: As of thirty minutes ago (17:44:24 EDT), Brown's profile was de-linked from the FEMA "Senior Staff Bios". Listed as "Acting Under Secretary" is R. David Paulison.