Yoo must be kidding: Philly Paper Hires John Yoo as Columnist

By GottaLaff

Freedom of speech is one thing. Hiring someone who is clearly one of the architects of BushCo's illegal torture program is another:

The Philadelphia Inquirer has hired John Yoo — the notorious former Office of Legal Counsel lawyer and architect of the “torture memos” that not only narrowed the definition of torture to exclude waterboarding and most other widely recognized forms of torture, but justified torture (by his own definition) and suspension of the Bill of Rights on U.S. soil — to be a regular columnist for the paper.

As Will Bunch at the Philadelphia Daily News puts it:

The Inquirer thus handed Yoo a loud megaphone on what was once a hallowed piece of real estate in American journalism — to write on the very subjects that have now led Justice Department investigators to reportedly recommend disbarment proceedings against Yoo and has led international prosecutors as well as millions of politically engaged Americans to consider the Episcopal Academy graduate worthy of charging with war crimes.

Here’s the Inquirer editorial page editor’s response:

[...] Of course, we know more about Mr. Yoo’s actions in the Justice Department now than we did at the time we contracted him. But we did not blindly enter into our agreement. He’s a Philadelphian, and very knowledgeable about the legal subjects he discusses in his commentaries. Our readers have been able to get directly from Mr. Yoo his thoughts on a number of subjects concerning law and the courts, including measures taken by the White House post-9/11. That has promoted further discourse, which is the objective of newspaper commentary.

Uh, maybe. But I tend to agree with Bunch on this:

[...] The higher calling for an American newspaper should be promoting and maintaining our sometimes fragile democracy, the very thing that Yoo and his band of torture advocates very nearly shredded in a few short years. Quite simply, by handing Yoo a regularly scheduled platform for his viewpoint, the Inquirer is telling its readers that Yoo’s ideas — especially that torture is not a crime against the very essence of America — are acceptable.

VIDEO: Republicans report Black Panther (aka Obama hirees) intimidation in Philly

By GottaLaff

Paddy and I were talking about this earlier. It's desperation time... again:


From YouTube:

Philadelphia (original feed - cleaned it up as much as possible - it is what it is).
Around noon EST.

Fox Philly reporting incident report by "republicans" @ polling station of voter intimidation by Black Panthers. Could not find any other news organization reporting this as of 2 hours after.

Will share with you a blog posting of this incident that predicting Blank Panthers might be out doing voter intimidation to get a BLACK man elected!

http://tinyurl.com/5o53s2
We told you months ago that in Chicago, Obama supporters told us that this was their plan for election day — to hire gang members, Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, you name it and use these men for voter turnout efforts in Philly, Gary (Indiana), Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Pittsburgh, you name it. Anywhere with a large black population, where white and Hispanic voters (read: Hillary voters) could be intimdated and kept from the polls.

Glad the police are on top of this in Philly. Obama’s followers will try this in every major city, from what we are told. They are especially desperate in Philadelphia, because they need big numbers there to win the state, and the only way they will get that is through fraud and intimidation (aka, The Obama Way).

If you see Obama’s followers doing this in your city, call the police immediately, then start calling the local news. Follow that up with a call to the McCain/Palin voter hotline.

CNN adds:

A man wearing what appeared to be a black outfit with a beret and holding a nightstick was asked by police to leave a polling location in Philadelphia Tuesday, according to Philadelphia County Board of Elections Supervisor, Bill Rubin.

Rubin says the man left without incident. He says another man wearing similar attire had a poll watcher certificate and was allowed to remain at the polling site at 1221 Fairmont Avenue.[...]

Cathie Abookire, a spokewoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, says the office is not investigating the matter, calling it a "non-incident." Abookire says, "We have had no complaints from any voters that they have been intimidated."

Black people are big, bad, and intimidating. One would never expect to see them in Philly. Obama must have paid them handsomely to throw the election.

UPDATE:

I'd been a bit skeptical of the reports that the Black Panthers were out intimidating voters on Obama's behalf, largely because the precinct is in the city's northern 14th Ward, which went (.pdf) overwhelmingly -- more than 95% -- for John Kerry in 2004. You don't typically intimidate your own voters.

But a reader sends over a link to clinch the deal: The Panther in question appears to be one King Shamir Shabazz -- and he's no Obama supporter.

"[Obama] is a puppet on a string. I don't support no black man running for white politics. I will not vote for who will be the next slavemaster," he told the Philadelphia Daily News a few days ago, one of the least crazy things he said amid some straightforwardly racist riffs.

The video is a little grainy, but it sure looks a lot like him, down to the position of the button on his beret. [...]

So what was he doing there with his nightstick? Trying to intimidate Obama voters? Just hanging around? There isn't actually any evidence that he tried to chase away any of the ward's (overwhelmingly black) voters.

Shady Voter Flyers in Philly

So what else it new, voting is only for the privileged.

Philadelphia motorists, beware of dirty tricks

An anonymous flier that has been circulating on windshields across Philadelphia warns voters who have outstanding arrest warrants or unpaid traffic tickets that they may be arrested if they try to vote tomorrow.

The flier, characterized by city officials as being completely false, first hit the streets in early October. The Philadelphia Daily News reported last month that the flier was circulating in black neighborhoods in the North and West parts of the city, historically heavily Democratic areas.

The flier claimed that "there will be undercover officers to execute warrants" inside and outside of polling sites. The author of the flier claimed to learn of the policy at a recent "Rock the Vote" concert.

Obama campaign seeks extra security amid threats

By GottaLaff

Are these the type of people at your rallies who you're so proud of, Gramm-pa McCain? From Philly:

After threats at several field offices around the state, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is asking labor unions to help provide volunteer security at 27 offices between now and Election Day. [...]

The e-mail said there have been threats at three Philly offices. That's on top of an evacuation this week at the South Philly office after they received a threatening letter that contained a suspicious substance, which initial tests determined was sugar.

Obama spokesman Sean Smith declined to go into detail on the other threats made so far, but said that some had been just crank calls. [...]

"This is standard operating procedure with most campaigns I've worked on," Smith said. "You have people who work very late hours. They're leaving at one, two in the morning. They're senior citizens and young people."

Smith stressed that the campaign wasn't looking for round-the-clock security guards, but for people who would check in on offices a few times a night. He wouldn't detail what unions might be providing support, saying the campaign was still working that out.

Remind me: When exactly did Gramm-pa McTongue repudiate all that vile hate speech? Oh that's right. Never.

VIDEO: FOX 'News' Edits Out Palin Hockey Boos

By GottaLaff

This video compares the raw original broadcast to the video made available on the FOXNews.com story claiming that the crowd reaction was "mixed." The FOX News video not only had poor audio quality, making the boos hard to discern, it also completely edited out the video from when the boos were loudest.

Quel surprise. (Sarcasm)

H/t: Jed Report

IWRC* Palin: "How dare they boo Piper!"

By GottaLaff
I'm re-posting the video so you have a reference point for this ludicrous and pitiful quote by IWRC* Palin.

Now for the jaw-dropper:

The GOP Vice-Presidential nominee said at an earlier fundraiser that she would stop some of the booing from the rowdy Philadelphia fans by putting her seven year old daughter, Piper in a Flyers jersey. She said, "How dare they boo Piper!"

So basically Sarah Palin has been reduced to the "human shield" defense.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

H/t: Chris

VIDEO: Anti-IWRC* Palin rally in Philadelphia

By GottaLaff


Raw footage of an anti-IWRC* Palin rally in Philly on October 11:

Hundreds gather to demonstrate against Palin as she arrives for a closed door fundraiser ($25K per plate) at Broad and Walnut. Tourists give the thumbs up, cabbies and busdrivers honk, and even the Flyers' fans join the Obama chanting.

H/t: Palin's No Hillary

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

VIDEO-- Hockey fans to Hockey Mom IWRC* Palin: Puck you.

By GottaLaff


(H/t: Blade for the link to a video with clearer sound)

IWRC* "Hockey Mom" Palin is so pucked. Via Greg Mitchell:

...Lynn Zinser at her NYT hockey "Slapshot" blog just posted that Sarah Palin, in her much-ballyhooed appearance dropping the puck at the Philly Flyers' opener, was greeted by "resounding (almost deafening) boos from the Flyers crowd." Of course, Fox Sports was more "balanced," observing on its site, "The crowd reacted with a mixture of cheers and boos at her appearance." [I]t's hard to judge because of the music.

But Zinser's post had a lot more in mind: "I would object to this sideshow whichever political party it involved. Having vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin drop the ceremonial first puck at the Flyers’ opener Saturday night was problematic not because it was Palin — Flyers owner Ed Snider’s decision under the flimsy excuse of 'honoring' hockey moms — but because it is injecting politics in a place it should not be." More:

The biggest problem: when Palin came out to onto the Wachovia Center ice Saturday night — greeted by resounding (almost deafening) boos from the Flyers crowd — the the two hockey players who had no choice but to appear with her in that photo op were turned into props in a political campaign. If Rangers center Scott Gomez or Flyers center Mike Richards wanted to make some sort of political statement, that would be fine, but in this case, they were thrust into a situation not of their choosing. Snider put them there with his ill-advised mixing of politics and sports.

The level of discomfort has been palpable for the Rangers’ two Alaska natives, Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky, as they have been asked questions about Palin and the election in recent weeks.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

H/t: Palin's No Hillary

Vote-scam fliers in black Philly neighborhoods threaten arrests

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

Thom Hartmann just mentioned this, so I looked it up. Here we go, yet again:

With just weeks to go before the presidential election, voter intimidation has reared its ugly head.

An anonymous flier circulating in African-American neighborhoods in North and West Philadelphia states that voters who are facing outstanding arrest warrants or who have unpaid traffic tickets may be arrested at the polls on Election Day.

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison, who learned of the flier last week, said that the message is completely false. [...]

He plans to put up statements on the city and police Web sites to let citizens know that the handouts are false. He said that he also will record a public-service announcement for broadcast.

Gillison referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the district attorney.

"We are not going to stand for any intimidation of voters," Gillison said. "Not in this city."

He said that he did not know who was behind the fliers, which appear to be targeted at supporters of Democratic candidate Barack Obama. [...]

"It seems to be clearly aimed at lower-income voters that might have had some problems in the past and clearly aimed at discouraging people from voting," said Zack Stalberg, who heads the political-watchdog group Committee of Seventy.

Stalberg said that he feared that there could be more fliers to come.

"I'm a little surprised it appeared this far before Election Day," he said. "It's another indication of how dirty this election might become."

Local NAACP President Jerry Mondesire:

"We probably will do something closer to the election," he said. "People tend not to pay attention until two weeks out."

Mondesire said that he didn't know who was circulating the fliers, but added, "I do know one thing for sure: They're not Democrats."

So, yes, here we go again. Over and over and over and over and over again.

VIDEO: IWRC* Palin's Big Pakistan Policy Gaffe during cheesesteak run

By GottaLaff

Yesterday I posted the juicy cheesesteak details of IWRC* Palin's gaffe-laden encounter with a brighter-than-Sarah student asking her about her thoughts on the Pakistan situation. You remember the one... in which she agreed with Obama instead of her own candidate?

Today, Gramm-pa McCain had to retract his Not Ready For Prime Time running mate's response. Now you can see for yourself how she answered.

Noteworthy: As you'll see in the video at around :42, the woman taking IWRC's order didn't have a clue who Palin was. I guess she's not making an "awesome" impression on everyone in Pennsylvania, eh?

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

IWRC* Palin answers questions during cheesesteak run

By GottaLaff

I told you what happened outside the Philly restaurant where IWRC* got heckled. Here's what happened inside, which was like, awesome:

While waiting in line with her daughter Willow to place her order, a reporter asked Palin if she watched Friday's debate, and what her impressions were.

"I did, I did," she said. "McCain did awesome. He was great. He was absolutely on his game."

He did awesome. That's awesome. She did awesome when she answered that awesome question.

Palin added that she is ready to debate Joe Biden next Thursday in St. Louis.

"I am," she said. "Look forward to it. Look forward to getting to speak to Americans through that debate, absolutely."

The governor got a more serious interrogation moments later when Temple graduate student Michael Rovito approached her to inquire about Pakistan.

"How about the Pakistan situation?," Rovito asked her. "What's your thoughts about that?"

"In Pakistan?," she asked, looking surprised.

"What's going on over there, like Waziristan?"

"It's working with [Pakistani president] Zardari to make sure that we're all working together to stop the guys from coming in over the border," she told him. "And we'll go from there."

Rovito wasn't finished. "Waziristan is blowing up!," he said.

"Yeah it is," Palin said, "and the economy there is blowing up too."

"So we do cross border, like from Afghanistan to Pakistan you think?," Rovito asked.

"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin responded, before moving on to greet other voters.

Awesome. She says we have to stop the guys and cross the border. You know, the very thing Gramm-pa McCain chastised Obama for daring to suggest "out loud".

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

Philly to IWRC* Palin: "Hey Hockey Mom -- Keep the Puck out of PA"

By GottaLaff

No need to snark this one up. There's already plenty to go around. Suh-nap!

Someone had the bright idea of sending Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to the Irish Pub on Walnut Street in downtown Philly before the debate yesterday.

More than 400 McCain-Palin supporters were in the bar waiting for her; more than 300 McCain-Palin opponents were outside the bar, heckling her on as Philadelphians know how to do.

Sporting a red Phillies jacket, over a white t-shirt that read "Sarahcuda," Palin entered the bar to the protestors chanting "Obama! Obama!"

Some set off flares.

They held up signs: "McSame/Failin';" "Hey Hockey Mom -- keep the puck out of PA;" "Just like Bush in lipstick."

Inside, people were much more welcoming. However...

Her exit from the Irish Pub was met with a harsh wave of boos from the protesters standing on Walnut Street.

As she eased into her motorcade one man yelled, "I can see Alaska from Walnut Street!"

Does a few minutes in that pub give IWRC* her Ireland creds now? Or was her stopover enough?

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"