VIDEO: Louisiana man beaten for wearing Obama t-shirt

By GottaLaff

I was just telling my theatre students today about the rising number of racist incidents since Obama's election. This is lower than low:

A Barack Obama supporter in Shreveport, LA says he was badly beaten by two men at a gas station just because of his Obama bumper stickers and t-shirt.

"They were screaming 'fuck Obama, fuck Obama,' you know, and something about a 'nigger president' -- and basically I was hit," Kaylon Johnson told KSLA News. "Seem like some rednecks, pretty big guys, and they were blasting music or whatever -- I mean, by the time I turned around and looked at them, they were on me."

More here:

"Kaylon was badly beaten," the account continues, "and has sustained several head injuries. He will have surgery on Friday to repair a broken eye socket, broken nose, and torn tear duct."

Johnson, who was extremely active in the campaign and even opened a store to sell Obama t-shirts, appeared philosophical about his injuries when he spoke with KSLA. "Things go on every day," Johnson stated, "and all this does is show that we did have purpose throughout the campaign and we still have work to do after the campaign."

The Shreveport Police Department has assigned a detective to investigate the incident.

Homes sweet homes: The Bushes' Big New Two Million Dollar Purchase

By GottaLaff

Yesterday I posted about the Big New Sprawling home the Bushes just bought, which is two hours away from their other big sprawling home. Now you can see what they splurged on:

(via)

See George and Laura's home! Big, big, big!

The home, on a Dallas cul-de-sac, sits on 1.13 acres and offers 8501 square feet of living space, according to city appraisal records. The property was purchased for $2.07 million in early-October by Robert McCleskey, the president's accountant, who is listed as trustee on deed records. Built in 1959, the home has been improved with a detached garage (1150 square feet), servants quarters (896 square feet), and a storage building (240 square feet). While the Bush property certainly appears comfortable, it is dwarfed by the 20-acre estate it abuts. That sprawling property is owned by billionaire investor Tom Hicks, who, in 1998, purchased the Texas Rangers from a partnership in which Bush held a stake (the deal netted the future president about $15 million). Hicks, 62, was a leading supporter of Rudolph Giuliani's presidential bid and hosted a fundraiser last year at his home--reportedly the largest in Dallas--for the former New York City mayor.

Their garage is bigger than many houses, if one is lucky enough to be able to afford a Bush-garage-sized house, that is.

See the rest of America default on rent/mortgage payments. Starve, America, starve. Starve, starve, starve!

We all knew the ranch in Crawford was a set. Like Reagan's movie ranch, where he posed for the cameras to make everyone think he was a working man while he was leading the charge on union busting, Bush's Crawford photo op background was all about getting him elected. Now that he's off the public housing teat, he's moving into a $2 million house complete with servant's quarters.

Good ol' beer buddy Cowboy George, your facade is showing. And so are your crass hypocrisy and middle finger.

VIDEO-- Bill O'Reilly, Dennis Miller: Miasmic Homophobes

By GottaLaff

The vomit-inducing part comes at about 1:02. Why are these two [see Labels] still employed? They are beneath contempt.

The Politics Of Auntie Zeituni: The plot sickens

By GottaLaff

Background here. Timing is everything. Via TPM:

The real story, though, is down in the third paragraph of the AP story ...

Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.

That's about as transparent a red flag as an outfit like the AP is usually willing to give. And there you have it. Quite likely working in concert with the McCain campaign, a Bush administration official is leaking details on an immigration case to try to help McCain three days before the election. It's shades of Bush I's riffling through Bill Clinton's passport files just before the 1992 election in a desperate last minute gambit as they were swirling down the drain.

Late Update: Note too that the story first got leaked to the Times of London, a Murdoch paper with a history of taking planted stories from Republicans for siphoning back into the US media.

Next:

Dear Mr. Chertoff:

I was startled to read in today's Associated Press that a "federal law enforcement official" has leaked information about an immigration case involving a relative of Senator Obama. Even more troubling, the AP reports that it could not "could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved," a very disturbing suggesting indeed. This leak is deplorable and I urge you to take immediate action to investigate and discipline those responsible.

I note that this is not the first leak of law enforcement information apparently designed to influence the coming Presidential election -- in recent weeks law enforcement sources leaked information about an alleged investigation of a community services organization, a leak that the Department of Justice informs me is now under investigation by the Department's Office of the Inspector General and Professional Responsibility.

Such leaks are deeply harmful to the political process, and the American people expect and deserve better from their government and its law enforcement agencies.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.

See labels.

Gramm-pa McCain Camp Launches Lame October ‘Surprise’: Rezko

By GottaLaff

According to CNN, Gramm-pa's campaign is convinced their tax talk is working. But, of course, that's not dirty enough for them:

In what appears to be an attempt to gin up an “October Surprise,” the McCain campaign teamed up with the American Conservative Union today to make a campaign issue of Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to convicted Chicago real estate developer Tony Rezko.

The ACU quietly filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee — the group’s Website features no mention of the action — against the Democratic presidential nominee. From The Boston Globe:

Rezko was convicted in June on federal corruption charges not involving Obama. [...]

[I]ndependent fact-checking groups have concluded that there’s no proof that Obama was involved in any wrongdoing.

Still, the American Conservative Union filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee today alleging that Obama’s home purchase violated the Senate’s gift ban. In the letter to the Ethics Committee, ACU Chairman David Keene said that “sufficient information exists to demonstrate that Sen. Obama solicited, received, and accepted a gift greater than $50 from Mr. and Mrs. Rezko, and Sen. Obama failed to disclose this gift.”

Right on cue, the McCain campaign held a conference call with reporters that featured former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), who was a colleague of Obama’s for two years in the Illinois Senate, and Ed O’Callahan, a former federal prosecutor in New York.

During the call, the participants wanted to know why Obama has never answered questions from the media about the matter, while acknowledging Obama did answer questions about the matter from The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times in March.

O’Callahan, clearly reading a script, veered off-topic into McCain campaign talking points:

“Obama needs to come clean on this deal before the election, so that voters can judge whether Obama received monetary benefits from these Rezko favors.

Since the Democrats took control of Congress only two years ago, they have driven our economy into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. What’s their solution to the problem? To spread more of our wealth around by giving it to those who don’t pay a single penny of federal income tax. With friends and priorities like these, Barack Obama and his Democrat allies lack the judgment to lead our country.”

Fitzgerald and O’Callahan had taken just one question from the reporters before the call was abruptly ended.

I’ve sat in on dozens of these conference calls, and I’m pretty sure this is a record for fewest questions allowed from reporters.

The obvious question is: If this is such an important controversy, why did the ACU wait until five days before the presidential election to file its complaint?

With no new information being offered, the complaint appears to be a stunt aimed at influencing the election. However, if this is what the McCain campaign has been holding up its sleeve, to be sprung at the last moment, it doesn’t look like Obama has much to fear from this year’s October surprise.

The wrong people are being reported to the ethics committee.

I'm running out of derisive adjectives. See "labels" for what's going through my mind right now.

The good news is, it's a lame attempt that will fail. Four and a half days. It can't come soon enough for me.

VIDEO: Coming to a network near you: Obama/Wright smear campaign

By GottaLaff

Via TPM:


Get ready:

The National Republican Trust PAC, which has been airing an ad attacking Barack Obama's association with Reverend Wright in three battleground states, has now put down for a national buy on five networks that will last from now through election day, a consultant with the group confirms to me. [...]

[T]he group just got through getting the spot vetted with network lawyers and is good to go.

I wouldn't exactly call it "good", but unfortunately, it's going, for the next 4 days.

This is all they have. This is what they do to try to win. These people are vile.

H/t: SharonAustinTX

Pennsylvania Republicans Send False Anti-Obama E-mail

By GottaLaff

despicable Synonyms:

abhorrent, abject, abominable, arrant, atrocious, awful, base, beastly, beggarly, beneath contempt, blameworthy, brutal, cheap, cheesy, common, contemptible, crude, crummy, debased, deplorable, depraved, detestable, dire, dirty, disgraceful, disgusting, disreputable, dreadful, egregious, enormous, execrable, fetid, filthy, flagrant, forbidding, foul, fulsome, gaudy, , grave, grievous, gross, hateful, heinous, horrible, horrid, ignoble, ignominious, infamous, lamentable, little, loathsome, lousy, low-down, low, lumpen, malodorous, mangy, mean, measly, meretricious, miasmic, miserable, monstrous, nasty, nauseating, nefarious, noisome, notorious, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, obscene, odious, offensive, outrageous, paltry, pathetic, petty, pitiful, poky, poor, rank, rebarbative, regrettable, repellent, reprehensible, reptilian, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, rubbishy, sad, scabby, scandalous, schlock, scrubby, scruffy, scummy, scurvy, scuzzy, shabby, shameful, shameless, shocking, shoddy, sickening, small, sordid, sorry, squalid, stinking, terrible, too bad, trashy, trumpery, twopenny, ugly, unclean, unmentionable, valueless, vile, villainous, woeful, worst, worthless, wretched

A new e-mail making the rounds among Jewish voters in Pennsylvania this week falsely alleged that Mr. Obama “taught members of Acorn to commit voter fraud,’’ and equated a vote for Senator Barack Obama with the “tragic mistake” of their Jewish ancestors, who “ignored the warning signs in the 1930’s and 1940’s.” [...]

But where most of the attack e-mails against Mr. Obama have been anonymous, this one had an unusually official provenance: It was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s “Victory 2008” committee.

And it was signed by several prominent McCain supporters in the state: Mitchell L. Morgan, a top fund-raiser; Hon. Sandra Schwartz Newman, a member of Mr. McCain’s local and national task-forces monitoring Election Day voting, and I. Michael Coslov, a steel industry executive.

After several calls for comment about the e-mail, leaders of the state party repudiated it on Friday. They said it had been released without their authorization and that they had fired the strategist who helped draft it – but whose name is not on the letter – Brian Rudnick. [...]

In a brief interview earlier Friday, Judge Newman — a former state supreme court justice now in private practice –- said she had helped write the letter. Then she quickly passed the phone to Mr. Brudnick. He said the e-mail was sent to 75,000 voters in Pennsylvania and asked that other questions be e-mailed to him.

But he did not respond to that e-mail.

Where to begin? A former state supreme court justice was involved with this? I'd start reviewing her past court decisions, for starters. And the others on the list? Ptooey! And the warning to Jewish voters? About the '30s and '40s... Don't go there.

I'm sputtering. I can't even think. Tell ya what. Pick a word, any word, from the list of synonyms. Then insert it here: These people are utterly _____. That will suffice for now.

AP: IWRC* Palin's words carry racial tinge

By GottaLaff

IWRC* has a big mouth that spews hatred. That little attack on Obama about Ayers? It could backfire on Gramm-pa McCain:

“…her attack was unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that John McCain himself may come to regret.”

“Palin’s words avoid repulsing voters with overt racism. But is there another subtext for creating the false image of a black presidential nominee ‘palling around’ with terrorists while assuring a predominantly white audience that he doesn’t see their America?”

“Whether intended or not by the McCain campaign, portraying Obama as ‘not like us’ is another potential appeal to racism. It suggests that the Hawaiian-born Christian is, at heart, un-American.”

“When the 2008 campaign is over McCain might regret appeals such as Palin’s perhaps more so if he wins.”

More here, but take a look at one more excerpt:

John McCain occasionally looks back on decisions with regret. He has apologized for opposing a holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. He has apologized for refusing to call for the removal of a Confederate flag from South Carolina's Capitol.

Which brings us right back to this.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

H/t: Jack

TrooperGate: AG says state employees won't honor subpoenas

By GottaLaff

Who do they think they are, Miers and Bolten? Bush and Cheney? I take that last one back. Bush III, Cheney II. Established.

Moving on, just add this to the lawsuit and we have enough scandal to last us for... hours, until the next one rears its ugly Palin head:

Alaska's investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, a potentially damaging distraction for John McCain's presidential campaign, ran into intensified resistance Tuesday when the attorney general said state employees would refuse to honor subpoenas in the case.

In a letter to state Sen. Hollis French, the Democrat overseeing the investigation, Republican Attorney General Talis Colberg asked that the subpoenas be withdrawn. He also said the employees would refuse to appear unless either the full state Senate or the entire Legislature votes to compel their testimony.

Colberg, who was appointed by Palin, said the employees are caught between their respect for the Legislature and their loyalty to the governor, who initially agreed to cooperate with the inquiry but has increasingly opposed it since McCain chose her as his running mate. [...]

Last week, French's Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed 13 people. They include 10 employees of Palin's administration and three who are not: her husband, Todd Palin; John Bitney, Palin's former legislative liaison who now is chief of staff for Republican House Speaker John Harris; and Murlene Wilkes, a state contractor. [...]

Like Colberg's letter, the surprise maneuver by Harris reflected deepening resolve by Republicans to spare Palin embarrassment or worse in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

And it marked a further fraying of a bipartisan consensus, formed by a unanimous panel before Palin became McCain's running mate, that her firing of the state's public safety commissioner justified the ethical investigation. [...]

Palin has defended her behavior and said she welcomed the investigation. "Hold me accountable," she said. But she and the McCain campaign have taken actions that could slow the probe, possibly past Election Day.

What a fine role model for Meghan McCain: Ignore subpoenas, take the law into your own hands, encourage your Republican cronies to ignore proper legal procedures, and do your best impression of Bush and Cheney as you tap dance your way through what promises to be an even sleazier presidential campaign.

The Big Republican Invesco Anti-Patriotic Flag-Disposal LIE

By GottaLaff

That little flag story that the increasingly desperate Republicans are spreading around? Not so much:

But according to a senior official involved in organizing the Democratic convention, the McCain camp is simply lying about the flags.

"All of the flags at Invesco were picked up and put in bags and into storage, along with the unused flags and campaign signs. The flags were going to be donated, and the signs were going to be sent out to be used elsewhere," the official said, speaking anonymously since he was not authorized to talk to the press.

So I guess that makes the Republican liars gullible and stupid, huh?

Fox News' Carl Cameron and Bonney Kapp reported that they had "been told" that "a vendor at Invesco Field found the flags, which were going to be thrown out, and turned them over to the McCain campaign."

The Democratic convention official says that's not true.

"It's pretty reprehensible on their part," he said. "Someone made an assumption, took the flags, and essentially lied about what was going to happen to them. I mean, c'mon, we were never ever going to throw out flags."

I forgot despicable. Gullible, stupid, despicable liars.

Emails to three McCain spokespersons inquiring where the flags were found and how the McCain campaign obtained them were not returned.

Why would they be? Then they might have to actually admit they were gullible, stupid, despicable liars.

UPDATE: DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney issues a statement: "American flags were proudly waved by the 75,000 people who joined Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention. John McCain should applaud that, but instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism. On the same day he agrees to join Barack Obama at Ground Zero on September 11, John McCain attacks the patriotism of Obama supporters who so proudly waved the American flag at our historic event in Denver just days ago."

UPDATE II: Another statement from the Democratic National Convention Committee: "Stories circulating about flags at the Democratic National Convention are false. We distributed more than 125,000 American made flags at the Convention - the flags removed from Invesco field were intended for other events and taken without permission. It's disappointing that someone would take American flags without authorization and then falsely describe how they were being used. We have the utmost respect for the American flag, and it's sad to see them being used for a cheap political stunt."

Several four-letter words are coming to mind. Please feel free to guess what they are in Comments.

John Sidney McCain ducks CNN questions about his divorce

By GottaLaff

(Cindy McMealTicket looks particularly odd, almost alien-like, in this one)

I can't for the life of me imagine why J Sid would be reticent to discuss his cheating on his badly injured wife with a much younger, wealthier beer heiress. Remember, at the Fake Forum, J Sid said his greatest moral failing was his first marriage, not his cheating:

CNN's John King has been looking into the circumstances of McCain's divorce from his first wife, Carol, and on Wednesday's American Morning he presented a preview of the full story that will air on CNN tonight. [...]

"I was a little taken aback, because I was a lot younger than he was," Cindy McCain told King of that first encounter.

"And you lied about your age?" King asked John McCain.

"I lied," McCain agreed, breaking out in a reminiscent chuckle.

Not only was McCain 17 years older than Cindy, but he was still married to Carol, and their daughter was only 12 years old.

"The marriage was in trouble," King explains. "He'd been having affairs for several years."

Cindy told King that it didn't bother her to be dating a married man because "my husband had been separated. ... You know, six and a half years, it was a long separation."

McCain also wrote in his memoir that he had separated from Carol before he started dating Cindy. However, notes King, "his own divorce filing shows they dated for nine months while he was still living with Carol, and records show he applied for a marriage license in Arizona before his divorce was final."

When King asked McCain about the fact that "the chronology that is presented publicly doesn't necessarily match the chronology of the documents," McCain's only answer was, "It's 30 years ago. I have a happy marriage."

Cindy McCain similarly replied, "His reasons are his reasons. I think I've been a good wife."

That maverick. It's okay to cheat on a suffering spouse because he's happy now. Besides, it was so long ago! And Cindy Lou McMealTicket has been a good wife, so the lies and deceit have been justified.

See how easy it is, kids? Just follow Mr. and Mrs. Cheat's example, and you can be a maverick, too!

Conclusion: Time and happiness are healers and erase any culpability. Future presidents take note.

RNC aims at Obama's elite education

Jeebus, will the media ever see that there is so much here to mock?

Even as Barack Obama takes eight days off from the campaign trail to vacation in Hawaii, where he lived for much of his youth, the Republican National Committee is again attempting to paint the Democrat as an out-of-touch elitist, this time in a mock “Barack Obama’s Hawaii Travel Guide” tweaking the Democrat for having attended an elite prep school there.

“Barack Obama’s Hawaii Travel Guide,” e-mailed to reporters on Friday, lists four "destinations," among them the beach locals claim is the one where Obama was photographed in his swim trunks in a shot that ran in People magazine early last year, and "Punahou School, a coeducational college preparatory day school" that Obama attended "from 1971 to 1979. The school campus covers 76 acres at the edge of the Manoa Valley."

Obama, raised by a singe mother, entered the prestigious school at age ten on a scholarship. “No one means to demean the academic successes of Barack Obama or the schools he attended,” said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. “The RNC and this campaign have sought to simply point out that on his Hawaii travels, there are certain landmarks reporters will likely see and this was a way to put those on the map.”

Obama's elite schooling may prove a risky topic for McCain, who attended St. Stephen’s, an exclusive school in Alexandria, Va., and then Episcopal High, a private boarding school in the same city, in the 1950s. The son and grandson of Navy admirals, he ended up at the Naval Academy, where, as he often reminds voters, he finished near the bottom of his graduating class.

So, not only did McCain attend more elitist expensive schools than Obama, even all that money couldn't make him smart. All I'm seeing is jealousy.

GOP planning to revolt right up to Dem convention

Easy to say Boehner. I'm sure you're right there with them, giving up your vacation time to flog the dog, right? Oh, maybe not.

House Republicans are gearing up to continue their revolt of Congress’ adjournment for at least the next two weeks – right up to the start of the Democratic Convention in Denver – according to a memo sent Wednesday to GOP members from Minority Leader John Boehner.

“Republicans will not rest until we have an honest, up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act,” Boehner wrote in the memo written by Republican leaders. “To that end, we request that you contact the Whip’s Office and indicate any time you may have available to come to Capitol in the coming weeks. We specifically request that you indicate your availability for any days during the next two weeks, August 11th through 22nd, as soon as possible.”

Question Of The Day

Why the hell is cowardly punk with a huge paycheck Jerome Corsi on MSNBC being attacked/defended by Contessa Brewer about his new piece of...... fiction, when Cliff's book was ignored? Media Matters has the rundown on his list of lies.

I told you so

Go read this so you know what we're up against. I'm not going to even comment on it because it's so out there, but you really need to know about it. It's very important that you read that- really.

Friday Night Distraction

Dedicated to John McCain, inspired by FDL. Any other appropriate suggestions?

No, he doesn't look like the faces on the money John

As you so helpfully pointed out for us a couple months ago.



Via.

Obama Too Fit to Be President?

Okay, I may have to go lay down after this pile of steaming bullcrap. And this from a media that takes every opportunity to blather on about GW's constant bike riding and brush clearing?

Speaking to donors at a San Diego fund-raiser last month, Barack Obama reassured the crowd that he wouldn't give in to Republican tactics to throw his candidacy off track.

"Listen, I'm skinny but I'm tough," Sen. Obama said.

But in a nation in which 66% of the voting-age population is overweight and 32% is obese, could Sen. Obama's skinniness be a liability? Despite his visits to waffle houses, ice-cream parlors and greasy-spoon diners around the country, his slim physique just might have some Americans wondering whether he is truly like them.

The candidate has been criticized by opponents for appearing elitist or out of touch with average Americans. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted in July shows Sen. Obama still lags behind Republican John McCain among white men and suburban women who say they can't relate to his background or perceived values.

"He's too new ... and he needs to put some meat on his bones," says Diana Koenig, 42, a housewife in Corpus Christi, Texas, who says she voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.

Hey Murdoch Journal, these women wouldn't vote for Obama if he shat peace and prosperity- any excuse will do and if it gets them out of their guilt over their own size 12 Lane Bryant granny panties, even better.

Deep Thought

Am I the only one that wants John Kerry to just haul off and deck one of the smug, smarmy Republicans that enabled the horrid Swift Boat attacks? Man, I'd pay good money for that (if I had any).

BTW, Kerry rocked just now against Kyl** on RFTWH- that's what brought this thought on.

**Oops, sorry Kyle, and corrected.

TBPNTOTV!!! Attack Obama edition

By GottaLaff

Oh boy! More fanning-o'-the-Obama-bashing-flames! Despite the fact that Obama easily won the week!!! John Sidney McLoser is intensifying his attacks, so TBPNTOTV!!! will make sure to highlight them!!! Today's TBPNTOTV!!!* consists of Suzanne Malveaux, Time's managing editor, Candy Crowley, Madcap Schneider.

Wolf: The surge, he's backed away. Is it too complicated to admit he was wrong? [Laffy Note: WTF?]

Suzanne: They want to focus on his position on the Iraq War, McCain's mistake. They're caught up now in the debate over the surge.... So he's parsing. Some would say he's answering unsuccessfully. He felt he's in a no win position.. Went overseas to gain credentials, yet criticized over grand events he had for being presumptuous.. there's a frustration on his part because he can't win against McCain's criticisms. [Laffy Note: WTF?!] But if you look at the pictures, he looks presidential.

Wolf: Judgment issue. He was right, McCain was wrong. He complained that nobody would ask that, but in fairness, I asked him about it. He was overseas, he probably didn't see all the interviews where McCain was asked that. But McCain insists he made the right call.

Time: I dont' think McCain is gonna say the war is a mistake.. but it's the way in which it was fought. The challenge for both is to emphasize that their plans going forward is the right one. Obama wants to get past the surge, and say even Maliki and Bush are talking about withdrawal on timetable, his position, his advantage. McCain has to figure out how to trumpet the surge and move away from Obama's position.

Wolf: Major difference on affirmative action between the candidates.

Candy: It's another issue that adds to a very bright line election. Obama tends to not have precise yes or no answers. He said there's a place for it, but there are other things.... no quotas.. It adds to the entire story, you have 2 very different candidates.

Wolf: Debates over affirmative action never go away.

Madcap: There is a bright line... 2 very different definitions. Outreach vs. preferential treatment. Most approve of outreach. He said he doesn't like preferential treatment, but doesn't want to destroy A. A.

Wolf: You reminded everyone that everyone complained he wasn't black enough.. he had fun with it.

Suzanne: He's got 90% plus approval rating from African Americans... so does he have a debt to pay for their support if he wins the election? That's the heart of it.

[Laffy Note: See Tags]

* THE BEST POLITICAL NEWS TEAM ON TELEVISION!!!