Mad TV Comedy Gold: The New Apple I-Rack

Interior Proposes Guns In Parks, Seeks Public Input

The Interior Department on Wednesday proposed allowing people to carry concealed weapons into national parks, depending on the laws of the state where the park is located.

From The Missoulian:

The move came in reaction to a call for changes to national park gun policy by 51 senators, including the four from Montana and Wyoming. But some park groups and former park officials blasted the proposal as unsafe and a bureaucratic nightmare.

Interior opened a 60-day public comment period on the proposal. It would allow an individual to carry a loaded weapon into national parks and wildlife refuges if the person has a concealed carry permit and the state where the park is located allows concealed weapons in its parks.

That would change regulations in place since the 1980s. Under current regulations, weapons can be brought into parks but must be inaccessible. That means they do not have to be disassembled or broken down, but simply put somewhere like a car trunk.

But the idea isn't going over well with conservationists or people who actually have to work in the parks.

But several National Park employee advocacy groups and the National Parks Conservation Association said the proposal would lead to confusion for visitors, rangers and law enforcement. Making park-by-park regulation contingent on state laws will create problems, they said.

The groups said the move came from intense political pressure orchestrated by the National Rifle Association. They noted that some parks straddle the border of two states that have different gun laws. They also said the probability of being a victim of violent crime in a national park is less than that of being struck by lightning.

“There are no existing data that suggest any public interest to be gained by allowing visitors to parks to possess concealed handguns,” said Bill Wade, chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. “This proposed regulation increases the risk to visitors, employees and wildlife rather than reducing it.”

Seven former Park Service directors sent a letter to Kempthorne in early April saying there is no need to change the regulations.

Go HERE to comment on the proposed rule changes.

Video: Obama Chooses Running Mate

... and she's older than John McCain.

Willy Week Taps Novick For Senate

Portland's award-winning alternative weekly, Willamette Week, has endorsed Steve Novick in the Oregon U.S. Senate Democratic Primary.

Novick’s outsider campaign has raised nearly as much money as Merkley’s camp, even without the help of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which tapped Merkley as its favorite. And Novick surprised many who can’t imagine a 4-foot-9 man with a hook for a left hand entering what’s known as the “world’s most exclusive club.”

We were hotly divided between the fun, speak-his-mind insurgent who calls to mind the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and the impassive Merkley, who calls to mind the widely respected Sen. Al Gore—the wooden version, before he became as steaming as the planet.

In the end, we rallied around Novick because we see a capacity for a refreshing independence and an unwavering willingness to tackle our toughest issues, like providing universal health care and ending the war in Iraq.

The toughest and smartest guy in this race is Novick.

Regular ballots go out May 2.

Gordon Smith Releases First TV Ad

Register-Guard reporter David Steves has posted Gordon Smith's first ad of 2008. It boasts a slogan, "Gordon Smith: Common Ground for the Common Good," that Oregonians will certainly hear a lot from the Smith campaign between now and November. From Steves' blog:

(The ad) is simple, straight-forward, and a pretty good indication of his plan to run as an independent-thinking guy who can work just as well with Democrats as Republicans ...

Tuesday Tune: Poor Old Dirt Farmer

Today In Oregon

From The WMD Stockpiles: The Scalia Collection

Tonight 60 Minutes focused on that combative rascal of modern wing-nut judicial philosophy, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (also known as "Nino"), one of the five judges who handed the White House to George W. Bush in 2000.

In honor of Nino's national network publicity, WMD has unearthed these scuds from the stockpiles.

March 25, 2004

CONTEXT: If Dubya is The Decider, then Scalia is The Recuser.

April 9, 2004

CONTEXT: Controversy ensued when a U.S. marshall assigned to protect the Supreme Court justice during a speech in Mississippi forced two reporters covering the event to erase their recordings.

(Click on images for larger versions)

The Oregonian Endorses Novick

As far as newspaper endorsements go, a statewide candidate can't land a bigger fish than the Oregonian.

And that's just what former underdog candidate for U.S. Senate Steve Novick did today.

Fresh off the heals of wrapping up a nod from Southern Oregon's Medford Mail-Tribune, Novick's bold campaign and forthright style have impressed the editorial board of the state's largest newspaper.

Novick is an unusual man with an unusual resume -- characteristics that some suggest aren't suited to the U.S. Senate. But we think his passion, his intellect and his personal style give him an intriguing combination of qualities that most senators don't possess.

We think Novick represents a bold choice for Democrats who seek to dislodge a veteran incumbent. He has the potential to press Smith as he has done Merkley. And, should he pull off what would be a major electoral upset and go to Washington as the new junior senator from Oregon, he has the potential to make Oregonians proud.

Read the rest of the Oregonian's endorsement HERE.

Regular ballots start going out Friday, May 2.

Go, Steve, go!

Tuesday Tune: Sammy's Late

I know, I know, I'm a day behind. Maybe this'll help catch me up ...



Ronnie Montrose with Sammy Hagar from 1974. The only thing missing is the faux engine-revving that Ronnie used to play with a slide to start the song.

Oregonian: Merkley Takes Heat For Mid-East Politics

Over at his blog, Way West of the Beltway, Oregonian reporter Jeff Mapes has posted a preview of a story that will appear in the print edition Wednesday morning that details some heat Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is taking for his shifting position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Pro-Palestinian activists say Merkley had been courting them for campaign contributions while expressing sympathy for their cause until he suddenly announced a hardline pro-Israeli stance last week at a forum sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Portland.

...

Part of the flap involves a donation Merkley returned to a pro-Palestinian activist who accused Israel of terrorism.

Hala Gores, a Palestinian-American lawyer in Portland, said a tearful Merkley visited her office in March to return her $2,300 contribution to his campaign and said: "I don't know if I am doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I want to win."

Merkley disputed her account of the conversation, saying that "I don't think I said something like I want to get elected."

Mapes has more on this story, first reported by Willamette Week, including other unhappy Merkley donors. Read the rest at his blog.

WMD Stockpiles: George W. Bush, Comedian

3/26/04

At the annual Washington Press Association dinner in 2004, George W. Bush presented a "humorous" slideshow that featured himself searching the White House for the weapons of mass destruction we never found in Iraq.


(click image for larger version)

Merkley Campaign Bitter About New Novick Ad

The Steve Novick for U.S. Senate campaign released another winning new ad Monday that pokes fun at same-old-tired political campaigns, although disheveled Jeff Merkley Campaign spokesman Matt Canter seems to disagree.

"It looks like the Novick campaign pulled the plug on their funny ad strategy," Canter told the Oregonian's Harry Esteve. "Like all the reporters I was ready and waiting to see what crazy thing the Novick campaign would come up with next. The first ads were kind of funny, but this one falls flat."

Judge for yourself:



Upon further review, I'd say this 30-second spot is a perfect response to off-the-shelf ads that feature the candidate standing next to blue-collar workers, then health-care professionals, then educators, then firemen, then soldiers, etc., etc, while the deep-voiced announcer reads throwaway platitudes about the candidate being a fighter and so on.

And the ad also succinctly explains Novick's position on Social Security tax.

Canter's overtly bitter comments should be considered a reflection on how good the ad is and how under-whelming Merkley's once-viewed-as-inevitable campaign has been. In less than 24 hours, Novick's ad got 1,738 views on YouTube. Merkley's "fighter" ad, which has been out for two weeks, has 1,728, according to Loaded Orygun.

But don't judge the Minnesota import Canter too harshly. Surely any Oregonian can emphasize with Canter's frustration.

I imagine for Merkley's supporters, watching Novick's ads is like watching Michael Jordan sink another three pointer against the Blazers in the NBA finals.

Or, as Spike might say, "Hey Money, it's gotta be the ads."

Mapes Recalls McCain's Temper

At his OregonLive blog, Way West of the Beltway, Oregonian reporter Jeff Mapes recalls his personal encounter with John McCain's infamous temper.

The Washington Post ran a front-page story Sunday devoted to McCain's temperament, starting with a shouting-and-shoving match McCain had with Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in early 1992.

Mapes remembered seeing "flashes of temper" when he covered McCain's appearance in Portland at a 1993 dinner for the Oregon Citizen's Alliance, an anti-gay group.

McCain was visiting Portland to speak at a political dinner, and he clearly wasn't happy to be doing it. Back in 1991, McCain had agreed to help out a small conservative group, the Oregon Citizens Alliance, which had decided not to run a third-party candidate against then-Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore.

In 1992, however, the OCA ran an anti-gay ballot measure that attracted national attention and turned even many Republicans away from the group. After McCain agreed to attend the 1993 fundraiser for the OCA, an Arizona newspaper columnist headlined it this way: "Hate group finds friend in McCain." Then-Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, R-Ore., encouraged McCain to back out, but McCain felt he couldn't.

In such a situation, many politicians would simply pour on the charm and the candor - smilingly telling reporters that this was an opportunity to encourage a conservative group to be open-hearted and tolerant.

McCain didn't do that.

Read the rest at Mapes' blog.

Michael Moore Endorses Obama

Filmmaker Michael Moore joins former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich on the list of prominent Democrats recently endorsing Barack Obama in the presidential primary.

My Vote's for Obama (if I could vote)

...by Michael Moore

April 21st, 2008

Friends,

I don't get to vote for President this primary season. I live in Michigan. The party leaders (both here and in D.C.) couldn't get their act together, and thus our votes will not be counted.

So, if you live in Pennsylvania, can you do me a favor? Will you please cast my vote -- and yours -- on Tuesday for Senator Barack Obama?


I haven't spoken publicly 'til now as to who I would vote for, primarily for two reasons: 1) Who cares?; and 2) I (and most people I know) don't give a rat's ass whose name is on the ballot in November, as long as there's a picture of JFK and FDR riding a donkey at the top of the ballot, and the word "Democratic" next to the candidate's name.

Seriously, I know so many people who don't care if the name under the Big "D" is Dancer, Prancer, Clinton or Blitzen. It can be Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Barry Obama or the Dalai Lama.

Well, that sounded good last year, but over the past two months, the actions and words of Hillary Clinton have gone from being merely disappointing to downright disgusting. I guess the debate last week was the final straw. I've watched Senator Clinton and her husband play this game of appealing to the worst side of white people, but last Wednesday, when she hurled the name "Farrakhan" out of nowhere, well that's when the silly season came to an early end for me. She said the "F" word to scare white people, pure and simple. Of course, Obama has no connection to Farrakhan. But, according to Senator Clinton, Obama's pastor does -- AND the "church bulletin" once included a Los Angeles Times op-ed from some guy with Hamas! No, not the church bulletin!

This sleazy attempt to smear Obama was brilliantly explained the following night by Stephen Colbert. He pointed out that if Obama is supported by Ted Kennedy, who is Catholic, and the Catholic Church is led by a Pope who was in the Hitler Youth, that can mean only one thing: OBAMA LOVES HITLER!

Yes, Senator Clinton, that's how you sounded. Like you were nuts. Like you were a bigot stoking the fires of stupidity. How sad that I would ever have to write those words about you. You have devoted your life to good causes and good deeds. And now to throw it all away for an office you can't win unless you smear the black man so much that the superdelegates cry "Uncle (Tom)" and give it all to you.

But that can't happen. You cast your die when you voted to start this bloody war. When you did that you were like Moses who lost it for a moment and, because of that, was prohibited from entering the Promised Land.

How sad for a country that wanted to see the first woman elected to the White House. That day will come -- but it won't be you. We'll have to wait for the current Democratic governor of Kansas to run in 2016 (you read it here first!).

There are those who say Obama isn't ready, or he's voted wrong on this or that. But that's looking at the trees and not the forest. What we are witnessing is not just a candidate but a profound, massive public movement for change. My endorsement is more for Obama The Movement than it is for Obama the candidate.

That is not to take anything away from this exceptional man. But what's going on is bigger than him at this point, and that's a good thing for the country. Because, when he wins in November, that Obama Movement is going to have to stay alert and active. Corporate America is not going to give up their hold on our government just because we say so. President Obama is going to need a nation of millions to stand behind him.

I know some of you will say, 'Mike, what have the Democrats done to deserve our vote?' That's a damn good question. In November of '06, the country loudly sent a message that we wanted the war to end. Yet the Democrats have done nothing. So why should we be so eager to line up happily behind them?

I'll tell you why. Because I can't stand one more friggin' minute of this administration and the permanent, irreversible damage it has done to our people and to this world. I'm almost at the point where I don't care if the Democrats don't have a backbone or a kneebone or a thought in their dizzy little heads. Just as long as their name ain't "Bush" and the word "Republican" is not beside theirs on the ballot, then that's good enough for me.

I, like the majority of Americans, have been pummeled senseless for 8 long years. That's why I will join millions of citizens and stagger into the voting booth come November, like a boxer in the 12th round, all bloodied and bruised with one eye swollen shut, looking for the only thing that matters -- that big "D" on the ballot.

Don't get me wrong. I lost my rose-colored glasses a long time ago.

It's foolish to see the Democrats as anything but a nicer version of a party that exists to do the bidding of the corporate elite in this country. Any endorsement of a Democrat must be done with this acknowledgement and a hope that one day we will have a party that'll represent the people first, and laws that allow that party an equal voice.

Finally, I want to say a word about the basic decency I have seen in Mr. Obama. Mrs. Clinton continues to throw the Rev. Wright up in his face as part of her mission to keep stoking the fears of White America. Every time she does this I shout at the TV, "Say it, Obama! Say that when she and her husband were having marital difficulties regarding Monica Lewinsky, who did she and Bill bring to the White House for 'spiritual counseling?' THE REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT!"

But no, Obama won't throw that at her. It wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be decent. She's been through enough hurt. And so he remains silent and takes the mud she throws in his face.

That's why the crowds who come to see him are so large. That's why he'll take us down a more decent path. That's why I would vote for him if Michigan were allowed to have an election.

But the question I keep hearing is... 'can he win? Can he win in November?' In the distance we hear the siren of the death train called the Straight Talk Express. We know it's possible to hear the words "President McCain" on January 20th. We know there are still many Americans who will never vote for a black man. Hillary knows it, too. She's counting on it.

Pennsylvania, the state that gave birth to this great country, has a chance to set things right. It has not had a moment to shine like this since 1787 when our Constitution was written there. In that Constitution, they wrote that a black man or woman was only "three fifths" human. On Tuesday, the good people of Pennsylvania have a chance for redemption.

Yours,
Michael Moore