TODAY’S TOP STORIES / 1st November
And more…
Specter of Deflation Lurks as Global Demand Drops
McCain scraps town hall format as crowds becomes vicious.
Miliband flies to Goma as rebels advance
Surge in recruitment as support for troops rises
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Stroppyblog – Janine makes the case for sacking Ross and Brand. On the grounds that they’re both crap.
Pickled Politics – Sunny reports on the ground war telephone operations of both parties.
Chicken Yogurt – Justin vents at a world where Tony Blair earns £12m a year and poor Lesley Douglas has to walk. Interesting debate in the comments.
Left of Centrist – McCain loses it as voters in Red States court Obama [video/humour].
Crooked Timber – The banking crisis pales in significance to the gargantuan environmental catastrophe that looms large over our tortured planet.
Earthpal – It’s the first day of the hunt. Don’t worry, the hunting ban is a meaningless law that’s not enforced. Tally-ho!
The Daily (Maybe) – And to finish things off, we have a review of the new Bond movie. Hurrah!
The awesome Jennie is up tomorrow, and I’ll be back for a special election review on Tuesday. Bye. *waves*.
The 2008 Presidential Election
Next Tuesday millions of Americans will go to the polls to decide the forty-forth President of the United States.
Here at Liberal Conspiracy we understand the importance of these elections to America and the rest of the world.
So on Tuesday night, and going forward into the early hours of Wednesday, we’ll be Live Blogging the results as they come in.
Our bloggers, including Sunny who is on the ground with the Obama campaign, will also be discussing the hottest breaking stories and providing our own take on events.
We hope you’ll join us in what we hope will be a great night for progressive politics.
Blood on the carpet
Yet more jibbering idiocy over the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand affair. Lesley Douglas, BBC Radio 2’s Controller, has resigned in the wake of tabloid outrage and hyperbole.
Last night on Newsnight the target of the “joke”, actor Andrew Sachs, said that the matter was pretty much over as the two presenters had apologised. Subsequently Brand has resigned and Ross has been suspended for 3-months by the BBC.
Don’t you just love it? The BBC, as always, has been forced to pull down its trousers and bend over, while the collective tabloid media buggers it silly with its enormous cock of hypocrisy. And yet again our shower of a government has piled in (as did Slippery Dave, but that’s hardly a surprise considering what a predictable populist shitbag he is).
More “Joe the Plumber” BS
The Guardian has news that Sam “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher (who has become a byword for every hard-working American in John McCain’s stump-speech lexicon) is being courted by a record company, keen to turn him into a country music star.
Jim Della Croce, Wurzelbacher’s PR spokesperson (yeah, seriously), has claimed ::
“He is a dynamic speaker and an everyman who has become an overnight celebrity…”
Substitute “everyman” for “Republican plant”, and “overnight celebrity” for “compulsive liar”, and he’s just about right.
Watchdog not interested in Osborne probe
The BBC is reporting that the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will not investigate Gideon George Osborne over his dealings with a Russian oligarch.
Following a widely reported series of events that have also landed Peter Mandleson in hot water, the Shadow Chancellor has been fighting for his political life after it was said that he had attempted to solicit a £50,000 donation from billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
Now it seems Osborne will survive. Shame.
Sorry, but is it me or is there something fundamentally smarmy about Osborne? Seriously, I really can’t stand the guy. I don’t want to come across all class-warrior and all that (I’m really not the type), but there is something about him that really gets under my skin. Have you seen the Bullingdon photos?
He reminds me of those people at school who always hung around the big kids and caused trouble.
A paragraph in last week’s Guardian suggests the smug self-importance isn’t just an unfortunate appearance ::
One Osborne tactic which has irritated colleagues is his tendency to send out text messages to junior frontbenchers, often late in the evening, with mildly critical remarks. When the hapless MPs reply they receive no response because Osborne has switched off his phone. The following day he will joke that he meant no harm and that he was sending group texts.
Nice.
Of course truth is that, had Osborne continued to deny the allegations, his old friend Nat Rothschild had enough evidence to “finish” him. It’s pretty clear that Mr. Osborne has been naughty, but the establishment is protecting its own as usual.
Top Stories and Blog Review – 28th Oct
Elsewhere…
Cost of crash: $2,800,000,000,000
Extremists to be barred from UK
Skinheads ‘planned to kill Obama’
Republican Ted Stevens guilty
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Unspeak – The always-excellent Steven Poole is distracted by the EU’s reluctance to release Peter Mandelson’s diary. The EU is claiming that the diary isn’t a “document”, even though the EU’s own definition would suggest that it is. *sighs*
Jock’s Place – Reportage from the Libertarian Alliance Conference. Parts One and Two.
Obsolete – The US has bombed targets inside Syria, killing 7 civilians. But why?
The Daily (Maybe) – The collapse of the Republican Party is making Jim so very happy.
Dave’s Part – Mr. Osler agrees with me in that there are limits to what we can expect from an Obama presidency.
Liberal England – Iain Dale is dead wrong if he thinks the Tories need another David Evans.
Pickled Politics – Sunny reports from the trenches. Now with added Pics!
But what if Obama does win?
As the McCain-Palin ticket turns in on itself, the media narrative is building towards an Obama win by some margin.
On Sunday’s Meet the Press, an awkward and mumbling John McCain maintained that the polls do not reflect the reality on the ground. He argued that the American people will put their trust in him as the man best equipped to be President on day-one. Of course the Senator from Arizona knows the trouble he’s in, but for appearances sake, he must play up his chances.
But what if the polls can be trusted?
Is McCain’s presidential campaign over?
There have been some pretty poor presidential campaigns. But I wonder if any have collapsed quite as spectacularly as John McCain’s has over the past few weeks?
It’s not that long ago, September 3rd in fact, that Sarah Palin’s barnstorming turn at the Republican Convention threatened to carry the ticket into the White House. Yet now, McCain’s strategy seems to be changing daily, with his team thrashing around in a desperate attempt to find an approach that offers some traction with voters.
The campaign isn’t working and many Republicans are bracing themselves for a crushing defeat. If Obama does swamp McCain, it wouldn’t be the first landslide in recent memory. continue reading… »
TODAY’S TOP STORIES / 11th October
Elsewhere
Rich Nations Pushing for Coordination in Rescue
Probe Finds Palin Abused Power in Case of Trooper
Journalists in Iraq Stage Pullback of Their Own
Austrian far right leader dies in car accident
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Daily Kos – As America enters the final 100-days of Bush 43, “Meteor Blades” reflects on his many crimes and misdemeanours. History may well judge Bush harshly, he argues, but it’s too little, too late.
Bob Piper – Raging against Andrew Neil’s piss-poor political programming.
Ministry of Truth – Unity, writing about Neil’s Daily Politics, is more concerned with the programme’s supposed ‘psychologist’, Lucy Beresford, who sought to psychoanalyse the PM. Turns out she’s little more than a chancer and a charlatan. Good job, BBC!
Robert Fisk/Indi – Whether it be “Collateral Damage” or targeted killing, the end is pretty much the same. Saddam faced justice for his murders, will we?
Robin Lustig – You can’t make any sense of the current mess using traditional economics, you need “idionomics”. It from a few days ago, but it’s no-less relevant.
Chris K – Mike Smithson, of Political Betting fame, is dead wrong to claim that current account holders deserve to lose their savings in Iceland.
Pastichio Nuts – Excellent political-based humour from Nathaniel Tapley [video]. Loved the Tory song line: “Talk of tax-cuts, and single mum sluts, still gives me a stiffy.” Class.
Hague travels Barclays style
Who says those Tories don’t feel your pain…
From The Daily Mail::
William Hague is facing awkward questions about his judgment after he joined a lavish Italian trip for Barclays executives on a black day for global markets.
He spent Friday on the sunny shores of Lake Como, on the final day of a luxury break organised by the hard-pressed bank’s private wealth division.
While he enjoyed the balmy surroundings of one of Europe’s most expensive hotels, where rooms can cost £1,000 a night, markets in London and America went into freefall.
And yeah, that was a Daily Fail link.
Palin clears herself of any wrongdoing
As if by magic, the McCain-Palin campaign has pre-empted today’s official state ethics report, with their own report which completely clears Palin of any wrongdoing.
Sarah Palin and her family are accused of abusing her office to settle a long-running family feud – the much discussed “Troopergate” scandal.
Talking Points Memo reports ::
Lawmakers are expected to release their own findings Friday. Campaign officials have yet to see that report — the result of an investigation that began before she was tapped as McCain’s running mate — but said the investigation has falsely portrayed a legitimate policy dispute between a governor and her commissioner as something inappropriate.
I suppose the McCain team should be commended for getting their retaliation in early. It’ll be interesting to see how they spin the two reports if the official one criticises the Governor.
UPDATE ::
MSNBC – “The move came hours after the state Supreme Court refused to halt the ethics investigation.”
Hmmmm.
UPDATE 2 ::
Palin has been found guilty by the independent report of violating “the trust Alaskans placed in her as their governor”. The McCain Campaign has called the report “partisan”, even though the investigation was initiated by a majority Republican vote. Oh, and Tod Palin has been exposed as a dim-witted moron and a liability. Just sayin’.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES / 9th October
Elsewhere
Dem strategists see landslide in the making
US could copy British-style bank bailout
Shares climb after intervention
Council millions at risk in Icelandic banks
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Freemania – Tom has a roundup of the media’s reaction to the UK bailout. Broadly, it’s quite positive.
Stroppyblog – Janine is agog at the sheer size of the bailout, and then goes on to argue for leftwing solutions to this crisis.
Obsolete – On the scary bailout, and how New Labour owns this mess.
Nick Clegg/Indi – Clegg argues that Britain needs tax-cuts, not just bumper bailouts. He also says that the bailout was necessary, supporting the government’s action. The Tories are still dithering, no doubt still scanning the wreckage for political points.
Sadie’s Tavern – On bungling media infiltrators. Funny.
Chicken Yoghurt – Talking of funny, Justin is unimpressed with Brown’s attempt at humour.
Oliver Willis – [Video] Interviewing McCain/Palin supporters and their scary views. Obama is a terrorist, btw.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES / 8th October
Debate II – Reaction
A Showdown That Was More of a Letdown
McCain struggles to derail Obama
Round two goes to Obama.
Who Won The Debate? Clean Sweep For Obama
No Game-Changer Here
Elsewhere
Government to spend £50bn to part-nationalise UK’s banks
Darling details £50 billion bank bailout plan
Schools told to counter extremism
A-level exams system is ‘not fit for purpose’
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Ben Smith – Sean Hannity gets hijacked live on Fox News. Watch him thrash around like a dying fish.
The Corner/NRO – McCain was “very solid”, Obama “plausible”. Quite the praise from NRO, no?
Political Ticker – CNN: Obama won
Daily Kos – Kos praises CNN’s favourable/unfavourable meter of undecided Ohio voters. I watched the first hour of the debate on CNN. Obama absolutely creamed McCain, last night.
Real Clear Politics – The debate was “one of the most boring, least informative, most poorly moderated debates in recent memory.” Jeesh, why don’t you just come out and say it was crap? Also at RCP: The Spin Begins…
Bob Piper – Why can’t Osborne decide whether he supports the Chancellor’s Bank plan? Why the dithering? FAIL!
Obsolete – As the economic climate worsens, Labour’s handling of the crisis could yet repair the public’s faith in Brown.
Election ‘08: The final straight
Ok, so it may not quite be the final straight. But it is undeniable that Barack Obama’s growing lead is starting to panic the GOP. Republicans are worried that there may not be the time to turn it around.
Rightwing blogs are denying that it’s over, claiming that Kerry led Bush going into the ‘04 election – only to lose. But as leading Democrat blogger Oliver Willis points out, this is simply not the case (wot, you mean rightwingers lie?). Bush was leading Kerry at this point in ‘04.
Moreover, the Obama lead is beginning to bring more and more States into contention. This is a result of Obama’s adoption of Howard Dean’s ambitious 50-State strategy (something it should be noted, that was ridiculed by the Clintons), and the increasing economic concerns of the electorate. In polls Obama crucifies John McCain on the economy. continue reading… »
London 2012: Cheap ‘n’ quiet
BJ the Mayor Bear has told MPs that he expects London 2012 to be “cosier” than this summer’s Olympics in Beijing. Considering the current economic woes, and the enormous scale of the Beijing games, surely this is something of a no-brainer?
From the BBC ::
Updating MPs on progress, the London mayor pledged to deliver a games “every bit as good as Beijing” without spending “colossal” sums of money.
He repeated his vow that the event would not go over its £9.3bn budget.
In light of the financial problems experienced building London’s other major “event” developments – Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Dome, you’ll forgive me if I remain sceptical that budgets can be honoured.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES / 4th October
Elsewhere
Bailout Plan Wins Approval
McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama
Palin divides women of Florida
Record debt and no jobs for graduates
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Paul Linford – Brown played a devilishly good hand.
Though Cowards Flinch – The police don’t like political interference. But isn’t that what a democracy is about?
Left of Centrist – Robert dares to believe that Obama might actually win.
Solana Larsen/openUSA – The NY right-wing tabloids are calling the debate for Palin.
donpaskini – For all the talk of Palin’s background, it was Biden’s personal story that won the debate.
Stumbling and Mumbling – Chris on Cameron’s claim that his “character and judgment” trump Brown’s experience. Would you give slippery Dave a job?
O’Reilly to Frank: ‘You’re a coward!’
Bill O’Reilly to Representative Barney Frank (D – MA) on Fox News ::
via. Politico
Sarah’s lifeline
Imagine the most terrifying, pressured and important moment of your life.
Now multiply it by 10.
That is something like what Sarah Palin must have gone through as she prepared for last night’s Vice Presidential debate with Joe Biden. The media and even fellow conservatives have attacked her relentlessly over the past two weeks. Palin’s spirited performance at the Republican Convention is now merely a footnote in what has become a comedy of errors and gaffes, culminating in a series of Saturday Night Live parodies by Tina Fey, one of which lifted its lines – almost verbatim – from Palin’s own mouth. continue reading… »
Top Stories and Blog Review – 27th Sept
Watch the debate
CNN videos of debate – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
More Analysis
Grading the First Presidential Debate
Temperature of Debate? Lukewarm.
The Mac is back
Who Won The Debate? Reviews Go To Obama
McCain Takes It
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Heath
Daily Kos – Did McCain’s constant trashing of Obama’s experience and judgement lower voter expectation, to the Democrat’s advantage?
RCP – Tom Bevan is confident that McCain won, but does it really matter?
TPM – Why didn’t McCain make eye contact with Obama? Was it embarrassment, contempt, anger or maybe fear?
Oliver Willis – It’s an easy decision really: the cool cucumber or the furious tomato.
Michael Tomasky/CiF – The actual debate is over. Now let’s see how the campaigns spin it.
Paul Linford – Back to UK politics for the final couple of links, as Paul reflects on Brown’s speech and the huge amount of work ahead of him.
Sadie’s Tavern – When did Fraser Nelson become such a slimy Cameron acolyte?
Politicising a crisis
HuffPo has a report on yesterday’s White House meet between Bush and leading congressional and senate members to reach an agreement on the $700bn bailout of Wall Street.
You’ll remember this is the meeting that Sen. John McCain “suspended” his campaign over. McCain climbed up on his high horse, threw off his partisan hat, and threw his talents behind the American people. Yeah right.
Anyone who has been watching the McCain campaign closely, will not be surprised to find that this was yet another McCain stunt. McCain, in stark contrast to the animated and informed discussion around him, remained quiet and was unable at any point to offer any specifics or give his support to any agreement. continue reading… »
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or rss feeds.
» How bad is the feline obesity crisis?
» Why don’t MPs pay back tuition fees instead of increasing ours?
» Obama is right to slam BP – and why capitalists should too
» Why does Phillip Blond see civic cohesion as a security issue?
» So what if the Labour candidates went to Oxbridge?
» Last night’s Labour hustings: will it get interesting or turn to torture?
» It’s now down to Ken to win London for Labour
» The Labour people need
» Blog Nation: what would you like to see discussed?
» The Labour leadership’s token contender.. and it’s not Diane Abbott
» In defence of these fraternal nominations
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