You know you're near South Park when..

...One of the first things you see after you get off your plane is a tribute to Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman. Yep. South Park gets a shout out. The Denver airport has been featured in many an episode of South Park so they deserve the tribute:



Okay, the tribute is mostly to Matt and Trey. They deserve it, too. Read More......

Biden on gay civil rights

78% from HRC. He's been pretty good. If we could get more sixty-something, white Catholic men to show this much support, we'd really make some progress. Read More......

Great rollout for Biden today

I've been traveling today. Just getting caught up on the reactions to Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his running mate. So, far, it looks very good. Taegan Goddard has a good rundown of what the pundits are saying (and includes the painful smarty pants Mark Halperin, who, of course takes a contrarian view. Read Jason Linkins brutal, yet beautiful, take down of Halperin here. It's classic. Jason refers to "The Page" as "like a comic book.) Taegan offers this himself:

From a purely political perspective, no presidential campaign has ever handled the announcement of a running mate so deftly. The Obama campaign set a new standard that will be studied for years.

Several Republican Senators, Hagel, Lugar and Specter, have also offered praise for Biden.
And, while I missed the actual speech, I love this.
Jed has video of Biden's best line has about John McCain's "seven kitchen tables":



Mock McCain. It's so easy. Read More......

Ted Kennedy is fighting back

Today's Washington Post has an update on Senator Ted Kennedy:

Kennedy, 76, has spent much of the summer in hospitals. The cancer, which was discovered in May, required brain surgery in June and daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments for six weeks after that. But the veteran senator has still found time and energy in the past three months to:

· Record an emotional video for the first day of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, recapping inspiring moments throughout his life.

· Fly to Washington in the midst of treatments to cast a decisive vote in favor of legislation that would prevent a sharp cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Several Republicans, moved by his grit, switched their earlier votes on the bill, giving it a veto-proof majority.

· Orchestrate bipartisan talks on a universal health insurance bill he hopes to have ready for Congress to consider by the time a new president is inaugurated.

· Craft a Peace Corpsesque youth service bill he hopes to introduce next year to round out his legacy.

· Form a nonprofit group with friends to raise money and build an institute in Boston, next door to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, that will be dedicated to research and education about the U.S. Senate.

And if his condition permits, he might make a surprise appearance at the convention in Denver.

Not bad for a guy with brain cancer. Hope is he well enough to make it to Denver. Read More......

Joe, Chris and I are heading off to Denver

Joe is already on his way, Chris is en route from Europe, and I leave at 5. We'll all be there tonight. Should be a hell of a lot of fun. And a bit crazed. We're all at hotels all over the place, transportation will be living hell, blah blah. I've been two two conventions before - the GOP one kind of sucked, not going back to that, but the Dem one was fun last time. It will be neat to have Chris (in Paris) with us on the scene this time, and a Greek blogger friend of mine will be credentialed and attending as well (he's the top Internet strategists for the (progressive) opposition leader in Greece). That also means that Joe, Chris and I are going to have to figure out how we're posting during the convention - since we'll be all over town all day long. More on that in a bit, we'll figure it out.

Anyway, I'm back in DC, got back last night from Paris - the cats were despondent, it's funny how they know you're packing - and by the luck of the Gods I was finally able to use my miles to bump me to business class (this only after Air France kind of lost my reservation, but that's another story for another day - at least they fixed it). Wow, so this is how the McCains live. I mean, it's like a whole other world up there at the front of the plane. I just imagine my grandparents and my mom coming over on the boat from Greece in the 1930s, and all the rich people in the upper decks a la Titanic. It's good to be on the upper decks :-)

As folks know, I have a bee in my bonnet about the deteriorating quality of US air service. I've said before and I'll say it again, never ever ever fly a US carrier abroad unless you want shitty service, bad food, small seats, and arrogant arrogant arrogant flight attendants. Air France, on the other hand, rocks. Even in coach class, they treat you like a human being, the food is great, the alcohol and newspapers are free, and I have yet to meet an Air France flight attendant who thinks that they own the company and you work for them. Delta, however? Don't even get me started. When don't I fly Delta internationally and have some flight attendant mouth off to me (last time, one got pissed at me for asking if she knew what sauce was on the meat they were serving, since I'm allergic to powdered garlic I kind of needed to ask (it's in pretty much every red sauce you'll get on a plane)) - "I already gave you a menu" she snapped. I was like, uh, I'm sorry I was sleeping I never got a menu. Classy lady, par for the course. And now the airlines are charging for water. Well, Air France doesn't. I really can't wait for a few US carriers to go under. They think they can screw the consumer with impunity. Nobody is complaining about the $15 bag charge, they tell the media (well yeah, I'm gonna bitch at the guy who takes my bag so he can then send it to Timbuktu?). Just wait for their next $15 billion bail out they go to Congress for. Just wait and see the campaign we're going to organize against that. If they can charge us for water, we can charge them for their bailout. Read More......

Biden ranked "poorest" Senator, McCain ranked 8th richest

Just an interesting comparison. Poorest senators. Richest. Guessing that means Biden doesn't own 12 houses like Senator McMansion. Read More......

Why does AP have McFournier even covering the presidential race?

I know that the Associated Press considers it a point of honor to promote someone whenever they do something incredibly biased and their impartiality is seriously compromised, but after their top presidential reporter, Ron Fournier, interviewed for a job with the McCain presidential campaign, it's simply abominable that AP would keep him on the presidential beat. Does anyone doubt that a McCain presidency will try to hire Fournier for press secretary? Please, it's a given. Fournier will always have his next job in the back of his mind. You simply don't even entertain a job offer from someone you cover if you intend to continue covering them. We are far beyond the appearance of impropriety. Which means AP will probably give Fournier an even bigger promotion. More from Jonathan Singer at MyDD. And here's more on Fournier from Media Matters. Read More......

AP's Ron Fournier delivers for his almost boss, John McCain

Ron Fournier, the Washington bureau chief for the Associated Press, interviewed for a job with John McCain a couple years ago. He is featured in the infamous Liz Sidoti donuts video. Fournier is also the reporter who told Karl Rove to "keep up the fight" during the 2004 campaign. Today, he's out with an "analysis" of Obama's choice of Biden as his running mate. Sounds like it was written by the McCain press shop. Fournier is working for McCain from the outside (and holding out for a job in the McCain administration.) Read More......

Biden is Obama's running mate

From the Obama campaign early this morning:

TEXT MESSAGE TO SUPPORTERS:

Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!


EMAIL TO SUPPORTERS:

Friend --

I have some important news that I want to make official.

I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.

Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.

I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.

Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:

http://my.barackobama.com/welcomejoe

Thanks for your support,

Barack

P.S. -- Make sure to turn on your TV at 2:00 p.m. Central Time to join us or watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.

My text message arrived at 3:06 a.m. Still haven't seen the email.

The NY Times sent me the first email announcing Biden at 1:11 a.m. Read More......

007: GoldenMansion, featuring (and mocking) McCain. John McCain.

UPDATE 12:58AM: CNN says it's Biden. No confirmation yet from Obama.

Another brilliant production from Jed Lewison:



McCain: "A politician you can mock." Read More......