TMI? PDA?

Melissa Harris Lacewell on Keith Olbermann last night:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The man Melissa Harris Lacewell says she's dating because of his strong character is a reference to one Mr. James Perry.

A Princeton prof?

That's a nice catch. Does MHL have tenure?

Are, um, you sharing benefits?

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Hat tip to Ricardo for noticing this.

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Update: Melissa Harris Lacewell has flagged on her facebook feed this article that calls her and James a "power couple."

I think that's a long ways away.

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Update II: Looks like James Perry has a new website almost ready to go.

Guys Night Out

I know I said I was going to be away for a few days as I unpack my new place but I can't help it...

This T-P has posted (pdf) all of the charges that former Chief Technology Officer Greg Meffert made to the credit card he was given by NetMethods, a dummy company set up by city contractor Mark St. Pierre.

As one might imagine there's some interesting stuff in there. Tons of charges related to resort travel with the Mayor, tons of fancy meals at Sean Cummings' International House Hotel and other well-known food and beverage hot spots. The man simply could not go out to lunch without dropping $75 or more. All told, there were over $130,000 in charges.

There were also a high number of airline flights purchased for he, his wife, and his kids. One cost that's justly generating a lot of sensationalist buzz is a $2,675 charge Meffert made to the NetMethods account for his good time at the San Fransisco's Gold Club, "San Fransisco's Premier Gentlemen's Club."

Does anyone know what kind of left-wing services were rendered in that commie pinko San Fransisco club that he couldn't just have easily received from his favorite local spots, Visions, Rick's Cabaret, or Larry Flynt's Hustler Club?

What was especially sleazy about the charge in San Fran becomes more obvious when you dig a little bit into why he was over on the left coast in the first place. Looking at the credit card records, here is what it appears occurred:

On March 9th, 2006, Greg Meffert purchased three round trip flights between New Orleans and San Jose, California for his wife and two boys. A few days later, he booked his own flight to San Jose by way of San Fransisco. He would be joining his family for a vacation at Yosemite National Park - food, lodging, and souvenirs paid for by NetMethods. But of course it took him an extra day to get from San Fransisco to San Jose. There was business to attend to at the Gold Club.

Who knows? It is possible that he only went to the Gold Club between flights. There are no other charges in San Fransisco listed to the NetMethods account.

Another couple of charges that I thought you might find interesting involve single one-night stays at the New Orleans Ritz Carlton Hotel from April and July of 2005. You won't see these reported as newsworthy by the proper media but I have no particular problem leveling the insinuation given what we know about Mr. Meffert's. . . appetites.

Vitter's Caribbean Cruise

I think he'll like it there, I can't finger why.


LINK!


UPDATE: Wanna get away?

Profile Name: SerioSin69

Confession: It's like I can't even read a story about prostitution without thinking about Vitty's gyrating jowls. It doesn't even matter if it's out-of-state or not. It's a curse.

Palin, Scheunemann Go Rogue Together

Think they were doin' it?

Hawt.

Sleaze Season

The McCain camp's latest ad is horrendous. It straight-up lies about Barack Obama's record on sex-ed, soberly telling Americans that he wants to teach your kindergartner about sex before he or she even learns to read.

Notice that behemoth news organization McClatchy actually enhances their objectivity by calling the ad precisely what it is: "wrong" and "deliberately misleading."

And of course there couldn't possibly be any racial element when the McCain camp maliciously sexualizes Barack Obama with a blatant lie and attempts to use that lie as proof that Obama is wrong for "your family."

In terms of dishonesty, I have to say that this ad easily surpasses that which was used to short-circuit Harold Ford's bid for the Senate from Tennessee in 2006. That ad is now universally accepted in the mainstream press as having been intentionally racial, though reporters were much more cautious about saying so when the ad was running. I wonder how the mainstream press takes this one.

In Broad Nightlife

Last night was an A+.

What a show!

I wonder if casual listeners really get the political statements hidden not-so-subtly in M.I.A's work. Like when someone hears this . . .




. . . and gets bent out of shape because it's "violent."


Anyways, I danced till dawn and a good time was had by all.

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Some people were having a really really good time.

Frenchman Street last night was a sight to behold.

I know how it goes in this town but this looked more like Burning Man or Bonnaroo.

The police decided not to have any kind of presence and it was strikingly clear.

I won't get specific but you could have purchased any drug you could ever want - and consume it openly in the middle of the street.

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I don't bring this up to question why Frenchman Street was allowed to become a free zone. It doesn't outrage me. Again, a good time was had by all. (I do think whippets are stupid though)

It's just that...

I remember having read this in the paper the day before.

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Outraged?

Yes, by the double standard.

McCain Picks up a Banana at 3AM

Does he know how to put a condom on it?

The other day, Mr. Oyster posted an interesting analysis of the construction of 'McCain the Confused' as a linguistic weapon.

Oyster argues that it is particularly devious because it plays on concerns related to Mr. McCain's age.

It certainly allows Democrats to roast Mr. McCain for his wrong-headed ideas and to seize upon misstatements and Bushisms related to Islam without being "mean" and "attacking" him.

Saying "you know, I'm wondering if maybe Mr. McCain is confused as to who our enemies are in Iraq and Afghanistan and the larger War on Terror" is softer than saying "you know, Mr. McCain is trying to mislead you into perpetual war."

I also think that age will become a campaign issue whether or not his opponents try to augment the case with the confusion device:

Have you ever seen John McCain in high definition?

I know it's superficial but it will definitely make an impression on voters to see Mr. McCain's psoriasisface standing in front of some recycled blue background that says "keeping america safe" in a split screen shot that juxtaposes him with Mr. Obama delivering an energetic speech to a crowd of thousands. I'm just sayin'...

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Either way, the War on Terror isn't the only thing that Mr. McCain has found confusing. That's not the only issue on which he seems out of touch with reality. In fact, he demonstrated incredible ignorance on a critical issue:

Doing it.

Witness this exchange between he and a reporter last year:

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

"Can you find out what my position is on contraception"

I think we can all agree that his position is largely missionary. (Zing!)

Are you sure you want to follow the President on this one?
Bush's abstinence only sex ed curriculum has worked wonders.

Mr. McCain, what are condoms for? Do they help prevent transmission of HIV and other STDs?
What is your position? Sounds like you're.... confused.

Maybe call up Bob Dole on the matter...... if he's not, ya know.... busy.

SHOCKING!!! ANOTHER WASHINGTON SEX SCANDAL

Unsupervised teenagers experiment with oral sex!

How could this happen?

I thought this was America.