Virginia
updated
11:31 a.m.
A source tells me that Keith Hummel, who’s suspended his campaign for Congress, may finally withdraw either today or Friday. 1st District Democrats have until September to find a replacement to run against Rep. Rob Wittman. ...
Fred2Blue - 11:10 a.m.
Ha, first Frank Wolf's tells people to fax their questions (email would be a lot easier, why are they trying to make this so hard?) about Iraq to him. Reportedly, Wolf's offices then proceeded to turn off their fax machines everywhere but at their Capitol Hill office. Great stuff, eh? :) From the Feder for Congress campaign : Congressman Wolf's Office Flooded with Faxes from Constituents ...
Farewell Frank - 11:10 a.m.
Vivian Paige has the second part of her review of Tom Schaller’s Whistling Past Dixie up. There’s lots of stuff to dig into. She’s highlighting some of the interesting facts (the particular focus of Southern Christians) and taking apart some of the myths (Southern black people vote disproporitionately less than other Southerners). Check it out. [...]...
Blacknell.net - 11:10 a.m.
From the Tom Perriello campaign: Tom Perriello, Democratic nominee for Virginia's Fifth Congressional District, today commended Congress for compromising to help America's housing market. The House passed the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act (HR 3221). The bill steers middle-class families away from predatory subprime loans and provides them with affordable mortgages, offers ...
Democratic Central - 9:33 a.m.
Jim Gilmore submitted false information on two financial disclosure forms that hid his ties to a government contractor accused of defrauding the federal government. He blamed it on a “clerical error” listing “Nashua, NH” as the corporate office location instead of “Rappahannock County, VA.” Some typo! ...
Virginia Beach Dems - 8:03 a.m. - 6 clicks 
When given the choice between advancing (admittedly troubled) counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, or making sure that Lockheed Martin gets a couple hundred million dollars, it’s an easy call for the Bush Administration. ...
Blacknell.net - 8:03 a.m.
CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin did a series of reports about TSA’s practices in May, and guess what? [S]hortly after I began a series of investigative reports critical of the TSA. Eleven flights now since May 19. On different airlines, my name pops up forcing me to go to the counter, show my identification, sometimes [...]...
Blacknell.net - 8:03 a.m. - 3 clicks
Obama goes to Western Wall -- http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes... and meets with Arab and Israeli leaders -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07... Israel needs tough love, not blind love -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07... NYT says we need national standards for ballot design (no ore butterfly ballots) -- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07... A new National Service Act? -- http://opinionator.b...
Democratic Central - 6:30 a.m.
So yeah, another Tour, another doping scandal (or three). Saunier Duval has elected to drop its sponsorship in light of the recently uncovered doping habits of Ricardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli. Which is, on many levels, understandable enough. But as anyone who saw the photos of the Saunier Duval team mechanics - sitting on the [...]...
Blacknell.net - 6:00 a.m.
George Brett was one of the best hitters in the history of baseball. He had 3,154 hits in his major league career, but none was more famous than the home run that he hit in the notorious "Pine Tar Incident". On July 24, 1983, Brett's Kansas City Royals were playing the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the top of the ninth inning, Brett came up to bat against Goose Gossage, his o...
Democratic Central - 5:40 a.m.
When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki basically endorsed Barack Obama 's troop-withdrawal timetable, he pretty much cut the legs out from under John McCain on the argument about whether to withdraw the troops in 2010. After all, he can't come out for staying in Iraq longer than the government we support wants us there. In the last 48 hours, we have seen McCain drop back to tal...
Democratic Central - 1:32 a.m.
Former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham , who is serving federal prison time for accepting millions of dollars in bribes, has asked President Bush to grant him clemency. Cunningham has submitted a petition to commute his sentence, according to a DOJ spokesman. Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison after pleading guilty in November 2005 to taki...
Democratic Central - 1:32 a.m. - 5 clicks
It was a really bad day for syndicated columnist Bob “Prince of Darkness” Novak. While driving his black Corvette near the intersection of 18th and K Streets NW in DC, he clipped a pedestrian. In the words of Little Richard: “LOOK OUT!” Novak claims he was caught completely unawares. A bicyclist stopped the DC political pundit, alerting him to what had happened. Pick u...
Fred2Blue - Wed 9:07 p.m. - 3 clicks
I probably don’t have a lot in common with John McCain, but I bet we both dig the Andrews Sisters. However, I came by that fandom through my grandmother (and mother) while he probably heard this when it was still a hot hit on the radio in 1941: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIFN13-a1iA And he probably wouldn’t be as impressed with [...]...
Blacknell.net - Wed 5:09 p.m. - 2 clicks
Why is Robert Novak still driving? Bono said the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a “Walk” signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and then Novak made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian [...]...
Blacknell.net - Wed 5:09 p.m. - 5 clicks
From BikeArlington: What: Join BikeArlington to cheer on the Tour de France at Summers Restaurant! When: Thursday, July 24th, 5 -7pm Where: Summers Restaurant, at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Courthouse Road, just one block from the Court House Metro (http://www.summers-restaurant.com/) Why: To enjoy the camaraderie of fellow cyclists as we watch the pros climb through the hills [...]...
Blacknell.net - Wed 5:09 p.m. - 6 clicks
To highlight his support of offshore drilling (and to possibly grab back some of the attention that Obama is otherwise collecting from his historic speech in Berlin), McBush planned a visit to a Louisiana drilling rig located offshore in the Gulf Coast. And just as conveniently the trip was planned, the trip got cancelled. [...]...
Virginia Beach Dems - Wed 4:30 p.m. - 4 clicks
Courtesy of the Northern Virginia Republican blog Too Conservative , check out this comment by "NoVA Scout" in a diary by "Loudoun Insider" entitled, "Will RPV Give Up on NoVA?": The folks who hijacked Republicanism in Virginia can’t deal with Northern Virginia because they have no ethic of providing the best possible governance product to all the citizens. Their ethic is to have a little societ...
Farewell Frank - Wed 4:30 p.m. - 7 clicks
Obama still holds a statistically insignificant 46%-44% lead over McCain in Virginia, within the ±2.7% margin of error. Obama leads McCain by a slightly larger margin among Independents 42%-38%. As a follow-up to my previous post, Obama leads McCain 50%-38% among young voters (age 18-29), well beyond the margin of error. Young voters may be underrepresented [...]...
Virginia Beach Dems - Wed 4:06 p.m. - 10 clicks
Head on over to The Shad Plank today (Wed., July 23) at noon for a live blog with Dave “Mudcat” Saunders - self-described Democratic “bubba” consultant, co-author of “Foxes in the Henhouse: How the Republicans Stole the South and the Heartland and What the Democrats Must Do to Throw ‘Em Out.” I bet he’s [...]...
Virginia Beach Dems - Wed 4:06 p.m.
In its continuing war against middle class working people, commitment to aiding the corporate sector, and generally attempting to gut any confidence that ordinary people might have in our capitalist system, the Bush administration is trying to push through secret midnight rules at the Department of Labor, which would sharply compromise worker safety. It’s a shame too. That’s because capitalism do...
Anonymous Is A Woman - Wed 2:38 p.m.
In the earth-shattering case of CBS v. FCC , the $550,000 fine that the FCC imposed on CBS for airing Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's halftime show at the 2004 Super Bowl, during which Jackson's breast was exposed for a few seconds, was reversed by the court. You will remember that during the halftime show, Justin Timberlake reached across to Janet Jackson's breast and pulle...
Democratic Central - Wed 10:08 a.m.
Charlottesville to spend $550,000 on trails, trees -- http://www.dailyprogress.com/c... More rail service for Charlottesville? -- http://www.dailyprogress.com/c... Outlet mall planned for Zion Crossroads now on hold -- http://www.dailyprogress.com/c... RTD likes The Faith of Barack Obama -- http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/... Politicians need to stop fussing and act to save Fannie and ...
Democratic Central - Wed 8:07 a.m. - 10 clicks
I live in Charlottesville on Monte Vista Avenue. My son is due to enter kindergarden at Jackson-Via in August 2008. We've recently learned that both Fry's Spring Beach Club and Jackson-Via have plans to put cell phone antennas on their properties. The significant amount of money being offered to schools by cell phone companies must be very appealing. However, chronic radio frequency radiation (RFR...
Democratic Central - Wed 8:07 a.m. - 7 clicks
Folks, I just cannot take it anymore. The fact that we find ourselves in the mess that we’re in - here in Virginia’s First Congressional District - is just unbearable. The current nominee for Congress, Keith Hummel, is (among other things) saying that he’d step aside - withdraw from the race and the nomination - if someone else would just [...]...
Fred2Blue - Wed 7:04 a.m. - 35 clicks
The 5th Annual DemocracyFest will be held on August 16-17, 2008 in Dulles, VA, just outside Washington, DC. http://www.DemocracyFest.net The DemocracyFest schedule includes many exciting trainings, speakers and entertainers again this year! Democracy For America (DFA) will conduct trainings for activists on subjects including Canvassing & Phone Banking, Working with the Media, Event Pl...
Democratic Central - Wed 7:04 a.m.
By legend, it was on July 23, 1904, at the St. Louis World Fair, when pastry maker Ernest Hamwi came to the aid of Arnold Fomachou, a teenage ice cream vendor, by rolling crisp wafers that he called zalabia (a wafer-thin, waffle-like confection sprinkled with sugar) so that ice cream could be put in the cone that was made. Hamwi was interviewed by The Ice Cream Trade Journal in the May 1928 is...
Democratic Central - Wed 5:34 a.m.
Marketplace just published the first in a series of special reports called PAC Men, about the role that Political Action Committees play with Washington politics. The subject of part one is none other than Rep. Eric Cantor. Fred Barnes from the Weekly Standard is excited about Cantor’s prospects. Cantor became a leader in Congress — Chief [...]...
Fred2Blue - Wed 1:03 a.m. - 10 clicks
Saturday July 26 at 11:30 am Please join Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change for our OFFICE OPENING. Meet local Obama supporters and learn how you can get involved. Change can’t happen without you! The Campaign Office is located at 261 Cambridge Unit 100 Fredericksburg, VA Approx. one mile N of the Falmouth Bridge in Stafford County From VA Victory ‘08: 100 Days – [...]...
Fred2Blue - Wed 1:03 a.m. - 6 clicks
Sorry for the ease up in content, of late. I’m trying to make progress on another project (which I hope to be sharing here, as soon as I’m done), and that’s taking up quite a bit of time. Also? I managed to rip open a good portion of one of my palms [...]...
Blacknell.net - Tue 6:09 p.m. - 2 clicks
Here’s an interesting analysis of Google’s approach to privacy. The author, Scott Cleland, summarizes his testimony before Congress thusly: Why Google’s the single biggest threat to Americans’ privacy today. Case Study: How Google Systematically Threatens Americans’ Privacy: 1. Google’s radical “publicacy” mission is antithetical to privacy. 2. Priv...
Blacknell.net - Tue 6:09 p.m.
Never expected to see Radovan Karadzic on trial. Update: Wow. This is the website he kept, advertising his alternative medicine practice. It boggles. Update II: That is most probably not a website for him. The best clue is the registration date. Ah well. Count me in as a hot news sucker. But, at the end [...]...
Blacknell.net - Tue 6:09 p.m.
Last night, Del. Margi Vanderhye hosted a fundraiser for Judy Feder. The special guest was legendary political strategist Paul Begala, who blasted Frank Wolf. Here are my notes from what Begala said last night: According to Begala, Frank Wolf's "master narrative" is that he's a "moderate," but that's complete nonsense. Incredibly, back in the 1990s, Wolf suggested that Begala was a spy for the...
Farewell Frank - Tue 3:36 p.m. - 6 clicks
A strong statement by Judy Feder . McLean, VA — The following is a statement from Judy Feder in response to the Iraq Government's support of a timetable for withdrawal : "In the wake of statements from Prime Minister Al-Maliki it has become increasingly clear that Americans are uniting behind the Democratic plan to set a responsible timeline for redeploying our troops. "Over the weekend, Pri...
Farewell Frank - Tue 3:36 p.m. - 5 clicks
You are cordially invited to the announcement of Brent McKenzie as a Candidate for School Board in the Rose Hall District of Virginia Beach on Tuesday, July 22nd 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the Town Center City Club 222 Central Park Avenue, Suite 230 Virginia Beach Kindly RSVP to 757-816-2736 or Mckenzie.brent@gmail.com [...]...
Virginia Beach Dems - Tue 1:33 p.m. - 16 clicks
Robert Novak says that sources in the McCain campaign tell him that the GOP presidential nominee will select his runningmate some time this week. Also, McCain plans on going down Louisiana to meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal on Wednesday, with a major press conference to follow on Thursday. Hmmmm…. This is a brilliant move by Sen. McCain, if [...]...
Fred2Blue - Mon 10:35 p.m. - 4 clicks
I’ve just started watching Generation Kill on HBO (time delayed on my PVR). Right off it feels pretty much right; I was never a Marine, but I’ve worked with Marines, Army, and Navy when I was in the Air Force and people really talk and act this way. I am not very far [...]...
Life is a State of Mind - Mon 7:05 p.m. - 3 clicks
From the Democratic Party of Virginia: 100 days. That's all the time we have to make history in Virginia. As of Saturday, we'll have just 100 days to turn Virginia blue for the first time since 1964, to elect Mark Warner to the Senate and to take back the majority of Virginia's Congressional delegation. Saturday marks the beginning -- over the next 100 days, we will change the course of the cou...
Farewell Frank - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 10 clicks
Based on this article , it sure looks like Judy Feder is getting under Frank Wolf's (thin) skin. Speaking in an interview earlier this week, Wolf campaign manager Dan Scandling said the Feder campaign was "all bluff and no stuff," and was trying to draw a false connection between fundraising and votes. "Dan Scandling's attacks against this campaign are nothing more than an attempt to deflect f...
Farewell Frank - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 12 clicks
The League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Obama. This not a big surprise. Obama has earned an impressive lifetime legislative record of supporting environmental issues 86% of the time, compared to McCain’s paltry 24%. ...
Virginia Beach Dems - Mon 3:02 p.m. - 4 clicks
(h/t SWAC Girl) While some (like Bearing Drift, or what was that new name for them, David?) see this as an indictment of Jim Gilmore, I think it is also partly an indictment of John McSame. What do you think? ...
Virginia Beach Dems - Mon 3:02 p.m. - 2 clicks
The Virginian-Pilot reports today that the number of 18-25 year olds in Virginia who have registered to vote in this year’s presidential election has increased by 10% this year - twice the rate of all Virginia voters. That’s good news for Obama. ...
Virginia Beach Dems - Mon 3:02 p.m. - 7 clicks
I admit, the only reason I watched this is because Laurie from Stafford, and her dog Andrew, were among the contestants. But The Greatest American Dog on CBS is actually not bad. Laurie & Andrew had no problem making it past the second episode. Especially since grooming and obedience, which are clearly Laurie’s strengths, were the main things the [...]...
Fred2Blue - Mon 11:08 a.m. - 2 clicks
I attended the Warner vs. Gilmore debate at The Homestead yesterday, and, I’ll be honest, it was predictable and a bit dry. Before I go into full detail, I’ll touch on some of the major elements of each candidate’s debate performance: Warner: Gov. Warner emphasized his bipartisan record as Governor, and mentioned by name (on more [...]...
Johnny Camacho's Blog - Mon 2:35 a.m. - 3 clicks
I just finished reading Netroots Rising . Lowell Feld sent me a copy of the book a couple of weeks ago and I promptly forgot to email him to thank him. My apologies to Lowell for my bad manners. But I knew I wasn’t going to read it right away and I didn’t want him to know how long I was going to procrastinate before getting to it. In my defense, I’ll add that it’s been a busy few weeks. Sin...
Anonymous Is A Woman - Sun 10:52 p.m. - 5 clicks
So asks my buddy Chris Jaramillo. Here’s a great write-up of Friday’s “events” from MyFox News Hampton Roads: VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The shouts of protesters turned an area of Town Center in Virginia Beach into an outdoor courtroom. “Arrest Karl Rove! Arrest Karl Rove!” they yelled. A man wearing devil’s horns and a Karl Rove mask [...]...
Virginia Beach Dems - Sun 5:00 p.m. - 34 clicks
First it was the FL-S giving the Virginia House Republicans a shellacking for its abdication of leadership during the special session on transportation. And now from The News & Advance, Lynchburg Va.’s daily, comes an equally scathing editorial. Here’s a snippet: But those with egg on their faces are neither the governor nor the Democrats who control the [...]...
Fred2Blue - Sun 3:07 p.m. - 13 clicks
As Sen. Barack Obama visits the war fronts of Afghanistan and Iraq, it's becoming clear that even the Iraqi government wants us out. The prime minister gave an interview to a French newspaper, in which he said U.S. troops should be out "as soon as possible." He also indicated that he thought Obama's 16-month timetable idea was a good plan. Imagine the moans and groans from the White H...
RickHowellSpeaks - Sun 2:32 p.m. - 2 clicks
UPDATE: Correction below by Dan (see strikeout). The Fredericksburg Democratic Committee just passed a unanimous resolution asking that not only Keith Hummel withdraw as a candidate for Congress in the 1st District, but Suzette Matthews step down as 1st District Committee Chair as well. Hummel has only suspended his campaign, he’s still technically the nominee. [...]...
Fred2Blue - Sun 3:32 a.m. - 11 clicks
It was a good day in Virginia Beach on Friday, July 18, when local activists confronted Karl Rove at a Thelma Drake fundraiser, attracting considerable media attention. Here are two activist videos of the event: ...
Mosquito Blog - Sat 6:04 p.m. - 15 clicks
From the DPVA: Today, Jim Gilmore continued to show that he won’t let the facts get in the way of a good slogan. At this morning’s debate, Gilmore continued to sell pie-in-the-sky ideas that offshore drilling would “produce oil now” and lower gas prices. This, despite the fact that Bush’s own Energy Information Administration has projected that offshore [...]...
Virginia Beach Dems - Sat 4:33 p.m. - 17 clicks