Chutzpah – murdering your parents and then asking for leniency from the court because you’re an orphan. *

Via Balloon Juice:

Arizona agency seeks federal help on immigration law

The Arizona agency tasked with training 15,000 law officers to enforce the state’s controversial new illegal immigration law has asked federal authorities for assistance, but administration officials say it is unclear whether the government will help….

John Cole at Balloon Juice:

…How about this for an answer? NO.

You guys want a police state, pay for it yourself. You probably should have thought about this before you all passed the idiotic bill in the first place….

Mo Udall weeps….and laughs.

* Thanks to John Cole for the title of this post.

After the opening of the legislative session in Jefferson City on January 6, 2010 Speaker Ron Richard (r) took questions from the media in a press conference:

….Question: Speaker Richard, uh, why start, uh, your speech and, and emphasis this ethics committee.

Speaker Richard: It has been the topic of conversation among many members. It’s been a topic of press stories and I thought we’d get to the bottom of it and get working on this issue. And, um, show the people of Missouri that we can, uh, fix perceived problems. And I went to, uh, Representative LeVota and I have got an outstanding group of Democrats and Republicans. I think we can come up with a, uh, solution and I look forward to that. And, uh, bills will be sent to that committee real quick…..

….Question:  Senator Shields has proposed a ban on contributions from lobbyists during the session. Is that something that you would support?

Speaker Richard: I will support whatever comes out of our bipartisan committee. Whatever comes out.

Question:  What is the advantage [inaudible] the ethics proposals [inaudible]?

Speaker Richard: Uh, I want to make sure that both sides have the ability to, uh, have a dialog. And we go to the House, the floor, for [inaudible], you know as well as I do there’ll be several hundred amendments from all different sizes and shapes. Um, but I think that dialog is necessary and we’ll have an open dialog and, uh, we’ll get something to the Senate, uh, in a prompt basis….

That was then, this is now:

Speaker Ron Richard has declared the bipartisan ethics reform bill dead because a bipartisan group of legislators demanded a floor debate on the proposal.  Earlier today, 56 Democrats and 3 Republicans signed a petition to place the bipartisan bill — legislation with campaign contribution limits — on the House calendar.  Last night, Republicans on the House Rules committee voted to block the legislation from heading to the floor, preferring a stripped-down proposal. The discharge petition is designed to circumvent the GOP leadership on the Rules Committee….

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Senator Claire McCaskill was interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning:

Matt Lauer, NBC Today Show: …But basically it’s a temporary deal. You know where this is gonna end up, don’t you?

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Well, that’s the point.  Uh, why? Why do we play these games? This is a serious problem. Let’s get to work. Uh, the, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee said we know what happened, we know what we need to do to fix it, and we’ve worked on this for fifteen or sixteen months. This is just what’s been going on in Washington. The Republicans are banking on something. They’re banking that the American people won’t be paying close attention that they’re on the side of Wall Street and we’re trying to fix the problem.

Matt Lauer: Well, well, but you don’t expect them to stay even if you want to accuse them of being on the side of Wall Street. In an election year they can’t possibly benefit from that.

Senator McCaskill: I, I mean, I, who knows? Uh, this is beyond comprehension that they’re refusing to let us debate. That is nonsense. We just want to debate the bill. They wouldn’t even offer amendments in committee. They clearly are calculating that the public is so sick of all of us that if this thing fails because we’re in charge we’ll get blamed.

Matt Lauer: But.

Senator McCaskill: That’s the calculation…

…Matt Lauer: Let me move on to these hearings with these top Goldman Sachs, uh, executives, past and present. Senator, can, can these guys get a fair shake in front of this committee today? I mean, we know there is public outrage against Wall Street banks and any time you have outrage against individuals or a groups and they come before a Senate hearing it, it, the cold hard truth is lawmakers tend to do some grandstanding. They want to appear on the news looking tough. So will these guys be listened to today or are they just gonna get bashed?

Senator McCaskill: Well, I think they’ll be listened to. And, and I’m gonna go out of my way to make the point that this was lemming like behavior. I had one guy on Wall Street tell me, well, the only thing we were afraid of was whether or not we got a bad article in the Wall Street Journal. We weren’t afraid of regulators. Uh, so this was, you know, industry wide, this, this casino mentality where they were making up stuff to bet on. I mean, literally, that’s [crosstalk] what they were doing.

Matt Lauer: But, but let me ask you this. Have you already decided that Goldman Sachs is guilty of the fraud charges leveled against it by the SEC? Because you came out last night and said the SEC was in a coma before they acted on Goldman. Well, the way they acted on Goldman was to file fraud charges. Have you already been judge and jury here? Don’t they deserve a day in court?

Senator McCaskill: Absolutely. And the question here really, Matt, is not whether or not they have legally or illegally acted.  The question is, right and wrong.  Good old fashioned right and wrong. Moral or immoral. And I think the entire activities of Wall Street over the last five years as they created these more and more complex made up stuff to bet on, they were like the casino, but they had less regulation than Las Vegas.

Matt Lauer: Well, what it sound like what you’re saying is the question is not, is maybe they didn’t break the rules, maybe there weren’t rules in place to stop them from doing what they did.

Senator McCaskill: Which is exactly the point. That is exactly why today when we get another chance to vote on debating the appropriate amount of regulation on Wall Street I’m hoping the Republicans quit playing games and let us get to work….

Of all the stoopid questions: “…Have you already decided that Goldman Sachs is guilty of the fraud charges leveled against it by the SEC? Because you came out last night and said the SEC was in a coma before they acted on Goldman. Well, the way they acted on Goldman was to file fraud charges. Have you already been judge and jury here? Don’t they deserve a day in court?…”

Uh, the real question should be, when was the SEC asleep at the wheel? Under what administration? And what was that administration’s universal attitude toward regulation?

And Claire McCaskill has the message discipline to point out that the republicans are obstructing any discussion of any financial regulation. That would mean that the republicans are fine with things they way they were and the way they are now, right Matt?

Previously:

Kander (D) and Flook (r): ethics reform legislation in Jefferson City (December 14, 2009)

Kander (D) and Flook (r): ethics reform legislation in Jefferson City, part 2 (December 15, 2009)

Kander (D) and Flook (r): ethics reform legislation in Jefferson City, part 3 (December 16, 2009)

Kander (D) and Flook (r): ethics reform legislation in Jefferson City, part 4 (December 22, 2009)

Representative Jason Kander (D): Missouri ethics reform pop quiz (March 15, 2010)

Representative Jason Kander (D), via Twitter, on the state of ethics reform legislation today in Jefferson City:

I’m in House Rules committee where they are finally discussing the ethics bill. Will they send it to the floor?     about 4 hours ago  via Echofon  

Delaying a bipartisan ethics bill to make it partisan is exactly the kind of politics I hoped to avoid this year.     about 4 hours ago  via Echofon  

Rules cmmte is ground zero for the “cold feet” illness sweeping the Capitol. Ethics reform heads back to cmmte. Absurd.     about 4 hours ago  via Echofon  

Despite obstacles such as today, we’ve gotten pretty far on ethics reform. Redoubling my efforts in the last 3 wks of session.     about 1 hour ago  via HootSuite  

Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via Twitter:

According to @jasonkander, House rules committee sent ethics bill back to its House committee. Doesn     about 4 hours ago  via TweetDeck  

Oops, didn’t finish typing. Doesn’t bode well for ethics bill.     about 4 hours ago  via TweetDeck  

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

April 26, 2010

Statement by the President on Financial Reform

“I am deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans voted in a block against allowing a public debate on Wall Street reform to begin. Some of these Senators may believe that this obstruction is a good political strategy, and others may see delay as an opportunity to take this debate behind closed doors, where financial industry lobbyists can water down reform or kill it altogether. But the American people can’t afford that. A lack of consumer protections and a lack of accountability on Wall Street nearly brought our economy to its knees, and helped cause the pain that has left millions of Americans without jobs and without homes. The reform that both parties have been working on for a year would prevent a crisis like this from happening again, and I urge the Senate to get back to work and put the interests of the country ahead of party.”

As if anyone is surprised…

Apr 13th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

McConnell Slams Financial Reform Bill After Meeting With Hedge Fund Managers And Other Wall Street Elites

….What McConnell did not mention was that, last week, he traveled alongside National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. John Cornyn (TX) to New York City for a private meeting with elite hedge fund managers and other Wall Street executives. The purpose of the meeting between the top Republicans and the financial executives was to enlist “Wall Street’s help” in funding Republican campaigns in the fall and killing any tough financial reform…

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Two months ago, I reported that National People’s Action (NPA) was planning to sit down on two of the biggest banks, hoping to hear them cry Uncle. Yes, I know that sounds overly optimistic–to the point of deranged? Maybe not. Large corporations get jumpy when thousands of protesters show up at their annual stockholders’ meetings. It hurts their stock prices. Demonstrations like these got Wal-Mart to raise wages and offer better health insurance in Chicago a few years ago. It can work. And this week NPA will show up in force at stockholders’ meetings for two of the worst banks: Wells Fargo in San Francisco on Tuesday and Bank of America in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday. Besides, this week’s actions are only one part of NPA’s larger strategy (That plan, fully explained in that February posting I mentioned, is to pressure the three main regulators–Bernanke, Bair and Dugan–to clamp down on the worst actors and embarrass said worst actors with noisy street action.)

And here’s the cool part: you can mug for the teevee cameras right here in Missouri and demonstrate how you feel about Bank of America, et. al. Because there’s going to be a rally in Kansas City on Tuesday.

Last time NPA held a rally protesting the behavior of the banks, thousands showed up. It was the Showdown in Chicago–which the Post-Dispatch ignored, but which most papers nationwide covered. In fact, every time a TV station wants to illustrate how pissed off the populace is at banks, it dredges footage from that rally out of the archives. They have to use video from that rally because there have been no others. Till now.

In Missouri, it’s at Barney Allis Plaza, 12th and Wyandotte in downtown KC at 1:00 Tuesday. The rally will start there and eventually we’ll march to the Bank of America. There will be demonstrations like this all over the country. We’re softening BoA up for the big march in Raleigh the next day.

The weather should be perfect. If you don’t live in Kansas City, you can hitch a ride. GRO will be taking buses from Columbia and Mexico (contact Lily Tinker Fortel at lily@gromo.org, 573-999-1262) and two vans (seats still available as of Sunday afternoon) from St. Louis (contact Jeff Ordower at ordowerj@gmail.com, 314-267-4664).

Previously: 79th Legislative District: January 2010 campaign finance reports

There are four candidates who filed in for the open seat in the 79th Legislative District – two Democrats and two republicans:

State Representative – District 79

Democrat

MARY NICHOLS MARYLAND HEIGHTS MO 140 2/23/2010

BYRON W DELEAR ST LOUIS MO 325 2/23/2010

Republican

DAN JOHNSON MARYLAND HEIGHTS MO 194 2/23/2010

KYLE BONE MARYLAND HEIGHTS MO 503 2/23/2010

Interesting. No coy dancing about, they all filed on the first day.

The first of two Democratic party candidates (in alphabetical order), Byron DeLear, filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $11,025.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $8,306.00

6. IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $1,750.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $21,081.00

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $7,055.75

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $8,624.41

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $11,100.17

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $393.58

[emphasis added]

That’s a good fundraising quarter, but that’s a high burn rate, too. A primary will do that. Let’s take a look at the contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

Report Date: 4/15/2010

John Axelrod Strasbourg France Musician Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire 3/6/2010 $1,500.00

Erin Noble  St. Louis, MO Energy Policy Coordinator Missouri Coalition for the Environment 3/23/2010 $100.00

2. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $25 OR LESS $258.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $674.00

[emphasis added]

Ah, musicians, great people, and generous, too. In addition to that one there are a few other generous contributions from individuals.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: MISSOURIANS FOR DELEAR

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Internet Advertising $258.48

Email Marketing $57.39

Filing Fee $50.00

Food and Drink $65.42

Gasoline $37.60

Maps $4.00

Postage $88.98

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Costco Manchester, MO 1/26/2010 Food/Drinks $144.92

Mark’s Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 2/19/2010 $273.33

Mark’s Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 3/12/2010 $642.48

Jim Ross Burke, VA 1/25/2010 Consulting $1,000.00

Mark’s Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 3/29/2010 $1,258.19

MADCO St. Saint Louis, MO 2/17/2010 Printing $1,432.96

Thomas D. Brown Lewiston, MI 3/15/2010 Staff $1,742.00

Okay, someone’s campaign is gearing up.

The second of two Democratic party candidates (in alphabetical order), Mary Nichols, filed her amended first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 22nd (the first report was filed on April 13th):

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $26,059.17

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $2,350.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $28,559.17

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $695.70

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $5,575.25

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $21,214.92

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Without the indebtedness the two Democratic Party candidates are at a rough parity when it comes to fundraising.

Let’s look at the contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

Report Date: 4/13/2010

biomedical system St. Louis, Mo. 01/21/2010 $300.00

Friends of Carol Turner Maryland Heights, Mo. 02/05/2010 $250.00

Dinan Real Estate Advisors Inc. St. Louis, Mo. 02/10/2010 $100.00

Pentrex Development Corp. St. Louis, Mo. 02/17/2010 $100.00

McBride and Sons Management Company Chesterfield Mo. 02/16/2010  $100.00

Republic Services, Inc Phoenix, Az 03/17/2010 $400.00

St. Louis Association of Realtors, PAC St. Louis, Mo 03/20/2010 $500.00

There are a number of individual contributions. And, it should be obvious, Mary Nichols is in real estate sales.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: MARY NICHOLS FOR STATE REP

ReportDate: 4/13/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Facility Rental $60.00

Postage $88.00

Filing Fee $50.00

Facility Rental $25.00

Act Blue $3.95

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

CLM Consulting Louis, Mo. 03/24/2010 Consulting $468.75

Something of a lull there, at least in the area of campaign spending.

The first of two republican candidates (in alphabetical order), Kyle Bone, didn’t file a first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission. He did file his committee organization statement on March 22nd and an electronic filing waiver on April 8th.

The second of two republican candidates, Dan Johnson, filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 8th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $3,955.92

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $640.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,053.53

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $2,542.39

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $1,065.92

Let’s take a look at where the money came from this quarter:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

Report Date: 4/8/2010

Republic Services Phoenix, AZ Dan Jameson, Treasurer 03/11/2010 $400.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $240.00

[emphasis added]

Republic Services from Phoenix, Arizona has an interest in this race? Ah, waste management. Maybe Byron DeLear (D) and Kile Bone (r) need to send them contribution envelopes.

Let’s take a look at the expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: ELECT DAN JOHNSON

ReportDate: 4/8/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Meetings and Conventions $240.00

Filing Fees $50.00

Dues $30.00

No t-shirts. I’m disappointed.

This race is going to come down to who wins the Democratic Party primary.

Previously: 54th Legislative District: January 2010 campaign finance reports

Democrat John Bullard and republican Jeanie Lauer are the candidates who filed for the open seat race for the 54th Legislative District in Jackson County:

State Representative – District 54

Democrat

JOHN BULLARD JR BUCKNER MO 407 2/23/2010

Republican

JEANIE LAUER BLUE SPRINGS MO 428 2/23/2010

John Bullard (D) filed his first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: CITIZENS FOR JOHN BULLARD

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $38,504.30

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $925.44

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $39,647.03

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $4,399.03

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $29,296.81

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $250.00

[emphasis added]

Okay, this appears to have been a quiet fundraising quarter. Then again, that’s a nice cash on hand total.

Let’s take a look at the contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: CITIZENS FOR JOHN BULLARD

Report Date: 04/15/2010

CWA District 6 Political Educ Committee Saint Louis, MO 02/19/2010 $300.00

And, there are small dollar contributions from individuals.

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: CITIZENS FOR JOHN BULLARD

ReportDate: 04/15/2010

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Actblue Technical Services Cambridge, MA 02/15/2010 Contribution Fees $1.98

Actblue Technical Services Cambridge, MA 02/26/2010 Contribution Fees $0.20

Actblue Technical Services Cambridge, MA 03/05/2010 Contribution Fees $0.60

Almar Printing Kansas City, MO 03/26/2010 remittance envelopes $362.55

City Credit Union Independence, MO 03/15/2010 $0.40

NGP Software, Inc. Washington, DC 01/04/2010 Bank Fees $90.32

NGP Software, Inc. Washington, DC 02/03/2010 Bank Fees $30.00

Mostly fundraising.

Republican Jeanie Lauer filed her first quarter campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 12th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: CITIZENS FOR JEANIE LAUER

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $6,272.56

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $2,855.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $9,127.56

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,748.05

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $6,379.51

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $0.00

Okay, there’s not a significant amount of fundraising going on here either. And the cash on hand doesn’t look so good in comparison.

Let’s see where the money came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: CITIZENS FOR JEANIE LAUER

Report Date: 4/12/2010

M.A.C. Corporation Blue Springs, MO 2/5/2010 $200.00

OOIDA Grain Valley, MO 3/22/2010 $500.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $1,130.00

OOIDA? Ah, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Let’s take a look at those expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: CITIZENS FOR JEANIE LAUER

ReportDate: 4/12/2010

A. EXPENDITURES OF $100 OR LESS BY CATEGORY

Fund Raising Refreshments $56.33

Secretary of State – Filing Fee $50.00

B. ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES ALL OVER $100 AND ALL PAYMENTS TO CAMPAIGN WORKERS

Kwik Copy Blue Springs, MO 3/5/2010 Printing $524.41

Kwik Copy Blue Springs, MO 2/1/2010 Printing $94.47

Well, this race appears to be a little quiet on the fundraising and expenditure fronts. That’s gonna change.

Heads or tails? Stenography can be so difficult sometimes.

The stenographer spent some time in today’s edition of the Kansas City Star trying to flip coins (or read the tea leaves) for the upcoming Kansas City mayoral race.

Who leads the mayor’s race? Who knows?

By STEVE KRASKE

The Kansas City Star

…Maybe the bigger question is: How could it come to this…?

…For others, maybe it’s the blogosphere world we live in, where even the wisest decisions are pilloried as stupid and a sure sign of Stalinism, Maoism or Attilaism.

Take Barnes. Some speculate that at 72, she could be talked into running. The city charter says she can run again after sitting out a term.

But didn’t she drag the city down into a financial rathole with the downtown entertainment district? At least, that’s what you hear from some bloggers.

See? Who needs it?

Wisest decisions? And which self appointed gatekeeper is the arbiter of that?

You left out McCarthyism.

Yeah, those unruly bloggers, asking uncomfortable questions, are such a bother. Who knew that they were so influential? Do you think it’s because old media is failing and nature abhors a vacuum?

By the way, it’s blogtopia (y, sctp!).