The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Hashtag That Changed History

“This is an emergency post. . . . Mitt Romney must choose Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential nominee, period.” — Robert Stacy McCain, Aug. 4, 2012 Who would have thunk it, huh? Friday night I went to bed early, and Ali Akbar kept calling to tell me the news, but my wife couldn’t […]

Hey, @MittRomney: This #GiveUsRyan Hashtag Is Becoming Kinda Popular

When Ali Akbar came up with the #GiveUsRyan hashtag — Saturday afternoon, after I made an emergency stop at Burger King to blog about the importance of making Paul Ryan the Republican VP candidate — I was severely skeptical about the ability of a bunch of bloggers to influence events. Four days later, my skepticism […]

Weird News: Portman’s Ghost in Ohio; Bad Michigan Poll; Killer’s Ex-Girlfriend

Just a lot of weird stuff in the news today, beginning with this: My friend Chris Moody stayed at the historic Ohio hotel owned by the family of potential GOP running mate Rob Portman — and was warned to beware of ghosts! (OK, but is it a Republican ghost?) Meanwhile, in yesterday’s Michigan Republican primary to […]

VP Tea Leaves: Is Mitt’s Short List Now Down to Pawlenty, Portman or Ryan?

There are signals — both in terms of actual evidence and what might be called “absence of evidence” — that Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential choices have now come down to three Midwesterners: former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. It appears that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has been eliminated […]

Obligatory Post-Massacre Finger-Pointing Scapegoating Blame Game Open Thread

“Both CNN and Fox News cut away when the U.S. Attorney took the stage and launched a lengthy speech which sounded like an Obama campaign speech. . . . Politics never is far behind a mass shooting, unfortunately.” — William Jacobson, Legal Insurrection Mainly, I’ve tried to keep my focus on aggregating facts about the […]

PRESS CONFERENCE: ‘Heroic Actions’ of Police Saved Lives in Oak Creek Shooting UPDATE: Shooter Reportedly Played in Hate-Metal Rock Band ‘End Apathy’

Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Mayor Stephen Scaffidi praised “the heroic actions of our officers” during a press conference about the Sunday shooting at the Sikh Temple in the Milwaukee suburb. The officer critically wounded in the incident — shot nine times, as the city police chief said — has been identified as Lt. Brian Murphy, 51. […]

‘Who’ Is First of 5 W’s; ‘Why’ Is Last UPDATE: Wade Michael Page … MORE: Reported Discharged From Army in 1998

This ABC News story annoys me: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Special Agent Thomas Ahern said the suspect had tattoos and that authorities were investigating whether he was a “skin head or “white supremacist” as two ABC Sources said. “It is being investigated. And what his tattoos signified is being investigated. They are all pieces […]

Patch.com Reporter Jessica McBride Gets Scoop on Sikh Temple Shooting Suspect UPDATE: More Details Emerge

Earlier I linked the report that the suspect in the Oak Creek Sikh Temple shooting had reportedly just broken up with his girlfriend. I urged caution because the source is secondhand: The mother of the suspect’s landlord. But kudos to Jessica McBride of the Patch for her resourcefulness in getting this scoop, the first personal information […]

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