"...how much competitive journalism loves playing stage door Johnny and Joanie to a winner."

And to prove your point:

"That damn cool guy..."

And speaking of addled, how many states does he think are in the Union? Hint: search youtube for 57.

Not fair? Maybe. But you Johnny and Joanie's like to cherry pick your examples.

LAMBERT: That'd be the one titled, "Racist and Dumb"?

I agree with your observations on Obama rock band tour this past week. I do think you are handing him the victory a bit early. His numbers actually fell last week and I can't help but wonder if America is getting a bit tired of the celebrity part of his campaign.

Obama is drifting to the center and I can't believe that is pleasing his core followers. I'll admit that I'm very surprised that his numbers aren't better considering the pathetic campaign that McCain has run so far. Maybe McCain should run an ad with some bowlers talking about Obama... Oh that must have been some bad dream.

LAMBERT: Everything about this race has been telescoped. It feels like we're weeks past the conventions and well into dividing up the electoral votes. Good Frank Rich today about Barack as stand-in president for the guy everyone wishes would just go away. I'm standing by my eight-point margin of victory.

Any news coming out of CC regarding Dubay's "extended" month long "vacation"? Seeing as there's been a total lockdown on any info coming out of CC about it from on-air staff or on their chatboards, something's up and their PR staff is letting rumors run rampant. Seems as if there are 3 catagories of possibilities:
1) suspension/firing/contract issue
2)health issue (family member health issue, Dubay health issue)
3)actual vacation

1 seems possible and so does some part of 2. Have read elsewhere that his contract was up in June and has been working without one but I don't know for sure. 3 doesn't seem like it would be the reason because there's no way a station would allow a major part of their on-air staff to go on vacation for a month while missing Vikings training camp and a couple Vikings preseason games when he's supposed to be covering both.

Is there anything coming out of Utica or are we just going to be in the dark about this until he comes back?

LAMBERT: When CC scrubs the chat boards you have fair reason to think it isn't good. So far my sources are as clueless as everyone else. Still got a couple calls out.

The time you ran was too insane
Well meet again, well meet again
Oh tell me where your freedom lies
The streets are fields that never die
Deliver me from reasons why.

Jim Morrison
"The Crystal Ship"

Where is Hunter Thompson now that we need him, in the words of the Nixon/Agnew re-election campaign,"now more than ever"?

LAMBERT: By now Hunter would have jumped the S.S. Obama over the FISA business and gone 110% Ron Paul.

I don’t know…I think a lot of us we’re waiting for an Edwards VP choice to put Obama over the top.

How about that Edwards? What a fraud, huh?

So little out of the media on this, and yet so very hard to disbelieve.

LAMBERT: The Edwards story is pretty interesting. I'll grant you that. The LA Times, having been played on the "it's out there" syndrome for years seems to be taking the attitude, "We'll do or own reporting on this before we wade into it." Why I wonder did the Enquirer stake out Edwards and not have any video ready?

Surely you must be joking.

Obama can not speak in complete sentences and yet you anoint him.

Fascinating.

LAMBERT: Is our children learnin'?

C,mpon, Bri, dig in:

http://gawker.com/5029264/save-your-newspaper-cover-the-edwards-scandal

This is right in your wheelhouse!

LAMBERT: I'm always reluctant to give you a straight answer. But I concede interest in the LA Times response -- so far to this Enquirer story. Two obvious points: After seven years of scandal and fraud on an epic scale, not the least of which was a $2 trillion war we didn't need to fight, the definition of "scandal" now comes on a weighted scale. Sex rates about a .0001 in terms of relevance. Also, as I said before, a lot of the mainstream press is tired of chasing everything the celebrity scandal rags toss "out there". That should never have been good enough reason to publish, even back in the days of OJ. Edwards needs to provide a complete public explanation, ASAP. But I'm a hell of a lot more interested in in cleaning up the apocalyptic scandals of the Cheney administration.

Correction to my last post. I see that Obama has jumped to a nine point lead as of yesterday. Obviously it's way too early to call the race, but it sure lines up better with Brian's thoughts.

At least now I know that the stumbling and bumbling McCain campaign is getting rewarded for their efforts. Time to shop for a new party.

LAMBER: Dave, it may not be too late for Ron Paul. I think he at least knows basic geography.

Uh, was it just me, or were 93% of the "adoring troops" black?

LAMBERT: The night is also black. Are you afraid of it, too?

"...The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that Barack Obama’s Berlin bounce is fading. Obama now attracts 45% of the vote while John McCain earns 42%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 48% and McCain 45%. Both Obama and McCain are viewed favorably by 56% of voters..."

LAMBERT: I'm out there with my eight-point prediction. Get in the pool now, or hold your peace.

Novak is not in your pool:

"...But Obama is no Huckabee, Giuliani or Romney. He is the most spectacular campaigner of his generation, with appeal well beyond Democratic ranks. That he lingers below the 50 percent mark is a mystery among politicians of both parties. It is particularly troubling to Democrats who recall past Democratic candidates taking a huge lead over the summer before being overtaken or nearly overtaken by a surging Republican opponent. In 1976, Jimmy Carter took a 33-point summer lead over President Gerald Ford and won in a photo finish. In 1988, Michael Dukakis led George H.W. Bush by 17 points after being nominated in Atlanta before he lost the election. Al Gore and John Kerry were ahead of George W. Bush in the summer.

One candid Republican consultant says that the massive Carter and Dukakis summer leads were illusory, based on large generic Democratic leads. But their generic lead is back at 15 points after 12 years of a Republican Congress and eight years of George W. Bush.

Clearly, Obama has not yet closed the deal with the people to accept a young, inexperienced African-American as their president. Obama had virtually clinched the nomination when white working men in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia poured out to vote and carried their states comfortably for Hillary Clinton. It was not because of unalterable affection for her

Obama's difficulty in reaching the 50 percent mark reflects an overwhelmingly white undecided vote at 10 to 15 percent.

These were target voters for Obama when he ventured into the war zones to demonstrate his mettle as a future commander in chief. He looked good, sounded good and committed no serious gaffes. But sitting by the popular Gen. David Petraeus and disagreeing with his military judgment may not have been the way to win over undecided white working men..."

LAMBERT: One piece -- on "Political Wire" today -- put the "polling booth racism factor" at 10% or 11%. For a lot of white men, being black is the only reason they need not to vote for him. By that measure the fact he's polling in the high 40s might be a major miracle.

To borrow from Bush's own private lexicon, Bertram. Jr. "misunderestimates" Obama's eloquence.

This from a man who six years ago told Tony Blair that, "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur."

LAMBERT: But THAT is eloquence to bertram's ears.

Why nothing on this local media story?

A bad day for the Valleyfair race-baiters
By David Brauer
Friday, July 25, 2008
Oh, the forces of racial division are going to hate this: turns out the victim, not just the alleged perps in the Valleyfair beating, were black. Police released the detail because so many were braying for the six suspects to be charged with a hate crime, the Strib's Jim Adams reports. The victim's wife wonders why so many people thought her husband was white. Jason Lewis and KQRS are obliquely blamed for the race-baiting; were they contacted for comment?

LAMBERT: I'm working through my list of blog ideas. But day job duties come first. Peter Bell was good in the Sunday Strib.

Speaking of "eloquence", do you find it interesting that CJ yesterday hypes shows (Hrbek Outdoors) coming over to the local Fox station, WHERE SHE ALSO APPEARS on-air?

What with your "journalistic watch-dogging" and all....

Might I offer a correction on your response to Leinfelder - Obama is half black and half white.

So, can we just refer to him as white?

If blacks are "minorities", why is someone who is only half black referred to as "black"?

Signed,

Confused Irishman

LAMBERT: Do traffic lights confuse you?

Good?

I'd say it was out of the park, considering where it ran.

Bell for Mayor.

LAMBERT: Wait until you find out what color Peter is.

Well, ya', Bell was fine as far as he goes.

Although, following his reasoning, will the angry middle-aged white male community be expected to issue a news release condemning the actions of the shooter at the Unitarian Church in Tenneseee?

Bertram, Jr's silence is deafening.

Or, can we all simply assume "they" don't sanction random shooting as a way of venting frustration with the alleged "liberal movement" anymore than "black leaders" harbor any tolerance for the brutal acts of that group of thugs who beat that father at Valley Fair ?

But Bell wasn't speaking to the charge that some in local radio used this incident for race baiting fodder, caliing for hate crime charges based on the built-in bias that the victims were white.

LAMBERT: Does anyone have any exact quotes from either Tommy B. or Lewis? My daily transcription service lapsed.

Could you please get everyone to stick to the important topic at hand? Where is Jeff Dubay? Camp Ojikita? Weight Watchers? The Greenland Ice Shelf? Hazeldon? A buddy of mine has a cousin who said his sister saw him eating fries in a car with Brett Favre at the 4 Seasons Drive-In in Mahtomedi.

LAMBERT: Well then he's been suspended for tampering.

When you do your examination of this story, I think you should also include these items:

This story took a week to hit the Strib. There’s probably a few reasonable explanations for that, but none have been offered.

And here’s where you clubby types in the local media can correct me, and say what a fine job this guys does, one of the best in town, we’re lucky to have him – but I think Jim Adams is a lousy reporter. You’ve got a group of 7 suspects, all or nearly all convicted felons, under current prosecution or probation for various misdeeds – and none of their past sentencing information is revealed to the reader. That’s pertinent, and it’s not pursued or withheld by Adams. Also, I think it would behoove a reporter to try and interview the suspects or their lawyers. That wasn’t done here. It all smells of so much precious PC gatekeeping.

Then there was the Strib’s ridiculous editorial on the matter…

I am well acquainted with Mr. Bell, having met the man several years ago when he was involved in trying to stem the tide of "bad behavior" around the southern end of Lake Calhoun, where he lives.

He, like Colin Powell, Condoleeza, JC Watts et al nationally, never gets the true measure of adulation he deserves as a local black leader.

Instead, the gatekeepers put frauds like Staten, Moss and McAfee in front of us. Where are they now? What do they have to say about the Valley Fair scumballs?

I may have my quibbles with the Met Council's work, but Bell is a great man who eloquently spoke the truth yesterday.

LAMBERT: I guess this rates as progress.

To clarify ... over 200 citizens CALLED the Scott County attorney asking IF "hate crime" charges were being considered. I would venture that they were being derogatory about the very validity of the "hate" crime, which is something invented of whole cloth by loony liberals who can "imagine" intent and motive.

The omission of the victim's race by the handwringers at the Strib was the chief cause of that.

Who wouldn't assume that a "father taking his family to Valley Fair" would MOST LIKELY be white?

Ever been there? As Peter Bell points out, we simply don't have time to expect / suspect otherwise, immediately.

It would be like assuming the spectators at, say, a hurling match, were mostly Hispanic.

Jeezus.

WHO is Jeff Dubay, would be a good start for me. I take it he's on local radio, talk one assumes.

Meanwhile, 108, do you really think there are people out there waiting for more information about the Valley Fair Seven's past before they make up their minds about their actions at Valley Fair?

Save it for the pre-sentencing investigation.

BJr: I, personally, am a skeptic of the validity of "hate crimes." Though I have heard good arguments positing that "hate crimes" amount to terrorizing an entire group or class of people. So, my mind remains ajar on the issue.

This, though, seems a pretty obvious instance of an violent impulse crime perpetrated by some profoundly unevolved people.

As to the race of the victim, it was not relevant until all the hew and cry from the "public." Newspapers generally do not gratuitously identify people by race. The family requested anonymity for fear of further retribution. The paper honored the request.

It's not the Strib's job to protect you and the 200 concerned citizens who called the county attorney's office from your knee-jerk assumptions.

BTW the brain trust at Clear Channel failed to keep PM driver Kato Carr, CMA DJ of the YEAR recently, under contract and he is gone to Cinncinatti....

Just sayin'...

Nice pass on the CJ bit, though.

LAMBERT: CJ's involvement with Fox9 has been noted before. All i can say is that there would have been no way in fiery hell I would have been allowed to do that under the PiPress regimes for whom I worked ... well, sort of worked. Hell, the PiPress once got a memo urging us to avoid free Pepsi from the Pepsi people in town for the Super Bowl. I mean, yes, we are whores, but my going rate is a bit higher than a can of soda.

Frankly, I was a bit disappointed that Obama didn't ride a stage of the Tour de France.

LAMBERT: It was the only photo op he missed. And he might have been the only one to pass a doping test.

Jim – its not that the public is unable to make judgements about their character. The public wants to be assured they’ll go to prison and stay there awhile. Although they’re felons already, there’s no indication any of them served meaningful time. It would seem some are on probation, as such it’s reasonable to think some could be shipped back to the can now. Yet they’re all out on bail. Its Jim Adams story, he hasn’t explained any of it.

The time for this story to appear would have been after the arrests and before the first court appearance.

Yes, but the PC Gatekeepers did not want to inflame us law abiding citizens over the July 4th weekend!

Horrors! That could have reduced the attendance at Taste Of Minnesota (aka Aimless Wandering Thugfest)!

Yes, 108, the United States doesn't put near enough people in jail, especially black males. The prisons are practically empty.

So you’re saying then, Jim, that these fellows didn’t deserve serious time for their previous crimes, and they do not now – because???? we have an institutionally biased justice system? What? What? Make that case.

Leinfelder: Clearly you are not part of the solution, but rather, part of the equivocating apologist unicorn club that keeps creating and keeping these criminals on the street.

Maybe you'll get a stick upside your head someday and then you'll see the light.

108: No, if convicted they deserve "serious time." What do you, in your wisdom and experience, reckon that would amount to exactly?

My point is that we're not exactly letting the prisons lie fallow in this country. We're number 1, I believe. Perhaps we trail our main lender, China.

As for probation, it's a joke, given the volume of criminals we proecute. It's "catch and release," according to the probation guys. They're overwhelmed. The courts are overwhelmed. Can't raise taxes, though. I guess it'll just get better on its own. Some stern lecturing from the likes of you and Bertram, Jr. ought to cut right through that greasy Gordian Knot.

But, hey, knock yourself out. Here's a guide: http://www.msgc.state.mn.us/Guidelines/mods02_dwi.pdf If it'll help you get to sleep, go ahead and speculate on what they're likely to get if convicted. I'm fine with waiting to find out after the sentencing hearing.

Meanwhile, my larger concern is with idiocy like three-strike laws kept in play by prison guard lobbies, not sound penal policy; by irrational drug laws that punish instead of treat the disease of drug addiction; and with the volatile overcrowding we've allowed to devolve in America's prisons where we create incubators for all-the-more dangerous offenders when they get out.

The aggravated assault charges of which these seven miscreants are likely to be convicted will carry significant jail time. But it won't be life. And when these offenders get out, they'll be more, not less, dangerous for their time in stir.

But, overall, I don't think I experience life in the Twin Cities with us much stained fear as you and the ever-vigilant, gun-totin', Bertram, Jr.

Aside from your purse gun and move to exurbia, how are you a part of the solution, again, Bertram, Jr? No new taxes. But lots of new prisons. We've followed that course since the 80s. How we doing?