Yankee Hospitality

When faced with a dilemma, a hotel manager in New York City made the right choice.

At first the hotel was telling guests that they would have to leave by Thursday, because they were sold out with marathon runners. But on Thursday morning, Nicotra's guests were in tears at the thought of checking out, he says.

"On Thursday morning, people were begging me and crying saying 'You can't throw me out. I have no place to go,'" he says.

Nicotra said he then contacted the marathon's organizers, the New York Road Runners, because they had a contract for rooms and told them "we have a problem here" and that "we can't just throw them out." Nicotra said he gave the group other options, including setting up a temporary dormitory in the hotel's 10,000-square-foot ballroom, which can house up to 500 people with cots.

"As Hilton says, hospitality is what we're all about. If we can make everyone happy we will, but if we can't, the choice is easy," Nicotra says. "We need to take care of our neighbors."

And take care of the neighbors, they did.  Valuing compassion over profit is rarely a wise business move.  These were some extreme circumstances, and it allowed hundreds of people comfort at a time they really needed it.

The Tang Of Desperation

How badly is Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted trying to throw the election for Romney?  Badly enough that on Saturday, in violation of a judge's order, he plans to throw out potentially tens of thousands of provisional ballots.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, whose decision to try to restrict early voting was thrown out first by an Ohio judge, then a federal appeals court and denied a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court, will be back in court again this month after he issued a last-minute directive on provisional ballots that not only contradicts Ohio law but is also in violation of a recent court decision and the opposite of what Husted’s own lawyers said he would do.

As reported by Judd Legum at ThinkProgress, Husted ordered election officials not to fill out a section of the provisional ballot that verifies what form of identification that the voter produced and that, if it is incorrectly filled out, the ballot will automatically not be counted. However, under the law establishing the provisional balloting procedures, according to the lawsuit filed against Husted on Friday, it is election officials that are supposed to record the type of ID provided, not the voter — and that election officials are supposed to attempt to resolve any questions on the spot.

Husted has until Monday to respond to the suit, and the court has said that it plans to resolve the issue before provisional ballots are counted on November 17, 2012.

So yes, if Ohio is close, and close enough to decide the election overall, then this is the story right here that will determine the Presidency.  It amazes me that this guy is repeatedly allowed to violate federal court judges and Ohio state law, and do whatever the hell he feels like doing.

I personally hope President Obama's electoral tour de force rolls Romney so hard that Ohio is just another icing state on the 350 electoral vote cake.  But no matter what, Husted's actions here are odious, repugnant, and oh yeah, illegal.  It's voter suppression to help the GOP, period.  Let's call it what it is, folks.

The good news is at this point the extraordinarily desperate GOP is resorting to patently obvious nonsense like this, and it's being discovered before Tuesday's vote.  People are at least aware of it, especially here in Ohio (I hope).

We'll see.  The obvious remedy to this is VOTE.

Last Call

Conservative pundit David Frum bravely supports Mitt Romney based on the argument that the Republican party will be far less insane and far less likely to wreck the country with Obama gone.

The question over his head is not a question about him at all. It's a question about his party - and that question is the same whether Romney wins or loses. The congressional Republicans have shown themselves a destructive and irrational force in American politics. But we won't reform the congressional GOP by re-electing President Obama. If anything, an Obama re-election will not only aggravate the extremism of the congressional GOP, but also empower them: an Obama re-election raises the odds in favor of big sixth-year sweep for the congressional GOP - and very possibly a seventh-year impeachment. A Romney election will at least discourage the congressional GOP from deliberately pushing the US into recession in 2013. Added bonus: a Romney presidency likely means that the congressional GOP will lose seats in 2014, as they deserve.

Kevin Drum calls Frum out:

But instead, Frum makes the most overt form of the surrendering-to-terrorists argument that I've seen yet. If Obama wins, congressional Republicans will go completely ape and destroy the country. They will deliberately tank the economy and then impeach the president. Therefore, we have to give into them and turf Obama out of office.

It's appalling that people are seriously making this argument. What's worse, it's the relatively sensible people who are making it. This is simply nuts. No country can survive with this attitude. If congressional Republicans are truly a destructive and irrational force in American politics—and God knows, I agree with Frum about that—the answer is to fight them, not to surrender to them. That way lies madness.

The problem is House Republicans are insane.  The answer is to get rid of House Republicans.

Deriders Of The Storm

Via David Roberts over at the Grist, this crushing ad is the difference between Romney and Obama, period.



It was done by Climate Silence, and they want to get this ad on the air in the last days of the campaign.  I'm thinking they will.

Romney's Political Epitaph

Gotta have some calls for Obama to go into the Future Stupidity files for Wednesday morning, right?  Here's Dem strategist Bob Shrum at the Daily Beast:

Go all the way back to Nov. 18, 2008, when Romney wrote that op-ed in The New York Times headlined: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” Few pieces have had as long or relevant a political life. Michigan, Mitt’s original home state, and Ohio, home to 850,000 auto industry-related jobs, have proved stubbornly resistant to a Republican nominee who seems so conspicuously hostile to their livelihoods. If the President carries both states, Romney’s prospects next Tuesday look about as promising as the Edsel’s in the 1950s. For those too young to remember it, the car was a landmark flop. Wikipedia offers a commonly accepted explanation: it was “a supreme example of the corporate culture’s failure to understand American consumers.” 

Romney’s op-ed was a supreme example of a corporate guy’s failure to understand American voters. He can quibble that he favored “a managed bankruptcy”—without the use of federal funds. The Obama campaign—and most experts—respond that in the depth of the financial crisis, there was no private capital available to keep the auto companies in business while they were reorganized. That’s true, but almost beside the point. What’s indelible, immediately apprehensible, persistently top-of-mind is the headline itself. Romney could have claimed he didn’t write it; he didn’t. He could have argued it wasn’t what he meant. Instead, he doubled down, telling an interviewer: “That’s exactly what I said—the headline you read—‘Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.’”

Shrum states Romney lost Ohio and Michigan, and Pennsylvania and the upper Midwest because of that op-ed piece, and with it the presidency.  But Romney's collapse in the second debate was just as bad:

Romney’s colossal mistake on Libya in the second debate also prepared the way for the real October surprise, the bromance between the President and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Mitt was slapped down for politicizing Libya in that debate—and reproved by moderator Candy Crowley for being outright wrong on whether Obama had called the attack an “act of terror.” The GOP nominee refused to venture back into the controversy the next time the two candidates met. He had disabled himself; despite the fevered advice of the neocons, and the relentless conspiracy-mongering of the embittered John McCain, Romney was quiescent. And the real issue at stake wasn’t just foreign policy, where Obama is far ahead, but ultimately the quality and character of his Presidential leadership. The response to Hurricane Sandy was the sequel— and the President’s most powerful and persistent validator was Romney’s convention keynoter, Chris Christie. He showered praise on Obama as “wonderful”—and added: “If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.”

Oh, and guess who Politico is reporting today as Romney's first choice for VP?

One of the most tantalizing subplots of the 2012 campaign has been the curious and sometimes controversial performances of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Now, campaign insiders tell POLITICO that Christie was Mitt Romney’s first choice for the Republican ticket, lending an intriguing new context to the continuing drama around the Garden State governor.

Oh, that would have been even worse for Romney.

Furlong's Furlough

Edward Furlong is officially unemployed after his domestic violence arrest at LAX Tuesday morning -- because TMZ has learned, producers have dropped Furlong's ass from his new film.

Furlong was scheduled to catch a flight to Detroit before the arrest -- where filming for his new movie "Misled" was supposed to begin last Thursday -- but the guy got busted instead ... after allegedly getting physical with his girlfriend during an argument.

Furlong obviously missed his flight as a result, and according to a producer for his new movie, he also missed important rehearsals and wardrobe prep as well.

Details are scarce.  Some say it was a single slap, some say it was a beatdown.  The poor woman deserves privacy, and I hope it's respected.  Furlong is a troubled man who just can't seem to get ahead because of preventable stupidity like this.  It's the same for many people out there, who know better and just can't quite do better.

All around it's just sad.  Maybe he can get help before the next round.

Screwed Over By A Hooker, Hof Sues

Real pimps don't slap their hoes when they fall outta line, they SUE them ... at least according to the owner of the world famous Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada who just filed a lawsuit against one of his hookers. 

According to the suit, filed in Nevada, Jimi signed an exclusive whore deal with the Ranch back in 2010 ... in which she agreed to pay Dennis 50% of the cash she made from hooking, plus $25 per day. 

Hof also claims Jimi agreed to pay 50% of any gifts she received from any of her johns. 

But in his suit, Hof says Jimi was screwing around behind his back -- because he got a call from an upset customer named "Richard" who says he'd been showering Jimi with lavish gifts and cash for years ... and finally felt like she was "pumping him for more money."

"Richard" allegedly says he took Jimi all over the world -- including Tahiti, Jamaica and Bora Bora. He also says he bought Jimi Chanel purses, diamond bracelets and pearl earrings. Total value of the gifts -- MORE THAN $300,000.

It's legal, and it looks too me like he has caught her in a very expensive scam.  I'm frankly more amazed that someone would spend that money on a prostitute, not because I am implying they are lesser people but because that's a freaking ton of money to drop on anyone.  But especially someone you know is involved in a trade that negotiates and scams.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

Yet Another One For The Future Fire

This time it's DC Examiner senior pundit Michael Barone predicting the Romney landslide.

Fundamentals usually prevail in American elections. That's bad news for Barack Obama. True, Americans want to think well of their presidents and many think it would be bad if Americans were perceived as rejecting the first black president.

But it's also true that most voters oppose Obama's major policies and consider unsatisfactory the very sluggish economic recovery -- Friday's jobs report showed an unemployment uptick.

Also, both national and target state polls show that independents, voters who don't identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans, break for Romney.

That might not matter if Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 39 to 32 percent, as they did in the 2008 exit poll. But just about every indicator suggests that Republicans are more enthusiastic about voting -- and about their candidate -- than they were in 2008, and Democrats are less so.

Polls don't matter.  What Michael Barone thinks of polls does. 

Bottom line: Romney 315, Obama 223. That sounds high for Romney. But he could drop Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and still win the election. Fundamentals.

Barone has Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Iowa as Romney locks, with likely wins in PA and WI.

Last Call

How bad are things in Staten Island, New York after Sandy?  Pretty miserable, as you can see in this Rock Center segment on NBC.



And that's the problem.  All the coverage and rescue efforts are being focused on posh Manhattan.  Staten Island?  They get to wait in line.

And that line is very, very long.  Hey Bloomberg?  You gotta problem, bro. A big one.

Another One For The Future Fire

Sure, picking on PJ Media's Bryan Preston is hitting low-hanging fruit with an orbital ion cannon, but the guy prefaces his election pick 5 days out with the tagline "reality check".

Nothing of course could be further from the truth.

More than any poll, it’s wise to watch the campaigns. Watch their body language and their travel and spending patterns. Looking at both campaigns from that point of view, it’s very clear that five days from the election the Obama campaign is in retreat. This morning, Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter accidentally admitted that they’re no longer competing in North Carolina, which Obama won four years ago.

That admission parallels David Axelrod’s mustache bet: He only wagered a shave if Obama lost all of three states that just a couple of weeks ago were supposedly in the bag for Obama. That’s hardly a courageous bet. At the same time, Romney is going up with ads in Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania in addition to the swing states that he is already advertising in and campaigning in either directly or via surrogates. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two states Obama must have in order to win, are definitely in play.

Poll data (objective) is useless.  "Campaign body language" which is subjective, is all that matters.  Really?  Now I know why Nate Silver's dispassionate spreadsheets are such an existential threat to the eternal horse race/both sides do it crowd. 

Preston sums it up:

Five days out, the race for president is far from over, but once you get past the oversampling of Democrats in swing state polls, the fundamentals and the campaigns’ body language point toward a Romney victory on Tuesday. Tomorrow’s jobs numbers may be the president’s last chance to change the trajectory of the race.

Those jobs numbers were pretty good, Bryan.  And no, the "fundamentals" point towards a 4 in 5 chance or so of an Obama win.  Your wishful thinking doesn't change reality, wingnuts.

Guilty As Charged Up, Your Honor

Mitt Romney sure seems to think Tesla Motors is a loser of a green investment.

During [the first] presidential debate, GOP candidate Mitt Romney called Tesla Motors a "loser" company, lumping it in with bankrupt solar power company Solyndra, financially troubled green auto-maker Fisker Automotive and green car battery producer Ener1.

Co-established by billionaire PayPal and SpaceX co-founder Elon Musk, the thriving Tesla manufactures and sells electric vehicles, the most well-known being its luxury sports models. Writes Slate of the company, "In nine years, the startup has gone from a twinkle in Elon Musk's eye to taking over 13,000 orders for the Model S, a luxury sedan that has drawn raves from just about everyone lucky enough to test-drive it. I am one of them. Mitt Romney, clearly, is not."

Mitt might want to reconsider and revise his earlier statement.

For the first time ever, Automobile Magazine has named an all-electric vehicle as its “Car of the Year” for 2013.

Citing its sleek design and high performance, Automobile Magazine said Tesla’s Model S luxury sedan beat out gasoline-powered cars like the Subaru BRZ and the Porsche Boxster.

“It’s the performance that won us over,” Editor-in-Chief Jean Jennings said in the magazine’s January 2013 issue. “The crazy speed builds silently and then pulls back the edges of your face. It had all of us endangering our licenses.”

The Model S can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.3 seconds, making it as fast as the gas-guzzling 470-horsepower Dodge Charger. In a drag race with the 560-horsepower BMW M5, the Model S won. The editors were equally wowed by the sporty suspension and handling of the Model S.

Seems like Tesla's doing just fine, Mr. Romney.   You'd think a businessman would know these things.  Alas, that businessman is Mitt Romney.

And It Begins...The 2014 Tantrum

The post election spin is already gearing up as evidenced by this Politico piece full of emoprogs complaining that President Obama will surely destroy Social Security any time now.

Progressive activists say they’re reasonably confident that the president won’t compromise on ending the upper-income tax cuts. It’s the entitlements that worry them. They want him to stick more closely to the deficit-reduction plan he released in September 2011 that didn’t go as aggressively after savings from beneficiaries.

But Obama signaled last week that he could revive the offer he made to Boehner, which was a mix of new revenues, reduced federal spending and entitlement benefit cuts such as raising the Medicare eligibility age and lowering the cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients.

“It will probably be messy. It won’t be pleasant,” Obama told The Des Moines Register editorial board. “But I am absolutely confident that we can get what is the equivalent of the grand bargain that essentially I’ve been offering to the Republicans for a very long time, which is $2.50 worth of cuts for every dollar in [taxes], and work to reduce the costs of our health care programs.”

Administration officials say the range of options that Obama has considered in the past are well known, so it shouldn’t be a surprise if they are resurrected.

But progressive leaders don’t want Obama to go back there. Privately, they use words like “debacle” and “betrayal” to describe the backlash that would ensue. They are far more measured in their public statements ahead of the election.

And people wonder why Democrats lost the House 2 years ago.  The people who thought Obama was a debacle and a betrayal stayed home in 2010 and got us this awesome House with Speaker John Boehner we have now, not to mention put GOP governors and legislatures in place in state after state just in time for redistricting, making it even more impossible to dislodge the little carbuncle this year.

All this article show me is the fact that nobody on our side of the field learned a damn thing from liberals not voting in 2010...the real debacle and betrayal.

We're setting it up for 2014.  There's a goal worth striving for.  Maybe we can give the Republicans another 60 seats and control of the Senate then.  That will surely help with more progressive legislation, right?

All About Winning

Throwing Todd Akin under the bus for his awful "legitimate rape" comments was fashionable when Republicans still thought they had a shot at the Senate two months ago without him.  That ship has sailed.

Now or Never PAC, the conservative, Missouri-based super PAC supporting Todd Akin, has upped it's ad buy in the final week of the Missouri Senate race from $800,000 to $1 million, the group's spokesman, Tyler Harber, told TPM Thursday.

The ad, which TPM first reported on Wednesday, argues that Todd Akin is needed in the Senate -- even if he's not a perfect candidate -- in order to help Republicans take control of the Senate.

Gosh, I'm betting there are women in Missouri who would like to know who the donors are to Now or Never PAC, but of course you can buy anonymity when you have that much money.  Free speech, if you can afford it.

Also helps when publicly you're a Republican who has disavowed Akin in the past, too.  Funny how that works.

Jobapalooza

The final jobs report before the election finds October gained 171,000 new jobs, with the jobless rate ticking up to 7.9%.

U-6 was down both adjusted and non-adjusted.  In other words, this was a good jobs report, and one must closer to the 200K+ new jobs level we need to be at.

Republicans are furious, of course.

An Offensive Display

Mitt Romney is pretending to remain on offense going into the final weekend of the campaign as he makes a desperate effort to make headway in Pennsylvania.

In a late campaign push to change the battleground map, Mitt Romney will travel to Pennsylvania on Sunday in the hopes of capturing the traditionally Democratic-leaning state. A Romney campaign official confirmed to CNN the GOP nominee will stop in the Philadelphia area Sunday afternoon. The Pennsylvania event falls into the Romney campaign's newly adopted strategy of expanding the battleground map in the final week of the race.

Top strategists to the GOP nominee targeted Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota this week for potential gains, pointing to polls in the states that show Romney gaining on the President.

Sure they are, guys.   McCain made similar flailing moves in the last week of the campaign only to lose enough ground in Florida to give the state to Obama in 2008.  This is the act of a guy playing the last cards in his hand when there's nothing left in the deck and he's down big.  Nate Silver's giving 95% odds of Obama winning those three states.  But Romney says "they're in play."

Sure they are.