The Romney-McCain Rapprochement
Via Ben Smith, I see that John McCain is hosting a fundraiser for Mitt Romney in Phoenix next week. Back in January of 2008, this would have seemed more unlikely than Obama picking Hillary as his Secretary of State. But as Sasha Issenberg reported out a few weeks ago for this Boston Globe Magazine article on Romney, Mitt did a pretty masterful job of getting on McCain's good side once McCain secured the nomination: Romney returned to his office the following week [after dropping out of the race] in a T-shirt and jeans, ready to travel to his California home.
The Ticking Zazi Bomb (cont'd)?
I think Mike's right that it's weird people don't seem that alarmed about Najibullah Zazi, but I also think it's pretty understandable. Part of it is the crying wolf phenomenon: After so many supposedly big-deal domestic terrorism arrests turned out to be what NYU law school's Karen J. Greenberg calls "fantasy terrorism cases" (Padilla, the Liberty City Six, the Lackawanna Six, etc.), I think a lot of people have just become inured to this sort of thing, not to mention skeptical.
Wilder Card
Politico has the not terribly surprising news that Doug Wilder has decided to stay out of Virginia's governors race--which is an implicit rebuke of the Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. I say this isn't terribly surprising because Wilder has a history of doing this sort of thing to his fellow Virginia Democrats. In 1994 he made things uncomfortable for Virginia Senator Chuck Robb by running against him as an independent (before ultimately dropping out shortly before the election).
Kirk or Dukakis?
The Boston Globe's Joan Vennochi frames the choice of Ted Kennedy's interim replacement as "a test of Camelot's clout and Governor Deval Patrick's loyalties." The Kennedys, as has now been widely reported, want Patrick to pick Paul Kirk; Patrick reportedly favors Mike Dukakis.
Latimer Opens a New Front in Bush-Cheney War
One of the more interesting aspects of the fallout over Matt Latimer's Speechless, his memoir about his days as a Bush speechwriter is the split between staffers loyal to Bush and those loyal to Cheney.
What Will People Smoke While Reading Camus?
Now that the FDA has banned clove cigarettes, teenage alienation will never be the same.
Boston's Mayor for Life
It's hard to see how Tom Menino won't secure a history-making fifth term as Boston's mayor after yesterday's preliminary election--held to narrow the four candidate field down to two--in which he won a resounding 50.5 percent of the vote.
The Good Dookie
My Duke hatred generally knows no bounds, but I'm now willing to grant Reggie Love an exemption (via the HuffPo).
Sometimes the Good Guys Do Win
Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter for Mississippi's Clarion-Ledger newsppaper, is the recipient of one of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius grants." If you're not familiar with Mitchell or his work, this 2005 American Journalism Review article about him is a good place to start. Long story short, if it weren't for Mithcell--and his articles that eventually led to the trials and convictions of four Klansmen for their crimes against civil rights workers back in the 1960s--the world would be a less just place.
Mike Ross, Real Estate Maven
A good ProPublica investigative article on Blue Dog Democrat Mike Ross's business dealings with a pharmacy chain: Ross sold the real estate in Prescott, Ark., to USA Drug for $420,000 -- an eye-popping number for real estate in the tiny train and lumber town about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock. "You can buy half the town for $420,000," said Adam Guthrie, chairman of the county Board of Equalization and the only licensed real estate appraiser in Prescott. But the $420,000 was just the beginning of what Ross and his pharmacist wife, Holly, made from the sale of Holly's Health Mart.
