Senate Office Used to Send Homophobic Message

Image from source, Joe.My.God.

An interesting story is making the journey from the blogosphere to the mainstream, and you may not have heard it yet.  One of my favorite blog sites--which I link to and excerpt from time to time--got a very nasty comment on Tuesday, "All faggots must die."  Nasty, right?  Oh well, it's an anonymous posting, what can you do?  Well, Joe Jervis the author of the blog, Joe.My.God, didn't want to leave it at that.  After a little detective work, he tracked the comment to the offices of Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss. It's about to get interesting.

[Excerpt]

CONFIRMED: Sen. Saxby Chambliss Admits "All Faggots Must Die" Comment Came From His Atlanta Headquarters

I've just gotten off the phone with Atlanta Journal-Constitution political writer Jim Galloway who says that Sen. Saxby Chambliss has confirmed that the "All faggots must die" comment left here on JMG earlier today did indeed come from his Atlanta office. Galloway reports that Chambliss told him his office is conducting an internal investigation. For now Chambliss' spokesperson has issued a preliminary statement. . .

Read more at: Joe.My.God.

John McCain, the Presumptive President?

There was a lot of talk a week or two ago about Barack Obama acting too "presumptuous." It was the word most commonly used among the punditry to describe Obama's European and Middle-Eastern tour. Even John McCain blasted Obama for acting like he was already President.
So how to explain McCain's behavior regarding the current Republic of Georgia conflict? Rachel Maddow has guest hosted MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann for the last few days (and yes, I'm aware that this blog is in danger of becoming an unofficial Maddow fan site). Here, she deconstructs McCain's actions, points out the hypocrisy, and lays into McCain for his comments about Georgia being the first serious international crisis since the Cold War. Good stuff.

Incidentally, you have no idea how difficult it is to resist the temptation to post every Rachel Maddow clip I find. As an early fan, I'm just tickled she's doing so well. Good work Rachel!

John McCain's Connection to Country of Georgia

Photo from source, TPM Muckraker

This is very heavy reading, and difficult to encapsulate, but I'll try. John McCain had a foreign policy advisor who arranged for John McCain to talk to the country of Georgia's President. On the same day, the lobbyist sealed a contract with Georgia to be their lobbyist. The lobbyist was paid--handsomely--by both Georgia and by McCain. Can you say, "Conflict of interest?"

[Excerpt]

McCain Talked With Georgia President On The Same Day McCain Aide Sealed Georgia Lobbying Contract

Randy Scheunemann earned about $70,000 serving as Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser between the January 2007 and May 15, 2008. During the same period, the government of Georgia paid his firm $290,000 in lobbying fees.

Today's Washington Post reports a stark illustration of the conflict of interest that Scheunemann faced while advising McCain on foreign policy matters related to the former Soviet Republic and also working for the Georgia embassy. . .

Read more at: TPM Muckraker