The Crashers Had To Have Had Help

I think this fact is a giveaway in regards to the State-dinner crasher story:

In our conversation in the office about this incident this morning, one thing I mentioned was that what seemed strange to me wasn’t just that they got in but that they were apparently so confident about their ability to get in.

(I added the bold). I’ve had my suspicions that this was more a t.v. stunt than anything else. The couple likely knew they would get in and knew that it would look “scandalous” if it appeared they were sneaking in. They couldn’t have done it on their own though.

It’s easy to see the incentive to try and pull something like this off. Just imagine how much the ratings for the yet-to-premiere Real Housewives of Washington would spike with an episode where one of the wives “crashes”  the State dinner like they’re high schoolers sneaking into a frat party. There were even reports that Bravo t.v. cameras followed the couple around throughout their time at the dinner. It’s pretty tempting if you’re a producer for the show, definitely worth making a few calls.

UPDATE: Josh Marshall is digging into this story and it seems this is actually more than just a celebrity-wannabe stunt. Maybe I’m wrong. *shrug*

A Few Things I Should Mention

I’m going to slow down posting to celebrate Thanksgiving and give myself a very much needed break. But before I do, let me mention a few things.

First, I’m the new Editor-at-Large of Consider magazine a recently resurrected weekly student publication here at Michigan. The idea is an ambitious one and I’m excited to help bring the magazine to its full potential. What I do right now is edit and write for the mag’s blog The Conversationalist. Some of my posts will be crossposted here but like my work at Gaper’s Block, some of it will be exclusively available over there.

Secondly —and maybe more impressively— Reuters blogger extraordinaire Felix Salmon was kind enough to respond to my questions on an earlier post he wrote about the Chicago Parking Meter hubub. The post is awesome except for the lack of grammar in my questions. I need to reread my writing before I send, I know, I know.

Thomson Prison Update

Okay, to paraphrase Brokeback Mountain, I just can’t quit this story. Oh well. Last week the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors released a memo estimating that moving the Gitmo detainees to Thomson would create almost 3,000 jobs with almost half of them potentially filled by local Illinoisians. This sounds a bit overblown to me but nonetheless I’m confident a significant portion of jobs could be generated from better utilizing the prison. The memo is here via Lynn Sweet.

Senate hopeful Mark Kirk recently walked back some downright crazy accusations he made about moving the detainees to Thomson. Still he’s not completely apologetic:

Kirk had earlier expressed concern that al-Qaida supporters and family could visit detainees in Thomson, but the White House said terrorist suspects would be housed in a segregated portion of the prison run by the Department of Defense and not allowed visitors other than legal counsel.

But he maintained the region would not be safer for housing Guantanamo Bay detainees and said while the Chicago area, 150 miles away from Thomson, has always been considered a potential terrorist target, the transfer “brings added attention to us.”

…except in a supermax prison terrorist detainees don’t have visitation rights. I will admit one thing though, I agree with Kirk that Thomson won’t be safer with the prisoners nearby but more specifically I don’t think it will be less safe either.

Sanford’s Gonna Get It

I gotta be honest, I expected Mark Sanford’s troubles would end once the details of his affair were no longer the juiciest piece of political news. But it seems that’s not the case. According to the Hotline OnCall:

In total, 18 of the charges have to do with instances in which Sanford flew business or first class without being authorized to do so. Those trips were largely trade missions to China, Austria, England, Germany, France and other destinations — including a June ‘08 trip to Brazil and Argentina, during which he has acknowledged spending time with the woman with whom he had the affair.
Other charges include use of a state-owned plane to transport Sanford to a political event, a book-signing and a birthday party, as well as a family vacation and a trip to see one of his sons’ sporting events. Sanford even allegedly used a state plan to travel to North Myrtle Beach for a haircut.

I love that last one at the end. Mike Tomasky had been saying that Sanford’s true violation was dereliction of duty. I just didn’t think that was really the issue that the GOP was angry about and that Sanford would be punished for. Well, this just goes to show you to leave the prophesying to the pros.

Just for fun, here’s the South Carolina Ethics Commission Complaint via Talking Points Memo (linked to above) after the jump:

Shameful Indulgence

Alright alright, I know I promised not to blog about Sarah Palin as much as the big dogs are these days but I couldn’t resist this one. Michelle noted just now that this ad of Sarah Palin has her prominently wearing a Burberry scarf. Perhaps I’m not up on the latest fashions of the common man but isn’t that rather elitist? Hmmm?

White Sox Baseball Fail

For the record, I think getting Vizquel is a mistake.

Cabs And Credit Cards

Jessica Reaves in The New York Times Chicago News Cooperative explains why cab drivers try to avoid taking credit card payments. It’s a nice little read. Reaves reports that the reasons all center around time consumption involved or broken card machines.  I can’t help but wonder though if cab drivers are missing out.

I’d actually imagine they are. Take college students like me. Generally, we don’t carry a lot of cash but often (usually more often than is healthy) we spend with credit cards. In a city like Chicago, where there are a number of universities, I’d imagine if it was common practice to use credit cards more people wanting to get around Chicago but, for whatever reason, against taking the El, would happily wave a cab than is currently the case.

Photo by Cote used under a Creative Commons license.

I Know That I’m A Nerd When

1. I ask “which channel is C-Span on?” On football Saturday
2. I’m rickrolled “Senate style”
3. On a Sunday night I’m looking for my girlfriend’s best friend’s boyfriend to help me do some CSS design and website development (and I’m excited about this)
4. When I rant it’s usually about fear of a public option.
5. I spend Thursday night with my friends in the computer lab.
6. I’m up to date with the most recent Stargate series.

UPDATE: Another reason: My friend tells me the history department has up-for-grabs old issues of the Journal of American History so at 9 p.m. on a Monday I get on my bike and hurry over there, praying all the way that the department hasn’t closed.

RSS Feed Is The Bane Of My Existence

You know, my RSS was originally meant to help me consolidate and digest my news faster but all it’s done is gotten me to subscribe to more sites which means I spend more time than before reading news.

Strangest Comment Today

Via AFP’s Olivier Knox’s twitter:

The Give And Take Of College Sports

Today’s somewhat of a college gameday in my family and among my friends. Here at Michigan it’s the Ohio State massacre of Michigan Ohio State-Michigan game and it’s the Harvard-Yale game (my sister goes to Harvard). In light of this I reread one of my favorite New Yorker articles ever, Peter J. Boyer’s “Big Men on Campus” about the Duke Lacrosse team scandal in 2006. The overarching topic of the article isn’t very relevant but there are passages that got me thinking about Michigan which, in mission, is similar to Duke:

Obama’s Approval Ratings: Chill Out

Via Taegan Goddard, USA Today has a really amazing interactive graph of presidential approval ratings and you know what? Obama’s are pretty unremarkable.

Actually, in comparison to other presidents, they’re pretty similar to Ronald Reagan’s thus far in his presidency, not only in specific number but incline also. Reagan’s popularity had been falling like Obana’s has. I don’t think the numbers are really worth focusing because the real overarching theme of politics lately has been the sausage making of passing healthcare reform. Of course that’s going to bring a president’s approval rating down. It’s major reform that requires a lot of negotiation and slow progress. The dip in approval would be the same of any president in this situation.