Almanac: At the Capitol

Don't listen to the GOPers behind the curtain. If the election were held today, Clinton would be McCain, Obama, probably not.

RealClear Politics has the current snapshot in time.

Pennsylvania has Obama up 1.2 but Clinton outside the margin of error with a +6.8%
Ohio shoe McCain over Obama +3.4% with Clinton holding him off at +5.4%. And the dangling chads in Florida stay with McCain, handily, at +9.0%, yet Clinton with a shot +1.7%

Even Electoral-Vote.com shows the electability reality

280 Clinton
258 McCain

254 Obama
273 McCain

And what of my favorite Right leaning Pollster, Rassmussen, they've decided the Democratic nomination battle is over, and will stop tracking it.However, while Senator Clinton has remained close and competitive in every meaningful measure, she is a close second and the race is over. It has become clear that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee.We don't need no stinking elections, we have Rassmussen to decide for us.

Flashhttp://centrisity.com Being right, even tho you lean Left

The latest Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters in Wisconsin finds a record number of Badger State residents give President Bush “poor” marks in assessing his job performance.

For the first time, a majority of Wisconsinites (51 percent) say Bush is doing poorly in a survey conducted on May 5th, up from 48 percent in March 2008. Fourteen percent said Bush was doing an ‘excellent’ job, 20 percent assessed his performance as ‘good,’ and 14 percent as ‘fair.’

Bush’s previous record low on this four-point grading scale was 50 percent, in a University of Wisconsin-Madison Badger Poll back in June 2007.

The new Rasmussen numbers come on the heels of a mid-April 2008 SurveyUSA poll of 600 Wisconsin residents in which Bush’s approval rating of 31 percent was tied for the second lowest in 35 consecutive monthly polls dating back to May 2005.

Back in the end of March, I asked about J. Gauthier. Gauthier’s name on a registered mail receipt from a letter sent to Al Franken in New York regarding Franken’s failure to provide workers’ compensation insurance for his employees. Several sources of Minnesota Democrats Exposed have indicated to me that the last [...]

A key component of Tim Pawlenty's "compromise" to revive funding for the Central Corridor involves crippling the ability of our cities to deliver services. Pawlenty wants to impose a cap on local government property taxes, thereby forcing them to cut services.

The irony here is that it was Pawlenty himself who raised our property taxes by slashing Local Government Aid last time he needed funding to cover a deficit without raising taxes. The chart below shows things pretty clearly, I think:

This is such a typical move for Pawlenty and other conservative crazies just like him. First, you raid a source of funding that should never be used to balance a budget. Then, you blame the former recipient of that source for being "fiscally irresponsible." Then, to cover up your own irresponsibility, you punish the people you screwed in the first place.

Now, he wants to raid the Health Access Fund. Maybe in a few years, he'll be punishing people who needed that funding. I can imagine it now: "They should have exercised more."

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[Chart data source: MN State Auditor]

We're not entirely comfortable with the headline chosen for a post at Minnesota Central, since we're somewhat old school in believing that all Americans should take an interest in doing what's best for veterans, leaving partisanship behind.

Still, it's hard not to share some of our friend's conclusions when we read the Stars & Stripes article that's the springboard for his analysis and conclusion. Go read what MC has to say.

The Stars and Stripes article was headlined Democrats press VA on suicide rate. McPherson Hall  adds to the story by sharing his reflections on the hearings available on the webcast of the full committee hearing, “The Truth About Veteran Suicides”. 

It's a must watch for those interested in veterans issues.

Walz's questions, referenced by Minnesota Central and media accounts, start around 1:59. Walz is passionate and non-partisan, as MC points out, drawing attention to the successes the Minnesota National Guard and Pawlenty administration have enjoyed in the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Campaign.

And as he promised veterans at the roundtable at the Veterans Medical Center on April 21, he's bringing their stories forward in Washington.

He also praises the professionalism and understanding of county veteran service officers. For rural vets, contact with county service officers is often crucial, given their distance from the main hospital in Minneapolis

It's all about the veterans, Walz says, and ranking Republican member Steve Buyer follows up on Walz's questions and supports his mission. This is what we want to see in Washington DC.

Today's New York Times editorial, The Suffering of Soldiers, reviews the problems. It concludes:

. . .Fortunately, the solutions are clear: more money for mental health services, closer tracking of suicides and more aggressive preventive efforts, more efficiency at managing veterans’ treatment and more help for their families. If this country gave back to wounded troops even a fraction of the commitment and service that it has received from them, they will be well cared for.

That's pretty much the sentiment in the circles we run in.  Let's hope all of America's new veterans get the level of service the Minnesota National Guard and the State of Minnesota have provided.

The AP just let loose a nice fluff-piece on that other guy running in the DFL endorsement race, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. A few readers sent this in as of note, so here’s an excerpt from the end of the article:

For months, Nelson-Pallmeyer rarely got more than passing mention in coverage of Franken’s Senate aspirations. The main Democratic fight was thought to be between Franken and wealthy lawyer Mike Ciresi. But in early March, the Nelson-Pallmeyer campaign began to claim it had surpassed Ciresi in delegate support; within a few days, Ciresi dropped out of the race.
…
The 57-year-old Minneapolis resident with a shock of white hair describes himself as “something of a recovering introvert,” and he doesn’t have Wellstone’s energetic charisma in person. But he can bring a crowd of Democrats to their feet with fiery speeches focused on his opposition to the Iraq war and Republican foreign policy.

A professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Nelson-Pallmeyer’s campaign platform is fueled by his lifelong focus on social justice and economic equality. He often leans on his life experience, from teaching in inner city Chicago to living in Central America to leading large Iraq war protests.

“What we really need if we’re going to have a world that is secure is a world that’s more just and more peaceful,” Nelson-Pallmeyer said.

Nelson-Pallmeyer is to Franken’s left on just about everything. He’s opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, for nationwide legalization of same-sex marriages, a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in the next nine months, universal single-payer health insurance and a massive reduction in defense spending.

“I certainly think, if the general election were happening today, that Al’s made more progress to reaching out to people outside the Democratic base,” said Barr, Franken’s spokesman.

But Nelson-Pallmeyer’s supporters, like Yvonne Leiser, point out that there was another Democrat once considered too liberal for Minnesota voters.

“Paul Wellstone carried this state, and he did it twice,” Leiser said.

Has anyone else found this recent addition to the Strib’s article pages obnoxious?

Why is this big, obnoxious, quote box mucking up the page? From a design perspective, it’s extremely distracting as the text is almost more prominent than the title, but more importantly, it’s just completely unnecessary. Look, I go to the Star Tribune to read what the journalists write. There’s a reason that they’re better at this than, say, I am or the many potential commenters on their site: this is their job and profession! Neither the Strib nor the writers there should forget that we go to their paper to read what professional journalists say, not joe schmo. For the latter, you can just come here–there’s a reason I’m not paid to do this.

Seriously, Strib, stop worrying about these newfangled blog-type deals, we fill a different role; you’re the big guy, the filter, and when you try to pretend you’re just as unprofessional as us its degrading to both your writers and your readers.

Okay, rant over.

Let Freedom Ring:

Tuesday afternoon, John McCain took Barack Obama to task on the subject of judges. Libby Quaid’s AP article showed how biased they are. Here’s where her bias really showed:

McCain, the eventual GOP nominee, promised to appoint judges in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, saying they would interpret the law strictly to curb the scope of their rulings. While McCain didn’t mention abortion, the far right understands that such nominees would be likely to limit or perhaps overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

It’s interesting that Ms. Quaid immediately assumed that conservatives, aka “the far right”, only want strict constructionist justices like Alito and Roberts so we can finally get rid of Roe v. Wade. I’d love hearing Ms. Quaid explain why someone with a pro choice record like Rudy Giuliani wants strict constructionist judges, too.


Giulianni was pandering to the theocrats when he said that. The so-called "strict constructionists" such as Scalia really are interested in having a theocracy. Scalia has said that Government derives its legitimacy from God. That's not what the constitution says and it's interesting how these characters have claimed to be "strict constructionists." In the Lawrence v Texas decision (overturning sodomy laws), Scalia wrote a scathing dissent.

State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity are likewise sustainable only in light of Bowers’ validation of laws based on moral choices. Every single one of these laws is called into question by today’s decision; the Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding.

Why is Gary so concerned about having a national debate over overturning Roe V Wade? The effect of this would mean there would be a hodge-podge of state abortion laws. Why is it "media bias" to expose code words used by theocrats? In my opinion, the media doesn't do enough of this.

Is this because Gary wants to be able to use this issue to mobilize the anti-abortion activists (those who want abortion to be criminal), but not to let the mainstream onto this?

A recent netlet in the Star Tribune reminded readers of Senator Day's heroic run for the border back in October (best illustrated here by the divine Ms. Tild), though the reader seemed to think it was only weeks, not months ago.

That was then; this is now.

Day has taken up a new role in trying to enforce Minnesota Senate fashion decorum, much in the spirit of last fall's oh-so-courageous weekend with the Minutemen in Arizona.

ECM Publishers's Hometown Source has the scoop about Day taking the rules into his own hands in Sen. Dick Day sheds tie to make point about colleague's lack of tie:

Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna, sat tieless in the Senate Chamber Wednesday (May 7) night after rising on the Senate floor to object about the attire Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, DFL-Fridley, was wearing. Chaudhary, whose parents immigrated to America from India, was wearing a Nehru-style jacket on the Senate floor — a jacket on which ties aren't worn.

Day complained that Chaudhary was not properly attired. If Chaudhary wasn't going to observe Senate customs, he explained, then he would take off his tie.

After a recess, Day could be seen tieless and open collared on the Senate floor. Chaudhary continued to wear his Nehru jacket. Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, spoke of the Senate looking the other way that night. But as far he knew, custom and usage dictated more formal attire, he explained.

"And if that's the custom and usage around here I think we ought to follow it," said Senjem.

Chaudhary's Nehru jackets drew a comment from a Republican senator once before.

Senators are expected to wear jackets and ties. Day said if Chaudhary wasn't going change what he was wearing, he'd take off his tie.

And First District voters can rest assured that if elected, Day will focus on serious policy issues, rather than partisan games like these that grind the people's business to a halt, right?

If nothing else,  primary challenger Day's sense of style should breathe some life into the Republican side of the congressional contest in Minnesota's Fighting First.

Our regular readers know we're awfully fond of finding instances of people using urban legends to support their arguments.

A kind friend  in Rochester alerted us to a recent example in the Rochester Post Bulletin online. "Patriot," a regular pro-Republican commenter, pasted a whopper into the PB comments section last week. His comments supposedly refute yet another letter decrying the GOP endorsed candidate's column proposing drilling our way out of high oil prices.

Here's what Patriot pasted posted at the PB Online:

Remember the election in 2006?

A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006 and we got it!
Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Claim: The 2008 U.S. economic downturn resulted from the Democratic control of Congress in 2007.

One of the commenters decided to fact check Patriot's posterior.  Here's what Thorstein turned up:

Patriot, Apparently you quoted your statistics from an e-mail that has been circulating around the web. FactCheck.org examined the email's claims and found them either false or inaccurate. In short, BS. See http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_electing_a_democratic_congress_in_2006.htm

According to its "About" page, FactCheck.org is:

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

And what does FactCheck.org say about the email? Check it out:

Did electing a Democratic Congress in 2006 really lead to increased unemployment, higher gas prices and more home foreclosures?

I received this [Patriot's pasted text] by e-mail and I’ve also seen it posted as a comment on a lot of blogs and news sites. Is there any truth to it?

No, and most of the figures in a widely-circulated e-mail are made up. In fact, the entire premise of the e-mail is a logical fallacy.

Like most of the chain e-mails making the rounds, this one is inaccurate. Some claims are outright false while others are grossly out of context. Overall, the e-mail commits the logical fallacy known as post hoc ergo propter hoc (or after the fact, therefore because of the fact).

Read the rest at FactCheck.org.

FactCheck.org isn't the only online truth squad calling foul on this one. Let's see if the blither has hit snopes.com.

 

Here's what the venerable Urban Legends reference site has to say about this particular inbox deception:

Status: False.

This piece is one of the more ludicrous examples of the post hoc ergo propter hoc ("after this, therefore because of this") fallacy we've received in a long time.

It attempts to blame a whole host of economic ills — high gasoline prices, unemployment, falling stock prices, the housing market meltdown — squarely and solely on the Democrats' having gained a majority of seats in the House of Representatives beginning in 2007.   

We'll start by noting that it's not technically correct to claim the public voted "in a Democratic Congress in 2006." The Democrats did gain 31 seats in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections, giving them a 233-198 majority over Republicans in that institution once the 110th Congress was seated in 2007.  However, the current composition of the Senate tips towards neither party, with both Democrats and Republicans holding 49 seats each.  (Two senators, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, were elected as independents.)

The other major fallacies here are the notions that a single party with control of only the House of Representatives (but not the Senate or the White House) could have, by itself, brought about all the economic conditions described above, and that it could have done so in the space of a single year.  The financial woes currently being experienced in the U.S. are due to a multiplicity of factors (many of which are completely outside the purview of Congress), including policies of the current and previous presidential administrations, previous Congressional actions (or inactions), institutional investment decisions, credit expansion, market forces, and global events. Moreover, all these factors are part of ongoing processes that were underway well before 2007, as political/economic commentator Kevin Phillips described in his 2008 book. ....

Read the rest at Snopes.

It's entertaining that the endorsed candidate's supporters stoop to using a false urban legend to defend their man. 

“Critics say Sarvi isn’t perceived as a threat in the race, with party officials targeting campaigns considered more competitive. ‘I haven’t seen any evidence that national Democrats are taking the race seriously — or on the local side,’ said Republican activist and blogger Michael Brodkorb. Fundraising has been admittedly difficult so far, Sarvi said. Melendez predicted [...]

Steve Sarvi received the DFL endorsement to face Rep. John Kline (R-MN) in the MN-02 race a week ago yesterday. Now he's starting to get some press coverage. The Red Wing Republican Eagle and the Farmington Independent both provide their readers the basics on his background and campaign.

Steve Sarvi had a soldier's eye view of United States foreign policy while serving in Kosovo and Iraq.
But in deployments over the past five years, the 43-year-old decided he no longer liked what he was seeing.

"I got a sense that they no longer looked up to us as a nation," the National Guard member recalled from encounters with people in Kosovo.

Steve Sarvi, a Second District Democrat from Watertown, Minn., discusses his campaign Tuesday in an interview. He will challenge U.S. Rep. John Kline, a Republican, in November.

Three months after returning from a tour in Iraq, Sarvi decided to do something about it, announcing a bid in October 2007 for Minnesota's Second Congressional District seat.
(Red Wing Republican Eagle)

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Minnesota is 150 years old today.

After you have wished your Mother a happy day, stop by the capitol and participate in the festivities.

Several of my ancestors were Minnesota Pioneers including my Great Great Grandfather Seth Trowbridge. I leave you with his picture, and obituary as printed in the Madelia Messenger, April 9, 1915Madelia Messenger
April 9, 1915

Another Pioneer Gone
Mr. Seth Trowbridge, one of the very early pioneers of this section, breathed his last at his home in this village at 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, April 7. He contracted a cold on February 22nd, which developed into pneumonia and was the cause of his death. Mr. Trowbridge was born July 1st, 1828. The funeral will be held at the Presbyterian church at 2 o'clock tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. Obituary next week.

Madelia Messenger
April 16, 1915

Mr. Seth Trowbridge

Mr. Seth Trowbridge, the announcement of whose death appeared in these columns last week, was born in Preble, Courtland County, NY. At the age of seventeen years he bought his time from his father, paying therefore the sum of $10, and started out in the world to fight his own way.

He left New York in 1847, in company with his brother, Milo, in a covered sleigh, headed for the state of Ohio, and there he worked making staves in the timber country, until 1850 when he returned to New York and was married to Miss Angeline E. Comstock, and soon afterward returned to Ohio with his bride. Of this marriage one daughter, Mrs Alice V. Adams of Lewiston, Idaho survives.

In 1854, with his brother, Alexander, he went to the state of Texas, but not finding conditions there to his liking, he returned to Ohio, and later visited Illinois and Minnesota. He was pleased with Minesota and in 1856, moved to Winona county. In later years he told friends the coldest winters he ever experienced in Minnesota were those of 1856 and 1857.

His second marriage was to Miss. Clarrissa A Brown, the ceremony being performed at Rochester. To this union four children remain. They are: W. E. Trowbridge of St. Paul, Mrs. Minnie Manning of St. James, Mrs. Hattie M Anderson of Unionville, Mo. , and John J Trowbridge (my Great Grandfather) of Madelia, MN.

Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge left Winona county for Watonwan county in 1868, and for a time they farmed about two sections of land in Fieldon township, about six miles south of Madelia, but they were practically ruined by the grasshoppers and prairie fires, and then moved to their farm north of town. Later they built the brick house in Madelia, where he has lived most of the time since, dividing his time between his home here and the farm.

For many years Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge served meals in the brick building, and many of the "old timers" remembered the price charged for meals-- all you can eat for 15 cents.

Mrs. Trowbrdige died in May. 1903.

Those from out of town who attended the funeral are : Mrs. Manning and son of St. James, Mrs. C. L. Anderson of Unionville Mo., Mr and Mrs. W. E. Trowbrdige of St. Paul, Lewis Trowbridge of Rosendale, Mr. W. G. Manning, Mr.s J., J. Lenertz and son , Mr. and Mrs. Peter King, Mrs. J. C. Bermel, Mrs. Hottinger and Mrs. E. C. Fuller of St. James and Mr. Avon Gillman of Truman.Enjoy your day!http://centrisity.com Being right, even tho you lean Left

Rating: 3-1/2 cigars (Great CGI/interesting casting/unimaginative script)

Finally got to see Iron Man last night and despite being sandwiched in-between a Beavis-and-Butthead high schooler on my right and a pregnant woman about to give birth on my left (oops, sorry honey), it was pretty good. The first pleasant surprise patriotic film-goers will notice is the villains: they are actual Muslims. Yes, that's right. Rag-heads. Camel-huggers. Sand-monkeys. The same barbarous murderers that we are at war with in real life. Go figure. How did this faux pas make it past the Hollywood PC filters? It didn't. Marvel Studios financed this superhero drama themselves. I suspect this was because of the Hollywood suit that wouldn't allow The Thing to smoke cigars when Fantastic Four was produced. That would piss me off and that is why another pleasant surprise awaits you; manly men who drink scotch, smoke cigars and chase women. AAARRR!

I liked the casting. MOBsters will instantly recognize Tom "Swiftie" Swift as the rebellious and irreverent Tony Stark, Mitch "Iron Monger" Berg as the lumbering evil Obidiah Stane and Guy "GuyDog" Collins as the soft-spoken agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. I liked the CGI, too. Much better than the cartoonish Spiderman films. But other than that, I found that Iron Man just didn't "pop". Not like Blade Runner watered your eyes with its set design. Or Matrix could keep rolling down your socks after seeing it for the umpteenth time. For example, the writing on Iron Man just wasn't suspenseful. It wasn't as antiseptic as say, a 24, but not even the climax will put you at the edge of your seat so don't expect anything revolutionary or even evolutionary here (heart-plugs? Come on. That's so Dune). Equally underwhelming was the music. I have been humming the Black Sabbath riff since I saw the first preview. How awesome would it have been to have torqued up that heavy-metal fugue as Tony Stark walked out of the dark terrorist cave in his earth-shaking pig-iron prototype. Answer: VERY awesome. How equally disappointing it was then when it wasn't played at all (and 20 seconds during the closing credits don't count).

All in all, Iron Man really had the potential of forging some new cinemagraphic ground but in the end, the new studio startup combined with a light-weight actor-turned-director proved to be too much to overcome. But keep your eyes out. With Marvel Studio's upcoming slate, things can only go up from here.

Next up: The Dark Knight, Hancock, Hellboy II, Star Trek: Zero (w/ Simon Pegg as Scotty)

I attended today's "Explode the Vote" voter registration event in north Minneapolis, co-sponsored by the Obama and Ellison campaigns. We had a good turnout of doorknockers.

Things that really struck me - Keith told us that we are working for the common good. We are all neighbors.

The Ellison campaign slogan is: "Everyone counts. Everyone matters." *

That is what this 2008 election is about - everyone matters, everyone counts. Period.

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This precinct caucus year caused me problems. I could see strengths and weaknesses in Clinton, Edwards, and Obama. I was undecided until I cast my vote.

John Edwards understood basic issues for all Americans - poverty, being shut out of our democracy, and lack of healthcare. He spoke plainly, courageously, and passionately. I knew he had some baggage. I was sad when he dropped out of the race.

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I find it interesting that Al Franken won’t disclose the employment status of the accountant that he claimed didn’t “understand the law“. “Franken recently revealed that his accountant made an error causing Franken to overpay his income taxes in Minnesota and New York. However, taxes had no been paid in 17 other states where Franken gave [...]

File under "Be Very Unsurprised":The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar.

Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement:

"Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign."

Goodyear, chief executive of lobbying firm DCI Group, resigned a few hours after Newsweek posted a story posted online that the company was paid $348,000 in 2002 and 2003 to represent Myanmar's junta.The McCain campaign is absolutely crawling with lobbyists who would have a very good chance of moving right into a hypothetical McCain administration. This situation is surprisingly similar to that of Hillary Clinton's campaign and former head pollster Mark Penn, whose firm lobbied on behalf of Colombia for a trade deal that Clinton opposed (this, of course, holds out hope against hope that McCain opposes most of the actions of the Myanmar military regime) -- but so much worse, somehow, than Clinton's campaign ever was as far as the sheer number and influence of the lobbyists running the show.

John McCain: more of the same craven cronyism we've had for the past eight years, but now with 100 more years in Iraq to boot. Super.

Somehow, the AP managed to flub yet another piece of McCain's role in the campaign finance debate:Newsweek also reported DCI has been a pioneer in running "independent" expenditure campaigns by so-called 527 groups, the kind of operations that McCain has denounced in his battle for campaign finance reform.Pretty sure the widespread use of 527 groups grew dramatically after the McCain-Feingold legislation went into effect...but perhaps that's a bit too much parsing of the facts.

Doug Goodyear was tapped by Sen. John McCain last week to be the manager for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. On Saturday, Goodyear who is also the CEO of DCI Group resigned under mounting media scrutiny over his firm's lobbying for the military regime of Myanmar. DCI earned $3 million last year lobbying for clients like Exxon Mobil and General Motors. Prior to DCI, Goodyear did public relations for cigarette maker R. J. Reynolds.

The Myanmar connection forced him to resign "so as not to become a distraction in this campaign."

According to Newsweek's Michael Isikoff:[T]he firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today. Justice Department lobbying records show DCI pushed to "begin a dialogue of political reconciliation" with the regime. It also led a PR campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing "falsehoods" by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses.Convention spokesman Matt Burns told the Pioneer Press, "In planning any event of this size -- and like with any large organization -- there are bound to be comings and goings. You simply adjust and move forward."

The McCain campaign still employs one member of the DCI Group. Doug Davenport is his regional campaign manager and, as head lobbyist for DCI, would have dealt directly with the Myanmar military regime.

Except in plain English instead of iambic pentameter:  Was this post ghost-written?

Different syntax.  Different organizational structure.  Different grammatical standards. Curiouser and curiouser.

Is this what we've come to expect from someone who gets puff pieces in the AP wire and Fox News interviews?

One might accuse me of keeping track of MDE a little too closely from time to time. But given Michael's spotty record with the truthiness thing, it's irresponsible not to speculate.