Follow along with voting in Florida on Twitter this Tuesday

The Palm Beach Post has announced a unique statewide project to following voting issues, problems, and activities this Tuesday utilizing Twitter.

The Post is joining with a number of other newspapers across the state to produce a live, interactive Twitter map of events relating to voting throughout Election Day. You'll be able to see a map of each tweet, giving you the location and nature of each report from all over the state. If there's a machine problem, you'll know about it. If there's a counting issue, you'll know about it. If someone faints in line, quite likely you'll know about it.

My Twitter-friends at the Post tell me that the interactive map will be available at the Post's website, "often as the main art on the home page, at least until polls close, maybe longer." In addition, you'll be able to keep track moment-by-moment on Twitter by following PBP_votes and FloridaVotes.

And, hey, while you're at it, go ahead and follow me, too. You just might learn something. (You can follow Blast Off! as well and get instant updates on every post and comment. It's fun and it's free!)

Breakfast, the morning paper, and ... "Hype: The Obama Effect"?

The whackjob right-wing will stop at nothing to smear Barack Obama.

We've known that for a long time, but today brought the latest salvo. Included in the Palm Beach Post here in Florida, as well as in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the newspapers in Ohio's three largest cities, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Hype: The Obama Effect is "THE ONE MOVIE YOU MUST SEE THIS YEAR!," according to its feverishly fearmongering packaging.

A group called Citizens United reportedly has spent $1 million to distribute 1.25 million DVDs in the aforementioned newspapers just before Election Day, trying to stir up the racism and hatred and fear that it somehow believes lurks just beneath the surface of all of us who read those papers. I haven't opened the package nor viewed the 95-minute film -- although maybe I should, because people outside of the five lucky cities are being asked to pay $35.95 for copies of this dreck -- but the fact that Dick Morris is quoted on the packaging ("[Obama] is representative of the ultimate left of the Democratic Party") tells me all I need to know. This is a massive load of bullshit, and anyone with half a functioning brain knows it. And not just because Dick Morris lacks any vestige of credibility or integrity, but because Obama is anything but "ultimate left." Hell, I'd like him a lot more if he really were "ultimate left."

Clearly this DVD, which is, predictably, chock full of lies and disinformation, belongs in the trash bin along with that other load of crap An American Carol. But wait -- maybe I won't throw it out after all. I mean, if list price for the thing is $35.95, I'll bet some dumbass wingnut would give me $25 for it ... man, that's one expensive beverage coaster.

Update: Palm Beach Post's incorrect voter information corrected ... sort of

Earlier today I told you about the Palm Beach Post's erroneous information regarding voting procedures, particularly as they pertain to absentee ballots.

Well, I'm pleased to see that they've corrected their information online -- at least partially:

Don't forget: If lines are manageable and you opt to vote at your precinct [on Tuesday], bring your absentee ballot with you so it can be spoiled. Otherwise, you could be asked to cast a provisional ballot.

Strictly speaking, that's accurate now. They simply changed "would be asked" to "could be asked." But it still runs the risk of confusing voters and poll workers.

The article's author asked me via email why I would want to discourage voters from bringing back their absentee ballots if they had them, and I replied that of course that wasn't what I meant. But the original article made it seem as though it were mandatory for voters to bring along their absentee ballots if they had them, which as I noted earlier is not the case. I wasn't advocating discouraging voters from bringing absentee ballots along -- I just wanted it made clear that failing to do so would not prevent one from casting a regular ballot.

There's obviously a difference between mandatory and permissible. And it remains permissible, if you have requested an absentee ballot, to not bring it on Tuesday and still be able to vote a regular ballot. Again, the law states that voters who had requested an absentee ballot but who decide to vote in person on Tuesday may cast a regular ballot -- not a provisional one -- if the Supervisor of Elections office confirms that the absentee ballot has not been received.

I still wish the Post's article were more clear on that point, but I guess we should be grateful at least for this correction.

Palm Beach Post publishes incorrect voting information

In today's edition of the Palm Beach Post, both in print and online, reporter Jane Musgrave repeated a common assumption that, because of its inaccuracy, could deter or discourage some Palm Beach County voters from casting their ballots on Tuesday, and it might create some challenges at the polling places, too, if poll workers don't have the correct information.

The article in question, which appears on page 4A of today's printed Post, includes instructions for voters who requested an absentee ballot but who, for whatever reason, decide instead to vote at their regular precinct on Tuesday:

Don't forget: if lines are manageable and you opt to vote at your precinct, bring your absentee ballot with you so it can be spoiled. Otherwise, you will be asked to cast a provisional ballot.

However, this is absolutely not correct. Under Florida law, if it is determined that a voter at the polling place has requested an absentee ballot (this may happen by the voter saying so, or by the precinct's computer records showing that information), the poll worker must contact the Supervisor of Elections office. If the Supervisor's office states that the absentee ballot has not been received, then the voter may cast a regular ballot -- NOT a provisional ballot.

In other words, the article is wrong in two ways -- first, the voter need not bring the absentee ballot to the precinct (although, true, it would be helpful to do so); and second, failure to provide the actual ballot does not necessarily mean that the voter must cast a provisional ballot. (See Florida Department of State Polling Place Procedures Manual, pp. 7-8; Fla. Stat. § 101.69)

It is so incredibly important that mistakes like these do not get circulated as fact or, if they do, that they are retracted immediately. I have emailed Ms. Musgrave as well as the Local editor and the metro and state news desks at the Post and asked for a correction both online and in the print edition, and I copied the head of the Palm Beach County "Vote for Change" legal team. As of this writing, the online information still is wrong.

UPDATE (12:31 pm 10/31/08): I just received a response from Ms. Musgrave: "Ok. But to be on the safe side I’d bring the ballot."

Well, yes, that's all well and good. I replied in essence that while it would be fine to recommend that voters bring the ballot, the article as written clearly and incorrectly states that voters who do not bring the absentee ballot with them must cast a provisional ballot.

Anyway, hopefully the correction will be made soon ...

UPDATE (1:05 pm 10/31/08): I've removed the email addresses for the Post because after a couple of responses from Ms. Musgrave as well as from local campaign officials, via email and phone, I'm satisfied that the wheels are in motion to get this corrected. No sense having a bunch of other DFHs firing off additional emails at them, right? Thanks, though ...

UPDATE (4:45 pm 10/31/08): Please see the latest post on this subject, above.

Obama is coming to town ... again

Wow. Good thing I got to see Barack Obama in person and meet him when he was in the area in May ... because I'm out of luck for this go-round.

I was out of town last night and didn't return until nearly noon today, so I didn't even know until early this afternoon that Obama would be visiting Palm Beach Community College tomorrow ... and by that time, tickets were long gone.

Hundreds got in line this morning in Boynton Beach and at Lake Lytal Park in suburban West Palm Beach after the Barack Obama campaign made tickets available for the U.S. senator and presidential candidate's rally tomorrow at Palm Beach Community College's main campus.

Organizers didn't want to just hand out tickets; they had each person sign in and get a pitch about voting early or volunteering.

That slowed things down and the crowd swelled. Tickets at both locations ran out in 20 minutes.

I'd received a Twitter message from the Palm Beach Post at 12:17 pm today saying that tickets for the Obama appearance still were available in downtown Boynton Beach. I raced to my car and was at the Civic Center just 13 minutes later, only to find signs posted stating that all Obama tickets were gone.

The good thing is, of course, that there is such great demand to hear Sen. Obama speak. After all, it's not often that you get to hear directly from the next president of the United States.

Palm Beach Post rescinds endorsement of Mahoney

It's highly unusual for a newspaper to reverse an endorsement, but the Palm Beach Post did so today (in print tomorrow) with regard to Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), throwing its support instead to Mahoney's Republican challenger Tom Rooney and suggesting that Mahoney withdraw from the race altogether.

Rep. Mahoney has been far too evasive about the $121,000 he paid to silence a former campaign and congressional staffer with whom he had an extramarital affair and whom he later fired. Though he has more or less admitted to the affair with Patricia Allen, Rep. Mahoney has not said why he put his mistress on the payroll and why he gave her the settlement. The Post also reported that Rep. Mahoney has had at least one other affair, with a top Martin County official. Rather than speak directly to his constituents, whose votes he is seeking, Rep. Mahoney has called for a congressional investigation that would not be over until after the Nov. 4 election.

Using his seats on the Financial Services and Agriculture committees, Rep. Mahoney has cosponsored legislation to create a national disaster insurance bill that would reduce property insurance rates in Florida, and has secured money that could create a new industry in District 16 making ethanol out of farm byproducts. Having owned a financial services company, Rep. Mahoney could offer insight into how the government should respond to the credit crisis.

But he is seeking an office of public trust. His actions - and his lack of action - show that he can't be trusted.

[...]

Rep. Mahoney's behavior means that this year's congressional Christmas present probably will go to Mr. Rooney. An Army veteran and lawyer whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Palm Beach Kennel Club, Mr. Rooney won the Republican primary. The Post won't agree with him as often as we agreed with Rep. Mahoney, but Mr. Rooney does support the national disaster insurance bill and he favors a timeline for ending the Iraq War.

As I just told The Post via Twitter (yeah, that's how we roll these days), I think it's a mistake to endorse Rooney. Rescind the Mahoney endorsement, fine, but Rooney is just as much of an asshat -- only in different ways. I believe The Post would have served its readers (and its own philosophy) far better simply by withholding an endorsement completely in the 16th Congressional District.

If neither candidate is worthy -- and based on this week's developments, it sure seems that way -- then why give the prize to one or the other? Ultimately, the voters will decide, but if you don't have to pick between the lesser of two evils, why bother?

Laughable letters to the editor

There were a couple of doozies today in the Palm Beach Post, my local fishwrap.

For example, enjoy this gem from Dr. Donald W. McKinnon, who hastens to remind us that although he's from Riviera Beach, he's from the Singer Island (i.e., the wealthy and predominately white) part of Riviera Beach. Thanks for emphasizing that for us, Doc ...

When did this become a godless country? Why did the "In God We Trust" disappear from the new dollar coin, and now the new one-cent coin? Why are we doing nothing about this?

Is there no accountability left in our government? Regardless of the religion, be it Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or any other of the numerous faiths in our country, they all acknowledge a god. This country was founded on the principles of religion. Who had the authority to change the coinage to eliminate the "In God We Trust?" The time has come to pinpoint accountability, and stand up for what we hold precious.

DR. DONALD W. McKINNON
Riviera Beach (Singer Island)

When did this become a godless country, you ask? Oh, around 1788, I'd say.

Don't scoff, Dr. McKinnon! It's common knowledge that the vast majority of the Founders were not Christians, and indeed, several were deists or just didn't believe in a "higher power" of any kind. Ever heard of Thomas Jefferson? Yep -- not a Christian.

See, the Constitution they drafted (yes, I understand you right-wing idiots don't follow the Constitution anymore, but just bear with me for the sake of argument) expressly states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ...." In other words ... we've always been godless, at least as a nation. Thanks to the rest of that clause, "... or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," you can worship as you wish. But it's true -- America is godless. Suck. On. That.

Oh, and "this country was founded on principles of religion?" Where did you read that? Guideposts? There's not a shred of truth in that. Yes, there are ethical principles in our form of government (or were, before your heroes in the Bush crime syndicate took office) that are derived from or have cognates in Judeo-Christian beliefs, but to say the United States of America was "founded on principles of religion" is to ignore all responsible and respectable scholarship -- including first-hand accounts -- of the creation of our nation.

Thank you, Dr. McKinnon ... please drive through.

The next nugget comes from Charles Lyday of Boca Raton, who criticizes Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) for some recent discrepancies concerning his residence:

U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney's residency issues sound like another politician's recent sorry story. Did Rep. Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, learn the same dignity, ethics, honor and values as Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach?

Mr. Lyday, for the sake of our country and the 16th District of Florida, I hope the answer to your question is a resounding yes. If Mahoney and others learned from the example of Robert Wexler, one of the most forceful, vigilant, and honorable liberals in Congress*, then I'd be delighted.

Where do they find these morons to write such drivel?

---

* Rep. Wexler's disappointing vote for the massive government bailout of big business notwithstanding ...

In Florida, Dems now outnumber Repubs among Hispanic voters

Looks like yet another group that has been a stalwart for the GOP has come to its senses, in the wake of the Worst President Ever. Hispanic voters in Florida now are mostly Democrats:

In 2006, Hispanics registered as Republicans in Florida outnumbered Democrats by 45,000, stoked by an overwhelming advantage in the conservative South Florida Cuban community.

But according to the latest figures from the Florida Division of Elections, Democrats now lead by almost 30,000 voters: 454,798 to 424,866. That represents a turnaround of 75,000 voters in less than two years.

In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, where Democrats already had an advantage over the GOP among Latino registered voters, the party has increased its margins as Nov. 4 approaches. Democrats are crowing about it.

"Hispanics are like other voters in this country, and they want change," said Mike Rios, head of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce in Palm Beach County and a Democratic Party organizer.

"They want to stop the war in Iraq, bring down gas prices, create jobs and provide health insurance. And for all that, the Democrats and Barack Obama have the best platform."

Rios said the large increase in registered Democrats is due in part to new, young Latino voters, who tend to be more liberal. He also said many Puerto Ricans, some from the Northeast and others who have fled the Caribbean island's economic problems, have moved to Florida. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and, traditionally, Democratic voters.

Florida also has seen a sizable spike in Colombians who have become citizens, and many have registered as Democrats, Rios added.

"We've also had some Cubans register Democrat," he said in a mild dig in the ribs to his Republican rivals.

Sid Dinerstein, Palm Beach County's GOP chairman, and other Republican activists don't see those registration numbers determining the November vote.

No, of course you wouldn't, Sid. That's because you're willfully ignorant to the fact that America is sick and tired of the political games, the lies, the death and destruction, and the profiteering enabled -- and conducted -- by your party over the last eight -- well, really more like the last 15 years. If I were a Republican, I'd kill myself realize that maybe the problem is that America wants change -- and I'd look at ways to change the party platform from something that depends on allegiance to a failed, corrupt presidency and a failed, corrupt ideology into something that more closely resembles what the Republican Party claims to support: a smaller federal government and other hallmarks of traditional conservatism.

Looks like Hispanic voters in Florida, like everyone else, are discovering that real change comes not from the empty rhetoric of the Right (Huggy Bear claims to be the candidate of change? The guy who hugged Drunky McStagger and who has voted with him in increasing percentages up to the present-day 95% of the time? It's laughable, really ...) but from, well, real change -- as in electing Barack Obama president and making sure Democrats have a mandate in down-ticket races as well.

The Hispanic vote in Florida, as usual, is likely to make a significant difference at the polls in November. But this time, no matter how much Sid Dinerstein and his pals clap their hands and wish it away, that difference will benefit the Democrats.

(h/t Palm Beach Post via Twitter -- had I not been on the road yesterday, I would have posted this when I received the heads-up, but thanks, PBP!)

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)

Na ga do it. Na ga watch Huggy.

I'm rather enjoying things in my Undisclosed Location at the moment, actually, so why ruin it by watching ol' Noun-Verb-POW tell the world how he plans to protect us from the Mean Brown People and protect the profits of millionaires like himself and his pals at ExxonMobil, Halliburton, et al.?

However, I couldn't help but marvel at the commenters on my local fishwrap's political blog. On a post about the expected campaign visits of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in America's Glans™ (weather permitting) next week, you had winners like these:

By Biill Neubauer
September 4, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this

Interesting comparison between Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Hillary has never actually run anything but a political machine (at which, of course, she was unparalled), which is precisely what Americans don’t want any more of—Washington politicians and their ear marks and lobbyist masters. Palin has run a business, has run a city (yes, small, but still the same responsibilities) and run a state—with distinction. If Floridians (and Americans) don’t see the difference, then they will deserve what they get, more politican promises and fakery.

By MT
September 4, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this

I couldn’t agree more and the audacity of the Democrats saying she has too many children to handle the job - what about Nancy Pelosi who has more children.

I had never heard of Palin but am extremely impressed by what I have seen and read. She really does have more experience in running a government than Obama.

By John
September 4, 2008 4:13 PM | Link to this

I would love to see Sara Palin. She is the hope of middle class Americans. Hillary is disgracing herself by campaigning for Obama who has a communist/ leftist background. Of course Hillary is working off her campaign debts!

And that was just in the first three comments. Naturally, I had to respond:

By Sinfonian
September 4, 2008 8:34 PM | Link to this

Those first few commenters must be on some serious drugs. To equate the leadership experience and skills of two-year Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to those of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton is nothing short of ludicrous.

Hillary Clinton time and again has demonstrated her leadership acumen, while Sarah Palin has managed to abstinence-educate her daughter into a pregnancy, fire all of the city officials (because they might “cross” her) as mayor of tiny Wasilla, AK, and participate in treasonous activity as a speaker for and supporter of the Alaskan Independence Party (Google that one, kids), of which her husband Todd was a registered member.

Furthermore, comparing the two women is deceptive on its face, since they are in completely different political arenas; they are not competing with each other. This is an election between Obama/Biden, with new ideas, experience, and a plan to restore the U.S. to greatness following the last disastrous eight years, and McCain/Palin, who promise more of the same failed policies of the Bush years along with some Jerry Springer-like shenanigans.

Thanks but no thanks. Pay attention, people, and remember that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, no matter how hard you try.

I was going to say, "You can't polish a turd," but it being an MSM blog, I figured I'd get tossed right out on my cyberkeister for that one.

It amazes me how the Republicans, especially the 28%er crowd, can rally around a guy most of 'em think isn't doctrinaire or hateful enough and a running mate who very well may be a worse pick historically than Dan Quayle. Of course, Quayle and his paw-paw, GHWB, won the election, which amazes me even more now that I think about it.

Point being, They Walk Among Us. And we can't let up until the night of November 4.

What I did today

Well, let's see. I was interviewed by the Palm Beach Post, I voted (early voting in the Florida primary), and I begged for money. Among other things.

All in all, a productive day.

Off to Jr.'s birthday party in Melbourne tomorrow, then to Tampa for football, then a short night's sleep before flying to Denver Sunday morning. Blogging may be light till Sunday, so thanks in advance for your patience.

And your donations.

Juxtaposition

Two stories on the front page of the Palm Beach Post today about members of Congress and some recent, um, irregularities in their conduct. One is about a Democrat and the other is about a Republican. See if you can tell the difference between the two.

First, the Democrat:

Acknowledging that accusations that he doesn't really live in Florida are raising "concerns" among his constituents, Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said Tuesday that he will begin leasing an apartment in his congressional district rather than continue to claim residency at his in-laws' home near Delray Beach.

Wexler made the announcement on the same day that his two challengers produced records showing Wexler received property tax breaks by declaring his house in Potomac, Md., a "primary residence" from 1999 to 2002. He also signed a loan document with his wife in 2005 describing the house as "my/our principal residence."

Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler says he will lease an apartment in his congressional district rather than declaring residency at the home of his in-laws.

Wexler's chief of staff, Eric Johnson, said Wexler mistakenly signed paperwork declaring the Maryland house his primary residence when he bought it in 1997 and corrected the error in 2003 when it was brought to his attention.

Johnson said the signature on the loan document was not the same as a legal declaration of residency but was an affirmation that Wexler would be living in the house "for a good majority of the time" rather than renting it out.

Even if Wexler called the Maryland home his primary residence, Johnson contended, he still would be a Florida resident. Johnson cited an 1879 Florida Supreme Court ruling that said a Gainesville man did not lose his Florida residency when "attending to the duties of a public office" in Washington.

And now the Republican (link is to original source, which the Post picked up):

Alaska's Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, was indicted yesterday on seven charges of making false statements about more than $250,000 that corporate executives doled out to overhaul his Anchorage area house.

A federal grand jury in the District accused Stevens of concealing on financial disclosure statements lucrative gifts from the now-defunct oil company Veco and its top executives, including a Viking gas grill, a tool cabinet and a wraparound deck. At one point, Veco employees and contractors jacked up the senator's mountainside house on stilts and added a new first floor, with two bedrooms and a bathroom, the indictment says.

The senator, who once oversaw more than $900 billion in federal spending each year as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said he has "temporarily relinquished" his senior posts on several committees, in accordance with Senate rules, while he focuses on the legal battle ahead.

Stevens, 84, the first sitting U.S. senator to face criminal charges in 15 years, adamantly denied the allegations in a statement yesterday afternoon.

Two points:

1. Will the people, especially local bloggers, bleating about how horrible Wexler's situation is, kindly shut the fuck up?

2. Once again, Republicans outdo Democrats on the scale of criminality. Quite an honor to uphold, there, GOP.

Heckuva job, Teddy.

(There also was a front-page teaser about a story on a 15-year-old local golfer making great strides. I went to high school with the golfer's father, who was two years behind me. I feel old.)

Liberal media, my ass (ver. ... oh, hell, I've lost count)

I read The Palm Beach Post because it's my hometown paper, not because of any great journalistic standards of excellence. Indeed, they actually have a rather leftward lean in their editorials, although they do carry a disconcerting number of nationally syndicated dumbasses (Brooks, Dowd, Will, among others).

However, I find their reporting not so much biased to the right as much as just plain sloppy. I told you some weeks ago about how they cited and quoted a right-wing think tank as authority for the claim that early voting was risky and unnecessary. That seemed sloppy and lacking in journalistic credibility ... and today I found another example.

In an article today about the proposed mail-in primary, written by Michael C. Bender and Larry Lipman, the subheadline states "Opposition to the idea is swift, and even both campaigns are wary." Yet it takes nearly halfway into the article before the opposition is mentioned, and there is no particular rationale offered for the opposition.*

Worse, though, is the jump header on page 16A, proclaiming in bold type over the article's continuation, "Party chaos could push some Democrats to GOP." Of course, the article says no such thing -- it refers instead to how "some" Democrats might vote for Huggy Bear because of the "fiasco." How many Democrats? According to the poll cited in the article, 14%. Fourteen percent. I guess technically this is "some Democrats" being "pushed ... to [the] GOP," but the headline unnecessarily trumpets what is both an insignificant number of disaffected Democrats and an insignificant point in terms of the entire article.

Sometimes, you know, it's not the overt, Hannityesque bias in the media that gets you. It's the subtle stuff like this, over and over and over again.

---

* I will have another post on this shortly wrote another post examining the proposal itself and the opposition thereto; for now, suffice to say I don't understand the reasons for the opposition, and the article fails to shed much light on it.

Liberal media, my ass (ver. 3.0)

Just when I thought it was safe to read the paper, I'm met with this headline on the front page (PDF) of today's Palm Beach Post:

Early votes' rise stirs unease
The state's eightfold increase since 2004 does little to boost turnout and may create errors, experts say.

What experts are quoted in the article, you ask? Let's take a look:

Although local elections supervisors have promoted absentee and early voting as a way to lure time-starved voters to the polls, some elections experts say the trend does little to improve overall turnout and injects more possibility of error into a state that has had plenty of voting blunders.

"You're maintaining three distinct (voting) systems, each with its own quirks," said John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and author of Absentee and Early Voting: Trends, Promises and Perils.

"Some administrators like it because they think it evens out their flow," Fortier said, "but it robs people of information when they vote a month before the election."

Ah, okay, so it's a problem because ... hey, hold on a second! Did you see that? The "expert" is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Fortier's colleagues include such notables wankers as John Bolton, Lynne Cheney, David Frum, Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Yoo. In short, the AEI is a wingnut's wet dream.

The fact is that early voting allows greater turnout, despite the right-wing's desperate spin to the contrary. Of course, more people voting generally means more Democratic voting, so it's understandable that the AEI would want to depress voter turnout. But why is the Post quoting a wingnut "expert" on the front page? Look, Post, for every so-called "expert" from the right you want to quote, I'll throw three reality-based experts at you -- how does that sound? And when your wingnut expert skews the front-page headline this badly, that's a 15-yard penalty for unjournalistlike behavior.

I believe this may actually rise to the level of a letter to the editor ... by me. Again I say, as incredulously as ever: liberal media, my ass.

Guess who's coming to dinner south Florida?

Why, it's our old pal, the odious WATB Joe Lieberman (I-Can't Believe He's Still in the Senate).

This week, the 2008 presidential race brings Lieberman back to Palm Beach County - but on behalf of a Republican candidate. Lieberman is scheduled to make appearances in South Florida on Wednesday and Thursday for GOP hopeful John McCain as Florida's Jan. 29 primary approaches. McCain himself isn't expected here this week.

Lieberman's schedule includes a Boca Raton event hosted by McCain-backing Republican state Reps. Adam Hasner and Ellyn Bogdanoff and Boca Councilman Peter Baronoff. Lieberman also is slated to campaign in Broward and Miami-Dade for McCain, who isn't expected in Florida until after South Carolina's primary on Saturday.

The columnist, George Bennett of the Palm Beach Post, notes that on Lieberman's previous forays down here, as Al Gore's running mate in 2000, the Connecticut senator was "welcomed in South Florida as a virtual favorite son ...." I imagine the greeting might be a little different this time, or at least more orchestrated ...

Incidentally, Bennett also quoted Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.):

Florida's top elected Democrat, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, isn't saying whether he'll make a presidential endorsement before the Dem primary. Nelson's GOP prediction: "John McCain is going to be the nominee, and he's the toughest nominee that the Democrats can have. Give me a Giuliani. Give me a Romney. Give me a Huckabee."

Hmmm ... that sounds familiar, doesn't it?

On the Republican side, Sen. Nelson was much more direct. "I've been saying for three months now, and I've said it to his face, John McCain will be the nominee," provided he has the money to run the race. According to Sen. Nelson, McCain is the "closest thing to a leader" that the Republicans have, and he will provide the toughest challenge for the eventual Democratic candidate. "Come on!," he fairly laughed. "Give me Giuliani! Give me Romney! Give me Huckabee! McCain is the toughest match."

You don't think Bennett reads Blast Off!, do you? Sure, maybe he was at the same luncheon I attended, but who knows? After all, it would be irresponsible not to speculate ...

(Then again, if Bennett read Blast Off!, he might have quoted Sen. Nelson accurately ...)

Liberal media, my ass

So I go out to the driveway this morning to pick up my Palm Beach Post, and I'm greeted with the smiling faces of four GOP nominees (click image for full-size PDF version):

Didja see the headline beneath the pictures? You mean the Democrats are competing in New Hampshire, too?

You wouldn't know it from the pictures, would you? I mean, other than the idea that Sen. Clinton's campaign is panicking because she's "trailing."

I'm no Clintonite, but this is ridiculous. From now on, whenever I hear that the Post is liberal-leaning, I'm just going to pull out this front page. It's absurd.

Now, scroll down for a Caption Contest on the Huckabee picture. I can't resist!

UPDATE (1:57 pm 1/8/08): The Post strikes again today, promoting a civics test from a conservative think tank but not disclosing that salient fact. Again I am compelled to say, liberal media, my ass.