Saturday will be the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s initial formation over the Bahamas. When she washed over Mississippi and Louisiana six days later, on Aug. 29, 2005, she breached critical levees that were supposed to protect New Orleans. Hundreds drowned.
I recently interviewed John Barry — author of Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America and The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History — a New Orleans resident who now serves on the Levee Board. We discussed the current situation in New Orleans three years on and the reasons the rest of the country bears some responsibility for New Orleans becoming so vulnerable to storms.
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
Another GOPer up for re-election touts his ties to Obama in a campaign TV ad. This time it’s Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), TPM Election Central reports.
McCain’s latest response: They’re not my homes! They’re Cindy’s!
A 527 group tied to the McCain campaign wanted to go up on the air with an ad tying Obama to the 9/11 attacks. But even Fox is apparently refusing to run the ad.
This guy’s got an idea …
Late Update: This other guy’s already put together a special McSame #7 House keychain you can buy for your very own.
Later Update: Now there’s a whole set — one for each house.
An interesting tidbit from the end of a piece in the Politico on McCain’s 8 homes. (They’ve decided it’s eight.) From 2006 to 2007, the McCain’s budget for household staff went up roughly 50% from $184,000 to $273,000 …
The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain’s tax returns.
The additional cash supports an “increase in the number of employees,” the McCain aide told Politico. The aide did not answer a question about whether the growing staff stemmed from addition of new properties to the family’s real estate portfolio.
Before John and Cindy McCain bought the two luxury condos in downtown Phoenix and combined them into one mega-condo for $4.6 million they lived in this Phoenix mansion. They sold it in 2006. But now it’s on the market again for a cool $12 million. And here’s the real estate listing at Yahoo Real Estate, with pictures and virtual tour.
The blurb …
Former home of Sen John & Cindy McCain. Situated on over 2.5 acres. Totally remodeled in Old World style complete w/7 bedrooms in main house & 6 bedrooms in guest houses. Hardwood & travertine floors throughout. Master suite has huge walk-in w/private cantera stone patio w/spa and fplc. Gourmet kitchen has travertine floors, granite counters, comercial SS apliances w/large catering room/butlers pantry off kitchen. 2 guest houses. His/her dressing cabana. Finest entertaining backyard in the Valley – 3 ramadas (2 w/full bar set-up), BBQ, play house, cantera stone decking, pavillion, spa and large lap/play pool. 7 car detached garage…
TPM Reader TP is shocked … not shocked, shocked, but shocked …
OK, I’ve been involved in politics in PA for a decade but I was still shocked by the media love-fest at McCain’s Ranch. I knew things were different in DC but this is like finding out your sister in the big city who seems to date a lot is actually a streetwalker. In response I hereby coin the term “Swinging on the Tire” to describe a reporter who has gotten way too cozy with a politician and has had their supposed objectivity affected.
Please feel free to use this term or even making it into an award like one of Sullivan’s.
I think we are beginning to see some reporters start to question McCain’s statements and perhaps more importantly, they are starting to question if the John McCain they knew and adored was the real John McCain. They’ve given him a pass on just about everything up until now but I think you will slowly start to see that change. Once the truth starts to come out, I think the polls will swing back to Obama.
All the veep speculation you could ever want — and more — in today’s TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
I get asked a lot about the relationship between old media and new media, on the editorial and publishing side. And my usual line is that I think the relationship is much more symbiotic and convergent than people often realize. But when folks ask what scrappy little outfits like TPM would do if the big papers with their cadres of reporters went under, I have to wonder, what would big papers like the Washington Post do if TPM went under and they didn’t have our exclusives to steal and run as their own stories on A2 on the following day?
For today’s example see Kate Klonick’s Thursday exclusive at TPMMuckraker about the US Commission on Civil Rights hiring Bush administration minority voting suppression expert Hans von Spakovsky and the Post’s citation/credit-free retread in today’s paper.