Rowhouse Logic - Breathtaking Inanity

Just in case you ever wondered who the very worst person on earth is, Dan from YPP is kind enought to let us know that it’s John Perzel. Now you know.

This is the fourth segment of a ten part series about why you, and the netroots community as a whole, should be focused on the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. There has been a lot of discussion around the net about what makes a good “netroots” candidate – this is my case for Patrick Murphy in PA-08. If you haven’t already, please check out the first three installments which were posted on this blog and are also available at:

* Part 1: A Democratic District in Republican Hands
* Part 2: The Real, Right Wing Mike Fitzpatrtick
* Part 3: Republican Dirty Tricks in PA-08 Democratic Primary

Part 4: PA-08 - Fitzpatrick: Bought the Very First Day

How fast does it take for a freshman Congressman to be bought by the special interests in Washington? If you are Mike Fitzpatrick – it happens on your first day:

Yes – Mike Fitzpatrick’s FIRST VOTE was to weaken the ethics rules to protect Tom DeLay. And Patrick Murphy was there to call him on it (from the Bucks County Courier Times):

Murphy pointed to Fitzpatrick’s first day in Congress last January when Fitzpatrick voted to loosen ethics rules in the House in a move meant to help then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
Those rules changes were later reversed in April and Fitzpatrick said last night that he only voted for them since they were part of a larger bill that included establishing a permanent Homeland Security Committee.

Yup – you heard it right – “national security!” Fitzpatrick didn’t get away with slipping this by the local press though, from Josh Marshall at talkingpointsmemo.com:

BY GEORGE I think we’ve got it, or him, our congressional Bamboozler of the Day: Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
Back in the district (Bucks County, PA, etc.) Fitzpatrick is posing as a strong clean-up-congress man. But he’s being asked why his first vote in Congress — back in January 2005 — was to loosen congressional ethics rules to cover for Tom DeLay.
His answer? He did it for Homeland Security.

Oh – it gets much, much worse:

Fitzpatrick HEARTS Jack Abramoff:

Campaign money linked to Abramoff
By BRIAN SCHEID
The Intelligencer
Bucks County Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick has raised more than $200,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his American Indian tribal clients, according to an analysis of his campaign finances by the Courier Times, sister paper of The Intelligencer.
In a statement Friday, Fitzpatrick said he has already donated to charity $21,500 he received from political action committees headed by embattled Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif. All three have ties to Abramoff.
However, Fitzpatrick would not comment on the fate of nearly $190,000 in additional contributions he received from political action committees with ties to the Abramoff scandal.

And this…

Murphy links Fitzpatrick, Abramoff at press conference
By BRIAN CALLAWAY
Bucks County Courier Times

Democratic congressional candidate Patrick Murphy called for steps aimed at lessening lobbyists’ influence in Washington during a press conference Thursday.
…
Murphy invoked the disgraced lobbyist’s name several times in connection with Fitzpatrick, the man Murphy hopes to unseat in November in the 8th Congressional District, which includes Bucks County and small parts of Montgomery County and Philadelphia.
Abramoff or his lobbying clients donated generously to many elected officials. Fitzpatrick, serving his first term, has raised more than $1 million. About $211,000 of that money came from political action committees that received donations from Abramoff or his clients.

Fitzpatrick HEARTS Bob Ney:

Fitzpatrick says he’ll donate $5,500 contribution tied to Ney
By BRIAN SCHEID
Bucks County Courier Times
With the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal brewing in Washington, D.C., Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick entered the fray Tuesday with a call for stricter ethical standards on Capitol Hill and a pledge to give away $5,500 his campaign received from a congressman tied to the scandal.

Fitzpatrick REALLY HEARTS Tom DeLay:

Group chides Fitzpatrick about Tom DeLay
By CHRIS ENGLISH
The Intelligencer
Local members of a national organization seeking to oust Republican Congressman Tom DeLay as House majority leader tried Wednesday to get Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick, R-8, to support their cause.
Members of MoveOn presented a petition with 1,083 signatures to Fitzpatrick’s district office at the Oxford One office building next to the Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown. The petition asks Republicans in Congress to replace DeLay as majority leader and for Fitzpatrick to return a $5,000 campaign contribution he received from DeLay’s political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority.

For more on DeLay, see this Murphy Press Release.

Fitzpatrick HEARTS Special Interest CAFTA money:

Report says Fitzpatrick rewarded for CAFTA vote
By BRIAN SCHEID
Bucks County Courier Times
Bucks County Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick received a windfall in corporate campaign cash last year, which a report released Tuesday tied to his vote for a contentious free trade agreement that many of those corporations will profit from.
The report tracked nearly $2.8 million in political contributions from corporations that will benefit from the Central American Free Trade Agreement, also known as CAFTA. That $2.8 million was given to 11 Democratic and 19 Republican House members who voted for the agreement. Fitzpatrick, R-8, was among them.

Finally, Fitzpatrick’s contributions are a virtual whose- who of Republican shade-balls (including PACs) :

* $15,000 from Roy “Altria” Blunt, including a trip by Blunt to Bucks;
* $15,000 from John “Don’t question Jack Abramoff” Doolittle;
* $15,000 from Tom “nuff said” DeLay;
* $15,000 from John “Tobacco Checks on the House Floor” Boehner;
* $5,000 from Richard “taxpayer funded family vacation” and “single-handedly out to destroy the environment” Pombo;
* $5,000 from Bob “Rep #1” Ney;
* $6,000 from Curt “I did not use my office to help my daughter” Weldon;
* $5,000 from Don “Family Values” Sherwood;
* $2,000 from Don “Want to take a Co-del with Jack to RMI” Young;
* $1,000 from ex-Rep. Duke “bribe menu” Cunningham; and
* $1,000 from Katherine “Mitchell Wade” Harris.

Murphy has been there at every stop – not only offering a REAL ethics plan, but also tying Fitzpatrick cronyism to his awful voting record. This is what Patrick said after Fitzpatrick deciding vote on the recently passed special interest budget bill.

We have seen the results of the current system in Washington-a confusing prescription drug plan written by the drug companies; a bad energy bill written by the oil companies; and now a devastating budget bill that makes it harder to afford health care while giving $22 billion to the HMO industry.

“Our Representative is not representing the people who elected him. It’s time for a change in Washington,” Murphy said.

I can’t sum it up any better than Patrick did: “This administration does not care for you. They care for special interests . . .This is not the America I’ve fought for . . . .”

It is that simple folks, we need change, and it starts with you and me and PA-08.

[To be fair, Fitzpatrick agreed to donate a fraction of some of the tainted money]

Until everything is hammered out, I can’t really be all that specific, but big exciting (for me) changes, are coming. I’ve accepted an offered to contribute to another site, which has a pretty substantial readership. A nice opportunity to find out if I can speak effectively to a larger group. I may well fall flat, but it’s worth a shot.

Anyway, I’m still in Phoenix and very sore from climbing a mountain yesterday. My brain feels as though it’s floating in Vaseline and I’m fairly busy with wedding stuff. I hope all is going well for everybody.

I’ll leave you with this for now, since I’ve been lazy about posting it lately.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

An explanation of why this keeps getting posted.

We Interrupt You’re Normally Scheduled Blog Post . . .

This is the third segment of a ten part series about why you, and the netroots community as a whole, should be focused on the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. There has been a lot of discussion around the net about what makes a good “netroots” candidate – this is my case for Patrick Murphy in PA-08. If you haven’t already, please check out the first two installments of the series which were posted on this blog and are also available at:

A Democratic District in Republican Hands

The Real, Right Wing Mike Fitzpatrtick

Part 3: Republican Dirty Tricks in PA-08 Democratic Primary

As regular readers of this series know, this entry in the ten part series was supposed to document Mike Fitzpatrick’s numerous flip-flops in his first year in office. Unfortunately, the focus of the series needs to shift – just for a bit – to focus on the other Republican in the race Andy Warren.

Right now you may be scratching your head and saying – HUH? Well yes, another reason why YOU need to care about PA-08 is that the true progressive candidate – Patrick Murphy - has to take on TWO Republicans in order to win in November.

Murphy’s primary opponent is Andy Warren: a lifelong Republican who suddenly had a change of heart and became a Democrat when the local Republican bosses passed him over for a Congressional Seat and a Commissioners job. This is isn’t speculation or insinuation. This is a fact. Warren, in fact, even admitted that if he ran for office on the local level he would still be a Republican.

And I guess it appears as if a lifetime of Republican dirty tricks dies hard. Over the past few weeks, the Warren campaign has been shamelessly and desperately attacking Patrick Murphy, most notably for not spending enough time in the district. In case you were wondering where Patrick was Mr. Warren – he was serving our Country in IRAQ!

Warren - a life-long member of the Republican machine, who switched parties merely to have the chance to run for public office – also had the GALL to call Murphy opportunistic. Warren was resoundingly slapped down for these comments, by: AboveAverageJane, the Liberal Doomsayer, The Bucks County Courier Times, and most importantly the voters of Bucks County.

Here is the last straw. It appears that Andy Warren has enlisted the help of a former Republican and a convicted felon to try and get Patrick kicked off the ballot:

Murphy’s petition challenger is Jane Faust, a Democratic voter from Bensalem, Otter said. Otter confirmed that Faust is the same former Republican committeewoman convicted in 1996 of forging signatures and consequently barred from holding elected office.

I don’t know if Andy Warren - a guy who got blasted for giving his girlfriend-staffer a 27% raise while a county commissioner, and a guy who got busted for trying to have the taxpayers buy him a car and a vacation to Isreal, and a guy . . . (you can see where this is going) - really wants to get in a character debate with anybody.

Outraged? Check out Patrick Murphy’s website and see how you can help.

[We will continue with our regularly scheduled programming, after this short commercial break.]

I’m jumping on a plane and heading west for a few days. The hotel I’m staying in claims to offer broadband access, which is lovely, if true. I know enough about these things, to know that such claims are often only slightly more credible than the tooth fairy. That is to say, I may or may not be in touch over the next four or five days. I’ll be busy anyway. My brother is getting married and I’m the best man - I think. I was never asked or informed directly, but I have seen my name linked to that position on a few pieces of paper. At the very least, I’ve been measured for a tuxedo, so I assume I’ll probably be serving in some capacity or, at the very least, won’t have to worry about what to wear.

The wedding is in Phoenix Arizona, which is an interesting place if one defines interesting liberally. Phoenix claims that it is city. Odd, that. Peculiar even. While I’ve been to Phoenix a number of times, I’ve never seen a city there. Not even out of the corner of my eye after a few too many. I’ve seen a lot of ranch houses, strip malls and fast food restaurants. I’ve really never seen a “there” there. Rather, I’ve seen a suburban wasteland, whose design and very existence, show utter contempt for the environment, civil society and the welfare of our civilization. I’ve seen an environmental disaster of epic proportions, and a place where homogeny is embraced like a long lost lover. The entire place needs to be burned to the ground without even a single monument to mark its passing. Otherwise, Phoenix is lovely.

I should mention that this post was written just to piss off my brother. It’s what little brothers are supposed to do you know.

Here’s a list of Democratic senators who cosponsored Diane Feinstein’s 1999 resolution to censure Bill Clinton.

Daniel Akaka
Max Baucus
Byron Dorgan
Dick Durbin
Dianne Feinstein
Daniel Inouye
Jim Jeffords (He was a Republican)
Ted Kennedy
John Kerry
Herb Kohl
Mary Landrieu
Carl Levin
Joe Lieberman
Blanche Lincoln
Barbara Mikulski
Patty Murray
Jack Reed
Harry Reid
Jay Rockefeller
Chuck Schumer
Ron Wyden

Here’s the list of Democratic cosponsers for Russ Feingold’s resolution to censure President Bush for ordering the NSA to conduct illegal domestic wiretaps.

Not a soul Tom Harkin

Such courage when faced with the prospect of standing up to a woefully unpopular president who clearly violated the law. Sex, it seems, is far naughtier than trampling all over our civil rights. (Via Firedoglake)

If that isn’t a pipe, this isn’t a panda in a yellow hat, so take your DaDa and shove it.

About a month ago, I had a conversation with a local journalist about what might leak out of a Judiciary Committee investigation into the domestic spying scandal, should one actually occur. My basic contention was that, regardless of how damning the revelations might be, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. So far, we’ve had a President who has flat out admitted that he broke the law by ordering a program that violates the FISA statute, and it barely even moved the public outrage needle. The narrative and the conventional wisdom are so skewed and distorted, even at this late date, that a significant erosion of our civil liberties doesn’t seem to really register. Granted, the President’s favorability ratings are in the toilet, but it’s probably safe to assume that has far more to do with Iraq and Katrina, than with the domestic spying scandal. Anyway, the gentleman I was speaking with felt that I was being overly cynical. Since he is a more intelligent and more experienced person than myself, I took (and take) some comfort in that.

Unfortunately, today’s events seem to bear out my skepticism. At one point or another today, seemingly every elected Democrat, with a national profile, said something along the lines of “Russ Feingold? Never heard of him. Censure? You speak with a forked tongue crazy journalist,” to the national press. This was their way of running away from Russ Feingold’s effort to Censure the president. In Feingold’s own words:

The facts and the case for censure are clear. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, makes it a crime to wiretap American citizens without a court warrant - which is what the President has admitted doing. Before the program was revealed, he also misled Congress and the American people about the wiretapping that was being done. For example, at a 2004 speech in Buffalo, he said, “Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires, a wiretap requires a court order.” And at a 2004 speech in my home state of Wisconsin, he said that “the government can’t move on wiretaps or roving wiretaps without getting a court order.”

When the domestic spying story first broke, the President went from saying he wouldn’t be able to talk about it, to suggesting there was no other way to wiretap terrorists, to implying that the FISA law is out of date. He went on to claim that sweeping inherent powers of the presidency or the authorization of force back in 2001 gave him such authority — neither of which is legally or factually correct. While the President has cherry-picked information before, he cannot do the same with the laws of our land.

Censuring the President is not something that should be taken lightly. But the President has BROKEN the law and there needs to be action and accountability.

The afternoon was rounded out by the sorry spectacle of the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter, proclaiming on the Senate floor that the President broke no laws, because FISA is unconstitutional. Apparently, he mistook himself for the Supreme Court. Lovely.

So should you still bother writing to Arlen Specter demanding a real investigation of the domestic spying program, including such formalities as sworn testimony? Hell yes. Even though the guy is clearly in the administration’s back pocket and our chances of success are just a little better than nothing? Hell yes. Look, I’m clearly as pessimistic about this as anyone, but even if our chances of swaying the senator are infantesimal, that’s still a better chance than what’s offered by keeping our thoughts to ourselves and screaming at the wall. If you are a Pennsylvanian, and almost everybody who visits this site is, take a few minutes and send your senior senator an email, fax, or letter letting him know where you stand on domestic spying and what you expect out of him. Once you’re done, fire off a copy to the newspaper(s) of your choice. There’s too much at stake worry about the odds.

Go here for a list of newspaper contact information. For Senator Specter’s contact information and more on the project, have a look a Vichy Democrats. If you are a Pennsylvania blogger, please consider writing a post of your own.

I was a little unclear in my previous post about what you need to do to take part in Roots Project Pennsylvania, so here’s a little update. The first part is to write a letter to the editor of as many Pennsylvania newspapers as we can, urging Senator Specter to conduct a real investigation of the NSA domestic spying program. Don’t stop at the Daily News or the Inquirer. If you have a tiny neighborhood newspaper in your community that accepts letters, write to them as well. The second part is to contact Senator Specter’s office, via phone, letter, fax or email and ask him, as his constituent, to conduct a real investigation with sworn testimony. It’s that simple.

Go here for a list of newspaper contact information. For Senator Specter’s contact information and more on the project, have a look a Vichy Democrats. If you are a Pennsylvania blogger, please consider writing a post of your own.

This is the second segment of a ten part series about why you, and the netroots community as a whole, should be focused on the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. There has been a lot of discussion around the net about what makes a good “netroots” candidate – this is my case for Patrick Murphy in PA-08. If you haven’t already, please read the first installment of this series A Democratic District in Republican Hands, which is posted below.

Part 2: The Real, Right-Wing Mike Fitzpatrick

A little background on the district is in order: PA-08 is the former district of moderate Republican Jim Greenwood who suddenly resigned in 2004 to head up an industry lobbying group. Instead of choosing a more moderately inclined ideological successor, the county GOP boss chose the arch-conservative Michael Fitzpatrick. As a local political website noted: “Bucks County has entered the Republican mainstream by having a Congressman who walks in lock step with Rick Santorum and Melissa Hart.”

The following are just a few of the many examples demonstrating how far outside the mainstream Fitzpatrick is – who in case you didn’t know was Santorum’s classmate in Law School:

Fitzpatrick voted for an immigration bill that would send priests and ministers performing aid work to jail. Fitzpatrick supported a bill that would make it a criminal offense for anyone to “direct or assist” an immigrant with the knowledge that the person crossed the U.S. border illegally. Financial penalties and jail time could follow, including up to five years in jail. Churches, social service agencies and immigration groups across the country are rallying against the provision because those who are most at risk to go to jail are priests, nurses, and social workers.

Fitzpatrick voted against funding embryonic stem cell research. Despite promising Rep. Greenwood that he would support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Fitzpatrick voted against this potentially life saving research. This is how a real pro-lifer, former Senator John Danforth, describes stem cell research: “My entire political career, I voted pro-life, and that is exactly why I favor the stem cell initiative . . . I believe in saving human life. I want cures to be found.” Greenwood even said after Fitzpatrick’s no vote: “I’m very disappointed that he would take this position” and later said, “that he would not have endorsed Fitzpatrick if the [Fitzpatrick] had not declared an open mind for embryonic stem cell research” during his 2004 congressional campaign.

Fitzpatrick voted to inject himself in the Schiavo Family Controversy. Enough said.

Fitzpatrick voted with Tom DeLay and the Republican Leadership 86% of the time. Fitzpatrick voted 671 times either “yeah” or “nay” in his first Congressional session. According to the Washington Post, Fitzpatrick voted against leadership ONLY 94 times. That means that Fitzpatrick voted with leadership 86% of the time. On the 25 closest roll call votes Fitzpatrick only bucked Republican leadership 8 times. Therefore when the going got really tough Tom DeLay could count on Fitzpatrick to be with him more than two-thirds of the time.

Fitzpatrick voted to strip away Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances. Mike Fitzpatrick’s voted to prohibit funds to a federal court in Indiana to execute a judgment because he didn’t like the decision the court had made. In other words, Fitzpatrick tried to, by legislative fiat, overturn a decision by the independent judiciary.

In a district that is over 60% pro-choice, Fitzpatrick isn’t just anti-choice - he is extreme:
Fitzpatrick voted to eliminate contraceptives from the list of prevention methods available under a new program to treat and prevent obstetric fistula—a debilitating injury with lifelong consequences for women. Simply, this vote jeopardizes the health and lives of women by limiting access to a full range of family planning options.

Fitzpatrick also voted to deny funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA works in over 140 countries to ensure that women have access to voluntary family planning, economic opportunities, and education—all of which contribute to increased opportunities for women to choose the size and spacing of their families.

Not surprisingly, Fitzpatrick got a zero rating from NARAL.

Fitzpatrick voted for the Budget Bill that shreds our nation’s safety net. Fitzpatrick voted for the budget bill that hurts children, senior citizens, students, working families, and child-support collection efforts, all the while protecting special interests and doing nothing to cut the debt. See Roll Call #s 601, 670, and 4. The bill was so bad that the Catholic Bishops opposed it, because it “failed to ‘meet the needs of the most vulnerable among us;’” but Mike called it “reasonable.”

Once again, these are just a few of the many examples of Fitzpatrick’s right wing predilections—this list could go on and on.

As widely discussed, one of the main strengths of the netroots is the ability to call out BS—so with your help, Patrick Murphy will be able to get the press to ask the tough questions when Fitzpatrick tries to FRAUDULENTLY play the moderate card as he loves to do

So again, and in conclusion, Fitzpatrick – the freshman right wing ideologue – is holding onto one of the most Democratic districts in the country (see the first part of this series below). And with YOUR help, we can help put Patrick Murphy over the top and get one step closer to taking our Government back from these frauds.

The next installment of this series will continue the introduction of Fitzpatrick—or should we say—Flip-Flopping Fitz.

The prospect of any meaningful Senate investigation into the NSA’s use of warrantless wiretapping dimmed, ever so slightly, Wednesday, when the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence rolled over and rejected investigation. I say slightly because the chances of anything significant coming out of an investigation led by administration toady Pat Roberts were slim to none. Today, PSoDT reminds those of us who live in Pennsylvania, that we are in the position to apply pressure for a real investigation. That’s because our senior senator, Snarlin’ Arlen Specter, is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is conducting it’s own investigation into the NSA scandal. PSoDT has some recommendations about how you can help apply pressure to Specter to conduct a real investigation. I don’t hold out much hope, but there’s always a chance.

Note our sycophant senator gushing over the Worst President Ever as he signs the renewal of the Patriot Act and erodes our rights. Specter wouldn’t be my first choice by a mile, but he’s what we’ve got to work with.

Doesn’t inspire much confidence, does it? No matter, get to work. For more information see Vichy Dems.

This is the first segment of a ten part series about why you, and the netroots community as a whole, should be focused on the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. There has been a lot of discussion around the net about what makes a good “netroots” candidate – this is my case for Patrick Murphy in PA-08

Why YOU need to care about PA-08 (Part 1 of 10)
Part 1: A Democratic District in Republican Hands

As I am sure that you know well, Democrats need to pick up 15 seats in 2006 to take back the House. [As a point of reference, the Republicans had a net gain of 52 in 1994.] Ground zero in our effort to end this dark period of Republican corruption, abuse of power, incompetence, raiding of the federal treasury, plundering our environment, and harming our national security will be the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

Without any more ado, the district profile: the Eighth Congressional District includes all of Bucks County, a tiny finger of Montgomery County around Willow Grove, and parts of two Far Northeast wards in Philadelphia. For maps of the district, see here and here. Bucks County, in fact, provides the overwhelming number of votes in the district.

For more than a decade, PA-08 has reliably and consistently supported Democrats in national and statewide races:

* Al Gore would have won the yet-to-be created district 51.4% to 46.3% (with Nader taking 2.4%);

* Al Gore won Bucks County by nearly 11,000 votes;

* John Kerry won the District 51%-48%;

* John Kerry won Bucks County by 9,000 votes; and

* The District also voted for Bill Clinton, twice.

As I am sure that you also know, Pennsylvania is a hot bed of political activity this cycle with Governor Ed Rendell and most likely Bob Casey, Jr. on the top of the ticket (although Chuck Pennachio and Alan Sandals are staging spirited primary campaigns). Both of these candidates have dominated in Southeastern Pennsylvania, but Bucks County in particular:

* In Casey’s 2004 race for State Treasurer, he won Bucks County by nearly 32,500 votes; and

* In Rendell’s 2002 race for Governor, he won Bucks by an amazing 57,850 votes.

The Washington Post recently noted the likely “Rendell Effect” on this race:

Two of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents, Reps. Michael G. Fitzpatrick and Jim Gerlach, represent southeastern counties around Philadelphia, and could be swept out of office by a particularly ferocious Rendell tide, said Republicans and Democrats who are watching the two races.

As importantly, the facts on the ground – in municipal and local elections – are extremely promising. There have been a number of prominent Republicans who have become Democrats as they watch the Republican party grow ever more extreme. Additionally, the 2005 elections were a watershed year for local Democrats:

In contested elections on Tuesday, Democrats won 119 municipal and school board contests and lost 55.

Additionally, Democrats won 52 Judge of Elections slots and 155 Inspector of Election positions.

In total, we contested 391 races county-wide (the most in county history) and won 326 (an 83% victory rate).

Additionally, all of the Conventional Wisdom – make of it what you will – have noted the Democratic leanings of this district: Charlie Cook labels the district as “D+2”; Larry Sabato included PA-08 in his “dirty thirty” most competitive races in the country; and, the Hotline has included it in its top 25 races to watch. Additionally, the incumbent is a prominent member of the GOP’s ”Frontline Program”, designed to protect the most vulnerable of Republican incumbents. This national attention has really focused the District’s attention on the race.

Chris Bowers described the race as one where “Democrats have everything in place for a pickup but where we are getting shredded in the money race. For that reason, I also think that these are [] districts that the netroots should seriously consider offering their financial support.” He said this about PA-08 in particular

There is another Democrat in this race, but if the DCCC can ignore Cegalis, then I can ignore Warren. (Update: Paul Lang is running for State Senate, which I probably should have noticed since I looked at his webpage before writing this). Murphy actually reaches out to the Philadelphia area netroots, and he has a large money lead over Warren and Lang. In this 53.2% Democratic performance district where Kerry scored 51.0% of the vote (and Gore snagged 52.9%, and Rendell got over 60% in 2002), Patrick Murphy has the biography, the charisma, and the broad-based support to win. He also has $1M less cash on hand than “deer in the headlights” Fitzpatrick (I heard Bob Brady joke that Fitzpatrick walks around DC looking scared and out of place). Like Ginny Schrader before him, and like everyone else on this list, the only thing that separates Murphy from this seat is money.

To show you how dire the situation is on the ground for Fitzpatrick, check out the numbers from this Club for Growth poll which included the district in its effort to gauge Republican support in swing districts:
* Only 29 percent of the sample said America was on the “right track” at the moment compared to 62 percent who said it had gone off in the “wrong direction.”
* President Bush was viewed favorably by 40 percent and unfavorably by 52 percent
* Republicans in Congress rated a 35 percent favorable score and a 45 percent unfavorable score
* Asked what “issue or action” the respondents most associated with the current Republican leadership, “corrupt/dishonest” ranked second behind only Iraq in voters’ minds.
* And when asked to describe the “level of ethical misconduct in Congress today,” 80 percent of those tested said the transgressions were either “serious” (50 percent) or “scandalous” (30 percent). Only 14 percent described them as “minor.”
Finally, the only poll that I have seen has Fitzpatrick well under 50%.

In sum, with a top tier candidate like Patrick Murphy, this District is primed to send a Democrat to Washington to clean up this disastrous, debacle that the Republican party has inflicted upon America.

The next installment will begin introducing you to the incumbent – Michael Fitzpatrick - an ethically challenged, flip-flopping archconservative who is bad for labor, bad for the environment, and shamelessly parades around the district as a moderate.

My head isn’t in this right now, so I’ll be off for a bit. May all of your data be mined.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

A full seven days after Philadelphia Gas Works shut off gas service to my apartment in error, they have gotten around to restoring my service. This isn’t the end of Chris’ Most Excellent Bureaucratic Adventure by any stretch. Acording to the technician who finaly turned the gas back on, PGW was trying to shut off one of my neighbor’s service rather than mine. The meter numbers got switched some time long ago and none of us has ever been billed correctly. I’ve been billed for my neighbor’s gas usage, while she’s been billed for mine. Fun, games, ponies and hours spent on the phone with supremely unpleasant customer service agents await us all. To celebrate this turn of events, I present you with a whole friggin’ pile of baby pandas.

Just to be sure that I’m not violating some arcane blogging rule governing the gratuitous use of adorable pandas, here are some juicy poll numbers showing widespread distain for all that is Bush.

Fox:  39%
Gallup: 38%
Q-poll: 36%
CBS: 34%

Now if those abysmal-ass approval ratings for the Worst President Ever don’t justify the gratuitous and celebratory use of panda pictures, nothing does.

(Pandas via Alexa)

At least the bastards can’t data mine your soul. Then again, what if that’s just because you don’t have a soul? What then buttercup?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Here’s an explanation of why this keeps getting posted.

Another day with no heat. We have another pledge from PGW for service tomorrow, though I’m not holding my breath. My cerebral fluid has begun to solidify, so don’t expect much from me any time soon. Here’s a Panda.

Panda provided by Alexa. Thanks Alexa.

This is just awful. An aesthetic nightmare of the first order. I hope to provide you with something even worse tomorrow.

Howard has a nice take on recent questions raised by two congressional Republicans with regards to Citgo’s program to provide heating oil to low income individuals in several US cities, including Philadelphia. He writes:

Only in our great land could you reasonably push the notion that it’s wrong to help the poor. And I do mean only here.

Stop and think about it for just a second. When you first heard that Hugo Chavez was providing discounted heating oil to low income Americans, was there ever any question in your mind that some Republican politician or pundit would object? It’s really ugly what passes for normal on a day to day basis.

Sleep well. May all of your dreams be wiretapped for the good of the nation. Or is it for the good of the party? I’m always getting this wrong. Shit! Anyway, somebody wants to blow something up somewhere. Be scared or be square.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Here’s an explanation of why this keeps getting posted.

I always love a documentary that leaves me feeling a little freaked out when it’s over. This movie is a little over an hour long, but worth a look if you have some time on your hands. If you don’t care for graphic material, don’t watch it. Also, it’s always good to be skeptical of everything, not that you didn’t already know that.

(Via No More Apples)