Sen. John McCain accused Obama of playing the race card today. After Obama told voters in Springfield that “they” were trying to make voters scared of him, and that he “doesn’t look like all those other Presidents on those dollar bills,” McCain’s manager claimed that “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”
Whether or not Obama was trying to play on voters’ racial sympathies (he probably was), he was a lot smarter about it than the McCain camp, who are apparently content to play Wile E. Coyote to Obama’s roadrunner. McCain’s flailing isn’t going to make those longstanding claims that his temper makes him unfit for leadership go away, either.
Tangent: My favorite example involves a 2006 incident, after McCain repeatedly called an Arizona Republican Congressman “boy.” Attempting to explain the incident away, strategist Mark Salter pointed out, “There were no punches thrown or anything.” We’re a slim Obama lead away from the cell phone video that breaks YouTube.
“The Mixtape About Nothing,” by DC rapper Wale, is outstanding, one of the year’s better releases. Seinfeld-themed, intelligent rap with a drop by Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Elaine).
“Top Ranking,” by Santogold and Diplo, is not at all the “Piracy Funds Terrorism” ripoff a lot of cynics expected–it’s legitimately good, and Diplo’s production rescues some the miscues Santogold made on her full-length.
“We Make it Good, Vol. 4,” by XXXChange (of Spank Rock sorta-fame). Isaac Hayes, the Stones, Curtis Mayfield, Peter Gabriel and a lot more make this more than just a summer throwaway, though it is a lot of fun. You can almost hear the beers cracking open.
There are a lot more I haven’t gotten around to listening to yet, but let me know if you have any favorites I missed.
New York’s thin blue line snapped during a Critical Mass bicycle ride, as 22-year-old officer Patrick Pogan assaulted rider (and Army veteran) Christopher Long, knocking him through the air onto the curb. Pogan then arrested Long on charges of attempted assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Gothamist reports that another cyclist was ticketed for “riding outside the bike lane,” which is actually legal.
This isn’t the first time NYC’s been hostile to the Critical Mass rides; the Times reports that in 2004, over 250 riders were arrested during the Republican National Convention on charges that included “parading without a permit.”
Pogan has been stripped of his badge and gun, and is on desk duty pending a police investigation. Here’s hoping that this fine officer can work his way back up to, say, bicycle cop.
