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The Ledes

Friday, February 17, 2012.

New York Times: "The Maryland House narrowly passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage on Friday, delivering a major victory to Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, who had proposed it. But its implementation remained uncertain as its opponents promised to take it to voters in November.... The measure still faces a vote in the Senate, where it is expected to pass...." CW: actually, no; they passed a bill.

Washington Post: "The FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a Moroccan man Friday in downtown Washington after a lengthy investigation into an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack on the Capitol. Amine el-Khalifi, 29, was picked up while carrying an inoperable gun and a fake suicide vest provided to him by undercover FBI agents posing as al-Qaeda associates, U.S. officials said. They said he entered the United States when he was 16 and was living as an illegal immigrant in Arlington, Va., having reportedly overstayed his visitor’s visa for years."

New York Times: "The need for revenue to partly cover the extension of the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits has pushed Congress to embrace a generational shift in the country’s media landscape: the auction of public airwaves now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems. If a compromise bill completed Thursday by Congress is approved as expected by this weekend, the result will eventually be faster connections for smartphones, iPads and other data-hungry mobile devices. Their explosive popularity has overwhelmed the ability, particularly in big cities, for systems to quickly download maps, video games and movies." ...

... Update: "With members of both parties expressing distaste at some of the particulars, Congress on Friday voted to extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Obama, ending a contentious political and policy fight. The vote in the House was 293 to 132 with Democrats, who are in the minority, carrying the proposal over the top with the acquiescence of almost as many Republicans. The Senate followed within minutes and approved the measure on a vote of 60 to 36."

New York Times: "Anthony Shadid, a gifted foreign correspondent whose graceful dispatches for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Associated Press covered nearly two decades of Middle East conflict and turmoil, died, apparently of an asthma attack, on Thursday while on a reporting assignment in Syria. Tyler Hicks, a Times photographer who was with Mr. Shadid, carried his body across the border to Turkey." The Times' obituary is here. Read this interview of Shadid by Adam Ross of Mother Jones, published just last month. Tributes from colleagues.

New York Times: "Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will recommend whether the agency should approve the first new prescription diet pill in 13 years. The F.D.A. rejected the drug under review, Qnexa, in 2010, amid safety concerns, and the drug’s manufacturer is now presenting additional data to argue its case. But thousands of people ... in central California, where Qnexa’s inventor ran a weight-loss clinic, and others across the country have not had to wait for the drug’s approval. Through a regulatory loophole of sorts, many obesity doctors prescribe two separate drugs that, when taken together, are essentially the same medicine."

New York Times: "President Obama raised a total of $29.1 million for his re-election campaign and for the Democratic National Committee in January, he told supporters over Twitter early Friday morning, with most contributions coming in checks of $250 or less." ...

ABC News: "Before a backdrop of the newest American-made Boeing passenger jets, President Obama Friday will announce a series of steps aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturers, while harnessing their momentum for political gain. Obama, on the final stop of his three-day swing through California and Washington, will tour a Boeing production facility and speak to a crowd of several hundred workers inside the final assembly building for the company's new 787 Dreamliner."

New York Times: "Germany’s beleaguered president, Christian Wulff, announced his resignation on Friday after prosecutors asked Parliament to strip him of his immunity from prosecution over accusations of improper ties to businessmen."

Los Angeles Times: "A confrontation between federal law enforcement agents erupted in gunfire Thursday evening in Long Beach, leaving one dead and another seriously injured.... The incident was sparked by an unspecified dispute between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building near the city's oceanfront, according to law enforcement authorities."

New York Times: "... Rupert Murdoch ... is scheduled to visit the London headquarters of his British newspaper arm, News International, where reporters and editors are said to be in a state of civil war against Mr. Murdoch and his executives." The Guardian is liveblogging the meeting and reactions. ...

... AP Update: "News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch on Friday told staff at his scandal-hit British tabloid The Sun that executives will continue to give police any evidence of wrongdoing and won't protect reporters found to have broken the law."

Flying High. CBS News/AP: "Two Air Force F-16 fighters intercepted a privately owned Cessna airplane that entered the same Los Angeles airspace as Marine One on Thursday as the helicopter was ferrying President Barack Obama. Police discovered about 40 pounds of marijuana inside the plane after it landed at Long Beach Airport, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the drug investigation and spoke under condition of anonymity. The Secret Service said the president was never in any danger."

The Ledes

Thursday, February 16, 2012.

Wall Street Journal: Both Houses of the New Jersey state legislature have passed a bill allowing for same-sex marriage, but Gov. Chris Christie (R) says he will veto it. The bill passed the state Senate 24-15 & the Assembly 42-33. "An override vote ... would require 27 votes in the Senate and 54 votes in the Assembly."

Washington Post: "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday sought to bring debt collectors and credit bureaus under its purview, marking the first time the often controversial industries would be subject to federal supervision.... It is the first attempt by the watchdog agency to define which businesses in the vast swath of nontraditional financial institutions will be subject to the same examination process as banks." CW: It isn't clear to me from the article whether or not the CFPB needs authorization from Congress and/or the administration to do this. CW: according to the New York Times story: "The proposal now enters a 60-day comment period. The bureau expects to finalize the rule by July, the two-year anniversary of the agency’s creation." So I guess the CFPB can do it.

AP: "The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest point in almost four years last week, the latest signal that the job market is steadily improving. The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000. It was the fourth drop in five weeks and the fewest number of claims since March 2008." CW: Sorry, GOP!

New York Times: "Members of a House-Senate committee charged with writing a measure to extend a payroll tax reduction said Wednesday that their work was done, just shy of an hour before their deadline to get a bill ready for a Friday vote. After fighting until the very final hour over how to pay for parts of a $150 billion plan that would also extend unemployment benefits and prevent a pay cut for doctors who accept Medicare, leaders of both parties put together a bill that the majority of the committee could support." Washington Post story here.

AP: "General Motors earned its largest profit ever in 2011, two years after it nearly collapsed into financial ruin." CW: Sorry, Mitt!

New York Times: "President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan arrived in Pakistan on Thursday after saying he wanted to explore how Islamabad could help foster peace negotiations with his adversary, the Afghan Taliban. Mr. Karzai’s arrival came after he said Wednesday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that his representatives had begun talks with the Taliban and the United States government, a potentially significant development suggesting that the Taliban were dropping longstanding objections to face-to-face discussions with his government."

Reuters: "A federal judge is set to decide on Thursday if the Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a U.S. airliner bound for Detroit in 2009 will spend the rest of his life in prison. A bomb hidden in the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now 25, caused a fire but failed to explode on a Delta Airlines flight carrying 289 people on December 25, 2009." ...

... Bloomberg News Update: "Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to bomb a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day 2009 with explosives hidden in his underwear. The Nigerian-born defendant pleaded guilty in October to eight felony counts, including attempted murder and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds in Detroit today sentenced him to life in prison on five counts and 20 years on three counts."

New York Times: "The Japanese authorities arrested seven central figures in the huge accounting scandal at Olympus — including the camera maker’s former chairman and executive vice president — on Thursday as part of investigations into a decade-long cover-up that has prompted concern over what critics say is lax corporate governance at Japanese companies."

Glenn Greenwald: CNN's Erin Burnett is a warmonger's warmonger, the "worst of the worst," whose actual remarks outstrip any possible parody of warmongers. So, yay! Let's nuke Iran!

Blacklisters Victorious! AP: "MSNBC dropped conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on Thursday, four months after suspending him following the publication of his latest book. The book 'Suicide of a Superpower' contained chapters titled 'The End of White America' and 'The Death of Christian America.' Critics called the book racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic, charges Buchanan denied. MSNBC President Phil Griffin said last month that he didn't think Buchanan's book 'should be part of the national dialogue, much less part of the dialogue on MSNBC.' ... Buchanan, in a column posted on Thursday, called the decision 'an undeniable victory for the blacklisters.'"

Frances Martel of Mediate: the Stephen Colbert show has been cancelled for two nights, Wednesday and Thursday, February 15 & 16, "due to unforseen circumstances," & the suspension of production could run longer. The cancellation came at the last minute, & the show's producers have not explained the reason for the cancellation. ...

... Wall Street Journal Update: "Stephen Colbert has suspended production of his satirical comedy show temporarily because of an emergency in Mr. Colbert's family, according to people familiar with the show. 'The Colbert Report' is expected to resume production soon, perhaps as early as next week, the people added."

The Los Angeles Times coverage of the Grammy Awards is here.

MIDASSTOUCH. Here's a post by Eric Konigsberg of the New Yorker for you New York Times crossword aficonados. BTW, the Times Cookie Monster columnist mentioned in the article is Charles Blow.

For the New York Times, Janet Maslin reviews Mimi Alford's book about her affair with President Kennedy, essentially writing that Alford was full of shit, though you have to understand the utility of Brussels sprouts to get that (she writing in the Times, after all, where discretion is the better part of publication). Amy Davidson of the New Yorker says Maslin is mean.

For you kids interested in a career in writing, or, specifically, writing popular opinion columns, Driftglass shares David Brooks' secret to success: "Once again giving writing by rote a bad name, Our Mr. Brooks pens a quick primer on one method of making a living by writing badly."

Politico has the Sunday talkshow lineup. ...

... New York Times Update: "The new White House chief of staff, Jacob J. Lew, made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to discuss the budget that President Obama is to release on Monday, but instead he was forced repeatedly to defend the administration’s effort to guarantee that insurers cover birth control for women in the face of criticism from religious groups."

Carly Carioli of the Boston Phoenix: Despite Bill Keller's writing "two smug columns about copyright" in the New York Times, Times columnist Joe Nocera was not above poaching -- or "pirating," in Keller's parlance -- an article from a defunct paper the Phoenix now owns. Instead of linking to the Phoenix page, Nocera uploaded a Times PDF, which of course does not link back to the original article. And this isn't the first time Nocera has done that. So then, "Joe Nocera called me to read me the riot act. He’s pissed that my post caused the Times took down the Clark Booth articleper's article from our company’s archives."

... Click through for more. ...

... The Reliable Source at the Washington Post: "A new book shares explicit details about a 50-year-old presidential sex scandal between JFK and a White House intern." Historian Robert Dallek who "wrote the book on" Kennedy, says former intern & author Mimi Beardsley Alford is "entirely credible." The New Jersey Star-Ledger has a story here. Reliable Source story updated here, with more sordid details. ...

... Update: Matthew DeLuca of the Daily Beast recounts some of the details of Alford's book.

ABC News: Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain "marked her Diamond Jubilee anniversary with a message thanking the British people for their support, and pledging to continue her dedication to serving them and people around the world. The Guardian posts an interactive feature based on 60 years of photos of Elizabeth.

Politico has the Sunday talkshow lineup here.

If you can hardly wait for the Super Bowl, the Washington Post has the best part: many of the ads. Some are pretty awful, however.

Bill Carter of the New York Times on how the networks cheat the ratings system to give their shows better viewership ratings than they've actually earned.

The Los Angeles Times story on the SAG awards is here. For now, there's more stuff here, but it will move.

Politico reports the Sunday talkshow lineup. AND here's Politico's liveblog of the Sunday shows.

Mark Feldstein of the Washington Post on "pathographies," biographies that diminish their subjects, often on the thinnest of -- or no -- "evidence." The latest: a book that suggests President Richard Nixon was gay; evidence? -- somewhere around zero.

Politico: "John Tyler became the 10th president of the United States in 1841 — and today - incredibly - he still has two living grandchildren." CW: I've been aware of the grandkids still be around for years, but it is one of those Amazing But True stories.

Paper Trail

Page Links

California

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Meg Whitman, AG Jerry Brown, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Carly Fiorina.

Politico, December 4: "Republican David Harmer has finally conceded to California Rep. Jerry McNerney, more than a month following the election and a week after the Associated Press called the race."

AP, November 24: "Representative Jerry McNerney, a Democrat, has been re-elected to a third term in a Northern California Congressional district, fending off a challenge from David Harmer. Mr. McNerney held a lead of nearly 2,500 votes on Wednesday with less than 1,900 ballots left to be counted. His victory means no California Congressional seat changed party hands as Republicans took back the House of Representatives on Nov. 2."

The Los Angeles Times projects that California Democrat AG Jerry Brown, the former governor, will win the governorship.

Los Angeles Times: "California voters appear to have rejected Prop. 19, an effort to legalize marijuana and allow local governments to tax the sale of the drug."

NBC News projects that California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer will retain her Senate seat.

Mean Girl. Bay Citizen: "Meg Whitman ... has largely succeeded in presenting herself as a folksy, common-sense businessperson who will bring Silicon Valley smarts to Sacramento.... But that image ... is very much at odds with the volatile personality that many eBay employees came to know during her decade-long tenure at the company. Interviews with numerous former employees paint a picture of a hot-tempered chief executive given to profanity-filled tirades and imperious behavior."

New York Times, October 28: "Carly Fiorina, the Republican candidate for Senate in California, was back on the campaign trail Thursday after being hospitalized."

Seema Mehta & Michael Mishak of the Los Angeles Times, October 27: "As an audience of 14,000 women roared their approval, gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown were asked pointedly on Tuesday to take down the negative advertisements.... Brown agreed to the proposal — made by NBC journalist Matt Lauer, who was moderating the appearance of the two and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the annual Women's Conference in Long Beach — if Whitman would also assent. Whitman declined, and the audience booed."

A Republican Candidate Sends a Stinkbomb. Jeremy Jacobs of the National Journal: "Republican Van Tran, the upstart challenger to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), is betting on voters sniffing out his opponent's struggles -- literally. Tran is sending out a scratch-and-sniff direct mail piece attacking Sanchez that features a hideous odor emanating from it."

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman endorses her opponent, former California Governor Jerry Brown:

New York Times: "Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive who is the Republican nominee for the Senate from California, was hospitalized Tuesday in Los Angeles with an infection stemming from reconstructive breast surgery she had in July, her campaign said."

Carly Fiorina can't answer what she would cut to balance the budget. Chris Wallace of Fox "News" actually does his job here:

New York Times: "What if you held a voter turnout rally and the top candidates on the ballot didn’t show up? Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, and Sarah Palin, arguably the biggest draw in the Republican Party, found themselves in that position here in Orange County on Saturday night in the first of two high-profile national rallies they are doing before Election Day. The next one is in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday.

Los Angeles Times, October 16: "Former President Clinton campaigned across Southern California on Friday, urging Democrats to shake off their moribund mind-set and head to the polls so the Obama administration can finish the job it started. Clinton told thousands of listeners at an evening rally at UCLA that they bear responsibility for the nation's future." ...

... New York Times: "Almost two decades after they tussled for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown campaigned together on Friday, when the former president stumped for Mr. Brown, the Democratic candidate for governor in California, and Gavin Newsom, the candidate for lieutenant governor.

Here's some raw footage from the UCLA Daily Bruin of President Clinton's speech yesterday:

The Daily Bruin has a few more clips of the rally here.

Los Angeles Times, October 15: AG Eric Holder "... said the Obama administration would 'vigorously enforce' drug laws against people who grow, distribute or sell marijuana for recreational use even if California voters pass a measure to legalize it." CW: trying to influence an election, Mr. Holder?

Scott Woolley of Fortune: why Carly Fiorina never mentions the job that gave her name recognition: head of Lucent Technology. Under Fiorina, they gambled big, & shortly after she moved to Hewlitt-Packard, Lucent went under because of huge, unwise vendor loans made on Fiorina's watch. But Fiorina made out like a bandit.

Los Angeles Times: "In a blistering final debate, Democratic candidate for governor Jerry Brown apologized to his Republican counterpart Meg Whitman on Tuesday for a slur directed at her by an associate, an apology that Whitman did not explicitly accept as she cast his campaign as insulting to all Californians. Brown continued to insist that Whitman was seeking office to enrich wealthy Californians such as herself, while she derided Brown as a 'same old same old' politician who helped lead California into its present straits...." C-SPAN has video of the full debate.

Sacramento Bee, October 12: "Republican Meg Whitman poured another $20 million into her campaign tonight, bringing her total investment in her gubernatorial bid to more than $140 million."

Jane Lorber of the New York Times: "Brave New Films, the documentary film company behind a series of damaging anti-McCain viral videos during the 2008 presidential campaign, has put its sights on Carly Fiorina, the Republican candidate for Senate in California. In the latest of three videos attacking Ms. Fiorina..., several former Hewlett-Packard employees who were laid off during Ms. Fiorina’s tenure as chief executive ... describe her as ruthless and extravagant." (See the earlier videos at the link.):

CW: Sorry, but I don't consider this a big fucking deal. New York Times: "The Los Angeles Times posted a muddy audio recording on Thursday night in which a campaign aide [of California AG Jerry Brown] is heard calling his Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, a 'whore.' The Brown campaign apologized soon after, and the political fallout from the comment — which Ms. Whitman’s camp called 'an appalling and unforgivable smear' — is uncertain." The gist of the New York Times story is that the gaffe typical Jerry. The L.A. Times story is here, where you can listen to the audio, which follows the article. ...

... Update: San Jose Mercury News: "The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown apologized Thursday after one of his aides was overheard referring to Republican rival Meg Whitman as a 'whore' in a taped telephone message."

Los Angeles Times, October 6: "Reports show ... Republican [Meg Whitman] has received more money from outside donors than has her Democratic rival, Jerry Brown, whom she paints as beholden to unions.

More Domestic Dirt. Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronicle: Jill Armstrong, who worked as a nanny for Meg Whitman & her husband while undocumented immigrant Nicandra Diaz Santillan was employed as the Whitmans' maid, says she believes Diaz Santillan's story. Although Armstrong quit working for Whitman after two months, she says she had trouble collecting the salary she had earned. ...

... Meanwhile, Seema Mehta & Carla Hall of the Los Angeles Times report that Diaz Santillan is "filing a claim with the state seeking unpaid wages and attorney Gloria Allred [is] denying claims that her involvement has been funded by Whitman's political enemies.... Diaz Santillan ... said she chose to come forward to shed light on the plight of undocumented workers who live in the 'shadows.'"

The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board endorses Democrat Jerry Brown for governor. The editors aren't that crazy about Brown, but they like Whitman way less: "Republican Meg Whitman, utterly devoid of background or experience in state government or policymaking, rarely deigning to cast a vote, moves toward the Nov. 2 election on the power of millions of dollars of personal wealth." ...

... The Los Angeles Times Board also opposes Proposition 19, which provides for the legalization of marijuana. The Board says the proposition "is poorly thought out, badly crafted and replete with loopholes and contradictions."

Immigration Attorney Greg Siskind: "TMZ has posted the Whitman nanny's job application and the employee's I-9. It's not clear whether Whitman or the agency handled the I-9 and that's because the form itself is not signed and dated by the employer or its agent as required by law. The form also doesn't have a social security number under the List C documentation, another violation. Because the form is not signed or dated by the employer, it is far from clear that the employer even examined the documents presented.... Abercrombie & Fitch got a $1 million fine this week for violations of just this sort." Includes copies of documentation. Via Firedoglake.

Don't run for governor if you can't stand up on your own two feet and say, 'Hey I made a mistake, I'm sorry, let's go on from here.' You have blamed her, blamed me, blamed the left, blamed the unions but you don't take accountability. -- Jerry Brown, in a debate with Meg Whitman

Los Angeles Times, October 2: "Gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown tangled in a blistering dispute Saturday over Whitman's employment of an illegal immigrant housekeeper as they met for the campaign's first and only Spanish-language debate." New York Times story here.

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "Meg Whitman has had trouble mastering the state’s vast and convoluted electoral landscape despite spending $119 million of her own money on the race."

"Meet the Real Meg Whitman." Jerry Brown ad:

Here's some fun reported by Elise Foley of the Washington Independent: "California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman lost the support — and then some — of conservative group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC after allegations surfaced that she employed an undocumented housekeeper for nine years. But the pro-enforcement group isn’t just calling for her to lose the election: They want her arrested."

Michael Crowley of Time: "Meg Whitman says she's running for governor of California to bring a sense of fiscal responsibility to Sacramento. But Whitman's own campaign ... has already pumped about $120 million of her estimated $1.3 billion personal fortune into the race. Yet ... she hasn't purchased much of anything yet."

AP, September 29: "California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman employed an illegal immigrant Mexican housekeeper for years even though the federal government alerted her in 2003 to the maid's dubious legal status, the worker and her attorney claimed Wednesday.... Whitman -- who on the campaign trail has called for tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers -- said ... she was not aware the housekeeper ... was in the U.S. illegally." Gloria Allred, the maid's attorney, said, "Whitman was aware of her status." ...

This is just classic smear politics. Jerry Brown is a career politician; it’s what they do. -- Meg Whitman

... Los Angeles Times Update, September 30: without producing any evidence, "Whitman accused the Brown campaign of circulating the matter to reporters...." Politico story here; with video.

Los Angeles Times, September 29: "In a blustery and vigorous first debate, gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown dueled Tuesday over their differing solutions to California's dire problems, with Whitman slighting Brown as a tool of labor unions and Brown excoriating her as a billionaire running for office to benefit the rich."

Cathleen Decker of the Los Angeles Times, September 26: In the California gubernatorial race, Democrat Jerry Brown leads Republican Meg Whitman 49%-44% in an L.A. Times/U.S.C. poll. In the Senate race, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer leads Republican nominee Carly Fiorina 51%-43%.

Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times, September 19: Republican Senate nominee Carly Fiorina toes the tea party line.

Michael Mishak of the Los Angeles Times, September 18: experts aren't buying into Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's "economic plan."

AP, September 16: "Former eBay executive Meg Whitman is defending $119 million in contributions she has made to her campaign for California governor — a personal spending rate that has now surpassed that of any other political candidate in American history."

New York Times, September 14: "President Bill Clinton endorsed his long-ago rival Jerry Brown for governor of California, brushing aside Mr. Brown’s recent snippy joke about the Monica Lewinsky scandal."

After Meg Whitman runs this ad, which includes a 1992 clip of Bill Clinton falsely accusing Jerry Brown of raising California taxes when he was governor ...

... Jerry Brown responds:

... Update: Brown apologizes to President Clinton, bashes Whitman. His statement is here.

PolitiCal, August 24: After "an appeal by President Obama to his supporters seeking help for Jerry Brown’s candidacy..., so many people clicked the link that Brown’s website crashed."

Los Angeles Times, August 11: "Meg Whitman's economic policies are based on a flawed understanding of the challenges California faces, and the Republican gubernatorial nominee's proposals would make the state's troubles worse, according to an open letter to Californians signed by a group of mostly Democratic economists from throughout the state."

The Highest Bidder. Sacramento Bee: "Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spent a record-shattering $99.7 million in campaign funds through June 30, according to campaign finance records filed today. Whitman, who faced a June 8 primary election challenge..., has spent far more than Democratic rival Jerry Brown, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Brown's gubernatorial campaign spent $633,205 through June 30.

Kevin O'Leary of Time: California nurses versus Queen Meg Whitman. Whitman has promised to "reform" compensation & pension packages if elected governor. Here's a video of the nurses' rally at Whitman's home on July 16:

Los Angeles Times, July 18: billionaire Whitman's opponent, Democratic AG Jerry Brown, who doesn't have her megabucks to run ads, must rely on the free press to remain in the spotlight.

$$$$$$$ Talks. Michael Luo of the New York Times, July 12: California billionaire & Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman stole a primary rival's potential political consultant by buying into (or creating) his nascent production company. Subtitle: Shock! Political consultant goes for the money.

AP: "Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is kicking off her election campaign ... by criticizing the $862 billion federal stimulus package as doing little for private businesses. Yet ... Hewlett-Packard Co., where Fiorina was chief executive..., has been paid $22.5 million so far in stimulus money distributed to cities, school districts, hospitals and universities" which purchased HP products. Also, in a speech made during a visit to a company that benefited from the stimulus package, Fiorina said the stimulus package hadn't worked.

In this 30-second spot, Democrats hit Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman for not bothering to vote for 28 years:

Carly Fiorina, Hot Mic, Take 2. (If you missed Take 1, see it first further downn the page:

... Many thanks to Strategic Productions, LLC for so perfecting channeling the Real Fiorina, and a special thanks to Brooklyn Mutt, who may have been the first to embed the video.

When Push Comes to Shove. New York Times: in a 2007 incident, Meg Whitman, now California's Republican nominee for governor but then e-Bay CEO, shoved an employee, Young Mi Kim, in the presence of several witnesses. The company reportedly paid Ms. Kim about $200,000, & she returned to work for e-Bay after accepting the settlement.

Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times: the Tea Party had little influence on California primary races. Tea Partiers don't like Fiorina & Whitman so they won't work for Republican nominees.

Fiorina: "I'm Sorry I Got Caught Being My Nasty, Superficial Self." Fox "News": "California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said Sunday she regrets being caught on tape making fun of Sen. Barbara Boxer's hair, but didn't say whether she apologized to the Democratic incumbent." Here's the video, via Politico:

Open Mic. CNN catches California Republican candidate for Senate Carly Fiorina making catty remarks about her opponent Barbara Boxer, fellow Republican Meg Whitman & -- oh, no! -- Fox "News" Sean Hannity: CW: Fiorina comes across as having the depth & personality of the nasty girls in my 7th grade class:

With Candidates Like These.... AP: "Former NFL player Damon Dunn has won the Republican nomination for California secretary of state. Dunn defeated Orange County lawyer [& queen of the "birthers"] Orly Taitz in Tuesday's primary, and will face incumbent Democrat Debra Bowen in the general election in November. Dunn is a self-described 'recovering nonvoter' who hadn't cast a ballot in an election until 2009."

Let the General Election Begin. Washington Post: moving in from the right, Fiorina jabs the Boxer, Boxer hits back.

AP: "Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has won California's GOP primary for U.S. Senate, setting up a general election battle this fall with three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer."

AP: "In California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman won the Republican nomination for governor, and another businesswoman, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, led in her bid to become her party's candidate for the Senate." AG & former Gov. Jerry Brown won the Democratic nomination for governor.