REALITYCHEX.COM

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

Nevada

You're on an auxiliary page. Click Constant Comments-Home on the bar above to go to the main page.

Ed Vogel of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 6: "Harry Reid won re-election because he got of a lot of Republican votes.

** NBC News projects that Nevada Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will win re-election. Las Vegas Sun story here.

NBC News projects that Nevada Republican Brian Sandoval defeated Harry Reid's son Rory Reid for the governorship. Las Vegas Sun story here.

Screenshot from Angle's "Amnesty Game" page.More last-minute hilarity from Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post: "Toymaker Hasbro has sent Sharron Angle's Senate campaign a cease and desist letter, saying the Nevada Republican never received permission to use the rights to Monopoly for its "Harry Reid Amnesty Game" website." As of 10:45 am., the Angle site was still up.

AP: "Republicans outperformed Democrats getting to the polls in Nevada, a promising sign for Republican tea party favorite Sharron Angle in her dead-heat race with Majority Leader Harry Reid, figures showed Monday. Final tallies for two weeks of in-person voting and a preliminary count of mail-in ballots for the state's two most populous counties, Clark and Washoe, gave Democrats about a 9,000-voter edge. The slim margin stands out because Democrats hold a 60,000-voter edge in statewide registration."

Las Vegas Sun, November 1: "First Lady Michelle Obama, in North Las Vegas today to stump for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, appealed to people's parental and civic responsibility in urging them to vote Democratic...."

Greg Sargent: "Has any campaign ever been quite this direct in claiming that their opponent is, well, a complete whack-job? The Reid team has completely emptied the thesaurus":

Jon Ralston tweets, "Another run-in w/evil, lamestream media by Angle at airport in Vegas after northern/rural tour. Team Angle says TVs banned from events now."

Sam Stein: Sharron Angle says she'll talk to the press, but only after she's elected. With audio.

Las Vegas Sun: "A lawyer for the Nevada Republican Party has demanded Secretary of State Ross Miller investigate and resolve multiple issues the party is raising about early voting."

Harry Reid intends to steal this election if he can't win it outright. -- Cleta Mitchell, attorney for Sharron Angle

Las Vegas Sun: "A national advocacy organization for immigrants is launching a Spanish-language media blitz in Nevada today in an attempt to use a recent stream of anti-illegal immigration ads from Sharron Angle’s campaign as a reason for Hispanics to vote.... The sixty-second spots – 154 of them – will air on Spanish-language radio from now until Election Day...." ...

... Sharron Angle's latest fearmongering, racist ad:

... Michael Scherer of Time comments: "Sadly, Sharron Angle's latest ad ... joins a long tradition of down-to-the-wire political advertising that cynically exploits racial fears to win elections.... Perhaps the best antecedent for the Angle spot is the 1988 Willie Horton spot.... The Republican Party is stuck with having to explain spots like hers to Hispanic Americans, who are the fastest growing voting demographic in the country and the likely key to winning presidential swing states for decades to come."

Shailagh Murray of the Washington Post: "Gritty and stoic, [Majority Leader Harry] Reid embodies Nevada's paradoxical relationship with the federal government, a can't-live-with-him, can't-live without-him dilemma that has turned his quest for a fifth Senate term into the fight of his long career. Win or lose, most of Reid's elections have been decided by whisker-thin margins and his battle against tea party star Sharron Angle figures to be another. But the dynamics of this one are different. Never before has Nevada been so tired of Reid - and yet so dependent on him."

Sam Stein, October 25: "Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle used a decoy to dodge members of the press at an event on Monday, a reporter on the scene tells the Huffington Post."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talks to Ed Schultz & pulls no punches against his opponent Sharon Angle:

Here's a good report from Nevada's Channel 8 on Sharron Angle's telling Hispanic high school students, "Some of you look more Asian to me":

... Susan Saulny of the New York Times takes a broader look at how race issues are playing out in 2010 campaigns.

Nicholas Lemann has a good, in-depth article in The New Yorker on Harry Reid & this year's Nevada Senatorial race.

Karoun Demirjian of the Las Vegas Sun recaps the debate/smackdown between Harry Reid & Sharron Angle. CW: rhymes with "witch." You can watch it on C-SPAN. Here's Angle telling Reid to "man up."

Adam Nagourney & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times on the Nevada Senate race. Here's a factoid: "records analyzed by CQ Moneyline show that 80 percent of the money donated to both campaigns has come from outside of Nevada, a near mirror image of the other major Senate races."

KTVN (Reno), October 11: Ana Padilla, who is now a U.S. citizen, claims she worked for Nevada's Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Sandoval while she was in the country illegally & the Sandovals never asked her for documentation. She says she is coming forward now because of Sandoval's opposition to amnesty for undocumented aliens. Sandoval denies that Padilla worked for his family & blames his Democratic opponent Rory Reid for manufacturing the story.

Las Vegas Sun, October 10: Super-PACS are pouring money into Nevada.

AP, October 10: "In a dramatic shift, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle says she won't privatize Veterans Affairs, dismantle Social Security or dismiss unemployment benefits as welfare." ...

... Angle Publicly Calls Reid a "Whore." Las Vegas Sun: "Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle on Saturday bashed 'favor-buying whore' politicians, seemingly oblivious to the hypocrisy of her remarks given that she offered her own political 'juice' as leverage in trying to persuade a third-party candidate to drop out of the race. While talking about the health care reform bill that Congress passed this year, Angle said: 'We don’t need some kind of favor-buying whore ... Harry Reid isn’t just another vote. He pushed it, he promoted it, he made the deals.'”

Stupid Candidate Tricks. Jeff Simon of CNN: "Nevada GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle told a crowd of Tea Party rally-goers last week that two cities — Dearborn, Michigan and Frankford, Texas — are under Sharia law, the sacred law of Islam.... Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly told the Associated Press that Angle’s comments were 'shameful' and 'totally irresponsible.'" Another problem? "Well, Frankford, Texas doesn’t really exist."

Brent Budowsky of The Hill, October 8: "Bill Raggio, the minority leader in the Nevada state Senate and a leading Silver State Republican, added a major new dimension to the U.S. Senate race there by blasting Sharron Angle for being radical and extreme, and endorsing Sen. Harry Reid (D) for reelection.... Raggio has never before endorsed a Democratic candidate in a major race. His political viewpoint is Republican-conservative."

CW: I don't do polls, BUT ... from Rasmussen: "Republican challenger Sharron Angle has now moved to a four-point lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada’s bare-knuckles U.S. Senate race." In November 2008, I really thought we had moved out of a country that could ever again elect an insane, lying right-wing extremist to Congress. We have not.

AP: "U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle told a crowd of supporters that the country needs to address a "militant terrorist situation" that has allowed Islamic religious law to take hold in some American cities."

The Party of Racists. Andrea Nill of Think Progress: Republicans Sharron Angle & David Vitter use the same photo of menacing-looking young Hispanic men in their scary video ads. In Angle's ad she seems to be attacking Harry Reid for his support of the DREAM bill which would offer a path to citizenship for young people who served in the military or went to college (the ad copy is so misleading, tho it's hard to tell what she's talking about). Igor Volsky of Think Progress posts the ad pictures ...

... then writes that beneficiaries of the DREAM legislation would look more like this:

... "Angle's 'Willie Horton' Ad. Adam Serwer, writing in the Washington Post, elaborates.

New York Times, October 5: Syd James, "the head of the Nevada Tea Party, resigned Tuesday after its candidate for Senate leaked a recording of Sharron Angle – the Republican running to replace Senator Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority — in which she complained about Republican leaders and confessed that she does not know if she can win." James set up the meeting between Angle her Tea Party rival Scott Ashjian.

New York Times: "The largest union of registered nurses in the country will begin a $200,000 advertising campaign on Monday aimed at defeating Sharron Angle, the Republican challenger to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader.... The advertising campaign is the largest ever expenditure on a political race by the union, National Nurses United, officials said." Here are the ads:

The Republicans have lost their standards, they’ve lost their principles.... Really that’s why the machine in the Republican Party is fighting against me.... They have never really gone along with lower taxes and less government. -- Sharron Angle, in a closed-door meeting with a tea party opponent

Scoop! Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun (October 3) obtained a tape of a meeting among Sharron Angle, her Tea Party of Nevada opponent Scott Ashjian, & their minions. Pretty raw stuff. Includes audio of the meeting. ...

... Update from Shira Toeplitz of Politico: "Nevada Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian admitted Sunday that he secretly recorded a conversation with Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle, at a meeting in which she asks him to get out of the race, and that he leaked the tape to a journalist." The recording, according to a Harvard Law professor, was illegal.

... Update: or maybe Ashjian isn't a teabagger at all. Here's an the Tea Party Express produced:

... AND Christiana Bellantoni of Talking Points Memo adds, "Cleta Mitchell, a top Republican lawyer representing Sharron Angle's Senate bid in Nevada, told TPM ... that the meeting [with Ashjian] ... was 'a setup.'"

Las Vegas Review Journal: "Supporters of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and his GOP challenger Sharron Angle brawled at the end of a Senate race forum at a local Christian school."

Sharron Angle sided with the abuser:

Jon Ralston in the Las Vegas Sun, September 12: "... former Senate hopeful, Danny Tarkanian, said he disagreed with those who suggest a civil uprising might be necessary -- a reference to Sharron Angle's quote in January on another conservative talker's program." Notice that his right-right radio host Mike Wiley thinks revolution is cool: when Tarkanian says, "I’m not going to take the position that we need a civil uprising to overthrow our government," Wiley butts in & counters, "The Declaration of Independence gives us that right." [Here one presumes he means the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, but, hey, why quibble?] Tarkanian says it doesn't.

What Works in Las Vegas May Only Work in Las Vegas. Adam Sorensen of Time on why Harry Reid's negative campaign against Sharron Angle may not work for other Democratic candidates.

Greg Sargent: "In an interview with a conservative talk show host yesterday, Sharron Angle was given two clear chances to disavow the claim that there are 'domestic enemies' within Congress, an assertion she previously expressed unequivocal agreement with. Both times, Angle refused."

Black Is the Color of the Devil. Jonathan Chait of The New Republic: "Sharron Angle ... is not merely a candidate with extremely radical views, like Rand Paul, she inhabits an ideological grey area where radicalism starts to become indistinguishable with actual mental illness." ...

... Chait cites this post by Bill Roberts of the Pahrump Valley News (great name!), who recount a 20-year-old episode in which, on religious grounds, Angle opposed a high school coach's decision to change the football team's jerseys to black; Angle's group associated black with the devil & the supernatural.

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times interviews! Sharron Angle & assesses her campaign & her prospects of winning the Senate race.

Keach Hagey of Politico profiles Nevada journalist & "one-man media franchise" Jon Ralston, who is far & away the most influential political reporter & pundit in Nevada.

Chris Matthews, Eric Boehlert of Media Matters & Ryan Grim of the HuffPost elaborate on Sharron Angle's relationship with the press:

Angle Gaffe #98. In a vid that deserves to become a classic, Sharron Angle explains to Fox "News"' Carl Cameron that the media should report the news the way she wants them to. She explains that she wants to take only pre-approved questions & be able to use the media to tout her campaign donations site:

Angle Gaffe #97. Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun: Sharron Angle says the DISCLOSE bill, which the Senate failed to even bring to a vote, is settled law.

Roll the Video Tape. Steve Benen: I've never said I want to eliminate, I always said I want to save Social Security by paying back. -- Sharron Angle, July 24, 2010....

... Sharron Angle, way back in June 2010. Who could remember?

Anjeanette Damon of the Las Vegas Sun: Nevada tea party groups do their own thing, not always to their advantage.

Las Vegas Sun: "After more than a month dodging the press, Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle on Wednesday invited reporters to an event intended to amplify her campaign message.... Angle delivered a three-minute speech on her desire to permanently repeal the estate tax. When invited by the final speaker to stay and answer a few questions, she turned on her heel and rushed out a back door with a small cadre of staff members. Reporters, including one who is six months pregnant, chased after her, calling out questions...."

... Angle refuses to answer media questions ... at her own "press conference":

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. The Reid campaign cuts a new ad:

"The only job Sharron Angle wants to fight for is hers":

Sam Stein has more on Sharron Angle's theory of "God's plan" for rape victims -- women should use their pregnancies to improve their situations. Or something about "making lemonade from lemons."

Greg Sargent, July 8: "During a radio appearance [Sharron Angle] labeled the $20 billion BP escrow fund secured by the White House as a 'slush fund.' Angle also seemed to agree with a caller who flatly described the fund as extortion, and added: 'Government shouldn't be doing that to a private company.' For good measure, she said Dems are exploiting the crisis to push energy reform and are following 'Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.'" ...

... Update: Angle tries to walk back the "slush fund" remark. ...

... The Gift that Keeps on Giving. Alex Altman of Time comments on Angle's latest gaffe.

Greg Sargent, July 7: Sharron Angle says she will "pursue" her claim that Harry Reid's campaign is misusing (or something) her "intellectual property." Sargent sees Angle's strategy, whatever it is, as a really bad idea. CW: besides, Reid could win the case by merely demonstrating that Angle & "intellectual" were mutually exclusive concepts. ...

... Las Vegas Sun, July 6: "Nevada Democrats today re-launched their version of GOP senate candidate Sharron Angle’s old campaign website. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s campaign yanked the website over the weekend after Angle’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter, claiming Reid abused 'proprietary materials' from Angle’s old site. This afternoon, however, the Nevada Democratic Party put the site back up, claiming protection under the First Amendment." Reid's "The Real Sharron Angle" page is here.

Jon Ralston: during my interview of her, a new, fake Sharron Angle emerged, one who parrots scripted, more moderate talking points on some issues in which she has been "out there."

Angle Speaks! to Jon Ralston:

... Here's a related Las Vegas Sun story.

Think Progress: in a January 25 radio interview, Sharron Angle said that abortions for victims of rape & incest would interfere with "God's plan." CW: because one of the mysterious ways god works is through rape & incest?

Brian Stelter of the New York Times: Nevada reporters are playing a game of "Where's Sharron?" ...

... BUT Sharron Angle will talk to political reporter Jon Ralston this afternoon, June 29.

Jay Newton-Small of Time on why Harry Reid's chances are improving -- Sharron Angle.

"This Is Crazy." Harry Reid is up with a new hard-hitting spot against Sharron Angle:

Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: Sharron Angle's campaign denies a staffer called a reporter an "unprintable." CW: I wish the MSM would at least let us fill in the blanks on these "unprintable" epithets. Was it "fuckhead" or "my good man"? The backstory, in which Weigel is even less specific, is interesting: Angle refuses to endorse her own stated positions.

Matt Yglesias: according to Sharron Angle, Scientology is natural homepathic medicine.

The Las Vegas Sun has a big ol' feature on Sharron Angle's Second Amendment Solution to fixing the federal government.

Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun says Harry Reid's attack ad on Sharron Angle "rings true."

The Reid operation is gearing up to paint Angle as, well, a nutjob, as a cross between Rand Paul and Orly Taitz. There doesn't appear to be a shortage of material. -- Greg Sargent

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Sharron "Angle said in a recent interview that the Gulf spill was an 'accident' and opined that we need to further 'deregulate' the oil industry in the wake of the disaster."

Washington Post: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said "reporters would have 'complete access' to Sharron Angle... 'in a few weeks,' but not now." Cornyn said Angle "needed to get 'prepared.'"

AP: "Nevada Senate nominee Sharron Angle, a tea party favorite who describes herself as a conservative's conservative, left the Republican Party at the height of the Reagan revolution and became a Democrat for at least several years, government records show."

Talking Points Memo: "The peculiar ideology of Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee challenging Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada, is perhaps no better illustrated than by her embrace of the patriot group Oath Keepers, whose membership of uniformed soldiers and police take an oath to refuse orders they see as unconstitutional -- including enforcement of gun laws, violations of states' sovereignty, and 'any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.'"

First, Kill Harry Reid. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: in an interview she gave earlier this year, Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle advocated armed insurrection against the federal government. The Las Vegas Review-Journal also carried the story.

You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years. I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out. -- Sharron Angle

Odd Couple. Alex Pareene of Salon: John Ensign takes Sharron Angle to lunch, forgets to tell other Republicans he invited her to join them. Pareene has fun with this one. ...

... AND, as Ryan Grim reports, so is Nevada's Democratic party, who have prepared a little introductory speech for Ensign to deliver. It covers all of Ensign's AND Angle's good points.

Fox & Friends "interview" Sharron Angle, Harry Reid's nutty opponent, so they can all lie about Angle's nutty views. Jon Ralston, the Sun's political reporter & columnist, for one was not amused. Think Progress has video of the "interview."

Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Former President Bill Clinton said Thursday that Nevadans are right to be angry about record high unemployment and home foreclosures, but he said voters shouldn't punish U.S. Sen. Harry Reid because Republicans -- not Democrats -- caused the economic crisis."

Read It & Weep. Talking Points Memo: "The new Rasmussen poll of the Nevada Senate race shows Republican nominee Sharron Angle leading Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in the wake of her big win in Tuesday's primary. The numbers: Angle 50%, Reid 39%."

Dana Milbank: "Only weeks ago, [Harry Reid] the Senate majority leader was...facing a seemingly inevitable defeat in his reelection battle in Nevada. But then came Tuesday's primary, and Republicans selected as their candidate Sharron Angle, a woman who, among other things, favors bringing more nuclear waste to Nevada, floated the idea of outlawing alcohol, and wants to abolish the Education Department, the Energy Department, the EPA, the United Nations and most of the IRS. She's not so keen on Social Security, Medicare or unemployment insurance, either." ...

... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times profiles Sharron Angle.

Las Vegas Sun: Jim Gibbons becomes the first governor in Nevada's history to lose a primary race.

Las Vegas Sun: "...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid got the race he wanted. Sharron Angle, a former Reno assemblywoman and Tea Party favorite, emerged from Tuesday’s Republican primary..., but carrying political baggage that experts say gives the embattled Reid a new lease on political life."

"A...tea party-backed contender..., Sharron Angle, led a crowded field for the right to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada in the fall."

AP: Gov. Jim Gibbons lost "to Brian Sandoval, a former federal judge.... Rory Reid, Harry Reid's son, won the Democratic nomination."

John Bresnahan & Manu Raju of Politico: Harry Reid is "angling" to pick his Republican foe: Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle. "On her website — full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors — Angle" says

She wants to privatize Social Security; cut federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars; build nuclear power plants inside Yucca Mountain; abolish the federal income tax and institute a 'simpler, fairer, flatter tax system'; 'defund Obamacare'; pull the United States out of the United Nations; ban nearly all abortions; get rid of the Energy and Education departments as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and remove all campaign finance restrictions, requiring instead immediate reporting of donations.