Verbatim

They drove our economy into a ditch. And we got in there, and we put on our boots, and we pushed, and we shoved, we were sweating and these guys were standing, watching us, and sipping on a Slurpee, and they were pointing at us, saying “How come you’re not pushing harder? How come you’re not pushing faster?” And then when we finally got the car up – and it’s got a few dings and a few dents, it’s got some mud on it, we’re going to have to do some work on it – they point to everybody and say, “Look what these guys did to your car!” After we got it out of the ditch. And then they got the nerve to ask for the keys back. I don’t want to give ’em the keys back. They don’t know how to drive.

Pres. Barack Obama, purportedly going “off script” in a Labor Day speech, and sparking a hashtag frenzy on Twitter to place “Slurpees” in the trending topics list.

Verbatim

That was an error, if I said that.

— Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), disowning her June 27 claim on Phoenix television station KPNX that, “Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert, either buried or just lying out there, that have been beheaded.” Brewer used the graphic and false assertion to bolster her position that Arizona should usurp federal powers and make its own laws concerning immigration policy and enforcement.

Prop 19: Legalizing Cannabis in California Could End Mexican Drug War

ad-yes-on-prop-19From a Washington Post op-ed Hector Aguilar Camín, editor the Mexican magazine Nexos, and Jorge G. Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister and now a lecturer at NYU:

On Nov. 2, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, deciding whether to legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. If the initiative passes, it won’t just be momentous for California; it may, at long last, offer Mexico the promise of an exit from our costly war on drugs.

The costs of that war have long since reached intolerable levels: more than 28,000 of our fellow citizens dead since late 2006; expenditures well above $10 billion; terrible damage to Mexico’s image abroad; human rights violations by government security forces; and ever more crime. In a recent poll by the Mexico City daily Reforma, 67 percent of Mexicans said these costs are unacceptable, while 59 percent said the drug cartels are winning the war…

Proposition 19 changes this calculation. For Mexico, California is almost the whole enchilada: Our overall trade with the largest state of the union is huge, an immense number of Californians are of Mexican origin, and an enormous proportion of American visitors to Mexico come from California. Passage of Prop 19 would therefore flip the terms of the debate about drug policy: If California legalizes marijuana, will it be viable for our country to continue hunting down drug lords in Tijuana? Will Wild West-style shootouts to stop Mexican cannabis from crossing the border make any sense when, just over that border, the local 7-Eleven sells pot?

Must See Video! Florida’s New Lt. Gov. Candidate Trashes Running Mate Rick Scott

The cameras rolled this week when Tea Party billionaire and fired CEO Rick Scott chose Florida Rep. Jennifer Carroll (R-Orange Park) as his running mate in his quest for governor. Fortunately, they also rolled a couple of weeks ago, when Carroll addressed her county RPOF chapter and stated all the reasons you should not support Rick Scott. Watch until the end, when Carroll really drives it home.

Boehner Invites Birther Radio Host to Broadcast from House ‘Speaker’s Office’ on Election Night

Willy Cunningham
Willy Cunningham
Ohio-based racist hate-speech provocateur Willie Cunningham first made national news in February 2008 when GOP presidential candidate John McCain threw him under the bus after Cunningham had warmed up the crowd at a McCain campaign event with a long screed insulting then-candidate Barack Obama as “a hack, Chicago-style Daley politician” and saying that “the great prophet from Chicago [will one day take] the stand and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing Kumbaya together around the table with Barack Obama.”

Now Speaker Wannabe John Boehner has invited Cunningham to broadcast his radio smearfest from Boehner’s office on Election Night:

[…]

Rick Scott Running Out of Running Mates

Carroll
Florida Dist. 13 Rep. Jennifer Carroll
Finding a running mate hasn’t been easy for Florida Governor candidate Rick Scott. The disgraced former HCA/Columbia Healthcare CEO left scorched earth between himself and the Republican Party of Florida in his primary campaign with state Attorney General Bill McCollum. And while state party partisans were quick to claim “unity” after the voters’ decision, they aren’t casting their personal fortunes with Scott.

The long list of people to turn down a chance to be Scott’s Lieutenant Governor include state Sen. Paula Dockery, former Lt. Gov. (under Jeb Bush) Toni Jennings, University of North Florida Pres. John Delaney, and state Reps. Mike Weinstein and Juan Zapata. It got to the point earlier in the week that Florida politicos were tweeting in jest, “Deeply honored but must turn down Scott running mate offer. Would take too much time from family.”

As Scott finds the field of Number Twos narrowing, persistent rumors point to his selection of state Rep. Jennifer Carroll (R-Orange Park). Like Scott, Carroll has had more than her share of ethics questions during her years of pubic service.

[…]

Verbatim

The votes today have been tallied and I accept the voters’ decision…No one could have anticipated the entrance of a multimillionaire with a questionable past who shattered campaign spending records and spent more in four months than has ever been spent in a primary race here in Florida. While I was disappointed with the negative tone of the race, I couldn’t be more proud of our campaign and our supporters for fighting back against false and misleading advertising…

— Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, conceding victory in the Republican primary for the governor’s seat, but not endorsing former opponent tea bagger Rick Scott, despite attempts by Florida Republicans to claim unity after the slugfest.