links for 2008-10-19

With an African-American running for president this year, there has been a lot of chatter about the "Bradley effect," allowing the media to wail about institutional racism in America.

Named after Tom Bradley, who lost his election for California governor in 1982 despite a substantial lead in the polls, the Bradley effect says that black candidates will poll much stronger than the actual election results.

First of all, if true, this is the opposite of racism: It is fear of being accused of racism. For most Americans, there is nothing more terrifying than the prospect of being called a racist. It's scarier than flood or famine, terrorist attacks or flesh-eating bacteria. To some, it's even scarier than "food insecurity."

Political correctness has taught people to lie to pollsters rather than be forced to explain why they're not voting for the African-American.

A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.

In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Kenneth J. Connor said that his reappraisal of Rita Rezko's property was replaced with a higher one and that he was fired when he questioned the document.

Mr. Connor, a real estate and commercial credit analyst at the Mutual Bank Corp. in Chicago, also noted in the complaint that the bank received a grand jury subpoena in October 2006 requiring it to produce information concerning Mrs. Rezko's purchase, including the bank's files on the property.
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Crickets from the MSM.

It's unlikely that the American media will produce the "penetrating exposé" into whether members of Congress are "pro-America or anti-America" that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called for Friday, but there has been at least one consequence she may not have expected: Her congressional opponent, Democrat El Tinklenberg, has been showered with cash from all parts of the country — America, that is — as apparently insulted Americans respond to Bachmann's request.

"I can absolutely confirm that we have had in the last 24 hours donations from hundreds and hundreds of people from all over the country," said Tinklenberg campaign manager Anna Richey. "It's coming in so fast I can't get a hold on it and can't give a precise number. It's still coming in." At minimum, she said, $150,000 has so far been donated and she expects the total, which the campaign will release later today, to be far higher.
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Again, why is anyone from the GOP bothering with Chris Matthews or MSNBC?

It might be a good idea for the folks from the McCain campaign to take a day off, take a breath, and then return to work. Republicans unaffiliated with the campaign tell me the "bunker" mentality there is really starting to hurt them.

To wit: McCain senior adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer on MSNBC today.

"As a proud resident of Oakton, Virginia, I can tell you that the Democrats have just come in from the District of Columbia and moved into northern Virginia," Pfotenhauer said, speaking of Democratic gains in that part of the state. "And that's really what you see there.

"But the rest of the state, 'real Virginia,' if you will, I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain’s message," she continued.
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Why is anyone from the GOP going on MSNBC? Just boycott them and NBC news.

Sarah Palin has arrived in New York and will head to NBC headquarters at Rockefeller Center at 4 p.m. ET for an afternoon of rehearsals before making her much-anticipated debut on 'Saturday Night Live' this evening.

An aide to Palin said Saturday that "there are multiple scripts," but would not elaborate.

"Things are in the works," said Palin spokesperson Tracey Schmitt. "Stay tuned."

As of Friday evening, Palin had yet to see a script for the sketch show, according to another campaign adviser.

UPDATE: Palin has arrived at SNL's studios, accompanied by three aides. She is expected to spend the rest of the evening in rehearsals.
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Flap can hardly wait – NOT….

The Chicago Tribune, on the day it announced an endorsement for Barack Obama, quietly slipped a potential bombshell story about The One on its Swamp blog as the day was ending.

Just weeks before Election Day, a former banker has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court claiming he was fired for reporting to his bosses that there had been some shenanigans with the paperwork on a loan involving the purchase of Barack Obama’s South Side home and its neighboring lot.

Kenneth Conner claims in the suit that an appraisal found the vacant lot purchased by Obama fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko was worth $125,000 less than the bank’s first appraisal. The Republican National Committee was peddling the suit today with the apparent hope that Conner’s allegation would lend credence to the suggestion Obama needed Rezko’s help to finance the purchase of the Kenwood home–something Obama has denied.
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The MSM ignores Rezko and The One – He is their Messiah. Get it?

Over at Tapped, A. Serwer, fresh off calling me a racist for saying that Gwen Ifill should not have moderated the debate because she didn't tell the Commission on Presidential Debates about her book on "The Age of Obama," declares that I am paranoid, too.

He writes, "there isn't a single instance of organized voter fraud that Geraghty can actually point to, despite being up in arms about it. That's "paranoia"."

Today, news out of New Mexico, the state GOP looked at information for 92 newly-registered voters in one district, and found 28 had "missing or inaccurate Social Security numbers or birth dates. In some cases, more than one voter was registered using the same Social Security number. In others, people who the Republicans said had no Social Security number on public record were registered." All of these are of individuals who have already cast ballots in the June New Mexico state legislative Democratic primary.

A host of well-known figures, including some Republicans, have indicated they would be willing to serve in some capacity as Obama begins to acquire a winner’s glow. From Senator John Kerry, the 2004 presidential candidate with hopes of becoming secretary of state, to Larry Summers, a former US Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator who has been tipped as defence secretary, there are plenty who have signalled their availability.
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Sorry to disappoint this Brit writer but these are not stars and Chuck Hagel is not even considered a Republican anymore.