Update on Bgate

Breaking from KDKA in Pittsburgh: "A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow."

The Story:

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter "B" in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

Ashley Todd, 20, of Texas, initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.

Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.

Authorities, however, declined to release the results of that test.

Investigators did say that they received photos from the ATM machine and "the photographs were verified as not being the victim making the transaction."

This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the story.

The commander added that Todd will face charges; but police have not commented on what those charges will be.

According to police, investigators working on the interview process detected several inconsistencies in Todd's story that differed from statements made in the original police report.

Pittsburgh Police Public Information Officer Diane Richard released a statement earlier today, saying: "Because of the inconsistencies in her statements, Ms. Todd was asked to submit to a polygraph examination which she agreed to do."

No photos of Todd are being released by Pittsburgh Police at this time.

The investigation is continuing as officials determine what charges will be filed.

I Need Some of This

Whirl of Change Ice Cream

Peanut-nougat ice cream whirled with chunks of chocolate-covered peanut brittle and a caramel ribbon. An election flavor in 2008.

Fey and Ferrell Are So Fierce

If you were too busy watching the Phillies last night, you should see this sketch from the SNL Weekend Update Thursday. I think the McCain campaign will be pretty pissed off. Tina Fey is really trying to make this her last appearance as Mrs. Palin.

Shocker: NYT Endorses Obama

The endorsement by the NYT of Barack Obama is not as powerful as the one by the Washington Post, I don't think, but worth a read nonetheless.

"The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing 'robo-calls' and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities."

The Girl Who Cried "B"

Okay so there is this story that I followed all night last night (after the Phillies) that is simply and utterly ridiculous. So this girl in Pittsburgh, Ashley Todd, is a 20-year-old McCain volunteer from Texas. She went to the police on Wednesday to report what she thinks is a politically motivated attack. Here is her story: according to her Twitter account, she was "stubbornly" driving around Pittsburgh looking for a Bank of America ATM where she could withdraw money and not be charged a fee. She twitters a little while later that she thinks she is on "the wrong side" of the city. She then claims that about 9pm, after withdrawing $60 from an ATM, a black man held her at knifepoint and took her $60. He then became enraged after seeing the McCain/Palin sticker on her car and proceeded to punch and kick her and carve a "B" into her cheek with his knife, supposedly for Barack Obama.

Wow. These are some hefty accusations. Let's take a look at the photo she took of herself after the incident and then use our CSI skills (I've been watching for several years now, that gives me at least a sophomore level of knowledge here, right?) and compile some questions we have about this story.

1. Okay, so my burning question here is this: Why would the B be carved backwards? It's almost as if someone carved it while looking in a mirror...
2. That black eye looks pretty dark, but it seems to be healing miraculously fast. No swelling? We can still see her orbital. And no broken blood vessels? I guess the real question should be, which brand eyeshadow did she use? I've been trying to create a smokey eye for special occasions for some time now, I can never find a dark enough shade.
3. This guy must have really been trained in etching. That B is like, perfectly cut out. And again, perfectly healed. No skin was broken? And he didn't even get any scratches on the rest of your face, even as you struggled.
4. So you are adept enough at using your phone to Twitter while driving, but you can't use that phone to say, call a Bank of America and locate an ATM in area with which you are familiar?
5. 9pm in the Bloomfield neighborhood. I'm pretty sure this Italian section of the city is full of restaurants and shops by this ATM. And no one saw this incident occur? And none of the bank branch cameras caught it either? Or the street corner cameras?
6. Walk me through the sticker thing again, too. So he mugged you, and then somehow knew which car was yours, saw the McCain sticker, didn't ask you about it, just got so angry in a few second flat that he hit you? How did you know it was the sticker that did it?

Okay, so apparently, I'm not the only one who has some questions about the incident. The Pittsburgh police, after receiving seemingly conflicting information from Ms. Todd, have decided to give her a polygraph test.

And look, I'm not one to make fun of someone who was attacked on the street and seriously hurt. But I am convinced that this girl is lying (and, actually, so is Michelle Malkin). And this would be a stupid hoax if it weren't such a blatant "race-baiting stunt" (Fox News's words, not even mine) in an already volatile political environment. McCain campaign workers could now be concerned that they are specifically being targeted. They may even act out in what they consider self-defense to threats that aren't really there. Or some other crazy may act out in retaliation on an Obama worker. These are dangerous consequences I doubt Ms. Todd thought about before she decided to make herself an October surprise and a Republican hero.

I should probably also stress that I do not think the McCain campaign had anything to do with it. Both campaigns have responded responsibly to the story. I think this girl just acted on her own.

Ashley, your constitutional debating skills may have gotten you out of a traffic ticket. Let's see you use them in your upcoming obstruction of justice case.

Alright so the Phillies lost last night, 4-2 in Tampa. We played terribly, stranding 11 runners in scoring position for the second game in a row, sometimes with only 1 out. Brett Myers did a fine job pitching--it wasn't his fault. It was the complete ineffectiveness of our offense that caused us to fall behind early, come close to evening out, just to blow each opportunity. We had the kind of game that has plagued us throughout the entire post-season: one player comes out to play while the rest just kind of phone it in. Last night it was Carlos Ruiz, who did a great job blocking the plate and went 3 for 3 with two doubles. Basically, we beat ourselves last night.

And that's all the negative stuff I'm going to say. I spent a minute after the game last night being upset and then I moved on. Because here's what's up: if that was the worst baseball we could play last night and the supposed best team in the best league only beat us 4-2 on their home turf (seriously---turf), then things can only look up from here. We took one from them in Tampa, potentially erasing their home-field advantage. And now we head home to Philly where the fans are very excited and the stadium is real (not that I'm trying to define real baseball and fake baseball--that may lose me my congressional seat).

I hope the Phillies are thinking the same way as I am. Because as obvious as it may seem, they have to play to win.

Daily Dose

This Has Totally Never Been Said Before

A completely original piece in Slate about Philadelphia sports fans.

[Slate]

I'm Getting Weepy Over Election Stories Already

You have to read this from Ben Smith on Politico:

Early voting in Evansville

Here's an early voting story from a medical student in Evansville, Ind.:

I squeaked in just before the 7pm deadline to find two very frustrated poll workers and a line of a couple dozen people, due to problems with the computerized voting system not accepting people's driver's licenses. It was taking about 7-10 minutes per person just to get the computer to accept them as valid and to print out their ballot, causing very long delays.

For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn't in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president. Anyone who doesn't think that African-American turnout will absolutely SHATTER every existing record is in for a very rude surprise.

There were about 20 people in front of me but remarkably not a single person left the room without voting over the 2 hours it took to get through the line.

Daily Dose

Also, since my absence, I haven't mentioned Monday's Daily Show, which was really good. It addresses what I just talked about in my post on Michelle Bachmann: this whole idea that there is a "real" American and a "fake" America--that somehow we who live in cities are not representative of America (although we certainly make up most of the population at 80%). Jason Jones's trip to Wasilla is very telling.

You can check out the whole episode here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/episodeId=188632

If Michelle Bachmann Loses I Will Laugh So Hard

Okay so if you're ever watching any of the 24-hour news networks and there is a brunette conservative commentator who you can't decide if she's really attractive or if she's really insane, you're probably watching Michelle Bachmann. Bachmann is the conservative Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota that makes Sarah Palin look like Bambi. Well, last week she was on Chris Matthews and said some ridiculous things. Here's the video:



Okay, so my problem is not her argument that Barack Obama has connections with shady characters. I certainly don't agree with that argument because I think it's dubious at best, but I can understand conservatives making that argument. My big problem is the idea that "leftist" and "liberal" makes one "anti-American." The fundamentalist, neoconservative movement of the last decade has defined what it means to be "American" in such narrow terms, that "liberal" has become a curseword and anyone leaning left of center is considered unpatriotic. I'm not sure what America she grew up in (although, I must admit I live in "fake Virginia," so what do I know), but I learned in Social Studies that our democracy was founded on the principles of free speech and a healthy dose of dissention. Because someone has political beliefs based on a different set of ideologies does not make them evil, it makes them different. And Bachmann may not have noticed, but our elections have been very very close in the last few cycles; a little less than half the country agrees at least in part with "leftists." Does this mean we half of Americans are all anti-American?

Look, just as liberals have a right to say what they please, so do conservatives like Bachmann. But Bachmann's assertion that we need to root out all of these "leftist anti-Americans" is something right out of an Arthur Miller play. It's a ridiculous notion. But luckily, this country isn't buying this anymore. In the days following Bachmann's tirade on Chris Matthews, the opponent for her congressional seat raised more than $1.3 million, doubling his funds. The NRCC even pulled its television advertisements in support of Bachmann in the district. Her seat that just a week ago was seen as very safe is now seriously in jeopardy.

Additionally, I hate how when some political commentator gets asked to clarify their obviously ridiculous and illogical statements, the interviewer is somehow "cornering" them, like Bachman says Matthews did to her. What? I can't just spew nonsensical, hysterical bullshit and people won't just love me for it? She's the new Ann Coulter--she just wants to say shocking shit and get on tv. But unlike Coulter, whose job it is to just be loud and dumb, Bachman has something to lose. And lose it she apparently might.

We're Not Getting Swept!

[philly.com]

Okay, this is not the positive thinking I should be practicing. But seriously, Phillies win Game Numero Uno of the World Series by a score of 3-2--in Tampa no less--meaning, mostly, that we are not getting swept. So far, that's good enough for me. But dear god: if the rest of this series is going to be like this game, I will need to consult a cardiologist daily. Because, I lied, just not getting swept is not going to be enough. Now that we've won one, I want to win them all. I'm already thinking about how I will be in Philly on Sunday if we maybe--just maybe--clinch. It's unbelievable.

It certainly wasn't the prettiest game. Coley was amazing, just great. And my boyfriend, Chase Utley, hit a two-run-homer in the first that really turned out to be the key to the Phillies win. The rest of the team had a terrible time hitting. Howard looked just awful. No one could produce any situational hitting. We stranded 11 runners in scoring position, which is unacceptable. If we want to win any more games in this series, we are going to have to do way more. Coley can't pitch every game. And Lidge may be perfect to this point, but that's bound to end sometime, although I hope that some time is later rather than sooner.

So tonight I will go to bed happy and tomorrow I will obsessively read about how we won and watch highlights and interviews and feel warm and fuzzy. Until tomorrow night when the nerves start all over again.

Charlie Manuel at his post-game conference: "Cole's pretty good, man. I'm glad he's pitching for us."

Me too, Charlie. Me too.

Oh ps: I really hope they get rid of the cowbells for Game 2. That was so fucking annoying, even more so than those damn thundersticks in Milwaukee.

Internet? It's Me, Caitlar

Okay so I've been noticeably absent since Friday. Boyfriend and I went to a family wedding (my godfather's daughter) in Delaware and we had a great time all around. Such a great time, in fact, that I spent all of Sunday in bed/couch once we got home. On Monday when I still felt like crap, I realized that it was probably beyond a hang-over and I was seamlessly transitioning into my change of season cold. So I've been trying to de-stress myself and lay off the internet (about which I can get somewhat obsessive). Sometimes we all need a little internet vacation. So I signed out of gchat, closed all my tabs, and let the blog sit for a few days. It's hard to jump right back into it though. Where do I start? Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama? Michelle Bachman and her interview with Chris Matthews right out of an Arthur Miller play? The fact that the Phillies are playing the Rays and not the Red Sox? Sarah Palin's $150,000 shopping spree with RNC donations?

And then I read the NYT today and I just knew what I had to do. You might want to sit down for this: Maureen Dowd wrote a really good piece today. No, seriously. And that's the thing--she wrote seriously for once and stopped trying to be, as one friend put it, "cutesy like Tina Fey doing Palin." She talks about talking to Colin Powell and his reasons for backing Obama, focusing on the growing sentiment that Muslim-Americans are not Americans. It's the same theme that the Daily Show picked up on last week, but without the sarcasm and with real people. It's definitely worth a read.