Missoulapolis.com posts are missing

This morning I found all my posts had disappeared, including the one I was working on. Nothing saves. And I found a lot of old comments from Max Bucks, Dave Budge and others "awaiting moderation" when I don't even use comment moderation.

Anyway, I think the host is screwing with the SQL server. Developing...

THIS SITE HAS MOVED---------------->

Missoulapolis now at http://missoulapolis.com.

Getting the Bum's Rush

Congress is in a big hurry to pass the Mother of All Bailouts. The market rallied today because there is "progress" in the Congressional negotiations. They've just got to get 'er done now.

...[a] Democrat on the committee, Brad Sherman, said that if Congress does not act in the next few days, the bailout would not likely pass in its current form."

My calls are coming in about 300 to 2 against this," he told CNBC. "That's why if this bill doesn't pass on Saturday or Sunday, it won't pass in its current form, because if members go home and actually talk to their constituents, they'll see the anger at this."

They're all getting deluged with calls just like our delegation. How about that. By the way, here are their direct DC numbers:

Sen. Baucus 202-224-2651
Sen. Tester 202-224-2644
Rep. Rehberg 202-225-3211

MSM Pushback

The Great Falls Tribune takes aim at those outta control bloggers, albeit through an op-ed borrowed from the Philadelphia Inquirer. The target of the op-ed appears to be some particularly nasty forum at Philly.com.

It makes me wonder what exactly the Trib's local angle was in running this, on their own server yet. Was a shot at that persistent and diligent critic Gee Guy himself, his commenters, the Trib's own blogs and forumites - ? Hmm.

Anonymous comments welcome!

Your Congressional Contact Link!

Today I found this handy link that finds your congressional contacts, in case you want to call or e-mail them about some issue or other. This link is for Montana.

Check Out Brad Molnar Interview at MT Headlines

Montana Headlines conducted a great 2-part interview of Brad Molnar, who is running for re-election to the Public Service Commission. He's quite a character whom we know too little of here in the western part of the state.

Comparing the PSC to the Legislature, where he served four terms:

We make the Appropriations Committee look like a bunch of panty-waists. Schweitzer talks (and talks and talks,) about energy but we analyze myriad proposals constantly. We recently implemented an additional 50 MW of QF wind (never mind the jargon just catch the drift.) If history holds that will cost consumers over a billion dollars more than the electricity is worth.

And we have zero capacity for ancillary services to firm it. NWE was against it. Montana Consumer Council was against it. I was the only no vote. The press never reported it (Who would write the story and who would understand it?). Only lobbyists and special interest liked it. By the time it kicks in no one will remember it and those that voted for it will be retiring from their new jobs as lobbyists for the same special interests. (Least ways that's my humble opinion)

Go read! And don't miss the comments after Part 2 Part 1.

Part 1
Part 2

Obama as Accidental Nominee

Christopher Hitchens, that lovable erstwhile Trotskyist, seems to be a bit frustrated with Barack Obama.

Why is Obama so vapid and hesitant and gutless? Why, to put it another way, does he risk going into political history as a dusky Dukakis? Well, after the self-imposed Jeremiah Wright nightmare, he can't afford any more militancy, or militant-sounding stuff, even if it might be justified...

He suggests an interesting theory I hadn't considered before.

By the end of that grueling campaign season, a lot of us had got the idea that Dukakis actually wanted to lose - or was at the very least scared of winning. Why do I sometimes get the same idea about Obama? To put it a touch more precisely, what I suspect in his case is that he had no idea of winning this time around. He was running in Iowa and New Hampshire to seed the ground for 2012, not 2008, and then the enthusiasm of his supporters (and the weird coincidence of a strong John Edwards showing in Iowa) put him at the front of the pack. Yet, having suddenly got the leadership position, he hadn't the faintest idea what to do with it or what to do about it.

Nominee by accident. Ace has more thoughts on this theory.

Obama's Astroturf?

This is fascinating detective work by the venerable Jawa Report. It appears that persons connected to the Obama campaign posted an "independent" video that falsely exaggerated Sarah Palin's involvement with the Alaska Independence Party.

Our research suggests that a subdivision of one of the largest public relations firms in the world most likely started and promulgated rumors about Sarah Palin that were known to be false. These rumors were spread in a surreptitious manner to avoid exposure...

Using techniques that we've used in the past to find the identity of online terrorist supporters, the Jawa team went to work trying to figure out who was behind what appeared, in our opinion, to be a professionally orchestrated smear campaign aimed at Sarah Palin with the ultimate goal of electing Barack Obama....

It would appear that the ad, while professionally produced, was put on YouTube and then spread in such a way as to make it seem like amateurs had made it and spread it. We can't help but wonder if the missing disclaimer on the video was an intentional exploitation of a loophole meant to distance the people behind the ad from its outright lies?

The goal apparently was to get the netroots to email the video to 10 other people each, making the lie grow into a story and into the media. Upon being tipped off yesterday by the Jawa Report itself that it was hot on the trail, the video was quickly yanked and related e-mail accounts closed. As Jawa Report asks, why would a true independent amateur do this on the verge of his moment of Internet glory?

If found to be a professional effort, it would be a violation of campaign finance laws. Oh, and the "known to be false" allegation means this could be litigated as a libel action in court by Sarah Palin, if she so chooses, even though she is a public figure.

Read the whole thing, or go to Michelle Malkin for the executive summary.