The Hollywood Liberal

Obama Will Maintain Chicago Residence
“The Obama family will keep their home in Chicago’s Hyde Park when they move to Washington in January,” the Washington Times reports.

“A news camera caught Barack Obama saying in Manny’s Deli on Friday afternoon the real estate market makes it a bad idea to sell the $1.6 million home where he lives with his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia.”

Said Obama: “We’re keeping our house… We’re staying in there for awhile. Now’s not the time to sell.”

Late Late Nite FDL: Barefoot On The Sidewalk
Are you the kind of person who avoided the cracks in the sidewalk for a long time? Did you do this out of superstition or just as a courtesy to the power of myth? Do you remember the first time you decided to let go of the myth and just step on the cracks with gusto or take the time to feel the cracks with your bare feet

Spearhead “Say Hey”

Damien Jurado “Ohio”

Are you the kind of person who avoided the cracks in the sidewalk for a long time? Did you do this out of superstition or just as a courtesy to the power of myth? Do you remember the first time you decided to let go of the myth and just step on the cracks with gusto or take the time to feel the cracks with your bare feet or hands?

Tonight we start with Michael Franti and Spearhead‘s new video, set to their song, Say Hey, who always embrace the cracks in the world’s sidewalk, followed by a simple song from Damien Jurado, Ohio, which does much the same from a very different angle.

What’s on your mind tonight?

Strategic Leaks Versus Unplanned Leaks
Since everyone is talking about how leak-prone the Obama operation has suddenly become, it seems worth making the distinction between two types of leaks. There are strategic leaks, which are approved and designed for a particular purpose by Obama’s central…

Obama In Berlin
The speech: Late Update: TPM Election Central analyzes the speech here….

Chambliss Skips Vote On Unemployment Benefits While Giving A Campaign Speech On Unemployment
On Thursday, Georgia’s Department of Labor announced that the state’s unemployment levels rose to 7 percent in October, the highest in 16 years; approximately 43,093 unemployed Georgians are looking for work. That same day, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who is locked in a tough run-off election battle with Democrat Jim Martin, gave a campaign speech […]

On Thursday, Georgia’s Department of Labor announced that the state’s unemployment levels rose to 7 percent in October, the highest in 16 years; approximately 43,093 unemployed Georgians are looking for work. That same day, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who is locked in a tough run-off election battle with Democrat Jim Martin, gave a campaign speech on the state’s economic troubles:

It’s imperative that we continue down the road of putting liquidity, integrity and confidence back in the financial marketplace so that we can see the credit market free up and people having the ability to borrow money to to operate and expand their businesses.

However, Chambliss was so busy campaigning that day that he actually skipped the Senate’s vote on the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008, which extended unemployment benefits “by 13 weeks in states with an unemployment rate of at least 6 percent.” Chambliss was one of just four senators to miss the vote. WCTV reported that Chambliss later sent out a press released praising “the passage of the law and [said he] hopes it will help laid-off workers get by while seeking a new job.”

Yesterday, WXIA in Atlanta said that Chambliss claimed he would have voted for the bill anyway. Watch WXIA’s report:

Chambliss has been pulling in a parade of high-profile conservatives to campaign for him at the last minute, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and next week, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Banking Regulator Played Advocate Over Enforcer
When Countrywide Financial felt pressured by federal agencies charged with overseeing it, executives at the giant mortgage lender simply switched regulators in the spring of 2007.