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Obama assasination plot stopped by ATF

The ATF today said that it has intervened in a plot by two neo-nazi skinheads to assassinate Presidential candidate Barack Obama, as well as to kill and decapitate 102 black people in Tennessee.

The two males, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tennessee, and Paul Schlesselman 18, of West Helena, Arkansas, are being held without bond. The pair have been charged with illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun, conspiracy to rob a federally licensed gun dealer and making threats against a presidential candidate.

The ATF said that they disrupted plans by the two men to rob a gun store and target a high school that has a majority of African American students. When they were arrested, agents recovered a sawed-off shotgun, a rifle and three pistols.

Special Agent Jim Cavanaugh gave more details this afternoon, saying that the men planned to shoot 88 black people and remove the heads of 14 more. The two numbers, 88 and 14, have significance within the white supremacist community. After they had done this, the planned to take their killing spree nationally, eventually meeting up with Barack Obama and attempting to kill him, even if it meant that they themselves died trying but were unsuccessful.

McCain adviser and Reagan appointee Charles Fried casts vote for Obama

Palin's $150,000 wardrobe. General Colin Powell endorses Obama. McCain's brother calling 911 to complain about traffic. John McCain defending more red states than anticipated. And now, a recent McCain adviser and Solicitor General in the Reagan administration casts his absentee ballot for Obama. It's just not the best week to be John McCain.

Charles Fried, a Harvard Law professor and conservative thinker, says he cast his absentee ballot this week for Barack Obama. Although it may not be strange this election cycle to see a republican voter or congressman cross party lines to vote for Barack Obama, it gives pause to think that a former McCain adviser would vote for the opponent of the campaign on which he advised.

Fried stated in a letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign that the main reason he was casting his vote for Barack Obama was "the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis." Fried also requested that his name was taken off the several Mccain campaign-related committees that his name was attached to on various web sites and information sources.

McCain's brother calls 9-1-1 to complain about traffic

Joe McCain, brother of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, reportedly called 911 on Tuesday to complain about being stuck in traffic, and then, called again to complain about being told not to call 911 for non-emergency issues.

Here's the first call transcript:

Operator: 911 state your emergency

Caller: It's not an emergency but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95 traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?

Operator: Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic? (pause)

Caller: "Fuck you." (caller hangs up)

The operator then politely called back and left a voicemail for McCain telling him that 911 is for emergency purposes only and to not call to find out traffic information.

Joe McCain then called 911 back to talk about the drawbridge on the highway and about how he didn't like being told 911 wasn't for traffic.  He was still concerned that there was traffic going one way and traffic not going the other way. The operator then told Joe McCain that traffic is not something that 911 handles and that if he is worried about the drawbridge, he could call the Department of Traffic and Safety.

Really people. This stuff just keeps writing itself.

Politico has the audio.

Obama raises $150 Million in September

Obama's campaign has released their numbers for September. How much did the Senator raise? The most any candidate has ever raised in one month: $150,000,000. Yes, that's correct, $150 Million dollars. 632,000 donors contributed in September, bringing Obama's total amount of donors to 3.1 Million.

Obama draws 100,000 175,000 at Missouri rallies

Obama has drawn a crowd of100,000 at a rally in St. Louis, Missouri. Today, under the Gateway Arch, Obama is hoping to turn this red state blue. If this crowd is any indication, he may just have the support he needs.

Polls out on Friday from Rasmussen show Obama leading in the state, 52 to 46. Just weeks ago, however, Obama was down by ten points in the state.

This is Obama's biggest American crowd yet (second only to his appearance in Berlin which was estimated at 200,000). It is an encouraging sign that things are continuing to go Obama's way as he gains more and more support for his hopes of becoming President.

Update: Obama drew 75,000 people on Sunday to a rally in Kansas city. Put that together with today's endorsement by ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell and his $150 Million month, Obama is riding a wave of good news this weekend.

"Joe the plumber" who wasn't a plumber, but was related to Charles Keating

The media coverage post-debate this week has been focusing a lot on Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio resident who has been depicted as an average American worker trying to get by. McCain used "Joe the Plumber" to hit home his points against Barack Obama's tax plan. Unfortunately for McCain, it turned out that under Obama's tax plan, "Joe the Plumber" would actually be better off.

Also to note, "Joe the Plumber" isn't really a licensed plumber. He owes back taxes to the state of Ohio. And he's related to Charles Keating of the Keating Five.

"Joe the Plumber" is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who's Robert Wurzelbacher? He's Charles Keating's son-in-law. It appears McCain just doesn't realize the looking into the background of supporters and vice-president candidates before using them for political gain is a good thing. It illustrates the point that McCain is quick to jump to decisions, and usually, his decisions tend to come back and knock him down further than he had previously been.If you want to talk guilt by association McCain, you should probably look at your own background first. We all know the saying, "those who live in seven glass houses shouldn't throw stones", right?

Palin was a bad choice. Going 100% negative in advertising against Obama was a bad choice. Using "Joe the Plumber" as a main argument in the debate was a bad choice. I just don't think I want to see McCain in a position where he has to make a choice that directly affects me and every other American out there, only to realize a day or two later that it wasn't the best option.

The fact that Joe Wurzelbacher is that closely related to Charles Keating wants to make me wonder if the McCain campaign actually planted him at the end of the driveway to ask Obama a question. That kind of tactic of course would have required forethought and a carefully laid-out, iron-clad plan, which I'm not sure the McCain campaign would be capable of pulling off. Then again, the way their campaign has been run this political season has to make one wonder maybe he was a plant and they really are that inept.

Obama gains 1.5 Million NEW donors in September, up to 4 Million total

While the September fund raising numbers for Obama's campaign have not yet been released, he can at rest assured that he knows he may be heading for another record breaking month.

David Axelrod, Obama campaign manager, announced today that Obama has received donations from over 4 million individuals. That number is up 1.5 million from last month, meaning, the Obama campaign got 1.5 million new donors to contribute to his campaign. If the average donation was around $100, that would equal out to be $150 Million. Now, I highly doubt that that would be the actual number, and even half that, $75 Million, would be a record haul for any campaign in history. What's more is that there is no disputing that Obama has the largest grassroots supporter database, and with it, he is capable of wonderful things.

For now, we'll have to wait and see just how great of a haul Obama took in. But it seems he is on a roll lately, winning last night debate and leading in several key swing states that have never been in play before. The country might just get back on the right track after all.

McCain gives up on Michigan

John McCain's campaign announced today that they would be pulling their resources out of Michigan to concentrate on other battleground states. The McCain camp thought they had a good shot at turning Michigan red this year, but all of their money and effort has not paid off in the state.

Obama currently has a 10-12 point lead in the state. McCain's campaign will now focus on states they need to win to remain viable, including Ohio and Florida, where Obama has pulled even or ahead in recent polling. McCain also plans on aggressively advertising in Maine, a traditionally blue state that they think they could benefit from, although recent polling shows it as a strong Obama win. The most electoral votes McCain could net from Maine is 4 (they are given out proportionally to the winner of different districts). In Michigan, Obama will most likely get that state's 17 electoral votes.

Michigan is just one of several states to be heavily showing good signs for Obama. Other states include Virginia, North Carlolina, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Florida.