Although it is sometimes said that Time Magazine reported that Smathers had said, “Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper before his marriage habitually practiced celibacy,” the magazine actually referred to the quote as a “yarn.” No Florida newspapers covering the campaign ever reported such remarks contemporaneously. Smathers offered $10,000 to anyone who could prove he said it, and to this day there have been no takers.

He may have had to deny it just to give it that ring of truthiness: whether he said it or not, he has benefited from the coverage of it.

Smathers died just this week, on Jan 22. The book “They Love a Man in the Country: Saints and Sinners in the Political South” has more of this kind of thing.

In the 1,403 days since the Iraq War started, Bush and the Republicans have controlled both the White House and Congress for 1,386 of them. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have now controlled Congress – but not the White House – for precisely 17 days (12, if you count actual business hours).

Yet in a stunning offensive, [wealthy conservative author Dinesh] D’Souza would have us believe, the “Pelosi left” and its al Qaeda allies already have the war on terror trapped in a friggin’ pincer movement. Why, in just those famous first ‘Hundred Hours’ alone, Iraq went from peaceful, democratic land of collegial debate over theological nuances to murderous and chaotic hellhole!

Folks, this is your 2007 Hoover Institution Rishwain Fellow. Wingnut welfare, indeed.

I’m inclined to say he doesn’t need the money but it beats working.

NPR : The People Have Spoken:

I believe in the politics [...] that teaches us all we owe to those who came before us and those who will come after. That each of us has drunk from wells we did not dig; that each of us has been warmed by fires we did not build.

So I was looking for the origin of the quote

The people have spoken — the bastards

I’m sure it was said, in a heartfelt way, at RNC HQ and the White House last night.

Via Q Daily News: “One public service announcement: if you have any problems voting (electronic voting machines that malfunction, officials that wrongly prevent you from casting a ballot, whatever), the National Campaign for Fair Elections has set up a toll-free hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE. The group has monitors and attorneys on-hand to help deal with problems as they arise, so it’s probably worth giving them a call with any issues.” Please post this on your blog and pass it on.

In other news, trolls associated with the voter suppression efforts underway are making prank calls to tie up the phone lines of services like this.

update: a few things:

In other keep in the vote news, check the robocall link – Laura Ingraham is making her play for the Ann Coulter attention-whore spot in tomorrow’s news by telling her radio listeners to call the Democratic voter protection hotline and hang up. Isn’t that cute? So, see, without even leaving mom’s basement her fans can make sure that minorities won’t get to vote.

updateder: how ’bout this?

You’d think the Governor would know who to call about this:

Despite delays, glitches, and other snafus, most polls will not extend voting hours.

In Denver, where the lines are long, the Democratic candidate for governor waited nearly two hours to vote, presumably for himself.

Today it’s important to go to the polls and vote.

Vote straight-ticket Democrat.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for torture.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for corruption.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for cronyism.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote against habeas corpus.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote against our troops.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote against liberty.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote against the Constitution.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote against being secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote against Social Security.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for “preemptive” war.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for incompetence.

A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for Bush.

Go out today. Vote Democratic.

Today is the first day of the struggle to take our country back.

Or you could follow Roxanne’s advice: do it because they can’t.

If I know you and you want an endorsement or a link, let me know.

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