We all know that the republicans have been having a lot of success in the past in painting virtually any Democrat as a rich elite snob. Of course, we all know that just about anyone who runs for national office these days is seriously richer than you or anyone you know. However, there's rich, and then there's rich. McCain falls into the latter category for sure...
From Tapped:
We know John and Cindy McCain are seriously wealthy
- Cindy's fortune has been estimated at $100 million, and they have
seven, yes, seven homes (if you're keeping track at home, there's the
estate in Sedona, which has two houses on it, the $4.7 million condo in
Phoenix, the condo in Arlington, VA, the condo in La Jolla, and the two condos in Coronado, California). But today, Politico managed to unearth
a few juicy details that show us just what kind of a lifestyle that
gets you. Sure, Cindy buys $3000 suits - not that big a deal. But here
are some other interesting points:
- Since 2004, they've spent $11 million on real estate.
- At times, Cindy has charged as much as $500,000 on one credit card and $250,000 on another in a single month.
You really have to work hard to charge three quarters of a million
dollars in one month. What is she buying, gold-plated Ferraris?
- Though the McCains spent a modest $184,000 on household
staff in 2006, in 2007 they spent $273,000. And who can blame them?
It's so hard to get good help these days.
- This is my favorite quote, about why they own two condos in the same building in the beachside town of Coronado: "When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh, this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go,'” she told Vogue. “Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one.”
Great post from Kos this morning, quoting a bowers post:
It must be really scary to be a conservative. To be one, you must live in constant fear of terrorists nuking the United States, of gay people on the verge of convincing you that you really enjoy sodomy, of Spanish becoming the official language of the United States next week, of every African-American voting seven or eight times in the next election, of radical Islam suddenly becoming the latest hip thing among kids across the country, of perpetual lesbian orgies in girls bathrooms in high schools across America, of liberals forcing everyone to become a vegan, of Christians being rounded up into concentration camps, and of Democrats outlawing private property if they were to ever take power again.
They do live in a state of fear, and what's more, they want everyone else to join them hiding under their bed, in their pool of urine.
Oh, they'll talk tough. They'll bluster and pound their chests like the neanderthals they are.
But inside, they are scared little children, terrified of the world, of people not like them, of change.
And they can't fathom any other way to live.
Conservatives claim to "love freedom" but it's really only as long as you're talking the 2nd amendment. Conservatives will sell out their own liberty if it means brown people with funny sounding names might sit near them on a plane. Toothless, mouth-breathing hicks in flyover states are convinced the "Islmaists" are out to get them, not understanding why people in New York, LA, San Francisco and other bona fide targets don't respond to fear the way they do - certainly not in the voting booth. Conservatives claim to love America, but they don't love anything about it - not the Constitution and certainly not other Americans (not, at least, the ones who disagree with them).
Conservatives are cowards.
Myrna Lim is running for San Francisco Supervisor, District 11 seat. She's challenging Geraldo Sandoval.
I found this on Tribe about her, written as a response to someone playing the gotchya game:
I finally met Myrna Lim in my mother's church last week. Frankly I have been curious who she is because of all the put downs and insults in this board. Turns out my mother and Ms. Lim have known each other for a long time. Her family has lived in the Excelsior for almost 40 years for 4 generations. Her dad came to the Excelsior in 1969. He was a former District Attorney in Manila. Her family used to operate and show Filipino movies in the Excelsior in the 1970's. They showed Filipino movies in the former Granada Theater and the Apollo Theater. Those theaters are now rented by Goodwill Store and Walgreens. Most people do not know about the tragedies in her family because she seems so upbeat and positive. My mom said, that is her personality. Her gay sister was killed in the old Granada Theater during a hold up masterminder by some people hateful against gays. Her brothers and sisters went to Balboa High School and Mission High School. Her nieces and nephews went to public schools and catholic schools.
My mom told me Ms. Lim used to be an activist in the Philippines against the Marcos when she was young. She was also an activist here in San Francisco. Apparently she was involved in the fight against the eviction of the tenants in the International Hotel. She was also involved with the farm workers in Delano. I didn't know that the Farm Workers Union were started by the Filipino farm workers under Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong.
I thought she was some right wing politician according to some chat boards like this one. I didn't realize that she was a true progressive from the old days. She is also a feminist. She used to be the President of the National Women's Politicial Caucus. She did a lot of volunteer work on her own time even though she was working full time and raising her kid. She was a Vista volunteer for Asian Inc. building public housing in the south of market area. She helps a lot of inner city kids turn their lives around from drugs and violence. She works on a lot of program for the elderly.
When I talked to Ms. Lim, I told her that some people like in this board call her a ditz. She just smiled and said, "well that's politics for you". She said that San Francisco even thought it is supposed to be the most liberal city in San Francisco, has a problem electing good women unless the woman has a strong and powerful man behind her. She said that some people do not want her in city hall because she is too independent and she is too vocal. I told her that I appreciate that because San Francisco needs independent politicians. The poor people are getting poorer. My mother and I might move out of our Richmond flat soon. Too bad she did not win. I did not know Ms. Lim is very smart, thoughtful and knowledgeable about government and politics.
I told her that my friends in D11 voted for Sandoval last time because he was supposed to be progressive. It turned out Sandoval received a lot of campaign contributions from big developers and lobbyists downtown. I thought I read the Bay Guardian saying that Sandoval is a good friend of billionaire Warren Hellman and gave him a lot of money on his campaign. Is that why Sandoval is supporting Newsom?
Too bad Ms. Lim did not win. She would have been good for San Francisco.
Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."
We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.
The gorgeous shwe shwe sandals that I ordered from shweshwe.co.za have arrived and I am thrilled with them. The women at the post office who handed me the parcel saw the company name on the package and wanted to know what was inside. When I told her she insisted I open them right then and there and then she took them round to all the other counters to show the ladies there ( Luckily Brixton has a small post office, so that was only two other ladies who had to ooh and aah over the shoes before I could get them back).
As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer I am going to be stepping out in style in these fun shoes.
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