My best estimate is that there were about 300 (+ or -) Dems assembled at Union Station; a smattering of partisan t-shirts among them, but generally quite civil and good-humored.  Of course the gubernatorial candidates were all present and smiling.  Gov's Kunin and Dean were there and Phil Hoff was fondly referred to, evoking the glory days of Democratic hegemony in the state's highest office.

There was a moment of silence in memory of the two recently fallen young soldiers from Vermont, during which you couldn't hear a keyboard click.  Acknowledgement of Chairman Judy Bevens; then salutes to all the winning and losing Dems in yesterday's race.  First among those to take the podium was Doug Hoffer.  Was it my imagination or did he actually get the loudest cheers from the assembly?  He thanked Tom Salmon for becoming a Republican.  Laughter.   Next was Jim Condos who promised accountability and transparency when he would inevitably take the Sec. of State's office.  Then Steve Howard, who promised to fight for Vermont's Middle Class ("middle class values" as he put it, which I found a little odd.)  Jeb Spaulding was mentioned, and all those who had decisively carried their legislative districts.

Sen. Leahy was introduced to thunderous applause and made some remarks on behalf of Peter Welch (who was also there.) He complimented his campaign manager, Carolyn Dwyer; and then presented checks to Jim Condos, Doug Hoffer and victorious Senate nominees.  I asked Doug later how it felt to accept that check from Sen. Leahy and he had a one word answer: "Great!  He said he expects he'll be getting a lot of advice from all kinds of people now!

They wrapped-up the event with all five candidates for governor, standing shoulder to shoulder on the podium, beaming into the crowd.  No mention of the vote tally; no suggestion of a winner. That was it.  Mission accomplished?

Now we wait... some more...

According to Thursday's Free Press,  there has now been a 90% die-off of the cave-dwelling bat population in the northeast due to a still unidentified pathogen associated with the fungal condition known as "white nose syndrome."

Coupled with the massive  collapses occurring among bee colonies, this is not just a sad scenario, but an extremely alarming one with regard to our food security.   These creatures play a vital role in natural insect control for fruit and vegetable crops.  What is happening to our future chances for survival on a purely subsistence level while all of our energy and resources are directed toward "growing" an already enormous and dysfunctional consumer economy and waging an irrational war on the other side of the globe?  We have surrendered much of our investigative science capacity to corporate agendas, and what remains in the way of publicly funded efforts is  frequently targeted by the right, either as a waste of money or a moral menace.  Ignorance and hubris threaten our very survival, but as we are witnessing in Copenhagen, the industrialized giants seem to be locked in a paralytic state of denial.  This will end badly.

We first told you about Eat Wonky, a food truck which will serve up poutine and hot dogs, back in June. Last night, we were invited to preview some of Wonky's menu items as they prepare to go out for full service today for lunch at Franklin Square, U Street NW tonight, and H Street NE on Saturday night.

During the preview, we got a real sense of what the truck is equipped to do. Without a hard-wired source of energy, most food trucks run off generators. They have a tendency to fail, and have led to many delayed truck openings and operating issues. Perhaps predictably, when the preview kicked off, the truck was having issues with their generator. Luckily, they have a propane back up. Even though it doesn't get the food as hot, it does allow them to continue working until they eventually got the generator back online. Co-owner Jeff Kelley joked, "we'll keep going even if the gas goes."

"We'll be back there with magnifying glasses trying to get you your food," Kelley promised.

For all you cheese curd aficionados, Wonky's curds are the real thing: they squeak when you bite into them. Plain dogs are $3, wonky dogs with poutine on top are $6, grilled squeaky cheese with crushed red pepper and basil is $5.50, and poutine is $5.50. Plain fries are $3, but those with nut allergies should be aware they're fried in peanut oil. And if you're looking for a sweet treat, whoopie pies from Treet are $3 (we'll have more about those later).

I was quite taken with Bryan Weaver's first campaign video -- an homage to Paul Wellstone and a piece of much-needed levity in an election season that has taken itself far too seriously, far too often. Plenty of other people thought the same: Weaver's charismatic performance has now hit over 77,000 views on YouTube. That's not to shabby for a guy that, until this summer, most people outside of Ward 1 had probably never heard of.

The Ward 1 Council candidate's camp dropped the highly anticipated follow-up earlier this week, and while it's fun -- the moment with the man slamming the door in Weaver's face proves his obvious ability to enjoy a laugh at his own expense -- it just doesn't have quite the same punch. (Plus, while we don't have an issue with his hard-working campaign staffers getting some play, Weaver probably would have been better served to get his mug on screen a little more, what with the election less than two weeks away.) I will say that if you ever wanted to imagine what would have happened if Kevin Smith decided to make short-form political advertisements instead of a movie about retail employees in 1994, it'd probably would have looked a lot like this.

Joe Sestak:

The Pennsylvania Senate race is now former President Clinton's top political priority this fall, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) asserted Thursday. [. . .]"Actually, I was talking with them the other day, and they just want to know what days," Sestak said of Clinton during an appearance on MSNBC. "They told me I'm their top priority, and I'm going to keep working on that."[. . .] Sestak suggested Clinton was likely to campaign again for him this fall in the Keystone State, where the Clinton brand remains popular.

Sestak wants to be associated with the Clinton brand because the Clinton brand means good economic times. The current Dem brand does not. It's still the economy, stupid.

Speaking for me only

. . . about the weenie Beltway Left:

Ta-Nehesi Coates and Matt Yglesias (both of whom I have great respect and even affection for) are being bizarrely literal about [Markos' book American Taliban. . . .] Since only one person in this exchange has actually read the book I'm guessing writing is not the real source of this argument. It feels remarkably like the many old arguments we've had over the years about whether or not "the left" is embarrassing everyone by acting out and breaking the rules of polite political discourse. And that argument's been going on as long as I can remember.

(Emphasis supplied.) Indeed. This is merely the continuing battle about Fighting Dems and Conciliatory Dems. When I was at Daily Kos (from 2003 through 2006) this was the never ending daily battle. This is more of the same, with the added bit of uninformed personal smears against Markos as good as the vintage smears by The New Republic against Markos. Digby writes:

I have to say that it's remarkably uncharitable for so many people to make the unsupported assertion that Markos wrote this book to gain attention, traffic or whatever.

Digby is remarkably charitable to call it "uncharitable." It is typical Beltway Left behavior from folks who have spent a lot of time defending the likes of Jeff Goldberg and Andrew Sullivan.

Speaking for me only

Cathedral High School in Springfield, Massachusetts forced out the school's athletic director after she married her female partner in August, The Republican reports:

"Christine M. Judd, who served as athletic director and dean of students, said she is no longer an employee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield school system after a meeting Wednesday with administrators of the Catholic high school. The diocese listed her departure as a resignation, but Judd said she is still exploring her legal options. 'I was given a choice of termination or resignation,' Judd said. 'I’m hurt, but I wish nothing but the best for Cathedral, its students, the parents, the athletic teams, administration and faculty. I bleed purple (the school’s color).' Judd, a Springfield resident, worked for the Catholic school for 12 years, beginning as a science teacher in 1998. She became dean of students six years ago and was given the added duties of athletic director three years ago."

Judd pointed out the hypocrisy she believes exists at the diocese: "Judd said she questions if there are lay persons who work for the Catholic diocese who divorce and remarry without an annulment, or employees who use birth control, or men who have had vasectomies, or individuals who are pro-choice on abortion. "

Said Judd: "I was hoping that my loyalty, my professionalism the last 12 years would supersede the current hypocrisy that has already been shown with the Diocese of Springfield."

When Clayton residents go to the polls in November to vote on whether they would like to see MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) operating in the county, it will most likely be taken by the Board of Commissioners as a suggestion.

According to the transit advocacy group, Citizens for Progressive Transit (CfPT), the board has missed a crucial deadline to call for a binding referendum to create an additional one-cent sales tax to fund the county’s participation in MARTA.

CfPT President Lee Biola said that Sept. 2 marked the last day the board could call for a binding referendum on the matter to appear on the ballot for the Nov. 2 general election. Instead, a non-binding straw poll on the topic will appear on the ballot, as called for by the April passage of House Bill 1446.

“Today is the deadline to call that referendum, so effectively, there will not be a binding referendum,” Biola said Thursday. “We had that rally [in July] and asked that people have a chance to vote in a binding referendum. They [the board] were made aware of this deadline ... but this is something that they did not want to pursue.”

Hall, Joel (2010-9-3). Hopes shot for binding MARTA referendum. Clayton News Daily. Retrieved on 2010-9-3.

(photo: Miriella via Flickr)

The White House was okay with Robert Gibbs attacking the Professional Left and their Catfood Commission Co-Chair attacking, well, everyone.

But they wouldn’t let Steven Rattner’s claim that Rahm Emanuel had attacked the UAW go unanswered.

Rattner depicts White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as a force to be reckoned with who disparaged unions — once quipping “Fuck the UAW” — and who effectively supervised Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner during his first rocky months on the job by dictating his public appearances and staff picks.

However, unlike Rattner, who put his name to his version of Rahm’s attack on the UAW, the White House push-back was done under the cover of cowardly anonymity.

A senior White House aide emails: “Throughout the entire process that saved the auto industry, Rahm tirelessly defended and advocated on behalf of the auto workers. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply ridiculous.”

Uh-huh. So ridiculous that it couldn’t be said on-the-record.

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company says a ban would also imperil the ambitious Gulf Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to voluntarily support.

BP executives insist that they have not backed away from their commitment to the White House to set aside $20 billion in an escrow fund over the next four years to pay damage claims and government penalties stemming from the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The explosion killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil into the gulf.

AFP - President Barack Obama will next week make a new bid to stem ebbing political support over the slowing economic recovery, with visits to the struggling Midwest and a formal White House news conference.

Two positive things can be said about today's jobs report from the Labor Department. First, it was significantly better than the one for August 2009, and June and July 2010 were not as bad as had been previously calculated. The stock market apparently loves the report since many experts were predicting far worse.

There were 60,000 jobs created if you leave out the Census. Overall: 54,000 jobs lost, with 121,000 government layoffs, including 114,000 Census workers. Private-sector jobs created: 67,000. Unemployment rate: a rise to 9.6 percent. Unemployment plus underemployment: a rise to 16.7 percent. Number of Americans officially unemployed: 14.9 million. Number unemployed, underemployed and so in despair they've given up looking: perhaps 16 million. The employment-population ratio: up a tenth of a point to 58.5 percent.

During the first eight months of 2010, fewer new private-sector jobs (763,000) have been created than were lost in January 2009 alone. At the current rate of new job creation, it will be mid-2017 before as many Americans are working as was the case 32 months ago when the Great Recession began.

Click here for a larger image of this Calculated Risk graphic.

This marks the 16th month that the official unemployment rate has been above 9 percent. If it remains there for another three months, which seems more than likely, it will mark the longest stretch of joblessness above that level since the 1930s.

Meanwhile, policymakers argue over what will crank up an economy that, short of two years at the end of the 1990s, has failed to generate jobs at a "full employment" level of 4-5 percent for 40 years. That argument focuses on conventional measures - such as government-funded stimulus, shifting tax burdens, curtailing or expanding regulation and reforming trade policy. More radical measures, such as expanding the public sector of the economy European-style, are not on the table. Only the most left-wing politicians in a handful of safe districts would survive after suggesting this kind of approach, but even they haven't done so.

Given voters' traditional attitude toward the party in power during economic hard times, the jobs report is certin to add to a growing sense of foreboding about the upcoming elections among Democrats and their activist allies. The President will speak about the economy this morning at 10 a.m. EDT.

We really need private businesses to step up and begin to hire more aggressively for this recovery to really gain momentum," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester ...

"The economy is in a bit of a lull and gauging how long we are stuck in this rut will determine if the Federal Reserve needs to step in," said Sweet.

Among the details:

• The labor force grew by 552,000.

• The change total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from minus 221,000 to minus 175,000, and the change for July was revised from minus 131,000 to minus 54,000.

• The average workweek for production and non-supervisory workers remained to 34.2 hours.

• Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men was 9.8 percent, adult women 8.0 percent, teenagers 26.3 percent, whites 8.7 percent, blacks 16.3 percent, and Hispanics 12.0 percent

• Manufacturing employment fell by 27,000 jobs. Construction employment rose by 19,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings increased by 6 cents.

• Health care employment increased by 28,000.

• 42% of unemployed Americans were out of work for more than six months in August, down from 45% in July.

= = =

SilverOz has a diary on this subject here.

Photo by Amber Wilkie Photography Well, that's it. Summer's officially coming to an end, though with the almost 60 days above 90 degrees that we've had so far, that's certainly not a bad thing. As of next week, the District will pick up its somewhat regular rhythm, as Congress slowly makes it way back to town, everyone comes back from their extended vacations, and we finally get this whole local election thing over with. It's a bummer that we're that much closer to winter, but we gave this whole summer thing a try, and maybe we're ready for a break. (Of course, we'll probably have a freak mid-Fall heat wave, knowing our dramatic weather these days.)

Earl Downgraded to a Category Two Storm: The Post writes that Hurricane Earl has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, and while it's currently hitting the North Carolina coast, everything should be somewhat in the clear for the weekend beach-goers in Maryland, Delaware and north. (Ocean City has closed its beaches until Saturday, though Sunday looks OK.) It may still be a somewhat nightmarish drive out to the beach, though, and TBD's got all the details you need to miss the traffic. In summary: leave at 5 a.m.

Gray Cost D.C. $2 Million in Fines: Mayor Adrian Fenty has made challenger Vince Gray's leadership of the Department of Human Services in the 1990s a key part of his re-election campaign, using Gray's stint as evidence that he's not fit to be the city chief executive. (A new TV ad admits that Gray isn't a bad guy, just a "bad manager.") The Examiner today digs into Gray's record, and finds that his slow reaction to a congressional mandate that the city close down the Cedar Knoll youth detention center over two decades ago cost the city over $2 million in fines. Gray claims that the deadline imposed by Congress was too tight to effectively move kids into other facilities.

Avoid the Red Line This Weekend: We may often complain about Metro being slow, but it well be very slow this weekend as five stations along the Red Line close down for repairs. WTOP writes that the Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Silver Spring and Takoma stations will be closed Friday, Sept. 3 at 10 p.m. until Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 5 a.m. Shuttle service will be offered for those that use those stations.

Go-Go a No-No, Says Gray Volunteer: The City Paper is reporting that a volunteer for the Gray campaign has filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, asking that the go-go concerts put on by Fenty ally Ron Moten be regulated as if they were events put on directly by the campaign. James Abely argues that Moten works closely enough with the Fenty campaign that the event he puts on, as well as his publication The Otherside Magazine, should be considered campaign materials and subject to the $2,000 cap on donations.

Briefly Noted: I.M.P. adds MoCo to suit over Silver Spring Filmore venue ... New D.C. gang law gets tested in court ... Teens on Metro beware ... Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) called a "dinosaur."

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2009, a murder suspect walked out of the Washington Hospital Center and Metro asked riders to report on those pesky kids. In 2008, alcohol was ruled a factor in the death of two men on a double-decker bus, and more and more people were being cited for talking on their cell phones while driving.

Well, here we go again.

The New York Times published a story today out of Colorado looking at whether or not young voters could be turning away from the Democratic ranks -- two years after serving as one of the bedrock groups in Obama's voting coalition. The story seems to be fairly balanced in its views, as there are some younger voters proclaiming their continued allegiance to the President and the Democratic Party, but there are also young voters souring on the Democratic leadership.

One young voter was particularly descriptive in explaining her conflicted views.

Kristin Johnson, 23, like many other students interviewed here in recent days, said that a vote for Democrats in 2008, however passionate it was, did not a Democrat make. But she bristles just as much at the idea of being called a Republican.

“It’s like picking a team when you really don’t want to root for either team,” said Ms. Johnson, a communication studies major, who said she was undecided about parties and politics going into the general election campaign.

If Democrats are letting voters like Ms. Johnson get away from them across the country, the ramifications of this blunder will be felt for a long, long time. But that's another topic for another day.

I wanted to focus on another passage from the article, one that reflects exactly what we have been facing throughout the last few special elections and what we will be fighting back through November and beyond.

How and whether millions of college students vote will help determine if Republicans win enough seats to retake the House or Senate, overturning the balance of power on Capitol Hill, and with it, Mr. Obama’s agenda. If students tune out and stay home it will also carry a profound message for American society about a generation that seemed so ready, so recently, to grab national politics by the lapels and shake.

While Kirk Johnson, the writer of this piece, does not go into specifics as far as what he means by a "profound message," I think the odds are good that these few lines illuminate the common misunderstanding that Johnson and other journalists run with when writing these stories. They go with the surface level content, mindlessly reporting that youth did not show up at the polls and, thus, are not interested in voting. Apparently, we're just not prepared.

But what about the other possibility: perhaps youth, suckered into this idea that politicians - maybe just once - might care about our issues, might be willing to talk big, think big, dream big, and for once exercise some pragmatic idealism, are let down. After being counted on to move this Democratic administration and congressional leadership into power, perhaps we are pissed off and making a political statement by refusing to be taken for granted.

That's where this article falls short. There are other possibilities for why youth might not be voting. Not because we are apathetic, or turned off to politics. It's because politicians gave us their word, we gave them our vote, and aside from a watered down health care bill, a stimulus that was too small, and maybe a few other bills, the work hasn't been done, and the to-do list is getting longer. Furthermore, we are left hanging in the breeze, waiting for an honest explanation... still.. waiting.. for that honest explanation.

So don't get us wrong: we're still ready to shake some lapels. But in order to be most effective, we need candidates who are uncompromising in their tenacity on confronting big issues, but flexible in crafting solutions to our problems. And we need them to engage us.

Well, so there’s a book book and a Kindle version of the book. People who ordered from Amazon are starting to get their books. I guess people who order Kindle versions will get their books whenever they order them. People who ordered from the printer, all I can tell you is that I’ve gotten books from them three times and all of them have come early, so… let’s hope.

I sent out all my email press releases last night. Marketers will tell you that Tuesday is the best day to send emails, but next week, Tuesday is a “Monday” and then the Americana Music Association meeting starts and… well, I didn’t want to wait for another week.

I’ll mail my paper press releases today. I didn’t have any criteria for who got a paper press release and who got an email except for who had an email address I could find. I also cut the email press release down to just a paragraph and then linked to the A City of Ghosts website, where they could get more information, because I know they’re not going to read some great big long press release in an email.

So, eh, the timing could have been better but it is what it is.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Today the Butcher is going to take me to mail the copyright copy and a copy to Memphis and then he’s going to drive me around while I hand-deliver my few unsolicited review copies. I have six of those, I think. So, I’m sending out about 25 press releases and 6 review copies. Just for comparison, if I were a “real” publisher, I’d probably send out a hundred press releases and at least 25 review copies, right off the bat. I would envision “regional” being “the whole southeast” as opposed to “Middle Tennessee,” but you do what you can do with the resources you have, right?

Anyway, now that the Kindle situation seems to be resolved, I am kind of curious to see how that goes. The Kindle version is $10 less than the paperback, so I’m wondering if Kindle will be a way to reach people who might be curious, but haven’t heard of me. I’m also curious how long it will take Amazon to tie the Kindle version to the paperback.

And I still have to nail down a place for a book launch.

Oh, but, I am giving away a few copies at GoodReads, on Rachel’s suggestion. So, if you are in the US and curious about the book, but not sure you want to buy it, and you’re on GoodReads, head on over there and click to enter.

I am excited and nervous to see what people think. So far the feedback has been good so I just hope that continues. Ha.

Okay, I have to go get in the shower and get this show on the road.