I suppose this was spam, but I fell for it, so this is the best post you're going to get in this time slot

Okay, you're smarter than I am. I bought it.

by Ken

I don't usually fall for spam scams, which I guess this was. I sat down at the computer with something like 50-55 minutes left to bang out a post, probably from two subjects I had vaguely mapped out. I did a little further tinkering with one of them, but decided to check my e-mail to see whether maybe God had e-mailed me something that with just a little dusting and polishing could be turned into a post. I didn't see that, but I did see what looked like an Amazon offer of a 90% discount offer, if you just clicked through and did something or other in order to get your download code.

What can I say? You think I'm not interested in a 90-percent discount on something I would be using anyway?

It's crazy, but the time pressure -- I really had to get back to my blogpost -- made me more susceptible, and one of the thigns I clicked on said that it (whatever it was) was only valid for 30 minutes, so I figured, okay, I'll click a few clicks, get my download code, and then get back to my post.

Don't you dare try to use my Coupon ID!

Only the first two of these weird "survey" choices involved really bizarre stuff. One of them had me signing up for some kind of supposedly free service (in order to complete a survey?), and another (or maybe the same one) had me giving a credit card (even though it was free), and with the clock ticking I finally clicked through to the free-lunch offer, which merely (ha, merely!) asked about my household's shopping habits. Except it kept going on and on.

And on. And it was pretty invasive. And, in case I didn't mention it, it kept going on and on

And even when it announced "one final question," there was another question, and then a list of surveys to choose from. And none of this seemed in any way related to my supposed download code.

And then I really didn't have time -- not even time to pursue one of my originally designated post ideas.

It looked like an actual Amazon e-mail, of which I get, goodness knows, about a jillion a day. I suppose it probably wasn't, so I can't blame Amazon for wasting my time. Apparently I'm not going to get my 90-percent discount coupon or whatever the hell it was supposed to be.

Well, the joke's on you. All you're getting is this crappy post. There's a lesson to be learned here, I'm sure, but I don't have time to learn it. I have a post to get up.

NOW ALL I HAVE TO DO --

is get a post done for 9pm PT. I still have two live ideas, but they both still need work, and for Pete's sake, it's Friday night.

Wait, I think I'll check my e-mail and see if maybe something has turned up there that could be turned into a post with maybe just some light dusting and polishing. Wish me luck! (See you at 9pm PT/12am ET.)

#

Was The DCCC Pestering You With Spam All Weekend?

As you know, tomorrow (June 30) marks the end of the FEC's arbitrary reporting quarter. Candidates are hysterical and following DCCC suggestions to burn their lists with a constant barrage of requests for contributions. If you're ever signed a DCCC online petition you've probably had dozens of content-free requests since Friday, including multiple pleas from Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Steve Israel, neither of whom seems to have thought it was relevant to tell Democrats that each had just voted with the Republicans against Tom Massie's amendment to end unconstitutional domestic spying by the NSA and, again, with most Republicans, against Barbara Lee's amendment to prevent another war in Iraq.

One of my friends, formerly a very major Democratic donor, Michael Wolkowitz, feels like almost everyone I've talked to about this barrage of e-mails. He sent this response to the DCCC when they consistently refused to remove his name from their spam files:

"Sorry!" does not come even close to making up for your incompetence, lack of integrity, and dishonesty. I have tried multiple times to unsubscribe from your list and the lists of the candidates you share it with. Self-evidently, it does not work. I am not giving money to you or any individual candidates for the House this year. Sadly, electronic mail is free so I cannot tell you to stop wasting your money. I will, sometime soon, use my small Huffington Post bully pulpit to talk about how sneaky and soulless your committee is. Please please stop sending me mail.

When I asked Michael if I could use his e-mail today, I said I could leave his name out for the sake on anonymity. I loved his response: "If you think it would be a plus feel free to name me. I am sick of the assault by the committees that don’t actually deserve to use the word Democratic, I am sick of the corporatist dominance of that party, I am sick of that party’s vast majority on Capitol Hill blanket support of the Department of War because they are so risk averse they would never dare be perceived as anything but hawks, I am sick of their risk aversion to ever taking a stand on an issue that either:  a) is not pre-guaranteed to pass AND b) not hurt them in a general election, c) and get 60 votes in the Senate. These motherfuckers won’t even get a highway appropriations bill passed let alone allow debate on climate change, immigration, the poor starving yearning to breathe free who happen to be U.S. citizens. I think you can write my next thirty paragraphs for me so I will leave it there. I feel like I have wasted a whole lot of money time effort energy and emotion over the last 10-15 years trying my best to work “within the system.” I am back to where I was after Humphrey was nominated. Outside, trying to look away instead of In. fuck ‘em."

One of the worst of the freshmen, New Dem Patrick Murphy, has been among the most abusive of the e-mail fanatics this weekend. I just got another one from his annoying finance director, Mandi Karp: "Did you see this? Patrick's is THE race in Florida. We need to make sure that we have the strongest showing yet at this FEC deadline. Give now and your gift will be DOUBLE MATCHED - but only until midnight!" That's followed by a false claim from Debbie Wasserman Schultz that Murphy is Boehner's top target. He isn't. JUst moments atom he followed the Mandi e-mail up with a "personal" one: "Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, but Mandi and I were going through our database of our biggest supporters and making sure that they were in before our biggest Federal Elections Commission (FEC) deadline of the year on Monday. If you've already given and our emails were wrong, I apologize for bothering you, but if you haven’t, I would be humbled if you would consider making a contribution before our June 30th deadline."

So far Murphy has raised $2,814,416 this cycle, only 6% from small donors-- most of the rest from special interests who admire Murphy's conservative politics. A crowded field of 4th-rate Republican opponents fighting it out among themselves haven't raised enough to make any of them real competition:

• Carl Domino- $578,305 ($429,527 with a check he wrote to himself)
• Brian Lara- $113,997 ($100,087 with a check he wrote to himself)
• Alan Schlesinger- $99,789 ($75,000 with a check he wrote to himself)
• Ellen Andel- $51,233 (every cent of which she has already spent)
• Beverly Hires- $36,770 ($36,000 with a check she wrote to herself)
• Calvin Turnquest- $21,751
• Frank Lynch- $10,000 (100% which he self-financed)
• Nick Wukoson- zero

This is not shaping up to be a competitive race and certainly not one that Boehner is targeting. Wasserman Schultz, as usual, is lying-- in her eagerness to see her fellow slimy New Dem get in position to run for higher office. Paying attention to e-mail from her and Israel, or from any of the Blue Dogs or New Dems from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party grappling to take control of the House Democratic caucus, will do two things: guarantee another catastrophic election year for the Democrats and help cement conservative power inside the caucus.

Allowing Israel, Wasserman Schultz and Hoyer to determine who will be-- and who won't be-- the funded Democratic candidates can only end in catastrophe on numerous levels. Short of assigning that function to MoveOn, PCCC, DFA or Blue America, a better-- or at least more entertaining-- method would be to let Bill Maher do it. As we first reported in January, he has a fun game going called Flip A District and the first step towards congressional change ended on Friday with the addition of Dave Reichert (WA-08) and Scott Desjarlais (TN-04). Maher now has 16 Republicans to target-- or at least have some fun abusing:

• Mike Coffman (CO-06)- D+1 Andrew Romanoff
• Steve Southerland (FL-02)- R+6 Gwen Graham
• Ted Yoho (FL-03)- R+14 Marihelen Wheeler
• Jackie Walorski (IN-06)- R+6 Joe Bock
• Steve King (IA-04)- R+5 Jim Mowrer
• Dan Benishek (MI-01)- R+5 Jerry Cannon
• Tim Walberg (MI-07)- R+3 Pam Byrnes
• Kerry Bentivolio (MI-11)- R+4 July 17 primary
• John Kline (MN-02)- R+2 Mike Obermueller
• Scott Garrett (NJ-05)- R+4 Roy Cho
• Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (NY-11)- R+2 Domenic Recchia
• Renee Ellmers (NC-02) R+10 Clay Aiken
• Scott DesJarlais (TN-04)- R+18 Lenda Sherrell
• Blake Farenthold (TX-27)- R+13 Wesley Reed
• Dave Reichert (WA-08)- R+1 Jason Ritchie
• Paul Ryan (WI-01)- R+3 Rob Zerban

Ten of the 16-- Coffman, Southerland, Walorski, King, Bentivolio, Walberg, Benishek, Kline, Grimm, Ellmers-- are DCCC targets or semi-targets and I'm guessing that 4-- Southerland, Walorski, Walberg, and Benishek-- of those are on the list simply because the DCCC tampered with the process. Most of these contests are very uphill for the Democrats but the underlined one are candidates who have exactly the same chance of winning that you do. Some of the others have an ever so slightly better chance of winning than you do. And some of the best shots, like against Paul Ryan and Dave Reichert, are bing studiously ignored (or worse) by the DCCC because the Democrats running are progressives. Maher missed out of the two best shots to really flip a district away from pure unadulterated evil. One has an R+1 PVI (Fred Upton in Michigan) and one that has an EVEN PVI (Steve Israel in New York). In fact, if I could contribute to just one House candidate this cycle, it would be to the Democrat running against Upton, Paul Clements. You can contribute to Paul's campaign here-- and keep in mind, everyone on this page has been carefully vetted as a progressive worth investing in.

It's The Last Week Of A Random Month-- Are You Ready For Tons Of Political Spam?

The DCCC and the other nefarious Beltway committees encourage their candidates to burn their lists and wreck on-line fund-raising. They would much rather go back to the old model that leaves out small donor grassroots activists who they find way too independent of party bosses. One way of doing this is to floor e-mail boxes with hundreds of annoying, contentless communications that most people find offensive and depressing.

This week candidates from all over the country sent me an internal DCCC memo urging them to get ready for their role in the end of February spam-o-thon. "Here are the generic end of month email texts," they happily told their zombie candidates. There were three. Would any of these cynical exercises in political bullshit get you to send money to the idiots who employ them?

EMAIL #1


NAME--

Our supporters are so incredible:

Since the start of the 2014 campaign, grassroots donors from all across STATE and beyond have chipped in to support CANDIDATE and everything he/she is fighting for. Thank you!

But, our opponents are already attacking CANDIDATE/gearing up to start attacking CANDIDATE any minute. As of this moment, we’re still lagging behind our goal for Friday’s critical fundraising deadline. Will you help us close the gap?

Please chip in $3 or whatever you can before Friday’s fundraising deadline >>

Thanks for all of your help,

CAMPAIGN



          24 hours


NAME--

My opponent, NAME/The Tea Party has taken things too far. With attack ads airing across the country, we need to make sure we’re in a position to fight back, immediately.

That’s why I’m asking you to step up before tomorrow’s midnight fundraising deadline and help us defend everything we’ve been fighting for.

Chip in $3 before midnight tomorrow to help fight against Tea Party attacks >>

We knew these attacks were coming, but we didn’t know they’d start so early.

Everything is on the table. Chip in right to help us be successful.

24 hours to go: Please chip in what you can today >>

Thanks for your support,
CANDIDATE



          Midnight


NAME,

We only have XX hours to go and we’re still coming up short.

I/We know that with your help, we can hit this critical goal. But -- if we don’t get every last grassroots supporter to pitch in, our campaign could be in bad shape. Will you help us close the gap before midnight?

MIDNIGHT DEADLINE: Please chip in $3 or whatever you can right now to help us hit our critical grassroots fundraising goal >>


This election was never going to be easy.  With your help, we’ll be ready for whatever comes our way.  Let’s get to work.

Thanks,
SIGNER

And if you do contribute to any DCCC candidates, your name is immediately sold to political spammers and your box will be bulging with this kind of crap until you manually request to be unsubscribed from each DCCC-related list. Contentless political communications are an insult from the candidate to you. Take it under advisement.