If there's one reality the Lamont-Lieberman race has wrought upon us, the incessant usage of -mentumisms would be it.

And here - on this election day - are but a few from across the sphere from the past few weeks.  I guess ... enjoy?

Possible Web Attack Halts Joe-mentum... 

No-mentum

Joe's No-mentum

Ok. Close your eyes! I've got a little gift for you.

It's something you really don't want, and something you never really asked for. Oh, and the best part, this little gift is really going to fuck you up ... big time! Yeah, that's right - much less security, much more uncertainty coming your way.

And then, get this. Three years from now, I'm going to make some demands on your gifted ass.

First, that you repay me, because this precious gift I gave you cost me dearly. Second, that you sing my praises; and thirdly, that you think the way I think - no matter what I think.

Mayor Koch writes the Forward, weighing in on Mel Gibson's lame attempt at an apology:

Mel Gibson deserves a similarly unequivocal response from the public, and from his Hollywood colleagues. Gibson's public apology is welcome, but it's far from sufficient. A foxhole conversion-type apology, issued in the hope of retaining one's job or public status, can't be taken as meaningful evidence of a sincere change of heart. That kind of change does not happen overnight.

You can read the piece in its entirety here.

Promise, Ben and I are not working in tandem, nor are either of us employed by the Daily Show (Daily News, perhaps; but that's ... very different).

In any case, if you missed Jon Stewart's uber-hilarious take last night on the Mayor's now infamous eye-rolling ode to ConEd (and the Queens power debacle in general), I can only advise you to click here.

You will not be disappointed.

Announcing the Senatorial ... er...ummm... Presidential ... Bust

That would be courtesy of the Museum of Se[x], which just released this today:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — New York, NY — July, 26 2006 — A presidential bust of Hillary Clinton is set to be unveiled at the Museum of Sex on August 9, 2006 at 10 am. Accentuating her sexual power and bolstered by the presidential seal, The Presidential Bust of Hillary Rodham Clinton: The First Woman President of the United States of America will be officially open for public viewing on August 9 for a limited six week run.

Hat Tip: mediabistro

In case you missed it, I report to you that the whole Pledge of Allegiance "under God" thing has caused a bit of a stir lately.  But, apparently, not stir enough for some of our members of Congress  to take more seriously the whole "I'm-In-DC-To-Cast-My-Vote-On-Your-Behalf" concept.

Turns out that two New York Congress Members (both Dems) acted entirely out of sync with the NY Democratic delegation - which, granted, does not always a bad move make.

So looks like lil' Room Eight got lots 'o attention yesterday in Hillaryland (for this piece).  Also looks like said attention begot lots more attention in today's papers - all of them, in fact:

The New York Times

Daily News

New York Post

Newsday 

Honestly, I'm kind of amazed that as an Israeli (and you wondered what kind of a name Gur is!) I completely missed this bit of news. Ben has lots of theories about this that I'm not going to get into right now!

Ok.  So this here post about Senatorial candidate Jonathan Tasini is only for the audially equipped - which, hopefully, makes for the majority of you.

So, let's get started.

So yesterday, I had the chance to interview Jonathan Tasini about his race.  More to come on that...

But worth noting right now ... was his response to my very first question ... "What message do you find that you're having the most trouble getting out?"

After a bit about how Senator Clinton is a "shapeshifter," and after explaining that her campaign is in some ways a "charade," Tasini defaulted to blaming the media and money for his difficulties.

Ironically, Celeste Katz of the Daily News called Tasini mid-interview, seeking his comments on Bill Clinton's latest manuevering vis-a-vis Sen. Lieberman.

Bad enough that Sen. Mike Dewine (R-OH) used 9/11 imagery in an attack ad on Dem. Sherrod Brown.  Even worse, turns out today that the image of the burning twin towers was doctored.

The video still follows: 

No surprise ... the AP reports that the doctors were Stevens, Reed, Curcio & Potholm - the same goons who introduced Sen. John Kerry to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads in 2004.

Nothing like watching our comrades gently massage immigration reform with their own hands.  To wit:

Enter Philly's famed Geno's cheesesteak shop, whose owner, Joseph Vento, recently put up a sign that reads: "This is America. When Ordering, Speak English."  (A move fully endorsed, btw, by US Senator Rick Santorum)

Enter also Bumblefuck, Georgia, where the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners became one of the first in the country to ban mobile taco stands, which officials said were cluttering street corners. One Gwinnett politician went as far as describing the proliferation of rolling taco stands as "gypsy-fication," according to the Christian Science Monitor.

This here, for your entertainment...

What do the words ignorant, donkey, coward, assassin, genocist, alcoholic, drunk, immoral, menace, sick, psychologically ill, liar and murderer have in common with our very own President George W. Bush?

Well ... courtesy of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's farm-side chats, you now need only click below to find out.

(btw, you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried)

Lastly, a very, very quick glimpse of how your Congress Members handled pseudo-self's constituent email concern ... they didn't!

Only 34% responded at all, making the "highest" level of government the lowest in constituent response (see Council results here and Assembly/State Senate here).

Excuses from the remaining 66% aside, really, why bother? Why bother dangling an email address/submission form in front of constituents in the first place?

Congressional results here.

So, your New York State Assembly ... actually quite skilled on the email tip.  72% of them responded to our inquiry, which demolishes the Council's 55% and the State Senate's atrocious 50% response rates.

That said, we crown Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan and State Senator Hugh Farley valedictorians of their respective classes.  (Complete results: Assembly pgs 1, 2, 3 and State Senate)

But, as you know, the Assembly - as big as it is - not without its quirks. And here, people, are a few of them...

The quest continues.  Later today I'll be releasing Room Eight's findings of how Albany approaches the whole you-email-me-and-I-hit-reply thing.

Sneak peak: the Assembly, as a body, kicked some major City Council and State Senate booty...

But, in the mean time, allow me to introduce you to Murphy Law co-sponsors Assemblymen Roger L. Green (of Brooklyn) and Sam Hoyt (of Buffalo).

Not sure if they were acting on some Home Rule message(s) from the Council, but they too were quick to point out via government email that the shortest distance between our pseudo-self and a voter reg form was a click thru their campaign websites.  Go figure!

More to come...