The Black Market Man Miscellany

by: Dean Barker

Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 21:43:06 PM EST

* Despite widespread support (including AG Kelly Ayotte) for the aforementioned legislation, Bob Clegg was quick to defend the practice of predatory lending, with what must be one of the most bizarre self-admissions I've ever heard coming from a gubernatorial congressional candidate:

Sen. Bob Clegg recounted times of struggle in the 1970s and 1980s when he had to turn to the "black market" to tide him over. "You can fail, or you can take another chance," said Clegg, a Hudson Republican. "My position, I took another chance."

He would be too embarrassed to go to a welfare office, he said, and would rather "stand tall, make my deal with them and then make my payments because that keeps me a man."

The bill's supporters include Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, Banking Commissioner Peter Hildreth, the AARP and several welfare administrators around the state.

* Adam Leech has a cute writeup of Republican Sandi Henniquin and Democrat Steve Marchand, and how they keep from killing each other:

During the New Hampshire primary season, campaign signs for Bill Richardson and John McCain were cozied together on the front lawn of their Cass Street home. Nightly news watching jumps between FOX, and MSNBC depending on who has the clicker and who falls asleep first (typically Sandi, on both counts). Their dog, a Corgi, is named "Reagan," and the next dog will be named "Truman." (Both hold veto power over their pets' names, ensuring neither would be named Bush or Clinton.)

* Does anyone else find it odd that ex-Sununu staffer Grant Bosse has been in the race for the NH-02 seat for a week, and his old boss John E. hasn't endorsed him yet?

* Quite possibly the most ridiculous thing ever written about me and my kind.  Right-wing bloggers try to explain away why conservative blogs are teh suck:

Erick Erickson, editor of the popular conservative megablog RedState, conceded that progressives currently enjoy an advantage over conservatives online-though he attributed it to an asymmetry in free time, since conservatives "have families because we don't abort our kids, and we have jobs because we believe in capitalism."

* Phone-jammer James Tobin really really really really doesn't want to go to jail, because, you know, IOKIYAR.

* Does anyone remember what it was like to trust what President's say?  When I heard Bush announce that we were going to shoot down our errant spy satellite because of, essentially, environmental safety concerns, I didn't buy it for a minute.  And neither do the folks who actually know about that stuff.

* (Non-political) Remember these guys? Turns out that too clever by half 80's eccentrics don't fade away - they just have kids and know how to entertain them with nifty free podcasts: