Some of us were on tonight and saw the tweet, “It’s a girl” and couldn’t wait to say congrats:

Welcome to this world, nena! You’ve got viaje in your veins. Love- Sarah

“Wow! A baby girl! I’m so, so happy for you and Francisco. You guys are going to be amazing padres! -Ross

Julie, I’m so excited for you! Good luck and congratulations on this new journey! – Michelle

Yeeaaaa Julie! We are all so proud of you and can’t wait to meet the newest, littlest Matadorian!

Thanks for not Tweeting Live from during your new child’s birth. Congratulations! –Andy

“Come here, little one…” Here’s to hoping the baby makes it way out soon! Many congrats, Julie
and Francisco — Christine

bienvenida mariel from David Miller on Vimeo.

Screenshot from WordPress Showcase

First up, many thanks to WordPress for including Matador at the WordPress Showcase. Currently we’re rated #1 based on our implementation and use of WordPress. To vote, please click here and roll over the number of stars you feel we deserve, then click the mouse. You don’t have to sign up or register for anything, however, please vote only once.

As far as why we were included in the showcase, WordPress wrote:

Matador is made up of a number WordPress blogs that work together to provide content on a variety of travel-related topics.The site averages more than 1.8 million monthly pageviews.

I fired off a couple questions to Ian MacKenzie, who (along with his wife Karen) has been the primary architect responsible for Matador’s design.

David: How many designs had you and Karen worked on before this latest one?

Ian: Well I’d say it was the second major theme makeover since the first one. We’re always making tweaks, but this was substantially different.

David: What was the overarching design element you were going for with this latest theme?

Ian: We mostly wanted to showcase more content from across the entire network, in a visual way, and make it easier to catch people’s eyes. We also wanted to increase the ability for people to scan many headlines.

David: What does it mean to you and karen as developers to have a design currently ranking # 1 in the WP showcase?

Ian: Ha, is it really?

David: Yes.

Ian: I’d say we’re happy people seem to like the theme, and we’re looking forward to its continued evolution in the future.

Spoken like a true developer, I think. Thanks again to everyone on the team and in the community–this is really the cumulative vision of many many people with lots of feedback.

Community Connection

Interested in site design, or just wondering about which blogging platform is best for your writing? We’ve been having a good discussion on this at the Notebook this week.

Matt Kepnes, happy about new friend.

We were stoked last week when Matador contributor Matt Kepnes, aka Nomadic Matt, sent us a copy of his first travel ebook.

In Matt’s own words, his ebook “teaches people some basic coding and what to think about when creating a travel site. The real meat of the ebook are the sections on SEO and how to make money with your blog. I go through the whole process and where to find advertisers.”

I read through the book and found the information to be laid out in a very easy to follow, step by step kind of way that draws directly on Matt’s own experience over the last year, as he’s gone from someone without a travel blog to someone able to sustain himself on ad revenue generated via his site NomadicMatt.com.

After reading the ebook I realized that even though I felt like I “knew” Matt, especially after working with him on several of his classic stories on Matador (such as Top 20 Craziest Party Hostels around the World), there were still several basic things about Matt I wanted to know for this article.

Where are you from? What’s your age / background?

Born and raised in Boston, I have a background in teaching and business but abandoned both to follow my dream of endless travel. I’m 27.

How long have you been with Matador?

Since April 2007 (you guys gave me my big break!).

How long since you started your own site?

February 2007.

How many pageviews do you get?

350,000 per month (not bad, huh?).

Where do you work from?

My laptop.

Where are you right now?

Bangkok, Thailand.

Where are you going next?

Scotland for my birthday! (June 12th!).

What’s the ‘big vision’ for the next 3-5 years?

Finish seeing every continent, getting to the World Cup in 2010, and moving to Europe (Paris or Amsterdam).

Anything special you want readers to know about the ebook?

This book is designed to help those with blogs make an even bigger and better blog and make some money off of it. Many people get discouraged that they put so much work in but see such a little return. The book is here to help you put in less work and get bigger returns by avoiding common mistakes.

Community Connection

You can connect with Matt either via his website or friend him up at Matador.

Sad news today. One of our heroes, Shane McConkey, died in a ski-BASE jumping accident in the Italian Dolomites.

He had been working on a new line variation off the Val Scura couloir on Sassongher with JT Holmes and a film crew from Matchstick Productions. Initial reports indicate an equipment malfunction prevented him from deploying his pilot chute.

Shane McConkey was a freeskiing legend and pioneer of ski-BASE jumping. By utilizing BASE- jumping techniques and equipment he was able to access lines that previously existed only in people’s imagination.

Shane’s last blog, describing yesterday’s ski BASE-jump, ends with the stoke of someone who lived doing what he loved. Here’s an excerpt:

By SHANE McCONKEY March 25, 2009 at 12:58

Today was quite cool! We finally nailed that line variation off the Val Scura couloir on Sassongher. This was extremely satisfying getting to ski such a unique line. Conditions in the couloir were still very hard and icy in places so the skiing was slow and careful. Traversing/hiking the ramp out of the couloir did not present much of a problem and it was a very cool feeling knowing what we were heading out to.

We called the MSP film crew on the radio and they fired up the heli and it as time to charge off this sucker! I went first and punched it hard into a big ol front flip with as much speed as I was comfortable taking in those conditions. Everything went great and I had an on heading opening. I flew down completely stoked and landed high up on the hillside so I could watch JT from a good angle. No more than 30 seconds after I landed I see JT flying off the cliff with a lot of speed. He yanked his skis off right away and began to fly immediately. It was a perfectly executed wingsuit ski base. Skis off quick and stable and into forward flight with no potato chipping or instability. I was jealous. Today was a good day!

In 2007 I interviewed Shane’s friend Tal Fletcher for an article about the pioneers of sky sports. I’d sent Tal a draft of the article and he laughed when he read how I’d described Shane McConkey as a “freeskiing legend.”

“Shane would laugh if he read that,” Tal said. “He never thinks of himself that way.”

Shane McConkey, is survived by his wife, Sherry, and their 3½-year-old daughter, Ayla. Our thoughts go out to them and friends around the world.

David Miller – Senior Editor

David Miller with daughter Layla. Morning after her first camping trip. Elwha River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington.

1) What was your favorite article on Matador in 2008?

There were so many good blogs and articles written this year, but one in particular, Teresa Ponikvar’s What’s up with Pachuca just hit all the right notes. “How can a town without a living river be a living town?” she asks. This piece speaks for the growing number of us who seem to be perpetually searching for and in love with place.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

This year we moved to the Pacific Northwest and quickly discovered the Olympic Peninsula. It’s the best place we visited this year and now one of my favorite places in the world for sure.

This was the last place in the US to be “settled,” and unique in that the native peoples here, particularly the Quiluete Nation, were able to remain in their homeland, and to a large extent, preserve their culture and way of life. When you roll in to La Push (a classic surf break), you pass a sign that says “Quilete Nation: You are welcome in these lands.”

People are smiling, stoked. The water is clear; the forest is massive. There were gray whales out there while I was surfing.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

Over the last several years my travel style has changed. Instead of traversing places, now I’m more interested in deepening relationships with places I’m still just getting to know.

So even if money were no object, 2009 would still be about heading back down to Patagonia, where our family has been traveling for the last several years. Some local trips on the wish-list: expedition / exploratory kayak trip in the Rio Azul headwaters. Backcountry snowboarding in the cordillera above El Bolsón.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

I keep peeping this one. KRS-1 just killing a freestyle. What I love about this video is the full-on Buddha presence KRS-1 exudes–just totally calm and centered–as he goes from just walking around, to entering the studio, to flowing right over whatever is coming out of the speakers.

Here’s someone who takes nothing for granted: when he first walks in, one of the engineers asks him “what’s poppin’?” His answer: “the world.”

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

It would be a trip. Say a multi-day overnight float trip through some high-desert canyon in the American West. Maybe the Dolores River in Colorado. Someplace where he could float in, then set up camp dozens of miles from any roads or buildings, and hike up in the sandstone to ancient Pueblo granaries–places where you could literally see the fingerprints of peoples who lived here thousands of years ago.

I don’t even know why this is what I’d want his present to be. Maybe it’s just the idea that he’d see into a different part of this place we call America.

Ian Mackenzie – Matador Network Architect

Ian in Hawaii. Looks like Canadian Survivor.

1) What was your favorite article on Matador in 2008?

Very difficult to choose, but my favourite would have to be 10 Revolutionary Acts Of Courage By Ordinary People. I came up with the original idea for the article, but Robyn Johnson fleshed out each person and really made it her own. It’s intelligent, thought provoking, and it makes me proud that this type of material can be published on Brave New Traveler.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

Last February, I spent 3 weeks in Hawaii. The first two, I was shooting a documentary project that took me to some incredible locations. The first week I found myself on the summit of Mauna Kea, gazing up at massive telescopes crusted with ice and snow.

The second week I was wandering miles and miles of hardened lava at the Volcanoes National Park. Finally, the third week I was finished working and my wife and I flew to Kauai to cap the end of an unreal trip. Despite being a well-trodden tourist destination, Hawaii is still magical.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

Bhutan. I’ve simply been hearing too much about it -from the incredible scenic beauty, to the startling discovery that they balance their economic growth with the happiness of their people. Money aside, that’s definitely where I’d go.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

I know it’s past the point of cliche now, but definitely Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. There’s something about that whole phenomenon that went beyond merely tricking your friends/family into a “Rick Roll.” It was a cultural milestone.

Plus, I spent hours crafting how to best develop my strategy… from embedding the video into a new page, to hiding link with a TinyURL…etc. Good family fun.

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

A George W. Bush bobble-head. Because that would give Obama a chuckle whenever he needs it.

Julie Schwietert – Managing Editor

Julie con la gente.

1) Favorite article on Matador in 2008:

That’s tough, but my pick is Misty Tosh’s The Ultimate Baja Escape.. Misty has totally nailed the Matador formula: Take your deep knowledge and intense experience of a place, write about it in your own unique voice, and make it real and relevant for readers.

“The Ultimate Baja Escape” is a three day road trip guide and it’s clear that she knows the terrain from her own experience of riding it. She provides insider tips you can’t know just by surfing the internet. This is EXACTLY the kind of article Matador editors and readers want to see. And after I read it, I was ready to find myself a truck and hit the road.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

What a cruel question! I have to choose?! 2008 was an incredible travel year for me, the best of my life so far. I was able to spend significant amounts of time in my favorite stomping grounds, Latin America, where I listened to amazing stories and found ways to bring them back to readers.

I spent a month in Colombia, about six months in Mexico City (with trips to Oaxaca, Veracruz, Perote, & Guadalajara), and just enough time to fall in love with Chile. I also went to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It’s impossible to choose a best place; they were all incredible, each with their own unique people, experiences, and stories.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

I know that I should say I’d go some place really far-flung or spend the money on a round-the-world trip since money’s no object, but I really just feel pulled to settle down in Latin America and do some serious slow travel around Central America, South America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

I love to live in a place, not just pass through, so if money were no object, I’d travel around for the whole year, settling down for awhile and renting a home.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

I’m pretty stoked about some video footage I shot during my visit to Guantanamo Bay that Matador’s video editor, Joshua Johnson, worked wonders with and got live a couple weeks ago.

A day at Guantanamo Bay; one guards perspective from Matador Network on Vimeo.

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

I don’t think I’d buy President Obama anything. Instead, I’d encourage him to read stories about Matador members and their travels. There’s no single site where he would feel more inspired by how people build community online, at home, and in the world, and there’s no single site where he’d find better writing about it.

Tim Patterson – Contributing Editor

Tim hard at work.

1) What was your favorite article on Matador in 2008?

Apart from my own brilliant articles you mean? I gotta go with Sarah Stuteville’s essay Why We Still Need To Write About African Poverty. Remember that name, Sarah Stuteville. She’s an up-and-coming superstar journalist, gonna be the next Nick Kristof, guaranteed.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

Tough call. I rang in the New Year with college buddies in El Chalten, Patagonia, but it was too freaking windy down there. Plenty of fond memories of crazy times in Punta del Diablo, Uruguay with Brian Meissner and the hostel crew. Went back to some old haunts – camping on Koh Rong island in Cambodia with my friend Jon and two curvaceous Dutch girls was a blast….and while it wasn’t exactly a happy experience, visiting the Kachin Independence Army’s mountaintop base in northern Myanmar was a unique privilege. Can’t pick just one, sorry.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

I would go home to Craftsbury, Vermont and stay there for a while. But my job is to travel so I’ll be bouncing back and forth between New England and SE Asia. Tough, huh? I’m sure y’all feel sorry for me.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

No question about, the BNT 1,000 subscriber celebration video where I get naked and Ian gets drunk.

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

A lump of coal in his stocking. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got great respect for Obama, but he needs to know just how “clean” coal really is. Check out Exposing the Bi-Partisan Myth of Clean Coal for more.

Tom Gates – Editor, Matador Life

1) What was your favorite article on Matador in 2008?

I loved this blog by member Jon Brandt and it has kicked around my brain ever since. The article that really got to me was Digging out of the Sinkhole by Susan Greenwood. Next year isn’t going to be any better for the economy and this article gave me a little bit of hope.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

Laos by a mile. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that by then, I was in The Zone with my 3 month trip through SE Asia. Nothing much could phase me and, even if it did, there was valium readily available. This place is delicious.

One word: Tom.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

No matter how incredible and remote the experiences have been since, I’ve never enjoyed a weekend more than the one I had at Singita Game Reserve in South Africa. You can romanticize the bum mattresses in guest houses only so much before you bump into an experience like this, where the concept of luxury is completely re-invented. Incredible people, the most astounding rooms, a great respect for nature, unbelievable food and a massive wine cellar. Oh, and the animals. RIGHT THERE. Yeah. This is where I’d go.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

I’m really bad at these. They enter and leave my brain in minutes. I keep coming back to the Snagglepuss sketch on SNL from a few weeks ago. It just cracked me up to no end. Watching Jay Brannan fumble and bumble through a career in music is pretty fun too.

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

A subscription to Coast To Coast AM’s podcast. This is the best talk radio show in the world. Conspiracy theories, UFO’s, ghosts, space, abductions, secrets…I could listen to theories about the disappearance of honey bees and mysterious calf mutilations for hours. Perhaps this is too revealing.

If only 5% of what is covered on here is true, the world is a much different place than anyone understands it to be. I’m dying to know what secrets the incoming president gets to know and which are outside of even the his boundaries. By the way, if you’re traveling, this show makes bus rides fly by!

Eva Holland – Contributing Editor

Eva, seconds before licking the microphone.

1) What was your favorite article on Matador in 2008?

It’s hard to choose, but probably Spencer Klein’s essay, When Maximo Was Our Captain: Surfing Bocas. I don’t know much of anything about surfing, or Panama, but Spencer had me right there with powerful, hard-working word choices, telling details, and great use of dialogue.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

Oh gosh, this is tough. I covered a ton of ground this year and had a lot of amazing experiences. I’ll have to go with New Orleans, though – I visited for the first time in March and absolutely fell in love with the city’s food, its architecture, its people and its play-hard ethic.

NOLA combines everything that’s wonderful and welcoming and alive about the South, with the live-and-let-live progressive attitudes of a San Francisco or Vancouver. I was back there this summer for several weeks, and got caught up in the evacuation leading up to Hurricane Gustav. It was a sad way to leave, but I know I’ll be back.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

South Africa, no question.

My answer to that one hasn’t changed in years: I got hooked on the country’s history, culture and literature as an undergrad, and – as anyone who follows Matador Pulse or my blog in the Matador Travel community knows – I never get tired of talking about it.

I’ve never yet managed to scrape together the money to get there (the flight alone from Canada can run between two and three grand) but when I do, I’ll probably be one of the best-informed tourists ever to land in a new place. Someday, I plan on solemnly taking in Robben Island, hitting up the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, eating my way through Soweto’s up-and-coming dining scene (while pausing to appreciate the tragedy and political impact of the Uprising) and, of course, cheering the Springboks on at an international rugby match.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

Is it too corny to pick the “Yes We Can” clip?

Barring that, definitely the footage of ImprovEverywhere “freezing” Grand Central Station:

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

Not to go on about South Africa too much, but probably Antjie Krog’s Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa. It’s an account of Krog’s experience as a journalist covering the Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the end of apartheid, and it’s one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. It also has an awful lot to say about the immense challenges and rewards of healing and bridge-building after a terrible period of division.

Lola Akinmade – Editor, Matador Goods

Lola, not enjoying herself at all.

1) What was your favorite article on Matador in 2008?

One of my standout favorites is 5 Ways Inner Travel Helps Your See Other Cultures. As avid travelers who move beyond the mainstream to the offbeat, we can also fall into the trap of constantly pursuing the most “authentic” experience, when it’s actually being lived all around us.

2) Where was the best place you visited this year and why?

Peru was hands down my favorite spot this year and hiking the Inca Trail was the experience of a lifetime. I totally hammed it up at Macchu Pichu – jumping in a Matador t-shirt. Be sure to check out my Peru photo gallery. You can find more travel photography at http://www.lolaakinmade.com.

3) If you could travel anywhere in 2009, money aside, where would it be?

Mongolia has been calling me for awhile. Would love to spend some time in Mongolia, take in its raw beauty, and immerse within the culture. Sometimes, I consider myself a cultural ambassador and would love to share more of my own culture and heritage in far flung places.

But honestly, if money was not an issue, I would probably go on a year long round-the -world volunteering/photojournalism trip. It would be focused on working with children and in orphanages and I would work my way from the South Pacific islands through Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and back.

4) What is your favorite online video (youtube, etc) from this year?

I wish I could link to some thought provoking, insightful piece, but this video hands down, had me laughing and clapping in total admiration of the dancer’s talent – Guy dancing to Beyonce’s Single Ladies.

5) If you had to buy the incoming president a holiday present, what would it be?

Not to get into any religious tiffs here, but I’d probably buy him a Bible as a continual guide for the inclusive, “my brother’s keeper” exemplary lifestyle he’s already leading by. People caring for and sharing with each other at the grassroots level can change a nation. And together, they can do many great and mighty things.

1. 50 Things to do Before You Die

# 27: Participate in Burning Man. Photo by John Curley.

From participating at Burning Man to seeing India by train, Matador’s bucket list of 2008 went both far and deep. In an editor’s forward to this piece I’d hinted at that common perspective where “sometimes it feels like we’re racing against time to experience something or somewhere before whatever it is that makes it special has been exhausted, used up, crowded out.”

Instead of choosing all obvious experiences (i.e. skydiving), author Josh Lew included long-term experiences, like learning a foreign language, or surfing.

2. Teaching English in Japan is Awesome and Sometimes Hilarious

Our man in Japan, Abram Plaut, posted this essay that one of his students wrote.

Little did he know it would be read by almost half a million people.

Best comment: “I’m all about the pants romance.”

3. 10 Customs You Must Know Before a Trip to Japan

Photo by: kalandrakas.

From tipping to table manners, bathhouse etiquette to using chopsticks, Turner Wright keeps us on point when it comes to Japanese customs.

Of particular interest were the insights on fear and conformity in Japanese society. Turner writes: “When groups of high school students in Japan were asked to identify the dangers facing children today, the majority agreed on the number one threat: individualism.”

4. 10 Things to do in Amsterdam Besides Smoking Pot

Photo by: earcos.

Marla Seidel’s piece on Amsterdam and the resulting conversations it started represented the best of both Matador and Digg. People who have lived in Amsterdam for years not only agreed with her picks, but also helped with a few minor corrections as well as new suggestions.

This was one of the few pieces we’ve seen go popular on Digg where the haters seemed to stay under their bridges.

5. Where to Find the Hottest Girls Outside the US

Photo by Celeste.

Denis Burke’s geographic roundup of female beauty pretty much became a free for all in the comments, and maybe deservedly so. (Brazil was a major omission.)

But then again this topic proved the old adage beauty is in the eye of the beholder, only now with a web 2.0 (and mildly perverted) twist. Just take this comment from Babage: “The internet has the most beautiful girls, never fail to satisfy.”

6. The Red Pill: 10 Films Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind

“The following 10 films are chosen because they shed light on the forces at work within our lives, this very moment. They use satire and metaphor to approach the truths that would otherwise be too difficult to understand, or too terrifying to comprehend.” So writes Matador Network architect Ian Mackenzie.

This article produced a record number of comments (547 as of this writing), and prompted a follow-up piece: 311 More Films Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind.

7. How to Deal With Your Bus Getting Hijacked When Living Abroad

Photo by: Weidmaier

This piece started out as a blog from our friend Jon Brandt. It was heartbreaking to read, one of those worst-case scenarios that’s always out there when you’re traveling–even though you try not to dwell on it.

But all of us in the community were proud of Jon for choosing to stay in Ecuador, to keep traveling, and to share his experience.

Earlier this month, ArmyTimes.com reported that the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (1st BCT) is being trained as an on-call federal response within the US.

Their new domestic mission, called a “dwell-time” mission, is set to begin Oct. 1.

This will mark “the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.”

After spending 35 months in Iraq, the 1st BCT has been training at Ft. Stewart, Georgia. In addition to responding to “potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack,” the 1st BCT may be called upon to “help with civil unrest and crowd control.”

According to the Army Times, the soldiers have also “learned how to use ‘the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,’ 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.”

This is not the first time that active duty units have been called upon for a domestic assignment.

During Hurricane Katrina, units of the Army National Guard were mobilized in New Orleans.

Historians point out that if mobilization of soldiers leads to Martial Law, or the US Military policing the citizenry, constitutional rights are often violated, such as when soldiers went door-to-door confiscating legally-owned firearms during Hurricane Katrina.

Army Times notes that “after 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.”

Top photo: Preparing for Hurricane Gustav in New Orleans, by soldiersmediacenter

Right-hand photo: Soldiers patrol flooded streets after Hurricane Katrina, by pingnews.com

Photo by Rocketace

In a growing number of states, including key swing states of New Jersey and Florida, Jewish voters are being targeted with telephone calls inviting them to take part in a survey. The questions begin by asking for their positions on various issues and then turn to personal questions about religion, specifically asking them “Are you Jewish?”

If the person called answers in the affirmative, the caller begins asking a series of questions based on false information, such as, “How would you vote if you knew Barack Obama gave money to the PLO?”

Known as “push-polling,” this is very same tactic used against John McCain in the 2000 primary. Tucker Eskew, a key figure in Bush’s South Carolina primary campaign, devised a push poll strategy where callers asked South Carolina voters “How would you vote if you knew that John McCain has an illegitimate black baby?”

Now, according to ABC News, Tucker Eskew was recently hired by the McCain campaign.

Is this the guy–someone who turns around and hires the very same people who smeared his family–you want running the country?

What will it take for people to understand that electing another win-at-all-costs puppet of big oil and corporations will only continue this country on its sharply downward trajectory?