News Nuggets 1094

DAYLEE PICTURE: The burned-out devastation in Breezy Point, Queens.  See the story below.

Firefighter Community Devastated by Huge Blaze: How FDNY Fought to Save their Own Homes in Inferno that Engulfed 111 Houses from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"New York City fire crews fought neck-deep water and battering winds as they battled a raging inferno that reduced 111 homes to ash in a neighborhood that is home to hundreds of their fellow firefighters. The massive, uncontrollable blaze in Breezy Point, Queens, was sparked by a downed power line about 11pm on Monday and was not brought under control until daybreak on Tuesday."

Minnesota Mirror (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"I thought it might be useful to look at this election through the window of my hometown of St. Louis Park. I have not been disappointed. I found in this little suburb of 45,250 people outside of Minneapolis — which was memorialized in the movie, “A Serious Man,” directed by the Coen brothers, who also hail from here — all the key trends impacting America."

When Christianism Bites Back (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast 
"... that is why they will vote for Romney not as Christians as such, but as Christianists, willing to overlook the bizarre theology of Mormonism (and, of course, all theology is in some respects bizare) in order to promote the policies most fundamentalists of all types favor"

The Sleeping Giant of Texas’s Latino Vote from Politico
"This might be the last presidential election during which Texas is not considered a swing state. We know that the Latino vote matters in this year’s election. And the sleeping giant of the Texas Latino vote is poised to awaken and alter the fate of every future election."

President Obama Seizes the Moment as Hurricane Sandy’s Savior (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"The president has suspended campaigning to lead the federal response to a devastating hurricane. Howard Kurtz on why the crisis gives Obama a big edge over Romney."

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Mitt Romney’s Self-Made FEMA Problem (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"Mitt Romney’s suggestion during the primary season that he might do away with FEMA has come back to haunt him in the wake of Sandy, writes John Avlon."

How Sandy Changed The Campaign (Alec MacGillis) from the New Republic 
"... this big thing is, on one level, not at all helpful to Mitt Romney. A campaign striking for its relative stasis—both in the state-by-state landscape and the nature of the argument—has been turned on its head in the closing days, and how it affects the race probably depends on what stage one believes the race had arrived at by this point."

1 Week -- 2 Versions of Reality (Jonathan Martin) from Politico
"As if Hurricane Sandy weren’t doing enough to muddle the presidential race a week before the election, the two campaigns now seem to be embracing two sharply different versions of political reality."

NPR Poll Finds Presidential Race Too Close To Call (Ron Elving and Mara Liasson) from NPR
"The latest and last NPR Battleground Poll for 2012 shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holding the narrowest of leads in the national sample, but trailing President Obama in the dozen states that will decide the election."

Romney Camp Going Off The Fact Checking Rails In Ohio from Talking Points Memo
"In the final days of the 2012 race, Mitt Romney’s campaign is really making good on its pollster’s August promise to ignore fact checkers. To close the deal in the Ohio, Team Romney is blitzing the state with a series of wildly deceptive statements and ads suggesting that Chrysler is moving local jobs to China."

Romney’s Jeep-to-China Lie Earns Brutal Headlines in Ohio (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Polls have shown that large numbers of Ohioans don’t think Romney cares about their needs and problems. And the Obama campaign views the auto bailout, and Romney’s dishonesty about it, as central to their closing case against Romney’s character, integrity, and true priorities. So these are exactly the headlines the Obama team wants."

A Vote for the Future or for the Past? (Harold Meyerson) from the
Washington Post
"The 2012 presidential election is fundamentally a contest between our future and our past. Barack Obama’s America is the America that will be; Mitt Romney’s is the America that was. And the distance between the two is greater, perhaps, than in any election we’ve had since the Civil War."

STAR WARS MOVIE NUGGET!!
Disney Buys Lucasfilm; Eyes Release Of 'Star Wars: Episode 7' For 2015 from the Huffington Post
"During a conference call announcing the merger, it was reported that Disney executives said they wanted to release an "Episode VII" and "Episode IX" as well. The films would ideally reach theaters every two or three years."