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"Well, I woke up Friday mornin' with no way to look at America that doesn't hurt...." apologies to Johnny Cash.
Obama is backtracking on FISA and gives us pathetic, carefully nuanced reasons why.
The media - that great defender of America's values, and provider of truth- has become Rupert Murdoch's plaything and truth is no longer available. "Sorry, fresh out. Check Comedy Central on the 'truthiness' aisle"
The Bush/Cheney administration has proven long since that there truly is nothing they will not do to consolidate more and more power in the White House. The United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the laws and structures of this great nation, have never been in such peril. Never! Not at Pearl Harbor, not at the hands of Hitler, not when planes crashed into the World Trade Center, not even when the nation was rent asunder by Civil War.
That is the amount of money (loans + contributions) Cheryl Baswell Guthrie has contributed to her campaign for the repub nomination in AL-05. Pre-primary FEC reports were due July 3rd and in honor of my favorite WVNN personality DJack, here are CBG's and Wayne"Peanut" Parker's online report.
I bring to you today a story that is eight years old and as recent as today’s headlines.
A foolish tale of mirth and merriment it is indeed--and for those who want a real all-American Fourth of July story, well...this one fits better than a glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot.
The story, as you might have guessed from the headline, starts with a simple premise and ends by paraphrasing Ronald Reagan’s famous question:
Had we elected Jerry Springer in 2000 instead of George Bush the Younger, would we be better off today than we were eight years ago?
Come along for the ride, Esteemed Reader, and we shall see...
Those energetic Democrats in Marshall County, Alabama, are opening thier 2008 election headquarters on July 5th!
It wil be at 501 Blount Avenue in Guntersville. At first, the headquarters will be open on Saturdays from 9am to 3pm, but as the campaign progresses, the hours will expand. For more information, contact Susan McKenney at 256-302-7497.
For more county Democratic 2008 Headquarters - well, get with it!!
I think the Madison County headquarters is set to open the first week of August.
Hey Alabama - when's your 2008 Democratic Headquarters gonna open?
(More on payday lending -- an important issue in a fair society. - promoted by mooncat)
Some time back I was sitting at a stop light on my lunch break. While patiently awaiting the opportunity to quell my hunger with a fast-food offering, I began to look around, noticing the storefronts and signs that I might usually buzz by on my habitual morning commute. What caught my attention that day, while not alien to our daily lives, still managed to stun me into awareness.
Within the quarter-mile stretch visible to me at that time stood the signs and frontage of no less than four payday/title loan outlets. No kidding. Four would-be sub-prime lenders were placed within spitting distance of each other. There is apparently enough "demand" to support four of these outlets next door to each other.
July 4th is one of those traditional holidays that is still tied to a date instead of a day of the week -- I like that. This year it falls on Friday, making for a long weekend perfect for out of town trips. Is it worth it to travel?
According to AAA's website, retail gas prices are about $1.12 higher than a year ago. Regular unleaded is averaging $3.95 per gallon across the state, about 9 cents more than a month ago.
State Rep. Ken Guin checked in from the Democratic Leadership Council's national meeting earlier this week and said he's planning to bring back to Montgomery ideas on tax incentives for solar technology and spreading broadband internet access into the state's more rural areas.
Everyone in Alabama should have affordable high speed internet access -- it's the only way to keep small towns from becoming ghost towns in the face of soaring transportation costs. As for tax incentives for solar and other alternative energy technologies, that's just a no-brainer. Alabama's rural communities would see a big benefit from these initiatives -- dare we hope they will have bipartisan support in the Alabama Legislature?
House Editor David Wasserman of the Cook Politial Report (subscription) has released a new batch of race rating changes, including an upgrade for Alabama's 3rd District.
The poor national climate for the GOP and the DCCC's unprecedented financial edge makes even very difficult districts for Democrats worth keeping tabs on. ...
AL-03 Mike Rogers Solid Republican to Likely Republican
Democrat Josh Segall has been raising money on a par with the incumbent Rogers and this upgrade should excite his supporters even more. It might even be the boost he needs to make it onto the DCCC's Red to Blue list.
I'm telling you, Segall is a solid progressive candidate running in a district with favorable demographics. And a weak incumbent. In a terrible climate for Republicans and incumbents. This one is doable.
During the past 4 1/2 years, according to my research, an astonishing 88 percent of all jury verdicts in favor of the wronged victims have been reversed by the state Supreme Court.
But what about the jury trials won by defendants, in which the victim takes an appeal to correct an error? Here, again, the numbers are staggering.
Over the same 4 1/2-year-period, a plaintiff's success rate in reversing a jury verdict for the defendant is an astonishing zero.
The defendant corporation, hospital, or insurance company prevailed in 100 percent of these cases. It is difficult to imagine victims of negligence and fraud losing 100 percent of the time, but that is the way it is in the state Supreme Court in a plaintiff's appeal.
Their high court has been bought and paid for by business and corporate interests. The Alabama Supreme Court is in much the same shape since the BCA brought in Rove and Co. to pack the state courts with business friendly Republican justices. At present Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb is the only Democrat on any of Alabama's appellate courts, although that could very well change this fall -- see Deborah Bell Paseur.
I'm not aware of research like Alston's into decisions of the Alabama Supreme Court, but there is a strong impression they have a business-friendly tilt. Not too long ago they overturned not one, but two jury verdicts in a dispute between the State of Alabama and Exxon/Mobile and cost state taxpayers literally billions of dollars.
I still have my Alabama accent...even after 16 years in New York City. It had been pointed out, by those constant, "where are you from's" at bars, classes and other person to person encounters. So, one day, as part of an assignment at Columbia University's J-School, I thought to myself, why not do a little research and write a piece that takes a closer look at why some of us talk the way we do. Here's that story:
Things are quiet up here in the 5th district, but Jay Love and Harri Anne Smith are mixing it up pretty good down in the 2nd. First it was the dueling tax ads, now Harri Anne's media advisors have dragged Gov. Riley into the mud -- or at least video of him.
The ad, which began airing over the weekend, accuses Love of catering to oil companies when he helped vote down Riley's proposal earlier this year to sharply raise taxes on offshore natural gas wells.
It uses footage from a video news release Riley produced in March and blends it with other material to suggest that Riley is personally criticizing Love.
"When you put the interests of big oil over the people of Alabama..." Riley says in the ad before a narrator interrupts and says: "Who did? Jay Love did. With big oil reporting billions of dollars in profits and continuing to increase the price of gasoline, Jay Love voted against making big oil pay their fair share."
"What they did is unconscionable," Riley continues before the narrator ends with, "Jay Love: higher taxes and gas prices for you, tax breaks for big oil."
It looks enough like the governor is taking Love to task that Bob Riley felt the need to reiterate that he is not officially endorsing either Love or Smith in the runoff.
The bill discussed in the ad concerned a natural gas surtax that would have hit Exxon/Mobil hard. Love voted to kill it in committee - big surprise. Although her ad criticises Love for that vote, Smith has declined to state how she would have voted if the bill had made it to the Senate floor. That makes the contrast less effective, but I guess it keeps the door open for some Big Oil money if she makes it to the general election -- or for some Big Oil money to her state Senate campaign if she doesn't.
If you still doubted it, here's fresh evidence that John McCain is running for Bush's third term. The McCain campaign underwent a major overhaul today and Karl Rove's crowd ended up running the show.
McCain, who's in Latin America, gave increased authority over his campaign's daily workings to operative Steve Schmidt, a veteran of the Bush 2004 campaign who likely learned a thing or two from Karl Rove back then.
Mr. Schmidt’s elevation is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Mr. Rove’s shop in the McCain operation. Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for Mr. Bush in the 2004 campaign (and in his White House) has joined the campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with Mr. McCain every other week. Greg Jenkins, another veteran of Mr. Rove’s operation who is a former Fox News producer and director of the presidential advance team in the Bush White House, was hired by Mr. Schmidt last week after a series of what Mr. McCain’s advisers acknowledged were poorly executed campaign events.
Mr. Rove, who was Mr. Bush’s senior political adviser until he left the White House last year, was said by Mr. McCain’s advisers to have offered advice in recent days to Mr. Schmidt and others on how to get Mr. McCain’s campaign on track, but has stayed mostly on the periphery. Mr. Rove is aware, his associates said, that his own legacy could be helped should Mr. McCain succeed in winning the presidency.
Frank James sums it up:
The ascendance of more Rovians in the McCain people reminds me of something I once heard Wayne Slater, a Dallas Morning News reporter who co-wrote a book on Rove called "Bush's Brain" say. Slater said that Rove had trained so many Republican operatives in his strategies and methods that if he were to get hit by a bus, it would have little effect, the next generation of Rovians were ready to take over. And so they are.
New Voters are fired up and ready to go! According to Facing South300,000 (yes you read it right) new voters have been added to the rolls in Georgia since Janurary. North Carolina added just over 203,000 (yes you read it right) new voters to their rolls. Maybe that is why the GOP is crying "voter fraud". Emphasis mine:
When asked who these oversized claims of voter fraud were targeting, Minnite said it was likely people who did not pay attention to facts in campaigns.
"Probably the same people who think Obama is a Muslim," she said. "What I mean is that "voter fraud" is a form of racial coding for 'we must stop at least some black people (also known as Democrats in polite company) from voting or we are going to lose this election.' Commentators on the growing power of the internet to facilitate the spread of propaganda also like to talk about 'viral' messages. I would say this is one."
Guess which Alabama State Senator was the keynote speaker at the Council For Conservative Citizens.
OK, there's a primary runoff election coming up on July 15th. There are statewide Republican runoffs, plus various local races and the Congressional races in the 2nd and 5th districts. Tomorrow, July 3rd is the last day to register to vote in the runoff.
July 10 is the last date to apply for an absentee ballot. To be eligible to vote absentee, you must meet one of these criteria:
1) Out of the county or state on election day;
2) Physically infirm and unable to come to the polls on election day;
3) Working a shift at least 10 hours that coincide with the hours polls are open;
4) Students enrolled in a school outside their county of residence
5) A member, spouse or dependent of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.
For those voting on July 15th, polls will be open from 7 am to 7 pm and anyone who is registered can vote in the Republican runoff. From the Prattville Progress:
Local elections officials initially projected that turnout for the runoff would be low in the absence of a countywide political race. But one said this week that rules allowing non-Republican voters and those who didn't vote on June 3 to vote on July 15 could change that to some degree.
"The turnout could be a little better than we first thought," said Circuit Clerk Whit Moncrief, who oversees absentee balloting. "On July 15, it won't matter whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, or if you didn't vote (in the primary). Anybody who is registered to vote, can vote."
So, it doesn't matter which primary you voted for on June 3rd, or even whether you voted, the Republican party will allow you to vote in their runoff on July 15th.
So General Clark pointed out that, while he honors John McCain's service as a prisoner of war, McCain has not held executive responsibility and there is nothing in that service that uniquely qualifies him to be President. Republicans have gone ballistic on this because Clark struck a nerve. McCain has nothing except his war service to run on -- if that isn't relevant (and it's not) then there is no plausible reason for voters to choose him over Obama.
And the corporate media is playing right along. As you watch this video, can you tell the "news" people from the Republican surrogates? No, you can't, because they're all caught up in this fake outrage fanned by deliberately ignoring what Gen. Clark actually said.
McCain is overly sensitive on this point as well. David Wright got this reaction from McCain on his flight down to Columbia last night.
McCain bristled at the comments on "Face the Nation" last weekend by an Obama supporter, retired general Wesley Clark, who belittled the relevance of McCain’s wartime experience as a qualification for the Presidency.
"I think it’s up to Sen. Obama now not only to repudiate him but to cut him loose," McCain said.
McCain became visibly angry when I asked him to explain how his Vietnam experience prepared him for the Presidency.
"Please," he said, recoiling back in his seat in distaste at the very question.
Constant companions Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman had to step in and "rescue" McCain, who later apologized. Why does a man seeking the highest office in the land need to be "rescued" so often? Lieberman is forever having to remind McCain of pesky factual matters -- now he and Graham rescuing him from temper tantrums, too.
So, you think the right wingers over at Red State actually care about people in the South -- you know, value states like Alabama for our contributions to society? Think again. They're perfectly happy to promote insulting stereotypes about us while they sucker us into voting for neocon nonsense. Matt Stoller at Open Left caught this one:
In a standard elitist conservative argument, [Erick] Erickson attacks the GOP base itself while spinning a ridiculous style fantasy of a giant liberal conspiracy with the new coalition InternetforEveryone.org.
What we do know is that Larry Lessig cropped up again. Barack Obama's technology advisor was a speaker at the announcement of the organization and is listed as a member along with Google. Then there is the Sunlight Foundation, which pushes for all sorts of openness. Lessig and Google's Kim Scott are on the Sunlight Foundation board and the Sunlight Foundation is listed as a member of Internet For Everyone - I thought incest like this was only legal in Alabama.
Ha ha, incest jokes against the Republican base. I wonder why Republicans are so unenthusiastic about their party elites right now.
Let's compare and contrast. Last summer at YearlyKos there was a comedian at the Bloggers Brunch who made some insulting crack about Alabama -- can't remember exactly what but it wasn't incest. I know I've related this story before, but one more time can't hurt. There were 6 people from Alabama in an audience of about 1200. I was ticked off and pounded on the table, griping "why don't they pick on Mississippi sometime." Imagine my surprise when the other 1194 left wing, liberal, DFH, non-Alabamian bloggers in the room started booing the poor comic. It was amazing, and heartwarming. No more Alabama jokes from that guy.
So tell me, who cares more about the people in Alabama and understands that we are not some idiotic caricature? Hint: The same people who really care about our soldiers, our kids, our workers and our planet. You won't find them at Red State.
Note: Looks like someone has already scrubbed the original post and they didn't bother to use strikethrough text either.
Congressional Republican's have a "Regain Our Majority Program" (ROMP) -- they just aren't going to do it this year.
According to a memo from House Minority Whip Roy Blount, they have 8 candidates on the ROMP II list so far.
Get this -- only two of the names on this list are challengers running to unseat House Dems -- Hackett and Olsen. The rest are incumbents, with the exception of Stivers, who's running for an open GOP-held seat.
But to regain their majority the GOP would need to knock off 19 House Dems. So this program to win back the majority is approximately 17 candidates short of what they need to accomplish its stated goal!
It's 4 months 'til the election and they've already conceded this cycle. I'll bet that inspires a lot of volunteers to work like stink this year. NOT!
(I'm thrilled to be a co-sponsor of accountability for lawbreakers! How about the rest of you? - promoted by mooncat)
Senator Chris Dodd is rallying the forces of good (that means you!) to fight telecom immunity. He and Senator Feingold have introduced an amendment to strip immunity for telecoms from the current FISA bill. Senators Reid and Obama are on board.
I haven't done a roundup in a while -- don't know if y'all have missed them, but I have. For one thing, it means I'm not reading around the blogosphere as much as I like. On the other hand, my yard is looking pretty good these days. As always, add your news and thoughts in the comments.
Captain Plaid catches some stenography in the media -- you need to be on the lookout for this stuff. He also points out that Michael Ciamarra of the Alabama Policy Institute got a few more free column inches this week. Have y'all noticed how successful API is at getting their point of view printed in the newspaper? Left leaning institutions should do so well.
The BCA would not endorse Deborah Bell Paseur for the Alabama Supreme Court. Apparently they wanted her to pledge to refuse to accept contributions from trial lawyers to get their blessing. Sounds like the BCA thinks money from business people who may wind up with cases before the court (Exxon/Mobil anyone) is fine but money from lawyers is not. Or the BCA just wants to own the court for cheap.
Salvia. Just file this one under "solution desperately seeking problem."
Yep, Troy Boy was on FOX News. I watched the video and Troy stopped just short of saying Democrats are behind all this voter fraud -- he wanted to, but knew he'd better not. He made a big deal of how many investigations are going on -- investigations are easy to start, I'm waiting on convictions before believing this is a widespread problem.
Snark from the U.S. Court of Appeals to the DoJ -- regarding a Guantanamo detainee's rights. I was sure that image had been photoshopped. Looks just like Rove.
House Editor David Wasserman of the 
