Top McCain Aide Sponsors Ritual To Attack
Christianity

Progressive author John Gorenfeld recently released a book exposing the unsavory ties between the GOP and billionaire, Washington Times Publisher (and convicted tax cheat) Reverend Sun Myung Moon. In his book, Bad Moon Rising, Gorenfeld shows the[...]

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http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/05/09/top-mccain-aide-sponsors-ritual-t
o-attack-christianity/#more-15

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NE-Sen: Last Day to Help Kleeb

We're getting close, guys. We've made all the arguments: about how is opponent is a rich Republican trying to buy this seat, about Scott's commitment to grassroots politics, about what he can do for Nebraska and for the nation if we send him, instead of another DINO, to D.C.

The first hurdle is Tuesday's primary. The last little bit you give today might mean a last minute radio spot that otherwise wouldn't go up, a last tank of gas to get volunteers out on primary day to knock on doors (and it takes a lot of driving to campaign in Nebraska).

Our goal: $20,000 and 450 donations (one donation for every $1,000 of Raimondo's personal loan of $450K to his own campaign) by the end of today. Send the message that people power can compete with big money by contributing to Scott's campaign.

To sweeten the deal, when we get up to 400 donations, I'll post a picture.

On the Web:
Kleeb for Senate
Daily Kos for Scott Kleeb ActBlue page

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Friday Afternoon Open Thread

I'm off to work, here's an open thread.

Please remember, be civil, no racism charges or personal character attacks and if you have been commenting here less than 30 days, you are limited to 10 comments a day. We only have room for 200 or so on each thread. And, if you are a chatterer, see the rules, you get no more than 20, no matter how long you've been here.

There are inflamed passions out there and I prefer reasoned discussion. Sniping is not appreciated. Drive-by hits without substance will be deleted.

Lots of rules, but these are unusual times and the internet has no eraser. Think before you post, the preview button is your friend.

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The Transformational Primary

There sure was a lot of hand-wringing back in March by Obama supporters unable to stomach the fact that Hillary Clinton would {gasp!} stay in the race and deny their candidate something he wasn't actually able to win outright. The most ironic thing about[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mydd/~3/286978641/12879

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Novel Exit Strategy For Sen. Clinton --
Verse-Case Scenario by Tony Peyser

Maybe Hill could save some face if
Someone granted a wish & then
She somehow became the President
Of both Florida and Michigan.

VERSE CASE SCENARIO

Tony Peyser provides daily poems and weekly cartoons for BuzzFlash and also writes the BuzzFlash column, "Blue State Jukebox." He was a daily cartoonist for the L.A. Times from 1994 to 1997. You can e-mail Tony at tonypeyser@yahoo.com.

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Dave Lindorff: The Democratic Presidential
Nomination Fight: A View from Pennsylvania

The results in Tuesday's twin primaries -- Barack Obama by 14 percent in North Carolina and Hillary Clinton by 2 percent in Indiana -- confirmed that Clinton is finished as a contender. Barack Obama will be the Democratic candidate for president this fall.

Clinton, the private-schooled, Wellesley and Yale-educated millionaire lawyer from Chicago, first tried to present herself as a White House veteran, and then, in recent weeks, as a NASCAR mom on Food Stamps, and in Pennsylvania resorted to cheap race-baiting and red-baiting in an effort to derail her opponent, has failed. Barack Obama, another private-schooled Harvard and Yale-educated lawyer, but one who actually did have to work his way up the economic ladder, won decisively in North Carolina, even drawing a significant number of working-class white voters in a state where white voters have not traditionally voted for candidates with dark skin.
Bookmark/Search this post with: buzzflash | delicious | digg | technorati Technorati Tags: Dave Lindorff 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton John McCain race racism pandering Pennsylvania

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Wash. Times issues correction for uncritically
quoting Indiana man calling Obama a Muslim

As MediaMatters for America noted, a May 7 Washington Times article that ran in theonline and print editions uncritically quoted an Indiana man saying of Sen. Barack Obama,"I can't stand him. ... He's a Muslim. He's not even pro-American as faras I'm concerned." In the May 9 edition ofthe Times, the followingclarification was issued: "An article in Wednesday's editions aboutthe Indianaprimary election quoted a man who said he thought Sen. Barack Obama was aMuslim. The article inadvertently[...]

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http://feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatters/latest/~3/286977597/200805090002

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WaPo: Feds Probing Lawmakers' Use of Staffers

Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Jane Harman (D-CA) had a nasty surprise late last week when The Washington Post reported that Laura Flores, a former staffer who'd been busted for stealing $200,000 from her bosses' official accounts, was cooperating with the feds in an investigation of "whether members of Congress used phones, supplies and staff time for campaign purposes." The Post called it "an early-stage inquiry by the Justice Department's public integrity section." It isn't clear if the investigation is limited to, or even concentrated on, Harman and Abercrombie. Flores is getting a reduced sentence for her efforts.

Both Abercrombie and Harman have denied that there would be any reason for scrutiny. And there hasn't been a specific allegation that a Congressional staffer was paid to perform campaign activity. But the Post reported yesterday that both lawmakers had together managed to spend $2 million on their 2006 campaigns while spending only $5,000 of that on campaign workers. Both explain that by saying they used volunteers.

I asked Stan Brand, a veteran D.C. criminal defense and ethics lawyer and the former House general counsel, what he thought of the probe. He couldn't remember a prior example of the Justice Department going after lawmakers for using staffers for campaign work, but said there had been a number of prosecutions for having staffers work on a lawmakers' private business.

The problem for prosecutors, he said, is the vagueness of what would be an inappropriate activity outside a staffer's official duties. "So the courts have deferred in large measure to give the Congress some discretion in defining official duties. That's where the Justice Department has had difficult drawing that line itself." As a result, he said, prosecutors would need to "have a really clear cut and egregious case in this area to make a compelling prosecution."

Of course, this sort of thing is traditionally in the domain of the House ethics committee, but with the committee all but moribund, Brand said, the Department may be looking to "fill the vacuum." With the committee paralyzed, the Department might feel the need "to make a determination of whether something illegal has occurred here.... There's no basis for them to defer" to the committee.

The watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has seized the opportunity to demand that the committee investigate the use of staffers. Whether that will result in any action... don't bet on it.

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T G T B & T U

[...]

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http://unionmaine.blogspot.com/2008/05/former-negotiation-team-members-will.html

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Media War Is Over! ......heh

Subtitle: Thoughts on effectively changing the media.Thought One: Calling a campaign to change/reform the media a 'media war' is not the way to effectively change the media! Frontal attacks on massive egos are rarely effective.....by themselves. Of[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/287018853/showDiary.do

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