Thank you Iowa

post from The Newshoggers on 14 November 2007 03:55:00 AM. © The Newshoggers

by shamanic

Please, keep us guessing until the late night hours on January 3. I'm ecstatic to see a tightening in the polls, and particularly signs of life from John Edwards. I'm looking forward to many happy discussions about the changing dynamics of the '08 race if John Edwards won Iowa! That would be some electoral hoo-ha, yeah?

You go, Iowa, with your thinking and evaluating and uncertainty. Vote your heart on caucus day, and make sure the journalists don't get to sleep at all.

New Hampshire, take a lesson.

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http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/11/thank-you-iowa.html

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Vote for me, if you can

post from The American Street on 14 November 2007 03:34:00 AM. © The American Street

..December 1st is 17 days away. Shelter, utility, phone and Net costs average around[...]

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Thoughts on Georgia's Gubernatorial rain dance

post from The Newshoggers on 14 November 2007 03:31:00 AM. © The Newshoggers

by shamanic

Michael D summarizes events nicely at Balloon Juice, but I have to remark on the oddly pagan aspect of what Perdue did yesterday. A lot of people treated it as a joke, but there's something ancient and community-based about the approach, however ineffective.

For myself, I went to see "a conversation with Ani DiFranco" at a tiny bookstore here in Decatur while the world prayed for rain. I'm not especially a fan of Ani, having too few arms to keep up with the acres of creative output she churns out each year, but I had a few good reasons to go and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. She was warm, intelligent, and really deeply grounded. The Ani freaks weren't even annoying. Nobody fainted or shrieked or cried. Really, I've been to some shows. It could have gone either way.

As Michael notes, it did get cloudy in Atlanta yesterday, and then cleared up. Today's sunny so far. I think it's a little crazy that Perdue tacitly acknowledges (through his prayer vigil) that either God doesn't know that the lakes are drying up or that God has been too busy with other things to listen to the individual prayers of millions of residents of the southeastern United States. Perhaps Sonny thinks that God is essentially a politician, susceptible to the masses when they band together (though as a Republican, Sonny doesn't actually believe that the masses should band together).

So yesterday, my state's governor lobbied God on behalf of those of us who like to drink and shower and flush. And nothing happened.

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http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/11/thoughts-on-georgias-gubernatorial-rai
n.html

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The Presidency as Dating Game

post from Connecting.the.Dots on 14 November 2007 03:16:00 AM. © Connecting.the.Dots

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http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2007/11/presidency-as-dating-game.html

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Barack Obama's Speech at the Jefferson Jackson
Dinner

post from The Osterley Times on 14 November 2007 03:13:00 AM. © The Osterley Times

video details and more

Tags: Barack Obama, Iowa, Jefferson Jackson Dinner Speech, JJ

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http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2007/11/barack-obamas-speech-at-jefferson.
html

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Guest: Ina Romeo

post from The Ointment on 14 November 2007 03:01:00 AM. © The Ointment

Actress / comedian Ina Romeo disccusses her family and her new show, "Pawn Shop" on today's episode of "The Ointment."

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http://theointment.com/?p=490

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Feinstein Faces Dem Censure After Backing Mukasey

post from The Osterley Times on 14 November 2007 02:49:00 AM. © The Osterley Times

One day after voting to elevate a divisive conservative judge to the federal appeals court in New Orleans, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein was the president's guest aboard Air Force One. She had been invited to survey the damage from the recent spate of Southern California wildfires.

The senator later remarked privately that she found her conversation with Bush aboard Air Force One "illuminating," a source close to Feinstein told the Huffington Post.

Two weeks later, Feinstein was one of two Democrats on the Senate judiciary committee to vote to send Michael Mukasey's nomination to be the new attorney general to the full Senate. Her support helped turn the tide in favor of a nomination that faced an uncertain future after Mukasey refused to say whether waterboarding was torture.

When the full Senate voted, Feinstein was one of only six Democrats to vote in favor of confirming Mukasey.

Now, at last, the worm has turned and a group of Democrats are moving to censure Feinstein for her almost constant support of Bush's most controversial policies, the most recent of which are her plans to support the granting of legal immunity to telecom companies that shared customer email and phone messages with the federal government as part of the warrantless surveillance program.

"Dianne Feinstein does not listen to the people of California," said Rick Jacobs, president of the Courage Campaign, a progressive organization in California. "She supports George Bush's agenda time after time."

I have long regarded Feinstein as a Republican wolf in Democratic sheep's clothing, the new Joe Lieberman of the Democratic party. And she has certainly acted as the person who will ensure that the Democratic majority is worthless, as she can always be relied upon to help push this President's most controversial policies and appointments through.

The censure may well come to nothing and will be portrayed by Republicans as an attack by the Democrats on the more "reasonable" elements of the Democratic party, by which they mean the Democratic members who constantly back Republican policy.

But, if nothing else, the censure will make it more difficult for someone like Feinstein to continue to do what she does, without at least having to justify her continual toadying to the Bush camp to her own party.

Here's the resolution:

Whereas Senator Dianne Feinstein voted to support the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey as United States Attorney General, thereby elevating to the highest position in law enforcement a man who refused to renounce the right of the President to resort to torture and who refused to recognize waterboarding as a form of torture, and by this action Senator Feinstein failed to oppose President Bush and failed to stand for the ideals of the Democratic Party, which abhors torture and stands firmly against its use by the United States at all times and places; and

Whereas Senator Feinstein voted to confirm Judge Leslie Southwick for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit despite his clear record of racism and gender discrimination, thus failing to stand firmly with the Democratic Party, which supports gender equality and opposes racism in any of its manifestations; and

Whereas these examples are far from the only instances where Senator Feinstein, after seeking and securing the support and endorsement of the California Democratic Party, has failed to support the policies and principles of our party

Therefore be it resolved that the California Democratic Party expresses its disappointment at, and censure of, Senator Feinstein for ignoring Democratic principles and falling so far below the standard of what we expect of our elected officials.

Click title for full article.

Tags: Feinstein, Democratic censure, Bush, Mukasey, warrantless surveillance program, telecom immunity

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http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2007/11/feinstein-faces-dem-censure-after.
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Disturbing Study: Troops’ Mental Stress
Worsens Months After Returning To U.S. Soil After Serving In Iraq

post from The Gun Toting Liberal? on 14 November 2007 02:49:00 AM. © The Gun Toting Liberal?

It’s been well over a year and a half since I’ve been in the infamous “Desert”; serving as a member of a reserve component of the U.S. Air Force in a so-called “hostile fire zone”, yet at least a half an hour away from Iraq by plane. The area I served in would be [...]

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http://guntotingliberal.com/?p=2115

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Spitzer Folds on Drivers' Licenses for the
Undocumented

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who two weeks ago capitulated to the feds and weakened his drivers' license proposal for undocumented residents, has now bowed to public pressure and rescinded the plan entirely.

“Having heard that, and assessed the realities of implementing this policy, part of leadership is realizing that getting results is more important than sticking to what may be a principled position.”

No, leadership is doing what's right. Gov. Spitzer needs to get some spine.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/184508723/504

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Who is in control of 2008

I got some heat from Edwards supporters for my last post, when I wrote that Clinton has been the[...]

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