DNC Sues FEC Over McCain, Redux

post from Firedoglake on 17 June 2008 06:02:03 PM. © Firedoglake

After a little procedural hiccup, the DNC is once again set to sue the Federal Election Commission in federal court in DC. The purpose of the suit is to get the FEC to investigate McCain's unilateral withdrawal from the matching funds program.[...]

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http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/17/dnc-sues-fec-over-mccain-redux/

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Chuck Todd disses Move Ons new ad: I think it was
a borderline shameless ad

post from Crooks and Liars on 17 June 2008 06:00:15 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Well, well, well. I hate to say I told you so to all the bloggers that praised him, but in the blink of an eye the Villagers have turned on MoveOn. For all those that thought Chuck Todd was so cool—guess what? He’s going to stick with the Villagers every time. I’m not saying [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/17/chuck-todd-disses-move-ons-new-ad-i-thin
k-it-was-a-borderline-shameless-ad/

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Flipping the script.

post from the field negro on 17 June 2008 06:00:00 PM. © the field negro

Alright I am going to be a little messy with this post. But hey, I wouldn't be me if I didn't keep it real with you. Now you see the picture I have up with this post right? That is DeMarcus Ware (a very fine football player with some serious skills) and his lovely wife Taniqua, with their newly adopted baby, Marley ( I love the name for obvious reasons). But...okay, let's keep it 100%. Do you mean to tell me that the Wares couldn't have found a little black baby to adopt?

I mean honestly, like WTF? And please don't tell me that the baby in the picture could be black, or Mexican, or whatever. I know that. But....come on now.

Still, there is a serious side to this post. Honestly, Mrs. Field and I are considering adopting down the line, so when I see stories about adoptions, I pay attention. And apparently the Wares had three failed pregnancies and a young son who was stillborn. So I really do feel their pain, and I sympathize with what they had to go through. But come on now; there are thousands and thousands of black children in the foster care system who need good solid homes and loving couples who will take care of them. Couples like the Wares. Unfortunately, not enough professional black folks who can afford to adopt, go that route, and it's a shame. That is an option we should always consider. In the previous post we damn near all agreed that there is a crisis in our communities with many black families. Many of them being held down by single parents. But what about the scenarios where none of the parents are around, and the poor children are forced to bounce around in state agencies? Shouldn't we be trying to help those kids as well? And to be fair to the Wares, they have said that they will probably adopt foster kids in the future, and that they will do charity work with similar agencies, so we will see.

I have a white colleague who tried to adopt a little African American boy and he was discouraged from doing it. He is still pissed about that shit. Apparently black social workers and psychiatrist don't think that's such a cool thing for white folks to go adopting little black kids. Something about fucking up their minds culturally. I won't get into that right now, but there is a post in there down the road.

In spite of that, white folks adopt little black kids all the time. (See Angelina and Brad) Primarily because there is such a shortage of little white ones. So much so that the biggest import to this country from places like Russia and China for awhile were those beautiful little bundles of joy. But black folks adopting little white babies? Come on now. Ya think Taniqua played with white dolls when she was a little girl? Oh stop it field you are such an asshole. Yeah, I know, but the guy is a stinking Cowboy. (Digression alert)

Let me stop, I don't want to be mean to DeMarcus and Taniqua. Besides DeMarcus is a big boy, I don't feel like going even one round with his big ass.

Anyway, all the best DeMarcus and Taniqua. And don't worry, at least you got the name right.

h/t Deidra Robey over at the Afrospear for hipping me to this story.

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More Oil And Slick Characters

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 17 June 2008 05:58:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

So, according to this Swampland post (in the update), John W. McBush ?has criticized oil company profits as excessive, and called for investigations of possible price manipulation, (but) he is coming out strongly against an oil company profits tax.?

Yeah, that will accomplish a lot (and of course, he then used this as an excuse to attack Barack Obama and compare him to Jimmy Carter again, which I find to be an odd strategy since only older voters would remember him anyway; does this mean, then, that McCain has written off anyone who is about half his age or younger?).

What I?ve always wondered about is why the oil companies haven?t expanded their domestic refineries for years (since the time of Carter?s windfall profits tax I believe, but that is hardly an excuse for these robber barons).

With that in mind, I happened to come across this item about Conoco-Phillips and its attempt to expand one of its refineries in Illinois (right in Obama?s backyard, as it turns out), but the expansion was blocked by the EPA because the agency ruled that Conoco-Phillips ?did not plan to use the best technology for cutting emissions.?

While I am utterly shocked that some long-dormant enforcement reflex on the part of a government agency under this regime somehow sprung to life, I would also like to point out (as shown in this story) that the reason Big Oil hasn?t expanded its refineries really doesn?t have anything to do with what either political party does, truth be told; it is pure supply and demand, and they really don?t feel much like obeying the law either.

Another consideration is feeding their U.S. and overseas markets (notably China and India); they don?t want to take any of their operations offline for expansion or maintenance because it would mean slowing down the output, and this was true after Katrina also (a time when price due to supply impact promised to remain high for some time).

I don?t know if it will be possible for Barack Obama to tax the profits of these corporate criminals in order to assist poorer Americans with their energy costs. But at least he?s willing to try, which is a lot more than can be said for his opponent, as big a lackey for Big Oil as anyone could ever imagine (here).

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http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-oil-and-slick-characters.html

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Mora: Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are ‘first
and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq.’

post from Think Progress on 17 June 2008 05:51:00 PM. © Think Progress

Today, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on detainee interrogation. Testifying before the committee, former Navy general counsel Alberto Mora, who battled within the Pentagon to shut down the use of torture, blasted the Bush administration’s abusive detention practices as leading to the recruitment of new radicals and the deaths of more American soldiers:

[T]here are serving U.S. flag-rank officers who maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq — as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat — are, respectively the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

Watch it:

video details and more

Mora denounced the Bush adminsitration’s “decision to use so-called ‘harsh’ interrogation techniques” as “a mistake of massive proportions.”

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http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/17/mora-abu-ghraib-and-guantanamo-are-first-and-
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NC-Pres: another tied match

post from Daily Kos on 17 June 2008 05:49:52 PM. © Daily Kos

Tel Opinion Research (R). 6/11-13. Registered voters. MoE 4% (5/14-17 results)

McCain (R) 45 (44)
Obama (D) 41 (39)

Not much movement in the last month, with changes essentially float in the MoE. This state is neck and neck, with the Pollster.com composite at McCain 44.6, Obama 41.4.

And the crosstabs look ominous for McCain:

6/13 Total Men Wom GOP Dem Other Whi Bla McCain 51 49 41 80 21 34 54 7 Obama 41 38 44 7 63 53 31 86

Obama still has some ground to make up with Democrats. But the African American and white numbers are particularly dangerous for McCain.

The sample weighing of this poll is 79 percent white, 18 percent black. But in 2004, African Americans were 26 percent of the NC voter turnout. And does anyone doubt that Obama isn't going to improve on those numbers here and other states with large African American populations?

That's not all, in 2004, the gender split among NC voters was 59 female, 41 male. Yet in this poll, it's 55 female, 45 male.

In other words, the sampling is skewed in a way that gives McCain a huge boost. Not surprising given that the pollster is a GOP outfit. Someone else can do the math and re-weigh this poll in a way that would match 2004 numbers, to see how the toplines would change. But this is fine. The fact that Obama trails within the MoE in a poll heavily weighed against his strongest demographics -- all the while showing him gaining the support of only 63 percent of Democrats is stunning.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/314075232/954

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CNN's Sanchez falsely suggested Democrats rarely
discuss religion and their faith in God in public

post from Media Matters for America on 17 June 2008 05:43:02 PM. © Media Matters for America

During the June 15 edition of CNN Newsroom, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama'sFather's Day speech earlier that day at Chicago's Apostolic Church of God, anchor RickSanchez asked, "When was the last time that you saw a Democrat -- aDemocrat in church giving what appears to be a sermon to a congregation?"Later in the segment, Sanchez said of Obama's speech: "I mean, thisis a values play by Barack Obama. He says 'trust in the Lord.' Whenwas the last time you heard a Democrat in church saying --[...]

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http://feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatters/latest/~3/314076114/200806170009

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ASSIGNMENT DESK: CHANGES IN THE SENATE.

William Smith asks, "Wyden's health bill and the cap-and-trade greenhouse gas bill are going to have to wait on Bush to leave office but the Senate is also the major hold-up. How will these bills be affected by the projected new class of Senators,[...]

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http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=06&year=2008&base_name
=assignment_desk_changes_in_the

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Ancient Chinese secret, huh

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 17 June 2008 05:40:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

It's difficult to know why this Calgon commercial from my childhood (from the 70s I think) goes through my head on a regular basis. But it does. And now it will be going through yours.

video details and more

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/314240165/ancient-chinese-secret-hu
h.html

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Class Warfare: David Sirota on GRITtv

Are we in the middle of an uprising? Best-selling author, journalist and indefatigable blogger, David Sirota says yes. In fact, there?s a primordial soup of a potential social movement out there. Yet it?s not a forgone conclusion that the uprising will[...]

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http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/2008/06/17/class-warfare-david-sirota-on-gri
ttv/

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