Today's Recommended Reader Blogs

post from TPMCafe on 18 March 2008 10:32:00 PM. © TPMCafe

The debate over Barack Obama's relationship with his pastor, Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., has dominated the reader blogs this week, to the point of eclipsing just about all other topics. That said, I'd like to start with a few posts that are not about "Obama's pastor problem." After the jump you'll find enough on Obama and Wright to hold you over until this storm passes.

First off, reader FlyOnTheWall not only takes the candidates to task for their willful negligence of the current economic crisis, but also lays out what a comprehensive speech on the economy might look like, if anyone had the nerve to make it. (Reader clearthinker's response, which emphasizes energy over finance, is also well worth a read.)

Next, The Zaftig Redhead explains why we shouldn't let the overwhelmingly good odds for Dems in upcoming congressional elections shade our expectations for the presidential race.

Reader Alex Sherman looks to historian Richard Hofstadter for help interpreting Obama's "vague" call for change.

Rick Spilman takes down the New York Times's less than thoughtful commemorative op-ed page on the Iraq War's fifth anniversary.

More after the jump. . .

Gerard Jones asks how the question of race and racism can be confronted if Americans can't seem to discuss the issue without calling for heads to roll.

Many people have asked recently, why Barack Obama stayed on as a member of Trinity Church, despite admittedly disagreeing with the views of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright. Reader and pastor Eric Folkerth's answer to this question is interesting not only in light of Obama's relationship to Trinity, but also with respect to a broader understanding of the changing role of churches in society.

Reader Hilary tracks some of the headlines following Obama's big speech on Wright and race. The results seem to show that the coverage of the speech coming from Pennsylvania news outlets is somewhat more favorable to Obama than that of the cable news networks.

Two members of the Trinity United Church of Christ who happen to blog here have offered up their views on this week's controversy. Read Gladys Mitchell's post here and Grover M's here.

Finally, some of our readers, both Clinton and Obama supporters, have expressed a desire for a more civil inter-campaign discourse, and I think the results so far have been very positive. Check out the ongoing debate here, here, and here.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/tpmcafe-main/~3/254018293/

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Remembering how to be a Democrat

post from American Street on 18 March 2008 10:29:00 PM. © American Street

Tom Gervaert (aka The Funny Farmer) reminds a few candidates and elected officials how to act like one.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2008/03/18/remembering-how-to-be-a-democr
at/

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Not your everyday "empty rhetoric"

post from media girl - progressive, feminist, empowered on 18 March 2008 10:18:09 PM. © media girl - progressive, feminist, empowered

Barack Obama spoke today. This simply is one of the most profound and brave speeches in politics I've seen in a long long time.

video details and more

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http://mediagirl.org/media-girl/not-your-everyday-empty-rhetoric

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TED

post from Open Left - Front Page on 18 March 2008 10:15:04 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Have you heard about TED? The Technology Entertainment Design conference has been held[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/254004965/showDiary.do

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Late Night

post from Eschaton on 18 March 2008 10:08:00 PM. © Eschaton

I'm sleepy.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/bRuz/~3/253999265/2008_03_16_archive.html

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Countdowns Worst Persons: Olbermann Murdoch &
McSame

post from Crooks and Liars on 18 March 2008 10:02:11 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Download | Play Download | Play (h/t Heather) Today’s Worst Person in the World segment on Countdown saw the host himself taking the bronze. Yesterday, during the WPITW segment, Keith Olbermann called on the New York Times’ Bill Keller to fire right wing hack, Bill Kristol, after he used faulty information to smear Barack Obama in his [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/03/18/countdowns-worst-persons-olbermann-murdo
ch-mcsame/

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Arthur C. Clarke has passed

post from Reality Frame on 18 March 2008 10:00:00 PM. © Reality Frame

Arthur C. Clarke, famed science fiction author, has passed away in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. He was 90 years young.Mr Clarke invented the concept of a world-circling satellite communications system in a paper published in 1945. He then went on to write some of the best short stories and novels of science fiction that the genre has produced, including Against the Fall of Night, The Other

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/VVct/~3/254184505/arthur-c-clarke-has-pas
sed.html

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John Murtha Endorses Hillary Clinton

post from MyDD on 18 March 2008 09:56:56 PM. © MyDD

Things continue to go Hillary Clinton's way in Pennsylvania. From Anne Kornblut: Rep. John P. Murtha has announced his endorsement of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, bringing his clout as a 17-term member of the House and a prominent anti-war Democrat to[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mydd/~3/253971601/432

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Scarborough claimed McCain "has never attached
himself to these people on the far right that say if you're gay, you're going to hell, et cetera"

On the March 18 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, discussing controversialcomments by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor,host Joe Scarborough claimed that Sen. John McCain "has never attachedhimself to these people on the far right that say if you're gay,you're going to hell, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." Scarboroughlater added, "Please, don't bring up [televangelist] John Hagee in Texas and tell us thatthere is any comparison [to Wright], because there is not."[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatters/latest/~3/253961827/200803180010

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NORML to Challenge Mass. Pot Law

Back in September, I wrote about the arrest of NORML Founder Keith Stroup in Mass. at a rally for smoking a marijuana cigarette.

The case is headed to court Thursday morning. Keith and his co-defendant are challenging the constitutionality of the law criminalizing adult pot possession and use, and are requesting a jury nullification instruction:

[Their motion asks] the trial judge to inform the jury of their right to return a not-guilty verdict if, in their view, the defendants’ actions did not amount to criminal conduct.

This long-held traditional power of a jury — to refuse to convict if its members agree that such a conviction would create an injustice — is fundamental to the jury’s role as the bulwark of American individual liberty.

A copy of their motion to dismiss is available here. There will be a press conference at Boston's Batterymarch Conference Center after the hearing.