This is really good to see.

Alaska’s U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Ted Stevens and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has been a toss-up for several months now, but the Democratic challenger is now ahead 50% to 41%. When “leaners” are included, Begich leads 52% to 44%.

Begich began running his first television ads of the campaign on July 8 and the survey was conducted nine days later.

Solving the crisis in education is completely possible, and we can't afford to ignore the state of our schools any longer.

copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org

The Courts and Congress have come to believe there is reason for fear.  Enemies are everywhere.  Those who wish to do us harm are in our homes.  They talk to us on our telephones.  Some sashay in through our computers.  "Evil doers" are ubiquitous in the United States.  Our open society places the public at risk.  We, the people, must defend ourselves.  Thus, the Supreme Court and Congress have given the government and us the means.  The highest judicial body in the nation has made it possible for the common man to protect himself with a pistol; Legislators provided the President ethereal firearms.  Indeed, individuals and the Commander-In-Chief were bequeathed more than either had asked for.  In 2008, we have entered the Summer of Separation.  In the United States we say, "Farewell to privacy.  Hello to arms."

Civil liberties narrowly survived the recent term of the Supreme Court, but libertarians should be concerned about the way they shook out. In 5-4 decisions in June, the high court affirmed the rights to habeas corpus in the courts and keeping shooting irons at home. But the only common vote in those decisions was Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Yesterday will not be remembered as a day of pride for the government of the United States. Whatever the intentions of passing FISA in its new form, the deed itself was regrettable, to say the least.

DailyKos registers a wide range of impressions on the left. Reactions ranged from minimization to resignation to indignation. There have been repeated attacks on Barack Obama and other 'party leaders' for not throwing themselves on top of the grenade in an attempt to stop legislation that too many others were dead set to pass. It appears that stepsare under way to have the new law challenged on grounds of constitutionality. So a lot of the commentary has dealt with the need to either rescue the Constitution of the United States, or conversely, to have the Constitution rescue us.

I regret having to tell you that neither of those will work, for as much as I hate to break it to you, and would rather not, in fact the original Constitution is regrettably already defunct. It is already regarded as mere literature by those with the power, and has been for some time.

If you do not believe me, or if you would like to discuss, please read on.

Just recieved an email from the ACLU saying they will be suing as soon as Bush signs this bill..

This is an updated appeal in support of fellow progressives arrested for protesting against Guantanamo Bay.  Please help, Kossacks!

Do you recall the famous encounter between Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson more than 150 years ago?  The year was 1846, and Thoreau had been imprisoned in a cell in Concord, Massachusetts for refusing to pay a poll tax that offended his conscience.  Concerned for his friend and perplexed by this act of civil disobedience, Emerson came to the jail to visit Thoreau.  He didn't hold back his incredulity for long, asking, "Henry, what are you doing in there?"

To this, Thoreau responded with a question of his own, one that we should all ask ourselves today: "What are you doing out there?"

Time and again I ask this question of myself -- and cannot help but feel shame.  There is an American detention camp actively offending the ideals of my country -- where the guilty and the innocent have been deprived of due process and subjected to torture -- and I have done little to nothing to shut it down.  

But other Americans have.  Other Americans have risked their jobs and their livelihoods to put an end to our national shame.  And now they need our help.

Yes, you read that right. I said McCain's FISA vote.

The news, and the blogosphere, has been concentrating on today's FISA vote. And a lot of that talk has been about Obama and the vote. So I want to propose something to the Progressive Think Tanks out there: this is the PERFECT opportunity to shine the light on McCain. It could become one of the talking points of the election, but only if we take it.

How? More, after the fold...

Is your heart beating in the back of your throat? Do you spend you days lately reading the blogs and papers with a feeling of dread? Does it seem to you that all your hopes and need for change have been just a cruel primary dream? If so, it is okay, just take a deep breath, hold it, and now let it out. Feel a little better? Good.

I noticed that people really like polls (I certainly get more participation in polls than in replies), so here's another one.

How many supreme court justices will leave in the next four years? For bonus points, guess how many will leave in eight years in the comments. Also, will Stevens break the record that was set by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.?

Tune in tomorrow for more Supreme Court speculation...

Well, as usual, we have members of this site saying they won't/might not vote for the Democratic candidate for President of the United States.

It happened in the primaries, with mainly Obama supporters saying they wouldn't vote for Clinton if she became the nominee.

Clinton, and now Obama failed a "purity test" to some people.

To quote New York Mayor Ed Koch has often said that a one-issue candidacy isn’t sufficient to run on. "If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, you should vote for me," Koch often has said. "If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, you should see a psychiatrist."

I write this diary in response to a recommended diary.

In 1997, Republicans and Democrats were debating the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" Ban Act.  Opponents of the bill, who felt the bill needed a life and health exception, offered two amendments to the bill.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) offered a more broad health exception amendment -- which permitted doctors to perform the practice when it was medically necessary to avert "serious adverse health consequences." Then-Sen. Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) offered a more narrow "grevious physical injury" exception to legally performing so-called "partial-birth" abortions.

The Errington Thompson Show is a progressive political talk show that airs on 880 AM (streaming) from the beautiful mountains of Asheville, NC on Saturday's at 9 am EST.  Today, we are talking with Linda Monk, constitutional scholar, about several recent Supreme Court rulings - guns, Exxon, Gitmo and more.  It should be fun.  You should join us!

Gene McCarthy used to say that the function of liberal Republicans was that, when they saw a drowning man, they would throw him a rope exactly halfway too short to reach him. Under the ironclad economic rule that there are no progressive multimillion dollar corporations, the New York Times is now, and always has been, a liberal Republican paper. In the editorial today, "New and Not Improved," the Times is letting its desire to appear loftily superior outrun the facts. Just as it did when it permitted the discredited Judith Miller to shill for the Iraq war, the Times is now flacking for the Republicans with today's arguments. As usual, it does so just to create the appearance of being evenhanded while proclaiming a nonexistent equivalence of disreputability between the candidates.

I must say that I worry about the future composition of the Supreme Court. Who do you think will be the next justice to leave the bench?

For background, the current Intrade odds are Stevens 67.5%, Ginsburg 20%, all others below 6%. However, rumor has it that Souter is itching to leave and is just waiting for a suitable president. (Source: comments at Glenn Greenwald's blog.)

I certainly wish Stevens the best of health!

I found a soft weak spot on the underbelly of a local right wing radio hack the other day.  The topic was the 2nd Amendment, the subject was the U.S. Supreme court.  He was arguing how close the Supreme court is on turning over the 2nd Amendment (God, Guns, and Gays argument(again).  when I called up to let him know that I was pretty sure that only two members of the Supreme Court had been picked by a Democratic President.  He was livid and try posture his arguement claiming a Liberal Supreme court.  The truth really struck him hard and swift.  He obviously had been drinking his own Kool Aid and forgotten who put these guys in office.  I double checked by math....

sure enough, I was right....

I am up to here with the rending of garments at this site.  You've heard it before.  You'll hear it again.  Now, I'm going to bed and when I get up tomorrow on THE FOURTH OF JULY ...  I want us to talk about anything else.  Anything.  Obama's VEEP choices?  Marion Hossa going to the Red Wings?  Ways to use less fossil fuels?  Will it rain again and block out the fireworks?

Please.  But, let me leave you with one thought.  First, enjoy this commentary by John McCain on FISA.  I tried to transcribe it from YouTube but there was a lot of rambling and incoherent muttering that I couldn't make out.  He was pretty hot and could hardly keep himself together, you see.  Here it is (below).

" How I vote is based on whether the candidate is for or against life, period," Strang said.

Let's resist the temptation to have some fun with the name of the person who made the statement.

There are some who may tend to be single issue voters that Obama would like to win over (at least some of them). And No, I'm not talking about the single issue FISA Daily Kos voter, give me no FISA or give me McCain voter.