I've read a few diaries complaining about the coverage of the Convention, and part of the criticism is the TV celebrities think it's all about them. From what I saw, the celebrities reminded me of a pre-game or half time football show with Howie and Bradshaw. There was no game, just their opinions and jokes about a game.
I'm no celebrity and I'm sure it comes with the territory. It's a hard job, although it pays quite well. And I like Olbermann and Maddow and a few others. But I see a diary on the Rec list by Keith Olbermann about his issues with the NY Post. Maybe on another day, it'd be all cool. Hey, Keith's on our side. And the NY Post sucks.
But today an African American will be nominated for President by a Party that prior to the Civil War accomodated slavery and, under Woodrow Wilson, segregated the civil service. It's also a Party that fought in the 1960s to bring civil rights to all.
This is truly historic. There should be diaries about Barack Obama on the Rec list. It's his day.
KO has a good correction to my title in the Update, which I adopted in part in the Updated version.
Many people believe that Jeff Merkley, Senate candidate from Oregon, is one of the most progressive candidates on the ballot anywhere this year. He opposed the invasion of Iraq, supports the Reponsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, supports unions and workers, supports fair trade, is very green, and opposed FISA. Jeff on the Issues
Down the line on issue after issue, he takes a strong progressive stand. And when he wins, he will replace a Republican senator, Gordon Smith. We get more and BETTER Democrats when Merkley wins.
So we've decided to do a weekly roundup on Sunday evenings regarding news of the Merkley campaign. I'll do the first one, and each Sunday there will be a different author.
Come around after the fold, join our community, and hear the news.
With all the Biden and Obama diaries, I have a little something different. Go read those, get up to date, and then come back here and consider watching this video on a nice Saturday afternoon. (or bookmarking for later)
Since May, six farm workers in California have died from what appears to be heat-related causes. I've been writing about this since Maria Isabel's death in May, trying to help in any way I could. It's been hard to write about the continuing deaths.
I have good news. On Monday, the California Senate passed a secret ballot bill that will help unionizing workers in the fields. Where the union is strong, the laws on the books are the laws in the fields. We still must get the Governor not to veto it, as he has done before, but today we celebrate a victory.
I have an excellent, 20 minute video released on August 18, "California's Harvest of Shame" narrated by California Assembly Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez, w/a prologue & epilogue by actor Martin Sheen. It's worth seeing. Once you know, you will not be the same.
This is good news. Barack Obama is presenting an economic populist message that I believe will help propel him to the White House, along with showing more anger and fight. And he's talking about how the American Dream is slipping away for many. Yesterday, in Martinsville, Va, Obama said:
This election is about "deciding right here and right now that we are gonna fight to make government accountable to the American people to make sure that the special interests aren’t dominating Washington," Obama told the crowd of about 350 here at a community college in the southern part of the state.
"That’s why I promise you this: that if you will vote for me, if you give me that opportunity, if you give me that chance, that I will fight for you every single day. I will wake up in that White House thinking about the people of Martinsville and the people of Henry County and how I can make your life better"
Reuters is reporting that McCain now has a five point lead over Obama. Like all polls, this one is just a data point, and people should not get too high or low over any one poll.
In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.
TPM is reporting on John McCain's latest disgusting attack on Barack Obama:
Senator Obama still cannot quite bring himself to admit his own failure in judgment. Nor has he been willing to heed the guidance of General Petraeus, or to listen to our troops on the ground when they say -- as they have said to me on my trips to Iraq: "Let us win, just let us win." Instead, Senator Obama commits the greater error of insisting that even in hindsight, he would oppose the surge. Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory. In short, both candidates in this election pledge to end this war and bring our troops home. The great difference is that I intend to win it first.
Behind all of these claims and positions by Senator Obama lies the ambition to be president. What's less apparent is the judgment to be commander in chief. And in matters of national security, good judgment will be at a premium in the term of the next president -- as we were all reminded ten days ago by events in the nation of Georgia.
There are two very good diaries on the Rec List discussing the possibility that John McCain's story regarding the Vietnamese guard was concocted. At this point, in my view, there is evidence pointing toward that possibility, but the story could be true. While John McCain's policies are wrong, that does not necessarily mean he's not telling the truth here. We don't know.
What I wanted to do is recap what others have researched, giving links to their work, and discuss further research possibilities. I think a fair reading of the evidence is that there is reason for further research. It's such a strong charge to make that I believe we ethically need to be sure.
That's a saying among the United Farm Workers, and this summer it is more fitting then ever. Yesterday we mourned, Today we act, Tomorrow we will gain justice.
Since May, six farm workers in California have died from what appears to be heat-related causes. This brings to 15 the number of farm workers whose death have been investigated as heat-related since Governor Schwarzenegger took office.
A motto of the United Farm Workers is Si, Se Puede!, which the Barack Obama campaign has borrowed in its anglo version as "Yes, we can!"
Senator Barack Obama adopted the English version "Yes, we can!" first during the 2004 Illinois Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate, and it has become a mantra of his 2008 presidential campaign.
Six California farm workers have died since May from what appears to be heat related causes. The latest one was Maria de Jesus Alvarez, 63, mother of nine, who died early this month. The first one to die was 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who died in May. Marie was about a month pregnant when she died, and likely did not ever know she was pregnant. The state fined the labor contractor $262,700 for failing to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken, but that won't bring her back. And the deaths have continued at an accelarated pace since then.
You can help to end this tragedy. This Monday, August 18, more than 800 farm workers from throughout California want to go to Sacramento to lobby the Legislature on a key bill that will help them help themeselves. They want the chance to tell the Governor and their elected officials to support AB 2386, "Secret Ballot Elections for Farmworkers," which has moved out of the assembly and which will be voted on that afternoon in the state senate.
Just a quick diary here. It simply does not help Barack Obama or the Democratic Party to demonize Senator Clinton, as a very few commenters here do with paranoid fears that Clinton will secretly take over the Convention or that she will somehow defeat Obama so she can run in 2012.
I think those fears are just not real. First Read is reporting that Clinton will cast her vote as a superdelegate for .... Barack Obama. It's a great example.
The Obama and Clinton camps have agreed to have Hillary Clinton's name placed in nomination for the roll-call vote at the Democratic convention, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
The source adds that the mechanics of this are still being worked out, but it's "likely" that Clinton will release her delegates to vote for Obama after her name is submitted. Clinton -- who is a superdelegate -- will cast her delegate vote for Obama.
I have been writing about this story since May. (after the fold are links for diaries for background). Yet another farmworker has died from the heat. This is the sixth this summer.
Maria de Jesus Alvarez, 63, mother of nine, died from heat exposure in the fields on August 2. Her death makes six farm workers who died of heat exposure since May and the 15th farm worker heat death since California Governor Schwarzenegger took office. Even one is too many. Six this year is a tragedy. These deaths show that the state of California is unable to protect farm workers.
We must act. We must force action by the state to allow farm workers to protect themselves. For there are no others to do so.
After hearing McCain's war mongering and a lot of old Cold War rhetoric about Russia by American politicians in the traditional media, I wanted to bring here another perspective. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, and the promoter of glastnost and perestroika, wrote an article today in the Washington Post. A key point he makes is this:
What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.
Did Russia "have to respond"? They certainly thought so and did. It seems Georgia should not have invaded. The Russian "response" is disproportionate, but why did Georgia believe America would aid them in that invasion? 2000 troops in Iraq? The possibility of NATO membership?
Just a quick diary here because I saw something that concerns me.
Not only is McCain rattling sabers, but he's playing the Christian religion card.
"Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin must understand the severe, long-term negative consequences that their government’s actions will have for Russia’s relationship with the U.S. and Europe," he said.
The presumptive Republican nominee said U.S. citizens should be concerned with the "remote, obscure" country because of its commitment to democracy as well as strategically important trade routes and an oil pipeline that flows through Tblisi. He also noted that Georgia was "one of the world’s first nations to adopt Christianity as an official religion."
According to First Read, the McCain campaign says the new ad called "Painful" will be run in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia (Northern Virginia), and Wisconsin.
It lies about Obama's economic policies, and the Obama campaign is calling McCain out on it:
This ad is a lie, and it's part of the old, tired politics of a party in Washington that has run out of ideas and run out of steam.
McCain has an ad/web video out using comments by Democrats that appear to praise him.
Howard Dean responds: "The John McCain of 2000 wouldn't even consider voting for the John McCain of 2008."
And John Kerry responds: "The real question is what happened to the John McCain we used to know and why he changed overnight into a George Bush nominee with a Karl Rove campaign."
