Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are a synthetic cubist, dadanation, HansScholl, sunspark says, and ybruti, with srkp23 editing.

• danps provides an exhaustive, well-sourced primer explaining how the overt misuse of force in Minnesota at the RNC and the makeshift detention centers in Mississippi are what we should have expected now that The Doctrine of Preemption Comes Home. (dadanation)
• A high school teacher in a very Republican area, gtnoah reports that Barack Rocks the Youth Vote. (ybruti)
• Artist EmilyD explains in My Sculptural Gift to the GOP (Part 1) why a globe encircled by a red-white-and-blue noose portrays the relationship between the U.S. and the world. (ybruti)
• In Iraqi Parliament Cannot Ratify SOFA? Strange Story, LithiumCola uncovers a strange and chilling story indeed, highlighting the precariousness of the Iraqi political situation and the illegality of any future Status of Forces Agreements. (a synthetic cubist)
• Justashotaway, a self-described "working class, multiracial, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of an Ivy League school" describes how Joe Biden, as much as Barack Obama, stirs his soul in Why I Love Joe Biden, or, Why I'm Proud to be a Democrat. (HansScholl)
• First-time diarist Fossil compares Benjamin Franklin, Obama, and The Ugly Republicans. (ybruti)
• EAColeInEmporia shares a piece of the past, her family's political legacy, and some truly beautiful lyrics in Looking my family history, through a musical lens. (a synthetic cubist)
• dizzydean sheds light on an often forgotten issue--treatment for mental health problems--and explains how the Democrats have the far stronger record on this issue Mental Health Parity and the 2008 Election. (HansScholl)
• Texas Cowboy tears into McCain's record of not supporting the military in Soccer Moms Do Not Support our Troops. (sunspark says)
• rdbaker43 presents a thoughtful and multifaceted look at the "frauds, scam artists and hypocrites who manipulate the emotions" of the religious right in Your Saturday Atheist: G.O.P. Post Convention Edition. (sunspark says)
• Elliot341 reflects on the election of 2000 and gives a British citizen's perspective on the strength of American democracy in 537. (HansScholl)
• Compare and contrast: zorland looks at the electoral map and sees much hope for the coming election in The path to victory is not as hard as you'd think: A look at polls, EVs, and geography, but for sweetliberty the map looks less promising in For those of us who live in a Red Meat state. (HansScholl)

jotter serves up High Impact Diaries: September 5, 2008.

carolita brings Top Comments 9-6-08 -- Poverty Edition.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread.