See the update in the diary please

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On the rec list sits a diary pointing out that Fred Hobbs, a member of the Tennessee Democratic Party's Executive Committee suggested that Barack Obama was "terrorist connected." The diary makes the correct point that this is an unacceptable thing for anyone to say, and that if possible, the DNC ought to intervene if no one from Tennessee will.

That's all good, but what does the diary's opening paragraph have to do with it?

Okay, I know that Tennessee is not an oasis of progressivism.  It's a state not even native son Al Gore could carry, and in the Dem primaries, it went strongly for Hillary Clinton.  It's also the home of freshman Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis), who is facing a primary challenge from people back home who resent that a white, Jewish man is representing a district that's 90 percent African American.

I am particularly curious about that last sentence, which has two glaring problems.

This morning the Nashville City Paper did a story on how Congressman Lincoln Davis has not endorsed Barack Obama yet.  Bolgia7 posted a diary on this and highlighted a quote from Fred Hobbs, a state party officer, who said that Obama "may be terrorist connected".  For those of you from Tennessee, you'll know that this kind of idiotic comment is not surprising from our state party officials.  It's the reason why Tennessee Democrats can't seem to make any gains while the rest of the country does.

But the more important quote in this article comes from Beecher Frasier, Congressman Davis' Chief of Staff:

His (Davis') chief of staff, Beecher Frasier, said he doesn’t know for sure if Obama is "terrorist connected" but he assumes he’s not.

Okay, I know that Tennessee is not an oasis of progressivism.  It's a state not even native son Al Gore could carry, and in the Dem primaries, it went strongly for Hillary Clinton.  It's also the home of freshman Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis), who is facing a primary challenge from people back home who resent that a white, Jewish man is representing a district that's 90 percent African American.

I searched for this story on the site but didn't find anything. If I missed an earlier post, please let me know and I'll delete this diary.

In the Memphis Daily News on Friday, an article was published which gives deep insight into just why some Superdelegates are not backing Hillary Clinton and a possible reason why a lot of them are, and maybe why some are noncommittal.

Supposedly, Congressman Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, an uncommitted superdelegate, was contacted by the Clinton campaign in hopes that they could woo him to commit to her campaign. The story posted on the front page of The Hill newspaper said that Davis had turned down an invitation to meet with her team.

"He says that's not true," U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., told The Daily News about Davis' refusal to meet with Clinton. "But that's on the front page of The Hill. I told him he might as well go ahead and endorse Barack (Obama), because once Hillary sees that he's a dead man anyway."

Oh, it gets better. Cooper dishes on Hillary's dirty tactics. More below the fold.

Cross-Posted from Hat Thief

There's been a big setback for equal rights in the state of Rhode Island.

Last year, the Massachusetts Superior Court ruled that Rhode Island couples could get married in Massachusetts, because "No evidence was introduced ... from Rhode Island that ... forbids same-sex marriage."
Another victory came when the Rhode Island Attorney General ruled that his state would recognize gay marriages performed in MA.

But yesterday, this advance hit a setback, with the following ruling:

In a 3-to-2 decision, the court ruled that it was up to the legislature, not the court, to determine whether same-sex marriages and divorces would be recognized in Rhode Island.

I fully support this ruling, but it must be extended to prohibit divorce among opposite-sex couples as a stopgap measure to prevent the destruction of marriage.

It's hot here--humidity in the 90s, heat index in the 100 degree range—and I am freaking canning day and night: beans. pickles, jellies, tomatoes juiced, souped, diced, stewed, and whole, and a great huge pile of basil to make into pesto 'afore I can quit—a hot job in a low-ceilinged kitchen with no AC. Pots are boiling—jars, lids, fruits, vegetables—and now my blood is boiling too.

110th Congress, 1st Session, HR 724

Marriage Protection Act of 2007

To amend title 28, United States Code, to limit Federal court jurisdiction over questions under the Defense of Marriage Act.

Here is a link to the Library of Congress search site:
Library of Congress link to bill:

Actually, it's the scorecard for the 2nd session of the 109th Congress, and the fundamentalists in question, the Washington D.C. lobby shop at the Family Research Council (a spin-off of James Dobson's Focus on the Family) don't represent ALL fundamentalists, of course. But FRC is currently the most powerful of the Washington Christian Right organizations, particularly adept at buttressing its militant faith with pseudo-social science that manages to persuade the dimwitted and/or opportunistic.

First prize in those categories must be shared by the four Democrats to get 100% "True Blue" ratings from FRC, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee's Fourth District, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina's 7th, Collin Peterson of Minnesota's7th, and Jim Marshall of Georgia's 8th...

On November 7th control of the House or Senate could very well come down to one or two seats.  But if either parts falls a few seats short in the House, or one seat short in the Senate, could party switchers determine control? Should party leaders be actively courting potential switchers?