I know it's kind of skimpy but...

...will John Edwards endorse Obama based on the will of his donors?

PLEASE - DON'T READ THE TITLE AND IMMEDIATELY RECOMMEND IT.
In fact, don't recommend it at all. Go through it. I'm not pushing any CT, not looking to get on the rec'd list, but am just presenting "facts" and articles as I see them for digestion and/or discussion.

Let me start off by stating that I'm not putting this up as a conspiracy theory diary. Let me then follow that comment with my belief that I've been following a couple of diaries over the last couple of days that were pseduo/actual/conspiracy theory diaries regarding the recent spate of undersea internet cable breakages in the Middle East that "appeared" to isolate Iran from an internet point of view.

Follow me below for some perspective.

(Updated below)

(Copied in full from my blog so the updates were entered as I got them locally. I also realize this is the third subsequent diary [1, 2] but those two include only the Red State action alert, which I also received. I wanted to include some more info since I've been on this for the last couple hours.)

(Update at bottom)

Update

As further proof of the power of, well, us, when I wrote this, towards the bottom I noted the signature tally at 84,107.

It is now 84,511 @ 8:54P EST. A few hundred might not seem like a lot but consider over the course of hours and days. You do the math.

Update II

I worked all day and am finally sitting down to eat dinner and relax. I'm going to call it a night, personally, but if you manage to get this on the rec'd list, let me thank you now and if not, as long as this helps drive home the message that we can have a strong impact, than I consider it a success regardless.

Have a good night!

It's not often that I write diaries and usually when I do, they're pretty atypical of my approach to politics: feh, meh, what can I do as an individual, all wrapped up in a healthy dose of liberal snark.

That changed a little bit today since I noticed several diaries over the last couple days regarding Wexler's website asking for signatures to his petition for/to hold(ing) impeachment hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney.

Toe-tapping bathroom voyeur Senator Larry Craig has been chosen for induction into the Idaho Hall Of Fame and although I'm not an Idahoian, the patriot in me feels this is no way to honor Idaho.

(Given info regarding the differences between migrants, illegal migrants, I've changed the title to "Would..." since it's more a speculative argument than anything else.)

On it's face, the answer to this question is probably no.

However, this question stems from a comment I received on this post I wrote yesterday about U.S. Navy petty officer second class Eduardo Gonzalez and the current situation he's facing:

It's a late night and I'm getting ready to go to bed but I wanted to pass this along to the viewers here about something that's occurring in Philadelphia, PA.

A number of us here in Philadelphia have begin noticing little pink plastic toy soldiers popping up all over the city from Center City to West Philadelphia, North Philly and University City and well, some of us started taking pictures of these, myself included.

I didn't know what it was but while browsing some local Flickr groups, I had remember seeing someone else post one as well and checking that person's profile, they had updated some of their pictures with a picture of a flyer kind of explaining what was happening.

(Let me clear about the title. This is NOT the angle TPM is putting on this. It's mine. But I wanted to include the reference source in the title since I didn't find the flier myself. The overall gist of the TPM story is summed up quite well by sherlyle but I'm posting this because it just stands out.)

The article on TPM actually deals with the flier that one man received seeking to clarify his status/support for the Republican party, which in turn ends up being a donation pitch.

But within the first page of the sales pitch, there is a key phrase that some have noticed, including myself, which really needs to be seen/read to be believed.

In the latest attack on Al Gore, right wing bloggers have seized upon yet another opportunity to accuse the former Vice President and presidential candidate of hypocrisy when, at his daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner, over-fished and illegally fished Chilean Sea Bass was served on the menu.

Since the government relies on tax-payer funds to create, publish and manage websites that provide supposedly factual information for teacher's and parents with which to teach their children about the structure of our government, I thought perhaps firing off an email to the webmaster for Ben's Guide, a government website that purports this as it's mission might be a good first step to clarifying this important issue about Cheney's assertion his office "is not an entity within the Executive Branch :

(Update below)

Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the United States and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

I'm hearing this echoed across Right-blogostan.

Well...what if?

Update - See below.

My girlfriend and I have been together roughly four years now. We have a 17 month old son together, have been living together in our current apartment under a co-lease agreement for a year, and lived roughly a year in our previous apartment (w/o me on the lease, but legally obliged by it {scattered references}). Before that, I lived with my brother and she lived with her sister, and before that, she with her parents.

I work at UPENN and it is currently Open Enrollment for benefits, something I desperately need to sign up for. Our intention was to sign myself, my girlfriend, and our son up under a plan. However, we're not sure how to file my girlfriend's status.

She's not a domestic partner, since we're a heterosexual couple and we don't fit the general requirements for a common-law marriage, which includes joint tax filings, among other things.

Sen. John McCain visited a Baghdad market Sunday and later told reporters the American people were not getting the full story on what he said were improving security conditions in the war-ravaged capital.

McCain, a presidential hopeful, was among a delegation of Republican lawmakers that made an unannounced trip to Iraq this weekend, the details of which were withheld for security reasons. - (Source)

Let me first point out that with regards to this diary, I speak for myself alone.

I tried to publish this as a comment on seesdifferent's diary, Bush astroturfs glowing comments from 2 Iraqi bloggers..

I only have one instance of involvement with Iraq The Model and it was due to an issued challenge by a commenter on my own blog to visit that blog to see a more hopeful view of Iraq.

Below is the post I wrote. Given what I saw, I think it might make some sense perhaps for Bush to cite some other Iraq blogs if he wants to start using Iraqi bloggers as sources for an indication of how Iraq is progressing.

(Dang. I didn't realize how late it was. I don't like posting and running but it's like 2a almost where I am and I have to be up in 4 hours for a 12 hour shift. I hope you understand that I need to go to bed. Anyways, this diary just occurred to me as an idea and I figured I'd float it out here. Talk amongst yourselves I guess....

Speaking in front of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the oceanside Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, Fla. about the winning vote on the Iraq appropriations measure that just passed in the House by a 218-212 vote and provides $124 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as including a resolution to begin withdrawing troops by September 2008, or possibly earlier, Dick Cheney referred to the measure in this manner:

Cheney called it a myth that "one can support the troops without giving them the tools and reinforcements they need to carry out their mission."

Update - Changed title for relevancy

When it comes to a governmental policy, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is one of the lamest policies ever thought up by actual adults, although labeling them adults may be strictly interpreted by the physical requirements of adulthood, depending on who you talk to.

"Don't ask, don't tell" is the common term for the U.S. military policy which implements Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 654). Unless one of the numerous exceptions from 10 U.S.C. 654(b) applies, the policy prohibits anyone who has sexual bodily or romantic contact with a person of the same sex from serving in the armed forces of the United States, and prohibits any homosexual or bisexual from disclosing his or her sexual orientation, or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces. The policy also requires that as long as gay or bisexual men and women in the military hide their sexual orientation, commanders are not allowed to investigate their sexuality. - (Source)

I don't know to what degree Comedy Central is going to piss and moan about this clip showing up on YouTube. If Markos or the higher ups here feel this is a violation of terms here (as well as for copyrighted clips, etc), please just let me know and I will quickly remove the clip and/or the diary or possibly just amend it with a link.

Anyways, MadTV has one hell of a clip last night where they spoofed Steve Jobs displaying a new product to the company shareholders and their subsequent malcontent and concern about the stability of the project.

A search of Technorati shows some bloggers beginning to discuss it and it seems to have gone quite well.

If you happened to miss it, however, do not despair. It is available courtesy of wonderful people and the power of YouTube.