Just saw this on blackboxvoting.org and had to get it out there!

5-4-08: One million purged - The Incredible Disappearing Indiana Voter Rolls
In April 2008 when Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced the release of "record high" voter registration rolls, with 4.3 million voters set to vote in the Tuesday May 6 primary, he didn't mention that a whopping 1,134,427 voter registrations have been cancelled.

One quarter-million of them come from just two northwestern Indiana counties: Lake and Porter. Lake County reports purging 137,164 voters and neighboring Porter County cancelled out 124,958 voters.

Lake County has one of the heaviest concentrations of African-American voters that you'll find anywhere in the USA. (snip) Nearby Porter County, the home of Valparaiso, is 95% white and went solidly for Bush in the 2004 election. It also has a lot of college kids.

Obama's supposedly "poor performance" in the ABC Debate was not poor at all, despite what the MSM says.

I believe it was a chance for the American people to reflect on the "Politics of Divisiveness" versus the "Politics of Dignity."

The more I watch Obama, the more I feel that "Dignity Promotion" will be a foundational piece of his administration, both in domestic policy and foreign policy.

more after the fold

When you were asked about your thoughts about Rev Wright, you said, "I would have not been able to stay in the church" and "One's choice of church and pastor is rooted in what one believes is what you're seeking in church and what kind of, you know, fellowship you find in church."

If Barack Obama had been asked about Monica Lewinksy scandal, would it have been appropriate for him to say, "I would not have been able to stay in that marriage"?

Wouldn't you have considered that completely inappropriate, slimey, and downright mean?

How is your comment about Wright different?

Even though Obama has irrevocably rejected, denounced and cut off all ties with his former paster, it is still not enough for some people.

Critics, such as Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View, simply keep harping that "he sat in the pews for 20 years...."  

:sigh:

Neither Hillary supporters nor McCain supporters should like where this is going....

It is clear that Obama is frustrated with how the media and his rivals are focusing efforts on things unrelated to the plight of the American people.

It is vital that Obama and his surrogates reset his message. That message should be simple and repeated ad nauseum.

Every time Obama or a surrogate is asked to comment on Wright, or Ayers, or flag pins, or whatever distraction the media or Clinton/McCain can find, the answer must simply be: "We Won't Get Fooled Again."

If anyone knows any Progressive 527s who plan to aggressively go after McCain in the general election, please post the information in your comments to this thread.

The 527s are already preparing Swiftboating commercials on Obama (who will be the nominee), and we need to be ready to fight back. I am ready to pour real money and ideas into framing the debate.

I felt a need to pass this on. It is from one of my favorite news sources: www.truthout.org

I feel this argument should become part of Obama's narrative as he begins prep for the general election. Moreover, he can use it to frame "Patriotism" so that the "lapel pin people" start to understand things a little better.

Here is a choice snippet from the t r u t h o u t | Perspective piece by Joe Brewer and George Lakoff:

The president is not supposed to be commander in chief of Congress, nor commander in chief of the FBI or the Justice Department, nor commander in chief of the American people. (snip)

[T]he commander-in-chief role does not extend to most protections that a president should be concerned with - natural disaster (FEMA), health (FDA, health care agencies), environmental protection (EPA) etc. A president must address these domestic issues through leadership skills outside the realm of military action.

More on the article below the fold....

Voting for me has always been a point of principle. I have always voted my conscience, and to date, the Democratic Party has represented that conscience.

The Dems have always represented the promise of America--the idea that everyone should be given an equal opportunity to succeed. The idea that we are all inherently good, and looking for the same thing--to put a roof over our heads, to live healthy lives, to feed and clothe our families, to enjoy our freedoms to express ourselves, to love those we love, and to share in our joys and our sorrows.

If the Superdelegates accept HRC's Rovian tactics, then I want to have nothing more to do with the party. Period.

The Party will no longer stand for what it used to stand for....

(more on my reasoning after the fold)

Everyone knows that George Stepalloverus took talking points from Sean Hannity prior to the Worst.Debate.Ever.

Rick Ayers, brother of the Weather Underground member, Bill Ayers, had this to say on HuffPost about Hillary.

The fact that she would drag up this pathetic red herring about Obama's alleged ties to so-called terrorist Bill Ayers (my brother!) brings her right down to the level of Fox News and the National Enquirer (which also suggested that Obama had murdered his gay lover). Obama needed to call this tactic for what it is: McCarthyism. This is the most base version of McCarthyism: Did you know this communist? When were you last with this communist? Did you denounce this communist? When did you stop beating your wife?

Billy Dale loyally served every President since JFK, Democrat and Republican alike.

When the Clinton's came to power, Dale became their first victim.

Dale was accused of embezzlement and was eventually found not-guilty after a short two hours of deliberations.

Nevertheless, we should never forget that his life came near the point of ruin. He nearly lost his home and family. The IRS came after him.

The office of the independent counsel investigating the matter, which became known as "Travel-gate," concluded, "[Hillary Rodham] Clinton's sworn testimony...is factually inaccurate."

Should we be surprised?

From Huffington Post:

A DNC spokeswoman is confirming that the party is returning money, totaling $45K, to three donors. Details will indeed be reported in that April 20 filing. All three are FL donors upset with the ongoing debate about how and if the state's votes and delegates will be counted.

I am so glad that Dean decided to return the money, rather than capitulate to these extortionists....

And to think that these contributors call themselves "Democrats"?!?

Un-fricking-believable!!!!

Several weeks ago, DailyKos was in a tizzy, with Obama supporters trying to deal with Reverend Wright’s use of inflammatory language to make his arguments.  Two snippets of larger sermons were blasted across the mainstream media, creating easy fodder for the talking heads.

To all the Americans who were offended by the comments "God DAMN America," we saw exhortations to listen to Wright’s entire sermon before passing judgment.

Those who were offended by the statement simply would have nothing to do with the content.

We saw widespread dismissal of people who refused to "actually do research" or "put things in context" by many people here at DK.  We labeled them as "rednecks" and "Reichtwingers" and said that, in the end, they would never vote for Obama anyways, and so we shouldn’t waste time with them.

Sadly, we have seen a reaction similar to the "rednecks" by Kossacks themselves....

This diary was originally published with a title that immediately blinded people to the greater message. What's more, I believe the reaction illustrated the precisely the point that I trying to make.

If Dems actually had a reaction on an equivalent level to Bush's defecation on "everything-that-is-America" that was half as virulent as the reaction my original diary received because of a WORD then maybe, just maybe, America wouldn't be in the hellhole it finds itself....

Please note that I have written a separate diary with some commentary about how Obama's calls for empathy can help guide us into the future. Seeing how I cannot post two diaries in one day, I will post this sanitized diary first, and then post the commentary tomorrow.

(See below the fold for the "sanitized" version of the diary.)

Given recent news about Obama's wins in the Texas three-step, and a trickle of superdelegates here and there.

The race has come down to only 69 68 67 people (including Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Gov. John Melcher, who both announced today).

If 69 68 67 of the remaining unpledged superdelegates would get off their duffs and side with Obama, this entire thing would be over.

That is the point at which it will become mathematically impossible for Clinton to win--the so-called Huckabee Index.

Perhaps DK needs a "countdown" to that inevitability.

I agree with the position taken by Delawareliberal that if Clinton somehow emerges as the nominee there will be little left to save in the Democratic Party.

Clinton has gone where no Dem has gone in a very long time--race baiting, trying to hijack Texas by disputing the credentials of thousands of fellow Dems, saying that the Republicant candidate is more qualified than the Dem, and so on. HRC's tactics are downright Rovian and should be spurned by every Democrat, especially the Party leadership.

Alas, the Superdelegates (i.e., the supposed "leadership" of the Party) are standing around like dorks at a high school dance, waiting for the girl to approach them.  To me, this means that the Dems no longer stand for what they say they stand for.

Moreover, the fact that Clinton is still in the race and the Superdelegates cannot step up to the plate means only one thing....

Bill Maher has said it, in these exact words.

Arianna Huffington has said it, in not exactly these same words.

But in both cases, they are right.

THE DEMOCRATS ARE PUSSIES!!!

There, now I've said it....

It is fantastic that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Don Siegelman, former governor of Alabama, the right to wait out his appeal from outside the walls of prison.

The question I have is: "Can the people involved be brought to justice?"

Anyone who saw the CBS news coverage and heard the individual testimony about this political prosecution KNOWS that a "wrong" was done.

But does a "wrong" equate with a "crime"?

Under the Hatch Act, it does....

One thing that WILL haunt Obama in the General Election is his supposed lack of patriotism. The Republicants will attempt to paint him the same light as Michael Dukakis....

The Republicants have Barack symbolically removing his lapel pin, which is equivalent in many people's eyes to burning the flag.

The Republicants have Barack not covering his heart during the national anthem.

And the Republicants have Michelle Obama admitting that she hasn't been proud of America during her entire life, until just recently.

Barack has addressed this issue of patriotism, saying that such trappings became a substitute for "true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security...." among other things.

Just as he did with the race issue in his recent speech, Barack needs to lift the dialog with respect to what Americans should consider "patriotic" and what we should not.

This entire argument about Hillary using the popular vote to grab the nomination is akin to the following peculiar NBA basketball game.

Both teams start out knowing that the game will be decided based on who is leading on the scoreboard at the end of the game. Points will naturally be awarded for successful baskets....

As the game goes on, one team (which happens to be missing all its shots) decides that it will try to convince the referees that the game should be determined based upon the total number of PASSES each team has made....

:shake head:

Naturally, had both teams known that the game would be decided based upon the number of passes, the team that is leading in baskets DEFINITELY would have put more effort into passing.  (Setting aside the fact that the team leading in baskets also has more passes at the time when the losing team starts pushing for new rules mid-way through the game.)