Cross posted at BlueJersey.com

It appears our good friend and NJ-5 Democratic candidate Dennis Shulman has a nice article written about him in Time Magazine.  It's very positive and displays the great qualities about Dennis that we at Blue Jersey have come to love.  Dennis has also been mentioned here at Daily Kos for his inclusion on the DCCC's "emerging races" a few weeks ago.  His race has garnered some nice attention nationally, and it gets even better with a feature article in Time Magazine.

I gather all Kossacks have seen the infamous New Yorker cover that depicts Barack Obama as a Muslim terrorist dressed in African garb and his wife Michelle as a black militant.  Perhaps most damaging are the items of note in the image background - that of the American flag burning in the fireplace as well as a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the right edge of the cover.  I was stunned and angered at such a characteristic as many Kossacks were. At first, I thought Obama should issue a statement detailing his immense outrage at the image, decrying it as racist and inflammatory garbage.  But a conversation with my Republican friend from high school, with whom I work at my summer job, convinced me to promote a different response.

And the crazy thing is, it makes sense to me.

Interested?  Follow along...

As the conditions worsen yet again in Zimbabwe, the United States and its colleagues across the globe continue to fail address the circumstances.  The eerie similarities to American and world inaction during the crises in Rwanda and currently still in Darfur show a blatant lack of concern for the African continent, which has been exploited for over 500 years as nothing more than a quarry for human and natural resources.  We've heard in the news about Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's harsh brutality, as well as his apparent attempts to initiate a unification conference.  The following video I will show below the fold demonstrates that such an attempt is nothing more than empty words.

I'm taking this from Democratic Underground from user Stephanie.  She found this bit out and I'm sharing the wealth here at Daily Kos!  How pathetic is this...

Tonight was Obama's night.  Over 30 superdelegates went his way today, including some switches from former Clinton supers.  He was pronounced the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America.  Just a few days ago we heard from the Clinton camp that they would be wrapping things up, that Clinton would "help ensure a Democrat was elected President in November".  I trusted her word on that, even when I shouldn't have, based on all the lies throughout the campaign.  I shouldn't have been so naive...

Last Sunday, Kossack KingOneEye (webmaster of News Corpse) initiated a huge fundraising campaign on behalf of John Edwards in this diary.

A massive goal of $7 million in one day was established.  In KingOneEye's words:

So either Edwards could engage in a high speed police chase with Britney's kids on his lap and a missing white girl in the trunk, or he could raise $7 million dollars in one day.

Well Edwards supporters, that day has come (at least on the East Coast)!  And I have one question for you - are you ready to make history?!

Though this diary is for all Kossacks, it is especially for our friends in Iowa.  Over the past year Democratic candidates have been campaigning in every nook and cranny of your state, advancing their individual policies, asking for financial support, and yes, bumping heads many times as well.  But most importantly, the Democratic candidates have been trying to know you as personally as they can.  They want you to get a sense of who they actually are, behind the scenes of glamor and style right to their hearts.

Starting tomorrow night, you will head over to your local precinct and caucus for your preferred candidate, and perhaps your second choice in some circumstances.  And despite all of the bickering among candidates' supporters, one common theme resonates - tomorrow night will be the beginning of the end of Republican rule in America.

Are you going to come along for the ride?

For those of you who aren't aware, I am a current junior at Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway (the one with the football team for non-North Easterners!)  I am very active on campus, serving as President of the Busch Campus Council (a local campus student government serving under the Rutgers University Student Assembly, as well as Scholarship Chair for Chi Psi fraternity.  I read our student newspaper, the Daily Targum, everyday, focusing mostly on the Opinions section.  The op-ed columns are always written by students, and usually there is the token conservative columnist.  Well, after a week of waiting, I finally found him - the one Joshua Tasker - and his article entitled "Stop Global Whining".  It's filled with complete inaccuracies and misrepresentations of the real facts, and if you read below the fold, you'll see how I take Mr. Tasker to task.

**PS - you may need to register for the paper - the website code is odd sometimes**

Cross posted at Blue Jersey

Republicans claim that their party is a Big Tent - well, unless, of course, if you're gay, black, hispanic, poor, blue-collar, etc.  Ok ok, enough of the snark there.  In Sunday's Record, Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan argues why Republicans should "raise the tent" for gays.

More below the fold...

The Iraqi soccer team beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to win the Asian Cup.  It's some good news for a populace destroyed physically and psychologically from this horrible war.  Unfortunately, the team cannot even truly celebrate when they return, for fear bombings like this will happen again.  But being a smart man and leader, team captain Younis Mahmoud capitalizes on the opportunity to reach a large reading audience to convey a message.

More below the fold...

Ok, so this isn't a true diary, technically, so I assume some old-school people here won't appreciate this, but this can be a live update diary on what Michael Moore has to say on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Apparently, Moore has stated that he has a special announcement tonight so let's see what it is and we can respond.  I'll update this through the show.  Let's watch East Coasters!!

**Note** - This piece is written by my twin brother.  He gave me permission to post in my diary.  Therefore, though I agree 100% with him, it's not my writing, so kudos and credit to my twin brother Matt.

I've been feeling a little nostalgic lately. The problem is my nostalgia is felt for an era that is well before my time. I started reading Al Gore's new book, The Assault on Reason, tonight, and although I'm only 71 pages into it I can feel my nostalgia coming into full play.

All but past the introduction and first two chapters, I am already delighted at the myriad of Gore's historical references to our Founding Fathers' hope to preserve reason and logic for future generations to come in the country they so steadfastly established for "We the People." Why must we willingly dismiss reason, logic, and public debate, among many other things, when deciding the future of our nation? I have only begun to dive into Gore's ocean of the drastic changes that must take place, and I cannot wait to finish his latest book in hopes of gaining the answers we all need to set our country back on track.

**More below the fold**

Over this past campaign season, the issue of Democrats reconnecting with their faith (which, to be quite frank, is just code-speak for Christianity - no candidate talks about his or her confidence in Allah or Buddha when talking about his or her faith) has been forefront.  In the past, and most recently with John Kerry, the topic of Democrats discussing their faith  wasn't really discussed much - perhaps more it was do Democrats even have faith, and if so, should that even be a factor in their decisions or campaign?

And yet, two days ago we have the Sojourners "Forum on Faith, Values, and Poverty" that feature candidates Clinton, Edwards, and Obama.  This program, organized by the Jim Wallis led movement by the same name, involved the three candidates invited to talk about how their faith affects their lives.  Quoting Obama, "I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives."  This contrasts directly with the ideals of a sizable portion of the Democratic Party base, who regard religion and faith as, quite frankly, bunk.

So, the question becomes: how do Democrats tow the line on the issue of faith?  The answer is below the fold.