The people (you remember them, We the People) need to realize that our outrage over the warrantless spying isn't the usual partisan sniping and snarking -- that this is something serious. How do we get them thinking about the Constitution?

Here's my thought for how we could start.

Dems buy a prime time hour on the networks. Yeah, it'll cost money. So what. And this hour will feature someone with a little star power, someone who'll draw viewers who otherwise might not pay attention. Right? Okay. Turn on your tube.

I know that blog was getting serious troll troubles over the weekend -- anyone know what's going on at Atrios' place? All I know is that when I try, it hangs my IE and I have to close it and start again.

I couldn't get to Steve Gilliard just now either. I was able to get to Jesus' General, but it sure did open slowly.

Is it Blogger or is it Atrios? Anyone know?

Or is it just that I'm so obsessed about this election that even my subconscious is getting in on the act?

You'll recall (or maybe you won't) a month or so ago I asked if anyone else was having dreams about politicians. I'd been having dreams that featured a certain tall distinguished presidential candidate, and was wondering if this is normal or if I should reserve a rubber room at the Ritz.

Much to my relief, many of you said you'd had politicians show up in your dreams. Whew! But now I've had another one, with a whole different set of symbols. Amateur shrinks, read on . . .

It's the strangest thing. Yeah, I know we're all fired up and can't think of anything else but politics, but is anyone else finding politicians showing up in their dreams? (Not that kind of dreams, people, get your minds out of the gutter.)

Any shrinks among the Kossacks care to explain this?

More after the jump, with poll.

up in Wisconsin, near Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, starting Sunday, I think. Beautiful, beautiful country, especially now, when the leaves are turning. If I'm thinking of the right place, he's staying in a resort that has a golf course, a pool, a nice restaurant, a spa, and the prettiest rolling hills and trees and cool starry Wisconsin nights you ever could imagine.

Let's send good thoughts his way -- rest, refreshment, eucalyptus steam baths, plenty of hot tea with lemon and honey in it to soothe that shredded voice, a few rounds of golf if he likes that (I do), a few laps around the pool, some serious debate prep, and a few drinks around the bar in the evening. And come out of there rested, refreshed, and ready to kick some butt, Johnny!

So this weekend a local Dem candidate for Congress made the news by hosting a rally against assault weapons. Good for him! His district's up in the North Shore (very nice suburban neighborhood north of Chicago) and the good people up there are furious about the ban lapsing.

Lee Goodman's the candidate, challenging Mark Kirk, and I wish I lived in his district so I could vote for him. (I shook his hand on the Ravinia shuttle bus. Nice guy, standing in the aisle crowded in on the bus just like the rest of us poor slob music lovers.)

Well, I can't vote for him but I can spread the word and send him a little love in the form a candidate likes best, after votes. You too, huh?

Here's his website: Lee Goodman

I read mentions of the Democrats' weekly radio address and the president's weekly radio address all the time, but I'll be darned if I can find out who broadcasts them where I am. Anybody know? I mean anybody? I'm in Chicago. Who broadcasts them where you are, and when do they air? I want to hear my Democrats talking!

The Chicago Board of Elections and the Cook County clerk (who runs elections outside the city) have released some interesting analyses of who voted in our March primary, separated out by age and sex.  

In suburban Cook County, 31 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Only 9 percent of 22-year-old men who were registered cast ballots in the March primary. The most reliable suburban voter was the 74-year-old man, with a voter turnout of 45 percent. Among suburban women, 70- and 72-year-olds had the best turnout at 42 percent. The worst were 22-year-old women at 10 percent.

In the city of Chicago, 38.58 percent of registered voters cast ballots. The study found that 66-year-old female voters had the highest turnout - some 55.27 percent cast ballots. The lowest turnout was by 22-year-old men, with only 16.8 percent of those eligible casting ballots.

I'll post some excerpts of the Chicago figures after the jump. (Couldn't find the Cook County figures online, just the story in the Tribune.)

Conclusion: We can all do better in November!

They're the only place you could watch the convention gavel to gavel, uninterrupted by bloviating pundits. Their closed-captioners work fast and are a heck of a lot more accurate than I'd be. Captioning live has to be one tough job.

Send 'em a thank-you note. Let 'em know they're appreciated. I did.

Here's their addy:

viewer@c-span.org

Riding the shuttle bus from the parking lot to Ravinia. And squeezed in among all the happy concert-goers (and their picnic baskets) is a cheerful man with a bunch of brochures in his pocket and a name tag on his lapel: Lee Goodman, Democrat for Congress. I greeted him, we shook hands, we chatted for a minute, and I said I'm not in your district (IL-10), but good luck to you, Mr. Goodman, and we all went on to enjoy the concert. (CSO playing Beethoven's 5th. Oh yum.)

(more after the jump)

Have you seen this? I was looking at the League of Women Voters website (lwv.org) and found a link to Smart Women Vote. Brilliant! Their little election kit looks terrific for the nieces.

Browse through and look at the Ten Ways Smart Women Can Elect to Make A Difference in 2004, a little further down on the Connect page.

Brilliant!

Says he's running as if he's got opposition. Smart guy (but we knew that). Nice vignette of him campaigning at a house party in downstate small city Lincoln, Illinois.

Tribune homepage

Bugmenot says you can use this login and password: readthesun, readthesun.

Here's the link for bugmenot if you need a login for lots of newspapers. Probably other things too.

Bugmenot homepage

Featuring Bill Clinton!

The program featured the picture of JK on the sheriff's motorcycle -- we've seen that one elsewhere -- ("Ride to Victory!") and the banner over the stage had the "Real Deal" circle in the middle and a new slogan across the length of it: "The Courage to Do What's Right." (I like that.)

Anyway, it was great. This party was at the Civic Opera House, and it featured Harold Ramis as emcee, several local musicians (a jazz trio, a blues singer & her group, a samba band that was really hot, a chanteuse who'd been popular on American Idol), some favorites (Studs Terkel, who totally rocked, and Mort Sahl, of all people).

(more after the jump)

I've got a relative in another state who's finally emerging from a brainwashed state. She saw F9/11 and was thunderstruck, but today she says she's not sure that MM is telling it straight, after all, he doesn't cite sources; Ann Coulter has footnotes everywhere. (And I'm thinking who fed her this line? Since when has my relative cared about footnotes?)

But I have faith. She knows she's been brainwashed but doesn't yet know exactly what to believe. We can gently, lovingly, patiently lead her into the light.

What books, TV shows, movies, would you recommend that we recommend to her? Remember, gentle, patient, persuasive. I don't want her poor head to explode from the cognitive dissonance. She's got kids we have to think of.

I think there's a certain politico-sociological significance to the varieties of baseball allegiance of Illinoisians, don't you? Someone could write their masters' thesis on that, I think.  

But until that's written, take the poll!

Seems like we've got a lot of Illinoisians here. Am I right? How many Kossacks will be proud constituents of Dick Durbin and Barack Obama come fall, and which of the many regional varieties of Illinois are represented here?

Take the poll!

(You can detect my regional bias here, and I apologize. I love all my Illinois friends and neighbors -- it's just that my mental map goes from northeast to southwest.)

www.chicagotribune.com

(excerpts)

"For the first time in his presidency, a majority of Illinois voters now hold an unfavorable opinion of President Bush and also disapprove of his performance in the White House, particularly his handling of the occupation of Iraq and an economy that many believe continues to lag, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
. . .
"The poll of 600 likely registered voters, conducted May 21-24, shows Kerry with a commanding 16 percentage-point lead over Bush in a head-to-head November matchup--54 percent to 38 percent.
. . .

Background: A 13-year-old girl wrote to Dear Abby a while back. She had told her class that she wanted to be president when she grew up and the kids (and the teachers!) all scoffed at her and told her it was impossible.

Abby's still receiving mail about that, including a letter from John Kerry she printed today.

He says, in part, "Remember, doubters never made America a better place. It is people like you -- people who dream big and are filled with hope -- who make a difference in this world."

Dear Abby

Optimism? Idealism? Standing up for what's right and good? That's our John.