Why is Barack Obama visiting the last capital of the Confederate States of America?    

Danville, the town the Confederate General Lee  and the Army of Northern Virginia was retreating to when cornered at Appomattox by General U.S. Grant.

Why Danville?  

I think it is brilliant politics.

A detailed non-environmentalist case against pollution in the USA.   This is really good ammo to use against they Cheney types.

I apologize for not being able to do this topic justice but I do want to put the info out in on dKos for general consumption.  

NC Attorney General Roy Cooper was interviewed on the NPR show Charlotte Talks   Cooper lays out the lawsuit against TVA by NC.  

Heirs to Freedom

Obama was trying to unite people together on one of the most divided pieces of ground in western history.  

This will be a bit of a rant.

I was in DC recently.   I was near the Whitehouse when very bored looking police blocked all traffic.   Suddenly a motorcade appears of mostly black SUV's with Secret Service staring battle like out of some of them.  They must have been going 60+mph on a little side street near the Whitehouse.  Soon  after, I heard on the radio it was VP Cheney.

What immediately popped into my mind was Baghdad.   These guys were behaving like they were in eminent threat just like they were driving around Baghdad, not Washington D.C.  It was just like scenes out of Syriana

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) may have best summed up the Bush Administration economic legacy.  

Let's point out oil, mortgages, American whiners and GOP infighting.

Jesse Helms 1921-2008:  The man who gave the Karl Rove types the blueprint on how to divide and conquer the United States of America.

That is BIG news were I'm from.  Practically the entire Section A of the Charlotte Observer is dedicated to Senator NO this morning.   Different writers with both positive and negative views expressed.

If we want to drive the far right out of power, we need to start at the foundation Senator Helms built.

I don't like the conclusion of this Charlotte Observer analysis but it appears to have good logic.   I'm posting it because it shows what needs to be worked on before November if Obama, Kay Hagan (Senate), Harry Taylor (House) and Larry Kissell (House) are going to win.

I have possible action items to counter the analysis at the end of the diary.

After years of watching the GOP in action, I think they actually have a well defined process to control political dialog in the USA.

Tonight Obama himself was TV responding to a Red Herring.   Not Good.  It shows that McCain has defined Obama and MSM automatically accepts any deviation from McCain's definition as a flip flop.   Pathetic reporting but something we all need to combat.

I'll put on my business person hat and lay out what I believe the GOP is doing.

Key Concept:
RED HERRING

any diversion intended to distract attention from the main  issue

Dictionary die.com

update: title changed from Stop GOP Oil Mania:National Monument Designation Could Save Ecosystem

A coral ecosystem exists off the southeast coast that is roughly the size of the land area of South Carolina.  

Economically, that ecosystem:

1. Provides food for Millions of Americans

2. Protects our coasts from Hurricanes and Nor'easters(like a winter Hurricane)

3. Protects our ports like Savannah, Wilmington, Morehead City (supports a Marine base) and the nation's most important Hampton Roads where the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay guarding Norfolk Navy Yards, Portsmouth, Newport News and Baltimore.  (Newport News is where the large Navy ships are built like Air Craft carriers)

4. Provides Millions of jobs to American by providing fisheries, deep water ports (including the US Navy's biggest base), tourism nand forestry (much of the USA's pulp wood is grown in the coastal Southeast).

Why even worry about protecting something so important to the well being of the United States of America.  Surely NO USA CITIZEN would threaten such a valuable National Treasure.

Again our GOP Senators show their true allegiance to Insurance companies over Medical Providers and patients.

Maybe we can fix this Next Year.

Author Jeff Sharlet has written the expose The Family, The Secret Fundementalism At The Heart of American Power to expose a Fundementalist Political Movement in Washington, DC.    On June 24th, Sharlet was on The Diane Rehm Show.

The rest of this diary is what I gleaned out of Rehm's interview of Sharlet.   The factual statements are based on Sharlet's words.  

I see lots of dkos bloggers are already losing patience with the slow progress of reforms in Washington DC.   Sure the Democratic Party took control of the Congress in '06 but just barely.    Now many are throwing rocks at Barack Obama months before and election is even held.

Some very creative people in Charlotte created a very funny comic story of what really goes on in the world of giant banks.

So that is really what happens to pension funds and mortgages.   Hopefully not.

Wow,  Keith Olbermann's team really laid out the case against John McCain and his buddy Phil Gramm tonight. The show has not shown up online yet but here's the lead in link Keith Olbermann

NPR jumped into a very hot issue doing multiple segments on Gay Rights advocates conflicts with private businesses and religious groups.  

This issue could really energize/polarize voters in Novemeber.

What a surprise in the print version of the Washington Post (Former Ally Of Gilmore To Endorse Warner by Tim Craig) this morning.

Fairfax County Republican Vincent F. Callahan Jr., former chariman of the Virginia House Appropriations Committee and onetime ally of James S. Gilmore III, said he would announce Monday that he is supporting Democrat Mark R. Warner in the state's U.S. Senate Race.

Update:  The Harry Taylor For Congress website.   He states his positions on many issues.

Democrat Harry Taylor is challenging the Republican incumbent Sue Myrick in NC's 9th Congressional District.   In a move that threatens NC's coastal economic resources, Myrick is encouraging oil drilling off NC.

I really like this from Taylor:

"We have soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq, for oil," Taylor said. "If we truly want to support our troops, let's show them we're capable of sacrifice ... Let's change our wasteful behavior and make a real difference."

Charlotte Observer: Myrick plan won't cut gas prices.

Wow, this is getting rough.   Sullivan points out HRC's total contempt for the Democratic Party's primary process.