The south is known as a Republican stronghold in the last few years after long Democratic traditions, and Democrats are once again standing up to fight for the South. NC and VA are springing up to be swing-states, and Democrats are fighting all over the South for House and Senate seats.

I have been a bit astonished by the extent to which progressives generally and Democrats specifically have anonymously and publicly  doubted Obama's ability to deliver the election.  We have internalized the victimology of the last eight years.  We have been "psyched out" by the right wing and we are in a nervous tizzy over every downtick of the polls.

Now we shriek in agony because of the LA Times poll!!  If we are this weak, we do not deserve to win.

Do we have Battered Progressive Syndrome?

Off with your tin-foil hats, lefties.  Bush ain’t gonna find sanctuary in Paraguay no more.  It’s his own fault really, because he failed to put freedom and democracy on the march down there.  It’s hard work to be President.  So many wars; so little time.

I found this today.

Apparently it has been going around the internets so I thought I would post it.

Very beautiful.

Why did you make me black Lord?...

Jump to see entire poem...

The Bush administration has wreaked havoc on the constitutional principle of separation of powers.  The abuses of the executive branch have undercut both the legislative branch (signing statements, stonewalling subpoenas, and outright lawbreaking) and the judicial branch (suspension of habeas corpus, weakening of other constitutional protections, etc)

With that groundwork laid, what might happen with Obama (or a Democratic successor) in control of such an enormous amount of executive power?

There it is again!  McCain questions Obama's judgment.  It was a  drum beat on NPR today.  It is ridiculous.  George Lakoff must be screaming about it and I am unable to resist  ranting here!  How does he question Obama's judgment?   John McCain is promising that he can bring us victory!  Yup, for the first time in world history if we elect this man he will bring us victory in the occupation of another country!  He did not tell us what that meant.  Incidentally, he framed it as a "war".  But GWB declared the war over some years ago.  We are into an occupation.  Just a while ago we had an increase in our occupying forces.  The people who said the war was over some time ago called this increase in troop levels a "surge".  Today John McCain said that Obama lacks judgment because he still fails to acknowledge the success of the surge.  These are the front lines of the framing wars and Lakoff has warned us about them.  It seems that the warning that we can only lose the debate by accepting their framing still needs to be understood.  Look below the break and let's try again.

I have been a bit astonished by the extent to which progressives generally and Democrats specifically have anonymously and publicly  doubted Obama's ability to deliver the election.  We have internalized the victimology of the last eight years.  We have been "psyched out" by the right wing and we are in a nervous tizzy over every downtick of the polls.

It is no secret we need our Congress to move in a more Progressive direction. We not only need to elect more Democrats to Congress, but we need to elect Democrats to Congress that will remember who got them elected and what they are supposed to fight for once they are there. On a myriad of issues, we need Demcrats that will go to Washington and fight for the real change that we need in this country.

It's hard for me to imagine why Obama would choose serial loser Joe Biden to share his stage, but until today I never really had any reason to suspect that Biden would actually endanger the ticket.  Thanks to Harper's Magazine I now do have such a reason.  Joe Biden is involved with lobbyist Stephen Payne and his attempts to solicit pay-to-play "gifts" for the Bush Presidential Library.

Ok, this will probably get torn to shreds, and my feelings will not be hurt.

The point I hope to make in this diary:
Due to advances in technology and culture no matter who is president their actions will be attacked/and viewed as an impeachable offense by 1/2 the population.

It started with Nixon and has gotten more pronounced as time has gone on.

I doubt it is because the quality of the presidents has gotten any better or worse. I mean they've always been pretty constant, I would think.

<More after the break>

Here in the Central Coast of California, we are in the target for Republicans and their wet dreams of offshore oil drilling. We have some seriously important races that are getting drown out with the Presidential fervor....one of them is for State Senator for the 15th District. The State Democrats didn't raise a finger to put up a Democratic contender against Abel Maldonado (who tried to get on both the Republican AND Democratic Primary ballots)...but, a determined former UPS worker mortgaged his house and got enough signatures to be on the November ballot. JIM FITZGERALD, you GO boy....

There are many reasons to support Heather Ryan. Heather is a wife, veteran, and citizen of our district who has been active in politics for quite some time. She is educated, compassionate and smart. She represents the ideals Democrats espouse quite nicely. Most of all, she is not afraid to fight the Republicans for what we all believe in.

Today two new offices opened in Virginia.  One is in Tappahannock and the other, The Middle Peninsula Office, is in Gloucester at the York River Crossing Shopping Mall.   The Gloucester office is a joint office for Obama, Warner and the 1st CD candidate Bill Day.  Bill was there to introduce himself and gave an inspiring talk.  He is running against Rob Wittman who was elected in a special election last December after the Death of Joan Davis.  Wittman's voting record for the short time he has been in congress is very bad. We hope to make this a big issue during the campaign. This is the first time an office for a presidential candidate has been opened in this region so history was indeed made today!  Obama's staff people were there today and made an impression on all there because of their organizational skills and enthusiasm.  They signed everyone up to participate in running the office, phoning, and canvassing.  More below the break.

This commentary was written by B. Edwards, an American and professor abroad.

The current frenzy over the extra-marital affair of John Edwards brings to light some interesting facets of the American political scene. Why in all the hubbub of news and events is the most popular point of media interest whether John Edwards has an illegitimate son or not? What stokes the desire to feed upon this man's misdeed?

One obvious answer is the Republican political machine, which like the Democratic one seeks to capitalize on any advantage it can get to win elections.  Elections have become major displays of the power of quantification, with every single element being weighed by a cadre of analysts seeking that one extra percentage point to tip their boss into power.

During my 21 years in the military we were always taught to be proactive instead of reactive, and yes at the time I was a diehard Republican (what a #@$%ing idiot I was).  You know, go out there and solve or PREVENT the problems before they become an issue.  ALWAYS look for ways to make things better and not worse.  DEMOCRATS are PROACTIVE, we (yes, I'm a Dem now) want to stop global warming, we want to have GOOD relations with ALL countries before things get to the war stage (which CONS love), and on and on.  This current Russia/Georgia conflict is a prime example of how each party addresses USA and world issues.

Here in Kentucky's First Congressional District, our candidate Heather Ryan is really beginning to turn some heads. It all started at the Ruby Laffoon Dinner a couple of months ago, and has been building through to Fancy Farm weekend, where she fired up Democrats at the breakfast, and then took it to Republicans in the heat of Fancy Farm.

The following letter, written July 30, appears in the current issue of The Nation. I am reprinting it in full and urge you to join those 22,500 people who, like me, have already signed it. A sampling of people who signed the letter early on is reprinted at the end of the text.