We've all heard the rumors, mostly spread by the Operation Chaos leader Larry Johnson that there's this video tape of Michelle Obama screaming "Whitey" from the TUCC pulpit... I guess, in a fit of desperation, Johnson will release the tape tomorrow at 9am...

...only, the smear is not what it seems.  More on the flip:

UPDATED:  Apparently, the tape was supposed to come out today and did not... Still, the analysis may be helpful in diffusing the underground smear that there really is a "whitey" tape... please read on the flip for guidance on fighting this viral and continuing smear...

From the AP

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she expects her marathon Democratic race against Barack Obama to be resolved next week. In a conference call with Montana reporters, Clinton said Friday: "I think that after the final primaries, people are going to start making up their minds. I think that is the natural progression that one would expect."

Could this be really true?  Oh, please say it's so!  I'm ready to forgive you, Hillary and bestow any honor you wish (almost) if you will save the party from a convention fight.

If this is true... thank you, Hillary, for saving the party and the country from what would be a sure disaster!  I'm glad that cooler heads in the campaign have prevailed.

You are a tough fighter... I'm looking forward to your kick-ass convention speech in Denver endorsing Obama! :-)  Let the healing begin!

I don't understand why there is no mention of this on the front page at dKos.  This is the most important election going on today!  If we win this seat, not only with the NRCC be on its heels, but it will show that Obama has positive coattails in even the reddest of districts.  Remember that the Republicans are tying Childers to Obama!  Do it now!

Even though the Republican Party is going to great lengths to not appear racist or sexist, it is very hard to suppress your true feelings and core values...

...as you will see over the flip!

Maybe Fox News was right in calling the Senator from Pennsylvania a Democrat:

http://www.politico.com/...

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) plans to review the Senate testimony of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito to determine if their reversal of several long-standing opinions conflicts with promises they made to senators to win confirmation.

more over the fold....

Yes, you read that right...  Isn't it amazing the depths this propaganda network will fall to in order to appease right-wing activists?

more on the flip...

I can't believe this slipped through the radar:

http://www.webwire.com/...

WASHINGTON, DC - By a vote of 309-115, the U.S. House of Representatives today adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to the Financial Services and General Government Bill. The amendment bars the FCC from using federal funds to reinstate the so-called "Fairness Doctrine."

Who were the 100 or so democrats that betrayed us on this ammendment?  Why was it allowed to even get to the floor?

more on the flip....

Yesterday was a bad day for working Americans... the Employee Free Choice act failed to pass and cloture was invoked on the very worker unfriendly Immigration Bill...

Yet, things were looking deceptively brighter for working Americans.  The Durbin-Grassley amendments that limited H1-B visa abuses were still in the bill.  In addition, several other amendments would be up for consideration over the next few days:

Could this be too good to be true?  It turns out that it is...

More on the flip.....

Depressing:

http://www.galluppoll.com/...

PRINCETON, NJ -- The percentage of Americans with a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in Congress is at 14%, the lowest in Gallup's history of this measure

More on the flip....

Imagine my shock today when I turned on AM 1350 Radio Free Ohio to listen to Ed Schultz and I heard nothing but sports commentary from some guy claiming that AM 1350 was now the sports authority...

As reported here many times before, another Air America station bites the dust:  http://www.1350radiofreeohio.com/

More on the flip....

Ha Ha!  Now you bastards know what it feels like:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/

Mark Sheridan of the New Jersey GOP says there's a "developing and disturbing trend" of voters going into an electronic voting booth and finding that the machine already has registered a vote for Democratic Senate incumbent Bob Menendez.. They're saying complaints keep coming into their office. "It's too widespread for it to be a coincidence," Sheridan said.

more below the fold....

Interesting article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer this morning:

Across Ohio, 50 nonpartisans aim to videotape voting woes

Halligan's turn behind the camera will be one taken by about 50 Ohioans who have pledged to fan out to polling locations across the state in a nonpartisan effort to videotape voting problems in the Buckeye State.

The project - videothevote.org - was hatched by Ian Inaba, a filmmaker whose documentary "American Blackout" makes the case for the systematic disenfranchisement of black voters in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004.

The filmmaker said the idea is to gather video footage and bring it back to collection points where it will be posted quickly to the Web site. The result will be that the public and the media will see problems in Ohio and a handful of key states within a few hours of when they occur.

Click on the link for the full article...  I'm sure that Blackwell will find a way to stop this, but let's with them the best, and hope they have nothing to report!

Maybe we can do this in all eVoting states?  An interesting thought!

Thanks,

Mike

Back in 1998, a group of hard right republicans said that they had to impeach Clinton at any cost!  The more rational membership said to hold off, it would hurt the party, but the radicals persisted.  It cost them seats in the midterm elections, Newt Gingrich's speakership, and the Senate in 2000, and almost the presidency that year, too.  

Now, there is a group of hard left Democrats that want to try and filibuster Alito at any cost...  This strategy could hurt the party more than help....  Why?  because our senators failed to make the case... more below the fold...

It just keeps getting worse and worse for the Ohio Republican party.  It was bad enough when Republican insider Tom Noe lost $12 million in workers compensation funds, now it seems that the total investment losses for the fund exceed $215 million:

State Loses $215 Million--The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Democrats are asking for Governor Taft's recall.  I'm asking that Howard Dean pounce on this opportunity to rebuild Ohio's Democratic Party.  Poor Taft!  He could be the worst governor, ever!  His numbers were already rock bottom before the scandal.  Imagine what they are now!

Hi all, this is my first diary. Normally, I would never link to the Clevleand Plain Dealer (a truly atrocious newspaper), but they had a very timely article today:

Number of poor Ohioans has soared, survey finds

...and we still ended up being a red state... sad, really. Go to the extended entry for more analysis.