By now, you've probably heard that McCain's campaign was sued by Jackson Browne for using, sans permission, Browne's classic "Running on Empty" in campaign ads in Ohio.  The ads were apparently targeted at Obama's stance on offshore drilling.  

What's interesting to me is that McCain is stepping it, metaphorically.  Someone who bills his campaign as the "straight talk express" is in dangerous territory here.  It suggests to me a nice campaign for Obama that would serve to define McCain.  It also suggests to me a criterion for VP that I haven't seen tendered explicitly, but looks to me more like a vital quality that should eliminate a few candidates (Bayh, Kaine) and open up the door for others (Schweitzer, Napolitano).

To the Russian government (Updated: it has been suggested "people"):

We the undersigned, wish to convey our deepest regret for the actions of the Bush administration in helping to create the crisis in Georgia.  A huge portion of our country despise their foreign policy methods and are working hard to try to push these idiots out of power.

They are doing everything in their power right now to resist that effort including their very successful past method of instilling fear into the voting public hoping they will act against reason and put a very old and unstable warmonger into the White House to protect them.

How's that old phrase go? "If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle."

Seems that the former Hillary Clinton campaign guru, Howard Wolfson, is indulging in a bit of the same kind of meaningless speculation.

He told ABC News today that if John Edwards' affair had been exposed in 2007, Hillary would be the Democratic nominee today. "I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," Wolfson said.  Wolfson, now an analyst with Fox News [Doesn't that just about say it all?], whined: "Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people... Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us."

More after the jump....

This is barely moves the needle on my outrage meter.  However, I do think it's interesting to note how many, many factors contribute to build a "narrative" about the presidential candidates (and yes, I too am getting just a little sick of the overuse of the word "narrative.")

Yesterday, I received in an email this advertisement for books of paperdolls featuring the presidential candidates.

My curiosity piqued, I read on....

John Russell a populist progressive is running to unseat NeoCon Moron Ginny Brown-Waite in 2008... John was the Democratic nominee in 2006 and with the dramatic shift in public opinion due to all the economic pain inflicted by their failed policies we could oust Ginny and replace her with a Populist Progressive in the mold of John Edwards.

Run time: 10:08
http://www.youtube.com/...

Note to the Obama Campaign:  Time to employ a technique from martial arts...take your opponent's momentum and turn it back on him.

If McCain wants to use celebrities to illustrate a point, let's go right back at him.

    Shall note I am "launching" (like a rocket, you hope it doesn't explode) today my new blog Obamaism.org, which is about what the blog title denotes (plus anything else I feel like opining).
    I have various people lined up as guest commenters/interviewees at Obamaism.org already, including

    --a brainy AND artistic Southwestern state legislator;

    --a professor of sociology and African-American studies at a well-known East Coast school;

    --a proprietor of a supremely snarkily-named blog;

    --etc. (I guess everyone is interested in Barack Obama)

    Enjoy!


    You'll see some humorous content in my first post at "O.o", including some parody of Peanuts (not Jimmy Carter) vis-a-vis politics. But there will be more serious comment later, so feel free to check back frequently. Until your refresh button wears out.
    Guest posters welcome; that means you.

    Here's the link again: http://obamaism.org.

    (much more below)

So, the rumor mill was abuzz this weekend that McCain would announce his vp choice tomorrow.  You would think he would actually give more notice but it'd be a good way for McCain to start off a new week.  The McCain camp could dominate the headlines for the rest of the week.

On Sunday, McCain hosts a group of political allies and major fundraisers at his ranch in Sedona, AZ.  That's a fact. The rumor is that he's going to use the event to introduce his vice presidential choice to his inner circle, and then, on Monday, introduce the choice to the world.

Nothing could really hurt after living one campaign disaster after another for the past two weeks.  Their new desperate tactics tend to belie some underlying panic in the McCain camp.  

So why not jump ahead of Obama and ahead of the Olympics and announce his Veep  now.  Link

 If John S. McCain was a automobile engine, it would have problems. the noises you hear are a lack of lubrication and serious internal damage. His statements speak to softwear issues with the computer controlling that engine also.

He needs to have his crankshaft and camshafts reground and retrued. Oh wait. Then he will be wedded to fossil fuels to keep his motor running.

Why can't he say "Czech Republic?" Is it too hard for him to remember correctly what recent discussions he's been exposed to and should remember for the past several years? . (More)

Forget all the talk about what it takes to make it as a POW.  Let's talk about the job McCain is actually running for.  What does it take to make it as Chief Executive?

One of the hallmarks of an effective executive is their ability to attract and retain talent.  It doesn't matter whether they work in the public or private sector, whether they are running a sports team or a political campaign.  

Executives with a pattern of churning through talent eventually get a reputation for being difficult to work with and people with real talent start avoiding them.   That's a major problem.  Once you are tagged with that label, it's just a matter of time before the bottom falls out.  No surprise then McCain's campaign is in shambles.  

It's clear the corporate media is going to bend over backwards to avoid looking at this story in detail, so why not take a look for yourself at McCain's history for churning through talent?   Watch your step as you head over the fold ... this guy runs through top advisors the way some people run through wives.

Don't get me wrong, I love this place.

I've been here for more than four years, I've probably written 300 diaries, and Buddha knows how many comments.  But, as much as I love Daily Kos, I love the real world even more.

And I absolutely have loved participating in the real world the last two weekends.  Last weekend, I took the family out to a festival, and we registered voters.  This weekend, we went to a Democratic picnic to support the local party and sign up as volunteers for neighboring swing states Virginia and Pennsylvania.

After a 4th of July vacation, we'll be hitting both states frequently, taking our toddler and infant along on neighborhood walks, to fairs and festivals, getting out the vote for Barack Obama.

At a recent town hall meeting, John McCain indicated that he felt it was "tough" sometimes to be proud of our country. He said that we needed to be "more humble, more inclusive."

I will not stand for this anti-American rhetoric. We cannot have a President who feels that it is sometimes tough to be proud of America. For all I know, he's just a secret Muslim terrorist. I want a President who LOVES our country, and who is ALWAYS proud of our country, and never realizes that it has any faults... because it never does! More after the jump.

An interesting article from the AP just came up.  It shows how even strong Black republicans are feeling the pull of history and may end up voting for a Democrat for the first time in their lives.  

Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee.

Armstrong Williams?

The AP is running a story that blows up the myth that Barack Obama will have problems in key demographics this fall against John McCain:

Polls this month show the Illinois senator leading McCain among women, running even with him among Catholics and suburbanites and trailing him with people over age 65. Results vary by poll for those without college degrees. And though Obama trails decisively with a group that has shunned him against Clinton — whites who have not completed college — he's doing about the same with them as the past two Democratic presidential candidates.

Yeah, so, that whole "will women support him?" myth?  Busted.

I remember a time not so long ago when this image was an unambiguous sign for any person with liberal or progressive sensibilities that something is seriously wrong with the world:



But now many Democrats have become de facto Ditto-heads, gladly nodding their approval whenever Rush Limbaugh or some other right wing lunatic makes some derogatory remark about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton (whichever one they don't like).

Take a little stroll with me below the fold.  I'd like to show you something.

[Update] Please read at least the first 3 paragraphs before flaming ;-)

...According to the Head-to-Head tracking polls against McCain
...According to the snapshot electoral maps against McCain (Clinton // Obama)

This argument cannot be ignored.  By definition, the stronger Democratic candidate is the one who is most likely to beat the Republican nominee in November.  If, in fact, Hillary Clinton would perform better against John McCain than Barack Obama, then she is the stronger candidate.  End of story.  Discussion over.

The problem is that there are three significant overlooked factors that head to head tracking polls, as well as their corolary snapshot electoral maps, do not account for.  These make any such claim to Hillary's stronger candidacy problematic.

First, let me say that I think the flag pin "flap" is a non-issue and is completely absurd.  Having said that, I think the Republicans will make it an issue in the campaign.  I don't think it will have a huge impact, but it will come up from time to time and cause the Obama campaign a minor headache.

Second, as I have stated in previous diaries I am not a religious person.  I do, however, have tremendous respect for Bilblical literature and often find valuable insight contained within the pages of my NRSV translation (and my NA27, for all you Bible nerds ;-) ).

Actual diary below the fold.

Among the many reasons that I support Barack Obama, there are two that I want to discuss. Why? Because I have not seen anyone discuss them yet.  These two reasons are the following:

1. He is black
2. He has an Arabic name

More provocative discussion below the fold