How's this for another kick to working Americans who are struggling to get by?  According to the guy that helped develop McCain's health care plan, no Americans should be considered uninsured.

His logic?  Anyone who can get into a hospital emergency room is able to access health care, and therefore shouldn't be considered uninsured.  His solution to the health insurance crisis is simply to define the problem away.

I'm speechless.

John Kerry just explained not only why I'm a Democrat, but why I don't trust Republicans on ANYTHING -- including their so-called strength: "national security".

For the first Goddamn time in eight years.

I may be a little older than some of you.

I remember November 1963.

I remember Martin Luther King Jr.

I remember Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy.

Now we'll all remember Denver, August 27th, 2008.

Some--just a tiny few of the millions and millions of shoulders upon whom Barack Obama stands.

Martin Luther King Jr.

"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop."

Martin Luther King
April 3, 1968

Readers of my old blog, the Whiskey Bar, probably know I have had a long and conflicted relationship with the Democratic Party -- one that generally ranges between reluctantly supportive (on the really good days) to utterly disgusted (most days).

To compare it to a bad marriage would be an insult to unhappy couples everywhere.

...and found me crying about half an hour ago.

I stood in the middle of our living room with tears in my eyes and running down my face.

(continued)

Whoo-Hooo!

I always love this. It's important to keep up to date on which people, places, and phenomena the respective Great States are proud of.

Until and unless we get an official thread for this, let's liveblog the incredibly suspenseful action from Denver.

N.B.: Live stream available at c-span.org. Grab it while you can; I don't think this will last much longer.

The original of this diary got chopped because AP sicced a thug on droogie and threatened him through his employer. The GBCW diary, today, recounts what happened. Well, Hell, my uncle did two+ years in Germany after WW II de-Nazifying 'em, so the least I can do is to follow suit.

And BTW: if any of you dkos folks find yourselves joining the military, you'll take an oath to defend the Constitution. Too bad we don't all take that oath as part of citizenship.

I was inspired by Granny Doc's excellent diary "Taking down the AP" this morning to tell you all something that you might not know about the Associated Press.

As a news consumer, your reasons for disliking the AP are many: slanted reporting, incomplete coverage, sloppy fact-checking, lack of original work, Rupert Murdoch's involvement, etc.

But what you might not be aware of is this: Many newspapers dislike the AP as much as you do, but for different reasons.

Diggit ? Cindy, what's a Diggit ? Diggit Link....

And here is the explicit permission to reprint droogie's original.

I thought, with Labor Day weekend coming up, what better time to share this clip of John McCain?

In this video, Senator McCain verbally attacks a construction worker who dares to question McCain's claim that migrant workers earn $50 per hour picking lettuce.

I've read a few diaries complaining about the coverage of the Convention, and part of the criticism is the TV celebrities think it's all about them.  From what I saw, the celebrities reminded me of a pre-game or half time football show with Howie and Bradshaw.  There was no game, just their opinions and jokes about a game.

I'm no celebrity and I'm sure it comes with the territory.  It's a hard job, although it pays quite well.  And I like Olbermann and Maddow and a few others.  But I see a diary on the Rec list by Keith Olbermann about his issues with the NY Post.  Maybe on another day, it'd be all cool.  Hey, Keith's on our side.  And the NY Post sucks.

But today an African American will be nominated for President by a Party that prior to the Civil War accomodated slavery and, under Woodrow Wilson, segregated the civil service.  It's also a Party that fought in the 1960s to bring civil rights to all.

This is truly historic.  There should be diaries about Barack Obama on the Rec list.  It's his day.    

KO has a good correction to my title in the Update, which I adopted in part in the Updated version.

More, after the fold

Have a look elsewhere on this site today and you'll see the nearly weekly diary that has just enough good grammar in it to not look like the efforts of a Troll, that gradually reveals itself to be an attempt to slime your undersigned diarist.

The New York Post is now up to about a dozen completely fabricated stories, "hung" off actual developments, but bearing no more resemblance to reality than, say, George Bush's worldview.

Here's how it goes, and here's what to do when they eventually single you out for "the treatment."

I've slept on it, and I've come to the conclusion that I'll have to abandon this username. I just can't risk what happened yesterday happening again at the new job that I will be beginning next month. I have worked too hard to get this job for my wife and my infant son to put them at risk by continuing to use this name.

I had a talk with Mrs. Droogie last night, and her first words were not, "You and that stupid Daily Kos!" On the contrary. She understood why I did what I did, and didn't fault me for it. She was very supportive.

The facts of this story are to follow, for those who are catching up.

This will be short, but with all the whining about what the Republicans will think about Obama's stage at Invesco, I thought this might perk some people up. Via Senator Patrick Leahy hits McCain hard on the age issue

***UPDATE II***
DIGG the story here to get it more visibility. McCain's age is NOT off limits in this campaign and is a legitimate campaign issue.

Yesterday, the FDIC issued its quarterly banking profile.  None of the news was good.  In addition, we have learned the number of problem institutions is increasing.  As a result, the FDIC is considering tapping into money from the Treasury Department.  Bottom line -- things are getting worse in the financial sector.

First, I'd like to point out that even OBAMA turned to C-SPAN from MSNBC so he could see the actual speeches:

Obama grabbed a remote control to switch from MSNBC which had the camera on former President Clinton sitting in the Denver audience to CSPAN which was carrying Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's speech live.

I knew that man was smart! Hopefully even MORE people will start tuning in to C-SPAN!

Last night's best speech may not have been HRC's, but Brian Schweitzer's rousing call to action over the issue of energy and the slamming of John McCain.  But almost no one covered the speech except for PBS and C-SPAN.  That, in a nutshell, captures the truly mind-numbing horrible-ness of the press coverage of this convention.  And the Boston Globe noticed too:

THE BEST way to watch a political convention is on C-Span. That way Americans can make their own judgments unfiltered, without being told what to think by the nattering nabobs of TV commentary.

Indeed.  These "nattering nabobs" only cover the speeches that they see as "marqueee" or which fit into their "narratives," doing an enormous disservice to the American people.  

Summary: Given her recent rise at MSNBC, Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post decided to do a very interesting piece on Rachel Maddow.  If you're interested, I'll have some quotes and some notes below the fold.

A trio of journalists who have a track record of documenting police abuse at political conventions were stopped and searched during the early morning hours in Minneapolis. Police took their video equipment, cell phones, hard drive and notes about protests planned for next week's Republican National Convention.