Just days after stepping on the third rail of American politics with his proclamation that Social Security is "an absolute disgrace," John McCain may once again have stepped in it on the immigration issue. His new ad praising the contributions of Hispanic-Americans, titled "God's Children," has much of the conservative blogosphere frothing at the mouth. Meanwhile, the imbroglio will only serve to once again highlight McCain's just-in-time reversals on the comprehensive immigration reform he once advocated.
For some time now, all the attention has been on the Democrats and the infighting between the Obamaniacs and the Clintonistas. What many especially those in the MSM have gleefully refused to report on is the fact that McCain's candidacy has set a spiral of rebellion in the Republican party, and that many core supporters have either abandoned the party, or are in the process of doing so.
Now it seems as though the cancerous gangrene of rebellion is seeping into the top notches of the party, and that many prominent Republican congressmen are either threatening to walk out on the grand old dunce, or to simply sit on the fence and watch him sink.
Following the ABC whatever-it-was (I refuse to call it a debate) I started looking for flag pins. I don’t Google so I used ask.com and did the same kind of search for each candidate, first name, last name. What I came up with is hardly a diary but it seems a bit too long for a comment. If it's not right, I'll take it down. (Help with tags is always appreciated!)
I know that Pope Benedict XVI has many amends to make regarding the Catholic Church's child sexual abuse scandal and its backward stance on homosexuality. This is in no way an apology for the Pope or the Church in those matters.
Nevertheless, I was stunned today to read that a statement by the pope in favor of helping immigrants was rebuked by Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
Accusing the pope of "faith-based marketing," Mr. Tancredo said Benedict’s comments welcoming immigrants "may have less to do with spreading the Gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the Church." Mr. Tancredo, a former Catholic who now attends an evangelical Christian church, said it was not in the pope’s "job description to engage in American politics."
First off, a Republican accusing ANYONE of faith-based marketing is an oxymoron.
Former CO-04 Congressman Bob Schaffer(R) is running for the senate seat being vacated by Wayne Allard. CO-02 Congressman Mark Udall (D) is also running. In '04 Schaffer lost the republican primary to one of the Coors boys who then lost to Ken Salazar. Schaffer is anywhere from the 7th to the 14th conservative legislator since 1937.
In what seems like a fairly moderate position on immigration Bob Schaffer had the following to say as quoted in the DenverRockyMountainPost:
Calling America a country perfectly "capable of multitasking," Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer said the U.S. ought to be pursuing a guest- worker program at the same time it fortifies its borders.
There has been some conversation here that we are spending too much time about our nominees, while Sen. McCain is getting a free a free-ride. I could not agree more. In order to help shift the focus, I am going to post, almost verbatim, a frequent email I receive from the DNC research department. The stories may or may not have been reported here on Kos. They are a summary of the news of the day regarding Sen. McCain and Republicans. It may be helpful for those who wish to send an LTE to your local news. Or write up a diary with more background on a specific story you find here first.
Regardless, it is a DNC members attempt to put forth what the DNC finds as relevant news reports on the state of the Republicans during this election season. You won't find any DNC commentary here, except the headlines. They are simply publishing a few sentences from the printed story. If I have anything to add in the way of commentary, I will. But I there are many here that follow specific issues who could write expanded diaries much better than I.
The Daily Flipper Number 1 is on the flip...flip it good.
One of our own, long time Kossack Mike Collins aka ranger25 of Aurora, Colorado entered the race in February and has now decided to embrace the Netroots and make it a cornerstone of his campaign.
Mike is a decorated war hero, twice awarded the bronze star for his service in Vietnam. During his service Mike was exposed to agent orange and developed esophageal cancer as a result. Today he speaks with an electro-larynx which serves as a constant reminder of his sacrifice in the line of duty. This could actually be an advantage in Tom Tancredo’s sixth district.
Mike gave his voice in the service of our country, now he wants to give progressives a voice in Washington.
Now that the Republican race is over, our Producer, Jayar Jackson, put together a "One Shining Moment" tribute to their goofiest moments in the primaries. Watch it here:
As stated last week in a Diary titled, Iran Offers Nuclear Deal, on Feb. 24, 2008, Iran offered to ACCEPT the Additional Protocol that would impose a regimen of intrusive inspections on Iran's nuclear activities. Submission to the Additional Protocol is conditioned on removal of Iran's nuclear file from the UN Security Council, to be monitored by the IAEA.
Dr. Dalia Dasso Kaye of RAND Corporation made a similar suggestion at an address to the World Affairs Council in Pittsburgh, PA in December, 2007.
But a number of signals suggest that, consistent with its intransigent behavior regarding Iraq, the Bush administration will hold to its ideologically-driven "carrots and sticks" approach, whose real goal is to at least bankrupt and possibly militarily attack Iran, rather than take a giant step into a future of a cooperative relationship with Iran.
In a speech sponsored by Pittsburgh's United Jewish Federation, Patrick Clawson, colleague of Daniel Pipes and Michael Ledeen, stated that he doubted that "carrots and sticks" would work because Iran would consider any "carrots the US offered to be poison."
In one of the more hilariously ironic developments of Campaign '08, the Politico reports that the GOP is undertaking a crash course in diversity training of sorts. Desperate to avoid another devastating "Macaca moment" in the fall campaign, the Republican National Committee is "working on plans to protect the GOP from charges of racism or sexism in the general election." Unfortunately, that's a tall order for a fractured party united only by its common disdain for immigrants, blacks, gay Americans and above all, Muslims. Like the proverbial leopard, the Party of Hate cannot change its spots.
While the clown-car that is the Republican presidential field seemed headed over a cliff, Democratic primary voters enjoyed a generally high-minded debate among candidates they generally liked. That is, until the New Hampshire primary. Now, the simmering feud between the Clinton and Obama campaigns over supposed racial politics is casting a pall over what had been an uplifting competition. Worse still, as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and even John Edwards battle over purported racial insensitivities, one fact remains undeniable. The race card firmly remains in the Republican deck. And there's little doubt that in 2008, the GOP will play it once again.
I was busy yesterday morning enjoying the sunny day before the rainstorms hit (they're here now - so the hillsides that burned last October will now wash away), so I didn't check my email. This morning I did, and I got an email from Stacy Taylor, a local radio talk show host who was the former morning drive personality on KLSD, the now-defunct Air America affiliate. Stacy is back on air on 1700 AM from 4-7. So, maybe progressive radio is back - well maybe.
Here's the link to the station. You can look at the lineup yourself and skip the rest of this diary if you want. Otherwise, read on.
Lost in the media focus on the victories of the supposed "change" candidates in Iowa last night are the dramatic differences in the priorities of each party's voters. As Iowa Democrats headed to their caucuses in record numbers last night, the sputtering American economy topped their list of concerns. But in a disturbing hint of things to come from the GOP, Iowa Republicans instead were looking for someone to blame in making immigration their most important issue.
Mitt Romney’s father George was born in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1907, the son of Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt. Three generations of Romneys lived in Mexico because Miles Park Romney, a polygamist, moved the family there in 1884 as it became increasingly clear that the U.S. government would not tolerate polygamy in the Utah Territory. The 1882 Edmunds Act stripped polygamists of the basic rights of U.S. citizenship, denying them the right to vote, serve on juries or hold office. Not dissimilar to current immigration raids, U.S. federal agents hunted and arrested polygamists. Polygamists were forced to leave the country or risk jail.
Miles chose to leave the country, bringing his multiple wives and children with him across the southern border.
There has been some conversation here that we are spending too much time about our nominees, while Sen. McCain is getting a free a free-ride. I could not agree more. In order to help shift the focus, I am going to post, almost verbatim, a frequent email I receive from the DNC research department. The stories may or may not have been reported here on Kos. They are a summary of the news of the day regarding Sen. McCain and Republicans. It may be helpful for those who wish to send an LTE to your local news. Or write up a diary with more background on a specific story you find here first.
Originally posted on 
