WOW!  This one has me all hot under the collar.  The Catholic News Agency is claiming that Obama's pick of a Catholic VP would somehow turn away Catholics is UNBELIEVABLE.  

Here is a glimpse of the CNA release:

Chicago, Jul 31, 2008- As reports circulate that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama is considering Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, a Catholic who supports abortion, for his vice-presidential pick, the national Catholic advocacy group Fidelis is arguing that the choice of a pro-abortion Catholic as Obama’s running mate would put off Catholic voters who are still considering his candidacy.

Here is my take .... after the flip.

The Supreme Court ruled today that Democrat-Turned-Indie Herb Hoffman did not obtain the legal amount of signatures to have his name placed on the November Ballot.

More below the fold:

The Mainer who should be Senator show real party leadership:

PORTLAND - Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Allen today pledged his support to Senator Barack Obama. Allen made his announcement during a 10:30 a.m. press conference at his campaign headquarters here.

Allen said he believes that both Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton are "supremely qualified to be president."

BUT

"Most of the primary voters across the nation have now spoken. It is time to bring a graceful end to the primary campaign. We now need to unify the Democratic Party and  focus on electing Senator Obama and a working majority in the United States Senate. That is how we can change the direction of the country.

CNN
and others reporting

ALBANY, New York (CNN) -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer will resign Wednesday, his aides said, as the New York governor faces allegations -- but no charges -- that he is tied to an international high-dollar prostitution ring ensnared in a federal probe.

Spitzer is scheduled to announce his resignation at 11:30 a.m. ET, a source close to the governor said.

Do you know if your household products are defective and could cause injury to you or your family?  Are your medicines doing more harm than good?  Are the toys you are buying safe?

Under current law, many defective and hazardous consumer products are still on store shelves, in medicine cabinets, and around the houses of millions of Americans – and you’d never know they are dangerous.  

Don’t Americans have the right to know that the products they purchase won’t hurt themselves and their families?  

Help Shed Some Light On This Issue for Congress, follow me on the flip ...

I know that I am not the first Kossack to seek office, and more importantly, I know I will not be the last.

But I wanted to reach out to you all, my colleagues, and thank you for helping to cultivate my sense of public service and interest in our political process.

With any luck, but mostly a lot of hard work, I'll be able to represent my home town in Augusta, Maine, as a member of the Legislature.  So I wanted to thank you all, for helping to bring me to this point.

There is a story here in the NYT Article: For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk

Not that he cheated, or did, or almost did.  

That shouldn't be the story.  

We shouldn't let the media take the REAL story here and drag it through the mud until it becomes tabloid city.

There is a bigger issue at state the the NYT really harped on more than adultery .... ethics.

Follow me below.

I feel like he was cheating on me.  John and I were in love for a long time.  We had the best relationship.   We both had the same interests, the same desires, our life plan was mapped out for the next 8 years.  It was great!  

Then, a few weeks ago, it was clear that it wasn’t going to work out, and we parted.

Now, I’m getting the feeling that he was cheating on me the whole time.  And he’s about to start dating the one he cheated with!  I can’t believe, it, I really just can’t.  How could he betray me like this.

ABC News must be wrong ...

This could be huge:

From The Washington Note

A well-placed spouse of a Clinton campaign insider just told me that a rumor is spreading like wild fire in Hillaryland that Al Gore is going to endorse Barack Obama.

Ok folks, here is your chance to shine in front of the thousands of Kossacks.  No money on the line ... just pride and bragging rights!

Simply cut and paste the list below into a comment, write in who you think is going to win the popular vote in each state, and POST.

I'll calculate the results tomorrow and post the winners!

But, to make this even more legit ... go ahead and hit the Rec Button on the  right there.  Go ahead ... right now, clickity click ... great.

Thanks for playing!  And Good Luck.

Obama made a great statement thanking John Edwards for his hard work.

For me, as a former Edwards supporter and recent Obama convert, this only solidifies my own support for Sen. Obama and the class he shows in his released statement below.

I know it's easy to bash Hillary Clinton on Dialy Kos, as so many of us are supporters of Obama and Edwards.  But this diary isn't simply intended to repeat what we already think.
It is intended to predict that what you are going to see in days to come, thanks to Ted Kennedy, is more Democrats finding it easy to refuse Hillary Clinton and move away from Bill's legacy.

Let's say Al Gore had rightfully taken his place behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office on January 20, 2008.  Would we all still love Bill Clinton?

Probably not.

The reality is that Clinton wasn't much of a Democrat.  He governed to the center, sold out the traditional democrat bases, and moved the Democratic Party into a period of pro-Corporations in order to fundraise.

Simply stated, the Clintons worked to make the Democratic Party, more like the Republican Party.

The greater reality is, a lot of people remember that.  And a lot of people don't want to see it happen again.  But up until lately, people have been terrified to cross the Clintons, especially because Hillary, for a long time, looked all but certain to be the front runner for the nomination.

Ted Kennedy may have opened the flood gates of Anti-Clintonism.

The past few days have been very difficult on this JRE supporter.  Over the last year, he’s been singing my tune.  Fight the corporations, fight the special interests, fight the powers that be.  Fight, Fight, Fight!

And all the while I’ve been right there along side you.  I believed in your message, and I believe in your tactics, I believed in your brand of politics.

I donated money that I couldn’t afford to donate.  I talked about your campaign to coworkers, family, and friends.  I urged them to pick up our banner to fight the corrupt culture of Washington and defeat the special interests in the name of the common good.

But I lost that fight.

In this diary I’m going to talk about religion.  I am not just a spiritual person, I am religious.   I attend church, the church influences my life, god influences my life.  I believe in God, his only Son, the Holy Spirit, and the teachings according to the bible.  

I will talk about Catholicism, my religious experiences, and why I have been slowly but firmly driven from my Church.  I am a Catholic, and I write this diary not as a hit piece on the Church and its leaders, but as a concerned believer who is being forced into a crisis of faith.

I am sick of my Church preaching from the talking points of the Far Right.  I want my Church back.

But according to some, it's not possible for me to even be a Catholic.

Which is ironic to me considering I was baptized, given first communion, achieved reconciliation, was confirmed, and attend church services.  But according to one of the leaders of my church, it’s still not possible for me to be a Catholic.

The FDA sides with PHARMA over patients.

Let me rephrase that .... FDA isn't just siding with PHARMA over patients ... it is going behind Congress' back, usurping Congressional power, in order to do it!

The old saying goes, "Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made."
 
Well, it's official: making laws is much more disgusting than making sausages.  

Why you may ask?  Because the Unelected Bush-Appointed Bureaucrats in the FDA are taking it upon themselves to rewrite the laws after Congressional intent was made LOUD and CLEAR when they passed them!

Essentially unelected bureaucrats are saying "Thanks but no thanks" to Congress's law regarding who should held accountable for drug label warnings.

It's the Bush Administration's way of shielding PHARMA and the drug companies that they represent from any accountability whatsoever.

More below the fold...

Adding Insult To Injury ...

"Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a KBR camp in the Green Zone (of Iraq), the company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job." – ABC News, 20/20

Read The Whole Story Here

What is just as appalling is that Jamie will never have an opportunity to hold her rapists or her employers accountable in a court of law.  Her employment contract, like millions of other Americans, includes a Binding Mandatory Arbitration clause.  

So instead of having her day in court, she’ll be forced into a privatized justice system with no public record.

"So we will continue to fight. This is the end of phase one of this fight, but the fight will go on, and we will be together in that fight. We will continue to bring our message of hope and change to the American people."

Howard Dean changed my life.  Let me just put that out there.  

During the first debate in 2003, I decided with my Grandfather, a life long Democrat, that Dr. Howard Dean had the prescription for America.  It only took me a couple of hours and a few clicks of the mouse to www.DeanForAmerica.com before I fell hook, line, and sinker.  

Unlike so many others, he didn’t engage me in politics – I had already spent time volunteering for campaigns and, as a senior in High School, had already been accepted into the George Washington University in DC.

Unlike so many others, he didn’t draw me into the Democratic Party – I was raised on the ideals which my party exposes and had lived much of my short life working for them too.

Unlike so many others, he didn’t turn my views on any issues – like most progressives I probably agreed wholeheartedly with the vast majority of Dean’s platform.

Unlike many others, he didn’t just give me hope ... he got me to believe.