I never, ever thought I would see this in my inbox from my Republican uncle.

Written by: Kate Drazner on Oct 10, 2008 1:06 PM EDT

My uncle is a conservative dentist in Chicago. He never shared in the Chicago pride with my parents and I over the rise of our beloved Senator to the rank of front-runner for arguably the most powerful position in the world. In fact, this was a guy that I distinctly remember peering upon my newly-acquired nose ring as I sat in his dentist's chair, home on a break from college, and sneering, "I'm gonna rip that thing right off of your face, you tree hugger." (That should come off more tongue-in-cheek and lighthearted than it reads - he's actually a very nice man.)

So, for a few months now, my uncle and I have been engaged in an electronic war of words (and forwarded partisan propaganda). I'd like to share the story arc of correspondence that has occurred between us, starting way back in June and ending with the bombshell I received from him yesterday afternoon.

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Evening Watercooler

Written by: DFA Community and you

DFA's home for a free form, open-ended discussion of what matters most to committed progressive activists.

Today, In Connecticut

Written by: DFA Staff on Oct 10, 2008 12:11 PM EDT

Connecticut Ruling Overturns Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.

The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut's civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Danny
Communications Director

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The Truth About ACORN

Written by: DFA Staff on Oct 10, 2008 10:50 AM EDT

To: Interested Parties
From: Bertha Lewis and Steve Kest
Date: October 9, 2008
Re: The Truth About ACORN's Voter Registration Drive

Election Day is less than a month away, and our efforts to make sure that low-income and minority voters have a voice and vote on November 4th are in full swing. Unfortunately, just as we've seen in previous election cycles, the more success we have in empowering these voters, the more attacks we have to fend off from partisan forces making unfounded accusations to disparage our work and help maintain the status quo of an unbalanced electorate. We want to take this opportunity to separate the facts of our successes from the falsehoods of our attackers.

On Monday, October 6, as voter registration deadlines passed in most states, ACORN completed the largest, most successful nonpartisan voter registration drive in history. In partnership with the nonpartisan organization Project Vote, we helped register over 1.3 million low-income, minority, and young voters in a total of 21 states.

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Friday finds

Written by: Gerry L on Oct 10, 2008 7:53 AM EDT

Friday~

***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ October 10th,  2008

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Moment of Truth

Paul Krugman

~~~The consequences of Lehman’s fall were apparent within days, yet key policy players have largely wasted the past four weeks. Now they’ve reached a moment of truth: They’d better do something soon — in fact, they’d better announce a coordinated rescue plan this weekend — or the world economy may well experience its worst slump since the Great Depression.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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Analysis

The End Of American Capitalism?

Anthony Faiola

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100903425.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

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The Speaker Speaks

Written by: DFA Staff on Oct 9, 2008 3:46 PM EDT

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Pelosi Announces House Democrats to Convene Economic Forum on Monday

Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today that House Democratic leaders will convene an economic forum on Monday with some of America’s leading economists to help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our economy.

“Just as the President and Congress worked together in recent weeks on an economic rescue plan to help bring stability to our financial markets, we must now take additional action and pass a jobs creation and economic recovery stimulus plan,” Pelosi said.

The October 13 forum, to be held in the Speaker’s office in the Capitol, will help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that will create jobs by rebuilding our roads, bridges and highways, prevent cuts to vital government services such as health, education, and public safety, extend unemployment benefits, and help families cope with rising food costs.

“House Democratic leaders look forward to hearing from many of America’s preeminent economic minds on what Congress and the President can do together to help families who are struggling in these difficult and worrying economic times,” Pelosi said.

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Stephen Views the News 10/9/08

Written by: Stephen Weinstein on Oct 9, 2008 6:39 PM EDT

Stephen Views the News  10/9/08 

http://stephenviewsthenews.blogspot.com/ 

* The tenor of the presidential race is off key, again - At FactCheck.org one will find questionable and misleading claims made by both presidential campaigns. In the case of McCain-Palin, it is a ticket in desperation mode carrying the scurrilous standard of Bush and Rove to even lower standards. It is negative, toxic and hate-tinged. Like the Republican candidates themselves it is not something that America needs now or at any other time. Flush and plunge rhetoric belongs in the outhouse, not the White House. It is the worst that a democracy has to offer. The Obama campaign has manipulated some facts in presenting its case but it has not lost its soul. At the same time, the relatively minor indiscretions by Obama-Biden are unnecessary and regrettable. McCain’s history, voting record and proposed policies provide a cornucopia of material for demonstrating the differences between the candidates. Americans are desperately looking for leadership they can believe in. Give us reason to do so. 

* Legislative Alert - I would like to suggest that the next congress enact legislation that requires federal election advertising be reviewed for accuracy by an independent body before the ad can be released. What does it say about our country that candidates continually seek office through intentional, unmitigated dishonesty? There is good reason why the word “trust” is rarely used to describe an elected official. It is quite a sorry state in which “the greatest democracy in the history of the world” finds itself.

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October 9th, 2008 Candidate Clips

Written by: Dave on Oct 9, 2008 9:52 AM EDT

Hi everyone!  Here are the candidate clips for October 9th, 2008

• Titus turns albatross into eagle: Southern accent has its charms
• 10-1-08     Las Vegas Sun     Megan McCloskey
• Titus pokes fun at her own southern twang.
• 
  

• Nevada political roundup: Market meltdown and weekend highlights
• 10-6-08    Las Vegas Sun    Lisa Macaro
• Titus is known for her strong style.
  

Hurricanes over Cuba, a month later
10-6-08   People's Weekly World   
Bush administration intransigence riled high profile Cuban Americans who called for a six-month suspension of restrictions imposed in 2004 on visits and money transfers to families in Cuba. They included Joe Garcia, Raul Martinez and Annette Taddeo, vying for Florida congressional seats held respectively by Republicans Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Midday open thread
10-6-08     Daily Kos       Kos
FL-18: Hilarious! Republican incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has rushed out an ad cobbled together from 1980's-era footage. Why? Perhaps it has to do with her terrible new haircut?I wish I was kidding...  Throw her an anvil by dropping a few bucks to her Democratic opponent, O2B candidate Annette Taddeo.

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Dean Baker On the Right Way to Do It

Written by: DFA Staff on Oct 9, 2008 2:01 PM EDT

United Kingdom Does Bailout the Right Way
President Bush's "Great Depression" talk may have sent consumption plunging.  

(The following is by Dean Baker, an economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.)

The United Kingdom announced this morning that it would undertake an $87 billion bailout of its banks. This is approximately the same size as the bailout approved by Congress last week. (Britain's economy is just under one-fifth of the size of the U.S. economy, making this equivalent to $500 billion in the U.S. economy.)

There are important differences between the structure of the bailout in the UK and the United States. While the Paulson plan centers on paying too much for the bad assets of banks, the UK plan involves the direct infusion of capital through the purchase of preferred bank shares. The British Treasury announced the immediate suspension of bank dividends and cuts in executive compensation. It also announced that it would return banks to their core business of issuing loans and underwriting security and bond issues. It will be interesting to see how well the two plans perform in the coming year.

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On Political Robots, Again, Or, Let's Visit Uncanny Valley

Written by: fake consultant on Oct 9, 2008 12:05 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA Night School, Democracy for Illinois, Quad Cities Trained Activists, Young Democrats of IL, Blog For America

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

So the second debate is in the books, my friends, and it seems that McCain is not getting out the message as well as he might wish.

I have no doubt that some of the problem is related to McCain’s policies as he presents them...but to be completely honest, there may be an additional factor.

To put it as bluntly as possible: McCain looks a little...creepy.

And it’s not just me: The Girlfriend was mentioning how creepy he looked in the debate as we talked about it this morning. Ask around, and someone might describe him that way to you.

Why is that so, how is this observation going to affect McCain going forward; and most important of all...how does this connect to the Burger King and the design of video game characters?

To help answer the question, let me introduce you to Dr. Masahiro Mori.

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Thursday choices

Written by: Gerry L on Oct 9, 2008 8:12 AM EDT

Thursday~

***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ October 9th,  2008

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States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/politics/09voting.html?hp

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No More Stolen Elections!

John Nichols

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/370240

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