So, do the Democrats have the votes after all?

We will see…

The Blue Dogs just want one Republican vote?

They just lost the base of the Democratic Party that put Obama in office, if they don’t get this done…

by Glynn Wilson

I am still scratching my head as I re-read the New York Times feature obituary on William Safire, wondering how in the world the nation’s newspaper of record could get things so wrong in the end.

The power vacuum created at the Times when Howell Raines resigned really has left the former U.S. newspaper of record with a talent void — in spite of the TV commercials to the contrary.

I mean look at this lede. Do you see anything wrong?

William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md., on Sunday. He was 79. The cause was pancreatic cancer…

NY Times Columnist William Safire Dies at 79

Do you know what a malaprop is? According to Wikipedia, which of course is banned in links from the NYTimes online, a malaprop is the substitution of an incorrect word for a word with a similar sound, in which the resulting phrase makes no sense but often creates a comic effect.

What Safire wrote was a dictionary for terms used in politics not otherwise found in a regular dictionary, terms such as “trial balloon” and the like. I’ve had a copy since the early 1980s, when I first studied political science and journalism at the University of Alabama and became a fan of Safire’s columns in the paper and the Sunday magazine.

Maybe in the end the Times‘ new management got mad at Safire for something, or maybe they just hired the wrong guy to write his obit. It doesn’t do him justice.

Read the rest of this entry »

As Congress begins to consider renewing sections of the USA PATRIOT Act set to expire at the end of the year, we have a unique opportunity to press for new civil liberties protections to shield ordinary Americans against government spying, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Last week, 10 US Senators introduced the perfect vehicle for reform of the surveillance powers in the PATRIOT Act, as well as the much broader and more dangerous FISA Amendments Act (FAA), the warrantless surveillance law that was passed by Congress last summer.

The new bill, called the JUSTICE Act, would add essential new checks and balances to a broad range of surveillance powers. In particular, it would reform the notorious National Security Letter power that allows the FBI, without court supervision, to secretly demand that companies hand over your private phone and Internet records.

Even more important, the JUSTICE Act would add strong new privacy protections to the FAA, which vastly expanded the government’s authority to sweep up Americans’ phone calls and emails without probable cause or meaningful court review.

The JUSTICE Act would also repeal the immunity for telecommunications companies that illegally assisted in the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program. This would restore the rule of law and allow EFF’s suit against ATnT to continue so that the courts can do their job and rule on the legality of the surveillance.

“This is our first real shot at meaningful surveillance reform in a long time, but things are moving very quickly,” according to the release. “The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to consider PATRIOT renewal this week. It’s crucial that the bill that the committee sends to the Senate floor contains as many of the JUSTICE Act’s reforms as possible. It’s time to fix PATRIOT once and for all, and now is our chance.”

The non-profit organization urges people to contact their senators today and ask them to co-sponsor and support the JUSTICE Act.

A family’s visit to a rural Kentucky cemetery led to the shocking discovery of a part-time census worker’s naked body hanging from a tree with the word “fed” written on his chest.

Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told the Associated Press the man had been gagged and his hands and feet were bound with duct tape.

Weaver said Friday he was certain from the gruesome scene that 51-year-old Bill Sparkman was killed deliberately.

“He was murdered,” Weaver said. “There’s no doubt.”

Murderous right-wing hate is alive and well in the American South. Be afraid. Be very afraid…

TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

Anytime the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Arkansas Razorbacks get together, it’s going to be interesting. Bama fans know of what I speak.

Even when the Tide wins, it is never, never easy. Arkansas at Alabama (Line: Alabama by 17) headlines a quartet of league games on the Week 4 SEC football season. There are also four non-conference games on this week’s slate, none of them overly interesting.

Alabama enters the weekend ranked No. 3 in the land after USC’s upset loss. And right now, the league can boast of “owning” the top 5 with No. 1 Florida, and No. 4 Ole Miss up there, too. LSU is ranked No. 7 and Georgia moved back up a few spaces to No. 17 with its win over Arkansas last week.

Something will have to give when Bama and the Hogs collide in Tuscaloosa Saturday – the Tide is ranked third in defense in the county, while the Razorbacks currently have the nation’s third best offense, having rolled up over 500 yards in each of its first two games.

Of course, what will bend early and break wide open later is the Arkansas defense. Against Georgia, the Hogs generated over 500 yards and still lost. You can bet Alabama’s defense will not let them get anywhere close to that amount of yardage. Look for Alabama to use its, although young, offense line to let its stable of running backs ramble. Quarterback Greg McEroy will hang up some more impressive numbers.

By the way, wideout Julio Jones will be back as well. He probably could have played last week – buy why take chances against someone like North Texas?

Read the rest of this entry »

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow discusses the upcoming documentary with film maker Ken Burns…

The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature’s most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska – The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.

It premieres Sunday, September 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on a public television station near you. Be there or be square…

Guest Column
by Martin Horzempa
Huntsville Alabama

The public is up in arms and rightly so about the current state of our health-care system. After having seem the value of their life’s saving cratered by a greedy few in the banking system, they fail to connect the dots when it comes to health-care.

Most when starting out as adults are aware of the need for health insurance and dutifully procure coverage for themselves and their families and continue to maintain coverage their entire careers, while stopping occasionally to think about the years and dollars they have invested into the system even though they have been healthy and have really not used their insurance. This won’t come as surprise to many: It’s a fact of life.

Read the rest of this entry »

Democrats hope Republicans are dumb enough to elect Sarah Palin as their nominee for president in 2012…

Why? Because she couldn’t carry a single state — except maybe Alabama. Nah! They don’t vote for women in Alabama.

Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, often criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, emerged in Hong Kong on Wednesday to share her views from “Main Street U.S.A.”

Of course, she banned the press from attending and covering the speech, which shows how much of a true American she is with such a high regard for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

President Obama says “bring her on…”