Among the 8,500 people who came to hear Oprah Winfrey and rally for Senator Barack Obama at 6:30 p.m. on December 10, 2007 in Manchester, New Hampshire, who showed up earliest?

At 12:30 p.m., three intrepid seniors from Newburyport High School in Massachusetts arrived to set up camp outside the doors of the Verizon Wireless Arena. Amber Hewett, Kate Getz, and Adrienne Caesar claimed the first spots in the waiting line. It was their first Obama rally, and they look forward to voting for Obama in their first presidential election. What issues are most important to them?

"Global warming is a big issue," said Amber. "I want to major in environmental policy."

"I care about how the world views us in terms of foreign policy," said Kate.

How do they assess Obama's character? "He's an eloquent speaker, and optimistic," said Adrienne. "He speaks to hope."

Across the ideological spectrum, only one presidential candidate has identified in black-and-white terms the "actual and potential terrorists" who are destroying America. That candidate is Ron Paul (R).

Among those who aspire to the White House, only Paul has informed his closest supporters that "our country is being destroyed by a group of actual and potential terrorists -- and they can be identified by the color of their skin." [FN 1]

Paul published a newsletter that issued those words under his byline. He has also taken "moral responsibility" for those words. Yet nine years later, Paul blamed an unnamed staffer for writing them, and claimed that it would have been "too confusing" for him to denounce those words when they were first mailed to his supporters in the column under his byline in the Ron Paul Political Report in 1992.

Either Paul was lying when he admitted to writing those words, or he was telling a belated and convenient lie when he claimed that they were ghost written by an unnamed staffer. Either way, Paul is a liar. Further, he has repeatedly refused media requests to release all of his newsletters. (Paul published the Ron Paul Political Report from 1985 to 1992, then changed the newsletter's name to the Ron Paul Survival Report in 1993.)

The final score: The Boston Red Sox swept the World Series with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver.

Since the comments in the first thread have surpassed 400, this is a new thread to continue the trash talk informed analysis of every pitch, hit, and play of Game 4 with your fellow Kossacks. Thanks to Eddie in ME for starting up the live blog for Game 4, and thanks to DemFromCT for front-paging it. Thanks also to dsmilev for continuing this thread in the bottom of the ninth inning, here.

Much as it pains me (I'm no Rudy Giuliani turncoat pandering weasel ferret; I'm a Yankees fan who knows how to lose graciously), give the Red Sox their due and watch the game. -DemFromCT

For anyone who's watching Game 3, here's a live blog.

Before Game 3, the Rockies were down 2-0 in their first World Series. But the Red Sox are playing at high altitude at Coors Field in Colorado. The Red Sox are going with David Ortiz ("Big Papi") at first base. [Update: After Ortiz struck out twice, Youkilis replaced him at first base.] If the Sox win, they will be just one win away from becoming champions again.

Discuss every pitch, hit and play of Game 3 with your fellow Kossacks.

Only rules: every time Fox announcers mention Big Papi playing first base, take a drink. Every time they mention Big Papi's knee, same thing. Every time they mention the DH rule, you know what to do.

Oh, and go Sox!

FINAL SCORE: Sox win 10-5. After the Sox had led 6-0, the Rockies battled for a comeback. But the Sox out-pitched and out-hit the Rockies, who now have their backs to the wall, since they're 3-0 in the series. Game 4 begins tomorrow at Coors Field.

This photo blog contains many cute -- some would say adorable -- photos of kids on the campaign trail: you have been warned.

Senator Barack Obama's wife Michelle and their daughters Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6, were warmly received as they greeted voters at a children's fair today in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Mack's Apples -- a pick-your-own apple orchard and pumpkin patch -- hosted the family event, along with Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH), who has endorsed Obama.

While children had their faces painted, ate slices of freshly picked Golden Delicious and Rome apples, and joined in a sing-along, parents politicked on issues of health care, education, jobs, and peace. The highlight of the event was a keynote address by Michelle, who touched on all these issues, but also offered voters some insight into her family life. She talked about her father, a blue collar worker who saved to send her to Princeton and Harvard Law. And she talked about her husband's love of family.

This diary is not aiming to prove a case; it's just anecdotal evidence of Senator Barack Obama's appeal to a wide range of voters across cultural and ideological boundaries. This Tuesday, I traveled to Londonderry, New Hampshire, to hear Obama speak at a town hall forum hosted by Mack's Apples in its pick-your-own orchard. I wrote about the event in a photo blog diary, "Obama's Speaking Style in New Hampshire."

Here are some photos of individual voters who came to hear the senator speak, along with a bit of background about why they support Obama's run for the White House.

This is not a horse race diary about which presidential candidate will likely win, or who should win the Democratic primary in New Hampshire. This is a photo blog that illustrates the speaking style of one lanky senator from Illinois, and how he connects with voters face-to-face.

At 11:00 a.m. on October 9, 2007, Senator Barack Obama visited Londonderry, New Hampshire. He was invited to speak at a town hall-style forum organized by Mack's Apples, which hosted the event in its pick-your-own orchard. Visitors received complimentary pumpkins and all the fresh apples they could eat: Macouns, Macintosh, and Empire, fresh off the tree.

Writing as the Legal Affairs correspondent for the September 19, 2007, issue of Human Events, propagandist Ann Coulter smears trial attorneys, especially former Senator John Edwards, and also initiates a blatant falsehood.

Coulter sweepingly asserts that trial attorneys are heartless and greedy "charlatans" who prey on doctors and that Democratic presidential candidate and noted trial attorney John Edwards in particular is a "parasite" because he has championed patients' rights and has sued to hold doctors accountable for malpractice. Coulter contrasts her claims with the fact that doctors show they care about improving society by working for organizations such as Doctors Without Borders.

Coulter  asks, "Has anyone else noticed the nonexistence of a charitable organization known as 'Lawyers Without Borders'?"

So Coulter asserts. However, in fact, there IS a U.S.-based charitable organization called exactly that. Yet Coulter did not bother to check her facts.

Eleven members of an Australian TV comedy show were arrested within a stone's throw of President George W. Bush's hotel after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade through two security checkpoints in Sydney during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. They were arrested on September 6, 2007, inside the top-security "Red Zone" after one comedian emerged from the back of a limo, dressed as Osama Bin Laden.

The comedians breezed past some 3,500 police officers, reinforced by 1,500 soldiers –- fortified with tanks, water cannons, and explosives-detecting dogs –- who were guarding APEC leaders. They were arrested in a block adjacent to the InterContinental Hotel of where President Bush is staying.

Cross-posted with illustrations on Talk to Action

Providing entertainment for the U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq is one thing; the Pentagon’s promotion of a Trojan horse tour that preaches eliminationist theology and crusades for Christ in Islamic nations is another. It is a small wonder that the Department of Defense lends its imprimatur to a conservative Christian organization that invites current as well as former military commanders to help proselytize on military bases. And given the Pentagon's policy of discrimination against gays in the military, it is ironic that the Christian missionary group that they promote sells T-shirts that display what can only be described as homoerotic art. In short, the Pentagon seems to have adopted a new missionary position for the Operation Straight Up Tour and its "Tough-Men Meetings." Basically, the OSU Tour is promoting a holy war against the alleged enemies of Christ -- not unlike, say, a jihad. But there's a difference: jihad does not come with a homoerotic T-shirt.

While TIME Magazine's editors named their own list of the Top 100 most influential people, and dissed Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the process, the magazine also conducted a straw poll to find out whom its readers would name of the Top 100 most influential individuals -- and readers ranked Markos Moulitsas as #45 in Your TIME 100.

TIME's summary of Kos noted that on the "Pro" side, the founder of the Daily Kos:

Runs a politically liberal blog, dailykos.com, which receives between 14 and 24 million visits per month, organizes netroots campaigns and an annual convention called YearlyKos.

Yet on the "Con" side, TIME sniped:

With the exception of the 2006 elections, Moulitsas is often criticized for endorsing candidates that rarely win elections, raising questions about his site's effectiveness.

Associated Press Newswire and ABC News report that the former Chief of Staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is prepared to testify before Congress on Thursday that eight US Attorneys were fired for not toeing the Bush Administration's political line.

Eight federal prosecutors were fired last year because they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff says in remarks prepared for delivery Thursday to Congress.

"The distinction between 'political' and 'performance-related' reasons for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely artificial," said Kyle Sampson.

The aide, who quit because of the furor over the firings, is to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A copy of his prepared remarks was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

"A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a political perspective … is unsuccessful," Sampson said.

First posted on Talk to Action

When Left Behind Games launched its convert-or-die videogame Left Behind: Eternal Forces on November 7, 2006, its stock traded at a peak price of $7.44 per share. Breathless boosters at RedChip issued a "strong buy" recommendation and predicted that within 18 months, the stock would soar to as much as $18.70 per share. Really?

In fact, Left Behind Games' stock chart looks like a ski slope. Not a gentle bunny hill, but a World Cup grand slalom course, groomed for a world-beating downhill run. Today, you could buy a share of Left Behind Games for a quarter -- with change left over. On March 21, 2007, the stock closed at 18 cents a share.

President George W. Bush invoked the word sacrifice three times in his January 10, 2007, address to the nation on his strategy for success in Iraq. At the conclusion of his remarks, Mr. Bush defined his view of the sacrifices to be endured by American troops, their families, and all of us:

They serve far from their families, who make the quiet sacrifices of lonely holidays and empty chairs at the dinner table. 
They have watched their comrades give their lives to ensure our liberty.

We mourn the loss of every fallen American - and we owe it to them to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.

Fellow citizens:  The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice, 
and resolve.

What does the word “sacrifice” mean? It comes from Latin words that mean “to make sacred.” Specifically and above all, sacrifice is the act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person; or a victim offered in this way.

I predict that in 2007, televangelist Pat Robertson will be exposed as a fraud, yet his false prophecies about terrorist strikes and mass killings of his fellow Americans will continue to receive media attention. And lo, behold the fulfillment of the prophecy even now, as CNN and the Associated Press cover Robertson’s predictions for 2007. What’s amazing is not the fact that Robertson continues to give false prophecies, but that media continues to pay his pitiful prognostications any heed. More often than not, his predictions are so vague as to be void of meaning, and when he offers specifics, they backfire.

Robertson gave some bloodthirsty predictions about mass killings in America again this year. For example, he said… oh, who gives a crap, other than CNN and the Associated Press? Let’s look instead at some outstanding examples of false prophecies proclaimed by the man who claims to have received a word from God in previous years. No, God didn't tell me Pat Robertson was a fraud; that word came directly from Robertson.

Originally posted on Talk to Action

It is unprecedented for conservative and progressive Christians alike to close ranks in condemning a Bible publisher. It is unheard of for Christians to call for a boycott of a Bible publisher for licensing a real-time strategy videogame that caricaturizes Christianity as a crusade, puts modern military weapons in the hands of children, sends them on a mission to convert or kill infidels, and even lets children role play commanding the armies of the AntiChrist, unleashing demons that feast on Christians.

"Does it sound like fun, or does it sound like the way homicidal Muslims think?" asks Marvin Olasky, editor of the conservative Christian World Magazine in a blog post dated August 21, 2006, and titled Convert Them Or Kill Them? That's Not Christianity. His piece links to a recent Washington Post article, "Fire and Brimstone, Guns and Ammo." But the Post and World Magazine have barely touched the hem of the garment, in terms of understanding and exposing the game for what is truly is. Yet word is getting out, and a boycott is picking up steam.

Originally posted on Talk to Action

Idolatry is alive and well in Texas, thanks to conservative leaders who set up a stone monument and prayed over it outside the Harris County courthouse. The monument is carved in stone, its squat form resembling a trash can, and it features a Bible lit up with a red neon sign.

On August 15, 2006, a federal appeals court ruled that an open-faced Bible must be removed from the monument because a district judge changed the 50-year old monument from a secular monument into a religious one when he restored it (and uglified it by the addition of a neon light) around 10 years ago.

In a 2-1 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the majority held, "Its recent history would force an objective observer to conclude that it is a religious symbol of a particular faith located on public grounds."

Please show your support for a fellow Kossak who is running as a first-time candidate in Maryland, and who has just been targeted by a bigot protestor because of his private religious beliefs. The bigot is betting that by making this candidate's Muslim faith an issue in this campaign, voters will be turned off and interfaith animosity will be incited. I'm betting that when you read this story, you'll show your support for a good Democratic candidate and take a stand for freedom of religion and religious pluralism.