Arthur Silber finds Santorum coming apart at the seams.

Likening the times to the late 1930s as Nazi Germany was rising to power, Sen. Rick Santorum said last night that if he loses his re-election bid, it could set the stage for terrorism to become more of a threat than the Nazis ever were....read on

So tell us how you really feel, General Clark. There's no wiggle room in this ad as Clark comes out fighting and calling Holy Joe on his insane stance on the Iraq war. You gotta love Wesley's commitment to the voters of CT that got up---registered---and voted to make their voices heard in the Democratic primary. Meanwhile---Joe needs the lifeline being supplied to him by more Republicans to keep his chances alive.

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Clark: Re-elect Joe Lieberman? Well, there's a word for it: Mistake

I spend a lot of time looking for stories for posts here at C&L that I think are important, relevant to the current political environment and generally ignored by mainstream media.

But the truth of the matter is that it becomes very discouraging at times to read articles and reports that seem to constantly focus on the divide our country. So a little reminder from the first broadcast of Katie Couric's Evening News freeSpeech segment, that while the focus may be on the extremes, most of us find ourselves pretty comfortably in the middle...And Hannity, O'Reilly, Scarborough and others? That would make us the mainstream.

AlterNet: The Hell with Red/Blue; People Want Out of Iraq and Solutions

Like habeas corpus last week, Keith eulogized the death of "stay the course" last night by taking a look back at all the good times we've had together. From Reagan, Bush 41 and Dana Carvey to Bill Frist, Joe Lieberman and Bush 43, Keith takes us on a stroll down memory lane to pay tribute to the passing of one of our (least) favorite mainstay rhetorical strategies.

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You knew Holy Joe had to be in there somewhere amongst the sea of Republicans...

Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, famously involved as Terri Schiavo's parents' spokesman, ran for Florida State Senate (Republican--naturally). His website features the above picture, showing Terry and his wholesome, loving family.

Only problem is, there's a few members missing.

From AP :

Among the conservative Christian's pledges are preserving traditional marriage and opposing gay adoptions. He has touted efforts to stop abortions. His campaign mailers sum up the value he puts on family: they show a picture with his wife, a daughter and three grinning young sons taken before a fourth was born this summer.

But Terry's adopted son Jamiel says the picture is missing two people: he and his sister Tila, also adopted. Both have been estranged from Terry since Jamiel came out as a gay man and Tila had a child out of wedlock. read on...

Now, it's unfortunate that Terry is estranged from his gay son, but he's hardly the first Republican to be so. But the one that gets me is the disowning of his pregnant daughter. Obviously, being the daughter of Randall Terry, she didn't feel she had a choice to have an abortion, so he shows her the door?

You got to love those family values...

I'm sure you all feel MUCH better now that they've isolated the problem...

WaPo

The maker of Maryland's electronic voting system replaced a flawed electronic component in several thousand touch-screen voting machines in 2005, state election officials acknowledged this week.

To eliminate unpredictable "screen freezes" that have occurred since the machines were first used in Maryland in 2002, Diebold Election Systems installed new system boards in about 4,700 voting machines from four Maryland counties: Allegany, Dorchester, Montgomery and Prince George's.

The screen freezes do not cause votes to be lost, officials said, but they confuse voters and election judges who sometimes wonder whether votes cast on a frozen machine will be counted.

The acknowledgment of the repairs came in response to queries from The Washington Post and sheds further light on Maryland's troubled transition to electronic voting. Critics said it raises concerns about whether the state and company officials have kept the public adequately informed about problems with a system that cost taxpayers $106 million. Read on...

I know, duh...

• No Quarter looks at some of the more egregious examples of overt racism in campaign ads and the impact in key states. But on a more positive note, the racial make-up of key committees, should the Democrats regain the majority is something to look forward to.

• PFAW questions the validity of the "new face of the black conservative." Remember that RNC ad calling black women "ho"s? Ken Mehlman still thinks pulling the race card is the way to pull black conservatives in.

• And finally, Jesse Jackson and a union group demand that Walmart fire Terry Nelson, the GOP consultant responsible for the Harold Ford ad. Nelson was hired by Walmart (with a Democratic consultant) to encourage voter registration and get information out to its employees. Luckily, it looks like that ad is backfiring on Corker .

Not that this would bother Georgie in the least:

AP via International Herald Tribune:

Martin Scheinin, the United Nations' expert on protecting human rights in the fight against terrorism, said the Military Commissions Act signed into law earlier this month by U.S. President George W. Bush contains provisions "incompatible" with U.S. obligations to adhere to treaties on human rights and humanitarian law.

"One of the most serious aspects of this legislation is the power of the president to declare anyone, including U.S. citizens, without charge as an 'unlawful enemy combatant' - a term unknown in international humanitarian law," said Scheinin, a legal expert from Finland.

As a result, he said, those detainees are subject to the jurisdiction of a military commission composed of military officers - rather than a civilian court of law.

He also deplored the denial of the habeas corpus rights of foreigners - including legal, permanent U.S. residents - to challenge the legality of their detention, "in manifest contradiction with" the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a treaty the U.S. ratified in 1992. Read on...

That bright, shining beacon of democracy and freedom, that's what we are.

Jim Hightower: When it comes to open goverment and the free exchange of information, the Bush Crime Family and the Chinese agree

The Arabist: Special Inspector General for Iraq Construction criticizes contractors for padding bills and the trough-feeding manner in which the Iraqi "reconstruyction effort has been funded

HOLY CRAP: Religious warfare video for kids: in stores for Christmas...A Country Ruled by Faith...Evolution of the Southern Baptist Position on Abortion...How Jesus Endorsed Bush's Invasion of Iraq

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Grim City...Cutting to the Chase...Your Morning Leibowitz

The Christian activist who wrote about the "myth" of the Separation between Church and State is doing his bit for the RNC again.

People for the American Way:

David Barton is doing his part to encourage right-wing voters to get out and vote in November by telling them they'll have to answer to the Lord if they stay home

The results of this year's contest will determine whether America will keep moving forward in winning the culture war, or whether we will start retreating. Be active this election! Much is at stake!

What will Christians say to themselves (and to the Lord) if: (1) they don't vote this election, (2) we lose pro-family champions in the House and Senate, (3) after the election, a Supreme Court Justice announces his retirement (two-thirds of the Court is now older than 65), and (4) we no longer have the necessary votes to confirm a fifth strict-constructionist Justice to the Supreme Court and thus begin bringing the culture war to its well-deserved demise? I certainly wouldn't want to try to explain that one to my friends or family (or especially to the Lord!). Just a thought for those who might need additional motivation!

One has to wonder if this is part of the message the GOP is paying Barton to spread around the country.