I may be a Rhode Islander now, but I was born and raised just outside New Haven, CT.  I was born in the same hospital as George W. Bush, which is pretty darn freaky.  I also had an apartment (for a short time) two blocks from Joe Lieberman's house, in the upscale neighborhood near Yale Golf Course along Forest Road.

The sparks that had been flying for a few days between Governor Don Carcieri and AFSCME Local 94 have died down for the moment.

A recap for those not here in RI: At the end of June, the union's contract with the state expired.  Negotiations had been ongoing for a new contract, but just over a week ago Council 94 (along with a few other smaller unions) overwhelmingly rejected the latest potential agreement because of a change in how much they would pay for health insurance - a change that Carcieri pushed to help close the state's budget deficit).

In response, Carcieri passed an executive order that would have forced the union to use the changes in place of no agreement.  Council 94 and the other unions filed suit in state superior court claiming there were no negotiations.  Last night the judge said a ruling would be issued in two weeks; the governor stated his executive order was on hold pending the ruling.

Link to story in Projo: http://www.projo.com/...

I got the call this morning while I was on the bus headed to work.  My grandmother died during the night.  It wasn't much of a surprise - she was 95 years old, restricted in her own body by the passage of so many years and the onset of Parkinson's disease and, more recently, congestive heart failure - but it still stings inside me like very few events during my life have before.  I'll always have the memory of the very last time I saw her though.. she had just been moved into the facility where my mother works (mom's a dietary manager), and when I came in the room her eyes and smile got as big as I'd ever seen them.  I hadn't seen her that alive in years, and I'm glad I got the chance to see it one more time.

I'll try to keep this one short.  I've got a lot on my mind.

Over the past five or more years since DailyKos was started, there's been many times when we've all done so much to make a real difference.  The efforts to prevent telecom immunity from passing is the most recent example of this.  And it was a big letdown.  

However, every single one of you did your best to stop this thing.  Our efforts did not go unnoticed either - the constant delays were a clear indication of this.  So what do we do now?  Everything we can.

H/T to the daily blog gang at Four Freedoms Blog for bringing this up and inspiring this diary..

For a moment, let's set aside the campaign gabbing John McCain made during his recent visit to Canada at the invitation of Tory PM Stephen Harper.  Let's set aside the false claims that he made about Obama wanting to abandon NAFTA and claiming the Democratic nominee advocates "...retreating behind protectionist walls..."  Let's set aside the words of McCain's adviser, former Cheney spokesman and known energy industry lobbyist Steve Schmidt, who has criticized Obama's choice to use the thousands of individual donations amounting to millions in TRUE public financing, instead of using what I like to call McCain's campaign welfare (another word for the capped matching tax dollars a candidate may receive to fund their campaigns)..

It's hard not to notice the explosion of "toldyaso" rhetoric and absolute jubilation at the revelations made by former WH Press Secretary Scott McClellan in his new memoir.  Many of us here are looking to this as yet another tool to use in undoing the damage done by the current president and his permanent camapaign syndicate.

However, I can't help but think it's another game of misdirection being played to both hide the truth and provide cover for Bush himself and his own culpability.

This morning I had the unfortunate pleasure to read this diary, in which the diarist told thousands of Democrats online as well as millions of Obama supporters across the country and abroad to "simply keep your mouth and blog shut."  He dared to label us "so-called 'liberal' bloggers" and "the rookie camp", claiming that only Clinton supporters are the veterans to the party and that "we have been on it long before many of you learned how to spell Democrat".

Pardon my language, but that's the biggest line of bullshit I've heard yet from anyone, online or offline, to be used to attack the supporters of a Democratic candidate for president.  EVER.

Late last night and continuing this morning, there's been quite a few diaries presenting "olive branches" to Hillary Clinton and her supporters.  It doesn't need to be said that support from her voters will be needed for the general election, and I'm sure most of those in her camp will rally with the Democratic Party for the general election.

Along with the millions of new Democrats registered in the primary season, and millions of independents and crossover Republican voters who realize that the politics of greed, selfishness and corruption fostered by Reagan, the Bushes and the Republicans in Congress needs to end, the time has come to forge a new broad American coalition government that can put our country back on track.

However, there are many of us here who feel betrayed and insulted by the words and actions of the Clinton campaign over the past few months. For us, trust has been broken.

This story originally broadcast on Marketplace. Quotes in this story include narrative editing.
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By now I'm sure most citizens of the United States who file a tax return have received the notice letter about the "economic stimulus" tax rebate.  You file your tax return, and you get anywhere from $300-1200 back from the IRS in July.

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Just heard this on the intro to Countdown..   The Dept. of Justice has launched an investigation into the compromising of Sen. Obama's passport data file by two contract employees at the State Department.  A third has been disciplined for accessing the information without necessity.

When more information comes in MSNBC will be breaking away from Keith for the news conference.

EDIT: In the interest of keeping this story in a bandwidth-friendly environment, please use this diary as a secondary thread.  Remember, as you jump over remember to un-rec this diary and rec the other one!  Thanks a bunch for the assist clambake!

This is going to be a short rant.  In the past 12 hours the less civil Hillary supporters around here have co-opted yet another term, replacing the word tantrum with the word strike.

In order to assist the various people who are considering to leave the site, but want to beg for attention by announcing it to the entire website feel like expressing their heart-felt feelings to all of us here, I've created a multiple-choice template for everyone to use.  This is based on my extremely popular line of Generic DailyKos Diary Tickets, which have received many requests over the past couple weeks.

Good evening! I bid you welcome, my pent-up progressives, my livid liberals, my determined democrats - all of us proud Kossacks under this big tent..

Step right up folks! Don't be shy, there's plenty of vetting to go around.  I promise you will all get your turn to see the greatest show of the election year - The Clinton Campaign!

It's that time of the year once again.. and this year it's special since it's the final time we get to raise our glasses and drink to the applause cues of the Decider in Chief.

Crossposted at Dreams in Vana'diel

Well here we are, six years later.

All politics aside, just for a moment, use this spot to tell us where you were when you first heard what was happening. Then let us know how you feel about these events six years later and how they have shaped your life.

I was inspired to write this today by an older gentleman who called into C-Span this morning. He was reflecting on the Pearl Harbor attacks and World War II, and how it shaped the minds and attitudes he had towards the Japanese and Germans for the rest of his life.

I don't think it quite hit me until this morning just how tired of this shit I am.

Tired of watching the Commander Guy stand up there and spew unadulterated bull to my face, and claiming that it's to protect our country's children while sending the parents to die.  Tired of people not being told the real reasons behind this disgusting war.  Tired of the people we as a nation entrusted to end this war bending us over just like Bush has been doing for seven years.

....And then, after destroying the trust we placed in them to lead us out of this nightmare, they have the unmitigated nerve to say something like this.

This is the first of several live blogging threads for tonight's debate.  I'm starting up now (6PM East Coast) because MSNBC already has its pre-game coverage going with Keith Olbermann & Chris Matthews headlining the discussion.

The debate starts at 7PM (4PM West Coast) and is scheduled to last 90 minutes.

If you wish to view the debate online here is the link to MSNBC's video.

You would think that after their control of Congress was broken, their leaders frog-marched or shamed out of office, and their continued lack of oversight from corporate consolidation to the poorly executed and managed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the House Republican membership would have learned their lesson.

You would think that they would change their ways.