In 2000, Republicans stole the Florida election by disenfranchising as many Democratic voters as they could through various methods, most famously the phony felon purge of as many as 100,000 Democratic voters.

When Bush's appointees took over the Justice Department, they took their voter disenfranchisement strategies "national," most famously by pushing photo ID requirements through Republican-controlled state legislatures.

In April, a 6-3 majority of the Supreme Court ruled in favor of photo ID requirements, even though there was no evidence of voters registering under false identities. The Court ruled that any possible voter disenfranchisement was theoretical, and therefore not necessary for them to consider.

Only a few days later in the Indiana primary, the "theoretical" voter disenfranchisement proved all too real, as a dozen nuns over 80 years of age who had no drivers' licenses were prevented from voting.

By David Swanson

Rep. Robert Wexler (Dem., Florida) has written a book, soon to be released, that is as different from most congress members' books as Wexler is from most congress members. He's titled it "Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress." Wexler is depicted on the cover with the Capitol in the background and his fists in the air.

Wexler is a fighter and a liberal, and - yes - one CAN be both. But Wexler, I think, is more of a fighter than a liberal. He's unusually willing to speak up and fight for controversial positions. He does so loudly and articulately, and he goes for the jugular. But I don't find in his book any passionate or deep liberal world view. In fact, at times, Wexler expresses viewpoints that I find disturbingly illiberal.

By Dave Lindorff

I want to be clear here from the start: there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. Stupidity is a lack of intelligence. But even here, there are subsets. Some ignorance results from a lack of access to knowledge, while some is the result of a laziness or unwillingness to learn. Some stupidity is the result of some genetic or nutritional deficiency or perhaps of some abuse or lack of care or attention during early childhood, while some is the result of mental laziness or a willful desire not to think.

John McCain didn't win the Republican nomination by uniting Republicans, but rather simply by being the Last Sane Republican Standing after Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney humiliated themselves.

So it comes as little surprise that after three months of trying to "unite" the GOP, the ideological divisions are only growing worse.

On May 6, nearly 1/4 of Republicans in Indiana and North Carolina voted for Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, or "other."

Ron Paul remains in the GOP primary race, and may support the Libertarian candidate if he gets snubbed at the Republican convention. (Paul gained national fame as the Libertarian candidate for President in 1988, and spoke at the Libertarian convention in 2004.)

Moveon just announced the winner of its "Obama in 30 Seconds" contest, and the winner was "Obamacan" by David Gaw & Lance Mungia of Monrovia, CA. Congratulations!

Jon Perr writes,

The vilest Republican smears against Barack Obama are that he is either a Muslim terrorist by faith (of course he's a Christian) or, more subtly, a Muslim terrorist sympathizer who would let terrorists attack or even destroy Israel.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked McCain supporter Joe Lieberman, "Do you have any doubt about Senator Obama's commitment to maintain a very supportive role for the United States as far as Israel is concerned?" Lieberman replied, "I have no doubt about that." So let's end that vile smear once and for all: if anyone emails you questions about Obama's support for Israel, send them this link by using the "Send" link below.

By David Swanson

I'm not going to join in promoting the idea that drunk driving and adultery are political positions worthy of voters' endless scrutiny and titillation, but as long as a congress member as disastrous in his policy positions as Vito Fossella is on the ropes for some dumb reasons, it's worth noting that we have the opportunity to replace him with someone who actually shares our beliefs and might even act on them.

Steve Harrison is a Democrat challenging Republican Fossella in New York's 13th district. Harrison supports single-payer healthcare, opposes further funding for the occupation of Iraq and would bring the troops safely home, would end NAFTA/WTO, supports marriage equality, would abolish the death penalty, and would impeach Cheney and Bush. He has the national endorsement of Progressive Democrats of America.

In fact, Harrison is so good that the Democratic Party leaders in Washington are fishing around for someone less progressive they can run against him. Let's nip that idea in the bud:
http://www.steveharrisonforcongress.com

OPEN FOR MORE!

By David Swanson

The Republican Party as a national mainstream organization began with Abraham Lincoln and ended with Lincoln Chafee. Before and after those Lincolns, the party was not something that most Americans could relate to, was not something that many people could imagine offered any sort of benefit to all people as opposed to particular types of people.

Former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee served in Washington, D.C., from 1999 to 2006. He was the only Republican Senator who voted against authorizing Bush to attack Iraq. A lot of Democrats did not do as well that day, or on several other days, as Chafee did. But his party moved away from him, and from the nation, and from the state of Rhode Island, and voters showed Chafee the door in the 2006 elections that saw membership in the party of Cheney and Bush become the greatest liability for incumbents and challengers alike.

By Dave Lindorff

The results in Tuesday’s twin primaries—Barack Obama by 14 percent in North Carolina and Hillary Clinton by 2 percent in Indiana—confirmed that Clinton is finished as a contender. Barack Obama will be the Democratic candidate for president this fall.

Clinton, the private-schooled, Wellesley and Yale-educated millionaire lawyer from Chicago, who first tried to present herself as a White House veteran, and then, in recent weeks, as a NASCAR mom on Food Stamps, and who in Pennsylvania resorted to cheap race-baiting and red-baiting in an effort to derail her opponent, has failed. Barack Obama, another private-schooled Harvard and Yale-educated lawyer, but one who actually did have to work his way up the economic ladder, won decisively in North Carolina, even drawing a significant number of working-class white voters in a state where white voters have not traditionally voted for candidates with dark skin.

This week, Tim Russert told Don Imus the Corporate Media wasn't covering John McCain's outrageous rightwing pastors like John Hagee and Rod Pastor because he didn't have video.

There’s been a lot of chatter on that, you know, about Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson’s comments after September 11th. If there was video of Hagee, it makes all the difference in the world.

Well Tim, here is some devastating video of Rev. Rod Parsley, courtesy of Brave New Films and Mother Jones. So Tim, what's your excuse now?

This week Newt Gingrich challenged House Republicans to do something dramatic to avoid oblivion. So what did the Republicans decide to do? Form a committee!

Boehner's GOP fix: A new committee
By: Patrick O'Connor

Faced with dire predictions of an electoral bloodbath in November, House Republican leader John A. Boehner responded Wednesday by creating a committee to advise the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), who will serve on the committee, said its existence will show that Boehner and NRCC Chairman Tom Cole “understand” that they need to work closely together.

Critics likened the plan to placing a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.