Ta-Nehisi Coates writes:

[H]ad a writer for The New Republic, in the midst of asserting that blacks should not enjoy constitutional protection, argued that "Black life is cheap, particularly to blacks," and then doubled down on the assertion, I don't think we'd be having this debate--emphasis on "think."

How about a former TNR writer and current Atlantic writer? Stephen Metcalfe on Bell Curve Sully:

I now point readers to an Aug. 26 post by Andrew Sullivan on his blog, which is worth quoting at length -- "One of my proudest moments in journalism was publishing an expanded extract of a chapter from "The Bell Curve" in the New Republic before anyone else dared touch it. [. . . T]he book held up, and still holds up as one of the most insightful and careful of the last decade. The fact of human inequality and the subtle and complex differences between various manifestations of being human - gay, straight, male, female, black, Asian - is a subject worth exploring, period. [. . .] I'm proud of those with the courage to speak truth to power, as Murray and Herrnstein so painstakingly did.

In a townhall today:

“I can’t give tax cuts to the top 2 percent of Americans” and “lower the deficit at the same time,” the president said during an hour-long town-hall discussion on jobs and the economy on CNBC television from the Newseum in Washington. To give “tax relief primarily to millionaires and billionaires” would be “ an irresponsible thing for us to do,” Obama said. “Those folks are least likely to spend it.”

[. . .]Obama is challenging congressional Republicans to make only middle-class tax cuts permanent. He wants lawmakers to find agreement on initiatives to spur economic growth and hiring and on extension of Bush-era tax cuts for individuals who make less than $200,000 a year and couples earning less than $250,000.

On this issue, the President has been solid. Obviously, there is room for complaint though.

Speaking for me only

Via Digby and Howie Klein, Heh:

Harley Farger, a leading Delaware masturbator and planner of the Million Masturbators March, said it was difficult to organize masturbators “because they’re used to acting alone.” Mr. Farger, the executive director of the pro-monkey-spanking group MasturNation, said that the “wank and file” of his organization believe that masturbation is an inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution.

“Our country was founded by rugged individualists,” he said. “And you know what individualists like to do.” He said that Ms. O’Donnell’s anti-whacking position was “ill-timed,” adding, “In this economy, masturbation is one of the few simple pleasures people still can afford.”

[. . .] A spokesman for the Wilmington Police Department, Crandall Darlington, said that the Million Masturbators March could cost the city tens of thousands of dollars, “especially when you include the cost of cleaning up afterwards.

Open Thread.

In the other race I am following very closely, a PPP poll (PDF) has Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) up by 8. That's good news. This ad (Fiorina "Proud" Of Outsourcing Jobs While At HP) is no doubt helping:

You can donate here.

Speaking for me only

Need a sense of urgency? Russ Feingold is well down in his re-election race:

New PPP results for dkos, will post tomorrow -- Feingold down by double digits, MASSIVE intensity gap. W/o gap, it'd be tied race.

This should be the fight of the election for progressives (along with the Boxer race). I'm donating again. Feingold sends this video:

Fight for Russ. He fights for progressives.

Speaking for me only

Paul Krugman:

[W]hen the tax fight is over, one way or another, you can be sure that the people currently defending the incomes of the elite will go back to demanding cuts in Social Security and aid to the unemployed. America must make hard choices, they’ll say; we all have to be willing to make sacrifices. But when they say “we,” they mean “you.” Sacrifice is for the little people.

I was reviewing the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's website and their fancy brochure from their "Fiscal Responsibility" summit to see if there was anything there on the rich sacrificing by NOT getting a tax cut. A big nothing. But that silence won't last. Wait till after the election when they demand cuts in Social Security benefits.

Speaking for me only

Do we need to get one ready for weenie liberals? Apparently the Post Partisan Unity Schtick will be nothing but a bad memory -- Obama aides mull calling GOP extremist:

President Obama’s political advisers, looking for ways to help Democrats and alter the course of the midterm elections in the final weeks, are considering a range of ideas, including national advertisements, to cast the Republican Party as all but taken over by Tea Party extremists, people involved in the discussion said. [. . .] “We need to get out the message that it’s now really dangerous to re-empower the Republican Party,” said one Democratic strategist who has spoken with White House advisers but requested anonymity to discuss private strategy talks.

(Emphasis supplied.) Weenie liberals are worried:

The party’s House and Senate campaign committees are resistant, not wanting to do anything that smacks of nationalizing the midterm elections when high unemployment and the drop in Mr. Obama’s popularity have made the climate so hostile to Democrats.

That's why Dems will get creamed in November.

Speaking for me only

HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" premieres tonight. I sure hope it lives up to its billing. My earlier description of the show is here. The episode description for tonight:

January 1920. On the eve of Prohibition, Atlantic City’s Treasurer, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), condemns alcohol at a Women’s Temperance League meeting, where he is noticed by Margaret Schroeder (Kelly Macdonald), a pretty, pregnant housewife who comes to him for help in getting her abusive husband Hans (Joe Sikora) a job. Later that evening, the duplicitous Nucky privately tells his ward bosses about the opportunity to make huge profits selling bootleg liquor.

[More...]

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Congress to pass immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented today. He said undocumented workers have made repairs on his house and they are an essential part of our labor force.

"They're all over my house, doing things whenever I call for repairs, and I'm sure you've seen them at your house. We've got to find a way to bring these people out of the darkness and give them some kind of status."

Here's the text of the Dream Act, S. 729, as introduced in 2009. Thomas page is here. PDF version here. [More...]

The leader of the California religious sect whose members went missing this weekend has been found and hospitalized on a 72 hour involuntary mental hold. Authorities say when found, she was confused.

The 13 sect members have been found and are safe. Authorities say they were preparing for or awaiting "the rapture or some catastrophic event." The found members say "they had no intention of harming themselves."

Sounds like the authorities over-reacted. Then again, I happened to watch "2012" yesterday on cable, and no one believed Woody Harrelson either ... except John Cusack, and maybe the Mayans.

DNA "touch tests" have produced new evidence in the case of Tim Masters, wrongfully imprisoned for ten years for the murder of Peggy Hettrick. Masters received a $10 million settlement from the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County, Colorado.

Two prosecutors in the case, Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair, are now district court judges. They were censured by the Colorado Supreme Court for misconduct in failing to comply with proper defense discovery requests and engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The Blair decision is here and the Gilmore decision is here. They are up for a retention vote in November. [More...]

Via Digby, that's how Alan Grayson refers to his opponent, Daniel Webster, in the reelection contest in his central Florida district. Are you fainting yet? Anyway, here is an interesting observation:

Grayson mobilizes and energizes his diverse base: African Americans, Latinos, Jews, gay men and lesbians, union members, pro-choice activists and younger “‘Daily Show’ Democrats,” who, like him, do not hesitate to criticize their party’s leadership for insufficient fervor and a promiscuous eagerness to compromise. Their enthusiasm and their commitment, Grayson says, can make up for their smaller numbers in the otherwise moderately conservative district. If he manages to win despite the expected GOP wave — regardless of his margin — the lesson for Democrats will be clear.

“If Grayson wins,” said Aubrey Jewett, associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida, “and especially if many other congressional Democrats lose, the lesson for the Democratic Party will be clear: A winning strategy for Democrats in swing districts involves energetically advocating progressive positions rather than muddling policy differences for the moderate voters.”

Indeed.

Speaking for me only