Promoted by Brendan. Whatever side you're on, voting is just one small part of enacting the policies you'd like to see. Obama's campaign has inspired millions to become involved; they will have to keep working after the election to turn hopes into reality. 

That's where Black characters are brought in to serve as noble, wise, many times suffering, "guides" to specifically help the main White character understand or transcend some deep metaphysical concept, trauma or life challenge. Counter Racism

As we get closer to the historic election of Barack Obama as the first black President of the United States I can’t help but be concerned about a phenomenon that I sense is gripping the nation in general and many blacks in particular. This phenomenon made famous by various Hollywood films such as Bagger Vance, The Green Mile, and many others throughout the years creates a mystical black character who is able to transcend the realities of life and help a white character overcome some challenge or trauma. Looking at our current national situation I don’t think Hollywood could have scripted this any better. If there was ever a time for a “magic Negro” now would definitely be the time.

Two Appalachian men are being held on Federal charges of plotting to kill black children along with Sen. Barack Obama.  Authorities say that the men planned on robbing a gun store and then visiting a predominantly black school.  There is no evidence that the men had any means to attack Sen. Obama.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was found guilty on corruption charges Monday afternoon.  Stevens maintains his innocence and points at prosecutorial misconduct as an avenue of appeal as well as the reason he was found guilty.  He has refused to drop out of the race.

Editor's note: Don't forget that everyone in America is entitled to a free taco at Taco Bell between 2 and 6pm local time today.  I will be enjoying my taco during various errands during the day.

Eight days left until election day!  I, for one, can't wait.

Two people died and one person was injured by a shooter at the University of Central Arkansas .  The police have someone in custody but have declined to state whether or not the person is the suspected shooter.

A purported US missile strike killed approximately 20 in South Waziristan , near the Afghani-Pakistani border.  Among the dead is an aide to a local Taliban/Al-Qaeda leader.

Banks are using bailout money not to make loans but acquire other banks at firesale prices.  The UK required banks to make loans as part of their strategy, but apparently we do not have similar regulations on the books.

"Sen. Obama, this is truly a good day for America. Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed," McCain says to the camera. "So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations. How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day. Tomorrow, we'll be back at it. But tonight senator, job well done."

That was McCain's classy congratulation to Obama for accepting the Democratic nomination for President on the anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream" speech. This historic event certainly demonstrated just how far America has come towards realizing King's dream. However, we don't yet live in a race-blind society.

Political campaigns are run with the goal of winning an election. As such, they need to fully understand how voters make decisions, and in what ways voters are persuadable. Some campaigns will avoid "dirty politics" -- tactics that would be effective but which it is felt cross an ethical line. Some won't. You as an informed citizen ought to understand how the issue of race can be exploited by campaigns, and then you can decide for yourself whether a particular campaign is playing to racial sentiments.

All hell is breaking loose on Wall Street as global markets are down sharply on global recession concerns. We'll see what happens today.

Also Treasury mulls backing mortgages .

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Open Thread

Stories to come...Apparently not!  Mods are busy these days!  I'll try to put up a "skeleton page" every day, but I don't know if I'll have time for any stories.

Ballot access expert Richard Winger's blog is an invaluable resource to a minor party/indy enthusiast like myself.  Lately he's done some work detaling the large amount of unopposed incumbents for state legislature this year.

McCain is doubling down in Pennsylvania in hopes of edging out Obama in the electoral college (here's a possible McCain victory map ).  Unfortunately for McCain, polls still show Obama ahead by about 10 points in PA.

The RNC has spent over $150,000 on clothing and hair styling for Sarah Palin since she was nominated as VP.  This amount is nearly equal to the Palin family's income in 2007.  It would seem Palin's previously owned clothes were not up to snuff for a national campaign.

Even after a day of mulling, Joe Biden's remarks at a Seattle fundraiser a few days ago are still troubling to me because they say something about both Joe Biden and Barack Obama.  Here's what Joe the Politician said:

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy."

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush have tacitly agreed to support another round of "stimulus payments " directly to Americans.  The WSJ opinion page isn't as excited as I am for another few hundred dollars of free money.

Not much else in the news other than the standard fare of campaign stories.

And before I forget, thanks to Tlaloc for posting the Open Thread yesterday.  All of us contributors were busy.

I came across this editorial in the WaPo . Regardless of your political persuasion, the editorial makes an honest point. It's not a biased point, not a political point and not an ideological point. It's the unsexy truth that shouldn't get in the way of how we choose to view the financial matters that have dominated headlines in recent weeks.

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner was held last night , as was mentioned in yesterday's open thread.  The candidates made many jokes at their own (and at their opponent's) expense.  Some of the best zingers are in the article.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) took the stand yesterday in his corruption trial.  Stevens restated his belief that he properly filled out his financial disclosure forms and did not attempt to hide any gifts he receieved from others.  Sen. Stevens is expect to finish his testimony today.

Promoted by stinerman

Yes, federal revenues have been increasing since 2003 [Update: This diary was posted in 2007. 2008 revenues are projected to decline in real terms and even in nominal terms] but, needless to say (or one would think), that coincidence hardly establishes causation. While some talk show blowhards, politicians and editorial page / op-ed writers persist in contending that the Bush tax cuts have had a net positive impact on revenues, the strong, broad consensus among economists -- including conservative economists and Bush's own current and former top economists -- is to the contrary: The Bush tax cuts have had a net negative impact on revenues (i.e., revenues would have been higher, and would be higher today, if the Bush tax cuts had not taken place).

If there is any politician who has a right to blame George W. Bush, it's John McCain.  In 2000, the one man standing in the way of McCain's quest for the presidential brass ring was Bush.  In 2008, the one man standing in the way of McCain's quest for the presidency is Bush (and his sub-30% approval rating and 90±% nation-going-in-the-wrong-direction rating).  Sure, McCain's opponent this time around is Barack Obama, but the Bush legacy of incompetence and cronyism--ladled with a big helping of economic crisis--is going to crush the McCain campaign into little tiny bits.  A good debate performance won't change a thing.  I'd like to be wrong, but the electoral map paints the picture .

And I'm actually quite happy about it. What is this new GOP? It is the GOP centered around an oft-repeated idea (at this blog and elsewhere) of National Greatness Conservatism.

Why am I happy about it? Well, because I believe this is the real GOP and always has been all along during my lifetime of 35 years and well before. It is the heart and soul of the party...and while it gave an appearance of being otherwise (libertarian, for example) from time to time, it was simply a marketing ploy to put a different spin...however incoherent...on the true driver of party ID.

Debate wrap up: factcheck.org report here , poll summary here (consistent with other polls), sample conservative reaction here and liberal reaction here .

Congratulations to the Phillies, who defeated the Dodgers 4 games to 1 and move on to the World Series. Boston is down 3-1 to Tampa Bay.

A technical note: when writing comments or diaries that reference work by other people, please remember to quote only a few paragraphs, to make it clear which material is quoted, and to list and link the source. To be fair to the original authors, we may edit or simply delete posts that don't abide by these guidelines. I know that with the new system (thanks Ender!) people are still figuring out how everything works, so if anyone needs help with quoting or links please ask. Thanks. Open thread...

This thread is for the final Presidential debate. We'll be starting the live-blog at 8:45p EST. Readers without laptops (is that like Doctors Without Borders?) may want to know that the debate will be available on Hulu.com . Post questions you'd like the candidates to answer, your thoughts on who might win the debate, what each candidate needs to do to win the debate, etc.

The final Presidential debate is tonight .  The debate, which will focus on economic issues, will sit both candidates down at the same table facing one another.  McCain will likely highlight his new economic proposal which will cut capital gains taxes and will change under what circumstances people can make withdrawls from their 401(k) and IRA accounts.

The results for Canada's general election are in: the Conservative Party has a stronger plurality, but still not an outright majority.

OagXyW Really enjoyed this post. Fantastic.