This is important history, and vitally important, considering how much the Right made a fool of themselves attacking Obama for getting a few facts wrong on what was so obviously true.  Barack Obama's great-uncle, Charles T. Payne, is a true hero to this country for what he did in World War Two.  Although Obama's family has been very private (and understandably so), Charles has now come forward with his story.  You can read it here.  It gets me all emotional, on the incredible sacrifice he made, and equally so with his statement about his great nephew, "He's truly an astounding young man and always has been."  More below the fold.

On Face the Nation yesterday, Senators John Kerry and Lindsay Graham made an appearance, as surrogates for the Obama and McCain campaigns, respectively.  And I have to say, the debate wasn't even close.  Read the transcript and see what I mean.  Graham was reduced to sputtering out tired talking points (yeah, for the umpteenth time we know Obama hasn't attended a dog and pony show in Iraq for two years) while Kerry gave a lesson on the long and complex histories of the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, and ... John McCain.  Although the media is working over time carrying water for their favorite "maverick", Kerry's clear spoken language on what is going on with the Republicans is exactly the right message not only for Barack Obama, but for our Congressional candidates as well.

This should be interesting.  In light of the media firestorm that erupted after General Wesley Clark's comments on Face the Nation last week, it will be quite interesting to hear what John Kerry has to say.  The story made many twists and turns, including the McCain campaign trotting out a Swiftboater, Bud Day, who had appeared in Swift Vet ads against John Kerry in 2004.  Given all of this, and that the original comments came on Face the Nation, it is a foregone conclusion that Bob Schieffer is going to ask about Clark's remarks, for which I can imagine Kerry will want to mention the McCain campaign hypocrisy.  Lindsay Graham will also be appearing, but from what I gather will not be appearing at the same time as Kerry (well, Kerry did out debate him last time; it's not like Lindsay wanted to go through that again :)).  More details below the fold.

In case you missed it, Barack Obama gave a beautiful and meaty speech on patriotism yesterday in Independence, Missouri.  I just loved it, and wanted to share some excerpts, and my thoughts on it.  It really fleshed out how much he loves American ideals, while still seeing the reality of our country's shortcomings.  Many have focussed on tiny portions of the speech, but I think the entire speech should be read, and heard, to appreciate Barack Obama's vision of what America is, what patriotism means, and how to bring our country back from the dark days we have endured when any kind of dissent to George Bush's wrong headed policies were labeled "unpatriotic".  I can't help but think after reading this speech, that Barack Obama will be the President to wake this country from its slumber, and remind us of what this country is really about.  

Barack Obama is a very smart guy.  He knows what he is doing.  His shrewdness showed when he made one of his most important decisions after it became clear from The Math that he would clinch the nomination:  he made it plain that he would not tolerate John McCain's service to his country in the Navy to be disparaged.  He will never put up with it, and he's going to shut down anyone who tries.  Yet I am seeing rumblings of too many people thinking they're going to give to the Republicans what we got in 2004.  In short, they want revenge.  I am here to tell you to stand down on such desires.  As the old Chinese proverb warns,"He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves."  So cast aside the thought or suffer the consequences.

It is pretty clear now that Barack Obama is going to deploy John Kerry as an attack dog.  There are a variety of reasons why this is a good idea:  John Kerry is considered an elder statesman of the Democratic party, especially on matters of foreign policy, the environment, and energy policy, so McCain's charges on the Obama campaign of inexperience ring hollow with JK as a surrogate.  I am sure Obama views Kerry as a loyal soldier who endorsed him way back in January after Hillary won New Hampshire, not to mention that Kerry chose to pluck Obama out of relative obscurity to be the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.  But the most compelling reason to deploy Sen. Kerry as attack dog, is that he clearly pushes McCain's buttons.  John Kerry drives McCain completely up the wall.  After all, the only time this entire election season where we have seen McCain giving us a glimpse of his famed temper was when John Kerry's name came up.  Given this reality (whether you love or hate Kerry), I am serving this diary up with a comprehensive history of why Kerry can attack McCain with abandon, and to set the record straight from the selective amnesia of right wingers and the traditional media.

Ah, yes, Dick's buddies have suffered a setback.  Now they will no longer be able to create shell companies on the Cayman Islands in order to avoid paying taxes.  Not only that, the closing of this loophole means more money for our vets.  A big kudos to John Kerry and Barack Obama in the Senate for writing this bill, and making sure that private contractors are not screwing over we the taxpayers by both reaping a profit from the government while also avoiding paying taxes.  Yes, not even George W. Bush was going to fight this one, it was so unconscionable.  I have been writing about this since the story broke in  this diary when Kerry and Obama called for an investigation and an end to this practice and this diary about the bill passing Congress.  More details about the bill at the flip.

And, so, the McCain campaign stumbles on.  I mean, shouldn't they check this stuff out before trotting out false talking points?  This post sums up nicely all the foreign policy gaffes John McCain has made so far.  Now we've got a new one:  troop levels in Iraq.  Today, John McCain asserted the following:

In comments to reporters on Thursday, McCain asserted that "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."

D'oh!  Wrong again, John.  

We got 'em.  

Finally, KBR, subsidiary of Halliburton, has lost a battle, this time their craven tax sheltering racket in the Cayman Islands.  The Boston Globe first reported back in March of yet another outrage coming from KBR in an article titled "War profiteering by tax dodge".  It was a bad move all the way around:  they weren't responsible for employee benefits and they didn't have to pay U.S. taxes.  After the article came out, Congress started flexing its muscle as even the most right wing of Republicans would have trouble defending a defense contractor being paid by the government, while not paying any taxes on its profit from those government contracts.  John Kerry and Barack Obama led the effort in the Senate, and now we are only one presidential signature away of righting one wrong from the private contractors.  The icing on the cake?  The KBR tax money to be paid is going to the troops.

As I walked out my door to bring my daughter to the bus stop today, I chatted for a few minutes with my African American neighbor.  Nearly every day, we discuss "the latest" in the primary campaign -- how many superdelegates Obama got, what the latest polls mean, what outrageous thing the Clinton campaign has done now, and so forth.  But today, my friend had a story I hadn't heard about:  a racist incident that had happened not that far away in Marietta, Georgia.  Some ignorant yahoo thought it would be funny to sell T-shirts from his bar with a picture of Curious George and Obama '08 underneath.  As my friend told the story I could see how painful it was to her.  This wasn't under the heading of "silly primary season" or "just politics".  This was personal.  Not only was this an example of hateful cruelty and an embarrassment to the city of Marietta (the district Newt Gingrich represented), it represents the anathema of what America is about.  I felt helpless in what to do against such hate.  Well, I have good news to share:  the publisher of Curious George has stepped in to stop it, with legal action if necessary.

After Obama's fantastic night last night, blowing out Clinton in North Carolina by 14 points, and keeping Hillary's margin of victory under 2 points in Indiana, I wondered if a floodgate of Super D's would be coming out for Obama.  Well, last night David Axelrod poured some cold water on that, talking about how May 20th was the day to watch.  Although some of the uncommitted supers have come out for Obama today, there are now two setbacks for Clinton that are more significant.  One, was George McGovern (not a superdelegate, but still a significant name) flipping to Obama.  And now this news coming from Diane Feinstein.  She wants to meet with Clinton and be told how in the heck Clinton can win this thing.

On April 20th, the New York Times came out with a bombshell expose about military analysts being used by the Pentagon to spread pro-war propaganda on TV to unwitting audiences.  As BarbinMD noted, there has only been "deafening silence" from the networks.  Meanwhile, the Pentagon has suspended "its briefings for retired military officers who often appear as military analysts on television and radio programs."  Problem solved without anyone getting hurt, right?  Wrong.  Two of our sheriffs in town, Senators Kerry and Levin, are not going to let this one slip by, especially since it may have been illegal.

This confirms once again why I support Barack Obama for president:  he goes after the corruption.  Although there are so many ways that Halliburton and its subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root have been engulfed in corruption and scandals, this one has to piss off even the most dedicated Iraq War boosters:  using the Cayman Islands as their "office" to avoid paying taxes in America while American tax payers continue to pay for the Iraq War.  Well, open anti-corruption Democrats like John Kerry and Barack Obama are not going to stand for it, and are now pushing for a Senate investigation into KBR's tax shelter abuses.  More on the story below the fold.

Hi, my name is Beachmom, and I am a procrastinator.  I have been waiting until tomorrow to get things done since I was a kid.  In fact, as I write this diary I really should be doing something else, but am putting it off.  I am not so bad as to not pay my taxes on time.  But my procrastination has gotten me into mini trouble from time to time.  Given my credentials on the art of procrastination, I am here to tell you that DailyKos has become a procrastinator site.  This realization hit me when I discovered and read today the GBCW diary by BenGoshi, a tough love diary as to why he was choosing to leave the site.  He wrote the truth, and it boils down to this:  we are putting off talking about important issues until the primaries are over.  This is a big mistake that we must correct.

This is a great news day in Pennsylvania for Obama.  Teresa Heinz Kerry, best known (in addition to being married to John Kerry) for running the Heinz Family Philanthropies in Pittsburgh, PA, has come out in her own right to support Barack Obama.  Teresa has been fairly quiet about the 2008 presidential primaries, so it is actually a big deal that she decided to pen an endorsement in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  I think this is a signficant endorsement for the Pittsburgh area and the Pennsylvania primary, especially when you see what she said!  

There's been a lot of excitement on DailyKos about the Obama movement, coupled with some detractors out there saying Obama is all style and no substance.  My response to that is to look at ethics reform, an issue no one should scoff at as corruption was the #1 reason Congress changed hands in 2006.  It just so happens that Barack Obama played a big role in getting ethics reform done.  Not only that, I would like to focus on some key votes which show like night and day, the difference between Obama and Clinton.  Obama had to log some courageous votes that amounted to rebellion against the Democratic leadership -- Reid and Durbin -- while Hillary Clinton chose not to rock the boat.  Come along with me, and I will share the tale.

Oh, good Lord.  Can this primary season be over already?  Hillary Clinton has now likened Obama to Bush, the most ridiculous analogy I have ever seen.  What in the hell was she thinking when she said that?  Is she trying to tear our party apart some more?  Anyone with half a brain saw all the tell tale signs of a disasterous Bush presidency based primarily on his record as Governor of Texas.  The smear campaigns (remember the whisper campaign that Ann Richards was a lesbian?), the fiscal irresponsibility (using the tobacco windfall to give exorbitant tax cuts to the rich in TX), and Bush's stubborn attitude and destroy all enemies if they cross him stance.  It was all there in 2000, had people bothered to look.  Yet Hillary is now trying to lessen the diasterous Bush presidency just to take a stab at flipping a few votes.  I hope Democratic primary voters see through this cheap shot.

Nothing angers me more than being lied to.  When people wonder why so many of us became outraged by the Bush administration, it was the lies they told that became the foundation for our rage.  The lies of the 2004 campaign was why I knew I needed to get involved and volunteer in local politics, something I had never done before in my life.  I'm proud of volunteering for Jim Webb in 2006, who I think most of us would agree always gives his honest opinion, even if we sometimes disagree with him.  Our country has always been about the truth.  As Kerry has said in the past, our nation was born with the truth at its center when the Declaration of Independence began, "We hold these truths to be self evident ...".  So here we are, it's 2008, a new presidential race is at hand, and there is a new set of lies.  I just received yet another smear e-mail targeting Obama, and I'm here to fight back with the truth.