This is one area where Democrats really aren’t that different from Republicans. IP laws are already too strong, we don’t need them to be stronger. The PRO-IP act is a sham and a gift to corporations rather than any boon to creativity, musicians, artists, and writers.

Not so long ago, my marriage would’ve violated the law in the state of Virginia. It was so until a couple decided to fight the state to honor their right to be married. The woman in that case was Mildred Loving and she passed away last week. You can read more about the case at Wikipedia’s entry for Loving v. Virginia.

This isn’t what you think it’s about, even though it sort of is.

$0.18 is the best they got for you, though apparently, Hillary Clinton is running ads making up an $8 billion savings for the American people. The overwhelming majority of economists at this point call BS on that.

PS. This is why I don’t like her as much as I like voting for Obama. This is pathetic pandering.

Wow, Antonin Scalia has no business being on the Supreme Court. And while it might seem ridiculous for someone with no legal background to say this, go read the interview linked here. Holy crap.

WTF? Who knew Ben Stein was such a fool? Of course, he did work for Nixon, and still likes him and thought he was a great President. So, perhaps I should’ve guessed?

Speaking of Hillary, here’s another issue she agrees with John McCain on. And, like John McCain, she’s finding it convenient to flip flop every which way to find some way to differentiate herself. Or, as a commenter at ObWi says:

McCain’s pander is icky but at least fit with his philosophy. Clinton’s pander doesn’t even make sense. She claims to be serious about globabl warming, and should be thrilled to see gas prices reducing consumption. How the heck does she think consumption is going to be reduced? The magic efficiency wand?

If there’s a reason I prefer Obama over Clinton, even prior to the recent nastiness, it’s this. She has a track record of being stupid when she knows better…

I think this pretty much sums up my response, as well. Below, you have Hilzoy’s reasonable prose, but this link goes to John Cole’s more blunt assessment. Or, as Greenwald said today:

So it isn’t as though we really have anything else to talk about besides Jeremiah Wright. There are some countries in the world—probably most—which have so many big problems that they could ill-afford to devote much time and energy to a matter of this sort. Thankfully, the United States isn’t one of them. I believe it’s critical that we keep that in mind as we discuss him for the next seven months.

Sigh. I’m for Obama, if you haven’t figured it out, but if this were happening to Hillary, I’d be saying the same thing.

Best rundown I’ve seen today of the Obama/Wright dustup, part 2. Video for both today’s Obama presser and Wright’s ridiculous comments yesterday are either embedded or linked. Good place to start.

Needless to say, since this seems to be the case more often than not, I agree with what Hilzoy says about Wright, Obama, and what this says about both men. (well, except for the ending point… I would not have speculated about that on my blog, though I think the theory is worth examining by people that know these men better).

It also wouldn’t surprise me if more Trinity members came out and publicly took sides in this, like MSNBC’s anchor Tamron Hall. If Wright is truly over-the-top, even for him, other church members should react the way Obama and Hall have: with surprise and shock.

Nicely done, Newsweek. I guess they’re pulling for Hillary?

I’ve been reading about this in brief spurts over the past few days, especially since Amanda is one of my frequent reads. I agree with what Stephen Suh writes here. I couldn’t understand exactly what people want out of Amanda, and I believe that she and her detractors have done everything possible to make this personal and, thus, impossible to resolve. So, basically, what Stephen Suh said, but with the caveat that it applies to both sides of these arguments.

PS. The whole “X of color” construct (where X is, for example, women or person) is offensive to me. As if, because we’re not white, our experiences and status of privilege are identical. They’re not. We should stop lumping people who have had different racial histories and different prejudices applied to them into some group because we’re “not” something else.

The sheer hypocrisy of the McCain campaign, from Hagee vs. Wright to McCain 2000/2004 vs. McCain 2008 on nearly every substantive issue has been appalling. So, will the media call him out on it? Or will they rather stay on the invite list for the big McCain barbecues at his ranch?

I admit to having lost a little bit of perspective about the primary, too. Some things to think about:

Like many people, I have gotten pretty caught up in the Democratic nomination fight over the last couple of months. After initially leaning towards Edwards, I shifted to Obama for a variety of reasons. As I became increasingly invested in (and excited by) the prospects of his winning the nomination, I found myself getting irritated by the tactics of the Clinton campaign, sometimes voicing my frustrations on this site in a fairly full-throated fashion.

…

And then I awoke the next day to two stories on NPR concerning rising food commodity prices and the enormous impact that this is having domestically and internationally. I felt a bit ashamed that I was obsessing over the Democrats’ internecine battle and issues of tactics and the like at a time when the ability of large numbers of people to feed themselves and their families seems to be growing ever more tenuous as a result of poorly crafted public policies.

…

The take away lesson to me seemed obvious — we cannot afford to allow the Republicans to continue to run this country. It will be a disaster not only for ourselves, but for the world writ large.

I agree. That’s why there’s no realistic circumstance where I won’t vote for the Democratic nominee or encourage all of you to do the same. I’m just tired of choosing the lesser of two evils, and really thought the Dems had two good, positive candidates to choose from.