Meet the Author!

One of the highlights of the recent Take Back America Conference in DC was meeting Drew Westen, a professor at Emory who's just published a new book titled The Political Brain, The Role of Emotion in Deciding The Fate of the Nation.

Isn't it funny how sometimes you have to travel hundreds of miles to discover what's in your own backyard? It's like Oz bay-bee.

Drew was a last minute addition to the schedule, but he had everyone buzzing at the conference. As luck would have it, you can meet him this Monday at Manuel's Tavern for a book signing event.

WHO: Drew Westen, Emory University professor of psychology and psychiatry

WHAT: Presentation and Book Signing for "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation." Free and open to the public.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 25 (Tonight!)

WHERE: Manuel's Tavern, 602 N. Highland Ave. (at the corner of North Ave.), Atlanta

Ooooh! A contest!

This is my favorite. Which one do you prefer? Vote in the Science Idol: The Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest. Voting is open until July 23.

Next month, hundreds of young Democratic leaders from across the nation will be converging on Dallas, Texas to engage in four days of training and networking to push forward the next two years of progressive youth leadership.

The Young Democrats of Georgia want to send 40, yes forty, young people from across our state to attend this national convention and participate in trainings on organizing, issue education, campaigns, & youth leadership. We need to raise an additional $2,000 to meet our goal of sending all 40 to Dallas.

By contributing at least $10, you'll receive an entry for a Prize Drawing for travel vouchers to anywhere in the U.S. So why not help foster the next generation of young leaders and maybe even pick up a nice prize for yourself? Go to www.georgiayds.org and click on Prize Drawing.

1. That's Dennis Kucinich's wife. Yes, it is.
2. Notice the key card recognition lock that the taxpayers of Cleveland (which is where the photo was taken) paid for is rendered useless by the key fob which opens the super expensive lock tacked up next to the reader.

Here is the article, and here is the .pdf with all the results.

One of the interesting smaller results here is Hillary's 43% negative in this group. How did that happen exactly? A U.S. Senator doesn't really do that much to raise anyone's ire, that's why it is so tough to unseat an incumbent, and only people in New York would have heard anything about that anyway. So this must be either from her time as first lady (when the subjects of the poll were between the ages of 2 and 21) or second hand information from misogynistic uncles and radio talk show hosts. But this underscores the problem Hillary has that nobody seems to want to address: lots of people hate her. Will that hate make it harder to elect her? And if she wins, will her presidency be more like Bush's then the government we all claim to want (bipartisanship) because of the animus on both sides?

Today's AJC has a story on TASER use at the Fulton County Jail today and its lack of review by the internal Use of Force panel.

Sheriff Myron Freeman said that these weren't reviewed, along with another 279 incidents like them, weren't reviewed because there was no serious injury to the inmate. Now I know Freeman's backstory and how he got where he is now, and it is heartwarming and all, but it is time for us to cut him loose. He should not be on the Democratic ballot the next time he is up and frankly, he should be recalled and it should be a democratic effort that gets him recalled.

After the jump is my Lexis news search for articles with "Sheriff Myron Freeman" in them. I did not go to page 2 on the search.

Here are a few items I've got on my calendar. If you have more, and I know you do, add to the comments. Lots more stuff listed on "The Donkey". Most events are free unless indicated.

5 Days in June 27- July 1 US Social Forum This summer approximately 20,000 people are descending on Atlanta for the US Social Forum.
The US Social Forum provides community-based organizations with an opportunity to create new models for progressive grassroots organizing in the United States.

June 27th, Wednesday 6:00 p.m. Cobb Democrats Monthly Happy Hour
We encourage all Democrats to come to the Marietta Doubletree Hotel off of Windy Hill Road and I-75 to meet our Democratic friends and discuss issues of the day and upcoming political events. This is one of the many perfect opportunities that the CCDC organizes to let you meet and mingle with other Democrats.

Thursday, June 28, 5:30 - 8:30 pm - Film Screening: SICKO.
Friends of Healthcare NOW hosts a sneak preview of Michael Moore's new documentary "SICKO," the controversial and highly acclaimed call for a better healthcare system in our country. $25 at the door and/or send donation checks to Healthcare-NOW (IFCO), c/o Box 50469, Atlanta, GA, 30302. You've been eagerly awaiting the next blockbuster from Michael Moore, so get yourself to The Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta. Contact: 404.873.1939

Tuesday, July 3, 7:00 pm - Atlanta Stop for the Comma Train!
From June 8 to July 16, the Comma Train will be traveling across the United States to raise awareness about the case on Darfur at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This is the first time in history that a sitting government (Sudan) will be tried for crimes against humanity. International support for justice in Sudan is growing rapidly, and the interfaith community should provide moral leadership in this critical hour to strengthen hope for justice. On July 3, Timothy Nonn, Coordinator of the International Campaign for Justice in Sudan, will be giving an hour presentation on this effort at 7:00 pm at Central Congregational Church, 2676 Clairmont Road, NE. Attend and learn how to support this worthy cause. To follow Tim's journey, go to http://www.comma-train.com

July 4th - Happy Independence Day!
March with the Cobb County Democrats and then join us for the 2nd Annual Herb Butler Independence Day BBQ. Details here...

July 11th, Wednesday 8:00 pm -A Fundraiser for Georgians for Choice!
At The Horizon Theatre Company: 1083 Austin Avenue in Little 5 Points.
The Bluest Eye - Adapted from Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's novel by Lydia Diamond. The story of a young black girl in 1940s Ohio, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove prays for blue eyes, sure that in her quest for love they will have the power to change her world. Carol Mitchell-Leon will return in the role of Mrs. Breedlove. Tickets: $20.00 Delicious homemade baked goods and beverages for sale.
Contact Mia to purchase/reserve tickets and for more information:
404-532-0022 or mmingus@georgiansforchoice.org

Cheney is evil. So evil, it requires a four-part series to contain all the evilness.

Elizabeth Edwards takes on Ann Coulter. And here I thought I couldn't love Elizabeth Edwards any more than I already did.

The young folks are on our side, now only if they would get themselves to the voting booths.

What kind of man is willing to impregnate Nancy Grace? Seriously, ewww.

The New York Times blogs about new Poison Ivy that is harder to kill and poison is stronger. Why? Because of increased Carbon in the air. Nice job, Excursion drivers.

Bill Shipp's new column, Obama should run money table in the South, is a pretty interesting glimpse of the funding figures here in Georgia. Surprisingly (at least to me), Obama is in the lead, having raised $471,271 around the state. In second place is Edwards, with $376,845, primarily from the metro counties. In third is Hillary, with the low amount of $81,926. What does this mean, according to Shipp?

Translation: Obama blows the socks off his Democratic rivals in Georgia because he has attracted a solid wall of affluent African-American support. Georgia's Super-Duper Tuesday presidential primary is still seven months away, and trends may shift.

But barring a dramatic change in circumstances, Obama figures to win Georgia in a breeze.

Watching the teevee and found an interesting story that makes me asks

"Is it the Democratic Brand that is causing Georgia candidates to lose races"?

On Tuesday, a story ran featuring an Iraqi War veteran, Anibal Santiago, "a single dad who went from fighting on the front lines in Iraq to fighting to keep his Grovetown home."

Veteran Santiago is 40 yrs old, severely disabled from brain trauma, and has an outrageously high adjustable mortgage rate. The military is only giving him 80% of his disability; which is truly a shame since he can barely walk or talk.

The next day, Wednesday, the news channel followed up on the story by recounting how hundreds of local Augusta people have called to offer support. They spotlighted one gentleman who said he felt the need to help because "our soldiers should come home and be treated with honor".

Now, the Democrats just ran a candidate in this very same teevee market, James Marlow, who ran on that very same message - that our soldiers should be treated with honor when they return from war. But, the voters in the 10th Congressional District overwhelming voted for Jim Whitehead, a candidate who said "the Iraq War is not a big deal" in the district.

So what's the deal - are Georgia voters turned off by the Democratic brand thus they turn deaf to the messenger?

Marchers from around the world kick-off event.

Atlanta Progressive News has a full story on the first day of the much-anticipated US Social Forum. Crowd size estimates differ but it sounds like between 1500-3000 gathered for the opening march yesterday afternoon:

(APN) ATLANTA - Thousands of progressive activists from around the US and the World marched through Downtown Atlanta on the first day of the US Social Forum.

Did you go? How was it?

At the center of the Bush administration's efforts to systematically supress voter turnout is (why am I not surprised?), Georgia native Hans von Spakovsky. A new report from Brennan Center for Justice and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law finds the Bush Administration used government institutions for partisan gain, and Spakovsky was their tool:

[The Bush] Administration used federal agencies charged with protecting voters' rights to promote voter suppression, influence voting rules, and gain advantage in battleground states. This was achieved through a four-pronged strategy: dismantling the infrastructure at the Department of Justice; fomenting a fear of rampant voter fraud (which has subsequently been disproved - it actually occurs "statistically...about as often as death by lightning strike"); politically motivated prosecutions; and restricting registration and voting.

Von Spakovsky played a key role in fomenting a fear of voter fraud - even writing under the pseudonym "Publius" in June 2005 to "warn of its dangers" and support restrictive photo ID requirements. He asserted that there was "no evidence" that such laws disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters but there was indeed a widespread problem of ineligible voters influencing election outcomes.

At the same time - despite his article and having served on the Fulton County Board of Election - von Spakovsky saw no conflict of interest in taking the lead on reviewing Georgia's proposed photo ID requirement as the DOJ is required to do. He proceeded to approve the law, overruling the career staff's near unanimous decision that it violated the Voting Rights Act by weakening minority voting strength. Both the state and federal courts later ruled the law unconstitutional.

For this and more, Spakovsky receives the douchebag of the day award. I don't know about you, but it sickens me that the entire state of Georgia seems to have become a Republican test bed for unethical (and un-American) strategies to steal votes. Last week on our way to DC, we ran into Karl Rove in the airport. I can only imagine what the creepy bastard is cooking up here next. We need Minutemen at the Georgia border alright, but not for the Mexicans.

Related link: Bush nominee needs a refresher course in civics, by Cynthia Tucker.

Immigration Bill Blocked

Yes - 46 ** No - 53

Guess the useless Chimp couldn't get his troops lined up.

Hardball with Chris Matthews devoted the entire show to the Coulter/Edwards brouhaha last night and featured John Edwards as the special guest. While himself surfing the ratings wave such controversies bring, Matthews asked Edwards whether Coulter should be selling books and he (Edwards) should be fundraising off the controversy. This misses the point.

Coulter engages in the political equivalent of potty humor specifically to sell her rag books (they wouldn't sell otherwise). Edwards is a Presidential candidate in full fundraising mode who didn't start the controversy but is not backing away from it. If his and Elizabeth's pushback of the evil skeleton helps bring some earned media and funds to the campaign, so be it. It's about time someone stood up to this ridiculous shrew and called her out publicly on her crap.

The video exchange between Coulter and Elizabeth showed (once again) that Coulter is nothing more than a mercenary hack without shame or soul. The contrast between the two women could not have been starker, or the metaphor more obvious. It's long past time for all networks to stop featuring this evil witch and helping to shovel her junk books and phoney opinions. Enough is enough. Get the fork.

Today, the counterrevolution begins! MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski refused to talk about Paris Hilton's release from jail - instead shredding, tearing to bits and attempting to set on fire copies of the story.

"No, I hate this story and I don't think it should be our lead ... My producer Andy Jones is not listening to me. He's put it as the lead," she said as she took a fellow anchor's cigarette lighter and tried to burn the script.

In related nooze (albeit fake), NBC's Jeff Zucker is rumored to be courting Jon Stewart as the replacement to Jay Leno. Since NBC is already contractually obligated to Conan O'Brien for the Tonight Show, the buyout alone would cost approximately $40m. The Stewart rumor has thrown all late night slots into play with FOX and ABC entering the fray. If I had to guess, I'd say Conan takes the Tonight Show, Stewart takes late night on NBC, and Colbert moves to the Daily Show slot on Comedy Central.

Welcome to Chief Justice John Robert's halcyon world. Where black and white are simply tones on the Philco, children are seen but not heard, mother is in the kitchen baking cookies and "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race". You know, sometimes simplicity just passes for clarity.

Yesterday, in a "controversial" decision, the highest court in the land struck down two voluntary school integration programs.

Because Roberts--joined by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito--could not get a fifth vote for his more sweeping views, Thursday's ruling is unlikely to prompt a wholesale revisiting of government programs on race, to the relief of many civil rights activists.

Even so, the statement by a unified bloc of justices that, with only narrow exceptions, race should not be a factor in such programs, represents perhaps the strongest showing for this long-held view of conservatives, and it gave them hope that ultimately it would prevail. Liberals, however, said the day is far off when the nation can or will plausibly ignore the role of race in remedying social ills.

Amplifying its ban against execution of the insane, a closely divided United States Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the death sentence of a delusional Texas murderer who insisted that he was being punished for preaching the Gospel. Here's the link New York Times,

Amnesty International , now only the second most hated amnesty in Washington, said of the ruling, "The Supreme Court has taken a much-needed step toward a more humane America."

Though this excerpt below describes the defendant's behavior at trial, I imagine it also describes exactly how Bush will defend himself if ever prosecuted for anything.

He appeared with a Tom Mix cowboy hat slung over his back, wearing purple western shirts and cowboy boots. He tried to subpoena Jesus and repeatedly ignored Judge Ables’s orders.

It's a special Super Steve edition of the Friday Open Thread!

Immigration bill reveals fault lines in both parties, tests the Democratic frosh.

Cynthia Tucker says it may be too late to save Grady Hospital.

Twenty beheaded bodies found in Iraq.

Six militants killed in Lebanon in the country's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war.

Election Online has election reform updates from around the country.

Climate change is already impacting Alaska.

Will Michael Moore's "Sicko" force a real conversation on health care?

Just kidding! Here's what you really came for.

It may be a week after PRIDE, but you owe it to yourself to watch this video from CNN about a seven-year-old boy who seems to be clearly transgendered. I'm just glad this girl (I think that's the right word here) has such understanding parents and that the local school district seems willing to work with them for now. Definitely something that certain conservatives would rather not think about being true.