In high school, I went to a summer program that had a large number of religious conservatives. When I arrived at the program (which had no religious basis), I had the goal in my head of being an evangelical in the other direction. I thought I could convince them of their errors and show them that those with different politics didn't match the stereotypes that are still propagated today.

Instead, I came away from that program convinced that there was much more bringing us together than binding us apart. I spent a good two hours with one of my friends, and all the discussion and argument over homosexuality and morality came down to one word: "Natural"

We had different definitions, and no amount of reasoning or logic was going to change that reality.

Hello All,

It looks like today has seen a bit of "buyer's remorse" for Barack Obama.

We've seen the meme loud and clear. From FISA to the faith-based funding to (apparently?) abortion, everyone seems convinced that Obama has moved massively to the center, dragging the support of Liberals along.

Let me be clear: I am a moderate. My individual positions vary, but I don't agree with many of you on some areas of policy. I don't think that invalidates my opinion, however.

Hello All,

There are currently two diaries on the rec list expressing anger about Obama's proposal to make federal funding available to "faith-based" programs.

The popular quote at my family's large gatherings is that we don't discuss politics or religion. MyDD isn't going to avoid the first, but I think we all know that Religion is an area of, er, heated discussion, especially over the internet.

I attend a church that runs a very good program for addicts. We have also been kicked out of a few conservative organizations for our views on homosexuality, so be forewarned that I do have a bias here. Biases run in all directions - some are convinced that atheism is evil, and others are convinced that religion is evil. This question - WHO IS RIGHT? - isn't going to be answered here, as we all know.

Yet that's the discussion I see going on in some comments.

Hello all,

I'm real confused. Clark's comments have engendered a wave of protest on sites like Kos and MyDD, as well as defenders.

I really don't understand what's so controversial about what he said.

Update [2008-6-24 12:1:43 by Falsehood]: I just found an interesting quote from an old Times article:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut has said that the general's joining the Democratic Party was a matter of ''political convenience, not conviction.''

Hello All,

I'm sure that more than I know goes into the Vice Presidential Selection, and I don't think any of us will be able to judge the outsome from the outside, but I'm very confused as to why Wesley Clark isn't on the VP short list.

Howdy folks,

There's been a lot of talk about Obama's statement on FISA - here's my perspective.

Obama is running for President, and his agenda in office will require congressional cooperation. During the time we were all waiting for Obama to say something, my bet is that his staffers were talking to a whole bunch of Congressional types about how and why various leaders (especially Pelosi and Hoyer) took this position.

I think Obama realized he couldn't bring Pelosi and Hoyer against FISA, and made a decision to generally preserve party unity at this stage of the race.

Up until today, the campaigns of McCain and Obama have avoided a major conflict, in part because of the attention focused on flooding in the Midwest. (Donate here)

Thus far, the campaigns have conflicted on the proposed town halls, gas policy (Carter's 2nd term versus Bush's 3rd), taxation, the Supreme Court ruling, Obama's VP vetter, and the "9/10 mindset."

However, this story is different for a few reasons.

Update [2008-6-9 21:13:5 by Falsehood]: Many of the comments on this diary say that we shouldn't worry about this, because the idea that Obama exploited sex isn't true. While I agree with these people in that I don't see Obama to be at fault, that doesn't mean that others will automatically share my opinion. I hope we can find a way to reach out to those who feel Obama exploited/attacked her sex, because everyone we can reach is another supporter for the General Election. This isn't about who is right - it's about giving Obama the best support we can.

Alegre posted a diary entitled "Sorry Gang - I'm Just Not There Yet," at the "Hillary's Bloggers" site near midnight on Saturday.

She said, in part:

I just can't do it - not yet. I respect Hillary more than words can say and I know she did what she had to do today. I was there to hear her speak and found myself cheering wildly every time she paused to catch her breath, until she got to the part where she asked us to join her in her fight to help elect Obama as our next president.

Then I stood there silent, with my hands folded politely in front of me.

I'm not saying I won't ever get there as far as voting for the guy goes. At this point BO might (might) get my vote in November if he ends up being our nominee. But he's going to have to work damn hard to win my vote after the way he lied about Hillary, and remained silent as the media and even his own supporters and staff attacked her with some of the most bizarre and misogynistic load of garbage I've ever heard.

Embedded in the post was this video that I couldn't even finish the first time through: