Rape Charges Dismissed Because Victim Not A Virgin

Melanie Ross, a rape victim from Georgia, had her case dismissed in large part because of her past sexual history. Against federal and state law the trial judge ordered Ross to disclose her entire personal history under the premise that prior sexual conduct is proof of consent. Because as we all know only virgins can be raped!! Read the rest here before I start swearing. This story pisses me off.

Bush Travels to Israel to Celebrate 60 Year Anniversary

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=XmUad6JOFcQ[/youtube]

Somehow he finds time to make a false and misleading political attack against Obama. Playing monkey see monkey doo McCain and Leiberman follow the leader. Of course they are playing dumb now (if playing is the right word) on their attempted Nazi smear. Joe Bidens excellent statements on Hardball are the video of the day below.

Everything Else You Need To Know

• Following up on the Marietta bar owner who is selling racist Obama: Curious George T-Shirts. Turns out that the company that owns the Curious George image is rather unhappy about the usage of their property ans is considering suing his racist ass. (h/t Melissa McEwen @ Shakesville)
• Congress passed the Farm Bill with a veto proof majority.  Of course no bill is perfect but this bill should be better than nothing.  I’m not up to speed on this bill so if I get time I’ll post more on it when I am better educated.  Comments on this are more than welcome.
• Republicans in Congress blocked passage of the Iraq funding bill due to its inclusion of measures to help pay for the war and to increase veterans benefits.  Both issues that Republicans oppose.
• Republicans also apparently hate first responders.
• UC Berkeley is going to court over their Understanding Evolution web site because they had the gall to say the truth. Specifically the truth that “some religious beliefs explicitly contradict science”. In crazy world saying the truth is a violation of the separation of church and state. (h/t Richard Dawkins)
• Obama sent out a flyer titled “Faith, Hope, Change” to voters in Kentucky in an effort to gain support among evangelicals. I think its a good move and its about time liberals stood up to the popular misconception that only Republicans can be Christians.
• Eric Zorn has listed 8 reasons why Obama should destroy my dreams of a unity ticket. Some of them are pretty good. Damn you and your logical arguments. (h/t Logan @ Loganotron)

Video of the Day

Joe Biden, who says that Bush’s smear against Obama was Bullshit, appears on Hardball to discuss the subject more.  Its worth watching until the end because as always Biden does an excellent job of pointing out the many errors in this attack.

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=0IJWp9kAEUU[/youtube]

Hillary Clinton Wins BIG in West Virginia

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=OXONMGz_jAg[/youtube]

Even though I have decided to support Obama I am still very happy to see that Clinton is not only competitive in blue collar states, but overwhelmingly preferred 67% to 26%. I know that it wont happen but showings like this make my dreams of a unity ticket seem almost possible sometimes.

Hagee Flip Flops on Religious Views

[youtube width="250" height="197"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uViQ0hVV57Q[/youtube]

Taking a line from the McCain campaign John Hagee has flip flopped on his outspoken attacks on the Catholic Church. Every time McCain flip flops on a position his supporters can chalk it up to pandering for votes (or Alzheimer’s). What is it called when religious leaders flip flop on their beliefs?

The Rest of The News

• A bar owner in Marietta is selling racist Obama – Curious George T-Shirts. Just more proof that we have a lot of work to do still.
• Republican Congressional candidate Mike Erickson is being accused by an Oregon woman of having paid for her abortion. If true this will mark the one millionth Republican hypocrite outed this year. I think he wins a toaster.
• Conservatives are still trying to get amnesty for their big business telecom buddies. Over at DailyKOS mcjoan has listed the names and numbers for the conservative Democrats the Republicans are targeting. If they are yours give them a call.
• Was Einstein an atheist? Personally I could care less what Einsteins religious beliefs are but some people are making a big deal about it.
• In Ohio a father was jailed after his daughter failed to pass the math portion of her GED. As always there is more to the story, but it doesn’t get better. Read about it here at Newshoggers.
• Charges have been dropped against the “20th hijacker” Mohammed al-Qahtani. During his interrogation Mohammed was subjected to what people in a civilized society would refer to as torture.
  

  In the log, U.S. interrogators describe how they ratcheted up techniques on their captive during 50 days starting in November 2002 to extract a confession – by using sleep deprivation, leaving him strapped to an intravenous drip without bathroom breaks and having him strip naked….A special Guantanamo investigator, Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt, subsequently told Congress that al-Qahtani was also forced to wear a woman’s bra, dance with a male guard, “perform dog tricks” and was smeared with fake menstrual blood to lower his self-esteem – techniques the general described as “degrading and abusive” but not inhumane.
  Cageprisoners.com

Daily Video

Todays video is John Stewarts interview with the unapologetic neocon Douglas Feith. If there is one think to admire about neocons like Feith, they never get caught up in the little things like reality or facts. Crooks and Liars has a good write up on the interview.

Part 1

Part 2

Thats all for this morning. I’m going to take some more medicine and go lie down for a while. I know that some of the news is actually from this morning but yesterday was a pretty slow news day. Besides I normally start these the night before and then just check for new stuff in the morning. Of course this is an open thread and I’ll make sure and moderate comments through the day.

William ~ WWJV4.com

Tony is defending his actions saying that “I’ll speak before any group that invites me, I’ve spoken on an African-American radio station in Atlanta.”

Yes, apparently to Tony Zirkle talking to African-Americans is exactly the same thing as celebrating Hitler’s birthday with a bunch of racist Neo-Nazi’s. Of course he did suggest segregating blacks to their own states away from everyone else so celebrating Hitler’s birthday is probibly to be expected.

I expect someone will quickly try to dismiss Tony Zirkle as a nutjob (he is) and not representative of Republicans (he is). Of course I expected Republicans to try to disown the hateful and intolerant views of Sally Kern and they defended her so maybe I will be wrong again. I just can’t seem to let go of the notion that deep down Republicans are good people no matter how often they prove me wrong.