domestic spying

Both of Maine's congressmembers are Democrats-- and one, Chellie Pingree, is a strong progressive leader. Last year Obama beat Romney 401,306 (56%) to 292,276 (41%) in the state. And the Democrats regained control over both Houses of the state legislature. Still, the DSCC is reluctant to take on Senator Susan Collins.

In foreign places, the big news story at the end of the week wasn't about the Affordable Care Act website. It was about NSA spying. Government leaders, apparently, get a lot more angry when the spying isn't on their citizens but on they themselves.

"Snowden seems to have sold out to no one. In fact, a knowledgeable source says that Snowden has not even sold his life story and has rebuffed offers of cash for interviews. Maybe his most un-American act is passing up a chance at easy money.

Of course Elizabeth Warren refused to endorse conservative shill Katherine Clark, but that didn't keep EMILY's List from printing up these fliersLast April, Digby exposed the EMILY's List strategy for beating progressive L.A. mayoral contender-- and now progressive L.A.

The great Art Buchwald"During his later life, [Art] Buchwald, an old-school liberal who died in 2007, at the age of eighty-one, spent a lot of time kvetching about the fact that, unlike Mary McGrory and Daniel Schorr, he didn't make it onto Richard Nixon's famous White House enemies list.

Tuesday, Blue America endorsed Tom Guild, the very grassroots progressive Democrat in Oklahoma City running an uphill battle against radical right extremist James Lankford.

Those blue counties all went for Obama last yearLindsey's dream job probably would have been Secretary of State for President John McCain. But, no, that was never to be. And now he has to spend his time upcountry, groveling to a bunch of racist teabaggers and morons in Greenville and in remote redneck bastions of Hate Talk Radio conventional wisdom like backward Oconee, Pickens and Cherokee counties.

Carl Sciortino with Ed Markey on election dayLast night, Alan Grayson (D-FL) endorsed Carl Sciortino for Congress, the progressive in a tight 5-way primary to replace Ed Markey. He joins People for the American Way, Blue America and all the Massachusetts LGBT and progressive organizations who have already endorsed.

Ken and I-- along with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer-- went to James Madison High School in Brooklyn. Maybe that's why the 5 of us are all committed to the 4th Amendment to the Constitution, a crucial part of the Bill of Rights. It was Madison, who was later elected president, who wrote and proposed the simple one-sentence amendment:

Rand Paul was the only senator who voted against confirming James Comey as the new head of the FBI. Good for Rand! I'm glad he's got his wits about him despite the barrage of attacks and smears aimed at him by Establishment slob Chris Christie who's dead set on being the anti-libertarian Republican presidential nominee in 2016. Rand called Christie out for trying to make voters think he's somehow Rudy Giuliani or George W Bush. He's doing his best to paint Christie as the greedy, self-serving pig that he's always been.