It's nice to see Fancy Nancy is now attending Netroots N, so that someone of some current political importance is attending. (If she shows up; remember what Pelosi did last year?) Still, what about You-Know-Who? Where the boo-hoo is Barack H.O.?
    (As per my previous diary, with poll showing Kossacks very much want him to attend)

    ...Back on the first July 4, when our ancestors were sweating to death at Valley Forge (maybe I've got the seasons wrong), did you hear THEM saying, "Ohhh, we're afraid to go to the big bad blog conference, we might get criticized?" Well o.k., NNation didn't exist, but they wouldn't have shied away if it did.
    (And anyway, Barack can do a better Sister Souljah if he attends NN and shouts, "You pinko pundits with Pentiums!", than if he stays away)

    I hear Mr. Obama likes faith-based initiatives these days. Well, let's see if he can keep some faith with the people who did so much for his campaign, and whom he expects to do more. I sure hope he has that cowboy hat, so he can wave it around onstage in Austin. . .

Happy 4th of July long weekend, all kos-friends!

25 letters would really really help!

Here's the schedule for game:

We'll start off with D&D 3.5E at Khereva and Tiger's place on Thursday, from noon to four.

If that goes over well, we'll have Grimm Friday afternoon/evening 4pm to 8pm. Khereva and Tiger's place unless they're sick of us, in which case we find another venue.

We'll wrap it up with AD&D on Sunday afternoon. Again, at Khereva and Tiger's unless they're sick of us or we can't fit.

Wondering why it seems that Democrats, now in the majority, don't have the same success as the Republicans did in getting laws passed?

Curious about why the successes we saw in the first 100 days of the Democratic Congress didn't seem to continue?

Like to know what we can do as informed citizens to push forward a progressive and successful agenda?

Let's Ask Nancy.

Boilerplate:  I am new to Second Life and Daily Kos.  You can usually find me blogging as The Accidental Environmentalist. I started this diary to promote Netroots Nation '08 in Second Life.  For those of us who cannot attend NN '08 proper, taking place in Austin, Texas during the weekend of July 17-20, being able to see some of it from Second Life will be a great opportunity to participate.  Please email me at tmgnordlie@gmail.com if you would like to find out how you can be a part of NNSL '08, and keep checking this diary for more information as it becomes available.

Did you know that high fructose corn syrup is good for you? Oh yes! So says the Corn Refiners' Association, which is launching an 18-mo $20-$30 million national ad campaign starting tomorrow. Phew! Time to celebrate with a 42 oz. Coke from McDonalds!

In other news, I saw a full page NYT ad this week from "the people's" oil companies, telling me how the real reason they want to drill the caribou up in Alaska is because they love me and want to make my life better. And of course, who can forget previous ad campaigns public service announcements letting us know that obesity is no problem, it's just hype, and that CO2 is natural because we breathe it out and plants breathe it in.

I'm so glad that all of these enormous corporations are on our side! (And I'm even gladder that Michele Simon - a big thorn in groups like the Corn Refiners' Association's side, no doubt - is speaking at Netroots Nation this year!!)

More on HFCS and more on Michele Simon after the flip...

June 28, 2008:  A Happy Happy Joy Joy Hip Hip Hooray Day for Me!

A Wedding.
A Birthday.
and a fabulous project!

Hello dailykos members!  This diary is an official part of Netroots For The Troops.  

It's your letter lady, jlms qkw, home from holiday.  And a big thanks to all previous letter writers, especially those who sent in letters while I was on vacation!

Current Totals:  59 61 Letters!  

This includes my 11 and 49 from wonderful dailykos members and their families!  

42 40 more needed!

Those of us who've been involved behind the scenes in planning Netroots Nation 2008 in Austin, TX (and it's these folks you need to thank) are thrilled to announce that the tentative agenda for this year's conference is now online.

Click here to see what's coming to Austin.

Back in January, the NN08 leadership solicited proposals from the Netroots to help organize sessions that reflect what matters to us in 2008, and they ended up receiving more than 140 submissions on topics ranging across the political universe.  And they were all damn good.

This agenda is the result of that process, mixing, combining and tweaking as much as possible to create the most well-rounded agenda possible, mixing Netroots experts and innovative new voices from the grassroots with leaders in Washington and candidates who hope to lead in the future -- with our help.

You can search the agenda by topic and speaker, and view by day or by subject, where you'll find such panels as:

• The Next President and the Law (more here)
• The Future of the Netroots and U.S. House Campaigns
• The Races We Aren't Watching but Should
• How to Stop Voter Suppression
• Iraq in Strategic Context
• Guantanamo, Habeas Corpus, Torture and Military Contractors: The Roadmap to Accountability in the First 100 Days

You'll hear from established voices and new ones, including Darcy Burner, Paul Krugman, Markos Moulitsas, Digby, John Dean, Van Jones, Rep. Brad Miller, Cheryl Contee, Rick Perlstein, Debra Bowen, Rick Noriega, Pam Spaulding, Greg Mitchell, Alex Gibney, Jerome Guillet and Andrea Batista Schlesinger, and many, many others.  There isn't a slot on the calendar that isn't packed with talent.

There's also a series of sessions highlighting the accomplishments of the vibrant Texas Netroots community, self organizing sessions for impromptu organizing and lots of training tracks designed to provide tips to take back home.  

Our friends at Burnt Orange Report have a wealth of information available to help plan your trip to Austin.

So join us in Austin!  Click here to reserve your spot at Netroots Nation.  

[FYI: The main hotel block at the Austin Hilton Downtown is sold out, but we've secured an overflow block at the same rate at the Hilton Garden Inn, just a block from the Convention Center. To book a room, call 877-782-9444 and ask for the "Netroots Nation" group rate.]

    Simple question.

    ...I may be missing something, but it seems that besides reliable fireplug Howard Dean and a few pundits, there seems to be a serious lack of political--I didn't say "star"--firepower at the upcoming NN.

    Especially compared to last year, when practically every Dem candidate came to the forum.

    If Barack Obama wants to Sister Souljah the netroots by refusing to attend Netroots Nation, that's a serious problem. After all the netroots did for him. (But how much will they do for him in the future if he doesn't pay appropriate respect? And I don't mean a "special videotaped message" from him, either. He can keep that for himself, I wouldn't want to see it.)

    So his absence (and maybe even the absence of others, including a New York senator, a former North Carolina senator, a present Nevada senator and majority leader, etc.) would be a serious comedown from previous conventions. Would the first Netroots Nation even be worth attending? One wonders.
       

Okay, we're coming down to the wire here - and we need to figure out when and where we're going to have game.

I was thinking of getting a table at the convention, but Mrs. and the Little don't have memberships and I don't know how to get one.

Texas Tiger and khereva have offered their place - a ten minute drive away in North Austin. We can carpool.

Plus, I don't know when would be a good time to run games - Thursday is caucusing all day - do we need to take all day for that? What is it? Can I even participate - you know, not actually being a Democrat and all?

It's Monday, and that means everybody supports the troops!  Here at NFTT (Netroots For The Troops), we're we're preparing care packages to ship to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

It warms my heart to know that people take the time, money, and effort to pack and ship a box 8000 miles across barren land with only the hope that it bring a smile to someone's face. You will never know how much your support means to all of us, how a bite into your favorite candy bar can bring you home.

That's from a letter a soldier sent to a perfect stranger who shipped him a care package.  A little comfort can go a long way.  You know you want to be a part of that comfort, so give us a little time and/or a little money.

And speaking of money, I'll put some where my mouth is. I'll match the first $500 donated today. That's right.  When you chip in, I'll make it double.

Please join me over in "There's Moresville" (sorry, BiPM) for the details.  And, while you're at it, please recommend this diary!

Since I did not receive the Democracy for America scholarship to Netroots Nation but would still like to attend, I'm looking for a way to make it work within my budget.  One way to do so would be sharing a hotel room.  Would anyone be interested in sharing a room?  I'm not much of a neat freak, but I am clean (and articulate!) and will respect your privacy.  I don't plan on spending all that much time in the room beyond sleeping, but if you are friendly, that's an obvious plus.

Feel free to leave me a comment or shoot an email to msrpotus@gmail.com if you're interested.

The buzz builds....I was worried that during the primary conflama that the annual hysteria that is generated pre-Netroots Nation would be diminished.  But I can see that it is starting to grow--all those diaries about sponsoring scholarships were providing some terrific reminiscences for the previous years.  I'm so pleased to see the 30 folks who will now be able to attend with us!

Last year I was running a periodic compilation of some of the unofficial or off-the-record events that were going on around the conference.  It is time to start doing that again--this is the second.  Also, let's have a conversation about what works and what doesn't work for these conferences.  

It is with great disappointment that I post this diary.  I attended Yearly Kos both times, and I was so looking forward to the very first Netroots Nation.  My daughter and I were in Vegas in '06, and last year we convinced my husband to join us in Chicago.  Both times it was an experience we will never forget, and I encourage anyone who hasn't had the chance to go to do it, at least once.  Of course we registered again this year, but due to circumstances beyond our control we will not be able to make it. I'm hoping someone here would be interested in purchasing my registrations.

Flip for more...      

I am pleased to announced that I will be moderating the following panel during Netroots Nation 2008:

The Next President and the Law

A new Democratic president will take office on January 20, 2009, facing a federal judiciary stacked with Republican appointees in 20 of the last 28 years, and a Department of Justice that has been more tied to the President’s policy interests than the impartial enforcement of law. What should the next president do with the courts? What should the priorities be for his attorney general? What legislative initiatives are needed to restore fair access to the courts?

I cannot say enough about how thrilled I am as to who our panelists are:

• John Dean:  Counsel to the President of the United States in July 1970 at age thirty-one, John Dean was Chief Minority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, the Associate Director of the National Commission on the Reform of Federal Criminal Law, and Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He served as Richard Nixon's White House lawyer for a thousand days, and was the first administration official to accuse Nixon of direct involvement with Watergate and the resulting cover-up.

  In 2001 he published The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court; in early 2004, Warren G. Harding, followed by a trilogy on the travesty of this Administration: Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush; Conservatives Without Conscience; and his latest, Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches.  He regularly writes a column for Findlaw.

• Cass Sunstein: One of America's foremost legal scholars, Cass Sunstein is a professor at Harvard Law School and a visiting professor at The University of Chicago Law School, and serves as an occasional, informal advisor to Obama for America. Previously, Cass clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court, and served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. Sunstein is also a leading public intellectual, frequently providing expert testimony to Congress, and has worked on constitutional and law reform issues abroad as legal adviser for many nations, including Ukraine, Poland, China, South Africa, and Russia.  

  Sunstein is author or co-author of more than 15 books and hundreds of scholarly articles, and is the most cited law professor on any law faculty in the United States.  His books include The Second Bill of Rights: FDR'S Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More than Ever and Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts are Wrong for America.

• Michael Waldman: Michael is the executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School.  The Brennan Center is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice, whose work ranges from voting rights to redistricting reform, from access to the courts to presidential power in the fight against terrorism. It's part think tank, part public interest law firm, part advocacy group, and they are making a big difference in our democracy.

  Before that, Michael Waldman was Director of Speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995-1999, serving as Assistant to the President. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly 2,000 speeches, including four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. Previously, he was Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination (1993-1995).  Prior to his government service, Mr. Waldman was the director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch, then the capital's largest consumer lobbying office.

To say I'm humbled to be moderating such a panel is an understatement and these are the types of panels we're putting together up and down the agenda.  

But you have to be there to experience it all.  Have you registered to attend Netroots Nation 2008 yet?  Register today, and join us in Austin.

Hello Community:

I hope this note finds you well. I am a very happy recipient of a Netroots Nation Scholarship from Democracy for America, and people like you.

Thank you very, very much.

I promised to create a podcast & videocast series at Netroots Nation. To prepare for doing just that, I'd like to ask the community for your input on the categories of folks we interview. I wish it were possible to interview every single Kossack. But, we'd already be well into the Obama Administration before I could make that work :-)

Yeah, I know it's called a scholarship program, but "Scholarship Recipients" didn't look good for the title.  And scholar isn't a name that applies to all all of these wonderful activists, writers and researchers.

We made it to 30 scholarships!  I can't imagine 21 of these good people having to stay home.  Thanks so much to DFA and all the many generous donors who made this happen.  It takes 30 seconds to get to the happy dance in this YouTube - Picked because I couldn't resist the costumes.

Here's the link to the DFA announcement of the awards.  And my own listing and comments below the fold.  And, isn't it grand that we weren't limited to just nine of them!  Looking forward to seeing you all in Austin a month from now.