I'm 100% onboard the Obama/Biden train, so the convention doesn't have to convince ME of anything... and trying to watch the coverage, well... the media coverage, it burns us, oh lordy it burns us. So I've been avoiding it... there's too many weeks to go for me to burnout early... those of you who can keep this up pedal to the metal all the time... God bless ya and thank you, but I gotta take some breaths and listen to some tunes....

Tonight's Rescue Team is Louisiana1976, taylormattd, ItsJessMe, YatPundit, drbcladd, and pico:

• Marcion tears apart the belief of many Americans that the war in Afghanistan is a good one in Ungrateful Afghan civilians resent dying for freedom. (Louisiana 1976)
• Pris from LA reminds us of the distressing fact that New Orleans' Charity Hospital has not re-opened 3 years after Katrina as a new hurricane threatens in Waiting for Gustavo. (Louisiana 1976)
• In this fourth installment in a series on potential McCain VP Rob Portman, Ohiobama focuses on the Piketon plant as an "elephant in the playpen" at the heart of Ohio political machinations, in Nuclear Politics, Rob Portman, and McCain's VP Pick. (ItsJessMe)
• fractal details the need for an electricity superhighway in our country, in It's time to democratize energy with an Electranet. (ItsJessMe)
• davidwalters explains how the energy industry in South Korea is thriving due to its extremely well-run nuclear industry and its investments in wind and solar, in Korea: a Country that Understands How to Address the Energy Crisis. (ItsJessMe)
• fake consultant offers an interesting perspective on the economy's downturn in On Economic Forecasting, Or, Notes From The Golf Tournament. (YatPundit)
• Frank Cocozzelli explains how Catholic neoconservatives have hijacked that church's theology for their own purposes in Saving Monsignor Ryan. (YatPundit)
• professorfate synopsizes How to Convince Reluctant Clinton Voters to Vote for Obama. It is a great, focused comparison of actual votes made by three different US Senators. (drbcladd)
• My Philosophy offers Lincoln-channeling as How Barack Can Bring Down the Republican Party Tomorrow Night; it sounds like an interesting idea. (drbcladd)
• Liberal Youth discusses the effect of election reform measures on voter participation in Voting Reforms and Turnout. (taylormattd)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: August 26, 2008

Carnacki has tonight's Top comments - Obama to battle for West Virginia

Please feel free to suggest your own rescues, and otherwise use as an open thread.

I always love this. It's important to keep up to date on which people, places, and phenomena the respective Great States are proud of.

Until and unless we get an official thread for this, let's liveblog the incredibly suspenseful action from Denver.

N.B.: Live stream available at c-span.org. Grab it while you can; I don't think this will last much longer.

Blue Hampshire blogger Mike Hoefer got an important piece of PDMA (Party Disunity My Ass): Kathy Sullivan and Mary Rauh, New Hampshire state co-chairs of the Clinton and Obama campaigns, respectively, address the traditional media's insistence on pushing the myth of disunity.

Some crunchy audio goodness à la John Kerry on MSNBC.

There's always on in a crowd. This time there were a couple.

Kerry and Teresa thought that segment  was for their interview with David Gregory, but the Bobble-head geniuses behind them knew otherwise!

This was their turn to say: "Hi Mom! Look at me go batty! Look Ma, no brains!" At least the Sleepy Kid wasn't there!

One of the Fox News stands at the Pepsi Center.  Empty. Just like their coverage.

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are Elise, HansScholl, ItsJessMe, jennyjem, jlms qkw, and taylormattd, with srkp23 editing.

• Valtin explains how McCain betrayed prisoners of war in McCain, POWs, & the Stab in the Back. (taylormattd)
• wmstudentveteran asks and answers in an Open Letter to Senator John McCain: What about Floyd James Thompson and the other POW's? (jlms qkw)
• In Cherease Cross, Kind, Beautiful, Caring: She Deserved a Better Chance, noemie maxwell adds to her series on the victims of Washington State's three strike law, and offers yet another example of meat grinder justice--a 45 year old woman whose death gives her the freedom a life sentence denied her. (HansScholl)
• lao hong han and napolitana piemontese use compelling real world examples to demonstrate positive changes in how high school students view sexuality, in HS Educator Sees Teen Progress on Gender & Sexuality. (ItsJessMe)
• faithfull sees the lovely Coal River Valley reach a fork in the energy road between the dead end of coal and the future of wind power, in The Life or Death of a Mountain. (jennyjem)
• shirah tells us that while the Bush Administration is on its way out, they're not quite finished undermining OSHA in Proposed New Stealth Horrorshow "Health and Safety" Regulations. (jennyjem)
• FleetAdmiralJ--with charts, graphs, and insight--continues his Bill James-like analysis of the polls and electoral map in Status of the Electoral College: August 26. (HansScholl)
• noweasels urges us to reject Republican attempts to divide us economically in We are all "working class" Americans. (taylormattd)
• NYPopulist shares a personal story about his stepfather in this eloquent tribute to Ted Kennedy: Senator Kennedy Is A National Hero. (taylormattd)
• lukery alerts the community to yet another crap-tastic piece of journalism from the traditional media in NY Times does it again: More 'Judy Miller' tapdancing. (jennyjem)
• countrycat reminds us that the traditional media is literally refusing to do its job in Stuart Rothenberg: "Journalists willing to give McCain a Free Pass". (Elise)
• Policybusters reframes the traditional media's approach to The Burden of Michelle Obama on the First Night of the Convention (according to a racialized media). (jlms qkw)
• Jeffrey Feldman provides some historical context to Michelle Obama's message in Frameshop: The 'Great Society' in Michelle Obama's Speech. (Elise)
• zenbowl tells us about The Amazing Joe Lieberman, and makes it crystal clear why Joe and two-faced John McCain get along so well. (Elise)

jotter serves up High Impact Diaries: August 25,2008.

Elise brings Top Comments: Stand Up.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread.

"I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the Senate"

[h/t to Al Rodgers for the photo]

If you've wondered what the Big Tent looks like from the inside, here's a shot of the blogging area at high noon.

As you might imagine, the sound level and activity in the tent is incredible. At any one moment, you've got people on stage, others conducting interviews, news cameras passing through, knots of folks collecting around celebrities, and lots of bloggers heads down reporting their take on convention events. It's an atmosphere that can inspire... or make you nuts, as trying to concentrate on writing a story can be hard when you're being interrupted by requests to conduct an interview, requests to be the subject of an interview, visits from Democratic politicians and their staff, and the general exchange of names, cards, and handshakes among dozens of organizations.

Still, your valiant editors are doing their best to stay focused.

That's BarbinMD, MissLaura, brownsox, and Plutonium Page sharing a couch and pounding the keys.

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are Louisiana 1976, Yashua, BentLiberal, dopper0189, shayera, jlms qkw and grog.

Non-Convention Diaries, First Edition.

• YellerDog tells how young people who are imitating the style of the 60's "hippies" haven't adopted their activist politics in White Peaches and Rain for Breakfast. (Louisiana 1976)
• thereisnospoon is at the Big Tent in Denver and reminds Kossacks that Our Movement's Barely Getting Started. (shayera)
• It's worth pondering if the pundits who were quiet during the banking crisis bail out will be outraged at Detroit's Big Three asking for help? Johnny Venom just wants to make it an investment not a bailout: Manufacturing Monday: The so-called Big Three, and the taxpayers' money. (dopper0189)
• RogerShuler explores the implications of a McCain statement about the draft and offers an alternative in McCain, Reality, and the Military Draft. (jlms qkw)
• Myrrhis pushes back against convention week and asks if conventions really reach the average voter in Am I just a curmudgeon? You decide. Check out the comments for some respectful answers, pro and con. (BentLiberal)
• DemocraticLuntz brings us a very thorough piece on the history and current state of voting in Alabama in Voter Registration Trends: Alabama. (Yashua)
• Bendygirl tells some of the story of Maud Younger in Labor History: The Millionaire Waitress. (shayera)
• fedupcitizen writes of kicking down doors, opening windows and yes, hope - the hope the Obama nomination brings, in Dreaming while Black...It is a sin not to dream. (BentLiberal)

jotter gives us the day's High Impact Diaries - August 24, 2008, while taylormattd has Top Comments: Nothin' But Comments, Yet Again.

Shamelessly self promote your diary or pimp for a friend Open Thread.

A book signing by six terrific progressive bloggers will be taking place this evening at the Tattered Cover right around the corner from the Big Tent at 6 PM. Featured authors will be Arrianna Huntington, author of Right is Wrong; Ted Sorensen, Counselor; David Sirota, The Uprising;Van Jones, The Green Collar Economy; Jane Mayer, The Dark Side; and our very own Markos with Taking on the System. The street address is1628 16th Street at Wynkoop in Denver, in the restored Morey Mercantile Building, directly across Wynkoop Street from the new EPA building next to Union Station.

• Charles Franklin reviews the different pollsters, how they lean, and explains what a "house effect" is (it's not bias, it's different technique). - DemFromCT
• James at the Swing State Project launches an Independent Expenditure Tracker for House races, which you can find here. Third-party groups such as the DCCC, NRCC, Defenders of Wildlife and the like will shell out lots of cash this cycle; use this resource to keep track of all the spending in one place.
• A book signing by six terrific progressive bloggers will be taking place this evening at the Tattered Cover right around the corner from the Big Tent at 6 PM. Featured authors will be Arrianna Huntington, author of Right is Wrong; Ted Sorensen, Counselor; David Sirota, The Uprising;Van Jones, The Green Collar Economy; Jane Mayer, The Dark Side; and our very own Markos with Taking on the System. The street address is1628 16th Street at Wynkoop in Denver, in the restored Morey Mercantile Building, directly across Wynkoop Street from the new EPA building next to Union Station.
• John McCain and George Bush are the only two people left on the planet who don't like timelines..

  Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

• Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is suffering from dementia.
• If you're attending any convention events today, allow some extra time because security is tight.
• Don't look for Dick Cheney at the Republican convention. For some reason, he'll be hiding out in Europe that week.
• Finding a Joe Biden's book, "Promises to Keep," just got easier to find.
• Who knew? Political flip-flops are just human nature, not hypocrisy. What a relief that must be for John McCain.

Tonight's hard riding Ranger Posse is Yashua, taylormattd, ezdidit, Larsstephens, YatPundit, srkp23 and claude.

Defying easy categorization, this assorted baker's dozen of literary bon-bons caught the Ranging Eyes...

• Mehitabel9 shares what it's like to volunteer in a public place in In Which I Go Out Among the Good Citizens of My City. (YatPundit)
• Stranded Wind offers video of the oldest U.S. rail line in PTA #7: Back to the Future. (ezdidit)
• Examining the electoral toll of emotionally driven political decisions while urging to Let's stop whining about how voters make their minds up, firenz provides workable evidence towards a possible way through this election's maze of smoke and mirrors. (Larsstephens)
• juliewolf offers a beautiful pictorial of recent adventures Birding Coastal Maine. (ezdidit)
• Starkly forewarning all net and grassroots activists, cberlet reminds everyone concerned that Convention Protesters To Be Treated As Terrorists is not just a rightwing talking point. (Larsstephens)
• Oli offers background and detail about The complicated situation in Caucasus that you won't get from the traditional media. (ezdidit)
• two roads pens a thoroughly-researched history of flying saucer legends in Saturday Night Uforia: The tale of the Nazi saucers. (taylormattd)
• American Zapatista presents an excellent news round-up with The Week in Indigenous Peoples Rights 8/24/08. (srkp23)
• A Siegel discusses developing for incoming Congresspeople a set of legislative initiatives designed to spark a sensible energy future in Energizing America: Setting a Freshmen Agenda for Progress. (taylormattd)
• Jimdotz tells us more than we ever wanted to know about group theory in Math Mania: Groups. (YatPundit)
• dkmich reports on the North Pole Stand-off over what could be "25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas." (srkp23)
• By trying the orthopedic sneakers on the other feet, Granny Doc flip-flops the narrative and something else towards the legions of trolls, concern and otherwise, here and everywhere with Hucksters United For Crazy. (Larsstephens)
• Proclaiming that Stephanie Tubbs Jones Lives On!, MA Liberal shows how we too can all leave a real and true legacy to future generations of fellow humans after our demise. (Larsstephens)

taylormattd has Top Comments: Nothin' But Comments Edition.

jotter has High Impact Diaries: August 23, 2008 AND the Week's High Impact Diaries: August 16-22.

This is an Open Thread. Feel free to promote your own or other's fine work you may feel that we have overlooked. The Diary Rescue "Day" runs from 3pm yesterday to 3pm today (west coast time). Play nice, there are children watching.