*Great* political humor. Lampoons both sides, with a catchy tune, too. :)

Political Humor: 'This land is our land'

] For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another
] ingredient in the American saga.
]
] A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child
] on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me,
] even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere
] who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between
] medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s
] not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being
] rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that
] threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief—I am
] my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper—that makes this
] country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual
] dreams, yet still come together as a single American family.
] "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

Wow.

I'd heard about Obama's speech, but hadn't had a chance to watch the video until just now.

Having seen it, I have to agree, yes, it really was that good. :)

He's a great speaker, and I liked that he was talking about ways to bring the country back together, instead of preaching more divisiveness.

I look forward to seeing more of Obama in the future. As for his promotion of Kerry, it didn't persuade me. But if the Democrats were to pull Kerry off the ticket and put Obama on, then yes, at this moment, I think I'd be voting for Obama!

Video: Barack Obama's Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention

] After you've responded to the following propositions during the
] next 3-5 minutes, all will be explained. In each instance,
] you're asked to choose the response that best describes your
] feeling: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree.
] At the end of the test, you'll be given the compass, with your
] own special position on it.

I rate this one up there with ontheissues.org, as one of the most thorough political viewpoint quiz sites available.

In terms of calculations, it rated me as more liberal/libertarian than I think I am (especially in comparison to most of the members of Memestreams *grin*), but I still found the questions interesting.

The Political Compass

] Brigadier Gen. Turnipseed, 75 and retired in Montgomery,
] Ala., says he's sorry he ever said he would have "had
] some recall" of Bush had he attended a meeting of the
] Alabama Air Guard unit.
]
] "I don't remember whether he came or not. Our unit had
] about 900- 1,000 men and he could have attended many
] meetings without me ever knowing it," Turnipseed said
] this week.

For anyone who feels so incentivized, there's a good timeline on this page that shows the details of Bush's service. You're welcome to examine it for yourselves.

Personally, I don't see anything there that raises a red flag for me. There are plenty of other things that Bush says or does that I find annoying or inexcusable. But this 30-years-ago suspected-AWOL non-story is not one of them.

Can we please go back to discussing *real* issues now?

Alabama commander regrets Bush comments

] During the month of June in 1969, Edward Kennedy was
] involved in a horrible car accident. He had been driving
] back from a party on Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts, and
] had driven off the edge of a bridge. Luckily, he was not
] severely injured; however, Mary Jo Kopechne, a woman who
] was in his car, was killed. She was a 29-year-old blond
] secretary in Washington D.C., who worked for Senator
] Robert F. Kennedy and Senator George Smanthers. Edward
] Kennedy's wife was home with their children and had not
] attended the party.
]
] The accident was not reported until eight hours after the
] car had sunk to the bottom of the river. On the following
] Monday, Kennedy was charged for leaving the scene of the
] accident. In Massachusetts, a manslaughter charge is
] always given when someone leaves the scene of a deadly
] accident. This was the second time that Kennedy had been
] in a fatal accident; five years earlier he had been in a
] serious plane crash and had broken his back.


Seeing all the blather about Bush and whether or not he was AWOL, reminded me of this incident, when something bad really *did* happen.

Chappaquiddick

] Idiom Studio
] Governor Howard Dean, M.D
] Iowa Caucus Speech

RtS writes:
This site features videos of the now-infamous Dean speech in Iowa, but from the perspective of the crowd. Lend some context which the media stripped out in order to sensationalize it.

Yup. I'm not a huge Dean supporter, but I could tell that his actions were taken out of context, and I'm glad that this video allows people to see the whole story rather than just "the scream".

Dean Iowa Speech: The other point-of-view

Chronological list of state primaries, caucuses, and conventions, with hyperlinks to the nitty-gritty on each one.

2004 Election Calendar

] Just in time for today's New Hampshire primary, here's a
] candidate scorecard. It rates members of Congress on how they voted
] on technology-related legislation and awarded them a score
] of 0 to 100.

Other information on how recent candidates stand on technology can be found at ontheissues.org, in the "infrastructure/technology" category.

Where Democratic presidential candidates stood on tech in 2000

Okay, *this* is what I was looking for! I've been searching high and low on the web so that I could meme it.

This webpage contains multiple 20-question quizzes on the issues. For example, the "Presidency 2004 Quiz" asks you where you stand on 20 different issues, pro and con, strongly or moderately or not at all. Then at the end you can compare your own answers against the answers of the major candidates, and see which candidates most closely match your own views.

Note: If you don't want to sign up for an account, just click on "Don't save" and it'll let you in without registering.

VoteMatch Quizzes

] Select a state, then click on a Senator's name to see
] their Senate votes and other quotes:

This is an incredible site. It starts with a map of the United States -- you click on which state you're interested in. It then lists all the current senators for that state, as well as their opponents. You can then click on each name, and get a list, by issue, of how that individual has voted in the past. Or, if not how they've voted, what their "on the record" stance is.

For example, look under "Abortion" and see the last half-dozen abortion-related issues, and whether that person voted yes or no. There are over 20 other categories as well: Budget, Welfare, Homeland Security, Education, Environment, etc.

Good stuff!

ontheissues.org - Senate Candidates on the Issues