Declares Intention to Run Independent or Green Party

Nashville, TN: US Senate candidate Chris Lugo has announced that he is withdrawing his candidacy from the democratic primary race August 7th in Tennessee and will instead run as an independent candidate or seek the green party nomination at their convention May 3rd in Nashville. Calling his campaign a referendum on the war, Lugo said that the democrats are sitting on the fence and he didn't think that continuing to run as a democrat would be a good fit for his campaign. "I am running for office because I want to end the war in Iraq. It is time to bring the troops home and acknowledge the terrible injustice that we have caused. It is time to stop rationalizing our wasteful military spending and abuse of the national trust in the name of a war that never should have happened. We have lost too many good people with no clear objective. We are basically repeating the mistakes of Vietnam."

Growing up in East Tennessee, I often heard my father complain about mugwump Democrats who would vote for the stupidest, most venal, most hide-bound and conservative candidate in the primary. These mugwumps would then vote for the Republican in the general, though they'd maintain that they were still part of the Democrat (sic) Party.

"I vote for the man," they'd say, "not the party." Sure, that way they could be sure of getting the dumbest bag of hammers to represent them. Probably representing them accurately, at that.

This is remarkable.

Link...

I managed to snatch these from the KNS front page while they were still hot.

They're gone now.

I couldn't find credit for the photographer. David Keim wrote the story and hopefully got to sample the 'evidence'.

I had to send a link to my cousin in Corpus Christi. He is a retired KCSD officer and gets a bit irritated about donut jokes.

This morning at 8:00 AM the Flying Spaghetti Monster was put up on the Cumberland County Courthouse Lawn.

It came to me in a sign....build a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and put it on the courthouse lawn in Crossville Tennessee so that others can share in its beautiful image and learn about Its story.
Link...

Another day, another great speech. Taking it to McCain.

This is why the judgment that matters most on Iraq – and on any decision to deploy military force – is the judgment made first. If you believe we are fighting the right war, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. That is what Senator McCain wants to discuss – tactics. What he and the Administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy: how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security, or will in the future. That's why this Administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Senator John Warner in hearings last year: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue – as he did last year – that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.

When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success. Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.

So when I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden– as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.
In order to end this war responsibly, I will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. We can responsibly remove 1 to 2 combat brigades each month. If we start with the number of brigades we have in Iraq today, we can remove all of them 16 months. After this redeployment, we will leave enough troops in Iraq to guard our embassy and diplomats, and a counter-terrorism force to strike al Qaeda if it forms a base that the Iraqis cannot destroy. What I propose is not – and never has been – a precipitous drawdown. It is instead a detailed and prudent plan that will end a war nearly seven years after it started.

The World Beyond Iraq: Senator Barack Obama
March 19, 2008. As prepared for delivery

complete speech transcript after the flip.

It was mentioned in the comments of another thread that Sen. Obama's recent speech on Race hadn't been posted so ... here it is (please forgive any formating issues - this was pure cut n' paste):

Transcript of Obama's speech - CNN.com

Link...

The following is a transcript of Sen. Barack Obama's speech, as provided by Obama's campaign.

We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy.
Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least 20 more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution -- a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

The Bald Eagle was back at the same spot at the Merritt Island NWR Wednesday. I managed to get a little closer for some better shots. See more from the series after the jump...

In Pennsylvania,

Clinton now leads Barack Obama 51 percent to 35 percent among likely Democratic primary voters, according to the Franklin and Marshall College Poll.

In West Virginia,

Clinton attracts 55% of the Likely Democratic Primary Voters while Obama is supported by 27%.

Overall, in

The March 14-18 national survey of 1,209 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters gave Clinton, a New York senator, a 49 percent to 42 percent edge over Obama, an Illinois senator.

Next.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will appear with Barack Obama in Oregon Friday and provide his endorsement to him.
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John Edwards didn't endorse either candidate, or more accurately, he endorsed both on the Tonight Show last night. He said Barack was inspirational and could bring out the youth vote, and Hillary was tenacious, a fighter and had the experience. He said both would make great presidents.

Indeed.

School Block Challenge exhibition closes Monday, March 24 at the Museum of the American Quilter’s Society, The National Quilt Museum, in Paducah, KY.

Around the Block
by Amber Nix, Sarah Specter
and Rosie Pritchard of West Chester, OH

An astounding 133 blocks from 32 schools in seven states were entered in the Museum of the American Quilter's Society's annual School Block Challenge, a national competition for students in grades K - 12

An exhibition of all quilt blocks will be on exhibit through March 24. A narrative about each block's design and development submitted by the students is also being exhibited. You can see other quilts that are on display at the museum by visiting the National Quilt Museum's page on Art Museum Tourinb.com (Link...).

Support your local museums and galleries! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie