“The citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South’s decision to fight the Second American Revolution. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built.”

–from the homepage of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

Sons of Confederate Veterans [Wikipedia]

Flag controversy may derail Homestead Veterans Day parade [South Florida Times]

Flag Feud: Confederate Veteran’s group upset over parade exclusion [Ironton Tribune]

Will President Obama Send a Wreath to Confederate Memorial at Arlington? [ABC]

Image: Dead Federal soldiers on Battlefield – Gettysburg, PA, July 1863 [CivilWarPhotos.net]

Title: Rules for Radicals

Author: Saul Alinsky

Rank: 135

Blurb: “This primer tells the ‘have-nots’ how they can organize to achieve real political power for the practice of true democracy.”

Review: “This book is a must read for all to understand radicalism and how their goals are achieved. This book was essentially the blueprint for the Obama campaign. Saul Alinsky and his views are admired by both Obama and Hillary Clinton.”

Customers Also Bought: Everything on the Wingnut Bookshelf

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When we heard that Chicago right-wing shock jock Erich “Mancow” Muller had himself waterboarded Friday morning — and immediately declared it “torture” — we thought it was significant. Not that we need Mancow to instruct us on the Geneva Conventions, American law, or centuries of jurisprudence, but we figured that a former frequent flyer on Fox & Friends might reach corners of the electorate that even Shep Smith can’t rouse.

We were wrong.

We looked — hard — for examples of wingnut reaction to post here, but of the pages and pages of Google links, everyone excited about yesterday’s video seems to have “blue” somewhere in the title.

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Our in-box is, um, swelling with tips, and without a flattened Chinese Sex Park commanding our attention, now seems a good moment for some Holiday Weekend cleaning:

• Congratulations to Jenyne Butterfly, Miss USPDF 2009! And to the other entrants of the U.S. Pole Dance Federation championships, better luck next year! (Via RML)
• Can’t wait for Miss USPDF 2010? Good news! Miami takes on Chicago in their season opener for the Lingerie Football League in September. (Via RML. Again. We’re telling Mrs. RML.)

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Chicago right-wing jock Erich “Mancow” Muller gets waterboarded live on his show Friday morning, lasts six seconds: “It’s absolutely torture.”

But will it play in Wingnuttia? Stay tuned.

Let’s start out by granting that Nicolas Cage Barack Obama gave a commanding speech at the National Archives yesterday, expressing in welcome detail the national-security challenges he faces and the means he intends to address them.

And then let’s dwell on what he didn’t say.

Briefly: Barry, unlike Harry Reid, is not frightened by Carmina Burana. Rather than succumbing to fear-mongering on Guantanamo, he disposes of those political tactics decisively.

Which makes it even more disappointing that he implicitly endorses another nefarious Republican line: couching his disagreement with the Bush torture regime as a policy difference.

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The more we think about this line from Obama’s speech Thursday, the creepier we feel:

In the midst of all these challenges, however, my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe. That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.

On the other hand, this may be the first President in our lifetime where we’d even give it a second thought.