"Same-sex couples already exist, so do different-sex couples. Californians in these relationships are our firefighters, nurses, police officers, and small business owners. They pay taxes and contribute to our economy and our society. Californians come in different shapes and sizes; that's what's made our state great. If two people want to make their relationship more stable, and commit more deeply to each other, that can only be good for California. That's true whether the couple is gay or straight.

"We've seen the walls fall down that once stood against women's rights; the same has been true for racial equality. When my mother was born, women still couldn't vote in many states. When I entered school, black and white couples couldn't get married in many states. It's easy to forget those things, but it wasn't all that long ago. Someday, we'll tell our children that, when two adults in our state who wanted to get married were told they couldn't, we had the chance to change that."

"And welfare is no replacement for love. This video by the Acton Institute about Christian stewardship and government welfare makes a strong case against the latter. It helps explain why it is not obviously un-Christian to oppose more than a safety net welfare state and why individual acts of caritas are the only real answers to human spiritual pain:" It's a compelling argument, to be sure, but the understanding that I have here is that government cannot be a monolithic entity when it comes to dealing with the poor. Unfortunately, government is most often a monolithic entity.

"This Biden interview that Drudge is flagging is a joke. Yes, Biden is a blowhard with logorrhea and an ego the size of the federal debt. But seriously. I mean: if punitive taxation is Marxist, then Ronald Reagan was a Marxist and Adam Smith was a little suspect:"

"Republicans are misrepresenting Obama's tax proposals right down to the bitter end. New radio ads from the McCain campaign and a TV spot from the pro-Republican group Let Freedom Ring are targeting voters nationwide with some of the same tax deceptions we've been hearing all fall, rolled in a bundle and flung through the airwaves. One of the radio ads features Hank Williams Jr., the other Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. But new packaging doesn't make the charges any less false."

"The latest scare tactic from the GOP? The language of the dangers of one-party rule, which ring empty, given that the GOP has had it’s chance during its years of one-party rule to move the country forward and failed. One-party rule under the GOP gave us the massive failed response to Katrina, Tom Delay, Karl Rove, extreme fringe politics (manifest in the ridiculous Terry Schiavo case), partisan divisiveness and no end of voting district gerrymandering to ensure it stays in power.

"Barack Obama has represented a surprising calm in the face of disaster. His demeanor in the face of relentless character attacks (which haven’t stuck) shows a presidential character we haven’t seen in a long while."

"Alabama holds the distinction of having had the nation's most expensive Supreme Court races, with $54 million spent from 1993 through 2006. This year's battle for an open seat on the bench seems likely to sustain the pattern, with heaps of cash being thrown down for ads and a tone that has turned ugly.

"The attacks in the Alabama campaign have been a departure from what we've seen in high court races in most states this year, with the notable exception of Wisconsin. We wrote about some of the ads in that mudfest back in March and April, but subsequent campaigns in other states have been mostly civil affairs, to the surprise of many observers of recent trends in judicial elections." Worth reading, locals.

"Obama had a choice at that moment. He could thank Petraeus for the briefing and promise to take his views 'under advisement.' Or he could tell Petraeus what he really thought, a potentially contentious course of action — especially with a general not used to being confronted. Obama chose to speak his mind. 'You know, if I were in your shoes, I would be making the exact same argument,' he began. 'Your job is to succeed in Iraq on as favorable terms as we can get. But my job as a potential Commander in Chief is to view your counsel and interests through the prism of our overall national security.' Obama talked about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the financial costs of the occupation of Iraq, the stress it was putting on the military.

"A 'spirited' conversation ensued, one person who was in the room told me. 'It wasn't a perfunctory recitation of talking points. They were arguing their respective positions, in a respectful way.'" But he doesn't know tactics from strategy?

"John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, 'You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson.'

"Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the 'B' stood for Barack." Can we brand some McCain hack with R for Racist?

"In one of its ads, titled 'Angry?,' Right Change says that 'Obama will tax Wall Street firms … at 35 percent, while many small businesses pay 62 percent.'

"An outrage, right? The Tax Foundation's Gerald Prante sure thinks so – about the ad's claim, that is. He wrote a blistering critique of the ad, saying, 'This is so ridiculous that I'm almost at a loss for words.' Prante went on to question RightChange.com's general knowledge of how taxes work, saying: 'The people behind this ad are either downright deceitful or too stupid to understand [marginal tax rates]; and given what else they are putting out … I don't know which it is.'"

"Just think about that for a moment. Why would a random mugging by a black man of a white victim prompt Americans to 'suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.' How does this incident tell us anything about Obama's past or associations? You have to find an association between a Pittsburgh mugger and Obama's organization. No one but a racist of massive proportions could possibly make that inference.

"All I can say is that Fox News needs to give more attention to the hoax than it gave to the original story. Ditto Drudge." I sure as hell hope that the blatant racism plays poorly outside the South. I know it'll play well here.

"It’s true, as CBS News is reporting, that the Obama campaign says the charge is completely false. However, it’s also true that the charge is in fact completely false. If when candidates launched false attacks, news organizations reported the falseness of the attacks in a straightforward manner, then they might not be so eager to launch them."

My friends have pretty little girls! :sniffle: