4th of July Holiday Homework

I am vacation this week in Portland, Oregon, but I am still planning on doing some blogging.

Here are some stories that are worth reading...

• Jesse Helms died. Here is a transcript of one of his campaign ads in 1950...

White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races.

Hopefully, we can say that with Helms' passing away that it is an end of an era.

• The Democratic Strategist takes a look at the two brands of patriotism...

If conservatives tend to see patriotism as an inheritance from a glorious past, liberals often see it as the promise of a future that redeems the past.

• Over at Daily Kos, mcjoan takes a look at the Declaration of Independence and the FISA bill that the Senate will vote on next week. Included is this quote from former Sen. Frank Church from back in the 1970's...

Crisis makes it tempting to ignore the wise restraints that make men free. But each time we do so, each time the means we use are wrong, our inner strength, the strength which makes us free, is lessened.

• Speaking of FISA, Glenn Greenwald thinks Obama's current stance is worthless.
• Things are looking good for Democrats this year.

In 2004, the Democrats began the year with a 2.3 percentage point edge over the GOP. That grew to 4.0 points by March before moving in the Republican direction for the rest of the year. By Election Day in 2004, the edge for Democrats was a mere 1.6 percentage points.

In 2006, the Democrats began the year with just a 1.6 percentage point advantage. That grew to 6.1 percentage points by November.

Polls done last month show Democrats with a 9.5% advantage.