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On Monday, the Supreme Court voted to uphold an Indiana law that requires voters to show a photo ID to cast a ballot. The ACLU and Indiana Democrats had challenged the state law, passed along party lines in 2005 by a GOP-controlled legislature, which opened the debate on increasingly restrictive voter registrations and identifications in the highest court in the land.

Indiana Republicans and their national colleagues, seen by many to benefit from low voter turnouts, particularly amongst demographics they fare poorly with—minorities, elderly and poor voters—argued that without photo IDs, elections were imminently susceptible to fraud. Detractors, including state and national Democrats, civil rights groups and the ACLU, believed that photo IDs place an unnecessary burden on vulnerable voting groups that could lead to systematic disenfranchisement. Indiana’s law is of particular national interest as is seen as the most restrictive in the country, stating that the photo ID, though provided free of charge, must be government-issued.

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John Prine had it right. And this was back in 1971.

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Twenty-seven years later, the decals have changed to lapel pins, but the argument is back full-force. When in October of 2007 Barack Obama made his now-famous comment about not wearing the flag lapel pin because it had "become a substitute for true patriotism," he caused a tremor in the political force that has yet to completely subside. Even though he went on to clarify that "you show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans…by values and ideals," the political cat was out of the bag, running around the FOX news set, and pissing on everything.

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Oregon

Total Number of Delegates: 65
Pledged: 52
Unpledged: 13

How to Recognize an Oregon Delegate:
Perhaps Oregonians have made assisted suicide legal in hopes that California transplants will consider it a viable option after their first nine months of living in near-constant rain and complaint. That's because Oregon is a beautiful landscape populated by slackers. Since the opening of the Oregon Trail, the state has always been considered the bright-new-beginning destination of choice for the disgruntled ne'er-do-wells of American mythology. It's the kind of place that is especially attractive to people who are big on dreams and short on details (and cash). To add insult to injury, people have always flocked here faster than job growth, which leaves Oregon with a consistently high unemployment rate. It also explains why the Beaver State ranks high in early retirees, strip clubs, microbreweries, and Ph.D.s who wait tables. For hard-core slackers, dream-busting advances from a lifestyle adaptation to a political agenda. Bitter Oregonians have a tendency to mock all those who stand in the way of their dreams. Consequently, their look will put all the delegates from other states to shame. Females will look sharp but sensible in Portland-based Columbia Sportswear's Heavenly Gauze Multi-Print Skirt and Omni-Dri UPF-50 long-sleeved shirt. Males will wear the Workweek-to-Weekend Tetherow Butte Pants and Grindstone Ridge Shirts. All will sport Beaverton-based Nike athletic shoes by day and Nike subsidiary Cole Haan dress shoes by night.

Famous Oregonians:
Disney Studio's Donald Duck creator Carl Banks; voice actor (for Bozo the Clown and Disney's Goofy) Pinto Colvig; Oscar-winning claymation director Will Vinton; Simpsons creator Matt Groening; Erector Set toy inventor Alfred Carlton Gilbert; juvenile writer Beverly Cleary; Nike founders Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight; figure skater turned pro wrestler Tonya Harding; ESPN sportscaster Neil Everett; All in the Family co-star Sally Struthers; WKRP in Cincinnati star Howard Hesseman; Sleater-Kinney singer Corin Tucker; Dandy Warhollers Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Brent "Fathead" De Boer; mother of all anarchists Marie Equi; father of Burning Man Larry Harvey; father of gastronomy James Beard; perpetual Green Party V.P. candidate Winona LaDuke.

Famous Oregon Democrats:
Former United States senator Maurine Brown Neuberger; current United States senior senator Ron Wyden; 6th United States Secretary of Transportation and (disgraced) 33rd governor Neil Goldschmidt; 35th governor John Kitzhaber; 36th governor Ted Kulongoski.

Famous Oregonians With Denver Connections:
Former United States representative Pat Schroeder; University of Denver director of jazz Malcolm Lynn Baker; Clyfford Still Museum architect Brad Cloepfil: Littleton Public School computer lab teacher Sonja Lahana; Boulder photographer and electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate Charles Dietlein.

State Nickname: The Beaver State, The Hard-Case State, Pacific Wonderland (official); Poor-again, Pour-again, Unspecific Wanderland (unofficial).
Population: 3,700,758
Racial Distribution: 83% white, 2% black, 1% Native American, 4% Asian, 10% Hispanic
Per Capita Personal Income: $29,340
Unemployment: 9%

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Rush Limbaugh is something of an expert on the incitation of riots. Of course, he isn’t inciting riots when he dreams of them disrupting the Democratic National Convention in Denver and destroying the Democratic Party, but was he dreaming of nailing Obama with the charge of inciting riots on his talk show a year ago?

On his June 6, 2007 show, Limbaugh ripped Obama’s June 5 speech at Hampton University in Virginia, where the senator discussed what he called the “quiet riots” fostered by disconnection, hopelessness and despair in the forgotten communities of the country:

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Denver, we have a problem.

Blubbermouth Rush Limbaugh of advocating rioting in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. For the record, on his April 23 radio show (which airs from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays on 850 KOA), Limbaugh was responding to comments from Al Sharpton, a Barack Obama supporter, that there will be "trouble" in Denver if the nomination is taken from Obama.

"Now, I am not inspiring or inciting riots. I'm dreaming" -- and here Limbaugh started singing to the tune of "White Christmas" -- "I'm dreaming of riots in Denver."

He went on (no surprise): "Riots in Denver at the Democrat Convention would see to it we don't elect Democrats. And that's the best damn thing (that) could happen for this country as far as anything I can think."

As that creepy Richard Dreyfus senator croons in An American President, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...."

For a transcript of the show, click here. -- Patricia Calhoun

Democrats, God bless ‘em, love the underdog.

Maybe it started in 1960, that magical year when the country put aside 0.1 percent of its prejudices and a few dead-body-ballots in Chicago to elect a young, idealistic Catholic to the White House. Maybe it was his untimely death, maybe the pain of two Nixon victories, the nightmare of Carter or the tabling of hope when nominating vultures like Humphrey, Mondale and Dukakis, but the party of donkeys has a definite penchant for the ostrich and his head full of cool, sandy dreams.

And now, in this savage Year of Our Lord 2008, at the divinely-appointed confluence of all things electorally miraculous, the party got picky. After eight funereal years of intractable war, economic meltdown, international scorn and a fine dismemberment of the Constitution, the boys and girls in blue were handed a blank check to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, hand-delivered by a fed-up citizenry and bathed in the perfumes of a friendly Congress. Only two questions remained: how great was to be the glory, and who would hoist the banner of Change while placing his, or her hand, whether it be black or white or Latino or gay or young or old, on John Roberts’s swearing-in Bible. This was to be the karmic calling in of all favors to balance out Lee Harvey Oswald and company, George Wallace, the Canuck Letter, the Monkey Business, Newt Gingrich, Florida 2000, Ken Starr and Karl Rove, et al.

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It’s easy to see Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary on Tuesday as meaning everything and nothing.

It means everything because, after a month of entrenched campaigning in a critical battleground state that any modern Democratic presidential candidate must carry in the general election, the victor will have invested millions of dollars and countless appearances in the Keystone State and will be expected to perform similarly against John McCain in November.

It means nothing because, after a month of campaigning and millions of dollars and appearances, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have already publicly braced themselves for the long road ahead. As Sly Stallone’s Rocky Balboa, favorite fictitious son of Philadelphia once opined, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” the results in Pennsylvania are unlikely to send either campaign to the mat.

The tale of the tape:

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Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is turning up the pressure on the publicly unaffiliated superdelegates who have yet to endorse a candidate. On Thursday, Dean told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that superdelegates should start making their decisions public “starting now,” while saying the party couldn’t afford to lose two or three months of reunification time in the face of a potentially bruising campaign against John McCain. The superdelegate dilemma is a true test of Dean’s leadership, but it isn’t the only one.

If the remaining 300-odd, currently-mum superdelegates can’t come to a quick, convincing consensus between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the focus may yet again turn to the unseated delegates from the Michigan and Florida primaries. The results of these “beauty pageant” votes, contests that were stripped of their delegates by the DNC as punishment for their early, unauthorized primaries, would give Clinton momentum and likely put her in striking distance of Obama’s delegate and popular-vote leads.

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Oklahoma

Total Number of Delegates: 48
Pledged: 38
Unpledged: 10

How to Recognize an Oklahoma Delegate:
Ninety-eight percent of Oklahoma's religious adherents claim to be Christian, and the vast majority of these residents identify as Evangelical Protestants. This puts Oklahoma securely in the Bible Belt. But despite the state's culture and politics being heavenly influenced by Jesus, Oral Roberts University and Billy James Hargis Ministries, Oklahoma can't claim to be the "Buckle" of the Bible Belt; it’s more like the other end of the belt, the one with all the holes. No, Sooners aren't hypocrites; they’re big believers. However, they see right through the passages of famine and plague and believe that heaven on Earth can only be had through a lifelong practice of doing good deeds, laughing and listening to high-grade rock and roll. Oklahomans are famous the world over for their love of music and good times, and their ability to show the rest of America that one is indeed the other. Oklahomans in Denver will be the delegates who shine with goodness and smile while they dance. Females will be attractive and comfortably dressed in light-blue and tan loose-fitting fashions. They are not the least bit lazy, but prefer to shout from where they're sitting rather than get up to engage in small talk. Male Sooners all dress in cords or ironed blue jeans (typically Levi's) topped with T-shirts that they picked up while traveling around the country following jam bands.

Famous Oklahomans:
Humorist Will Rogers; cartoonist and Pee-wee's Playhouse set designer Gary Panter; comedians Ron Howard, Blake Edwards, Tony Randall, Gary Busey, Rue McClanahan, Dan Rowan, Megan Mullally, Mary Kay Place and Bill Hader; laughable (Dr.) Phil McGraw and Chuck Norris; grandfatherly gasbag Paul Harvey; Pussy Patrol leader Jesse Jane; wisdom-seeker Bill Moyers; celebrity spouse Brad Pitt; musicians Woody Guthrie, Wanda Jackson, Chet Baker, Patti Page, Leon Russell, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Toby Keith; rock bands the Gap Band, Kings of Leon, Flaming Lips, the All-American Rejects and Starlight Mints.

Famous Oklahoma Democrats:
First U.S. female United Nations ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick (until 1985, when her infatuation with Ronald Reagan led her into the arms of the G.O.P.); United States senator from New York Daniel Patrick Moynihan; 21st governor and former United States senator David Boren; current United States senator (and son of David) Dan Boren.

Famous Oklahomans With Denver Connections:
Renowned Colorado Springs photographer Myron Wood; unremarkable Colorado Springs representative Joel Hefley; 10th Circuit Judge Robert H. Henry; Native American bank CEO J.D. Colbert; architect Carol Coover-Clark; Denver Post reporter Miles Moffeit; ListenUp director of marketing Phil Murray; design diva Kat Allen; dentist to the (regional) stars Steven K. Zervas.

State Nickname: The Sooner State, Boomer Paradise, Oklahoma is OK (official); Okrahoma, Jokelahoma, Mobilehoma, Yokelhoma (unofficial).
Population: 3,579,212
Racial Distribution: 75% white, 8% black, 8% Native American, 2% Asian, 7% Hispanic
Per Capita Personal Income: $27,212
Unemployment: 5.4%

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Thanks, Bob Schaffer, for not condemning the contemptuous ad campaign done by a 527 out of Virginia (who better to know about Colorado politics, after all?) that uses the pride that kids have for their school to make them into shills for your political aspirations, based on a record that they know nothing about, nor should they be expected to understand.

Thanks, Bob, for not asking to have that ad campaign stopped even after its approach was denounced by local newspapers, and revealed to have been released without identifying who paid the almost half-million for the ads, as required by Federal Election law.

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If you were to walk down the beach somewhere and see a couch, you might think "how odd…a couch on the beach." But if, as you got closer, you realized that upon that couch, dressed in suits, were the Rev. Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson, you might think: "Yep. I've had a stroke. Is this hell?"

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On August 24, the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee will throw 24 parties for the 54 official delegations to the Democratic National Convention. If you do the math, you’ll see that some delegations are doubling, even tripling up. In some cases, the delegations requested their partying partners. In others, the committee grouped delegations together because they were staying at nearby hotels.

As for Florida and Michigan, the disgraced delegations, there are no official festivities in their honor. But if those delegates want to meet us at Lola -- whose deck looks off on the Pepsi Center, where they will go unrecognized the next day when the convention starts -- we'll buy the margs! -- Patricia Calhoun

The complete list of party venues (in alphabetical order) and the delegations assigned to them:
Belmar Center : Alaska, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee
Blair Caldwell Library: Democrats Abroad, Virgin Islands
Botanic Gardens: South Carolina
Center for the Visual Arts: Georgia
Colorado History Museum: Arkansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin
Denver Art Museum: Illinois
Denver Chophouse: Kansas
Denver Public Library: Iowa
Denver Zoo: Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota
Downtown Aquarium: Connecticut, Delaware, Missouri
Exdo Event Center: California
Grant Humphries: Minnesota
Governor's Mansion: Colorado
Hudson Gardens: New Jersey
The Lab at Belmar: American Samoa, Guam, Idaho, Hawaii
Museo de las Americas: District of Columbia
Museum of Nature & Science: Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
Palazzo Verdi (Tech Center): Nebraska, Oklahoma
Phipps Mansion: New Hampshire, Vermont
Phipps Pavilion: Mississippi, Montana, Wyoming
Pinnacle Club: New York
Red Rocks: North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
Wildlife Experience: Texas
Wings Over the Rockies: Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, Washington

A video recap here of the Bob Schaffer saga, as reported by Veracifier and Talking Points Memo, with a bit of refresher on the Marinas Islands labor situation, provided by a Bill Moyers documentary from 2006.

The blowup over Schaffer’s dubious 1999, Jack Abramoff-funded trip to the islands, and his subsequent dubious handling of its fallout on the ’08 campaign trail, have been watched with much glee by national Democrats who see retiring Wayne Allard’s senate seat as a key pickup in their quest for the ever-elusive 60-seat majority. With 60 blue chairs, Dems can block filibusters and swing a big stick on Capitol Hill. The last time they had such power was from 1977-79 with 61 seats and Jimmy Carter in the White House.

The prospect of moving the open CO seat from “contested” to “in the bag” is a tempting proposition for Dems. In all, they have 12 seats to defend in ’08, and most are secure. Republicans have almost twice as many, 21, and have definite weaknesses in New Hampshire (Sen. John Sununu is down 14-20 points to challenger Jeanne Shaheen, former NH governor, in some polls), Alaska (84-year-old, corruption-investigation-plagued incumbent Ted Stevens edging Anchorage mayor Mark Begich 46-45 percent in a recent Rasmussen Report poll) and Minnesota (Sen. Norm Coleman battling within the polling margin of error with Saturday Night Live alum and Air America gabber Al Franken). Retiring Republicans also have left vulnerable seats in New Mexico and Virginia.

With recent polls showing John McCain holding national leads over squabbling Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a strong Congress might be the last Democratic bulwark for any nastiness come November. 2004 was supposed to be the year Colorado went from purple to outright blue, but 2008 yields another chance to elect a Democratic president and another senator, rounding out the state’s “big four” (two senators, governor and vote for president) without a hint of red.

-- Joe Horton

A buttock? Male, female? Muscular. Hair. More hair. Definitely male. REVEAL hard-core gay sex scene between a flawless blond bodybuilder-hooker and a bald, middle-aged 300-pound man. A cell phone rings. The fat man reaches for it, hits a button to stop the ringing. Back to sex. A hotel phone starts ringing. And ringing. And ringing. The fat man picks it up and hangs up to stop the ringing. It rings again immediately. The fat man tries the same trick. And it rings again immediately. Finally, the phone wins. As the fat man talks on the phone, the hooker continues to do his job.

Fat man: Yeah … Harold, can I call you ba— … Uh-huh … I still haven’t deci— … This really isn’t a good time for— … Please. I have to— … I just— … I need— … (Desperate to get back to sex, gives up.) Okay … Yes, I’m saying yes … No, you can’t announce it yet … I’m giving you my word … I’ve got to hang up now … Okay. (Hangs up.)
Hooker (looking up from his work): Are you a superdelegate?

"Four Days in Denver," a piece in the current New York magazine by Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., starts off with a bang, as a superdelegate, um, consults closely with a Mike Jones-like character in a Denver hotel room. From there, O'Donnell, a former writer/producer for The West Wing, spins an entertaining scenario of a deadlocked convention, full of political insights.

Too bad, though, that New York didn't give the assignment to John Wells, the executive producer of West Wing who actually grew up in Denver -- and might have known that Mike Jones saw clients in his studio.

Even superdelegates. -- Patricia Calhoun

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Ohio

Total Number of Delegates: 162
Pledged: 141
Unpledged: 21

How to Recognize an Ohio Delegate:
If the state of Connecticut married the state of Kentucky, their baby would be the state of Ohio. Like no other Americans, Ohioans combine the cold-hearted industriousness of the New England Yankee with the rock-headed stubbornness of the Appalachian hillbilly. These traits make Buckeyes the best employees in the nation, as long as they can tell their bosses how to run their businesses. And Ohioans mean business. If measured as a nation, the Ohio GDP would be the seventeenth-largest in the world. But while proud of their work ethic, Ohioans don't flaunt their earnings. The state is home to both Abercrombie & Fitch and Macy's, but Buckeyes secretly prefer to shop for fashion basics at Columbus-based Big Lots! and DSW. However, for the Democratic Convention in Denver, Ohio delegates will be wearing solid-color sportswear purchased from Filene's Basement in trend-less styles that can be worn for the next twenty years. Female delegates who live north of I-70 will choose styles befitting a mid-ranking Communist Party undersecretary in somber tones of navy, olive or brown. Females who live south of I-70 will wear slightly dressier styles in brighter shades of red, purple and beige, accessorized with a gold cross on a chain. Male Buckeyes always wear gray pants paired with shirts emblazoned with the logos of the football team that plays in the stadium nearest to their home.

Famous Ohioans:
Airplaners Orville and Wilbur Wright; astronauts Neil Armstrong and Judith Resnick; artists Jim Flora, Jenny Holzer and Maya Lin; broadcasters Ted Turner and Hugh Downs; cartoonists Harvey Pekar and Derf; writers Sherwood Anderson, Toni Morrison, Erma Bombeck and Zane Grey; actors Paul Newman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Fred Willard, Katie Holmes, Paul Lynde, Anne Heche, Luke Perry, Molly Shannon and Woody Harrelson; musicians Dean Martin, Bootsy Collins, Chrissy Hynde, Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson, Kim and Kelley Deal; feminist Gloria Steinem; celebrealist Carmen Electra.

Famous Ohio Democrats:
2008 presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich; former United States senator Howard Metzenbaum; former United States senator and first American to orbit the Earth John Glenn; 6th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala; former United States representative indicted for bribery and racketeering James Traficant (projected release date: September 2, 2009); former Cinncinnati mayor and TV host Jerry Springer; Alison's Soul Sista of the Year representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Famous Ohioans With Denver Connections:
Territorial governor and highest state peak namesake Samuel Elbert;Rocky Mountain News founder William Byers; City of Greeley founder Nathan Meeker; Dearfield founder Oliver Toussaint Jackson; Four Mile House founders Samuel and Jonas Bratner; Springs pottery founder Artus Van Briggle; artist Vance Kirkland; Lodo Red House builder Frederick R. Mayer; Colorado Ballet instructor/choreographer Danielle Sunseri; regressive Republican Bob Schaffer; former tiny Nugget Earl Boykins; former Denver Broncos place kicker Rich Karlis; former Denver Bronco and current News4 sports anchor Reggie Rivers; storm chaser Tony Laubach.

State Nickname: The Buckeye State, Birthplace of Aviation, The Mother of Modern Presidents (official); The Bucktooth State, Birthplace of Modern Mothers, Conntucky (unofficial).
Population: 11,478,006
Racial Distribution: 84% white, 12% black, 1.5% Asian, 2.5% Hispanic
Per Capita Personal Income: $30,129
Unemployment: 6.1%

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