On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white woman.  That act of defiance was one of the early, visible strikes against the injustices endured by African-Americans.  Tomorrow, June 3, 2008, some 52 1/2 years after Ms. Parks courageous act Barack Obama will stand up and claim that he is the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.  

The enormous significance of this moment is only beginning to sink in.  In the city, an almost-fearful anticipation and quiet excitement has begun to build.  "Don't talk about it out loud.  Something could change".  "I'll believe it when I see it."   The cautionary remarks continue and yet they are delivered with shining eyes and some defiant pride that only hint at the joy waiting to erupt under the surface.  This is really something big.  

One of my favorite blogs Show Me Progress, has a story today that kind of made me sick.  They're reporting on a report in the Columbia Tribune.  The Columbia Tribune is a pretty good daily published in Columbia, Missouri.  The column is written by Ken Midkiff.  Midkiff is Conservation Chairman for Osage County in Missouri and author of "The Meat You Eat" and "Not a Drop to Drink".  

Midkiff reports that he is undecided on who he will vote for in Missouri's primary on February 5th.  

Like most folks, I had no real favorite among the three front-runners in the Democratic presidential run Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. The Des Moines Register said in its endorsement of Clinton that any of the above would make an excellent president and it was a most difficult decision.

Where is Jon Stewart when we need him?

Posters at Daily Kos and other progressive sites (including me) routinely refer to right wingers as whack-jobs...wing-nuts...fill in your own favorite phrase.  Today let's reflect on whether this is appropriate.  Follow me below the fold for a story.

Some Kossack with special knowledge will probably cover this story better than me but I've been kind of sad all day since hearing this.  Newsweek reports that

On Wednesday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the teen birth rate in the United States increased in 2006 for the first time in 14 years,

The change in numbers is definitive.

Between 2005 and 2006, the teen birth rate rose from 40.5 to 41.9 live births per 1,000 Americans aged 15 to 19. The increase was highest among black teens, at 5 percent. Hispanic teens had a 2 percent increase, and non-Hispanic white teens were in the middle at 3 percent. Until this year the teen birth rate had been decreasing steadily from its all-time peak in 1991.

I've often been told that Missouri is a microcosm of the country.  Reportedly Missouri has voted with the rest of the country in every presidential election except one.  With that in mind, let's review a report in today's St. Louis Post Dispatch that says if the election were held today, any of the Democratic candidates would beat any of the Repubican candidates for President in Missouri.

Conducted last week, the survey of 800 likely Missouri voters showed them favoring the top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., over the top Republican, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Clinton also came out ahead in matchups with each of the three other highest-polling Republican contenders: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

The two other leading Democrats — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — also outpolled all four top Republicans, but generally by smaller margins than Clinton.

Several weeks ago I became convinced that the President and the other Republicans' opposition to S-CHIP was on behalf of big tobacco companies.  

Tonight I spent a few hours with some friends.  While I participated in their conversation (I think) the truth is that I just couldn't stop thinking about the SCHIP veto.  Why? Why? Why?  Bush's veto hands Democratic opponents another issue.  By Bush's standards, SCHIP expansion doesn't cost  that much more.  Purportedly the insurance companies and Big Pharma are on board and didn't oppose SCHIP.  All day long I've been wondering...who got to Bush?

Then, a few hours ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks...the Tobacco Companies!  

Neocons converge around Giuliani campaign

I saw this on MSNBC and decided to click through.  Immediately I was looking at a large picture of Rudy, backlit with a rainbow, head up and gesturing to the crowd.  And the Newsweek headline screamed:

Would You Buy a Used Hawk From This Man?

The national media seems to be in the process of anointing Rudy Giuliani as the Republican nominee.  I don't understand Republicans so I won't speculate as to whether he will or won't be the nominee.  I probably have a better chance at speculating about the behavior of Martians than Republicans these days.  

However, with all of the media speculation I started thinking about Giuliani as the nominee.  He was in St. Louis today and his visit provided some food for thought.

Tonight I spent a few hours with some friends.  While I participated in their conversation (I think) the truth is that I just couldn't stop thinking about the SCHIP veto.  Why? Why? Why?  Bush's veto hands Democratic opponents another issue.  By Bush's standards, SCHIP expansion doesn't cost  that much more.  Purportedly the insurance companies and Big Pharma are on board and didn't oppose SCHIP.  All day long I've been wondering...who got to Bush?

Tuesday night St. Louis area Kossacks 'met-up' for some good food and drink and lots of good conversation.  As many as 30 people came and went during the 3+ hour gathering.  We sat outside on the patio at the Royale, a St. Louis neighborhood tavern that frequently plays host to liberal activists. The weather was spectacular and we stayed a long time.

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee I am going to work like a dog to elect her.  And in spite of the fact that I am rather ambivalent about her candidacy right now, I'm certain that if presented with the real opportunity to elect a woman as President of the United States, I will be inspired in ways that I can't even imagine.  She is leading in the polls.  Her potential victory must be considered as a very real scenario.

For these reasons, I read as much as I can about her.  Today, MSN has a Newsweek story How She Would Govern by Jonathan Garman.  The author sets out to make the case that Hillary has learned from her experiences in Washington and has changed as a result of those experiences.

After what we've seen from Republicans over the past decade or so, it is easy to understand if a wanna-be like Mitt Romney believes that the most important characteristic of the Republican nominee is his ability to be mean.  George W. Bush's ascendency taught Mitt that bullies succeed in the Republican party.  And, occasionally, in America.

This Republican mean-guy reality was apparently brought home further to Mitt when Newt Gingrich called him and the other Republican candidates 'pygmies'.

Follow me past the jump and learn about Mitt's latest effort to prove his manhood to Republican primary voters.  I learned about it on STLToday, the St. Louis Post Dispatch's blog and in this AP Story on YahooNews..

In today's St. Louis Post Dispatch, Kevin Horrigan reacts to William Kristol's assertion that

"George Bush's presidency will probably be a successful one."

Horrigan takes his readers directly into the Hall of Bad Presidents, where we eavesdrop on a conversation between Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Warren Harding.  These three former presidents live in the Hall of Bad Presidents.  There is space for only three people in the Hall.  For some time these three have suffered angst about George W. Bush.  Candidly, they are worried that he has earned a spot in the Hall and will put one of them out.  William Kristol's remarks sparked a discussion that brought those fears to the surface.  Kevin Horrigan dug out the story and brings it to us here.

Read some of the highlights with me following the jump.

I admit that I'm reeling since reading the reports that two of the five suspects arrested in the United Kingdom in connection with the incidents in London and Scotland this week-end are medical doctors. This according to a report on MSNBC.com.

British security sources tell NBC News that two of the five suspects in custody in connection with three recent terror incidents in Scotland and London are medical doctors and one may have assembled the bombs.

I'm sitting here catching up on some work and listening to the CBS Sunday morning show.  Senator McConnell has just finished an interview and now Schieffer is interviewing Carl Levin.  Predictably, Levin is expressing displeasure with the situation in Iraq.  McConnell is the one who surprised me this morning.  I didn't expect to hear anything of interest or importance or even, frankly, anything that didn't make me sick so I wasn't taking notes.  I'll try to faithfully repeat his message, if not his exact words.

Missouri Democrats were beginning to savor the possibility of claiming Congressman Ken Hulshof's seat in a special election.  Hulshof has been seeking an appointment to President of the University of Missouri.  For a week or so it looked as though he may win that appointment.  Political people discussed it here and at gatherings in Missouri.  

Alas, according to STLToday, the St. Louis Post Dispatch's web-site, Hulshof will not be offered the position.  I didn't see any other diaries about this so I thought I'd bring you all up to date.

On May 2nd,  Illinois Congressman John Shimkus compared the Iraq War to a Cardinals/Cubs game.  It infuriated me that he would trivialize the war in that way and I wrote a diary about it here.

A few days later, on May 4th, St. Louis Post Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan used Shimkus's "clumsy analogy" to write a column about outrage.  McClellan argued that Americans are too quick to outrage.

Instead, a sizable chunk of the population seems to always be on simmer, ready to boil over at the slightest provocation.

My hands are shaking while I type this.  The St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that Congressman John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois spoke against the Democrats Iraq war spending bill today by comparing the war and the battle over funding to a Chicago Cubs/St. Louis Cardinals Baseball game.