Today a gunman opened fire at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville during a children’s play. He got off several shots killing two and critically injuring seven (details have been sketchy despite all the coverage) before being tackled by church members and bound until police arrived only minutes later. According to reports, there were several acts of heroism.

I’m not really sure what to say about this right now but I feel I have to write something. I know several people (mentors, friends, and colleagues) who attend this Church, my SO and I lectured a youth group at this Church, and at the moment we don’t who’s physically hurt and who isn’t. We do know that no children were hurt — well physically anyway.  Read more 

Some interesting bits on the horse race….

Tennessee is now among 16 states that have received paperwork for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader to be placed on their ballots.

Tennessee is one of the best states as far as Independents and/or third parties making it onto the ballot goes. It’s a model that I would love to see other states implement.

Tennessee law requires the signatures of 275 registered voters to qualify. The Nader/Gonzalez campaign submitted 584 signatures.

Given how the primaries went down, it should be interesting to see what, if any, impact Nader has in Tennessee and elsewhere.  Read more 

These two were seized and sold immediately. Otherwise, same drill as before.

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took over two banks on Friday and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with a housing bust and credit crunch.

Two weeks after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp seized IndyMac Bancorp Inc (IDMC.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it closed First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank NA of California.

First National had total assets of $3.4 billion and $3 billion in deposits while First Heritage had assets of $254 million and $233 million in deposits, regulators said.  Read more 

If you’re looking for new and exciting reasons to “get over it,” Michael Kinsley’s recent piece in TIME is not to be missed.

Aside from the standard arguments and moans —and he deploys plenty— Kinsley offers up a few “gems” that are worthy of both excerpt and comment. In the midst of a muddled plea that defies my best attempts at summarization, he informs democrats, particularly Hillary Democrats, of the steps that must be taken in order to guarantee a better America:  Read more 

According to Marc Ambinder, Obama’s toying with giving his nomination speech at Invesco Field has moved from speculation to reality. The reason? Pretty pictures.

Showmanship and pretty pictures aside, what message does it send that Obama won’t be accepting the nomination in the same room with the people that nominated him? You know, surrounded by real democrats, hardworking delegates even, and at the actual democratic convention…  Read more 

With apologies to Eliphalet Oram Lyte:
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Poll after poll tells us the country wants democrats to be in charge and when asked if this is a democratic year we’ve seen pundits and party leaders alike do their best impression of a Magic 8-Ball — at times even shaking and turning blue with exasperation before telling us that, “[all] signs point to yes.” But despite the bluster, Senator Obama is lagging behind the much vaunted and highly praised “generic” democrat.

So why is it that Senator Obama is performing below expectations? Why hasn’t he opened up a much larger lead in most tracking polls?  Read more 

There’s a good reason for the recent Obamabot psyops, pundit declarations, general wailing and at times cajoling Clinton supporters have been subjected to since her recent Indiana victory was spun into a loss: Clinton still has a very good chance of securing the nomination.

What’s more, the next few days are absolutely critical for her and her supporters. The end is only here if we allow the latest round to depress morale and turnout for the upcoming WV and KY primaries.

Jay Cost at RCP lays out why Clinton’s down but not out. First some numbers and demographics:

Two things are holding me back: West Virginia and Kentucky.

—SNIP—  Read more