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Ronnie Musgrove for Secretary of Ed?

His name is popping up on at least one list, per Wall Street Journal. (h/t Folo)

Mississippi House: Jan. 16, 2003 Weekly Recap

By Rep. Erik Fleming -- Haley Reeves Barbour's inauguration and first address to the citizens as Mississippi's 63rd governor and the announcement of committee assignments in the House of Representatives highlighted the second week of the 2004 Legislature.

Top 13 Ways Oxford Can Replace the Debate

1. Pick-up Ultimate Frisbee between the Gay-Straight Alliance and the College Republicans.

Now that John McCain is cutting and running from the first debate, the town of Oxford is left bursting at the seams with people, reporters, and lots of extra food, booze and energy. So, the JFP staff decided to them out and come up with alternative activities for Friday evening.

Va. Sen. Jim Webb Stumping for Musgrove Today in Jackson

Just saw this on Folo:

Sen. Jim Webb is visiting Jackson, MS, today to do a fundraiser for Ronnie Musgrove and have a press conference in front of the War Memorial at 2 PM? They've issued a special invite to veterans ....

Odds of V.P. Palin Becoming President

I just saw a report that 30 percent of vice presidents have become president. Gulp. This is what Roger Cohen of the New York Times says about the odds:

Senate Panel Votes for New Thomas/White Election

Jan. 19, 2004--The Sun-Herald is reporting: "A Senate committee has recommended a new election in the disputed Hinds District 29 race. Democrat Dewayne Thomas was certified the winner of the race by the Hinds County Election Commission, but incumbent Sen. Richard White, R-Terry, filed a contest petition with the Senate. 'The full Senate will vote on the committee's recommendation, but it is unclear when that will happen,' said Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, chairman of the committee. The committee recommended a Feb. 10 special election in the entire district.

The Soul of An Elephant

"They will learn to conform to our agenda or they will be driven from our party"

Voter Fraud in California, Across the Country

The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that a Republican firm hired in many states to register voters is in big trouble:

The South Will Rise Again

Alternet is featuring a provocative piece by Nina Burleigh, who argues that the "Old South" is "crumbling away." More: "The change has not been sudden, but more of an erosion. Slowly, slowly – as slowly as the hundred long years of Strom Thurmond's life – the reign of white and black men who came of age in an era of separate drinking fountains and burning crosses is ending. Republicans – as they are wont to remind black voters – freed the slaves under Abraham Lincoln. The South was dominated, though, by white male Democrats throughout the first half of the twentieth century, until LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Southern majority turned to the Republican Party, which has been quadrennially tossing racist red meat to poor whites ever since. LBJ predicted that was ahead, remarking, when he signed the law, 'I have signed away the South for a generation.' It turned out to be two. But forty years later, with Thurmond's death, the retirements of North Carolina's Jesse Helms and now, Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, and Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia in 2004, the old conservative bulls in the Senate who have retarded the South's social progress for decades are finally letting go."

‘We Owe It to Emmett Till'

AP is reporting: "The Justice Department said Monday it is reopening the investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a black teenager whose death while visiting Mississippi was an early catalyst for the civil rights movement. Till was abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Miss., on Aug. 28, 1955. The mutilated body of the 14-year-old from Chicago was found by fishermen three days later in the Tallahatchie River. Pictures of the slaying shocked the world. Two white men charged with murder - Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. Milam - were acquitted by an all-white jury. Both men have since died."

The Palins: What They Earn and Own

The Anchorage Daily News today reports on financial information about Sarah and Todd Palin that hasn't previously been disclosed, and prior to her federal tax records, which she has not yet released. Love those socialistic oil royalties:

‘Dixiecrat' Zell Miller Wows Republicans

Conservative columnist/blogger Andrew Sullivan had this to say about Georgia "Democrat" Zell Miller's performance at the convention last night: "Zell Miller's address will, I think, go down as a critical moment in this campaign, and maybe in the history of the Republican party. I kept thinking of the contrast with the Democrats' keynote speaker, Barack Obama, a post-racial, smiling, expansive young American, speaking about national unity and uplift. Then you see Zell Miller, his face rigid with anger, his eyes blazing with years of frustration as his Dixiecrat vision became slowly eclipsed among the Democrats. Remember who this man is: once a proud supporter of racial segregation, a man who lambasted LBJ for selling his soul to the negroes. His speech tonight was in this vein, a classic Dixiecrat speech, jammed with bald lies, straw men, and hateful rhetoric. As an immigrant to this country and as someone who has been to many Southern states and enjoyed astonishing hospitality and warmth and sophistication, I long dismissed some of the Northern stereotypes about the South. But Miller did his best to revive them. The man's speech was not merely crude; it added whole universes to the word crude."

CNN: Obama Wins Debate 56-30 Over McCain

With three debates down, it would seem that Barack Oback and Joe Biden are working on a sweep. In addition, the CNN polls showed 59 percenet said Obama would handle the economy better over 37 percent for McCain. And Obama has passed McCain on both likeability and leadership polls.

Actor Martin Sheen, Rep. Bennie Thompson endorse Dean

The AP reports: "Thompson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, cited Dean's efforts to develop and help rural America."

[Breaking] Education Funding Talks Break Down

[Just in from a "plumber" (our new word for unnamed source)]: "Budget negotiations, especially funding for education have completely broken down. The House has held firm for (close to) full funding of the MAEP. The Senate began showing movement towards a tobacco tax last night until Barbour started making calls (read "threats"). Legislators will be on MS Pub Broadcasting's "Quorum" tonight at 7:00pm. Watch and call in with questions! Click for how to help get education fully funded ...

McCain's ‘Failed State' Gaffe

One of the surprises in Friday night's debate was Sen. John McCain blatant gaffe about Pakistan being a "failed state"—ironically in a moment when he was trying to show that Obama is the "naive" one. From McClatchy News:

Creative Class War

Creative Class guru Richard Florida has a long, compelling piece on Alternet about political culture wars in the U.S. He writes: "The last 20 years has seen the rise of the 'culture wars' -- between those who value traditional virtues, and others drawn to new lifestyles and diversity of opinion. In truth, this clash mostly played out among intellectuals of the left and right; as sociologist Alan Wolfe has shown, most Americans manage a subtle balance between the two tendencies. Still, the cleavages exist, roughly paralleling the ideologies of the two political parties. And increasingly in the 1990s, they expressed themselves geographically, as more and more Americans chose to live in places that suited their culture and lifestyle preferences. ...

Why I'm Voting for George W. Bush

Although it is clear that the JFP has fully endorsed John Kerry, we would like to offer a forum for those who support George W. Bush to give us the reasons why. I ask Kerry supporters not to fill this blog with reasons to vote for Kerry—although anyone is welcome to challenge and discuss the reasons that others give for supporting Bush. I urge everyone to include back-up links where possible and to keep this discussion respectful. Ad hominem attacks will be deleted without comment.

Kerry Goes After Cheney, Haliburton and ‘Mess in Iraq'

AP reports: "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday that the Bush administration ignored overcharging in defense contracts awarded to Halliburton, the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, calling it evidence of the president's mismanagement of the war in Iraq.

Barbour Signs First Bill: Private Prisons

(Jackson, Miss.) -- Governor Haley Barbour signed House Bill 544, the Tallahatchie County Correctional Authority Bill, into law today making it his first piece of legislation to sign into law as governor. "By signing this bill, we are demonstrating our willingness to do all we can to save Mississippi jobs. Protecting these 280 existing jobs is just as important as creating new ones," said Governor Barbour. "I am honored that this is the first bill I have signed as Governor."