McCain: "The Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian Nation." Wrong. This nation was not "founded primarily on Christian principles." It was founded primarily on enlightenment ideals. Even a very basic study will show that our founding fathers were not a monolith of Christianity, but instead, held a very diverse set of beliefs. For instance, Jefferson was probably a deist.

The Constitution grants us religious freedom, which is a beautiful thing, but it is intellectually, academically, and morally dishonest to say that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values.

Shame on you, John McCain.

YouTube video after the jump.

This might be the only time you see me quote from a Robert Novak article, but here goes...

His tenuous 13-year relationship with the Republican Party, following his retirement from the Army, has ended. The national security adviser for Ronald Reagan left the present administration bitter about being ushered out of the State Department a year earlier than he wanted. As an African American, friends say, Powell is sensitive to racial attacks on Obama and especially on Obama's wife, Michelle. While McCain strategists shrug off defections from Bruce Bartlett and Larry Hunter, they wince in anticipating headlines generated by Powell's expected endorsement of Obama.

By this time, most of you are at BBQs, eating burgers, drinking beer, blowing hands off, etc. If you're not, you're supporting the terrorists. (Don't worry; I'm getting ready to go do all that.)

But, at the risk of making this a "remember the reason for the season" post, I'd urge you to think a little about what we're celebrating: our declaration of independence from England. Read the text of the entire Declaration of Independence after the jump. It's always a good read -- as is anything written by Thomas Jefferson -- especially if you haven't read it in a while.

Said John Adams about the second of July (the day we actually declared independence):

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

Today is my day for making up words. Deal with it!

So Sid makes a point that Obama is making that move to the center that seems fairly common this time of year as the candidates start to scramble for those people in or near the middle. My comment to him was that compromise is necessary to the democratic process. You need to be able to give and take.

In this day and age that seems to be a novel concept. Maybe it has always been so. In any event I think that one can and should go towards the center on a concept like abortion. Polarizaton solves nothing. You end up with a stalemate. I am actually anti-abortion from a strictly moral place, but in terms of my politics I have been labeled pro-choice (or anti-life depending upon your POV). I think that it is VITAL to be able to cross the aisle on hard topics. Compromise is not a dirty word. It is hard work and I think you do need to have lines you won't cross, but some give and take should be expected. What say you?

I just got finished watching Barack Obama's speech from Berlin. It goes without saying -- in present company, at least -- that it was an outstanding speech. Not so much a policy speech, but symbolically very powerful.

On my way into work today, I heard one commentator on POTUS 08 talking about how it might be seen as a bad thing that Obama attracted more people (approximately 100,000, based on estimates I've seen) to a foreign event than he has in any national event. I can see a couple problems with that analysis: First, he is only in the city for one day. I know people from all over Germany (and probably elsewhere in Europe) came to see him speak. If he was doing events everyday in Europe, obviously it wouldn't be so massive. Secondly, I'm not sure how a show of international support could be considered a negative. Is America really that xenophobic that foreign support would hurt Obama? (Stupid question; we tend to elect someone based on whether or not we could drink a beer with them.) Obama enjoys international support because he doesn't have a "with us or against us" mentality. He has a more nuanced and intelligent approach to foreign policy. He knows what he's talking about! Once again, it astounds me that this is a negative thing for some.

What I found striking as the camera panned over the huge crowd were the American flags some were waving. It is so refreshing to see Berliners actually willing and proud to wave our flag. That, in itself was more moving to me than the actual speech. If we want to improve the America's image for the rest of the world, we have to elect Obama.

Watch the speech after the break.