Remember back at the beginning of the month I told you that scientists working at the Library of Congress using hyperspectral imaging determined that in his first draft of the Declaration Thomas Jefferson wrote “subjects” rather than “citizens.” But I’ve just learned that then-editor of the Jefferson Papers, Julian P. Boyd, actually discovered this back in the early 1940s. I’ll bring you more details on this later.
It looks like self-funded candidate and disgraced former health care CEO Rick Scott has basically run Bill McCollum’s once front running campaign pretty close to bankruptcy. The funnier thing though is that McCollum’s sole remaining hope now seems to be getting a big dollop of public money to run his campaign.
Sen. Vitter (R-LA) comes out as a birther, or at least birther-curious.
The story of the year may be the military fib, which has already put a dent in the campaigns of Richard Blumenthal and Mark Kirk (ironically more the latter than the former). But here’s one with a twist. It’s about the Republican presumptive nominee for Governor in Connecticut, a long time GOP money guy named Tom Foley. He was in Iraq with the Coalition Provisional Authority in charge of privatizing all of Iraq’s assets. (Those were the days, right?) I even wrote about him for a short piece for the Washington Monthly way back when about all the GOP operatives running things at the CPA back then.
Back then, for obvious reasons, Foley basically said that the only danger he faced in Iraq was if the locals threw hard candy at him rather than soft. Now in retrospect though he and his campaign are painting a considerably more dire picture.
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) says she’s on board finally for financial reform — just as Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson (NE) expresses reservations, leaving Democrats still stuck at 59 votes.
GOP congressional candidate in Missouri: The growth of government under Obama takes away the freedom to find Jesus Christ.
I usually think of plagiarism as something that brings down journalists. But I guess that’s old fashioned thinking: Candidates for Governor of Colorado can get caught doing it too.
In a late afternoon blog post, the Denver Post reports that numerous portions of essays ‘written’ by former Rep. and now gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis (R) appear to have been lifted more or less in their entirety from essays written years ago by a guy named Gregory Hobbs, who is now a Justice on the state Supreme Court. Bad guy to plagiarize, right? Read More
Greetings TPM Readers. This is just a short note to let you know that I’m going to be stepping away from the site for a little while, taking some time away with my family. The last day off I took was back in April 2009 as we were gearing up for the relaunch and expansion of the site. And I confess the grind has worn me down a bit. So as hard as I find it to pry myself away from TPM, I’m looking forward to a little time away to recharge my batteries. We have a lot of exciting stuff planned for the rest of the summer and the fall. And I’m looking forward to discussing it with you when I get back.
