Here’s an awesome rabbit hole for all you nerds: the Princeton University online lecture series. From discussions on the writings of Jane Austen and the presidency of John Adams to racial injustice in America and the art and science of the motorcycle, this site is full of material that will get you thinking.

What should be the standard for pursuing an impeachment article? Should Congress tie up Dennis Kucinich’s Article of Impeachment because it could affect the economy negatively, waste a great deal of time and money and create even more division between the major two parties? Or should Congress pursue impeachment regardless of the consequences if there appears to be enough evidence to formally make a charge that President George W. Bush has committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors?

Tuesday the House of Representatives voted 238 to 180, with nine Republicans voting ‘yea’, to send Congressman Kucinich’s Article of Impeachment to a Judiciary Committee hearing. This ‘introduction‘ isn’t quite the first step to removing the leader of the United States from office (this article may never make it out of committee), but it’s close and it’s certainly something that deserves to be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. Yet, for some reason, it isn’t.

What’s worse: the fact that a dubitably relevant Jesse Jackson recently said he wants to remove Senator Barack Obama’s genitals, that Jackson suggested the Democratic nominee is talking down to black people, or that he quickly backpedaled and meekly joined the media in the ongoing Great American Talkdown? Undoubtedly, it’s the last of these three.

Already a questionably relevant and relatively sinuous narcissist, Jackson had an opportunity to engage the American people and the media in a true discussion about Obama’s position on faith-based initiatives and the framing of his message to the community. Instead of addressing this matter openly, he weakly whispered his disagreement ‘off mic’ and, once another of his ignorant statements was brought to light, he failed to take the opportunity to do any leading.

If Obama is, in fact, talking down to black people by oversimplifying complex cultural phenomena (a matter of much debate; in fact, Michael Eric Dyson wrote an entire book on this idea following Bill Cosby’s much-televised personal responsibility comments), then the ridiculous way in which the idea was brought to the forefront should not overshadow the issue at hand. Yet Jackson has allowed his brutish murmurings to obfuscate a potentially relevant discussion, thereby continuing (assuming it began at some point) to patronize the community and enabling the media to do the same.

How so? Isn’t the suggestion that Jackson’s comments could hurt Obama’s campaign indicative of a belief that the American people, in general, and African-Americans, in particular, need to be talked down to? Certainly, the portion of Jackson’s comment regarding removing Senator Obama’s genitalia wouldn’t negatively affect Obama’s presidential campaign. Thus, the media is suggesting that Jackson’s talking down to black people comment could negatively affect Obama’s campaign. But isn’t the very asking of this question implying that people can not distinguish a single criticism (legitimate or otherwise) from complete disavowal, thereby suggesting that people’s inability to think critically requires they be talked down to if one wants to avoid negatively affecting an entire campaign via one whispered, critical remark?

What’s worse is that Jackson has further enhanced his history of waffling by joining this apparent Great American Talk Down. By saying that his support of Obama is “unequivocal”, Jackson is suggesting that he is either a hypocrite or that he too thinks the people can not distinguish criticism from dismissal. And yet, in the same breath, Jackson says that Obama’s emphasis must go beyond a message of personal responsibility and into one that “must address the structural crisis in America”.

Maybe this is yet another poor choice of words on Jackson’s part. It’s possible that he is merely a staunch, not unequivocal, supporter of Obama despite his criticism of the faith-based initiatives message. If this is the case, however, he needs to stop carrying the unequivocal support flag and actually become the leader the media has mistakenly claimed he’s been for years. This means calling Obama on the carpet when the mics are openly on and the cameras rolling.

Whether it be on Obama’s FISA stance or his faith-based initiatives discussion, Jackson, or some other more relevant leader, and the American people need to question all our leaders and understand that just as we can criticize the government and love our country, we can criticize potential presidential candidates and still support their candidacy.

Not long ago (July 3rd actually), Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court in California ruled that President George W. Bush lacks the authority to disregard FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). This means the Bush administration’s warrantless electronic surveillance program–for which Congress wants to grant retroactive immunity–was illegal. It seems to me that illegal surveillance conducted against the American people is far worse than illegal surveillance conducted against a rival political party.

Update: For which Congress has granted immunity and allowed (encouraged) to continue. Yet the top story on CNN is not about our eroding freedoms; it is instead about DNA evidence clearing JonBenet Ramsey’s family of her slaying.

A U.S. House Resolution that experts say amounts to an act of war against Iran is quickly gaining speed. H.CON.RES 362 calls on the president to stop shipments of refined petroleum products from reaching Iran and to impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering or departing Iran.”

The resolution has attracted more than 205 cosponsors despite the fact that the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate reports: “We judge with moderate confidence that the earliest possible date Iran would be technically capable of producing enough HEU for a weapon is late 2009, but that this is very unlikely.”

Should we be at all surprised that this administration and Congress are once again ignoring key elements of an intelligence report?

James Dobson is accusing Sen. Barak Obama of “distorting” the bible and saying that he also makes “fruitcake” interpretations of the constitution.

Let’s review a few things that James Dobson has said in the past:

Exhibit A: Rep. Mark Foley, R-FL, caught making sexual passes at pages. Dobson said, “As it turns out, Mr. Foley has had illicit sex with no one that we know of, and the whole thing turned out to be what some people are now saying was a — sort of a joke by the boy and some of the other pages … By midafternoon yesterday, a rumor emerged that in fact Mark Foley had been pranked by the House pages. It is the first plausible thing I’ve heard in seven days…”

According to Dr. Dobson, when a Republican is caught being a closeted homosexual pedophile, it’s just a joke. I mean, really, what’s a little gay sex between a man and an under aged kid if we all can’t laugh about it?

Exhibit B: Spongebob Squarepants is shown holding hands with Big Bird in a video about tolerance. James Dobson called it, “shocking homosexual brainwashing.” But if Big Bird were a Republican, it would just be a joke.

Exhibit C: Colorado Right to Life tells James Dobson to stuff it. Personally, I think they are both wrong, but it’s just fun when one far right-wingnut calls another out for not being Jesus-enough.

Exhibit D: Dobson encourages father’s to shower with their sons. “He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger.” Maybe that’s all Mark Foley was trying to do.

Exhibit E: Dobson believes that gay marriage is worse that Al-Queda. “There is no issue today that is more significant to our culture than the defense of the family. Not even the war on terror eclipses it.”

Exhibit F is for fuck off. I could go on all day but I have a life.

The Chinese government has fired twelve officials for dereliction of duty and misuse of supplies following the May Sichuan earthquake. How many United States government officials were sacked after their disastrous handling of Hurricane Katrina, a much smaller natural phenomenon?

While mainstream television media largely ignores them, the Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush continue to be pushed by Ohio Representative Dennis J. Kucinich. This maverick politician has even set up a petition for those who want to show their “full and unqualified support of the one and only original sponsor of the impeachment resolution”.

The House of Representatives today voted 293-129 to give telecommunications companies immunity for warrantless wiretapping. Called a ‘compromise‘, House Resolution 6304 seems to compromise only the souls of those who voted for it and the Constitutional rights of the American people.

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias recently visited The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to explain why he was fired by the Bush Administration.