StudentsFirst is screening the film "Won't Back Down" in the middle of the Democratic National Convention in an effort to convince everyone her brand of education deform is the best pathway forward.

I wrote about this last week. The film is financed by Philip Anschutz, notorious winger. And StudentsFirst is spearheading an effort to deform New York schools in concert with right-wing funding sources. See this report revealing Romney and Republicans' involvement:

• StudentsFirst NY Board Members and funders are contributing over $2 million to Mitt Romney and Super PACs working to defeat President Obama;
• StudentsFirst NY is using a complex web of multiple tax designations and different names to shield donors and funders from scrutiny on campaign contributions and political activities;
• StudentsFirst NY is out of touch economically and ideologically with the education stakeholders—the students, parents, communities, and educators—it claims to represent in New York City;
• StudentsFirst NY is supporting market-driven restructuring and privatization of schools that goes even further than what Mayor Bloomberg has implemented in the past decade;
• StudentsFirst NY is using a plan developed by Bain & Company and advocating actions that will treat public schools the way Romney’s Bain Capital treated companies.

No self-respecting Democrat should be caught dead at this screening. I plan to be out front with my camera to see who supports public schools and who doesn't. Please reach out to anyone you know who is attending the convention and encourage them to stand firm for public education.

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Y'know, it kind of figures that Sarah Palin -- whose selection as John McCain's running mate raised enduring questions about the Republicans' vetting operations -- would have such a deft touch when it comes to endorsing candidates.

First there was the Nikki Haley fiasco, which of course is very much still ongoing.

Now we have another Palin endorsee, Idaho's Vaughn Ward, caught red-handedly plagiarizing a well-known speech by ... Barack Obama!

Vaughn Ward, a GOP candidate for Idaho's First Congressional district, is facing charges that he swiped key passages from Barack Obama's iconic 2004 Democratic National Convention speech for his own campaign kickoff speech in January.

The specific passages in question have since been spliced together by a Tea Party activist who asks, "Who Is Vaughn Ward Really?"

Mike Tracy, a spokesman for Ward's campaign tried to downplay the video, telling Politico that the attack was a sign that "[f]olks are getting desperate -- they're saying anything to get Vaughn to go after him. If anyone thinks he's anything like Obama, they're dead wrong."

These allegations come after a series of missteps for the GOP candidate's campaign. Ward fired his campaign manager following an embarrassing discovery that he had borrowed heavily from the campaign language of various other GOP politicians. Ward later sought to rebound from that hiccup with a high-profile appearance with Sarah Palin, who endorsed him -- along with other military veterans -- back in March, but the event was slightly tarnished by multiple reports showing that Ward had referred to Puerto Rico as a "country" during a recent debate.

Notes Jared Keller:

Palin stopped in Idaho to endorse Ward as the GOP nominee to challenge Democratic incumbent Walt Minnick in Idaho's first congressional district. Unfortunately for Palin, Ward has been subject to his own controversy after apparently plagiarizing a speech from another politician: Barack Obama. More specifically, the congressional hopeful cribbed a passage nearly word-for-word from Obama's famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a speech which made him a household name.

"Palin's endorsement is seen as something of great value among Republicans," writes Adams. "But the string of unfortunate events that occurred not long after Palin has given her support makes one wonder if there isn't a 'reverse Midas touch' effect: that rather than turning things to gold, Palin instead turns everything she touches into ... well, the opposite of gold."

One of Vaughn's GOP primary opponents, Lucas Baumbach, is being credited with the video.

Ah, the Schadenfreude.

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I've received some exclusive video of the late, great Sen. Ted Kennedy right before his passing, discussing his family, life and career in politics. This interview was recorded in conjunction with the release of his new book: "True Compass".

You can also buy it here.

Via email:

Click here to read an excerpt from True Compass that details the months leading up to Senator Kennedy's speech to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

As usual, he is impressive. He says he's never shied away from being called a liberal because that's what he was. Now that's an example to follow.

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I've been watching Ted Kennedy since I was a kid and have many memories of him giving speeches -- some great, some not so great. But my favorites may have been his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last summer, even when we knew he was dying of brain cancer.

I especially remember these lines:

For me this is a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.

And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

It's sad that he didn't live to see a health-care reform bill finally pass. In his memory, in honor of his service, and in the name of everything he stood for, we need to pass it more than ever.

Remember Troy Eid? He's the Denver US Attorney (one that apparently survived the US Attorney purge) who was quick to play down any actual threat of the alleged assassination plot against Barack Obama during the Democratic National Convention, characterizing the men arrested as nothing more than a bunch of "meth heads".

Media Bloodhound did a lot of research to show that showed that Eid wasn't exactly on the up and up with the media about what was going on.

Eid's statement appears to be patently false. As reported by the Associated Press:

(Suspect Nathan) Johnson later told a federal agent that the men talked about assassinating Obama only because he was black, according to a federal arrest affidavit. Johnson said he also heard Adolf say that he wanted to kill Obama "on the day of his inauguration" and that he would "find high ground to set up and shoot Obama," the affidavit said.

That's not merely, as Eid called it, "the racist rantings of drug abusers." Rather, coupled with the arsenal found, it shows motive, intent and a plan. And, to be clear, contrary to what Eid told the press, it was in the affidavit.

Turns out, that kind of research got under Eid's craw, and he wrote an op-ed for the Denver Post complaining about the bloggers who were demanding he explain why he didn't think three men with maps, ammo, weapons, computers and written intent shouldn't be considered a "credible" threat.

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Just because Carl Cameron of FOX repeats John McCain talking points does not make them true.

Here's the DNC response:

"American flags were proudly waved by the 75,000 people who joined Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention. John McCain should applaud that, but instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism. On the same day he agrees to join Barack Obama at Ground Zero on September 11, John McCain attacks the patriotism of Obama supporters who so proudly waved the American flag at our historic event in Denver just days ago."
---DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney.

I'm really shocked they didn't find lapel pins too....

Barack Obama goes right at the heart of McCain's campaign strategy and completely destroys it.

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The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

Full transcript below:

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The McCain campaign's pathetic response to Obama's amazing speech tells you one thing: they have no idea how to respond. Tom Brokaw mocks the response and Chuck Todd wonders how the GOP is going to top the Democratic Convention and how McCain is possibly going to top Obama.

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"The McCain campaign, their response seemed to be that they might has well have been speechless. They didn't know how to react to this speech. They could have written that response before the speech even started. They don't know how to react to this speech. Maybe they were focus-grouping at the time and it focus grouped very well. Whatever the response was, they don't know how to react to this just yet. One more point: The 2 conventions, normally you want to go second, but this is the first time we had back to back conventions like this and I tell ya, I don't know if the Republican Party really is looking forward to having to follow this show. because as a political show, this is gonna be hard to top, not just next week, but four or eight years from now."

McCain's response:

“Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama,” spokesman Tucker Bounds said. “When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm’s way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President.”

Of course the McCain campaign doesn't know how to respond. All they know how to do is attack attack attack. Barack Obama's speech wasn't just well-delivered and well-written; It was a generational call to arms. It was a bio wrapped in an attack ad wrapped in a policy speech wrapped in a vision for America's future. He spoke to the concerns of average Americans and how he plans to address them. He painted McCain as the chief enabler of the Bush legacy and status quo of Washington, while offerring a genuinely different path for the country.

Obama just elevated the debate. The question remains whether or not McCain will rise to the occassion or continue the Karl Rove politics of old. My bet is on the latter. St Paul is gonna be a blast.

Q: How do you know Obama's speech was well-received?

A: Pat Buchanan can't shut up about how much he loved it.

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BUCHANAN: "I stand with Obama! It was a genuinely outstanding speech, it was magnificent. I saw Cuomo's speech, I saw Kennedy in '80, I even saw Douglas MacArthur, I saw MLK; this is the greatest convention speech and probably the most important because unlike Cuomo and the others, this was an acceptance speech, this came out of the heart of America, and he went right at the heart of America. This wasn't a liberal speech at all. This is a deeply, deeply centrist speech. It had wit, it had humor, and when he used the needle on McCain, he stuck it into McCain and it was funny. It was Kennedy's speech in '80. I laughed with Kennedy when he was needling Ronald Reagan."

After Joe Biden's ferocious speech about John McCain's poor judgment on national security issues, presumptive nominee Barack Obama dropped by to thank his wife, Hillary, and Bill for all their support and rousing speeches, and promised to make tomorrow night a memorable one.

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"I think the convention has gone pretty well so far. What do you think? I think Michelle Obama kicked it off pretty well, don't you think? If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night. And just in case you were wondering, I think President Bill Clinton reminded us of what it's like when you've got a President who puts people first. Thank you, President Clinton."