I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Jacob saw his first real fireworks display and loved it at first. We were watching from the 12th floor of a building right on the waterfront, so it was spectacular. Unfortunately, he was coming down with a fever and by the end was pretty unhappy. He is fine again now.

This was a big week, both locally where my friend qualified for the ballot for NYC's Sept. 9th primary election, and nationally where Obama's surge continued even as the Democrats once again showed less spine than we would like them to. More below.

(Proudly cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama and Democratic PartyBuilder)

Is it just me, or is there something truly special about the Fourth of July holiday? I know, I know, it should be special to all of us because it's when we celebrate what our nation is about. I guess I'm just blessed that I'm able to see and experience this holiday in a special way.

It's fast becoming a tradition for me to march with my local Democratic Party in the world-famous Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade. And when I march with my fellow Democrats in the parade, I notice something amazing. I also noticed this afterwards, when I was working with local Barack Obama volunteers on voter registration.

You know what it is? I'll tell you after the flip...

It is difficult to feel good this 4th of July given the mess the Bush/McCain Republicans have led this nation into. This year alone 438,000 people who lost their jobs. We are well into the Bush's SECOND recession (first president ever to preside over two recessions) with almost no recovery between them. We are officially in a bear market. Food prices are rising worldwide. Oil is at record highs suggesting Americans will have a very, very tough winter. The deficit is WAY above where it has ever been before and no end in sight. And I am not even going into the inept, idiotic and completely useless Bush/McCain Iraq war.

Via calitics, in a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Barack Obama expressed strong opposition to Proposition 8, an initiative set for California's November ballot that will allow Californians to vote to amend the state constitution to restrict marriage to between a man and a woman.

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.

Notice how he frames support for the ban as divisive and opposition to it as pro-equality.

For too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.

This framing of the issue is perfectly in line with Equality For All's campaign to defeat the ban. If you're in California, you can pledge to vote No on the initiative in November HERE.

While Barack's statement is strong, it does, of course, stop short of expressing support of actual marriage equality. The day when the Democratic Party nominee can stand up for same sex marriage is probably not far down the road, but we don't happen to be there quite yet.

To his credit, Arnold Schwarzenegger sees the writing on the wall and has come out against the ban as well, a pretty remarkable stance for a Republican, actually, and one that I think will help ensure the initiative's defeat by drawing a line in the sand for what constitutes the mainstream position. By coming out against it, he puts support for the ban on the extreme right wing side of that line. But Schwarzenegger is also doing his buddy John McCain a favor by serving as his foil. McCain supports the initiative, a position that will give him conservative cred, even moreso if he is seen opposing Arnold Schwarzenegger on an issue. Of course, the last state-wide gay marriage ban McCain supported was the first one to fail, the one in his home state of Arizona in 2006. Let's make McCain two for two, shall we?

Strange week. Saw my first McCain ad this week...and it is clear he is running as a Democrat. Healthcare, alternative energy, environment...all Democratic talking points. We have gone from Democrats feeling like they have to run as Repub-Lite to Republicans trying to hide behind a Democratic facade. You even have a Republican running for Senate in Oregon trying to claim (falsely) that Obama supports him. This is desperation for the Republicans! It sounds like racist attacks have failed them, though I am sure they will try more as time goes on.

Meanwhile yet more polls show Obama ahead in Virginia and Missouri, tied in Florida, AHEAD IN INDIANA (wow!) and within 1-2 points of McCain in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia. Each and every one of these states was solid Bush in 2004. Now they are either leaning Obama or effectively tied.

For a good chunk of my 26 year Air Force career, I was directly involved in surveillance programs for the National Security Agency (NSA).

For decades, these programs have played a crucial role in protecting our country from its enemies and all who seek to undermine the constitutionally protected freedoms that so many brave service members have died defending--including several of my Air Force Academy classmates.

This diary is about energy efficiency.

There are things that one can do on a personal level to save energy (such as turning off your computer when you are not using it).  And added up, those savings matter a lot.  

But this diary is not about personal virture.  It is about the collective virtue of citizens armed with information that influences public policy that affects even more energy efficiency.

If you scroll down to the bottom, you will find a table that ranks each state in the US by per capita energy consumption (I apologize for the formating glitch...I am not very good with html tags).  As you can see, California (of which I am a proud resident) does very well in that rank.  How well does your state do ?   And what can you do to influence that (aside from turning off your computer when you are not using it) ?

To answer that question, it behooves us to answer what California does.