Bill Clinton's DNC Speech

Clinton got rave reviews for his 50 minute speech making the case for why people should vote for Obama and the Democrats over Romney and the Republicans.

Clinton is seen as one of our generations best political speakers for his ability to combine a mastery of issues and facts, and explain them in a "folksy" southern manner.  Some have called him a great "Explainer-in-Chief".

Here is a short segment of his speech:



The article on Clinton as Obama's Chief Defender can be found in the Christian Science Monitor.

Barack Obama: The Competitor in Chief

A story in today's New York Times describes the competitive nature of Obama's personality, from politics to sports, to well, reading Green Eggs and Ham to school children.  This video accompanied the story:  http://nyti.ms/NGNd2K

High Court Rulings on Campaign Spending, Sentencing of Juveniles

Two other important Supreme Court decisions were announced yesterday.  The first upheld the Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate campaign donations.  (They struck down a Montana law which restricted campaign donations.)

The second decision by the Court said that it was a violation of the 8th Amendment to sentence juveniles to life imprisonment without a chance of parole.

Watch High Court Reaffirms Campaign Finance on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Don't Let Ignorant People Vote?

That was the suggestion from a recent opinion piece by CNN contributor LZ Granderson:.

"We all know people who gleefully admit they know nothing about politics, don't have time to find out what the current issues are or even know how the government works, but go out and vote. Want to know why it seems Washington is run by a bunch of idiots? Blame this hiccup in our political system for starters. What's a solution? Weed out some of the ignorant by making people who want to vote first pass a test modeled on the one given to those who want to become citizens."

The full essay can be read online; here he reads and reacts to some of the letters his essay generated: