Jumping in here because so many comments have appeared on V.

McCain spent ten minutes on his Hanoi Hilton days, which he's so reluctant to mention normally.

Mothership by PLS.
Live Blog II by MTmofo.
Live Blog III by TrueBlueMajority.
Live Blog IV by Scubaval.
Live Blog V by Rena RF.

Chatter on Obama fans!  Discuss McCain's uselessness and generally enjoy yourselves.  And make sure to keep it all on the record.  ;-)  

I'm going for it.

McCain's answering now.  Here's a recap:

"My Friends"
"POW".

Mothership by PLS

Obama is doing very well, as we knew he would. McCain's up next.

PLEASE UNREC and go to Live Blog IV

McCain is on now and it is disgusting but let's keep the liveblog going.

Obama did very well.  He is not backing down from difficult personal angles.  He is quoting scripture appropriately for a progressive Christian.  He did not back down from being pro-choice.  He did not pander by agreeing to a constitutional amendment excluding same sex marriage.

Of course the usual shyt stirrers have showed up who think all Christians are wacko fundamentalists trying to institute theocracy.  The rest of us can have a reasonable conversation without them.

link to previous liveblogs for those coming to this late:

Faith Forum Live Blog I

Faith Forum Live Blog II

Live Blog III-this one

Faith Forum Live Blog IV

Here's another "diary" to provide a launching point for more observations of the forum.

The initial liveblog is here.

UPDATE: SHIFT to Live blog III.  Unrec this one and rec up that one.linky do.

Ok, I didn't see any open thread diaries up yet so here you go. I think this event is very important, for one thing it will be the first time the American people will get to see McCain and Obama "together". While they will only meet for a moment, both will be asked identical questions, so there should be a great opportunity for comparison. And wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, we have the guy who is comfortable discussing faith. And not the sucky hypocritical type of faith that Jesus railed against either, the kind that is mostly interested in the speck in the eyes of their neighbors than in their welfare.

Looks like the "Social Gospel" is back folks! What's the "Social Gospel"? The Gospel that Jesus actually preached, that's what. You know, Jesus, the guy who said that your odds of getting into heaven if you were rich was about the same as the chance a camel had of getting through the eye of a needle.

Game on in 5 minutes!

Update [2008-8-16 20:21:36 by PLS]: Ok...this apparently is now a "Mothership", so you guys need to decide when to pull the plug. Wow, now I know how Charlotte felt!

It's about an hour up the road from me. ANSWER/LA sent me a flyer to tell me about the planned demonstration. So I'm heading up there, to arrive about 2:00 to get a sense of how the crowd builds.

I'll walk around with my FlipVideo and talk to as many people as possible, then upload over the Sprint broadband card directly to my YouTube channel.
 
   www.youtube.com/roadette

You'll be able to see the debate in the church on live TV...CNN will be there. I'll be covering the demonstrators outside the church. I'll add updates to this diary throughout the day, posting the URL of the videos on youtube as I post them and maybe writing a word or two as well.
It's a gorgeous day in SoCal, likely to be a few degrees hotter inland where the church is than it is in my home town, San Diego.

I'll check comments here too if there is anybody you know you want to say hi to or anyone/anything you want me to shoot or ask or find out about.

Roadette

Welcome back to Austin, TX for the very first Camp Obama of the general election cycle! There are also sessions in Los Angeles today, and in New York City next weekend. The focus of this Camp Obama is to train people who can commit 5 weeks of their time to solid volunteering. These folks will become leaders wherever they go, and some of them might work with all of you when you find your way into an Obama campaign office this election cycle. It’s really exciting to be part of this grassroots organizing. I’m looking forward to hearing about what brings these folks in to participate.

Join us in Austin below the jump for photos and session recaps, to be updated throughout the weekend.

Important: There are Camp Obamas scheduled next weekend for Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. More info below!

During Panel 1, Representative Kucinich (D-Ohio) presented his three bills regarding the articles of impeachment for Shrub for the consideration of the Judiciary Committee. He asked his colleagues in Congress to honor our oath to support and defend the constitution.

These hearings are currently being shown on C-Span 1 TV

Links:C-Span 1 - follow link on home page

Other links

KPFA & Pacifica Radio will air Friday's hearing from 9:00AM - 1:00PM EDT streamed live at pacifica.org and kpfa.org and on the air at KPFA (Berkeley), KPFK (Los Angeles), KPFT (Houston), and others TBD.

Important Note: Please do NOT recommend this diary. Instead recommend the
Mothership here.

See Panel 2 speakers below the flip

House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations
10:00am EDT

This will be shown on C-Span 1 TV

Links:  C-Span 1 - follow link on home page
   From afterdowningstreet.org:

KPFA & Pacifica Radio will air Friday's hearing from 9:00AM - 1:00PM EDT streamed live at pacifica.org and kpfa.org and on the air at KPFA (Berkeley), KPFK (Los Angeles), KPFT (Houston), and others TBD.

We went to Berlin to volunteer to work with the campaign to find and register American voters.  What follows is a photo blog of our experiences.

The Brandenberg Gate - not where Obama spoke.

A final wrap-up.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people – everywhere – became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation – our generation – must make our mark on the world.  

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great.  The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope.  With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.

So history reminds us, that walls can be torn down, but the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy, of peace and progress. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and most of all, trust each other.

And the speech has started.

Although tonight I speak to not as a candidate, but as a citizen. A proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world.

Watch the livestream here.

Update: Some images:

Barack Obama's speech at Berlin's Tiergarten Park in front of the 226-foot high Victory Column is scheduled to begin at 1:00. A crowd of 100,000 to 1,000,000 is expected...and kudos to whoever went out on a limb on the estimate. Enjoy!

Watch the livestream here.

Sorry I'm late, y'all. Breakfast with the candidates and showering and whatnot.

Debbie Cook, Huntington Beach mayor is up now.

Serves on two non-profit boards

Study for Peak Oil ???

Post-Carbon Institute.

Jerome A Paris is awesome, and without the Internets, she'd never be Energy Smart.

The down button is missing from her PC.

Picture: "A Road Forward"-Bliss Rd and Dead End crossroads.

JeffLieber turns out to be a DEA official, so I will soon be arrested for underage drinking.

Help, help, I'm being repressed.

It's his second job.

He brought the Squirmy Rooter, too, but it's not here now.

Maybe later ...

Meeting people terrifies him.

Ben Masel wants to get me in trouble. I'm in!

Sign on the men's room door: Larry Craig Caucus