Washington, DC - Reverend John Hagee this week apologized for his offensive comments about Catholics.

Despite spending a year courting Hagee's endorsement and refusing to distance himself from the controversial pastor, John McCain reportedly played no role in the apology. McCain has repeatedly refused to publicly denounce Hagee's discriminatory comments about women, African-Americans, America Muslims or LGBT Americans or renounce Hagee's endorsement.

"Now that Reverend Hagee is apologizing for his anti-Catholic comments, does John McCain think that Hagee should also apologize for his other comments? If so will he have the courage to say so publicly? said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney.

The offensive ad is scheduled to air on the same day as Cheney’s Raleigh fundraiser.

North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek today called on Vice President Dick Cheney to demand that state Republican leaders withdraw a degrading and divisive ad, or himself withdraw from a scheduled fundraising trip to North Carolina.

Cheney is slated to raise money on Monday in Raleigh on behalf of the state Republican Party’s “Victory Fund”.

NCGOP leaders are adamant that a controversial ad will begin running the very same day.

The North Carolina Democratic Party pauses today to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King was murdered at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead sanitation workers on a protest against low wages and unsafe working conditions.

This grim anniversary comes at a time when Democrats are poised to elect the nation’s first African-American or female President.

We carry the embers of Dr. King’s unfinished work as Democrats have successfully worked to increase state and federal minimum wage rates.

Winston-Salem Journal Editorial
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Indiana’s harsh voter-identification law is constitutional. Let’s hope that at least five justices remember that the Constitution is built on the principle of free elections.

Indiana, Georgia and Florida are the only states that require voters to present a government-issued identification card each time they vote. That requirement has created a barrier to voting for the poor, disabled and elderly.

Some people might think that a government-issued photo ID is no big deal. And for most of us it isn’t. One judge in a lower-court opinion even said, in upholding the constitutionality of the law, that everyone in the courtroom that day needed such a card to get through courthouse security.

“It is exceedingly difficult to maneuver in today’s America without a photo ID,” Judge Richard A. Posner wrote a year ago for the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court.

Titan Barksdale, News and Observer

A federal judge has allowed NAACP attorneys to challenge a federal redistricting lawsuit that they say could weaken black voting strength in North Carolina and jeopardize the seats of 16 black legislators in districts across the state.

William Barber II, president of North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said today that the suit promotes concentrating black voters into a single district and undermines the intent of the federal Voting Rights Act .

The drawing of legislative district lines, done by the legislature every 10 years, is subject to the federal Voting Rights Act. The act requires states to create election districts that do not dilute minority voting power.

Bush Republicans have engaged in unprecedented obstruction. They have used every delaying tactic available to them, including filibusters and secret holds. But Bush Republican efforts to block floor consideration of even bipartisan and non-controversial bills clearly reveals their strategy: block everything.

Below is a list of the non-controversial, bipartisan bills blocked by Bush Republicans this morning.

ALS Registry Act. S. 1382, which would authorize $75 million for fiscal 2008 to create a registry with the Centers for Disease Control to collect and analyze data on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The bill was passed out of committee and has 67 bipartisan co-sponsors.

By Angela Mack, Wilimington Star
William Barber expects state civil rights activists to get a second wind this week in their race to end racial disparities.

More than 1,000 NAACP members representing North Carolina's 100 counties are expected to attend the 64th annual N.C. State NAACP Convention in Wilmington from Thursday through Saturday.

"Members that come to this convention will get a fresh instillation, a fresh anointing, a fresh call to commitment," said Barber, state NAACP president. "We still have work to do."

Local NAACP officials believe hosting the convention will shed light on local issues. City leaders say the event will not only be a boost to the local economy but may also provide new ways to increase diversity and bring change to the city.

On July 27, 2007 Governor Mike Easley signed Senate Bill 753: Disability History and Awareness Month into law. Starting today North Carolina recognizes October as Disability History and Awareness Month.

In honor of Disability History and Awareness here are some facts on Disability in America today.

• Senate Bill 753 was created during the North Carolina Youth Leadership Network Summit in August of 2006. Seventy-eight youth from around the state gathered to learn about disability history. These amazing young people met with elected officials during this past legislative session to encourage them to support this bill. Their voices and actions made this law a reality.
• North Carolina was the third state to pass this legislation. The first was West Virginia.
• In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Act was founded on four principles: inclusion, full participation, economic self-sufficiency, and equality of opportunity for all people with disabilities.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law.
• According to the 2000 United States Census there are 1,117,577 people with disabilities living in the State of North Carolina.
• According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2003-2004 school year 193,956 students with disabilities were being served in North Carolina.
• Disability History and Awareness Month in North Carolina will increase public awareness and respect for people with disabilities who comprise a substantial percentage of North Carolina's population, teach future generations that people with disabilities have a rich history and have made valuable contributions throughout North Carolina and the United States, and ensure future generations understand that disability is a natural part of life and that people with disabilities have a right to be treated as individuals above all else.

By Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post Staff Writer

The stage Wednesday night at the Congressional Black Caucus's annual legislative conference was a dream that was 37 years old, as old as the caucus itself.

No longer just progressive backbenchers railing at Congress's leadership, the lawmakers who opened the conference were the power elite: the chairmen of the House Ways and Means, Judiciary, Homeland Security, and ethics committees, as well as the House's third-ranking Democrat.

Throughout his tenure, Alberto Gonzales has allowed political gamesmanship to drive the US Justice Department, an agency that has enormous power to jail people, destroy reputations, and affect the outcome of elections.

In addition to the firing of nine US attorneys and the use of warrantless wiretaps in the war on terror, Gonzales also assisted in a five-year Republican campaign to pursue restrictive voter ID laws that would disproportionately disenfranchise minority, senior, student, and disabled voters.

That legacy of voter suppression extends to North Carolina, where Republican State Auditor Les Merritt trumped up earlier this year unsubstantiated charges of voter fraud to discourage eligible voters from going to the polls.

“The North Carolina Democratic Party is pleased that the Bush Administration’s exit strategy includes the resignation of Alberto Gonzales,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek. “But while we’re throwing out the bad apples and restoring integrity to the electoral process, Mr. Les Merritt should be the next to go.”