I don’t know that anything has the potential to galvanize public opinion on the forgotten war in Afghanistan. But if there’s anything out there, the ambush of nine boys collecting firewood would qualify. Via MaddowBlog, here’s the revolting account. The only survivor, Hemad, 11, said his mother had told him to go out with other [...]

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, and Rep. Keith Ellison, one of only two Muslims in Congress, have called for an end to the blockade of Gaza, after the deadly flotilla incident with Israel. In a letter to President Barack Obama, they urge him to make the same commitment to call for lifting the blockade, [...]

This is kind of strange. I jumped on a White House conference call with Barbara Lee (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, yesterday. The topic was the youth summer job program, which the House has passed but the Senate has yet to take up. I get an advisory in my inbox that there’s another [...]

The New York Times printed an exposé of the Congressional Black Caucus that needs to be read. Basically, their foundation sucks up corporate money, which would be news to constituents back home. It has a traditional political fund-raising arm subject to federal rules. But it also has a network of nonprofit groups and charities that [...]

(Programming note: The Roundup will be delayed until later tonight) The Senate just passed a third and final cloture vote, by a count of 60-39, on the health care bill. In prior votes today, Jim Bunning did not vote, so I would assume in advance of a roll call, that he was the missing vote. [...]

The AP painted a stark picture last night of skeptical anti-war Dems resigning themselves to the escalation in troops laid out by President Obama on Tuesday. A deeply skeptical Congress on Wednesday resigned itself to President Barack Obama’s escalation of the Afghanistan war, even as the president’s chief military and diplomatic advisers sought to cool [...]