Ralph Nader Calls Out Barack Obama

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Second Salvo

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is again slamming Barack Obama. ABC News reports Nader says Obama will not make the kind of African-American president that he and other civil rights supporters had hoped for.

"People who have fought the civil rights battle... would often talk about, 'look what would happen if we had an African-American president'... it doesn't look like it's going to be what we all thought it would be," Nadar said.

Nader also says he lost respect for Obama because the senator opposed the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Nader told the Rocky Mountain News in June that Obama was trying to "talk white" and was trying to appeal to "white guilt" during his presidential run.

Obama dismissed those comments, saying Nader was just trying to get attention.

Noticeable Omission

The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by Senator Hillary Clinton today. The column attacked the Bush administration, but failed to mention her party's presidential candidate. It was Clinton's second op-ed since dropping out of the race in June.

She never named Barack Obama, even after this closing line, "We need far more than a Truman Committee. We need the Truman spirit in the White House, where the buck finally stops."

Meanwhile, some Clinton supporters are not ready to show their support for Obama just yet. The city of Denver has issued a permit to a group called Colorado Women Count/Women Vote. The women plan to march through Denver on August 26 to show support for Clinton on the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage. That is the same day Senator Clinton is rumored to be speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

Kicking the Bucket

The Denver City Council has unanimously passed an ordinance barring protesters from carrying buckets of feces during the convention. But some groups are calling the ruling excessive and insulting, because they say they have already signed an agreement promising not to toss, smear or spray feces.

The ruling also bars protesters from possessing chains, locks or other materials that could be used to create human barricades.

No Good Deed...

The Canadian city of Pickering has charged an elderly man with operating an illegal business, even though he never charged a penny for his work. The City News of Ontario reports that 81-year-old Jon Tennett fixes his neighbors' lawn mowers and other machines as a hobby.

But the city's commercial zoning laws do not allow any form of home business. Tennett's case is before the courts and if he loses he could be fined up to $25,000. Tennett says if found guilty, he will do jail time instead.

There has been a public outcry and one city counselor who hopes to change the law described mood at city hall as "pretty embarrassed."

— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.