Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Monitored Mayor
Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will not be able to travel to Denver's Democratic National Convention if a judge's ruling stands restricting his travel to southeast Michigan. The judge Thursday said Kilpatrick must also wear an electronic monitoring device as part of his bond in an assault case.
Earlier Thursday morning, a different judge ruled Kilpatrick could remove the device as part of his bond in a different perjury case and travel to the convention where he is a superdelegate. Kilpatrick spoke at the 2004 convention.
In a statement Kilpatrick said he didn't want anything to distract from Obama's nomination, but did not definitively say whether he wouldn't try to get the travel restrictions lifted.
When asked for comment, Obama spokesman Brent Colburn responded, "The focus of our convention to people back in Michigan should be on Barack Obama and how the party intends to get America back on track, not a distraction involving the troubles of one individual."
Not This Year
The Reverend Jesse Jackson's streak of speaking at every Democratic convention since 1984 will soon end. Jackson tells Essence magazine he will not be speaking at the convention in Denver.
Last month the civil rights activist apologized to Senator Obama for threatening to cut off a vital body part because the candidate was "talking down to black people." Obama accepted the apology, but The Hill newspaper reports a former Jackson aide thinks Jackson's comments knocked the speaking option off the table.
House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel is also being passed over. The Politico reports Rangel surrogates approached Obama staffers this week about a slot at the podium, but were told Rangel's support of Hillary Clinton in the primaries put him at the back of the line.
One Rangel confidant says, "It's crazy. This man controls tax policy in the United States. He's a lot bigger than just a regular member of Congress, he deserves more respect than this."
Blame Game
South Carolina Representative James Clyburn is taking issue with Bill Clinton's recent suggestion that Clyburn is to blame for an erosion of the former president's standing in the black community during the presidential primaries.
Clyburn tells FOX News, "All the stuff that I saw reported were reports on things the president said from his own mouth." Asked whether Mr. Clinton did, in fact, hurt himself among black voters, Clyburn responded, "My gut tells me that some things I ought to keep to myself."
While being interviewed by a San Francisco radio station, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked why Mr. Clinton recently declined to say in an interview whether he thought Obama was ready to be president. Her response: "I can't answer for Bill Clinton. It's hard when you're in a primary election. Losing is very, very difficult."
School Censorship?
The U.S. Supreme Court was asked Monday to consider whether a fifth grade student's religious expression on a classroom project can be considered "offensive" and subject to censorship.
Back in 2003, Joel Curry of Saginaw, Michigan, made candy cane-style Christmas ornaments with a note that school officials considered "religious literature." The note referenced Jesus six times and God twice.
Curry got an A on the project, but school officials asked him to remove the note. Attorneys filed a lawsuit against the school district, arguing the school violated the boy's right to equal protection.
In 2005 a federal judge ruled in favor of the boy, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the decision.
The Supreme Court is on summer recess, so no word yet if this case will make it on to its calendar.
— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.
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