"The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Just a quick couple of notes on the "campaign" and the insulting, pathetic and pointless stories that go with it. This morning, while walking to work, I noticed the NY Daily News headline "Smear We Go" with a picture ofBarackObama in the native dress of the nomadic people of Somalia. When leaders go to foreign countries, they do, on many occasions, dress like, or in the case of the failure in chiefdance with, the native people of that country. Now, aside from the internationally insulting, "look at how silly he's dressed" angle of this, there is the American idea of a terrorist, or should I say anyone in a turban. A lot of people are pointing at the flailing Clinton campaign for putting this out, but would Hillary, or her husband Bill, really want to bring up Somalia? Insulting foreigners, fear of turbans, do as we say not as Our leader does, sounds awfully red to me. Personally, I think this photo of old manmccain is much more damning.
The Green character more hated then the Grinch, Ralph Nader, has once again thrown his hat in the ring for the Presidency of the United States. We all know that his 2 point something % of voters in 2000 was the reason that a three term Congressman, who served nine years in the US Senate, and was Vice President in an administration that oversaw 8 years of peace and prosperity lost to a one term governor, failed oil man, former alcoholic cheerleader, whose biggest accomplishment was having Houston become the most polluted city in the Union. The disgust with Nader must have been why the Dem.s rolled over with a collective "oh well" when the election was stolen. The Nader excuse for the miserable 2000 campaign illustrates a point that makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth when it comes to the party to which I am registered. The Democrats have been pathetic when it comes to taking ownership of the horrible campaign of their "substantive" detail oriented" candidate Al Gore, who has regained my respect since his "alpha male" presidential bid. Ross Perot garnered 18.9% of the popular vote in 1992. I don't remember hearing the reds crying about him costing george h.w. bush the election and certainly not after Eight Years, even with their arch-enemy in chief at the helm. I will not be voting for Presidential Candidate Nader, as I did in 1996 and 2000. But I firmly agree with him when he told timrussert "If the Democrats can't landslide the Republicans this year, they ought to just wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form."
The General in the Continental Army that brought the Thirteen Colonies freedom and independence from England, First President of the United States, and farmer of hemp, wheat and tobacco, George Washington was born on this date in the year 1732. A courageous, bold, strong leader who, begrudgingly, took the reins of a brand new Nation that he did so much to create.
Washington On Dissent: "If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." From Washington's address to officers of the Army (15 March 1783)
On Parties, to which he was not affiliated: "The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty." From Washington's Farewell Address
On the public: "Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." From Washington's Farewell Address
After Barack Obama's 9th straight primary victory in Wisconsin, but before his 10th in Hawaii, Tom Buffenbarger, the president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had this to say about the Senator's supporters, me included, while introducing Hillary Clinton: “Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter.” Insults like this one, aimed at me, those who wear Birkenstocks and the evil ones that drive hybrids, Piss Me Off and are driving me away! As is comparing supporters of Barack, like myself, to cultists. He is not the savior. He is not divine. His policy plans are not flawless. He IS, however, the first politician to inspire me. He IS the first living politician, whose "words" have brought me to tears. The inspiration and newly found pride I feel is real, and should not be ridiculed or insulted, especially by members of the same "blue team". Now I've made no bones about being an Obama supporter, even before he decided to run for President. Looking back, I've done so without much bile aimed at his opponent, except maybe her judgment on the "Iraq vote". And I have aimed none at her supporters. Why has Hillary Clinton and her supporters gone so negative? As she reinvents her campaign and gives speeches about how unimportant speeches are, I wonder if she is grasping at straws. Her campaign's, flimsy at best, plagiary charges against Obama's quoting past leaders and documents with the words "Just Words!" interspersed between them seems to say Yes. Can I legally type "yes"? Someone must have typed that before. But I digress...
Short of super delegates going against the popular Democratic Primary vote, I will vote for Hillary Clinton, if she comes back and becomes the nominee. Her campaign, however, is making that harder and harder for me to do. I'm not saying that she can't make distinctions between herself and Barack. I have no problem with the former first lady comparing her 7 years in the US Senate to his 3. Debating whether or not to talk to Our enemies is fine with me. Discussing the minute differences between their policy plans on health care or the environment and playing up her positives is what her campaign should, and used to, be about. I would love to see a debate about campaigning hard in every State in the Union versus campaigning in just the big states. Since Super Tuesday all we've heard from her campaign are Obama's negatives. But they're not sticking. Maybe it's because they are relatively small. Maybe it's because they have been accepted by his supporters, because their belief that he is the best candidate to change the way things work in Our Nation's capitol simply outweighs them. After all, does the more time you've spent in Washington without any change being felt, make you more or less likely to change things "on day one"? Maybe it's just that people are "sick and tired" of the "slash and burn" "politics of personal destruction" that the 19%-in-chief and rover were so effective at using against Us.
So as I try not to get too "fired up" about the "change" I "can believe in", I have to wonder at what point the Democratic establishment will say "Enough!" and work "with both sides of the aisle" to bring this "horse race" to a close. The new voters on the scene, inspired by Senator Barack Obama's "words", may "turn out" to be more important to the Party than the individual leaders/royalty within it.
The spying on American citizens by Their government, without ever getting a warrant, is now legal according to the United States Senate. They voted to remove from the FISA law the requirement that a warrant, from a special FISA court, must be attained up to 72 hours AFTER the search/spying is executed. The Senate, it seems, has learned that this administration can be trusted to act in the best interest of the American citizenry without any checks or balances. Blank checks to bushco. are what has made this Country so great over the last six plus years. I say six plus instead of seven, because bush was not given a blank check until after the tragedy of September 11th. The bill also grants immunity to telecommunications companies that gave domestic spies private information their customers trusted them with. The companies say they were just following orders from the US Government. Senator Obama voted against immunity, mccain voted for it, and Clinton failed to vote. In "maybe the founding brothers can stop rolling over in their graves for a minute" news, the Senate did vote yes on a bill that "requires the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and bans waterboarding."
Presidential candidate john mccain (you might have heard he was a prisoner of war) gave the OK to waterboarding prisoners, a "method" the United States of America prosecuted as a war crime in 1947. He voted against the bill banning it, because he thinks that the CIA should not be restricted to the Army Field Manual. Not to come down on the great pander bear, but he was definitely against waterboarding, formerly known as "water torture", before he was for it. Then again he was against bushco.'s tax cuts for the rich, before he was for them. He was against rover, before he was for him. He was against the christian right, or in his words the "agents of intolerance", before he was for them. The flip flops by the "straight talk maverick" seem to have assured the flip flopper-in-chief that his policies will get a third term if his former adversary is in charge. But enough about the imminent runner up, let's get back to other news.
Legalize drugs... for sports stars (and everybody else for that matter). Not that I care too much about overpaid pitchers shooting up performance enhancers, like many of my musical heroes did. I just think there may be more important things for the US Congress to be holding hearings on, like maybe holding someone accountable for the mess that Our Country's in. Or how about hearings on the "buried by the Army" Unclassified report by the RAND Corp. that showed how Bad bushco.'s planning for the war in Iraq was.
While Candidate Clinton changes her tactics from front runner/imminent nominee to calling herself the "underdog" and chooses the guilliani tactic of "I can't win there, so it doesn't matter. I'll pick a primary down the road", this is the text of what Candidate Obama had to say in Madison, Wisconsin:
Today, the change we seek swept through the Chesapeake and over the Potomac.
We won the state of Maryland. We won the Commonwealth of Virginia. And though we won in Washington D.C., this movement won’t stop until there’s change in Washington. And tonight, we’re on our way.
But we know how much farther we have to go.
We know it takes more than one night – or even one election – to overcome decades of money and the influence; bitter partisanship and petty bickering that’s shut you out, let you down and told you to settle.
We know our road will not be easy.
But we also know that at this moment the cynics can no longer say our hope is false.
We have now won east and west, north and south, and across the heartland of this country we love. We have given young people a reason to believe, and brought folks back to the polls who want to believe again. And we are bringing together Democrats and Independents and Republicans; blacks and whites; Latinos and Asians; small states and big states; Red States and Blue States into a United States of America.
This is the new American majority. This is what change looks like when it happens from the bottom up. And in this election, your voices will be heard.
Because at a time when so many people are struggling to keep up with soaring costs in a sluggish economy, we know that the status quo in Washington just won’t do. Not this time. Not this year. We can’t keep playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expect a different result – because it’s a game that ordinary Americans are losing.
It’s a game where lobbyists write check after check and Exxon turns record profits, while you pay the price at the pump, and our planet is put at risk. That’s what happens when lobbyists set the agenda, and that’s why they won’t drown out your voices anymore when I am President of the United States of America
It’s a game where trade deals like NAFTA ship jobs overseas and force parents to compete with their teenagers to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart. That’s what happens when the American worker doesn’t have a voice at the negotiating table, when leaders change their positions on trade with the politics of the moment, and that’s why we need a President who will listen to Main Street – not just Wall Street; a President who will stand with workers not just when it’s easy, but when it’s hard.
It’s a game where Democrats and Republicans fail to come together year after year after year, while another mother goes without health care for her sick child. That’s why we have to put an end to the division and distraction in Washington, so that we can unite this nation around a common purpose, a higher purpose.
It’s a game where the only way for Democrats to look tough on national security is by talking, and acting and voting like Bush-McCain Republicans, while our troops are sent to fight tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and should’ve never been waged. That’s what happens when we use 9/11 to scare up votes, and that’s why we need to do more than end a war – we need to end the mindset that got us into war.
That’s the choice in this primary. It’s about whether we choose to play the game, or whether we choose to end it; it’s change that polls well, or change we can believe in; it’s the past versus the future. And when I’m the Democratic nominee for President – that will be the choice in November.
John McCain is an American hero. We honor his service to our nation. But his priorities don’t address the real problems of the American people, because they are bound to the failed policies of the past.
George Bush won’t be on the ballot this November, but his war and his tax cuts for the wealthy will.
When I am the nominee, I will offer a clear choice. John McCain won’t be able to say that I ever supported this war in Iraq, because I opposed it from the beginning. Senator McCain said the other day that we might be mired for a hundred years in Iraq, which is reason enough to not give him four years in the White House.
If we had chosen a different path, the right path, we could have finished the job in Afghanistan, and put more resources into the fight against bin Laden; and instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars in Baghdad, we could have put that money into our schools and hospitals, our road and bridges – and that’s what the American people need us to do right now.
And I admired Senator McCain when he stood up and said that it offended his “conscience” to support the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in a time of war; that he couldn’t support a tax cut where “so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate.” But somewhere along the road to the Republican nomination, the Straight Talk Express lost its wheels, because now he’s all for them.
Well I’m not. We can’t keep spending money that we don’t have in a war that we shouldn’t have fought. We can’t keep mortgaging our children’s future on a mountain of debt. We can’t keep driving a wider and wider gap between the few who are rich and the rest who struggle to keep pace. It’s time to turn the page.
We need a new direction in this country. Everywhere I go, I meet Americans who can’t wait another day for change. They’re not just showing up to hear a speech – they need to know that politics can make a difference in their lives, that it’s not too late to reclaim the American Dream.
It’s a dream shared in big cities and small towns; across races, regions and religions – that if you work hard, you can support a family; that if you get sick, there will be health care you can afford; that you can retire with the dignity and security and respect that you have earned; that your kids can get a good education, and young people can go to college even if they’re not rich. That is our common hope. That is the American Dream.
It’s the dream of the father who goes to work before dawn and lies awake at night wondering how he’s going to pay the bills. He needs us to restore fairness to our economy by putting a tax cut into the pockets of working people, and seniors, and struggling homeowners.
It’s the dream of the woman who told me she works the night shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford health care for a sister who’s ill. She needs us to finally come together to make health care affordable and available for every American.
It’s the dream of the senior I met who lost his pension when the company he gave his life to went bankrupt. He doesn’t need bankruptcy laws that protect banks and big lenders. He needs us to protect pensions, not CEO bonuses; and to do what it takes to make sure that the American people can count on Social Security today, tomorrow and forever.
It’s the dream of the teacher who works at Dunkin Donuts after school just to make ends meet. She needs better pay, and more support, and the freedom to do more than just teach to the test. And if her students want to go on to college, they shouldn’t fear decades of debt. That’s why I’ll make college affordable with an annual $4,000 tax credit if you’re willing to do community service, or national service. We will invest in you, but we’ll ask you to invest in your country.
That is our calling in this campaign. To reaffirm that fundamental belief – I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper – that makes us one people, and one nation. It’s time to stand up and reach for what’s possible, because together, people who love their country can change it.
Now when I start talking like this, some folks tell me that I’ve got my head in the clouds. That I need a reality check. That we’re still offering false hope. But my own story tells me that in the United States of America, there has never been anything false about hope.
I should not be here today. I was not born into money or status. I was born to a teenage mom in Hawaii, and my dad left us when I was two. But my family gave me love, they gave me education, and most of all they gave me hope – hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it.
Because hope is not blind optimism. I know how hard it will be to make these changes. I know this because I fought on the streets of Chicago as a community organizer to bring jobs to the jobless in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant. I’ve fought in the courts as a civil rights lawyer to make sure people weren’t denied their rights because of what they looked like or where they came from. I’ve fought in the legislature to take power away from lobbyists. I’ve won some of those fights, but I’ve lost some of them too. I’ve seen good legislation die because good intentions weren’t backed by a mandate for change.
The politics of hope does not mean hoping things come easy. Because nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere stood up when it was hard; stood up when they were told – no you can’t, and said yes we can.
And where better to affirm our ideals than here in Wisconsin, where a century ago the progressive movement was born. It was rooted in the principle that the voices of the people can speak louder than special interests; that citizens can be connected to their government and to one another; and that all of us share a common destiny, an American Dream.
Yes we can reclaim that dream.
Yes we can heal this nation.
The voices of the American people have carried us a great distance on this improbable journey, but we have much further to go. Now we carry our message to farms and factories across this state, and to the cities and small towns of Ohio, to the open plains deep in the heart of Texas, and all the way to Democratic National Convention in Denver; it’s the same message we had when we were up, and when were down; that out of many, we are one; that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; and that we can cast off our doubts and fears and cynicism because our dream will not be deferred; our future will not be denied; and our time for change has come.
Abraham Lincoln once said "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." Today , on what would be his 199th birthday, I agree. So instead of giving you some "He was a great man. The civil war was Our bloodiest war, and the great emancipator subverted freedoms and liberties during it." memorial web log, I leave you instead with some of his own words: Some are quite timely: "I do not mean to say that this government is charged with the duty of redressing or preventing all the wrongs in the world; but I do think that it is charged with the duty of preventing and redressing all wrongs which are wrongs to itself." --September 17, 1859 Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio "What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?" Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.
"I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion, does not justify or excuse him. " Letter to Allen N Ford (11 August 1846) Some downright prescient: “These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people”
""Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose, and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after having given him so much as you propose. If to-day he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, — "I see no probability of the British invading us"; but he will say to you, "Be silent: I see it, if you don't." The provision of the Constitution giving the war making power to Congress was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood." Letter, while US Congressman, to his friend and law-partner William H. Herndon, opposing the Mexican-American War (15 February 1848) "I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we begin by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes." When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty-to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy." On the Know-Nothing Party (anti-immigrant party) Letter to Joshua F. Speed on August 24, 1855
Some remind Us what is great about this Country: "What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, the guns of our war steamers, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army. These are not the reliance against the resumption of tyranny in our fair land. All of them may be turned against our liberties, without making us stronger or weaker for the struggle. Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where. " From a speech at Edwardsville, Illinois on September 11, 1858
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it. "
And then there's the downright "Hope Mongering" "My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth. "
Happy Birthday President Lincoln! You should have your own holiday!
Just a quick note: Abraham Lincoln's only government "experience" before becoming President was eight years in the Illinois State Legislature and One term (two years) as a member of the US House of Representatives.
So all the results from Super Tuesday are still not in, but we do know that Senator Barack Obama won 13 States to Senator Clinton's 9. That is a feat that no one would have predicted a month or even two weeks ago. Obama surprised pundits with wins, all be them narrow, in Connecticut and Missouri. He won in states that previously had Clinton ahead. He won two out the three of yesterday's Southern Primaries. That, and his Big victory over Clinton and Edwards in SC, should quell the "A black man can't win in the South" argument. He also was surprisingly close in states that only a week or two ago had him behind by more than thirty percentage points. Clinton did win big states, like California and Massachusetts, but by less than expected. The State to which she owes her "experience" as Senator, New York, was won by 17%. Obama won his Senatorial home state of Illinois, where he lived before becoming Senator, by 31%. The delegates, which are distributed proportionally by Congressional District, have yet to be fully tabulated. Both sides have claimed a slight delegate lead from Super Tuesday. Super delegates, which are ranking party officials who don't have to vote along with the regular delegates, currently are swaying (stealing?) it for the establishment favored Clinton. Whatever the actual count, this contest is further from over than it was before Super Tuesday.
A month ago, Hillary Clinton was the presumptive, if not imminent, Democratic nominee, who would clinch by, or on, Super Tuesday. That myth is over, and I think the Democratic Party is better for it. Unlike some, I think it's a good thing for these two to continue talking to the Country, taking up the headlines, and honing their points until the convention. And the fact that people are looking at these two candidates and saying they would happily vote for either one of them. Hell, just the fact that many of us are saying We are voting For someone, instead of against, is a pretty damn pleasant change of pace, I think. One does have to wonder if the Clinton campaign is starting to fatigue a little. In January, Obama outraised Clinton $32 Million to $10 million. And Clinton's coughing fit end to an interview on Tuesday doesn't bode well for the physical toll the campaign is taking. Don't get me wrong. She is a Strong and Viable candidate for president, not to mention a Fierce competitor. She is in no way out of this. But it's a dead heat, and she's been in the lead up until now. Senator Obama has the momentum and has more resources on hand. AmericaBlog called last night "Barack's big night". DailyKos called it a "Huge night for Obama". But once again I find myself agreeing with the Rude One. "In Brief: Obama won"
I'll leave you with some interesting number crunching from Time : Here are the numbers just for the 19 states where both parties had elections yesterday Obama/Clinton voters: 14,460,149 McCain/Romney/Huckabee voters: 8,367,694
TOTAL DEMOCRATIC VOTES CAST Clinton: 50.2% (7,347,971) Obama: 49.8% (7,294,851)
We've had two days to recover from the Greatest Upset in NFL, and possibly US sports history, last Sunday, as the New Jersey Giants won the Superbowl!!!! Their Parade is going on in New York, as are the Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. The Giants ticker tape celebration culminates at Giants Stadium, where on Monday Senator Barack Obama was joined on stage by Senator Teddy Kennedy and Robert DeNiro. Bobby D?!?!?! That's almost as big a surprise as the Grateful Dead, sans Jerry of course, reuniting for Obama in San Francisco yesterday. Well, anyway...
Today is Super Tuesday. 24 States, including the Great State of New Jersey, are holding their primaries today. It's a tight race on the Democratic side with Senator Obama, who is in the delegate lead right now, pulling up to tie with Senator Clinton in National polls, not to mention in races like California and New Jersey where Clinton used to be up by double digits.
One important note: In New Jersey, citizens who are not affiliated with a party or are registered as INDEPENDENT CAN VOTE, if they declare which party they will be voting for in the primary.
In case you hadn't guessed by now, I voted for Senator Barack Obama. In addition to being amazingly intelligent and writing the best political book I've read that wasn't written by a founding father, he was against this War in Iraq before it started and before it was popular for politicians to do so.
Another, bigger, reason for voting for Obama was that he inspires people to believe that their Country can be great and that they are essential to making it great. The proof of this shows in the youth, who lack luster candidates always blame for not coming out. They are coming out for Barack.
One another thing, which unfortunately has the feel of "who you would like to have a beer with", is that I can see Barack Obama sitting at a table and talking with anyone, friend or foe, ally or enemy, yes man or nay sayer. I do not see Senator Clinton in that same light. She strikes me as much more of "My way or the Highway" type of person. And we've all seen how that attitude works out.
Hollywood fred thompson is out. Congressman Dennis Kucinich is out. Senator Barack Obama (295,091 votes) crushed Senators Clinton( 141,128), Edwards ( 93,552), and McCain( 143,224) in SOUTH Carolina. Though there seems to be some surprise that white southerners didn't come out in the same numbers for Barack (in case you missed the Clinton camp's announcement, Obama is black), the fact remains that more Americans came out in this southern state that went for bush twice to vote for Senator Barack Obama than Anyone on Either side, and by a lot. Hillary did win the Nevada primary, but it looks like Barack will bring home more of their delegates. Speaking of delegates, the Clinton camp is trying to bring the delegates back in Michigan and Florida, both of which Candidate Clinton won uncontested. Delegates were stripped from both states by Democratic National Committee because they moved their primaries up in the schedule. Why would she want that? Think she, or should I say They, are getting nervous? This Barack Obama is really starting to catch on with some real "experienced" Democrats. Senator Obama has now been endorsed by Senators John Kerry, Pat Leahy, Ted Kennedy, and former first daughter Caroline Kennedy, in her first ever presidential endorsement.
Change, in policy, is one thing all the Democratic candidates agree on. But there needs to be a change in more than health care, energy, and foreign policies. The way policy, and debate, is formed in Washington needs to change. The politics need to be changed. The team politics of "you're either with us or against us" needs to be replaced with a "what's best for the Country", "greater good" politics. It may seem like a pipe dream now, and this blog would certainly have to change with it, but it is a memo that the Clintons have not yet gotten. Senator Hillary Clinton left South Carolina to the ex president of the United States to campaign in. Bill Clinton is not running for president. Let me repeat that. Bill Clinton is not running for President. We do not elect Couples to run the United States as co-presidents. We elect one American to lead the Executive Branch as president. Former president Bill Clinton has been more active in the politics of this election than any other president has been in an election that is not their own. More than bushie's daddy did in 2000 or 2004. The former president is negative, he is red faced, and he has gotten nasty. His caustic involvement in partisan politics is not completely unlike the current sitting failure bringing partisan politics into every corner of his governance. Don't misunderstand me. I think Senator Clinton would differ in (non-corporate) policy from the monstrosity we have in the White House right now, but her politics are down right rovian. This election is about which candidate will help to bring about a real change in American governance. Recently on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow said this about the three leading Democratic candidates and "change":
"And I think that Obama and Clinton and Edwards are actually identifying what needs to be changed in three really different ways. I think Hillary Clinton is saying the Republicans and Bush need to be out and Democrats need to be in.I think John Edwards is saying the special interests and the lobbyists need to be out and the people need to be in, in the populist way.And I think that Barack Obama is saying that he needs to be inbecause he can transcend the differences across the political divide right now."
Talk of transcending the political divide does not have to mean dropping to your knees and giving in to the other side, like say the Democratic Congress has done for anything they've met opposition to. To be fair that too may be beginning to change with leaders like Senators Dodd and Feinstein, who recently filibustered of the FISA bill. They filibustered the FISA bill, to be voted on again later, because they don't want to let communication corporations off the hook for giving the private information of US citizens to the US government so they could illegally spy on their citizenry. No one person, no matter how high the office, will be able to bring about the change needed on their own, but who gives us the best start or angle on changing the discourse in a positive way.
I leave you with a couple of quotes from members of the Democrats' "Royal Family". And Senator Barack Obama's victory speech in South Carolina.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
"There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party," , referring to Harry Truman.
"And John Kennedy replied, 'The world is changing. The old ways will not do. ... It is time for a new generation of leadership.
While 32% georgey was on his FIRST trip to "the Middle East", which was more about shaking sabers at Iran than anything else, he visited Israel (maybe to get images of Iran's "weapons facilities", like the ones colOn powell showed the UN before the invasion and occupation of Iraq). Shrub danced with swords in between his weak and feable pleas for lower oil prices. Now, she's not my favorite Democratic candidate but Senator Clinton said it best during this week's Democratic debate. She said "President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil," "How pathetic." "We should have an energy policy right now, putting people to work in green collar jobs as a way to stave off the recession, moving us towards energy independence." Maybe the oil man-in-chief just wanted to make his arms deal with Saudi Arabia (where rape victims are brutally punished as their rapists go free) in person. To be fair, the incompetent one did say there will be a Palestinian state before he leaves office, one year from now. I'm not one to rush time along, but Come On 2009!
A "robed" bush touring the Middle East is not the biggest issue facing Our Nation right now. Neither is the ongoing primary season, which I unfortunately feel the need to talk about again. And though, I do agree that the ongoing bombing by "them" and Us in Iraq and our staying there until 2018 are a Big stories, the biggest story and latest crisis We are beginning to face is Our economy. The increase in wholesale prices in 2007 was the largest in 26 years. Inflation has seen its biggest increase in 17 years. The jobless rate has risen to 5%, and the economy only added 18,000 jobs in December. Gasoline prices have more than doubled since the little failure took office. Merril Lynch's $14.1 Billion write-down and Citigroup's $9.8 BILLION loss have added to the bail out of "American" companies by foreign companies. The DOW is dropping almost everyday. The value of the Euro is more than double that of the US dollar. The Recession is here. It's getting so bad, even bush is starting to admit it. Remember the surplus? The failure in chief's economic policies have lead to a huge debt and a huge deficit, which doesn't even take into account the neo-conservative republican war in Iraq, where American contractors are gassing American troops. This unnecessary and illegal war and occupation is costing Us $275,000,000.00 per DAY! Ok... deep breaths... count to ten..
How about a primary update? First off, the Democratic Party stripped Michigan of their delegates, which are what Our contestants are competing for, because the Michigan Democratic party insisted on moving their primary up in the schedule. That is why Senators Edwards and Obama were not on the ballet. Senator Clinton, being the only "major" candidate in the race, managed to lose 44% to "uncommitted". And sadly, Congressman Kucinich still only managed to get 3.7%, tying fred "holllywood" thompson. The reds sure have been fun to watch flounder and pander. The flipper won by 9% in the state where he was born and raised and his father was governor, to become the third republican candidate to win in as many "major" primaries that have been held. That's right three primaries, three winners, and Ron Paul beat little napolean rudy in this one. As the NY POST recently headlined "Republican rivals share one bond: All Losers".
I can't say I'm not disappointed, but Senator Clinton's 109,567 votes beat Senator Barack Obama's 101,916 votes to win the Democratic New Hampshire primary. Senator john "grandpa" mccain won the republican primary with 86,078 votes. This marks the first time in history that there were four different winners in the first two primaries. And the way South Carolina is shaping up it might be six winners in the first three primaries (See Edwards and thompson).
There are certainly benefits to a party primary season that doesn't have the coronation right away, and by right away I mean after the first one or two "contests" (the campaigns started a year ago). The longer it remains a contested race, the more the primaries in the other FORTY EIGHT states will matter. People may even start feeling like "their vote counts" and anything that does that is a good thing, right? It makes it all feel a bit more democratic. Candidates also get more time to talk about their "plans". I've been barraged by detail seekers who long for "substance" from the candidates, and after a quick jab like "you mean how gore and kerry gave them, you know, like an economics professor?", I agree with them. But if you are sick of waiting for Katie Couric or the increasingly misogynistic chris matthews to ask "real" questions and then ask follow up questions for more details, you can go to the campaigns' websites for more "substance". If that's not to "pro-active" for you. Here are Hillary Clinton's "plans", Barack Obama's "plans", and John Edwards's "plans". Grist actually has a good "How green is your candidate?" page, too. It's really quite interesting to see this whole thing play out. It's a shame all the primaries are crammed into one month. What the hell have we been watching for the past year? Votes are so much better than polls. I wish the primaries were once a week for a year, a real Nationwide tour for the next leader of the American People.
In other primary related news, bill o'lielly, whose "news network" Obama has boycotted since their Lies about Barack's early education in Indonesia and whining about him not wearing his patriotic pledge pin, tried (a la Michael Moore) to "get an interview" with the Democrat at an event in New Hampshire. The arrogant baby of a man gave a shove and some weak "strong" words when a member of the Senator Obama's staff was in the way of "his" shot. Not to worry, the Secret Service didn't tase him for attempting to disrupt an event or getting physical. Poor little vibrator expert billo. You can smell the desperation on some of the attack dogs. He wasn't the only red air bag to have a bad week. Sean "i have an ass for a head" hannity was followed to his car by a bunch of Ron Paul supporters who were shouting "fox news sucks" all the way. A fine moment of writerless television indeed.
Oh yeah and "the flipper" won the Wyoming primary.
Hopefully the next rant/post/web log will be about news outside of Campaign 2008. You know like hundreds of Kenyans dying while protesting the latest election there, the price of gas, heating oil and food, the rising jobless rate, the recession, and president junior's first trip as president to "the middle east".
Barack Obama won the Iowa Causcus yesterday, and by a fair margin. John Edwards came in a surprising second, and, the formerly unbeatable, Senator Hillary Clinton came in a close third behind him. Many see her loss as a bigger story than Obama's win. Not me. She's the establishment, no matter her gender. These Iowans caucused for Change. And dare I say it, it was about more of a change than just which party runs the White House.
Democrats turned out in droves, 236,000 of them. That's nearly double the 124,000 that showed up four years ago. The reds' brought out 120,000, which was an improvement from last election. But 236,000 to 120,000? I thought Iowa was red? Actually, Iowa is 92% white. I guess Barack Obama's "ethnicity" wasn't the factor in "Middle America" some folks might have thought. Another surprise came from the "youth vote" the talking heads (not the good kind) so easily dismiss. Their numbers tripled this year in Iowa and 57% of them caucused for Senator Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for the President of the United States. I guess Senator Barack Obama's message of hope and a change in attitude, action, and policy in Washington D.C. inspired them a little more than whatever the hell John Kerry or then-Vice President Al Gore was stiffly selling.
Even the red victory of governor mike huckabee was a shocking repudiation of the "Washington establishment". True,60% of republican Iowa caucus goers were evangelicals and huckabee is a baptist preacher, true believer, that wants to "take this nation back for christ". But his nine point win over mitt "the flipper" romney was more than anyone thought was possible. You can hear it in the reds that are trying to pump up grandpa mccain's fourth place finish. The neo-conservative, rich people rule, reds who have become the "republican establishment" don't like huckabee's populist talk.
The one other thing that strikes me is how Obama's, Clinton's, and Edwards's support can be seen around the Country. Any of the three, but most likely the first two, could win any of the primaries. The reds on the other hand are split. Middle America goes for Huckabee, New Hampshire will go for "the flipper" or "grandpa". Florida, California, New York, New Jersey could all go to lil' napolean rudy. They are divided.
Oh how seven years of feed the rich economics and incompetent/criminal foreign policy can change the landscape.
One last note: Senator/hopefully future Senate Majority Leader, Christopher Dodd and Senator/hopefully Vice Presidential candidate, Joe Biden have dropped out of the 2008 presidential race.
A strike bearded David Letterman took the stage last night amidst dancing Writer's Guild Strikers and read his monologue. That's right he read it. The show was the first show to be written "by union writers!" since the Writers Guild of America went on strike two months ago. Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants accepted "the very same proposals that the guild was prepared to present to the media conglomerates when they walked out of negotiations." Dave was is old self, happy to be back, though it was tough for him to get a word in with Robin Williams as a guest. The Top Ten List of Writers's demands was read by striking writers from "The Daily Show", "The Colbert Report", and else where and one skit was cut short for "A message from the WGA". His "employee" Craig Ferguson was also back with a show solely written by union writers. There were no guests. It was all scripted sketches to maximize the residuals his, until last night unemployeed, writing staff would get for their first show back in two months.
Other late night shows were back without their writers, because the major studios that own and run them still won't pay writers residuals for internet material that they have written. Jimmy Kimmel showed previously scripted "Great Moments For Which Residual Payments Are Made To Our Unemployed Writers". The strike bearded WGA member, Conan O'Brian, awkwardly wasted time showing off pictures of himself in his office and spinning his wedding ring, in lieu, of comedy. And Leno, who some claim broke the rules of the WGA strike, which he Is a member of, had the candidate for president who recently shot a shotgun directly over the heads of the press come on to play politician and bass. The Baptist preacher and "populist" crossed picket lines to do it. I'm sure Jesus would have done the same.
I normally don't Write about television, except to admonish it, but this a labor action. These are working people who deserve compensation for their work. The billionaire production corporations, that run what we see, refuse to cut into profits to give them their just due. I will not watch leno or conan or kimmel or any of the new slew of un"reality" they put out, but hey, I don't really watch much anyway.
David Letterman showed how it can be done. Negotiation is possible.
7 "Biggest" NON-stories of 2007 1. Britney shaves her head. 2. The cost of John Edwards hair cut. 3. Don Imus says "nappy headed hoes" 4. Anna Nicole Smith dies. 5. Amy Whinehouse does drugs. 6. The last Harry Potter book. 7. O.J. gets busted for trying to steal his stuff back. 7 favorite 2007 lists 1. Time Magazine 2. Mad Magazine's 20 Dumbest people, places, and things of 2007 3. Bill Maher's Dickheads of the Year 4. Popular Science's Innovation's of the Year 5. Best of 2007 by David Cross 6. Best viral vidoes of 2007 7. List of listsof 2007
7 too be remembered 1. Kurt Vonnegut, author and satorist the world hasn't seen since Mark Twain 2. Norman Mailer, Journalist, bad ass, masculinist 3. Luciano Pavarotti, The greatest voice I've ever heard 4. Molly Ivins, A liberal columnist, and coiner of "shrub" 5. Phil Rizzuto, The Scooter, Baseball hall of famer, sports commentator without peer 6. Merv Griffin, TV Icon, talk show host, producer 7. Evel Knievel, Death defying dare devil Other notable deaths in 2007: 899 American troops in Iraq. 2007 was the deadliest year of the war so far. Max Roach, crazy bebop jazz drummer Kurt Waldheim, Austrian politician and alleged nazi Joel Siegel, movie critic, and great mustache Bill Walsh, Legendary head coach of the San Francisco 49'ers Tom Snyder, Talk show host extraordinaire Lee Hazelwood, Legendary songwriter/producer Jerry Falwell, Major evangelist preacher Ranters note: I don't have to like them for their passing to be important.(See Waldheim) Oscar Peterson, crazy jazz pianist Leona Helmsley, "Big" news making, mean, rich lady who left all hermoney to her dog. Robert Goulet, An entertainer in that old Vegas style Ike Turner, A major music maker in his own rite, better as an abusive husband Dan Fogelberg, singer/sonwriter Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani prime minister, whose death further illustrates the turmoil that is that region of the world. Now go out and Have a Great New Year's Eve!
I'm allowed to say Christmas, because that's what my family celebrates, right? And because Hanukkah and Ramadan are over and Kwanzaa doesn't start until the 26th. I'm not really sure about the other winter solstice holidays out there. I'm sure there all very nice. Okay. Onto the airing of the grievances!
It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. Vice dick is burning a CIA scandal file yule log in his "ceremonial" office. The president is saying "happy holidays" to a pesky press that thinks the president is some how supposed to know what his executive branch is doing. The elfin failure-in-chief did get a present from the recently "gone shopping" Congress with both their capitulation on $70,000,000,000.00 more to a war that has long since lost any actual definition for victory and adding to the Federal Deficit that lil' bush's economic policies created from the surplus we were stuck with from President Clinton's. To be fair, those of us who have been yelling for someone in Congress to show some balls, aside from the usual marginalized suspects (wexler, conyers, byrd, etc.) got a gift this week. Senator and Presidential candidate Christopher Dodd threatened to filibuster a CIA wiretapping bill that gave immunity to telecommunications companies (like Verizon and AT&T) that may have given the Private information of American Citizens to the US Government for its Illegal domestic Spying program. Senator Dodd left his campaign in Iowa and stood up on the floor of the United States Senate and said No to "holiday" push over Senate Majority leader harry reid. Truly a Christmas miracle!
And one more thing. Today is Frank Zappa's Birthday. Back in 1993, the world lost this true American voice of dissent, composer, and guitar hero . One can only imagine what that man would be singing about today.
