Hillary The Victim

I haven't written very much because of my schedule lately, but I just read a Huffington Post item that I couldn't let pass.

I speak with fellow blogger Armadillo Joe and our habit of surfing around and comparing our findings of posts we read blaming everyone and everything - the media, misogyny, sexism - for Hillary Clinton's downfall, rather than where it should truly lie, her terrible campaign leaders and campaign strategy, GOP-style negative smear tactics and "insert both feet" gaffes that have wasted her name recognition status and cause over half of voters to find her untrustworthy, when once she was the odds-on favorite to win the party nomination for the presidency.

"How Dare You!" written by Jill Iscol is just another example in a long line of reasons that Hillary Clinton's campaign has failed time and again and why any good will towards her has diminished. Iscol's first few lines read like a parody. I was waiting for it to get funny and show it's sarcasm and irony, but that paragraph never came.

We need to talk. How dare the leadership of the Democratic Party turn on Hillary Clinton! How dare they betray Bill Clinton! How dare they not speak out when Hillary is disrespected by words like bitch, whore and the "c" word!

Really? Who called her a "whore" or a "cunt"? Did anyone from her own party talk about Hillary that way? Did Obama? The only one I remember calling Clinton "bitch" was Tina Fey on a Saturday Night Live skit, and it was "in a good way." Did that offend women or were they pumping their fists in agreement?

Iscol describes herself as a "Hillary supporter... along with millions of Democrats throughout our country" and is outraged at the treatment of her preferred candidate and that the Democratic leadership is not sticking up for her. What she doesn't mention is that, unlike millions of other Democrats throughout the country, she isn't just a supporter but a Campaign Finance Chair for Clinton. Not much disclosure there, huh? She goes on:

...This is not the party I thought I belonged to. ...That Party stood proudly by a president who many called the first black president because both he and his wife had demonstrated a lifelong commitment to civil rights and human rights.

That is until Bill Clinton compared Barack Obama's win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's primary wins in 1984 and 1988, inferring that he won because of the black vote. And Geraldine Ferraro revealing herself to be a passive racist, the kind that live next door and smile to your face but peer out from behind their blinds to make sure you're not doing anything of which they'd disapprove. And Hillary Clinton's "hard-working Americans, white Americans" gaffe.

Women are outraged. We are still fighting for her, and we are ashamed of how our candidate, a woman who has devoted her adult life to serving others... has been treated not just by the media but by her own Democratic Party.

Yes, it's true women are outraged. But not just female Clinton supporters. How about the outrage of Obama supporters who happen to be women? Do they not count? Are they so vapid that they don't know what they're doing and therefore dismissed?

I said it once, I'll say it again and now I'm putting it in writing: Hillary Clinton is not losing/did not lose the Democratic nomination because of her gender, no matter how many times you may scream it at the top of your lungs. She lost because she was the hare, and thought she could take a break after February 5th, while Obama the tortoise looked at the whole race and didn't nap under a tree after Iowa.

And as far as the "treatment by her own Democratic party" is concerned, let's take a look at at how Hillary Clinton has treated "one of her own" in the Democratic Party, as well as her foot-in-mouth disease, and her thoughts on the Democratic process itself:

- your insistence that there have been widespread calls for you to end your campaign, when such calls had been few.

- your misspeaking about Martin Luther King's relative importance to the Civil Rights movement.

- your misspeaking about your under-fire landing in Bosnia.

- insisting Michigan's vote wouldn't count and then claiming those who would not count it were Un-Democratic.

- pledging to not campaign in Florida and thus disenfranchise voters there, and then claim those who stuck to those rules were as wrong as those who defended slavery or denied women the vote.

- the photos of Osama Bin Laden in an anti-Obama ad.

- fawning over the fairness of Fox News while they were still calling you a murderer.

- accepting Richard Mellon Scaife's endorsement and then laughing as you described his "deathbed conversion."

- quoting the electoral predictions of Boss Karl Rove.

- the 3 a.m. Phone Call commercial.

- President Clinton's disparaging comparison of the Obama candidacy to Jesse Jackson's.

- Geraldine Ferraro's national radio interview suggesting Obama would not still be in the race had he been a white man.

- the dozen changing metrics and the endless self-contradictions of your insistence that your nomination is mathematically probable rather than a statistical impossibility.

- your declaration of some primary states as counting and some as not.

- exploiting Jeremiah Wright in front of the editorial board of the lunatic-fringe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

- exploiting William Ayers in front of the debate on ABC.

- boasting of your "support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans"...

- repeatedly praising Senator McCain at Senator Obama's expense, and your own expense, and the Democratic ticket's expense.

This Olbermann list doesn't even mention her comparison of the Democratic party process to the Republican one and how she claimed if we were playing by their rules, she'd be the nominee by now. For anyone still using that argument and the threat of not voting for Obama, the Democratic candidate, when he wins the nomination, I say, "Please review your party affiliation and re-register to vote as a Republican. We don't need your triangulating, Republican-lite kind around here."

But now, Senator Hillary Clinton, after shooting herself in the foot countless times, often with Mark Penn's finger on the trigger, takes the sawed-off shotgun and sticks it in her mouth on her own with her awful comment regarding the 1968 election and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. When I first heard this secondhand, I thought surely there was some mistake. Did she actually use the word "assassinate"? And of course, I know that she doesn't want any harm to befall Barack Obama, but how brain dead or "sleep deprived" do you have to be to make such an idiotic comment?




I was still confused about her comment, not knowing what to make of it. Then I remembered a pundit on Countdown (I believe it was Howard Fineman) speaking of a previous Hillary comment ("Obama's not a Muslim.... as far as I know.") and saying that Clinton doesn't say anything without thinking about it. Wow. Could she be thinking, "Let me stick around... you never know what can happen... remember Bobby Kennedy?" Then Keith Olbermann set me straight.





The fact is that it doesn't matter what Clinton was thinking. In fact, it shows that if anything, she wasn't thinking when she made that comment, effectively ending, in my opinion, any possible shot of wresting away the nomination from Obama.

Comparing the media's treatment of Hillary to that of Obama's is a bad joke. How do you compare the Rev. Wright's six week debacle (where Obama renounces his Christian Pastor and there are still 11% of voters at this point who still think he is Muslim), questions of patriotism and lapel flag pins, the sham of the ABC debate, pundit after pundit during primary after primary trying to make it look like a horserace, asking why Obama can't "close the deal" when in fact they should be asking why the well-known Hillary couldn't "close the deal", how does Clinton compare that to anything the media has thrown at her?

Jill Iscol's delusion of how the Democratic party has "betrayed" Hillary Clinton is laughable when in fact it is Hillary that has, at almost every turn done or said practically anything to try and stop the Obama tidal wave from flooding her dingey of a campaign with a bailing bucket the size of a thimble. Any excuse save reality keeps these people grasping for something that they themselves have squandered.

Sydney Pollack Dead at 73

NY Times: LOS ANGELES — Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay as director, producer and sometime actor whose star-laden movies like “The Way We Were,” “Tootsie” and “Out of Africa” were among the most successful of the 1970s and ’80s, died Monday at home here. He was 73. The cause was cancer, said the publicist Leslee Dart, who spoke for his family.

Recount

I just stayed up to watch HBO Films' RECOUNT about the 2000 Presidential Election. The movie is riveting from the get go and immediately makes your blood boil... if you care about justice. And after it was over, I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of sadness that took hold of me. How different our world would be these eight years later had it not been for a conflagration of the worst characters and worst decisions made in our nation's history.

I highly recommend it to anyone and will gladly make copies for those who don't have HBO.

For those of you who know about the unfortunate events of the 2000 Election, or think you know what happened but are unclear about certain facts, watch and learn.

T Minus 238 Days

"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."

- Washington, DC, May 25, 2004

Memorial Day

4,082





















For a complete list of United States War Casualties, click here.

T Minus 242 Days

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

- Greece, NY, May 2005

Senate Passes New GI Bill

Final vote 75-22, which means it has a veto proof majority.

Here are the 22 Republican shitheads who voted "Nay" to which I ask, "Why do you hate the troops?"

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Voinovich (R-OH)

Oh, and our Vietnam War hero, Maverick McCain? He didn't vote. He was too busy campaigning in California to make it back to Washington. I guess it wasn't that important to him. It doesn't matter anyway. If he had the balls to actually cast a vote, the list of "Nays" would have been 23 Republican shitheads.

The Arizona senator has never said that he does not support the bill because it is “too generous.” He has stated concerns that offering education benefits as early as the Webb bill allows would discourage people from re-enlisting.
...And despite McCain’s opposition to the Webb legislation, retiring Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia told FOX News: “This GI bill, one way or another, will be the law of the land.”

From the LA Times:

McCain, a former prisoner of war, said he supported an alternative that would not encourage troops to leave the service "after they have completed one enlistment."

But his position pits him against some of the Senate's other veterans, including Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.), both former Navy secretaries.

After the vote, Warner said, "I don't know of any day that I'll cherish or remember more than this one" in his 30 years in the Senate.

Clinton also spoke out for the GI benefits. "We often hear wonderful rhetoric in this chamber in support of our troops and our veterans. But the real test isn't the speeches we deliver, but whether or not we deliver on the speeches."

Asked about the GOP support, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who opposed the domestic spending portions, said, "I would say that's why we're not a majority anymore."

I mean, fuck, even Joe "The McCain Shadow" LIEberman voted Yea.

T Minus 243 Days

"If a person doesn't have the capacity that we all want that person to have, I suspect hope is in the far distant future, if at all."

- Washington DC, Hispanic Scholarship Fund briefing, May 22, 2001

Israel Doesn't "Appease" Bush

How the monkey has fallen.

HuffPo: According to 29-year CIA veteran and former NSC official Bruce Riedel, Wednesday's announcement of joint peace negotiations between Israel and Syria revealed President Bush's diminished standing in Middle East affairs.

"Think of the irony," Riedel said. "George Bush goes to Jerusalem last week. He gives an impassioned speech about never dealing with nasty regimes [that sponsor terror]. He basically says 'don't make agreements that appease [them].' And less than a week later, the Israeli government announces it is engaged in peace negotiations with the Assad dictatorship in Syria. We're talking about a rather distasteful regime that likely had a hand in the murder of [former Lebanese Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri. I guess [Israeli Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert didn't think the speech was meant for him."

So Bushy had a rather sucessful trip, no? He makes some asinine comments for domestic political gain that are ignored by Israel, and then goes to Saudi Arabia to kiss ass and ask for an increase in the oil output, to which the Saudi prince chuckles and pats him on the head. "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Georgie." That's our powerful leader!

Chuck Hagel's Warning To Bush and GOP

While praising Barack Obama and needling McCain, Senator Chuck Hagel had this to say about Bush and his administration:

When asked to respond to rumors circulating within political circles that the Bush administration was ginning up the possibility of war with Iran, the Senator even raised the specter of impeachment.

“You’ve got the power of impeachment, now that is a very defined measure if you are willing to bring charges against the president at all. You can’t just say I disagree with him, let’s impeach him,” said Hagel. An attack on Iran without Congress’ consent, he added, “would bring with it… outstanding political consequences, including for the Republican Party.”

T Minus 244 Days

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? ... That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."

- Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2008

Clinton Claims Kentucky; Obama Owns Oregon

No surprises here.

Will someone explain to Hillary Clinton and her campaign that she can't keep claiming that she has more popular votes than Barack Obama?

From Josh Marshall at TPM:

Terrry McAuliffe: "Hillary Clinton has now received more votes than any candidate ever running for president in a primary."

Even if you change the rules and fully seat Michaigan [sic] and Florida and count them for the popular vote totals and don't count any portion of the Michigan "uncommitted" (which were understood a the to be for Obama) vote for Obama, Hillary is still behind in the popular vote total. The only way she moves ahead in popular vote is if you do all that and don't count four of the caucus states.

Some stuff is just too ridiculous to let pass.

Well hell, looks like Gravel can still win this race too by that standard. Only count the 27 votes he's received and don't count any others.

Oh, and by the way, when you get to the point of trying to remain viable because Karl Rove said so, it's time to hang it up. I don't know if you remember Turdblossom, Hillary, but he was the guy who got us into this mess in the first place with the idea of a perpetual Republican Party rule. I know it's been ages since he's left the White House and you're probably sleep deprived and don't recall, but I'm guessing chances are Rove is saying exactly what he needs to say to help the Republicans.

The longer the race goes on, the longer the McCainstream Media will ignore the Maverick's shortcomings and continue the fallacy of a horserace on the Dem side. At this point, fine - take it to June 3rd and then thank everyone and bow out gracefully. Everyone will have voted, which is what you've been touting all along, isn't it?

Whether you're a Clinton supporter or not, everyone knows she's galvanizes the GOP, and if they have any chance of winning the general election in November, they need voters to come out in droves not so much to vote for McCain, but to vote against Hillary.

So if Hillary Clinton is taking any stock in what Karl Rove is saying, either she's a complete fool, or she thinks we are.

Social Security Sabotage

Thirty-two sponsors of a crap-ass bill in the House of Representatives think it's a good idea that every hire, EVERY HIRE of the 55 million yearly in the U.S. be approved by the government. You're applying for an engineering position? Making ends meet with a part-time job at the local Home Depot? How about garbage collection or a job at McDonald's? We'll have to verify you are a U.S. citizen or legal immigrant. Isn't that what having a Social Security number is all about?

What's the problem with the New Employee Verification Act? Who in the hell is going to manage this colossal administrative nightmare? The Department of Social Security, the same department that is already understaffed and way behind on current issues. But we can trust the government with this one right? I mean, the No Fly List works so well now.

...Business groups opposed the idea of the state requiring companies to use E-Verify.
They worried that mistakes in the system could result in qualified legal workers being turned down for a job. This mirrors concerns nationwide, in addition to worries that the system is ripe for abuse and is a potential bureaucratic quagmire.

...Caroline Fredrickson, chief of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington office, said the legislation would create a “no-work list” in the Washington bureaucracy.
“Americans should not have to ask their federal government if they have permission to accept a new job,” she said.
Barbara Kennelly, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said the new workload would overwhelm an understaffed administration. Already, she said, “disability cases are piling up and needy people are waiting years to receive their benefits.”

...There is no official cost estimate, but some think it could run as much as $10 billion over nine years for such things as additional workers, equipment and online capacity.

...the U.S. Government Accountability Office... said a mandatory system could be vulnerable to fraud and abuse and questioned whether the system could detect employees who present genuine but stolen Social Security numbers.

$10 billion cost to run, in an already understaffed department, spells doom for Social Security. Isn't that the ultimate goal? Who'll take over the system you ask? Ask Dubya. I'm sure Wall Street will be magnanamous and take that $8 trillion off our shoulders to invest for us... for a small fee.

Ted Kennedy Has Malignant Brain Tumor

NY TIMES: ...Tests performed over the weekend at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston indicated that Mr. Kennedy, 76, has a type of cancer known as a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe, the upper left portion of his brain. Mr. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, suffered a seizure on Saturday in Cape Cod and was airlifted to the hospital for treatment.

...“The usual course of treatment includes combinations of various forms of radiation and chemotherapy,” Dr. Lee Schwamm, the vice chairman of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Larry Ronan, a primary care physician at the hospital, said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

T Minus 245 Days

"Government can hand out money, but government cannot put hope in a person's heart, or a sense of purpose in a person's life. Government happens when a loving neighbor puts their arm around somebody who hurts and says, 'I love you' and 'Can I help you?'"

- Sioux City, Iowa, 2004

Just Shut Up And Go Away!

C&L: For years now, FOX News pundit William Kristol has been wrong on nearly every subject he’s chosen to write about or speak to. His follies at Fox are legendary, and since bringing his special brand of fact- & research-free hackery to the pages of the New York Times, he’s made not one, not two, but now three glaring gaffes to add to his comical body of work.

Think Progress: In his New York Times column today, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol tried to find reasons for conservatives to be optimistic about 2008 elections,
despite the claims of some Republicans that “the Republican brand is in the trash can.” To support his argument, Kristol pointed to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) 41-point loss in the West Virginia primary:

On Tuesday night, while the G.O.P. Congressional candidate was losing in Mississippi district George Bush carried in 2004 by 25 points, Barack Obama was being trounced in the West Virginia Democratic primary — by 41 points. I can’t find a single recent instance of a candidate who ultimately became his party’s nominee losing a primary by this kind of margin.

Apparently Kristol didn’t look hard enough. Writing at Room Eight, New York political consultant Jerry Skurnik says it took him “all of 2 minutes to find what Kristol couldn’t find.” On Feb. 5, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney beat presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) by 85 points in the Utah primary.

What an embarrassment to the New York Times that this schmuck is on their payroll. He should be removed immediately along with the idiot who hired him.

UPDATE: Glen Greenwald

" ... Hillary Clinton lost Kansas to Obama by 49 points; lost DC by 51 points; lost Hawaii by 52 points; and lost Idaho by 62 points. So by Kristol's reasoning, Hillary Clinton -- just like Obama -- couldn't possibly be a strong candidate because she lost some primaries by more than 41 points (granted, some of those were caucuses).
Somehow, though, that reasoning doesn't apply to John McCain, who lost Utah by 85 points. In addition to his 85-point loss in Utah, McCain lost Arkansas by 40 points to Mike Huckabee and lost Kansas by 36 points to Huckabee. For some reason, those facts didn't make it into Kristol's column either."

Obama/Clinton Ticket

No. No. No.

I'm listening to Thom Hartmann online and he's theorizing that an Obama/Clinton ticket can win in November. Whether that's true on not I don't know. But the main problem I have with this idea is that Obama has been running on the message of change. How much change would that be with the old politics one seat away from the presidency?

If Obama picked Hillary as his running mate, his message would be seen as empty rhetoric and another avenue for the GOP to blast Obama.

I Can't Get Over This

It's almost scary!


















(Photo: Chris Carlson/Associated Press)

Good Reads

Frank Rich: McCain Can Run, but Bush Won't Hide

Digby: The Wisdom of the Ancients and Practically Lactating

Glenn Greenwald: High Standards at the Washington Post Op-Ed Page

d r i f t g l a s s: The Clintonian Blue

Bob Franken: Hillary: We Really Don't Care

Howard Kurtz, WaPo: Feud Fuels Bill O'Reilly's Blasts at GE

McCain's SNL Appearance

He's so natural!





Hmmm... I think the material was funny. But it also bordered on being too close to the truth to be parody.

Holy Crap!

Obama Draws 75,000 to Portland Rally



The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak.

That's pretty fucking cool.

UPDATE: Bob Cesca has a couple of awesome pics.

"First, let me make it very clear: poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to not be rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."

- Washington, DC, May 19, 2003

Jimmy Slyde Dies at 80

NY TIMES: Jimmy Slyde, one of the last great tap dancers of the big-band era, whose smooth moves carried him from swing and bebop to Broadway and the movies, died early on Friday at his home in Hanson, Mass. He was 80.



One of the smoothest tappers I've ever seen. Saw him in Black & Blue, a Broadway show in the late 80's. I think there's a video of that show available, or at least it was recorded for PBS or something like that.

Here's a video of Slyde dancing in Brazil in 1998... at age 70! Enjoy.

Robert Mondavi Dead at 94

NY TIMES: Robert Mondavi, the California vintner who set in motion the rebirth of the Napa Valley wine industry and, to a generation of Americans, championed the idea that fine wine was an integral part of the good life, died Friday at his home in Yountville, California. He was 94.

I wouldn't consider myself a connoisseur, be I do loves me some good wine! My wife and I have approximately 60 bottles in our growing collection, including a Mondavi Moscato that we bought while visiting the Mondavi Winery in Napa a couple of years back. Mondavi is not our favorite (or favorite winery for that matter), but it ain't swill.

So keep drinking that wine and you'll live to be 94 too... but at that point, why? All you're doing is drooling on yourself anyway... I kid!

T Minus 248/247 Days

"The public education system in America is one of the most important foundations of our democracy. After all, it is where children from all over America learn to be responsible citizens, and learn to have the skills necessary to take advantage of our fantastic opportunistic society."

- Santa Clara, California, May 2002

Appeasement - Part Two

George W. Bush, in probably his most outrageous comments since stealing the Presidency, compared sitting down to negotiate with an elected party leader of another country to the "appeasement" of the Nazis in 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave Hitler half of Czechoslovakia in the hopes that it would deter Hitler and his Nazi Party from further invasion. Not only did he say it, but he said it to the Isreali governing body as a diplomat representing the United States.

If Bush actually knows any history at all, then this is where he would be an expert as his family was involved with the rise of Nazi Germany through Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush. But I digress.

The backlash of negative responses that this idiotic statement has garnered would make one realize that the Emperor with no Clothes had really stepped in it big time, don't you think? Well... if you think. John McCain, however, does not think.

Asked if he thought Mr. Obama was an appeaser, Mr. McCain sidestepped the question and said: “I think that Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, that wants to wipe Israel off the map, who denies the Holocaust. That’s what I think Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people.”

Well, if McCain wants an answer, Mr. Obama will be happy to oblige, and he didn't waste much time responding to Bush and McSame at a gathering in Watertown, South Dakota this morning:




It's funny how McCain would be "Hamas' worst nightmare" in 2008 while running for the Republican nomination, yet he sang a remarkably different tune in 2006:

RUBIN: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

McCAIN: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

Sounds like another flip-flop flim-flam from the Double Talk Express that the McCainstream Media probably wouldn't have reported a few months back. But what has happened over the last twenty-four hours seems to be a watershed moment for politics at present, for although Hillary Clinton has stated her objections to Bush's inane comments, the talk has been Bush-McCain-Obama pretty much nonstop since this story broke, leaving Clinton in the dust. And now that the conversation has shifted to a two person race, perhaps there'll be a little more scrutiny from the McCainstream Media toward its Maverick. One can only hope.


The talk has finally evolved to Obama and McCain in the general election, and who Obama would choose as his VP running mate (no talk of Clinton's VP pick) and if the conversation remains there, it's probably the only good to come out of the latest embarrassment from our president while on the world stage.


UPDATE (5/17/08 , 9am): Mark Green: "Appeasement": Guilt-By-Analogy... When Guilt-By-Association Isn't Enough

"...It was bad enough when McCain tried to link Hamas and Obama because Hamas said it preferred Obama. And if the Klan endorsed McCain because he wasn't the black guy, would McCain have a problem if someone said that McCain and the Klan are one and the same?

...We've seen this movie before. Whenever conservatives can't win an argument on the merits, they attack some real or perceived enemy as Hitler. So Ho Chi Mihn was Hitler. bin Ladin was Hitler. Ahmadinejad was Hitler. Of course Hussein was Hitler. And anyone who does something to try to resolve conflict short of more war is Neville Chamberlain.

...Was Israel -- with far more experience and its survival at stake in dealing with war and terrorism -- wrong to neogtiate with former enemy Egypt, with successful result...wrong to negotiate with former enemy Jordan, with successful result...

...Take Iran and Ahmadinejad, the newest "Hitler." Iran can't stop laughing at Bush's foreign policy. He attacks its long-time enemy Iraq, allowing Iran's Shia majority to have far more influence in a Shia-majority Iraqi government. And Bush at the same time provides an unpopular Iranian government with a convenient outside enemy to rally nationalistic support to its side. Which is why Secretary Robert Gates himself has advocated talking more to Iran. What an appeaser!"

Music Break! The Who

T Minus 249 Days

"After all, a week ago, there were - Yasser Arafat was boarded up in his building in Ramallah, a building full of, evidently, German peace protestors and all kinds of people. They're now out. He's now free to show leadership, to lead the world."

- Washington, DC, May 2002

Karl Rove Subpoenaed?

Why is it that Karl Rove, or for that matter George Bush and Dick Cheney or any other criminal in this worst administraion ever, believe that they are above the law, ignoring Congressional subpeonas, agreeing to testify under the conditions that they're not under oath and that there would be no transcript?! And how is that acceptable to any elected Republican official or any Republican citizen?

What balls! It's astounding.

Here's Congressman Robert Wexler and Former Gov. Don Siegelman on with Dan Abrams, who won't let this story go, and for good reason.



From Wexler's office via email:

If Rove refuses to testify voluntarily and ignores the subpoenas that will certainly be issued, he should be held in Inherent Contempt of the House of Representatives.

No American is above the law. None of us should be able to ignore Congress without consequence. If Mr. Rove ignores a subpoena from the Judiciary Committee, then the House of Representatives should pass an Inherent Contempt citation and exercise our right to send the House Sergeant-of-Arms to gather Mr. Rove and bring him before Congress to testify.

I do not advocate this option lightly, but the reality is that Congress has few options left against an Administration that totally refuses to submit to any type of reasonable Congressional oversight. Congress has both the right and obligation to investigate these matters. Never before has an Executive so upset the checks and balances inherent in our Constitution. If we back off or delay, we effectively forfeit the power of Congress to investigate the Executive branch.

Rove is not the first White House official to ignore Congress. We have seen a pattern of refusals based on laughable claims of executive privilege. First, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers ignored subpoenas on the investigation into the firing of US Attorney Generals for partisan political motives.

Their refusal to testify was unprecedented: never before have executive officials totally refused to even show up before Congress. Bolten and Miers are the highest officials ever held in contempt of Congress. Unfortunately, Attorney General Mukasey – in a dereliction of duty – has refused to enforce the contempt decree and now Congress is suing them in District Court to demand compliance. Then, the Vice President's Chief of Staff, David Addington, refused to testify on the investigation into the Bush Administration's ordering of torture. Now, Rove continues this executive arrogance by also refusing to testify.

Enough is enough. We have a Constitutional obligation to provide accountability to a White House that is trying usurp the constitutional powers of Congress.

These are the very reasons why I have been pushing for impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney. The Bush Administration has been running roughshod over the Constitution for eight long years. We should not allow the promise of a positive election be used as an excuse to ignore our duty to investigate crimes that weaken the very fabric of our Democracy.

Chris Matthews , Kevin James and Appeasement

ap·pease·ment, noun - to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.

It's late and I should be getting to bed, but I have to comment on Chris Matthews' evisceration of right wing hack Kevin James today on Hardball. Every once in a while, Matthews gets it right, and I'm starting to believe that he's just as tired of all the bullshit as the rest of us have been for a long time now.

I first saw Kevin James (not the funny comedian, but the asshole wingnut) on some show a couple of weeks ago and thought, "Who the fuck is this dipshit and why would anyone have him on the air?" Maybe Matthews thought that too and figured he'd have a little fun dangling him over the shark tank.

*It's a horrible situation when the President of the United States makes a ridiculous comment (comparing Barack Obama's foreign policy stance to the appeasement of the Nazis in 1938) while in a foreign country today that can be considered an act of treason,* but then the wingnut hyenas receive their faxed talking points and repeat what they read ad nauseam without even understanding what they are saying.

Watch and be amazed at how this buffoon is schooled by Matthews, and keep an eye out when James gets flustered and refers to his notes for those catch words "enabled, energized, legitimized," repeating them over and over again as if it's an answer to the question being posed.



You can keep looking at your notes all day, nitwit, the answer to "What did Neville Chamberlain do wrong that you don't like?" isn't going to magically appear on your "Dittohead Brainless Talking Points of the Day" email.

And Mark Green! "Kevin, when you're in a hole, stop digging." Priceless!

The saddest part of this whole thing is that this piece of shit excuse for a human being is going back to his job tomorrow at a Los Angeles right wing conservative radio station without any repercussion from his pitiful performance on Hardball, probably trying to excuse it as being taken out of context or that it was some "liberal media" hit job. (I say "excuse for a human being" because I believe that besides being a living, breathing entity, you also have to have the ability to use your brain and think.)

I hope I'm wrong. I hope there is blowback from his pathetic appearance because I am so fucking tired of the "yes" men and dittoheads who do nothing but regurgitate whatever is fed to them and up until this point, haven't been called on it. Finally, a "journalist" did his job. I still use that term loosely with Matthews but he is starting to show something here. Contempt for the corporate status quo? Or just plain tired of sitting there and having to deal with the bullshit? I don't know, but it's working for me, makes for good television and for once it's nice to see some truth on the tube.

Kudos to Chris for being mad as hell and not taking it anymore... at least for today. Does Matthews have enough pull at MSNBC to prevent them from ever booking this douchebag again? God, let's hope so.

(* More on the moron and his "appeasement" comments at a later time.)

Bill O'Reilly Is A Whore

Is there nothing this prostitute won't peddle? Trying to laugh off the viral video of O'Reilly exploding while the host of Inside Edition when he had much more hair, BillO suggested that there's much newer video of him blowing up due to a "contractual obligation" he has to "create a few dramas" for his co-workers, otherwise they'd quit. Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason, Bill.

By the way, he'd be happy to sell those videos to you.

Stephen Colbert's moment of "solidarity" with O'Reilly however, is priceless.

Why Obama Lost In West Virginia

Maybe it has something to do with, oh, I don't know... WEST VIRGINIANS! Take a look at some of the MENSA members that have the privilege of voting.

People like Janice:




People like Mike Norman who sells "Obama in '08" T-shirts out of his bar with a picture of Curious George eating a banana:

"We're not living in the (19)40's," he said. "Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears -- he looks just like Curious George."


I guess we're all overreacting huh, Mike? Why would having a picture of a monkey on a t-shirt with the black candidate's name underneath be considered racist? I couldn't imagine.

Rick Blake, a spokesman for publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which owns Curious George, said Wednesday that the company didn't authorize the use of the character's image, but hasn't been in touch with anybody selling or manufacturing the shirts.

"We find it offensive and obviously utterly out of keeping with the value Curious George represents," Blake said. "We're monitoring the situation and weighing our options with respect to legal action."

Well Mike, I hope your motherfuckin' racist ass gets sued for everything you own, including the two teeth left in your head, you asshole.

T Minus 250 Days

"We hold dear what our Declaration of Independence says, that all have got uninalienable rights, endowed by a Creator."

- Moscow, Russia, May 2002

The Sacrifice of the Worst President Ever

...Golf.

Yeah, poor George gave up his golf game to show his "solidarity" with the families of the fallen US soldiers in Iraq.

Golf. He didn't think it was a good idea to have some mom who'd lost her son watching him play golf during wartime. It sends the wrong signal. So he gave it up. Or was it the bad knee and calf injury that caused him to stop playing? Hmmm....

Classic Keith. This one is for the ages.

Edwards Endorses Obama

It's about time! And I must admit that I thought the Clinton camp would say that at this point, his endorsement doesn't amount to much because it's long after the North Carolina primary, what's the big deal, yadda, yadda, yadda.... but I'd be wrong.

...A source close to the Clinton campaign said the Edwards camp gave the Clinton folks a head's up. "Clearly it's upsetting" the source tells ABC. "He brings the workers" to Obama.

And perhaps in hindsight, those who wanted an earlier endorsement from Edwards (myself included) are now realizing that instead of being one of many during the heat of the primaries where the Clinton campaign could have blown off Edwards' endorsement as not very meaningful are now realizing that the current timing of it could be the final nail in the coffin for Hillary. I'm venturing to guess that the superdelegate trickle these past few weeks will soon become a bursting dam.

T Minus 251 Days

"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly hree non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America... And we're going to do something about it."

- Philadelphia, PA, May 14, 2001

Carville Predicts Obama as Nominee

Even James Carville has acknowledged the turning tide and while still supporting Clinton, has said that Barack Obama will most likely be the Democratic nominee for President.

"I still hear some dogs barking... I'm for Senator Clinton, but I think the great likelihood is that Obama will be the nominee."
"As soon as I determine when that is, I'll send him a check," he added.

Hillary supporters take note. Passionate support is one thing, reality is something else.

West Viginia

It's a foregone conclusion that Hillary Clinton is going to win today's primary in West Virginia, especially with comments like this coming from its edumucated citizens:

“I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife’s an atheist.”

Yes, that comes from a lifelong "Democrat." 67-year-old retired coalminer Leonard Simpson would rather vote for McCain given the choice of the Straight Talker or the Muslim with the atheist wife (that would be Obama in his mind).

So I'm not expecting too much out of West Virginians, but I think the main issue is how the punditocracy is going to spin it. Are they going to say what we all know, that Hillary's win is nothing that we didn't expect but with superdelegates streaming toward Obama and the not so fuzzy math and the massive debt her campaign is carrying, she's still trying to climb a nearly impossible mountain for the nomination?

Or are we going to get yet another false horserace, with Hillary being the comeback kid and "why can't Obama close the deal?" inane banter to fill out the slated hours of "coverage" of a primary whose projected results will be known about two minutes after the polls close?

I'll take a quick look tonight but won't hold my breath for anything newsworthy.

T Minus 252 Days

"Like you, I have been disgraced about what I've seen on TV that took place in [Abu Ghraib] prison."

- Parkersburg, West Virginia, May 13, 2004

MoveOn.Org Ad Contest Winner

OBAMACAN

Believing Your Own Bullshit

Crooks & Liars: Apparently [House Minority Whip Roy] Blunt didn’t get the memo that McCain is trying to distance himself from Bush and as Rep. Chris Van Hollen points out, on the two most important issues to the American people [Iraq and the economy], McCain absolutely equals Bush. And Roy, that’s not such a good thing.

BLITZER: When it comes to domestic economic issues, what is the major difference between President Bush’s policies, what he wants to do, and what John McCain would do if he were president?

BLUNT: Well, I think what John McCain wants to do is continue these pro-growth tax policies that our friends on the other side have been talking for sixteen months now…

BLITZER: But that’s what President Bush wants to do too.

BLUNT: And there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with that.

BLITZER: So it would be in effect a third Bush term when it came to pro-growth tax policies?

BLUNT: It would be. I think it would be. And I think that’s a good thing...

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: ...the Bush economic policies have helped drive this economy into a ditch. The economy has lost 260,000 [jobs] in the first four months of this year... And John McCain does represent a continuation of the Bush economic policy, as Roy just acknowledged. And the fact of the matter is, people are hurting. The one thing this president doesn’t understand and John McCain doesn’t understand is the economic squeeze the families around the country are feeling.

Even in the face of cold, hard facts, a lame duck presidency and the results of the last seven years, Roy Blunt continues to tow the party line. Either he's doing it because that's what he was told to do, or at this point, the GOP has convinced themselves that the Bush way really is the best move forward. When you repeat something a million times, you start to convince yourself that it is fact. I believe Blunt thinks the latter.

T Minus 253 Days

"We're working with Chancellor Schroeder on what's called ten-plus-ten-over-ten: $10 billion from the U.S., $10 billion from other members of the G7 over a ten-year period, to help Russia securitize the dismantling - the dismantled nukular warheads."

- Berlin, Germany, May 2002

Happy Mother's Day

T Minus 255/254 Days

"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."

- Washington, DC, May 11, 2001

Superdelegates Swamped with Coordinated Pro Clinton E-mails

In an attempt to persuade superdelegates, an e-mail campaign to flood the uncommitted remainder of the superdels and fill their inboxes began and in my opinion, is having negative results for the Clinton camp.

Speculation is that the e-mail inundation was the brainchild of either Taylor Marsh, a pro-Clinton blogger, or Hillaryis44.org, two websites I refuse to acknowledge with a mouse click, hence no link.

You gotta love Donna Brazille for e-mailing back.

In one exchange, Donna Brazille, Al Gore's campaign manager and a stalwart of the Democratic Party, responded with frustration to a writer's threats of defection. "Honestly, this is the 9th email today," she wrote before 8:00 pm. "So I believe you're ready to not only destroy Roe versus Wade, voting rights, civil liberties and civil rights. Perhaps adding trillions more to the deficits through non-stop tax cuts to the wealthy and 100 more years in Iraq. Yes, please join Rush and McCain asap. The train has left. Catch it."

...At least two other party insiders wrote the Huffington Post expressing concern over the scope ("I've received emails like this for weeks but tonight it started in mass) and negativity of some of the Obama attacks, including one red-state Democrat:

"I spent my entire life in the two reddest states in the entire U.S. so please excuse me if I fail to discern the nuances of the arguments sent my way this evening in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign to intimidate the remaining unpledged delegates by threatening to leave the party and vote for a third Bush term if I and others like me don't vote for Sen. Clinton," wrote the exasperated superdelegate. "I have been uncommitted throughout this campaign because I wanted to see how the candidates performed in a variety of settings. I am proud of them both. But I am horrified by this effort to threaten votes for McCain if super delegates don't vote for Sen. Clinton. I have received hundreds of emails from both sides - but I can say without exception that I have not received a single email from an Obama supporter that threatened a vote for McCain if I didn't support Sen. Obama. You really ought to be ashamed."

UPDATE: Phil Singer, a spokesman for Clinton, emails to say that the campaign knows nothing about the emails. Meanwhile, two readers write in to say they saw the campaign being coordinated at the friendly Clinton website Hillaryis44.org, as well as the blog page on Clinton's own website.

May 20th.... May 20th... May 20th.... May 20th...

Did Edwards Slip On Morning Joe?

Hat tip to Bob Cesca and Paddy on Cliff Schecter on this one.

First of all, let me say how nice it is to watch Morning Joe on MSNBC without the "Joe" part of it. The discussion was actually a discussion; engaging and serious, not loudmouth and idiotic. Mika Brzezinski, fill-in David Shuster and Tiki Barber (again?) had a twelve minute conversation with John Edwards and his thoughts on the race.

Mika prodded him for an endorsement, didn't get one, but did get him to admit that he would "very likely" endorse the same candidate he voted for. Listen to the 10 minute mark - he follows up with "I just voted for 'em on Tuesday" (emphasis mine). He didn't specifically say "him", he said "'em". But if you're speaking quickly, the 'h' isn't as emphasized, such as "voted forrim" as opposed to "voted forrer." Who the hell knows?

He does have a differing opinion as to how important, or not, his endorsement is, and at this point, it's probably best "forrim" to lay low and let this thing play out until at least May 20th. Hillary wouldn't drop out of the race with an Edwards endorsement of Obama anyway, so what's the difference? And if he has a chance to be a "War on Poverty" Czar for either candidate, why potentially upset either individual with an endorsement?

They also discuss Hillary's "hard-working Americans, white Americans" slip of the tongue and he doesn't believe that it was racial, knowing her the way he does. I'm not completely sure I agree, as we've all seen how the race baiting has come and gone, subtley and no so subtley, but fair enough. I take Edwards at his word on that one. He has his opinion just like everyone else.

Great interview - of course it is - Joe Scarborough isn't anywhere near the studio playing "gotcha."

T Minus 256 Days

It's former Attorney General John Ashcroft's birthday today! He once joked that George Bush worked 24/7: "Twenty four hours a week, 7 months a year." Who knew that in hindsight, he wasn't half bad - relatively speaking - when it comes to the criminals in this administration.

C'mon, you know you want to click on the video below. You want to "let the eagle soar once more!"

MCCain's Latest Daily Show Appearance

I have to say that I am disappointed in Jon Stewart. While I fully expected exactly what we got during last night's interview with John McCain, I was hoping it would be a bit more serious.

Stewart did ask a couple of decent questions, but since it is a comedy show, their wording gave McThuselah just enough room to wriggle out of answering them in the guise of trying to be funny.

And the "Do I salute now?" whisper when McCain made his entrance made me feel ill. I hope someone starts taking this "maverick" to task sooner than later.

T Minus 257 Days

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a seven and a half pound largemouth bass in my lake."

- In German newspaper Bild am Sonntag about the best moment of his presidency, May 2006

Sigh... By default, I would have to agree.

Deny, Deny, Deny...

...the inevitable.

Dealing With Stupidity In The General Election

I just came across an article in our local rag, The New York Daily News, entitled Ugly Truth Why HIllary Clinton Won't Quit:

...Many in the white, working-class crowd were simply not ready to back Barack Obama - for reasons that are disturbing.

"I'm kind of still up in the air between McCain and Hillary," said Jason Jenkins, 32, who cited information from a hoax e-mail as a reason to spurn Obama.

"I'll be honest with you. Barack scares the hell out of me,"he said. "He swore on the Koran."

Obama did manage to pull in many white voters, but still encountered similar sentiments from a man who refused to shake his hand at a diner in Greenwood, Ind.

"I can't stand him," the man said. "He's a Muslim. He's not even pro-American as far as I'm concerned."

And sadly, this is why shitheads like former New York City Mayor Ed Koch are calling Obama a loser in the general election and why Clinton still thinks she has a shot. It's the unspoken race issue. They hope that idiots will vote for Clinton not because they actually support her, but because they still think Obama is a Muslim, or they put too much emphasis on Rev. Wright, or they just won't vote for a nigger. Especially an uppity one who is smarter and richer than they are.

Morning Joe

Why is Tiki Barber on Morning Joe? What the hell does he have to do with pundit politics?

And although they're giving Barack Obama his due, is it really true that "Obama finally found his voice last night"? Is that the only catchphrase they know?

One more thing, they're criticizing Obama for calling Indiana a "tiebreaker" on Meet The Press and giving Hillary the opening to use it against him, when we all know that a "tiebreaker' meant that Hillary had to win big. BIG... in Indiana to make a case to the superdelegates which she clearly didn't do.

The so media spin begins because they don't want this "horse race" to end even though the filly lost last night, breaking one ankle in North Carolina and the other ankle in Indiana.

T Minus 258 Days

"And one of the things we've got to make sure that we do is anything."

- Washington, DC, May 7, 2002

The Game Changer

Hillary Clinton called North Carolina a "game changer" in the race for the Democratic nomination, but I don't think this is what she had in mind. Barack Obama had taken North Carolina 56%-42%, after major barnstorming by Bill Clinton this past week. Some reports say he's done 100 stump speeches in the last two weeks in the Tarheel State.

And in Indiana, where Clinton was expected to win by double digits, the race is too close to call with 95% of the vote in and Obama down by about 16,000 votes!

The Clinton scenario to move on was a blowout in Indiana and to make it close in North Carolina. The exact opposite has happened. How is her campaign going to spin this one? Clinton has also cancelled all morning show appearances that were scheduled tomorrow.

UPDATE (1:10am): With 99% reporting, MSNBC has delcared Clinton the winner in Indiana.

The numbers:

Clinton: 637,389 - 51%

Obama: 615,370 - 49%

According to MSNBC's Chuck Todd, Obama has erased Clinton's gain in her Pennsylvania win, extended his delegate lead by 160+ and has extended his popular vote lead to 700,000+. No matter how they try to slice it, the Clinton campaign is running out of ways to fudge the numbers. I'll be expecting the undeclared superdelegates to start flooding toward Obama.

The Bush-McCain Challenge

Take the survey and see how many questions you get right.

Time For Harry Reid To Go

If Senator Harry Reid actually believes what he said: Senator Joe Lieberman "supports us on virtually everything except the war," then it's time for Reid and anyone thinking like him to go. He doesn't get it... OR he understands the game too well.

Well I say "Game over."




Here's my email to Reid:

Dear Senator Reid,

I am writing in regards to your appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and your statement, when asked about Senator Joe Lieberman. You said Joe Lieberman "supports us on virtually everything except the war."

Here are some non-war votes from Lieberman since the Democrats took over Congress in 2006:

Bill to ban the CIA from using waterboarding:
Democrats -- 45-1
Republicans - 5-46
Lieberman- NAY

Cloture vote on bill to restore habeas corpus (which Lieberman voted to abolish in 2006):
Democrats - 50-0
Republicans - 5-42
Lieberman - NAY

Vote to strip retroactive amnesty for telecoms out of the FISA bill (h/t Matt Browner-Hamlin):
Democrats -- 31-16
Republicans - 0-48
Lieberman - NAY

Vote to specify that FISA is the "exclusive means" by which the President can spy on telephone and email communications:
Democrats -- 49-1
Republicans - 9-40
Lieberman - NAY

Confirmation of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General:
Democrats -- 6-40
Republicans - 47-0
Lieberman - YEA

Cloture vote to proceed to consideration of No-Confidence Resolution for Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General:
Democrats -- 47-0
Republicans - 6-37
Lieberman - NAY

Can you please elaborate on your statement? If you believe that all these votes are related to the war in Iraq, how can a vote on restoring habeas corpus or a vote of No-Confidence on former Attorney General Gonzales possibly be linked in your estimation?

I certainly mean no disrespect, but I find in incredulous that you would feel this way. And I've forgotten one other important topic that Senator Lieberman is NOT voting with the Democrats on: the next President of the United States.

You can email Harry Reid here.


(H/T Glenn Greenwald)

22,000 Dead in Myanmar Cyclone - First Lady Talks About Jenna's Wedding

You'd think MSNBC producers would pull the graphics and chyron stating the devastation in Myanmar, but they didn't.

Towards the end of a news confernce in which First Lady Laura Bush was answering questions (Lord knows about what) some intrepid White House Press Corp member asked for details about Jenna's wedding, with follow ups by other reporters. Laura Bush obliged and they all joked, but it seemed all a bit insensitive considering the conference dealt with Myanmar's tragedy.

Watch the video here.

T Minus 259 Days

"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone."

- Washington, DC, May 2006

Pandering To The Nth Degree

"Solutions for a Strong Military"?

What the fuck?! Ladies and Gentlemen, Republican Presidential Nominee, Hillary Clinton!

Party Be Damned

"There is no secret plan.... The Clinton campaign has been vocal in stating that the votes of 2.5 million people must be respected. Hardly a day goes by when a Clinton official doesn't publicly declare that the votes of Michigan and Florida count and that the delegations from those states should be seated."

The campaign's public assertions stand in contrast to its response to inquiries prior to publication of the story. At that point, Clinton aides insisted on keeping all comments either off the record or on deep background, or did not respond to questions at all. The campaign statement appeared to be designed to try to reduce the significance of the story.

Perhaps if either Clinton and Obama had campaigned in Florida, or if Obama's name was actually on the ballot in Michigan, I might find this legitimate. But facts being what they are, I just find it desperate. And for all their bluster of having a real shot at the nomination, doesn't something called a "nuclear option" sound like a last resort?

T Minus 260 Days

"The point now is how do we work together to achieve important goals. And one such goal is a democracy in Germany."

- Washington, DC, May 5, 2006