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Monday, December 22, 2008

Something real to do about Rick Warren

Finally something to do besides bitch about Obama's choice of the homophobe Rick Warren to give the invocation at his Inauguration.

Please go to Turn Back Hate and sign the petition.

This is certainly an excellent starting point for the Progressive Community. Hopefully more ideas and actions are on the way.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Obama's obscene pick, the homophobe Pastor Rick Warren to do the invocation for the Inauguration

Back again!

So Obama has gone and gotten himself the out and out homophobe, Pastor Rick Warren, to do the invocation for the Inauguration. If you don't know much about the good Pastor well YouTube and CNN will inform!


Lets see - a gay relationship is like beastiality, pedophilia, pologamy and then he laughs when someone suggest he might be a homophobe.

What should we do - how about holding alternatives to the official homophobic Inaguration all over the country morning what could have been and asking for better? Above all we shouldn't be quiet about the fact that we are pissed and have been fundamentally insulted.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Albuquerque Republican Journal endorses Darren!

Well this is a shocker! ((Not!))

This morning, Albuquerque's Republican paper, the Journal endorsed White for CD1, Tinsley for CD2 and Lujan for CD3. They have followed their old, established pattern - they endorse Republicans except when the Democrat is gonna win by a huge margin. The same will hold true for the Senate and Presidential races - expect an endorsement for Udall and McCain. Udall because he is fixing to trash Pearce and McCain because that is just who they are.

The fact that the Albuquerque Journal is a Republican paper isn't a surprise to anybody interested in NM politics. They work hard to get Republicans elected and to keep them in office - proof of this comes easily from a quick review the coverage they gave/give Heather Wilson and Saint Pete. Their reporter in DC routinely gushed all over himself in praise for the pair. Beyond this coverage headlines and articles were routinely constructed as setup pieces to unfairly tarnish their opponents. Heather has made heavy use of them in the past. Who can forget all those advertisements over the years that have featured Journal articles to slam her opponent.

For the life of me I simply can't understand why any Dem subscribes to the Journal. Its a filthy rag and we can only hope that one happy day it will disappears and die. Who needs another spokesperson for the Republican Party? They already have Fox News.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Where are the Albuquerque Journal endorsements?

The title says it all - where are the endorsements?

We are a bit over 8 days or 201 hours till the polls open Nov. 4th and the Journal still hasn't endorsed anybody? My bets were on:
McCain
Udall
White
They would endorse Udall because they knew he would win and Pearce is dead meat. The other two are just the default choices for the Journal. They always endorse Republicans except when they are really, really hopeless - for example Pearce.

Maybe they don't like their choices - guess its not a good year for a Republican paper.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

La Raison d'entre for the bailout bill

So, the Bushies lied once again - that's to be expected. Nobody but the perma stupid crowd should be surprised.

From yesterday's NYT, found via TPM, an article by Joe Nocera gives the real reason for Paulson's bailout bill - it's to finance the consolidation of the US financial industry into a few large chosen banks. As Nocera notes:
In point of fact, the dirty little secret of the banking industry is that it has no intention of using the money to make new loans.
Here "the money" refers to the money contained in the bailout bill.

All was revealed during an Oct. 17 conference call for JPMorgan Chase employees when the following question was asked:
“Chase recently received $25 billion in federal funding. What effect will that have on the business side and will it change our strategic lending policy?”
Amazingly, one of the executives actually answered the question honestly:
“Twenty-five billion dollars is obviously going to help the folks who are struggling more than Chase,” he began. “What we do think it will help us do is perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling. And I would not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use that $25 billion in that way and obviously depending on whether recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you know, we have that as a backstop.”
Nocera goes on to explain:
Read that answer as many times as you want — you are not going to find a single word in there about making loans to help the American economy. On the contrary: at another point in the conference call, the same executive (who I’m not naming because he didn’t know I would be listening in) explained that “loan dollars are down significantly.” He added, “We would think that loan volume will continue to go down as we continue to tighten credit to fully reflect the high cost of pricing on the loan side.” In other words JPMorgan has no intention of turning on the lending spigot.

It is starting to appear as if one of Treasury’s key rationales for the recapitalization program — namely, that it will cause banks to start lending again — is a fig leaf, Treasury’s version of the weapons of mass destruction.

In fact, Treasury wants banks to acquire each other and is using its power to inject capital to force a new and wrenching round of bank consolidation. As Mark Landler reported in The New York Times earlier this week, “the government wants not only to stabilize the industry, but also to reshape it.” Now they tell us.

Indeed, Mr. Landler’s story noted that Treasury would even funnel some of the bailout money to help banks buy other banks. And, in an almost unnoticed move, it recently put in place a new tax break, worth billions to the banking industry, that has only one purpose: to encourage bank mergers. As a tax expert, Robert Willens, put it: “It couldn’t be clearer if they had taken out an ad.”

Friday delivered the first piece of evidence that this is, indeed, the plan. PNC announced that it was purchasing National City, an acquisition that will be greatly aided by the new tax break, which will allow it to immediately deduct any losses on National City’s books.

As part of the deal, it is also tapping the bailout fund for $7.7 billion, giving the government preferred stock in return. At least some of that $7.7 billion would have gone to NatCity if the government had deemed it worth saving. In other words, the government is giving PNC money that might otherwise have gone to NatCity as a reward for taking over NatCity.
Next Nocera says:
I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel as if we’ve been sold a bill of goods.
Well that's two of us.

Nocera then concludes with a conversation he had with Senator Chris Dodd:
Late Thursday afternoon, I caught up with Senator Dodd, and asked him what he was going to do if the loan situation didn’t improve. “All I can tell you is that we are going to have the bankers up here, probably in another couple of weeks and we are going to have a very blunt conversation,” he replied.

He continued: “If it turns out that they are hoarding, you’ll have a revolution on your hands. People will be so livid and furious that their tax money is going to line their pockets instead of doing the right thing. There will be hell to pay.”

Let’s hope so.
Its nice to think that "There will be hell to pay" but, based on previous experiences, I seriously doubt it. The Washington establishment, both Dem and Republican, are way too owned to ever do much about another big bank atrocity.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Sweet Home Alabama - welcome to the surreal state

Perhaps the ultimate version of this song. Its really, really real - love the "dos", the shoes, and the chicks on stage. Checkout the expressions of the choir members, they either seem to be simply amazed or amazed and yucking it up at the same time. Also, don't miss how the lead singer and choir pronounce "AlaBama" - very cool.

The Leningrad Cowboys backed by the Red Army Choir.
While I'm not sure what Lenin or George Wallace would think I'm absolutely sure Lynyrd Skynyrd would approve.

Found via naked capitalism.

Monday, October 13, 2008

"their God is bigger than you"

Here you equals the Christian God
From a McCain rally in Iowa, found at TPM. This has to be watched to know how sick these people really are.


Here's my transcript of this clip:
"I'd also add Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November because there are millions of people around this World praying to their God, whether its Hindu, Buddha, Allah that his opponent wins for a variety of reasons and Lord I pray that you would guard your own reputation because they are gonna think that their God is bigger than you if that happens. So I pray that you would step forward and honor your own name in all that happens between now and the election day."
This is so wrong and so sick I can't even begin to dissect it. From my brief readings of the King James version of the Bible I am reminded of the following:
  • Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
  • Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
These people are using God for their purposes not following the Bible to achieve its purposes. One wonders who exactly they are worshiping these days!?!

A P.S. on this - I never realized that God had an ego - its news to me that that God cares one way or the other what anybody thinks. That's a concept that should put the Theologist into a tailspin for years to come!

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Truth!!!!

Truth and from a Republican no less .......

From Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican:
"It forces innocent taxpayers to bail out government policies and Wall Street mistakes. It asks the American people to take a leap of faith and trust people who have consistently misled them, ..."

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

raping america

Guess its just one indignity piled upon many others but what the US Senate did tonight makes me sick.

The Bushies have succeeded in taring the Democrats with the same shit that has covered the White House for so long. To make matters worse the Democrats were willing participants. The Dems have no excuses now - they along with their Republican friends are blameable for all that will come. May Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the other Democratic Bush sycophants that so willingly came to Wall Street's aid burn in hell for what they have done to the United States and the Democratic Party.

Anybody that actually believes the citizens of the United States will ever see more than a few pennies out of that 700 billion that the American people will soon owe is simply out of their minds. Wall Street has already figured out 7,777 different ways to steal it all.

Below is a list of the filthy bastards that have helped Wall Street rape the USA yet again. I'm sad to see Obama on that list - guess he's just another shill for the corporate world after all.

Akaka
Alexander
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Brown
Burr
Byrd
Cardin
Casey
Chambliss
Clinton
Coburn
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Corker
Cornyn
Craig
Dodd
Domenici
Durbin
Ensign
Feinstein
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hutchison
Inoye
Isakson
Kerry
Klobuchar
Kohl
Kyl
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Mikulski
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson, NE
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Salazar
Schumer
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Sununu
Thune
Voinovich
Warner
Webb
Whitehouse

Friday, September 19, 2008

Wall Street to handle our Social Security?

When will the Dems start screaming about McCain and the Republicans who want to privatize Social Security? They want the same crooks, creeps, and thieves that brought us the mess on Wall Street to save Social Security. All the Streeters will do is steal every cent the average person has -

So why haven't we gotten that attack? Its simple and sad - the Dems are just as owned by Wall Street as the Republicans so they won't attack the criminals on Wall Street. That's the Real Reason we won't get an attack on the Republicans about Social Security Privatization.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

love the ad - hate the ethanol policy

While I certainly wish Scott Kleeb well in his run for Senate, think his recent ad is great however his love for corn based ethanol leaves lots to be desired.


she should know ..........

Carly Fiorina, a women who knows and personally demonstrated how not to run a large Corporation, does the old foot and mouth routine about Sarah Palin and then goes on to extend the idiocy to McCain in the clip below.



I'm so glad McCain has friends like her - he certainly deserves them.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Clinton sycophants at it again-

I'm furious.

I always wondered how long it would take the Clinton sycophants to crawl out of this toilets and try to sabotage Obama's candidacy once the going got rough. Well obviously not long.

Over at Huff Po we are treated to the post "Why Replacing Biden With Hillary Makes Perfect Sense for Obama" by Andy Ostroy saying Obama should trash Joe Biden to replace him with the sainted one - Hillary Clinton - and all will be well. With friends like this Obama needs no enemies.

Over at Another White Female for Barack a newly minted web site that seems intent on doing what it can to support this "swap" and elect John McCain we find more of this nonsense. The blog's second post "Maybe this Hillary/Biden Swap Idea Isn't Crazy" focuses on this idea. My comment on that post is below:
This is amazing.

Obviously you want to destroy Obama's candidacy - I don't know if you are some crazed reverse sexist Clinton sycophant or a Republican operative.

Doesn't really matter - the damage you are doing is the same.

If you are another Clinton creep please understand that she lost - she couldn't even run a successful campaign against a young black guy. She had the money, she had the connections and she still lost. Now you want to do everything you can to make sure Obama looses so the perfect one, Saint Hillary, can try again.

Please leave!
Told you I am pissed.

By-the-by, need to add this to my list of reasons why its perfectly OK to hate the Clinton's. I expect Obama will win in November but if he does loose we all need to remember the treachery of the Clinton's and their supporters. They are not our friends - they care nothing about the issues and God knows the Clinton's have never cared about the Democratic Party. Its just a tool to use for their personal glory.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Power versus Governance

For quite a while now it seems to me that the campaign goals of the Dems and Repubs have differed. The Republicans run for power the Democrats run to govern. That difference explains much of what has happened and what will happen in the 50 or so days.

Why the Republican excitement -

Being essentially a snoop I couldn't help but overhear the following conversation between two heavily religious Republicans, lets call 'em he and she.

he to she - "Well, what do you think?"
she - "I haven't been this excited in a while, I think we really have a chance"
he - "I know I heard her speech."

After hearing this and reading that McCain is a flop on the stump without "her" its clear that the Republican religious base has adopted Palin as their own. I seriously doubt any of the negative news about her will diminish that. Remember their support is "faith based" so the more negative the reality the stronger their faith in her will be.

Let's all hope that the same won't be true for Independents and those white female Democrats that are toying with voting for the McCain ticket.

The parodies begin

They were inevitable -

More and better parodies are coming because Sara Palin is such a great target -

Monday, September 08, 2008

Sarah Palin and the Third Wave

As reporters continue to explore Sarah Palin's life and views its clear that her fundamentalist religion is at the base of what she says, thinks and does.

Below are excerpts from an article at Huff Po about the focus of Wasilla Assembly of God, the main Church were Sarah Palin chooses to worship. While its well know that followers of the "End Times" theology have long been "insiders" in the Republican Party if Palin and McCain are elected they will will move into the Vice President's Office and possibly the President's Office. They also show how heavily involved Palin is in the activities of her Churches and how they have supported her bids for public office.
"Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world."
...........
"Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God has continued nearly up to the day she was picked by Senator John McCain as a vice-presidential running mate. Palin's dedication to the Wasilla church is indicated by a Saturday, September 7, 2008, McClatchy news service story detailing possibly improper use of state travel funds by Palin for a trip she made to Wasilla, Alaska to attend, on June 8, 2008, both a Wasilla Assembly of God "Masters Commission" graduation ceremony and also a multi-church Wasilla area event known as "One Lord Sunday.""
...........
"The Wasilla Assembly of God church is deeply involved with both Third Wave activities and theology."
...........
"The Third Wave is a revival of the theology of the Latter Rain tent revivals of the 1950s and 1960s led by William Branham and others. It is based on the idea that in the end times there will be an outpouring of supernatural powers on a group of Christians that will take authority over the existing church and the world. The believing Christians of the world will be reorganized under the Fivefold Ministry and the church restructured under the authority of Prophets and Apostles and others anointed by God. The young generation will form "Joel's Army" to rise up and battle evil and retake the earth for God.

While segments of this belief system have been a part of Pentecostalism and charismatic beliefs for decades, the excesses of this movement were declared a heresy in 1949 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, and again condemned through Resolution 16 in 2000. The beliefs and manifestations of the movement include the use of 'strategic level spiritual warfare' to expel territorial demons from American and world cities. Worship includes excessive charismatic manifestations such as hundreds of people falling, 'slain in the spirit,' and congregations laughing, jerking, and shrieking uncontrollably."
...........
"Mike Rose, senior pastor of Juneau Christian Center has a long relationship with Rodney Howard -Browne, credited with being the instigator of the outbreak of 'Holy Laughter' around the world, including the Toronto Airport Revival. Thomas Muthee visited Wasilla Assembly of God and gave 10 consecutive sermons at the church, from October 11-16 2005. As both Palin and Wasilla AoG Head Pastor Ed Kalnins have attested, Thomas Muthee 'prayed over' Sarah Palin and entreated God to "make a way" prior to Palin's successful bid for the Alaska governorship."
...........
"The Third Wave, also known as the New Apostolic Reformation, is a network of Apostles, many of them grouped around C. Peter Wagner, founder of the World Prayer Center. This center, which was built in coordination with Ted Haggard and his New Life Church in Colorado Springs, was featured in an article by Jeff Sharlet in Harpers, May 2005, "Soldiers of Christ." Sharlet was one of the first to write in the secular press about the World Prayer Center which is often referred to by those familiar with the Third Wave as the 'Pentagon for Spiritual Warfare.' It features computer systems that store the data of communities around the world, mapping out unsaved peoples' groups and spiritual mapping information for spiritual warfare."
...........
"Wagner's top leaders often conduct spiritual warfare campaigns against the demons that block the acceptance of their brand of Christian belief, such as 'Operation Ice Castle' in the Himalayas in 1997. Several of their top prophets and generals of intercession spent weeks in intensive prayer to "confront the Queen of Heaven." This queen is considered by them to be one of the most powerful demons over the earth and is the Great Harlot of Mystery Babylon in Revelation. (The "Great Harlot [or 'whore'] of Mystery Babylon" theme also figures prominently in the sermons of Texas megachurch pastor and Christians United For Israel founder John Hagee, former endorser of John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.) Wagner and his group also claim that the Queen of Heaven is Diana, the pagan god of the biblical book Ephesians and the god of Mary veneration in the Roman Catholic Church."

Sunday, September 07, 2008

I just started laughing when I read this -

Wandering by the Washington Monthly this AM I just started laughing. In the South "Upitty" was always part of the racial slur "Uppity Nigger" - just go look at the interviews CBS, NBC, ABC did in the South in the 60's or any of that period's history and you will see that the second word always traveled with the first one. Its there and pardon the pun, its there in spades.

A few days ago U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland from Georgia's 3rd Congressional District called the Obamas "Uppity". When questioned later by the Atlanta Journal his representative said he had no idea it was a racist slur.

Really?!? Westmorland was born April 2, 1950 in Atlanta, Georgia. How could he not know that "Uppity" is a loaded term? Wikipedia has an entry covering the life and times of Rep. Westmoreland. From this entry some of the wonderful things he has done while being a member of Congress are:
"In 2005, Westmoreland received criticism for spreading a memo to fellow House members that consisted of auto-industry talking points, verbatim, even using the same font as the auto-industry document. An aide defended him, saying, "such behavior is standard practice.""

"As a U.S. congressman, Westmoreland cosponsored a bill to place the Ten Commandments in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Westmoreland also sponsored a bill that the Ten Commandments could be displayed in courthouses in a historical setting."

"Westmoreland led a group of congressmen who opposed the 2006 renewal of certain provisions in the Voting Rights Act that require nine Southern states and a number of counties (mostly in the South) to obtain Federal permission for certain changes to election law or changes in venue."
Thankfully, Steven Colbert has Westmoreland's number and shows him to be the buffoon he really is (the interview starts about 1:40 into the clip) -

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Real reporting from the AP

Instead of the usual pro-McCain stuff we see from AP here's some number crunching that often gets overlooked in the polls - below are a few sections from an article by Julie Pace & Stephen Ohlemacher:
CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) — Five days a week, Linda Graham trolls tattered neighborhoods of this once thriving steel city outside Pittsburgh for unregistered voters she can sign up as Democrats — one of thousands of unknown volunteers whose work outside the limelight has already altered the basic arithmetic of the November election.

The epic nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton helped put millions more Democrats on the voter rolls while Republican registration declined. Now Graham, 45, has taken three months of unpaid leave from her job at Pittsburgh's Central Blood Bank in the hope of adding to those gains before the presidential vote.

She's encouraged by the response here. "They're all feeling the crunch" of lost jobs and a sagging economy, Graham said. "But people are feeling empowered. They're feeling like, you know what, I hold a little bit of power in this."

To counter this effort, the Republicans are counting on a formidable, high-tech get-out-the-vote operation that has helped them win the past two presidential elections.

Since the last federal election in 2006, volunteers like Graham combined with the enthusiasm generated by the Obama-Clinton struggle to add more than 2 million Democrats to voter rolls in the 28 states that register voters according to party affiliation. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 thousand voters in the same states.

The Democrats hope their voter registration efforts can boost Obama to victory in competitive states like Pennsylvania, Nevada and Florida and perhaps even give him a shot at winning traditional Republican states like Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Both Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, are fighting for independent swing voters, and many of the new Democrats had been unaffiliated voters.

The number of unaffiliated voters dropped by nearly 900,000 since 2006. Many joined the Democratic Party to take part in the primaries and caucuses, and now they will now be targeted by an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign.

.....................

Nationwide, there are about 42 million registered Democrats and about 31 million Republicans, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

The Democrats have posted big gains in many competitive states, including Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado and Florida. They have also been targeting historically Republican southern states.

Since 2006, the Democrats have added 167,000 voters in North Carolina, while the Republicans have added 36,000. The Democrats' biggest voter registration goal is in Georgia, where the Obama campaign hopes to register 500,000 voters before the election, said Dean, who has spent the past month traveling the country on a voter registration bus tour.

"The Obama folks are serious about Georgia," Dean said. Georgia has added 337,000 voters since 2006, but the state does not identify them by party affiliation.

In Pennsylvania, the Democrats have added 375,000 voters since 2006 while the Republicans have lost 117,000.

America Votes, an umbrella organization, coordinates voter registration efforts for more than 40 groups in Pennsylvania, including unions, the NAACP and the Sierra Club.

.....................

Graham finds a potential voter at the first house she stops at. Justin Webb, a father of two, is unregistered, but tells Graham he has serious concerns about the economy.

"We need more jobs," said Webb, 28. "If we had more jobs, we would have more opportunities to better ourselves."

It takes Graham less than five minutes to register Webb as a Democrat.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

What "Classic Republicans" think about Palin

We know the Republican Party's new owners, the religious right, love her but I've been wondering what old line Republicans think about Palin since McCain chose her as his wing-nut wing-woman last week. We know she was chosen to placate the religious waco's that form so much of the Party's base but what about the long suffering, old line Republicans? Well, here is what former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan and John McCain's former campaign chief Mike Murphy said when they thought the mikes were off during an interview with MSNBC:

Sad they won't say it publically - Peggy Noonan has already run for cover.

However, "Classic Republicans" may be dealing with the religious ownership issue in a more basic way - as a Aug. 5, 2008 NY Times article titled "G.O.P. Drops in Voting Rolls in Many States" shows they are taking Ronald R's advice and voting with their feet - either re-registering as a Democrat or as an Independent. Wondering if anybody at the RNC is actually watching?

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Sarah Palin is here to stay -

There seems to be rumblings on the web that McCain will toss Sarah now that the warts are starting to show. Well its to late for that - those two are tied at the hips and he's got her no matter what. Poor John he's owned now - both by the religious right that controls the Republican party and by a beehive wearing right winged waco that long ago violated the Peter Principle.

This could turn out to be one of the great political train wrecks of all time - stay tuned.

Steve Pearce is toast

Great news - even the Republicans know that the right wing wacko Steve Pearce will loose and now they are letting their dollars do the talking -

From TPM:
Republicans' Senate campaign arm called off television ads Tuesday that were to air in New Mexico in the run-up to Election Day, an indication that it's leaving the GOP candidate there to fend for himself as the party braces for losses.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee's decision to cancel the New Mexico spots reflects its priorities during a tough year for the GOP, with the party lagging badly in fundraising and resigned to losing seats in the Senate.

The committee wouldn't comment Tuesday on the change of plans, but TV station managers in the state confirmed they had gotten word of it last week.

"The actual cancellation came today," said Bill Anderson of KRQE, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque.
For Steve P. it sounds like the fat lady is singing even now, early in September.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

An Alaskian blogger on Sarah Palin

Via HuffPo - more on Alaska, Sarah Palin, and John McCain's though process at Mudflats, Tiptoeing Through the Much of Alaskian Politics.

From that post, a photo of the town where Sarah Palin got much of her executive experience - Wasilla, Alaska



Don't know about you but it doesn't give me lots of warm and fuzzy feelings -

Friday, August 29, 2008

Will Conservative women condem Palin?

As I wander around the web I'm seeing one idea pop up - many women, mostly conservative, question Palin's role in a campaign when they hear she has a child with Down's Syndrome.

This will be interesting to watch.

Palin poster

I want a poster that says:
With Sarah Palin rapist win!
Sorry if this offends anybody but based on Palin's view that a woman shouldn't have the right to an abortion even after being raped the act of rape becomes a means for the rapist to procreate. From an evolutionary/population biology standpoint it makes simple sense. Rape becomes a way to spread around the rapist's genes.

All absolute beliefs have unforeseen consequences and Sarah Palin needs to face the fact that her belief that there should be an absolute ban on abortion has consequences which punish the victim and reward the rapist.

It would be a horrible poster or bumper sticker to see but that doesn't make it any less true.

As an aside -
perhaps Governor Palin doesn't believe that a woman can get pregnant after a rape so this just isn't an issue. If so she won't be the first Republican to hold that view. At any rate we will know one thing for sure - we will have a wacko on our hands.

More Palin goodies ....

From the Politco:
Palin didn’t back McCain in the primary. She stayed neutral in Alaska’s January primary — perhaps on account of McCain’s opposition to drilling in ANWR. “A lot of us are sitting back and waiting to see if there will be new players in there," she said in 2007. "That’s probably why that box that says ‘none of the above’ is so popular right now."

Mayoral performance. Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.

Stevens and Young, redux. Palin has distanced herself from the state’s two most popular politicians, but both appeared at Palin fundraisers during her 2006 gubernatorial bid.

The environment. As governor, Palin vetoed wind power and clean coal projects, including a 50-megawatt wind farm on Fire Island and a clean coal facility in Healy that had been mired in a dispute between local and state governments.

— And, maybe, censorship. According to the Frontiersman newspaper, Wasilla’s library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, said that Palin asked her outright if she "could live with censorship of library books.” Palin later dismissed the conversation as a “rhetorical” exercise.
I think her veto of the wind and clean coal projects are a great place to start an attack. I can see the Obama advertisement now and expect we will all see on the air soon.

Ultimately, if she doesn't blow up in the next couple of weeks she may make it but the wolves are loose and if there is anybody in Alaska that has an axe to grind and wants a little "pay back" their time has come.

Anderson Cooper 360

It seems that on Anderson Coopers 360 show tonight there is a lively debate about the Palin pick and lots of post on his blog about the subject. My post, which was a few minutes too late:
Lets see - for a start she's a Creationist and thinks it should be taught in school, believes abortion shouldn't be legal even for a raped woman and doesn't believe that humans cause global warming.

Doesn't sound to moderate to me -

More fundamentally - McCain's claim that Obama isn't ready just flew out the window because he appoint her as his VP pick and Obama's claim that McCain doesn't have the judgement to be President just got supported.

Right now the press is in a feeding frenzy - lets see what else it uncovers.
Some of the more interesting opinions on the blog:

From Teri: Palin was picked because no other Republican wanted to join the Titanic , the metaphor for McCain’s campaign. My real worry is if something happens to McCain

From Lidna Harter: As a woman, I am distressed and insulted to think anyone would think that women are so one deminstional that we would vote for a woman regardless of her policies. McCain and Palin support none of the issues that concern the majority of women. McCain has just proved that he has poor judgement. He certinaly has read the American woman wrong, wrong, wrong. For the first time in my life ,I will actively and passionatley work for the election of an American president - Barak Obama,

From Carol Goodson: When I first heard about this, I thought it was a brilliant strategic move on McCain’s part, because I knew nothing about her…. but when I saw her talk on CNN tonight, I was appalled. THIS FLAKE is the person who could very possibly become President if the elderly McCain suddenly dies!??!? I am TERRIFIED. Don’t even talk about the fact that she has a 4-month old Downs Syndrome baby at home… why is she even Governor? Does this woman have any sense of responsibility AT ALL?
I am also a Hillary supporter. This McCain pick is insulting!!! OMG! Vote Obama! With if this chic becomes Pres. if McCain doesn’t make it? (sorry for the morbid thought)I can’t even imagine…..Please God! Let Obama win!!!

From vic nashville,Tn: How democratic party talk about former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience when they have community organizer top of the ticket

Plain approval rate as a governor 80%
9 % approval rate for congress

Obama long time experience is 20 years with Jeremiah Wright

Life long democrat and Hillary strong supporter will vote for Mc Cain
Hillary 2012 /Mc Cain/Palin2008

From rich: I’m an Alaskan. I know Palin. She is a winner. Strategically, McCain could not have made a better choice. When America gets to know her, they will wonder why she is not at the top of the ticket…someday…in the mean time, I hope she pushes for as many VP debates as possible - she steals the show in that venue. This will change the race as much as Clinton’s focus on the economy vs Bush 1. She is the best representative women could have. This is not a political hail mary, but a shrewd and wise choice for VP. It fundamentally changes the nature of this race, and makes the Obama/Biden call for ‘change’ look superficial and weak. Palin is the real deal and is not being taken advantage of, McCain is lucky to have her…that’s why Obama said, “the race is about McCain” in response today…hmmm…I think Obama is about to get Obama’ed…by a very capable woman.

From Mike In Ohio: what does it say about McCain’s judgement when he picks someone after meeting them onetime? Also, he just lost his best arguement against Obama, experience. I think its hillarious that even Orielly agrees that he just blew it.

From kornelia new york: Mc Cain have age related dementia . Who will like to have president without experience with 5 children / read problems/ She clearly have postpartum depression …..living her children for politics!!!Down sydrome is 24 hour job that child needs mother …she is pro life? what kind of life?

and finally probably the best observation from the center or right, from jeff layton: My view is that moderate MALE voters, like myself, who may have considered voting for a McCain/Romney or other ticket that might have represented something in the way of reasserting america’s image around the world will instead stray away from the funny talking Alaskan lady who presides over a State that has nothing to do with reality in the lower 48.

She is John McCain’s version of Harriet Miers–she’s some version of a “maverick,” but in the final analysis she’s SIMPLY NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Obama’s experience might have been a close call, but Palin’s choice by Obama’s loudest critic who INITIATED THE QUALIFICATIONS DEBATE, proves McCain is turning his back on this Country.

McCain is the OLDEST to ever run, and she’s the LEAST QUALIED since Agnew. When you add that up, it simply doesn’t compute.

the right responds.......

Ever since I heard about McCain's choice of Palin as his VP choice I wondered what the established right would say -

As always NRO delivers - Here's what David Frum has to say:
Friday, August 29, 2008

Palin

The longer I think about it, the less well this selection sits with me. And I increasingly doubt that it will prove good politics. The Palin choice looks cynical. The wires are showing.

John McCain wanted a woman: good.

He wanted to keep conservatives and pro-lifers happy: naturally.

He wanted someone who looked young and dynamic: smart.

And he discovered that he could not reconcile all these imperatives with the stated goal of finding a running mate qualified to assume the duties of the presidency "on day one."

Sarah Palin may well have concealed inner reservoirs of greatness. I hope so! But I'd guess that John McCain does not have a much better sense of who she is, what she believes, and the extent of her abilities than my enthusiastic friends over at the Corner. It's a wild gamble, undertaken by our oldest ever first-time candidate for president in hopes of changing the board of this election campaign. Maybe it will work. But maybe (and at least as likely) it will reinforce a theme that I'd be pounding home if I were the Obama campaign: that it's John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance.

Here's I fear the worst harm that may be done by this selection. The McCain campaign's slogan is "country first." It's a good slogan, and it aptly describes John McCain, one of the most self-sacrificing, gallant, and honorable men ever to seek the presidency.

But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?

And here's a link to my National Post column on the choice.

08/29 08:36 PM
The National Post article cited above is a must read for his views on the Palin pick.

Well one thing for sure and for certain McCain's laughable attack on Obama as unqualified is now once and forever gone. On the other hand Obama's question about McCain's judgment is strengthened. Sarah Palin better be a quick study because the axes and knives are headed her way and she ain't seen nothing yet.

Sarah Palin

On first thought it hits me that McCain is simply bat shit crazy. Not sure if I've had my second or third though yet. Certainly its a "Hail Mary" move on McCain's part but it will take time to know if its inspired or simply nuts. Right now my vote is its nuts.

However, it needs to be said that she has her supporters - there is even a blog titled Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President that began Feb. 26, 2007. Its founding author, Adam Brickley, said this in a posting titled Why Sarah Palin?
This blog is the result of about a month worth of research on potential Republican Vice-Presidential candidates for the 2008 election. I had been considerably less than thrilled with all of the early speculation, mostly swirling around second-tier presidential candidates, so I decided to see if there was anyone better suited for the job that I hadn't been hearing about. So, I developed the following profile for the perfect VP candidate (using Rudy Giuliani as my presumptive presidential candidate):

1) A energetic, young, fresh face who will energize the electorate
2) Not connected to the current administration
3) Pro-Life
4) Pro-Gun
5) A woman or minority to counter Hillary or Obama and put to rest the idea that America only elects white males

One of the first names I found that fit these qualifications was that of Sarah Palin, the recently elected Governor of Alaska. I knew that I had stumbled upon a fantastic candidate for national office, but I kept looking in the hope that I could find other potentially viable choices. However, after looking at every GOP governor, senator, and congressperson, I found that Palin had only become more appealing.

She was certainly energetic and young, having become governor at only 42 years of age. Watching her speches and campaign ads, I discovered that she was definitely a new kid of leader, coming off more as a spunky soccer-mom than a stuffy career politician. As for abortion, she was staunchly pro-life; and as a lifetime NRA member she was the most pro-gun candidate in the country. Furthermore, her experiences in rural Alaska provided a perfect complement to the big-city credentials of candidates like Giuliani. Her moderately libertarian positions on most other issues also match up perfectly to Giuliani.

There was thing about Palin that initially worried me - "lack of experience". She had only been elected governor in 2006, and her only previous experience was as a two terms as a city councilwoman and two more as mayor in Wasilla, AK (population 8,471 in 2005) followed up by a failed campaign for lieutenant governor and a brief stint on Alaska's Oil and Natural Gas Conservation Commission. This didn't seem very appealing at first, but then I took the time to look closer at Palin's history. What I had failed to realize was that she had habitually knocked of powerful incumbent opponents and was a quick learner on the job. In the 2006 gubernatorial election, she rolled over scandal-prone incumbent Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary, then went on to defeat former governor Tony Knowles in the general election - pretty impressive. Further back, she had knocked off an entrenched incumbent to become mayor of Wasilla, then developed a reputation as a hard-nosed, effective mayor. Her performance in Wasilla got her elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors and earned her the nickname "Sarah Barracuda".

In the end, I decided that Sarah Palin had actually compiled a rather astounding record of achievements in her 42 years, and was more than capable of making the jump to the national level. So now I ask you who you would rather have as your Vice-President. You could accept conventional wisdom and choose from the lineup of old men currently being bantered about, or you could choose an inspiring leader like Sarah Palin. As for me, I'm going with "Sarah Barracuda", a candidate who will help us win the election and then deliver solid results.
Posted by Adam Brickley, aka "ElephantMan" at 2/26/2007 12:07:00 AM

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

More reasons to hate the Clintons - their supporters.

With the Dem Convention in full swing the Clinton sycophants are running wild. Tonight is all about Hillary worship. Tomorrow praises Bill. Even with giving both Tuesday and Wednesday nights to the Clintons their head monkey, Howard Wolfson, is doing what he can to hurt Democratic chances in the Fall. His latest screed in the New Republican Republic says that Obama has some real grovelling to do before the perfect one, Bill Clinton, to make amends for Bill's racist statements in South Carolina (see my post from January for more on this).

David Sirota asks a great and relevant question on HuffPo "Does it always - ALWAYS - have to be about the Clintons?".

As far as the HillBill show goes the answer is obviously - yes it does.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Biden it is .....



Now, please go and rip John McCain's face off - rhetorically/politically speaking of course.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Bill Clinton's Epitaph?

Now that it appears that the Obama Campaign has asked Bill Clinton to speak its interesting to think about what he will say and how he will be viewed in the long term.

On the latter point its anybodies guess but I just ran across a reader's comment that may be the basis of Bill Clinton's epitaph over at washingtonpost.com. Found via HuffPo.
Bill Clinton has become the Michael Jackson
of the Democratic Party. Everything he now
does is an embarrassment. The mask has
finally been ripped off, exposing for all
the world nothing more than a spoiled, whiny, mamma's boy who throws a hissy-fit
when he doesn't get his own way.

My god, what a way to end your career...

Posted by: JIM WHITTAKER, Hemet, CA | August 8, 2008 2:42 PM

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Exxon McCain 08

Finally the DNC gets its act together. The Exxon McCain 08 Campaign.

The Yard Sign:


The Bumper Sticker:


The Button:



Hopefully they will all be available soon at the NM's Democratic Party State Headquarters - 1301 San Pedro, NE.

Monday, June 16, 2008

A quick look at an anti-Obama, pro-Hillary grassroots web site

For your examination is the following site: Just Say No Deal an umbrella site that list other independent anti-Obama sites across the web. In their own words "we are a coalition of millions with one thing in common: NObama".

Navigating from this site to many others it lists I get the feeling of moving through one big circle of web sites each looking a bit different but still essentially the same. A complaint on one was repeated on most of the others. Not much served to separate them save layout and color scheme. Another thing that hit me was the real lack of names that show up anywhere on these sites. The one glaring exception is the Media page on Just Say No Deal - for contacts we find:
East Coast:

Will Bower (PUMA)
Cristi Adkins (Clintons4McCain.com)
Diane Mantouvalos (HireHeels.com)

West Coast:

Robin Carlson (HillaryGrassRootsCampaign.com)

To Arrange Interview or Focus Group
Please Contact:

Andonia Public Relations: (617) 416-4897

Please note that Cristi Adkins is one of the backers of Clintons4McCain.com and involved with Allen Media Strategies. Catch this clip from Cristi on Fox News -



Curious that a group supposedly fueled by the grass roots has not one but essentially two Public Relations Company working for it. A quick search of "Andonia Public Relations" shows that it is headed by Diane Mantouvalos and it has specialized in attacking Obama and the Democratic Party for not worshiping Hillary Clinton. She's also a favorite on Faux News -



You have to wonder how much of this grassroots groundswell is real and how much a setup by the Republican Party using a pair of Media Relations firms that have loud mouths for sale.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Poor Heather, wrong again

What possessed the late, great Heather Wilson to send this, see below, to the NY Times escapes me save the need to cause a bit of trouble and aid the Republican establishment's plan to alienate Hillary's supporters from Obama.

Op-Ed Contributor
Hermione Clinton
By HEATHER WILSON
Published: June 8, 2008

The Democratic nominating system favors the most liberal candidate — in this case, Barack Obama. But there is a second reason Hillary Clinton lost that some are reluctant to openly acknowledge: a latent and lamentable sexism. She lost because the superdelegates — the Democratic establishment — went against her.

She became a caricature: too smart, too strong, too assertive, too rational, too competent. Think how the young Harry Potter and his male friends initially reacted to Hermione Granger and you get the idea.

— HEATHER WILSON, a Republican representative from New Mexico.
To think that Heather Wilson would say that Hillary Clinton was "too smart, too strong, too assertive, too rational, too competent" makes me think that this must have been submitted after she lost the primary last Tuesday. Based on this you would almost expect Heather to come out of the closet as a Hillary supporter. Certainly that string of compliments wouldn't have done her much good with the Republican base in the primary election. But then again it might not have mattered - we all know that this, like everything else in her political career, isn't real. Its just an illusion - another instance of Heather's famous "Crocodile tears" that's she's used so well to confuse the electorate and keep herself in office.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

hcsfjm.com - is it real or is it Republican?

Found today via HuffPo a new site devoted to the evils done to Hillary during the campaign. Its called the "National Organization of Hillary Clinton supporters for John McCain". To save you grief and prevent more hits on their visitor counter here's the intro screen.
Click here for a larger view.

Like the website the whois entry from Network Solutions, listed below, really doesn't tell you too much.
Registrant:
Contactprivacy.com
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA

Domain name: HCSFJM.COM

Administrative Contact:
contactprivacy.com, hcsfjm.com@contactprivacy.com
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA
+1.4165385457
Technical Contact:
contactprivacy.com, hcsfjm.com@contactprivacy.com
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA
+1.4165385457

Registration Service Provider:
Homestead Technologies, Inc, hostmaster@homesteadsupport.com
800-797-2958
650-364-7329 (fax)
http://www.homestead.com

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 06-Jun-2008.
Record expires on 24-May-2009.
Record created on 24-May-2008.

Registrar Domain Name Help Center:
http://domainhelp.tucows.com

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.MDNSSERVICE.COM
NS2.MDNSSERVICE.COM
NS3.MDNSSERVICE.COM

Domain status: clientTransferProhibited
clientUpdateProhibited
Leaving out all the boiler plate here's the remaining tidbits:
Current Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
IP Address: 209.157.71.50 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: US(UNITED STATES)-COLORADO-ENGLEWOOD
Lock Status: clientTransferProhibited
DMOZ no listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Web Site Title: index
Meta Description: Hillary Clinton supporters for john mccain. We will never vote for obama
Meta Keywords: clinton hillary john mccain supporters
Data as of: 14-Jun-2005
A quick nsloookup confirms the ip address.

Besides the name, Ed Hale, there really isn't any info about who is behind this site. We have no clue who Mr. Hale is, if he exists, or where he lives if he does exist. Neither do they list the names of their members or supporters. The only other information is they they are not asking for any donations at this time. However, we will set up a "527" to run ads in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan and other swing states.

I've gone to contactprivacy.com and sent a message to those behind the site. I doubt they will respond. My guess is that's it another Republican dirty trick web site but we will see.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Who's more disgusting?

First up is a Clinton Supporter throwing a fit in DC today (via Pam's House Blend):



Next is the Catholic Priest going over the top mocking Saint Hillary:



By-the-by, his premise that the Clinton's believe they are "entitled" seems fairly accurate to me.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

John Cole's category 57

Over at Balloon Juice I discovered that John Cole had come up with the category "I Can No Longer Rationally Discuss The Clinton Campaign" as a way to file posts - from the URL it appears to he his category 57.

His latest entry by the way is "Another Day, More Bullshit" which begins with the line:
Another bucket of bullshit from Camp Clinton:
And I thought I despised them! Cole has taken contempt to whole new levels of perfection.

I really appreciate his efforts. Its great seeing an expert at work.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

The enemy of my enemy ain't my friend -

As a Dem and a long time opponent of Heather Wilson I have to admit pangs of sympathy for her right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted that Pearce has an excellent chance of beating her but its really stunning that the Repubs would elect Pearce instead of her - don't they know he has zero chance of winning in November?

Heather got elected and stayed in office because she voted like a Democrat as long as it economically mattered to her District and the State and never had to face a real Republican opponent. That plus the divine protection of the Albuquerque Journal and Saint Pete was more than enough to win her elections. She used the appearance, actually the illusion, of moderation to attract Independents and Democrats to beat a string of Democratic opponents. She got all the Republican votes because they don't split tickets like Dems do however they never really liked her. Now she faces Pearce in a closed primary and all her Independent and Democratic friends can't do much to help her.

Pearce is a guy who votes like a real Republican which is bad, bad news for the Labs and the State. He really is Udall's dream come true because, as I've said before, this election is all about jobs so folks will vote their economic interests which in a Udall - Pearce race will be Udall. (In a Wilson - Udall race that's a much fuzzier calculation.)

To think I worked against Heather all these years and it will be the Repubs that blow her away just because she's not a big enough wacko to suit their tastes! Now that's a case where the enemy of my enemy ain't my friend!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Huckabee jokes to fellow gun fanatics

I continue to be amazed.


To make a joke about assassination is fairly amazing but it reveals their mindset and plans - to paint Obama as a coward who won't stand up for the US.

One thing to be sure of - Republicans are Republicans even if they are a preacher. Ethics, honesty, & decency aren't something they value much.

Lets wait and see what the great uniter, John McCain, has to say about this -

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

This is way to funny!



Just when we all needed some comic relief this makes its way around the web.

Over at the Stranger in an article titled "Way To Not Look Like Crazy Cult Members, Guys" there are some great comments about this graphic. Here are a few of the best leaving out the more obscene suggestions:

  • The artist who drew this should be beaten with a length of lead pipe.
  • Why do I suddenly feel like listening to BeeGees music?
  • Are you suggesting most Americans don't understand irony? Elitist!
  • Can I get that on black velvet?
  • look again, this clearly can't be obama: he's not walking on water.
  • This is SO going on my van!...as soon as Solid Gold is over.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

A list - A timeline of HillBill attacks on Obama

Over at Head of State an interesting list of attacks by the HillBill show on Obama. While its not exhaustive, that will be produced by some enterprising historians with massive amounts of time on their hands, it does show the pattern of events leading us to today's state of affairs.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Clyburn finally spills the truth

It seems that Pam's House Blend is the first to discuss the story that we should all be talking about - Rep. James Clyburn's statement that the Clinton's know they can't win and that their goal now is to destroy any hope that Obama can ever be elected so she can run again in 4 years.

With this one statement Rep. Clyburn has done more to expose the reality of the Clintons than scores of political opponents. He has my thanks!

Frankly its not a new idea for me - I've been thinking this for months and Chris Matthews of Hard Ball fame has said it several time on the tube. So Clyburn ain't alone. The importance here is not that the statement has been made, its been said publicly before, but rather who made the statement - the Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Thoreau once noted that "A grain of gold will gild a great surface, but not so much as a grain of wisdom". I like to think that the same holds true for a grain of truth. Clyburn has used a grain of truth to reveal the fetid reality of Clinton land for all to see. Much as they will try - it won't be boxed up and hidden away anytime soon.

Because it needs to be said again and again and again here's Pam posting:
Black Leader in House warns Clinton of the damage of win-at-all-costs
by: pam
Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 18:00:00 PM EDT

I saw this article in the NYT this AM and it should alarm Democratic Party leadership. If the endgame of Clinton supporters in primary slugfest is for Hillary to win the nomination at any cost, the price will be higher than the party may want to pay in the long run.

Representative James E. Clyburn (SC) is the third highest ranking Dem in the house -- and an undeclared superdelegate. He was the elected official who told Bill Clinton to "chill a little bit" when the now-infamous color-arousal tactics were ratcheting up in the Palmetto state. Clyburn, who still has no plans to endorse a candidate, is concerned that the Hillary Clinton campaign has done critical damage to the party's relationship with black voters in its quest to win.
In an interview with The New York Times late Thursday, Mr. Clyburn said Mr. Clinton's conduct in this campaign had caused what might be an irreparable breach between Mr. Clinton and an African-American constituency that once revered him. "When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar," Mr. Clyburn said. "I think black folks feel strongly that that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation."

Mr. Clyburn added that there appeared to be an almost "unanimous" view among African-Americans that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were "committed to doing everything they possibly can to damage Obama to a point that he could never win."

This is really a statement of feeling thrown under the bus, a term often associated with past maneuvers by the Clintons when it's beneficial to distance or disregard a group or individual standing between them and a political victory. That's common in politics, or course, but it comes up a lot for this duo, and it seems to be an open sore (or several dozen) that never fully heals.
Why gays, lesbians, blacks or any other minority trust the Clintons as far as they can throw them is beyond me.

This election is about power - what happens to the Democratic Party or the country is of no interest to the HillBill show - this is about putting them back on the thrown and they will destroy everything and anybody to get back into the White House.

I really can't wait to see how they respond - I sure they will send out one of their pet sycophants to drool all over the place. Perhaps it will be the slimey Howard Wolfson or the very slimey Harold Ickes or even the ultra slimey Terry McAuliffe. All we can do now is wait and see how they respond. I'm betting that they will be crushed, just crushed that folks would think such things of them - perhaps Hillary will cry again for good measure. Of course its all an act but its worked before and they think it will work again. Hopefully this time folks are wise to their games and will just tell 'em once and for all to just fuck right off.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Molly Ivins: Not. backing. Hillary.

While perusing MyDD I ran across part of an article by Molly Ivins way back in 2006 that explains why so many of us dislike the Clintons. After a little Googling the source appears to be here. For sake of clarity and respect for Ms. Molly below is her entire article.
- I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.

If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. In 1968, Gene McCarthy was the little boy who said out loud, "Look, the emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Bobby Kennedy -- rough, tough Bobby Kennedy -- didn't do it. Just this quiet man trained by Benedictines who liked to quote poetry.

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

I listen to people like Rahm Emanuel superciliously explaining elementary politics to us clueless naifs outside the Beltway ("First, you have to win elections"). Can't you even read the damn polls?

Here's a prize example by someone named Barry Casselman, who writes, "There is an invisible civil war in the Democratic Party, and it is between those who are attempting to satisfy the defeatist and pacifist left base of the party and those who are attempting to prepare the party for successful elections in 2006 and 2008."

This supposedly pits Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, emboldened by "a string of bad new from the Middle East ... into calling for premature retreat from Iraq," versus those pragmatic folk like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emmanuel, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman.

Oh come on, people -- get a grip on the concept of leadership. Look at this war -- from the lies that led us into it, to the lies they continue to dump on us daily.

You sit there in Washington so frightened of the big, bad Republican machine you have no idea what people are thinking. I'm telling you right now, Tom DeLay is going to lose in his district. If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to OWN the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely.

Do it all, go long, go for public campaign financing for Congress. I'm serious as a stroke about this -- that is the only reform that will work, and you know it, as well as everyone else who's ever studied this. Do all the goo-goo stuff everybody has made fun of all these years: embrace redistricting reform, electoral reform, House rules changes, the whole package. Put up, or shut up. Own this issue, or let Jack Abramoff politics continue to run your town.

Bush, Cheney and Co. will continue to play the patriotic bully card just as long as you let them. I've said it before: War brings out the patriotic bullies. In World War I, they went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that dachshunds were "German dogs." They did not, however, go around kicking German shepherds. The MINUTE someone impugns your patriotism for opposing this war, turn on them like a snarling dog and explain what loving your country really means. That, or you could just piss on them elegantly, as Rep. John Murtha did. Or eviscerate them with wit (look up Mark Twain on the war in the Philippines). Or point out the latest in the endless "string of bad news."

Do not sit there cowering and pretending the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can.
Note added in proof: It seems that Hillary's view of MoveOn before and after their endorsement of Obama changed a wee bit. Knowing the Clinton's track record on ethics, truth-telling and requirement of absolute loyalty from all no one should be surprised.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

openSUSE 11.0 is comming!



As of the 17th of April the next release of the best Linux distro is just 62 days away!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Dem's PrePrimary Convention - CD1 winners & losers



The results are:
  Robert Pidcock     25 votes     4.16%  
  Martin Heinrich     339 votes     56.41%  
  Rebecca Vigil-Giron     67 votes     11.15% 
  Michelle Lujan Grisham     170 votes     28.29%  

While Martin's vote didn't come as much of a surprise, he's been running for over a year, Michelle did much better than expected - securing the second spot on the June Primary ballot.

Questions remain if Robert Pidcock or Rebecca Vigil-Giron will try to gather the additional signatures necessary to get on the ballot. It appears that they only have a few days do so.

One piece of trivia deserves mention - since Martin won his City Council seat with a plurality, if memory serves me correctly - 30% of the vote, this is the first election where he actually won a majority of the votes cast.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Another view of Hillary's 3 AM ad

While I feel totally justified bashing the Clintons when and where I can - this you need to decide for yourself.

Direct and unedited from The Carpetbagger Report..........
We’ve all seen Hillary Clinton’s “3 a.m.” ad. We’ve also seen Barack Obama’s response ad. And the parodies of both. It seemed as if, over the course of just two weeks, there wasn’t much else to say about the whole exchange.

But Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson considers the ad from a perspective I hadn’t considered.
I have spent my life studying the pictures and symbols of racism and slavery, and when I saw the Clinton ad’s central image — innocent sleeping children and a mother in the middle of the night at risk of mortal danger — it brought to my mind scenes from the past. I couldn’t help but think of D. W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation,” the racist movie epic that helped revive the Ku Klux Klan, with its portrayal of black men lurking in the bushes around white society. The danger implicit in the phone ad — as I see it — is that the person answering the phone might be a black man, someone who could not be trusted to protect us from this threat.

The ad could easily have removed its racist sub-message by including images of a black child, mother or father — or by stating that the danger was external terrorism. Instead, the child on whom the camera first focuses is blond. Two other sleeping children, presumably in another bed, are not blond, but they are dimly lighted, leaving them ambiguous. Still it is obvious that they are not black — both, in fact, seem vaguely Latino.

Finally, Hillary Clinton appears, wearing a business suit at 3 a.m., answering the phone. The message: our loved ones are in grave danger and only Mrs. Clinton can save them. An Obama presidency would be dangerous — and not just because of his lack of experience. In my reading, the ad, in the insidious language of symbolism, says that Mr. Obama is himself the danger, the outsider within.
I’ve been tough on some of the Clinton campaign’s tactics of late, some of which have struck me as overly aggressive, needlessly divisive, and sometimes just plain ugly. But I’ve seen the “3 a.m.” ad a hundred times and I just haven’t picked up on racial undertones.

Patterson is an accomplished scholar who’s forgotten more about racial symbolism than most of us will ever learn, but this criticism strikes me as wildly off-base. The ad is premised on exploiting fear, but not racial fears. “Birth of a Nation”? Seriously?

I can think of a few too many examples, most notably Geraldine Ferraro a few days ago, of Clinton campaign officials and surrogates playing the race card in troubling ways. But to say the “3 a.m.” is one of them is a stretch.

But you know its always wise to remember "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".

Hillary's missing experience

From the The Daily Telegraph:
Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a "wee bit silly" for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province.

"I don’t know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around," he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely "the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets" during elections. "She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don’t want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player."
No one should be surprised after all we are dealing with the Clintons.

But, as they say, it gets better. Further along in this article you find that:
Steven King, a negotiator with Lord Trimble’s Ulster Unionist Party, argued that Mrs Clinton might even have helped delay the chances of peace. "She was invited along to some pre-arranged meetings but I don’t think she exactly brought anybody together that hadn’t been brought together already," he said. Mrs Clinton was "a cheerleader for the Irish republican side of the argument", he added.

"She really lost all credibility when on Bill Clinton’s last visit to Northern Ireland [in December 2000] when she hugged and kissed [Sinn Fein leaders] Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness."
For more on this see the article - David Trimble: Hillary Clinton mere 'cheerleader' in Ireland

Friday, March 07, 2008

Clintons distort images to attack Obama



As shown at the Daily Kos in a posting titled Obama "blacker" ad no accident another line of attack against Obama is to simply distort his image to make him "blacker".

Make him blacker and his nose wider to fit the stereotype they are pushing. No doubt it helps to scare the older white folks.

In a blind rush for power what's a little Photoshop between friends?

The Clintons are racist - pure and simple.

Hillary - bringing the DLC back to life

For Progressive Democrats this is important and should be scary - since the DLC, Democratic Leadership Council, is ashamed of our Democratic heritage moving them back into power can only be bad news.

From Kos' posting Team DLC embedded in Clinton campaign:
Clinton is getting her debate prep from Bruce Reed, the president of the DLC.

Clinton has been silent on her leadership role at the DLC, since it's not the sort of thing that people like to trumpet anymore. Reed has been an enthusiastic surrogate for Clinton, but the candidates don't always get to choose their supporters. (Al Wynn, anyone?)

But debate prep? Team Clinton has Team DLC firmly embedded in the campaign.

Update: Remember who top Clintonista James Carville wanted as DNC chair after 2006 in his attempted party coup? DLC executive director Harold Ford, who would clearly be a finalist for the gig in a Clinton administration.
This is yet another reason to fear a Clinton Presidency.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

An email to Pam

Re: your posting The self-destructive Democrat, 2008 model


Pam:

While I appreciate your view that in the end we must fall in line and choose the lesser of two evils I've been playing that electoral game from the last 35 years and as a Progressive and as a Gay Man that attitude hasn't gotten me very far.

What I see is this - we as Progressives or we as members of the LGBT Community are seen as a doormat for powerful parts of the Democratic Party and I'm sick of it. I'm tired of the politics of division and beliefs driven by polls and I just ain't gonna play anymore. If Hillary eeks out the nomination I will not vote for President its just that simple. While I appreciate that Hillary is better than McCain on many issues there are larger issues here that demand our attention. What the Democratic Party stands for and why it exists is all I care about now - not getting Hillary into office so she will do a marginally better job than John McCain. I want the whole prize not just a glance at it.

The issues Progressives and the LGBT Community have had with the Clintons can't just be washed away. How can any of use forget or forgive Bill Clinton for signing the Defense of Marriage Act? He threw us under the bus because it was convenient to do so at that moment in time and space and she will happily throw us under the bus again when a pollster says it will give her a 0.0001% net gain at the polls. That's just how the Clintons play ball.

My attraction to Obama is his desire to unify and include not to split people into groups so that they can be used against each other. That is a Republican technique and also the Clinton technique of choice and it should be rejected by both Progressives and the LGBT Community. Obama's concern for inclusion is all I need. Re: experience well - I don't want him to have Hillary's or John's experience because that's what got us into the mess we have today.

The lazy, lazy press and the Clintons up to old tricks

From the Globe and Mail -

ALEXANDER PANETTA
The Canadian Press
March 5, 2008 at 8:53 PM EST

OTTAWA — If the Prime Minister is seeking the first link in the chain of events that has rocked the U.S. presidential race, he need look no further than his chief of staff, Ian Brodie, The Canadian Press has learned.

A candid comment to journalists from CTV News by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's most senior political staffer during the hurly-burly of a budget lock-up provided the initial spark in what the American media are now calling NAFTAgate.

Mr. Harper announced Wednesday that he has asked an internal security team to begin finding the source of a document leak that he characterized as being "blatantly unfair" to Senator Barack Obama.

What is now a swirling Canada-U.S. controversy began on Feb. 26, when the usually circumspect Mr. Brodie was milling among droves of Canadian media on budget day in the stately old building that once housed Ottawa's train station.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie watches from the back of the room during a photo op before the government caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday.

Mr. Brodie wandered over to speak to Finance Department officials and chatted amiably with journalists — who appreciated this rare moment of direct access to the top official in Mr. Harper's notoriously tight-lipped government.

The former university professor found himself in a room with CTV employees where he was quickly surrounded by a gaggle of reporters while other journalists were within earshot of other colleagues.

At the end of an extended conversation, Mr. Brodie was asked about remarks aimed by the Democratic candidates at Ohio's anti-NAFTA voters that carried serious economic implications for Canada.

Since 75 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S., Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton's musings about reopening the North American free-trade pact had caused some concern.

Mr. Brodie downplayed those concerns.

"Quite a few people heard it," said one source in the room.

"He said someone from (Hillary) Clinton's campaign is telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt. . . That someone called us and told us not to worry."

Government officials did not deny the conversation took place.

They said that Mr. Brodie sought to allay concerns about the impact of Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton's assertion that they would re-negotiate NAFTA if elected. But they did say that Mr. Brodie had no recollection of discussing any specific candidate — either Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama.
So, it wasn't the Obama Campaign that was speaking to the Canadians it was the Clinton Campaign. One wonders if the lazy press will ever get around to informing us of that fact?

As always with the Clintons this just serves to remind us all - things are never quite what they seem to be -

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Barack's not Hillary's "Stepin Fetchit"!

So, this AM Hillary is saying that there could be a Clinton - Obama ticket.

I just want to heave - guess she thinks they might need a good butler!

Looks like the Clintons are calculating again - they figure a "step and fetch it" might be handy to deal with those they throw under the bus. He could do a bit of "shuck n jive" and tell them that the nice white lady doesn't really doesn't mean it after all!

Please give me a break.

Anybody stupid enough to become a second to the HillBill show is walking into a trap. Vice Presidents and the Democratic Party have never fared well under the Clintons' reign.

Above all things Obama understands images and he knows he doesn't want to play the role of Stepin Fetchit in a Clinton Campaign. Just Imagine what the Republicans could/would do with that image!

Why I despise Hillary

Why I despise Hillary and the BillHill/HillBill show -

As a Democrat I'm part of a small but very real wing of the Party that simply despises the Clintons. The reasons why are long and weighty but it all boils down to two simple facts:

1) the Clintons believe what a pollster tells them to believe and their strength of belief is based on totally on how strong the poll is -

2) they like to win by dividing people not by uniting them and I sick of this technique. It seems to be a strategy much loved by the Bush - Clinton camps. It ultimately always ends the same way - nothing changes except the level of public discourse gets worse -

If Hillary ends up pulling out a win, and rest assured she only cares that she wins - not how many lies she tells or who she hurts to do so - I WILL NOT BE VOTING FOR HER IN THE FALL. I had hoped that Clinton fatigue would set in and save us from that fate but that doesn't appear to be true. I need hope and when the Clintons come back you can abandon all hope.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Let loose the lawyers!

New Mexico Caucus update - 020608

The full scope of this mess came into view today.

My guess is that by tomorrow night we will have a full tilt National disaster on our hands.
Besides all the voters that walked away without voting and other assorted problems consider one number - there are over 16,000 provisional ballots to be counted. Lets break this down - a volunteer organization has to open up and decide if 16,000 ballots are valid then count them.

If this process takes on average 10 minutes per ballots the numbers are as follows:

16,000 ballots/6 ballots per hour = 2,6667 "man hours"/8 hours per day = 333.3 days of effort = 66.7 weeks = 1.28 years

If we have robots running at obscene rates and on average do a ballot a minute:

16,000 ballots/60 ballots per hour = 266.7 "man hours"/8 hours per day = 33.3 days of effort = 6.7 weeks

So good luck getting them counted!

This is the danger of provisional ballots run-a-muck. They each take at least 100x as much time to deal with as a regular ballot and handing 'em out like candy is insane.

I think New Mexico just learned a lesson the rest of the US needs to pay close attention to -

Colon is toast!

Just found this AP story at KVIA's web site:
Associated Press - February 6, 2008 9:05 PM ET

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Governor Richardson says he's frustrated with state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colon after reports of long lines and other problems at polling sites in the state party's presidential caucus.

It was Richardson who in 2003 originally conceived of holding an early caucus in New Mexico, and the state's first one was in 2004.

Today, the governor raised the possibility that state Democrats should rethink whether to keep the early nominating contest four years from now.

Richardson said he was deeply disturbed by reports of long lines at polling places and other problems. Some polling sites ran out of ballots and had to rush to make copies.

He says he expressed his frustration to Colon.

Colon says he hasn't met with nor talked to Richardson.

Earlier today, Colon took full responsibility for problems and apologized for miscalculating.
Well good questions can be asked where was Big Bill when $'s were being raised for the Caucus. No doubt he was off running for President.

Well the World ain't fair and if Brian Colon didn't know it before he's learning it now -

Friday, February 01, 2008

Obama's visit to Albuquerque

Just got back from the mob scene at the Convention Center and the line literally went around the building. Once they filled up the Kiva and an overflow room in the Convention Center they got folks to congregate at the Civic Plaza across the street where he spoke to the crowd and visited for a few minutes.

Here's a few photo's I took -

      Barack has problems with a bad microphone

      Barack working the crowd




MoveOn endoses Obama

MoveOn, for the first time in history, is endorsing a Presidential Candidate - Barack Obama.

The votes:
    Obama: 197,444 70.4%
    Clinton: 83,084 29.6%

That pretty much says it all from the progressive camp - MoveOn members prefer Barack over Hillary by a factor of better than 2 to 1.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

kos finally notices -

Wow, it took long enough -

This AM at the Daily Kos they finally notice what the Clinton's have been up to -
One of the biggest crocks of shit from the Clinton campaign, and a dirty one at that, has been the claim that Latinos won't vote for blacks. It's quickly become CW. Too bad it's not true.
Better late than never -