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

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.

Biden it is .....

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 -

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.

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.

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.

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.

openSUSE 11.0 is comming!

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

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.

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

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.

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 -

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.

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 -

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.

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 -

Edwards to quit race

Just heard on NPR -

Looks like he will end his race today in New Orleans - the same place he announced his candidacy last year.

Sad, he would be a much better President than Hillary. Now its up to Barack to stop her and save the Democratic Party from a Clinton powered implosion.

State of the US economy

From a posting by someone at Fleckensteincapital.com

Came across this paragraph in a Deutsche Bank report today and thought you'd enjoy it. The numbers are staggering and not a little ominous...

"On the political front, some noted the surprising focus on the manufacturing data given the change in the US economy, manufacturing had decreased to 15 pct of the workforce. The US now has more choreographers (16k) than metal casters. More people make a living shuffling cards (88k) rather than running lathes (66k) and there are three times the number of security guards than machinists (386k)."

So, let's see:
  more choreographers (16k) than metal casters
  more people make a living shuffling cards (88k) than running lathes (66k)
  three times the number of security guards than machinists (386k)

So much for the Clinton-Bush trade policies.

Whistling past the graveyard

Looks like McCain may have done it. In the final analysis I've always believed that the Republicans care more about winning than some old internecine fight that got started years ago. But still I'm a bit surprised its actually happened.

So, for the Hillary fans - answer me this - how does Hillary beat John McCaine especially since her candidacy will guarantee that every right wing nut in the Country will show up to vote against her and every other Dem on the ballot?

McCain will beat Hillary easily. When will the Democrats learn that somebody who believes in something always beats somebody who believes in nothing?

McCain has no sleaze - the Clinton's are all about sleaze. After 8 years of the Bushies that's something that Americans are tired of and will run from.

McCain is brutally honest - well what does one say about Hillary? She just gives us her annoying laugh that says she's fixing to lie again.

In a McCain vs Hillary race he will take ever state starting in Arizona and moving east to Georgia and South Carolina. Then he will win all the states moving up from Florida to North Carolina. This along will all of middle America and the northern tier of states should pretty much do it. Hillary may win Michigan or Illinois but I kind'a doubt it.

Hillary is a disaster for the Democratic Party - she will certainly loose the election but my fear is that whe will also loose the House and the Senate.

TPM's Weekend round up -

From TPN.

Its too good to miss - Maureen Dowd has really figured the Clintons' act out, she ain't impressed.

Is Clinton fatigue setting in?

Hispanic's "animus" for Blacks - Hillary's use of racism for power

Talking about his book "Election 2008: A Voter's Guide" on Cspan2's Boot TV, Michael Crowley today made the statement that from people in Hillary's Campaign its clear that they depended on the Hispanic's "animus" for Blacks for their victory.

Perhaps that's why they needed to paint Obama as the "Black Candidate in the race".

If depending on the dislike of one racial group for another ain't racism what is?

For the Clinton fans out there one question - how is this any different from what George Wallace did in the 60's and 70's when he ran for Governor & President?

Wiki to track the Clintons' racism

Thanks to whoever did this -

clintonattacksobama | Incident Tracker

Somebody need to track the Clintons' overt & covert racism - I appreciate their effort!

Now if we could get somebody to track their lying!

More on Bill's efforts this AM

Guess I am just furious -

I grew up in Alabama and know racism when I see it.

What Bill Clinton did today is racist and he knows it.

From Jack Tapper's blog -

January 26, 2008 8:18 PM

Said Bill Clinton today in Columbia, SC: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."

This was in response to a question about Obama saying it "took two people to beat him." Jackson had not been mentioned.

Boy, I can't understand why anyone would think the Clintons are running a race-baiting campaign to paint Obama as "the black candidate."

-- jpt

You can see Bill at work here.

When I wrote this how could I know the first racist attack would come from within the Democratic Party. I certainly owe the Republicans an apology.

Clintons' racist intent

From AP via TPM

Clinton campaign strategists denied any intentional effort to stir the racial debate. But they said they believe the fallout has had the effect of branding Obama as "the black candidate," a tag that could hurt him outside the South.

Finally BillHill lays it out for all to see. Guess they're proud of it. Bill and Hillary have been working hard to inject racism into the primary - looks like they have succeeded.

Obama's latest radio ad

You need to hear this radio ad -

Personally its pretty mild - somebody needs to call them the liars that they are.

Bill Clinton's racist strategy

If you have any doubt Bill Clinton will use racism to get back into power take a look at this:

To demean Obama's win Bill links him to Jessie Jackson and suggests Obama only won because he is black.

Obama's advertisement is right - Hillary and Bill will say anything, do anything to win. They have no ethics, no honor, no decency. They only care about power. They are filthy liars that must be stopped.

Democrats - abandon all hope - The HillBill Show is on the air!

For all those into Hillary worship I suggest a tiny taste of what's coming this fall came last night from Mitt Romney's response when he quipped "Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I just can't imagine. I can't imagine the American People can imagine it"

You can expect Republican talking point to begin to "raise" Bill's zipper in oh so many ways. They were just holding off till they felt Hillary had things locked up. Perhaps Mitt jumped the gun a bit, guess he just couldn't resist - it was a great line.

I can see the string of comments and jokes headed our way about what's happening in the West Wing and how Hillary has locked up the Interns because Bill is on the prowl (slurp-slurp, gurgle-gurgle). I have zero doubt that Bill's zipper will play a role in the election - the Publicans are just too smart to miss the opportunity. Their job will be to induce Clinton fatigue well before the election and ridicule and disgust is one of their most powerful tools in that process. The Clinton Camp's Swiftboating of Obama is only a prelude to the real race to come. They like to talk about how the Repubs will tear Obama apart - soon we will see what the real paid, professional experts of the Republican Party can do. It ain't gonna be pretty - the Clinton's have given them so much to work with.

Personally I am disgusted by the Clintons and can't imagine voting for 4 more years of the BillAry show. While moving a moron out of the White House we don't need to move White Trash in. My only hope is that the Publicans will get a clue and nominate John McCain so all the HillBill haters in the DemParty like me will have somebody to vote for.

HillBill - Swiftboaters extrodinare!

The HillBill Show is perfecting the Swiftboater's techniques on Obama, the guy who had the nerve to run against them in the Primary. In Wed's NY Times Maureen Dowd gives us a
taste of the disgusting dynamic duo in operation.

My sympathies to Obama - who precisely is he running against? Hillary or Bill

My brain is exploding!

David Brooks via The Daily Dish:

David Brooks says that "the people in the Bush White House think Hillary Clinton is better qualified to be President" and "I think its genuine, they like Hillary Clinton, the people in the Bush White House think Hillary Clinton is serious on the war she's serious on foreign policy they would entrust (they would trust) their legacy to Hillary Clinton more than to Obama and more frankly than a lot of the Republican Candidates"

Its almost impossible to know where to begin on this - does David Brooks actually believe this to be true? That a highly partisan White House would prefer a Dem than a Republican to take over? That they trust Hillary Clinton more than John McCain to deal with the war? Is David Brooks that gullible?

Certainly its spin - but for what purpose? Somehow I think Karl Rove is sitting somewhere laughing his ass off knowing that the Dems are on the verge of being saddled with Hillary while she's receiving praise from the Bushies. Enough to cause a bunch of good Dems to slash their wrists.

The speech I hope Edwards makes -

When Edwards looses the South Carolina Primary next saturday here's what I hope he says/does.

Friends we have run the race but its just not gonna work. We need to look at the greater good and have to admit that our number one priority today is to make sure that a Democrat wins the election in November and changes America.

It is clear to me and to many of you that Hillary Clinton can't win the general election. We don't need to visit the history right now but must acknowledge a simple fact that Americans elect people to the Presidency who actually believe in something - who actually have strongly held core beliefs. Unfortunately Hillary Clinton isn't that person. Senator Clinton believes what is convenient to believe. Here beliefs are determined by her pollster. This, in no small part, is the reason she is despised by most Independents and many Democrats. She cannot unite the Democratic Party, she cannot attract Independent voters, she cannot win.

There are other issues that must be addressed - the people want change and America needs change. How can Hillary Clinton, the Corporate Candidate, change anything? Folks are not fools. They know Corporations and their lobbyists don't support her out of the goodness of their hearts. She is owned by then - lock, stock, an barrel. Make no mistake about it - once in office she would surround herself with the same lobbyists and Corporate interests that have financed her Campaign. They will determine her solutions and there won't be change.

It is time for us to admit that I will not be the nominee. We must look to the future and do the greater good. Today the greater good is for me to endorse Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States. He is a man who has the core set of beliefs that the voters demand, he is a candidate that has shown his ability to attract Independents, he understands the need for change and isn't encumbered by those who surround him. Barack Obama should be the next President of the United States.

Sunday morning disgust

The 100% Corporate owned candidate, Hillary, won Nevada. The shinning example of a Democrat that doesn't believe in anything except what the pollsters tell her is headed to the nomination. Unless she is stopped soon its all over.

The only good news in this whole mess is that if she gets the nomination when she looses, she will loose - I know of no Independent that will vote for her and we need Independents to win, we will be done with the Clintons forever. Right now I'm just hoping that McCain gets the Publican nomination - he's the least disgusting of the pack.

Wolf just had the ultimate example of the DLC on, Senator Evan Bayh, and mentioned the rumor that he was a possible VP choice. Now that's a ticket that won't get the base excited - Hillary and a DINO (Dem in Name Only) Senator. Think I'm gonna be sick.

Futility of NM's Feb. 5th Caucus

For any of us caught up in the preparations for the Feb. 5th Dem Caucus the post at The Huffington Post is likely to be depressing. In it while analyzing some exit polling at the Michigan the following statement was made:

Looking toward the future, the Michigan exit poll demonstrates the viability of the Clinton campaign strategy of winning solid majorities in states that, unlike Michigan and South Carolina, do not allow participation of either Republicans or independents in their "closed" primaries, like the February 5 contests in New York, Connecticut, Colorado and Arizona. Many very large February 5 states, however, including California, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, have open primaries that will give Obama a chance to pull in independent voters.

They don't even mention New Mexico in the list of states that have "closed" primary states.

Let's hope this is the last one.

The calm before the racist storm

Over at The Daily Dish Andrew has published a post from a Publican about how they really, really respect Obama.

Fine - I'm sure that many of them do but that's not the issue. Just wait till Obama wins the primaries and gets chosen as the Democratic candidate for President. That's when the boys that run the Republican Party will get their Swift Boaters going. Its gonna be fascinating to watch how quickly the Publicans attacks morph into plain old racism. The Publican power structure will have a real job keeping hold of their racist component - they will need to let them out to try and do a bit of damage to Obama but once out of the box its gonna be impossible to keep 'em from going wild.

Things will get nasty and anybody who thinks this race is gonna be about "the issues" is nuts.

Obamavasion hits NM

Received yesterday (Sunday) from the New Mexico for Obama mailing list:

Four Obama staffers are arriving tomorrow night (two for Albuquerque, one each for Santa Fe and Las Cruces).

Don't know if Dick Sniffing will be at Albuquerque International to cover the event but the Feb 5th invasion has begun.

Kristol - useless as usual

HuffPo covers Bill Kristol's arrival at the NYT in their own style - the title: If We Ignore Him, Maybe He'll Go Away and content - a single link to Kristol's first NYT article explains their view of the event.

However, a reader's comment is even better!

"That's it? This is what we got from that great intellectual giant? This is what everybody and their grandmother grabbed pitchforks and fire over? Any average reader of the current political scene could have written that column. The real story here is how full of shit Kristol is. The GOP is terrified of a Huckabee nomination."

The sad fact is that's also true for about 99.5% of today's press corps. Their job seems to rehash the obvious and explore the mundane.

Intel just can't play nice.

Essentially Intel's sales force just can't play nice.

After joining the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization last year Intel has decide to get out, see my earlier post.

From a NY Times article it seems that their sales force just can't live up to the OLPC membership agreement they signed hence its time to split.

Lets see what Intel and Micro$oft does now -

AWWMNUUBM - Unity08

From Chris over at OpenLeft we get another take on Unity08 along with a great acronym - AWWMNUUBM or Aging Wealthy White Men for National Unity Under Billionaire Media Moguls along with a good question - what do they actually want to do?

Another posting over at The Washington Monthly points out a little fact that seems to have escaped this group while they make their call for bipartisanship:

I suppose that's fine, but one wonders if the group realizes that Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson have already said publicly that they would have Republicans serving in their cabinet -- a claim no Republican presidential candidate has made.

I'm left to wonder if its bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship or a call for bipartisanship because they fear the Dems might actually get control of the place.

Unity08 - Republocrat - Demopublican come out of the closet to meet in Oklahoma

A brief segment from CNN's Wolf Show this AM lead me to a story about Unity08. Turns out that this group of Establishment Politico's are so concerned that the US is so partisan these days that its necessary for some wise, no doubt straight, white & Protestant, men to get together in Oklahoma and "fix" things for all of us.

Don't know about you but I'm gonna sleep sounder because of their efforts -

My only question is where were those folks a couple of years ago during the Republican dictatorship of Congress, you know those lazy dazy partisan days of Delay and Hastert running the House?

I've got a feeling this has more to do with the Corporate Establishment's fears that they may loose control than some grand desire for unity so we can face our mutual problems.

Consider two distinct possibilities the Establishment faces:

1) the Publicans become a religious party, after all that's what its base really wants

2) the Democrats move back to their base and become a populist party

If 1 & 2 happen where oh where will the Corporations, a.k.a the Establishment, go???

Hmmmmm, if both 1 & 2 happen and the Publicans actually read the Bible and start caring about the poor, sick, and justice imagine what could be done on Health Care, the Environment, and tax policy?

If that's not enough to get the old line Establishment Republicans and DLC folks, the Dem's corporate wing, out of their joint closet and to the table I don't know what is -

Update - Digby does a real job on this gathering of gasbags here. The hypocrisy of this group of irrelevant Elders is simply staggering.

Sorry Andrew but.......

I tend to read Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish daily and sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree, and sometimes, as I did today, I find total nonsense.

Since he tends to read his email I sent him this:

Andrew:

Sorry but your Republican correspondent simply doesn't understand today's Democratic Party. For some reason the Republicans are fixated on the concept that GW hatred is the main motivator of the Democratic base. They simply don't understand that most of us know a fool when we see 'em and see the damage that GW is doing on a daily basis to the long term future of the US and the rest of the world. While we can't stand the sight of him and hate listening to the moron speak we just want him gone as soon as possible. Since the Republican base sees him as a good guy and thinks he has done a good job they are left to equate the motivations of our response to GW as similar to their response to Bill Clinton. They hated Bill Clinton because: 1) he couldn't keep his zipper closed and had the bad sense to lie about it; and 2) he was a fairly successful President. We're sick of GW because he is a delusional fool. Those are very different things. Personally, I don't hate GW - I just know he is a disaster of biblical proportions and dread the years of effort it will take to clean up the mess he and his minions have created.

Speaking as somebody who has been deeply involved in party politics for years, Hillary's support is totally based on the fact that she was married to Bill Clinton (name recognition) and that she appears to be a smart lady who keeps her cool under pressure. While she does have the establishment on her side the base ain't excited about her at all. Since she is widely seen as the establishment candidate and a supporter of the war its a bit illogical to assume that those Dems who's whole life is focused on GW hatred would flock to her to get back at GW. The anti-Hillary votes in the party are way larger than the pro-Hillary ones. If Edwards or Obama drops out before Hillary "wins" it all over for her because those two factions will quickly merge and be the majority.

Please let your Republican correspondent know that we DEFINITELY understand that GW can't run again and we will be finally shed of him in a bit over a year. We also know we won't be running against him next year. Who gets chosen as the Democratic nominee won't have anything to do with GW hatred - its just plain old politics as usual in the Democratic Party. Everyone I know counts the hours till GW moves back to Texas and hopefully disappears from public view forever.

Re: the Hillary vs. Obama vs. Edwards race - my vote/effort will be for Obama or Edwards. We need change after Bush not a return to the past.

Why the Repubs hate Huckabee

I've been wondering for some time why Huckabee wasn't the beloved child of the Republican Party. You may have noticed that the entire community of mainline Republican pundits have been dumping on the Southern Baptist preacher from Hope lately. It seemed odd to me - from my uninformed position he seems perfect - he's a fundie - he's a creationist - he's a preacher - he even believes - what more do they want?

Certainly they have been dressing up their contempt for Huckabee in some fairly high minded prose. Take for example this fascinating post from Right Wing Nut House where the author agrees with an attack on Huckabee from the rolling gas bag Charles Krauthammer:

I’m not talking about criticizing the idea that faith animates a candidate’s position on the issues. Nor am I calling for a moratorium on talking about religion in a political context. Neither is Krauthammer. What Krauthammer is saying – and what I am agreeing with – is that a line has been crossed, most notably on the Republican side, that seeks to give religion a privileged position in policy debates – absolute moral authority with a vengeance based not on the efficacy of one’s position on the issues but rather on the strength or nature of their religious beliefs:

Problem is - when you strip all the rhetoric away its pretty simple - Huckabee believes all the fundamentalist nonsense and that turns out to be one big problemo for the Republican establishment! They have been using the fundamentalist for years to gain political power and the little people have always known their place. Sure the elites of the Publican Party would throw 'em a bone every once and while when they needed their votes but they never meant for the fundies to have much say besides a bit of gay bashing every now and then. Now they face a fundamentalist candidate who actually believes what he says and has a chance to get elected. No wonder they are taking a collective dump.

Just imagine - religious wacko's in the Republican Party - whoever let them in? Well you did Mr & Mrs Republican Establishment and now they are eating the brie, measuring the windows for new drapes, and getting ready to take control of the Republican Party.

There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a Tiger;
   They came back from the ride
   With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the Tiger.

Michelle does it again -

Michelle Lujan Grisham came to tonights DFNM (Democracy for New Mexico) meeting and once again did well for herself. Since this group contained lots of early and big Martin H. supporters I was curious how they would react. Watching this very, very liberal crowd all I can say is that Martin should be worried. She walked onto his truff, had her say, and came out with a few new supporters. If the left wing of the Democratic Party starts to move to her way Martin's campaign is over.

blivey #1 launched in NM Dem Senate Primary

Marty obviously ain't one to let a sleeping blivey lie!

Having a perfectly good charge to slam Tom Udall with he's not about to let it go unused. I'm sure that's one of the basic rules of politics - its just how the game is played.

At any rate Marty let it fly earlier today with emails to all and sundry and the response from the his opponents has started over at Democracy for New Mexico. Now let see if Tom is up for the game.

By the way, when is Tom gonna announce?

Another reason to hate Microsoft and mildly loath Intel

As usual Microsoft and Intel first ridicule a product then when it shows they copy and exploit it. Today's article in the Wall Street Journal titled A Little Laptop with Big Ambitions shows how they play the game. First a MIT Professor named Nicholas Negroponte proposed the idea - that we build a cheap laptop, under $100 US, for poor children all over the world then load it with software and spread them far and wide. Negroponte had some ambitious goals including both price and numbers that haven't been meet. Per unit price never reached $100 a system but did come in at $188 per box and not many laptops have been shipped. The cute little beast is called the XO. Currently there is a special - send them $399 and they will send you a XO and send one to a child in the 3rd world.

Micro$oft initially ignores it, Intel ridicules it, and then MIT plus AMD and several others build it. Now that its out and Microsoft and Intel fear that their usual lack of vision will leave them behind. So, they have rushed to come up with a competing product called the Classmate, also see here. The problem is that it cost $300 instead of $188 and runs - you guessed it - Windows. Microsoft, because of their fear that 3rd worlders might become technologically literate, jumped into the frey with a $3.00 stripped down copy of Windows and Word, they don't tell us if it comes with their usual assortment of bugs and viruses, but no doubt it does. Anyway, they are using their usual strong armed tactics to sell the Classmate and trash the XO.

Currently it looks like Intel has backed off a bit on their attack on the XO and are now offering the system with a version of Mandrake Linux on it but as for Microsoft - no doubt they are being their usual evil self.

Beware the ballot splitters!

As we head to the Senate primary next June and the race in November I've been thinking for a long time that folks need to look at this map. In my mind the main question to be answered was who can win 2 of the 3 districts on it. I was inclined to say District 3 goes Democratic, District 2 goes Republican and it was all down to what happens in CD1. But this race will be different and frankly I'm not sure if that type of calculation will hold true this time. I fear that there are many Dems and Independents that will vote Republican for "balance". I think they like the fact that we have 1 Dem and 1 Repub Senator and if given a chance will keep it that way. After counting absentee ballots in 2006 I'm convinced that NM is filled with ballot splitters and all those Dem strategist planning the battle to come need to factor that into their calculations.

Chavez packs 'em in for his State HQ opening

Today Marty's State Campaign Headquarters on Menaul opened for business here in Albuquerque and the place was packed. Lots of food, lots of music, and lots of confidence. Based of the comments form this crowd - if Tom U. thinks its all over he has a nasty surprise coming. One seasoned insider said "its gonna be a close and hard race but we will win".

3rd Thursday - Michelle Lujan Grisham shines

I attended the 3rd Thursday meeting last week expecting to see the crew running for the Dem CD1 nomination except Martin H. decided not to show. Not to worry Michelle Lujan Grisham took full advantage of the occasion to impress more than a few of us. I must admit after reading the hit piece on the Dem. for NM website I was wondering if she was a serious candidate. After seeing her in gear I was happily surprised. What she lacks in height she more than makes up for in intensity. I look forward to her debate with Martin H. - it has the potential to really shake things up. My guess is that she could mop the floor with Darren White.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein should go!

Finally, finally, it seems that at least a few folks in California have had enough of Dianne Feinstein. From Huffington Post we hear that:

"East Bay For Democracy, a chartered Democratic Club outside San Francisco, will introduce the censure motion on Saturday at the state party's executive board meeting in Anaheim. The Governing Board of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party and the Progressive Democrats of America are also backing the measure.

In addition to her move to back Mukasey, critics have lashed out at her decision last month to vote to confirm Judge Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Southwick's opponents charged that his record on the bench in Mississippi demonstrated that he was both racist and homophobic. The Congressional Black Caucus, Human Rights Campaign and People for the American Way opposed his nomination."

East Bay For Democracy's website

Thanks for doing this!!!!

Lehrman won't leave Senate race

Prompted by questions from reporters asking if he will leave the Senate race if Udall gets in Leland Lehrman has released a statement titled "Why Tom Udall is Wrong for New Mexico and the United States Senate" via email late last night. It says.....

Members of the Press, Friends of the Campaign -

Kate Nash and Heath Haussamen, two of New Mexico's best political reporters, recently contacted me about my Senate campaign plans in response to Tom Udall's decision to enter the race. I am in to stay and will be filing FEC documents next week, now that I have secured a treasurer for the campaign. I have also been invited to be on KNME TV next week to discuss the issues. Here's why I'm staying in:

Tom Udall's recent vote to table Dennis Kucinich's resolution (HR 333) to impeach Richard Cheney is a prime example of exactly why Rep. Udall would not make a good Senator for New Mexico or the US. Although his votes on the environment and civil liberties make us all proud, his Washingtonian willingness to avoid tough issues means that he cannot be trusted with the leadership role a US Senator must take. A US Senator has the power of the filibuster, a Representative does not. One US Senator can bring the nation to a halt in times of crisis, and I would like to show New Mexico and the United States how that is done, when necessary.

In these dangerous days, with a criminal administration in charge of the most awesome military on Earth, Senators are going to have to realize that their unwillingness to use the power of the filibuster to check an out of control Executive Branch amounts to collaboration. The Nuremburg Principles clearly point to a heightened responsibility for all decision makers within a war-making apparatus. There can be no excuse for not using the filibuster every time immoral war spending or other warfare-enabling bills hit the floor of the Senate.

As George Bush has recently invoked the spectre of World War III, we must keep in mind the moral and historical gravity of our present situation.

Rep. Udall has heard from his constituents often on this topic. In March of 2006, the Democratic Party of New Mexico resolved overwhelmingly in favor of impeaching the President. It is the official policy of the New Mexico Democratic Party to support impeachment. Observers on the scene at the 2006 party caucus say that not only was the thunderous response to the impeachment resolution the highlight of the entire meeting, but that up to 98% of the room stood in favor (based on an estimated 20 votes against out of an estimated thousand voters present).

State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino's SJR 5, impeach the President and Vice President passed successfully through three packed committees in the New Mexico State Senate. Since no one wants to end up with the Vice President after impeaching Bush, Kucinich is starting with Cheney.

I personally asked Udall to support Congressman Kucinich at the recent Democratic Party Central Committee Meeting in Albuquerque. His warm greeting and kind words can not make up for the distant noncommittal attitude he displayed when I asked him to support impeachment. There were 86 Democrats who voted for the impeachment resolution, Tom wasn't one of them. New Mexicans need to ask themselves if they want someone who does well in the glitzy but shallow world of polls and cash, or if they want someone who will have the courage to honor their oath of office, represent the will of the people and protect the planet, even if it could be difficult in Washington.

Where's Tom's attention to the will of the citizens in his party on such a critical issue? Where's the courage to act on an oath of office that requires him to defend the Constitution against domestic enemies such as Bush and Cheney?

Congressman Udall's vote against impeachment is unforgivable, and I will make that clear to the people of New Mexico throughout the 2008 race for US Senator and beyond.
###

One other fact might be worth mentioning here - I remember that people involved in Jerry Ortiz y Pino's SJR 5, a bill calling for the impeachment of Bush et al., said it was killed after Tom Udall made a quite visit to the Round House and meet with several key folks there. Pino's bill was interesting because if passed by the NM House & Senate it would have required the US House to debate Impeachment. Since the Dem leadership in the US House are cowards they wanted that bill dead and looks like Tom helped out. So, Tom's fingerprints were on the death of that bill as well.

Wow - Tom has critics to the left of him, critics to the right of him - whatever will he do?

Bankruptcy Law Backfires

Great article on Bloomberg titled Bankruptcy Law Backfires as Foreclosures Offset Gains (Update1) shows how "Unintended Consequences" are showing up from the Bankruptcy Bill. For those Dems heavy into Bingaman worship lets not forget that he voted for this mess.

HH says Udall will run!

More evidence that the feeding frenzy is in full gear - Heath Haussamen says that:

Udall has decided to run for Senate

I'm still thinking he won't run, we will see -

Kossack's running amuck

As an occasional reader of the Daily Kos I'm never surprised when the Kossack's fall off the deep end.

Well they have done it again - this time its over Tom Udall. With titles like:
Dear Mayor Marty
NM-Sen: Udall trying to give Chavez face-saving way out
its clear we have moved to the silly season.

First they don't understand New Mexico needs more than a vote - it also needs a voice. This is the central problem with Udall worship. Tom is a vote - not a voice. He does not advocate for New Mexico. Evidence for this is easy to find - just look at how he's protected LANL.

If I were Marty, part 1

Looks like Tom Udall is gonna jump into the Senate race. Sorry to all my Liberal/Progressive friends but I'm just not impressed. Re: Udall, I've always said there is less there than meets the eye -

I've decided to support Marty on this one - heaven know's I've had my issues with him but this time he's the best candidate for the job.

So, as it stands today this is a Marty - Tom race. Even if the rest hang in they are dead meat. What should Marty do?

He needs to go after Tom IMMEDIATELY! He needs to let him know he has a war on his hands today, now, at this very moment in time and space. My guess is Tom thinks its all over as soon as he announces. Marty should rid him of those thoughts as soon as possible.

Marty needs to:
...- Ask this question publicly and LOUDLY! What has Tom Udall done for New Mexico? For the progressives he votes right but were's the bacon? This race is about jobs & economic development and Marty needs to let all know that Tom doesn't care and Marty does. That Marty sees this as an essential part of his job and Tom doesn't.
...- Resolve not to hand the labs, their workers, families and suppliers to the Republicans. Tom stood by and let LANL take a hit. Marty shouldn't waste a second letting all know that he cares and Tom doesn't and that he will pick up where Saint Pete leaves off.
...- Understand his problem is the Primary not the General election. He has real support in the Independents and old time Republicans. He needs to get them to register as Dems and vote in the primary.
...- Point out that Tom is too Liberal for the general election. The Publicans will nail him to a cross in Southern NM & to a lesser extent Albuquerque. Santa Fe politics ain't NM politics.

For Marty this is a win - win set of issues. It will help him in the Primary and General elections.

I know there is more - I'll post them as they hit me.

2007 jack-o-lanterns

Thank you John Edwards!

Finally somebody said the truth about Hillary - that she's the Corporate Candidate representing the status quo and Wall Street.

Thanks to John Edwards for being that somebody!

Oh Happy Day! Pearce to Run!

The conga line at the State Dem Headquarters is forming as we speak!

Steve Pearce has announced!

We get to watch a Steve versus Heather race!

Steve, the right winged wako, against leather Heather!

Since I know of no RePub that likes Heather this is gonna be fun! Getting to watch the knuckle dragging Pearce RePubs from southern NM go into a feeding frenzy is gonna be even more entertaining!

Let's see:
Heather verses Marty = a hard slog!
Steve versus Marty = Senator Marty!

The big question - does Leather Heater move to the right? An early hint could come tomorrow with the vote to override GW's veto of the SCHIP bill. Don't be surprised if she backs down and votes to support the veto as she does wheelies moving to the right. Be prepared for Heather to flush her carefully maintained image of being a "centrist".

Darren want's victory in Iraq!

Check out the video of his announcement on KOB TV. Its very, very White! Or, should that be white!

Two great lines you can't miss:
  Re: Iraq - "Our troops must return in Victory!"
  He's "gonna hang up his guns" but not his passion for our families!

Well folks we now know there's always gonna be one bozo on the Darren White's campaign bus!

Well Darren White is really, really white

As a photographer I know that a picture is worth a thousand words - well this one from Joe Monahan's blog is a winner! Not a single black, Hispanic, or native American in sight! No doubt he will draw some support from those communities but it ain't apparent in this photo!

Why Udall Won't Run & Can't Win

Before folks launch into this please think!

For those living in New York City and elsewhere around the world - all politics are local and who replaces Saint Pete will be decided locally. What follows is a quick and dirty summary of the situation as it sits today in the wonderful land of enchantment.

The Republican bench in New Mexico is weak - their candidate for Senate will either be Heather Wilson or Steve Pearce. The Republican establishment fears nominating Steve Pearce because he is such a right wing wacko. This is another reason why Saint Pete's announcement is such a surprise - he knows that the Republicans in NM like Steve better than Heather but Steve is poison and Pete knows it. I always thought Pete would not run and in the end find another way to handle handing the nomination to Heather - maybe Pearce has agreed not to run, who knows - but its clear that something is bad wrong with Pete for him to make the announcement this early.

The Republican power structure (Pete leads it!) will do all it can to nominate Heather and my guess is that in the end they will succeed.

So unless we are really lucky the race is against Heather Wilson - she's smart and evil.

Please understand that NM is divided into 3 Congressional Districts - for simplicity call them Northern NM (NNM), Southern NM (SNM), and Albuquerque (Abq). NNM is the most liberal/progressive part of the State. SNM makes Texas look moderate to liberal. Udall does well in NNM but he won't win in Albuquerque (Heather's base) and he will loose horribly in SNM.

The only way he can win is if he runs against Steve Pearce. If the race is against Heather Wilson she will loose in NNM, win slightly in Abq and win big in SNM - ergo Heather wins.

The question that needs to be asked is - can Udall win big enough in NNM to make up for the huge loss he will face in SNM and a slight loss in Abq? Tom knows that and so does everybody else so he won't run.

Bad day for Marty

Debbie spanked Katherine, Rey got 2X as many votes as Joan, and the ever reprehensible Don Harris easily survived Marty's attack. Marty's life could have gotten more complicated.

Have Marty and the Martistas lost it? Only time will tell. Certainly, it was a bad day for Marty and a good day for Diane D.

The New Mexico Caucus is comming!

Well on February 5th of 2008 the caucus will occur. It will cost the Democratic Party about $400,000 and be absolutely meaningless. It was created by the Big Bill 4 years ago to aid in his Presidential run this year. Big Bill likes to plan especially when other folks pick up the tab.

Anyway, since it is probably the only thing he will win I guess what has to be has to be. But who's to pay for it? Looks like finding the $'s is Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's job plus a few other poor souls. With Bill draining the state dry this ain't gonna be an easy task.

The Journal knows a good Republican when they see one!

Well, the sun sets and rises and sets again and the Albuquerque Journal has done what is to be expected - its endorsed yet another Republican. This time its Joanie Griffin for the District 6 City Council seat. Now technically Joanie became a Democrat just before she decided to run for City Council so I guess they endorsed a Democrat. But since the exceptions always prove the rule the Journal's track record is intact. Anyway, as a card carrying member of Mayor Marty's loyal guard beliefs and convictions won't ever get in the way of grabbing power.

Silly season in Albuquerque

Folks all over the place have been saying lots about the City Council election next Tuesday. Here's my attempt to throw a bit more fat into the fire.

The one thing that is clear to me, and I'm horrified to say it, is that most of what's happening right now and has happened in the Democratic Party since the Ward elections last Spring and will happen till the primary election in 2010 is part of the larger battle for Governor. As an active member of the Democratic Party its obvious that Marty and his people, better know as the Martistas, are buzzing about trying to set things up for the primary against Diane. If Marty can take control of the City Council by getting his people elected he can do lots of favors for developers and they will repay him with a huge warchest to fight Diane. The dirty little problem Marty has is that the Martistas are a dual edged sword that help and hurt him. Having seen them swarm first hand its clear that the Martistas really are not interested in what happens to the Party - their concern is their position in the crowd that surrounds Marty. They seem to delight in making Marty enemies. Because of their activities and Marty's track record the Democratic activist base have come to hate him.

Ultimately this does not bode well for the Democratic Party - as a political junkie its fascinating but I know right now that its going to hurt the party. The problem that Marty and the Martistas haven't considered is that he will be running in a Democratic Primary in 2010 and Republicans and Independents don't count. All his activities in the City Council election will be remembered when he runs for Governor. People have long memories in New Mexico and what goes around, comes around - expect things to get very, very nasty.

Rey Garduno for District 6

This is an easy one and should of been said long ago - folks in Abq's District 6 should go out and elect Rey Garduno as their next City Councilor.

Enough said.