I've said this for years: the United States Credit System is the shock-absorber to economic fluxuations and when healthy guarantees constant growth in the economy and guards against a long-term recession or worse, a Depression.
But that party's coming to an end, rapidly. Take a look at these indicators presented by MarketOracle.uk: US Recession in 2007 - Third Leg of the Bear Market Likely
In 2004 I told Gary Hart, who was considering a presidential run, about this. All he could talk about was changing the tax system. Geez!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
MLK: Barack Obama Gives What TIME's Joe Klein Calls "A Great Speech"
Senator Barack Obama just gave what TIME Magazine's Joe Klein called a "Great Speech", so much so that he shared the entire text of it. Here's that speech in video:
And in text:
The Scripture tells us that when Joshua and the Israelites arrived at the gates of Jericho, they could not enter. The walls of the city were too steep for any one person to climb; too strong to be taken down with brute force. And so they sat for days, unable to pass on through.
But God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and march together around the city, and on the seventh day he told them that when they heard the sound of the ram’s horn, they should speak with one voice. And at the chosen hour, when the horn sounded and a chorus of voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down.
There are many lessons to take from this passage, just as there are many lessons to take from this day, just as there are many memories that fill the space of this church. As I was thinking about which ones we need to remember at this hour, my mind went back to the very beginning of the modern Civil Rights Era.
Because before Memphis and the mountaintop; before the bridge in Selma and the march on Washington; before Birmingham and the beatings; the fire hoses and the loss of those four little girls; before there was King the icon and his magnificent dream, there was King the young preacher and a people who found themselves suffering under the yolk of oppression.
And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today:
“Unity is the great need of the hour” is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.
What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Unity is the great need of the hour – the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it’s the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country.
I’m not talking about a budget deficit. I’m not talking about a trade deficit. I’m not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.
I’m talking about a moral deficit. I’m talking about an empathy deficit. I’m taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.
We have an empathy deficit when we’re still sending our children down corridors of shame – schools in the forgotten corners of America where the color of your skin still affects the content of your education.
We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some workers make in ten months; when families lose their homes so that lenders make a profit; when mothers can’t afford a doctor when their children get sick.
We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for some and Jena justice for others; when our children see nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first century.
We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our cities; when innocents are slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.
And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a breach in our compassion; when it takes a terrible storm to reveal the hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for; the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.
So we have a deficit to close. We have walls – barriers to justice and equality – that must come down. And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour.
Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country, we’ve come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We’ve come to believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it’s just a matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will simply go away, then all our problems would be solved.
All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity, but are unwilling to pay the price.
But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change in attitudes – a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts.
It’s not easy to stand in somebody else’s shoes. It’s not easy to see past our differences. We’ve all encountered this in our own lives. But what makes it even more difficult is that we have a politics in this country that seeks to drive us apart – that puts up walls between us.
We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don’t think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the believer as intolerant.
For most of this country’s history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays – on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.
And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community.
We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others – all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face – war and poverty; injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.
Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.
But if changing our hearts and minds is the first critical step, we cannot stop there. It is not enough to bemoan the plight of poor children in this country and remain unwilling to push our elected officials to provide the resources to fix our schools. It is not enough to decry the disparities of health care and yet allow the insurance companies and the drug companies to block much-needed reforms. It is not enough for us to abhor the costs of a misguided war, and yet allow ourselves to be driven by a politics of fear that sees the threat of attack as way to scare up votes instead of a call to come together around a common effort.
The Scripture tells us that we are judged not just by word, but by deed. And if we are to truly bring about the unity that is so crucial in this time, we must find it within ourselves to act on what we know; to understand that living up to this country’s ideals and its possibilities will require great effort and resources; sacrifice and stamina.
And that is what is at stake in the great political debate we are having today. The changes that are needed are not just a matter of tinkering at the edges, and they will not come if politicians simply tell us what we want to hear. All of us will be called upon to make some sacrifice. None of us will be exempt from responsibility. We will have to fight to fix our schools, but we will also have to challenge ourselves to be better parents. We will have to confront the biases in our criminal justice system, but we will also have to acknowledge the deep-seated violence that still resides in our own communities and marshal the will to break its grip.
That is how we will bring about the change we seek. That is how Dr. King led this country through the wilderness. He did it with words – words that he spoke not just to the children of slaves, but the children of slave owners. Words that inspired not just black but also white; not just the Christian but the Jew; not just the Southerner but also the Northerner.
He led with words, but he also led with deeds. He also led by example. He led by marching and going to jail and suffering threats and being away from his family. He led by taking a stand against a war, knowing full well that it would diminish his popularity. He led by challenging our economic structures, understanding that it would cause discomfort. Dr. King understood that unity cannot be won on the cheap; that we would have to earn it through great effort and determination.
That is the unity – the hard-earned unity – that we need right now. It is that effort, and that determination, that can transform blind optimism into hope – the hope to imagine, and work for, and fight for what seemed impossible before.
The stories that give me such hope don’t happen in the spotlight. They don’t happen on the presidential stage. They happen in the quiet corners of our lives. They happen in the moments we least expect. Let me give you an example of one of those stories.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organizes for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She’s been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and the other day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
So Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we begin. It is why the walls in that room began to crack and shake.
And if they can shake in that room, they can shake in Atlanta.
And if they can shake in Atlanta, they can shake in Georgia.
And if they can shake in Georgia, they can shake all across America. And if enough of our voices join together; we can bring those walls tumbling down. The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down. That is our hope – but only if we pray together, and work together, and march together.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone
In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone.
So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this church, and may God bless the United States of America.
And in text:
The Scripture tells us that when Joshua and the Israelites arrived at the gates of Jericho, they could not enter. The walls of the city were too steep for any one person to climb; too strong to be taken down with brute force. And so they sat for days, unable to pass on through.
But God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and march together around the city, and on the seventh day he told them that when they heard the sound of the ram’s horn, they should speak with one voice. And at the chosen hour, when the horn sounded and a chorus of voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down.
There are many lessons to take from this passage, just as there are many lessons to take from this day, just as there are many memories that fill the space of this church. As I was thinking about which ones we need to remember at this hour, my mind went back to the very beginning of the modern Civil Rights Era.
Because before Memphis and the mountaintop; before the bridge in Selma and the march on Washington; before Birmingham and the beatings; the fire hoses and the loss of those four little girls; before there was King the icon and his magnificent dream, there was King the young preacher and a people who found themselves suffering under the yolk of oppression.
And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today:
“Unity is the great need of the hour” is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.
What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Unity is the great need of the hour – the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it’s the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country.
I’m not talking about a budget deficit. I’m not talking about a trade deficit. I’m not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.
I’m talking about a moral deficit. I’m talking about an empathy deficit. I’m taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.
We have an empathy deficit when we’re still sending our children down corridors of shame – schools in the forgotten corners of America where the color of your skin still affects the content of your education.
We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some workers make in ten months; when families lose their homes so that lenders make a profit; when mothers can’t afford a doctor when their children get sick.
We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for some and Jena justice for others; when our children see nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first century.
We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our cities; when innocents are slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.
And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a breach in our compassion; when it takes a terrible storm to reveal the hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for; the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.
So we have a deficit to close. We have walls – barriers to justice and equality – that must come down. And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour.
Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country, we’ve come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We’ve come to believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it’s just a matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will simply go away, then all our problems would be solved.
All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity, but are unwilling to pay the price.
But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change in attitudes – a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts.
It’s not easy to stand in somebody else’s shoes. It’s not easy to see past our differences. We’ve all encountered this in our own lives. But what makes it even more difficult is that we have a politics in this country that seeks to drive us apart – that puts up walls between us.
We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don’t think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the believer as intolerant.
For most of this country’s history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays – on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.
And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community.
We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others – all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face – war and poverty; injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.
Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.
But if changing our hearts and minds is the first critical step, we cannot stop there. It is not enough to bemoan the plight of poor children in this country and remain unwilling to push our elected officials to provide the resources to fix our schools. It is not enough to decry the disparities of health care and yet allow the insurance companies and the drug companies to block much-needed reforms. It is not enough for us to abhor the costs of a misguided war, and yet allow ourselves to be driven by a politics of fear that sees the threat of attack as way to scare up votes instead of a call to come together around a common effort.
The Scripture tells us that we are judged not just by word, but by deed. And if we are to truly bring about the unity that is so crucial in this time, we must find it within ourselves to act on what we know; to understand that living up to this country’s ideals and its possibilities will require great effort and resources; sacrifice and stamina.
And that is what is at stake in the great political debate we are having today. The changes that are needed are not just a matter of tinkering at the edges, and they will not come if politicians simply tell us what we want to hear. All of us will be called upon to make some sacrifice. None of us will be exempt from responsibility. We will have to fight to fix our schools, but we will also have to challenge ourselves to be better parents. We will have to confront the biases in our criminal justice system, but we will also have to acknowledge the deep-seated violence that still resides in our own communities and marshal the will to break its grip.
That is how we will bring about the change we seek. That is how Dr. King led this country through the wilderness. He did it with words – words that he spoke not just to the children of slaves, but the children of slave owners. Words that inspired not just black but also white; not just the Christian but the Jew; not just the Southerner but also the Northerner.
He led with words, but he also led with deeds. He also led by example. He led by marching and going to jail and suffering threats and being away from his family. He led by taking a stand against a war, knowing full well that it would diminish his popularity. He led by challenging our economic structures, understanding that it would cause discomfort. Dr. King understood that unity cannot be won on the cheap; that we would have to earn it through great effort and determination.
That is the unity – the hard-earned unity – that we need right now. It is that effort, and that determination, that can transform blind optimism into hope – the hope to imagine, and work for, and fight for what seemed impossible before.
The stories that give me such hope don’t happen in the spotlight. They don’t happen on the presidential stage. They happen in the quiet corners of our lives. They happen in the moments we least expect. Let me give you an example of one of those stories.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organizes for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She’s been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and the other day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
So Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we begin. It is why the walls in that room began to crack and shake.
And if they can shake in that room, they can shake in Atlanta.
And if they can shake in Atlanta, they can shake in Georgia.
And if they can shake in Georgia, they can shake all across America. And if enough of our voices join together; we can bring those walls tumbling down. The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down. That is our hope – but only if we pray together, and work together, and march together.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone
In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone.
So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this church, and may God bless the United States of America.
Tom Cruise Scientology Video | Tom Cruise Shows A Religous Side
This is the Tom Cruise video you may have known about. Actually, there are parts of this video that are really funny, but maybe that's because I don't care what religion he selects, I still like his movies -- well, most of them.
You be the judge!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Mitt Romney Prevails in Nevada
The combustible Republican presidential process took another step towards complexity today as vastly polarized candidate Mitt Romney emerged victorious in the battle ground state of Nevada.
Mitt Romney, boosted by a thunderous injection of Mormon voters, handily defeated prominent rivals John McCain and Mike Huckabee by over a 30% margin. Voters who affiliated themselves as Mormons comprised 50% of the Republican caucus goers.
The former Massachusetts Governor received an overwhelming majority of support of those in every income bracket,age group,by Evangelical Christians, Republicans, military service men and women, and individuals who prioritized the battered economy, illegal immigration, the Iraq war and terrorism as integral issues to be concerned with.
Libertarian Ron Paul, who managed to finish a stellar second, received 51% of the vote from independents. Equipped with victories in Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada, and second place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney is in prime position to catapult ahead to the Republican nomination.
Remember, this is a race for delegates and Romney has accrued a substantial amount so far in his quest for the White House.
Mitt Romney, boosted by a thunderous injection of Mormon voters, handily defeated prominent rivals John McCain and Mike Huckabee by over a 30% margin. Voters who affiliated themselves as Mormons comprised 50% of the Republican caucus goers.
The former Massachusetts Governor received an overwhelming majority of support of those in every income bracket,age group,by Evangelical Christians, Republicans, military service men and women, and individuals who prioritized the battered economy, illegal immigration, the Iraq war and terrorism as integral issues to be concerned with.
Libertarian Ron Paul, who managed to finish a stellar second, received 51% of the vote from independents. Equipped with victories in Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada, and second place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney is in prime position to catapult ahead to the Republican nomination.
Remember, this is a race for delegates and Romney has accrued a substantial amount so far in his quest for the White House.
Clinton and Obama Split Nevada; Hillary Votes, Barack Delegates
After a bitter battle, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama split Nevada, with Clinton winning the popular vote by a small margin, and Obama winning the deligate count, again, by a small margin.
How?
Here's the totals:
Hillary Clinton 5,355 51% 12
Barack Obama 4,773 45% 13
John Edwards 396 4% 0
Uncommitted 31 0%
Dennis Kucinich 5 0% 0
Bill Richardson 0 0% 0
Note that Obama won the deligate battle. According to MSNBC: But hold on, folks. The Nevada Democratic Party just issued this clarification (emphasis is ours): "No national convention delegates were awarded. That said, if the delegate preferences remain unchanged between now and April 2008, the calculations of national convention delegates being circulated by the Associated Press are correct. We look forward to our county and state conventions where we will choose the delegates for the nominee that Nevadans support."
What does this mean? It looks like the Obama camp's math (as well as the AP's and NBC's) is correct.
Thus, regardless of the Clinton camp's claim , Obama has won the deligate count.
Something else is clear: John Edwards should drop out of the race.
How?
Here's the totals:
Hillary Clinton 5,355 51% 12
Barack Obama 4,773 45% 13
John Edwards 396 4% 0
Uncommitted 31 0%
Dennis Kucinich 5 0% 0
Bill Richardson 0 0% 0
Note that Obama won the deligate battle. According to MSNBC: But hold on, folks. The Nevada Democratic Party just issued this clarification (emphasis is ours): "No national convention delegates were awarded. That said, if the delegate preferences remain unchanged between now and April 2008, the calculations of national convention delegates being circulated by the Associated Press are correct. We look forward to our county and state conventions where we will choose the delegates for the nominee that Nevadans support."
What does this mean? It looks like the Obama camp's math (as well as the AP's and NBC's) is correct.
Thus, regardless of the Clinton camp's claim , Obama has won the deligate count.
Something else is clear: John Edwards should drop out of the race.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Hillary Clinton Lists Ronald Reagan As One Of Her Favorite Presidents
After bashing Senator Barack Obama for saying that Ronald Reagan's presidency ushered in an era of change in America, and stating that Obama liked Reagan, which Obama did not say, we now find that Senator Clinton's press release dated 12/12/2007 lists Ronald Reagan as one of her favorite presidents.
Wow. The Clinton problem is that she's so busy trying to find weakness she's tripping all over herself. Here's the release below:
12/12/2007
Eleven Salmon Press Weekly Newspapers Endorse Hillary Clinton for President
MANCHESTER, NH - The Salmon Press newspapers, which include 11 weekly newspapers published throughout New Hampshire’s Lakes Region and North Country today endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. The Salmon Press is the first newspaper in New Hampshire to endorse a Democrat in the 2008 primary. In their endorsement editorial, the Salmon Press highlighted the "combination of her proven track record and positive vision for America" adding "she’s an engaging personality able to unite people behind a common cause regardless of their political affiliations."
"Every week the Salmon Press newspapers provide a local voice for many New Hampshire communities and I am honored to have their endorsement," said Senator Clinton. "I have enjoyed talking and meeting with voters in New Hampshire and earning their support in my campaign. I believe I am the candidate with the record and experience American families can depend on to make real change happen."
The 11 Salmon Press newspapers include: the Littleton Courier, Coos County Democrat (Lancaster, NH) and Berlin Reporter, the Granite State News (Wolfeboro, NH), Carroll County Independent (Conway, NH), Meredith News, Record Enterprise (Plymouth, NH), Winnisquam Echo (Tilton, NH), Gilford Steamer, Baysider (Alton, NH), and Mountain Ear (Conway, NH). The Salmon Press endorsed Bill Bradley for president in 2000 and Howard Dean in 2004.
The Salmon Press endorsement editorial follows:
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Those that don’t think experience counts in politics haven’t been listening to Sen. Hillary Clinton. The combination of her proven track record and positive vision for America make her our choice in the Democratic primary.
Sen. Clinton earned our admiration as the First Lady and respect as a U.S. senator from New York. Today she’s an engaging personality able to unite people behind a common cause regardless of their political affiliations. She hit the Senate floor on the run and she can do the same thing in the White House.
She is sincere and passionate about restoring fiscal responsibility, providing health care to all Americans, protecting the environment, keeping the tax burden off the middle class and earning the faith and trust of the American people.
But no president can do it alone. She must break recent tradition, cast cronyism aside and fill her cabinet with the best people, not only the best Democrats, but the best Republicans as well.. We’re confident she will do that. Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks. As expected, Bill Clinton was also included on the aforementioned list.
After all it was during his administration - eight years of peace and prosperity - that Hillary was able to observe, learn and contribute, all at the same time. And though she possesses traits similar to the former president, a great communicator chief among them - the voters of New York State have overwhelmingly validated her abilities - twice.
Sen. Clinton told us she doesn’t want our vote just because she’s a "woman." She wants our vote because she’s the "best." On the Democratic side we agree that she is.
Wow. The Clinton problem is that she's so busy trying to find weakness she's tripping all over herself. Here's the release below:
12/12/2007
Eleven Salmon Press Weekly Newspapers Endorse Hillary Clinton for President
MANCHESTER, NH - The Salmon Press newspapers, which include 11 weekly newspapers published throughout New Hampshire’s Lakes Region and North Country today endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. The Salmon Press is the first newspaper in New Hampshire to endorse a Democrat in the 2008 primary. In their endorsement editorial, the Salmon Press highlighted the "combination of her proven track record and positive vision for America" adding "she’s an engaging personality able to unite people behind a common cause regardless of their political affiliations."
"Every week the Salmon Press newspapers provide a local voice for many New Hampshire communities and I am honored to have their endorsement," said Senator Clinton. "I have enjoyed talking and meeting with voters in New Hampshire and earning their support in my campaign. I believe I am the candidate with the record and experience American families can depend on to make real change happen."
The 11 Salmon Press newspapers include: the Littleton Courier, Coos County Democrat (Lancaster, NH) and Berlin Reporter, the Granite State News (Wolfeboro, NH), Carroll County Independent (Conway, NH), Meredith News, Record Enterprise (Plymouth, NH), Winnisquam Echo (Tilton, NH), Gilford Steamer, Baysider (Alton, NH), and Mountain Ear (Conway, NH). The Salmon Press endorsed Bill Bradley for president in 2000 and Howard Dean in 2004.
The Salmon Press endorsement editorial follows:
Sen. Hillary Clinton
Those that don’t think experience counts in politics haven’t been listening to Sen. Hillary Clinton. The combination of her proven track record and positive vision for America make her our choice in the Democratic primary.
Sen. Clinton earned our admiration as the First Lady and respect as a U.S. senator from New York. Today she’s an engaging personality able to unite people behind a common cause regardless of their political affiliations. She hit the Senate floor on the run and she can do the same thing in the White House.
She is sincere and passionate about restoring fiscal responsibility, providing health care to all Americans, protecting the environment, keeping the tax burden off the middle class and earning the faith and trust of the American people.
But no president can do it alone. She must break recent tradition, cast cronyism aside and fill her cabinet with the best people, not only the best Democrats, but the best Republicans as well.. We’re confident she will do that. Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks. As expected, Bill Clinton was also included on the aforementioned list.
After all it was during his administration - eight years of peace and prosperity - that Hillary was able to observe, learn and contribute, all at the same time. And though she possesses traits similar to the former president, a great communicator chief among them - the voters of New York State have overwhelmingly validated her abilities - twice.
Sen. Clinton told us she doesn’t want our vote just because she’s a "woman." She wants our vote because she’s the "best." On the Democratic side we agree that she is.
Billary Uses Carl Rove's WMD In Nevada Against Obama
For those of you who are in need a refresher course in Billary's WMD (weapons of mass destruction) Must Stop Barack Obama For President 6-Step Insurgent Manual (first edition written by the far right's infamous son Carl Rove) are as follows:
Step 1: Slander your opponent Step 2: Wait and see if you're called on the slander Step 3: If called on the slander, decide whether you've offended a group you need to win the election Step 4: If the answer to step 3 is "yes, we need that group," deny Step 1 ever happened. Step 5: Hope nobody realizes what you just did Step 6: If someone DOES realize what you did, slander the person who just realized what you did or tell that person that "they're taking things out of context".
The Clintons are livid that their Nevada legal gangbangers couldn't strike a lethal legal blow of superior presidential firepower that was meant to be seen all around the globe against Culinary Workers Union Local 226 for endorsing Sen. Obama over Hillary for President. They were hoping to put other unions on notice...ENDORSE BILLARY OR ELSE. Mr. Clinton even went so far as to play his presidential pardon trump card by calling in a personal marker by having disgraced U.S. Secretary Of Housing and Urban Development -HUD (from 1993 -1997) Henry Gabriel Cisneros campaign for his wife in Las Vegas to court the Latino vote. Some us haven't forgotten your appointee Mr. Cisneros cost Americans $21-23 million dollars in legal fees for making his mistress mad, lying, stealing and cheating. Check out the BARRETT REPORT and read it for yourselves @ http://barrett.oic.gov/ Not a good look Billary. It reminds me of the $70 million Americans had to pay for WHITEWATER http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/committee.pdf during Pres. Clinton's administration too. Some people are truly accident prone but this couple (to include their hand selected appointees) are INDICTMENT AFTER INDICTMENT prone. My purse just started to cry again.
Sen. Clinton's campaign has sent direct mail pieces to Nevadans distorting Sen. Obama's position on Social Security. You can now hear Hillary on several Nevada radio stations blatantly lying to voters about Barack's long-standing against Yucca Mountain. Additionally, she's on TV misleading people about Obama's outspoken position against the war in Iraq. But perhaps most disturbing, Clinton has attacked Barack on his 100% pro-choice record. The tone of Senator Clinton's campaign has been so negative that even her supporters are saying enough is enough. Lorna Brett, a former Clinton donor and president of Chicago National Organization for Women, had this to say about the tactics:
"I was disappointed that Hillary Clinton would launch misleading attacks on Barack Obama and his unimpeachable record on a woman's right to choose. I have switched my support to Barack Obama because I know the truth. I cannot be a part of that kind of deceptive politics."
Check out what Sen. Barack Obama has to say about Billary...I mean Sen. Clinton and (honey I keep attacking Barack like you instructed wannabe FMT (First Man In Training) Bill Clinton:
I wanted to let Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to include her PIC (partner in crime) President William Jefferson Clinton know that most Americans will not be fooled by all the lies, distortions and re-clarifications coming out of the Billary camp every day. We've heard and paid dearly for both your excuses all before. Curious were Americans being charged for 35+ years of experience or was that pro bono during the Clinton Glory Years? Even Pres. George W. Bush woke up eventually and was smart enough to put Carl Rove out the white house. No more drama my vote's for Obama.
FOX AND FRIENDS - A Real Idiotic Telecast Featuring Gretchen Carlson's Legs
Fox and Friends: All about the legs!
I can't get over how overtly racist, stupid, and downright misguided "Fox and Friends" cable show is. They talk fast, say nothing, and don't know what the hell they're gabbing about. I guess show hosts Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade are supposed to be entertaining, but the only aspect of the show that is -- and that's a stretch -- are Gretchen's legs.
Other than that, I see no real value in the show. And what's more disturbing is that it's the highest rated show in its morning category, over CNN's American Morning. But it's not for intelligent content at all. It is really about Gretchen's blonde hair and short skirt.
That's all it is. In fact, the Fox producers focus on her legs and even had scenes of E. D. Hill's legs in an upskirt fashion! That's the only reason -- the only one -- that Fox is ahead of CNN and MSNBC.
And here's the E.D. Hill segment where she's sitting in a short skirt and in a way that is provacative:
This is the key to the Internet. If you put a hot blonde woman on with a short skirt, people will tune in to see her. Then you can say any stupid thing you want to, and that's what they do.
I can't get over how overtly racist, stupid, and downright misguided "Fox and Friends" cable show is. They talk fast, say nothing, and don't know what the hell they're gabbing about. I guess show hosts Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade are supposed to be entertaining, but the only aspect of the show that is -- and that's a stretch -- are Gretchen's legs.
Other than that, I see no real value in the show. And what's more disturbing is that it's the highest rated show in its morning category, over CNN's American Morning. But it's not for intelligent content at all. It is really about Gretchen's blonde hair and short skirt.
That's all it is. In fact, the Fox producers focus on her legs and even had scenes of E. D. Hill's legs in an upskirt fashion! That's the only reason -- the only one -- that Fox is ahead of CNN and MSNBC.
And here's the E.D. Hill segment where she's sitting in a short skirt and in a way that is provacative:
This is the key to the Internet. If you put a hot blonde woman on with a short skirt, people will tune in to see her. Then you can say any stupid thing you want to, and that's what they do.
Barack Obama Before SF Chronicle Editorial Board - Does Well But Chron's Questions and Intent Are Suspect
Senator Barack Obama appeared before the San Francisco Chronicle's Editorial Board today and as this video shows he performed well. He answered questions in incredible detail and showed great thought on the issues of the day. Senator Obama has particularly clear command of the matter of the security industry problem and the politics behind the heath care issue as well as energy policy.
I think where he seemed to confuse SF Chronicle Chief Phil Bronstein is in the statement that he "generally uses the truth" where Obama was explaining that he's not going to say something that makes a Democratic collegue look bad.
It seeme to me that Phil was more looking for weakness in what Obama said than paying attention to context and words. For example, Obama -- on the issue of how to exact change in the health care system -- said that it was necessary to use (not his exact words) some shame, by having a more open process so that one can hear if a legislator was on the side of the insurance providers, or not.
But Bronstein seemed to focus on just the use of the term "shame" and took that out of context to apply it in a general sense but forgetting the orginal conversation. That's what ones does when they seek weakness -- they don't see that the weakness is not there because the desire to be "right" in their search overwhelms any sensible thought and consideration.
I'm also very surprised that in the Internet capital of the United States there was no question regarding technology! How the Chronicle coule miss that is beyond me.
Also, Senator Obama, after the questions were over, said "Maybe we should adress this off the record," in a conversation about "experience" but the camera kept going. That was when Phil Bronstein tried to zero in on the way that Washington is caused to change in policy response. You know, the "shame" conversation. At that point, I expected the camera to be turned off, but that didn't happen. That's not right in my view. Off the record is off the record. Period.
I'm also interested in why the SF Chronicle made the video public so that Senator Obama's opponents -- who did not go before the editorial board, yet -- can see the cast and base their responses on it. The only way to blunt this obvious development is to have a nearly totally different set of questions. Otherwise, the process is not fair at all.
Let's keep an eye on what the Chronicle does.
Mitt Romney Confronts An AP Reporter On Lobbyists
Ok. Many liberals will not like this, but at first presidential candidate Mitt Romney did not "clash" with a reporter as Bill Clinton did. He calmly answered the question -- at first. At first, I thought the reporter came off as a confrontational jerk who seemed to have an axe to grind, and he was doing just that.
The dust-up started as Romney was stating that Lobbyists were not in charge of his campaign. The AP reporter pointed to an advisor to the campaign who's a lobbyist and tried to "fit" the role of advisor into that of campaign head.
Does not work.
But when I saw the complete video, I came away with a different view because after the initial press conference, Romney came back and seemed to confront the reporter, who really was doing a job of asking a question regarding being honest and not giving the idea that lobbyists have no involvement at all. What Mitt should have done is just said "You're right, I mispoke about that; he's an advisor and even though he is, he's also is a lobbyist but has no "control roll" in my campaign."
But Mitt didn't do that.
The dust-up started as Romney was stating that Lobbyists were not in charge of his campaign. The AP reporter pointed to an advisor to the campaign who's a lobbyist and tried to "fit" the role of advisor into that of campaign head.
Does not work.
But when I saw the complete video, I came away with a different view because after the initial press conference, Romney came back and seemed to confront the reporter, who really was doing a job of asking a question regarding being honest and not giving the idea that lobbyists have no involvement at all. What Mitt should have done is just said "You're right, I mispoke about that; he's an advisor and even though he is, he's also is a lobbyist but has no "control roll" in my campaign."
But Mitt didn't do that.
Obama Is Right About Reagan | Reagan Changed The Country
Some people are upset that Senator Barack Obama referred to Ronald Reagan's presidency as a major era of change. Well, the simple fact of the matter is that Senator Obama's right. I clearly remember being really upset that President Reagan had a silver-tongued way of swaying not just Republicans but many Democrats over to his agenda. Indeed, Reagan's presidency wrecked the Democratic Party for almost 20 years and it seemed that we'd never regain power.
That's what Obama's talking about and to ignore his point is to show an ignorance of political history.
Bill Clinton Nevada Lawsuit Melt-Down Captured; President Looks Desparate
This video captures President Bill Clinton at his worst and it's not the first time in this presidential campaign that he's looked this way. But it comes just before the day -- Thursday -- when the lawsuit to halt the Nevada Caucus was tossed out of court. Not only does Clinton get aggressive with this KGO-TV (San Francisco / Oakland) reporters, Clinton did not answer the question if the lawsuit would have been filed had the Cullinary Workers Union endorsed Hillary Clinton; instead, they backed Senator Barack Obama.
The obvious answer is "no" and President Clinton know it. Here's the video:
The obvious answer is "no" and President Clinton know it. Here's the video:
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