Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Asking Sen. Clinton to reject ALL "isms" not just sexism

Let's flip Clinton's argument around:


What if one candidate whined to the press that racism was keeping them down in the vote totals, but hinted that his opponent was unelectable because in the fall people were NOT going to vote for her because of her gender? Imagine if the surrogates blamed all Obama's problems on racism. Would there be a backlash? But somehow it's OK for Senator Clinton to point out that in her opinion it's racism that's going to keep Obama from being electable? Talk about a double-standard!

What should Senator Clinton do?


David Gergen hit the nail on the head on CNN. He suggested in light of Hillary Clinton's discussions of sexism in the election she should say, “You know, if you want to vote against him because he’s black, then I don’t want your vote. Constitutionally it's obvious. For a candidate in the USA in 2008 it just makes sense. In fact, for a Democratic candidate, it's rather surprising that she's playing the "that's just how it is" card when it comes to racism, as though we cannot make progress in the pursuit of equal rights by expressing our dissatisfaction on election day.

I'm not sure what Senator Clinton's angle is, or what she's setting up. She's more savvy than I am about politics and campaigns, and she's got some of the best advisors that money can buy - but I'd sure like to see her denounce and reject racism rather than shrug her shoulders and tell the press and the superdelegates that too many people won't vote for something different.

We've had two centuries when the White House was controlled by men of pallor. Either Democratic candidate will change that. If Obama told us the country wasn't ready for a woman...?

Barack Obama Hits Milestone - 1,965 Pledged Delegates A Majority

Senator Barack Obama took a major step closer to achieving the Democratic Presidential Nomination when he reacted 1,965 pledged delegates and now needing just 60 more delegates and / or Superdelegates to reach the magic mark of 2,025 total delegates and the nomination.

Here's Obama's speech:

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Prayers For Senator Kennedy

I've learned as you may have, that Senator Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor. My prayers go out to Senator Kennedy and his family.

The Most Important Endorsement of Obama

All the others pale in comparison to the one that Senator Hillary Clinton has been giving, day in and day out, to Obama, starting more than a year ago. Indirect, unofficial, and obviously unstated, this constructive and active endorsement benefits Obama in ways any other endorsement doesn't. Her staying in promotes Obama's name. At last, Eteraz answers the question: why would savvy politicos like the Clintons keep campaigning when some said they were damaging the party? It's been said several ways, in several times, few matched this eloquent explanation. Once Senator Clinton's most loyal supporters understand this the "Democrats deep rift" that the GOP has been praying for will be seen as a short-lived myth.

read more | digg story

President Bush Wants To Attack Iran - Jerusalem Post

I am counting the days before the end of President Bush's term. According to the Jerusalem Post, he wants to attack Iran and soon, because his days in office are winding down.

Bush has been a miserable failure, period. Our economy is a wrekc, wars don't help it and he breaks off negotiations with a small third World country and has another war in mind.

Please leave office!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Darren McFadden - Marketing Team and Mom At NFL Draft- Video



We meet the marketing people behind promoting the Oakland Raiders' new running back Darren McFadden. We also talk to Darren's Mom -- all at the NFL Draft.

Unifying after a fractious fight, or: Being Appolonian Is Not Appeasement

The voter unity the Democrats will seek to support either candidate foreshadows (and mirrors) the unity the entire USA needs to support the next president. It may be trickier if Clinton prevails given Obama's broad support OUTSIDE his own party, but... Here's an audacious non-political formula to get there regardless. We can allow ourselves to grow apart, isolated and increasingly vulnerable, or we can decide to grow together. We must respect each other, and exhibit that respect even when we disagree, because despite disagreements what was true in 1776 is still true today: we are still seeking to form a more perfect union, and we flourish by unifying the myriad diverse strengths of individuals into a synergistic, unified democracy. It's a work in progress. Of course, it's easier in theory than it will be in practice, and we may have to oust the ratings-hungry sound-biters to succeed. (Oh darn.)

read more | digg story

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Barack Obama Draws A Record 75,000 In Portland, Oregon Today



I've seen 18,000 gather in Oakland's City Hall plaza to hear Senator Obama and I thought that was massive. Every part of the area was filled with people and I could not imagine a larger gathering.

Well, think of a crowd almost four times larger than that and you will have this photo and the massively attended Obama speech in Portland, Oregon today.

What this says is Barack should not only do well in Oregon, he should clinch the number of delegates he needs to claim a majority of pledged delegates. But this also sends a message to Superdelegates that he's got a massive base of donors giving below $200, which means the Obama campaign does not have to share the names on their mailing lists.

If you want to be a part of Obama's action, you've got to back him.

Ecuador's Oil Power Grab: Suing Chevron; Taking Over US Oil Company Production

The Chevron / Ecuador scandal is more complex after all.

The Government of Ecuador's on a mission to take over and run energy production previously owned by American Companies. And where it can't do that, it files a lawsuit of it's own against Chevron for an oil spill that's the fault of PetroEcuador, the state-owned oil company.

The latest news came this weekend, when President Rafael Correa made an offer to buy out companies that did not want to do business with the country in it's original deal to slash winfall profits to just one percent. Now, Correa says he's willing to give up to a 30 percent profit if those companies drop their lawsuits.

But that's not the real news for companies like Occidental Petroleum, based in America. Because of a long-running dispute, Ecuador took over Occidental's production and gave it to Petroecuador, the same company that is the real organization to blame for Ecuador's oil-spill problems of the past.

Ecuador's overall strategy is clear. Give winfall profits to non-American oil companies, but sue and punish American oil firms, from Occidental to Chevron, and make PetroEcuador richer in the process. The Government is playing two sides of the coin: trying to increase oil production, but keep the tribes, who are anti-American, appeased in the process.

Mike Huckabee Should Apologize To Barack Obama For Dumb Joke

There's no way to excuse what Governor Mike Huckabee said as he was joking about Senator Barack Obama having a gun pointed at him. What was more chilling was that the NRA people laughed at the joke.

I think Atomic Lemur's right: the NRA's mostly gun-toting jerks who laugh about shooting people. The irony is that Senator Obama actually supports many of the NRA's positions regarding the individual right to bear arms.

I wish the NRA people were smart enough to see past his skin color to know that. GRRRR!!!!

See the video:

Clinton Campaign: "It Is Over" - Andrea Mitchell Reports On NBC News



In this Brietbart video, NBC News' Andrea Mitchell said that Hillary Clinton's campaign representatives have agreed that it's over and there's no way she can win the Democratic Presidential Nomination over Senator Barack Obama.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Senator Edward M. Kennedy Hospitalized

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was rushed to a hospital on Saturday morning in Cape Cod, where he was treated for aserious - but unknown - illness. A senior Democratic official, speaking on condition of anonymity out of respect for the Kennedy family, said the senator was taken by ambulance to the hospital after he became ill at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass.