Monday, March 31, 2008

Hillary, Barack & McCain: The media's fixation

Much is being made of how John McCain will be able to speak to Democrats on issues he knows how to speak to Democrats because he has been a maverick. What I see most interesting is that on 2 of the most important issues of this campaign, the war in Iraq and the economy, John McCain would lose any argument on either of these 2 issues. Most if not all Democrats want this war over and our troops to come home within 4 years maximum and most within a year. As for the economy, few Democrats believe that the Bush tax cuts should be continued and most believe that the wealthiest Americans should pick up some of the slack to help relieve the pain on poorer Americans. He hasn't had any good suggestions as to what to do on the Sub Prime issue except to let the free market work. And many believe that's how we got into this mess in the first place. The fact that Hillary is staying in the race also can be seen from a different perspective: It allows Hillary and Barack to get more free news coverage than would be so otherwise. The Democrats seem to be holding most of the Presses attention on Network TV and Cable outlets.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Politic of the past: Aren't you tired of it?

Barack seems to stay above the fray, while Hillary; well she's still Hillary. This has been the longest political season of my lifetime and we still have 7 plus months to go. Bill Clinton is promoting the continuation of a fight, as in his latest comments he stated if you don't want to get roughed up, don't enter the race. That should be enough to convince you not to support her, because we will have the same divisive politic if she were elected. She is even more polarizing than Vice President Cheney has been. I for one will be glad when this is all over and I hope that Barack shows us the way to become adults again. We haven't been treated like adults for decades, equally from both Republican and Democratic politicians.

Been on vacation with limited access to the internet (nice for a change) and should start posting more regularly again. Thanks for your patience and continued visits here.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Barack's speech on Race - Historical and here

Barack Obama's speech on Race was the most profound speech made over the past 40-50 years. Watch the video of his speech by clicking here.

Only a man like Barack could have had the credibility to have given this speech because of his personal background of a White Mother and Black Father. This was Barack at his best. Not only was he authentic and a great contrast to Hillary and McCain, what he said was believable and spoke across the racial divide. Bravo!

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Bush's incompetence and arrogance the root cause of our economic problems

Given the collapse of Bear Stearns over the weekend, the concerns of Lehman doing the same thing, the Federal Reserve bailing out Bear Stearns and the Amercian people holding the financial bag on this debt, I thought I would resurrect a post I made in January. This problem has been brought to you by President Bush and Vice President Cheney and an Administration of incompetence. Here's what I wrote in January and remember Bush has an MBA supposedly.

The only thing this President seems to have learned from his past is how to create bankruptcy conditions.

1) He bankrupt his Oil company. From the lessons learned he started in his Presidency to create the same for the Nation by the following:

2) His is bankrupting our Country with debt
3) He has bankrupt our Military - both equipment wise and manpower strength
4) He has bankrupt our Freedoms with such actions as eavesdropping on phone conversations of any American without FISA Court approval, signing statements which defy laws he has signed into law and other Unconstitutional acts.
5) He has bankrupt our Trust in oversight with a Republican led Congress that turned their head away at his choices, while they held their noses from the stench.
6) He has bankrupt our Trust in a fair Judicial system, by appointing Justices that will approve of his antics and rewrite history as far as settled law.
7) He has bankrupt the Vision for millions of people around the world who thought of the USA as a place of Hope and replaced that Vision as a country of arrogance and spite for our friends as well as our enemies.
8) He has bankrupt the use of Diplomacy, as no country believes him nor trusts him anymore. We are mostly alone in the world now. Colin Powell's speech will go down in history as how the US distorted truth for the self interest of a few of its leaders; the President and the Vice President.
9) He has bankrupt our willingness to be eager for the words of our President, when he gives a speech or an address, to the Nation. We are weary of his lies and twisted truth to us.
10) He has bankrupt and shattered the idea of our President being a Statesman because of his lack of intellect and lack of pursuit of noble causes to help the poor of the world and in stopping wars and promoting peace in the world. Instead he promotes wars and helsp Corporations.

Need I go on! Shame, shame, shame Mr. President. We need a “Tough Love” intervention called IMPEACHMENT.


And now we are close to the Federal Reserve being bankrupt, as half of their $800 Billion in reserves is now committed to bailing out these failures.

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

Save Tibet by raising your voice

Tibetans are facing a cultural genocide according to published reports today from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. You can help by speaking out and raising awareness of the problems that Tibetans face every day in trying to preserve their cultural heritage. To read the latest on the violence there and what you can do click on the Save Tibet link under the clock on the right or click here.

You can also go to His Holiness's Web site by clicking here.

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Florida & Michigan solution for the DNC

Here's a simple decision to both save the money of another redo of those Primary elections for the Democratic Party. All they have to do is seat delegates of both States and apportion the delegates based upon the total delegate count each candidate has, after all the other States have voted. Seems simple but it doesn't seem like Hillary would go for it does it.

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Obama's victory in Missisippi with an interesting twist

I was reading the wire services this morning looking for some clues from this election in Mississippi and found one surprising one. And interestingly, it was about Republicans and how they voted in the Democratic primary there. According to an article written by Jerry Estill, and I quote, "Another 10 percent of voters were Republican, and they preferred Clinton by a margin of 3-1." This says a lot of why Hillary may still be alive, at least in her and her husband’s own mind. Republicans may be fueling Hillary's campaign with the life it has because they prefer to have John McCain oppose Hillary than Obama as their opposition candidate. Interesting isn't it.

Another interesting piece of data was that, "About one in six Democratic primary voters were independents, and Clinton and Obama split their support."

The race goes on for Hillary as she doesn't know how to face the fact she won't have won the delegate count and the popular vote but somehow is hoping to hoodwink us into stealing the nomination by getting the party insiders with the Super Delegate count. This will not work and people will be in the streets protesting if this takes place and it will be a spectacle and the end of the Democratic party. If this happens I will vote for John McCain or my god, I can't believe I am saying this, Ralph Nader.

To read the entire article by Jerry Estill click here.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Obama or Hillary: How would the world vote?

I listened to a conversation this morning on Berkeley's KPFA's Democracy Now, with Amy Goodman. She was having a conversation with Slovenia's philosopher, Slavoj Žižek, about our elections. He made this statement, "Everybody in the World except US Citizens should be allowed to Vote and elect the American Government”. This is a very interesting idea and worthy of exploration. His claim was that most likely Barack Obama would be the choice of the world because he would get us out of Iraq, close Guantanamo, create an improved relationship with Cuba, etc.

Here we are looking to restore America to its former greatness. Who better to help us think about this important choice than those outside the U.S. Therefore, I have added a new Mini Poll so that people outside the US can pick their candidate. I will try to keep track of the countries visiting and will update the results as time permits.

To hear or read the transcript of this broadcast click here to go to the link and there is both sound and video as well as a transcript to read.

UPDATE: The first vote this morning was from Slovenia and the person DID vote for Barack. Maybe I had a visit from Slavoj Žižek himself. The vote took place at 4:41am PST or 7:41am EST. Mr. Žižek was in New York yesterday for the interview so this time would be a reasonable hour to be on a computer searching Key words. (Gee, I sound almost like the KGB and I don't mean to. Hope you enjoy the attempt at some humor.) If you did and you return, please feel free to add a comment. I very much enjoyed your interview with Amy Goodman yesterday. If it was someone else from Slovenia, welcome and come back and follow our election result comments here.

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Sunday, March 09, 2008

The latest McCain hypocrisy

As soon as Sen. John McCain heard from the White House that he was on the wrong side of the debate on the use of torture, McCain switched his position (and relegated his values) on the torture Bill back over 6 months ago. Now he embraces President Bush's veto of the recent version of the Bill, as if he had the same position all along. If you needed proof that this candidate would sell his soul to be President, look no farther. I was a supporter of John McCain when he stood on principle, but when now he endorses the use of water-boarding by the CIA and seems to distinguish that from the Army regulations prohibiting torture, he's distinction is only for the media as deep in his heart he knows that if water-boarding is torture, and he admits that, and that it violates the Geneva Convention, then when he says he is being guided by his values, he is on a slippery slope to hell. Where's the John McCain we all once admired?

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Friday, March 07, 2008

Stock market to go much lower. Which President do you want answering this crisis call?

Yes, we are headed into a recession if we aren't already there. Why should you be worried? Because who is in charge of fixing this is the Bush Adminstration who still haven't responded to the Katrina disaster. Woe is us indeed. This is the time to ask yourself the big question. It's 6:30am in the White House. Who do you want to answer this call? It isn't President Bush, it isn't John McCain, it isn't panicky Hillary Clinton. It's soft spoken, reassuring and hopeful Barack Obama who can bring both Democrats and Republicans together to address this in a manner of confidence and good judgment. Don't you now wished you had voted for Barack Obama in your State's primary. If you haven't voted in one yet, then you can soon. Make the right choice when you do vote!

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Thursday, March 06, 2008

Which single issue will determine the Democratic nominee and ultimately President?

It comes down to that single issue. Which issues do we select the next President on. Here are some choices and you can vote in my mini poll on the right side of the page.

• Iraq war
• Economic recovery
• Healthcare
• Immigration reform

There are several possible outcomes and the calendar plays an important role here as does which States are left to vote in the Primaries. Which candidates are the best match-up?

Let's take the first one: Iraq war. The best match-up is McCain versus Obama.

John McCain wants us to stay in Iraq until we've won and has supported the President's strategy. Obama wants to get troops out and was never in favor of the war in the first place. Hillary now says she wants our troops to come home but had voted to give the President the authority to go to war in Iraq.

Economic recovery: Best match-up Hillary or Obama vs. McCain

McCain wants to make tax cuts permanent and both Hillary and Obama want to let them expire so that the wealthiest pay their fair share. They also both want tax cuts for middle class Americans.

Healthcare: Best match-up? First you must decide do you want Hillary's plan which includes penalties for those that don't purchase health insurance and fines they buy it or Obama's which is similar to Hillary's except no mandates. Both want to look for ways to reduce costs but no one really wants Universal Healthcare where our taxes pay for the Healthcare system and the Insurance companies become extinct and not in business anymore as we know them. Johm McCain wants to manage costs down by dealing with the Insurance companies to get them to contain more costs. We have been unsuccessful doing this since Managed Care (HMO’s) came into existence 15-20 years ago, and I don't think any will be successful in working with Healthcare providers. The system doesn't work. But Hillary claims her plan is Universal Healthcare, and it isn't. Many will be disappointed no matter which person is elected on the basis of this issue, as all have problems.

Immigration Reform: All the candidates are basically the same on this issue. All want tighter borders and all want the current system to be reformed so that legal immigration is easier than illegal immigration. And all want those undocumented (Illegal entry) persons to get at the back of the line of those that have been waiting and to pay a fine to get on the path to return.

So as you can see there isn't much difference in who you vote for in the remaining Primaries unless the main issue is the Iraq war. If you combine the Iraq war and the economy there are clear distinctions between the Republican position promoted by McCain and the position of Obama. The choice seems like a simple one. The economy is tied into the Trillions of real dollars that will be spent in Iraq, on the cist of the troops there and the cost of taking care of the nearly 30,000 seriously wounded Veterans that are returning with so much need for help. It also contributes to the price of Oil which has gone from $20-$24/barrel to $105/barrel under this President. That is a fact and it is killing the economy.

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Monday, March 03, 2008

Headline reads: Clinton suggests she'll stay in the race

"Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested Monday she'll press on with the campaign after Tuesday's crucial primaries, arguing that momentum is on her side despite 11 straight losses to rival Sen. Barack Obama."

This sounds like someone who is still in a state of denial. Almost Bush like, one could argue. She won't have the delegate count and God only knows what she and Bill have in mind to try to recast this as she is just starting to "warm up" according to her quoted comments in the article. My fear is this. If she got elected as President, she would be still "warming up" after her first term. Instead of taking the necessary actions to get us out of the War in Iraq, still warming up to "fix NAFTA" and still warming up to get this country back on track from the 8 years of damage from the Bush Administration. We can't wait for her to "warm up" as Barack Obama is ready now! He not only has warmed up but he is sizzling hot with 11 wins in a row and has closed the 20 point lead Hillary had in Ohio and Texas. She is relying on an old base of support and the Democratic establishment while Barack is bringing millions of young new voters into the political process. If that isn't good for our country, I don't know what is. What has Hillary done lately for our country in this primary process that is noteworthy? Nothing!

To read the rest of the headline story by AP writer MIKE GLOVER click here.

UPDATE: Hillary surprised everyone including me last night. She won RI, Ohio and it appears Texas in the popular vote, although she may not have gained Delegates yet. She said she is open to the end and battling for the win in all the remaining States. It appears that it will be the Super Delegates that will decide the nominee at the Convention. The Republicans must be licking their chops over this as it guarantees a long protracted battle, which only serves the interests of the Republican Party. It is the worst possible outcome unless the remaining States make a clear statement as to who they want to lead them in November. Barack has the delegate lead and that doesn't seem to be going to change anytime soon. It now appears there will be an attempt to redo Florida and Michigan. What a mess for those of us supporting Barack Obama. He has brought so many younger people into politics with his hope for change, real change from the politic of the past. But Hillary in the past 2 weeks showed that we respond to the politic of the past by rewarding its fear based attacks on us in hopes of frightening us into not voting real change. I guess the statement is true that "we don't get the politic we want or don't want, we get the politic that we deserve" (for being fear based).

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Sunday, March 02, 2008

This Presidential election is about Washington insiders arguing nuances versus real change in the politic and substance.

This election for President has all the signs of being a battle between the insiders in washington and not aligned to the wishes of the electorate. What do I mean here? Well, take for example the illegal wiretapping of our phones by the Bush Administration without the FISA Court approval. The Senate has passed a Bill to grant immunity from prosecution of the Telephone companies. The House it appears is now willing to pass a similar Bill. That's what the Insiders in Washington, the elected Representatives and Senators are doing. These are the same people who are supposed to be representing the people's business, not the Corporations business nor the Executive Branch's interests. But they lack the guts to do what's really right here.

So the upcoming election between the certain candidacy of Sen. John McCain and say, Hillary Clinton, will be arguing about nuances and defending positions that are not those of the American people. This is looking more and more like an inside the Beltway race and we are all the losers in this, unless we dare to choose Barack Obama for President. If people in Texas, Ohio, and Vermont vote for Barack in overwhelm ing numbers, this might actually turn into a campaign of the insider (John McCain) versus the new ideas and politic of Sen. Barack Obama. Dare they vote putting their country and their self interests first this time. I hope so for all our sake.

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Obama's 2002 speech: Good judgment when it mattered

In 2002 Barack Obama made a speech that many have not read or heard that helps distinguish the candidate from Hillary. Here is his speech from 2002. Remember this was only 1 year from being attacked on 9-11 while the mood in the country was fear.

"Against Going to War With Iraq," by Barack Obama, Oct. 2, 2002


“Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been
billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not
opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the
bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the
sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect
this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t
oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was
bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the

fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first
entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger
freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil,
and he did not fight in vain. I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction,
the dust and the tears, I supported this administration’s pledge to
hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the
name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to
prevent such tragedy from happening again. I don’t oppose all wars.
And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of
patriots, or of patriotism.

What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash
war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and
Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this
administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our
throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships
borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove
to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty
rate, a drop in the median income - to distract us from corporate
scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst
month since the Great Depression. That’s what I’m opposed to. A
dumb
war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on
principle but on politics. Now let me be clear - I suffer no
illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A
man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has
repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams,
developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear
capacity. He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be
better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to
the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in
shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength,
and that in concert with the international community he can be
contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away
into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war
against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at
undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an
invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong
international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East,
and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab
world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not
opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our
children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You
want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden
and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a
shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a
homeland security program that involves more than color-coded
warnings. You want a fight, President Bush?

Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work,
and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that
former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and
ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that
nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons
already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own
country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.
You want a fight, President Bush?

Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the

Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and
suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and
mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without
education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of
terrorist cells. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to
wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that
doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil. Those are the

battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we
willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance.
Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may
have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our
freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not — we will not —

travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who
would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the
full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful
sacrifice in vain.”


Barack Obama, Oct. 2, 2002

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