my two cents

anybody else notice how many goppers are ‘retiring?’  anyone else speculating as to why? my thought is that they are moving aside to give a new face and new name to the gop- and the neo cons can put even more crazy extremists in their place. here’s my theory- the gop infiltrates the dems and we get ‘blue dogs’ under that umbrella and the gop gets to feed the base with the crazies. either way, they still control congress. and don’t forget to keep an eye out for the free fall at the state and local government level…

i thought perhaps this newsy bit from glenn greenwald would need more airtime than it will ever get through the msm:

clinton personally intervened to suppress torture disclosure

but really, that’s no surprise since america under a democrat majority is still working hand in glove with the brits to keep information suppressed. felt good for about 30 seconds didn’t it? all of those promises that the democratic republic would be restored. ahh… the power of hope and change. i have learned to be quite the cynic and pessimist when it comes to power. i always believe the worst- and not only am i not disappointed, i get to say ‘i told ya so.’

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State Dept recognizes same sex partners.

From the NYT:

The State Department will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats, according to an internal memorandum Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent last week to an association of gay and lesbian Foreign Service officers.

Wow wee, the federal government can recognize the rights of LGBT’s but the military can not? WTF? Here is what Hillary had to say about the changes in State Department policy, from the same NYT article:

“Like all families, our Foreign Service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our post communities abroad,” Mrs. Clinton said in the memorandum, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times by a member of the gay and lesbian association.

“At bottom,” she said, “the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it is the right thing to do.”

Of course it’s the right thing to do..why in the blue hell can’t the rest of the federal government and the military see that?

Good on ya Hillary..thanks for making the change. Now, pressure the rest of the departments and the military minds to do the same thing.

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Sec of State Hillary Clinton????

That was Olbermann’s lead in line tonight on Countdown.

Wow…just…wow..Its not a bad choice..just an interesting one. Evidently she is on the ’short list’ and traveled to Chicago today.

More later as it becomes available.

Ok, it’s later. From MSNBC:

Two Obama advisers have told NBC News that Hillary Clinton is under consideration to be secretary of state. Would she be interested? Those who know Clinton say possibly. But her office says that any decisions about the transition are up to the president-elect and his team.

Clinton was seen taking a flight to Chicago today, but an adviser says it was on personal business. It is unknown whether she had any meeting or conversation with Obama while there.

Other Democrats known to want the State Department post are Sen. John Kerry and Gov. Bill Richardson. A possible compromise choice would be former Sen. Tom Daschle.

And then Reuters has this but it’s also based on NBC news:

The former first lady, who was in a drawn-out battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, is in her second term as a senator from New York.

Several other names also have been mentioned for the top U.S. diplomatic post including Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee; Sam Nunn, a Democrat and former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman; Sen. Chuck Hagel, an outspoken Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was U.N. ambassador in former President Bill Clinton’s administration and also sought the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Actually, I think HRC would be a great choice for SoS…I really do. I hope she wants it and I hope she gets it. The woman is a pitbull..not a Sarah Palin pit..a real pitbull.

Marc Ambinder thinks it’s bullshit:

Rumor: Is Hillary Clinton on the short list to be Secretary of State?

Fact: Unclear. This rumor is not given much credence in Clinton land or in Obama land; it might well be a creation of the press. Or not. What would Joe Biden think about this?

What does he know?

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State

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It’s Official! Hillary Clinton By Acclimation…

Chooses the orange pants suit.

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not wrapping my mind around

the blinders that the clintonistas have on. seriously. what the hell these people are going to do after the convention is beyond me- except maybe vote mccain out of stupidity- i mean spite. if they took a moment to look at any other female candidates- because apparently, gender is what really matters, they would have found cynthia mckinney. but, they are so busy with their personal vendetta against the democratic party, that instead of finding a different way to get a viable candidate elected, they are prepared to help put the nail in the coffin of democracy by voting rethug. but no worries, they will be able to sleep at night blanketed and warm in their bitterness and hatred and vast right wing stupidity.

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Hillary Clinton Was Awesome Last Night

My daughter and I watched Hillary’s speech last night at the Democratic National Convention – day 2 – and we were awestruck by the power of her passion. She was never this compelling during this campaign – but her message last night struck a chord I needed to hear: we cannot afford four more years of Republicans in the White House. We cannot.

When she asked her supporters if they were in it for her, or for the single mother with cancer, or for the Marine in the hospital, or for the uninsured Americans, I got chills. Because her message was clear: put away your grudges, and unify to defeat John McCain. She said to her supporters, and to other undecided Democrats that this is NOT the time to sit on the sidelines – this is the time to focus on issues and those issues are clear: Read more

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Craptacular Egomania!!!

Maybe I’m just feeling a mite testy, could be that staring over the edge of financial upheaval has got me cynical, but frankly, the Clintons “me, me, Me, Me, ME!!!” has just got to stop.

Does it always – ALWAYS – have to be about the Clintons?

This is the question on Day 1 of the Democratic convention. About a week and a half ago, the Denver Post previewed the convention with a story about how the Clinton forces are attempting to make the first two days of this convention a celebration of the Clintons – and Clintonism. As one Clinton ally told the newspaper, “We want to make this all about her.” – David Sirota

Fuck. Why? To sooth your ego for backing the Clinton horse? To sooth her ego that she’s a playa? (Which is so stupid, she did so well, and for so long, it’s a given.) To make Bill look like he didn’t say all the BS he said?

Yeah, it all comes back to the ugly. Damn those internets and their ability to freeze, package and preserve it. We are the living history; every screen capture, every vid caught and set up on YouTube, every picture, every post, we pin the ugly and worse yet, examine it, discuss it, share it and debunk it. Millions of people on the internet called racism on Bill and busted his ass for it. Boo Hoo. Next time, shut it, Mr. President. We’re everywhere.

Basically, I don’t care if Bill needs to rewrite history on the DNC stage. It does not faze me that Clintonites need public rationalization of their candidate’s run. I could give a rat’s rear if Hillary needs to feel the love. None of those reasons are good enough. Super plastic has had its day. This is my damn country, it’s sinking like a pile of poop, and we simply don’t have time to coddle the massive egos of people who claim to serve the public.

The whole business is built on ego, vanity, self-satisfaction, and it’s total crap to pretend it’s not. – George Michael

There you have it. I’m resorting to quoting George Michael to discuss the Clintons. How appropriate. Wake me up before you go go.

On second thought, don’t bother.

Crossposted at Bring It On!

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Squeakers . . .

A very close call – Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States, by a vote that was a real squeaker, restored our most basic Constitutional right, habeas corpus. Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com via Memeorandum wrote the best article. It is titled, “Supreme Court restores habeas corpus, strikes down key part of Military Commissions Act.” To quote the post’s key opening and closing paragraphs:

In a major rebuke to the Bush administration’s theories of presidential power — and in an equally stinging rebuke to the bipartisan political class which has supported the Bush detention policies — the U.S. Supreme Court today, in a 5-4 decision (.pdf), declared Section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 unconstitutional. The Court struck down that section of the MCA because it purported to abolish the writ of habeas corpus — the means by which a detainee challenges his detention in a court — despite the fact that the Constitution permits suspension of that writ only “in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion.”

. . . UPDATE: Three of the five Justices in the majority — John Paul Stevens (age 88), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 75) and David Souter (age 68) — are widely expected by court observers to retire or otherwise leave the Court in the first term of the next President. By contrast, the four judges who dissented — Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Sam Alito — are expected to stay right where they are for many years to come.

John McCain has identified Roberts and Alito as ideal justices of the type he would nominate, while Barack Obama has identified Stephen Breyer, David Souter and Ginsberg (all in the majority today). It’s not hyperbole to say that, from Supreme Court appointments alone, our core constitutional protections could easily depend upon the outcome of the 2008 election.

Almost too close to call – by the end of the Democratic primary, it was a narrow win in the delegate count by Sentor Obama and a narrow win of the popular vote by Senator Clinton. Hillary Clinton started as the front runner in the campaign. By the end of the primary season, she had lost her lead though the race remained a squeaker. There are many guesses about why that happened. Many of her supporters believed that sexism was the reason. It is a close call according to this story from the New York Times (6/13/08) – “Media and Critics Split Over Sexism in Clinton Coverage” via Memeorandum. To quote:

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, who says he was slow to pick up on charges of sexism because he is not a regular viewer of cable television, is taking up the cause after hearing an outcry from what he described as a cross-section of women, from individual voters to powerful politicians and chief executives.

. . . Mike Barnicle, a panelist on MSNBC, said that Mrs. Clinton was “looking like everyone’s first wife standing outside a probate court.” Tucker Carlson, also on MSNBC, said, “When she comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs.”

The establishment news media were faulted too. The New York Times wrote about Mrs. Clinton’s “cackle” and The Washington Post wrote about her cleavage.

Ken Rudin, an editor at National Public Radio, appeared on CNN, where he equated Mrs. Clinton with the actress Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction.” “She’s going to keep coming back, and they’re not going to stop her,” Mr. Rudin said. He later apologized.

Call it like it is – Whether it was sexism or something else that caused Senator Clinton to lose the contest, even those of us who did not vote for her owe her a great deal of credit. This list of credits owed from Tapped sounds reasonable: “Seven changes we owe Hillary Clinton.” Her accomplishments include: being a front-runner who stood for women, forced talk about sexism, united Democrats on Iraq, figured out health care, engaged everybody until the end, provided national security leadership, and broadened the question of Progressives and race. I believe that Senator Clinton will keep her word and help Democrats come together.

Calling for Unity, Action Day – The Democratic party has been working to maintain party unity from the beginning, though those efforts occasionally got derailed. But now is the right time to call again for closing ranks and working together for a victory in November. Democracy for America says they have a plan:

Everyone from Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton to Howard Dean and Speaker Pelosi are asking for Democrats to unite.

Now is the time to take the next step. Together, DFA members across the country will turn words into action on June 21. We will start the process of bringing Democrats together by reaching out to our friends and neighbors and asking them to unite for a progressive victory in November.

Squeakers cause anxiety. Two such as the SCOTUS decision and the Democratic primary remind us of what is at stake for the country this year. If we remain focused on the goals of the party to win Republican contests to be decided in the fall, we need not be overly anxious about the other squeakers as they come along.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

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Hillary’s Speech

I have to admit.Hillary surprised me on Saturday. I had expected a whiny, self-absorbent diatribe against the press coupled with a demand that Obama select her as his running mate. Instead we received an impassioned plea for unity, freedom, and progress coupled with a heartfelt endorsement of Obama. This clearly was not what I had expected. For the past sixteen months Hillary had been pouring pails of political manure over Obama’s head, so when she gave a speech about freedom, progress, and coming together like a family you can well imagine how surprised I was by the positive nature of Hillary’s speech. Indeed, if Hillary had been that positive during the primaries I might have supported her. But the Hillary who delivered a concession speech on Saturday was not the same Hillary of the primaries. That Hillary was an angry, do-anything-to-get-elected shrew who ran a negative campaign tinged with racist populism. Did we forget Geraldine Ferraro’s foolish remarks about why Obama was attracting so much support, that he wouldn’t be where he was if he weren’t a black man? Okay, to her credit Hillary condemned those remarks but by the same token you have to wonder why anyone would have uttered such a remark unless he or she felt that the climate was safe to utter those remarks.

But the Hillary Clinton of Saturday afternoon gave no indication of racist tendencies at all. As a woman she compared the struggle for civil liberties to the struggle for womens rights, a tactic designed to endear Obama to older voters who show the most reluctance to vote for a black man. Remember, Hillary did better with seniors and blue collar workers than Obama, who routinely did better with younger, more highly educated individuals.

So what did I like about the speech? I dismissed the first few minutes as little more than protracted bragging. That’s all right. Hillary gave a tenacious fight. She had a right to brag about the people who had supported her. In fact one might look upon the opening portion as a public thank you directed at volunteers who worked for the campaign.

Equally inspirational was the main body of the speech in which she talked about using public service to help people achieve their dreams and how we should take all our energy to help elect Obama as president. I’m certain that the portion in which she suspended her campaign and threw her support must have hurt after the huge effort she employed. Hillary after all understands that this was a tough fight and that the Democratic Party is a family. Asking her followers to support Obama was tied in nicely with economic issues, and health insurance and a plethora of issues ranging from ending America’s occupation of Iraq to genocide. True, she had to toot her husband’s horn but I appreciated her comments about what we could have accomplished with democratic presidents and hard work And God knows I appreciated her comments about race, ethnic background, and sexual orientation. Ditto to the Littany of reasons as to why we need to elect Obama.

Perhaps my favorite remark came when she talked about men and women understanding the struggles of their mothers and grandmothers, about how their are no acceptable limits and prejudices in the 21st century, how it will be unremarkable for a woman to win votes in a presidential election. Which brings us to her fine remark about 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.

So what’s the upshot here? The upshot here is that if Hilary had behaved that civilly during the primary she might be the Democratic Nominee this afternoon.
While Hillary wasn’t my cup of tea I have to admit that this speech did what it was designed to do. It sought to unify women behind Obama; it threw her support behind Obama and called for Democactic Unity. But the primary target was women, the group which will be the most disillusioned with an Obama victory. This becomes a question of urgency when you consider the fact that opinion polls show that some Hillary Supporters had threatened to vote for McCain or to sit out the election if Hillary didn’t win. The speech went a long way towards repairing broken bridges, but one speech won’t do it. If Hillary wants to run for president again she has to prove that she’s a team player. If she doesn’t hit the campaign trail not only won’t she be able to mend the broken bridges between Obama and older women. Not hitting the campaign trail will reveal her as a selfish, self-absorbed politician, essentially ruining her chances as a future candidate,

Will Hillary be the Vice President Nominee? A recent Gallup poll says 50 percent yes 36 percent no and the rest undecided. She has proven that she is a strong advocate, so if Obama were smart he would use both, Hillary and Bill as advocates and find a place for her in the Obama Administration, perhaps as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. But not as VP, Those who want Hillary for VP forget that in addition to high positives among certain groups, she also brings high negatives to the general population, trust being a major issue. Many still see her ties to the first Clinton Administration. In addition many see her as bringing a sense of entitlement. Others note that she is a lightning rod for what Hillary herself refers to as the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. In other words, Hillary may well organize the far right and attract visceral attacks from the Bible Thumpers and other reactionaries.

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What’s Next

The Washington Post reports

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is likely to suspend her presidential campaign on Saturday and endorse Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, according to informed sources.

The New York Times reports

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse Senator Barack Obama on Saturday, bringing a close to her 17-month campaign for the White House, aides said. Her decision came after Democrats urged her Wednesday to leave the race and allow the party to coalesce around Mr. Obama.

An Associated Press report says

Clinton, in an e-mail to supporters, said she “will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.”

The AP report also says that Mrs. Clinton is exploring ways to retain her delegates in order to promote her issues which include her call for universal health care. This is an issue dear to my own heart. I was pleased to hear Obama, in his speech Tuesday night, declare that Hillary Clinton would be at the forefront of solving the health care crisis in America. Mrs. Clinton will endorse Obama on Saturday, which is essential as we go into the November election season. Okay, the conventions are still ahead. Running mates have yet to be selected. But really, at this point, the match-up is Obama vs. McCain, and we need to focus on the issues that matter. Issues, not personalities. Issues: health care; the disaster in the mortgage and housing arena (thank you Phil Gramm, McCain’s chief economic advisor); getting us out of the Civil War we created in Iraq; social security; the environment.

Read more

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Hillary invokes RFK assassination?

WTF? Just off the top of my head, this is wrong on several levels. She needs to stick a sock in it.

This is beyond the pale. Its not the first time she has invoked RFK’s assassination. KO will have a special comment on this huge fuckup.Let there be no mistake…she did not apologize:She said she REGRETS the remark.

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A word on misogyny…

First let me say, I am not supporting Obama..but I sure as hell am not supporting HRC either.

Allison Benedikt has written a wonderful OpEd for the Village Voice on Hillary, her supporters and her campaign. It tackles that pesky subject of misogyny very well m’dear reader and I encourage…yea I demand that you read it. Tell me then what you think of it. Just a small blurb of it to get you interested:

Next comes Arianna “No Fear” Huffington, suffering from a strain of short-term memory loss that seems to be going around, to declare: “The greatest triumph of Clinton’s campaign-a complete triumph-is the example she has set for the next generation.”

Currently pregnant with the next generation, let me just say this: There is no greater wish that a mother can have for her daughter than that she will exploit poor people, obliterate Iran, and win rigged class president elections, Putin-style. (Mom, I won 100 percent of the vote!)

I love her!!! Look, as a woman that has fought against sexism my entire fucking life and I might add, the first woman to hold the job as Project Manager on a NASA subcontract in the 80’s….I know how fucked up it is to be female and expect to be treated the same as males…and yet not be treated the same. I had to be better at my job than they were, work longer hours and make less money than they did. My husband divorced me because he was tired of me living at the office..I sacrificed my personal life for that fucking job..and I would probably do it all over again.

Read more

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this won’t sway the clintonistas one bit

i am no fan of hillary clinton. being a woman, i defy her minions to call me a misogynist. no doubt they will because they are morons. they are no better than the right wing that they emulate- from their racist innuendo to the white feminists exclusion of women of color and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered women- oh and let’s not forget the free thinkers like me. it is of little to no importance to these mental midgets who have sworn their fealty to queen hillary that hillary’s loss had more to do with her negative campaigning and marginalizing of whole swaths of people in the democratic party and less to do with her gender. she keeps touting herself as the most electable candidate and that she would win the general election. perhaps in her own reality- this is true.

i hate to tell her but 80% of this country is tired of politics as usual and politics taken from the 1990’s playbook. people in this country want 180 degree change from the right wing policies and ideologies that have brought america to her knees. if hillary clinton had studied just a little bit longer and harder, maybe she would have passed the test. perhaps if she had done some real research and field work- and learned to pump her own gas and buy her own coffee once in her life- she could have included the disenfranchised in the democratic party. no- instead, she played the race card for all it was worth and played up outright lies that were the epitome of the right wing fear mongering. but that hasn’t stopped her minions from playing up the misused misogyny card every single time. i have yet to read a clintonista that touts her platform. most sound like that right wing radio guy who got smacked down by- of all people- chris matthews. they spew the rhetoric without substance and none of them know their ass from a hole in the ground. i am in no mood to be conciliatory and i will not vote for clinton in any way shape or form every again. because in my mind- it is a vote for a republican.

testosterone is not to blame

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from my email

i can’t be bothered to stay neutral

Hilary Clinton, Poison Pawn

Hilary Clinton, Poison Pawn
By ReasonOne

Why would anyone trust Hilary Clinton to lead the charge for national health care?  In the first place her current plan is little more than a sop to the insurance companies in that it requires Americans to purchase their own health care from–you guessed it–insurance companies.

In the second place the previous Administration had every opportunity to produce single payer insurance coverage and it failed miserably.  Indeed, it not only failed, it wanted to fail.  I strongly suspect that the Clinton Administration failed to produce single payer health care because it is fundamentally opposed to the idea.  It wasn’t as if Hilary were faced with a hostile Congress. At the time Hilary was handling health care she had a Democratic Congress with which to deal, not a hostile clique of Republicans.  So how did the Clinton Administration succeed in messing up?

Easy.  Instead of appointing someone with the proper credentials they appointed a political hack whose sole qualification was the fact that she was the President’s wife.  Did they appoint a knowledgeable doctor or a former
Surgeon General like C. Everette Koop?  No.  They appointed a lighting rod, a poisoned pawn who they knew would generate controversy and negativity.  In short, Hilary was appointed to handle health care because the Powers That Be KNEW she would fail.

And now Hilary is back to poison the idea of health care again.  It is no coincidence that the her position on national health care is so similar to Republican positions.  The Clintons after all come from the DLC.  They are corporate Democrats.  They’re slightly to the right on social issues and corporate driven on the economic issues.  They simply can’t be trusted to bring about enough of the kinds of changes that this country requires at the present time.  Indeed, they are little more than Republicans in Democratic clothing.

They couldn’t be trusted then and they can’t be trusted now.

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