Yeah i know, you're going, WHAT? Yup, there was a vote with the Americans who are living in other countries around the world for various reasons. The vote began on Super Tuesday, the day Hilary Clinton was to begin picking out her limousines, and concluded with a vote tally today of 65% Obama - 32% Clinton.
The vote carries with it 22 delegates and the 11'th straight victory for the Illinois Senator. Great Briton, Canada and Mexico carry the most Americans abroad that helped Obama win yet another primary.
But Mark Penn, the Clinton campaign manager says that "Primaries don't indicate the winner will win the general election". Although the statement is technically correct, it's particularly true if you don't win the primary.
The New York Times has just broke a story that lays out a trail of love and lobby centered around John McCain and a 40 year-old lobbyist Vicki Iseman. Apparently this is something that has been known for quite sometime in Washington but is now being leaked.
Vicki Iseman is a Lobbyist for companies that John McCain has very close ties to which brings into question his own squeaky clean lobbyist issue. Ouch!! This could get REAL bad folks.... I think we just found out why Huckabee is staying in the race.
Read the entire story.
With 51% of the precincts reporting, Barack Obama has been the projected winner in Hawaii the state the Illinois Senator was born in.
So far the tally is as follows:
Obama 76% 11,691 votes
Clinton 23% 3,584 votes
51% of precincts reporting
Obama has now won 10 straight victories over the New York Senator and former first lady who was by all accounts supposed to be at this time cooling her heels waiting to be crowned.
Obama's victories in Tuesday's Primary/Caucus where he also won a crushing victory in Wisconsin by 17% points, has made him the undeniable front runner for the democratic Presidential nominee, leaving many to say, Yes We Can.
CNN and NBC have projected that Barack Obama has won the State of Wisconsin, and by very significant numbers. The exit polling indicates the he once again made huge inroads into what is said to be her base: White men, White Women under 50, the so-called lunch box workers and hard line Democrats.
Today in a campaign speech in Texas, the candidate that long ago expected to be the "President in-waiting" changed her tune from "Change, I'm Ready" to "Words Are Cheap". So by that logic, I say don't listen to a word she has to say.
Clinton has found herself in a place no one on the planet expected her to be in. Now even long time inspirational speaker Bill Clinton is telling voters "not to listen to inspiration" but look at the record. Bill Clinton had NO record when he ran for President.
By this logic, I believe one should look at her record. Her record for saber rattling against Iran, voting for the war, supporting NAFATA and CAFTA and taking Lobbyist money from every lobby on the hill.
Win or lose, it's becoming great comedy watching her REACH against the most unlikely candidate imaginable. A inspirational Black candidate who is running on a campaign of HOPE and sweeping change. All of which are exact mirror images of Bill Clinton's first Presidential run. So if you think about it, Hilary Clinton is getting her butt kick by her husband, and Bill Clinton is campaigning against himself.
The Republicans walk out and the House continues its vote to hold Josh Bolton and Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for blocking investigations into the charges of unwarranted firings of US Attorneys.
Bolton and Miers did not comply to supenas in the investigation, which by law is contempt. Get mad if you want, but it's the law. The vote passed in the House so we are on our way to a whole bunch Political battles.
This is a far better use of the governments time then grilling baseball players.
People from the Mitt Romney camp, the android who dropped out of the GOP primary and arch enemy of John McCain, will announce today that he will endorse the Senator from Arizona.
The old saying "Politics makes strange bedfellows" has never been more true, these two hate each other. If Romney can give McCain his 282 delegates, that's it game over for Huckabee (even though he can't win anyway). Some are speculating that this is the reason for this move by the Romney camp, shoring up his chances for a 2012 bid.
In a stunning move that will once again assure another clean GOP wipeout in the next elections, republicans have just staged a walkout out of the House because the Democratic Majority wants to bring up a fight against Harriet Miers and the whole dust up of Bush administration cronies who covered up the firing a attorneys. Basically doing what Americans voted them in there to do, hold people accountable.
The Republicans and the Bush administration want the congress to push through the FISA act to ensure your phone can still be tapped.
IMHO, what you have at this moment is this administration doing what it does best, trying to scare the hell out of Americans so they can run a campaign based upon keeping you safe. They've got an extremely weak candidate and they know it, so they will be pushing the envelope.
The Government has and has always had the ability to get retroactive warrants to listen in on your phone calls.
You just gotta love those "get tough" democrats up there in the Senate. Millions of voters flocked to the polls in 06 because candidates said they were going to get in there and turn back the tide that Bush wiped democracy away with. So far they haven't done a single thing, not one single thing.
One of the main continuos Bush administration secrets that came to light was the fact that he was spying on millions of Americans without their knowledge. A clear violation of the law of the land. He did so with the quiet help of the telecom companies that you and I pay each month. A clear violation of trust.
Without any foreknowledge, the administration with the help of the then ruling Republican party pushed through immunity for all the telecom companies that took part. Quest, the one company that wouldn't go along, found it's CEO in jail soon after the company released it's decision, on unrelated charges.
An ammendment that would have held those telecom's accountable by removing the immunity was stopped in the Senate. Not because the democrats don't have enough of the majority to stop the Republicans from tow-the-line voting, no. Telecom companies that allowed the government to spy on your phone calls and personal information without your knowledge were given a stay of immunity with the help of 31 Democrats who were voted in to turn back these Constitutional violations by the Bush administration.
Here is the list of democrats that voted for spying.
Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Evan Bayh (D-IA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Jim Webb (D-VA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Barack Obama who was present for the vote, voting against letting them off the hook.
When asked by peers who I think would be a good Democrat running mate, I answer with two people who are on this list. They are no longer on my list.
The New York Times tells that there is a bit of sadness beginning to permeate the Clinton Campaign Headquarters. Barack Obama's 5 state run, lending the her campaign $5 million, firing her campaign manager, and now wavering Super Delegates present the prospect of losing a campaign that was all but sown up months ago has taken the wind out of some of her followers.
"Mrs. Clinton held a buck-up-the-troops conference call on Monday with donors, superdelegates and other supporters; several said afterward that she had sounded tired and a little down, but determined about Ohio and Texas.
They also said that they had not been especially soothed, and that they believed she might be on a losing streak that could jeopardize her competitiveness in those states."
Today three more states have their say. The pundits and the Hilary campaign don't feel too good about these upcoming states, but polls have often been wrong. The campaign is beginning to state that she really only needs Texas and Ohio to win.
Again, statements like this really anger this author. Basically none of the votes count except the ones she feels she can get.
Remember way back in the year 2007, when every talking head across the dial, magazine and news paper proclaimed Hilary Clinton as the Democratic nominee for the next President of the United States? Remember that? Remember how she walked around and laughed like a strutting peacock, so sure that Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, Barack Obama and the rest didn't stand a chance in hell at beating out the Clinton legend for her media promised free pass all the way to the White House? Remember that?
Oh how times have changed. With all of the intelligent know-it-all prognostication from those who know everything, two very important details were left out of the equation. The desire for something new and John McCain.
While everyone conceded the fact that Hilary Clinton has the highest "unfavorable" rating of any politician out there (justified or not) they were still ready to crown her President without a single vote being cast. And then a funny thing happened on the way to the polls. Barack Obama caught fire. The most unlikely of the unlikely won Iowa, handily. While that was taking place John McCain rose from the dead. A candidate that the Republican party may not completely love, but one the party could warm up to simply to defeat Hilary.
Now the Clinton campaign is forced to release statements declaring that the campaign is "Strong".
---MSNBC) Hillary Rodham Clinton denied Monday that her campaign is in trouble after losing to Barack Obama in four weekend voting contests and replacing her campaign manager.
"I'm still ahead in the popular vote and in delegates," Clinton said.
Speaking to reporters after touring a General Motors plant outside Baltimore, Clinton said she feels very good about the state of the race, even though she is not expected to win any victories between now and March 4, when voters in Texas and Ohio cast ballots.----
Clinton has placed the blame for her weekend loss squarely on the shoulders of "a caucus system that is undemocratic and caters to mostly party activist." The very activist you need to win an election. This while she touts her "Super Delegate" count. The all too democratic voting system. She also attributes her Louisiana loss to "a very strong and very proud African-American electorate, which I totally respect and understand,". Nevermind the fact that Maine, Washington State and NEBRASKA went overwhelmingly to Obama.
She then went on to tell the good people of Alaska and North Dakota that their votes for Obama really don't matter because "you don't need those states to win the general election." A statement that doesn't "sound" "undemocratic" at all.
Foot in mouth disease seems to be running ramped through the Clinton campaign these days. Maybe it's because by this point, she was supposed to be the President in waiting.
As it is so often stated, almost anyone is going to be better than the current administration. But it seems to me that this time, voters aren't allowing the media to tell them who that someone will be, on either side of the aisle. Sure, they have been successful in shutting out Ron Paul and Dennis Kuncinich, but I suspect those days are coming to an end as well.
As for the "Strong" Clinton campaign, the big MO means everything. Unlike the days before Super Tuesday, the day that was to end the democratic race, this time there is time for that momentum to take hold. This time those absentee voters have had time to see another "strong" choice before they send in their ballots. It's possible that Texas and Ohio could have a big surprise waiting for her when she gets there, now that she has decided that all the other votes really don't matter.
Little fact, there was a caucus held on Sunday in Maine, a state that Hilary Clinton felt she had to win to put a bit of a dent in Obama's clean sweep on Saturday.
Well she didn't, Obama won the state with another clear margin of victory, bringing his total state wins to 4 along with the Virgin Islands. Something tells me that it's safe to assume that this Democratic race is going to get ugly again.
Next up, the Potomac. D.C., Maryland and Virginia tomorrow.
By now you should all be aware of the Democratic parties version of "fixing an election", it's called Super Delegates. This is where people like ex- President Bill Clinton gets to vote for Hilary with a whopping number of single delegates. Where back room deals, long time friendship and debts owed get called into favor by the candidate that holds the most entrenched political power. See, you thought your vote counted in the Democratic party didn't you? Those who screamed the loudest (and rightly so) over the 2000 election placement of George Bush, have their very own way of making sure the person they want in, gets in.
Instituted after Jimmy Carter, a man the people wanted but the entrenched on both sides of the aisle wanted no part of, was elected to the highest position in the country. After Jimmy Carter won, they decided they could no longer leave it in the hands of the American people. So if primaries and caucus's brought a candidate to the DNC convention floor, they nor the majority of DNC official wants running the party, party officials can cast their "SUPER DELEGATES" to the candidate of choice. It's all highly democratic.
In a rare moment of actually doing his job, Chris Matthews asked Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, who is supporting Hilary Clinton, "If your State votes overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, will you cast your Super Delegate vote for him?" He answered NO. Meaning personal candidate loyalty trumps the will of the people. And that folks, is how this whole dust up began.
A dust up that prompted Donna Brazile, CNN political commentator, to announce that if it comes down to Super Delegates deciding this process (of which she is one) she will quit the DNC. Donna Brazile is a longtime DNC supporter having worked for many Democratic Presidential hopefuls such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and was appointed Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute after the 2000 Presidential debacle. For her to make a statement like that on national television is huge.
The now DNC chair Howard Dean has come out in recent days saying that a broken convention would not be good. And a broken convention is exactly what you'll get if the candidate with the most "pledged" delegates enters the convention and loses because of the back room Super Delegate vote.
Let's imagine for the sake of scenario that Barack Obama wins 6 out of the next 7 states, netting him a 160 pledged delegate lead over Hilary and a 15 state lead over her when they both enter the convention floor. The big MO and the numbers are behind him so none of those pledged delegates change their vote.
But old Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton favors get called in, and entrenched loyalist deal their way to an overwhelming Super Delegate vote in Hilary Clinton's favor and she is announced as the nominee. (This could happen in reverse, but seeing as the Clintons "ARE" the democratic party, it's easier to use this as a possible scenario). The Democratic party would crumble right then and there. The party already has enough of it's own angry with them for getting into power and backing down to Bush on each and every issue. Not even entertaining the ideal of impeachment, or fighting to reinstate Habius Corpus.
If this or anything similar happens, bye-bye Democratic party, hello Independent party. A place more and more Americans are wanting to be.
This election is so amazing this way. It has brought a lot of the unknown to the forefront. Who knew that a state like Utah would vote overwhelmingly for a Black man carrying the name Barack Hussien Obama. Who knew that women voters would be at odds with themselves over a woman candidate. Or that gender could be pit against race in an election for the highest seat in the land. And before this juicy primary, who knew that party officials where the ones actually naming democratic nominees. After all, in years before, after Iowa and New Hampshire the candidates are for the most part picked and on their way to the general.
This Super Delegate situation is much like the Electoral College discovery in 2000. Because so many Americans used Civics class as a time to catch a nap in high school, millions of Americans were shocked and dismayed to discover that their vote didn't make a single difference because they don't live in a state with an Electoral vote. While the cry was loud then, it's silent now for change in the system. So once again, come time to vote for the President of the United States, there are folks who will cast their vote for no reason at all. Because if their candidate doesn't when the Electoral vote, the popular vote won't mean a hill of beans, no matter how wide the margin. And the prospects are the same with the upcoming DNC. The potential for millions of disenfranchised voters is great. Seeing as how this thing is bound to go to the wire, a good portion of that floor is destined to be disappointed regardless. But immediate aid could be delivered by a unified party behind the actual victor. Not so if the victor is delivered from behind closed doors.
Shame on you DNC. Fix this before you destroy your selves and kill off the last remaining hope for democracy in a hopeful democratic country.
In Baghdad, Iraq we all know that the war that is going on is extremely nasty, and very little is surprising when it comes to insurgent tactics. However, the story about how they strapped bombs to two mentally handicapped women and detonated them by remote control killing 98 people and wounding more than 200, brings the unGodly sadistic beast out of me! One of the main problems is that these insurgents have very little fear of anyone as these and sectarian killings continue, Saddam Hussein didn't have these problems, although he was in-human. The best way to handle insurgents that are caught is to have them interrogated/tortured to get any all information from them and then we strap their bodies with dead chickens and pieces of pork and we throw them into a pool of alligators. Or we strap them down with the dead carcasses and we release pitbulls on them. Yes, the people of Iraq deserve a democracy, how they choose to express that is not our business, but if you show these insurgents, most are from other countries, that they will die an excruciating death and are not martyrs for coming into another country to kill and maim innocent people of varying religious beliefs. American troops only get a fraction of the violence that Iraqi citizens face, and with each passing day every life that is lost, man, woman, and child pains me and shows me that a heavy unrelenting approach is the only thing that will have promise. I don't believe that the essence of man is evil, but our capacity to commit such atrocities leaves me numb, scared, tired, angry, and weary. Read
Talking heads on radio and TV make me so angry sometimes that I'm in danger of throwing something and breaking my contact with wide world outside. Every time I'm in an Airport, I talk with soldiers making their way from one place o the other. I have yet to speak with a soldier who has told me how important this war is to them. That's not to say that there are not those who feel that way, but I have not run into them. They all want to be there for their brothers and sisters in arms, but to the man/woman, each has told me they hate it and don't want to be there.
Yet guys in suits sitting in comfy leather chairs are always saying that our soldiers are proud of Bush and proud to fight this war. Pride in America, pride in our Military is one thing. Pride for the two aforementioned is something I have yet to hear from a soldier I have stood face to face with. And when you read things like this, it bares out what is actually felt in the truth away from cameras, Senators and Congressmen.
In 2007, 121 soldiers committed suicide. That's up 20% over 2006 and includes the time since the oh so successful surge. Now, there may be some that look at that total and think it's a small number. One soldier committing suicide in a foreign country because of a war we shouldn't be in is far too many.
The statistics prepared by the Army's psychiatry consultant also found that "attempted" suicides and "self injuries" were also rising. 2,100 in 2007, 1,500 in 2006.
This is sad, very, very sad. All one has to do is look at the stoic demeanor of the Military men at Monday's "State Of The Union" speech to get an understanding as to how they feel. While elected officials stood and clapped at every applause line given about Iraq and Afghanistan, they sat and did not clap.
While TV, radio and print mediums have moved on to who snubbed who, Mac is back and Romney is a Mormon, Americas kids are still sitting in the middle of a hot box they should have never been sent to in the first place. The war still wages on, and while we're being told how much "the surge" is working by people who have been proven wrong about EVERYTHING else, you can still read (if you look) about American men and women being killed and maimed everyday in Iraq. Along with the rise of the Taliban (because of Iraq) and now the rise of enlisted suicides.
But this story just isn't fun anymore for the media. The economy sucks, people are losing their homes and their jobs. Terrible things to be sure, but let's not forget that there is still a fierce battle raging in countries we shouldn't be in, and our countrymen/women want to come to help "their" families get through the same troubling times "we're" facing here at home.
Generally, when the topic of Cuban leader Fidel Castro would arise I would really care, but a few months ago when Mario Lavanderia aka Perez Hilton reported the death of Castro, I had my reasons in believing that this may be true. However, it wasn't until my meeting with an ex-patriot a couple of weeks ago that led me to further confirm my beliefs that if Castro wasn't dead, he was at least gravely ill. He had told me that back in the seventies, there was an attempt on Castro's life and he was believed to have been killed, but when he was seen walking around a week later something wrong. Actually it was a double of Castro that had been killed and Fidel has had body doubles for a very long time, even presently. Mr. Morales also told me that what he was told by his friends back in Cuba was that Castro was gravely ill and anything to the contrary of this was a lie. So when that liar, Hugo Chavez says he has spoken to him, I would believe that like the moon being made of cheese. Keep in mind, Fidel hasn't been seen in sixteen months and if anything, you can't fool the citizens of Cuba, they know how he looks, walks, and talks; with word coming out of Cuba that he is going to give up his power this should seem fishy to everyone. Supposedly he has been writing letters or dictating them, but when you are gravely ill, that is not possible. But if he is in decent health, he should have a farewell and have him walk through the streets of Cuba to say goodbye to his people, yeah right. Read
After being appointed to her current post by Bush, as the head of "ICE" immigration and customs enforcement, in a recess appointment, the Senate had reservations because of her lack of experience for the job. Her confirmation stalled, and Bush nominated her again. She is now up for the whole confirmation procedure again.
But if you remember from my post yesterday, while she waits to be confirmed "while on the Job", she's busy hosting Halloween parties and awarding a guy dressed as a "Black guy" in a prison outfit, "most original". Oh, and I don't want to leave out the fact that she took a bunch of pictures with him, of course they have all been erased.
Of course she has apologized, and the male wearing the outfit has been put on "leave", while Michael Chertoff says there's a difference between wearing the suit and condoning it.
---Nantel said Monday the makeup was meant to make the employee "look African-American." But she said it was not immediately apparent he was wearing the bronzer, and most guests "didn't realize he was wearing makeup at all."
McCaskill called that explanation "kind of silly."
"Are we going to argue about what shade of bronzer was used as makeup?" she asked. "Or are we going to talk about the real problem -- and that is, someone decided to put on dreadlocks and a prison outfit and somebody thought that was an original idea, and the head of the organization embraced it.
"That's the bottom line of what happened," she continued. "And that shows a lack of judgment that should in fact be held against her as she is trying to lead an incredibly large and important organization that deals with all kinds of ethnic backgrounds."---
Let's point out a few facts:
Julie Myers worked for the White House personnel office and had a post at the Treasury Department before Bush appointed her to a job with a $5 million dollar budget.
She was on staff during the flooding of New Orleans, which prompted the stalling of her nomination due to the concern of all the unqualified personal at FEMA and Homeland Security.
She is the niece of Gen. Richard Myers, retired.
She is married to Michael Chertoff's former Chief of staff.
We are now about to spends days in hearings over wether or not this woman should hold this post.
This woman should be relieved of her duties today. If this had happened at let's say "MSNBC", that person would be gone and so would the CEO or whoever the person in charge. The same goes for most places of employment, particularly if that company deals with the public.
But here we are, about to debate if she should keep the job as Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A job she is clearly not qualified for. Julie Myers is as qualified as Nancy Nord, chairman of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, another Bush appointee. We all get to see how well that's going on a weekly recall basis.
Dennis Kucinich a Democratic Presidential candidate said something that many have thought, referred to indirectly, or joked about, but haven't laid out with the boldness of a Terry Tate "Office Linebacker" hit, about President Bush. "I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health. There's something wrong. He doesn't seem to understand his words have real impact." This is in direct reference to Bush's comments about World WarIII being imminent over Iran obtaining nukes and preventing them from having the knowledge to make them. Oh that's right, Iran doesn't have any scientists or intelligencia, they are just a bunch of men and women that farm and park cars for a living, whatever! Kucinich went on to say, "you cannot be a President of the United States who's wonton in his expression of violence. There's a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn't something wrong with him, then there's something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question." We are upside down in debt over this war in Iraq, when we should have been in Afghanistan, pounding the crap out of the Taliban/Al-Qaida. How do you go to war without an exit strategy and tell the American people you are affected every time a soldier dies?
