who do the "evil-doers" really want in the white house?

The following is a column by Joe Klein of Time Magazine.

Thursday, May. 22, 2008

Straw-Man Diplomacy

By Joe Klein

On the Friday before the 2004 presidential election, Osama bin Laden released a videotape slamming George W. Bush, which more than a few people took as a tacit endorsement of John Kerry. The CIA saw it differently, though. According to Ron Suskind's fine book, The One Percent Doctrine, Deputy Director John McLaughlin said, "Bin Laden certainly did a nice favor today for the President." It seemed obvious to the top CIA analysts that bin Laden wanted to keep Bush — who had let the terrorists off the hook in Afghanistan and launched the war in Iraq, a great recruiting tool for al-Qaeda — in power.

Which raises the question: Who are the bad guys rooting for in 2008? John McCain would have you believe the answer is clear. Barack Obama wants to meet with the leaders of enemy states, especially Iran, "which would increase their prestige," McCain says, and convey the impression of American weakness. To punctuate the point, McCain persistently barks that Obama wants to meet with the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a flagrant anti-Semite but a relatively powerless figurehead. Obama did say during a debate last summer that he would meet with foreign leaders without preconditions. "He shorthanded the answer," Senator Joe Biden recently said. Ever since, Obama has been creatively fuzzy when asked directly if he would meet with Ahmadinejad — and he has begun to point out that the real leaders of Iran are the clerics led by the Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, who controls Iran's foreign policy and its nuclear program. Obama has also been explicit about the need to start with lower-level talks, a presidential summit coming only if there were progress in those negotiations. In his previous, straight-talking incarnation, McCain would have allowed Obama the modifications to his shorthand answer and debated the issue on the merits. Not this year.

When I asked McCain on May 19 why he kept linking Obama to Ahmadinejad, he said that Ahmadinejad represents Iran at the U.N., which is a fair point, and that the "average American" thinks he's the leader of Iran, which he isn't. Indeed, it could be argued that McCain's Ahmadinejad obsession "increases the prestige" of a relatively powerless loudmouth for domestic political gain. Linking Obama to the world's most famous anti-Semite certainly doesn't hurt McCain among Jewish retirees in Florida, a swing state. In any case, don't be surprised if Ahmadinejad pulls a bin Laden and "denounces" McCain just before the election this year.

Why? Because the last thing Iran's leaders want is an American President who doesn't play the role of the Great Satan. They need the mirage of an implacable, saber-rattling foe to distract their population from the utter incompetence of their government. An American President who said, "Let's talk," would lead an awful lot of Iranians to ask their leaders, "Why aren't you talking?" That was certainly the case after the reformer Mohammed Khatami won a surprise landslide election to become the Iranian President in 1997. The Clinton Administration began making quiet diplomatic overtures toward Khatami, and a handshake between Clinton and him was choreographed for the 2000 U.N. General Assembly meeting — but Khatami backed out at the last minute, under pressure from his clerical superiors. In recent Iranian elections, the mullahs have made sure that reformers like Khatami were ineligible to run for the presidency and the Iranian parliament — although there are indications that Khamenei considers Ahmadinejad to be an unnecessarily bellicose embarrassment as well.

This recent history provides sobering lessons for both Obama and McCain. For Obama, it demonstrates just how difficult any attempt to engage Iran's leaders will be. A more prudent course would probably be to ignore Iran at first and try to engage Syria, which has been dropping all sorts of hints that it is ready to talk to both the U.S. and Israel. For McCain, the lesson is the opposite: Why on earth does he want to keep making the same mistake Bush did and play the caricature Great Satan? A more prudent course would be to stow the tough-guy rhetoric, appear more reasonable, while aggressively — militarily — going after the violent jihadis in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.

That doesn't seem to be McCain's way, however. He is all bluster and impatience. If nothing else, his assault on Obama has renewed questions about whether McCain has the temperament to be President. A few years ago, in friendlier times, the Senator and I talked about the Cuban missile crisis. At a crucial moment, John F. Kennedy received two messages from the Soviets — one bellicose, one accommodating. He chose to ignore the bellicose message and very likely saved the world. "You probably would've chosen the wrong message," I teased McCain. "I probably would have," he laughed. He was joking, but given his behavior of late, you've got to wonder.

Claiming Iran is a big-time threat is an insult to the American military...

The following is a column by Steve Chapman of the Chicago (tear) Tribune. Once again, the crowd that yells the loudest about "offending" our soldiers by referring to them as uneducated tries to keep them from getting access to college and then proceeds to once again tell us that they could not stand up to a third-rate military.*

Mythmaking for the next war

Steve Chapman

May 22, 2008

Nuclear warheads. At the moment, Iran has none. But when Barack Obama said the obvious—that Iran does not pose the sort of threat the Soviet Union did— John McCain reacted as though his rival had offered to trade Ft. Knox for a sack of magic beans.

"Such a statement betrays the depth of Sen. Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment," exclaimed McCain. "These are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess."

But if Iran is the Soviet Union, I'm Shaquille O'Neal. There is nothing reckless in soberly distinguishing large threats from small ones, and there is something foolhardy in grossly exaggerating the strength of your enemies.

As military powers go, Iran is a pipsqueak. It has no nuclear weapons. It has a pitiful air force. Its navy is really just a coast guard. It spends less on defense than Singapore or Sweden. Our military budget is 145 times bigger than Iran's.

By contrast, the Soviets had far more nuclear weapons than we did, a blue-water navy, formidable air power and ground forces that dwarfed ours. In a conventional war, it was anything but certain that we could prevail, and in a nuclear exchange, it was clear they could destroy us.

Iran is a very modest adversary. Of course, even a Chihuahua can bite. The U.S. government claims Iran has provided arms and training to Iraqi insurgents—never mind that it is allied with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

But it's worthwhile to remember that even bad regimes sometimes have understandable motivations. The United States helped overthrow a democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and provided aid to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. If Iran sees an interest in bleeding the U.S. military, that is likely a defensive response to the presence of an avowed enemy on its border rather than a sign of aggressive intent.

Its actions in Iraq, however, are supposedly the least of the menace. McCain and many others are convinced that Iran will soon get nuclear weapons and proceed to use them.

The first claim overlooks the Bush administration's own National Intelligence Estimate, issued last year, which concluded that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The NIE also said, "Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs."

Even if Iran were to acquire atomic bombs, there is no reason to think it would use them or turn them over to terrorists. McCain, however, insists that Iran has "a commitment to Israel's destruction," and appears to think its leaders cannot be contained because of their religious fanaticism.

But as University of Michigan Middle East scholar Juan Cole has explained, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never vowed to "wipe Israel off the map"—an oft-quoted phrase that Cole says is a mistranslation of the milder words he used. In fact, he says, "Ahmadinejad has never threatened Israel with physical aggression," however much he would welcome its collapse.

Even if the Iranians would like to destroy Israel, they face a powerful disincentive: the prospect of radioactive incineration. The Tehran government has been intimidated by less. Israeli historian Gershom Gorenberg writes in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy magazine: "Iran agreed to a cease-fire in the war with Iraq once Iraqi missiles began falling on Tehran. The ayatollahs were willing to sacrifice soldiers—but not to pay a higher price." Even fanatics have their limits.

Nor would Iran be so irrational as to give nukes to a terrorist group. That would be the worst of both worlds—giving up control of those weapons, while inviting annihilation the moment they are put to use.

But there is no reasoning with McCain and his allies, who yearn for the simple clarity of the Cold War. If we don't have an enemy on the mammoth scale of the Soviet Union, they will take a pint-sized one, inflate it beyond recognition and pretend that military confrontation is the only way to deal with it.

That was how we got into the war in Iraq and how, under a McCain presidency, we are liable to end up in a war in Iran. If he's looking for reckless judgment, he should look in the mirror.


*Unrelated side note - I am extremely disappointed that Obama would use the Senate floor in the manner in which he did, turning it into a cheap campaign tool.

rolling over, appeasement and other random thoughts...

a rather amusing question was posed to hillary clinton in a recent interview...speaking of her rampage to get florida and michigan delegates seated at the convention - the simple question was "where the fuck were you when it mattered?" when the states were stripped of their delegates, clinton agreed...when it became clear she would not earn what she felt was rightfully hers (even if she did so by proving she is truly a democrat of her generation - completely inept at running a nationwide campaign - sorry to say it, but take away her vagina and obama's black skin - and she gets absolutely crushed) she suddenly decided to fight against what she agreed to. and it isn't just bullshit like whether or not florida and michigan are seated in denver...NAFTA - you can tell me all you want that behind the scenes you didn't like the idea, you championed it publically and wrote in your book how wonderful it had been for the country and the world...the vote for war - you didn't even read the fucking report before agreeing to send our young men and women to kill and be killed. sure NOW you want to "fight" for everything - but we all know you bailed when it mattered, and you did so for political convenience. only in the end, it backfired, and now you are scrambling to show us that you can pander with the best of them. well mrs. clinton, I used to hold you in higher regard than your husband (which admittedly does not say much - but at least I did not hate you and all you represented previously)...now, I have two simple words for you - fuck off.

and all your talk about leading in the "popular vote" - why don't you be honest with us and let us know that you are ignoring caucus states...so apparently only florida and michigan democrats matter, please disregard iowa, neveda, washington, etc.

israel is talking to syria...and like the boy king says - we've seen this before, when jewish persons assisted the nazis in controlling the ghettos...absolutes are a bitch in a world that isn't black and white...

but then when you have the capacity of our president, it is difficult to think things through if unless the choices are only two, and they are polar opposites...

yesterday was day four in a beautiful stretch of shootings in albuquerque...

but remember guns don't kill people...bullets do...

the fuckhead conservatives in congress don't want you to be able to afford college if you've "only" risked your life for them in the desert for a few years...because if you wanted to get on with your life and get an education who would they find to run in front of roadside bombs for peanuts? yup...they won't vote to fund your education because to them it is more important that you remain without a degree and in harms way longer than to actually repay you in a small way, still far less than what is deserved. but really, they support you - they really do, because those little flags on their lapel means something. just don't ask them to do anything more...

and in the meantime they are willing to pay the blackwater commando that is running around murdering civilians with impunity and causing serious problems for the actual military ten times what they are paying our soldiers...

but remember - they are wearing flag pins...

whenever a nation crumbles, it is always the ones that are destroying it that pound their chests and declare their patriotism the loudest...

does it bother anyone else that civilian deaths are always claimed as "unintended" by the military? that's obviously bullshit...you meant to kill, you just fucked up and killed the wrong people. unfortunate - maybe...unintended - bullshit.

a suit got reinstated in florida that challenges the idiocy of "don't ask, don't tell" (another brilliant high point of the clinton years...how the fuck do self-proclaimed liberals like this assclown?). nurse in the air force for twenty years...a "concerned citizen" calls up and lets the air force know that the neighbors are lesbians and one of them is in uniform. she's discharged...

experienced and educated folks in uniform are kicked out because they touch tacos (even though it apparently wasn't a problem for a few decades) while congress refuses to pay for disgustingly underpaid veterans to go to college so that they may become experienced and educated. am I the only one that finds it disturbing that our "leaders" are hell-bent on building a military without educated persons in the ranks?

cue all the conservative morons that do not understand the difference between un-educated and un-intelligent...of course most of them are actually unintelligent, but since mommy and daddy paid for a big-name school they got their education. so they must equate the two lest they see themselves for what they are...complete fools.

the oil companies want you to know it is not their fault that they are making twenty times the profit they were a few years ago...its clearly supply and demand. the magic hand of the market is guiding all your money into the billion-dollar salaries of all those fuckheads testifying before congress. there, don't you feel better?

because we all know...never, never challenge the "market" - to do so would be unamerican...

and appeasing hitler.

which brings up breaking news - global oil supplies are limited! really? wow...didn't see that coming...

remember the days when trusts, monopolies, and market manipulation were unamerican?

tens of thousands dead in china...a hundred thousand plus dead in myanmar...expectations of nine atlantic hurricanes this year...but the big story this morning is the surprise david won american idol...

for fuck's sake...what is wrong with this place?

and I'll leave you with this to ponder...can we stave off the world-wide depression this time?

the best you can is good enough...

"never again" and when the constitution doesn’t count...

we have heard it for years - it became the rallying cry of the UN, even as the world repeatedly turned a blind eye - "never again. never again. never again." the leaders of the "free" world promise us they will "never again" idly sit by as people are slaughtered and genocide rears its ugly head. and yet, time and time again, the "leaders" of the "free" world sit idly by and watch as people are slaughtered and genocide rears its ugly head - afterward there are plenty of apologies, and blame shifting, and "we should have acted sooner" and renewed calls of "never again." but what do they really mean when they say "never again"? well, here in the united states the meaning is clear, never again will the united states allow jewish peoples to be threatened...as for muslims, africans, southeast asians, etc. - well, you are on your own (which really is not surprising considering "never again" only ever refers to the jewish holocaust of WWII, ignoring the horrors of the pacific in the same war and the suffering of the armenian people). see, that "never" has some serious qualifying asterisks - and it is a sad indictment of the "free" world's failure to practice what it preaches.

and so it has become a predictable, and sadly effective, political tactic - roll out the "never again" slogan to try and drum up support, especially when you are speaking to a jewish community, and really especially if you happen to be in israel. which is why the boy king pulled the despicable political trick when he was speaking to the israelis - claim "never again" as long as you are referring only to jewish peoples, compare some fool to hitler and say the magic word - "appeasement." and so here we are once again, the horrors of the jewish holocaust again cheapened for political gain, the horrors of other holocausts brushed under the carpet. and the complexity of global politics ignored by a simpleton so that he may throw out "hitler" and "appeasement" - thereby obviously discrediting anyone that disagrees with him. only we forget that stalin was twice the horror that hitler was - only he was more of an equal opportunity genocidal maniac...and boy did we ever appease him, good ol' uncle joe was our most important friend until the war was over. good thing our leaders refused to sit down and speak with the crazed communist leaders in china too...oh that's right, we celebrated it. if only the world were as simplistic as it is in the boy king's head...

the supreme court again reminded us of the reality of prosecuting crimes that involve allegations of children and sex - something that anyone involved in the criminal justice system is all too aware of - when the charges in any way involve sex and underage persons, the constitution is inapplicable. although the supremes did the right thing a few years ago and struck down a law that would make it illegal to possess fake kiddie porn (and really, wouldn't this mean 90 percent of anime is out?)...this time they upheld a law that makes it illegal to peddle in fake kiddie porn. and we all say "of course, kiddie porn is grotesque and should not be allowed because it harms children." but then we remember that fake kiddie porn did not involve harm to an actual child, and is protected by the first amendment, which is why possessing fake kiddie porn is legal. it's a pattern that has emerged in all cases involving kids and sex. you get charged for rape of an 18 year old and the government is required to give you a general idea of when it occured and the circumstances surrounding it so that you can adequately defend. you get charged with rape of a minor - and the courts tell the government they don't have to do shit because its a kid making the allegations - and so you wind up being charged with one of the crimes our society considers the most heinous, and told it happened at some point during this 4 year period, but we have no idea when and it is up to you to now prove it didn't happen.

and at first, again, we all think - well you raped a kid, who cares? lock 'em up and throw away the key. and then we see men being released from prison after decades when DNA evidence cleared them of charges of raping an adult - who can actually give an account of the incident and tell us when, where and who. and we realize "my god...if wrong convictions are happening under those circumstances, how many arise out of cases when the alleged victim cannot tell us when, where, who and many times even what?" and we are horrified to realize that the old maxim of "better to let ten guilty men go free than condemn one innocent man" was long ago declared inapplicable to any crime involving children and sex.

innocent until proven guilty...unless its a kid, then you're fucked. remember that next time you are left alone with a child...even your own.

last night I dreamt that somebody loved me...no hope, no harm...just another false alarm...

failed economics, failed war-machine, failed justice and hummingbirds...

david ranson wrote a piece in the wall street journal today with the implication that the tax rates on the richest should be dropped even lower. in support he cites a study which found that government resources from tax follow GDP regardless of tax rates...thus - we should drop the tax rates even more on the richest of the rich. you have to hand it to the "economists" out there who have bought into such wonderfully failed policies of history like "free" trade and regressive taxation and "trickle down" economics - with a subtle slight of hand they distract you and forget to mention that just because overall resources remain the same, does not mean that the economy remains strong, and has actually proven to mean that equality becomes nothing more than a meaningless word championed by those that seek to crush it. they love to tell you that when huge tax breaks for the uber-wealthy go into effect the government takes in more revenue (forgetting to mention that it is due to the uber-rich taking advantage of the newly formed loopholes and cashing in everything while the rates are low and that revenue eventually does level off and drop). they want to tell you that since revenue remains the same everything remains constant...except they forget to mention that stratification of wealth explodes and that severe stratification of wealth always, always, always leads to an economic implosion...it happened to romans, it happened to the spanish, it happened to the dutch, it happened to the british...hell, it happened to us a lifetime ago (although if you use our current disaster of a health care system it is beyond a lifetime ago). the united states enjoyed a ridiculous economic run...and it was fueled by "oppressive" tax rates on the richest of the rich and on Big Business - it was fueled by a strong manufacturing infranstructure which solidified the middle class - it was fueled by government regulation of the economy. and it was dismantled by the same schmucks that are robbing you blind and telling you nothing is different because the government takes in the same amount of money it used to...never mind that in the process the richest of the rich are taking in hundreds of times what they used to while you take in less...and pay more. an economy cannot last this way...they are lying to you...and we are about to learn it the hard way...again.

which leads to my second point...there was a time when FDR turned this country into a breathtaking military machine in a few short years. he did it on the backs of the american working class and he did it by exploiting a strong manufacturing base. now...we do it by outsourcing everything. the parts for every machine needed to kill and maim....made elsewhere by foreigners being paid peanuts. and the same people that have brought us to this point are the ones that claim they are "strong on homeland defense." the proposition is ludicrous...strong defense requires a strong economy (which they have destroyed) and a thriving manufacturing infrastructure in case it is needed (which they have dismantled). when the shit really hits the fan, what happens when it is the chinese and indians on the other side and they stop sending us parts? where are we going to make them when all our factories are gone? and yes, your weekly trip to walmart is partly to blame. but then you can't be blamed much for going to walmart when these fuckheads shipped your decent job overseas and have used the same agencies which are meant to protect the worker to crush the worker.

a couple people sent me a link to a story yesterday, a story about how incredibly fucked up the lives of those that are wrongly convicted are after release. it dealt with one man in particular who has disappeared after spending years homeless - a condition which he noted was "not so bad" considering the hellish 15 years he spent in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him of the sexual assault he was serving time for (and yes, you guessed it, he was a black man in texas). if you have never been to a prison or spoken to someone who has spent time there you cannot possibly understand the dehumanizing conditions and the horror which becomes a part of daily life. you cannot possibly understand that it is impossible to successfully reenter society afterwards. and so I will remind you all again - if you are ever on a jury, hold out for not guilty...make someone else do the dirty work. don't be the one with a man's life on your conscience...

and through all the disgusting absurdity of the world as of late, I still found a reason to smile yesterday. a hummingbird was dancing above the street outside my window yesterday evening. it was a beautiful sight and a reminder that perhaps, in the end, it will all even out. in the end those hummingbirds will be dancing long after you and I are gone...and that is the way it should be.

we'll inherit the world, but we don't want it...

focus on your own damn family and irresponsible congress...

the california supreme court took another step towards a society that protects the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness yesterday by recognizing that marriage is a fundamental right to publically declare love and join in marriage with the person of one's choosing...or, as a friend of mine put it, they simply declared "FOCUS ON YOUR OWN DAMN FAMILY." still, plenty of blowhards (you know, the kind that wind up in a shady hotel room tweaked out of their minds and fucking the hell out of some gay prostitute) immediately took to the steps and declared what a travesty it was for equal protection to mean equal protection. and they came out and reminded us that civil unions created similar benefits...the same talking points being used fourty years prior by their grandaddy to justify keeping the black folk in their place. so expect the self-annointed saviors of your family to come back out of the woodwork and declare that if johnny and bobby living together down the street actually got a piece of paper to make it official, then you will have someone to blame when your husband turns up in an all-male orgy at a rest stop. as for me, I look forward to the next screaming homophobe being outed...

and of course some fools will now begin the standard rant against "legislating from the bench" - which loosely translates to "making judicial determinations that do not coincide with my bigotry." you should not blame these simpletons though...they need hatred to keep on going, without someone to send to hell they might be forced to focus on their own impending trip south. (and aren't all these the same folks that are convinced the end of the world is upon us? why the fuck to they care?) and it is difficult for these fools to understand how government works in america...and without basic civic knowledge they are left to imagine that we live in a system like the french (the irony of the crowd that gave us "freedom" fries confusing ours with the french is not lost on me) where judges do nothing but put facts into a formula. given this was not making law...it was striking down an unconstitutional law (the most basic function of our judiciary)...judges make law - if they didn't our society would fucking fall apart. but it makes a great issue for those that are robbing you blind and in need of a diversion. so keep getting pissed off at shit that has no bearing on your life...and I'll see you in the bread line.

republicans are up in arms about how irresponsible it is to ask that those that benefit the most from the way of life they military is purportedly protecting in iraq and afghanistan pay a wee bit more of their already uselessly large wealth so that kids that risked their lives for years in the desert can go to college. they ask young kids to die for them...and yet those kids can't expect the slightest gratitude in return? fuck wearing a goddamn pin on your lapel, pay their tuition you greedy shitbags. but they all support the troops...the yellow ribbon magnet on their car proves it.

I'm on the same side as you...

boy king takes one for the team, obama’s legitimacy, and a dream campaign...

the boy king is making sacrifices in solidarity with the soldiers he ordered off to their physical and psychological maiming and death by...and I promise you, I could not make this up...quitting golf during the war. that's right, ol' georgey is just like you and me. he feels he "to the families [of soldiers] to be in solidarity as best as [he] can with them." I mean, for christ's sake, he was pulled off the golf course to be informed of a "good man" (Sergio Vieira de Mello of the UN, not any american soldier or iraqi civilian) dying in a bombing. and it was at that point that he said to himself - "it's just not worth it anymore to do." damn right georgey ol' boy...take one for the team, put that putter down. I don't know about you, but if I am getting shot at and bombed constantly in a god-forsaken desert for no apparent reason, my spirit is lifted by the knowledge that the ridiculously rich failure of a man who rode daddy's coattails his entire life and skipped out on real military service is so much with me that he will put the nine iron away while my life is on the line. it is, afterall, literally the least he could do.

and this is what we get when we allow bullshit phoney people into office because they claim to be just like you and me. the boy king rode this crap to the white house, twice...and then proves it by not playing golf as long as young kids are dying for his boneheaded dreams. on the other hand, hillary clinton proclaims that she knows what life is like for you and I and "hard-working white americans" - just ignore the $100 million in the bank (when was the last time you could afford to piss away $11 million dollars on a failed run for office?) - but hell, she must understand because she drank whiskey and beer. and then there is obama...I was really concerned that he was an out-of-touch elite asshole (you know, the kind that would claim not getting in 18 on sunday was a "sacrifice" to show he's got the soldier's backs), but then I saw him nail that bank shot in a pool hall the other day. now I know he's just like me...and that is exactly what we need in the white house. why should we bother asking ourselves if these people can actually empathize with regular americans...as long as they drink the right shit its good enough for me.

mccain and obama have expressed interest in the first real presidential campaign in my lifetime. they are discussing the possibility of campaigning together and engaging in town halls and lincoln-douglas style debates...not the bullshit "debates" offered us by the networks, but actual debates, about actual issues. imagine that...democracy as it was meant to be...candidates taking the job seriously, taking the american people seriously, and providing the information that the citizenry are entitled to in forming intelligent decisions about the direction of the nation and who they want at the helm. it has me dreaming of an america that actually works...which makes me realize it will never happen.

I wanna thank you all for nothin' - nothin' at all.

I'll get over you gettin' over me...

usa today has reported that the feds are rounding up undocumented persons that are trying to leave the country...after a few hours they are being deposited in mexico. yup, your tax dollars are being spent to arrest people who are trying to leave the country so that they can be dropped off outside the country later in the day. um...

hillary claims victory in indiana...followed immediately by rush limbaugh...is she counting on the rush-listener cross-over vote in november?

actually, it wouldn't surprise me...former cheerleader of "free trade" discovers an inner hawkishness despite having never been near the military...sounds like a rush-listener candidate to me...

another "fight" to add to the list of knockouts suffered by everybody's favorite "fighter" hillary clinton...

can we please put the clintons on a plane and wave goodbye now...

there was a big drug bust at SDSU...a "whopping" 400 pounds of marijuana (please, we've surpressed 22 times that much in one case alone) and 4 pounds of cocaine were recovered...what started the investigation? a cute dead white girl overdosing on cocaine...

remind me again why we are still worried about our young people smoking pot but advertise beer and tobacco to the same crowd?

hillary "loaned" her campaign $11 million so far...and I'm supposed to believe she's down with the working poor...rriiiiiigghhht...

executions resume - thank god the government has gotten back to the business of killing...for a few months there it seemed like we might join the civilized world...

philly cops beat the fuck out of three men after a traffic stop...make that fifteen officers...and you guessed it, black guys in the car. but they aren't going to pre-judge whats on the video, because it is entirely reasonable that the officers felt it necessary to hold the men down while beating them...

the most incredible thing about it...a fucking news chopper was directly overhead...if nothing else these assholes should be fired for being incredibly inept at hiding their illegal activity like most cops...

but don't worry, these officers "will be reassigned"...

I don't know about you, but I commit aggravated assault and battery in the course of my job - and I'm probably not going to just be reassigned...must be fucking nice...

estimates are 100,000 dead in myanmar due to a cyclone...does anyone remember the last time we went through a storm season that didn't kill 100,000?

but global warming is not an issue at all...

except for when conservative assheads realize that it is wiping out there slave-wage labor force...at which point we will immediately see action to remedy the situation...

and while 100,000 people are dead because mother nature is giving the world the finger...what was the story I heard the most about on the news this morning?

brittany spears is getting more time with her kids.

the report went something like this..."brittany spears, looked up to by soft, whorish, drug addicted and mental young women everywhere, was very pleased because she gets a bit more time with her boys [insert ten minutes of footage of courthouse and spears avoiding getting her picture taken]. spears appears in photos this week with her family, including her younger sister, who discovered unprotected sex earlier than spears herself. in other news, 100,000 poor brown people died. next up, how to save money by looking at labels in the grocery store!"

george snufalufagus declared the democratic nomination fight to be over...and immediately questioned how god-fearing americans could pick an un-american muslim that uses the flag as toilet paper as their nominee...

bill clinton in 1992 - "if you work hard and follow the rules you shouldn't have to worry." bill clinton in 2008 - "if you are entitled to the presidency by virtue of your last name you should be able to alter the agreed-upon rules at will and destroy legitimacy if it means I get back in the lincoln bedroom."

the feds are pushing a pfizer drug for quitting smoking...at least we know that Big Tobacco has taken a back seat to Big Drug...

interesting how the government will gleefully push a drug with frightening psychiatric side effects (severe depression, suicidal ideation, etc.) if it is made by Big Drug...but will deny you access to cheaper, life-saving drugs because it would cut into pfizer's profits...

and whatever happened to the conservative line of personal responsibility?

it must be nice to never take advice, and always know you're right without ever thinkin' twice...

inspired anew...

We believe in hard work. We believe in personal responsibility and self-reliance. But we also believe that we have a larger responsibility to one another as Americans - that America is a place - that America is the place - where you can make it if you try. That no matter how much money you start with or where you come from or who your parents are, opporunity is yours if you're willing to reach for it and work for it. It's the idea that while there are few guarantees in life, you should be able to count on a job that pays the bills; health care for when you need it; a pension for when you retire; an education for your children that will allow them to fulfill their God-given potential. That's the America we believe in.

Last night Senator Obama reiterated what few Democrats have been courageous enough to admit in my lifetime - that progressive values are American values. While one major Democratic leader after another has told us we must move to the right, we must embrace the same conservatism that has failed humanity time and time again, I spent my political youth disdainful of the party the claimed to represent the people that made this nation great. Now, finally, a voice comes along with a national pulpit to speak from, a voice that cries out what we have all been waiting, seemingly in vein, to hear...that we are all in this together, and that we are entitled to a basic human dignity and the opportunities to reach for the stars.

Sure, we have heard this before, we've been told by Democratic leaders that they will "fight" to make sure that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can succeed. And then those same leaders sold us out, changed the rules and tilted the playing field so far against us that if we were not lucky enough to be born into fabulous wealth the door of opportunity was slammed in our face - for many after being pushed back out of the house first. But this time, even a born cynic like myself cannot help but believe. Even a young man that used to declare his admiration for the Republican Party over the Democratic Party because at least they were honest about being the party of rich white men, by rich white men, and for rich white men cannot help but fight back tears as the American people stand up and declare "Yes. We. Can."

Even knowing what is ahead, I have begun to believe again. And for that Mr. Obama, not only do myself and my generation owes you our deepest gratitude - but you owe the American people. Your recognition of this simple reality of public service will help us change our nation and the world.

Yes, we know what's coming. We've seen it already. The same names and labels they always pin on everyone who doesn't agree with all their ideas. The same efforts to distract us from teh issues that affect our lives by pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy in the hope that the media will play along. The attempts to play on our fears and exploit our differences to turn us against each other for pure political gain - to slice and dice this country into Red States and Blue States; blue-collar and white-collar; white and black and brown.

This is what they will do - no matter which one of us is the nominee. The question, then, is not what kind of campaign they'll run, it's what kind of campaign we will run. It's what we will do to make this year different. I didn't get into this race thinking that I could avoid this kind of politics, but I am running for President because this is the time to end it.

We will end it this time not because I'm perfect - I think by now this campaign has reminded all of us of that. We will end it not by duplicating the same tactics and the same strategies as the other side, because that will lead us down the same path of polarization and gridlock.

We will end it by telling the truth - forcefully, repeatedly, confidently - and by trusting that the American people will embrace the need for change.

Because that is how we've always changed this country - not from the top-down, but from the bottom-up; when you - the American people - decide that the stakes are too high and the challenges are too great.

The other side can label and name-call all they want, but I trust the American people to recognize that it's not surrender to end the war in Iraq so that we can rebuild our military and go after al Qaeda's leaders. I trust the American people to understand that it's not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but our enemies - like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did.

I trust the American people to realize that while we don't need big government, we do need a government that stands up for families who are being tricked out of their homes by Wall Street predators; a government that stands up for the middle-class by giving them a tax break; a government that ensures that no American will ever lose their life savings just because their child gets sick. Security and opportunity; compassion and prosperity aren't liberal values or conservative values - they're American values.

Most of all, I trust the American people's desire to no longer be defined by our differences. Because no matter where I've been in this country - whether it was the corn fields of Iowa or the textile mills of the Carolinas; the streets of San Antonio or the foothills of Georgia - I've found that while we may have different stories, we hold common hopes. We may not look the same or come from the same place, but we want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

That's why I am in this race. I love this country too much to see it divided and distracted at this moment in history. I believe in our ability to perfect this union because it's the only reason I'm standing here today. And I know the promise of America because I have lived it.

It is the light of opportunity that led my father across an ocean.

It is the founding ideals that the flag draped over my grandfather's coffin stands for – it is life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It's the simple truth I learned all those years ago when I worked in the shadows of a shuttered steel mill on the South Side of Chicago – that in this country, justice can be won against the greatest of odds; hope can find its way back to the darkest of corners; and when we are told that we cannot bring about the change that we seek, we answer with one voice – yes we can.

So don't ever forget that this election is not about me, or any candidate. Don't ever forget that this campaign is about you – about your hopes, about your dreams, about your struggles, about securing your portion of the American Dream.

Don't ever forget that we have a choice in this country – that we can choose not to be divided; that we can choose not to be afraid; that we can still choose this moment to finally come together and solve the problems we've talked about all those other years in all those other elections.

This time can be different than all the rest. This time we can face down those who say our road is too long; that our climb is too steep; that we can no longer achieve the change that we seek. This is our time to answer the call that so many generations of Americans have answered before – by insisting that by hard work, and by sacrifice, the American Dream will endure.

mrs. clinton - do you think working whites are as racist as you?

Richard Kim of The Nation points out that this is the question which should be posed by those faux-journalists to Hillary.

How Does Hillary Clinton Feel About the White Racist Vote?

May 5, 2008

If you haven't already, check out my colleague Betsy Reed's compelling account of how Hillary Clinton's campaign has deployed the racist playbook of the right against Barack Obama. As Betsy argues, Clinton has positioned herself to take advantage of the feeding frenzy around Rev. Wright, and her surrogates have portrayed "the black candidate" as less American, less patriotic and most importantly in what is now a race for superdelegates, less electable.

It's that last word--electable--that really rankles me because it imputes "electability" to the candidates themselves. It's as if "electability" were a personal quality--like integrity, compassion or in more biologized accounts, say, blonde hair--that candidates possess in varying degrees. All of this is absurd since "electability" is wholly determined by the voters, usually. (In 2000, George W. Bush didn't possess "electability" so much as he was gifted it by the Supreme Court.)

Now, in order to convince superdelegates to buck the will of the majority of Democratic primary voters, Hillary Clinton is arguing that she's the more "electable" candidate, and some of her surrogates are suggesting that Obama is not "electable" against John McCain. But just what is it about Hillary that makes her more "electable" than Barack? From reading the Clinton campaign's material, you'd never know it has anything to do with her race. Instead, they talk in euphemisms and codes. In a memo titled "HRC Strongest Against McCain," Clinton strategist Harold Ickes points to her superior polling in "swing states" and among "swing voting blocs" like "Catholics," as well as Obama's rising "unfavorables." Departed advisor Mark Penn has said that the working class is "a critical vote" that superdelegates should consider because "these are voters who in the past have gone either way in the general election."

Give me a break. We're not talking about swing voters, Catholics or the working class en masse. We're talking about the white, working class. As Mark Penn surely knows, it's not black working-class voters who "swing" the other way.

If you've cracked a newspaper once in the past few months, you already know this. Every pollster and pundit has overheated their logic boards trying to predict how the white working class--that ever elusive, ever mythic bloc--will vote. But the Clinton camp continues to play coy. They talk about bowling scores, shooting ranges and whiskey shots--as if these new-found hobbies account for Clinton's "electability." Even as they leak statistics like--HRC has beaten Obama among white, non-college-educated voters in 26 out of 29 states--they carefully avoid putting the words--"white voters" or heaven forbid "uneducated white voters"!--anywhere near her talking points.

So, in the name of another personal quality--honesty--I'd like Hillary Clinton to make the following statement: "Though my opponent has run a terrific campaign, in primary after primary, I have proven that I am the more electable candidate. I am more electable because I am white. Barack Obama--Wow!--he's certainly inspired a lot of hope, but as voters in Indiana and North Carolina make up their minds, as the superdelegates make up their minds, they should remember that Barack Obama is black. They should also remember that a whole lot of white working-class Americans are racists. White racists are an important part of the Democratic Party, and time and time again, they've supported me because I am white. I am ready on day one to govern as your white American president."

If this sounds--excuse the pun--beyond the pale, it's because it is. Or at least, it should be. But the alleged racism of white working-class voters has become, through her campaign's own actions, the last remaining rationale for Clinton's candidacy.

Are white working-class voters really racist? How many and where? If a significant number of them are, should Democrats really court them on the terms of their racism? These are questions worth asking since, apparently, a lot of Democrats think they're valid. But as long as the Clinton campaign continues to code the fact that it is counting on a base of white racist support, we'll never have this conversation. And as long as the mainstream media indulges the euphemism of "electability"--one that makes white racism seem like a personal deficiency of Barack Obama's--we'll be stuck mucking around in diffuse fears and anxieties that nobody, least of all Hillary Clinton, wants to name.

So here's my final suggestion: as long as Barack Obama is called upon to explain, denounce and reject black racism, let's have it both ways. Let's have George Stephanopoulos ask Hillary Clinton how she feels about the white racist vote?

can’t run from history, hillary’s high-priced gun toting, and tragedy at the downs...

it wasn't too long ago hillary was applauding the "free" trade agreement rolled out by her turncoat husband (side note - I saw some old blue collar guy in indiana claim he still likes bill on the news this weekend, and I wondered if he had any clue that bill destroyed his community...how do democrats that aren't filthy rich like this fuckhead?) - even though now she likes to claim she and the "objective" child that claims to report for ABC were against it from the start (a fact she conveniently forgot until she realized that blue collar workers aren't too keen on losing their jobs, pensions and health care and now not able to collect welfare - also taken by her husband). now, "free" trade agreements continue to mount as we watch our manufacturing sector hemorage factories and jobs while our middle class is non-existent. and it is all fascinating to anyone that bothered to look at history...extremely predictable, but fascinating nonetheless. while some like to tell us that manufacturing is not important anymore and that financialization will keep america atop the world and somehow prop up one of the strongest economies the world ever produced (side note again - that economy has been long gone), pick up a history of any global economic leader before the US and you will find the exact same pattern...and you will see what is coming - and you will weep. the death of manufacturing, turning the world into our "workshop," overemphasizing the financial sector, military conquest to bring in more money, a rebirth of conservatism, and hell, even millenialism...they all show up as one global economic power after another retreats to second-class status. america was exceptional in this regard - when it became the global economic power it was, it did so in a more equitable and balanced way than any power had managed before it. unfortunately, where america is not exceptional, is that she pissed it all away. enjoy the ride my friends...

hillary wants us to believe she's just another gun and flag waving small town girl. (never mind that she grew up in the northwest suburbs of chicago before any brown folks dared move into the area, and was the definition of "elitist" as she now claims). so she sends out a mailer attacking obama on guns, complete with a picture of a rifle. only the rifle is immediately recognized by true sportsmen/hunters/gun-owners as ridiculously expensive and european. "hillary clinton - she's loves guns as much as you, assuming you have the means and wherewithall to purchase a $2,500 rifle from germany." and somehow...people still buy that she is the voice of the "working man" and the "small town folk." but really, we all know that those phrases loosely translate to "she isn't black."

a philly "ran with the boys" at churchill downs this weekend...and showed she belonged. then, in a heart-wrenching twist, her legs basically exploded and she was immediately, and humanely, put down. while PETA comes out and claims the jockey should be investigated for forcing it to run when its leg was already broken (as if a horse could run on shattered legs...and finish that strong on them...and a jockey would risk his own life and a half-million dollar animal). (side note - a friend of mine was running a marathon when her leg inexplicably exploded...it happens). and animal rights folks are appalled that another horse was downed and that owners, trainers and jockeys "force" horses to run. now, anyone that knows me understands that I probably take animal tragedy tougher than most human tragedy...and I too wonder if these horses aren't being asked/allowed to do too much. and yes, drug use in the sport needs to be erased...if it ain't in their blood at birth, bulking up sythetically should not be a part of the "sport of kings." but I can't help but shake my head at the notion that these horses are being forced to run against their will. if you've ever seen animals do what they are bred to do, you know they appreciate it...look at your own dog or cat for fuck's sake. and anyone that has ever had any contact with the horse racing industry knows there is one simple truth about race horses - if they don't want to run...they ain't gonna run. still...something needs to be done...if for no other reason, then to save the money machine that is racing. I am in awe of these creatures doing what they do...but another big-time horrific tragedy and I won't have the heart or stomach to pay attention anymore.

take the money and run...

all shook down...

exxon was upset that it only made $11,000,000,000 last quarter...at that pace, every thing they make after june will be pure profit. and here's betting that any "gas tax holiday" will make those profits even higher as prices will not drop at the same percentage as the tax.

and mr. mccain and mrs. clinton would like you to please ignore how many american's are put to work by the gas tax...and that it plays a vital role in building and maintaining the transportation infrastructure in this country...

because who needs a job and roads?

people are still pissed off that rev. wright quoted a former ambassador as saying our chickens have come home to roost. funny thing...the cia, formerly run by the boy king's father, has been saying the same thing for years...only they call it blowback. where's the furor at the bushes?

we are supposed to be shocked and horrified that some religious folks down in texas included pregnant teenage girls - proof that every family in the community needed to be broken up. does that mean we are going to go into the inner city and rural areas and break up every family within a 5 mile radius of a pregnant teen?

since we are exporting all our manufacturing jobs and not much else (except capital at an alarming rate and the machinery of death), I wonder if we couldn't seem to export the New Deal with it...

the conservative fuck-ups are right about one thing - the american worker is vital to the world...because we buy all the shit the world makes. so why is it that they are hell bent on destroying the purchasing power of the american worker?

seriously...are the kids working for 10 cents a day in china gonna be buying this shit when we can't afford it anymore?

and when that happens...what happens to the global economy?

all I'm saying is that anyone with a MBA, anyone that studied "economics" recently...well, they're probably a moron. but sometimes it is really hard to figure out that making lots of cheap stuff won't help if there isn't anyone to buy it.

hidden story of the week - iraq is telling the united states we won't be getting our hands on their oil funds because we owe a debt to them. hope you weren't planning on any help in paying a few really, really, really rich corporations a few hundred billion more in your hard earned money to fund the war/occupation. boy this neo-con thing keeps getting better doesn't it?

hasn't anyone noticed that the people that tell us the private sector can do everything more efficiently and cheaper than the public sector are the same people that are using our tax dollars to pay private contractors ten to twenty times the income of soldiers in the publically run armed forces?

are you finally realizing that economic growth is not the same as economic strength?

and has anyone else noticed that we have quietly become the next of the global hegemons to rely on military conquest to prop up the economy?

how many millions of manufacturing jobs have left now due to republican policies? abe lincoln weeps every time they refer to themselves as the "party of lincoln."

but if you go by the boy king's numbers, it isn't that many manufacturing jobs that are gone...after all, stacking a patty and some pickles and lettuce on a bun covered in ketchup and mustard is considered manufacturing a hamburger to them.

imagine you are the leader of a nation that is threatened with "total obliteration" in the next ten years...wouldn't you be trying to make a nuke too?

hillary recently took a drive with a regular old joe to the gas station...followed by a convoy of gas-gussling suv's...think about that for a minute...

worried about how you are going to make ends meet? don't fret, the fed is dropping interest rates again! because nothing "shores up" an economy like lower interest rates...it works much better than rising employment.

and don't expect those rates to help you out much...Big Banks will just pass them on to you through higher credit card rates.

so you saved ten bucks in your cart of stuff at walmart last night...of course 10,000 americans are out of work and lost their pensions for that ten bucks...and some folks are working without any protections for 30 cents a day for that ten bucks...still feel good about it?

shouldn't we be concerned when the two biggest industries in the country are making killing machines and caging people like animals?

nelson mandela is on the terrorist watch list.

if ghandi were still alive...he would be too.

hillary better hope that obama supporters don't really start "vetting" her...

god help us.