Scott McLellan has revealed nothing new in his book, except a willingness to own up to what everyone else knew was the truth, even the mainstream media, and that is the tragedy of the media's failure in it's crucial role in our democracy.
Digby, of course.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Nature R Not Us
Taking the cover off the boat, we noticed this little guy. His colors would match up to a lichen if he were on a tree, but he had decided to take up residence in the pool of water formed by a depression in the canvas cover. I think this is a Gray tree frog and probably a Cope's but I don't know for sure. Whatever he is, the top of a ski boat cover is an unreliable spot to meet girls...But then they all are. it's tough out there when the natural world is un-natural.
And now the big day has arrived...
The simple fact is that as many as 1.5 MILLION voters will disenfranchised if the rules get changed and the credibility of the DNC will be seriously undermined by the actions of the Clinton campaign.
Perhaps that is the Clinton's ultimate goal...To join the Republican Neo-Conservative elite in destroying Democracy in America.
Peace,
Steve
And now the big day has arrived...
The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic Party meets today, hoping to come to a resolution on the question of what to do about the Florida and Michigan Primaries which, by their own rules, are not supposed to count.
Hillary Clinton's representatives voted to make sure they didn't count...Then she lost the Primary contest. Now they are crapping on the whole process and want everything their way, fair or not.
"It's not fair to not reward people whose vote was not supposed to count," they say. But as most people point out, those two primaries are not a fair assessment of how the people would have voted if they had known the rules would be changed.
Josh Marshall:
"It's not fair to not reward people whose vote was not supposed to count," they say. But as most people point out, those two primaries are not a fair assessment of how the people would have voted if they had known the rules would be changed.
Josh Marshall:
...it was widely reported and understood in both Florida and Michigan that the results of these primaries would not be counted. And based on that knowledge, large numbers of voters in both states simply didn't participate.
If the DNC were now to turn around and decide to make these contests count after all, these non-participating voters would be disenfranchised no less than the people who did turn out would be if the DNC sticks to the rules and doesn't seat any of the delegates. The simple fact is that large numbers of people, acting on accurate knowledge and in good faith, decided that there wasn't a real primary being held in their state on the day in question and on that basis decided not to participate.
The simple fact is that as many as 1.5 MILLION voters will disenfranchised if the rules get changed and the credibility of the DNC will be seriously undermined by the actions of the Clinton campaign.
Perhaps that is the Clinton's ultimate goal...To join the Republican Neo-Conservative elite in destroying Democracy in America.
Peace,
Steve
Friday, May 30, 2008
Day before Saturday
A little arithmetic shows that Obama leads Clinton by 203 delegates as of this morning. She has 1781 and he has 1984 with 2025 needed to win, until things change tomorrow after the rules committee meeting, which I expect.
There are several scenarios, none of which look favorable to Hillary Clinton. She keeps claiming this is a close race but it's not anymore. Obama has run a masterful campaign, responding to attacks but remaining positive and honest, and now leads the delegate count, which is the ONLY thing that matters, by 52.6% to Hillary's 47.3%.
That's a very secure margin, and will stand regardless of the shameless hypocrisy and maneuverings of the Clinton campaign. It doesn't take much to realize that Hillary Clinton lost her bid to become the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party for two reasons...
First...Her campaign has been shoddily run from the beginning, squandering a quarter of a BILLION DOLLARS to the point that she had to inject her own money to save it.
Second...Aware of the distortions, intentionally misleading statements, and outright prevarications from Hillary herself, a majority of Democratic primary participants have chosen someone else and awarded their votes to Barack Obama whom they deem worthy of their support and the Presidency.
Peace,
Steve
*****
And Now for something completely different:
White House issues climate report under court order, 4 years late; confirms other findings
There are several scenarios, none of which look favorable to Hillary Clinton. She keeps claiming this is a close race but it's not anymore. Obama has run a masterful campaign, responding to attacks but remaining positive and honest, and now leads the delegate count, which is the ONLY thing that matters, by 52.6% to Hillary's 47.3%.
That's a very secure margin, and will stand regardless of the shameless hypocrisy and maneuverings of the Clinton campaign. It doesn't take much to realize that Hillary Clinton lost her bid to become the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party for two reasons...
First...Her campaign has been shoddily run from the beginning, squandering a quarter of a BILLION DOLLARS to the point that she had to inject her own money to save it.
Second...Aware of the distortions, intentionally misleading statements, and outright prevarications from Hillary herself, a majority of Democratic primary participants have chosen someone else and awarded their votes to Barack Obama whom they deem worthy of their support and the Presidency.
Peace,
Steve
*****
And Now for something completely different:
White House issues climate report under court order, 4 years late; confirms other findings
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday...In the Park
The Rules Committee of the Democratic National Committee meets on Saturday to decide what to do with the delegations from Michigan and Florida.
The Cliff Notes:
1. Last year the DNC passed rules that said that no state could hold its primary earlier that a certain date.
2. All of the Democratic Presidential candidates signed a pledge NOT to PARTICIPATE in any state that violated the rules.
3.The rules said rule breakers would receive a punishment of from a minimum of losing half their delegates up to a maximum of losing them all.
4. Florida and Michigan moved their primaries earlier than that date. Harold Ickes and several other Clinton campaign members vote FOR stripping Florida and Michigan of ALL their delegates if they went through with it. An Obama representative voted AGAINST.
5. All the candidates took their names off the ballot in Michigan except for Hillary Clinton and Dennis (I'll take my name off at the same time Hillary does because I don't trust her) Kucinich.
6. Candidates were not allowed to take their names off the ballot in Florida. Hillary campaigned specifically in Florida. Everybody else followed the rules.
7. Hillary Clinton is now losing under the rules that her campaign was instrumental in writing and passing and neither Hillary nor Bill are happy with the situation.
8. The Clinton campaign continues to repeat the outright lie that she is winning the popular vote.
9. Obama is winning the popular vote according to the rules.
10. Obama is winning the delegate count according to the rules.
11. Obama is winning the delegate count even by Hillary's new Calvin Ball rules, which apparently say she can change the rules anytime she wants to.
12. This is all way too obvious so why are we even talking about it?
13. The Democratic National Committee attorneys have sent out a memo listing the legal options the rules committee must choose from among when they decide the fate of the delegates from Michigan and Florida.
14. The legal options do not include seating the full delegations, or any other option that would move Clinton out of second place.
15. The choice is essentially between rewarding two states and a presidential campaign that broke the rules...Or standing by the 50 plus States and Territories and a Presidential Campaign that played by the rules.
16. The Clintons are organizing protests at the DNC rules committee meeting this Saturday.
17. The Obama campaign has told his supporters to be very nice to everybody, no matter what.
18. Barack Obama is the Democratic Presidential Nominee, and has been for some time.
19. I will forgive Hillary Clinton for what she has done if she campaigns strongly to guarantee Obama is elected and works to support his Administration...But I will NOT forget what she has done.
20. They all lived happily ever after, except for some periods of bitterness in the upper rooms of the dark King's castle.
Peace,
Steve
The Cliff Notes:
1. Last year the DNC passed rules that said that no state could hold its primary earlier that a certain date.
2. All of the Democratic Presidential candidates signed a pledge NOT to PARTICIPATE in any state that violated the rules.
3.The rules said rule breakers would receive a punishment of from a minimum of losing half their delegates up to a maximum of losing them all.
4. Florida and Michigan moved their primaries earlier than that date. Harold Ickes and several other Clinton campaign members vote FOR stripping Florida and Michigan of ALL their delegates if they went through with it. An Obama representative voted AGAINST.
5. All the candidates took their names off the ballot in Michigan except for Hillary Clinton and Dennis (I'll take my name off at the same time Hillary does because I don't trust her) Kucinich.
6. Candidates were not allowed to take their names off the ballot in Florida. Hillary campaigned specifically in Florida. Everybody else followed the rules.
7. Hillary Clinton is now losing under the rules that her campaign was instrumental in writing and passing and neither Hillary nor Bill are happy with the situation.
8. The Clinton campaign continues to repeat the outright lie that she is winning the popular vote.
9. Obama is winning the popular vote according to the rules.
10. Obama is winning the delegate count according to the rules.
11. Obama is winning the delegate count even by Hillary's new Calvin Ball rules, which apparently say she can change the rules anytime she wants to.
12. This is all way too obvious so why are we even talking about it?
13. The Democratic National Committee attorneys have sent out a memo listing the legal options the rules committee must choose from among when they decide the fate of the delegates from Michigan and Florida.
14. The legal options do not include seating the full delegations, or any other option that would move Clinton out of second place.
15. The choice is essentially between rewarding two states and a presidential campaign that broke the rules...Or standing by the 50 plus States and Territories and a Presidential Campaign that played by the rules.
16. The Clintons are organizing protests at the DNC rules committee meeting this Saturday.
17. The Obama campaign has told his supporters to be very nice to everybody, no matter what.
18. Barack Obama is the Democratic Presidential Nominee, and has been for some time.
19. I will forgive Hillary Clinton for what she has done if she campaigns strongly to guarantee Obama is elected and works to support his Administration...But I will NOT forget what she has done.
20. They all lived happily ever after, except for some periods of bitterness in the upper rooms of the dark King's castle.
Peace,
Steve
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Pee the Weople
Today's must read:
Bush tells Americans they are better off; as the torture continues at Guantánamo Bay - the only part of Cuba Bush actually controls - he calls on Raul Castro to honour human rights; as he cuts taxes and starts wars, he calls on Congress to practise fiscal rectitude. Not content with pissing on your leg and telling you it's raining, he tries to convince you that your leg has been dry all along.
As the primary season draws to a close it has become increasingly apparent that Hillary Clinton has run her campaign with the same contempt for intelligence, decency and democracy that Bush has run the country.
Yard Flowers
Lamb's Ear. We tried to get it to grow in a bed but it refused. The dried up hulk was yanked up and tossed out on a bank alongside the driveway and wow happened. It's easy to see where the name comes from.
Nothing we plant can rival the natives. This is Indian Pink.
Nothing we plant can rival the natives. This is Indian Pink.
What Happens if They Boo?
Barack Obama filled in for Ted Kennedy at the Wesleyan University commencement. Normally they have 8000 people but attendance more than tripled after it was announced that Obama would speak.
President Bush has been chosen to speak at Furman University for graduation. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of tickets and not only that, several people are asking that they not be forced to listen to him speak.
From a letter signed by a couple of hundred students and professors:
So what happens?
Another letter signed by several hundred students from the CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW is sent to the Administration. It contains fairly transparent propaganda straight from the Republican pr machine...Bush isn't a global warming denier (he just refuses to let anybody do anything about it), and he hasn't created the largest deficits in history because the professors are stupidly measuring the deficit in US Dollars.
Then there's this:
I would paraphrase that to say, "These people must be forced to listen to the wisdom of George W. Bush. We want their names and where they live...We will show them a 'Better Tomorrow!' "
Peace,
Steve
President Bush has been chosen to speak at Furman University for graduation. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of tickets and not only that, several people are asking that they not be forced to listen to him speak.
From a letter signed by a couple of hundred students and professors:
...public officials and their administrations are vested with a public trust. They are obligated to follow and execute the law. They must act in the public's best interest. They are bound by moral standards.
And when they act contrary to these standards they are answerable to the people, for when the actions of a public official and his administration become as odious as this president's, silence implies consent. It is to acquiesce to the awful, to condone the criminal.
Our objection, then, is on moral and legal grounds.
So what happens?
Another letter signed by several hundred students from the CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW is sent to the Administration. It contains fairly transparent propaganda straight from the Republican pr machine...Bush isn't a global warming denier (he just refuses to let anybody do anything about it), and he hasn't created the largest deficits in history because the professors are stupidly measuring the deficit in US Dollars.
Then there's this:
1. We ask Furman University to hold professors to their contractual agreement toattend commencement exercises in recognition of Furman’s graduating class and its accomplishments by refusing to grant any “conscientious objector” releases. We also request the names of all faculty members who have submitted such a request, as well as an update of any additional faculty members who do so between now and graduation.
I would paraphrase that to say, "These people must be forced to listen to the wisdom of George W. Bush. We want their names and where they live...We will show them a 'Better Tomorrow!' "
Peace,
Steve
Monday, May 26, 2008
Robot on Mars
Last August the USA launched a Delta 7952 launch vehicle with a robot inside.
The robot is called the Phoenix Mars Lander. Getting to Mars is not much of a problem...Landing on Mars and being capable of functioning afterward is quite the accomplishment.
I love this stuff. It's proof to me that America did not always dislike Science and that a good portion of it still reveres the rigorous search for knowlege in the quest for enlightnment. Based on our history of failed Mars landings, it may seem like a "miracle" that Phoenix survived, but miracles were not involved...It was science and engineering.
The Phoenix left the ground in the USA all folded up inside a nose cone.
Steve
There are lots of places to see the pictures our little robot, Phoenix, will send back. It has already sent a bunch of them. This link will take you to the Wikipedia page on the Phoenix which has the history and lots of other pictures, as well as the ones coming in now.
Enjoy
The robot is called the Phoenix Mars Lander. Getting to Mars is not much of a problem...Landing on Mars and being capable of functioning afterward is quite the accomplishment.
I love this stuff. It's proof to me that America did not always dislike Science and that a good portion of it still reveres the rigorous search for knowlege in the quest for enlightnment. Based on our history of failed Mars landings, it may seem like a "miracle" that Phoenix survived, but miracles were not involved...It was science and engineering.
The Phoenix left the ground in the USA all folded up inside a nose cone.
Within a few minutes, It was accelerated to over 17,000 miles per hour, the velocity needed to escape the Earth's gravity (only a "theory"). The problem with going 17,000 miles per hour is that the little robot is aimed at a rock and had to slow down from 17,000 miles per hour to zero miles per hour in about five minutes, and then call home and tell everybody not to worry, pictures on the way soon.
Way to go, little Robot!
Way to go, Scientists and Engineers, and their teachers back in 5th grade who showed them how to make a battery out of a potato( not a "potatoe")!
Way to go, Science!
A miracle could never have accomplished as much.
Steve
There are lots of places to see the pictures our little robot, Phoenix, will send back. It has already sent a bunch of them. This link will take you to the Wikipedia page on the Phoenix which has the history and lots of other pictures, as well as the ones coming in now.
Enjoy
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Memorial Day
America sets aside one day each year to honor its citizens who served in the armed forces and grieve for those that died while serving.
We should all take a moment sometime during this sacred occasion and resolve to understand why we have wars in the first place. Presidential candidate John McCain said, "I hate to tell you but there are going to be more wars." I wish he had added, "But I will do my best to keep them to as few as possible." But he didn't and won't. I don't think he understands war or why they occur, but merely accepts them as inevitable. I want something different this Memorial Day...I want it to serve as a apology to all the victims of war and a day of resolution to avoid War as much as possible.
I am not a pacifist advocating concession in order to avoid war, but I am a realist who believes that war is an evil thing, fought most often for all the wrong reasons.
The modern world has seen wars fought over all manner of things, but mostly because rich and powerful people, or Countries, or Corporations nowadays, want to be richer and more powerful.
There are other reasons of course....There are wars fought for glory... There are wars fought because somebody got their ass kicked somewhere else and needs to beat somebody up to prove how strong they are... There are wars fought because "We're crazy and It's what we do"...There are wars fought over women...And then There are wars fought under the banner of ideology, which actually means those people have something we want and our god says we should go kill them and take it.
Some folks will say I've left out "Religion" as a cause of war, but I say that's just an excuse, not a reason. Feel free to disagree.
At any rate, when you sit down and look at it, there's not one single rational reason for war except for somebody not being rational. As a country, we're in the middle of one of those wars right now.
There will be speeches today and all sorts of ceremonies to make somebody look like they care. President George W. Bush will certainly make a nice speech which he will look out over the crowd and read with all earnesty, Then he will perform the symbolic act of walking away from the teleprompter, never giving his words another thought.
A strange commemorations will be the Rolling Thunder parade of thousands of motorcycles. They will assemble in the Pentagon parking lot and all ride together making a massive noise which is created by the burning of the very fossil fuel that our troops are dying for at this very minute. They will ride to the reflecting pool across from the Lincoln memorial. This is a fitting act to honor war, but not its victims.
And in that is a greater thought for this Memorial Day. Why don't we expand the meaning of Memorial Day and make it, not just in honor of the members of the armed forces who died, but in honor and remembrance of ALL the victims of war?
In Fahrenheit 9-11 there is a clip of an Iraqi man who picks up the body of a mutilated baby killed by American bombs. The child had been loaded into the back of a pickup truck which was full of bodies and the man is shouting at an American Soldier. He holds the baby up to the soldier and shouts emotionally..."Why are you doing this? Why did this baby have to die? What crime did this baby commit?"
That is the American war as we honor our dead.
I lost friends in the Viet Nam War, and somehow I felt guilty for not going. It's an odd guilt when I examine it. I did not evade the draft, go to Canada, or shoot my foot so that I would be designated 4F...unsuitable for combat. I simply wasn't drafted.
Every Memorial day for some reason I remember Johnny Bush, a kid from my town in Georgia who was killed in Viet Nam. I don't remember Johnny all that well now, but I remember his mother's face at the ceremony for Johnny. He died in a stupid war, fought for no good reason. We knew that at the time but did not have the courage to stop it.
We knew the Iraq war was stupid at the time, but did not have the courage to stop it.
We know the Iraq War is STILL stupid, even now...Do we have the courage? ...You and I?
Today is Memorial Day. I will honor the men and women who served, and the one's that died serving, in our Armed forces.
I will honor Johnny Bush, who died in Viet Nam.
I will honor his mother, who partly died at the same time.
I will honor the guy who lives in that trailer a few miles from here, who partly died in Viet Nam and never came all the way back.
And I will honor that baby...All the babies.
Peace,
Steve
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Obama Veep?
Hillary Clinton is down in Florida trying to destroy the Democratic party if she's not given what she wants.
At this point, no rational or honest human being could actually make the case she's making. Frankly, no rational human being can even understand what she's blathering about, but speculation is that she wants the Veep spot, now that she's lost the nomination for Number 1. How can you make the claim that you are even worthy of the Vice Presidency when you violate a pledge that you yourself worked to put in place and signed along with all the other Democratic Presidential Hopefuls?
Obama did the honorable thing and honored the pledge he signed not to participate in Florida of Michigan primaries. He did the wrong thing in trusting Hillary Clinton, and now Hillary is trying to make the case that he withdrew his name from the Michigan ballot and should receive no votes from that state's primary and that she should get all the votes because Obama trusted Hillary and that's his problem because she couldn't be trusted!
I cannot overemphasize how disappointed in Hillary Clinton I am. I have been a long time defender of the Clintons. Now that she is doing everything she can to poison the water for Barack Obama...I'm over it. Nothing has made my error more clear than Hillary's attempts at destroying her party simply because she can't have it her way.
Let's not put aside that by acting the way she has, misrepresenting both the Democratic process and her part in making it the way it is, she clearly demonstrates her lack of fitness for the position.
So if not Hillary as Veep, who?
I want Richardson for his talents as well as his demographics, but there is evidence that I might not get my way.
Susan has the scoop!
At this point, no rational or honest human being could actually make the case she's making. Frankly, no rational human being can even understand what she's blathering about, but speculation is that she wants the Veep spot, now that she's lost the nomination for Number 1. How can you make the claim that you are even worthy of the Vice Presidency when you violate a pledge that you yourself worked to put in place and signed along with all the other Democratic Presidential Hopefuls?
Obama did the honorable thing and honored the pledge he signed not to participate in Florida of Michigan primaries. He did the wrong thing in trusting Hillary Clinton, and now Hillary is trying to make the case that he withdrew his name from the Michigan ballot and should receive no votes from that state's primary and that she should get all the votes because Obama trusted Hillary and that's his problem because she couldn't be trusted!
I cannot overemphasize how disappointed in Hillary Clinton I am. I have been a long time defender of the Clintons. Now that she is doing everything she can to poison the water for Barack Obama...I'm over it. Nothing has made my error more clear than Hillary's attempts at destroying her party simply because she can't have it her way.
Let's not put aside that by acting the way she has, misrepresenting both the Democratic process and her part in making it the way it is, she clearly demonstrates her lack of fitness for the position.
So if not Hillary as Veep, who?
I want Richardson for his talents as well as his demographics, but there is evidence that I might not get my way.
Susan has the scoop!
PeeWee Herman Solution to the Gas Crisis?
"President Bush was in Saudi Arabia to mark 75 years of official relations with the royal family. And 40 years of officially being screwed royally by that family. Did you see the present the royal family gave President Bush? You see what it was? ... A Schwinn. A brand new Schwinn, yeah. That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? He goes over there looking for solutions to the energy crisis, they give him a bicycle." --Jay Leno
Makes sense to me. How about this one. Check this baby out:
Did you notice the keys sticking out of the tank? It's an electric hybrid bike. Pedal it or let the front hub mounted motor do the work. It has a top speed of 18 mph, depending on Rider weight and terrain, and a range of 60 miles. The battery unplugs from the bike and plugs into the wall and recharges completely in four hours.
Some of my associates were involved in research on these things several years back. I scoffed but they kept saying, "No, really! You have to try one."
Ok, I'm ready. Retail list price is $1800 bucks or better.
Makes sense to me. How about this one. Check this baby out:
Did you notice the keys sticking out of the tank? It's an electric hybrid bike. Pedal it or let the front hub mounted motor do the work. It has a top speed of 18 mph, depending on Rider weight and terrain, and a range of 60 miles. The battery unplugs from the bike and plugs into the wall and recharges completely in four hours.
Some of my associates were involved in research on these things several years back. I scoffed but they kept saying, "No, really! You have to try one."
Ok, I'm ready. Retail list price is $1800 bucks or better.
Just So You Know
The Obama Campaign tried to save Florida's Primary, as well as Michigan's...The Clinton Campaign stopped them!
Hillary Clinton's campaign is directly responsible for stripping Florida of it's delegates and now she wants to break her own rules. The original penalty for holding an early primary was to lose 50% of a State's delegates. Only one delegate to the DNC Rules Panel voted for that option...
The Obama supporter!
All 12 Clinton supporters voted to completely strip both Michigan and Florida of the delegates Hillary so desperately now wants to count. Aren't we tired of Leaders who cheat?
There's a lot more to this story but it all boils down to the simple fact that Hillary Clinton lost the nomination by her own devious calculated lies and maneuvers and now will not, or can not, face that truth. She must now cheat to win and every minute she remains in the race, she divides the Democratic Party more and more. She can't win the Presidential nomination and it looks to me like she thinks the only way she can get the Vice Presidential spot is by threatening to tear the Democratic Party into shreds unless she gets her way.
I am very disappointed with Hillary Clinton. I thought she was better than that.
Saddened,
Steve
Hillary Clinton's campaign is directly responsible for stripping Florida of it's delegates and now she wants to break her own rules. The original penalty for holding an early primary was to lose 50% of a State's delegates. Only one delegate to the DNC Rules Panel voted for that option...
The Obama supporter!
All 12 Clinton supporters voted to completely strip both Michigan and Florida of the delegates Hillary so desperately now wants to count. Aren't we tired of Leaders who cheat?
On Aug. 25 (2007), when the DNC's rules panel declared Florida's primary date out of order, it agreed by a near-unanimous majority to exceed the 50 percent penalty called for under party rules. Instead, the group stripped Florida of all 210 delegates to underscore its displeasure with Florida's defiance and to discourage other states from following suit. In doing so, the DNC essentially committed itself, for fairness' sake, to strip the similarly defiant Michigan of all 156 of its delegates three months later. Clinton held tremendous potential leverage over this decision, and not only because she was then widely judged the likely nominee. Of the committee's 30 members, a near-majority of 12 were Clinton supporters. All of them—most notably strategist Harold Ickes—voted for Florida's full disenfranchisement. (The only dissenting vote was cast by a Tallahassee, Fla., city commissioner who supported Obama.)
There's a lot more to this story but it all boils down to the simple fact that Hillary Clinton lost the nomination by her own devious calculated lies and maneuvers and now will not, or can not, face that truth. She must now cheat to win and every minute she remains in the race, she divides the Democratic Party more and more. She can't win the Presidential nomination and it looks to me like she thinks the only way she can get the Vice Presidential spot is by threatening to tear the Democratic Party into shreds unless she gets her way.
I am very disappointed with Hillary Clinton. I thought she was better than that.
Saddened,
Steve
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Why Ted Kennedy will be difficult to Replace
The policy of "shoot first, ask questions later" took us into an unjustified war, and without a clear concept of what "winning the war" actually means.
President Bush constantly talks about the "progress" that is being made in Iraq against the insurgency, but he's looking for good news with a microscope. All anyone can see is "Mission Mis-accomplished" and the continuing losses of American lives, the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqis, the torture scandal, and the ominous decline in our nation's moral authority in the world community.
Senator Ted Kennedy, June 7, 2005
Not one thing has changes in three years, except that Ted Kennedy is ill.
I wish him and his family the comfort they deserve in this difficult time.
Peace,
Steve
13 More Days
Interesting stuff watching the Hillary supporters parse yesterday's primary results. Some of it is factual, some of it is stretching the truth and some of it is just plain not true.
Clinton overwhelmingly won Kentucky, but the Kentucky pledged delegate count for Obama gave him the majority. In plain speak, Kentucky won it for Obama.
Obama won Oregon, an overwhelmingly white working class state, by double digits. The delegates awarded will pad Obama's count. At this point he only needs 64 delegates of any sort to have the 2025 needed. he will pick up delegates today as the results from both primaries get counted more closely. (they hold back awarding all delegates until the vote is certified). Oregon has 52 pledged delegates.
I don't count fudging the facts as an actual lie. Hillary's surrogates are yammering this morning about her having won 4 of the last 7 primaries and that is actually true. But if Anyone nods their head in agreement, it says more about their lack of critical thinking skills than the lies of the Clinton campaign. Obama won 7 of the last 11 primaries, so by the same reasoning...The Super Delegates should overwhelmingly back Obama and as a matter of fact a majority have declared their intention to do so.
At this point, Hillary Clinton can NOT win the Democratic Primary. She would need more than 100% of the remaining delegates. She is behind in Pledged delegates and Super-delegates. She keeps on stating that she is ahead in the popular vote but that just plain isn't true.
In order for Hillary to be ahead in popular vote, you have to count Michigan and Florida, which she has signed a pledge not to count. You also have to give Obama ZERO popular votes in Michigan, which is bogus at best since his name was not on the ballot and Clinton's was because she violated her pledge to have it removed.
Even bigger than the Florida and Michigan thing, is Hillary's failure to count all the Caucus states that Obama won. How does her statement that "every vote must count" seem to you when she refuses to count the votes she doesn't like?
Obama is now saying really nice things about Hillary Clinton, even as she continues to denigrate his victory.
In my heart I have lost a good bit of that warm feeling I always had for Hillary. What I want most of all for my country is an honest electoral process with candidates who have a personal ethical regard for the truth and media who have a clue what that is. When a candidate is elected I want to feel like I will be given the facts and not lied to for whatever convenient reasons, and the Iraq war and non-existent weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's non-existent responsibility for 9-11 and all the other just plain lies we have been told by George W. Bush and his pack of thieves are clear illustration of why being told the truth is important in America.
Most of all, this election cycle has shown me that the majority of Americans want to be told the truth. Hillary Clinton still can't bring herself to do that, and as a result, Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination for Presidency.
Peace,
Steve
One more thing...In a voice vote of the audience taken by David Letterman yesterday, Barack Obama "soundly" defeated Hillary Clinton AND John McCain.
OK, TWO more things...All primaries will be over two weeks from yesterday. I suspect Clinton will not drop out but will continue, all the way to the convention, because she can still raise money to repay her campaign debt, over $10 Million of which she loaned herself. I would be highly suspect of fundraising efforts by Clinton at this point.
Clinton overwhelmingly won Kentucky, but the Kentucky pledged delegate count for Obama gave him the majority. In plain speak, Kentucky won it for Obama.
Obama won Oregon, an overwhelmingly white working class state, by double digits. The delegates awarded will pad Obama's count. At this point he only needs 64 delegates of any sort to have the 2025 needed. he will pick up delegates today as the results from both primaries get counted more closely. (they hold back awarding all delegates until the vote is certified). Oregon has 52 pledged delegates.
I don't count fudging the facts as an actual lie. Hillary's surrogates are yammering this morning about her having won 4 of the last 7 primaries and that is actually true. But if Anyone nods their head in agreement, it says more about their lack of critical thinking skills than the lies of the Clinton campaign. Obama won 7 of the last 11 primaries, so by the same reasoning...The Super Delegates should overwhelmingly back Obama and as a matter of fact a majority have declared their intention to do so.
At this point, Hillary Clinton can NOT win the Democratic Primary. She would need more than 100% of the remaining delegates. She is behind in Pledged delegates and Super-delegates. She keeps on stating that she is ahead in the popular vote but that just plain isn't true.
In order for Hillary to be ahead in popular vote, you have to count Michigan and Florida, which she has signed a pledge not to count. You also have to give Obama ZERO popular votes in Michigan, which is bogus at best since his name was not on the ballot and Clinton's was because she violated her pledge to have it removed.
Even bigger than the Florida and Michigan thing, is Hillary's failure to count all the Caucus states that Obama won. How does her statement that "every vote must count" seem to you when she refuses to count the votes she doesn't like?
Obama is now saying really nice things about Hillary Clinton, even as she continues to denigrate his victory.
In my heart I have lost a good bit of that warm feeling I always had for Hillary. What I want most of all for my country is an honest electoral process with candidates who have a personal ethical regard for the truth and media who have a clue what that is. When a candidate is elected I want to feel like I will be given the facts and not lied to for whatever convenient reasons, and the Iraq war and non-existent weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's non-existent responsibility for 9-11 and all the other just plain lies we have been told by George W. Bush and his pack of thieves are clear illustration of why being told the truth is important in America.
Most of all, this election cycle has shown me that the majority of Americans want to be told the truth. Hillary Clinton still can't bring herself to do that, and as a result, Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination for Presidency.
Peace,
Steve
One more thing...In a voice vote of the audience taken by David Letterman yesterday, Barack Obama "soundly" defeated Hillary Clinton AND John McCain.
OK, TWO more things...All primaries will be over two weeks from yesterday. I suspect Clinton will not drop out but will continue, all the way to the convention, because she can still raise money to repay her campaign debt, over $10 Million of which she loaned herself. I would be highly suspect of fundraising efforts by Clinton at this point.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
An Obama Rally with a difference
Not only is Barack the first to visit the Crow Nation, They adopted him!
Here Obama walks with his adopted Crow parents, Hartford and Mary Black Eagle. I think that makes him Barack Black Eagle. The Crow have given him his Crow name of "One who helps people all over the land."
Orosi sunglasses are the new traditional garb of the Crow Nation as they wait to see Barack Obama, the first Presidential candidate in US history to vist them in Montana.
Here Obama walks with his adopted Crow parents, Hartford and Mary Black Eagle. I think that makes him Barack Black Eagle. The Crow have given him his Crow name of "One who helps people all over the land."
Orosi sunglasses are the new traditional garb of the Crow Nation as they wait to see Barack Obama, the first Presidential candidate in US history to vist them in Montana.Obama was inducted into the Crow Tribe as a brother...Can you get more American than that?
Obama is now white, black, and Native American. (You thought I was going to say "white, black, and red" didn't you?)
Check out Barney Old Crow and Myrtle Strong Enemy. As badly as America has treated these people they stand proud.
More
More
Peace,
Steve
Monday, May 19, 2008
Come Together...Right Now... Over Me
Obama spent a little time with a few friends in Portland...Say, 70,000 of them. (Warning...One male's point of view)
I read the lament of Hillary loyalists about America wasting it's chance to elect a woman president, but, to my thinking, that's wrongheaded as it can be. I believe Hillary was judged on her merits and demerits as a candidate. It's not that we won't elect a woman, or that Hillary is not worthy of the Presidency...It's that we have a better choice.
Today will mark the end of the primary campaign, though it's been over numerically for some time. Obama (and Clinton, hopefully) will now completely retarget on, not just winning the Presidency, but a solid majority in both the House and Senate. Undoing the damage of that Bush Republicans have done to our Country will take a lot of work.
And think about this...Our Republican friends know that they messed up...And we should know that, although we can glue our Democracy back together without their help, It would be so much easier with everybody pulling in the same direction.
After today, we need to bring Democrats together...And as soon as we are united, we need to start working on the rest of our misguided friends and ask them to join us in rebuilding a fair country that puts its People first...
All of them.
Peace,
Steve
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Bird Blogging...And this evening after the Storm
I never seem to be able to get these beauties to hold still so I can run up and take their Picture. I think this is a Blue Gray Gnat Catcher. It's a hyper little thing whatever it is.
After the storms came through, the light in the gorge was amazing. I wish I were enough of a photog to really catch it but here's a taste of evening light on the mist.
After the storms came through, the light in the gorge was amazing. I wish I were enough of a photog to really catch it but here's a taste of evening light on the mist.
In the Zone...A Modest Proposal
"Firearms WILL NOT be allowed in Hall A during the Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum."
That was the sign NRA members saw as they passed through the metal detectors. They were filing in to see and hear John McCain and they would have to give up their armament to do so. Lots of them had to be frightened, possibly overwhelmed by the feelings of insecurity. They had to give up their guns, and knives too, if they wanted to see John McCain.
Was that safe? Hey...What if one of the Secret Service people went crazy and started shooting?
More likely...What if McCain went crazy? He's done it before. Will they make sure he doesn't have a gun before they let HIM into the Hall?
The only people who could protect them would be the people who were, you know, trained to protect them.
Does the Second Amendment mean that the right to have a weapon is paramount? Is no other right defined in the Constitution as important? Does the right to "Keep and Bear Arms" mean that the Secret Service has no right to keep CC permit holders from carrying their weapon into the White House? The halls of Congress? Church? Little League baseball games?
Does the NRA propose that I or any other US Citizen with no criminal record or history of mental illness be allowed to carry a concealed weapon to a meeting with George W. Bush? If so, that clearly demonstrates that they are nuts...As in crazy.
If not, that clearly demonstrates that there are limits to the right to bear arms, just as there are to all other rights, even free speech. Perjury, libel, and slander laws clearly indicate this, since your speech may not consist of a damaging lie, in some cases. (Why not all cases? I don't understand why that would be bad?)
At any rate, none of us will get to freely exercise out second amendment rights around George W. Bush, because, frankly, you can't even exercise your First Amendment Rights around George W. Bush, and perhaps in that concept is the answer to this dilemma...
Constitutional Rights Zones.
We could establish Second Amendment Zones for the NRA. They could all have their guns and play with each other and watch their children play Little League games knowing everyone in the crowd was heavily armed.
This would give a new meaning to being "In the Zone" and possibly create a whole new series of reality shows as the rest of us watch from a safe distance...The cameras would have to be heavily armored with bullet proof glass in case there was a disputed Umpire call.
They would all feel so safe knowing they could start shooting the instant trouble arose inside their Second Amendment Zone. Yes, they would feel so safe...And as long as the bullet proof walls held up...
The rest of us could feel safe, too.
Peace,
Steve
That was the sign NRA members saw as they passed through the metal detectors. They were filing in to see and hear John McCain and they would have to give up their armament to do so. Lots of them had to be frightened, possibly overwhelmed by the feelings of insecurity. They had to give up their guns, and knives too, if they wanted to see John McCain.
Was that safe? Hey...What if one of the Secret Service people went crazy and started shooting?
More likely...What if McCain went crazy? He's done it before. Will they make sure he doesn't have a gun before they let HIM into the Hall?
The only people who could protect them would be the people who were, you know, trained to protect them.
Does the Second Amendment mean that the right to have a weapon is paramount? Is no other right defined in the Constitution as important? Does the right to "Keep and Bear Arms" mean that the Secret Service has no right to keep CC permit holders from carrying their weapon into the White House? The halls of Congress? Church? Little League baseball games?
Does the NRA propose that I or any other US Citizen with no criminal record or history of mental illness be allowed to carry a concealed weapon to a meeting with George W. Bush? If so, that clearly demonstrates that they are nuts...As in crazy.
If not, that clearly demonstrates that there are limits to the right to bear arms, just as there are to all other rights, even free speech. Perjury, libel, and slander laws clearly indicate this, since your speech may not consist of a damaging lie, in some cases. (Why not all cases? I don't understand why that would be bad?)
At any rate, none of us will get to freely exercise out second amendment rights around George W. Bush, because, frankly, you can't even exercise your First Amendment Rights around George W. Bush, and perhaps in that concept is the answer to this dilemma...
Constitutional Rights Zones.
We could establish Second Amendment Zones for the NRA. They could all have their guns and play with each other and watch their children play Little League games knowing everyone in the crowd was heavily armed.
This would give a new meaning to being "In the Zone" and possibly create a whole new series of reality shows as the rest of us watch from a safe distance...The cameras would have to be heavily armored with bullet proof glass in case there was a disputed Umpire call.
They would all feel so safe knowing they could start shooting the instant trouble arose inside their Second Amendment Zone. Yes, they would feel so safe...And as long as the bullet proof walls held up...
The rest of us could feel safe, too.
Peace,
Steve
Sunday Sermon
The conclusion that we are in trouble is unavoidable. I report the assault on nature evidenced in coal mining that tears the tops off mountains and dumps them into rivers, sacrificing the health and lives of those in the river valleys to short-term profit, and I see a link between that process and the stock-market frenzy which scorns long-term investments -- genuine savings -- in favor of quick turnovers and speculative bubbles whose inevitable bursting leaves insiders with stuffed pockets and millions of small stockholders, pensioners, and employees out of work, out of luck, and out of hope.
I could have said that...Just about have. Any of us could have said that, though possibly not in prose that well crafted. The Reverend Bill Moyers DID say it, and all I have to do for this Sunday's Sermon is ask you to read the entire excerpt from his new book, "Moyers on Democracy"
Democracy in America is a series of narrow escapes, and we may be running out of luck. The reigning presumption about the American experience, as the historian Lawrence Goodwyn has written, is grounded in the idea of progress, the conviction that the present is "better" than the past and the future will bring even more improvement. For all of its shortcomings, we keep telling ourselves, "The system works."
Now all bets are off. We have fallen under the spell of money, faction, and fear, and the great American experience in creating a different future together has been subjugated to individual cunning in the pursuit of wealth and power -and to the claims of empire, with its ravenous demands and stuporous distractions.
Peace...And please go outside for at least a little while today.
Steve
Saturday, May 17, 2008
News of the Week
Nope...Not the Edwards endorsement. This goes to a fundamental flaw in Democracy at this point in time, the stranglehold that corporate media has on the dissemination of information...News, if you will:
The Senate voted Thursday night to nullify a Federal Communications Commission rule that allows media companies to own a newspaper and a TV station in the same market.
And this:
"At this watershed moment, public outrage against Big Media has reached a breaking point. The Bush administration's threats to undercut this bipartisan effort in Congress show how out of touch this president is with the will of the American people. But we’re not going to stand idly by and let the White House green light Big Media's expansion. The great pendulum of political change is swinging away from corrosive consolidation and toward better media."
This one hits close to home:
Dan Rolling, CEO of National Coal, personally stands to make millions if the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Bill fails, but he's only got until Dec. 31, 2008 to pull it off.
Hey, can't let the economic future of several counties, like Fentress, or Oneida, or the environment of The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area stand in the way of a guy getting filthy rich, right?
Right!
The Senate voted Thursday night to nullify a Federal Communications Commission rule that allows media companies to own a newspaper and a TV station in the same market.
And this:
"At this watershed moment, public outrage against Big Media has reached a breaking point. The Bush administration's threats to undercut this bipartisan effort in Congress show how out of touch this president is with the will of the American people. But we’re not going to stand idly by and let the White House green light Big Media's expansion. The great pendulum of political change is swinging away from corrosive consolidation and toward better media."
This one hits close to home:
Dan Rolling, CEO of National Coal, personally stands to make millions if the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Bill fails, but he's only got until Dec. 31, 2008 to pull it off.
Hey, can't let the economic future of several counties, like Fentress, or Oneida, or the environment of The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area stand in the way of a guy getting filthy rich, right?
Right!
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