Progressives are first--and disenfranchised.

Moveons's "endorsement"

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bill_sam_080201_moveon_s_6_2_25_landsl.htm

There were only two options - Obama or Clinton. MoveOn deliberately disenfranchised all its members who did not favor endorsing either establishment candidate. We didn't count. There is no way of knowing how many of the 91.2% of MoveOn's members who weren't counted went to vote but didn't because they didn't favor either option, or didn't bother because from the email itself it appeared they would not be allowed to express their view. It is quite possible that these numbers would have dwarfed the numbers who voted for Obama.

MoveOn claims to be a citizen organization which does what its membership wants. However, this kind of phony poll is typical of the organization. They appear to operate by deciding at the top what to do, and then devising some way of making it appear that this is a membership decision.

Why would an organization which claims to be anti-war only offer its members the options of supporting one of two candidates who both a) have voted for funding for the Iraq War, b) have refused to commit to removing all U.S. troops from Iraq during their Presidency if elected, c) favor increasing the size of the bloated military budget, and d) favor increasing the number of active duty soldiers? Before giving some ideas on the answer, let me note that this is not the first time MoveOn has disappointed its anti-war members. Just last year, MoveOn engaged in a major campaign for funding for the Iraq War.

No "Slam Dunk"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/opinion/02herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

There is a surge of excitement running through Democratic voters and public officials in this election cycle that has seldom been seen in recent decades.

This is the stuff of which overconfidence is made.

Anyone who thinks the Democrats are a lock to win in November has somehow forgotten about Karl Rove, the right-wing radio network, the hanging chads of 2000, the Swift boat debacle, the intimidation of black voters in Florida, the long lines of Democratic voters standing forlornly in the rain in Ohio, and on and on.

Those who may think that a woman named Clinton or a black man named Obama will have an easy time winning the White House this year should switch to something less disorienting than whatever it is they’re smoking.

10:24 am

Howard is first.

10:27 AM EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aGVz_OeBnEiQ

Susan Eisenhower, `Lifelong Republican,' Backs Democrat Obama

By Ryan J. Donmoyer

Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The granddaughter of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, saying the Illinois senator can forge bipartisan cooperation and ``encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again.''

Susan Eisenhower, a Republican writing on the Washington Post opinion pages today, said Obama is best positioned to ``bring about a sense of national unity and change'' and can attract the crossover voters from the Republican Party to make it happen.

...

More from Gallup's national tracking poll, which has made fascinating reading the past week:

"Gallup Poll Daily tracking shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as close as they have been since the polling program started at the beginning of 2008. Forty-four percent of Democratic voters nationwide support Clinton, while 41% support Obama, within the poll's three-point margin of error."

10:33 AM EST

I just heard on my local news that the Massachusetts Army National Guard is only at 42% readiness rate, due largely to commitments in Iraq. If a disaster happens here in MA, well ...

Thanks George.

Thanks Hillary.

This is from Joshua Green in the Atlantic: 

"A well-connected Tennesseean told me two things today that got me thinking about [a Gore endorsement]. The first is that Obama and Gore have been speaking regularly, about every two weeks or so. The second is that, despite this, and despite Tennessee’s primary on Tuesday, Obama has not visited the state since June. It may be simply that he does not plan on competing there. Or it may be that he’s been waiting for a special occasion.

Why Republicans Like Obama

By Peter Wehner
Sunday, February 3, 2008; B07

What is at the core of Obama's appeal?

Part of it is the eloquence and uplift of his speeches, combined with his personal grace and dignity. He seems to be a well-grounded, decent, thoughtful man. He comes across, in his person and manner, as nonpartisan. He has an unsurpassed ability to (seemingly) transcend politics. Even when he disagrees with people, he doesn't seem disagreeable. "You know what charm is," Albert Camus wrote in "The Fall," "a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question." Obama has such charm, and its appeal is not restricted to Democrats.

A second reason Republicans appreciate Obama is that he is pitted against a couple, the Clintons, whom many Republicans hold in contempt. Among the effects of the Obama-Clinton race is that it is forcing Democrats to come to grips with the mendacity and ruthlessness of the Clinton machine. Conservatives have long believed that the Clintons are an unprincipled pair who will destroy those who stand between them and power -- whether they are political opponents, women from Bill Clinton's past or independent counsels.

When the Clintons were doing this in the 1990s, it was viewed by many Democrats as perfectly acceptable. Some even applauded them for their brass-knuckle tactics. But now that the Clintons are roughing up an inspiring young man who appears to represent the hope and future of the Democratic Party, the liberal establishment is reacting with outrage. "I think we've reached an irrevocable turning point in liberal opinion of the Clintons," writes Jonathan Chait of the New Republic. Many conservatives respond: It's about time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102663_pf.html

Morning,

Happy Birthday, Joan.  I love birthdays.  I think the world does.  In Huhehot, Inner Mongolia, the local Dairy Queen played the Happy Birthday song all day long when we were there in 1997.

Last night, Bill Maher gave a moving tribute to John Edwards, saying how much he admired him, how  important his message was.  It was obvious the regard and affection he felt.

He also later said that he hoped Obama would win in the contest between Hillary and Obama.

Finally, I'm puzzled by the insistence that Barack Obama voted for the war by funding the troops.  He gives his assessment of the damage this war will do in his book, The Audacity of Hope, and describes exactly what we have now.

I think the vote to fund the troops is debatable.  In other words, if we were in his situation, how would we have voted?  It's all too easy to say bring them home now, defund the war, but I do think there is the argument that not to fund the troops would have put them in jeopardy.  This Administration did put them in jeopardy by not providing enough troops, the armor or vehicles they needed,  the spacing between battles (Dog Soldier addressed that very well, I thought), and the care they needed when they came  home wounded physically and mentally.

I'm not convinced that Obama's vote to fund the troops as he has defended it is the condemnation that you make of it, Huron John.  If that's the only thing that is critical of Obama, that doesn't carry enough weight for me.

It's interesting that there's so much feeling about the relationship between those who supported John Edwards' candidacy and Barack Obama's.  Most of us said the other one was a second choice.  I wish I could understand the kernel of disagreement that seems so fraught, so wounded.  I can't identify it.  Hopefullly, there will be a healing. 

Why I can't vote for Hillary: My deeply personal Clinton story

When it comes to Hillary Clinton, there is no shortage of unfair and unprincipled reasons for disliking her -- and if you listen to AM talk radio for an hour, you'll probably hear them all.

I reject the sexism of those who still think a former First Lady has no place in policy debates, just as I reject the absurd theories of those who think she had a hand in the death of her close friend Vince Foster.

Having volunteered on Clinton's first senate campaign, I get mad when I hear Rush Limbaugh savage her as a liar and an opportunist. I'm also grateful to her for keeping Rudy Guiliani and Rick Lazio out of the Senate.

But you don't have to be a sexist or a conspiracy theorist to oppose Clinton's candidacy.

I don't dislike Hillary; I distrust her. And my reasons are both substantive, and based on direct personal experience.

When a major issue hit the area where I live, New York's Hudson Valley, Clinton was less than honest with her constituents, and all too eager to take credit where none was due.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/1/234527/0014/392/448115

The rest of the article explains in detail.

10.

Thanks so much Pat. However my birthday was yesterday:))

That's OK, even my kids often (like yesterday) confuse my BD with a certain critter named Punxsutawney Phil, who has predicted six more weeks of winter.

Tom your poll illustrates exactly what I was saying. John Edwards supporters are needed for an Obama victory Tues. If they split she wins. (which I now expect her to do) that doesn't mean the race is over just that it will go much deeper into the calendar 

Joan in Florida - Happy birthday one day late!

rdorgan - Just read about Susan Eisenhower's endorsement. Waiting now for Al Gore. I think all of these endorsements may just be the tipping point.

I think super Tuesday just may be super after all.

8:19 AM

11:10 AM EST Saturday

Good morning. WUFT FM classical music trivia question -- Who was the soloist when Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor was premiered. Answer - his wife Clara Schumann.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

72.

Sitka
Sat, 02/02/08

Reply to this
66. Annilow -- What is in the Arab psyche to make such horrid violence somehow a good thing to do?

That's the very definition of a bigoted remark.

-----------------------------------------

I agree -- it is bigoted. "A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own." Thanks Wiki. I am intolerant of people who think it's OK to use mentally handicapped to blow up animals in cages -- but that's just me. McVeigh blew up the Murragh building maybe w or w/o conspiricists we don't know. That's one example. In the ME the Taliban which I'm thinking of as Arabs prolly wrongly cut people's hands off if they were caught stealing. I'm pretty sure it was Arabs who cut off Danny Pearl's (and others') heads. I think my mistake here is equating Arabs with Middle Easterners. The Janjaweed (certainly misspelled) "Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed comprised nomadic Arabic-speaking African tribes (i.e. Black Arabs, or Afro-Arabs)" (thanks Wiki) did horrific things to Africans to get their land.

I understand hasty generalization. I don't think this is one. I think I was asking a cultural question. Also, I think I know why they did it. If they was Al Quaida. They blow up people everyday and it gets in the news and we say "Oh, Al Quaida blew something up -- what's on TV tonight." Maybe they have to get even downer and dirtier to get our attention.

I think I was asking a cultural question. It may not have been PC - I'm sure it wasn''t PC -- but it was an honest question.

11.

Annilow
Sat, 02/02/08


'If they was Al Quaida' s/b 'If they were Al Quaida'

I've been in the South too long -- LOL -- now THERE'S a bigoted statement. :~)

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOAN (BELATED)!!!!!

15.

mary

Thank you.

I'm also waiting for a super dooper Tuesday for O.

Clinton has sooooo much baggage, I believe that is why CNN has been pushing her for the last year or so. She may be too easy to beat in Nov. and I'm just not up to campaigning for her.

I  held my nose for John Kerry in 2004. That won't happen again in 2008 for HRC.

one SUPER day at a time mary

I'm messing around adding italian tomatoes to my various cheese combinations to come up with my right dip for the game (why? because I never thought of it before) if I'm dipping bread sticks I have little pizzas but that isn't what I was after

bbl

13.

Thank you Anni.

At this point in my life, I would just as soon forget them all from here on out:))

A big win for O on Tuesday would be a great gift for most of us.

I feel he is the kind of person who would not let JE's candidacy die on the vine. His message has been too well-received. JE for AG. Or how about creating a new Department of Poverty, much like Kucinich wanted a Department of Peace.

Phil - A healthier and tasty alternative would be caprese. Slice tomatoes and place a slice of buffalo mozzarella on top with fresh basil, olive oil and some salt and pepper. I know, it doesn't go well with chips but it's my favorite.

There's an interesting diary on KOS about Senator Clinton's ambivalence about a community problem (the siting of a concrete plant on the edge of the Hudson River) and her effort to share in the "victory" when the locals were successful in having permits denied.  The author's recitation of Clinton's innitial take-charge reaction, when a significant donor was present, led me to do a quick search and discover that, yes indeed, her mentor, Jackson Stephens, had an interest in energy-related enterprise on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  So, her failure to actually follow through on the Hudson River matter is not surprising.  But, what's really got me irked is the statement she issued on the FISA:

As the events of the last two months demonstrate, if citizen opposition is channeled the right way, it can make a genuine difference in affecting the course of events in Washington. Defeating telecom immunity will keep alive the lawsuits that will almost certainly reveal to some extent what the Government did in illegally spying on Americans over the last six years or, at the very least, produce a judicial adjudication as to its illegality. And, in turn, the effects from that could be extremely significant. Because victories are so rare, it's easy to get lulled into believing that none of these campaigns are ever effective and that citizens can never affect any of it, which is precisely why it's so important to remind ourselves periodically of how untrue that proposition is. 

 if citizen opposition is channeled the right way, it can make a genuine difference

In other words, if Washington is unresponsive, it's because the citizens haven't done their part?

 Defeating telecom immunity will keep alive the lawsuits that will almost certainly reveal to some extent what the Government did in illegally spying on Americans over the last six years or, at the very least, produce a judicial adjudication as to its illegality.

Note that there's no mention of violating the Constitution and the inappropriateness of retroactive legislation.  Moreover, by categorizing the issue as a defeat, she's

accepting immunity as a given and the rest of the sentence suggests that spying on

Americans may or may not be illegal.  And the  following means what?

Because victories are so rare, it's easy to get lulled into believing that none of these campaigns are ever effective and that citizens can never affect any of it, which is precisely why it's so important to remind ourselves periodically of how untrue that proposition is. 

The FISA matter is important because it reminds the Senator that citizens are 

important?

The effects of a judicial determination whether spying on Americans is legal 

could be significant !?!

Damn right, Senator Clinton, it could throw out the program your husband started.

Do you get the sense that getting lulled into thinking that citizens aren't effective

is a bad thing?  I do.

I just noticed that rae makes reference to the self-same diary.  

Joan I hope you get your belated birthday present at the polls Tuesday.

Rory Kennedy Endorsement

In my years making documentaries, I have traveled to remote regions, from small villages in South America, to townships in South Africa, to the hollows of Appalachia. Every trip, every film, I meet people who still keep photographs of my family on their walls. They cry when they meet me, simply because they were touched by my father, Robert Kennedy. In part, this is because my father supported policies and legislation that helped the disenfranchised. But it is also, and perhaps more importantly, because they felt that my father understood their pain. Senator Obama has that quality too. He has an open heart and an energizing spirit.

Recently, my mother, Ethel Kennedy, said of Obama: "I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did. He has the passion in his heart. He's not selling you. It's just him."

I agree. Obama is a genuine leader. We Americans - women included - desperately need that kind of leader now. Not a president of a particular gender or a specific race, but a president with a different vision, one who inspires a sense of hope.

To elect Barack Obama is to choose a new direction, set a new course - to steer America toward a better place, better for women as well as men, better for us all.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/02/ED39UQKTS.DTL

sure why chips? go right to the source the tomatoes themselves, I was messing around with adding muenster to get the cheese stickier

But, what's really got me irked is the statement she issued on the FISA:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monica can you find a link to what Obama has said about FISA this week?

Annilow,

Yes, it is all horrific.  But, what we need to remember is that it was our own CIA

which introduced the car bomb to Afghanistan and Iraq and taught the locals how 

to use sophisticated explosives.  Primitive stuff like chopping off people's heads

they developed on their own.

If Bush Two is to be believed, then the reason Iraq was attacked with missiles and

bombs was to teach the other countries in the region a lesson.  How is this not

a terroristic act?  The Iraqi people were all innocent, until they started defending

themselves. 

JudyforDean will enjoy this I think:

France's Sarkozy marries Bruni at the Elysee
By Crispian Balmer and Sudip Kar-Gupta
1 hour, 30 minutes ago
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy married supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni at the Elysee Palace on Saturday, just three months after they started dating, French officials and family said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080202/ts_n...

====================

I feel for his former wife -- Cecilia? -- altho you never know what's going on inside someone else's marriage.

This is a little radical but will have to be where we will probably go if McCain is the Repub. nomination

http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/27350-john...

BREAKING! L.A.'s La Opinión endorses Barack Obama

La Opinión, Los Angeles's Spanish language newspaper, just posted their editorial with endorsements

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/2/31555/88580/323/448168

Food (my favorite subject):

Use equal parts mayo, Parmesan, coarsely chopped red onion as a spread on cocktail rye. Broil till bubbly. Make extra. :~)

Spread softened cream cheese on dollar sized salami slices. Layer 3 or 4 deep. Cut into wedges. Stick in some toothpicks.

23. That would be silver-dollar sized salami slices.

I promise this is my last OT for this hour anyway. The opera on the radio today is The Valkyrie and it's really a good opera -- great music some very familiar and a great plot -- the Valkyries and Brunhilde in particular are much better role models than Cinderella for our daughters imo. STARTS AT 12:30 EST!!!!

rae - La Opinion is an excellent endorsement. I know part of it is wishful thinking but I do see a bit of a wave in Obama's direction. Also, Obama has field offices in the states for 12 February - Hillary does not.

Phil wrote "John Edwards supporters are needed for an Obama victory Tues."

Undoubtedly, and not all of them will migrate to Obama, because some preferred Edwards as a southern white moderate male.  Of course Obama needs a lot of people's supporters and nonsupporters to win Tuesday, including previously unaligned and uninterested voters, independent voters, moderate crossover Republican voters, former supporters of Kucinich, Dodd, Richardson, Biden and Gravel, and wobbly Clinton supporters. 

11.

Annilow
Sat, 02/02/08

72.

Sitka
Sat, 02/02/08

66. Annilow -- What is in the Arab psyche to make such horrid violence somehow a good thing to do?

That's the very definition of a bigoted remark.
--------------------------
I agree -- it is bigoted. "A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own.".....
....
The Janjaweed (certainly misspelled) "Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed comprised nomadic Arabic-speaking African tribes (i.e. Black Arabs, or Afro-Arabs)" (thanks Wiki) did horrific things to Africans to get their land.
......
I think I was asking a cultural question...an honest question.

*********************

There is no dishonest question exists.

Another one might be: What is in the World psyche (Americans’ psyche specifically) that TURNS the natural desire for justice and freedom from occupation into such an unnatural, “strange” and even prohibited one?
Whose psyche is perverted and turned upside down one?

former wrote "Another [honest question] might be: What is in the World psyche (Americans'  psyche specifically) that TURNS the natural desire for justice and freedom from occupation into such an unnatural, "strange" and even prohibited one?"

Good question.  I've often wondered myself, but I think money and hubris would be part of the answer.

20.

Monica Smith
Sat, 02/02/08


If we take what Obama said about B Clinton -- to paraphrase, if BC's dance moves were OK and other things he might be considered a brother -- if we take that and apply it to W -- well, he's learned from his 'brothers' in Saudi maybe. Or maybe he taught them.

12:58 PM EST

39. former, not 100% sure I understand you point. I think what Bush has done in the last 7 years is un-American. Not that we've always been right, but what he's done has been blatantly un-American, everything I was brought up to believe America stands for has been turned on its ear in the last 7 years. Now maybe it's that Bush is nuts. Or maybe someone is pulling Bush's strings. Maybe it's the Saudis I don't know.

I think the reason Obama has become such a rock star is he allows us to believe in ourselves again. That we CAN be heroes in the eyes of the world again. That is why when I heard that Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving member of her family, came out of a very understandably private life, and for the FIRST TIME in her 50 years endorsed someone for President, I cried. I cried for the same reason I cried when the Queens Guard played the Star Spangled Banner on 9/11. Caroline Kennedy and the Queen are symbols of what we were as a country. Barack Obama symbolizes that we can be that country again.

Question:  I created this blog as a place to discuss the upcoming DFA Academy training near Seattle. Why are there so many posts about Hillary and Obama?  Is there a bug in the system? Am I misunderstanding how this works?