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Bush's faith based initiatives
The election has focused on a number of important issues; the Iraq war, education, and healthcare seem to dominate the news, blogs, and exit polls. Yet, one major issue that rarely comes up needs serious consideration: the Separation of Church and State. We need to bring this issue to the forefront because it is here—even more than with Iraq—that the Bush Administration has undone the Constitutions. The Bush administration’s Faith Based Initiatives clearly lies outside the Constitution and takes enormous amounts of money (in the billions over eight years) to support religion. We need a candidate who will put an end to this bring back the Separation of Church and State.
This violates two sections of the Constitution; though we tend to think only of the 1st Amendment clauses on religion, the Faith Based Initiatives have also violated the Article VI ban on religious tests for public office and trusts. Since Chamberlin v. Dade County Board of Public Instruction (1964) it has been generally accepted that persons paid with public (i.e.: tax) money are covered under the question of religious tests. I admit the concurring opinion was not as explicit in this as I would have liked, but it is sufficiently clear as to indicate that people—the case involved teachers—who are paid from public funds cannot be required to pass a religious test for their position. The case built on the much more explicit Toracso v. Watkins (1961) in which a notary public was denied his commission based on a religious test in Maryland.
(Click Read More for the rest of this post)
In Bush’s faith based initiatives enormous amounts of public money go to organization which explicitly discriminate in hiring based on religion. I am not disputing that faith-based programs can be enormously helpful in addiction recovery—as an example—but I am denying that such initiatives should be publically funded. A counter argument may be that religiously oriented organizations have long provided some public services—and this is true. Let us take the Salvation Army as an example. The Salvation Army in New York City provided the city with a number of service, including child protective and foster care services. Prior the Bush administration, however the Salvation Army kept the accounting strictly separate and did not employ a religious test for employment; under the faith based initiatives it instituted a religious test and fired non-Christians and—of course, since these faith based initiative are a part of the religious right’s movement—gays (Michelle Goldberg, Kingdome Coming, pp. 128-132).
It is worse, even, than that. Through a system of double grants, the Bush Administration grants enormous amount of money to large, well-established evangelical organizations, which then “re-grant” the money to smaller organizations that are not as well equipped to apply for grants directly from the Federal Government. This is a convoluted system. It allows the Office of Faith Based Initiatives to avoid responsibility for any oversight in how the money is spent, and it to say that it is the money of the larger organization to do with as the please—even if it re-granting the money to highly discriminatory organizations. It is a shell game with violates the spirit (and, I would argue, the letter) of the law when it comes to Separation of Church and State.
As a last note, I would like to say that Republicans—like Katherine Harris—who believe that the Separation of Church and State is a “myth” or a “lie” are in an interesting predicament. The Baptists—not known for their “liberalism”—who, in Colonial and early US history fought hard for and who, in the height of the Cold War touted the “wall” –and, yes, they used the word, of Separation as a distinctive feature of America’s freedom.
Yes, Dean is first. Since the blog will scramble the order of posts, we can compete for first, now!
You win, Monica. Good game!
Thankful to you for raising the issue, Alan. The office of faith based inititives was one of the first of many egregious actios taken by the Bush adnim. I recall Bush saying very early on that faith-based volunteers were 'better' than secular volunteers. This and many other actions need correcting.
Phil ~ so glad to see your little guy is doing better ♥
listener ~ Prayers and {{{hugs}}} for Ally
9:42 pm est
Faith based initiatives led to faith based budgets, faith based wars, faith based disaster relief, and a faith based Constitution.
And it's all been a faith based debacle.
Tom, you should have at least provided them the link.
But, mydd and dailykos and other open diary forums are not new and don't belong to a campaign, if I have to inform you. And friend, I've been posting there the same as dailykos, for years. But thanks for the mention.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/2/17/1719...
Linda wrote "Tom, you should have at least provided them the link."
It's right there in the comment, Liberal Democrat.
Well, I reconstituted the first of my dried morels from Oregon tonight, and I'm here to say they were very as nearly as wonderful as fresh ones. . . .
So. . . as my opening curse: NO MORELS, *EVER*
10:19 pm EST
8. I was just about to type "oops, you did" thank you.
1.
Monica Smith
Sun, 02/10/08
They use the Humane Society too. The amount of money funneled through the Humane Society's Washington lobby and into the campaign coffers of congress is astounding. PETA is a very interesting right-wing lobby.
Ron wrote "If you are a political animal, and HRC is, then the experience you gain helping someone else win and hold office counts even if you were not the candidate."
Don't take this the wrong way, but this is exceptionally feeble. You're free to support Clinton over Obama because of her experience helping someone else win or hold office, but I have to call you on your claim that this makes Clinton the more qualified of the two candidates to be president on the basis of experience, because the experience you're describing is vicarious.
Linda wrote "I've been posting there the same as dailykos, for years."
That is too weird, because I've seen your diaries many times at dKos but never once at myDD.
Senator Clinton's points in the New Hampshire debate were valid.
Specifically, the contrast between talking about change and actually
making it happen.
The Clinton budget act of 1993 was BIG CHANGE, transforming a
steadfast deficit into a surplus befiting a strong nation steading itself
for leadership into a second American Century. ..........
Okay, I get it. the contrast between change. Tying 1993 Bill Clinton's change from deficit into a surplus is in large part thanks to Hillary?
It was her who made it happen?
10:42 pm
According to DU, the Dallas Morning News has broken the "gag order" on the sybel Edmonds story of embedding in U.S. nuclear facilities. This is the first main stream paper to print the story, though it has appeared in many other countries.
15. How will you feel when Governor Dean endorses Hillary Clinton?
As far as the rumors that the Obama campaign kept putting out on a Gore endorsement, it obviously wasn't going to happen and didn't. The Primary season is just about over, so that question doesn't even fit.
If Obama is the nominee, I think alot of people are going to be asking how a majority of the population feels about that one.
15. How will you feel when Governor Dean endorses Hillary Clinton?
Wouldn't influence me who I will vote for one bit.
I doubt that Ex Governor Dean will endorse any candidate in the primary.
BTW, I wasn't trying to imply that Gore or Edwards will endorse Obama.
17.sunlight, Oh, I agree. No one changes my vote either. Those people actually have to worry about damaging their good standing by endorsing. Some people may have nothing to lose.
Florida will try to undo two court rulings to give public money to private religious schools.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1788
PFAW getting involved. They just do not give up.
Sunlight.....
Sorry, I can't do links......article at democraticunderground.
The wheel turns. If like jc and cC, you enjoyed going to the Edwards site to read Robert's political commentary after he gave up on BFA,--------
What a weener. jc literally is not here to defend herself not that she would find it necessary.
What's the big deal about Linda blogging at Mydd? What, she's forever bound to blog only at BFA?
What's your point?
Senator Clinton's points in the New Hampshire debate were valid.
Specifically, the contrast between talking about change and actually
making it happen.
The Clinton budget act of 1993 was BIG CHANGE, transforming a
steadfast deficit into a surplus befiting a strong nation steading itself
for leadership into a second American Century. ..........
The way I see it, if Hillary is going to take credit for her husband's economic policies, she should also have to take credit for NAFTA, media conglomeration, and his fling with Monica.
26.
Renee in Ohio
I know wha you mean. Just like Obama won't ever get my vote, either. There is only so much compromise a Liberal can make.
25. Obama won't ever get my vote,
<>Two months ago LindaNM referred to Edwards, Hillary, and Obama as, "Mr.Photogenic, Ms. Inevitable, and Mr. Charisma."
Then, days later, she went head over heels for " Mr, Photogenic," and began spamming this blog with c&p's from his website.
When he quit, she leaped onto the bandwagon of "Ms. Inevitable," before Edwards' political corpse was even cold.
So, based on previous behavior,I see no reason to expect anything but that she'll fall in line behind "Mr. Charisma," if and when Mad McCain is the only alternative to him.
26.
Sitka
Mon, 02/18/08
25. Obama won't ever get my vote,
Two months ago LindaNM referred to Edwards, Hillary, and Obama as, "Mr.Photogenic, Ms. Inevitable, and Mr. Charisma."
Then, days later, she went head over heels for " Mr, Photogenic," and began spamming this blog with c&p's from his website.
When he quit, she leaped onto the bandwagon of "Ms. Inevitable," before Edwards' political corpse was even cold.
So, based on previous behavior,I see no reason to expect anything but that she'll fall in line behind "Mr. Charisma," if and when Mad McCain is the only alternative to him.
______________________
Well, being you seem to have a problem getting the story straight, I don't expect you to get your fantasy scenario straight either.
But LAST year, I said this was turning in to a Pageant, With Ms Congeniality, Mr Photogenic and Mr. Charisma. And I think you would be hard pressed for many to discount thats how the media was treating it. But you like to try to infer other and also you can't get the damn names straight.
So if you give a shit about getting facts right. Copy this and save it in it's full, otherwise you're just intentioonally propagating a false story.
Thank you.
I've been reading some diaries at mydd and that place is a hate-fest. I need a cyber shower to wash off the mud.
I'm surely not the only person who remembers vividly that when you thought Gore might run you hated everyone else you saw as a potential threat to him. You had some real knockdowns with Indy (an Edwardian) about it.
<>Then when the hope of Gore faded out you jumped to Edwards. Then to Hillary. That's why it's reasonable to expect you'll vote for Obama if if MadBomber McCain is the only alternative.31.
Sitka
Mon, 02/18/08
I've been reading some diaries at mydd and that place is a hate-fest. I need a cyber shower to wash off the mud.
________________
lmao...unlike all you Obama supporters posting all the mean, hateful and lies about Hillary...and Edwards, huh?
....OH....and about bloggers if they post what you don't like.
lmao...unlike all you Obama supporters posting all the mean, hateful and lies about Hillary...and Edwards, huh?
Actually, like the stuff you used to post about them -- but you were really viscious to them instead of your (former?) friends here..
Oh where, oh where has the old Linda gone?
Oh where, oh where can she be?
With her friendly per-ersonality?
But now she's for Hillary!
PS....I'm not an Obama "supporter." But I have always preferred Democrats who didn't vote for the worst of Bush's agenda over those who did.
So. . . as my opening curse: NO MORELS, *EVER*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
combine that with geese bites and I don't know why we haven't seem action yet to fix the blog,
that my friend is a serious curse
love you Linda, right or wrong
sitka didn't know what to do with his venom when Edwards dropped out and didn't post for a week
sitka didn't know what to do with his venom when Edwards dropped out and didn't post for a week
<>I didn't know you kept such close track of my blogging. But of course, as in all matters that involve facts over polemics, you're wrong.As for venom, I repeat.... If posting Edwards' record was venomous, then it's says everything about that record and nothing about me.
Linda ♥'s I'm not at all keen on Hillary but respect your views, as always.
Morels, mmmmm mmmmm good. You're right Phil that adding geese bites to never having morels is a serious curse :-) btw, it's the 5th/6th for a potential IA trip, we'll see what the weather is like.
2:05 am est
If Obama wins Wisconsin, and then Ohio. and widens his delegate lead it might be possible that Gore and a whole lot of other super delegates might give the signal they think it is time to wind this thing down, but right now there is a whole lot of healthy precinct level organizing going on in Wisconsin and a list of independents willing to declare as Democrats will be useful for the fall GOTV.
traditional dems must have amnesia or their heads where no sunlight shines. here's the clintons' record for their base constituencies:
*hillary prevailed on bill to snip the safety net for poor, single women with dependent children. the women were forced to find a job in the 'welfare to work' program, which btw was instituted in an expanding, not a contracting, economy. how are these women doing now, ms clinton?
*hillary voted for the bankruptcy bill, which was a giveaway to the credit card companies, b/c they could hold cardholders in indentured status as long as they had incomes above their state medians. this eliminated bankruptcy protection for the middle class, if families used credit cards to pay for their very survival--catastrophic health care costs, mortgage, food, transportation, and on and on. now she vows to stick it to the credit card companies. what a friggin hypocrite!
*bill did inherit a recession from his repub predecessor, but he also left one when he exited the white house. the tech bubble burst in the first quarter 2000, sending the stock market--one of the key leading indicators of a recession--into a tailspin. this left many seniors/retirees/soon to be retirees frantic and worried about their financial situation.
*nafta--the biggest shaft of the working class--was championed by bill.
*hillary couldn't work with the congress to pass health care legislation in 1993-94. how many americans' health did that arrogance and obstinence cost? 'it took a president........' now hillary is campaigning to deliver 47 uninsured americans to the health insurance companies under her mandatory universal health care. btw, hillary received a huge donation--second largest, i recall--from the health care insurance lobby. it's 'pay to play' in the old style washington politics.
***************
timely posts on the seasonal flu at EFFECT MEASURE.
there's also a video of janis joplin, singing 'work me, lord.' i heard a tape of her singing in her port arthur church choir when she was young--a sweet, lyrical soprano. totally different! she has such range!
thankful
as you know historically it is pretty routine for a storm to shut down the middle of the country the first week of March but otherwise I'm looking forward to whatever works out
and a list of independents willing to declare as Democrats will be useful for the fall GOTV.
Whether or not Independents declare as Democrats as is not as important as inviting them to participate in Democratic primaries regardless of registration.
And not all who are registered as Democrats, even for a long time, can be counted upon to support the party in the election (see: "Reagan Democrats").
janis turned herself inside out delivering her soul, I don't know what we do to deserve artists who will do that
popping in:
From Barack Obama’s New Hampshire Primary Speech January 8, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/us/politics/08text-obama.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
"...Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients, workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together, and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that, while they get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair, not this time, not now. ...."
(APPLAUSE)
While the crowed applauded we were appalled. Did they not hear what we heard Obama just say! He is going to give the "drug and insurance industry a seat at the table..."
Why is he going to give them a seat at the presumably regulatory table which will allow them the opportunity to buy even one chair?
Raise your hand if you want the Industry being regulated to be a Member of the Regulatory Agency regulating itself - I don't.
Example; I don't want lead in any children's toys. I don't want the manufacturers of children's toys which have lead in the toys, to have a seat at the table which in reality decides the fate of our children.
Certainly Corporations, Business, Consumers, Organizations, etc., have a place in the System.
That place is to offer opinions, provide Research, present their case and positions - at the Hearings - Presented To The Table - but Not Seated At The Table!
I have been told that my interpretation is not what he meant. I know that my interpretation is exactly what he meant because it has happened already when Obama was heading Legislation about Nuclear Leaks - unless the New York Times article is a distortion. (Nuclear Leaks New York Times By MIKE McINTIRE Published: February 3, 2008)"
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=6160
Gottal love parody and satire: :-)
"....However, not to worry. Despite the fact that Barack Obama hasn't really done anything of substance, he will continue to receive overwhelmingly reverential coverage in the media. Of course, such uncritical reporting leaves itself wide open for satire. In response to a suggestion in a recent edition of the DUmmie FUnnies that the lyrics of I Don't Know How To Love Him from the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar be updated for Barack Obama Superstar, Charles Henrickson, a Lutheran pastor in St. Louis, MO came up with these brilliant parody lyrics titled, I Don't Know Why I Love Him:
I don't know why I love him,
My Barack, my Obama;
I've been charmed, yes really charmed,
By his trim physique, so slim and sleek--
I'm awed by his mystique.
I don't know why he's running,
I don't see any substance;
No real plan, flash in the pan,
And I've heard such empty words before
That when I close my eyes
He's just a bore.
But I like his face,
And I like his voice;
Makes my heartbeat race!
Makes me feel all moist!
I never thought I'd come to this:
Obama is my choice.
Don't you think it's rather shallow
I should vote for this fellow?
I'm the one who's always been
So pure, so pissed, so feminist;
I don't need men, oh no--
He scares me so.
But I like his face,
And I like his voice;
Makes my heartbeat race!
Makes me feel all moist!
I never thought I'd come to this:
Obama is my choice.
Yet, like in a romance novel,
I'm in love with a male model;
I've got to look! He signed my book!
My heart runs wild! I'll bear his child!
I want the world to know:
He's my "Big O"!
Obama, go!
I love you so!
http://www.newsbusters.org/node/9606
Despite the fact that Barack Obama hasn't really done anything of substance
That depends on the meaning of "substance".......
<> Sorry for the long post.....lack of substance will do that.Obama's accomplishments are more substantial and varied than Clinton suggests. And he has a longer record in elected office than she does, as a second-term New York senator.
Obama was a community organizer and led a voter-registration effort in Chicago that added tens of thousands of people to the rolls. He was a civil rights attorney and taught at one of the nation's premier universities. He helped pass complicated measures in the Illinois legislature on the death penalty, racial profiling, health care and more. In Washington, he has worked with Republicans on nuclear proliferation, government waste and global warming, amassing a record that speaks to a fast start while lacking the heft of years of service......
After college, Obama moved to Chicago for a low-paying job as a community organizer. He worked with poor families on the South Side to get improvements in public housing, particularly the removal of asbestos.
"Nobody else running for president has jumped off the career track for three or four years to help people," said Jerry Kellman, who first hired Obama as a community organizer.
Obama also fought for student summer jobs and a program to keep at-risk children from dropping out of school. More importantly, say those who worked with Obama, he showed people how to organize and confront powerful interests.
"He had to train residents to stand up for their own rights," said former organizer Loretta Augustine-Herron, who was part of Obama's Developing Communities Project.
Obama left that job to get a law degree. Afterward, he returned to Chicago and ran Project VOTE. The organization recruited hundreds of registrars to sign up new voters, particularly within the city's black population. Registration jumped nearly 15 points between the 1992 primary and the general election.
The registration wave was credited with making Carol Moseley Braun the first black female senator and helping Bill Clinton carry Illinois in his first presidential race. It also got insiders talking about Obama as a political candidate.
Obama then spent several years focusing on the law, both as an attorney at a small firm specializing in civil rights and as a lecturer on constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
As an attorney, he was on the team that successfully sued the state of Illinois for failing to implement a federal voter-registration law. Obama also worked on case of a whistle-blower who lost her job after exposing waste and corruption in a medical research project. The whistle-blower ended up with a $5 million settlement.
Obama was elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, when Democrats were in the minority. He proposed hundreds of new laws, including universal health care, tougher gun control and expanded welfare, but saw most of them spiked by Republican leadership.
He did have some successes, though — particularly in passing legislation sharply restricting the gifts that Illinois politicians could accept from lobbyists. Illinois has notoriously weak government ethics laws, and the Gift Ban Act was the first major new restriction since the Watergate era.
Obama also helped set up Illinois' "KidCare" program that provided health care to children in families that did not qualify for Medicaid.......
When Democrats gained a majority in the Senate, Obama's political mentor, Senate President Emil Jones, gave him high-profile assignments, including two contentious issues involving police — videotaped interrogations and racial profiling.
Police weren't happy about recording their interrogations of murder suspects or having to study racial bias in traffic stops. Initially, they opposed both pieces of legislation.
But Obama made clear that something was going to pass with or without their support. Ultimately, police groups endorsed both bills and they won unanimous approval in the Senate.
Obama was generally regarded as an effective and practical, although decidedly liberal, state lawmaker.
Obama was a part-time state senator in that he served in the Illinois legislature at the same time he practiced law. He became a state lawmaker in 1997, four years ahead of Hillary Clinton's entrance into elected office, as U.S. senator.
When Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, he said he wished to get things done rather than grab headlines, and cited Hillary Clinton as the sort of workhorse he wanted to be.
He teamed with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., to study the dangers of nuclear proliferation and pass legislation meant to keep nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.
Obama also joined with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., after Hurricane Katrina to improve oversight of federal spending.
And he shared billing with a Republican presidential hopeful when he joined Arizona Sen. John McCain in sponsoring legislation that called for sharp, mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The effort failed.
<>
Are you aware that you're parroting a line of attack that is not only benig pushed by arch-conservatives Krauthammer and Brooks, but is the same attack used against Dean and his supporters? You should be more careful about the company you keep and the smears your spread.
sitka didn't know what to do with his venom when Edwards dropped out and didn't post for a week
I now remember exactly what Phil is talking about. Several days before Edwards quit I had pronounced him dead and said that I saw no further need to debunk the propaganda about him.
Afterward I didn't talk about him for several days until I began to see a revisionist mythology taking root.
So, of course, Phil got the facts wrong yet again in his zeal to get even.
At any rate, I'm finally too tired to carry on and will say "hello" to the early shift before checking out.
Good morning, everybody
I got first because I recommended it when it was in browse.
That said, those Republicans who are sincere in their
conviction that the purpose of government is the "correct"
flawed human beings probably are sincere in thinking that
religious institutions do it easier and cheaper. So,
their financial support is functional. In addition,
the case can be made that the prohibition is on the
state telling the churches what to do, rather than the
other way around. Telling them "here's some money, go do
your thing" is probably not violative.
Whether or not "he who pays the piper, calls the tune"
is operative is always a concern. It's the main impediment
to centrally funded health care.
Well, it would seem that formatting works fine, even the wrap function in plain text using Opera. That means the commenter can't include images and fancy fonts and indents. This is interesting because I notice that the DNC blogs have plain as a default, but you can choose html editor and get those functions, except that they don't work there. That is, you can compose with bold and italic fonts, but they don't translate into the final edited version.
First son switched Hannah over to something called Word Press. It has those formatting functions and accepts a limited amount of code. Blue Hampshire and DFNH accept html. Indeed, the latter does no formatting by default. One has to go back and put a at the end of every paragraph or it all runs into one big mess.
Shameless---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRQD-MsSp...
seashell,
You of course can support whom you please. But your posts have really gone beyond the pale.
"There's a very interesting article in tomorrow's edition of The Washington Post, where it discusses the approach of the Clinton campaign to Texas. Here's one telling graph:
Several top Clinton strategists and fundraisers became alarmed after learning of the state's unusual provisions during a closed-door strategy meeting this month, according to one person who attended."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/18/...
7:15 AM EST
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_deaths_1
US military deaths in Iraq at 3,963
By The Associated Press
Sun Feb 17, 8:04 PM ET
...
The British military has reported 174 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
___
The latest deaths reported by the military:
• Two soldiers were killed Sunday by small arms fire in Diyala province.
...
8:00 AM EST
http://news.scotsman.com/world/The-war-of-the-wristbands.3786708.jp
Published Date: 18 February 2008
Source: The Scotsman
Location: Scotland
The war of the wristbands
By CHRIS STEPHEN
THEY both wear wristbands in memory of soldiers killed in Iraq, but US presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain's views could hardly contrast more sharply.
Mr Obama is campaigning for tomorrow's Wisconsin primary wearing a black wristband given to him by Tracy Jopek, the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek who was killed aged 20 in August 2006 by a roadside bomb, thrusting the campaign spotlight back on to the United States' failing war.
The wristband, inscribed with the words "All gave some – He gave all", was given to Mr Obama during a campaign stop in the state on Friday .
"I love this country, but I don't feel that staying in Iraq will vindicate my son's death," said Mrs Jopek. "I just don't want any more soldiers to die in vain for something that we can't solve."
She was moved to give Mr Obama the wristband after seeing Mr McCain, the Republican frontrunner, wearing one.
He has taken a very different approach to the meaning of that commemorative band. He has stated that American troops should remain in Iraq for "100 years" to keep the peace.
Both Mr McCain and Mrs Clinton voted for the invasion of Iraq, while Mr Obama opposed it.
The appearance of the wristband has pushed his anti-war stance to the fore, with Iraq about to thrust itself back into the national consciousness.
Holding up the wristband, Mr Obama told a weekend rally: "She gave me this wristband, which I'm very grateful for. I meet mothers and family members all over the country who are still mourning their children."
Next month marks the fifth anniversary of a war that 70 per cent of Americans say was a mistake, while in the coming weeks US combat deaths in Iraq are expected to pass the 4,000 mark
...
9:33 am EST
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080218/COLUMN44/802180582/1007/RSS01&source=rss
Monday, February 18, 2008
McCain’s cry of ‘platitude’ won’t work
Clive McFarlane
cmcfarlane@telegram.com
T&G STAFF
It is difficult to fight a movement, and the Great Clintons are finding that out in their battle against U.S. Sen. Barack H. Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
...
according to recent polls, some 64 percent of Americans oppose the war in Iraq. That seems to be a pretty clear statement by the American people. So, what says Mr. McCain?
“We are succeeding” in Iraq, he tells us.
“We’re not going to talk about timetables or anything else; we’re going to talk about winning and what’s necessary to win.”
OK, so much for serving the American people’s self-interest.
The American people send us to Washington “to help them keep this beautiful, bountiful, blessed country safe, prosperous, proud and free,” Mr. McCain tells us.
Well, the last time I looked, the country is being battered by foreclosures, jobs are moving off shore, workers are being laid off, the middle class is struggling mightily, major U.S. financial firms are being bailed out by foreign investors from China to Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t remember a time in history when so many banks were running around the world with hats in hand,” bemoaned Richard Sylla, a financial history professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business recently.
Yea, times are certainly beautiful, bountiful and prosperous, but not for many Americans, it would appear.
Mr. McCain said Americans “don’t send us to Washington to take more of their money, and waste it on things that add not an ounce to America’s strength and prosperity; that don’t help a single family realize the dreams we all dream for our children; that don’t help a single displaced worker find a new job, and the security and dignity it assures them; that won’t keep the promise we make to young workers that the retirement they have begun to invest in will be there for them when they need it.”
We know from various reports that some $600 billion in U.S. taxpayer money already has been approved and spent for the war in Iraq.
President Bush has requested another $200 billion for 2008, which would bring the cumulative total to close to $800 billion.
Meanwhile, daily spending in Iraq in November was reported to be more than $270 million.
I am not sure how Mr. McCain will convince Americans that staying for another hundred years in Iraq will pay them back in dividends.
Perhaps he will try to distract the American people with some “rhetoric” of his own.
He seemed to be heading in that direction when he borrowed an Obama “platitude” recently.
“I am fired up and ready to go,” he said at the conclusion of one of his speeches.
But the game of rhetoric is one he can’t win against Mr. Obama, because saying “yes we can” stay in Iraq won’t beat out the votes that say “yes we can” get out.
From the Times of London, a good view from the other side of the pond.
"The friends of Bill or “white boys”, as Penn and Terry McAu-liffe, the campaign chairman, are known, have long viewed “Hillaryland” – the closed circle of female friends – with suspicion.
Patti Solis Doyle, who coined the term “Hillaryland” and was axed as Clinton’s campaign manager last week, found herself in the midst of rows. “There was a feeling that nobody was in charge,” said one observer. “She would try to play honest broker and go to Hillary with, ‘Mark says this, Mandy says that, Howard [Wolfson, her communications chief] says this’ when what they needed was a general.”
Despite Solis Doyle’s legendary status as a second daughter to Clinton, she did not have the nerve to tell her the campaign was haemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate, a troubling sign of the fear and apprehension that Clinton inspires among staff. Clinton repaid the favour by not telling Solis Doyle she was going to put $5m of her own money into propping up her campaign.
Time that should be spent courting voters is now being devoted to fundraising after staff blew through a mind-boggling $130m and still ended up out-organised by Obama. In Wisconsin, a largely white working-class state that Clinton should be able to win on Tuesday, precious resources are being spent on a blast of negative advertisements challenging Obama’s refusal to debate with Clinton.
The latest polls put Obama ahead by 47% to 43%, but this weekend Clinton was fighting a rearguard action to restore her standing in the hope of pulling off a comeback reminiscent of the first primary in New Hamp-shire, which revived her fortunes after she finished third in the Iowa caucuses. Bill Clinton is also campaigning with begging bowl in hand for funds.
Daughter Chelsea, 27, has gone from silent campaign accessory to full-throttle surrogate, holding rallies of her own on college campuses. Only now is Clinton’s campaign beginning to invest in states that have yet to vote, after assuming that Obama would at this stage be out of the race.
Clinton’s camp has been circulating stories criticising the “cult” of Obama in the hope of portraying “Obamania” as a mass delusion. Media Matters, a watchdog organisation sympathetic to Clinton, compiled a report headlined, “Media figures call Obama supporters’ behaviour ‘creepy’, compare them to Hare Krishna and Charles Manson followers”.
It was forwarded by Sidney Blumenthal, a top Clinton adviser, to select reporters. The campaign entered a nasty phase last week with the determination of Clinton’s team to revive delegates from the “ghost” primaries of Michigan and Florida, by legal action if necessary.
The two states broke party rules by bringing forward their contests to January and were stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee. The candidates did not formally compete in either state but Clinton won both handsomely.
“Two million people voted and their votes are going to count,” said Doug Hattaway, a Clinton spokesman.
They were not ruling out legal action. Even some Clinton supporters are aghast at the prospect that she might try to “steal” the election in this way. Obama leads by 1,301 delegates to 1,235, according to RealClearPolitics. Clinton will need the support of superdelegates to close the gap, unless she wins by margins of 20-30% in the large states of8 Texas and Ohio on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22.
Clinton dashed to Texas last Tuesday on the night she lost the “Potomac” primaries in Mary- land, Virginia and Washington DC by a landslide to Obama, prompting jokes about her last stand at the Alamo. Her Texas firewall may already be crumbling: one poll on Friday put Obama ahead by 48% to 42%, although she led in two others.
In Ohio, Clinton has the backing of Ted Strickland, the governor and a superdelegate who is often mentioned as a possible vice-presidential running mate. He said in an interview: “I tell you, when I go to the convention I’m going to vote for Hillary Clinton come hell or high water.”
The apocalyptic imagery may be appropriate. Many Democrats predict a bloody civil war should Obama be defeated by the white men in suits who have run the party for decades.
The demographics of Ohio should present fertile territory for Clinton. Its population is 84% white and it has a high proportion of blue-collar workers without higher education, earning less than $50,000 a year.
Strickland believes the voters have yet to get to know the warm-hearted, “deeply caring” Clinton: “I told her if people understood what motivates you to seek this office, if they understood what was in your heart, there wouldn’t be any contest.” Clinton has eschewed her softer side at this stage of the campaign to emphasise her credentials as a “fighter”.
Party leaders are watching her performance with apprehension, wondering if she really is willing to tear the Democrats apart in order to capture every last vote. Nancy Pelosi said: “It would bea problem for the party if the verdict would be something different than the public has decided.”
Some prominent African-American superdelegates are already switching sides after fearing that they had misjudged Obama’s strength among their own community. Obama’s ability to outmanoeuvre Clinton is showing in the battle for superdelegates.
Jason Altmire, a Pennsylvania congressman, said he remained on the fence for now – but was wondering whether he had a “moral obligation” to let voters know his preferred candidate.
Obama began calling Altmire in July, when he was 20 points behind in the polls. In November, Altmire had a long chat with Obama’s wife, Michelle, who outlined their strategy for victory and sent him a handwritten follow-up note afterwards.
At that stage there was no indication that the Pennsylvania primary – coming so late in the schedule – or his own vote as a superdelegate would matter, but Obama was already planning for the long game.
“They were really touching all the right bases,” Altmire said.
As yet he has not heard anything from the Clintons. Told of the congressman’s story, a spokesman for Clinton asked which state Altmire was from, expecting it to be an early-voting one.
“Pennsylvania? Oh, that is good,” he replied, looking taken aback. It is an extraordinary verdict on Clinton’s campaign that, this far into the race, the formerly inevitable winner is having to play catchup.
* rdorgan,
When McCain talks about staying in Iraq, he's speaking on behalf of the United States Air Force which has set up its bases and radar installation and missile pads and communications intercept facilities and expects to patrol the whole region from its southwest Asian redoubt. I think we need to start making the point that this really a replay of Vietnam on the other side of the Indian Ocean.
voters in important states are going to have a vital role deep into the process this year, and one could see how it would be possible that every voter will get to have a say in the final decision but the truth is if Obama wins Wisconsin, and Texas or Ohio this thing is over.(I'm making the assumption that an Obama win in Vermont cancels out Rhode Island)
Pennsylvania will be window dressing (organize like crazy for Obama right now just in case you can use it in the fall)
Clinton has been running a really stupid ad about Obama ducking debates in Wisconsin, and I'd check the voting machine software if she wins here
the Clinton "cult" talk has had the effect of Obama taking down ads with large cheering crowds, and running more General election type ads which may help him.
I'm really amazed at how deft the Axelrod/Obama team has been at countering (anticipating) Clinton's moves.
McCain doesn't stand a chance.
9:34 AM EST
...
When McCain talks about staying in Iraq, he's speaking on behalf of the United States Air Force which has set up its bases
...
+++
Indeed.
I'm ex-Air Force myself and IMO McCain is simply exposing America to even more danger by his 100 year push in Iraq. Stubborn is as Stubborn does (jeez, haven't Americans had enough of a president who routinely ignores the will of the majority of Americans ?, why would we want another one cut from the same cloth ?)
I don't know about anybody else, but I'm getting a feel of a general election already taking place between McCain and Obama.
The Air Force is consolidating assets on Guam:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?secti...
"The Red Horse squadron officially stood up in January, according to commander Lt. Col. Robert Eric Yates. Also last month, the 644th Combat Communications Squadron was reactivated. It eventually will grow to 145 members, Kersh said.
The Commander Warrior School, which trains airmen on securing airfield areas, also moved from Osan and will hold its first class this summer. And eventually, the 554th’s detachment at Kadena Air Base will move to Andersen by 2014, Kersh said.
The moves are also part of the Pentagon’s overall restructuring in South Korea, where troops will be consolidated them into a handful of bases in the central part of the country. The plans for the response group were already written before the Pentagon proposed moving 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, Kersh said.
For the next two years, the Red Horse squadron will focus on building the group’s headquarters at Andersen’s Northwest Field, which hasn’t been used for years, Yates said.
Eventually, the squadron will deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan and bases throughout the Pacific to work on construction projects, he said."
[...]
Sounds like wishful thinking to me. It's been clear for some time that our forces aren't welcome in South Korea anymore.
10:02 AM EST
typo - fyi - new Front thread by Charlie Daniels
s/b - fyi - new Front thread by Charles Daniel
"Yes, We Will"
Recapping Yesterday: In Cincinnati, Ohio, Hillary held an economic roundtable before a "jam-packed, standing-room-only crowd at Skyline Chili," where she ordered two cheese coneys. In Akron at a Lockheed-Martin plant, "many of the workers were eager to meet" Hillary. "As she walked through the work floor, Hillary stopped to autograph a teddy bear in the arms of an employee who wanted to surprise his wife." . In Cuyahoga Falls, Hillary "was greeted by a boisterous crowd." When Hillary spoke about universal health care, "one of her supporters yelled out, 'Yes, we can!' Sensing an opportunity, Clinton quickly retorted: 'Yes, we will!'" . In Lyndhurst, "Clinton brought that slogan to a packed rally of about 3,000." Hillary "led the mostly young and boisterous crowd into chanting: "Yes, we will! Yes, we will! Yes, we will!'"
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/blog/Defau...
Morning Folks,
Sitka, just to let you know, I find your reposts, your rebuttals refreshing. I'm glad for your quick wit, your sharp observations. It's not necessary to agree all the time or any time, but your intelligence keeps us on our toes. Thank you.
The Jesus photos are beyond the pale. My husband who has a wit much like Sitka's remarked:
"Everyone knows that Jesus was blue eyed and blond, loved drinking Budwiser, and had a shotgun at the back of his pickup."
Finally, racism is part of the reptillian brain, when we were probably rabbit sized and had to band together in clans. Endogamy (marrying within the clan family) kept us all looking alike. We feared anyone who was different would hurt us.
I can only think such hatred and spite comes from that reptillian brain, and it can't be eradicated. But, it's dangerous because it's utterly vicious, and we have to counteract it.
So, any doubts now about the nastiness out there?
FACTS and Figures of 2007 Primary.
P R E S I D E N T I A L C A N D I D A T E
Hillary Clinton (D)
Senator from New York
Total Receipts: $115,652,361
Total Spent: $77,704,487
Cash on Hand: $37,947,874
Debts: $4,987,425
Date of last report: December 31, 2007
Totals may include compliance fund receipts
P R E S I D E N T I A L C A N D I D A T E
Barack Obama (D)
Senator from Illinois
Total Receipts: $102,170,668
Total Spent: $83,544,420
Cash on Hand: $18,626,248
Debts: $792,681
Date of last report: December 31, 2007
Totals may include compliance fund receipts
Although the Democrats weren't able to earn delegates in Michigan or Florida, because the states scheduled early primaries without the national party's blessing, the hopefuls still spent nearly $3.4 million in those states. Hillary Clinton and Obama each spent about $130,000 in Michigan while Obama spent $1.3 million in Florida—more than any other Democratic candidate and more than eight Republican candidates, who were eligible to win delegates from the state.
http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=...
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By Monica Smith on Feb 10, 2008 8:25 AM ESTDean is first.
That said, I think we need to give some consideration to the possibility that religious institutions were just being used as shills for politicians to curry to their cronies and associates. We heard the same argument for "efficiency" that we heard about privatization (handing government functions and funding over to the private sector) and now realize it was all a sham. The goal was and is to find some avenue whereby being accountable and responsive to the public can be evaded. The increase in shareholder interest in the corporations that now control their pensions has made the private corporation less attractive. Religious institutions have always been rather quirky behind their curtains and giving them more money to play with has not made them more responsible.
Which is probably why the latest venue for the movers and shakers and global directors is the family foundation, the non-governmental organization and the think tank circuit, which largely survives on tax-deductible grants.
Given the sums being wasted on these enterprises, the little bit of tax that's being avoided by these eleemosynary institutions can't be the driving motivation. More likely, it's the opportunity to avoid having to be answerable to the common man. If the elite have to answer to the common man, what's the point?