Howard is first and would make a GREAT VP!!

Who says Howard will leave Washington "for good?"

Hillary and her camp have been claiming that caucuses put her at a disadvantage. But a new study finds that she'd better be thankful for them...

A major problem with using the popular vote as a measure of democratic will is that some states have held primaries while others have used caucuses, which have far lower turnout.

According to our analysis, an additional 4.1 million voters likely would have participated in the Democratic nominating process had every caucus state instead held a primary - people who are left out of current popular vote tabulations. Additionally, it is likely that the candidates' share of the popular vote would be different.

When we forecast the likely outcome of hypothetical primaries in caucus states by using their demographic profiles to project vote outcomes based on national demographic voting patterns, we find that Barack Obama's lead in the popular vote would increase from about 2.5 percentage points to about 3.5 percentage points. This translates into a lead of more than 1.3 million votes, up notably from the current number of about 717,000 votes.

pdf

This deserves a re-post by susan on last thread.

http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe9210747...

Sac Bee Capitol PM Alert: Bucked by Barack

...In tomorrow's Bee: Sen. Barack Obama has built a reputation for developing unprecedented levels of grassroots support for his campaign, but he blocked hundreds of California backers this week from competing to become national convention delegates in his name, angering Democrats who had been organizing for weeks to win a ticket to Denver, reports Kevin Yamamura.

Sen. Hillary Clinton also cut her list, but not nearly in the magnitude Obama did, slicing only about three dozen people whose motives the campaign questioned...

Will s/o please explain to me what cutting the list means exactly?

Here's the whole story, sea:

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/850400.html 

Send some money Dean's way.  He's being sued again by the two Tampa hooligans.  This time they are suing him for trying to promote racial diversity.  That is just so stupid and idiotic.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1975

"What an interesting turn of the worm. Sometime next week, we may have democrats suing democrats for carrying out a very democratic policy of advancing minorities. Steinberg and DiMaio acknowledge with a grin that their reverse racism accusation will ruffle feathers, but hope the conservative judiciary will be delighted to strike a blow against affirmative action and rule in their favor. Their only objective, they claim, is to see all of Florida's delegates seated based on the January 31st primary election."

Susie Shannon of California wrote:

...My friend Ralph Fertig is a Civil Rights Activist, a former Freedom Rider whose ribs were kicked in by Klansmen in Selma, Alabama while he worked to ensure that everyone had the right to vote.

He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. He has worked as a civil rights attorney and supported Obama all the way through his campaign. HE WAS PURGED FROM OBAMA'S LIST! It is unbeleivable. ...

Thank you, puddle, for the link.   I don't understand why loyal people like Ralph were purged.

Are BO and HC afraid that their delegates will turn on them or turn to a completely different person - like Al, for instance.

KISS - a popular IRV. 

Obama and Hillary Spin a 'Big Lie' About Iraq

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted April 5, 2008.

The two Dems lie every time they discuss Iraq on the campaign trail, but the media refuse to call them on it.


The cable news networks are happy to spend hours on the latest silly campaign squabble but can't bring themselves to point out the plain fact that the two Democratic nominees are lying, blatantly, to the American people about one of the most important issues facing the country today.

On the stump, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are crystal clear in their rhetoric about Iraq. In a statement released on the occasion of the 4,000th U.S. combat death in Iraq, Clinton said, "I have made [a] promise. And I intend to honor it by bringing a responsible end to this war, and bringing our troops home safely." Not to be outdone, the Obama campaign piped in with an even more definitive statement: "It is past time to end this war that should never have been waged by bringing our troops home."

On the campaign trail, the two candidates often speak of bringing the troops home and ending the war, and Democratic primary voters, 80 percent of whom want U.S. troops out of Iraq within 12 months, reward them with boisterous applause.

It's a Big Lie, and everyone who follows the debates over U.S. policy towards Iraq knows it, but refuses to call the candidates on it. Both Clinton and Obama (PDF) have been very clear -- in the fine print -- about the fact that they will leave a significant number of "residual forces" in Iraq, albeit with a more limited mission than the Bush administration has pursued. They would protect U.S. infrastructure and personnel -- Obama says "the U.S. embassy" -- train Iraqi forces and retain a rapid-response force to conduct "limited counter-terrorism" missions.

Although the candidates refuse to specify the exact scope and length of that mission, independent analysts say that it would require at least 40,000 and as many as 75,000 soldiers and marines. When one looks at the big picture, the end game appears to be a significant draw-down of troops -- with as many as 100,000 sent home or redeployed to Afghanistan, where thin NATO troops are struggling to contain a re-emergent Taliban -- calling a halt to most combat operations and patrols, and dismantling most or all U.S. bases outside of Baghdad.

They would, however, maintain the infrastructure of the U.S. occupation and provide the forces necessary to do so. As the Nation's Jeremy Scahill told Amy Goodman,

    Both [candidates] intend to keep the Green Zone intact. Both of them intend to keep the current U.S. embassy project, which is slated to be the largest embassy in the history of the world ... And they're also going to keep open the Baghdad airport indefinitely.

Calling the massive campus the United States is building in Baghdad an "embassy" is somewhat misleading. The Associated Press described it as a "fortresslike compound rising beside the Tigris River ... the largest of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City, with the population of a small town, its own defense force, self-contained power and water, and a precarious perch at the heart of Iraq's turbulent future."

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/news/13905 

I think a lot of young people are going to suffer *buyers remorse* and I hope it doesn't turn them off forever to the dem party...or to voting in the gen'l.

oops, that was too long.

Nite nite. 

©Huffaker, Cagle Cartoons

Good morning, sea and everybody

The thing is that you can't lie about the future.  The other thing is that what the fine print contains about Iraq is the original plan, which has probably been on the drawing boards since the American military pulled out of Vietnam.  "Where are we going to put our military headquarters in the Eastern hemisphere to make sure that China and Russia and India don't get too big for their britches?"

Iraq was an answer.

Saudi Arabia was an answer.

Somalia was an answer.

The former Soviet states known as the 'stans was an answer.

Which would you opt for? 

BTW, McCain is being straight in talking about the long term presence.  When he talks about 'winning' in Iraq he means a general agreement that the US can stay as long as it wants without being attacked.

Being honest is really the only option left.  He's clearly gotten the green light from the Pentagon to make this last stand.  Admiral Mullen says they're ready to move the troops out if the new president tells them to.  Hillary can't consider that option because she and Bill have too much invested in the Iraq option.  It isn't just that Bill sanctioned the planning and run-up to the invasion; it's that he's guilty of the ten year embargo when the Iraqi people were made to suffer in an effort to lead them to revolt against a ruler who wouldn't co-operate with the US.  All those dead children must be worth something.  It isn't just the dead troops that have to be validated.  It's all the other dead and malnourished and maimed by depleted uranium.

Obama has no investment in this debacle.  Indeed, as an African American, he's got nothing invested in the decision-making process that got us into the dominion mindset in the first place.  That's probably why he chose to be African American, rather than a well-tanned Wall Street lawyer.  And, make no mistake about it, Obama did choose to be an African American.  That's one of the things some African Americans have a hard time understanding.  Why would someone choose to be part of a group that sees itself as widely despised?  Why do lots of immigrants choose to be Americans rather than Germans or Greeks or Danes or Egyptians?  Presumably, because they LIKE making choices about their own past and their own future.

Hillary's problem is that she still hasn't made a choice about who she wants to be.  That's why we have the many faces of Hillary. 

good morning, folks!  cloudy day, temp dropping, lining up for 4 or 5 days of rain.  lake is about 6" away from flood level today so some folks are gonna have a rough weekend.

seashell, when's the last time you had a CONVERSATION with someone on this blog?  I mean a respectful, facts based conversation?  you may not realize it, but you talk AT US, telling us what sheeple we are for supporting Obama and insulting our intelligence almost every time you post.  then if someone responds to your outrageous OPINIONS, (such as your imaginations about Michelle - you can find your wild thoughts about her going back for a couple months now) you stomp your foot and tell us how bad we are and everyone is leaving the blog because of 'us' and that you probably will too. 

HERE'S AN IDEA: if you want us to converse with you, how about treating us with a little respect?  no one likes to be condescended to and all can see from the posts that quite a few folks are really getting tired of the nastiness - you're almost always on the attack here.  I know, you don't see it that way, but perhaps you could go back and read a few of your posts and at least TRY to understand how you may come across to others, especially those with no personal connection to you and who may not know you by other than the stuff you write here.  

I don't think anyone here thinks Obama is perfect - hell, a 'perfect' person couldn't RUN this country, right now, today, in the condition we're in.  WE GET IT.  we understand how you feel about him - HOW COULD WE NOT?  but perhaps you could LEARN how to portray those feelings without being so insulting to folks who don't have the same opinions as you do.   could you please at least try?

Here's the video on top WH folks (Condi, Dick) talking about torture (from a KOS diary):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5UyCQp-I...://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/9/212830/1496/266/492989

At one point in the meetings Ashcroft asks, "Why are we discussing this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/9/2...

Condaleeza Rice led the meetings.

disturbing news Susan, but it may be isolated, as the campaign has delegated down the vetting process to the state level, sounds like they need to be more careful, it is written into the rules as a pledged delgate is not a bound delegate

Jo

I run into voters with seashell 's confusion all the time door to door and that is why I always carry informative literature to leave them. conversation needs to be about their friendly dog or the great view from their porch or something like seeing their grandkids name on the honor roll in the paper (anything positive) a tone that turns argumentative is counter productive everytime

Jo

I do counter untruths with something like "well you know how many rumors swirl around in an election year"    ... " I thought the argument about him was that he stayed too long in his church, not that he is muslim" ...   "here, read this when you have some time"

door to door is the best way to get a handle on the rovian whisper campaign because people sometimes realize what they repeat can't be true when they speak it, but will be defensive about the "friend" that told it too them so confront the untruth not the person

a line I use is "well I don't think that is true, but I might be wrong, we kneed to look further" to validate them as a voter with a right to their own beliefs while saying there is an alternative

I've got a mystery.  When I went to fetch yesterday's diary from KOS about the flyboys so I could post it on Bluehampshire, everything after the sentence following the Youtube was missing from the extended edit diary box.  The diary itself, with links, seems to be intact and I just recreated it for BH and Hannah, but it's strange.............

looks like I just missing the winter storm watch area to thew north and the flood warning to the south so will just have a day of rain/snow slop again   whoopie

I have to deliver a bull and they are always harder to handle on warm spring days when they get spring fever and want to play, so I guess I'm lucky. bbl

7:15 AM EDT

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

...

4031

...

Annilow - thanks for the link - methinks this SHOULD give Pelosi pause to reconsider putting the "I" word 'on the table' as the Hague waits impatiently for this next great task and it's line up of American criminals to bring to justice.

do they need to 'impeach' them BEFORE they 'arrest' them?

good morning, folks!  cloudy day, temp dropping, lining up for 4 or 5 days of rain.  lake is about 6" away from flood level today so some folks are gonna have a rough weekend.

seashell, when's the last time you had a CONVERSATION with someone on this blog?

...

+++

Jo -

Indeed.  I give you credit for making the effort to converse with her. Frankly, I don't bother.

7:31 AM EDT

Bush is like the neighbor's dog that comes and craps on your yard:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080410/pl_afp/usiraqpolitics_080410112135

Democrats fear next president faces Iraq 'quagmire'

by Stephen Collinson

9 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Anti-war Democrats accused the White House of plotting to saddle the next president with a "quagmire" in Iraq

...

The White House said he will give a speech on Iraq and US troop levels at 11:30 am (1530 GMT).

...

thanks, Phil, I agree!  now and then I try to point out some such foolishness w/o pointing a finger, but it doesn't work quite as well on the blog as face-to-face!!!  I try to 'listen' to blog posts w/o reacting and if I disagree I try to determine if I disagree with the gist of the words or with the WAY they were presented - sometimes it takes a little more thinking or probing to determine just what one was trying to say.

I get discouraged with all that we need to fix in this country being sidelined by off-the-wall comments on personality and the corporate media spin and the absolute bs campaign tactics.  this is indeed a LONG campaign.  and to think, the real fight has yet to begin - November seems such a long way away and I fear Bush & Co. have time to do more damage still...

who fiddled while Rome burned - Nero?  not to say that electing a President is 'fiddlling', just saying a lot of time is spent on the bs side of things and seems to distract us so from some very serious stuff.  once all this (D)emocratic passion and energy is turned on the republicans, things will become much more productive, imo.  and hopefully a lot more fun!

Phil, I like your attitude about the weather and the bull.  that's how I try to look at adversity, too - there's often an upside if you look for it.  and if not, there's always a lesson.  ;)

I hope this crappy winter you've endured leads to the very best growing season you've ever had! 

Re: ABC news report on torture approval by the NSC--

there's also coverage in the Baltimore Chronicle

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2008/040808Floyd.shtml



Telling excerpt:



"John Yoo always was -- and always will be -- nothing but the faithful

factotum of those who hold the power in our system.



So let's quit kicking John Yoo around, all right? He was only following
orders. He did what he was told. He carried out the arbitrary will of our
Leader, without question, without hestitation, without any quibbling over
the rule of law. And isn't that the American way?


If you have some kind of problem with the President of the United States being able to order his flunkies to throw acid on a naked, chained-up captive -- who might have been sold into custody by a bounty hunter or rounded up in a random sweep or denounced by a business rival or snatched off a city street for having the wrong name, the wrong religion, the wrong skin; if for some reason it bothers your delicate liberal sensibilities that the President of the United States claims the power to hold any person on earth for as long as he likes, on no evidence or charges at all, and then slit the captive's ear or piss down his throat -- or grind the testicles of prisoner's five-year-old child under a bootheel; if you're such a big girl's blouse that you get all wiggly at the thought of the President of the United States claiming the arbitrary, unchecked power to kill any person on earth that he -- or his designated agents -- declares an "enemy combatant" or even a "suspected terrorist" -- then don't blame John C. Yoo. For God's sake, have the balls to put the responsibility squarely where it belongs: on the President of the United States, George Walker Bush, and the Vice President of the United States, Richard Bruce Cheney. Have the guts to demand their impeachment, now -- yes, now, right in the middle of a presidential election campaign, right in the middle of their last year in office -- for the capital crime (by U.S. law) of torture.

If you believe that what the Bush Administration has done is torture, then you have no other choice. And any elected officials in the national
government -- including Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- who do not call for the immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney on these charges, and the subsequent prosecution of their myriad minions who carried out their orders, are implicity condoning these crimes and acting as willing accomplices for them."



 

Elton John:

“I’m amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country. And I say to hell with them… I love you Hillary, I’ll be there for you.”

http://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/mhojqlaukfid/rss2/

Excuse me Mr. John, I am voting for Obama because of who he is.  I am multifaceted, I have a brain, I am not going to vote for a woman just because she is a woman.  I say to hell with you.  Oh by the way I am not a woman hater, and I trust them.  I happen to be one.

7:58 AM EDT

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/gary

Theodore Roosevelt High School
730 W 25th Ave.
Gary, IN 46407

Thursday, April 10th
Doors Open: 9:00 a.m.
Program Begins: 11:00 a.m.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/lafayette

Jefferson High School
Marion L. Crawley Athletic Center
1801 S. 18th St.
Lafayette, IN 47905

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Doors Open: 4:00 p.m.
Program begins: 6:00 p.m.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/columbus/

seashell - and everyone else, actually!  I have a request for you.  TIME magazine's cover story this month is 'Raising Obama', about his Mom and Grandparents and his unusual situation growing up as a mixed-race child and how that has formed the man that he is.  I think you'd have liked his Mom - she was a strong, independent, progressive woman and well ahead of her time.  please read it.  please.  I felt a kinship with her before I reached the second page.  

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1729524,00.html

Phil,

I love to visit the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer.  Too cold, haven't been there yet.  But the male Musk Ox are indeed frisky in spring.  They are given a wide berth.

8:06 AM EDT

rae hart -

Don't call him Elton John, call him --

Reginald Kenneth Dwight

-- that'll get him really labeling Americans.

Monica - powerful statements - well said!  IMPEACH!

Howard is first and would make a GREAT VP!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sea,
I think you fell and hit your head while doing the rumba.....

Deans done.....the media and powers that be have painted him.....the silly Democrapic Party has marginalized him..Clinton wants nothing to do with him and everybodys hereo, BO tolerates him.............
Thats the way I see it..thats the way it will end up.... always said, his loyalties to the Party were questionable..he would have better served the nation by firing up a 3rd party.....

O'Malley Road and Lake Otis intersection yesterday in Anchorage.

8:21 AM EDT

speaking of Reg Dwight:

http://www.sitcom.co.uk/vicar_dibley/series1.shtml

THE VICAR OF DIBLEY

SERIES 1 - First broadcast 1994

...

3. Community Spirit

The annual Dibley Autumn Fayre is due to occur and David is angry not to be invited to open it as he usually is. Preparations are quickly under way to arrange things including Alice's very, erm, creative idea of making soft toys from cooked pasta. Although Geraldine can't seem to work out what creature each of the animals is, Alice explains each with perfect ease.

The sexual tension rises yet again as Hugo makes moves on Alice but both are too nervous to do anything about it! When Geraldine ponders who to invite to open the fayre, she notices that Alice's uncle is called Reg Dwight (which is Elton John's "real" name). Naturally she makes the obvious assumption, and invites Reg to open the fayre. The village celebrates this in a party with Elton John songs.

On the day of the fayre, Alice's uncle arrives to open the event - the problem is he really is just Reg Dwight! Panic ensues (and David is smug and chirpy because he thinks that once again he'll be asked to open the fayre), but not for long: Kylie Minogue drops by and agrees to open the fayre! The villagers celebrate; Geraldine is happy; and David is beaten on this occasion!

First broadcast: 24th Nov 1994. Guest starring Kylie Minogue

...

I wonder what the less than successful CINC will say tonight.

8:49 AM EDT

http://www.goal.com/en-US/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=653723

4/10/2008 1:59 AM

If most New Englanders couldn’t point to Gambia on a map, they can happily point to two Gambian youngsters. Sainey Nyassi and Kenny Mansally, both 19, each scored as the New England Revolution beat the Kansas City Wizards 3-1 on a rainy night in Kansas.

A sparse crowd showed up at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Wednesday night, hoping to see their Wizards, winners of two in a row, beat an undermanned Revolution. But the Revs, missing four regular starters, including Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston, came out in attack mode.

...

Obama to receive Phila. endorsements today

"In Pennsylvania, we realize that top party officials are not with us as it relates to Senator Obama's candidacy," Jones said, "but there are three words that were born in Philadelphia and still resonate across the Commonwealth today, and they are 'We the People.'

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080410_Obama_to_receive_Phila__endorsements_today.html

9:23 AM EDT

fyi - new Front thread

Michael......

You're concerned that Dean is done because the Clintons don't want to have anything to do with him? That is a badge of success. It is the Clintons who are on their way out.
We need to use some of that hope that's out there and turn it to helping Howard finish the job, and we'll have a third party...the Dems, Rep. and the DLCers.

right now Howard needs our help $$$ not gloomy forecasts.

I remember that moose from Northern Exposure.