Don't Misread the Situation

A lot of people in Hillary Clinton’s camp are seeing today’s pronouncement by James Comey, director of the FBI, as a victory. Don’t misread the situation. Comey used these words in his decision not to indict Hillary Clinton: “extremely careless.” Not exactly a quality you want in your next Commander-in-Chief. He added that she did not intend to violate laws, and made it clear that she had indeed done so. He compared the obstacles in the investigation: "It was like removing the frame from a huge jigsaw puzzle and then dumping all the pieces on the floor. ... We searched through all of it." Showing that the very last thing Sec. Clinton was trying to be was helpful, compliant or transparent. He described a series of obstacles, including a server that had its software wiped. That does not happen without intent to obfuscate. 110 of the emails searched contained classified information at the time, and eight were "top secret." Let us also remember that over half the emails sent were irretrievable, and their content cannot be known. So it is clear she endangered the security of our country. Party loyalists, naturally, are crowing loudly, as though their gal has been exonerated. She has not. They are bragging as though her honor has been restored. It has not. They are breathing a sigh of relief that the cloud has lifted from her campaign. It has not. Hillary Clinton is the least trusted, least liked, least favorably viewed major party candidate in history. Her campaigning mantra among her supporters is "she's not Donald Trump." That's the worst endorsement of a candidate ever, and that's her primary selling point. It may actually be her only selling point. She's still dishonest, she's still reckless, she's still disingenuous, she's still cunning, she's still ruthless. How are we supposed to hold our head up as a nation knowing that’s our President? Knowing that it took the unethical interference of the sitting President, his Attorney General, her husband (the former President), and countless others, to keep her from criminal charges. Naturally, Comey went out of his way to negate this assertion, to the degree of “doth protest too much.” Add to this the assertion that he’s sure Obama and Clinton aren’t talking about this in their meeting today, and that Attorney General Loretta Lynch claims Bill Clinton boarded her plane last week in Phoenix to talk about his grandchildren, and it takes a willing suspension of disbelief on the order of making a Road Runner cartoon seem realistic in order to convince yourself that there’s nothing shady going on. The only thing that changed about Hillary Clinton today is that she's going to get away with it, so she can say “sigh”, and her misguided flock get to breathe a big “baaaaa" of relief. Shame on America for allowing this. We’re not only condoning wrongdoing, we’re complicit in our own downfall as a democracy. This nation deserves whatever consequences may come from dismantling our integrity.

Five Kids = Qualified VP?

Take a look at this opinion on iReport.com, because my blog today is a response to it. It scares me that this could possibly be the way any, much less many, American voters think.

In it, the voter writes:

"If she can run a family of five, she will have no problem running a country...."

Could she be for real? I mean, seriously. Is this for real? Are people's views really that simplistic?

The Presidency of the United States-- which is, after all, what the Vice-Presidency is all about, so remember, she's got to be ready to be PRESIDENT-- isn't about whether we have fish sticks or meat loaf tonight. The crises are bigger than whether we can afford to get the kids an XBox. Problems arise that dwarf mending the backyard fence. Crises like handling an illegitimate pregnancy that consume a mother's life for weeks, pale in comparison to the things the President has to deal with several times a day. The USA has problems with a touch more gravitas than being a hockey mom.

This is the world's largest economy, and it's in big trouble.

This is a nation of 300 million plus without any guarantees for its citizens of health care or education beyond high school.

This is a country with a largely ignorant white majority that is shrinking, and whose long-standing racial hatreds that are shifting from blacks to its Latin immigrant population, many of whom are here illegally.

This is a country where corporations funnel billions of dollars off the government teat, and where influence peddling-- which Governor Palin seems to be very well-versed in-- is ruining our very existence.

This is a nation embroiled in two wars, egging on a third, whose international reputation is in complete disrepair.

So I admonish folks to rethink their decision that Sarah Palin's motherhood makes her qualified to be President. Because, with all the respect she is due, if this blogger's shallow, ill-formulated opinion represents the average American voter... God have mercy on us.

Palin: a loveable woman, but an appalling candidate

A British analyst's scathing take on why Sarah Palin absolutely should not be considered the great hope for women in politics. Good ammo for any anti-Palin crusaders. Obama's camp should use it as a talking points memo. John McCain's VP nominee has a lot of admirable qualities, but she isn't ready to lead. Here's a point-by-point as to why.

read more | digg story

Go Campbell, Go Campbell...

It was fun watching Tucker Bounds, McCain's spokesman, shake in his boots during his interview with CNN's Campbell Brown.

See for yourself:



And after that disastrous performance, Bounds got his panties in a twist and canceled McCain's scheduled appearance on Larry King Live. That'll show CNN, right?

Wrong. It just shows that the GOP is in total disarray. It shows that Tucker Bounds can't defend the choice of Sarah Palin, and it shows that they're afraid Larry King would ask the same question of John McCain, who would do no better.

This is a freakshow.

Why I Won't Shut Up About Sarah Palin

Palin's family off-limits? Maybe for Barack Obama, but not for me.

Democrats shoot themselves in both feet every time they try to take the high road, because the Republicans never do. For example, if I were Al Gore, I would still be contesting the 2000 election instead of all that "concede and heal" nonsense.

So... I'll say what nobody else will. If Sarah Palin can't keep tabs on her own daughter, arming her with abstinence education and Christian piety, how, someone tell me, how, in God's name, is she supposed to run a country?

If baby Trig, known to have Down Syndrome, came prematurely by a month to a 44-year-old mother, and that mother, Governor Palin, finished a speech and then flew for 12 hours with her water broken only to pass up two hospitals with NICUs only to give birth in some backwater medical clinic, how, in God's name, are we to trust her to handle a time-is-of-the-essence international crisis?

If son Track can't be mentioned in public without noting that he enlisted last year, and, coincidentally is headed to Iraq this year on the same date-- September 11th-- then I'll be damned if I'll keep the kids out of it.

Governor Palin is, plainly and simply, whoring her kids out for political purposes. She's turning Track into a modern doughboy, Bristol into an anti-choice poster child, and using Trig as testament to her pioneer toughness, bragging that she returned to work just three days after birthing him... like that's something to be proud of.

She's a disgrace-- a political animal of the first order that could only be the creation of ambition, blind fervency, and Karl Rove.

McCain's Lost.. His Mind

Governors rarely have foreign policy experience. But that not withstanding, in so many other ways, Sarah Palin is a disaster.

Twenty months ago, she was the ex-mayor of a town of less than 9,000. Her foreign policy is the same as her domestic policy: drill, drill, drill. She has been no friend to the environment. She is entirely Alaska-focused, with her primary stated objective of "oil independence" as a veiled attempt to boost her home state's presence on the national stage. At one point, she belonged to the Alaska Independence Party that promotes secession from the USA. Hardly patriotic.

She has manipulated her own children for political purposes, turning Bristol and Trig into poster-children for her anti-choice agenda.

She has repeatedly lied and backpedaled. She has abused her power. She has used her position for political gain. Even the small town of Wasilla was left after her administration with an economy in tatters and an unfinished arena, higher taxes, and shortage of services.

Even those whose job it is to smile and pretend like the GOP leadership can do no wrong, even with the blinders on and the Kool-Aid stains all around their mouths can see... she's the worst possible pick.

Sarah Palin is nothing more than a one-stop pandering ploy, trying to rein in Hillary supporters (who should just do a 180° despite positions just 'coz the Gov is a woman), right-wing evangelical yahoos (who are crapping their pants that her daughter is knocked up), and dudes that just want a hot chick on the ticket.

I do admit, she's a total fox.

Palin Baby: The Plot Sickens

Wow. I never thought the way they'd cover up Bristol Palin's illegitimate pregnancy with... another illegitimate pregnancy.

Today, Governor Sarah Palin announced that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. Five months. What a convenient way to convince folks that she isn't Trig's mommy: She couldn't possibly have given birth to Trig, she had just gotten knocked up when he was born!

Anyone for Irish Twins?

I'll lay you a dollar to a dime right now that Bristol will either miscarry or give birth early.

Sarah Palin, whether she's her own deceptive mastermind, or a willing victim/puppet of Karl Rove, has sunk lower than any politician I've ever encountered. Using her own children and grandchildren to further her neo-Nazi agenda. What a piece of work.

Truth or Lie, Palin Fails Trig Test Either Way

Governor Sarah Palin's selection as John McCain's running mate was a gift from Heaven to Barack Obama. Honestly. An disconnected, elitist warhawk with a bad temper and a worse health record chooses a backwater neophyte as his running mate. If Obama and Biden are a couple of hungry wolves, Palin is a little lost lamb.

But now with increasing speculation (and, if not credence, at least plausability) to the rumor than little Trig Palin, the WannaVeep's youngest child, actually is the fruit of her daughter Bristol's womb, and not her own, the lamb may very well be sacrificed.

This is the stuff of novels, and so no matter how far-fetched it may appear, bear with me a moment. What I am about to report are the official story. I won't even address the speculation as to the reasons:

1. Gov. Palin's eldest daughter, Bristol, was pulled from school for mononucleosis. For at least five months, maybe longer, as the Governor prepared to give birth.

2. Gov. Palin announced on March 5, 2008 that she was due to give birth in mid-May, making her, according to her own accounts at the time of the announcement, seven months pregnant.

3. At the time of the announcement, staffers and onlookers were shocked. The general concensus: nobody cold tell Gov. Palin was pregnant. At seven months.

4. Video is available for public access that shows Gov. Palin walking briskly, in high heels and tight clothing, not looking the slightest bit pregnant, in February. The day after the announcement, video clips show her looking considerably heavier than the day before. In one video clip she discusses how much she likes running in the hills of Juneau "because it really shreds your guts."

5. According to Gov. Palin's own account, her water broke April 17, 2008, the day she was to give the keynote address at an energy conference in Dallas. She went on, and gave the speech, leaking amniotic fluid.

6. It is a well-known medical fact that leakage of amniotic fluid puts a baby in distress and leaves the chld at a greater risk for infection.

7. After the speech, Gov. Palin left DFW on a commercial flight on Alaska Airlines, and flew back to Anchorage, via a layover in Seattle. The trip was a minimum of nine hours, and could have been as many as twelve. Flight personnel have stated the Governor never appeared to be in any distress, nor was her pregnancy even evident.

8. From Anchorage, it was off to her hometown of Wasilla, to the small Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, 45 miles away, where she gave birth. The Mat-Su facility has no NICU. She drove over an hour to Wasilla past two regional facilities that have NICU and proper staff to deal with premature baby issues and Down Syndrome neonatal complications.

9. Gov. Palin's doctor, Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson-- who isn't in fact an obstetrician, but a family practicioner-- broke the news to her in December that her child would have Down's Syndrome. This, combined with her age (44), would indicate that the Governor knew her pregnancy was high-risk.

10. She finally gave birth to Trig 30 hours or so after her water broke, which is a dangerous delay.

Does this even sound like the plausible actions of a woman who's had four kids? A 44-year-old who is involved in a high-risk pregnancy? A woman who gives a damn about the life growing inside her?

Nope. So the possible explanations are very simple.

1. If the child is Bristol's, it's a world-class cover-up scandal. Either the life in question wasn't growing inside of her, but perhaps her eldest daughter, which would be a colossal embarrassment for a sitting Governor known for Christian evangelical conservatism and preaching abstinence as the only acceptable form of birth control.... or....

2. If the child is Sarah's, she was reckless with its health-- flying all over North America with her water broken, risking infection, putting the child in distress, and worse. She placed the importance of a political speech over the welfare of an unborn, premature baby when she was 44 years old-- high risk to begin with.

This is not about Down's, or abortion, or family values, or abstinence, or a mother's love, no matter how they try to spin it when this story hits the mainstream media. This is about politics.

Either way, she's an abomination: a deceitful manipulator, or a woman who uses her own children (or grandchildren) for personal gain. She deserves the crucifixion that's coming to her.

Do The Right Thing... For Hillary Clinton

Did you support Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries?

She was a great candidate. She ran a fantastic, hard-fought campaign, and she deserves all the credit and recognition that she is being awarded right now at the Democratic National Convention.

If you supported Hillary, your fight isn't over. There is still one thing you can do to make sure all her efforts were not in vain. It won't take much effort, either. All you need to do is: put your heart and soul into ensuring that Barack Obama is elected the next president of the United States.

With Senator Clinton out of the race, voters may choose to follow her lead and switch their allegiance to Senator Obama. They may also choose not to vote, or (as some of them have indicated) vote for Senator McCain. The latter two options yield the same result: since record numbers of Democratic voters are needed to turn out for November's elections vs. Republican voters who tend to be more likely to vote, a non-vote will essentially benefit McCain.

Current polls are telling us that as many as 1 in 3 voters who supported Senator Clinton in the primaries may not vote for Senator Obama in November. I have diced and sliced this in many ways, and it all comes down to only a few possible reasons:

• Straight-up racism, which is indefensible in this day and age
  
• Feminists angry because the woman candidate didn't win, which is, in fact, reverse sexism
  
• Fearmongering about Obama's purported Muslim background, which is an out-and-out falsehood
  
• The cult of personality: people who just love Hillary, and won't hear of voting for anyone else
  
• The "inexperience" factor
  

This last one is the one that a lot of people use to veil the actual reason they won't vote for Obama. But to favor McCain over Obama simply on experience is missing the point: less experience is far better than the wrong experience.

It is unconscionable to me that a Hillary supporter would turn around and vote for McCain merely out of spite. To do so would fly right in the face of everything that brave woman stands for. It would literally undo every bit of good that Hillary's husband did during his tenure of office.

For example: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens (one of the few dissenting justices appointed by a Republican) is approaching 90 years of age. His replacement is certain to be a much more conservative voice in the mould of Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, or Samuel Alito. If Justice Stevens is replaced by John McCain, issues dear to Hillary Clinton such as reproductive rights, civil rights for gays and lesbians, and environmental protection, could be thrown out the window.

I don't think Hillary Clinton would want her supporters bringing about an America in which Roe v. Wade is overturned. I think Senator Clinton would be insensed by the notion that some of her supporters are fearful of Obama because of his East African heritage, or because his middle name is Hussein.

Senator Clinton had a lot at stake in the primaries, but ultimately her hesitation to accept defeat in the face of an increasingly apparent reality all came down to a matter of pride. Pride, it is said, goes before a fall. And she has fallen, and now swallows her pride, and supports her former adversary. She is indeed humbled, but there is no shame or disrespect in her defeat: she ran a great race, and her camp has been instrumental in securing the DNC's platform for 2008. The presumptive nominee is espousing almost every cause dear to Hillary Clinton.

Therefore it is our duty, as those who respect her and who care for the principles upon which she campaigned, to see to it that those ideals and principles are upheld. And John McCain simply will not honor her principles.

• McCain has reversed his position on a woman's right to choose, stating that his would be "a pro-life White House."
  
• McCain has said that he would actively seek another armed conflict, this one with Iran, showing no sanctity whatsoever for the very real lives of our armed service men and women, by jokingly singing, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" to a Beach Boys tune.
  
• McCain has stated that victory is paramount in Iraq, and that if it takes a hundred years, he doesn't care. That means he doesn't care how many more soldiers die there.
  
• McCain's health care program benefits the insurance companies and pharmaceuticals industries by largely leaving their price-gouging practices intact, and shifts the burden onto patients themselves for how best to pay for care. McCain also seeks tort reform which benefits doctors who make tragic mistakes.
  
• McCain's economic plan involves more free-trade agreements, which hurt American workers. His plan to curtail government spending would leave huge gaps in every area of the Federal operation... except the war.
  

Do you really think you're showing your support to Hillary by putting that mentality in the White House?

Don't let Hillary's efforts have been in vain. Honor what she stands for. Please... please vote for, endorse and actively work to win the Presidency for Senator Barack Obama. America's future literally depends upon it.