Skip to content

Lamont Endorses Obama

Thursday, January 10, 2008

One of the things that holds me back about Obama is the fact that he stuck with Joe. It’s hard to forget his appearance at the 2006 Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Dinner (the last Lieberman would ever attend) during which he supported his mentor Joe.

Apparently Ned doesn’t bear a grudge, and neither do I (much). Life is for learning, and maybe Obama learned a thing or two from that experience. One things for sure, right now Lamont’s endorsement is worth a lot more to Obama than Lieberman’s would be.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FChJLsJeLjc[/youtube]

Filed in Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)

Hillary, take 2

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

As I’ve said before, I am not a Hillary fan, but my problem is her policy positions, not her personality. But despite the fact that I’d probably prefer Obama or Edwards, I must say I’m taking mucho satisfaction from her surprise victory Tuesday. There are many ways to interpret it, but at least one, which in my opinion has some validity, is that it was a great big pie in the face to our misogynistic, pack mentality media.

The reactions are delicious, and perfectly illustrate the truth of the claim that the pack is viscerally anti-Hillary, having nothing to do with her policies, but everything to do with the fact that she has not appropriately massaged their egos, or in the case of some, left their masculinity unthreatened.

Check out poor Chris Matthews, who was momentarily shocked into conceding that Hillary was a person of substance, until he slept off his attack of sanity and claimed that she is where she is only because Bill done her wrong.

Worse still, and I won’t even link to it, Maureen Dowd checks in with a column entitled “Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?”. I don’t read Dowd’s stuff. As I’ve said before, her columns are all, when you get down to it, really about her. There was one, brief shining moment, when she actually seemed to care about the state of this country, and the fact that we are sliding toward fascism, but she retreated back to her comfort zone. There she is, attacking Hillary for a moment of human “weakness” of a type usually attributed to women, while she herself engages in the type of stereotypically catty “I’m better than you because I can creatively insult you” behavior in which most high school girls are too mature to indulge.

There has to be something good about anyone who can bring out the worst in the scum that has risen to the top of our media world. By that measure, Hillary has achieved greatness. So, though I’ll vote for someone else on February 5th, today my hat is off to her.

Filed in Media, Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)

New Hampshire

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

As I write this, Hillary appears to be ahead in New Hampshire, with enough precincts reporting to make it look like she may win the whole thing.

Talk about being of two minds about something. She’s not my choice for president, but I do think she’s been done dirty by the press, and it should be fun watching their heads explode after they had written her off. Those pesky voters just don’t seem to be listening to their beltway overlords this year.

Something to watch out for: if we consistently see Obama doing more poorly than pre-primary polling, then we may be observing the Bradley effect, something we can only lament, but about which we must be concerned. That particular effect may be diminished somewhat in Iowa, as there is no secret ballot.

UPDATE: While I was writing this post, the race tightened, with Hillary up by 2, and no college towns reporting.

Filed in Media, Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)

Democracy in Groton

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Here we are, awaiting the New Hampshire results, after participating in direct democracy here in Groton. Some people may not have been aware that there were caucuses in Groton tonight. For reasons readily apparent, they did not get nearly the attention of the Iowa caucuses. In any event, the results are in, and a new Groton Democratic Town Committee has been chosen. In our district exactly 6 registered Democrats showed up, to vote on a slate of candidates for 10 spots on the committee. In case you’re bad at math, that means four candidates didn’t show up, but in mitigation, at least two had good excuses.

In any event, Groton is safe for another two years.

In our tiny band of sisters (plus one brother, me) we did an extracurricular caucus of presidential leanings, Hillary won, but I think it’s fair to say that the overwhelming feeling is that we’re ready to back anyone with a D after his or her name.

Filed in Local issues | | Comments (0)

Documenting anti-Semitism

Monday, January 7, 2008

Last week I noted that Chris Powell accused his fellow Lieberman loathers of being anti-Semites, without offering a particle of evidence. Today, Digby shows how you do it, by providing concrete evidence that Huckabee, if not an anti-Semite, offers aid and comfort to those who are, with links and all.

In this strange country that we have become, a group of people that control a significant number of votes “supports” Israel because they believe that when all the Jews return to Israel the end of the world will be at hand, and they want the world to end. Needless to say, the Jews, along with us other godless, will be toast at that point, but what does that matter. These are the people with whom the neocon supporters of Israel are making common cause. Each side thinks they’re using the other; in the end both Israel and the sane people in this country will probably end up as losers.

Filed in Religion | | Comments (0)

Hillary sheds a tear and the press pack attacks

Monday, January 7, 2008

Of the big three, Hillary is my least favorite candidate, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get irate about the way she’s treated in the press. Everything she does is put in the worst light. If she shows no emotion, she is criticized for that. If she shows emotion, she is criticized for that, or, she is accused of playacting. Here’s the video of Clinton shedding a few tears in New Hampshire. I can’t see how anyone can think this is anything but genuine, nor can I see how anyone can say it is not perfectly understandable. The rigors of a presidential campaign would reduce most people to tears, particularly if they were regularly savaged in the press. If anything, this makes me feel even better about the prospect of a Hillary presidency:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qgWH89qWks[/youtube]

Filed in Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)

Change

Monday, January 7, 2008

When I first moved to this area I was paid my legal services salary through a CETA grant. CETA was a job creation program that was abolished several years later. Besides funding me and a host of others, CETA provided funds to hire an artist to do an art installation at City Hall in Norwich, which also housed the Superior Court. The painting consisted of one panel depicting militant poor people of various ethnicities. On a separate panel was this quote from Frederick Douglass:

Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never will.

It actually hung there in the entrance hall to the temple of Power for at least several months, until Power removed it.

Lately there’s a lot of talk about the difference between the Edwards and Obama approach to achieving “change”, and the debate brought this quote to mind. If anyone could speak with authority on the issue, it was Frederick Douglass. Douglass would no doubt be pleased about Obama’s candidacy (though amazed that he was running as a Democrat), but he’d most likely agree with Edwards approach to achieving change.

Filed in Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)

When a guy like Rudy is down, there’s only one thing to do: stomp on him.

Monday, January 7, 2008

These must be bittersweet days for the folks at RealRudy.org.

On the one hand, Rudy’s days as a presidential candidate are numbered, and their work will soon be completed. On the other hand, Rudy’s days as a presidential candidate are numbered, and their reason for being will disappear.

But they seem ready to keep at it ’til the bitter end: until the last nail is in the coffin; until the last stake is driven through the heart. This new video arrived in my email this morning and I must pass it on.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P-VUTjM0Ko[/youtube]

Filed in Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)

Chris Dodd returns home

Saturday, January 5, 2008

My wife and I went to East Haddam today to join a a crowd of folks welcoming Chris Dodd back from the campaign trail. Chris never caught on, but he earned the gratitude of Constitution lovers everywhere by holding off the latest assault on the Constitution, taking time off from his campaign to do so. It would have been nice to see Hillary and Obama standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Had they done so, we might not be facing the prospect of yet another attempt by Harry Reid to get telecom immunity passed into law.

Chris did Connecticut proud. He more than makes up for the Senator from Connecticut who shall remain unnamed in this post.

Below is my fledgling youtube video of the beginning of Chris’s speech. I was in the back of the room, and had to hold my little camera high above my head to get a decent shot. It’s a bit out of focus at first, but it gets sharper after a few seconds. The video is the length it is because my shoulder started to give out. Anyway, this gives a bit of a feel for the enthusiasm people felt for Chris. I should add that he and his wife got the most applause when they talked about defending the Constitution, particularly with regard to the FISA bill.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5i0iuKKn2k[/youtube]

Now that he’s no longer in the presidential picture it’s time to start talking about the fact that Chris would make an excellent vice presidential candidate, assuming Obama is the eventual nominee. He’d do a great job as a vice presidential candidate, since he’d be able to handle the attack dog role with humor and finesse. He’d also be a great vice president in that he could provide Obama with advice about how to push his legislative agenda through Congress. He certainly knows the players. Finally, if something happened to Obama, he’d be a great president.

Of course, for that to happen, our state legislature needs to amend state law to prevent Jodi Rell from appointing Chris’s successor. I’ve raised this issue before in the Lieberman context. Now there’s another reason to do it.

Filed in Local issues, Presidential Politics, Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Clinton to go negative by attacking the Democratic base?

Saturday, January 5, 2008

The word is that Hillary will “start” going negative against Obama. Bill Clinton says that they are being forced into it by the media, and there’s a kernel of truth to what he’s saying. The press has treated the Clintons unfairly ever since the brief honeymoon period in 1992.

But if this is any indication, Obama will only profit by the negativity:

Hillary’s aides point to Obama’s extremely progressive record as a community organizer, state senator and candidate for Congress, his alliances with “left-wing” intellectuals in Chicago’s Hyde Park community, and his liberal voting record on criminal defendants’ rights as subjects for examination.

The last time I looked she and Obama are competing to win the Democratic nomination for president. It may be true that she is in a position where she has to go negative, but this is a strange way to do it. Republicans go negative by claiming that their opponents are too much like Democrats. Hillary appears to be going negative by saying the same thing about Obama. Why is it that Democrats seem to feel that they can score political points, even in the context of a primary, by attacking their most loyal supporters?

In any event, this particular line of attack, if they follow through with it, looks like a softball pitch right over the plate to Obama. Were I him, I’d reply that indeed I am a progressive, and that I do try to surround myself with smart people. Does Hillary prefer to talk to dumb people? Something along those lines, it seems, ought to work. I think right now that Obama is in a unique position vis a vis Hillary, if not the Republicans. He can only profit from these sort of attacks, and he will profit the most if she insists on attacking the party base instead of him. He can deflect the attacks with humor, as he’s done effectively so far, and she will come across as querulous and desperate.

Speaking of Obama, he appears to be making the right moves. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started picking up more of Edward’s best lines, if Edwards fades. He just stole Richardson’s one and only draw: a promise that he’d withdraw from Iraq as soon as he is inaugurated. He is beginning to look like a very smart politician that is just hitting his stride, while Hillary is looking a little desperate. Of course, if this primary season has proven anything, it has proven that things can change in a heartbeat. Just ask Rudy.

Filed in Presidential Politics | | Comments (0)