A Democratic Muddle

The news about Hillary Clinton donating $5 million of her own money to her presidential bid struck me as odd.

How was it that someone of once modest means who claimed to have worked tirelessly for 35 years (???fighting for YOU!???) in the notoriously badly-paid public sector had become so wealthy?

Sure there???s been some financial scandals.

And as the late Sen. Everett Dirksen used to say, ???A million here, a million there???it adds up to real money.???

But why focus on the negative?

Then, suddenly, a tune entered my head and I thought, maybe if I offered a tailored version of it to the Clinton campaign, they???d use it to replace that awful Celine Dion song that used to be Hillary???s campaign anthem.

And maybe they???d give me some of that moolah.

I wouldn???t ask what account at Clintons, Inc. it came from, or which lobbyist forked it over.

(I???m sure in a gesture of sheer generosity???why think evil of people, K Street lawyers have hearts too, no? Wasn't it those nice medical insurance lobbyists who hired that couple, Harry and Louise?)

If you ask me, it???s like Bill with that race card thing. How unfair! (And how slick ;) )

Always leave just a little wiggle room, small enough to fit the word ???is??? through.

Anyway, remember that girls??? song, ???It???s My Party,??? written by Wally Gold, John Gluck and Herb Weiner and recorded by Lesley Gore?

Well how about this version for HRC?

IT???S MY (DEMOCRATIC) PARTY

Nobody knows where my Bill has gone
Monica (Gennifer/Kathleen/Paula/etc.) left the same time
Why was he holding her/their hand(s)
When he's supposed to be mine?

It's my Democratic Party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you
(For that???s what victims do-o-o-o).

Playin' my constituents, flip-flopping like a Wallenda,
Leave me alone for a while
'Till Bill's dancin' with me
I've got no reason to smile

It's my Democratic Party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you.

(lead break)
Monica (Gennifer/Kathleen/Paula/etc.) and Bill just walked through the door
Like a queen(s) with her/their king
Oh what a Dogpatch surprise
Monica (Gennifer/Kathleen/Paula/etc.) is/are wearin' his ring

It's my Democratic Party and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you.

Lest we all forget about the promises candidates make to change the world. Bring down taxes, create more jobs, ???a chicken in every pot and a Dodge in every garage" etc . . . . But let us be honest with ourselves. How many times have we voted for the guy who promised us the moon and delivered stardust. Ok he may be charismatic and idealistic but so was Ronald Reagan. God rest his soul. It took America 8 years to recover from Mr.
Charisma-nomics. Obama talks a good game but he is too immature and the senate & legislative pit bulls will have him for lunch. They'll push and bully him into whatever they want in compromise after compromise so that he can attempt to maintain an outward illusion of delivering on some of the promises that he made which led the poor souls who bought into his song and dance from the start to feel, at least superficially, as is they have made the right choice. On the other hand, the fact remains that it did take
???a Clinton 8 years to clean up after 12 years of Reganomics which began with a Hollywood actor who had fetishes for both eating jelly beans and trading arms with the now hostile and nearly nuclear-capable Iranians while leaving the nation at the hands of a cohort of like minded conservatives which produced a multi-billion dollar deficit which was worsened by his Reagan???s follower & President to be who has been in bed with Saudi Oil money for the last 50 years. Mrs. Clinton was correct in stating that it will take another Clinton to clean up after the second Bush. Bearing in mind that Hilary Clinton has 8 successful years of service in the White House under her belt not to mention a successful term as the Senator of New York but also sports a staggering resume of successful public service endeavors prior to, during her time in the White House, and during her time as a State Senator and former First Lady. We cannot forget that Hillary Clinton accomplished the things that she did during a time when the conservative segment of the American population would have happily torn our nation to financial pieces and sold the lower and middle class citizens into involuntary slavery to the highest bidder in the name of the dollar. I believe that Hilary will do her best with the issues better than someone who is an innocent. Obama is still to young for this job at this time maybe in 10 years after some more seasoning he will be a good leader. And as far as Mr. Clinton, I dare anyone to stand up and say they have never done anything wrong. We are human beings. God didn't even believe we are capable of doing the right thing, hence his only son was sacrificed for our sins so we all could die with a clean slate. The only time the news or paparazzi talk about the Clinton's on TV is in a negative light.

I'm trying to understand how the outcome of "Super Tuesday" can be portrayed as a "draw" by the media? Sen Obama won more states and more delegates. And, though you wouldn't know it from listening to the news, he also won in states with a negligible black population, like North Dakota.

I am a 45 year old white male. I've followed politics all my life and have never been as inspired by a candidate as I have by Barack Obama. What I don't understand is how anyone, white or black, who listens to his message, can post the negative things I see here. Lets put our differences aside and get this man in office. Go Obama! Dare to hope!

I'm a 45 year old white male. I can't remember ever being more inspirered by a candidate than I have been by Barack Obama. The only thing that I can't understand is how anyone, white or black, can listenen to his message and stiil post the negative comments I've seen here.

As a Latina I find that Obama is greatly attractive to many in my ethnic group. I am of Mexican descent. The problem simply is that many Latinos do not know who he is. Clinton tends to get more Latino votes because of name recognition. It is imperative that Obama work more heartedly towards ingratiating himself in the Latino mind set. If they learn his message, they will embrace him. I already have. Si se puede!

Although not ALL the comments by white writers here are racial in nature--most are. For whatever reason--you people better stop being so frightened of anyone not of the pale race. Do you people EVER read? Are you blind and deaf? Are you zombies? The shape the country is in now--with its housing foreclosers woes, oil war in a foreign desert, American companies taking our jobs overseas and across the border, bad banking deals and fraud...is because of your WHITE leaders and politicians. Change is coming--and whether it's from Obama now, or some other black man in the future--it's going to happen. And probably after some white *** has torn and lead the country down below a snakes belly.

Tiny Toons,

I look at that poor child below, and I think about my son. She???s not much bigger than him. Unfortunately, she and her family members had the gross misfortune of living in a country that is rich in oil deposits. The leader of that country tried to bring that oil to market to pay for his war debts, and 150,000+ Iraqis have died. 4,000+ Americans have died. 6,000+ service members have deserted. Tens of thousands of veterans have been maimed and psychologically scarred. The Iraqi people have lost control of their national treasure, so that they couldn???t compete with OPEC oil, AND EXXON-MOBILE JUST REPORTED $117 BILLION in FOURTH QUARTER PROFITS. I wonder how well BP is doing?

Since 9/11, no one in the Bush administration has been fired, impeached, demoted, nada. Thousands of people have been locked-up???not to get intel on al Qaeda, but to keep them from discussing how the CIA through the Pakistani Intelligence Services funded and trained them. Less than 10 people have been convicted of anything related to 9/11.

While ???Joe Bag-of-donuts??? is facing recession, foreclosure, and possibly bankruptcy, the NEO-CONs are lining their friends??? pockets to the tune of $609 Billion. In October 2007, the Congressional Budget Office projected that war costs for the next 10 years ight total an additional $570 billion if troop levels fell to 30,000 by 2010, or $1.1 trillion if troop levels fell to 75,000 by about 2013. Under these illustrative scenarios, CBO projects hat funding for Iraq, Afghanistan and the GWOT
could reach from about $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion for FY2001-FY2017.

By the way, some of the 9/11 hijackers received their visas at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia. Terrorists don???t cross freakin??? burnin??? Arizona desert land nor do they swim putrid rivers. They are well educated, highly skilled, well funded, and in some cases CIA-highly-trained operatives. Didn???t your representatives tell you? Seen it on the news? Oh yeah, that???s right, the war profiteers sit on the board of directors for media conglomerates and vice versa. If you had seen the 4000 coffins coming home, and the 4000 funerals, you might have decided to end this war. The war profiteers learned their lessons well during the Viet Nam conflict. The excuse given to you is that al-Qaeda will exploit the footage. Al-Qaeda can???t stop this war! ONLY YOU CAN!

The American Civil War was fought and won in less time! We defeated the Germans during WWI is less time! We defeated Hitler and Tojo in less time!

The Constitution has been damn near eviscerated just to fight a few thousand renegades that travel through the mountains on mules and horses. They travel overseas in cars, buses, trains, and planes. Are you sheep being led to the slaughter house? Our government knows what Al-qaeda???s capabilities are. Our government has been training and funding them for a few decades. YOU ARE THE ENEMY! Think about it! Habeas Corpus has been suspended! Did you know that?

Why is your government passing so much legislation to gather intelligence on you? Have you perused the USA Patriot Act? Why are DC citizens??? right to bear arms going before the Supreme Court? The Constitution plainly states that no law may infringe upon that right. God gave us our rights. Not our Government. We the people created a government IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION, ESTABLISH JUSTICE, ENJOY DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY, PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE, PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE, AND SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY

The founding fathers knew that an armed citizenry must be able to defend itself FROM ITS OWN GOVERNMENT. Right now there is a bill before the Indiana House to require every round of ammunition for semi-automatic weapons be serialized. All un-serialized ammo must be disposed of by 2011. Why? The criminals are going to make their own ammo, steal some ammo, or buy it on the black market. This bill is supposed to be beneficial to law enforcement efforts when investigating gun-related crimes. From a military perspective, if I pull up to Joe Bag-of-donuts??? house, I???m a cop, and I have access to info concerning all of his registered weapons, and every round of ammunition he has purchased, that???s excellent intel! It???s called an enemy order of battle, folks. So, when I breach his property without a search warrant nor probable cause (USA Patriot Act), I know what I???m up against. Maybe, when his RFID drivers license is swiped at his job as he enters the building, that info gets forwarded to my superiors, and I can take his weapons before he gets home. If his wife is a stay-at-home mom who pays for her NRA membership via credit card, I must be prepared to take her down too.

Look, I don???t even own a gun though the navy taught me how to shoot several different types. My point is this???you and I have a higher chance of being struck by lightning than being killed by a terrorist. We have a much higher chance of living into our seventies and dying of cancer than being murdered. So, tell me why are our elected officials screwing around with your and my freedom? Benjamin Franklin said, ???Any society that would give up liberty to gain security will deserve neither and lose both.??? James Madison said, ???If Tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the disguise of fighting a foreign enemy.??? These men were so very smart! How many pillars of the Communist Manifesto have our federal government already implemented? You do realize that Karl Marx was inspired by Plato???s Republic? These issues are being discussed in plain sight, but your TV keeps you distracted. Talk radio keeps you distracted! Why is Heath Ledger???s death front page press for days, but you can???t get a daily update on the war dead from the same sources? You may be like that 400lb lion in the circus. The lion has the massive power to be free. His 175lb ???trainer??? points the chair???s four legs at the lion, and the lion can???t make up his mind what to attack because he???s befuddled with too many targets (distractions). Meanwhile, the trainer keeps cracking the whip making that lion dance.

Didn???t Mesopotamia lay the groundwork for civilization? Do people from that region have a history of constitutional republics? Why are we trying to install political systems from the barrel of a gun? Those people have history that stretches back thousands of years! Who are we to tell them how to govern themselves? I think they know what they???re doing. The Palestinians held a democratic election, and Hamas was victorious in winning a majority of seats in their legislature. Bush refused to recognize them. Why? The wrong people won! Pervez Musharaf is a Class A tyrant, does Bush care? Heck no! Pervez is a key player in the war against you???I mean war on terror.

Check out what Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman taught concerning Shock Doctrine. Naomi Kline provides a nice summary and several examples in her so named book.

Iran has been considered a state sponsor of terrorism. Did you know that Iran is rich with uranium deposits? What does it take to make a dirty bomb? TNT, C4, or some other high explosive, and uranium. No nuclear detonation required???just wind, alpha and beta particles. If Iran is such a threat, why haven???t they put a dirty bomb in any terrorists??? hands?

Don???t believe the hype about Iranian gunboats either! Talk to any sailor who has transited the Straits of Hormuz, and she will tell you that at any given time one???s ship is either in Iranian, Omanian, or UAE territorial waters. For decades, the Iranians have always sent gunboats out to identify who???s in transit. Have you seen nature shows when cape buffalo swat flies with their tails? That???s what a navy warship would do to an Iranian gun boat. We know it, and they do too. The fight would be over in 30 seconds! Didn???t Admiral James Bond Stockdale teach us the truth about the Gulf of Tonkin incident? The difference back then was that there weren???t ANY gunboats, patrol boats, nor torpedo boats underway when that lie was reported to President Johnson. Yet, we sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Viet Nam. Didn???t Nixon say he was going to bring our troops home with honor? That???s McCain and Huckabee???s new mantra. Nixon kept us in Nam for another seven years and expanded our operations in Laos and Cambodia. Now the ???Chicken Hawks??? are trying to sell a ???Gulf of Oman??? incident. Iran is the turd in the swimming pool. The Saudi sunnis don???t want the Iranian Shias to grow in power and influence over Iraqi oil. The Saudis have been funding the Bush Family network for more than 30 years. Do you think the Saudis are now callin??? in favors? You know they are! They want access to that Iraqi oil worse than the Iranians do. Some estimate that they own 7% or more of the US economy. That???s about $910 Billion. Do you think that buys them influence in the oval office? You know it does! Their fair share of congressional representation would be about 37 politicians. Use your common sense. Who???s fighting and dying to protect their interests? Does your family have any skin in this game? God help them! Have you noticed that our presidents never define what ???American interests??? are? I???ll bet you dollars to donuts that the American corporations who are outsourcing jobs overseas know what American interests are. Just read the commodities companies??? annual reports, and pres releases.