Clinton's Scorched Earth Policy

Sen. Hillary Clinton has forcefully indicated that she'll take her candidacy all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August -- five months from now! -- regardless of what happens in the remaining contests. She seems willing to destroy Democratic hopes for the White House if it means that the nominee will not be her. Read all about it here.

30 March 2008

Addition: A little more on how this may play out via the Credentials Committee can be found here.

Hillary Clinton and Bosnia

By now you have probably heard of Senator Clinton's "we were ducking bullets on the tarmac in Bosnia" gaff. She said that she was "sleep deprived" and "made a mistake that proves she is human." Of course, her comments were outright lies, made all the more troubling by the fact that she didn't believe that she'd be caught. Exactly how often did the first lady go anywhere without at least one camera on her, just in case something of interest happened if nothing else? /boggle

TPM has put together a short video detailing the entire episode. It is relatively short and very much too the point regarding the issues raised. It is worth a look.

27 March 2008

Clinton: What Rules?

I've spoken out again and again regarding the Clinton campaign's ongoing efforts to change the rules of choosing the Democratic nominee for president. She has come out on the short end of the stick and now wants to magically transform "first base into third." TPM's Josh Marshall has a great op-ed today covering the same topic. He says it better than I. Check out Reductio Ad Absurdum.

24 March 2008

McCain: Econ 101

John McCain has picked himself a real winner of an economics advisory panel. From Josh Marshall at TPM:

Krugman has two very good points in tomorrow's column. 1) The eerie silence on the campaign trail about what financial crisis we're currently struggling to make our way through and 2) The fact that John McCain's primary economics advisor, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R), is probably as responsible for setting the stage for this crisis as anyone in the country through his legislative role in the deregulation of the financial services industry.

Also, highly inspiring is the fact that another of McCain's advisors is Kevin Hassett, he of "Dow 36,000" fame, sort of an avatar of boom market snake oil, if you will. More generally, as Kevin Drum notes, if you think McCain's foreign policy is 'Bush Redux, Just More Nuts', well, then wait till you see his economic policy.

24 March 2008

Turning Fear On Its Ear

From TPM:

Now this is pretty cutting. Not long ago I noted that one of the kids safely sleeping in stock footage in Hillary's red phone ad was now of voting age and had revealed herself to be an Obama supporter.

Now, the young woman, Casey Knowles, has cut a new Obama campaign web video directly denouncing Hillary, the ad, and the Clinton campaign's overall tactics.

You can view the rest of the story and Ms. Knowles' video here.

Obama > Clinton

I've been away on vacation for a bit and my wife and I have had loads of time in the car to talk politics. One of our covered topics is that the race for the Democratic nomination is over. Obama has won it. Case closed. There is basically no way that Obama can lose using any electoral math. Thus, for Clinton to take the nomination, it would have to be handed to her. Anyone who believes that this would not send African American voters into a tizzy -- and rightly so -- is crazy. They are among the strongest of Democratic voters and are all but necessary to win many states for the Democratic Party at all levels. Snubbing Obama would be political suicide not only in the presidential contest, but in many state-wide races as well.

All of this means that Clinton is only living a dream. That dream is only the possibility of a nightmare for her party, as she does the job of the Rebublicans against her party's eventual nominee.

The press, of course, has been working the "down-to-the-wire" nature of the Democratic race for all it's worth. There are many reasons for this and The Politico has a good story on this issue.

21 March 2008

William Fallon Resignation

The lowdown is starting to roll in regarding the seemingly abrupt resignation of Adm. William Fallon, the commander in chief of Central Command. Fallon is a well-respected member of the military leadership and is widely seen as "the one man standing between Dick Cheney and bombing Iran." For background on the emerging story, see this and this.

11 March 2008

Save PBS

It probably won't surprise you to discover that the budget that President Bush presented to Congress provides for massive cuts to the budget for public broadcasting. PBS is one of the shining jewels in the crown of American democracy. We cannot let Bush tarnish it. I urge you to contact both your Senators and Congressperson to express your support for PBS. You can do so quickly and conveniently through the Working Assets web form found here. Thank you.

7 March 2008

Block FCC Handout

The FCC went ahead and decided to trade the best interests of America for the profits of telecommunication company giants, allowing them to gobble up more and more radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers within a single market. This will limit the amount and types of information that Americans will receive from their "local" media. Now, there is a bill in the US Senate to block this unfortunate act by the FCC. SJ 28 would block this consolidation by law. Now, we as responsible citizens need to let our Senators and Congressmen know that we support SJ 28 and that we expect them to do so as well. You can find the contact information for your Members of Congress here. I would suggest an e-mail such as the following be sent.

Message Header: Stop Big Media Handout: Support SJ 28

Dear Senator/Congressman XXX:

Please act swiftly to overturn the FCC's Dec. 18 vote to relax media ownership rules. By co-sponsoring the Resolution of Disapproval (SJ Res. 28) introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan, you will be taking a stand for investigative journalism, local news and competition in our state.

Research shows that media consolidation means fewer perspectives and less of the news our communities need. This is especially troubling in an election year when citizens depend on our media for the information they need to make fundamental choices about the future of our country.

When the FCC voted this December, it ignored nearly universal public opposition -- just like it did in 2003, when the Senate voted to overturn similar rule changes.

The FCC's decision to let Big Media get even bigger will erode localism, diminish minority ownership and decrease competition.

Please support the Resolution of Disapproval and take a stand for better media today.

Sincerely,

John Doe
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Note that the above came from StopBigMedia.com.

7 March 2008

Santa Fe Vote Reminder

Last Friday, I wrote a blog detailing the upcoming election in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I specifically mentioned Amendment 4 and Charter Amendment 5, noting that I am in favor of both. Today, in addition to again requesting your vote for both measures, I'd like to advocate in favor of Amendment 7.

Amendment 7 would require the municipal judges in Santa Fe to actually be attorneys and members of the New Mexico State Bar. Today, you may be surprised to find that our municipal judges must only: (1) hold a high school diploma or its equivalent; and (2) attend -- not pass, but only attend -- a qualification training program conducted by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Therefore, our municipal judges must essentially have the same level of qualifications as does a greeter at Wal-Mart.

As you might expect, given that this is New Mexico, the judges themselves have mostly come out strongly against this ballot measure. Indeed, many won't meet the qualifications. However, I can't imagine any thinking person not seeing the wisdom of requiring all judges to possess formal schooling in the law and to have passed rigorous exams thereafter. Judges are the ultimate stewards of the law and the people should demand a high bar indeed for their work on behalf of society.

2 March 2008

March Impeachment Reminder

Last August, I called for the impeachment of both President Bush and Vice President Cheney. At that time, I asked you to join me in writing letters to several members of the House of Representatives. I noted that I would continue to send such letters until such time as my call was heeded or these men left office. I have made good on my claim by again sending my letters. This is simply a reminder in the hope that you will do the same. For information on the entire matter, as well as sample letters and recipient contact information, see my original blog post here.

2 March 2008