So John McCain tried to cancel the debates as the Economy (Which he clearly doesn't understand) tanks as badly as his poll numbers. Naturally, the Republicans are trying to paint this as some sort of Mavericky move that only a leader would try. I heard some GOP shill on the teevee saying "He thinks its so important to fix this problem, that he's willing to risk the presidency." Hahahahahaha! They are going to lose. The fact is that the McCain camp and the Obama camp had been in talks to issue a joint statement before Walnuts freaked out and tried to cancel the whole thing. Had this been a true bipartisan effort to discuss the issues at hand, Walnuts could have asked Barry to hold off. Instead he tried to blindside the Hussein Obama and single-handedly change the momentum of the election by drawing attention away from the issues. "HEY! HEY! Look at me! I'm canceling the debate! Pay no attention to the bill the president is trying to force through with no oversight!" Unfortunately for Walnuts, the debate schedule can't be changed and the Debate commission has told him to eff off, the debate will go on. Now of course, we all know for sure that Walnuts is not ready, nor is he even remotely familiar with what is happening with the economy or is he prepared to answer why his campaign manager was being given 15k a month by Freddie Mac. Barry rightly told the kooky old bat to stuff it, and the debate will go on. With or without walnuts.
BARACK OBAMA BERLIN SPEECH: 'A WORLD THAT STANDS AS ONE'
THURS JULY 24 2008 12:58:02
Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.
I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen -- a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.
I know that I don't look like the Americans who've previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father -- my grandfather -- was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.
At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning -- his dream -- required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.
That is why I'm here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.
Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.
On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin.Ê The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.
This is where the two sides met.Ê And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.
The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.
Ê And that's when the airlift began -- when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.
The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.Ê
But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. "There is only one possibility," he said. "For us to stand together united until this battle is wonÉThe people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your dutyÉPeople of the world, look at Berlin!"
People of the world -- look at Berlin!
Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.
Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.Ê
Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.Ê
People of the world -- look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.ÊÊ
Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall -- a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope -- walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.
The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers -- dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.ÊÊ
The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.Ê
As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.
Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.
In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we're honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.
In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth -- that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.
Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more -- not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.Ê
That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.Ê
We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid. Ê So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.Ê
That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the moment when our nations -- and all nations -- must summon that spirit anew.
This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.
This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.
This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.
This is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this century -- in this city of all cities -- we must reject the Cold War mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.
This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.
This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.
This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations -- including my own -- will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.
And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust -- not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.
Now the world will watch and remember what we do here -- what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?
Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur?Ê
Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?
People of Berlin -- people of the world -- this is our moment. This is our time.Ê
I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived -- at great cost and great sacrifice -- to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom -- indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us -- what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America's shores -- is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.
Those are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. Those aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of those aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of those aspirations that all free people -- everywhere -- became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of those aspirations that a new generation -- our generation -- must make our mark on history.
People of Berlin -- and people of the world -- the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. Let us build on our common history, and seize our common destiny, and once again engage in that noble struggle to bring justice and peace to our world.
Three pointer from Downtown, while yucking it up with our men and women in uniform on foreign soil, with a blindfold and John "Walnuts" McCain biting his ankle.
Shut your dumb mouth, you silly cow. You'd really vote for McCain? Let's take a look at all the wondrous Pro- Woman funnies that we can attribute to the old man.
Then of course, we could look to his private life for a model of how respectfully he treats women.
"John McCain married a swimsuit model in 1965, adopted her two children, had another child with her, and grew so bored with domestic life that he asked to fight in Vietnam. While in captivity, his wife became mildly crippled in a car accident, leading John McCain to cheat on her repeatedly when he returned, until finally he abandoned her — in a “mid-life crisis” that he had, yes, 28 years ago — for a young, gorgeous beer heiress whose father could make him a Congressman."
Hillary Clinton has proved during the past few months that she is a fighter, that she is tenacious, and that she is in the race to win. There's just one problem. She's already lost.
No matter how you define victory, Barack Obama holds an insurmountable lead in the race to earn the Democratic nomination. He leads in the one metric that matters most: the pledged delegates chosen directly by Democratic voters. But he also leads in the popular vote,
the number of states won and money raised. Still, Obama's advantages aren't large enough to allow him an outright victory. He needs the 20 percent of party delegates who aren't bound to a candidate. It's with these superdelegates that Clinton has staked her ephemeral chances.
Clinton's near-lone chance of victory rests with a coup by superdelegate, persuading enough of them to overcome the primary voters' preference. Yet a coup by elite Democrats would be ill-received, to put it mildly. Obama's base spans the party's most loyal and engaged constituencies: African-Americans, professionals who generate hundreds of millions in small-dollar donations and a conventional-wisdom-defying outpouring of youth support.
If Obama lost at the polling booth, these supporters would accept the voters' verdict and carry on. Many, including those who backed Howard Dean's heartbreaking 2004 campaign, have been through such disappointment before. But if Beltway bigwigs steal a hard-won victory, it would amount to a declaration of civil war. Not only would the resolve of thousands of loyal foot soldiers and the party's new fund-raising base be irrevocably shaken, but it would torpedo the opportunity to build and strengthen a new generation of Democrats.
Clinton's best-case scenario for victory requires sundering her own party. It is an inherently divisive strategy, but she doesn't appear to care. For Clinton, all's fair in pursuit of victory—even destroying her party from within. Her campaign has adopted a bizarre "insult-40-states strategy," which has belittled states small, liberal and Red. Apparently, the only states that matter are the ones she coincidentally happens to win.
The Clinton campaign once justified efforts to foster a superdelegate insurrection by suggesting that she could regain the popular-vote lead in the remaining contests. But as her chances of pulling off that feat dwindle, even that argument is falling by the wayside. In an interview with TPM Election Central, top campaign adviser Harold Ickes said: "I think being ahead in the popular vote is an important factor. I don't think it's dispositive." But when the popular vote, delegates earned and states won aren't dispositive, no rationale remains for her destructive coup attempt. Clinton, unfortunately, is pretending not to notice. So at the moment, it's useless to demand she exit the race. If logic, math, appeals to party unity and the evaporation of undecided superdelegates won't sway her, nothing will.
Yet while the Beltway establishment frets about the alleged damage this drawn-out contest is doing to the Democratic Party, in reality, it's been an almost unalloyed good.
For one, the frenzied organizing around the country has proved a catalyst for dramatic party building in states that had been Democratically dormant. State after state has reported record turnout, and thousands of new Democrats are registering in advance of each contest. In upcoming Pennsylvania, Democrats have gained a net 200,000 registered voters over Republicans this year; that number is 105,000 in North Carolina.
The party can now take advantage of the infrastructure both campaigns leave behind. The unprecedented level of participation and organization not only reinforces Blue states, it improves Democratic odds in traditional swing states. In fact, the tide threatens to make GOP stalwarts like Texas up for grabs this fall.
The reverberations are being felt far beyond the race for the White House. Democrats are poised to make massive gains at the congressional and local levels for a second consecutive election cycle. They've already started: in a March 8 House special election, Obama volunteers helped Democrats capture the solidly conservative Illinois congressional seat formerly held by Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Finally, there's no denying that the extra pressure has made Obama a better candidate. After living a charmed political life, with nary a serious general-election battle against a Republican on his résumé, he needed to prove his mettle in hand-to-hand political combat. His able handling of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright revelations didn't just prove his deft political skills to worried supporters like me and superdelegates. It allowed him to address a potentially explosive issue well before November (though it's a relationship the GOP is sure to exploit).
No one can persuade Clinton to get out of the primary race. But by any metric imaginable, Obama has already won. The superdelegates aren't self-destructive enough to change that, and the sooner they line up behind Obama, the sooner Democrats can focus their fire on the real target: John McCain. Clinton can stick around, but the rest of the party will move on without her.
Moulitsas, a NEWSWEEK contributor, is the publisher of Dailykos.com, a progressive Web site
HALPERIN’S TAKE: Painful Things Hillary Clinton Knows — Or Should Know
1. She can’t win the nomination without overturning the will of the elected delegates, which will alienate many Democrats. 2. She can’t win the nomination without a bloody convention battle — after which, even if she won, history and many Democrats would cast her as a villain. 3. Catching up in the popular vote is not out of the question — but without re-votes in Florida and Michigan it will be almost as impossible as catching up in elected delegates. 4. Nancy Pelosi and other leading members of Congress don’t think she can win and want her to give up. Same with superdelegate-to-the-stars Donna Brazile. 5. Obama’s skilled, close-knit staff can do things like silently kill re-votes in Florida and Michigan and not pay a political price. 6. Many of her supporters — and even some of her staffers — would be relieved (and even delighted) if she quit the race; none of his supporters or staff feel that way. Some think she just might throw in the towel in June if it appears efforts to fight on would hurt Obama’s general election chances. 7. The Rev. Wright story notwithstanding, the media still wants Obama to be the nominee — and that has an impact every day. 8. Obama might not be able to talk that well about the new global economy, but she (and McCain) can’t either. 9. Many of the remaining prominent superdelegates want to be for Obama and she (and Harold Ickes) are just barely keeping them from making public commitments to him. 10. She can’t publicly say more than 2% of all the things she would like to say about race, electability, beating McCain and experience. 11. If she somehow found a way to win the nomination, she would have to offer Obama the veep slot, and she doesn’t want to do that. 12. This is a change election, and Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton can never truly be change. 13. Obama is having fun most days, and she isn’t. 14. Even though her campaign staff is having more fun than it has for a long time, there’s hardly anyone there who, given half a chance, wouldn’t slit Mark Penn’s throat — and such internal dissension won’t help her in the home stretch.
I recall a few years back when my friend Jimu and I were at Oktoberfest. We had a hell of a time, and with my sparse German I was able to pick up on a few of the songs. Knowing full well that "Rosamunde" is also "Roll out the Barrell" and drinking a hell of a lot of beer, I was asked several times if I was German. To look at me, is to know damn well that the answer is "Not even remotely", though my Grandmother claims certain Austro Hungarian ancestry which has not been verified.
No, I am as Mexican as "Cielito Lindo". Nonetheless the elderly Germans around me decided that i MUST be German, how else would I know the songs?
Well, I make a point of learning THE song of THE country I'll be visiting. "Tulips in Amsterdam" , "Granada", "Kalinka", " La Vie en Rose", "Jambo Bwana", "Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport", "Oh Canada!", "God Save Ireland", and dozens more that I have stashed away in the recesses of my noodle, and most if not all I can sing in their native tongue.
I've found that nothing forms a more solid bond across nations than being able to join in a rowdy drunken song. It immediately changes you from "Foreigner" to "Friend", and the proof is in the pudding. As soon as I sent this to my parents they were not only hilariously thrilled, but they forwarded it to their spanish-speaking friends. Ted Kennedy knows the importance of a good rowdy song when you are trying to be inclusive and in his own silly way, ted Kennedy was as Mexican as "Jalisco no te Rajes".
If you want to try and decipher Senator Kennedy's Spanish you can find the Lyrics to "Jalisco No te Rajes" HERE
Tomorrow is "Super Tuesday", and there's been a lot of screaming and shouting from me as to why you should vote for Senator Obama. I figured I'd chill out today, and let the Senator's own words do the speaking for me (Or singing).
The choice for us all should be clear. It is a choice between the good memories of yesterday, or the limitless possibilities of a better tomorrow.
Why Hill? Why Bill? I thought it was the other guys who played dirty. I thought our party played by the rules. John Kerry said "The high road may not be the easiest road to take, but it is the right one to take."
Tropicana HQ: 5:45 AM People are getting together to canvass neighborhoods, putting flyers on the doors of supporters with their caucus locations and instructions on caucusing.
Super greeter Though my ensemble may look like a horrible faux pas / Obama fetish there is a method behind the madness. I was what was referred to as a "Super Greeter". Evidently in Iowa, people were very excited to see people who were very excited to be supporting Senator Obama. I dunno, it's Iowa. So the campaign had us out of towners dress like Obamaclowns of sorts. We were to pump up the crew while the Local team handled their Caucusees.
My Caucus Team My brother often chides me about the youth of the Obama supporters. Boy, he aint kidding. Because our district was considered small, the young uns from FL, CA, UT and AL were all tossed into our Caucus. The Average age of my team was..19 Aiee!
Fired up! Ready to Go! As our supporters began to show up at the Elementary School, we would sticker them so the Hillary people would KNOW which ones were ours, though admittedly it was easy to tell as people walked in. Obama supporters were a very diverse lot, Hillary's were not. In fact, mostly middle aged mommies and mostly white. I'm not hatin' , its just what I observed. So as our awesomely diverse supporters walked in and sat down in our area, we led them in the Official Obama Cheer. I'll let Senator Obama and Edith explain.
The Caucusing... ...took place in the cafeteria for District 1 and the Library for District 2. Unfortunately the Clinton people had arrived first and got a prime spot, we did however, outdo them in the Decor and Twizzlers for our supporters department. Then, the issues started. The Caucus Chair was short staffed so he picked some Hillary ladies, who put up their signs behind them. I told the Chair, that it made it all look Biased. Our chair, tells em to take it down. People begin showing up, and before we know it, there are not enough ballots. The Chair tells me to go get some downtown. I know, I didn't realize that the Strip wasn't downtown either. I walk into the Cafeteria where they are experiencing the same problem and the Clinton ladies are freaking out. I lie. I tell the Caucus chairs that in Iowa, we used regular pieces of paper with each individual's voter ID sticker on it. They fall for it and the Clinton ladies, the Caucus chairs, and my entire crew now think of me as an old hand at caucusing, and a veteran of the Obama camp. I will not disappoint. At 11:30, they closed the doors. Our instructions said that everyone would be allowed in till 12:00, 4 voters were waiting outside. They were denied entry. All the Obama people called "Shenanigans" and said that people should be allowed in, the Hillary camp to my shagrin shouted us down saying "Let's get this started!" I countered by saying "I thought it was the OTHER party who was opposed to letting people vote". Chuckles from Obama Edwards Kucinich Caucusers, dirty dirty looks from the Clinton PTA. We later filed an official "BS" claim.
Then the counting begins. By show of hands we caucus our supporters. Obama had 35 Clinton 43, Edwards 13, Kucinich had 2, 4 Undecideds. The Chair tallies, and says that for a candidate to be viable, they will need fifteen supporters. The edwards people need 2 to be viable, and the caucus chair gives us 5 minutes to plead our case. Tim and I highlight the differences between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. A Kucinich supporter is not moved. She says "it sounds like they are the same person" . I take the podium, "It is difficult for us who are on different teams, but on the same side, to sound too dramatically different. Basically it comes down to direction. Senator Clinton's campaign would like to remind you of how great things were. We are trying to remind you how great we can still be." The Kucinich lady joined us.
In the end, we got most of the non viables but the Edwards camp, a resolute and over 50 bunch who were old-school union guys were able to keep their single state delegate. We got three delegates, and the Clinton camp got four.
Caucusing is a ridiculously complicated and long way of doling out delegates, but in my experience it is an unparalleled event in civic engagement and a true exercise of democracy in its purest form. It is not often you can plead your candidate's case and have it make an immediate difference. It was nothing short of thrilling.
By the time we returned, the whole thing had already been called for Hillary. Which Sucked. But then I learned that since we won more actual caucuses even though we didn't win the popular vote, we still got 6 Delegates to senator Clinton's 5... huh. So we won, but we lost. Crazy stuff.
Just to leave out on an awesome note, here's some footage of MIchelle Obama at a rally angering and endearing herself to the crowd in a matter of minutes
Last night my brother and I were discussing the Republican candidates for the presidency, and were argufying as to which were the most offensive, and which would be the least destructive should they somehow gain a foothold on the white-house, through their hilarious bumbling.
So here it is, a Liberal ranking of the Republican candidates from most offensive to least.
1. Ron Paul ( Grand Dragon Paultard)
Why he's better than Bush: Anti-War, Anti Surveillance, Demands fiscal responsibility
Why he's still Fucked up: Anti Choice, Anti Gay, Pro-Gold Standard, Racist
His lunatic followers may all be ready to guzzle the Kool Aid, but don't let their "Evolution/Revolution" bullshit fool you. This guys has written in racist publications, been endorsed by Neo Nazis, and voted in a backwards manner, that makes even your everyday Jesus Freaks look temperate, and your workaday Republican hypocrisy look tame. His followers are always quick to make excuses for him, when White Supremacists give him their endorsement, or when you look at his anti woman, anti gay voting record. Why make excuses? Why not just not align yourself with Neo Nazis? Sure, every politician has weirdo supporters, but Ron Paul's nut job supporters are a little to Nutty and a little too close for comfort.
Choice Vids:
NAZIS Explaining why they love Ron
Tim Russert Exposing some cute Hypocrisy
2. Rudy Giulianni (9iu11iani)
Why he's better than Bush: Supposedly Gay-Friendly, Supposedly Pro-Choice, Supposedly for Gun Control,
Why he's still fucked up: Supposedly Gay-Friendly, Supposedly Pro-Choice, Supposedly for Gun Control,
9iu11iani's record as generalissimo of NYC speaks for itself. Being able to "clean up" a city while only mildly abusing power and trouncing civil liberties is one thing, but translating that to the national stage is another. Rudy has been proven time and again to be a an egomaniac with despotic tendencies. Couple those tendencies with stomach churning-infidelities, and an ability for pandering that would make Dick Cheney blush, and we have ourselves THE DECIDER2.0. This is the man who spoke at abortion rights rallies in the 90's and then sought Pat Robertson's endorsement. I know, 9/11, 9/11...
Choice Vids:
Crossdressing Prez
What do you plan to do about crime?
3. Mike Huckabee (Teh Huckbeez)
Why he's better than Bush: Isn't too keen on the death penalty, understands the need for social programs, not too keen on Iraq
Why he's still fucked up: Former Baptist Preacher, Anti Choice, Anti Woman, Anti Gay, Anti-Science, Anti AIDS Victims
Teh Huckbeez is a likable man. he lost weight, he plays the guitar, he's got a pleasant drawl, he's appeared on Colbert numerous times. Unfortunately behind the seemingly self-conscious yokel, lies a Born Again who would make you wish he hadn't been in the first place. Along with the common Jesusy notions that women should be subservient to their husbands, and that AIDS patients should be quarantined, Teh Huckbeez also suggested we stop allowing Illegals from Pakistan from flooding our country and taking our jobs, in response to questions about the current crisis in Pakistan. "Aw, shit. All Browns People is bad anyways. Let's bomb Mexistan!" Sorry, but we already had one hillbilly president.
Choice Vids:
National Igloo
Radical Cleric
4. Fred Thompson (Frederick of Hollywood)
Why he's better than Bush: Uhhh...
Why he's still fucked up: Ummm...
Who the hell IS this guy? By all accounts he's a lazy worker, has accomplished nothing politically, and he'll be dead in a year. Are the Repubs so desperate that they are willing to trot out any mediocre actor just for the memory of Reagan? Why not trot out Reagan's corpse? It'll probably have a better work ethic.
Choice Vids:
Nixon on Fred
There's No Business
5. Mitt Romney (Mittens)
Why he's better than Bush: Supposedly Gay-Friendly, Supposedly Pro-Choice, Supposedly for Gun Control, Supposedly Opposed to the War,
Why he's still fucked up: Supposedly Gay-Friendly, Supposedly Pro-Choice, Supposedly for Gun Control, Supposedly Opposed to the War,
I don't think Mittens is a bad man, but he is a simple man who does not seem to think clearly and has obviously sold out many of his views to be elected one way or another. The result is someone who wants to be elected, because he thinks he should. Not because he believes in anything, not because he has good ideas. It Smacks too much of Dubya.
Choice Vids:
Mittens Vs. Teddy
A Wide Stanced Endorsement
6. John McCain (Walnuts!)
Why he's better than Bush: Is he? In the 2000 campaign he ran as the anti-bush and nearly won the Republican nomination. Then, he capitulated. Why? Is the straight talking McCain still in there?
Why he's still fucked up: He's been the mouthpiece for the Bush administration for so long, he may have forgotten his centrist roots.
Walnuts is so sad. Walnuts was a centrist who made sense and appealed to both sides. He talked no nonsense and had an admirable record. Then Walnuts went apeshit. He's been the biggest supporter of the current administration of any of the candidates and he's so old and crazy that he's said things like "Bomb Iran" and "Tar Baby". Fuck almighty! Is Walnuts the Manchurian candidate? Did Karl Rove break him? Too sad, too old, too bad.
Choice Vids:
Straight Talk
Walnuts!
Let's just take a look at the Republican field one more time, folks!
VS As an Armenian, or rather, as someone who's residence in Glendale and copious body hair was often mistaken for Armenian, I am passingly familiar with the Armenian Genocide, and the desperate plight of the Armos at the hands of the pre Attaturk, Ottoman Turks during WW thee Firste.
As far as i am given to understand, the (Ottoman) Turks rounded up 2 million Armenians for "Deportation" and 1.5 of them conveniently died en route. Nasty nasty lot, those Ottomans. After The "Great" War, the allies spanked all the naughty axisss pretty damn well. Germany had to pay out the nose, the Kaiser abdicated, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist and was partitioned into incredily troublesome little states (Serbia, Bosnia, Endor), and the Ottomans were also disbanded. To the great fortune of Europe and all the cutures thas collide at the bosporous, the man who took the reigns of a throttled Turkey was a great man named Kamil Attaturk. He developed Turkey into a prosperous, secular, democracy, fully understanding that a place so steeped in religion, can only be peacful without it.
Since then, Turkey has been our friend and ally. A part of NATO, and even a grudging helper in our bullshit invasion of Iraq, they grumpily allowed us to invade through the north by passing through their airspace. Turkey is cool by us, right? But today, they called back their ambassador and are throwing a world-class hissy fit, over the congressional vote to aknowledge the Armeian genocide of nearly a century ago.
Now, here's the thing. WTF? I mean, WTF? I thought that the Germans had established the rule for international fuckupery. You can fuck up really hard, but at the end you have to say "Sorry", and you have to mean it. That's it. Now deportation and Genocide are hugely different, I get that. But come ON! Let's call it like it is. Everyone except the biggest assholes in the world have accepted the genocide as , well.. a genocide. Check out this handy map of all the US states whos legislatures have accepted the Genocide.
As you can see, only the "DIck" states, have refused to accept the fact (With Hawaii just not giving a Dervish's Fart). But even some traditional "Dick"states have accepted the facts , which is huge when you consider their aversion to them (Facts, not Dick).
So, what's the big deal?
Let's say you're Ted the Turk, you don't admit to anything, you preserve whatever macho bullshit you need to preserve, and the whole world is slightly pissed at you, but hey we're all friends here, right?
If you're Armo Armakian, you're stil going to be pissed at the Turks and everyone knows they've got genocide issues, so there, take comfort in that.
What strikes me, is the pissy reaction from Turkey. Phrases like "Hardball" or "you'll be sorry" have been flung around diplomatic circles like in an Alabama High School commencement speech. Now, I expect that from our "Plaintalking, "Folksy, and "Reatrded" President. But Turkey? Really? It sounds like our little vote struck a cord with the Turks.
The overreaction is not dissimilar to the reaction i got from Larry Craig's "I'm Not Gay" speech.
Whoa! Whoa! Larry, no one is saying you're GAY. We're just saying you got caught soliciting cop cock in a public toilet.
A similar reaction to the Paultards with my previous post.
Hey Paultards, I didn't say the doctor was a facist, racist, asshole. I just said that his voting record tends to appeal to facist racist assholes.
So Turkey, fuckin' relax. If you're so sure there was no wrongdoing, why all the melodrama?
Hey Paultards! Ever give a thought to who else might share your views? Aside from being anti war, and a fiscal libertarian, your boy is also anti-reproductive rights, and anti gay marriage, and who knows what other classic misogynistic and bigoted views. Don't be fooled by the anti-war rhetoric and the smaller government platform!
These are just a few of the crazy ideas Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul has...
1.) Eliminating public institutions of higher learning by privatizing the entire system, and stubbornly voting against all measures to increase public funding of universities. -------------------------------------------- 2. Destroying free public education at all levels K-12 and beyond (i.e. abolish the dept. of education, arguing that that all education should be a privately-owned venture, advocating home-schooling, opposing all public spending initiatives, eroding funding by eliminating taxes on the wealthy). Ron Paul believes that education should be treated as any other commodity, like an iPhone, and purchased only if you have enough money to afford it. On his view, it is neither a social good nor a right that any fair or just society should try to ensure and nurture. Your parents don't earn enough to pay out of pocket for your schooling? Ron Paul says 'tough luck.' -------------------------------------------- 3. Staunchly opposing Universal Health Care and in favor of further privatizing an already corrupt corporate system that rakes in billions in profits for its ownership while close to 50 million Americans are uninsured and those that are insured get screwed, dropped or drowned in extremely costly co-pays and premiums. -------------------------------------------- 4. Worsening the student debt crisis by further gutting (I say 'further gutting' because Bush and his GOP congress made putative cuts in 2005) programs like Pell Grants and Stafford Loans (put in place by LBJ) and giving even more of the student loan system over to a (corrupt, as we've seen from recent revelations in NY) billion-dollar private racket. Students in France and the UK strike over tuition increases and fight for grants and the abolition of loans... Ron Paul thinks we should slash all of it and only have private lenders who generate profits from college students' inability to afford high-priced tuition. -------------------------------------------- 5. Destroying the environment: in the 109th Congress alone, he voted to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to shield oil companies from MTBE contamination lawsuits, against increasing gas mileage standards, to allow new offshore drilling, and to stop making oil companies pay royalties to the government for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. -------------------------------------------- 6. Destroying the progressive income tax (reverting to the regressive system in place during the Gilded Age), letting the rich get out of paying their fair share and depleting funding for social goods. On Ron Paul’s view, it’s ‘communistic and against liberty’ for Bill Gates to be expected to pay higher taxes than working-class single mothers. -------------------------------------------- 7. Supporting right-wing anti-choice laws and stripping women of reproductive rights.
------------------------------------------- 8. Opposing Church-State Separation: From keeping "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to co-sponsoring the school prayer amendment to keeping the Ten Commandments on a courthouse lawn, this "strict constitutionalist" isn't a big fan of the Constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state. Paul is in step with Pat Robertson on the issue of “Separation of Church and State, which Paul thinks is something that left-liberals simply made up from whole cloth. -------------------------------------------- 9. Supports the repeal of public programming like NPR, PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. -------------------------------------------- 10. Supporting right-wing anti-immigration legislation. Opposes building a wall, but only because that would require ‘big government’, otherwise presumably erecting a wall would be a great idea for this xenophobic nativist. -------------------------------------------- 11. Opposing worker's rights and virulently against workers organizing themselves against exploitative employers (has consistently voted against Employee Free Choice Act.) -------------------------------------------- 12. Fervently opposes raising the minimum wage, in favor of abolishing the minimum wage altogether (a standard libertarian belief.) Let me repeat this one more time: Ron Paul argues that we should abolish the minimum wage altogether. -------------------------------------------- 13. Repealing Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and every other social program put in place since the New Deal. -------------------------------------------- 14. etc, etc, etc...
Yes, Ron Paul is against the Iraq War, and so are Pat Buchanan and David Duke. The fact that he is against the Iraq war alone isn’t enough to actually make the guy worth a second look. He's also not the only person running for president who is advocating withdrawal (Kucinich (D) and Gravel (D), both of whom also have no chance of receiving a nomination, both advocate immediate withdrawal.) His non-interventionist position on Iraq cannot be a compelling reason to suspend judgment about the lunacy of his other positions.
"But he's consistent throughout his whole career!" They will say. Yes, we agree, but since when is being consistently wrong about everything that matters a good thing? --------------------------------------------------------------- According to most major polls, Ron is pulling either " - " or "1-2%" among Republicans.
As a Congressman, Ron Paul (R-TX) has voted with his party nearly 80% of the time, which places him firmly within the bounds of a "rank-and-file-Republican"."
My brother often chides me about the youth of the Obama supporters. Boy, he aint kidding. Because our district was considered small, the young uns from FL, CA, UT and AL were all tossed into our Caucus. The Average age of my team was..19 Aiee!
As our supporters began to show up at the Elementary School, we would sticker them so the Hillary people would KNOW which ones were ours, though admittedly it was easy to tell as people walked in. Obama supporters were a very diverse lot, Hillary's were not. In fact, mostly middle aged mommies and mostly white. I'm not hatin' , its just what I observed. So as our awesomely diverse supporters walked in and sat down in our area, we led them in the Official Obama Cheer. I'll let Senator Obama and Edith explain.
