Krugman Assails Obama on Health Care Again

Krugman Assails Obama on Health Care Again One more time. In his New York Times column today, Paul Krugman further proves that progressives and others backing Obama really are confused[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=26941

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Obama's Edge

For some time, I've thought that Hillary Clinton had a slight edge in the race, mostly because of[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/228997277/showDiary.do

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

WHY I CHANGED MY MIND AND DECIDED TO VOTE FOR
OBAMA

Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) and Rapper 50 Cent endorsed Hillary Clinton over the weekend (on Fox) but pretty much everyone else endorsed Obama-- especially here in California where Obama is surging. Mrs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, suddenly jumped up on the stage at UCLA and decided-- on the spot-- to make her support of Barack Obama public, joining in a celebratory moment with Oprah, Caroline Kennedy and Michelle Obama. Ethel Kennedy wasn't there but she issued an endorsement as well-- as did Garrison Keillor.

There was a time when NARL meant something that was part of the struggle for liberation and progress. Since then they've become another conniving Inside the Beltway interest group that will back a Joe Lieberman as he seals the fate of our Judiciary by manipulating the confirmation of an anti-choice fanatic like Alito. Before NARL descended to that place of dishonor, it was brilliantly led by Kate Michelman who managed to accomplish everything that Lieberman's allies are attempting to wipe out today. I'm not sure if NARL is supporting Clinton or McCain or what Insider candidate they've made a slimy deal with, but Kate, an Edwards backer, wrote a great appeal at HuffPoon behalf of Obama Saturday.

The question I have been asking myself and others during my entire life in public policy and throughout this 2008 presidential Campaign-- the question which tens of millions of women and men have also been asking-- is how do we best bring America together in shared purpose, prosperity and, especially, equality.

Barack Obama, like John Edwards, is redefining what is possible and in so doing he's changing us, each one of us.

Many who had given up on politics are re-engaging. Many who had grown tolerant of the intolerable are now ready to demand more-- and not just from themselves but others. And many who had given up believing that the ideals of equality, dignity and justice would ever again be as politically important as money and power, now believe again.

And this too is why I'm endorsing Senator Barack Obama.

Barack and John Edwards were different candidates, with different backgrounds and life experiences, but all these many months and really throughout their lives, they have been on a common path.

Both are focused on changing our politics, both are committed to shaking the foundation of the Washington establishment, and both are profound voices for what our country should and can be.

DWT readers are probably aware that I was for Edwards too-- or, more appropriately, for Edwards' ideas. I wasn't terribly enamored with the candidate himself; I'm not terribly enamored with any of them and I like many of the ideas all of them have been talking about (the Democratic ones, obviously; the Republicans' ideas are hateful and ugly). After Edwards dropped out, my immediate reaction was to just vote for him anyway in the hope of sending a message to whichever Democrats come to power that out beyond the Beltway, there are Democrats in the grassroots who want the progressive vision John Edwards was voicing to be the predominant direction of the Democratic Party. Politicians don't take messages to heart. They take power to heart. I decided to vote for Obama.

He isn't perfect; what candidate ever has been? But the symbolism he represents is what I'm voting vote; I'll pray the rest works out. Hillary's symbolism has something going for it too. Half the people in this country will be justifiably heartened to see the ultimate glass ceiling shattered by her elevation to the White House. That alone is almost enough for me to want to vote for her tomorrow-- and I will certainly have no problem whatsoever supporting her if she faces off against the odious McCain in November-- unlike some of the childish and naive Obama supporters who are already threatening to take their bat and ball home and pout. But, for me at least, the Obama symbolism of hope and a new dawn is also powerful and compelling.

Whoever wins the nomination will be the victim of vicious, desperate smears from the far right; count on it. I have a sense they will have a harder time making their case stick with significant numbers of voters with Obama than with Hillary. I feel that any Democrat will beat any Republican in 2008. Americans are fed up with their greed and hatred, their selfish divisiveness and grotesque incompetence. A Democratic landslide at the top of the ticket could help replace hard core fascist-leaning legislators like James Inhofe with Andrew Rice or John Cornyn with Rick Noriega or Mean Jean Schmidt with Victoria Wulsin, Scott Garrett with Dennis Shulman, Robin Hayes with Larry Kissell. Obama is probably the Democrat best-suited to go up against a crabby, brittle reactionary Republican like McCain. He's well-suited to make a case for progressive values and principles and to banish the era of divisiveness that has marked the ascendancy of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and John McCain.

The politics of the Clinton camp have always looked ugly to me. Hillary has surrounded herself with some of the worst and most corrupted elements of her husband's mediocre administration. I suspect many of them, alas, will find comfortable homes in an Obama administration too-- but hopefully without quite as much influence and power. So tomorrow I'll be up bright and early to walk down the hill and vote in one of my neighbor's garages. I'll look forward to voting for a forward-looking vision for my country. Halfway across the country, there's a vote just as important to me, one I can't take part in because I live in California, not Illinois. I'll be talking about that election later today.

Read The Full Article:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-i-changed-my-mind-and-decided-to.
html

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

It's the Hillary Clinton Middle Class Black Vote
Shuffle, Better known as, "Yes-Um Boss"

My early morning Rant





It's interesting to see all of these black political clowns, handkerchief heads, and a number of black preachers say to blacks that we should vote for Hillary Clinton because her husband was (code words) ' a good white man."

Many of these black political "yes em" types, even sound like they are in the deep south (after reconstruction) during a county seat election in which a black man had the audacity to run for political office. You know the type, a smart, educated black man comes back home after getting a east coast education. and decides to run against Mr. Charlie. Mr. Charlie goes to the preacher and says, "now you know I treats you negroes good, now you just go out there and tell your negro friends what a great white man I have been for you. Tell them, "I'm just as black" is that smart that smart ass nigger who is running against Mr. Charlie. You can even tell those black guys, "I've had sexual relations with just as many black woman as that smart ass nigger." And that is exactly what they (Bill and Hillary) did in late 2007 and early 2008, they had Andrew Young come out and say this:


video details and more



Now there are those middle and upper middle class black folks running around talking about, "I can vote for anyone I want, this is America." I'm voting for Billary because she is more qualified than Obama. Whatever! No you have been bamboozled, you have been took, you have been lead astray, you are now that black man in the county seat ready to vote for the black man, but were told don't you dare vote for that black man, don't you vote for that smart ass nigger who has the audacity to run against Mr. Charlie (in this case Mr. Charlie's wife) and you have bought into the hype about how good they have been for us.

Let's see if those blacks who think that way are out of touch with the masses of black folks across America who will vote on Super Tuesday. Let's see if South Carolina was a fluke?

This may be the last time in for many black baby boomers, and those who fought the great civil rights fights lifetime, that they will have an opportunity to ever vote for a viable black presidential candidate. At least Caroline Kennedy and others can see the moment, it's too bad there are a few blacks of middle class status who can't.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/AfricanAmericanOpinion/~3/228949171/its-hillary-cl
inton-middle-class-black.html

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Iraq War Video

Still attempting to get a grip on VlogCasting, the you tube video was made with an 8125 cell phone, photo’s and vid clips snagged from the phones web browser and tied together with windows mobile office soft ware and some apps I got from share ware for mobile platforms free page. It took several attempts [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://psburton.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/iraq-war-video/

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Finding Voices for Obama

After her win in the New Hampshire primary, a victorious Hillary Clinton told her supporters "I found my own voice."

That was before she lost her own voice to her husband as Bill pushed her to the sidelines in South Carolina to defend his legacy, and coincidentally Hillary's candidacy, with eye-bulging, finger-waving, race-baiting vehemence.

As Hillary lost her voice in South Carolina, and the primary, she also lost her right to maintain the fairy tale that she could control Bill and was a woman who could lead. A sobered Democratic Party saw a replay of the painful Billary soap opera with an out-of-control Bill and weren't entertained.

Now other voices are rising to drown out Hillary's faux voice.... "Michelle, Maria, Caroline and Oprah on the Hustings in California" (NYTimes).... in support of Barack Obama.

Even though the NY Times endorsed Hillary, Times editor Andrew Rosenthal had a cautionary tale to tell. In California's U.C.L.A. basketball arena "four extraordinary women put on the best campaign rally I've seen in 20 years of covering presidential politics."

Caroline Kennedy, who brought along her uncle Sen. Ted Kennedy, delivered the message.... "step out of your lives and into this moment in history".... before introducing the surprise Obama supporter of the evening, Maria Shriver, the wife of Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who recently endorsed GOP candidate John McCain.

Oprah Winfrey urged the excited young crowd to see this campaign, with the two front runners, a woman and a black man, as a moment when they "are free from the constraints of gender and race".... to support the best candidate.

But, even with all of this star power, the person who stole the show was Michelle Obama who found her voice... "she was intellectually powerful, even fierce at times, in making her political arguments.... she also allowed herself to offer the full-throated praise of her husband that she avoided in earlier stages of the campaign. She spoke about his character, about his ability to lead, and aimed squarely at the criticism that his resume is too thin."

Michelle spoke about Obama's time in the Illinois State Legislature as better than "serving in Congress or as governor because it made him understand the impact that federal laws have on ordinary Americans."

In the end, it's these ordinary Americans who must find their voices.... "yes we can!"

Read The Full Article:
http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com/2008/02/finding-voices-for-obama.html

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Monday Open Thread

"Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The
real enemy is women's denigration of themselves."

Betty Friedan
February 4, 1921 - February 4, 2006





Read The Full Article:
http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=20744

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Bush & Budget: Two Things That Don't Belong
Together

Looking forward to Super Duper Pooper Scooper Tuesday, I wanted to only run upbeat news. But Bush has presented his little budget plan, complete with a little blue cover that reads: "Budget" like one of those report covers mom used to buy to gussy up your term papers.

And when I look at him, holding his little blue budget in his hand, while Condi Rice beams like a proud mommy, I think: What I am about to say needs to be said. So here goes.

This puppet president was puffed up, endorsed, and presented to voters as a great guy, a great leader, by the Republican Party. They searched for someone, found him, groomed him, convinced him he could win, and then they used every dirty trick ever invented to get him elected. Since then he has failed and failed and every failure has hurt the confidence of the United States more. Every failure has made our enemies stronger and more cocky. Every failure has cost the American family more of its resources, its hope, its pride, and its very way of life.

Anyone who would give this party another opportunity to elect another leader at this moment in our history (no matter HOW good that leader looks on paper and on TV), well, you know what they say.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. You may recall Bush's attempt at that phrase a few years ago. The man cannot say two sentences in a row. And he doesn't stumble over his tongue. He stumbles over his lying soul. He stumbles over his inadequacy.

Now Bush has tossed his blue-covered budget at Congress, and guess what? He thinks it is good. A budget that projects a $400 BILLION DEFICIT. Here's what he says about it:

"Our budget protects America and encourages economic growth. Congress needs to pass it."

Like a child who paid someone to do his homework for him. He can't be more specific, because he doesn't know what he is talking about.

George W. Bush is the essence of BIG GOVERNMENT. He is a product of big, over-complicated government. Just like the lie about everything else, the Republican Party lies about what they stand for. They say they are for non government interference. It's a lie. They stand for money stolen from our government for their own benefit.

This entire occupation of Iraq is a scam against the American people and against our military. I'm no dove. I love our military, and I want to see it strong enough to protect us. Right now it is weak because of the Republican Party and the incompetent leaders they have endorsed so that they could control our national resources.

If you voted for Bush, you don't have to be embarrassed. But don't make the same mistake again. A vote for McCain or Romney or Huckabee is a vote for the demise of this great nation, and the end of any hope that the average American family can live what we all recognize as the American Dream.

We don't want much. We want to live our own way, without government interference. Well, we're not living that way now. Life gets more bureaucratic and complicated and dangerous every day. And it is all down to the Republican Party, which has drained our economy and wasted the lives of our young people, and has given huge tax breaks to rich people and huge economic burdens to middle and low income people.

If you're poor, or if you're struggling, and you want to feel hopeful again, you want your kids to have a fighting chance at a good life---you cannot vote for another Republican. They want your vote and your money--and your home and your kids and your pension. Don't let them have your life. They will only squander it like everything else.

I know Barack Obama scares some voters. What "change" is he talking about, right? But Obama has never emptied your retirement account. He never sat on his front porch playing a guitar while you and your family waited for days on a rooftop in your ruined, flooded neighborhood to be rescued, only to slowly realize that no one was coming for you. In this great nation, with all our promise and all our power--no one was coming to help you.

Obama never gave you double talk about school vouchers and not leaving any child behind, while your child's school deteriorated beyond repair and your child's school could not afford books or sports equipment or musical instruments or decent lunches.

Obama didn't invade another country illegally and set up camp there and let thousands of young troops die without the basic armor they needed. He didn't give his friends license to set up companies in Iraq and make a fortune while our troops died all around them.

Bush did that. The Republican Party did that--to all of us. To even consider giving them the chance to do it again is crazy.

When Obama calls for change, he means change away from greed and hypocrisy and stealing and lying and screwing over the American family. He means change away from the interfering government of the Republicans, to a government whose resources SERVE US. He means change that will re-empower all of us, the American people, so that we will have our chance at the American Dream.

I'm no activist. I'm barely active. All I want is to live in my own way, in my own home. And I have come to realize that, to regain my freedom, I need an advocate in the White House. I need for changes to occur, so that my government SERVES me, instead of smooth talking me while lifting my wallet.

If you're planning to vote for a Republican, you might as well shoot yourself. Because a vote for any one of the Republican party's candidates is nothing short of suicide.

Read The Full Article:
http://hickwithmasters.blogspot.com/2008/02/bush-budget-two-things-that-dont-belo
ng.html

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!

Another completely unsurprising development

No one could have foreseen Bush not giving a damn!The Bush administration has failed to nominate any candidates to a newly empowered privacy and civil-liberties commission. This leaves the board without any members, even as Congress prepares to give the[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/04/another-completely-unsurprising-development/

Add to del.icio.us   Digg this   Post to Furl   Add to reddit   Add to myYahoo!