Kerry 2004/Carrie 2008?

A reader writes:

Instead of Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Blvd.," I'm beginning to think [Hillary is] like Sissy Spacek in "Carrie."

And the Democratic Convention will be her High School Prom, where she can get her revenge on the delegates who laughed at her.

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Last surviving Brown v. Board of Education plaintiff dies

This is what a real civil rights heroine looks like. From the NYT:

Zelma Henderson, a Kansas beautician who was the sole surviving plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the landmark federal desegregation case of 1954, died on Tuesday in Topeka. She was 88 and had lived in Topeka all her adult life....

The Brown case, which began as a Kansas class-action suit in 1951, was known formally as Oliver L. Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. Mrs. Henderson was the last of the “et al.” on the complainants’ side in the original case. In the decades since, she appeared often at events commemorating the decision and was widely interviewed in the news media.

Considered one of the United States Supreme Court’s most seminal decisions, Brown outlawed segregation in the nation’s public schools. A cornerstone of the emerging civil rights movement, it paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed segregation in other public facilities....

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision.

“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place,” Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the court’s opinion. “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”...

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News in 1994, Mrs. Henderson reflected on Brown 40 years later. “None of us knew that this case would be so important and come to the magnitude it has,” she said. “What little bit I did, I feel I helped the whole nation.”

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Obama blasts McCain

Meanwhile, back to the guy who actually won the nomination. This is a good one from Obama:

"While I always appreciate hearing the news from John McCain, he should explain to the American people why almost every single promise and prediction that he has made about Iraq has turned to be catastrophically wrong, including his support for a surge that was supposed to achieve political reconciliation. While John McCain offers his poor judgment in supporting George Bush's war and a failed foreign policy that has left us less secure, I will continue to make the case for a new foreign policy that deploys all elements of American power -- including tough, principled and direct diplomacy. It's stunning that in such a lengthy written statement, John McCain could not articulate a single new idea that hasn't been tried -- and failed -- over the last eight years."

Everybody duck, he's gonna blow! Read More......

A word about "elites"

I was at a talk this morning that the New America Foundation and the British Council were holding with the Transatlantic Network 2020 and the British Foreign Secretary (their Secretary of State). At some point we got around to discussing "elites." It's a word that came up a lot in the conversation with regards to there being a supposed problem with government elites around the world not communicating with and representing the masses.

The night before, at a dinner with the same group (sans the hot foreign secretary), a conservative at the table made the point that the majority of American voters would never support the Kyoto Protocol if permitted to vote on it directly (the agreement limiting carbon dioxide emissions in order to rein in global warming - Bush pulled the US out of the agreement at the beginning of his first term). The conservative's point was that "elites" in Washington and around the world negotiated the agreement and are trying to impose it on "real people," and that somehow this was a bad thing. It got me playing devil's advocate and asking myself, and the crowd this morning, whether, for example, we really want the people of West Virginia (or Illinois, or California for that matter) directly deciding on the merits of individual treaties. With all due respect to our fellow citizens, two-thirds of young people aged 18-24 can't even find Iraq on a map, and 50% can't find New York state. I'm gonna wager a bet that their parents aren't any brighter. (In fact, they're not.)

The Republicans like to pretend that they're for the regular guy, unless of course the regular guy opposes their tax cuts for the wealthy, their wars of convenience, or pretty much anything else Republicans have done over the past eight years. Then, Republicans are much less in favor of letting the people decide anything. But putting their hypocrisy aside, at what point is public opinion wise and at what point is it woefully ignorant. And how should a leader, an elite, know when to follow public opinion and when to, well, lead in spite of it? Read More......

Hillary is now comparing Obama and the DNC to the Republicans who stole Florida for Bush in 2000

UPDATE: Hillary also compared her attempt to steal the election to the fight against slavery. Oh yes she did. Apparently, sometimes you have to steal the election from a black man in order to save the black man.
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Funny, but I don't remember, at the time, Hillary caring too much about the GOP stealing Florida. (She also didn't care when the Democrats punished Floria and Michigan last fall - in fact, she supported it.) Rather shameless how the Clintons can turn on a dime on any issue when it suits them. But remember what David Geffen said about the Clintons last year:

"Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it’s troubling."

And now we have Hillary comparing Obama and the Democrats to the Republicans who stole the election in Florida. From Politico, via Andrew:

In an intentional bit of symbolism, Clinton's three campaign stops will be in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties – the three jurisdictions where Democrats allege voters were disenfranchised during the 2000 presidential election.

So Obama's victory in getting the Democratic nomination is as illegitimate as Bush's stealing of the vote in Florida. She really is hateful. And she really is going to torpedo Obama's campaign. And our leaders won't do a damn thing about it because, you know, it would be mean. I wonder if they'd be so reticent were Joe Biden being this much of an idiot. Read More......

Go away you horrible human being

(NOTE FROM JOHN: It seemed time for a reprint.)

IT'S NOT CLOSE. YOU FREAKING LOST THE NOMINATION, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Good God. What is wrong with her? The Clintons and their campaign staff don't give a damn that they are now hurting our electoral chances in the fall against McCain and against the Republicans in Congress. Their campaign isn't happening in some vacuum, and they know it. Our candidates can't fundraise because of her. Obama can't focus on McCain because of her. Obama is wasting money on HER, rather than spending it on McCain, because of her. EMILY's List, and AFSCME, and the American Federation of Teachers and others are wasting their members' money on her now-failed race - money that they could be spending, should be spending, on other real races, races that haven't already lost. She can't win, the math says she lost the nomination, but she doesn't give a damn. She's going to stay in the race like some spoiled hateful egotistical brat.

Why is the media even covering her? The only stories that should be written about Hillary Clinton is how much damage she's causing our party. How she's hurting fundraising at the DNC - they even admitted it, they're not raising the money they need to fight John McCain because of this woman. Why don't you write some stories about how she is hurting our candidates who can't fundraise because of her? How she has forced EMILY's List and AFSCME and the AFT to waste their money because of her. How she has caused a civil war in the Netroots. Five months ago we all felt that we had 3 great candidates. Now, far too many of us loathe Hillary Clinton, and she has done her racist best to ensure that her supporters can't stand Barack Obama either.

The Clintons don't give a damn about our party. Their party, their church, is themselves. To hell with everyone else. I actually liked Hillary up until a few months ago. Other bloggers used to tell me that Joe and I were too nice to Hillary. People just assumed that we were endorsing her. Now I actually loathe her. She makes me yell at the TV like she's George Bush, and no one other than George Bush makes me yell at the TV - until now. I actually can't stand her or her husband any more. I defended her. I defended her husband. And now I'm actually wondering if the Republicans weren't right about them. That's how bad she has damaged her reputation. People who actually liked you, who actually helped you, who actually defended you, LOATHE you now. Call me a Clinton-hater all you like, but people like me were the ones who had your back. And we never will again.

Let me close with what Mike Huckabee just said on MSNBC:

"The happiest person in America tonight is John McCain."

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Hillary today says she will take the fight to the convention

John and Rachel Maddow are right. Here's what Rachel said last night:

She is sending a message that is not being received... There is nothing that she is saying that is signifying that she's getting out of this race. If the Obama people and Obama supporters believe that something organic is going to happen after another magical two week period passes, they are deluding themselves. If they want her out of the race, they're gonna have to push her. If her only way to get the nomination, if her only way to win, is to win at the convention... then it is a matter of strategic importance for Obama to figure out a way to get her out of the race even if he looks mean doing it.

And here's what John wrote only an hour ago:

That's Hillary's plan [to take this to the convention]. And why shouldn't it be? What possible penalty does Hillary pay for dragging the race until August and putting our party on the verge of, in not in a full-fledged, civil war? What - her histrionics might make Obama lose in November? Yeah, she's really worried about doing something that might allow her to run again in four years. No one in town is standing up to her. No one in the party, no one on the Hill. Hillary is paying, and will pay, no penalty for dragging this out until August, so why should she stop now?

Today we learned that Hillary Clinton is so selfless, she is going to fight all the way to the convention to get Florida and Michigan seated -- the way she wants them seated:

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is willing to take her fight to seat Florida and Michigan delegates to the convention if the two states want to go that far. In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton was asked whether she would support the states if they continue the fight.

The presidential candidate said Wednesday, "Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this."

Great. Just great. That should make all Democrats really happy. She's willing to screw up the convention for her own political agenda. The Florida and Michigan situation can be solved soon and judiciously. But, apparently, it can only be solved on Hillary's terms.

It's hard to take Clinton's call for fairness seriously when she was the only person on the ballot in Michigan. I mean, come on, that's so Soviet. This just rings hollow and really lacks credibility. Not to mention, Hillary herself said the Michigan election didn't count and she didn't even care if her name was on the ballot. She only cares now that it gives her a way to keep her name in the papers, and hurt Obama's chances in the fall against McCain. Remember, the only way that Hillary can credibly run for president again in four years is if Obama loses. And that's exactly what she wants. That's why today she basically called the Democratic party unprincipled (pot meet kettle).

So, everyone who thought Clinton was going to find a way to wind down the race was wrong. Instead, Clinton will take this to the convention -- not for Florida and Michigan -- but for herself.

Obama should be out campaigning against McCain, but he has to deal with this lunacy instead. When will the superdelegates put an end to this nonsense?

One more thought: Does anyone else find it disturbing that despite knowing Obama, our nominee, was heading to Florida to mend fences and start the general election campaign against McCain, Hillary Clinton decided to go to Florida to rub salt in the wound? That says it all, really. Read More......

DNC, seriously, this is getting embarrassing

Fix this. Read More......

Hillary is taking this to the convention

Rachel Maddow, Joe Sudbay and I have something in common. In addition to being terribly handsome, we all think Hillary the presidential candidate won't be leaving us any time soon, and certainly not in two to three weeks.

Now, we'd set a policy the other day of ignoring Hillary forthwith on AMERICAblog. We don't write any more about the failed presidential candidacy of Joe Biden or Mike Gravel, or even John Edwards, so, her never-ending tantrums aside, why write about failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton? What's more, Hillary went through a bout of sanity last week. Sure, it only lasted 48 hours, but nonetheless, for those fleeting two days Hillary once again became a real Democrat, talking about issues, and not trying to lead her party towards a disastrous civil war that would guarantee a loss in November against John McCain. The old Hillary, the Hillary we actually liked, appeared to be back, so perhaps it was time to leave her alone. But as anyone who remembers "Flowers for Algernon" knows, such miracles rarely last.

In the past week, we've been subjected to what appears to be a coordinated campaign by the Clinton people to convince their own followers, and much of America, that the reason Hillary lost to Obama is because of sexism. Even more, the Clinton campaign and its surrogates are arguing that Hillary didn't lose at all - she actually won the election and it is precisely America's sexism that is stealing her victory away from her. In a nutshell, math is misogynist.

Putting aside for a moment the mutli-layered lie that is any talking point coming from the Clinton campaign (yes, the great white hope is now a champion against bigotry), the more important question isn't whether Hillary faced and faces sexism, but rather, why is Hillary still trying to open more wounds in the party and the electorate?

Hillary's latest greatest strategy is to convince her followers that they were robbed of their nomination because "elites" in Washington, including the Democratic elites (read: Superdelegates), hate women (I guess that's news to Nancy Pelosi). Now, what possible reason is there for Hillary to latch on to this new strategy? Because she's planning on leaving the election in the next 3 weeks and ending things on a high note? Because she thinks she can win 90% of the vote and 90% of the remaining Superdelegates by telling Democrats that they're a bunch of bigots? Hillary has stopped the personal attacks against Obama, but that wasn't because she finally realized she can't win, and that in the meantime she was simply hurting the party. Hillary stopped attacking Obama because she realized that she can't win BY ATTACKING OBAMA. She's found a new foil, sexism, and she has a new plan she's going to ride all the way to the convention. And she's told us as much all along, but no one wanted to believe her.

When has Hillary said even once that she'll end this by early June or mid-June, or any date at all? She refuses to set a date by which she will abide by the decision of the voters and the superdelegates, and if anything, her people have made quite clear that June will not end this. That should tell you something. If she were planning on pulling out in 2 or 3 weeks, she'd have said "after the last election, the person with the most superdelegates wins." But she hasn't said that. Why? Because Hillary knows that she can still steal this election on August 22, days before the start of the Democratic Convention. If political lightning finally strikes and we suddenly discover in August that Obama is actually a space alien hell bent on serving Americans as lunch, the superdelegates can legally switch their vote to Hillary and she would be our nominee. She's going to stay in the race, waiting for that day.

That, my friends, is what's going on. That's Hillary's plan. And why shouldn't it be? What possible penalty does Hillary pay for dragging the race until August and putting our party on the verge of, in not in a full-fledged, civil war? What - her histrionics might make Obama lose in November? Yeah, she's really worried about doing something that might allow her to run again in four years. No one in town is standing up to her. No one in the party, no one on the Hill. Hillary is paying, and will pay, no penalty for dragging this out until August, so why should she stop now?

Hillary isn't acting like someone who plans to quit in three weeks or even three months. She's constantly moved the goal post throughout this entire election. Whether it was the never-ending parade of "firewall states" that Hillary simply had to win, lest she be forced to end her campaign, or the ever-increasing number of total delegates needed to win, or the ever-changing explanation du jour as to why she's losing/lost the race (it it's Tuesday, it must be misogyny). Until Hillary has to pay a political price for her actions, she's going to keep moving the goal posts until the entire game is lost.

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Israel is holding talks with Syria. Are they Hitler appeasers too?

Time for the media to ask John McCain and George Bush whether they reject and denounce Israel. Read More......

My book hits the New York Review of Books

It's been a long while since I mentioned my book, Still Broken, but it continues to garner positive attention and reviews, and I imagine some of you missed it the first time around, so let me encourage our fine readers once again to check it out if you haven't yet. It's a first-hand account of my time working for the Defense Intelligence Agency, essentially the spy arm of the Department of Defense, as an Iraq analyst both at the Pentagon and in Baghdad. It discusses the continued manipulation and mismanagement of intelligence, at home and in the field, and is the only ground-level book I'm aware of written by an intel analyst who worked on Iraq. A lot of people think we've moved past the failures that led to 9/11 and the WMD debacle, but not only are those problems continuing, they're being institutionalized. Not good.

The latest book attention comes via the New York Review of Books, where Thomas Powers, a true expert on intelligence issues and a fine writer and reporter, includes it in an exploration of the war in a historical context. It's sort of a quasi-review, more oriented toward discussion than evaluation, and there are a bunch of books listed at the top, but mine is really the only one that's specifically addressed in detail. I'm flattered that it made it into NYRB -- almost certainly the premier literary/intellectual journal in the nation and a famously insular publication not necessarily prone to featuring a young, inexperienced, and (let's be honest) unsophisticated author such as myself. So it's pretty cool, and the entire piece is well worth a read.

So again, check it out if you haven't already, and if you have read it, consider reviewing it on Amazon so other people know it's worth their time as well. Read More......

Oil at $70, $130, $150, $200

Take your pick. Could be anywhere, according to the experts. The only thing that is clear is that our energy policy is and has been a disaster. One Goldman analyst is now calling for $200 per barrel.

Mr. Murti, 39, argues that the world’s seemingly unquenchable thirst for oil means prices will keep rising from here and stay above $100 into 2011. Others disagree, arguing that prices could abruptly tumble if speculators in the market rush for the exits. But the grim calculus of Mr. Murti’s prediction, issued in March and reconfirmed two weeks ago, is enough to give anyone pause: in an America of $200 oil, gasoline could cost more than $6 a gallon.

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Unopposed, McCain only got 72% of the GOP vote in Kentucky

In a column on nytimes.com, GOP consultant/former McCain campaign staffer Dan Schnur explains the lack of enthusiasm among Republicans ("a dispirited Republican Party) for the McCain campaign.

GOP vote totals in Kentucky, like those in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana, show someone isn't loved by a big chunk of his base:
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Clinton's $19+ million debt exceeded available cash by $12 million at end of April

UPDATED: I shouldn't do math so early in the morning. The totals have been adjusted. The Clinton campaign included the loans in the compilation of its debt. Jed tells me via the LA Times that the debt is closer to $21 million. I think that number includes the additional $1.4 million in loans Clinton made to her campaign, but I believe that portion of the loan was made in May, not April, and hence not reported on the latest FEC report.

Hillary Clinton raised $21 million in April, plus she made another loan to the campaign of $5 million last month.

The campaign's debt at the end of April totaled $19480893.26, plus including $10 million in outstanding loans (none has been repaid). Cash on hand was $29.6 million, but a large portion of that amount, approximately $23 million, is unavailable because it was raised for the general election.

So, the Clinton campaign is in some serious money trouble -- even with the revised numbers. I had to do my own calculations here (and had to recalculate): At the end of April, her campaign had $6.6 million available. The $19+ million in outstanding debts to vendors plus includes the $10 million in loans means the campaign's debt exceeds $19 million. Her debts exceed available cash by over $12 million. Not good. There have been additional loans, too, since the end of the reporting period. Plus, she still owes Mark Penn $4.8 million. Good luck getting people to chip in to pay him.

Not sure how this fundraising debacle is supposed to inspire superdelegates. Read More......

Hillary's Flesh Wound

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The GOP nominee, John McCain, raised $18 million in April

April FEC numbers are in. John McCain can't raise money.

Two months after John McCain secured the GOP nomination, with the entire hierarchy of the GOP helping him, he only raised $18 million in April. He's spent more than $58 million so far and has $21 million on hand. Let's not forget, McCain already scammed the public finance system in this campaign. McCain is going to use the public finance system in the general election, too.

As reported earlier, Obama topped both McCain and Hillary by raising over $31 million. While fundraising was always the GOP's strength, it's not this year. There's no way Obama should enter into any agreement on campaign spending with McCain. The GOP nominee can't be trusted. No matter how much whining McCain does or how much his friends in the traditional media invoke McCain's talking points on campaign spending, no deal.

McCain and the lobbyists who run his campaign will just try some new scam. And, don't forget, the McCain's campaign top fundraiser is going to be the man campaigning for his third term, George Bush. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Last night was pretty exciting. It's good to have a nominee...Obama gave a great speech with many memorable lines. This was my favorite:

But this year's Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could out-Bush the other, and that is the contest John McCain won.

McCain is trying to out-Bush even Bush.

That was tempered, of course, by the news about Senator Kennedy. I was thinking that he really has been a dominant force in American politics for most of my life...The first time I saw him in action was back in 1980 at UNH when he was running for President. The guy is a living legend. This is a link to a post I wrote after seeing him back in May of 2005 -- when I also learned that he was a big fan of the blogs. Just sending him positive thoughts as I know most of people are.

So, let's get started.... Read More......

Of course, it's the economy, stupid

There is no getting around it. Look at where the unemployment rates are climbing. Look at where housing has imploded. Look at the runaway inflation that the GOP says is not a problem. None of this just happened by accident. This is the end result of Republican policies.

Some of the worst economic conditions in the country are where John McCain can least afford them - in electoral battleground states crucial to Republicans' chances of hanging onto the White House.

Florida, Nevada, Georgia, Tennessee and Colorado - states where President Bush won the electoral vote in 2000 and 2004 - have seen their unemployment rate jump substantially the past 12 months, according to the latest readings from the Labor Department.

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Xenophobia feeds new wave of violence in South Africa

During my days in South Africa a couple of years ago, I was shocked by the depths of violence even though I had already heard countless personal accounts. It was an endless discussion throughout the country about why the country was so violent. Even as an American, a country that most of the world believes to be gun-crazy, dangerous and brutally violent, the stories in South Africa (both from close friends and the papers) were unimaginable. As the country prepares to welcome the world for the 2010 Football World Cup, it's taking another turn for the worse.

The surviving foreign residents of Cleveland have joined at least 10,000 other immigrants seeking refuge in police stations and churches as xenophobic murders, rapes and other violence spread across the city and its satellite townships on Monday.

At least 22 people have been killed, including two men who it was reported had their throats cut in Tembisa township yesterday and others who have been burned alive, beaten to death or shot, in the worst violence to hit Johannesburg since the politically-driven killings of the final years of apartheid.

In the city centre at the weekend, marauding gangs of men stopped people in the street or in minibus taxis to interrogate them about their origins. Those who did not speak an indigenous language were beaten up.

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Credit crisis to spread

Many on Wall Street keep telling everyone that the worst is behind us. Perhaps, but there are so many new problems that have been fed or created by the inflationary policies of Bernanke. Add to that wage increases in China and India and there's no end in sight for inflation Calling an end to the economic problems seems to be a stretch and not very grounded in reality.

Consumers will cut spending because of the high oil and energy prices, and all that the recent rally in stocks has shown is that investors think shares offer a better cushion against inflation than bonds, Faber added.

"I personally think we are just starting the credit crunch and it is going to be worse," he said. "I think the economy really stinks and the next sector to be hit, in America and elsewhere, is retail."

The strength of oil and energy stocks has offset some of the current market weakness, and many people believe we are moving into an environment like the one in the 1970s, with high inflation, Faber added.

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