And your little dog too

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Friday Orchid Blogging

Epi. Gay Rabbit

Yes, it's really called a "gay rabbit." The first person to register a name for a certain hybrid gets to make that name permanent. And somebody must have thought this thing had rabbit ears and, well, I dunno. Anyway, a friend gave me this several years back, it never grew a lick for her, so I took it, and now, several years later, it finally has flowers. And very cool flowers at that. The stem is probably a good foot and a half high, and the flowers are lightly scented. I grow this in semi-hydro, like my other orchids (basically, the roots grow in a very open baked clay pellet medium that ends up being moist by airy). I'm pretty pleased with this one. Enjoy :-) JOHN Read More......

Thanks for the memories

In a nostalgic mood, DailyKos looks back on some of the highlights of Hillary's now-defunct for the presidency:

Who could forget:

* Geraldine Ferraro's claim that Obama has an unfair advantage because he was black.

* Bob Kerrey's happiness that Barack Hussein Obama attended a madrassa and had all that experience with Muslims.

* Billy Shaheen's concern over Obama's use of drugs and possible questions on whether he was ever a drug dealer.

* Andrew Cuomo saying that "You can't shuck and jive," in reference to Obama.

* And of course the First Surrogate, Bill Clinton, comparing Obama's win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's wins in the 1980's, and then being shocked at the suggestion that he was trying to paint Obama as "the black candidate."

Sniff. We're gonna miss you guys! Now go away. Seriously. Read More......

Should Democratic nominee Obama pay off Hillary's debts?

First off, she and her husband made over $100 million this decade. Not sure why the little people should be paying her debts. Secondly, would that include the debt she's foolishly incurring by continuing her campaign long after she's already lost? There is a large part of me that feels like we should just let her have her fun in her own kooky "I need a hug so I'm going to continue running for president forever" world, and let the bill collectors come after her when she's still running for president next spring. More from Ben. Read More......

Could Lanny Davis be a bigger idiot?

Seriously, Lanny Davis has to be on the top of the list of Clintonistas we never want to see on TV again.

We're almost getting our wish. He's been bitching about Tuesday night's coverage. TPM has a video montage of the pathetic performance. What a fricking crybaby. But the good news is that he won't appear on CNN anymore...well, not all of CNN...just CNN's election coverage. He'll still go on some CNN, like Larry King. (Vintage Clintonian parsing, btw).

Seriously, Davis is just an unbelievable tool. Go hang out with your pal, Lieberman, and his pal, McCain. No one will miss you. Read More......

Clinton continues attacks on Democratic nominee Obama

It's still happening.

She can't help herself. Before any Clinton supporter tells anyone to back off, they should tell their candidate to stop the negative attacks on our presumptive nominee. And, all those people who thought she needed to take some time to "process" the situation (which is a very bizarre concept, by the way)....well, she's using that time to attack Obama.

By letting Hillary continue her assault on Obama, her supporters and her campaign are all aiding and abetting McCain and his quest for a third Bush term. We'd much rather be fighting the battle against McCain. But, it's the "deluded also-ran" (the AP's words, not mine) who keeps the intra-party fight going. Read More......

9 SuperDelegates for Obama

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good bye.

The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 271 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63.

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Hillary's broke

Yet they're still spending money like a drunken white American. It makes no sense. They can't honestly believe the race is still on. She lost. It's over. The donors know it, and don't feel like financing Hillary's ongoing denial (after Indiana, Hillary only raised 1/10th of the money that came in after Pennsylvania). Even the media stopped drinking her Kool-Aid. Her staff ought to start looking for other jobs because, seriously folks, do you really think your salaries are going to get paid before the nearly $5m Hillary owes Mark Penn? And the longer you keep this up, the more you jeopardize future employment opportunities in the Democratic party. Think: Gerstein. Read More......

And then there were six

Democratic nominee Barack Obama gets his sixth SuperDelegate today. He is now 3 SuperDelegates away from surpassing Hillary. Read More......

Hillary as Veep?

Putting aside for a moment the fact that she's not going to be running for president in 2012, she's going to be running for president until 2012 - how do you add the name "Clinton" to the ticket and claim that you're for change? Read More......

What is Lauren Wolfe, Crystal Strait, David Hardt, and Awais Khalil's problem?

Obama has been overwhelmingly winning the youth vote. Just look at the numbers (at right). Obama's campaign has more:

"Obama has won an average of 62% of the youth vote compared to Clinton's 34%. He won the youth vote in every contest except for Arkansas and Massachusetts, where he lost by 1%. In this week's contests, Obama won the youth vote in North Carolina by 49% and in Indiana by 22%."

You'd think that it would, therefore, be a no-brainer that the two largest student youth groups, College Democrats of America and the Young Democrats of America, would endorse Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The issue isn't just academic. The leaders of CDA and YDA are SuperDelegates. They quite literally represent America's youth, and have a voice in choosing our nominee. But they're not doing a lot of representing. They seem to be hiding. Or something.

Let me explain something. The presidential train has left the station. Obama is on it. Hillary is not. Lauren Wolfe, Crystal Strait, David Hardt, and Awais Khalil can either be on the train, or left standing on the platform, all alone, watching the train as it leaves forever. And Lauren, Crystal, David and Awais, trust me when I say that it is way more fun to be on the train than to be hanging out with all the other people who missed it.

Let me explain something else. According to the Associated Press, Obama is now only four SuperDelegates behind Hillary (and new SuperDs are coming in every hour). Sure, Obama has already won the nomination, but still, once he has equal to or more SuperDs than Hillary, it will be an important milestone that everyone will be talking about. Now, how many of you are there? Oh that's right, four. Do the math, folks. Isn't it better to make history than be history? Read More......

More spin on Iraq

A while ago I wrote about Matt Duss being one of the most insightful and important emerging progressive voices on Iraq and national security, and much to the benefit of progressive infrastructure and wonkery, he's ended up with a job at the Center for American Progress, working for a special election-based offshoot of ThinkProgress and adding his substantial brain power to a place that already has some of the best thinkers on Iraq (Brian Katulis) and the military (Larry Korb).

Matt continues to do a tremendous job breaking through the spin on Iraq issues especially, and his recent post on Sadr gets to the heart of US strategic failures when it comes to the politics of Iraq and its neighbors. As he explains in a recent Wonk Room post:

The Bush administration has consistently tried to blame outside actors for violence in Iraq in order to avoid facing the unpleasant truth that the U.S. occupation is opposed by a substantial majority of the population who the U.S. is ostensibly there to support. In seeking to defend a continued U.S. presence in Iraq, the administration and its supporters have drawn a deeply distorted picture of the political struggles currently taking place within various Iraqi communities.

To put it simply, the U.S. is opposing Sadr because he opposes the U.S. occupation, and the U.S. is supporting ISCI because ISCI supports the occupation. As Brian Katulis and I noted in an op-ed several weeks ago, the irony of this strategy is that it has allied the United States with Iran’s primary proxy in the Iraqi government, against what is arguably the most potent nationalist political force in the country.

As a result of this myopic strategy, the US continues to contort itself when it comes to an actual political effort in Iraq. And of course this isn't some intellectual exercise; the results of such continued failures are borne by the deaths of hundreds of thousands and the suffering of millions more. Read More......

OMG

LATEST UPDATE: Well, enough people found even a discussion of the video-as-criticism to be too offensive, including regular readers whose opinions I respect, so I took the link down. You can still join in the discussion in the comments.

UPDATE: Apparently there's a debate going on in the comments about whether I should even be mentioning this video. You mean, it's wrong to mention that the video exists, and that it's a bad sign for Hillary that public opinion is starting to head into the extremes? Hmmm... not sure about that. What do you think? Join in the comments.

FURTHER UPDATE: Apparently this is a parody of another parody, using the same video, but with subtitles about the Dallas Cowboys losing some game.
________


This is very wrong (and probably NSFW). We're still a couple centuries away from being able to make Hitler jokes, if ever. But it's an example of the kind of thing that Hillary will face, more and more, as she starts to look more and more ridiculous. The thing has 60,000 views on YouTube and is climbing. She's becoming a farce, in the extreme. This is not good for her legacy, to become a laughing stock. Seriously, her reputation is in danger. Read More......

Major polling firm will no longer track Hillary because "the race is over"

Via Daily Kos:

Rasmussen Reports has been tracking the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination daily for nineteen months...

However, while Senator Clinton has remained close and competitive in every meaningful measure, she is a close second and the race is over. It has become clear that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee. [...]

With this in mind, Rasmussen Reports will soon end our daily tracking of the Democratic race and focus exclusively on the general election competition between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

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Hillary IS Erik Estrada

Hey, if Hillary is going to demand that Obama debate Democrats who have already lost, then it's only fair to invite Edwards, Biden, Dodd, Kucinich and Gravel too. And while we're at it, let's invite all the still-living previous Democratic candidates like Sharpton, Kerry, Gore, Dean, Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, George McGovern, Mondale and any others who are still around and kicking. It can be like those reality shows where they invite all the has-been stars, like Erik Estrada, to live in a house together and duke it out.

Seriously time for a restraining order. Read More......

It's over

TIME's circulation is nearly 5 million. But TIME's impact goes far beyond its voluminous subscribers. In doctors' offices across America, every mom, dad, and kid is going to see Obama's smiling face and TIME magazine proclaiming him the victor. Most of America now thinks that Hillary lost and Obama won, and conventional wisdom setters like TIME only cement that notion even further. Why does this matter? Because of the SuperDelegates. Who wants to fall on their sword for Hillary AFTER everyone think - knows - she's lost? These are politicians. They have a choice between supporting the guy who may very well be our next president, or the lady who won't. At some point, opportunity overtakes loyalty, and even fear.

UPDATE: Rahm is now saying it's over too. This is rather huge. Not only did Rahm work for Bill in the White House, and on the campaign, but Rahm is also one of the most powerful Dems in the House. This will put added pressure on Democratic House members to side with Obama and put this thing to rest.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Four more SuperDs for Obama, including a Hillary SuperD who just defected. Zero SuperDs for Hillary today. Read More......

Veep speculation: Jim Webb?

Moving on to the next new parlor game: Vice Presidential candidates.

A very solid case is made for Jim Webb by an actual presidential scholar. And, the idea of Clinton on the ticket is also dispensed with very convincingly.

Thoughts? Read More......

ABC now has Obama ahead with superdelegates

ABC News is the first news organization to place Obama ahead in the one category where Clinton has always led -- superdelegates:

Sen. Barack Obama moved into the lead today in the last category that Sen. Hillary Clinton had claimed to have an edge -- support among the Democratic Party's superdelegates.

The Illinois Democrat grabbed the superdelegate lead thanks to a switch by New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne and an endorsement from previously uncommitted Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon.

Those two votes gave Obama a 267-266 lead over Clinton. That is a huge shift since the days when Clinton boasted about a 60-plus vote lead among the party's pros back on Super Tuesday.

Everyone has a different tally for superdelegates. I rely on Democratic Convention Watch. They name names -- their totals are: Clinton 269.5/Obama 263.

It's just a matter of time -- a short amount of time -- before Obama takes the lead on all the sites tracking superdelegates.

Some superdelegates are actually getting their spines. Read More......

May 20th is Victory Day

Jed reports that May 20th is when Obama can pretty much declare himself the winner of the Democratic nomination:

As Barack says, the key thing about May 20 (the day of the Kentucky and Oregon primaries) is that on that day, he will secure a majority of democratically selected pledged delegates. After that point, the most important part of the process will be over. Unless superdelegates decide to overturn the judgment of voters and take the nomination away from Obama, it will be his.

We all know that won't happen, especially after Obama's blowout victory in North Carolina and his close performance in Indiana. (He would have won Indiana were it not for the meddling McCain supporters.)

The key reason we need superdelegates to get off their butts and sign up with Team Obama before May 20 is that as a party, we must make it clear that voters -- not party insiders -- chose our nominee.

That's 11 days for Hillary to slowly bow out gracefully. Obama's being generous. He won two months ago. And now that the media has turned on Hillary, as have her donors, he doesn't have to give her breathing space at all - but he is. Let's see how classy the Clintons and their staff can be. And, let's see if the superdelegates finally get a spine. Read More......

McCain told numerous witnesses he didn't vote for Bush in 2000

There are three witnesses now. Anybody honestly think all 3 are lying? Now, this may help McCain with moderates, who hate Bush, but it won't help him with conservative and other die-hard Republicans who have always suspected that Mr. McCain was more comfortable around Democrats (read: Joe Lieberman) than Republicans. Read More......

My click is bigger than yours

Ben Smith makes an excellent point as to why the Democrats should emit a large yawn at childish threats from Hillary's donors to boycott the fall congressional races if Herself isn't handed the nomination:

The threat of money, at this point, makes little sense. The most powerful financial force in American politics right now — by very, very far — is the Barack Obama money spigot.

Hillary, the one who is now bankrupt, is threatening to take her nonexistent donors and go home? Ooh, scary. Read More......

Yet another shady deal involving McCain, lobbyists and a major campaign donor

McCain's campaign is rife with D.C. lobbyists. They're running pretty much the whole operation. And, as much as McCain purports to be a guy who isn't influenced by lobbyists, he is. Today's Washington Post has a front page article examining a land deal McCain shepherded through Congress (the "largest" deal of its kind in the history of Arizona, we're told). A lot of former McCain staffers/lobbyist were involved, McCain cut the deal and one of his top fundraisers ended up being a major beneficiary of the whole thing:

McCain initially withheld support for Hayworth's bill, which failed in 2002. Ruskin saw McCain's restraint as an obstacle. He said Senate staff members warned him that the senator was wary of a swap because "he spent some political capital and got some bricks thrown at him" over the Tonto National Forest deal.

Ruskin, who is a pediatrician by training, said he realized he needed to hire lobbyists "to open communications with McCain's office."

He turned to some of McCain's closest former advisers. In 2002, he sought out Mark Buse, McCain's former staff director at the Senate commerce committee, which the senator chaired.

"I had gone to him to see if he had any advice as to how to deal with McCain," Ruskin said. "We had a couple of meetings and I paid him a little bit." Buse's federal lobbying records do not list the ranch as a client.

That year, lobbying records show, Ruskin also paid $60,000 to Michael Jimenez, another former McCain aide. Wes Gullett, who had worked in McCain's Senate office, managed his 1992 reelection bid, and served as deputy campaign manager for his 2000 presidential run, also lobbied on the bill, documents show. The watchdog group Public Citizen lists Gullett and his wife, Deborah, as bundlers who have raised more than $100,000 for McCain's White House bid. Ruskin also hired Gullett's partner, Kurt R. Davis, another McCain bundler and member of the senator's Arizona leadership team, to work with local officials and "to help with McCain if we needed help." Buse, Jimenez and Gullett did not return calls seeking comment.

Davis said that he and Gullett were not hired just to win over McCain. "Each member has issues that are more important to them. You have to be able to address their individual concerns. We had familiarity with the issues important to McCain." In this case, Davis said, "Senator McCain was very, very engaged and concerned about water issues."

In April 2003, McCain introduced his version of a land-swap bill. But he remained reluctant about the exchange, speaking to opponents and organizing meetings in towns that would be most affected.

Flagstaff Mayor Joseph C. Donaldson, a supporter of the swap, said McCain's hesitation stemmed from his "insistence that the environment be protected." But opponents were baffled by the senator's seemingly contradictory positions. Said Blaeloch: "The bizarre thing to me regarding McCain is, we spent a lot of time with his staff, and we all seemed to be on the same page about the problems with this swap. But somehow, John McCain kept pushing it forward."

Funny thing: The legislation for the land swap did pass thanks to McCain. Even funnier thing: One of the biggest fundraisers for McCain ended up getting the contract to build the development:

When McCain's legislation passed in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz., run by Steven A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the deal.

Funny how these things happen. Starts to become clearer and clearer how McCain did get himself wrapped up with Charles Keating after all. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So, this really was an interesting week. Didn't quite turn out the way the Clintons thought it would. They're still out there acting like she has a chance -- she doesn't. When does that reality set in. When do Bill and Hillary start factoring in their legacies? I think a lot of people are waiting to see how the Clintons handle this -- with dignity and class? or not? No one seems to know for sure. And, how long does the Clinton campaign staff continue this charade? That's another question. Lots of them will want futures in politics, I imagine.

Anyway, enough of the Clinton drama.

I like the battle with McCain. And, I like the way Obama just lets him have it. That's what we've been waiting for.

Start your threading... Read More......

NYT: McCain pushed legislation that benefited top donor

The man is dirty. Yeah, we get it, all you mainstream media types think he's "nice." Well, that's nice, but it's kind of irrelevant to you doing your job. The man has a history of being crooked, and that history keeps growing, first with his campaign finance law-breaking, then with the funny business with that lobbyist who looks an awful like a younger version of his wife, and now this. And let's not forget the Keating Five - hardly a youthful indiscretion - McCain was already in his 50s at that time. At least the Washington Post gets it (as has the Times in the past):

Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.

Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.

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