What Now, Hillary?

Does she want to be on the ticket? I suppose many of her supporters want her to at least be offered the 2nd spot on the ticket. There is historical precedent for opposition candidates to join together on a ticket, e.g, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

If I were her, however, I think I would prefer to remain in the Senate, which is likely to be solidly under Democratic Party control, as will the House Of representatives, rather then play second bananna to President Obama.

If I were Obama, I would not want to run with Mrs. Clinton, and have to deal with all the baggage she would bring, most notably her husband, whose behavior becomes more and more bizarre and unseemly for an ex-president as time goes on.

One thing is clear: Obama needs to try to bring closure to the Democratic primary campaign if he can. However, Mrs. Clinton can continue to contest the nomination right up to the convention. Pundits are split on whether or not she will do this, and on her motivations for not conceding. The next few days will be interesting to watch.

Jim

PHOTO: One of my favorite flowers, the Foxglove. I'm trying to get them started in the garden here at the beach so that they come back by themselves each year.

Obama Will Be The Nominee Wednesday Morning

...so declares NBC pundit-in-chief Tim Russert on the "Today" show this morning. He expects a significant number of Democratic "Superdelegates" to declare for Obama after the results of the South Dakota and Montana primary elections are in. This will be enough to put Obama over the top and give him enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination. Hopefully, this will end the Clinton's campaign, and end their strangle hold on the Democratic Party. We'll see.

As for Obama, he did the politically necessary thing by resigning from his church, even though much truth is spoken in that church, truth that is especially relevant to African Americans. The church will go on, and Obama will go on - down their separate paths, as Rev. Wright said.

It's too bad that you have to sell your soul to be elected to office in this country. Idealism is too soon shattered by political realities. If Obama is elected, I hope he can maintain some of his idealism through the political battering that he will endure as soon as he steps into the oval office. Call me cynical, but I don't have high hopes. By the way, read Gary Hart's spot on article on idealism vs. pragmatism over at Huffington.

Jim

PHOTO: The stained glass in the Gothic Cathedral at Leon, Spain is some of the finest I've seen anywhere and rivals even Chartres, after which this magnificent cathedral was initially patterned.

Mrs. Clinton - Was THAT Remark Really Necessary?

Hillary has now stated what many of us fear might happen but what we won't even consider uttering because the prospect is so horrible - that an assassin's bullet will once again alter the course of American politics. Why was it necessary for her to go there?

Jim

Hillary Should Gag Geraldine Ferraro

Hillary Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro was on the "Today" show this morning being interviewed along with another younger woman correspondent. The question was about whether Hillary's gender worked against her and if that is why she is losing to Obama. Ferraro would not shut up. The other young woman barely got a word in edgewise. Ferraro was shrill, obnoxious, and repulsive, plain and simple. If Ferraro continues to get air time it can only cost Mrs. Clinton more votes. Perhaps Hillary can arrange for Geraldine and Bill to go on an extended vacation before either of them does more damage to her campaign.

Jim

PHOTOS: The small but charming gothic cathedral in Oviedo, Spain (sandstone construction,) and a popular street in Oviedo lined with "sideria" restaurants that specialize in serving the local cider and local foods.

Gay Marriage Legal In California

"the California Supreme Court may have created a laboratory to test once and for
all just how powerful this issue really is"

- news analyst Adam Nagourney in the New York Times.

We returned home from Spain (where we could have legally married each other) to the wonderful news that the California Supreme Court ruled that the state's ban on gay marriages is unconstitutional. Now we'll have to see if the ruling stands or if the anti-gay marriage forces are able to pass a constitutional amendment which would trump the ruling. To his great credit, the governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger is publicly on record as opposing the amendment. Meanwhile the effect of the ruling on the presidential campaign is being pondered by the pundits. It's too bad that neither Mr. Obama nor Mrs. Clinton are prepared to do the right thing and support gay marriage. So much for courage and leadership, attributes which once again finish second place to political calculations.

Jim

Hillary's "Female Moral Inferiority"

Here is Barbara Ehrenreich (Huffington) on the impact of Ms. Clinton's political tactics:

Hillary Clinton smashed the myth of innate female moral superiority in the
worst possible way -- by demonstrating female moral inferiority. We didn't
really need her racial innuendos and free-floating bellicosity to establish that
women aren't wimps. As a generation of young feminists realizes, the values once
thought to be uniquely and genetically female -- such as compassion and an
aversion to violence -- can be found in either sex, and sometimes it's a man who
best upholds them.

I can't add much to that.

Jim

Hillary As A Champion Of Women

My dear friend Louise wrote to me to explain why she and women in general support Hillary Clinton fervently, and why they don't want her to quit the race:

I was one of the girls who played basketball when girls were allowed to
playonly on one half of the court and not cross the half-court line...a girl was
selected to be either aguard or a forward. I was always selected to be a guard,
which means I nevergot a chance to shoot the ball at the basket. Hillary Clinton
is doing what Iwas never allowed to do...

Louise's point simply put is: Hillary's candidacy in an of itself represents a sort of victory over the oppression of women. If I understand where my friend Louise is coming from, it seems as though many women want her to win because she is a woman, i.e., because of WHAT she is, rather than because of her political record or her positions on the issues, i.e., WHO she is.

Women are oppressed to be sure. This is undeniable and wrong. However, I find it sad that they now find a champion in a woman who was herself publicly embarrassed and emotionally battered by her husband, and whose record on the issues of importance to Americans leaves so much to be desired (her support of the Iraq war, etc.)

The fact is that if Barak Obama's remaining opponent were a man, he would probably have been forced to drop out by now for the sake of Party unity. Hillary cannot win the nomination. She is behind by all measures: pledged delegates, superdelegates, states won, and the popular vote. Obama is the nominee. The Democratic primary race is over. All that remains is for Mrs. Clinton to exit the race gracefully and in such a manner as to insure that her supporters, including women who consider her their champion, support the Democratic Party nominee, Mr. Obama. Destroying Obama now and in the coming weeks with race or class-based innuendo is not the path for her to take. She should leave now while taking the high road, thereby remaining a worthewhile champion of women like my friend Louise.

Jim

More Shame On The Clintons!

Why can't Hillary and Bill exit gracefully instead of once again playing the race card against Obama by suggesting that white voters won't vote for Obama in the general election? The bad taste that the Clinton presidency left in the mouths of many of us is now refreshed with this latest shameful behavior. As Bob Herbert puts it in today's New York Times:

"...class is not a Clinton forte.
But it’s one thing to lack class and a
sense of grace, quite another to deliberately try and wreck the presidential
prospects of your party’s likely nominee — and to do it in a way that has the
potential to undermine the substantial racial progress that has been made in
this country over many years.
The Clintons should be ashamed of themselves.
But they long ago proved to the world that they have no shame. "

No shame indeed! They (the Clintons) are awful.

Jim

Fast Eddie Rendell Needs To Shut Hillary Down

It's over...everyone says so, the blogosphere, the pundits, everyone, but Ms. Clinton. It's time for Ed Rendell and the rest of her die hard supporters to go to her and insist that she pull the plug on her campaign and work for the defeat of McCain. It's over. Period.

Gay Hillary Supporter? READ THIS!

Writer "Davidkc" over at the Daily Kos has the goods on Hillary's total disregard for the gay community:

In Hillary Clinton's disturbing attempt to rebrand herself as a Bible-totin',
gun-slinging Annie Oakley, complete with right-wing talking points, I guess it's
not surprising that gays would end up with the short end of the stick in Camp
Clinton these days. Hillary has given lip service to supporting GLBT rights, but
her actions over the past few months - not to mention the past few decades -
have shown that Hillary is not only trying to distance herself from the gay
community and GLBT issues but has done her best to use anti-gay sentiment to her
advantage. There's a disturbing pattern at work here, folks, that should outrage
any true Democrat who cares about equality.

Read the whole blog entry here. It' not a pretty picture.

Jim

Rev. Wright Is Obama's Straw Man

Reverend Jeremiah Wright threw himself under the bus so that Obama could make a clean break with him and put the issue behind him in the campaign. Wright's speech at the National Press Club was way over the top on purpose, so that Obama would have the space to break with him and not look like someone who had deserted a friend. Wright is an intelligent, dedicated pastor, and long time advocate for social justice. He is a hero to many including gay people on account of his courageous stands for social justice. He knows what he is doing. He made another courageous sacrifice for his friend and former church member Obama. No one will ever convince me that this is not what actually happened. How else could Obama neutralize the Wright issue and counter what would have been an endless replay of the Reverend's sermons by McCain Republicans. Obama and Wright are smart men. They know what they are doing.

So too does Ms. Clinton, who joined McCain in the shameless pandering to the American public over gasoline prices. Lifting the federal gas tax for the summer is not the answer to America's problem with oil dependency, and they know it. Clinton and McCain are a disgrace. Obama gets credit big time for opposing Clinton's and McCain's disgusting political pandering.

Jim

Why Hillary Still Lives To Fight On Politically

Last year the conventional wisdom was that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 2008. She was touted as the "presumptive nominee." The pundits believed it, and she herself believed it. So what happened?

What happened was that there are a lot of people who have been turned off by Clinton style politics. After all, we had eight years to evaluate the way the Clintons do business, and so we know that they have no real principles, except what is best for them politically. They maintain a fleet of buses to throw people under who get in their way.

We also have seen Senator Hillary Clinton in action. Much of the base of the Democratic Party, including young people, are dismayed by her votes in support of the Iraq War, and her vote to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization - the same as authorizing George Bush to attack Iran. They don't trust her to end our involvement in Iraq. Come to think of it, they don't trust her, period. She won't renounce the Defense Of Marriage Act, and she still thinks "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a good idea at the time.

This is what the pundits mean when they point out that Hillary Clinton has "high negatives." This is the reason why she has not been able to seal the deal even though she was thought to be a shoe in for the nomination. Should she steal the nomination from Obama, she will still have those high negatives. In the meantime, she is tearing Obama down with her negative attacks. Read today's New York Times editorial, which chastises her for the negative tone of her campaign.

Let's hope Obama finally manages to drive a stake through the Clinton's political heart during the next set of primaries. Otherwise, we might as well prepare for the third McCain-Bush term.

Photo: Sometimes the sand piles up over the stairways on the Cherry Grove beach.

Jim

The Candidates And Military Spending.

What to McCain, Obama, and Clinton have in common? They all refuse to promise to cut military spending, the real "sacred cow" that ought to be slashed, rather then the favorite whipping boy: "entitlements."

Military spending is 28.5 percent of the federal budget. It's the biggest single expenditure item, and it's growing:

Between 2000 and 2006, there has been a 70% increase in military spending,
while spending on debt payments, veterans benefits, housing assistance, the
environment and job training have been cut.

Source: askquestions.org

There is no really progressive candidate running, not even Obama.

PHOTO: Another Spring view along the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park

Jim

Carl Bernstein on Hillary As President

Carl Bernstien speculates on what A Hillary presidency would be like:

What will a Hillary Clinton presidency look like?
The answer by now
seems obvious: It will look like her presidential campaign, which in turn looks
increasingly like the first Clinton presidency.
Which is to say, high-minded
ideals, lowered execution, half truths, outright lies (and imaginary flights),
take-no prisoners politics, some very good policy ideas, a presidential spouse
given to wallowing in anger and self-pity, and a succession of aides and
surrogates pushed under the bus when things don’t go right. Which is to say,
often.

Just what we don't need: a re-do of the first Clinton presidency, with all of its unfulfilled promises, failures of leadership and of character, and bitter disappointments (ask most gay people how they feel about the Bill Clinton legacy for our community ("Don't Ask, Don't Tel, and DOMA.)

Jim

The Hopelessness Of The Iraq Situation

Why are we in Iraq? What "national interest' is being served by our occupation of Iraq and our interference in the internal power struggles between factions of the various religious sects in that country? Yes, there's the oil, but nobody wants to talk about that. What is the "end game?" When will we withdraw? When we "win?" What does that mean? What is "victory" in Iraq?

The invasion of Iraq was illegal and was based upon a fictional "WMD" (Weapons Of Mass Destruction) premise. Now, five years later, 4000+ Americans dead, many many more Iraqis dead, and a half a trillion dollars spent, we remain mired in an occupation. The leading General cannot say when we will be able to leave. If asked, which he was not yesterday, I doubt that he could even say what his mission is except to act as a police force to help prop up the current regime in Iraq. Will the Democratic candidates for president actually end our involvement in Iraq if either of them is elected? I doubt it. They won't be able to do it. Meanwhile, don't be surprised if Junior Bush starts a war with Iran before he leaves the White House. You read it here.

PHOTO: Sea foam.

Jim

Hillary Can't Spin What's On YouTube

Poor Hillary. She got caught in the big lie about dodging bullets in Bosnia and she couldn't bring Obama down playing the Rev. Wright race card. YouTube got her - claims Frank Rich in today's New York Times:

Last week Mrs. Clinton learned the hard way that Iraq, racial gamesmanship
and viral video can destroy a Democrat, too.

Jim

Krugman Sums Up The Candidates On Domestic Issues

NY Times columnist Paul Krugman, who is a noted economist, has been a Hillary backer. In today's Times he sums up his feelings about her, McCain and Obama when it comes to domestic policy:

Mr. McCain, we’re told, is a straight-talking maverick. But on domestic policy,
he offers neither straight talk nor originality; instead, he panders shamelessly
to right-wing ideologues.
Mrs. Clinton, we’re assured by sources right and
left, tortures puppies and eats babies. But her policy proposals continue to be
surprisingly bold and progressive.
Finally, Mr. Obama is widely portrayed,
not least by himself, as a transformational figure who will usher in a new era.
But his actual policy proposals, though liberal, tend to be cautious and
relatively orthodox.

You can tell who he favors. I'm still anti-Clinton myself. I would NEVER vote for another Clinton, ever again, after what Slick Willy did to gay people. But it is interesting to read different people's take on the positions of the candidates.

Jim

Democrats Are Destroying Each Other

My friend Cindy told me the other night that she thought that McCain would be elected. I was skeptical, but I'm not skeptical any more in light of the race and gender ugliness that we see now every day between the Clinton and Obama campaigns. Recent events seem to point to the self-destruction of the Democrats' 2008 chances in November.

Jim

Hillary's Vote For The War

Alec Baldwin over at Huffington nails it:

Mrs. Clinton has been quoted as saying, "If the most important thing to any
of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a
mistake, then there are others to chose from."
Precisely.
I want Mrs.
Clinton to apologize. Until she does, I encourage Democrats to focus their
attention, and their money, on illuminating what is good about Barack Obama.

Yes, and her vote to authorize junior to go to war is not the only major sin. last Fall she voted to authorize war criminals Bush and Cheney to bomb Iran. After she gets done apologizing for the Iraq vote then she'll have to apologize for the Iran vote. But she won't.

Jim

What Happened To Obama?

Hillary won big yesterday. All bets are off. It seems to me that this means the Democrats have a BIG problem: two strong candidates but only one can win. To me it looks like the scenario for a "Unity" ticket, meaning that they both run - either Clinton-Obama, or Obama-Clinton. Any other outcome will tear the party apart and pave the way for a McCain victory. Let's see if the Party elite coalesce around this idea and make it happen.

Jim