Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:00:01 -0800
notmyprez 
(1000+ posts) 
Sun Mar-12-06 02:49 AM
Original message Saw Wes today at the Vietnam & the Presidency Conference. It was a 2-day conference held at the JFK Library and sponsored by the National Archives and all of the Presidential libraries.
Wes was on today's final panel, "Lessons Learned," along with fellow veterans, Senator Chuck Hagel, columnist Bob Herbert from the New York Times, and Pete Peterson, who was a POW for 5 1/2 years and later was appointed the first ambassador to Vietnam. Brian Williams was the moderator, and he was pretty good. The whole conference was interesting, but as you might guess, I was particularly looking forward to this panel, and it didn't disappoint. Wes was terrific, as always. I took a few notes, though not as much as I'd have liked to. Here is some of what he said, as best as I could scribble it down.
"Presidents should avoid going to war. It's a last, last, last resort...Wars are extremely ugly and...and painful..Don't go to war unless you absolutely must...Vietnam was an elective war. So was Iraq.
"The administration from 9/11 was leaning toward getting into war with Iraq...I was told by my friends in the Pentagon 10 days after 9/11 that we were going to go into Iraq...The decision was made that we'd go to war.
"We do have to have checks and balances, And this country's freedom isn't being well-preserved."
This is just a sampling; I wish I could have gotten more down. It's all stuff we Clarkies have heard from him before, but I'm sure many of the people at the conference had not. My friend, who had been for Dean, was very impressed with Wes; she gets more impressed every time she hears him. 
Williams asked Hagel if he's going to run for president, and he tried to deflect the question toward Clark. When Clark was asked, he talked about how the important thing now is the 2006 elections and that he's working to get a lot of the Dems, the veterans, elected.
Those of us in the audience could submit questions. Of course I submitted one, and of course they didn't use it. My question was "When we went into Iraq, we obviously hadn't heeded the lessons of Vietnam. What can we do now to extricate ourselves from the situation?" A perfect question to get Clark's views out, but perhaps it was too obviously partisan for them to use. lol
Wasn't b*sh just in India and Pakistan? How come things always go missing when he's around??
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boy Some Call Reincarnated Buddha Missing
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 20 minutes ago
KATMANDU, Nepal - A 15-year-old boy whose followers believe he is the reincarnation of Buddha has disappeared after 10 months of meditation in the jungles of Nepal, officials said Saturday.
Followers of Ram Bahadur Banjan reported his disappearance and a police team has been sent to the jungles of Bara, about 100 miles south of the capital, Katmandu, to investigate, said Santaraj Subedi, the chief government official in the district.
It was still unclear when he went missing, but initial reports said he was last seen on Friday. (check Air Force 1)
Subedi said police were investigating if the boy just wandered into the jungle or he was abducted by robbers.
Banjan has been sitting cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed in a niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle since May 17, 2005, according to his associates, who claim he has had no food or water during that period.
W: "Hey Jack, Now, you come'on over, en' we'll get'cha that photo likes I promised.."
---------------------------------------------
Claude A. Allen, left, as top domestic adviser walked the White House lawn with President Bush and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove on July 14, 2005. (By Ron Edmonds -- Associated Press)
The Talk Shows
Sunday, March 12, 2006; A04
Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:
FOX NEWS SUNDAY (WTTG), 9 a.m.: Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.); Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.); and Placido Domingo , general director of the Washington National Opera.
THIS WEEK (ABC, WJLA), 9 a.m.: Sens. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).
FACE THE NATION (CBS, WUSA), 10:30 a.m.: Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.).
MEET THE PRESS (NBC, WRC), 10:30 a.m.: Sens. George Allen (R-Va.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.); Michael R. Gordon , author; retired Marine Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainor , author.
LATE EDITION (CNN), 11 a.m.: Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.); Zalmay Khalilzad , U.S. ambassador to Iraq; Howard Dean , chairman of the Democratic National Committee; John Edwards , former Democratic vice presidential candidate; Jack Kemp , former Republican vice presidential candidate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and a bit of gossip:
Sen. Warner and Taylor were married from 1976 to 1982. The senator was the sixth of Taylor's seven husbands. Warner is a close friend of ABC News's Barbara Walters, and they have attended past presidential inaugurations together. He announced on the Senate floor on Thursday that Dubai Ports World would divest itself of U.S. interests "in an orderly fashion" so as not to suffer "economic loss."
I knew about Liz, but not about Wawwaw.
More Republicans with values:
The California Democratic Party is asking for an investigation of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator John McCain for alleged violations of campaign finance law.
The allegations center on a scheduled March 20th fund-raiser in Beverly Hills in which donors have been asked to contribute up to 100 thousand dollars for the governor and the state Republican Party. McCain is the featured speaker at the event.
At issue is whether McCain's appearance violates restrictions on federal officeholders taking part in events that solicit political funds.
Ironically, McCain is being accused of violating a law he helped write.
I never really understood how McCain could go home and explain his unapologetic Bush love to his Bangladeshi-born daughter. You know, the one Bush tried to smear in the South by saying she was McCain's own illegitimate African American child (at least according to McCain's campaign manager).
I guess once you get over a hurdle like that, anything's possible.
Jane Hamsher
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/
Do you have a spy in the BH Republican Party? These functions are usually held at the Beverly Hilton. I was going to email my hairdresser and ask him to find out for
me, then suggest to ms that we sign on as waitresses for the
night.
Hard work though!!
Happy to report I know noone who'd get close enough to spy on Republicans. Forget the waitressing, just follow the private dancers entering the side door.
"Some of them put on their cowboy boots and put their feet up on the desk." -Wes Clark
The Beverly Hills Hotel was the site of the Ken Lay/Arnold Schwarzenegger May 2001 meeting.
"On May 11, 2001, in the midst of the so-called California energy crisis, Enron's Ken "Kenny Boy" Lay held a secret meeting with prominent California Republicans at the place right behind me, the Beverly Hills Hotel, to discuss the state's energy policy.
Among those attending the covert gathering were Richard Riordan, Michael Milken, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Some of them put on their cowboy boots and put their feet up on the desk." -Wes Clark
misrepresented, as they had their meeting at the Peninsula Hotel in BH. No one would hold a secret private meeting at the BHH. It would be like holding it in the middle of Rodeo
Drive.
The Peninsula or Regent Beverly Wilshire are hotels that "keep secrets".
As for folllowing the dancers entering side doors - you should see the security at these affairs - there's more security than guests. All these $100K donars will have their own with them too.
The final panel taking the stage after a day of remembering Vietnam, were the warriors. No longer in their twenties, and yet, it was their fates and many like them who were at the heart of the day's matter. For while the previous speakers had talked the talked in DC, or filed the stories from distant rice paddies, these were the people who did not chose the battles, they fought them.
General Clark was on the left with Chuck Hagel, Bob Herbert, and Pete Peterson to his right. Some questions were asked individually, and some were offered to the entire panel. Pete Peterson was asked how he came to grips with his 6 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. (His inspiring answer will wait for another another report.) Herbert talked about two lost friends, and Hagel dismissed his injuries as little more than "no big deal." Which only left Wes Clark to tell his tale.
The story of General Clark's battlefield injuries have been well documented, and went well beyond a scratch. He said that while blood was found on the ground in the area, the shooter had gotten away. Now that ticked him off. Then General recounted his life after that day starting with the hospital, and moving on to teaching at the Point, and various commands. Nine years had past bringing another February 19th, and the status of the man who shot him in that far-off jungle remained "got away." Looking in the mirror, shaving, and remembering the anger, he said the moment finally came when he decided to put it aside.
Letting go is the simplest act, and yet, a very difficult thing to do. The nature of today's conference often dug below the surface, and thus, was a vehicle for some new insights. In the General's case, I don't know about you, but I'm glad to hear that his Vietnam haunter was given the boot. Anger is a drag on the soul. May all those who carry the hidden scars of war find the voice of their healing speaking in their souls. White Light.
You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.--J. V. Marley
another moving Wes story. I too believe that you have to put anger aside and move on, otherwise it eats you alive.
Thank you for this little story! Looking forward to more, more, more! When you have time, of course! ;)
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia
I actually answered you on the dead thread...par for the course for me. LOL
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins
Construction worker returns home with a dog
DUBUQUE (AP) — Man’s best friend might be a dog, but for Louie the beagle, man is dog’s best friend.
Several months ago, Louie (named for Louisiana) was wandering the streets of a hurricane-ravaged Louisiana village. Today, he has a home in Dubuque, thanks to Sean Carter.
Carter, 20, was working on Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts late in the fall in Welsh, La., a village of about 3,380.
‘‘A lot of devastation,’’ he said. ‘‘Every other house needed a roof. It was real crazy.’’
An hour before Carter’s Galena, Ill.-based construction crew left the area, a friend called Carter on a cell phone to report, ‘‘This little beagle is following me.’’
The skinny little dog followed Carter’s friend back, nearly a half mile, to where the crew was staying in nearby Lake Charles, La.
‘‘He was the littlest, skinniest thing I had ever seen,’’ Carter said.
The dog had no collar or tags. After reaching his destination, he went to a food bowl, shared by three Labrador retrievers, and ate and ate and ate, Carter recalled.
‘‘I didn’t know if he was lost or just out running around,’’ Carter said. ‘‘He was hungry so I was assuming he was lost.’’
It was love at first sight, and fate.
‘‘I couldn’t say ‘no’ to that face,’’ Carter said. ‘‘I didn’t think I’d be coming home with a dog. I’d always wanted a dog, but one that wasn’t too big. It was coincidence. I just lucked out.’’
Louie slept most of the way back. He has adapted well.
‘‘He’s a people dog,’’ Carter said. ‘‘They often stop and ask to pet him. I just love him.’’
AP
Sean Carter, 20, of Dubuque, is licked by his dog, Louie, at his home in February. Carter found Louie wandering the streets in a hurricane-damaged area while performing construction work in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
CR Gazette(subscription required)
"Some of them put on their cowboy boots and put their feet up on the desk." -Wes Clark
And the photo is precious! Thank you for sharing this. Sean and Louie are both very lucky to have found each other. I'm surprised there are still lost, wandering dogs there - I though the animal rescue groups had been there since right after the hurricane... Louie must have been hidden somewhere waiting for his new best friend!
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia
including children. This is not getting enough attention from the press.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins
As some of you know, I have adopted two kittens that were left stranded during the Katrina catastrophe. Like Louie, they were very fortunate to come out of a dreadful situation on the side of a loving, forever home. This is not the case with many of the stranded pets, however.
In my area alone, there are still many dogs and cats waiting for good homes. They are either in foster homes or shelters and while that situation is better then roaming the streets in a storm torn areas, it is definitely less then ideal.
Some of these animals have special needs as a result of the storm but most I've seen have come through the experience with flying colors. Now all they need is a chance to share their love with a human caregiver.
If any of you are considering pet adoption in the near future, please contact your local animal shelters or veterinarians to ask about displaced Katrina cats & dogs that might continue to be available. I am not sure how long they will be kept in certain situations, but I have seen some beautiful animals who would make somebody a wonderful companion, if only given the chance. ♥
I love that photo. Dogs give so much unconditional love.
It's beautiful to see "Louie" giving Carter a kiss and looking at his eyes at the same time. It's like Louie is looking to see the reaction of Carter. He wants to make sure that he helps make Carter happy.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?i...TC-RSSFeeds0312
snipped....
WASHINGTON Mar 12, 2006 (AP)— President Bush headlined the annual Gridiron Club political press roast Saturday night, but Vice President Dick Cheney was the main target of the humor.
Cheney's well-publicized Texas hunting accident last month, drew ridicule from the press corps and all the speakers, including the president.
Bush pointed out that the vice president's full name is Richard B. Cheney.
"B. stands for bulls eye," Bush said to laughter from the hundreds of reporters and officials from the administration and Congress. The press, Bush joked, blew the matter way out of proportion: "Good Lord, you'd thought he shot somebody or something."
Cheney, who sat at the head table, laughed along with most of the jokes.
Bush said that while pundits speculate about whether Cheney or White House political adviser Karl Rove run the government, it's another person who actually pulls the strings. Cheney, Bush said, tells him what to do but Cheney's wife, Lynne, tells the vice president what to do.
"Lynne, I think you're doing a heck of a job. Although I have to say you dropped the ball big time on that Dubai deal," he said, in a joke about the controversial ports deal.
As our country sinks into crap, these elite cretins sit around in their opulence laughing it up as if it's all a big fat joke. It just shows how unconcerned they are about being held accountable for any of the crimes they've committed. I fear we've already slipped into a dictatorship under these thugs. Dem party leadership and members of the Corporate Press - for the most part - don't seem to mind, as their lives are pretty cush...
Only 28 members of Congress have signed on to Rep Conyers HR 635, calling for a special committee to investigate impeachable offenses committed by this regime. WHY?
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia
"B. stands for bulls eye," Bush said
i think it stands for buckshot
-- or butthead -- or birdbrained -- or ...
than cheney's:
cheney shot in the wrong direction; bush shot the wrong country.
seriously, bush sense of what is funny is that of a disturbed teenager
Just got back from the mountains. No emails or anything.
What is happening with blogging today.
Please contact me.
For those of you who don't know, the Massa campaign went on the offensive against the Bush invasion. With the Rochester Labor Council they are having two days of protests. Here is the announcement.
For Immediate Release: March 10, 2006 CONTACT: Amy Gergely 607.346.2557 agergely@massaforcongress.com Press Conference, Rally in Response to President Bush's Visit to Upstate New York CORNING, NY - Eric Massa, the Democratic candidate for New York's 29th Congressional District, will headline a press conference to kick off two days of events to protest President Bush's upcoming trip to the upstate New York town of Canandaigua. Media reports have noted that the President will visit the 29th District at the invitation of Massa's opponent, freshman Republican incumbent John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr., who has been described as "vulnerable" in a bid for a second term. The press conference will take place on Monday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m. at the New York State United Teachers Conference Center, 30 N. Union Street, in Rochester, NY. In addition to Massa, speakers will include area labor union and Democratic leaders and senior citizens. Also, on Tuesday, March 14, the Rochester Labor Council and Metro Justice will organize a "Part D is A Disaster Rally" at 10:30 a.m. at the Bella Lago Party House at 158 Lakeshore Drive in Canandaigua, NY. The President's visit to Canandaigua has been billed as an attempt to salvage the disastrous Medicare Part D drug prescription program for seniors, which prohibits the government from negotiating lower drug costs and has created a complicated maze of private plans leaving many seniors, at best, stumped and, at worst, without their life-saving prescriptions. As a result, the program has created multi-million-dollar holes that strapped states, including New York, have had to fill. Massa and the other speakers plan to urge the President to fix the prescription drug program and make health care more affordable for all Americans. Noting that the President's last visit to the area was to pitch his failed plan to privatize Social Security, Massa said that the President returning to upstate New York to stump for Medicare Part D "is like lobbying to become Captain of the Titanic." "I am encouraged that the residents of Canandaigua and the 29th District will have the opportunity to directly question the President about his misguided health care policies, such as the mind-boggling prescription drug coverage program and cuts to veterans' health care, policies my opponent has routinely rubber stamped," Massa said. A recent AP-Ipsos poll noted that the President's approval rating sits at an all-time low. But that same poll found that "two-thirds of the public disapproves of how the GOP-led Congress is handling its job and a surprising 53 percent of Republicans give Congress poor marks," according to the Associated Press. For further information about the event or to request an interview, contact: Amy Gergely, Communications Director, Massa for Congress - 607.346.2557 Stephanie Miller, Executive Director, Rochester Labor Council - 585.265.4992
Jim Bertolone, President, Rochester Labor Council - 585.427.8787
I SOSed for naught. Ha, ha!
Anyway, so you all know, I now know what I didn't know but ICB did know.
(presently) known."
as rummy* would say, "that is notably unhelpful."
*huh???? where did he go, RHETORIC U???
On "This Week" Russ Feingold called to censure the president. When asked about impeachment, Feingold said the president's actions are "right down the middle of the strike zone" of high crimes & misdemeanors.
more shortly...
SAVE OHIO - Fitrakis for Ohio Governor
Here's a quick transcription of some of Senator Feingold's commments:
TEXT OF THE CENSURE
"Resolved, That the United States Senate does hereby cesure George W. Bush, President of the United States, and does confirm his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans."
...the idea that the president can just make up a law, in violation of his oath of office, has to be answered.
This conduct...is right in the strike zone of the concept of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Mr. President, acknowledgement that you broke the law. Return to the law. Return to our system of government. That's what I think we shoud do.
We have to do what's right for the country.
If we don't answer the president now with a censure, then we're not gonna get back on track. We're not gonna get back to a system where the Congress MAKES the laws and the president signs the laws. He doesn't get to make up the laws by himself.
We, as a Congress, have to stand up to a president who acts as if the Bill of Rights and the Constitution were repealed on September the Eleventh. We didn't enact Marshal Law on September Eleventh...If the Congress of the United States does not stand upo for that authority at this point it will be an historic failure of our system.
This is an open and shut case for the censure of the president.
SAVE OHIO - Fitrakis for Ohio Governor
"This is a crazy political move."
"He [Feingold] is just plain wrong."
Frist repeats the standard party line that the wiretapping program "IS legal, IS constitutional".
What a liar.
SAVE OHIO - Fitrakis for Ohio Governor
Did I mention how much I hate these traitors yet?
Can anyone point me to any specifics re: the Rambouillet Accord?
(edit) Never mind - I just heard movement downstairs. Someone's up and I can retrieve my copy of Waging... - thanks!
"One of the embarrassing problems for the early nineteenth-century champions of the Christian faith was that not one of the first six Presidents of the United States was an orthodox Christian."--The Encyclopedia Britannica
U.S. Balkans envoy Richard Holbrooke grudgingly admired how he could wrong-foot opponents. But former NATO supreme commander General Wesley Clark ignored the clever moves and bombed Serbia for 11 weeks to end Milosevic's crackdown on Kosovo Albanians.
During the trial, wearing a tie with Serbian flag colors, Milosevic defended his politics. He also argued with prosecution witnesses, including Wesley Clark, the NATO commander during the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. Clark later said there was no change in Milosevic's stubbornness. Milosevic had accused NATO of committing war crimes against Serbia.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins
Katherine Harris to spend more time with family?
Senate candidate Katherine Harris plans "major announcement" about her candidacy next week.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins
again, giving his expert opinion on Iraq. Together with Kemp
who's giving his support to DPW, he says he has no current contract or financial stake with them, but has done business in the past with the Saudi's.
JE - Jack and I have become very good friends and we've done a lot of work together, but he does not agree with Jack on this. Jack and he have been doing all this work on Russia, which I assume we're going to talk about.
They've been working together via the Council for Foreign Relations. JE is now an expert on Russia....
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins
time, more so than Kemp, and didn't interrupt him whilst he was speaking. He just doesn't have the gravitas though!
also playing the foreign policy expert. He thinks we need to start pulling out the troops by at least 40K.
Wes Wing returns to NBC tonight; one of the last new and final episodes.
FACTBOX-Developments in Iraq, March 12 12 Mar 2006 16:13:04 GMT
Source: Reuters
SECURITY INCIDENTS
- * BAGHDAD - At least 40 people were killed and 95 wounded in three car bombs that exploded almost simultaneously in two markets in the Shi'ite Sadr district of Baghdad on Sunday. Police dismantled a fourth bomb in the same area, they said.
- * BAGHDAD - Two civilians were killed and four wounded when a mortar round landed on a paint shop in central Baghdad, police said.
- BAGHDAD - Eight bodies were found with their hands tied and gun shot wounds to the head in Rustamiya, a suburb in eastern Baghdad, police said.
- BAGHDAD - Six people were killed and 14 wounded, including policemen, when a roadside bomb exploded as a U.S convoy passed by in southern Baghdad, police said.
- BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed two police officers in separate incidents in Baghdad, police said.
- BAGHDAD - Two soldiers were killed and four wounded when a roadside bomb went off near their patrol in central Baghdad, police said.
- BAGHDAD - Five soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near an Iraqi army patrol in eastern Baghdad, police said.
- BAGHDAD - Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad received at least twenty bodies overnight, some with gun shot wounds, a source in the hospital said.
'After the disastrous 2004 election, prominent Democrats gathered in Monterey, Calif., to discuss what to do next. The organizers scheduled a session on coalition building, but each special interest complained that its issue was being slighted. In the end, the coalition-building session broke up into five separate groups, each focusing on its own issue. . .
For all the talk about having to crash gates, the netroots are well on their way to becoming insiders. . .
The Democratic establishment could not hold the netroots back even if it wanted to. Their ability to raise money, recruit volunteers and shape the debate will make them indispensable.'
When we fight together, we win
Rep. Harold Ford
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/27732
Very interesting blog and comments responding to the website set-up by the National Republican Senate Committee smearing Harold Ford. Read the whole comments.
'A couple of years ago I watched Hillary Clinton enter a Munich hotel with a delegation of fellow senators. Clinton came in first. . .
United States senators are not entirely lacking in vanity. So I thought there might be a tinge of resentment at Clinton's diva treatment. But not at all. Other senators like traveling with her. She's down to earth and fun to be around, they say. At work, she's serious, diligent and respectful.
So when I've been asked if I think Hillary Clinton can win a general election campaign, I've always answered yes. I figure if she can win over Republican senators (and Bush staffers), she can probably win over 30,000 more voters in Ohio. . .
But campaigns reveal character, and force us to adjust our views. The Dubai ports deal — a politically unpopular measure that almost all experts agree was justified on the merits — was a test of character. John McCain and Chuck Hagel passed. Clinton, though, joined the ranks of the nakedly ambitious demagogues.
Clinton didn't seem to mind when officials of the United Arab Emirates kicked in up to a million dollars into her husband's presidential library. She didn't seem alarmed when Dubai poured at least $450,000 into her family bank accounts through her husband's speaking business. She didn't object when the Clinton administration approved a deal for a Chinese government firm to run the Port of Long Beach. But when the Dubai ports deal set off Know-Nothing mobs, she made sure she had the biggest pitchfork.
"The White House is trying to hand over U.S. ports," Clinton charged.
"We cannot afford to surrender our port operations to foreign governments," she roared.
"We cannot cede sovereignty over critical infrastructure like our ports," she insisted.
All of these statements were deliberately misleading, since there was never any question of ceding sovereignty or security. They played to the rawest form of xenophobia. . .
This episode — which combines buckraking with pandering — brings back the Clinton years at their worst: the me-me-me selfishness, the occasional presumption that humanity exists to serve Team Clinton.
It also shows Clinton doesn't understand her political weaknesses. First, nobody, not even among her friends, is totally sure she actually believes in anything, or whether she just coldly calculates political advantage. This episode reinforces that sense.
Second, Clinton is the only presidential candidate who does not offer a break from the current polarization and bitter partisanship. A McCain or Mark Warner presidency would shuffle the political deck. But if Clinton is elected, American politics over the next years will be as brutal and stagnant as now. The 1960's Bush-Clinton psychodrama would go on and on.
A lot of the bitterness would not be Clinton's fault. But over the past weeks, she has shown that far from behaving in an unorthodox manner, or flummoxing hatred, she is happy to be a crude partisan, and egg on prejudice and paranoia.
In the short run, Clinton did the popular thing. But over the long run, people vote on character. After a rehabilitating few years, Hillary Clinton just reminded us of her ugly side.'
<!--story end -->
Had our government actually done antyhing to improve port security since 911 I think The pro-Dubai port deal arguments would hold much more water. To the average person on the street, what evidence is there that this government has adressed the security problem. We are only inspecting 5% of the shipping containers coming into the country years after 911. What in the make up of this current government would make the average person believe them when the tell us not to worry about this deal. The very manner in which it was disclosed was disturbing. You have Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld all saying they knew nothing about it until it was announced. Personally, I don't believe it. If they didn't know about then impeach them all. This is the most incompetent invasive rights stripping government I've seen in my life time.
The deal killer was not the xenophobes, it was our government doing nothing to improve the security of our ports, borders an other infrastructure and Dubai's record on past events.
This is the ultimate reason I don't want Ms. Clinton for President. It's time for our country to have a chance to heal -- we need politicians who are not a part of the original injury.
"Second, Clinton is the only presidential candidate who does not offer a break from the current polarization and bitter partisanship."
Blue State of Mind
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'
-- Bob Newhart
"One of the embarrassing problems for the early nineteenth-century champions of the Christian faith was that not one of the first six Presidents of the United States was an orthodox Christian."--The Encyclopedia Britannica