Reverend Wright Right on AIDS?

by: Liberal Linda

Sun May 04, 2008 at 14:26:50 PM EDT

One of the members of the SDTC seated at my table, that attends a Black church brought up Reverend Jeremiah Wright.  She thought his recent behavior maybe a symptom caused because he was getting a little senile.  Someone else thought he was just getting as much as the limelight as he could, or maybe becoming a little stage-struck, or looking for his last hurrah before he retires.

The subject of Rev. Wright and his comments on HIV and AIDS came up.  One of my dinner companions thought that he was totally bizarre on that subject.  I personally think that Wright may have a basis for his feelings on the AIDS virus.    

There are some theories of the polio vaccines being responsible for HIV.   The polio vaccine is manufactured by using the tissues of chimpanzees.  The vaccines are being contaminated by the virus and then being transmitted to people.    

Flak over Obama comments may have prompted Springsteen endorsement

by: Jan A

Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 14:24:37 PM EDT

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

There is some speculation that the endorsement was prompted by Obama's recent comments about Pennsylvanians being "bitter" and "clinging" to guns and various prejudices, first reported by the Huffington Post because of this portion:

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams of My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

Methinks, the Clinton campaign has annoyed even potential supporters and/or superdelegate fence sitters with their gleeful pouncing on this relatively minor incident.  They should have sat back and let the mainstream media do their work for them.  

Bowling for Obama

by: Jan A

Mon Mar 31, 2008 at 09:22:21 AM EDT

The night before, he hit the lanes at a bowling alley in Altoona, where he was, by his own admission, terrible.

"My economic plan is better than my bowling," Obama told fellow bowlers Saturday evening at the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center.

"It has to be," one man called out.

As he laced up his bowling shoes, Obama let everyone know he hadn't bowled since Jimmy Carter was president.

"I was terrible," Obama laughed as he shook hands with people in a crowd that had gathered outside once word spread he was there.

Also in the article, record breaking crowd turns out for Obama at Penn State.  Photo on flip.

Polls & mirrors . . . the media's expectations game

by: Jan A

Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 12:31:58 PM EST

Despite the dismal polls numbers in January and February, which eventually "rose" on the day before the primaries to put Obama within "striking distance" in Ohio (between 6 and 10 points) and very slightly ahead in Texas (or slightly behind in half the polls), Obama was called the favorite by most of the cable television gasbags and much of the public went along for the ride.

So now, the media banners read Hillary Fights Back in Texas and Ohio.  The real headline should be Hillary Hangs On in Texas and Ohio.  

Sen. Chris Dodd endorses Obama

by: Jan A

Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 13:44:20 PM EST

Dodd said Obama was "ready to be president and I am ready to support him in this campaign."

The two men appeared together at a news conference. Dodd is the first of the Democratic campaign dropouts to endorse another candidate.

He said Obama "has been poked and prodded, analyzed and criticized, called too green, too trusting and for all of that has already won" more than half the states and millions of votes.

"It's now the hour to come together. ... This is the moment for Democrats and independents and others to come together, to get behind this candidacy," he said.

Endorsements usually don't mean that much to me, but I will take this one pretty seriously.  Dodd has stood up for many of the issues that are important to me.  He is a principled man and I trust his judgment.  

Shades of State Nominating Convention 2006

by: Jan A

Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 11:56:58 AM EST

Taking a closer look at the CNN figures, which put Clinton ahead of Obama in total delegate votes (including "pledged" superdelegate commitments), Obama is ahead among popularly elected delegates (excluding the appointed superdelegates) by 986 delegates to 924 for Clinton. This Obama advantage in the popularly elected delegates is likely to increase over the next few weeks until the "showdown" in Texas and Ohio. But the outcome of even those races -- if Obama continues with much momentum -- remains unclear.

Does this remind anyone else of the gubernatorial race at the state nominating convention in 2006?  

My choice for the primary . . . probably

by: Jan A

Mon Feb 04, 2008 at 20:15:41 PM EST

If I vote for Edwards despite the suspension of his campaign, I will be attempting to send a "message."  But, judging from the past media coverage of Edwards, my vote will probably be listed under "Other" and ignored.  Add to that the fact that a significant number of Edwards supporters and endorsers have already decided to switch their allegiance to either Obama or Clinton and any message I send will be more like a note to myself.  I know that Edwards would have made a great president.  I don't need to remind myself of that.  The fluidity of delegate situation is such that, even if Edwards earned a couple of delegates here, they could switch to any candidate at the convention.

With those circumstances in mind, I have decided to vote for one of the front runners. But which one?  

Confessions of a John Edwards supporter

by: Jan A

Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 10:46:20 AM EST

Now with less than a week to go until the Democratic Primary, it's down to two candidates.

Barack or Hillary?  Clinton or Obama?  I am having a really hard time with the decision.  I will continue to mull it over during the remaining time, but if I had to vote today, I would mark my ballot for Edwards because I am truly torn.

On the flip, I mull out loud.  

UPDATE: Kucinich calls for full recount in NH; Four sites had large discrepancies

by: Jan A

Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 10:57:03 AM EST

Excerpt from Kucinich letter:

"The magnitude of the variances in the four voting locations raise questions about the integrity of the internal vote accounting procedures in use in Hillsborough County," wrote Kucinich. "A reconciliation of the records of votes cast to voters who signed in and received ballots should have detected these problems; why multiple locations with large over-voting discrepancies went undetected in Hillsborough remains unexplained."

The sample recount commissioned by Kucinich was officially suspended early yesterday (1/23) because of "lack of funds."  The excuses given for the large disparities in Ward 5 of both Nashua and Manchester were that votes for vice presidential candidates (a quirky option that NH includes on its ballots) were accidentally counted as presidential votes.  This may be true, but since the VP numbers didn't change after the recount and the votes were machine counted, it does seem strange.

Brad Blog is in the process of following up on this explanation originally broadcast on a local television news show which cited Secretary of State Gardner as its source.

NH recount: The case of the disappearing votes.

by: Jan A

Sat Jan 19, 2008 at 01:25:10 AM EST

It will have to remain a mystery for a while because the recounts have closed down until after MLK Day.

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich should be applauded for stepping up to the plate on this one.

So who do the corporate elite fear most? And who do they like?

by: Jan A

Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 20:35:58 PM EST

Ask corporate lobbyists which presidential contender is most feared by their clients and the answer is almost always the same -- Democrat John Edwards.

And why is that?

Open attacks on the business elite are seldom heard from mainstream White House candidates in America, despite skyrocketing CEO pay, rising income inequality, and a torrent of scandals in corporate boardrooms and on Wall Street ... One business lobbyist, who asked not to be named, said Edwards "has gone to this angry populist, anti-business rhetoric that borders on class warfare ... He focuses dislike of special interests, which is out there, on business."
Another lobbyist said an Edwards presidency would be "a disaster" for his well-heeled industrialist clients.

And who do they like?

Surprise!! One of their top three is a Democrat.

On the flip.

Michael Moore on Iowa results

by: Jan A

Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 08:44:27 AM EST

"It's the War," Says Iowa to Hillary -- And a "Happy Blue Year" To All! ...from Michael Moore

January 3, 2007

Friends,

There was no doubt about it. The message from Iowa tonight was simple, but deafening:

If you're a candidate for President, and you voted for the war, you lose. And if you voted and voted and voted for the war -- and never once showed any remorse -- you really lose.

In short, if you had something to do with keeping us in this war for four-plus years, you are not allowed to be the next president of the United States.

Over 70% of Iowan Democrats voted for candidates who either never voted for the invasion of Iraq (Obama, Richardson, Kucinich) or who have since admitted their mistake (Edwards, Biden, Dodd). I can't tell you how bad I feel for Senator Clinton tonight. I don't believe she was ever really for this war. But she did -- and continued to do -- what she thought was the politically expedient thing to eventually get elected. And she was wrong. And tonight she must go to sleep wondering what would have happened if she had voted her conscience instead of her calculator.

It's the leadership, stupid

by: Jan A

Mon Dec 31, 2007 at 12:00:44 PM EST

THE ASSASSINATION of Benazir Bhutto presented U.S. presidential candidates with a test: Could they respond cogently and clearly to a sudden foreign policy crisis? Within hours some revealing results were in. One candidate, Democrat John Edwards, passed with flying colors. Another, Republican Mike Huckabee, flunked abysmally. Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain were serious and substantive; Republicans Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani were thin. And Barack Obama -- the Democratic candidate who claims to represent a new, more elevated brand of politics -- committed an ugly foul.

Rather than running for the microphone to make statements to the press, as Clinton and McCain did, Edwards made a phone call directly to Pervez Musharraf.  When Musharraf returned his call, Edwards strongly advised the sitting president to authorize a full international investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bhutto's death and that, despite the chaos resulting from the murder, Musharraf should not let it divert him from continuing down the path to the free elections and democracy.

Here's the primary difference between Edwards' reaction and those of the other candidates.  Edwards wanted his message, and that of many Americans, to be delivered directly to the person who has the power to do something about the situation.  He did not do a quick soundbite and expect the press to act as his courier.  He made a simple phone call and respectfully gave Musharraf his opinion of how Americans perceived the situation in Pakistan. This direct line of communication gave the Pakistani president the opportunity to respond personally, outside the  glare of the media.  That's the combination of leadership and common sense I'm looking for in a president.

Economist Krugman practically endorses Edwards over Obama

by: Jan A

Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 16:01:59 PM EST

"Over the last few days Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards have been conducting a long-range argument over health care that gets right to this issue. And I have to say that Mr. Obama comes off looking, well, naïve."

Krugman agrees with John Edwards' view that insurance and pharmaceutical corporations are not going to hand over their power without a BIG fight.  Ironically, it is Edwards who he sees as the best agent for real change.  He compares Edwards' stance to that of FDR who was a polarizing figure to many on the right but who succeeded in getting things done for the common good.  The candidate who doesn't understand this is in for a big shock when the shooting starts.  

This has always been my beef with Obama.  It's what I call the Rodney King strategy.  He thinks that "we" (meaning corporations and the rest of us) can all just get along.  Not gonna happen.

Interesting analysis from Iowa news blog

by: Jan A

Tue Dec 04, 2007 at 11:33:21 AM EST

It is interesting in the sense that it takes into account a number of factors that are unique to Iowa caucus voters and cannot be measured easily.  It seems to fly in the face of the pundit prognostications which have Hillary and Obama fighting for the top spot.

Our focus in compiling these lists is largely on organization, one of the single most important indicators of caucus success.  But this week, we have also added indicators of candidate momentum in the cases where we feel it is warranted.  As history proves, momentum is as powerful a force as any other in the last month of the presidential campaign in Iowa.

More on jump.  

Personal attacks? Mudslinging? I'll show you mudslinging

by: Jan A

Tue Nov 20, 2007 at 16:36:34 PM EST

Bill Richardson (running for VP maybe) echoed Hillary's whining in an interview with the Globe's Derrick Jackson

In the debate in Las Vegas last week, the New Mexico governor said rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama were going too hard after front-runner Hillary Clinton. "It seems that John wants to start a class war," Richardson said. "It seems that Barack wants to start a generational war. It seems that Senator Clinton, with all due respect on her plan on Iraq, doesn't end the war. . . . Let's stop this mudslinging. Let's stop this going after each other on character, on trust."

That is not "mudslinging."  That is disagreement.  I'll show you mudslinging.