COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Hillary Back from the Brink?



Is Hillary on the verge of a John Kerry or John McCain type return from the brink? Maybe. She is in better shape in Ohio. She has reversed the Obama surge in Texas to a dead even race even as Obama has outspent her four to one.

Obama is beginning to get some serious exposure and his messianic bubble is getting perilously close to being pricked.

I thought it was over for Hillary. Now I am not so sure. If she survives this day, she will go on to win Pennsylvania. The threshold is winning Ohio and a win or near tie in Texas. If that happens, Michigan and Florida will have to come back in play. That will be entertaining.

The question is, which candidate will have a better chance at beating John McCain? Many Democrats are not so sure.

140 comments:

  1. Is it just me, or does Hill seem a little--attractive--in that position?

    When she's back from the dead's when we really have to worry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keeping up with the arcanum of the Democratic primaries is easily done at www.ruralvotes.com (click on The Field at the top). Good track record prediction-wise. Delegate tallies, estimates, and etc.

    Verrrrry keen bunch of sleepless, chain-smoking Obama fans. I'm sure their server will be overloaded tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  3. doug wrote that politics are important.

    Senator Clinton may not be asking the correct questions of her democratic opponent.

    It seems no individual at Tigerhawk can answer simple questions about Mr. Obama

    Perhaps EB readers can provide answers

    ReplyDelete
  4. The question being ...

    ... whether those of us who view politics as a spectator sport and politicians as fodder for snark and mockery ought not entertain ourselves by "mentioning" Obama's middle name.

    If one finds it amusing, then one should use it. I have been using the term "Billary" to describe the Clintons re-run for the White House, for months. Fair description of their "two for one" attempt.

    I do not see much amusement in using the Hussein name, except that it exemplifies the diversity of Mr Obama's background.
    He is the world, as are we.

    Now if the US were at war with Islam, the Religion of Peace, that name could become an issue. But since the US is allied with the remnents of Saddam Hussein's supporters, in Iraq, it only proves the adaptivness of wordsmiths.

    They that have Awakened to their predicament and revived their previous US alliances, dating back to the Iran/Iraq War.
    The Baathists, reborn the 1920 Brigades, now repackaged as Concerned Local Citizens.

    Gotta love the marketing.

    Welcome back Bob W. mentioned you just the other day, as a valuable part of our institutional memory.

    ReplyDelete
  5. bobal said...
    Tue Mar 04, 08:25:00 AM EST
    ---
    Mmmm, Bondage!

    ReplyDelete
  6. bobal said...
    Sounds like sudden infant death syndrome by another name. It's allah's will.

    Doug said...
    I'm named in Allah's Will!

    bobal said...
    Indeed you are. We all are. But as beneficiaries? That is the question.

    Doug said...
    To behead, or not to behead,
    that is the question.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Check your Sat Mar 01, 01:10:00 PM links at tigerhawk, Elijah.
    I was going to post them here, but they are blank.

    ReplyDelete
  8. In that debate did Obama get 3 times the time as Billary?
    ...that's what happened in the clips I just watched.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Or as Josh Marshall says...

    "...look at the delegate counts, or what they seem likely to be. We've run the numbers, and even assuming a very big night for Clinton, she seems unlikely to make more than a small dent in Obama's lead of roughly 150 pledged delegates. Indeed, she could actually do quite well on the popular vote side and end up falling behind a bit further on pledged delegates.

    "The upshot is that the Clinton campaign may come out of tonight with a major shot in the arm and a round of good press and yet still be in no more realistic a position to win the nomination based on the stubborn tally of delegates."

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That seems to be the way the Texas Democrats rigged the game, when it looked like Billary, being half of the first "Black Presidency" would carry the urban vote.

    Now that the tables have been turned, that piece of chicanery is coming back to bite her.

    Funny stuff, the ethnicly driven webs that were woven. In the name of fairness, balance and equality.
    Some Democrats being more equal than others.

    The times, they are a changin'

    ReplyDelete
  12. Neither one of them will have enough votes, depending on the Supermen/Women delegates.

    ReplyDelete
  13. That is a ray of sunshine, to be sure. Neither of the Democratic hopefuls will drop out, then. They will battle on until August, without an ordained candidate.

    Leaving the Librarians to steal the thunder!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This one has a Black Version of the Beauty Queen Genius!
    I'm voting OBAMA!
    --- YouTube - We Are The Ones Song by will.i.am - Obama

    ReplyDelete
  15. On topic:
    Hillary's toast...

    Re: Elijah's reference to the Tigerhawk thread.

    Maybe I've been working and hanging out at the EB too long but those people over there sounded like egghead ethereals to me.

    No offense, Tigerhawkers...

    ReplyDelete
  16. egghead ethereals
    ethereal eggheads

    Take your pick.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What do youknow, Trish?

    BTW - Wouldn't yesterday been a little too early to have moved 10K troops to the border?

    ReplyDelete
  18. BOGOTA (AFP) - A crisis between three Latin American nations worsened Tuesday when Venezuela said it was closing its border with Colombia, even as frantic diplomatic talks to stave off war were about to begin.

    Venezuelan Agriculture Minister Elia Jaua said "we have taken some measures, like closing the border," according to the Colombian television station Caracol.

    ********************************

    You REALLY want to await confirmation on that. Were Caracas to actually through, the only way they could do it would be short term and extremely selective.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 10 minutes ago...



    Washington - US President George W Bush Tuesday denounced as "provocative" moves by Venezuela against the Colombian border, saying it threatens Colombia's fight against the "terrorist" rebel organization at the heart of the conflict.

    Bush said the conflict that has put the region on the brink of war has pointed out the urgent need for US Congress to pass the US- Colombia Free Trade Act, which he said was no longer just a "matter of smart economics" but a serious "matter of national security."

    The US has been backing Colombia with a plan to interdict the drug trade.

    Bush said that he had talked to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who told him that passage of the trade agreement was key to reinforcing the message of support for the South American country.

    The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which Bush called a "terrorist" organization, has for four decades carried out kidnappings and murder, financed through the drug trade, in an effort to unseat the democratically elected government.

    Colombia's raid across the border into Ecuador on Saturday to kill FARC's second-in-command has triggered tension in the region. Ecuador and Venezuela, which has close ties to FARC, have sent troops to the border.

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  20. Wouldn't yesterday been a little too early to have moved 10K troops to the border?

    Tue Mar 04, 12:57:00 PM EST

    Nope. Neither would've Sat afternoon for that matter. The demonstration of a prompt and resolute will is three quarters of your national cache.

    ReplyDelete
  21. "'provocative' moves by Venezuela against the Colombian border"

    Except that they're not there.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Nothing like an external enemy ...

    Rally round the flag, boys
    It's time to rally once again!

    Chasing that boogieman
    For FREEDOM!

    I'd imagine that Mr Bush knows where the Venezuelan troops really are, no?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Roger that.

    Rally once again!

    Commander in Mideast Says Officials Will Need Time This Summer to Reassess Iraq

    WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said Tuesday that officials will probably need some time this summer to reassess the situation in Iraq before drawing down more troops.

    Adm. William Fallon said he expects Gen. David Petraeus will suggest to him that come midyear, "it's prudent to make an assessment of where we are."

    Fallon said Petraeus, who oversees combat in Iraq, has the daunting task of making sure Iraqi security forces are ready to take over. The goal will be to try not to lose the momentum U.S. forces have gained, he said.

    "We'll take actions based on the conditions that we find," Fallon told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "And if conditions change, I expect there will be a reconsideration."

    By July, the Pentagon is on track to complete its reduction from 20 to 15 active-duty brigades deployed to Iraq.

    Petraeus, who is slated to testify before Congress on April 8-9, has said he favors a "period of assessment" after that so as not to lose the security gains made in recent months. Petraeus is expected to ask President Bush to wait until as late as September to decide whether to bring home more troops.


    With a December '08 deadline of the UN authorization running out. The Iraqi government of Mr Maliki stating it will not be renewed, as is.

    The state of the negotiations on a Status of Forces agreement not leaking to the public.
    All silent on the Iraqi Front.

    ReplyDelete
  24. geeez trish, you haven't been there more than a month and look at the trouble you've caused...

    ReplyDelete
  25. And I haven't even started driving yet. Think of the possibilities.

    ReplyDelete
  26. (Insert comment here about about driving in South America.)

    ReplyDelete
  27. After the EB, Whit, any place w/o blood on the floor and doorknobs would look like the Vatican.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Well, the question of the day, then ...

    Which of Hugo's advisors went to Yale?

    ReplyDelete
  29. "The demonstration of a prompt and resolute will is three quarters of your national cache.
    "
    Amen to that.
    GWB has proved the converse.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Pelosi's moves against FISA and Free Trade for Uribe gotta be all-timers.
    Wish she'd get Alzheimers.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Can't say I didn't warn you, Ash,
    more than once.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Bush is going in big, Trish:
    Hunt for WMDs.

    Colombia Says Rebels Sought to Make Dirty Bomb
    The accusations against the FARC group represent a sharp escalation in rhetoric around a three-country dispute.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Bugs Bunny ALWAYS Beats Daffy Duck

    Political punditry even I can understand.

    That's All, Folks

    ReplyDelete
  34. Bugs has got the ears of Victory, hahahahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  35. That explanation is overwrought, Al-Bob,
    Boiled Down:
    Bigger Ears Win!

    ReplyDelete
  36. "Daffy is constantly frustrated, sometimes by outside forces, sometimes by his own overwrought response to them. In one classic duel with Bugs, the two try to persuade Elmer Fudd to shoot the other—until Daffy, tricked by Bugs' wordplay, screams, "Shoot me now!"

    "Hmmm," he adds a moment later in a rare bit of self-scrutiny. "Pronoun trouble."
    "

    ReplyDelete
  37. That '98 F-150 LOOKS better than any new truck!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Sopranos’ Rides Hit Auction Block


    Talk about provenance. Collectors will also be able to bid on the champagne Cadillac CTS that Paulie Walnuts used to demolish Christopher Moltisanti’s new front yard, Vito Spatafore’s black Cadillac DeVille, and four cars used in the climactic Bada Bing shootout.

    ReplyDelete
  39. ASK TOUGH QUESTIONS? YES, THEY CAN!
    The media's love affair with Barack Obama may finally be over.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Doug

    the horn on Paulie's Cadillac plays the Godfather theme song. I want one.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Death Hunt, with Lee Harris and Charles Bronson, was on today.

    Death Wish is on right now.

    ReplyDelete
  42. If Bugs wins, Daffy's out on her tiny ears, out on her tail feathers. But if Daffy should win, she'll want the ears of Bugs on the ticket for the youth and enthusiasm it generates, so it'll be Daffy/Bugs vs Fudd.

    ReplyDelete
  43. The exit-pollers take the day off, or what?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Trish, I was talking about the logistics of moving 10,000 troops within 24 hours of Chavez's order.

    ReplyDelete
  45. She doesn't require genuine softballs as an excuse to grab the baseball bat and beat you around the head and shoulders.

    ReplyDelete
  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  47. "Is it just me, or does Hill seem a little--attractive--in that position?"

    Would be even better with kerosene and lit matches.

    ReplyDelete
  48. :)
    Mat, shame on you!
    -------
    This researcher don't know a theophany when it hits him in the face.

    Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher

    High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.
    Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

    "As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

    Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

    "The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."

    He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.

    He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

    ReplyDelete
  49. McCain Told Me to Delete Those.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Al-Bob,
    Are we the only ones, or the only honest ones?

    ReplyDelete
  51. We be the only ones, the only honest ones, the few, the two, the lonely, thank God for friendship....

    ReplyDelete
  52. Honest what, doug?

    bob, most likely is, your claims of an affair with Sonia makes your verasity suspect, she never once mentioned you, amongst her lovers.

    Nor amongst her clothiers, for that matter. Though she and I often share the smae tailor.

    Ten to twelve battalions, 10,000 troops, depending upon organizational tables. Mobile in trucks, figure 6 to 8 vehicles per 100 troops ...
    600 to 800 trucks.

    Unless they are walking to the border. Doubt they'd get there in 24 hours, ready to jump off in an assualt.

    Wiki provides an inventory of Hugo's tanks and transport vehicles. Doubt from reading the descriptions he has 800 trucks available.

    There are a total of 86 AMX main batle tanks in inventory (AMX 30V model, the most advanced variation, modernised in 1989), supplemented by 120 or so thirty year old light tanks & APCs.

    Figure at least a third of these 20 to 30 year old vehicles are down at any given time.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Thanks Rat,
    That's just the transportation. I wouldn't expect the 10K to be at the border yet. The question is, are they mobilising? If the order is given how long would it take to "get er done?"

    ReplyDelete
  54. Details concerning the Order of Battle for the Colombian Army are not easily found.
    There are five offical Divisions and the "Sixth" which is, or was. the paramilitaries.

    The tasking of the Army seems to have been in a counter-insurgency mission. Couldn't find any info on their armored capacity. They have a few dozen choppers, Hueys and Blackhawks. A few Mirage fighters.

    The Plan Colombia included the delivery of 33 ex-Canadian UH-1Ns, 25 ex-US Army UH-1H Huey IIs and fourteen UH-60L Black Hawks for which training is provided by the US Department of State contractors under the Colombia Plan Helicopter Plan. Furthermore, the Plan Colombia called for the delivery of another fifteen UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters, totalling almost thirty examples of the type. The latest deliveries saw a batch of six Mil Mi-17MD Hips being added to the fast growing force in August 2002. Five Kaman K-1200 K-Maxes used for general support mission by the US Department of State also took residence at Tolemaida.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Honest about our deepest desires, 'Rat.
    Mat don't no we don't need no Kerosene.
    Baby won't you light my fire.
    I think my brother's Classic Comic Books may have warped me wrt to bound women.
    ...course we'd need a sack.

    ReplyDelete
  56. That must be one successful design!
    Used by over 50 countries.
    ---
    "In July 2002, Kazan signed an international marketing agreement with BAE Systems of the UK and Kelowna Flightcraft of Canada for an upgraded version, the Mi-172 medium-utility and transport helicopter. The Mi-172 has a new mission system from BAE Systems Avionics, new glass cockpit with Honeywell electronic flight instrument system and BAE Systems' Titan 385 stabilised multi-sensor turret. The upgraded helicopter has been ordered by the Kazakhstan Air Force."

    ReplyDelete
  57. Optional engines for 'hot and high' conditions are the 1545kW (2070 shp) Isotov TV3-117VM. Recent exports to China and Venezuela for use in high mountains have the new VK-2500 version of the engine with FADEC control.

    ReplyDelete
  58. "I've earned every one of these Surgical Scars!"

    ReplyDelete
  59. "...There are a total of 86 AMX main batle tanks in inventory (AMX 30V model)..."

    I wonder if they're keeping these running with French parts, or replacements.

    Decent tank, about equal to our M60-A3. Odd in that it has a 20mm cannon mounted coaxial.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Well that explains Sonia

    Tarnsmen of Gor, John Norman
    An entire Gor series, actually.

    Bound and branded, they kept their women. Treated aging like a disease, had the cure, too.

    mat would enjoy the read, if only for that. Science ficton, not fact, in the case of Gor, the counter Earth.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Those Soviets sure could design aircraft that were tough.
    This one takes the cake, though.

    Today after 50 years, with more than 15000 units built, this single engine bi-plane outperforms anything. The An2 offers the most aircraft for the money, has a safety record unmatched and puts the pilots back into a different world.

    Not certifiable in the US, though.
    No "free trade" when it comes to low cost utility aircraft.

    ReplyDelete
  62. I never thought about that:
    On what basis do they keep them out?

    ReplyDelete
  63. Hey, Deuce and Whit:
    You oughtta bring every rezko thread to the front.
    Neither 'Rat nor anyone else took the timing of the trial into effect.
    Reporters are asking questions at the very worst time for Barry the Bumbler.
    Duke got put in jail.
    Taking gifts a no-no, quid pro quo or not.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Can't remember the details, but one of my classmates mentioned either working with or knowing of an American special operatiosn unit that used An-2s at some point in its history. I think he said it was in the 60s-70s era.

    ReplyDelete
  65. AN-2 is also widely used for infiltrations.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Don't know if that's the official reason, though.

    ReplyDelete
  67. "All-metal two-spar structure, fabric covered aft of front spar" (!)

    ReplyDelete
  68. As I recall they are classified for exhibition, ONLY.
    Must take off and land from the same airport and CANNOT be used for skydiving.

    Looked into buying one, when Jr thought he wanted to become a adventure pilot.
    Figured a small fleet of old tech could be competitive, down to fishing/surf camps in Mexico and the like. But the FAA put a fly in that ointment. He never did stick to the flying lessons, so the whole affair just became a link in my "Mexico" favorites.
    But they are quite inexpensive, comparatively speaking.

    ReplyDelete
  69. 12 passengers.
    6 stretchers
    Meanwhile most of our ambulances are twin engine Cessna Deathtraps.
    (1 stretcher)

    ReplyDelete
  70. Yeah, but what keeps them from getting certified for real?

    ReplyDelete
  71. Read a discription from a fellow that ferried one to Africa, said it flew like a brick, but never failed.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Cessna could not compete, would be my guess. Didn't dig to deep into it, just accepted the reality of it.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Tail unit: Braced metal structure. Fabric-covered tailplane.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Sure as Hell couldn't compete!
    About how much do they cost?

    ReplyDelete
  75. Be shure to wait for the animated pic to load completely!

    http://www.termikas.com/main.htm

    ReplyDelete
  76. http://www.termikas.com/an-2-script/20.jpg
    http://www.termikas.com/an-2-script/19.jpg
    http://www.termikas.com/an-2-script/18.jpg

    http://www.termikas.com/an-2-script/15.jpg

    ...etc

    ReplyDelete
  77. http://www.metric-conversions.org/cgi-bin/util/convert.cgi

    An2
    Empty 3450 kg; ----------7605 lb
    Max T-O weight 5500 kg;-12125 lb
    Useful load 2050 kg -----4519 lb

    ReplyDelete
  78. In Lithuania there is this one

    Antonov An-2

    airframe: agricultur| s/n:1G12041 | year: 1979
    times: 10583h | 25 smoh

    engine: ASh-62IR | s/n: K1613832 |
    time: 3942 h | 18h smoh

    avionic: VFR
    com: 2 VHF | nav: ADF


    instruments
    standard instruments / gyros

    condition: no damage, no corrotion, original logs
    paint: polyurethane original AEROFLOT scheme
    interior: passenger seats

    status
    english placards, new synthetic fabric
    hoses: 1998


    reference value
    US$ 25 000

    ReplyDelete
  79. This An2 is a nearly new aircraft, based at Lithuania.



    Antonov An-2 P

    airframe: passenger version | s/n:1G23945 | year: 1990
    time: 45 h since new

    engine: ASH-62 | s/n: K16510183 | year: 1989
    time: 55 h

    avionic: VFR
    com: 2 VHF + 1 HF radio | nav: ADF
    Intercom + 2 sets of headphones | Radio altimeter

    instruments
    standard instruments / gyros

    condition: no damage
    paint: polyurethane original AEROFLOT scheme
    interior: passenger seats

    status
    new tires, english placards,complete ground fastening equipment, engine cover, canopy cover
    hoses: 1997 (TBO 7 years)


    reference value
    US$ 50 000

    ReplyDelete
  80. This Antonov An2 is a privat operated aircraft
    based in New York state.

    airframe:5000h | year: 1981

    engine: Shevetsov Aeh-621R | power: 1000hp | time: 550h smoh

    propeller: ---- | time: h sinsp.

    avionic all russian
    #1com: yes | #2com: ---- | nav: yes | ADF: yes | transponder: yes | HF: russian | and marker

    instruments
    gyros----|

    equipment
    8 para-seats, |

    condition
    paint: good | interior: ---- | wing: all new fabric | glass: good |

    status
    new tires, new breaks, with fresh 100h insp., some parts |

    reference value
    US$ 75 000

    ReplyDelete
  81. Buy the cheaper plane. I've been gettin' along with ma truck all these years.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Fewer frills, more thrills, we always say.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Just take your time!
    115 mph cruise.

    ReplyDelete
  84. "What is it like to fly the
    Russian AN-2"


    We have flown our Antonov An2, 73 Alfa November about ninety hours since we purchased it about three years ago and that is one of the most asked questions we get. One good answer we give is that it is like going up in your attic and flying your house around!

    But to he truthful, it is a real fun plane and is a pleasure to fly. With the exception of the braking system it is not much different than flying a Cessna 180 or any other higher horsepower tail-dragger.

    The AN-2 has a 1,000 horsepower engine and a constant speed propeller, cable controlled tail surfaces, push rod controlled ailerons and electric flaps and trim. The AN-2 is quite heavy on the controls in steep turns and quick maneuvers but on normal correction changes they are about like the C180’s.

    Ground handling is a different story. The AN-2 has no hydraulic system for brakes, it uses air, like a truck, with the pressure controlled by a squeeze handle on the left side of the control wheel. There is a differential brake valve connected with the rudder bar which gives full right rudder full right brake and full left rudder full left brake. A differential pressure in between. It takes a while to get used to this system of stopping with your hands rather then your feet but with both inboard and outboard brakes it has plenty of stopping power. An intercom is a must for communicating between the pilot and copilot because it is quite noisy up front with the exhaust about 2 feet away from the copilots right foot. 73 Alfa November is a cargo, Medi-vac, paratroop and crop duster model so there is no plush seats or carpet on the floor in back which makes it a noisy passenger area.

    But this is the fun of flying the world's largest flying bi-wing,

    We attend many air-shows and fly-in breakfasts around New York and Pa.. Stop in and talk with us. See you around.

    ReplyDelete
  85. TEXAS
    OBAMA 526,526 54%
    CLINTON 442,100 45%

    ReplyDelete
  86. Florida in Texas!
    ---
    The Clinton campaign called an “emergency” conference call with reporters that was interrupted by Obama’s chief counsel Bob Bauer, who called in and said the Clinton campaign only criticized the caucus process when it was losing.

    With Clinton facing what many consider must-win scenarios in both Ohio and Texas and both races too-close-to-call, the Clinton campaign charged that the Obama campaign had shut the doors on Clinton supporters at some of the caucuses, among other things.

    The campaign also said the Obama camp had hijacked some of the caucus packets at certain precincts, adding that in others Obama supporters were calling in caucus results before the polls had closed.

    Ace Smith, Clinton’s Texas campaign director, said the state party’s election hotline was jammed, and the Clinton campaign was receiving “hundreds of complaints.”

    “This is just truly outrageous behavior,” Smith said. “It’s really disturbing, and it’s really undemocratic what’s going on.”

    Clinton’s attorney said on the call that “all options are open at this point” when asked about the possibility of seeking a legal remedy to the campaign’s concerns.

    Bauer’s presence on the call came as a surprise as he and Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s communications director, went round and round. Wolfson repeatedly asked Bauer and the Obama campaign to ensure that all votes in Texas are counted as Bauer impugned the Clinton campaign’s “attacking the caucus process.”

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  87. Ohio Democratic Primary Results
    Candidate Votes %
    Hillary Clinton 147,299 60%
    Barack Obama 92,756 38%
    John Edwards 5,020 2%
    Dennis Kucinich 0 0%
    Key: Winner

    11% counted--Hillary is slipping loose, cheating the noose.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Clinton Wins in Rhode Island

    WASHINGTON (AP) - campaign_minute Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton split a pair of New England primaries Tuesday night and sought bigger prizes in Ohio and Texas in a riveting race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a political maverick and unflinching supporter of the Iraq War, clinched the Republican prize.
    Obama won the Vermont primary, gaining nearly 60 percent of the vote for a 12th straight victory over the former first lady.

    She countered quickly, winning in Rhode Island, where she was collecting about 53 percent of the vote.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Doctor describes Grieving Process:
    ---
    In a sign that John McCain still has a way to go to build party unity, check out these comments by US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Speaking this past weekend at a GOP dinner, Cornyn said McCain wasn't his "first choice ... or second, third or fourth choice" for the Presidential nomination. "I sort of liken it to a grieving process. You come to acceptance," said Cornyn in his speech, according to the Dallas Morning News. Still, Cornyn said he thought McCain was "head and shoulders above Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton" -- as he said he feared the election of either could lead to a "socialist regime" in the US.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Yeah, but you already had your way w/her, Al-Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  91. hehehehe,ah joy-

    Clinton cries foul in Texas; Obama lawyer hijacks call
    By Sam Youngman
    Posted: 03/04/08 09:10 PM [ET]
    Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign charged rival Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign with breaking several rules in the Texas caucuses.


    The Clinton campaign called an “emergency” conference call with reporters that was interrupted by Obama’s chief counsel Bob Bauer, who called in and said the Clinton campaign only criticized the caucus process when it was losing.

    With Clinton facing what many consider must-win scenarios in both Ohio and Texas and both races too-close-to-call, the Clinton campaign charged that the Obama campaign had shut the doors on Clinton supporters at some of the caucuses, among other things.

    The campaign also said the Obama camp had hijacked some of the caucus packets at certain precincts, adding that in others Obama supporters were calling in caucus results before the polls had closed.

    Ace Smith, Clinton’s Texas campaign director, said the state party’s election hotline was jammed, and the Clinton campaign was receiving “hundreds of complaints.”

    This is just truly outrageous behavior,” Smith said. “It’s really disturbing, and it’s really undemocratic what’s going on.

    Clinton’s attorney said on the call that “all options are open at this point” when asked about the possibility of seeking a legal remedy to the campaign’s concerns.

    Bauer’s presence on the call came as a surprise as he and Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s communications director, went round and round. Wolfson repeatedly asked Bauer and the Obama campaign to ensure that all votes in Texas are counted as Bauer impugned the Clinton campaign’s “attacking the caucus process.”

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  92. "Late deciders' have been going for Billary in Texas, radio says.

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  93. TX (P) 12%Obama 50%Clinton 48%

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  94. More than just raw percentages, in Texas, it's where those votes are.

    Not all Democratic votes are equal, in Texas.

    Thems the rules and rules, well they're the rules.

    Billary will battle on to PA, anoither State that will become decisive or divisive, depending upon ones' perspective.

    McCain sweeps the board, and the Huckster abdicates.

    On to the September "surprise"!

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  95. westhawk has an interesting take on the Colombia/Venezuela dust up.

    No idea how accurate it may be.

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  96. Professor so an so addresses the EarthFirst! rally--

    Mushkin raised his paper and read his statemnt. "Earth First! eco-fascists," he announced, "I congratulate you on setting back the cause of justice, decency, ecology and environmentalism by at least 50 years in America."

    Cheers. Applause. Scattered twitting.

    "Your well publicized advocacy of sabotage and monkey-wrenching has made Earth First! a synonym for terrorism."

    "Your well known support of famine in Aftica, as preached by your official spokesperson Foreman, has revealed you as fascist, neocolonialist and anti-humanitarian."

    "Your enthusiastic support of immigration control, as preached by your official idealogists Hardin and Abbey, has revealed you as nationalists and xenophobes, quite the opposite of the fun-loving anarchists you pretend to be."

    "I might add that your opposition to immigration, especially your opposition to immigration from Third World nations, which means of course immigration by people of color--"

    "Colored people?" someone shouted. "That's a racist term, you lousy bigot."

    "I said people of color," Mushkin shouted back, his voice breaking into boy-soprano range. "People of color I said."

    "Your dogmatic opposition to immigration by people of color from oppressed Third World nations-oppressed mainly by capitalist Amerika, I might point out--exposes you, exposes you--he emphasized, "as not only nationalists, xenophobes, cultural chauvinists and running dog lackeys for economic imperialism, but also I must say, and it pains me to say it---"

    ---exposes you as a hypocritical mob of creeping fascist hynena and elitist Nazi racists. Sieg heil!" he shouted.

    "Sieg heil!" they shouted back.

    Hayduke Lives

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  97. TX (P) 19%Obama 49%Clinton 49%

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  98. No wonder I'm a zenophobe:
    I took several classes w/Hardin!

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  99. Damnit Albob, If it weren't for 'Rat I wouldn't know shit from Shineola.
    Where did that come from, not abbey, since he's IN it!

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  100. Called a walk on/ drop by/sit in, Doug. An old trick of the trade.

    I read an article yesterday that I can't find now, that was interesting. Said the muzzies in Ohio usually vote Republican, which is in line with what I know about the few I have known personally, but they are all voting for Obama this time, which says a hell of a lot about how they perceive him, Christian though he claims to be.

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  101. Who is this Hardon fellow, I've never heard of him?

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  102. Great guy.
    Biology Prof, taught Bio 1, Genetics, Human Evolution, and some others.
    Wrote "Nature and Man's Fate" "Tragedy of the Commons," and several Bio textbooks.
    Walked w/a Cane as a Polio Survivor.
    Univ of Chicago, Stanford, UC.

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  103. He and his wife checked out together w/advanced age and failing health.
    Makes more sense to me than spending a mint on tubes and additional pain, agony, and humiliation.

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  104. The Garrett Hardin Society
    "Money is both the kind word and the gun. If the firepower is not great enough to persuade the targeted person, increase the offer." - Garrett Hardin

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  105. Hardin, sorry, slip o the finger.
    Makes more sense to me too. My wife and I have talked about it, off hand. We're not close to there yet. Doc told her she's healthy as a horse, will live to be 200. Oregon has an assisted suicide law.


    Texas Democratic Primary Results
    Candidate Votes %


    Barack Obama 711,759 49%
    Hillary Clinton 711,183 49%
    John Edwards 16,206 1%
    Bill Richardson 6,114 0%
    Joe Biden 3,025 0%
    Chris Dodd 2,077 0%
    Key: Winner
    Precincts: 23% | Updated: 10:44 PM ET | Source: AP

    23%

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  106. "A community that renounces war as a means of settling international disputes still cannot survive without that discriminating form of altruism we call patriotism.
    It must defend the integrity of its borders or succumb into chaos.
    "

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  107. Deuce, did you see my Rezko post above?

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  108. "Mat, shame on you!"

    Whoat? Billary's descendancy was preordained!

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  109. Clinton 773,431 50% 0
    Obama 754,381 49% 0

    Clinton is pushing ahead a little in Texas.

    Convention Fight!
    Convention Fight!

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  110. "This An2 is a nearly new aircraft, based at Lithuania."

    During Soviet times Lithuania had a well known reputation for poor quality. Stay away.

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  111. This is fun to watch, but being sober about it, if Hillary wins, she might tap Obama for VP to heal the wounds, and he'd take it I bet. Would be a hard ticket for McCain to beat. She wouldn't be VP though. A step down from First Lady.

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  112. Fit right in at EB:

    "Jobs himself judges the world in binary terms. Products, in his view, are "insanely great" or "shit." One is facing death from cancer or "cured." Subordinates are geniuses or "bozos," indispensable or no longer relevant. People in his orbit regularly flip, at a second's notice, from one category to another, in what early Apple colleagues came to call his "hero-shithead roller coaster." "

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  113. "hero-shithead roller coaster."
    ...one for the ages.

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  114. Stanford management science professor Robert Sutton discussed Jobs in his bestselling 2007 book, "The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't." "As soon as people heard I was writing a book on assholes, they would come up to me and start telling a Steve Jobs story," says Sutton. "The degree to which people in Silicon Valley are afraid of Jobs is unbelievable. He made people feel terrible; he made people cry. But he was almost always right, and even when he was wrong, it was so creative it was still amazing." Says Palo Alto venture capitalist Jean-Louis Gasse, a former Apple executive who once worked with Jobs: "Democracies don't make great products. You need a competent tyrant."

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  115. Wozniak had a cool little gadget he was working on, but when Jobs found out it was in collaboration with some other (small) Company, Jobs grabbed it and smashed it against the wall!

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  116. There are no subordinates at EB, you bozo!

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  117. Erika is rejected by Oral Hatch(Erika had given the missionary mormon Hatch an emission on mission, and not in the missionary position, fell for him hard, and seeks him in far-a-away Utah.)

    Young Hatch ran, ran like man in fear, into the fringes of the swirling crowd...

    She sank to her knees on the pine needles of the forest floor, mindless of gaping bystanders, and wept freely, loudly, with the fairytale abandon of the lovelorn Svenka maid. The dour Norse? That Nordic phlem? The dull and sluggish Norwegian permafrost?
    Tout au contraire:
    they are a wild and hearty breed, whose emotions from joy to despair and back again run deep, fierce, true, and hotly energetic, untainted by the cynical affectation of Latin posturing, the operatic gestures of the lukewarm worn-out thin-blooded Mediterrainean soul. If ever turned loose from their self-constrained cage of inner doubt, guilt neuroses and liberalistic angst, these northern races could subjugate the entire planet in approximately two weeks. (Well, Japan might give them trouble. And the Israelis. And the cheerful little Bushmen of Southwest Africa.)

    Hayduke Lives

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  118. OHIO
    *CLINTON 792,910 57%
    OBAMA 576,187 41%

    Clinton wins Ohio! I call that a thumping, a royal trumping, a smashing bashing crumbling. And I've been reading Abbey too long.

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  119. http://hotair.com/archives/2008/02/13/video-yes-we-can-reagan-remix

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  120. All is subordinate to Al-Doug.
    PBUD

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  121. Doug, this is something we did on Rezko back in 2006.

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  122. Barack OUTSPENT HILLARY FIVE TO ONE.

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  123. Uzi'd like that.
    All's sub ordinates.

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  124. I Put some new links on that one.

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  125. from elijah's post above--

    If you are a political reporter you are surely steeped in the writing of H.L. Mencken, the founding pundit of American journalism. Well, he made a living for years taunting Warren Harding, referring to him almost exclusively by his middle name, "Gamaliel." Notwithstanding the original Gamaliel's revered status as a teacher of Paul, the name somehow added to Harding's goofiness (he being, in his confused rhetoric, the oratorical antecedent of George W. Bush).

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  126. Hillary’s Math Problem:
    http://www.newsweek.com/id/118240

    Which means, it'll be up to the super delegates.

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  127. Talk about torture:....Howard Fineman, Chris Matthews and Keith Oberman on NBC gloomy about Obama.

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