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, February 12, 2008

McCain and Obama.

He ain't pretty but he can fight.

The talking point of the day from the Clinton camp is that the fire wall in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania will hold. That sounds familiar to many of us. It is the Giuliani strategy that utterly failed.

Nothing spreads fear faster than the moment when a critical mass realizes the game is over. It becomes fight or flight and when the fight is clearly being lost, it takes an unusually talented leader to rally support and turn a sure loss into a victory. Hillary is not that leader.

Hillary is going to take the fall. The only one that can stop that is Hillary and she does not have what it takes to do so. Hillary is a wonk and a Bureaucrat. She has no street skills. Obama is killing her. She is up against a showman and there is not enough time for her to develop the talent that she needs to defeat Obama. McCain is another story.

Seven weeks ago, his campaign hardly had a pulse. Where others like Joe Biden capitulated, McCain had the grit and the survival skills to hang in there, fight and win. It will be McCain and Obama.

Obama has not chosen to define who he is. McCain will force that on him. McCain has plenty of time to put Obama on the defensive and force him to get specific. He needs to draw blood and start showing Obama to be who he really is and not who people want him to be. There is plenty of time for McCain to win this contest.

Don't bet he cannot do it.


118 comments:

  1. And in the City of Free Speech, Berkeley, California, the mob is out tonight, set to deny the US Marine Corps the constitutionally protected right of it's recruitors to speak with other Americans.

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  2. deuce, you put the best pictures! I always get a kick out of them.

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  3. Would you vote for McCain if he's the Republican nominee?


    No, it's more dangerous to have someone who claims he's 'conservative' to govern as a 'liberal' 43.43% (3146)


    Deciding on McCain at this point is premature. I'll wait and see what develops 22.05% (1597)


    Yes, even though he leans left once in a while, he's still better than Hillary or Obama 13.00% (942)


    Yes, we can't take a chance on radical, activist judges nominated by Democrats 6.63% (480)


    No, he's more left-leaning than even Hillary or Obama 5.22% (378)


    Yes, if McCain selects a real staunch 'conservative' as his running mate 4.29% (311)


    No, he's proven he can't hold a position on any issue 3.52% (255)


    No, I'd never vote for a Republican 0.72% (52)

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  4. Rat says there ain't know way. We're gonna be out-voted. It's President Obama.

    But you're right. McCain will need to go on the offensive early and keep putting the pressure on.

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  5. 'Clinton Getting Screwed by the Blacks'

    Ironic

    That's actually the very thing she needs.

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  6. Man, that dem cnn debate coming up in Texas is going to be a real pressure cooker for her. Her last stand.

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  7. I wouldn't put a lot of worry into how many democrats are voting in the primaries. I think historically the republican turnout has always been lower. The worry is the folks, the oh so pure folks, who if they don't get their way, curl up in a funk.


    This gun case before the supreme court has some potential to throw some added unknown factor into the race, too.

    I used to be a member of the National Rifle Association. I noticed I got a big mailing from them today, which I haven't opened yet, but will report on what they are up to.

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  8. She's got to put a pin in his balloon somehow. She's in a tough spot. Inexperience hasn't worked, tried that. Race is out of bounds. Drugs, to the extent they brought it up, might catch fire with republicans, but not this audience. She can't say he is corrupt, because, being around for less time that her, he is less so. A hidden agenda attack might be tried, but he'd deny it. She's got the same position on Iraq, so she can't say if you pull out the troop willynilly you'll collapse our securtity position. Her advisors better be burning the midnight oil. If she's got anything bad on him, time is running out to sling it. Maybe a meteor will hit the debate hall.

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  9. A hidden agenda attack might be mounted on the basis of all his I vote 'present' votes.

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  10. Even in this bizarre year, it's hard to imagine how McCain could possibly lose the nomination.

    In dealing with McCain's success, Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham, among others, have passed the denial stage and are currently coping with stage two: anger. We can expect bargaining, depression and finally acceptance to follow. ( :)The stages of dying as outlined by Elizabeth Kubler Ross--'On Death and Dying')

    But in the end, there is nothing so divisive going on within the Republican Party that an official Democratic presidential nominee won't cure.

    Polls showing McCain running roughly even with Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., with no other Republican remotely close, will ultimately bring all but the most hard-headed conservatives around.

    Charlie Cook

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  11. Well, after some serious thinking, as well as sitting in class today next to the most obnoxious Obama supporter you can imagine, I'm now a McCain guy for the general. Long-knives are staying sharp for the post-season, though.

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  12. Is it just me or does the chicken on the left have a comb-over?

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  13. If Huckabee somehow winds up on the ticket, though, we're gonna have to smother his ass when noone's looking.

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  14. Familiarity Breeds Contempt.

    That cock's in a 'head tuck', also known as a cold shower, an old defensive posture in cock fighting, but when the cocky one commits himself, he'll finish him off.

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  15. I just realized who would be third in line for succession if Huckabee was neutralized.

    Jesus, shit sandwiches all around.

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  16. The funny thing is, Bill Clinton's intuitions were right. They should have ripped Obama's face off. Instead they gelded old Bill and he is just not the same without the door knocker.

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  17. “Obama is just creaming Hillary.
    You know, all these primaries, you know.
    And Hillary says it’s not fair, because they’re being held in February, and February is Black History Month.

    And unfortunately for Hillary, there’s no White Bitch Month.”

    - Penn Jillette

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  18. So Spitzer got plastered in liberal New York, and had to retreat, Hillary stuck her foot in her mouth, then when she took it out she said she didn't, but the Holy one can just come right out and be FOR licenses for illegals and pay no price?

    I'd like to say
    "I think not!"
    but the best I can do is,
    "I hope not."

    Obama took the liberal seniors McCain to Pub Seniors, Obama by 20 over the witch in the womens vote!

    Sad commentary on the dumbing down and dhimminizing of this culture.

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  19. Kubler doesn't know her ass.

    Like Rush says, the worst thing he could do for McCain would be to come out strongly and passionately for him, alienating all the Dem/Moderate/RockefellerPub Votes.
    The base had better just damned well consider the alternative:
    The Black Kucinich.

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  20. ...actually, Kucinich is much more substantive, of course.
    ...and LESS Liberal.

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  21. Obama Unplugged
    Lost without a Teleprompter.
    - Dean Barnett

    It was thus interesting to see Obama climb to the stage at Virginia's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Saturday night. As he strode to the podium, Obama clutched in his hands a pile of 3 by 5 index cards. The index cards meant only one thing--no Teleprompter.

    Shorn of his Teleprompter, we saw a different Obama. His delivery was halting and unsure. He looked down at his obviously copious notes every few seconds throughout the speech. Unlike the typical Obama oration where the words flow with unparalleled fluidity, he stumbled over his phrasing repeatedly.

    ...Other improvised moments also contradicted the generally lofty tone of the Obama campaign. At one, point when addressing what we have to do for the economy, Obama ad-libbed,
    "The insurance and the drug companies aren't going to give up their profits easily . . . Exxon Mobil made $11 billion this past quarter."

    Perhaps Obama thinks that the drug companies will continue to develop life saving therapies out of benevolence, and that their employees will happily take the pay cuts that will accompany the loss of profits. This is yet another simplistic piece of us-against-them politicking, the kind of thing that Obama has reliably eschewed--at least when he's on script.

    What makes Obama's Jefferson-Jackson speech especially relevant is where he went when he went off script. The unifying Obama who has impressed so many people during this campaign season vanished, replaced by just another angry liberal railing against George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Exxon Mobil, and other long standing Democratic piñatas.
    The pressing question that Obama's decidedly uninspiring Jefferson-Jackson oratory raises is which Obama is the real Obama--the one who read beautifully crafted words from a Teleprompter after his victory in Iowa, or the tediously angry liberal who improvised in Virginia?

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  22. Deuce,

    I'll take you up on that bet. McCain won't win and I'll tell ya why.

    McCain's big thing is "This war can't be lost". He's got his finger stuck firmly in the Chinese finger trap that is Iraq and most of US have soured on the Iraq adventure. McCain doesn't have the savvy of Rat to leverage the Surge, declare victory, and begin withdrawal. I'll bet he's keen on the current withdrawal 'pause'. Anyway 'we'll be fighting more wars' and 'we just caaaan't lose send more troops' geriatric McCain won't stand a chance against "Yes we can" change agent Obama.

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  23. ...and the xenophobes who won't vote for Obama 'cause he's BLACK are already on the republican side and they aren't too keen on McCain 'cause of his immigration stance.

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  24. An interesting point of the exit polls, to date, from the Dems ...

    The whites of the north have not voted for Obama, though the whites in the south have.

    Historical stereotypes crushed by the reality of elections.

    To see which prospective candidate can win the White House, in November, we must look to the States. Which will be in contention, which are foregone conclusions.

    We must look to PA, OH, FL, then the smaller States like New Mexico, Colorado.

    Could McCain be competitive in CA?
    McCain's stand on immigration could make it so.

    Those are the real questions.
    That Ohio is crucial to the GOP, while Team Taft is off the field. Florida could be firmly with McCain, even without Team Bush in the Governors' Mansion. The Cubans will rally.

    Coprehensive Immigration may save the GOP, strange as that may be.
    The Hispanics rally to the GOP, identity politics hitting the Dems hard. Their 90% of the Black vote, a given.

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  25. bobal,

    I've got to take issue with your notion that Berkeley is denying the Marine to their constitutional right to free speech. Berkeley is in no way obligated to provide a venue to any who want to speak. They have a right (i.e. free speech) right to say (or not say) what they choose. Similarly CBS does not have a constitutional obligation to give Don Imus a platform from which to speak. In both cases they are free to speak, just not on those particular organizations premises.

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  26. The Hispanics have an aversion to voting for Black candidates.
    A white Democrat can bridge that racial gap, they have done so historically. But can a Black Democrat perform the same mission?

    Not in CA, it seems.

    A pro-Immigration Republican, high profile and proud, could swing those Julios to the GOP.

    There are more of them in the US, then there are Blacks. Especially in some of the contention States.

    Force the Dems to compete in CA, something they have not had to do, in decades.

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  27. It All Comes Down To Pennsylvania in 2008

    By John A. Tures
    Associate Professor of Political Science
    LaGrange College
    ...
    No, this race comes down to Pennsylvania, where Kerry won by a mere 2.5%. The state has 21 votes in the Electoral College, which makes it enough to offset the Ohio loss. Bush narrowed the gap from his 4.17 point loss to Al Gore in 2000, so the trends are better than the �Wisconsota� strategy. A heavy media blitz in Philadelphia spills over to other blue states like Delaware and New Jersey (both won by Kerry with less than eight percent). Republicans haven�t had a comfortable election since they took the Keystone State back in 1988. So McCain should fight for the �Alabama� in Pennsylvania.


    How many xenophobic Demcrats in Pennsylvania?

    Rendell: Some Whites 'Not Ready' To Support Obama

    Rendell told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against Obama because he's black.

    Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said the governor was just acknowledging an unfortunate reality.

    The words that attracted national attention were: "I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate."

    Rendell is one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most visible supporters. Several people in Clinton's campaign have been criticized in recent weeks for raising Obama's race.


    The entire election, the Red/Blue map could be redrawn.
    The Electoral College is winner take all, State by State.
    Representational, not democratic.

    There, with Pennsylvania, McCain stands a chance.

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  28. "Representational, not democratic."

    I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. A democracy according to dictionary.com:

    1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
    2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
    3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
    4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
    5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

    Democracy is more then just counting votes.

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  29. PA Govorner Rendall presses the point, with evidence of recent PA voter patterns. Patterns that favored him.

    Rendell: Race Factor Could Hurt Obama
    17 hours ago

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most visible supporters, said some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against her rival Barack Obama because he is black.

    "You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," Rendell told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in remarks that appeared in Tuesday's paper.

    To buttress his point, Rendell cited his 2006 re-election campaign, in which he defeated Republican challenger Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, by a margin of more than 60 percent to less than 40 percent.

    "I believe, looking at the returns in my election, that had Lynn Swann been the identical candidate that he was — well-spoken, charismatic, good-looking — but white instead of black, instead of winning by 22 points, I would have won by 17 or so," he said. "And that (attitude) exists. But on the other hand, that is counterbalanced by Obama's ability to bring new voters into the electoral pool."


    Rendell admits that 5% of the General Election vote was xenophobic, which could be an egotistically low estimate. In a State where Bush lost to JFKerry, by just 2.5%.

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  30. The Presidental election, through the Electoral College, is not one man, one vote.

    By design.

    That the US is a representational Republic, not one man, one vote, was the crux of the non-democratic statement.

    That the representitves are chosen democraticly, fits your definition #1.
    That the citizens votes are not "equal", fits mine, under #3 of your definitions, ash.
    The voting right is not "equal", by design.

    Which does not diminish the US, far from it.

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  31. A voter in a small State, like Wyoming, being more "equal" than a voter in a large State, like New York.

    In the Congressional representation and Electoral College representation.

    Fact of the matter, in the US.
    The Senatorial compromise that created the country. Each State gets two Senate representitives, regardless of population. Which carries over to the Electoral College

    Making some voters more powerful than others.

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  32. bobal said...

    "And in the City of Free Speech, Berkeley, California, the mob is out tonight, set to deny the US Marine Corps the constitutionally protected right of it's recruitors to speak with other Americans."

    ---

    Ronald Reagan on Berkeley activists chanting:

    "Make Love not War!"

    Ronald Reagan:

    "By the look of them,
    they don't look like they'd
    be very good at either.
    "

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  33. "As a possible first Madame President, Hillary is a flawed science experiment because you can’t take Bill out of the equation.

    Her story is wrapped up in her marriage, and her marriage is wrapped up in a series of unappetizing compromises, arrangements and dependencies.

    Instead of carving out a separate identity for herself, she has become more entwined with Bill.

    She is running bolstered by his record and his muscle. She touts her experience as first lady, even though her judgment during those years on issue after issue was poor.
    She says she’s learned from her mistakes, but that’s not a compelling pitch.
    "

    - Dowd

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  34. During most of the Team43's Senatorial majority in the Senate, that majority represented a minority of the voters.

    The Democrat Senate minority being elected by a greater number of total votes than the GOP majority had gardnered.

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  35. Obama's people and the Che flag.

    I predict once Obama wins the nomination, the moonbats won't have the good sense to STFU.

    All the Bezerkely Che-freaks and their ilk will come out of the woodwork and scare the hell out of the normal people.

    Never underestimate the power of the moonbats to torpedo their own ship by just being themselves.

    McCain: "I fought the communists and my opponent's buddies fly their flag."

    That shit will play well in flyover country.

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  36. Ash:

    " Berkeley is in no way obligated to provide a venue to any who want to speak.
    They have a right (i.e. free speech) right to say (or not say) what they choose.
    "
    ---
    Classic Commie Crap!
    So Dialectical,
    So Diablolical.

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  37. Shit should sell well in Hawaii,
    Isles of Paradise, Veterans, and Flips:

    "That Half-Assed Papolo ain't MY
    Native Son!
    "

    ...just sayin, not bettin!

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  38. Damned right, Bro.

    Those Reagan Democrats, they'll be comin' home. Again.

    One thing about Big John, he can't be intimidated. Not by the PC thought police. He's walked that path, with professionals. Fellows that thought water boarding was done by pussies. His torturers broke bones, time and again.

    He is not ashamed to speak of his service, just there are some who are embarassed by the lack of theirs.

    Folk like Rush and Hannity. Men that never walked the talk, themselves. McCain'll take Che and shove him up Obama's ass.

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  39. Hawaiians in Paradise:
    Kid got treated like a King in Vegas.
    Mickey, Flip from Hawaii, (a REAL Native Son ex-pat) drives a car sponsored by the Seamless Club, so he and the kid in their greasy T-Shirts walk past the line of Patrons in suits, are greeted and feted by the girls, even the one in the 8 ft Martini Glass!

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  40. Did you ever hear the one about CUBANS torturing John, 'Rat?

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  41. No, never even heard him discuss being tortured, doug. Just a known storyline in the background, here.

    Wouldn't doubt it, though, about the the Cubanos.

    He'll carry Florida
    Lose Ohio
    Carry PA, Rendell tells the tale.

    California, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Governator and the ghost of Ceasar Chavez.
    Gonna be somethin' to see.

    Crazy fighter jock vs a community organizor from Chi-town.

    Heard last night, the Texas representional Democratic primary favors the cities over the rural areas, the blacks over the hispanics. Rules that'll come to bite Billary in the ass, though they were designed with the opposite effect in mind.

    Votes that are not equal, within the Democratic Party of Texas. To late to change the rules, now.
    Notice that Billary was in El Paso, not Houston, with her celebration last night.

    Playing the ethnic card, best she can.

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  42. So Obama takes Texas against Crazy John?

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  43. Doug, the National Review is not required to publish a Noam Chomsky article because he has a constitutionally protected freedom of speech. It really is that simple and not a communist plot.

    Rat,

    No dissing of the US was intended by my noting that representation is democratic. Many nations through their political systems make an individuals vote not equal to anothers.

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  44. No, but he runs even with Billary, there, in the delegate count.

    Smoking that Texas firewall.

    McCain'll carry Texas, Fl, AZ, NM, CO.
    He'll take the Hispanic vote, by more than GWBush's 40%.

    Bet he gets 60% of that vote, maybe more. The Hispanics as racially motivated as the Blacks.

    Viva la Raza!

    McCain will play well amongst that group, for the same reason he does poorly with you.
    Immigration policy.

    It'll kill the Dems in the General Election.
    Che and Stokley Carmichael will well be riding to McCains rescue.

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  45. I understand that ash, the lack of dissing.

    But the definition of Democracy is remarkably flexible, the US falling well within #1, but not #3.

    Just as the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zimbabwe are "democracies". But not.

    The US is a Republic, not a Democracy.
    The United States is not America, either.
    Both terms are marketing formulations used to confuse the electorate.

    If there is not one man, one vote, each vote being equal, it is not a democracy.
    By the definitions you cited.

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  46. "National Review is not required to publish a Noam Chomsky article because he has a constitutionally protected freedom of speech."
    ---
    The National Review is not a government entity, funded by the citizens of the USA.

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  47. Neither is Berkeley but that is beside the point. Not even the US government is required to publish Chomsky.

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  48. Sorry, but Berkeley IS a government entity, funded by US Taxpayers!

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  49. It's just that simple, commie plot or not.

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  50. The Govt can't BAN Chomsky from speaking!

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  51. Berkley is part of the US Government, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ash.

    Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

    Local jurisdictons cannot limit the rights of citizens that the local government disagrees with.

    The Marines being protected by that 14th Amendment, as much as any other citizen or person in the locale.

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  52. dRat sez:
    McCain will play well amongst that group, for the same reason he does poorly with you.
    Immigration policy.

    It'll kill the Dems in the General Election.
    Che and Stokley Carmichael will well be riding to McCains rescue.


    I have some fireman friends by way of Cali. Union fellers. They LOVE McCain. The military experience is huge with them.

    They like their union benefits and whatnot, but they don't like Marxism and surrender.

    Paradoxical, yes, but it is what it is.

    It's going to be an interesting election.

    If McCain can corral Powell for VP, it could be a blowout. Seriously. The un-Bush ticket from the GOP.

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  53. Ash, that's exactly the kind of claptrap that one would expect from a Canadian, not an American.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Just heard a speech by "Native Son" Barry:
    Talks of his single (Hippy) mom, his dad who abandoned him, but NO MENTION,
    of his grandparents that RAISED HIM, and funded his expensive PRIVATE School.

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  55. That'd break the Dems back, Bro.

    Take the 90% Black Democrat vote down to 70%, or less.

    McCain/Powell,
    oh how the "conservatives" would howl!

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  56. That could do it, too.

    Though Powell has more gravitus than JC, today.

    There is also the succession thing, if successful, to ponder.
    Powell being 71, today.

    The old vs the new.
    Seniors vote in greater proportion than any other group.

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  57. Playing to identity politics
    Age, race and personal history.

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  58. That's interesting about Obama without notes. Hell, with a teleprompter, even I might be able to read a passable speech. He does seem to do ok in the debates however and that must be without notes.

    Obama is open to plenty of criticism. I can think of a dozen openings that McCain can use that Hillary can't. I'm with Bro D Day, I hope McCain makes some kind of vp choice that other than a white geriatric.

    Thou shalt not speak ill of the decent dead.

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  59. "Karl Rove was on the cusp of creating something really big for the Republican Party.

    But over the past couple of years, we saw power and arrogance take over. I give you Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court and an out-of-touch immigration bill as two examples.
    You can't shove such important matters down the throats of the people.

    Our Constitution says "We the People," not
    "We the White House."

    For a key period in our nation's history, Karl Rove did what he did very well, until arrogance and power took over and derailed his legacy.
    It was an opportunity squandered.
    Another opportunity lost was the failure to bring more African-Americans into the Republican Party, but Rove never made the GOP or the Bush administration available to do so.

    Now, Republicans are back to square one. Maybe square 1 1/2."

    - J.C. Watts

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  60. Professionals, ready to govern, today.

    Let alone Day One

    If McCain declares victory in Iraq, after either the March or September General P briefing, then expands the "Peace through Supeior Firepower" doctrine against aQ Pakistan.

    Cuts another leg out from under the Dems. We'll see what kind of an agreement Team43 can get from Maliki, by October.

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  61. Powell could have run for President. Said he didn't want to put his family through it. Condi wants to be baseball commissioner. J.C. Watts would work good. Steele too.

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  62. Barry is Chauncey Gardiner!
    The Garden of Hope.
    Walked on Water.

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  63. I like JC, doug. Just have to be a bit of a wonk to know of him, where Powell is well reconginzed, already.

    With Powell there be no successional GOP candidate, again.

    With JC, there would be.
    But by then, maybe, those PA voters that Mr Rendell spoke of, they may be "ready".

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  64. Did Mr Steele ever win an election?

    ReplyDelete
  65. Rat,

    Berkeley is in no way required to provide facilities for any US citizen to speak or recruit. They are not required to provide space for the KKK, or Zionists, or Palestinians, or Iranians - even if they are US citizens. Similarly they can deny the Marines if they so choose.

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  66. I like the Senatorial compromise. Of course, I'm prejudiced as hell on that. But it's done something to protect the 2nd Amendment for instance, and the farm interest. The US Ninth Circus Court of Appeals is bad enough, without our Senators we'd be dictated to by southern California.

    The re-trial is wrapping up today, of one of two brothers who killed a young marine and his wife camped by one of our rivers. Mandated by the 9th Circuit, over 1 faulty, according to them, jury instruction concerning how to judge a co-sonspirators testimony-(the other brother). They will convict him again, I'm certain. Cost to us taxpayers--in the millions, trial had to be moved to Wallace, Idaho, from here.

    9th Circuit as lately gotten into telling us how to farm too. Think they know best.

    Good for J.C.

    He's got stellar initials, too!

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  67. Dammit, Ash, the Marines rented a building.

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  68. So? The KKK or anyone else could as well, but they don't have the right to.

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  69. "So?"
    ---
    So if Soros Rents a Building, Bakersfield cannot silence him, or kick him out.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Shit! We can't talk, or even rent a building. We're really fucked, like the Canadians.

    Ash, right now, go bang your head against the wall, really hard, and get some sense.

    ReplyDelete
  71. You gotta admit the equivalence of the KKK and the Marines was a strong point, tho.

    ReplyDelete
  72. We had the Aryan Nations in CdAlene, Idaho for awhile. Lots of people wanted to silence them. But the city always had to give them a parade permit.

    Finally, one of the members took a shot at someone from the compound.

    Lawsuit time.

    The Southern Law group helped out, but there was plenty of willing lawyers around, fighting for the opportunity.

    Jury result--guilty 12-0

    Judgement--damages, in the megamillions

    Ultimate result--bankruptcy for the Aryan Nations and the leadership--they're all gone now, haven't been back.

    These Aryans, by the way, were all from out of state, having bought into the myth that Idaho is a hotbed of racism/nazism.

    The head boy, Butler, was from California. He's dead now.

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  73. Indeed, that equivalence was the stunning high point of the argument.:(

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  74. They do not have the right to deny lawful actions, ash.

    The Nazi get to march in in Skokie, as does the KKK.

    No local jursidiction can stop them. If the Marines rented the building, the Berkley city council cannot zone them out.

    It's established law.

    Planned neo-Nazi march sparks violence
    Dozens of arrests expected; mayor blames gang members

    Saturday, October 15, 2005; Posted: 10:20 p.m. EDT (02:20 GMT)
    TOLEDO, Ohio (CNN) -- A neo-Nazi group's scheduled march against "black crime" in Toledo, Ohio, sparked rioting Saturday afternoon.


    or Skokie

    1978 (January 27) The Illinois Supreme Court reverses the Illinois Appellate Court and the Circuit Court of Cook County's grant of Injunctive Relief in favor of the Village of Skokie and against the Nazi group headed by Frank Collin. The Nazis are free to March in Skokie pending resolution of the federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of the Nazis. (Case No. 49769, Illinois Supreme Court).

    February 23 Judge Bernard Decker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issues an order ruling that the three ordinances adopted by the Skokie Village Board aimed at preventing Frank Collin and his Nationalist Socialist party sympathizers from marching in Skokie are unconstitutional as violative of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (Skokie Life, April 9, 1978, p. 1).

    March 17 Judge Bernard Decker grants the Village of Skokie's Motion to stay his order voiding the Skokie anti-Nazi ordinances so as to permit the Village to perfect an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. (Application for Stay of Mandate, Harvey Schwartz & Gilbert Gordon, filed in the United States Supreme Court, No. 77-1736, on behalf of the Village of Skokie, p. 2 / Archives, Skokie Historical Society.)

    April 6 The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, sitting en banc, vacates all previous "stay orders" and orders an expedited briefing schedule. (Application for Stay of Mandate, Harvey Schwartz & Gilbert Gordon, filed in the United States Supreme Court, No. 77-1736, on behalf of the Village of Skokie, p. 2 /Archives, Skokie Historical Society).

    April 11 Frank Collin and his band of Nazis apply to the Village of Skokie for a permit to conduct a demonstration in front of Skokie's Village Hall on Sunday, June 25, 1978. (Application for Stay of Mandate, Harvey Schwartz & Gilbert Gordon, filed in the United States Supreme Court, No. 77-1736, on behalf of the Village of Skokie, p. 2 / Archives, Skokie Historical Society).

    May 22 The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit affirms Judge Decker's February 23, 1978 ruling that the three ordinances adopted by the Skokie Village Board aimed at preventing Frank Collin and his Nationalist Socialist party sympathizers from marching in Skokie are unconstitutional as violative of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (Opinion, U.S. Court of Appeals, Nos. 78-1381 & 78-1385, Judges Pell, Sprecher (concurring in part and dissenting in part) and Wood, Archives, Skokie Historical Society).

    May 25 The Village of Skokie issues a permit allowing Frank Collin and his band of Nazi sympathizers to demonstrate in front of Skokie's Village Hall on Sunday, June 25, 1978. (Application for Stay of Mandate, Harvey Schwartz & Gilbert Gordon, filed in the United States Supreme Court, No. 77-1736, on behalf of the Village of Skokie, p. 2 / Archives, Skokie Historical Society).

    June 2 The United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, enters an order denying the Village of Skokie's request for a stay of mandate. Application for Stay of Mandate, Harvey Schwartz & Gilbert Gordon, filed in the United States Supreme Court, No. 77-1736, on behalf of the Village of Skokie, p. 3 / Archives, Skokie Historical Society).


    Your ignorance of US law is embarassing, ash.

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  75. Battle of Berkeley

    Council backs off. (Fears loss of funding, is the reason, in my view.)

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  76. And the Potatoee Head Racists Welcomed Obama!

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  77. Ain't Ash's dad a Perfessor?

    ReplyDelete
  78. What goes around, comes around

    Imad Mughniyeh, Leading Hezbollah Official Wanted by US, Killed, Militant Group Says
    02-13-2008 7:47 AM
    By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer

    BEIRUT, Lebanon (Associated Press) -- Imad Mughniyeh, the suspected mastermind of dramatic attacks on the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, has died in a car bomb in Syria, Iranian state media and a Syrian human rights group said Wednesday.

    The Islamic militant group Hezbollah and its Iranian backers blamed Israel for the killing. Israel denied involvement. Hezbollah did not say how or where Mughniyeh was killed.

    Iranian state television called the slaying "state terrorism by the Zionist regime."

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  79. oowwiee--another rat jumps from a sinking ship(loyalty,loyalty)--

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An aide to Barack Obama says the man who led former President Clinton's 1992 bid plans to endorse the Illinois senator.
    Obama's campaign plans a 1 p.m. conference call Wednesday to announce the endorsement by David Wilhelm, who later became chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement would be made public later in the day.

    Wilhelm plans to tell reporters that Obama can build a coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans needed to win the general election. He also says Obama can bring the change he promises—improving the economy and ending the war in Iraq.

    Wilhelm is a superdelegate from Illinois who was previously uncommitted in the race.

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  80. BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - City council members who were criticized for telling Marine recruiters they don't belong here have moderated their position, saying they oppose the Iraq war but support the troops.

    The Berkeley City Council voted two weeks ago to send a letter to a downtown recruitment station advising the Marines they were not welcome.

    After a marathon session that stretched into early Wednesday, the council decided against sending the letter, saying it recognizes recruiters' right to be in Berkeley.


    Same right as any other person involved in a lawful activity.

    No matter how distasteful the local government finds that activity.

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  81. I should take Bobal's advice and bang my head against a wall. I can be pretty uninformed sometimes. I thought it was the University of Berkeley which banned the Marines from recruiting and not the City of Berkeley.

    I was wrong youze guys right. My apologies.

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  82. Dick Morris tells US

    She got a reprieve by winning in New York/New Jersey and in California/ Arizona largely on the strength of Latino and immigrant voters. Their concentration in five key states (75 percent live in California, New York, Illinois, Florida and Texas) gave her a draw on Super Tuesday. But too many of her votes come from Hispanics who fear blacks and from older whites who harbor residual racial feelings. Her and Bill's heavy-handed attempts to polarize the election racially died on Super Tuesday in an avalanche of votes from white states like Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, North Dakota and the like.

    Now the question is ...
    Can McCain take Obama amongst the general population, not just the Democratic base that Billary appealled to?

    Can McCain run and win in New York, New Jersey, PA, California?
    Ceding IL to the favorite son.

    And still retain the Southland that has been the GOP base?

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  83. Ah, heck, Ash, I've tested positive for Ambien many a time.

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  84. hehe, send sumtin' my way please!

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  85. I get it from Canada:) It's cheaper there, with the government health system!

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  86. Seems the Clintonian excuse, they didn't even try ...

    “What’s gone wrong is very simple,” said Hassan Nemazee, a national finance chair for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

    “If we had won Iowa and New Hampshire, as we had anticipated, projected, et cetera, you would not have been in a situation in which you are losing all of these small states—because we didn’t put any resources in those small states,” he said. “Obama, on the other hand, put resources in these small states.”

    Compounding the damage of the bad defeats in Iowa, and then South Carolina, Mr. Nemazee explained, was the lack of the necessary foresight to invest the campaign’s resources in the states that Mrs. Clinton’s rival, Barack Obama, is now gobbling up as fuel for his ever more threatening momentum.

    “You needed to have a Plan B, and Plan B was just doing what we are doing right now rather than having resources in the small states,” he said. “We basically ceded every one of these small red states that he has racked up victories in. And the reason that he has racked up victories at this level isn’t because he was so much more well received, or because his message was any better; it was because we didn’t put any resources in there. We weren’t campaigning there. We didn’t have anybody in Utah, in Idaho, in the Dakotas. In Alaska.”

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  87. Sounds like Denial, to me ...
    But read the whole thing

    The ship is sinkin', the Rudy strategy all that's left for the "other" New Yorker.

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  88. A NEW GREETER AT WAL-MART JUST COULDN'T SEEM TO GET TO WORK ON TIME. EVERY DAY HE WAS 5, 10, 15 MINUTES LATE. BUT HE WAS A GOOD WORKER, REALLY SHARP, SO THE MANAGER WAS IN A QUANDARY ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.

    FINALLY, ONE DAY HE CALLED HIM INTO THE OFFICE FOR A TALK. "CHARLEY, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I LIKE YOUR WORK ETHIC, YOU DO A BANG UP JOB, BUT YOUR BEING LATE SO OFTEN IS QUITE BOTHERSOME."

    "YES, I KNOW BOSS, AND I'M WORKING ON IT."

    "WELL, GOOD, YOU ARE A TEAM PLAYER. THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR. IT'S ODD THOUGH, YOUR COMING IN LATE. I NOTICE YOU'RE RETIRED FROM THE AIR FORCE. WHAT DID THEY SAY IF YOU CAME IN LATE THERE?"

    "THEY SAID ...
    'GOOD MORNING GENERAL'."

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  89. Good morning.

    We were watching the political fireworks last night and kept asking ourselves:

    Who is going to stand against the corporate takeover of our democracy?

    Who is going to stand against nuclear power?

    Who is going to stand for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney?

    Who is going to stand for cutting the bloated, wasteful, ever-expanding military budget?

    Who is going to stand for a Palestine free from U.S./Israeli military domination?

    Who is going to stand for an aggressive crackdown on corporate crime?

    Who is going to stand for the repeal of the anti-union Taft Hartley law?

    Who is going to stand up to health insurance industry and for a single-payer, Medicare for all, Canadian-style health care system?

    We watched closely last night, and didn’t notice anyone standing for any of this.

    Within the coming days, Ralph Nader will decide whether or not to throw his hat into the ring.

    We’re still exploring.

    But time is running short.

    Please, help us spread the word about our exploratory effort.

    And give as generously as you can.

    Thank you for your ongoing support and activism.

    Onward

    The Nader Team
    ------
    Nader has lost his mind.

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  90. Green Party presidential candidate Jesse Johnson of West Virginia stopped by today for a chat about his efforts to win his party’s nomination for president.

    ...

    On Maine Politics: Some people still say Ralph Nader helped Bush get elected in 2000, and paint third party candidates as those who might tilt the election in a way that was unintended.
    Do you buy that argument? How do you see yourself? Can you win?

    Johnson: Well, one citizen equals one vote and in that sense of course I could win. But the problem is the system has gone so far astray, being dominated by a so-called two-party system.


    Vote Your Values

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  91. would argue that we have a one-party system and that it�s dominated by multinational corporations, and that bird is kept afloat by a right wing and a left wing that�s used to divide people.
    A third party has the ability to allow people to actually vote their values, their conscience. Those values are what define us. If you vote your values, then whomever takes the mantle of office will have to recognize the power of the idea and the value.
    With regard to the spoiler concept, in a broken system I would see us as a definer, not a spoiler.

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  92. A-ha!

    McCain/Obama

    They're the spoilers.

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  93. He said as president he would spend $210 billion to create jobs in construction and environmental industries, carving out $150 billion to create 5 million so-called “green collar” jobs to develop more environmentally friendly energy sources.

    “This agenda is paid for,” Obama said as the Republican National Committee promoted an “Obama Spend-O-Meter” online to track his proposals and portray him as a tax-and-spend liberal.

    Obama explained that the money for his spending proposals will come from ending the Iraq war, cutting tax breaks for corporations, taxing carbon pollution and raising taxes on high income earners.


    Turning Point of Campaign

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  94. How many times was the word 'tax' used in that last paragraph? Sheesh..

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  95. That's what government is about, sam.
    Taxing, borrowing and spending.

    That's what it does.
    It is the most rightous grounds for discussion and debate. Above all others, even the war. As the debate about the Iraqi and Pakistani wars are really all about spending it's importance to the nation and the source of those expenditures.

    A concept that has been avoided by Team43. They having abandonned conservative principles and borrowed the funding for the War on Terror.

    Leaving it for the next generation to pay for, with a devalued currency.
    Getting it done on the cheap, in current terms.

    How much will the government spend, on what and where will it get the script?
    The debate begins.
    Taxes, borrowing or cutting expenditures.
    Instead of both Guns and Butter, on a credit card.

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  96. I found it taxing to read that paragraph.

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  97. fI found it taxing to read the last two posts.

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  98. And at "The Nation"

    Who's John McCain's scariest running mate? Take your pick on the Nation Poll.

    Democrats who think it's going to be a cakewalk into the White House next November had best remember one name: Condoleezza Rice.

    John McCain is a formidable candidate in his own right, but if he has the political imagination to do it, he can cause the party of Jefferson and Jackson indescribable angst with Rice as his vice-presidential pick.
    ...
    With Rice on the ticket, the GOP would have somebody to get enthusiastic about. The Secretary of State is immensely popular with Republicans. For a party that up to now has been clueless about how to run against either a woman or a person of color, Condoleezza Rice is pure political gold.

    Woe to any Democrat who thinks taking her on in a debate is a sure thing. The woman is tough, fast on her feet and able to give better than she gets. Anyone who has seen her in action testifying in front of a hostile House or Senate committee knows that she will be able to wipe up the floor with a plodding, ordinary pol of a Democratic vice-presidential candidate. Take Rice lightly at your peril.

    In the ordinary course of things the ideal vice-presidential candidate is relied upon to carry his or her home state and keep out of trouble. With Condi the GOP gets a lot more. It gets a superstar to match the Democrats' superstars. If it comes to name recognition, glamour and magnetism for conservatives, Condi is dandy. Also, it is a plus for the GOP team that she is a snappy dresser.

    Rice's presence on the ticket deprives the Democrats of the we-are-more-diverse-than-thou argument. It makes McCain--whose ethnically diverse family includes an adopted daughter from Bangladesh--an even more attractive candidate for a certain kind of independent voter.

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  99. "SÍ! YO AMO TEXAS, MUCHO, MUCHO... QUIERO SER LA PRIMERA PRESIDENTA DE ESTE PAIS!"

    La Puta

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  100. Condi wouldn't talk like that.

    She stays mum on love.

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  101. The argument against the Clinton plan is easy enough to grasp: that with two more routs in Hawaii and Wisconsin, Obama’s already thunderous momentum may simply be unstoppable. The counterargument is that Texas and Ohio amount to the whole ball of wax: Unless Clinton wins both by substantial margins, she is toast.

    As a matter of fact, more than one Clinton campaign official said exactly this to me on the phone yesterday. My first reaction was, holy cow, talk about a bleak outlook — too bleak, I thought.

    But that was before the results rolled in from Maryland and Virginia. By the end of the night, staring hard at the delegate totals and working my slide rule, I realized the Clinton people weren’t being excessively grim. They were, for the first and maybe the last time, being completely realistic.


    Bleak Outlook

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  102. We'd have 'em nailed--a woman, and a black, all rolled into one!

    Sounds like a winner to me too, though she's said she doesn't want elected office, she might be pulling our leg.

    She can play the piano too, which my mom would have liked about her, if she was here. Mom could play well, and her dad was a musician.

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  103. The Nation piece addresses that, bob

    Lastly, Rice is a notorious sports fan with excruciatingly detailed knowledge of much of its arcana. She's often said that her dream job is commissioner of the National Football League; however, in a pinch she would probably settle for Vice President of the United States.

    And in the succession line, the first woman and first black to become president, rolled into one.
    A fitting tribute for Lincoln's Party to achieve.

    From what I heard on FOX, last night, Texas cannot be a decisive win for Billary. The majority black districts have an unequal representation in the delegate count.
    When they wrote the rules Mr Ickes did not expect for Billary to be taking on the first serious black candidate. The rules were written for the wife of the first faux black President.

    Oh what tangled webs were weaved, in an attempt to decieve.

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  104. Iran has introduced small amounts ofuranium gas into advanced centrifuges it is testing at its mainnuclear complex, diplomats said, in a further step towardsgaining the means to develop atom bombs if it later chooses.

    ...

    Tehran's quest to produce usable amounts of nuclear fuelhas been hampered by problems getting its existing "P-1" lineof centrifuges to spin non-stop at maximum speed. Iran had3,000 P-1s working by November, a basis for launchingindustrial-scale enrichment, but only at an estimated 10percent of capacity.

    ...

    U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hoped theSecurity Council would vote within weeks on further sanctions.


    Centrifuges with Uranium

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  105. One wonders if those refineries and Panamax tankers that the Chinese are building are ready

    Venezuela Halts Oil Sales to Exxon Mobil
    Venezuela's State Oil Company Halts Oil Sales to Exxon Mobil

    By FABIOLA SANCHEZ Associated Press Writer
    CARACAS, Venezuela Feb 12, 2008

    Share Venezuela's state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. in response to the U.S. oil company's drive to use the courts to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.

    Exxon Mobil is locked in a dispute over the nationalization of its oil ventures in Venezuela that has led President Hugo Chavez to threaten to cut off all Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States. Venezuela is the United States' fourth largest oil supplier.

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  106. France's Total to stay in Venezuela, Iran
    Guardian Unlimited, UK - 9 hours ago
    By Barbara Lewis and Marie Maitre PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - French oil company Total pledged on Wednesday to stay in Venezuela and Iran, two OPEC nations ...

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  107. The head of French oil company Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday he did not expect any sharp decline in the price of oil, now trading above $92 a barrel, or in oil demand.

    "I can't say what the price will be," Christophe de Margerie told reporters, but said he saw no reasons for any steep decline.

    "There are all sorts of reasons to say it won't fall... For fundamental and psychological reasons ... it's difficult to consider that there could be a strong downturn."


    No Fall

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  108. Wallace, Id. AP--

    Robert and Cheryl Bravence were already dead from the blows of his younger brother, Mark H. Lankford said, when he came across them at an Idaho County campsite.

    Lankford, 51, took the stand for the first time Tuesday, telling Shoshone County jurors he left his brother along the South Fork of the Clearwater River the night of June 21, 1983. Lankford said he walked away from is brother following an argument hours earlier about how the two were going to get to Grangeville, Idaho.

    "I gave him $50 and I told him, 'Don't do anything stupid.' " Lankford said.

    The next time the brothers saw one another, Bryan Lankford had stolen a van from two campers, Mark Lankford testified. The campers lay dead at their campsite, he said.

    Mark Lankford's testimony filled much of the seventh day of a retrial, pointing the finger at his brother in the 1983 deaths of a U.S. Marine captain and his new wife. He has maintained his innocence in the killings, but Tuesday was the first time he told his story to a jury.

    He and Bryon Lankford were convicted of the killings at separate 1984 trials. Mark Lankford's conviction was later thrown out when the 9th U,S Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled the original jury received an improper instruction on how to handle accomplice testimony.

    His testimony differed from Bryan Lankford's, who placed the blame on Mark Lankford last week.

    Wearing a blue tie and blazer, Mark Lankford called himself an unwise, foolhardy person for his actions following the deaths of Robert and Cheryl Bravence. He helped his brother dispose of the bodies, he said, before the brothers took the couple's van to California.

    He said he and Bryan Lankford spent several days camping in the Summit Flats area of Idaho County in June 1983. Mark Lankford traveled from Texas to avoid the "rat race', he said. His brother was on probation for robbery and avoiding a possible sentence in the penitentiary....

    and it goes on.

    We're spending big money to retry this turd; he and his brother after burying the dead, used the money and the credit cards of the Marine and his new wife as they drove across the county.

    A trial has to be done right, I know, but sometimes it tests one's patience.

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  109. Obama, Hillar, Crazy John - You tell me the difference.

    I'll vote for the Dem.

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