Hillary’s Voice

Let’s see, when to discuss race?  When, oh when?
Hypnocrites

Obama blasts Hamas Op-Ed published by his church’s pastor (JTA Jewish news service)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Barack Obama says that a pro-Hamas Op-Ed printed in his church’s bulletin was “outrageously wrong.” In an issue dated July 22, 2007, in a section titled “Pastor’s Page,” the Trinity United Church in Chicago reprinted an article by Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzook. The article, which originally appeared as an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times, justifies the Palestinian terrorist group’s denial of Israel’s right to exist. .. In slamming the Hamas piece, Obama noted that he strongly rejects some of his longtime pastor’s views.

Barack Obama: toxic mentors start to corrode pristine campaign (London Times)
Obama has often described [Emil] Jones as a key political mentor whose patronage was crucial to his early success in a state long dominated by near-feudal party political machines. Jones, 71, describes himself as Obama’s “godfather” and once said: “He feels like a son to me.” Like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the outspoken pastor of Obama’s Chicago church, and like Tony Rezko, the millionaire fundraiser and former friend of Obama who is on trial for corruption, Jones is in danger of becoming a hindrance to his protégé’s presidential ambitions. For almost a year Jones has used his position as leader of the state senate to block anticorruption legislation passed unanimously by the state’s lower house. He has also become embroiled in ethical controversies concerning his wife’s job and his stepson’s business. None of them is linked to Obama, but the Democratic contender can ill afford another scandal related to his former Chicago allies.

Crying Fits and Joe McCarthy (by eriposteat the Left Coaster
The nonsense hurled by [former Air Force General Tony] McPeak towards Bill Clinton was so ridiculous that a right-wing conservative at NRO’s The Corner - Kathleen Parker - has now written in Clinton’s defense! She was present when Clinton gave the speech in NC, and has written a post describing what Clinton said and what the context of his statement was… “It isn’t often that I’m called to defend Bill Clinton, but since I was present in Charlotte, N.C., Friday when he made the remarks — now being spun by the Obama campaign as ‘like McCarthy’ — I’m compelled to set the record straight… In no way did I interpret Clinton’s remarks as questioning Obama’s patriotism.”
I’ve been roundly criticized recently for quoting from some conservative sources.  I’m sure eriposte will be in for some of that badgering, as well, after quoting Kathleen Parker.  One jerk even dared to call me a Republican.  But here’s what these critics don’t seem to have a firm grasp of:  Sometimes the opposition can see us more clearly than we see ourselves. So let me state this as clearly as I can. I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED, so Obama fans just save your energy for someone who will allow him or herself to be browbeaten.  I will not fall in line.  I will continue to support the Democratic candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November.  I will quote the sources that I believe give the best information to support my case.  Progressives aren’t complaining when the likes of George Will and Peggy Noonan praise Obama, and they have yet to comment on this information below.

WHO IS MICHELLE BERNARD: (by Bob Somerby at The Daily Howler)
In prime time coverage of a White House election, no cable news network has ever been as propagandized as MSNBC currently is. On Fox, Hannity was always paired with Colmes—and O’Reilly, who is a nut on some topics, is relatively fair about major pols. (In Campaign 2000, for example, he was massively more fair to Gore than most big cable hosts were.) But on MSNBC, the performance of Hardball, Countdown, and now Race for the White House often resembles that of a cult. This brings us to a peculiar question: Who is Michelle Bernard? On the surface, the question is easily answered. At present, Bernard is CEO of the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative women’s group founded in 1992… Which leads us to a puzzling question: As a major conservative, why is Bernard appearing on Hardball so often—to gush about Obama?

Summary of discussion on The McLaughlin Group Saturday, 3/23/08:
According to the TV show the McLaughlin Group Hillary is far from out.  At the convention she will argue that she has won  in all the Blue States that she needs to win the Presidency.  Obama has won in all the red states that Democrats never win (thanks to crossover voting):  Wyoming, Idaho,  etc, etc. McLaughlin went on to say that Hillary needs to “club the baby seal” and keep on clubbing.  Only in that way will she win.
From the Voice from the Blue: I think you agree with all of this.  This should be the focus of her supporters in my opinion.  Who cares what Obama groups charge Hillary with.  What‘s important is that Obama can’t win, and Hillary can and name calling is a diversion at the least and a waste of time at best.  What really matters is that Hillary can beat McCain and Obama can’t, and nothing else matters.

Me:  I don’t know if I’d put it quite so crudely as clubbing the baby seal, but yes.  Clinton needs to keep pushing the electability theme.  She is, he’s not.  SurveyUSA has the numbers.

Rice Apologizes For Breach of Passport Data (Washington Post)
The passport files of all three major presidential candidates were breached by unauthorized searches by four employees, the State Department said [Friday], prompting apologies from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, outrage from the candidates and calls by lawmakers for further probes… Bush administration officials struggled [Friday] to explain why repeated attempts to look at the files were not known by senior officials until they received a reporter’s inquiry Thursday…

The two employees fired for examining Obama’s file worked for Stanley Inc., an Arlington-based company that has handled passport processing for 15 years and just this week won a five-year, $570 million contract. Stanley’s chairman, Philip Nolan of McLean, contributed $1,000 to Clinton’s campaign on Feb. 20, federal election records show. He has also contributed to moderate Republicans…

A third contract employee, who looked at Obama’s file on March 14, was discovered to have also examined McCain’s file, [State Department spokesman Sean ] McCormack said. That employee, who worked for Analysis Corp. of McLean, has been denied access to passport applications, and his or her employment status is under review, McCormack said. John Brennan, chief executive of Analysis, gave $2,300 to Obama on Jan. 28, records show…

A fourth worker, who accessed Clinton’s file, is not a contractor but a State Department employee. The employee looked up Clinton’s file during a training exercise last summer — trainees had been told to look up a parent’s application — and was “admonished” but not fired, McCormack said. [Emphasis added, in all cases.]
Just remember that there’s no important information that can be obtained from someone’s passport application file, according to security expert Larry Johnson.  More important, to me, is finding out who this inquisitive reporter is, and who he or she works for.  Is it a reporter who has been known to break news that is either good or bad for one of the campaigns?  I have my suspicions about which campaign brought this to the attention of a reporter, but unlike those who prefer to jump the gun on things like this, I shall not say what those suspicions are unless or until we find out more.

The So Called “Hillary Lies About Bosnia” (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Barack and company are increasingly desperate.  For a group of folks who insist the campaign is over, Hillary is toast, etc., etc., they are certainly straining at gnats.  The latest is their hyperventilation over the so-called “lie” of Hillary about her trip to Bosnia… What Hillary said about the plane is exactly right.  Cork screw take off and landings were instituted after a buddy of mine–a now retired U.S. Army Colonel–was shot while sitting on a plane flying out of Sarajevo back in 1993… I do not have access to her full itinerary back then.  It is possible she is recalling a different landing that was not filmed.  And it also is possible she is confusing one incident with another.  But if the big difference is whether she shook hands after getting off the plane or dashed to the car ducking gunfire, well, at least she was visiting Europe in an official capacity.  She was doing more 16 years ago then Obama has accomplished since joining the Senate.  Hell, the dude’s passport is still stamp free of European ports of entry.
Friends, what does this attempt at attacking Hillary remind you of?  It reminds me of the right wingers’ denunciation of John Kerry as having made up stories about his heroism and his wounds.  And it reminds me of the attacks on Al Gore in 2000.  Trouble is, the Obama campaign isn’t getting any traction with junk like this, except among the already converted.  Not very skillful infighting, guys, too bad the race baiting technique isn’t working any more, thanks to the Rev. Wright.

Clinton got along with GOP in Senate
WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in the Senate before she had even surrendered the title of first lady. An anything-but-typical freshman, she surprised skeptics with how well she fit in to a chamber where reputations are usually built over decades. She didn’t big-foot colleagues. A junior senator in the minority party, she put her head down and went to work.
To Obama fans, this will no doubt show some kind of evil intent by Senator Clinton.  See, it’s good when Obama talks about reaching across the aisle (which he’s never done as a U.S. senator, by the way).  But very, very bad when Clinton is shown to have done it all along.

Stop the presses — Hillary is a real human being (by Stephanie Salter, The Tribune-Star, thanks to environmentally blue at MyDD—click through for a virtual hankie)
TERRE HAUTE — According to her enemies and much of the national news media, Hillary Rodham Clinton is cold, robotic, calculating, vindictive and about as personable as surgical steel. Tell that to Josephine Sullivan. Among a cluster of wheelchair-bound residents sitting outside Meadows Manor East to watch Clinton’s motorcade pass by on Poplar Street yesterday, Sullivan could not have experienced a more warm or personal touch from the presidential candidate… Or try running the cold-robot characterization by 17-year-old South High School senior Hillary Newton. With her father Chris, she was among about 120 Hauteans to line the tarmac fence at Hulman Field just to watch Clinton’s ATA charter Boeing 737 touch down after a flight from Washington, D.C… After Clinton deplaned via a stairway gangplank, she eschewed her waiting Chevy Suburban and walked with Bayh to the 12-foot-high chainlink fence. Smiling, laughing, looking people straight in the eyes, she worked her way down the line, signing photos, T-shirts, blank pieces of notebook paper…

One last hope for company in the Hillary Haters club might have been expected from local news media. After all, journalists everywhere usually can be counted on to hike their cynical legs and pee on almost any politician. Alas, not in Terre Haute… [T]he Clinton people provided one-on-one interviews for every Hoosier TV and print reporter who had reserved a slot. Nobody with a notebook or camera was shoved, shouted at or made to feel like inconsequential scum… Over and over, local journalists remarked on her “surprising” warmth, natural manner and graciousness. But, hey, what do we know? We don’t hang out on Capitol Hill, dine with presidential aides or call members of Congress by their nicknames. We’re just everyday people who live in “fly-over country,” Terre Haute, Indiana, one of a zillion stops on the long, grueling campaign trail of Hillary Clinton.

Our reality is skewed.

The Intellectual Poverty of Frank Rich (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
[This week, Frank] Rich claims that Hillary is lying about her record on the Iraq war and that she was a liar about voting for the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Resolution in 2002 (along with the majority of Democratic senators) because she says that it was in fact what it was: not a declaration of preemptive war. Of course, Rich conveniently ignores Obama’s flip-flops on Iraq… And Rich, of course, doesn’t ever describe Hillary’s actual position at the time, delivered in her floor speech, that she favored letting the United Nations weapons inspectors finish their job and building an international coalition before any invasion… But Rich’s obvious falsehoods and hype aside, left me wondering: Where was this brave visionary in the run up to the war? Let’s apply the same standard to Frank Rich that we say should be applied to Hillary. What was Rich writing at the time?
Click through for examples of the unvarnished truth.  Frank Rich was a supporter of the Iraq War, as Bob Somerby has been reminding us for a long time now.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com