Hillary’s Voice

I will be a guest on Head-On with Bob Kincaid today at 6:00 PM ET.  Listen to Bob from 6:00 to 9:00 PM ET every weekday on the Head-On Radio Network.

Randi Rhodes Exits Air America (Media Week)
“Air America Media was informed last night by Ms. Rhodes that she has chosen to terminate her employment with the company,” AAR said in a statement released Thursday.

Talk radio’s Randi Rhodes quits Air America, joins Phoenix-based Nova M (Phoenix Business Journal)
Left-wing radio commentator Randi Rhodes has departed Air America Media for Phoenix-based Nova M Radio Network. Rhodes quit Air America terminating her contract and national radio show. Nova M said Thursday Rhodes was joining its lineup of left-of-center talkers. Nova M syndicates talk shows and operates KPHX 1480 AM in Phoenix. Rhodes will start with Nova M April 14.
Confirmed by a Nova M press release.  It means she’s working for Shelly and Anita Drobny, the original Air America Radio founders.  Randi’s long-time producer, John Manzo, joined Nova M as CEO in mid-2007.

Let Obama-Clinton contest play itself out (by Gene Lyons)
[T]he Clinton-Obama race is bringing voters into the party at a record clip. According to USA Today, 172, 000 new Democrats have registered in Pennsylvania during the past three weeks alone. Come November, the party’s nominee will need every one to defeat Sen. John McCain in the general election. People who imagine otherwise don’t seem to understand how presidential elections are decided, i. e., by the Electoral College. Not, that is, by a poll of “Meet the Press” panelists, star-struck Obamaphiles, happy wanderers on Mc-Cain’s “Straight Talk Express” campaign bus or the first 500 names in D. C. hostess Sally Quinn’s Rolodex. Yeah, there’s a certain amount of redundancy in that list.

McCain not yet golden in California (by Roger Simon at Politico)
Here are four things you need to know about John McCain and California: 1. If McCain wins California in November, he almost certainly will become the next president of the United States… 2. Winning California is going to be very tough for McCain… 3. Candidates who oppose abortion rights do not win California… 4. Obama favors giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. McCain opposes it, and this could give McCain the state.

John raises $2.5 million for Clinton
NEW YORK - Experience is central to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid, and Wednesday night she tapped one of pop music’s most venerable rockers to help fill her campaign coffers with $2.5 million. Elton John, who has sold records and filled arenas for four decades, played a benefit concert for Clinton at Radio City Music Hall.

Hillary Rodham Clinton: Smart, tough and committed. (by Donna Gentile O’Donnell, Philadelphia Inquirer)
If a woman is ever to be president in my lifetime, it’s Hillary. Why? Because she is smart and tough and committed. She lives and tolerates complexity. She still believes that ideas matter. She is intellectually brainy and emotionally brawny. She has the kind of remarkable endurance that makes it possible for her to press on, despite the klieg lights of controversy and criticism almost always trained in her direction. These are critical attributes for a world leader, and a U.S. president… Her analysis of issues, foreign and domestic, is as deep as it is wide. In response to a question on renewable energy, her recitation on ethanol alone was doctoral-quality research synthesis. Her grasp of the foreign-policy implications of oil makes it clear that in Hillary’s administration, the moon we will be shooting for is energy independence. Her position on health care is clear: We must spend our national resources - time, talent and treasury - on insuring all Americans. We can and must and will do better, if she is president.

Health Care Horror Stories (by Paul Krugman)
Stories like those of Trina Bachtel and Monique White are common in America, but don’t happen in any other rich country — because every other advanced nation has some form of universal health insurance. We should, too. All of which makes the media circus of a few days ago truly shameful… Mrs. Clinton was making a valid point about the state of health care in this country… It was particularly sad to see a number of Obama supporters (though not the Obama campaign itself) join enthusiastically in the catcalls against Mrs. Clinton’s good-faith effort to put a human face on the cruelty and injustice of the American health care system… [P]olitics is supposed to be about more than cheering your team and jeering the other side. It’s supposed to be about changing the country for the better.

Maddy Albright on the Road for Hillary (by bluemoon at MyDD)
Madeleine Albright was here in Kutztown, PA to speak at Kutztown University on behalf of Hillary this morning… She talked a lot about how she traveled personally with Hillary to over 80 different countries & registered her dismay at how these experiences have been brushed aside by the press as “just women talking.” She stressed that working with women’s groups was a deliberate strategy on the part of Clinton I because they knew without a doubt that societies that treat women as equals have better health care, are more stable, have stronger rule of law & when women are lifted up, so are we all. She spoke extensively about how she saw firsthand Hillary deliver some tough messages in very hostile rooms, whether it be China or Czechoslovakia. Albright also spoke about the nature of making connections between foreign & domestic policy, seeing how they fit together in that butterfly flaps its wing kind of way, about seeing things in their totality. It’s about understanding connections.

Bill Clinton Honored for Irish Peace Process; Says Hillary Helped Too (Political Radar, ABC News)
Bill Clinton was honored at an event commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Good Friday Accord this evening at Gallagher’s Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan. Clinton thanked the crowd for the honor, but added “I got a lot more out of this than I gave. It was a joy. Every single minute.”… During the introductions much praise was given to Clinton for the role he played in the peace process in Northern Ireland. An ample amount of thanks and praise was also give to his wife Hillary, stressing that while some recent accounts may diminish her role, the people at the event tonight knew differently.

Clinton urges $4 billion to fight crime; focuses on cities (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is expected to unveil a $4 billion anti-crime package Friday in which she vows to reduce city murder rates by 50 percent within five years, put an additional 100,000 cops on the streets and shrink prison populations.

Endorsements Demonstrate Momentum for Hillary in the Keystone State (thanks to alegre at MyDD)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - Pennsylvania for Hillary today announced over 270 local elected officials from across the Keystone State endorsed Hillary for President. These local level endorsements include leaders such as members of congress, city council members, county commissioners, state representatives, and state committee members, and demonstrate Hillary’s momentum and support in the Keystone State.
Did you see this all over the media?  No?  I wonder why.

Obama speaks to spirited crowd at Washington High School (WSBT TV)
SOUTH BEND — An excited crowd of more than 3,500 greeted presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama at Washington High School Wednesday night… [T]here were spirited introductions from former South Bend Congressman Tim Roemer and South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke, who endorsed the senator. Both called him the right candidate to bring change to Washington and the American people. “We need to change Indiana to a blue state,” the mayor said. “I am here tonight to endorse Barack Obama.”
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was not allowed to speak at that high school.  I guess that’s what Obama supporters call unity and transcendence.

George W. Bush - The Most Competent President In Modern Times (by eriposte at the Left Coaster)
Here’s the latest, um, Obama talking-points memo from The Politico: “Hillary Rodham Clinton wants voters to decide the nomination based on who can coolly and competently run the country. She had better hope they don’t study her recent campaign too closely for the answer.”… [T]he last time someone ran a campaign very “well”, thanks to the corporate media outlets promoting and propagandizing his candidacy, he won the Presidency in 2004. Four years before that, he ran a campaign “well” enough to be appointed President. That person’s name is George W. Bush. He is by far the most incompetent President in the modern history of the United States. His Presidency, which the same corporate media enjoyed and promoted forever - often in hagiographic form - has been the most destructive to this country since at least the reign of Herbert Hoover.

My last word (for now) on sexism (by Joan Walsh, Salon)
I never intended to spend so much time on this blog arguing that Hillary Clinton has faced sexism in her historic presidential run because it’s so self-evident. It doesn’t mean that without it, she’d be defeating Barack Obama; it doesn’t mean she is without flaws; it doesn’t mean Obama doesn’t face racism; it doesn’t mean she deserves to be either the Democratic nominee or the president. It just means sexism is one of the unfair disadvantages Clinton has had to deal with. It’s just a fact. The idea that so many people are so incapable of admitting that blows my mind. I’m going to try to take a break from this depressing debate, but a friend just sent me [a] video… I’d urge people who are minimizing the sexism Clinton faces, or who are trying to argue that racism against Obama has been just as public and disabling, to make a YouTube video that’s comparable to this, and that features media stars — not Clinton surrogates, not Obama critics, but guys paid by major news networks — using comparable slurs against Obama. Maybe it’s possible. I doubt it, but maybe. If anyone succeeds, I promise I’ll post it here!
Click through to watch the video showing the Clinton hate in the media.

Grand Unified Theory of The Race (GUTTeR) (by eriposte at the Left Coaster)
[In answer to those who charge that Hillary Clinton is only winning in the large states because of racism:] If Sen. Obama was unable to win the large states that Sen. Clinton won (most of which are a must-win in November for Democrats) due to white racism amongst a significant portion of Democratic voters, how in the world is he going to win those states in November when the proportion of white voters in those states will only increase dramatically due to the massive influx of even more conservative white voters who are Independents and Republicans? Further, if Republicans use racially “coded messages and tactics” that work - in the general election (anyone want to bet they won’t?) - isn’t that a prescription for a rout of Sen. Obama in those very states - many of which have long been reliably Democratic?

I don’t get it. (by myiq2xu at Corrente)
Can someone explain this to me? According to Tweety & the Gang, it’s no big deal for David Bellavia to compare Barack Obama to Tiger Woods, because Tiger is a great golfer. But when Bill Clinton compared Barack Obama’s win in South Carolina to the earlier victories in South Carolina by Jesse Jackson, it was vile racism.
Clinton Rules, myiq2xu, it’s the Clinton Rules.

Announcing the I’m Mad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Take it Anymore Hillary Clinton Grassroots Fundraising Drive (by EmmyCA at TaylorMarsh.com)
Hello fellow Hillary supporters:
I am a Hillary Clinton grassroots supporter. And I want to ask you an important question. Are you as upset with this Presidential campaign as I am?
–Are you SICK of the fawning media over-promoting Sen. Obama, while being hyper-critical of Sen. Clinton?
–Are you TIRED of watching many in the media give Sen. Obama days of free television, radio and print coverage for his endorsements, activities and speeches and putting on more pro-Obama surrogates/anchors than they do for Sen. Clinton while regularly ignoring Sen. Clinton’s endorsements, activities and/or speeches?
–Are you SICK of supposed liberal organizations, liberal media networks and liberal blogs that used to back Democrats against Republicans viciously attacking Sen. Clinton while giving Sen. Obama millions of dollars of free media promotion?
If you are as SICK and TIRED of these and other things as I am, I urge you to join me in taking the I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE GRASSROOTS FUNDRAISING PLEDGE.

Obama: Repeal of “don’t ask” possible
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama says if elected president he won’t require that his appointees to the Joint Chiefs of Staff support allowing gays to serve openly in the military.
Please read the headline, and then read the lede.  This is typical Obama wishy-washyness.  Not what I want in a president.

Gay editors wonder why Obama won’t sit down with them
Barack Obama has communicated with the gay press on his own terms, placing ads in local gay papers and writing op-eds. Bay Windows editor Laura Kiritsy believes Obama isn’t talking directly to gay editors “because he is the frontrunner and he is kind of the most unfamiliar [so] he has the most to lose. That always makes candidates or their handlers a little more wary and reticent on LGBT issues so they don’t come out looking like the crazy, moonbat liberal who will perpetuate the gay agenda.”
Oh, yeah, anyone who wants equal rights for all citizens is obviously a crazy, moonbat liberal.

Obama Says Bush Should Boycott Olympics If…. (Political Radar, ABC News)
ABC News’ Sunlen Miller Reports: In his strongest language to date about the Olympics, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that President Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies of if the Chinese do not take steps to stop the genocide in Darfur and respect the human rights of Tibetan people… The Democratic presidential frontrunner had seemed to want to avoid talking about the Olympics and Sen. Hillary Clinton’s call for a boycott of the Olympics opening ceremonies on August 8, 2008. The junior Senator from Illinois has a particularly tricky balancing act when it comes to the subject of the Olympics: Chicago is vying to host the 2016 games and one of Obama’s top campaign advisors and close friends, Valerie Jarrett, is the vice chair of Chicago’s bid committee.

Obama Delegate Purge — Slash and Burn in California (by Marcy Winograd, President of Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, a chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, writing at the Huffington Post)
By dusk on Wednesday, the California Obama campaign had purged almost all progressive activists from its delegate candidate lists. Names of candidates, people who had filed to run to represent Obama at the August Democratic Party National Convention, disappeared, not one by one, but hundreds at a time, from the Party web site listing the eligibles. The list of Obama delegate hopefuls in one northern California congressional district went from a robust 100 to an anemic 23, while in southern California, the list in Congressman Waxman’s district almost slipped out of sight, plunging from a high of 91 candidates to 17. Who was left standing, still in the running for the Sunday delegate caucuses? The bundlers, the men and women who skirt campaign finance laws by bundling cash, a bundle of $2,000 here and a bundle of $2,000 there — and some, though certainly not all, of the elbow-grease: grassroots Obama volunteers, loyalists from day one.

Big Donors Among Obama’s Grass Roots (Washington Post)
Sen. Barack Obama credits his presidential campaign with creating a “parallel public financing system” built on a wave of modest donations from homemakers and high school teachers. Small givers, he said at a fundraiser this week, “will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy and the powerful.” But those with wealth and power also have played a critical role in creating Obama’s record-breaking fundraising machine, and their generosity has earned them a prominent voice in shaping his campaign. Seventy-nine “bundlers,” five of them billionaires, have tapped their personal networks to raise at least $200,000 each. They have helped the campaign recruit more than 27,000 donors to write checks for $2,300, the maximum allowed. Donors who have given more than $200 account for about half of Obama’s total haul, which stands at nearly $240 million.

Somebody Call Abe Foxman (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
In Levittown, Penn., [Wednesday], Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, was asked about his church’s magazine giving an award to Rev. Louis Farrakhan… “This was done by a magazine that was connected to the church,” Obama explained. “I would have never done it. It was primary focused on the rehabilitation work that they do for ex-offenders in Chicago. That doesn’t excuse it, that just explains it.” Obama reminded the crowd that he’d denounced his church’s praise of Farrakhan, saying, “I’ve been very clear about saying that was wrong. And nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti- Semitism than I have.” Really? No one? Elie Wiesel? Simon Wiesenthal? Alan Dershowitz? No one?

Obama’s Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestinian Positions (by Jeralyn at TalkLeft)
Where’s Obama on Israel and the Palestinians? On both sides. Since running for President, he’s become an outspoken supporter of Israel. While in the Illinois legislature, he was a friend, supporter and beneficiary of Palestinians whose organizations trashed Israel.

Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama (Los Angeles Times)
CHICAGO — It was a celebration of Palestinian culture — a night of music, dancing and a dash of politics. Local Arab Americans were bidding farewell to Rashid Khalidi, an internationally known scholar, critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, who was leaving town for a job in New York. A special tribute came from Khalidi’s friend and frequent dinner companion, the young state Sen. Barack Obama. Speaking to the crowd, Obama reminisced about meals prepared by Khalidi’s wife, Mona, and conversations that had challenged his thinking… Today, five years later, Obama is a U.S. senator from Illinois who expresses a firmly pro-Israel view of Middle East politics, pleasing many of the Jewish leaders and advocates for Israel whom he is courting in his presidential campaign.

Reverend Wright Tarnished Obama’s Image as America’s Anointed Savior (by Steven Stark at Real Clear Politics)
The press has begun to bury the Reverend Jeremiah Wright story, convinced by the polls that the issue — for the most part — has gone away. But the issue of Barack Obama’s association with his pastor is unlikely to disappear completely because it so undercuts what made the Illinois senator’s political appeal unique… [W]hat Obama will never be able to explain away is why, of all the people in the world who could inspire him on a weekly basis, he chose the one who was known to exclaim, “God damn America,” and preached a gospel not particularly distinguished by an appeal to everyone’s better nature. Alas, we are judged by the company we keep — as well we should be, when the company is a chief spiritual advisor.

Law School Senior Lecturer Barack Obama wins U.S. Senate seat (University of Chicago news office, Nov. 3, 2004)
Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School, has won Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat with 70% of the vote in the 2004 election.
So much for their recent revisionist history, pretending that he was a professor, just because he said he was.

The Xanax Candidate. (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
[O]ne night not long ago that I posted this on a large liberal blog: Can anyone tell me why they think Obama would be a better Democratic President than Clinton? The comment conversation was flying that night but I got no bites - so I wrote it again. Soon the roof fell in. I used my last name (Smart) so the obvious insults were first. Then the long knives came out on Hillary. It was no longer dislike or even hate - it had solidified into mindless fury. “Bitch” “Liar” “Murderer” and the cute, yet smug as shit, “Billary”. Bitch and Billary are insults based squarely in sexism. Sexism exists in America. Everyone with a brain knows this. What was startling is the glee and unconsciousness these liberals - men and women - indulged in rampant gender hatred… The cognitive dissonance between the “message of hope” these Obama supporters said they adhered to and the crap being thrown on the walls of liberal blogs was obvious to anyone who could reason.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com