Hillary’s Voice

Jamiol’s World

David Bromwich: Congress to Bush and Cheney: Do What You Want in Iran
In late 2007, after winning an election whose central issue was a more prudent and rational policy in the Middle East, congressional Democrats, obedient to the wishes of a Presidential Finding, signed away $400 million for secret operations against Iran. A more craven act of submission would be hard to imagine; and they did this in the glow of victory, in direct contradiction of their mandate. What were they signing for? Sabotage, assassination, covert support for political clients and “destabilization” generally are predictable parts of such a design; but the Democrats, in the months between their capitulation and Hersh’s article, made no mention of dissatisfactions at having been cut off from oversight. The truth seems to be that in this area, as in so many others, only the Office of the Vice President oversees the Office of the President.

“The process is broken,” one of Seymour Hersh’s informants told him, “and this is dangerous stuff we’re authorizing.” Yet the Democrats in the “Gang of Eight” whom the president consults on classified programs — Reid, Pelosi, Rockefeller, Reyes — may prefer to have things broken. What they don’t know, can’t hurt them at the polls, or so they seem to believe. It is the same passive obedience that led the Democrats to close the debate early for the authorization of the Iraq war in 2002, so they could clear the decks for the election; to banish all use of the words Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, in late 2004, so they could clear the decks for the election; and to confine themselves to flawless platitudes about Iraq in 2008, so they can clear the decks for the election. The desertion of principle is exceeded only by the evasion of responsibility.

FISA: Jonathan Turley says, Dems are protecting THEMSELVES. (by BonzoDogBand at Daily Kos)
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley was a guest on Countdown last [Wednesday] night (watch the MSNBC video here), where Turley concluded to Keith Olbermann that the FISA immunity compromise now happening is most likely because top Dems themselves fear retribution for their complicity in Bush’s illegal spying activities. Jonathan Turley makes the point that several years ago, certain top Dems were intimidated by Bush into quietly going along with Bush’s illegal spying activities, and now those same Dems are afraid that they themselves could be held liable for any illegal spying committed by Bush and the Telecomm companies (Turley used the words “an obvious level of [Dem] collusion”.) Keith Olbermann then concluded by saying that the Dems are thus “covering their own asses here”.
Dang!  I should have caught this.  I was suspicious early on, and then it slipped my mind.  I hate to link to Daily Kos, but this is an important catch.  Obama has obviously bought in to this total capitulation to the neocons—who originated at the University of Chicago, where he taught law, by the way.

This Week: Gov. Pawlenty Wants To Know When Obama Has Ever Stood Up To His Party (by Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars)
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) on This Week with George Stephanopoulos thinks he’s come up with a great gotcha for Rep. Rahm Emanuel: when has Barack Obama stood up against his party for what’s right for the country?  “PAWLENTY: And, actually, John McCain is the one person who says, I’ll stand up and do what’s right for my country even before party. And I’ll challenge you once again. Name me one instance, even one, where Barack Obama has stood up and said, I will take on my party on a matter of principle, on something large…” While Rahm Emanuel doesn’t take the bait, he also fails to point out that the reason that Obama hasn’t needed to take on his party is that it is the Democratic Party trying to do the best for the country, instead of the corporate elite and cronies.
Nicole really said that.  After the Democrats sold us out on two major issues last week.  Click through to watch the video.

Keith Olbermann’s reply and Obama’s secret plan to protect the rule of law (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Keith Olbermann went to Daily Kos to respond to what I wrote [Thursday] regarding his and Jonathan Alter’s statements on Obama’s support for the FISA bill…  Olbermman … denies that he was justifying Obama’s support for the FISA bill but then goes on to do exactly that… Olbermann… also suggested that Obama is harboring a Secret Benevolent Plan that he isn’t telling anyone about whereby he is supporting the FISA bill so that he can prosecute the telecoms criminally once he’s in office… In fact, it doesn’t seem to be through sloppiness or neglect — but rather through deliberate intent — that the bill only immunizes telecoms from civil, not criminal, liability… [But] Bush, on his way out, can pardon telecoms from criminal but not civil liability. So it’s far from certain that Obama — even if he did have a Secret Plan criminally to prosecute telecoms once in office — would even be able to do so.

What is most disturbing here is that people (including Olbermann) who for so long have vehemently criticized Democratic leaders for capitulating to Bush and trampling on the Constitution out of fear of looking “Weak” are now invoking that very excuse to justify what Obama is doing here (that’s what Olbermann explicitly did in his Kos reply). To excuse Obama’s conduct on that basis is to perpetuate Democratic complicity. Obama had — and will continue to have — a critical opportunity to reject and debunk that rancid framework, and it is his embrace of that framework here (”I’m going to give Bush what he wants and trample on the Constitution in order to avoid being ‘weak’”) that makes what Obama has done here so harmful and worthy of criticism.
As readers of MakeThemAccountable know, I believe that Bush will pardon every member of his administration for any and every crime they MAY HAVE COMMITTED, including himself, just before leaving office.  Either that, or he’ll leave the pardoning job to John McCain.  Even some of Obama’s dedicated fans are disgusted with his stance on this issue.  See below.

Obama Network Organizes and Revolts Over Spying
[S]upporters worked furiously over the weekend to organize a new MyBo campaign to protest and pressure Obama. Many activists are outraged by the Senator’s recent announcement that he will back a controversial bill to grant the Executive more spying powers and immunize telephone companies accused of illegal surveillance…. Since launching last week, the protest group, “Senator Obama Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity – Get FISA Right,” swelled to one of the ten largest campaign groups on Sunday.

Glenn’s reply to my open letter (by vastleft at Corrente)
The premise of my letter/post [to Glenn Greenwald] was not that you were an Obama supporter (or an uncritical one, if you were). It was that the left blogosphere, with staggeringly few exceptions, joined the mainstream media in embracing the kind of malignant Manichean mentality that you wrote a book about. The “intellectual,” “activist,” and “creative classes” of the Democratic Party collectively decided and ritually repeated that Obama was a transformative savior and that Hillary was a Rovian racist warmonger-assassin witch with Multiple-Personality Disorder, bent on destroying her own party in pursuit of her selfish, entitled aims. A small bit of searching on leading sites like Daily Kos, Democratic Underground, and most any A-list blog’s comments threads (and, frequently, the posts themselves), will show how routinely these ridiculous positions were put forth, often with the barest of criticism…

[M]y goal is to encourage you to tell the story of how progressive netroots helped get us into this fix, how the Left — just when the public was truly ready for real change — got just as lost in truthiness as the Right has been since St. Ronnie ascended to the White House. It seems an awfully fitting theme to envelope into your arguments about the hazards of placing Obama beyond criticism, as his own set of angel wings prepare to waft him into that stately home… My goal is to enlist those who would listen into helping us all understand and learn from what went wrong in the blogosphere during this campaign and to help determine what steps should be taken to build a Progressive Blogosphere 2.0 that won’t fly off the rails at the first glimpse of shiny, hopey promise or at a suddenly tempting whiff of old, unfounded smears against Democrats.

For Obama, winning is everything (by Michael Tomasky, Guardian America)
It’s acceptable - and necessary - for Barack Obama to compromise his liberal principles in order to get elected
Wait, wasn’t that what “liberals” not just criticized, but EXCORIATED, both Clintons for?  But it’s not just okay, but NECESSARY, for Obama?  Besides, as Prof. Thoma at Economist’s View asks, “Are we sure these are positions of convenience rather than what he actually believes?”  How do we know what people believe, if they lie to us whenever it’s convenient to do so?

Obama: Bush Term 3? (by Truth Partisan at Corrente)
Now Mr. Obama and his campaign advisors are floating the idea of keeping Sec’y of Defense GATES on as Sec’y in the “anti-war,” Democratic Obama Administration? Admittedly Mr. Gates’s no Rumsfeld. But gee, this makes Obama’s idea of nominating Sen. Lugar for Sec’y of State (R., Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, one of 8 congressional members briefed by Bush during this war, and famed Obama mentor) look merely conservative. Our new war policies: same as our old war policies?

Hagel Would Consider Post With Obama (Political Wire)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) “declined to endorse his party’s likely presidential nominee, John McCain, and said he would consider serving as secretary of defense in a Barack Obama administration,” according to Bloomberg. However, Hagel did say he would remain a registered Republican — at least for a while. Said Hagel: “I don’t know forever, but right now I’m not considering changing my registration.”

Obama headed to Europe & Middle East soon (On Politics, USA Today)
Saying it will be “an important opportunity to have an exchange of views with leaders in these countries about these and other issues that are critical to American national security — and global security — in the 21st century,” Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama announced this morning that he will travel to France, Germany, Israel, Jordan and the United Kingdom this summer.
Is it really a good idea to keep the attention focused on his lack of experience in foreign affairs?  Unless, of course, his handlers can arrange huge, swooning crowds for him, the way they did here in the U.S..  See below for more of the Obama tactics borrowed from Microsoft via the right wing.

Red Dirt Talk - Part 1, the Setup (by Craig Della Penna, from his blog The Heraclitan Fire)
In the technology world there’s a thing called “FUD”, it stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Dismay. It’s a propaganda strategy that Microsoft used effectively for years to destroy its rivals. Keep overhyping your (usually mediocre) accomplishments, trumpeting the crushing inevitability of your overwhelming (potential) victory, demeaning the quality and value of your competition with innuendo and implications of questionable moral lapses. Your target audience may not like you very much but they become afraid to stand against you… and your success is assured. If this feels familiar it is because the Obamabot/bolsheviks are waging a FUD campaign against you right now. To recognize this is to resist it, be aware.

Oh Frabjous Day Upon Which Barry & Hilly Will Strongly Assert the Utter Non-Death of Unity Pony !!! (No Blood for Hubris, thanks to lambert at Corrente)
It’s Unity Day, progressive Dem boyz and girls!… [L]et’s all cheer for the Barry-Hilly Dog & Pony Unity Pony Show in Unity, New Hampshire!! In celebration of this important media event occasion, I announce my a new personal political career goal — turning timid centrist Barry into a dyed-in-the-wool progressive!… Every solicitation for money I get — and I’m getting a lot — I am returning by mail, marked with comments, like “FISA?”? “Single payer universal health care?” “Endless list of liberal dem pet cause principled stands to be taken asap?”… I want a real progressive president. Why can’t I just make one up?

A study with wide implications…. (by lambert at Corrente)
Scientific American: “Scientists have discovered that novel [and bright, shiny?] objects perk up the reward system of our brains, indicating our sense of adventure—exploring or learning something new—may be just as tempting as cash and other prizes in the choices we make…” Yeppers. Any “buy local” or indeed “play local” movement is going to have to take account of this…
And that’s why people can be persuaded to vote for what they’re told is a bright, shiny, new candidate, even if that candidate has bought in to all the old crap put forth by his party.

PUMAS at Unity (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
There was quite a lot of dissent at the rally. The Obama campaign people were rude and thugish (more to come on that). One quick note: The Obama campaign tried to have access to this event tightly controlled, but from our standpoint local law enforcement seemed to be doing everything it could to let those of us who wanted to protest “slip through the cracks”. We ended up being able to park right beside the event while the Obama people had to be bussed in from about 8 miles away. so special thanks to the Sullivan Co. Sherrif’s Dept, honorary PUMAS for a day,,,

PUMAS were joined by anti-war protesters (at first we thought they were there to support him, but they were protesting him as well)–wasn’t the Iraq war supposed to be Barack’s strong point?? Guess not!!!

Fla. Cars Tagged With Anti-Obama Slogans
(AP) Police on Sunday were investigating vandals’ spray-painting of dozens of city vehicles here, some with disparaging messages about the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Authorities think the vandalism to about 60 vehicles, estimated at $10,000 in damage, was done Saturday afternoon, police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones said. The vehicles were parked across from City Hall and investigators said culprits tagged messages including “Obama smokes crack” and a racial epithet. They even left business cards on the vehicles that disparage both the Illinois senator and his rival, Republican John McCain. The cards voice support for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s former opponent.
Oh, sure, that sounds like a bunch of Hillary supporters, all right.  Vandals.  Every one of us. Please try to imagine the Clinton supporter above letting go of her walker long enough to spray paint a car.

Nobama blogs kerfuffle (by Jeff Jarvis)
A bunch of anti-Obama blogs were apparently shut down on Google’s Blogspot as suspected spam. They say that Obama fans reported them as spam to get rid of them. I have no idea what the truth is. The fear online has been that false information could be spread. It’s another fear that speech can be silenced. (I suppose I should make clear that I don’t think any official Obama campaign effort is remotely behind this if it’s true. The point, instead, is that rogues can cause trouble. This would seem to be a variation on Swiftboating but rather than try to get a message out, the goal would be to bat an opposing message down.)
Yes, and that is exactly how the Bushbots behaved, especially in 2000, but also in 2004.

Bill Clinton says Barack Obama must ‘kiss my ass’ for his support (The Telegraph, U.K.)
Mr Obama is expected to speak to Mr Clinton for the first time since he won the nomination in the next few days, but campaign insiders say that the former president’s future campaign role is a “sticking point” in peace talks with Mrs Clinton’s aides. The Telegraph has learned that the former president’s rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence. A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could “kiss my ass” in return for his support.
I’m with you, President Clinton.

Saturday: Ed, you’re making this too easy (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
Governor Edward G. Rendell[:] “We have formed HOUND (Hillary-Obama-United-Not-Divided) in response to the creation of PUMA (party unity, my ass — or its cleaned up moniker, People United Means Action)…. HOUND is not anti-PUMA. We agree with many of your grievances. For example, we, too, believe that the Democratic Party’s nominating process is unfair and undemocratic…”

Nice try, Ed, but HOUND sounds an awful lot like Yellow Dog Democrats and that’s exactly what we are not… Either we all go forward together or the party deserves to lose in November. Either Senator Obama connects with the base or he loses them in November. Either the party power elite listens to the voters or it deserves to lose in November… Here’s what we want: We want a fair, open and transparent convention in Denver. We want Florida and Michigan’s delegates to be restored to full strength. We want Obama to give up his Michigan delegates. After all, he keeps insisting that he never wanted his name on the ballot in the first place…

Pumas are watchful and patient. And when the time is right, they strike. There is still time to achieve unity. There are two months before the convention. But if the voters aren’t honored by then, we strike.

PUMA Action! (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
[T]here are some interesting things in store this week:
• There are now entries at the action page of JustSayNoDeal.com.  There are links for making phone calls, writing letters, donating to Hillary, etc.  Check it out at the action page.
• There is an opportunity coming up to make a viral video/ad featuring the many ordinary Ammericans who are disenfranchised Hillary supporters in “1 in 18?.  Check out the page 1in18 and submit your photo.
• There will be a mass action fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on July 4, 2008.  We want to give Hillary her independence so all of us in the coalition will be out in force asking our members to contribute $20 to the cause.  Think about it.  Think who you can hit up for a yuppie food stamp.  Or I will sic Carol on you.
• There is a coalition blogtalkradio show…  NO WE WON’T.

Women For Fair Politics: On Larry King Live (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
On CNN’s Larry King Live Thursday night, Cynthia Ruccia of Women For Fair Politics debated Ellen Moran … who represents Emily’s List — which has disappointingly decided to back Barack Obama instead of sticking to its founding charter of supporting women candidates… The last thing that Emily’s List should be doing is seeking to dilute its funds needed for female candidates by backing Barack Obama, who permitted and participated in the sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton.
Click through to watch the video.

Jessie Loren of justsaynodeal appears on MSNBC (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Jessie Loren is interviewed on MSNBC about PUMA voters and her individual stance on the presidential race.
Click through to watch the video.

Obama’s wife says he’ll fight for gay equality
NEW YORK (AP) - Barack Obama will fight for equal rights for gays just as he fought to help working-class families overcome poverty, the Democratic presidential hopeful’s wife told a gay Democratic group Thursday.
When did Obama fight to help working-class families overcome poverty?  When did he “fight” for anything or for anyone except his rich contributors?

Grim proving ground for Obama’s housing policy (Boston Globe)
The candidate endorsed subsidies for private entrepreneurs to build low-income units. But, while he garnered support from developers, many projects in his former district have fallen into disrepair.
One of those developers was Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who helped Obama buy a huge mansion that he couldn’t afford on his own.

The Blood Money of Barack Obama’s Money Men (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
A little boy is dead because Barack’s key fundraisers cared more about profit than a safe environment for children. While his mother watched him to be sure he was safe, Curtis Cooper, a three-year-old boy riding his tricycle, was crushed to death by a heavy iron fence that suddenly fell over on top of him at a housing project run by Obama contributor Cullen Davis — whose family received huge government subsidies as well as a $1,000,000 grant for the properties from the Woods Fund’s board, whose members included Barack Obama and unrepentant terrorist William Ayers.
Click through for CBS video reports.

Prosecutors held back on using Obama’s name (Chicago Sun Times)
Barack Obama’s name could have been invoked more at the corruption trial of his former fund-raiser Tony Rezko. But it appears prosecutors opted against bringing Obama into the mix during the two-month trial. Newly unsealed documents show that prosecutors sought to call witnesses to testify about Rezko’s ties to Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president… [P]rosecutors apparently opted not to invoke Obama’s name.
And why did they hold back?  Easy.  The Republicans wanted Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee.

NPR’s Scott Simon on Obama’s Exploitation of the Race Card (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Eloquent, elegant, and eminently fair — to John McCain who, Simons makes very clear, has NOT attacked or in any way insinuated Obama’s race. Instead, as we know here, it is Barack Obama who has played the race card. I can only imagine the torrent of nasty e-mails that Scott Simon, a revered longtime NPR reporter and commentator, had to endure for having the courage to speak his mind.

Liberal Rapture

Pick a meme, any meme (by Steve Benen at Crooks and Liars)
As a rule, Republicans appreciate the value in defining the Democratic presidential nominee, and the GOP is usually pretty good at it. In 2000, Al Gore, they said, was an “exaggerator.” In 2004, John Kerry, they said was a “flip-flopper.” Four years later, the effort to define Barack Obama is proving to be more difficult. The GOP has experimented with a few different memes, but they haven’t stuck yet. Some even contradict each other… The bad news for Republicans is that they’re stuck with garbled message and an undefined opponent four months before Election Day. The worse news is, these memes are largely nonsensical and easy to disprove.
My comment: If it were only a matter of disproving, the Republicans would never have been so successful with their memes. I’m very surprised that as sophisticated a political observer and commentator as you, Steve, doesn’t know that. Republican memes are successful because they resonate with emotions, often petty and hateful ones, and cannot be dispelled with logic. Besides, there’s almost always a kernel of truth in those memes, even if it’s only perceived truth. There’s a lot more work to be done to improve the Democratic “brand” before a lot of the hateful Republican memes can be overcome.  I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops for almost eight years, and still nobody will listen.

How Obama can lose (by Paul West at The Swamp, Chicago Tribune)
Barack Obama is on his way to a blowout victory this fall, if you believe recent polling that shows him leading John McCain by 15 percentage points. Big, summertime leads in presidential contests can vanish, though. Comparisons are already being drawn with 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, who looked like a mortal lock after he bounced, in late July, to a 17-point advantage over George H. W. Bush. Obama could lose, too, if he can’t make a convincing case to millions of undecided voters who regard him as a stranger, despite the fact that his name and face are recognized around the world.

Clark Blasts McCain’s Military Service (Political Wire)
In a personal attack that will almost certainly backfire, retired Gen. Wesley Clark blasted Sen. John McCain’s military credentials on Face the Nation. Said Clark: “I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
Do not go there, Democrats, unless you’re willing to go the whole route, with the equivalent of purple heart bandaids and all the rest.

Media Tenor: Economic Worries Pose Problems for Both Candidates
• Obama strikes out on energy and the environment as gas prices continue to rise
• When it comes to the issues, McCain favored, despite negatives

Both McCain, Obama vow to push immigration overhaul (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — With an estimated 9.2 million Hispanic voters poised to play a critical role in November, John McCain and Barack Obama each pledged Saturday to make overhauling immigration laws a priority as they courted influential Hispanic leaders who could be pivotal in key swing states like Florida.

After Impeaching Clinton, McCain Now Dismisses Idea Of Impeaching Bush: ‘I Do Not Agree With It’ (Think Progress)
[Thursday] during a town hall event at Xavier University, an attendee forced Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to respond to Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) impeachment articles against President Bush. McCain immediately brushed off the question, saying that he opposes them… Yet in 1999, he voted for the impeachment of President Clinton. At the time, McCain stressed that a president must be held “accountable to the rule of law“.

Lack of funds hobbling the ‘Republican attack machine (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Democrats and the media have used the term so much that it’s almost an article of faith. But the so-called “Republican attack machine” waiting with piles of unregulated cash to chew up Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is anything but.
That’s what they’re saying now, but don’t count on this, Democrats.  They’re lying in wait.  Trust me.

Ban on gay marriage on state ballot (Arizona Republic)
06-28-2008  In the final hours of one of the longest state legislative sessions on record, state senators approved a measure sending a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the fall ballot.
I predict that this is the first of what will be many.  Republicans will get their troops to the polls.

Political Freelancers Use Web to Join the Attack (New York Times)
[I]n the 2008 race, the first in which campaigns are feeling the full force of the changes wrought by the Web, the most attention-grabbing attacks are increasingly coming from people outside the political world. In some cases they are amateurs operating with nothing but passion, a computer and a YouTube account, in other cases sophisticated media types with more elaborate resources but no campaign experience… Already there are signs that these less formal and more individual efforts are filling a vacuum created by a decline in activity among the independent advocacy groups — so-called 527s and similar operations — that have played a large role in negative politics in the last several election cycles. Especially on the conservative side, independent groups have reported trouble raising money, and some of the biggest players from 2004 have signaled that they will sit it out this time around.

Digg the Candidates Updated for the Final Showdown (Mashable)
Digg has just released a new version of Digg the Candidates today. This portion of Digg is a dedicated segment for candidate-related news items, and has become a hub for aggregated political content and crossfire. The updated version isn’t very different from the previous one, but it does boast a cleaner look. Introduced some months ago, Digg the Candidates takes full advantage of this historic election year as well as its own social news and bookmarking utilities, such as the ability for Digg users to submit relevant content from across the Web.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com