Hillary’s Voice

Artist General

Rescue Mission! (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
According to our reliable sources, … the DNC has been pressuring Hillary  to pay her campaign debt or it will force her to release her delegates or have a merely symbolic role at the convention.  Originally, they were going to give her til the end of the month to pay the rent, then they moved it up to July 15.  Now, it’s imminent.  Drat!  Hillary must be flipping some of the Superdelegates or the DNC wouldn’t be so dastardly. Oh, heck, sure they would. They’re like that. Once again, we are asking you to do the impossible and reach down into your pocket, waaayyy down where the lint grows, and pull up a couple bucks for Hillary that you might have spent on that iced double caramel latte.
Or more, if you can manage it.  Donate here.

Disappointment ahead for Obama faithful (by Bill Maxwell, St. Petersburg Times)
I am newly attracted to the subject of disappointment because of the euphoria and pronouncements of “hope and change” surrounding the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama. Frankly, I have little regard for Obama’s campaign because of its inherent falsity. In the end, much of it will disappoint millions of devotees because it has no room for failure and lost hope. Obama will not deliver on many promises, and many supporters will find themselves stung by hopelessness.
MakeThemAccountable readers may remember that this has been one of my enduring arguments against Obama’s candidacy—that even if he does attract a lot of new people to the party, which we’ve seen no evidence of so far—he’s bound to disappoint most of them.  And most people aren’t as crazy as we political junkies.  They won’t keep at it no matter what, they’ll just give up.  And many of them will be forever disgusted with and alienated from the political process.

That’s what happens when you promise more than you can deliver.  That’s what happens when you make yourself a blank canvas on which people paint their own hopes and dreams.  As Obama said himself, “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”  It’s the best recipe for disappointment and disillusionment, because no one person can fulfill all of those hopes and dreams.  Just ask Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who sold himself in the same hopey-changey way and now has had his “The Candidate” moment.  The latest SurveyUSA poll shows his approval rating at 40% and his disapproval rating at a whopping 55%.  And just so you’ll know, Patrick and Obama have been marketed by the same merchant of hope, David Axelrod.

Political negligence. (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
[T]he growing crop of the “surprised” engender contempt. They are only surprised by BHO’s drastic shifts because they willfully ignored and denied the facts on the ground. They were politically negligent. Obama caved. Caving is what he does best. A cursory review of his past would have negated any current “surprise”. But what Obama supporters refuse to do is examine his past… Obama’s shift on FISA is duplicitous - which goes to character. He was deliberately misleading… [A]sking “what manner of man does what Obama did?” is a fair and legitimate question.

Blogging as Comedy (by eriposte at the Left Coaster)
I like Chris Bowers but he does produce these gems from time to time that are unintentionally funny - so much so that it dragged me out of hibernation to do a blog post. On Tuesday, citing this New York Times piece titled “Obama Addresses Critics on ‘Centrist’ Moves”, Chris posted this on Open Left: “…Obama says, bluntly, to take him at his word. Since it is now vogue to believe that Obama has secret plans to stand up for left-wing policies that differ from his public statements, it is nice to have confirmation from Obama himself that we should stop believing in such secret plans.” Ha ha ha. Rather funny Chris, rather funny. Luckily for me, I always took him at his word.

Feingold: FISA law a ‘black mark’ on country, ‘terrible piece of legislation.’ (Think Progress)
[Thursday], the Senate approved surveillance legislation that grants immunity to telecommunications companies for their role in the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. Yesterday on MSNBC’s Countdown, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) — who voted against the bill — remarked, “This is a sad moment,” calling the bill a “black mark” on “the history of our country”.
Click through to watch the video.

So, what will Harry, Nancy, Obama, and The Village destroy next? (by lambert at Corrente)
Net neutrality? I mean, the telco executives want net neutrality destroyed almost as much as they wanted not to be dragged into court for breaking the law, right? That way, as monopolies, they can screw us out of even more money than they are now, in addition to destroying our rights under the Fourth Amendment. What’s not to like? And as we know from FISA, Harry, Nancy, Obama, and the Village just l-o-o-o-o-v-e them some telco. Of course, as the OFB are always yammering at me to do, I could just check Obama’s website for what his policy is…Just like FISA! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Dampening Enthusiasm (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Democracy Corps: “It is important to note that this progress [for Obama] has been accompanied by some diminished enthusiasm and few gains among independent voters. . . . Obama’s campaign has only just begun to engage with the big issues before the country and to define the choice boldly in a way that engages voters, fully consolidates Democrats and wins over independents - though he clearly has the opportunity to do all three. . . . The Obama campaign clearly understands that it will have to be seen as leading the change in this change election.”
You don’t engage voters by slip slidin’.

Moulitsas on FISA, Clinton and the PUMAs [Party Unity My Ass]: (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire, scroll down)
[On Obama’s FISA vote, he said] “That has cost him some intensity of support, some bad headlines, a new avenue of attack for Republicans (even though McCain didn’t even bother showing up for the vote), and … renewed energy and sense of purpose for the ridiculous PUMAs…” But Markos…! You created the PUMA movement! You’re the father! Didn’t you spend six months screaming at everyone in Clinton’s half of the party to go and be gone? Didn’t you insult the judgment of Clinton’s supporters irrevocably by telling them that the candidate they favored was actually a Republican? So off we skedaddled, re-registering indy and vowing not to vote the Lightbringer ticket. Why doesn’t our absence make you happy? Isn’t that outcome want you wanted? How can you call us “ridiculous” for fulfilling your command?

Cannonfire

Who created the rift? (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
Everyone now more-or-less agrees that the Obots turned into an online mob. To what degree was this development rigged — and who did the rigging?… Internet presences with unfamiliar nicknames invaded Blogostan left and recited from an agit-prop script. The same comments, only slightly reworded, would appear in various forums. More than that. None of this commentary displayed any hint of the introspection and self-doubt normally associated with leftists… An utter lack of self-doubt ruled the day. The prog-bloggers zoomed from one false accusation to another, and no matter how many times they were proven wrong, they just did not care.

I believe that this situation did not arise naturally. I believe that some organized force manipulated the online incarnation of the Democratic party. The question is — who did the manipulating? Team Obama? Or Team McCain? The bulk of the evidence supports the former possibility, yet one should not discount the latter idea.
Since February, I’ve been saying that the culprit was Team Rove, probably helped, knowingly or not, by Team Obama and most of the A-list bloggers.

Obama’s Accidental Sister Souljah Moment (Political Wire)
Dan Balz: “Barack Obama leads a charmed life. He finally had his Sister Souljah moment and didn’t even have to show up. Jesse Jackson did it for him solo.”

Obama to focus on differences with McCain over women’s issues (On Politics, USA Today)
In New York [Thursday] at a fundraiser with fellow Democratic senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama is focusing on issues such as equal pay and abortion rights where he thinks he and Republican John McCain have significant differences.
Unfortunately, however, we can’t believe a word that either one of them says, because they both change their minds every other day or so.

Obama Briefly Forgets Hillary at Unity Event (by Jeralyn at TalkLeft)
At Barack Obama’s Unity Fundraiser in New York last night, filled with Hillary supporters who were being asked to contribute to his campaign, Obama finished his speech but forgot one thing: to ask them to contribute to retiring her debt. He stopped the music and returned to the stage to do his part.
Click through for a link to the video.

Obama’s Blues (by Pat Racimora at No Quarter)

Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“Well, you know, America already has one Dr. Phil. When it comes to the economy, we don’t need another.” — Sen. Barack Obama, quoted by Politico, on comments made by McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm that the economy was in a “mental recession” and we are “a nation of whiners.”
Ha, ha, very funny, Barack, but you also seem to be auditioning for Dr. Phil’s job by telling everybody how they should live their lives—be better fathers, don’t hope for an athletic career, learn a foreign language (unlike you, of course).

DNC to Limbaugh: Go ahead, send us your dittoheads (On Politics, USA Today)
Conservative radio giant Rush Limbaugh yesterday issued new “orders from headquarters” to his millions of faithful listeners: “Go to the platform meetings that the Democratic Party says it will hold around the country as it seeks input from “ordinary people” on what should be in party’s official policy platform.” For Rush, it’s a bid to recreate some of the mischief he brought to the Democratic presidential nomination race with his “Operation Chaos” call to dittoheads to vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to keep her candidacy alive and prolong the Democratic contest. Rush now wants dittoheads (as his most loyal listeners are known) to show up en masse at the platform meetings. And the Democratic National Committee says come on in.
Well, they can go in my place, because I don’t believe the Democratic Party really cares what we think, either.  If they cared, they’d have stood up to Bush on more than just payments to doctors.

Obama still hurt by misperception (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
Twelve percent of voters say that Barack Obama is a Muslim. He’s not, but a new Pew Research Center survey released Thursday found the idea persists. Only 57 percent said, correctly, that Obama is a Christian. One-fourth said they did not know the senator’s religion. The misidentification of Obama as Muslim crossed party lines–12 percent of Republicans, 12 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents had that impression.
So much for all those Democrats who say all we have to do is tell the truth.

C’mon, Kevin, let’s not be naive (by lambert at Corrente)
The point isn’t that even though Obama’s kids were “were almost criminally sweet and charming the entire time” in their 20-minute Access Hollywood interview, Bareback Andy [Andrew Sullivan] pitched a fit, as Kevin Drum would have it. The point is that Sullivan — after mischievously fracturing the Democratic Party along generational lines with his Obama endorsement in the new New Republic, The Atlantic — is now pivoting away from Obama. Any excuse would have done; Obama’s kids just happened to be the excuse du jour, and as a two-fer, the whole non-issue can be tagged with “family values.” Stupid, and lazy. Oh, you thought the pivot would never happen?
We TRIED AND TRIED to tell you.

The Media’s Effusive Praise Of Honest Straight-Talker McCain (Think Progress)
According to the national media, no matter what Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says, he’s always going to be a fun, straight-talking, regular guy. In fact, every little thing he does — whether it’s joking about killing civilians or simply grilling meat — is magic to reporters. Just today, when McCain joked about shipping adviser Phil Gramm to Belarus — a place still covered in radiation from Chernobyl — reporters gushed over the “trademark John McCain wit.” As another example, in today’s LA Times, contributing editor Rob Long effusively praises McCain’s honesty in insulting college students: “…he called it ‘USC, the University of Spoiled Children.’… It says he’s honest. He’s a straight-talker. And he’s willing to speak truth to … well, not to power, exactly, but to healthy, fit young people in shorts and flip-flops. Which is more than his opponent can say.”
We TRIED AND TRIED to tell you.

McCain raised $22 million in June; best month yet (On Politics, USA Today)
Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign manager just told reporters that the campaign raised $22 million in June, its best month so far. USA TODAY’s Fredreka Schouten says that Rick Davis also reported that together the campaign and the Republican National Committee have $95 million in cash on hand.

GOP opens another front in the campaign to win the Web (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — National Republican leaders will unveil a Web site Friday that they hope will encourage grassroots participation in the shaping of the party’s 2008 platform.

Despite all his fearmongering, McCain admits he doesn’t know ‘the nature of the threat’ from Iran. (Think Progress)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) regularly hypes the threat posed by Iran, saying they are “intent on acquiring nuclear weapons” and even attacking Democrats for allegedly not recognizing “the threat posed by an Iran with nuclear ambitions.” But when ABC’s Charlie Gibson asked McCain yesterday if an Israeli strike against Iran would be “jusified” in light of Iran’s recent missile tests, McCain said that he couldn’t determine “the nature of the threat” from Iran.

For T. Boone Pickens, a ‘wide opening’ to push his energy ideas (On Politics, USA Today)
The top presidential contenders’ campaigns have “spent so much time attacking the others’ plan that it has muddied the energy debate and left a wide opening for (T. Boone) Pickens’ straightforward, unifying message,” our Gannett News Service colleague Chuck Raasch writes… Chuck looks at the high-profile push that the “Pickens Plan” is getting from the TV ads and other promotions that the billionaire has been doing this week and concludes that “Pickens promises to be nearly as recognizable as the presidential candidates on TV this fall.”

Cynthia McKinney (by inna at Corrente)
… is likely to win the Green Party nomination ~!… I’m well aware that this name is not unlike a red rag to a bull for not only conservatives, but for a considerable fraction of so-called ‘progressives’ as well (and…. she seems to parallel Hillary Clinton in that respect, doesn’t she. besides the fact that she has…. uh, ovaries, as well… [G]iven that my state is going to vote Obama ANYWAY and NO ONE (not even Obama himself) gives a flying fook about my vote (“thanks” to that anti-democratic (small d) anachronism of the Electoral College)…. I’d much rather send a MESSAGE (to the likes of “I REJECT the system”), however little that message may be worth, than simply WASTING my vote on Obama.
Cynthia’s looking pretty good to me, too.

How Matt Drudge Rules the (Political) World
There’s little debate that Matt Drudge and his eponymous Web site sit at the junction of politics and journalism in the modern media age. And yet, for anyone who follows the day in, day out nitty-gritty of campaign politics it is well worth reminding yourself of how much power Drudge has to push a particular storyline or a broader narrative in the race.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com