Hillary’s Voice

Time for Some Campaignin’ (Jib Jab, set to Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’)

The motivation for blocking investigations into Bush lawbreaking (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Harper’s Scott Horton [Monday] interviewed Jane Mayer about her new book, The Dark Side. The first question he asked was about the Bush administration’s fear that they would be criminally prosecuted for implementing what the International Red Cross had categorically described as “torture.” Mayer responded … [that a] complicating factor is that key members of Congress sanctioned this program, so many of those who might ordinarily be counted on to lead the charge are themselves compromised.”… In light of this sordid history of active complicity, is it really any wonder that these leading Democrats are desperate to quash any investigations or judicial adjudications of Bush administration actions that they knew about and did nothing to stop, in some cases even actively supporting?

Nope (by lambert at Corrente)
Matt Stoller writes: “Not one Democratic candidate for Congress or current member of Congress - save Russ Feingold - would lay the blame for the FISA debacle were it belongs, not just with Bush but also with the House Democratic leadership…” Nope. Last I checked, the United States had a bicameral legislature at the Federal level, and in the upper chamber, called the Senate — that is, not the lower chamber, the “House” of Representives — the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, and hence the putative leader of the party, one Barack Obama by name, cast his vote in favor of the “debacle.”… It’s the entire Democrat Party leadership, including Barack Obama, that’s responsible for the FISA “debacle,” and the reason they voted to destroy the Fourth Amendment and Constitutional government is that they want to.

Barack Obama’s super marketing machine (by Mike Madden, Salon)
He knows your neighborhood, your favorite products and even when you open your e-mail. How Obama is betting on vast, corporate-style voter outreach to win the White House.

He knows when you’ve been bad or good… (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
No wonder Barack Obama changed his FISA stance. In a sense, he IS the NSA.

Countdown: Impeachment & Subpoenas, Bush Continues To Evade Justice (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
The House has sent articles of impeachment against George Bush to the House Judiciary Committee, however Speaker Nancy Pelosi now says that an actual impeachment VOTE isn’t on the table. On Wednesday’s Countdown, Jonathan Turley gives his expert analysis on this epic fail as well as the latest attempt by the president to obstruct Congressional oversight by claiming executive privilege in the CIA/Plame leak investigation. As for Bush’s executive privilege claims, … as Jonathan points out, Democrats who voted for Mukasey are now getting what they paid for: “…This is why, when Senators Shumer and Feinstein saved Mukasey’s confirmation, this is what they purchased…”
Click through to watch the video.  And how is your refusal to make the Bush administration accountable working out for you, Democrats?

Congress ratings plunge in poll (USA Today)
WASHINGTON — Congressional job approval ratings have sunk to their lowest point in three decades, according to the latest Gallup Poll. A survey of 1,016 adults taken July 10-13 found that 14% approve of the job Congress is doing. That’s half President Bush’s record low 28% job approval number, and the lowest congressional rating since Gallup first began asking the question in 1974.

The Schedule. (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
So, According to Politico, Congregational insiders are griping about Obama. He has not been helpful. Or whatever… This kicker of the piece is this: “Other Obama campaign sources repeatedly noted that the drawn-out fight with Clinton has ‘put the campaign behind schedule’ What schedule? Who’s schedule?… The idea that she should “quit now” started right after Iowa with Jonathan Alter’s asinine critique in Newsweek. It was amplified by the media after every Clinton victory… There was no coordinated rush by the media to see Reagan drop out in 1976 or Kennedy in 1980, or McCain in 2000. All these men were in much weaker positions in those years than Clinton was in this one. The difference is obvious. Gender. Get the harpie off the stage. That’s what was on the “schedule”.

Obama campaign says it raised $52 million in June (On Politics, USA Today)
[A] fundraising letter just went to supporters of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe tells them that “in the month of June, supporters like you helped raise $52 million.”… [He] did not point out that McCain’s campaign raised “just” $22 million in June. Obama has done even better once: His campaign raised a record $55 million in March.

Have Ya Noticed? BHO’s Fundraising is Drying Up (by Alegre)
Remember when BHO was raising all that money during primary season?  He raked in some $287 million and predicted that once the primaries were done and he declared himself the winner, people would unite behind him and June would bring in another $100 million. Not so fast… Seems he’s not bringing in the big bucks and he’s trying to blame everything on Hillary’s debt (among other things).   So how does he explain May [$22 million]?… The Republicans out there knew BHO was the weakest candidate by far when it comes to an opponent for the General Election right?  He even played up on that when he courted their votes in the open caucuses and primaries… So if he’s courting their vote and they’re giving it, doesn’t it make sense to think maybe a good chunk of that money he raised came from them as well?… Do ya think maybe now that he’s declared victory and (according to his crowd anyway) knocked her out of the ring, they stopped donating?…

I hear he’s gone and filed lawsuit against some of Hillary’s bundlers - not the ones riding the unity pony of course, but those who are holding out like we are.  Something about their not following the RULZ in how they gathered that money from us for Hillary. (Of course it was only the holdouts who failed to follow the RULZ right?  Those who got on board did everything perfectly and are to be congratulated for their medticulous attention to detail pffft!). More of that Chicago smack-down folks.

Not Illegal But Is It Moral? (by Charles Lemos at No Quarter, from his blog, By The Fault)
[Click through to watch a video about Obama’s tactic in his first campaign of knocking his mentor, Alice Palmer, and all the other candidates for the Illinois Senate seat he was seeking.  Even then he was running on change from ordinary politics.] One thing they omit was that the challenging of petitions was done on the last day depriving the others of a response. Obama sent in a team of lawyers and they stayed until everyone was off the ballot, not just Alice Palmer, but everyone. There is no such thing as coincidences in Chicago politics. Blair Hull, Jack Ryan, Alice Palmer. I might add John Edwards to that list. Who leaked the haircut story? Who worked for John Edwards previously but now works for Obama?

Breaking: What Else Jesse Jackson Said on That FNC Tape (Media Bistro)
Exclusive: TVNewser has been sent the transcript of what Jesse Jackson said Sunday morning July 6, as he prepared for an interview on Fox & Friends Weekend. Below is the partial transcript we received in our tips box, and confirmed to be authentic by Fox News Channel representatives. “Barack…he’s talking down to black people…telling n—s how to behave.” So, yes. Jesse Jackson did use the “N” word. But it was not directed at Barack Obama. Fox News and Bill O’Reilly have maintained there was more on the tape, but that the un-aired portion was not relevant to the issue at hand: about whether Obama was “talking down” to the black community.

I Feel Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Pain (by Tom Grayman at the Black Agenda Report)
The author shares Rev. Jackson’s frustration with Barack Obama, a central pillar of whose campaign is the “nonexistence” of Black America - a locale Obama nevertheless seems to criticize on each visit. In a constant effort to “put centrist whites at ease,” Obama trots out his “long-running Watch-How-Many-Times-I-Can-Subtly-Distance-Myself-From-The-Plight-Of-(the non-existent) Black America show.” Obama’s antics don’t phase his core of Black admirers, though. “they have made it clear that they will go all the way with Obama, no matter how much he dumps on them in public.”

Rev. Jackson’s Not Down for the Count, Yet (by Mel Reeves at the Black Agenda Report)
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., an early supporter of Barack Obama, is an object of sheer hatred among some Obamites since his indelicate remarks centered on the Senator’s scrotum. One young Black guest columnist for HuffingtonPost.com could not contain her contempt. In an article title, “Aw, Grandpa Jackson’s Off His Meds,” Taii K. Austin excoriated Jackson for attempting to give Obama any advice on moral issues, and derided Jackson’s two “failed - failed!” bids for the Democratic presidential nomination. In fact, “they were far from “failed” campaigns, but represented achievements that seem to be beyond the comprehension of the young writer, Austin.

Sour Grapes (by Anna Belle at Alegre’s Corner)
Making It [this week’s New Yorker article about Obama’s political rise] turned out to be a great article and a goldmine for bloggers like me, who thrive on political deconstruction. But the reaction to the cover is a shame. The reaction has been so outrageous, so over the top, and so indicative of black cultural paranoia (yes, I said it) and its twin, white guilt, that the contents of the article associated with it will never get out, or discussed. Perhaps, as Dr. Socks suggests [see below], that’s just the point of all this outrage. Making It is not a very flattering portrait of Obama, or Chicago for that matter. But truth is a casualty for the Obama campaign.

The New Yorker was just messin’ with you, man (by Dr. Violet Socks at Reclusive Leftist)
Even if the New Yorker cover is flirting with (or even heavy-petting with) racism, surely it’s worth noticing that the magazine is presenting the stereotypes only to debunk them. Contrast that with The New Republic’s hit job on Hillary last spring:

That, for any possums reading, is an example of non-satirical, 100% sincere ridicule. Hillary is portrayed as a hysterical, manipulative, power-hungry bitch. The accompanying article does nothing to debunk these stereotypes, or even address them. In fact, the article is more about the men who are supposedly pulling Hillary’s puppet strings — thus contributing yet another layer of sexist stereotype to the mix. See the difference?

Crossing lines in satire (by BoGardiner, in a comment at Corrente)
I think it’s important to note that there is a line that was crossed routinely in HRC satire that was NOT crossed by [this week’s New Yorker] cover… If the same had been done for HRC, I for one would have been grateful. I would have been glad for any effort to ridicule the anti-HRC garbage. There was none. I would have welcomed “The Politics of Misogynistic Paranoia” with her stirring a witch’s cauldron, darkening photos, with references to her assassinating Vince Foster, RFK and Obama. But it would absolutely have to omit the “ugly old woman” features or lesbian or castration jokes, because these are too personal and trigger damaging, visceral bigoted reactions… (Of course, the other key difference was that HRC satire was mocking HRC herself, not her smearers like the NY cover. Intent matters a lot to me, whether well executed or not.) I am sick beyond measure at the hypocrisy these last two days of Democrats who freely reveled and wallowed in the misogynistic satire that literally saturated the media just weeks ago.

Perfectly Logical Calculations, and Why They’re Actually Not (by Melissa McEwan of Shakesville, writing at Open Left)
Even before the primary had ended, feminists/womanists (hereafter FWs) who had become disenchanted with Senator Barack Obama as a result of worrying rhetoric on reproductive rights, his and his campaign’s use of sexist dog whistles, and/or his silence in response to an appalling onslaught of misogyny unleashed upon his opponent, were being bullied at any indication (real or imagined) that they would not vote for him… This oft-wielded cudgel to silence FWs who cry foul at sexism expressed by political allies is wrong for the following reason, which I cannot state any more succinctly than this: When someone engages in divisive behavior, any resulting division is their responsibility. It is, simply, not the duty of any person who is repeatedly subjected to alienating language, images, behaviors, and/or legislation to nonetheless never complain and pledge fealty from the margins.
Click through for more of Melissa’s astute analysis.

Hillary and Patty Murray tell HHS: “Hands Off Our Family Planning!” (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
Apparently, life now begins BEFORE conception… Bush administration officials are torturing the English language again to construct new restrictions on access to contraceptives by classifying them as “abortion”. Hillary quickly called bullshit on these dying gasps of the Bush administration’s war on womens’ reproductive freedom. These are the same clowns who held up over-the-counter Plan B contraception for three years until Hillary got ugly with them.
Senator Obama?  Your thoughts?

Seneca 160
July 19th will mark the 160th anniversary of the First Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY.  Please join Hillary Clinton supporters along with advocates for and historians of womens’ rights from around the nation on this historic day.
Click through for more information.

Thursday: Radio killed the bloggio star? (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
If there’s one thing I’ve found really exciting about the new progressive blogosphere it is the degree to which we are not afraid to use new internet features to be heard- literally… In the past month, we have seen a mini explosion of blogtalkradio shows from Sheri Tag’s chatty NO WE WON’T to Larry Johnson’s No Quarter Radio and BettyJean and Pagan’s Morning Q.  Tonight, Darragh Murphy launches one of her own. You can see some of the lineup at Piper’s calendar at JustSayNoDeal But that’s not the only place where we have gone.  Will Bower is a Facebook addict.  Flineo does video.  And there’s something called Lively.com that looks veddy interesting, indeed.  It looks like a version of Second Life with more user creativity involved. 

2008 Unity Pony Deluxe (Elite Edition) (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
So you went down to Candidates “R” Us to pick out a new President. Before you barely got on the lot you got accosted by “Slick” the hot-shot salesman. He is really pushy and won’t leave you alone until you buy the advertised special, The “2008 Unity Pony Deluxe”… Stripped down to the basics, Barack Obama is a 46 year old (47 next month) Senator who is just completing his fourth year in Washington D.C. (If the Senate were a high school, Obama would be a senior) Prior to being elected to the Senate, he spent eight years in the Illinois legislature. He is an attorney (Harvard Law) with a BA in Political Science (Columbia) and is the author of two memoirs. He has also worked as a “community organizer” and as a adjunct instructor/professor at the University of Chicago Law School. His advertised strengths are his eloquence, his judgment, and his ability to inspire people…

Senator Obama’s claim to superior judgment is based almost entirely on a speech he gave in 2002 concerning Iraq. Not only has he shown poor judgment on picking his friends and spiritual advisors, his recent vote on FISA alone brings his decision making skills into question. And he is currently revising his position on Iraq too. The “inspirational” meme is the most interesting. We have heard repeatedly that Obama has inspired his supporters to “cult-like” enthusiasm, and that he has convinced millions of Americans to donate nearly $300 million to his campaign. But it seems like no one has converted to Obamamania lately… [And if] Barack Obama is so inspiring, why did he have to knock Alice Palmer off the ballot to win? Why couldn’t he beat Bobby Rush? He certainly didn’t win his Senate seat strictly on his own merits, and his record in office (Springfield or Washington DC) doesn’t demonstrate “inspirational leadership” either.

John Cole

Obama releases national version of ad on national security (On Politics, USA Today)
A TV ad that Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama’s campaign put on the air in 18 states yesterday is being followed with a similar message for national cable TV  audiences today. Changing World makes the case that: “Forty years ago it was missile silos and the Cold War. Today, it’s cyber attacks … loose nukes … oil money funding terrorism. Barack Obama understands our changing world.”
Click through to watch the video.  Just remember that forty years ago, Senator Obama was just about to turn seven years old.  So how to take attention away from his lack of foreign policy experience? How about talking about WHO’S GOING WITH HIM?  See below.

Media Stars Will Accompany Obama Overseas (International Herald Tribune)
When Barack Obama heads for Iraq and other locations overseas this summer, NBC’s Brian Williams is planning to catch up with him in person, as are the other two evening news anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS. And while the anchors are jockeying for interviews, they’ll be joined by star political reporters from the major newspapers and magazines who are flocking to catch Obama’s first overseas trip.

Obama camp makes play to reframe national security debate (The War Room, Salon)
[The language of the ad, and the wording of this week’s speech,] This language, coupled with the similar message in the ad, seems to be the Obama camp’s attempt to shift the current narrative about national security to Obama’s favor… Writing at the Plank, one of the New Republic’s blogs, Jonathan Chait had a pretty astute take on this: “The political problem [Obama]’s facing is the (not at all crazy) perception that McCain’s experience, and his lack thereof, makes Obama less qualified to handle foreign policy. Obama here tries to turn the premise on its head: the world is changing, and the only way to lead it is to understand how it’s different. John McCain might be your man if we were looking to win the Cold War, but we need a leader who isn’t stuck in the past.”
It’s the same argument he made when running against Hillary—his judgment trumps experience.  See below for an example of Obama’s judgment.

Obama Takes Advice from Former Fannie Mae CEO (by Steven B at Many Questions Surround Barack Obama’s Candidacy)
Anita Huslim of the Washington Post writes: “In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae’s chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself… [He has recently] taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters… [S]ome think he contributed to Fannie Mae’s slide.” Why is this guy advising Obama? Looks like another poor choice for an advisor (remember Goolsbee, VP vetter Johnson, etc. etc.).

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Democrats (Capitol Eye)
The federal government recently announced that it will come to the rescue of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, two embattled mortgage buyers that for years have pursued a lobbying strategy to get lawmakers on their side. Both companies have poured money into lobbying and campaign contributions to federal candidates, parties and committees as a general tactic, but they’ve also directed those contributions strategically. In the 2006 election cycle, Fannie Mae was giving 46 percent of its total $1.3 million in contributions to Republicans, who controlled Congress at that time. This cycle, with Democrats in control, they’ve reversed course, giving the party 56 percent of their total $1.1 million in contributions.

Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com