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Hillary Clinton is running for the exits with her latest political strategy of attacking the new and improved Teflon Don Obama. Barack Obama will gain no ground on attacking the American version of the Iron Lady Prime Minister Thatcher that is Hillary Clinton. In the political cook book of Presidential politics there are way too many cooks in the kitchen and in that respect to0 many people in both campaigns tossing everything they have into the pot. When the original recipe called for boiling some water, adding plans to change America, debate plans, and simmer and allow public opinion to decide. Clinton and Obama are adding one too many Emeril-eske Bam’s (No offense Emeril) to this recipe! The end result is that the political dogs may sleep well with a full belly, the rest of us will be reaching for the Pepto Bismol or Alka Seltzer.

What you get with all of those unnecessary Emeril-eske Bam’s (Sorry Emeril) is fodder for the McCain political machine to pick up and run with come the general election. Just a note of interest, Karl Rove is in fact a political donor to the John McCain for President campaign. Don’t kid yourself, if a woman or a black man wins the nomination for President that the Republican war machine with its tap on hundreds of millions of corporate dollars will not pull any punches to get their man elected to the White House. When both of these Democrats are making Healthcare, Education, ending the war in Iraq and Energy consumption the base of their platform then that is the call to arms for Republican big business donors. That is the Republican pocket book in the nutshell. Do not pass Go, do not collect $2oo Billion dollars.

Having watched one clip after another it has been already decided by the main stream media that Hillary Clinton is done. I was not shocked to see it on many of the networks at how they all posed Senator Clinton in a negative light. MSNBC and Chris Matthews pretty much made toast of Senator Clinton. Keith Olberman continued the bashing relentlessly. With her message at most of her campaign stops more or less telling voters that Barack Obama is not the second coming of JFK or Jesus Christ and in doing so she lost some appeal to moderate voters. Attacking the issues is fine and good politics, attacking your opponent on the fact that he is a better public speaker comes off shallow and resentful. “The sky will open up, the celestial choir will begin to sing”… not getting it Hillary, not buying it. That was the MSNBC spin.

On February 26th, MSNBC is hosting the debate in Ohio with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. This is the Iron Chef debate where one of them is in the cook off of their life and the other has the latest Teflon pan set that pretty much tosses the sticky stuff out of the pan and at the opposing Chef. Hopefully, the viewers and voters will get to see a real debate on the issues and not another damn love fest.

What would ultimately be best for the Democrat Party is that both candidates of course debate their plans but stipulate the differences with their own plans and what Senator John McCain does not have to offer? Sell that and the Democrat political base will not be lost in the food fight of who can bake a better damn Health Care roast! Now that is a Papamoka Bam! (Sorry Emeril)

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to this post or borrow it.

This is a rambling of the events in the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Austin Texas. Please forgive any spelling errors and grammar. This is a play by play of the event that starts about roughly fifteen minutes into it. In this report there are some infrences from my own memory of the broadcast. This is the second time that I have tried this so let me know what you think…

ECONOMY

Obama: We don’t need an economist to tell the American people that our economy is busted and people are struggling. Our economy must be a priority of the next President. Cutting tax breaks for companies that outsource American jobs, giving a middle class tax break. Seniors making less than $50,000 should not have to pay any taxes. How do we get it done with the dominance of special interest?

Hillary: End the tax code loopholes. The wealthy have had their special interest President for the last eight years, it’s time for you. I want a trade prosecutor. Foreclosure crisis needs a 90 day moratorium. Freeze interest rates for five years. Clean green jobs with a $5 billion dollar investment. Infrastructure rebuilt creating thousands of jobs. Ending the war on scientist from Bush. Fund the future of an innovation nation.

A question on Immigration and stopping the raids on illegal immigrants

Hillary: All for stopping the raids, against the reality of parents taken away and children coming home to nothing. Failure of the immigration system is the problem. Cracking down on employers of illegalls. Fed help for border towns and cities to deal with the burdens on the system.
Obama: Immigration is a political football. Tone down the rhetoric and hate crimes against Hispanics. Border security and cracking down on employers. Policy change to fix the immigration system but the back of the line is where illegal immigrants must go. Years of delays have made the problem worse. Fines and higher fees for immigrating legally have become exorbitant and do not make sense. Improve our relationship with Mexico to ensure jobs in Mexico. Bush has no outreach to immigration policy.

BORDER FENCE
Finish it or kill it?
Hillary: We both voted for it. There is a smart way and a dumb way on border security and Bush just does not get it. There are places where a a physical barriers works and does not. Bush does not listen to the people on the borders. Technology innovation is the way to go. There are limited places where a fence will work like cutting through the middle of one of the colleges in Texas.

Obama: Agrees with Hillary. Bush is not good at listening to the people most affected by the border problem. Better border patrol and deal with the problem. Deporting 12 million people is not the answer. 12 million people are living in the shadows. Reform of immigration is important. Fight for the Dream Act which does not penalize the children of illegal immigrants born here from and eductation.

SPANISH LANGUAGE

This was a question on the English language only issue where as 120 million people will be of Hispanic decent in the next ten years…

Hillary: Learning another language is important. I do not speak another language. We have a common language but she is against a common language? Against English only in hospitals, court rooms and public places in government.

Obama: Everyone needs to learn English. All children should be learning a second language. It’s an opportunity to learn and communicate across language barriers.

OPPONENT SPEECHES vs. SOLUTIONS

The question was posed and stated in the terms of “Where’s the Beef” of Wendy’s hamburger fame. Texas logo “All hat and no cattle”.

Hillary: I have a lot in common with Obama and we both have run vigorous campaigns. We have differences and 35 years of experience. No accomplishments from Obama where actions speak louder than just words.

Obama: I provided tax reform, ethics reform, transparency in government, veterans meals paid for at Walter Reid. On getting real comments from Clinton camp. Voters are not delusional and every major newspaper in Texas has endorsed me. Let’s focus on the solutions and end the bickering. This isn’t just about policy as much as it is about inspiring people. Beyond racial and religion differences. I’m running for the people and not for more of the same.

PLAGIRISM

Obama: Governor Deval Patrick is a national chairman of my campaign. Speaking to the people is something I have done for two years. Deval Patrick gave me the lines and said that I should use them. This is silly season. Some of my speeches are pretty good. $4000 credit for college, change the tax code, end the war in Iraq. Let’s not tear each other down but lift up the people.

Hillary: Your own words? Lifting words? (Crowd booed) Elequent health care with 15 million people left out. We need a moratorium of foreclosure.

Obama interupts with: That will not work with entrenched opposition.

Hillary: I did healthcare when it was not popular.

Obama: My medical plan is not as good but politics has changed that. Cutting cost and prevention, bureaucracy, stats on plans and blah blah blah on specifics. Leaving 15 million out is simply not true. I credit Senator Clinton on her work in health care but the closed doors discussion ended her efforts. We need to change the politics of health care or we will be both here in four years discussing it no matter who is elected.

COMMANDER IN CHIEF

Hillary: Demands more time on healthcare. Obama Plan mandates fines and penalties against parents that do not inure children.

Obama: The mandate is on you. What works in Massachusetts has the poorest 20% fined for not having healthcare.

Hillary: Health care is important and the people have this as the number on issue. Your plan fines parents for not having healthcare for children.

Obama: My plan is affordable and parents that do not provide it are not being responsible parents.

COMMANDER IN CHIEF

Hillary: I’ve been to 80 countries fighting for woman’s rights. We face change in Cuba’s leadership. I support Kosovo and I’m more prepared on day one.

Obama: I would not be running for President if I could not be commander in chief. I will act against those that would harm America. Military needs to be prepared and armed to do the job. Bush has had poor planning. Using the military wisely. I did not vote for the war in Iraq. Our military is over stretched. We have to many eggs in the basket of Musharif and that is wrong.

RUNNING AGAINST MCCAIN
IS IRAQ BETTER BEFORE THE SURGE

Hillary: Iraq government needs to make changes. Their purpose is not fulfilled. Iraq government has failed to move. I will withdraw troops in sixty days. I will not give a blank check for the Iraq War. Our military is stretched to thin. Bring our troops home and Iraq owns their future.

Obama: Fort Hood troops pushed AlQuida out of Baghdad. McCain was wrong first and still wrong. $3.7 billion a week in the Iraq war. Iran is the biggest benefactor of this war. We need veteran care after service. Homeless veterans? $12 billion a month spent in Iraq with McCain saying he will keep us there for 100 years. McCain embraces George Bush with more of the same politics.

PORK BARREL SPENDING

Obama asked about $90 million in ear marks

Obama: Not true. The funds were for Google for government where all bids and awards are listed. More disclosure and transparency. I’m out in the open of government spending.

Hillary was asked about her $393 million in ear marks

Hillary: Obama supported the Bush tax cuts. Bush deficit is $400 billion this year. I’m for back to fiscal responsibility. Expire the tax cuts for the rich. Middle class tax cuts, ending the Bush no bid contracts. I’ve just published my new economic blue print.

SUPER DELGATES VS VOTERS WISHES

Hillary: We will win!

Obama: Primaries and Caucuses count. It’s the will of the voters. We need to have the government listening to them. There is a brick wall of government that can not be overcome. We need to knock down those barriers of government. We face a higher purpose and want our government back.

MOMENT AND TEST OF CRISIS

Obama: My trajectory of life. My single mom raising me alone with my grandparent from age two. Mistakes of course as a young man. But I’ve worked to bring people together and the American people just deserve better.

Hillary: I’ve lived crisis in my life. People already know that. They ask me how do I do it? With prayer and more. I have been through nothing compared to what America is facing. Kicks she has taken, faith and upbringing gets her up in the morning. I’m honored to be with Barack Obama. This election is about the American people. (huge applause)

That was the end of the debate. Who actually had one up on the other is not up to me to decide. I’m sure you can catch a CNN rebroadcast somewhere.

I apologize for all the typo’s and grammar errors. I was working from notes watching the debate. The full transcript is in the CNN picture link above. I’ll be curious myself how accurate I was.

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to this post…

The push to select Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate continues to build as Obama won his 11th straight primary victory, winning 65% of the votes cast by Americans abroad in what was billed the “global primary.” As the candidates move towwards the Ohio and Texas primaries, Clinton campaign officials, including ex-President and potential future First Husband Bill Clinton, admit that if Hillary can’t win at least one of those states her campaign may well be over.

It’s no secret here that I am an Obama supporter. It’s his message that has energized me, in no small part because his message is so similar to the one I laid out when I began political blogging in 2005. Long before I even knew about Barack Obama I began writing about a different kind of politics- one where the power lay with the people and not with big corporations and special interest donors; one where politicians worked for the good of the citizens and not for the good of their benefactors or personal spoils; and one where government policies were crafted on sound principals of the greater good and executed with efficiency and common sense. Of course these weren’t new concepts when I wrote them and they’re not new concepts today, but when was the last time a serious politician not only espoused the rhetoric of political change but had the moxie to actually make it happen, to make it a central theme of a presidential campaign in such a visible and believable way? Not since Thomas Jefferson has a president offered such a stark choice for voters in determining what path their country will take. Jefferson’s grand change for American politics happened when he busted down the door of the new American aristocratic ruling class and delivered our government into the hands of the common man. Prior to Jefferson, political kingmaking and policy crafting was the exclusive domain of the upper classes, and the common man was thought too ignorant and/or too incapable of having a hand in political affairs. Jefferson abhored that idea, found it too similar to the monarch system of government this country fought so hard to divest itself of. Jefferson brought the common man into politics, and thus brought a bit more democracy in to this Democratic Republic of ours.

Of course, over 200 years later, Jefferson’s political revolution has paled, and too often seems little more than a charicature of itself today. Substitute today’s lobbyists and corporations for yesteryears well-bred and high-born, and the government we have been languishing under isn’t so different from where we began. We still have all the trappings of a democratic government-people vote after all- but none of the benefits of a government that truly governs for the betterment of its people. And the reason is simple- the average person still thinks that voting is enough, that personal involvement beyond casting a ballot is a waste of time, and our politicians and government reinforce this perception at every turn.

But Americans can see clearly now the failure that occurs when government is left to run amok, led for generations by self-serving ideologues, and finally handed over to a man-child whose best trick is to break the china and shove the shards under someone else’s carpet with a smirk on his face. We see that decades of citizen inattention and corporate dominance has created a wave of disastrous proportions coming on all fronts- a debilitating economic crisis, shattered health care and ineffective education programs, false security ploys that do little more than waste money,  a splintered and wounded defense capability- the broken bits are littered everywhere. Americans can see that change is needed. In Barack Obama, Americans are seeing that change is possible.

So let’s say that Obama wins the democratic nomination, wins the general election, and in January 2009 he is sworn in as the next president of the United States. Let’s say that he wins the election by a comfortable margin and has what would be considered widespread support among American voters. Let’s say that he rides into the White House with his banner of CHANGE waving in the wind, right under the American flag. What happens then?

Time for the reality check folks, because no matter how much I support Barack Obama and no matter how much I agree with his premise of change coming from the people of this country, from involving them and listening to them and acting to make their lives work a little bit better each day, I know in my heart of heart that the first two years of an Obama presidency will look a lot like they do now. In fact, aside from my hope that President Obama would put a quick and decisive end to the Iraq quagmire, I don’t expect much in the way of real-world political change from Washington D.C. until 2011 at the earliest.

The reason for this is pretty simple, but is probably missed by a huge number of voters. Because despite eight years of contrary actions, our president does not legally have brute power to do as he sees fit whenever he sees fit. Only in extreme circumstances (like in a government run by ideologues and selfish power brokers- or in a dictatorship) does a man like George W. Bush manage to reinvent the powers of the presidency and have his minions fall into lock step behind him. In normal, LAWFUL, administrations, the real power of government lies in the legislature, and the president is just the person who sets the tone, and guides the direction of government as the people see fit.

Obama is setting the tone now. The tone is change. The tone is getting corporations out of government and getting real people back inside. The tone is an end to wasteful spending and harmful policies. The tone is an end of cronyism and outsourcing and payback politics. And the people are responding to this new tone in politics. We want to trust our leaders again. We want to know that our hard earned dollars aren’t making the rich richer while we struggle to make ends meet. We want to have a say in how our taxes are used. And we want to reclaim our reputation in the world.

But even though this election could bring us new leadership in the legislature too, the attention and energy is all focused on who will be the next president. If the next president ends up being John Mccain or Hillary Clinton then the congressional seats up for grabs won’t really matter. Neither of those candidates have real plans to try to change the system of governing. They are both so entrenched in the status quo that they can’t even see why it has become so rotten. But if Obama wins the presidency, those who sit on Capitol Hill will be the conduit or the barrier to real change. And as few voters are considering the reality of the situation, a President Obama will be facing the same corrupted politicians, the same moneyed lobbyists, the same pay-to-play political culture for at least two more years.

Serious political watchers understand this, and critics of all things democratic are probably chomping at the bit for an Obama presidency, built on the mantra of change, that will likely produce little real change in the business of politics for at least two years. I can imagine the pundits now, ready to tear apart the concept of real political change by claiming that the campaign rhetoric was nothing but chump chat if Washington continues on as usual, as it is likely to do. But in looking ahead to this particular future, one can only hope that both the voters and a President Obama will use the first two years to plant the seeds of change, nurture them with care, and help them sprout into full fledged flowers of reality when the 2011 mid-terms come around.

As President, I expect Obama to immediately work to end the Iraq war and begin to repair this nations damaged reputation in the world. I would expect Obama to rescind the most vile parts of the Bush years- ending officially sanctioned torture, ending the most divisive aspects of partisanship, ending political policies that are shaped on evangelical, end-times philosophies. But I would also expect Obama to continue speaking about the things that have propelled him to the lead in this primary campaing. I expect him to continue to implore the people to seek power in government by ousting those who cling to the status quo of our dirty politics. I would expect a President Obama to issue a call for a legislature filled with people who believe that the politics of today are over, that a new day in America can only come when the Congresspeople and Senators finally discard the power-partisan politics, the high money campaigns or else get discarded themselves.

Change can come, it really can. But electing Barack Obama as our next president is just the first step towards change. We can’t just give the man the job and expect he can single-handidly change the corrupt culture in DC. We have to take the next step for him. We have to give him a legislature that will embrace a new day in American politics. We need to give him people who will fight for their constituents instead of their corporate donors. We need to elect a congress and senate who also embraces the power of change through people.

People may not be seeing this yet. Right now, the euphoria surrounds the possibility of a people’s president. And that’s all well and good. After all, we have to start somewhere, and electing a person who actually believes that change is possible, necessary, and achievable through the involvement of real people is a great place to start.

Just remember that Obama alone won’t be enough. We need to take the next step. It’d be nice to think that the steps would happen together, that not only would we elect a president commited to really fixing the worst parts of government but that we’d elect legislators who see things that way too. But in this I am realistic.

Barack Obama is just one man with a shared vision of a better America, a different America. We need him to be the next president if we ever want to move in a new direction. But we also must recognize that in order for him to succeed, in order for us all to succeed in changing the way our country works, we need to fill the halls of Congress with people who also will work for change. We don’t have these people there now. We won’t have enough of them there in 2009. But we have time to find them- people of all political stripes who care more about really helping America and Americans than they do about buttressing their resumes and bank accounts-and we have to elect them. Because with a president committed to changing the American government AND a congress that actually listens to the people, this country can once again be a leader in solving our own and the worlds problems without making things worse than when they started.

(cross posted on Common Sense)

With the fading days of the Hillary Clinton campaign proven in the latest win in Wisconsin today by Barack Obama it is almost a given fact that Senator Clinton will not be our next President. This is the 9th state in a row to vote overwhelmingly for Obama and that is a hill that Hillary and crew can not overcome. She has lost the inspiration game of politics but that does not count her race for President completely out of the election process. Senator Clinton still controls her delegates to the convention that will decide the Democrat nominee for President.

Toss aside all the hype over the convention handing the nomination to the second place winner, aka Senator Clinton. That will never happen! Yes delegates can change affiliation at the convention but the likelihood of Senator Clinton stealing the convention at this point is slim to none.

All of the pre-election poll numbers to date have been full of bad numbers and the end result is that they were way off the mark and the end result in every single state. I’m chucking the polls into the composting bin and hope the bacteria can stomach them. Same thing goes for the main stream media and the run up for each state and then they look stunned like a deer in the headlights when the actual voting results come in. If Tim Russert says one more time that he did not see this coming in one more state I’m going to throw a brick at my television.

Watching the Obama speech from Houston, Texas was amazing on the eve of his Wisconsin win. Where people have said that he speaks in parables of hope without substance I would have to strongly disagree. Apparently, they have never seen or heard one of his speeches. He touched on Iraq, he touched on health care, he touched on education and he touched on jobs being outsourced and forever lost to Americans. Barack Obama doesn’t list out for you paragraph by paragraph what each of his issue plans are but tells you in concise words how we can change the future in just a few simple inspiring words. Any candidate that got up on the stage and said this is my plan for healthcare in America, page one… You would be bored off your rocker and look for the gun to shoot yourself with! If you think he doesn’t have anything to say then you have never truly heard him give a speech.

Watching the speech he gave today gave me a sense of hope for our nation. If he can inspire the up and coming generations to get involved with what our nation is all about then that in itself is an American miracle. Camelot revisited once more if you will. One of the mistakes that the Clinton campaign has made is attacking hope in the Obama message and then trying to steal the message of change. You can’t have it both ways. Bill Clinton’s political machine is busted and so is Hillary’s by association.

Looking at the voting numbers from state to state change is coming and McCain does not have a chance of getting the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One of the numbers in Wisconsin surprised me that Obama at one point had more Democrat votes than all Republican votes combined. That margin of votes has held true state after state and McCain does not have the crossover potential that an Obama campaign would. If you include the Clinton number of Democrats voting it is more than three to one in favor of the Democrat candidate. This is just the primaries!

None of the big boys in the main stream media are betting on the general election but I am putting my neck out on the line that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America and he will beat Senator John McCain by far. Then again in a mega landslide if he picks Hillary Clinton as his Vice President.

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to this post or borrow it…

President George W. Bush has done it once more. He’s taken the Constitution and pretty much shredded it this time. He wiped his backside with it over wire tapping, tromped on it over the Patriot Act and pretty much stuffed it in the trash with his personal war in Iraq. For a man that took an oath to uphold the Constitution before the people on his inauguration as President he sure finds it to be a pesky little thing to deal with. Apparently, none of the photographs showed his other hand that was not on the bible had his fingers crossed. This is not my President, not your President, this man thinks and acts like a damn King!

As a lame duck President he is enacting laws that no matter who is elected the next President will have a difficult situation to change. W is back room dealing to guarantee our military presence in Iraq permanently and without Congressional approval.

Over at the Washington Post they have this opinion piece on it…

An Agreement Without Agreement

By Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway
Friday, February 15, 2008; 4:30 PM

The Bush administration is so intent on securing its legacy in Iraq that it is once again ignoring the Constitution. Without seeking the consent of Congress, it is well on its way toward a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government that threatens to deepen the American commitment without the congressional support the Constitution requires.

President Bush’s plan to cut out Congress has provoked a growing chorus of criticism, joined by both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In response, the administration has begun to back-track from its vision of a sweeping military and economic agreement. Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the agreement would not contain a security guarantee committing the country to fixed troop levels or permanent bases. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, speaking before the Senate Armed Services last week, stated that the agreement will be “like other Status of Forces Agreements,” which deal with the rights and obligations of the military when operating on foreign soil. Such agreements, the White House is quick to point out, are not usually subject to congressional approval. That is true. But this truth will not suffice, since the administration is still aiming for an agreement that moves far beyond the traditional scope of these limited military accords. We should not allow false advertising to serve as a cover for a constitutional fait accompli.

Snip the Constitution

Worse yet, the administration is keeping most of its plans secret. (Much of what we have learned comes from leaks reported in the press.) Congress has held two hearings — on Jan. 23 and Feb. 8 — on the legitimate scope of the Iraqi agreement, and the administration has twice refused to testify. While Gates and Rice have made a few reassuring remarks, they have fallen far short of full disclosure.

This is unacceptable. Sen. Joseph Biden, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is a strong critic of the administration’s unilateral approach. But if the stone-walling continues, he should make it his committee’s business to sponsor a congressional resolution declaring invalid any military agreement that seeks to go beyond the traditional limits of the standard Status of Forces Agreement. No president has the unilateral power to impose broad international obligations on the nation without congressional support. But it is especially wrong for a lame-duck president to make such commitments about a controversial policy that is at the very center of the debate among the candidates vying to succeed him. - Washington Post

What is next for W? Is he going to annex Canada because he really likes their bacon? Then he moves on to Mexico because he just happens to like taco night at the White House and we all know them brownies make the best tacos. I didn‘t coin that phrase, the Bush family did… (No offense to Mexican American’s intended… I’m on a rant). W will probably next rename Iraq Haliburtonville in one of his notorious “Screw the Constitution Signing Statements” and his buddy Dick Cheney will have a shorter commute to work from the headquarters in Dubai when they leave office in 2009.

One thing that every President of America had in common prior to Bush was faithfully taking the pledge to defend the Constitution. In doing so George Washington built the Presidency from the ground up not as a King but an office based on the greater good. Thomas Jefferson propelled our nation out of a religious based government into a man made government. To which some today think and believe is wrong but isn’t that what Iran and every Middle East government is. How’s that looking lately? Abraham Lincoln divided but united our nation in the midst of a states rights issue that cost hundreds of thousands of lives but his integrity and place in history is sound because he believed in the greater good for all. Read any news report and you can clearly see that President Bush has no intention of legally upholding the office he was elected too. Full speed ahead for Bush and damn the consequences as he lets the chips fall where they will. There is no historical value to any action he has performed as President that is for the greater good. In all of his actions he has turned the people on themselves and not for the same reasons as Lincoln. He is a rogue President and if the Congress will not reel him in then they are a body without power and Bush has succeeded in his mission.

This is the reason why Republican’s will not see the White House in the next election. Our so called defender of our Constitution thinks it is just a piece of paper and it is not. In the same respects that our flag is just a piece of cloth, burn it, shred it, stamp your dirty boots on it will never kill or mame the meaning behind it. He hijacked our nation and his own political party to serve his own personal, political and financial gains. AKA Dick Cheney and his net worth going through the roof on a VP’s public servant salary. President Bush does not like our form of government and he has proven it over and over again and still he is not called to task for it. Both political parties should be screaming at the top of their lungs over this sidestep of the Congress ensuring our military presence in Iraq for any time the secret documents will make law. If our President is never to be held accountable then he does in fact have a monarchy. Should that fact alone inspire you to contact your representative in government with your anger?

Our Constitution is our government. That is the foundation of America no matter how we look at it from any perspective. No matter who you are as an American it still starts out with “We the People…”

W, W, W, what are we going to do with you? In less than a year there will be no problem with the door hitting him in the back side as the ghosts of Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington will be the ones slamming those doors on the White House as he exits. Thanks for visiting W. Somebody else will clean up the mess you left behind.

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to this post or borrow it…

Sweet Jebus in a thong..this crap should not surprise a friggin person living in these United States..afterall..what party is the king of corruption?

That was a rhetorical question.

I do love how idiotic their attempt at subjugating the audit process was..what morons! From the Politico writeup:

Finally, at a recent meeting, the now former NRCC treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, relented, giving Conaway what was supposed to be an official internal audit from 2006. That document was a fake, the GOP members said. Even the letterhead on which it was sent was a forgery.

Revelations about the falsified document touched off an unfolding scandal that has rocked the NRCC and spurred a criminal investigation by the FBI into the committee’s accounting procedures.

Fearing the fallout from the discovery, the NRCC informed its principal lender, Wachovia, of potential accounting problems. Wachovia, which declined comment Thursday, had lent the committee $9 million in 2006, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Knowing the bank was required by law to notify federal investigators of any “suspicious activity,” the NRCC also alerted the FBI, Republican insiders confirmed.

At the same time, NRCC officials notified the FEC that the committee may have filed inaccurate disclosure statements.

Excuse me whilst I laugh my tired ol ass off..may have filed inaccurate disclosure statements? WTF? its not may..it is what it is you nimrods..a bad attempt that reeks of a high school attempt to break into the school database and change your report card.

These guys are fucking retarded..seriously folks. That a certain section of the voters keeps these idiots in office year after year just defies imagination. We are a nation of fuckwits..plain and simple.

Tags: NRCC

With all the hype about McCain being the only qualified GOP candidate you don’t hear much about former Governor Huckabee who is still in the race. That is till he starts winning states over McCain.

Over at GOP central they possibly manipulated this election with the Romney drop out but they never considered the Huckabee chip in this election. In the game of political chess the GOP was praying that Huckabee would follow Romney’s lead and just drop out of the process thus ensuring a unified GOP political machine. This is how the big boys play chess and sometimes the moves you make are missed when the player your are protecting is way over on the other side of the chess board.

Over at the Washington Post they have this on the current political state of the GOP. Somebody is moving the pieces on the board over at the GOP and it isn’t just John McCain…

Karl Rove, President Bush’s former senior political adviser, did his best to shoot down Huckabee’s chances. Rove said on CBS that it is far-fetched to presume that McCain will say or do something to doom his candidacy.

Huckabee “said he could win, provided that there were mistakes made by his opponent, and that some of these bound or pledged delegates would change their mind. Well, even if they change their mind, they’re bound or pledged to vote for the candidate who won their primary,” Rove said. “I find it very unlikely, completely implausible, that Governor Huckabee could win 83 percent of the delegates.”

As Bush’s adviser, Rove ran a brutal campaign against McCain as Bush and the senator dueled for the GOP nomination in 2000. But this week, Rove donated money to the McCain campaign. - Washington Post

Karl Rove should have been put in jail with the CIA identity agent leak scandal but that is another story for another day. If he is the background of the GOP then that is the type of folks they want in the White House once more. Make no mistake about it Karl Rove has his hand in this election process and the tactics he will use against any opponent will be far worse than you have ever seen.

Not to detract from the political record of John McCain, I’m wondering if he sent Karl Roves check back? Common sense would dictate that you do not want anything to do with the Bush crew of more lies, more deception, more smoke and mirrors and more screwing over of America. That isn’t the Straight Talk Express of McCain but I’m betting the farm that the check cleared and McCain is dirty with it.

Is it just me or is it just politics where a man could stab you in the back eight years ago but then he believes in your message today? Push poll and call you a coward and having a child unrecognized by the father eight years ago but he’s your guy for President in 2008? It’s up to the Huckabee Campaign to pick up on this and run with it but then again he’s running on a shoe string budget.

Any connection to any campaign by Karl Rove is a death sentence simply because everyone running for President is running against what Bush and Karl Rove did to America. Common sense dictates that you don’t touch the same burner on the stove once you have burned your fingers. You just don’t do it ever again.

That all being said, Obama or Clinton have an EZ Pass to the White House. Save this post, this was the undoing of John McCain in this Presidential election. That makes this Democrat happy.

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to or borrow this post…

Being Latino in America today is exactly identical to being Irish at the turn of the century in 1900. You are here, you are there and damn it you Latino’s are everywhere. Much like the Irish immigrants or just having an Irish last name more or less had you looked down upon from the 1870’s on into the 1930’s. It comes with the turf when the established society looks at anyone not like them as a threat to the status quo. This is the 1970’s and into 2008 and we have an election dilemma on our hands. Does the Latino community have a say in the next election? Yes they do but then again they are not the only people voting.

When it comes to politics and running for President we find out that the Latino community does not have full faith in Barack Obama and the vote in that community is split amongst him and Hillary Clinton. No kidding! The vote is split amongst all Democrats be you Polish, English, Italian, Norwegian, Russian, or even Irish descent. Pick a land your ancestors came from and if you vote in the Democrat primary then your families vote is split.

This election process isn’t about just the Latino vote. This election is about Americans and that is the end of it. You can be a Latino with pride just as a stupid Mick like me can be proud of my heritage but our nation is American at heart. That includes all of those sons of biscuit eaters that can not stand to be in the same check out counter line as you or I simply because we look, speak or act different.

Over at MSNBC they have this piece on the Latino vote is the supposed key to the election of Hillary or Obama…

For Clinton, Latino vote could swing the deal
But Obama is pushing hard: ‘As Latinos get to know me, we do better’MSNBC and NBC News
updated 8:06 a.m. ET, Fri., Feb. 8, 2008

For decades, much has been said about the potential power of Latino voters, but rarely has their impact lived up to expectations.This year is different, according to political analysts and leaders of Latino activist organizations. While many Latinos like and admire both of the leading Democratic candidates for president, these authorities say, their years-long connection to former President Bill Clinton could deliver the party’s nomination to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.The problem is not with Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, said respected Latino political analysts, who rejected as a too-easy stereotype the suggestion that Latino voters would not vote for Obama because he is a black man.“That is an argument without foundation,” said Angelo Falcón, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy.

Falcón and others pointed to several indicators of Obama’s popularity among Latinos, noting the large and enthusiastic crowds he attracted in Latino neighborhoods in the days leading up to the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses and pointing out that he won among Latinos in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

Obama, meanwhile, points to polling trends that show his popularity among Latinos rising over time, saying, “As Latinos get to know me, we do better.” - MSNBC

There is no “Me” in the Constitution but there is a “We” in there at the beginning. As in We the people in order to form a more perfect nation… At no point does it say we the English descendants, or we the German descendants, or we the Latino descendants. It’s about we the people and that is why we vote for President every four years. We the people, all of the people vote to confirm or deny the current political lot that our nation is in. This election result is just not a Latino controlled matter. It is an American election.

How MSNBC decided to think that anyone that is not Latino vote will not matter is beyond me. Frankly, if the post said the same about the Irish deciding that Hillary would win the vote I would be just as pissed. So should you.

In my house, I voted for Obama, my wife voted for Clinton. For MSNBC records that would be one Irish American vote and one Polish American vote. That is division right here in my own home so the MSNBC story is very inaccurate in my opinion. For some odd reason I felt that the MSNBC post was leaning way to much on the precedent of Bill Clinton and thus Hillary Clinton deserved the Latino vote. Are we voting for the next President or the former President’s wife simply because she has a wedding band?

If Latino’s look at the candidates and the division is the same way as every other ancestral driven American community then they are stuck in the same boat as the rest of us. Split and making up their minds when they actually vote.

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to or borrow this post…

With Mitt Romney announcing the end of his presidential bid, it looks like John McCain, the 71 year old senator from Arizona, will be the likely Republican presidential nominee. (Sure, Huckabee or Ron Paul could surge ahead, but it’s not probable that either will unseat McCain from his frontrunner status at this point in the race.)

More than 20 states still have primaries to hold, and for Democrats the focus must now shift to who can best beat McCain- Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

McCain is not embraced by all members of the Republican party equally, and by some not at all, so there is reason to suspect that in a general election some Republicans could jump fences and vote for the Democratic candidate. Even McCain seems to recognize this fact.

“It is my sincere hope that even if you believe I have occasionally erred in my reasoning as a fellow conservative, you will still allow that I have, in many ways important to all of us, maintained the record of a conservative….

I am acutely aware that I cannot succeed in that endeavor, nor can our party prevail over the challenge we will face … without the support of dedicated conservatives,” McCain told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday at an annual meeting in Washington.

Now facing a candidate not fully embraced by his party, the Democrats need to settle on the candidate best positioned to scrape off votes from unhappy Republicans and moderate independents.

Democrats have been giddy with their candidates up to now, seeming to bask in their historic choices for president, but the time for giddiness is over now. Regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, they will be a historic candidate-either because of race or gender. No longer can Democrats look at these two candidates as barrier breakers, but instead must look to see who could beat McCain. You might think that either of the Democratic contenders would beat a 71 year old opponent, but the truth is not so simple, even with McCain’s own troubles within his party.

To think that Republicans would cross the aisle to vote for Hillary in a general election is an exercise in wishful thinking. For many in the GOP, a vote for the Ebola virus would be preferable to a vote for Hillary, meaning that in a general election, the contest would be too close to call with Republican voters backing McCain and Democrats backing Clinton. Independent voters in that match-up have seemed to prefer McCain, but who knows? Frankly, I don’t want another president selected by the Supreme Court if the race is so close. We all know how well that has worked out for America.

But when you match up McCain and Obama, it’s a different story altogether. Polls show him having a much better chance of taking the presidency against McCain than Clinton has. Consider that in the Super Tuesday primaries, Obama bested Clinton among independent voters by huge margins- 37 points in Missouri, 39 points in New Mexico and 10 points in Arizona and New Hampshire. In red states on Super Tuesday, Obama got more votes than even some of the Republican contenders. Clearly, Obama has crossover power that Clinton does not. And in the general election, this is what really matters. In many other national polls, Obama beats McCain everytime. Clinton does not, and where she does, the margin is too slim for comfort.

A McCain presidency wouldn’t likely differ too much from the current Bush presidency, especially considering that McCain is a “maverick” who seems to know what he knows. He shoots from the hip and is known to have a less than presidential temperament. Oddly though, a Hillary presidency isn’t going to look much different than Bush either. She is too entrenched in the mire of Washington politics to even consider looking outside the box (so to speak) for new, innovative ways of solving problems. And as I’ve said before, Hillary’s still stuck in the “I” of politics, as opposed to the “We” message of Obama.

It seems clear that Obama represents the best chance for America to turn away from the insidious politics that have so divided this country. He offers the best opportunity to reform the way our government represents our citizens. He seems to understand that being liberal and progressive isn’t synonymous with “Big Brother” politics. And he certainly doesn’t have a sense of entitlement to the office. Obama appeals to people of all parties (or lack of a party) where Clinton does not.

And for what it is worth, I think Obama really could offer an opportunity to put away some of the partisan rancor in our government by turning the page on American political dynasties. A fresh start, a fresh face…this is what America really needs.

Those who have yet to cast a primary vote need to strongly consider whether they want a close race that could as easily return the White House to “business as usual politics” with an entrenched and entitlement driven Democrat or another 4 years of Bushlike myopic Republican control, or whether they are really ready to give America a chance to redeem herself in her own eyes and the eyes of the world.

Who best to beat McCain? Barack Obama.

Americans of both parties have said they aren’t happy with the direction of the country. A vote for McCain or Clinton will assure that this direction does not change. The only hope for change is through an Obama presidency, supported by average Americans of all political stripes. It is within reach folks. Stick out your hand and grab it.

In the world of post 9/11 we have lived in the shadow of fear and the never ending threat of possible future terrorist attacks. As a parent of five daughters I am fearful of the future they will have to live in if this mindset continues. Our world has changed but the possibilities that they should have as American’s should never be less than what I have had.

America has never been about what we should be afraid of as much as it is has always been about what we can all do together. We as a people will not prosper if we are forever looking ahead of us with a sense of dread and danger with every step. Our world has never been perfect and yet the future is only bright if we look at the future as a new adventure with unknown surprises that together we can all overcome. We can not overcome our fears of the probabilities if the messengers of our government are burning the olive branches offered as kindling to heat the cold halls of our government. Our nation was not built on fear but on determination to secure a brighter and better future for the next generation to come.

We need change and we need inspiration from our leaders. Separation of the people to achieve political objectives is over and the time for new ideas, new dreams, and hope is upon us. Together we can make a difference. “Yes we can” is an American right of passage and yes we can make America a better place together.

This little video from Black Eyed Peas is simply inspirational and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Yes We Can!

Papamoka

Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk

Feel free to link to or borrow this post…