politics politics politics

[Guest guest]

from my point of view, its all over now for the presidential run

i supported kucinich, again, tho he was relegated to a " not viable " candidacy

from the first minute,,,,

after him, i would have gone for Edwards, since he at least made the noises...

now...well...i don't really care for either Hillary of Obama

i guess i can always hope a third party candidate will come out of

nowhere...but, i sorta doubt it..haven't heard anything from the Green party

after there debate in Sf the other week...

 

 

The Happy Warrior

John Edwards

by Jerome Doolittle | January 30, 2008 - 11:57am

 

article tools: email | print | read more Jerome Doolittle

John Edwards, sadly, is out. With him went what seemed like the only

chance to end our occupation of Iraq before 2012, when a presumably

Democratic president will presumably be reelected.

 

If Edwards had been able to end the occupation next year -- Bush's

warhogs are right about this -- the results would have been the

shameful abandonment of our allies there, a bloody civil war killing

thousands or hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and a destabilized

Middle East descending into God knows what new horrors.

 

If Clinton or Obama is elected, exactly the same things will happen,

only four years later. By that time we will have lost another trillion

dollars or so and thousands more American lives. In addition the

Iraqis would have lost -- Oh, well, who cares?

 

Obama or Clinton will happily pay such a price for reelection, just as

Nixon did before them. The awful irony is that this time it might not

even work. Bush has left his successor a far worse mess to clean up

than Kennedy/Johnson did. We could wind up with a Republican president

in 2012, or even a Scientologist. On the evidence so far this century,

we're dumb enough to elect anything.

 

The only bright spot in today's announcement is my suspicion that

Edwards has cut a deal with Obama and will wind up as vice president.

This would halfway realize the advice I generously offered on December

16: " As between Edwards and Obama my considered opinion is that they

should swap wives and then flip for the nomination. "

_______

Jerome Doolittle

Bad Attitudes

http://badattitudes.com/MT/

 

 

About author

Jerome Doolittle blogs at Bad Attitudes. Former newspaperman and

diplomat; speechwriter for President Carter; author of the Tom Bethany

mystery series.

 

 

====================

 

 

Goodbye, John Edwards. MSM - Mission Accomplished!

2008 Elections

by Alicia Morgan | January 30, 2008 - 11:39am

 

article tools: email | print | read more Alicia Morgan

It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to John Edwards'

candidacy.

 

I certainly can't say I didn't see it coming, but I now have to forego

the luxury of feeling excited about the candidate I support.

 

Up until the last minute I held out hope for an Al Gore candidacy, but

I had to let that go. Kucinich, who best represents my values, was

kicked to the curb as a viable candidate early on. But Edwards'

strength encouraged me. I have always liked him - I liked him in 2004

and I liked him better this time around. I think he would have made a

great President. He is the candidate that talked about the elephant in

the living room - the corporatocracy which is driving us towards

feudalism and has turned the middle class into the working poor and

the working poor into the indigent. He is a fighter who has taken on

the big corporations and won. As I have said before, he's not perfect;

but the perfect candidate for me could not get elected county

dogcatcher - our sorry electoral system makes sure of that. Chris Dodd

earned my respect by standing up for the rule of law - in the middle

of his Presidential campaign! - enough to get some of my hard-earned

money.

 

Yes, the mainstream media has done what it set out to do - they got

their " Thrilla In Manila " on Pay-Per-View. By insisting that Edwards

was a loser with no chance, and leaving him out of the discussion

except to mention that he was not part of the 'historic' Steel-Cage

Death Match, they made it happen. Bravo, fellas.

 

But the party's over for me. Now it's just a matter of doing what it

takes to get a Democrat into the White House - more to keep the Repubs

from adding any more right-wing fanatics to the Supreme Court than

anything else. Emotion about politics is a luxury. When you can be

enthusiastic about a candidate, it feels good and energizes you to

work for them. Nothing wrong with being jazzed about your guy or gal,

if I may be so bold. But it's not a necessity. And if it weren't for

the justices and other appointments that are made by a President, I

might not even care. Let the Repubs lie in the bed they made. Let them

take on the disaster that the Boy King has saddled us with.

 

However, I can't go there. I have to work for a Democratic candidate.

I can't sit back and leave my daughter with a Supreme Court that will

take away her privacy and control of her own body. I can't sit back

and leave my sons with the possibility of being drafted when we run

out of volunteer cannon fodder (or my daughter, for that matter.) I

have to stand up for Democratic values and hope that our nominee will

stand up for them, too. All I can do is pressure them within the party

structure to move towards our real American values - liberal values.

 

Hillary? Barack? Who knows? Who cares? It's back to business as usual.

 

 

=======================

 

 

Progressive Agenda for 2008

2008 Elections | Barack Obama | Dennis Kucinich | Hillary Clinton

by Margaret Kimberley | January 30, 2008 - 2:10pm

 

article tools: email | print | read more Margaret Kimberley

From Black Agenda Report

 

" We already know the state of the union. It's a lie. " - Congressman

Dennis Kucinich

 

Candidates who raise the dollars necessary to wage a credible

presidential campaign must first prove fealty to corporate interests,

the media included. No one knows if Clinton or Obama will be the

nominee, but it doesn't really matter. Both are in the running because

they have already made Faustian bargains.

 

The corporate media give the impression that sniping between Billary

Clinton and Barack Obama is actually worthy of attention. Neither

Billary's attacks against Barack nor his against them are meaningful.

In fact, the presidential campaign should take on less importance as

activists make important political decisions in upcoming months.

 

The first order of business for progressives is to support the people

who truly support the nation's interests and that fight must begin

with Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who recently ended his presidential

campaign. He fought the good fight, but he was literally cut out of

the picture by ABC News, ignored during debates, or exiled from them

altogether.

 

Kucinich has introduced impeachment resolutions against Dick Cheney

and vows to continue the fight to uphold the constitution. He

announced plans to introduce a new impeachment resolution against

President Bush on the same day the State of the Union address takes

place. Kucinich must now fight another battle because of his

convictions. On March 4th he faces a primary challenge against a well

funded opponent.

 

A Kucinich loss would be a disaster. It makes more sense for

progressives to dedicate themselves to his victory than to waste time

choosing sides in the Obama/Clinton slap fest. A Kucinich victory

ought to be the first item on the progressive agenda for 2008.

 

Movement politics is the order of the day, not participation in a

presidential election whose ultimate outcome is known. Activists must

dedicate themselves to stiffening the Democrats' notoriously weak

spine. The Kucinich impeachment resolutions against Cheney and now

Bush must move forward.

 

It was obvious to all honest people that the Bush administration told

many lies to justify the occupation of Iraq. Now a report issued by

the Center for Public Integrity counts all of the lies told by Bush,

Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz and company and calculates a

grand total of 935.

 

Those are 935 grounds for impeachment. Yet the press and most

Democrats refuse to use the " I " word. While the Obama/Clinton tit for

tat continues, the Democratic party leadership thumbs their noses at

their constituents who demand action against the Bush regime.

 

Impeachment is not the only issue that the Democrats willfully ignore.

Harry Reid and other Democratic Senators work hand in hand with the

administration to sponsor legislation giving immunity to telecoms that

conducted illegal spying on Americans. While Reid caves yet again,

Senators like Chris Dodd who stand up for the rights of citizens are

publicly attacked by Democratic party operatives.

 

Appeasement in one venue leads to more brazen action elsewhere. The

Bush administration still plans to act in concert with Israel to

attack Iran. Bush denounced his own intelligence agencies who told the

world that Iran has no nuclear program. During his recent trip to

Israel, he and his gang clumsily tried to turn an encounter with a

speed boat into a diplomatic incident and create a pretext for war.

 

A more convincing pretext is certainly in the works. Only impeachment

can stop an attack on Iran. It is a goal that all activists must make

a top priority. Members of the House Judiciary committee who stand in

the way of impeachment must be opposed as they run for re-election, or

like Jerrold Nadler face protests in their own offices. Citizen action

can put impeachment back on the table.

 

Dodd's stance has forced Clinton and Obama to say that they will vote

against telecom immunity too. If he had not stood up to his party's

capitulation, neither of the twins would have said one word against

it. It is just one victory, but it is an indication that more

victories are possible, and necessary.

 

Both Obama and Clinton need to be put on notice, before November and

after, that business as usual will not be tolerated. They will then

behave accordingly, not out of conviction, but out of political

necessity.

 

Meaningful action can save the country, if the cynical madness of the

primary campaign is treated like the distraction that it is.

Republicans cannot be allowed to win, but bought off Democrats can't

be allowed to think that acceptance of their corruption will be

tolerated either. Fighting Bush can be important practice for fighting

an Obama or Clinton presidency. Make no mistake, that fight will be

necessary too.

 

 

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius