“OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS Sunday April 06-2008

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

WELCOME TO “OBAMA SUPPORTERS” DAILY NEWS

Sunday April 06-2008


Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., second right,
jokes with 16-year-old Joe Kirk, of Billings, Mont., during a sponsor
(AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Lisa Kunkel)

Esteemed DUer's, please consider taking a moment (or more) to graciously participate
by posting news and announcements about the Obama campaign on this thread. You can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web. :think:

2. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU,
providing a link to the original thread :applause:

3. Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page :thumbsup:

4. Clinton supporters or “anti Obama posters please start your own
“Clinton Daily News Thread”.

Get your DU-o-matic codificator (to format your posts) here
Read the Daily News Archives here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. 10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your personal network. And if you want us to keep you posted on MoveOn's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/

Thank you for all you do.
–Eli, Justin, Noah, Laura, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Sources:
1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html
"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/
2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us
"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/
3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/
5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007
"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/
6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80
"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home
7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022
"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/
8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/
"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251
9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html
"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/
"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. Debbie Wasserman Schultz reinvents the party rules for choosing a nominee

Apr 05 • Here is a video of John Harwood interviewing her in her DC office. She makes it clear that

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/?az=hp_redir&forum=132&thread=5391234&author=112793

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. Group Wants Clinton Strategist Ousted (coalition of unions)

A coalition of unions backing Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama is calling on rival Hillary Clinton to fire one of her advisers, the group said. The group, Change to Win, says Mark Penn should be removed from Clinton's campaign team for meeting with the Colombian ambassador about a trade agreement that is opposed by many Senate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3256939

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. Colombia fires Mark Penn's firm (Why won't Hillary?)

Colombia fires Mark Penn's firm

By Victoria McGrane Politico April 05, 2008

The Colombian government announced Saturday morning that it will terminate its contract with Burson-Marsteller Worldwide over chief executive Mark Penn’s statement that it was “an error in judgment” to consult with the Colombian ambassador on how to win passage of the free trade agreement while serving as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s chief strategist.

“The Colombian government considers this a lack of respect to Colombians, and finds this response unacceptable,”
the embassy said in a press release.

....

[The Wielding Truth]

5. Looks like Barack has a spike do, too.

Either that or it's a corona? Hmm. Or maybe it's the guiding star.

Even the drapes represent him favorably.:spray:

[The Wielding Truth]

7. Opps. You wanted this to be serious. I better get some sleep.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

its an amusing picture, and you are right about Obama's spike

I try to find a unique and current picture of Obama for each daily news.

This picture wasn't pretty, nor inspiring, but kind of entertaining.

Thanks for the comments.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

9. its an amusing picture, and you are right about Obama's spike

I try to find a unique and current picture of Obama for each daily news.

This picture wasn't pretty, nor inspiring, but kind of entertaining.

Thanks for the comments.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

6. The Buzz: Obama expected to make splashy return to Florida

The Buzz: Obama expected to make splashy return to Florida

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Barack Obama hasn't set foot in Florida since November, and he hasn't done anything besides private money-raising in the state since August. So when the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination finally returns to Florida, look for him to try to make a splash and show some love to America's biggest battleground state.

Local Obama supporters expect he will be in Tampa on or about May 9, though Frank Sanchez, Tampa Bay's top Obamaniac, said details are still being ironed out and it's uncertain whether the Illinois senator will do any public event in Tampa Bay.

Orlando and/or Jacksonville could also be on Obama's May itinerary, but with little organization in Florida, the campaign's ability to stage major public events is crimped.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

8. The End is Near: Crushing New Poll For Clinton: Obama Leads By 23 In NC

Crushing New Poll For Clinton: Obama Leads By 23 In NC

by Ashish on 04.05.2008 411 Mania

Clinton's numbers continue to drop...

After days of Pennsylvania polls showed Hillary Clinton crumbling in the state, a new Rasmussen poll of North Carolina has horrible news for her diminishing chances -- she is now behind 23% to Barack Obama, 56% to 33%. The stunner here is that just one month ago, Rasmussen's NC poll had Clinton not far behind in the state, trailing by 7%, 47% to 40%. The huge drop also gives more credibility to her huge drops in PA. Many saw those polls showing such a large drop and figured they couldn't be accurate, but not only has that drop now shown up in several PA polls, it is also starting to show up in NC. As I've stated before, Clinton cannot lose NC and still think she has a chance. She has to win PA, IN, and NC (and she has to win PA big, by 10+ points). That's the only way she has any sort of shot at justifying staying in the race. A loss in any of those three will finish off what is left of her campaign, and obviously a 20+ point loss in NC would be absolutely devastating.

Looking at the internals, Obama leads 86% to 9% among black voters while Clinton is holding on to a slight lead among whites, 47% to 38%. A month ago, Clinton led by 20 points among whites. Remember all the talk about how the Rev. Wright story would crush Obama's chances of winning over undecided white voters? It was all false. The Wright story hasn't impacted Obama at all, and there are signs that his acclaimed race speech may have actually resulted in a net positive from the story for him, as evident by national polls and state polls in PA and NC.

This drop further illustrates what I talked about in my article this morning -- that Clinton's money woes are catching up to her in PA and now we see the same effect happening in NC. We're likely to see the same thing in Indiana once the candidates start paying more attention to that state. Obama is flooding states with ads which he can afford because of the massive amounts of money he's raising and Clinton can't respond because despite her many public pleas for people to donate to her campaign, people aren't donating to her and she is basically out of money according to Newsweek. So she has to just take it. And what that does is it fuels media reports that she has no chance and is on her last legs and that in turn demoralizes her supporters, especially her softer supporters who start to accept that Clinton has no chance and begin to tell pollsters that they no longer plan to go vote because their vote for Clinton probably won't matter. It's a vicious cycle that usually ends all campaigns, and we're seeing it now sink its teeth into the Clinton campaign.

The end is near.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

10. Deluded? "Clinton Renews Call to Count Fla., Mich"

Clinton Renews Call to Count Fla., Mich.

By BETH FOUHY –AP news April 5, 2008

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday strengthened her pitch to allow the results of disputed primaries in Michigan and Florida to be counted in the nominating contest, noting the vote totals had been officially recognized in each state.

"Some say their votes should be ignored and the popular vote in Michigan and Florida should be discounted. Well, I have a different view," Clinton said at a rally here. "The popular vote in Florida and Michigan has already been counted. It was determined by election results, it was certified by election officials in each state, it's been officially tallied by the secretary of state in each state, and the question is whether those 2.3 million Democrats will be honored and their delegates seated by the Democratic party."

Both the Michigan and Florida primaries were essentially nullified after they were moved into January in violation of national Democratic party rules. The party voted to strip both states of their delegates and all the candidates, including Clinton and rival Barack Obama, signed a pledge not to campaign in either state.

Obama and several other Democratic candidates also removed their names from the Michigan primary ballot

More at the link

Guess she thinks we are all stupid.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. Cheeky Clinton Asks Obama's N.D. Pledged Delegates to Switch

Clinton and Obama Fight for N.D. Votes -- Again

Clinton Asks Obama's Pledged Delegates to Switch
By ELOISE HARPER and SUNLEN MILLER CBS News April 5, 2008

Sen. Hillary Clinton made a blunt appeal to North Dakota delegates to switch their support to her, despite the fact that Sen. Barack Obama handily defeated her in the state's caucus in February.

In an indication of how tense the battle has become for each Democratic delegate, Obama abandoned the campaign trail in Pennsylvania and scooted to North Dakota for the state party's annual dinner last night, despite the fact that he's already won 14 of the state's 21 delegates as well as six of the state's seven superdelegates.

The two candidates also will battle for votes tonight in Butte, Mont., when Democrats there hold their annual dinner. The Montana primary, which offers only a handful of delegates, is scheduled for June.

Clinton made it clear to North Dakota Democrats last night that she believes there is no such thing as a pledged delegate and highlighted that stubborn streak in her appeal for delegates to switch from Obama to her when the Democratic national party holds its nominating convention this August.

She thinks we are all a bunch of rubes.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

12. battle for the biggest war chest goes to Sen. Barack Obama

Obama top earner over Clinton in March

Over The Limit April 4th, 2008

The battle for the biggest war chest goes to Sen. Barack Obama for the month of March. He managed to earn more than double what his Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton managed to earn over the course of the month.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pulled in more than $40 million in fundraising for the month of March.
This was about double what was raised by Sen. Hillary Clinton.

This brings his total fundraising amount over $200 million as he continues his push for the White House.

… Obama’s campaign managed, David Plouffe stated “Today we’re seeing the American people’s extraordinary desire to change Washington, as tens of thousands of new contributors joined the more than a million Americans who have already taken ownership of this campaign for change.”

More at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

13. My fellow Clintonites, it's time for Obama

link:www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/05/my_fellow_clintonites_its_time_for_obama/|My fellow Clintonites, it's time for Obama]

By Tripp Jones Boston Globe April 5, 2008

FOR SUPPORTERS of Senator Hillary Clinton, like me, it's time to get behind her rival, Senator Barack Obama.

The exposure of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s outrageous and divisive remarks has injected the raw emotions associated with race relations into the presidential campaign. This new dynamic raises the stakes in an already high-stakes race. Our responsibility as progressive-minded voters is to show Americans a positive alternative to the toxic politics of race. Rallying around Obama now increases our chances of doing just that. Obama has run a positive and inspiring campaign, and has attracted a majority of pledged delegates. It is hard to envision a scenario in which Democratic superdelegates override the will of millions of primary voters and caucus participants. Obama will be the nominee.

Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Wright presents Republicans with a polarizing wedge issue to exploit with general election voters. This approach not only risks an Obama loss in November - denying us a fresh, capable leader - but it would set the country back in its racial reconciliation process. America in 2008 should be better than that.

… The second step is in our hands: Strengthen Obama as the Democratic nominee by uniting behind him now. Amplify his postpartisan message to American voters. Families in Pennsylvania, like those across America, are feeling insecure about their jobs, healthcare, their children's education, and the safety of the nation. They want leaders to be bold and practical in addressing our most serious challenges, and to work across party lines to achieve results. Obama promises to do that.

… Our support would send a powerful message that the United States is headed in a new direction - on race relations, certainly, but perhaps most importantly, on what it means to be an American.

More at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. Mark Steyn: Looks like last call for Hillary

Mark Steyn: Looks like last call for Hillary

MARK STEYN Syndicated columnist Saturday, April 5, 2008

Three o'clock in the morning
And it looks like it's gonna be another sleepless night … "
That's Crystal Gayle from the opening of her hit song, "Talking In Your Sleep," No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts in 1978. No, hang on a minute, it's Hillary Rodham Clinton's new campaign theme.
… "It's 3 a.m., time for a president who's ready."

Jeepers, will all business during this Clinton administration be transacted at 3 a.m.? Is it some union-negotiated flex-time deal? "Home foreclosures mounting"? We'd better wake the president. There are now so many foreclosures the banks can no longer foreclose on everyone they need to foreclose on during normal banking hours. "The First National Bank of Dead Skunk, Maine, has begun issuing midnight foreclosure notices, Madam President."

"OK, nuke 'em."
"Er, well, maybe this can wait till the regular afternoon meeting."
… Sen. Clinton was the establishment candidate running in a party addicted to novelty (in candidates, that is; its policies remain mired in the 1960s). Hill calculated that, given the Dems' deference to identity politics, her gender would give her enough novelty to sail through. But Obama trumped that, and now it's eternally three in the morning, and the phone doesn't stop not ringing. She's like Frank Sinatra in Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's all-time great saloon song:

"It's quarter to three
There's no one in the place except you and me … "Superdelegate Jon Corzine, governor of New Jersey and an early supporter of Hillary, now says that if she doesn't win the overall primary popular vote he'll switch to Obama. Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont says she needs to throw in the towel for the good of the party.
"Well, that's how it goes
And Joe, I know you're getting anxious to close … "

….more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

15. Hill and Bill Show; A $109 Million Performance (was NAFTA profitable for them?)

The Hill and Bill Show; A $109 Million Performance

by Mike Folkerth Headlined on 4/5/08:Op Ed News

Good Morning Middle America, your King of Simple News is hot off the press.
U.S. NEWS: Bill and Hillary Clinton under public pressure revealed that they had made $109 million since the year 2000. The kindly, we detest the rich, Clinton’s hit the mother lode.

…There also seems to be a little windfall associated with Bill’s partnership with Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund, a Los Angeles-based investment firm founded by longtime Clinton fundraiser Ron Burkle. (Just a coincidence).

Note the name Global Opportunities Fund, it seems the Clinton’s may have profited from Bill’s penmanship on NAFTA and the WTO. Income from this investment was reported as $15.25 million for the years 2003 through 2007. Not bad work if you can get it.

…Oh, I should mention that Mrs. Clinton in a speech to North Dakota Democrat’s said, “I have absolutely nothing against rich people. As a matter of fact, my husband — much to my surprise and his — has made a lot of money since he left the White House doing what he loves doing most, talking to people.” And what a pleasant surprise that would be.
Can this thing get any worse? Bet on it.

More at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

16. The classic story about Bill Clinton’s ambition, and the end of the American Century

Bill Clinton’s Second Inaugural and the End of the American Century: Part OneThe Strange Death of Liberal America Posted: 04 Apr 2008

The classic story about Bill Clinton’s ambition–told even by Bill Clinton himself–concerns his shaking John Kennedy’s hand while he was attending Boys’ Nation in Washington. What Bill Clinton does not mention is how vigorously he pursued his precious photograph with the President by manipulating his way to the front. In a way the photograph tells the story well, for if you look at it closely you can see an American Legion official with his eyes fixed at that handshake with what can only be described as contempt. Kennedy’s face is hidden from the camera, but his body language hardly looks welcoming, for as Clinton leans aggressively into his handshake, Kennedy seems to be leaning in the other direction.



John Kennedy had spoken in his inaugural about “the torch being passed,” but little could he realize that the aggressive kid from Arkansas who shook his hand that day would be the one who would grab the torch as aggressively as he grabbed Kennedy’s hand and snuff it out.
Bill Clinton gripping John Kennedy’s hand represents one of the twentieth century’s iconic images, for although neither of them knew it at the time, that handshake symbolized the end of the American Century and the values of the Democratic Party that stretched back to William Jennings Bryan.
It was a Shakespearean moment, for the man who reached so assertively for JFK’s hand would betray the very foundations on which John Kennedy’s Presidency stood.

Two decades later the plan to kill Kennedy and the ideals he stood for began with the defeat of Walter Mondale in 1984. A year later a group dominated by conservative Southern Democrats including Al Gore, Chuck Robb, Sam Nunn, John Breaux, and an Arkansas governor named William Jefferson Clinton organized the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) with the initial mission of securing the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination
for a moderate Southerner. The grandfather of this effort was Democrat Gillis Long, a member of the Long family that dominated Louisiana politics,
who stated:

Our program amounts to a clean break with the recent rhetoric — but not the traditional values — of the Democratic Party.

…Much as he maneuvered his way to the front row in the White House Rose Garden, by 1990 Bill Clinton had became chair of the DLC. His first act was to preside over the formulation of the 1990 New Orleans Declaration. Although not as well known as Ronald Reagan’s 1964 “The Speech,”
this document would perform the same role for Bill Clinton as Reagan’s words for it 15 principles became the blueprint for Clinton’s future. The most telling of these principles are:

...more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. Kerry: Obama Won't Be Swift Boated

Kerry told the crowd he did not think Obama would be victimized by GOP attacks the way he was in 2004 by the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Kerry took responsibility for not fighting the Swift Boat assaults more effectively, but he said advisors, including Bill Clinton, suggested he not defend himself aggressively.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5401200&mesg_id=5401200

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. Barack Obama can tell 'uncomfortable truths'

Barack Obama can tell 'uncomfortable truths'

Tim Shipman in Washington Telegraph UK April 5, 2008

Maya Soetoro-Ng is Barack Obama's half sister

…"I know that I have only ever known him to tell the truth and he has done this time and again when doing so was difficult," said Ms Soetoro-Ng, who works as a teacher in Honolulu.

"Even when it wasn't convenient or when it would generate discomfort with family, friends, or co-workers.

"I know that in the context of the campaign he has told teachers, car manufacturers, and others the truth even when it was politically inexpedient."
Ms Soetoro-Ng spoke out in the week that race was thrust back to the forefront of the campaign as Americans marked the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. She did admit that attacks he has endured from Democratic presidential nomination rival Hillary Clinton and her allies have hurt.

"Of course I feel protective," she said, "but he is so incredibly strong and weathers such storms with so much more grace than I could."
…. More at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

19. The Unmitigated Gaul - Her Latest Lie

The Unmitigated Gaul! Her Latest Lie

Fiery Clinton Fields Tough Questions at Campaign Rally
CBS news Posted by Fernando Suarez April 5, 2008

Clinton said,“I started criticizing the war in Iraq before he did.
So, I’m well aware that his entire campaign is premised on a speech he gave in 2002
and I give him credit for making that speech. But that was not a decision.”

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. readers, if you like reading the news, please

post your news, photos, link to Du post
right here, it makes it more interesting and helps us
to keep good DU GDP threads bumped where people can
see them.

Don't forget to recommend the OP.

Thanks and

:yourock:

[Kittycat]

22. K&R

Great work! I love reading this thread each day.

[bhikkhu]

21. New Electoral Vote Projections Link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5402222&mesg_id=5402222

The point of this - the projections have swung to Obama by 108 pts in the past few days, representing new polls and the update of rolling averages and so forth. So...the possibility that Obama might win the popular vote and the electoral vote and still be denied the nomination based upon poor electoral projections has, basically, vanished. (!)

[SunsetDreams]

23. k&r

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

24. at TPM Cafe: r/e Martin Luther King story: "Hillary is being commendably modest"

Sometimes the comments posted to an article or blog are as entertaining as the blog itself.
I thought this was one.

a comment made to the TPM story:
"Hospital Says Story Told By Hillary Is False"
By Eric Kleefeld - April 5, 2008

#DirkVA writes:

I'm getting really tired of everyone being so suspicious of her truthfulness. Now some people are making a lot of Senator Clinton's new account of hearing Martin Luther King when she was 14 years old. So I have decided to tell the truth of what I know on this subject.

The fact is that Hillary is being commendably modest. Forty years ago yesterday, she intercepted a piece of paper on which plans to assassinate MLK were outlined, and she was running through the Memphis streets to warn King (in bare feet, because she had just given her shoes to a transgendered beggar -- who was a mixed black, hispanic, and Asian decorated veteran union member -- while curing his alcoholism simply using her arts of persuasion). Unfortunately she was too late to warn Dr. King, arriving only in time to shinny up a drain-pipe to the balcony, jump in front of the great leader, and take the bullet. Since, however, she had starved herself so rigorously in order to send food to Biafrans, the bullet passed right through her emaciated body and killed the hero.

I know this is all true because my aunt, who lived in Hillary's college dorm and is a fervent supporter, told me how Marian Anderson and Golda Meir used to go up to Wellesley to visit Hillary, and they would sit around in their pajamas late at night eating grapes that Cesar Chávez had picked especially for Hillary and ask her to tell them again about the time she had almost saved MLK singlehandedly. (She always shyly demurred, however, when they begged to see the bullet hole.)

My aunt also tells me that Hillary, with her habitual commendable reticence, saved for only her most intimate friends the thrilling tale -- still not revealed to the public -- of how she, had rescued Anne Frank. (She has never more than hinted, however, that the entire Romanov family is at this moment hiding in her garage in Chappaqua.) The good news, though, is that the Rodgers and Hammerstein estates are now busy revising The Sound of Music to do justice to Hillary's role in the Von Trapp escape.

Posted by DirkVA
April 5, 2008

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/hospital_says_story_told_by_hi.php#comment-2703285

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

25. Did Clinton tell story after campaign learned it was false?

Sun Apr 6, 2:43 AM

Did Clinton tell story after campaign learned it was false?

Perhaps the biggest open question at this point is whether Clinton continued telling the story after her campaign learned it wasn't true. It seems likely that she did based on the following timeline:

*Clinton told the story Friday night during a speech on Grand Forks, ND. The speech began at 9:45PM Eastern time. (It was 8:45PM local.)

*According to Google News, by midnight that same night, the New York Times had published its story.
Unless the NYT waited to contact the Clinton campaign until 9:45PM Friday night, Clinton told the story after her campaign had been told -- and accepted -- that the story was false.

Since the article was published at midnight, If the NYT did wait until 9:45PM to contact Clinton, it would have had to have done so in the next two hours and fifteen minutes. Given the late hour and the narrowness of that window, that seems to be a very unlikely scenario.

more at the link
http://www.jedreport.com/2008/04/did-clinton-cam.html

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

26. Hillary Clinton: Fabulist, unelectable

Sat Apr 5, 2:44 PM

Hillary Clinton: Fabulist, unelectable

JedReport April 5, 2008

Some thoughts on Clinton's most recent tale:

-Hillary Clinton did not vet her story: The details strain credulity -- a hospital denying emergency care to a pregnant woman who didn't have $100 to her name? If warning bells weren't going off in her mind, they should have been. We don't need another president who doesn't check the facts.

-Hillary Clinton presented the imaginary elements of this story in vivid detail: Even though she had not checked to see if the story was true, Hillary Clinton told the story as if she had been there herself. Perhaps she had -- in her own imagination.

-Hillary Clinton is a fabulist: Tuzla. NAFTA. Superdelegates. Now this. All politicians stretch the truth from time to time -- yes, that includes not just McCain but also Obama -- but Clinton does it with comfort that is terrifying.

This campaign, Clinton has embarrassed herself repeatedly with exaggerations and falsehoods. Voters don't trust her -- and she keeps on giving them good reason not to. Clinton says that she, not Obama, is the candidate who can beat John McCain. Actually, the opposite is true.

http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&partner=fb&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jedreport.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fhillary-clint-2.html&title=Hillary+Clinton%3A+Fabulist%2C+unelectable

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

27. Jake Tapper at ABC has caught Hillary's latest lie, is disecting it!!!

Someone should post an OP about this in the DU GDP forum -

Hillary's latest Lie: Not going unnoticed

by jenontheshore at DKOS Sun Apr 06, 2008

I just saw an absolutely brutal post over at the ABC News blog by Jake Tapper taking Hillary to task for lying about her opposition to Iraq being "before Obama". As we know, she was attempting to use the metric of "starting in 2005" but he very usefully digs up some quotes and comments from around that time in early 2005 that show, of course, that Hillary was supporting the war and Obama wasn't. Best of all, he places this latest lie in the context of her fibs on health care and Bosnia, and calls it the latest attempt in revising her history on the war.

Some excerpts below the fold, but you should go read the whole thing.

the evidence is at the link
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/6/1189/78799/123/491098

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

28. Clinton Camp Feels Spent, and Outspent

Obama takes day off while Hillary goes out and panhandles

Clinton Camp Feels Spent, and Outspent

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 4, 2008; Page A06

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spent a second straight day holding fundraisers in California yesterday as part of an all-out effort to keep pace with the record amounts of money raised by Sen. Barack Obama, whose campaign announced that it pulled in $40 million in March, double Clinton's $20 million take.

While her Democratic presidential rival took the day off in Chicago, Clinton held two fundraisers in Los Angeles and planned to raise money in New Mexico this weekend. She will leave the campaign trail on Wednesday to attend an Elton John concert in New York organized with a goal to raise $2 million.

In an attempt to further tap the online donor market that has largely funded Obama's effort, Clinton plans to launch a new Internet program today that lets supporters choose where their money will go, much as wedding guests select gifts from a registry. Instead of china and crystal, users can purchase campaign signs, van rentals, airtime on radio stations and doorknob advertisements.

...Obama's ability to capitalize on a sustained wave of online support has enabled him to spend almost all of his time campaigning. Clinton has attended more than a dozen fundraisers since Jan. 1, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, has appeared at more than 40, while Obama and his wife have attended fewer than 10 during that time.

.... more at the link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040300407.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

[ORDem]

29. K&R

:kick:

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

30. He's 'McSame' on Social Security, Too

He's 'McSame' on Social Security, Too

Joe Conason writes for the New York Observer Thu Apr 3, 2008

The most puzzling aspect of John McCain's political persona is his habitual attraction to George W. Bush's bad ideas. Their shared enthusiasm for invading Iraq and then escalating the war is why "McSame" will soon become the new shorthand for the Arizona Republican, replacing "maverick" — but that isn't the only reason. He doesn't just endorse the disastrous foreign policy initiatives; he loves the failed domestic policy schemes, too.

Specifically, McCain is a longtime supporter of President Bush's Social Security privatization initiative, last seen descending into oblivion only months after its introduction in 2005. He played a cameo role in the promotion of that notion (which never became an actual plan or bill in Congress) when the White House trotted him in for one of the President's staged public "conversations" on the subject. Back then his pleas for everyone to sit down and negotiate the surrender of Social Security to Wall Street were universally ignored, yet that scarcely seems to have discouraged him.

Actually, McCain supported Social Security privatization before it was uncool, when he first ran for president eight years ago. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that a proposal to divert a portion of payroll taxes to finance private accounts, like the Bush scheme, was "a centerpiece of a McCain presidential bid in 2000." Both he and Bush have wanted to dismantle Social Security for many years, in fact, and he has indicated that will be an important goal for a McCain presidency.

...As one of the wealthiest men in the Senate — thanks to the highly profitable liquor company bequeathed to him and his wife years ago — McCain faces no economic difficulty. He never has to worry about how he will afford retirement or the value of his assets, which is why risky schemes like privatization look so brilliant to him. But in the coming campaign, he may find that working families have no desire to turn Social Security over to the same companies now seeking bailouts from the federal government — or to the politicians who would enact that investment bankers' daydream.

more here at the link
http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080403/cm_uc_crjcox/op_455722

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

31. WA State 46LD Caucus Results - Obama Gains Delegates

WA State 46LD Caucus Results - Obama Gains Delegates

by Our Past at Daily Kos
Sun Apr 06, 2008

Yesterday (Saturday, April 5) Washington State held its District Level caucuses. The initial, precinct level caucuses were held here on February 9th, which Barack Obama won by something like 68% of the vote. Obama also won every county in Washington state on that day.

At the district caucuses Obama and Clinton delegates, who had been elected on Feb 9th to represent their candidate, gathered at the legislative district level to hold the next round of elections. At this level it is crucial that each candidate turn out their delegates in order to keep the initial proportion of delegates awarded at the precinct level.

I am an Obama delegate for precinct 2093 in the 46th Legislative District. See below the flip for the caucus results and account of the day.

Our Past's diary :: ::

more at the link
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/6/12646/25593/80/491125