Some Thoughts About Primary '08

I want to say a word or two about the Clinton campaign. Although I praise Hillary for her recently shown grace, it should be said that her campaign has some answering for. Maybe not now, maybe not even in the coming months or even this year. But I think her campaign made a lot of mistakes to say the least. Having said that, I do believe it was her campaign and not Hillary herself that made the bulk of the mistakes. Senator, you showed yourself to be quite the debater, and it can credibly said you out-debated Obama at each and every debate this year (if you can call most of what we saw on the teevee as 'debates'). But your campaign people were in off in la-la land and it was you who suffered. You yourself made some mistakes, yes, but the likes of Mark Penn et. al. have a lot to answer for the divisions they created in this country. We all need to come together and realize who our common enemy is. We need to stop fearing ourselves and the world around us. I hope you recognize this if you haven't already.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 96. AKA: How Absurd These Posts Now Seem

It's very interesting to see human psychology in action over a period of time. Even more so when it's in writing. Hillary Clinton's candidacy for POTUS is probably the model for such a thing.

After watching her concession speech yesterday I found myself in tears. I was saddened at myself for thinking (and writing) such bad things about her. How could I have gotten her so wrong? This was THE speech I was holding out for, and she delivered in spades. I owe her one hell of a debt of gratitude, for not just she has done for women but also, by doing that, what she has done for gay people everywhere.

I grappled with the thought of removing all my previous posts regarding Hillary Clinton's 'political suicide.' It sounds paradoxical to say this but that would be the cowardly thing to do. It would be dishonest and, frankly, wrong. We all go through evolutions of thought, of perception, of opinion. A lot of my posts had opinions that I have now shed. But they also had, I think, nuggets of truth. So in keeping with the spirit of honesty and truthfulness I decided to keep the posts, with all the good, bad and ugly that was in them. These were my thoughts. I had them. I cannot pretend I didn't have them. But I should not be judged solely by them.

With that I officially declare the end of said farcical political suicide of one said Hillary Clinton. She definitely is a class act to follow.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 85

So now it's mentioning assassinations in June. At this point it's not really worth bothering to note HRC's pratfalls. She and her campaign have left reality and are edging closer to Bush levels of looniness. It would be fine to just let the rest of the primaries happen without much fuss and fanfare, but that's never how it is -- she just has to keep saying stupid things along the way. Florida, Michigan, Robert Kennedy in June, Zimbabwe. This would be fine, but she keeps saying that she's the better candidate who would be the better president. Uh -- no, dear, you would not. And as she has created tens of millions of supporters who want her to fight on, as long as she creates the possibility of fighting on, of making it sound like the Obama campaign wants to "shut the race down," how does one suppose these Clintoniacs will ever get on the Obama bandwagon? Because when--if?--Clinton actually does concede it will sound less believable the more she fights on like this. What is the thing that "clinches" the nomination at this point? She'll win Puerto Rico, and of course it will somehow be a "huge" victory, and then what -- Montana and South Dakota get to vote, she loses, it's...over? Oh, but Those States Don't Count...What About Michigan And Florida (where both candidates weren't allowed to campaign and where in Michigan Obama wasn't even on the ballot)? Oh, but Michigan and Florida DO count, are more important and MUST be seated fully. Or else. Hello, Hillary, Manchuria is calling. It wants its candidate back.

If this shit goes to the convention we will lose...everything. Say good-bye to our Constitution, say hello to permanent war in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and who knows how many more countries. Say good-bye to legal abortions, say good-bye to decent health care, say good-bye to a decent standard of living. Say hello to jack-booted, brown-shirted thugs kicking down our doors, taking names, torturing us and "disappearing" us when we least expect it. You liked George W. Bush? You'll LOVE John Sidney McCain The Third. Count on it.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 64

One is tempted to see these posts as piling on, but that is not the case here. Rather than gracefully moving ahead to the next primary in West Virginia and enjoying her almost certain big win there, Hillary Clinton has allowed her campaign via a one Geoff Garin (maybe she herself directed this, how should I know?) to say that North Carolina represents "progress" because she got more of the white vote than Barack Obama, and increased her margin among whites there over Virginia. How's that again, Senator? This is demeaning at best. This is approaching the kind of race-baiting that Pat Buchanan and Rush Limbaugh engage in on a daily basis. This is beyond the pale.

Go right ahead and do this if it makes you feel better, Hillary, but don't expect me to forget about how much you have demeaned this race and more importantly how much you have demeaned people of color. You have fooled a lot of people and for that you should be very proud -- way to go.

All of this just plain sucks, of course. Betrayal like this doesn't come without pain and heartache that just churns the stomach.

I suppose the best response is a quiet turning away and that is what I intend to do. I was hoping not to have to read about this sort of spin, at least not at this stage. I was hoping that I could see some trace of humanity in her campaign today. I was sorely mistaken.

I really hate writing these posts.

What This Election Is Really About: Aging Soap Stars

Sit down, Reverend Wright, we've got someone who could really doom Obama's chances: Bren Dad Ickson, America's sexiest seductress on the most popular and important show in the world: The Young and the Restless. Watch this bombshell of an interview and you'll be completely convinced that Crazy John McCoot is our man!



See, I told you it would change the dynamic. Sit down, Hillary, no one will ever be as glamorous or as sexy as Bren Dad or McSame!

Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos: Go Fuck Yourselves

So add two more corporate hacks to the pile of people who just don't give a fuck about what ails this country, and don't bother to ask either Democratic candidate questions about what either of them will do about said ailments. Ailments such as, oh I don't know, the disastrous and unsustainably expensive occupation in Iraq, global climate change, our tanking economy. Of course, to them the only issues that matter are lapel pins (made in China, by the way), bowling scores, not raising the tax rate of Charlie Gibson's precious capital gains and 60's radicals. Not one fucking thing that's relevant to what's going on today.

These two pissants actually believe they are doing Really Serious Journalism. Shame on any American for taking them seriously, and shame on Hillary Clinton for going along with and egging on these attacks that came straight from Karl Rove. Now we have the likes of Gibson, Russert, Mattews and yes, Katie Couric bending over backwards to frame all questions asked of Obama (let's face it, he'll be the goddamned nominee) as the "Republican" party would want them framed.

Who needs the Republican attack machine when you have freak shows like last night's debate? Who needs Swift Boaters? Hell, why don't we just install John McCain as President right now and do away with all of the nonsense? Go right ahead, America! "Elect" John McCain, see what you get. Do you like Bush? 'Cuz you'll LOVE John McSame! Hmm, you say you think the Iraq war was a mistake and think we should get out soon. Well of course, elect John McCain and you'll get the opposite. The economy? Oh now please you can't possibly think it will get any better as long as we're spending ten billion dollars a week throwing it away in Iraq, with nothing to show for it? Of course, the solution to that is electing John McCain to spend even MORE money there, for an even longer period, with war in Iran thrown in for good measure. Is that what you want, America? GO AHEAD AND DO IT! I FUCKING DARE YOU!

Hey Chris Matthews, How Was Your Breakfast at the RITZ?

One's immediate reaction to the drivel passed off for political discourse in the media these days could quite justifiably be anger. Or instant psychosis, take your pick - I don't really care. When Chris Matthews derided Obama for passing up coffee for orange juice at an Indiana diner last week it was the epitome of stupidity, i.e. what passes for news in the minds of some network suits. No, not that the top members of the Bush administration personally signed off on specific types of torture. No, that would be relegated to page A17 of the New York Times and NEVER talked about on cable news. But Obama being bad at bowling and drinking orange juice: THAT's front page news!

Chris Matthews is no more qualified to talk about what "regular folks" (NOT college students, THEY don't count, of course, in his mind) think and talk about than he has the ability to be critical of John McCain. Well, how could he, living in a bubble, staying and eating every day at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, in NEW YORK CITY? Hey Chris, I'd like to know the contents of your breakfast and if any of them included any citrus juice, you elitist fuck.

Really it's getting hard to get angry at this shit any more because it is happening ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Rather the appropriate response would be to make fun of people like Matthews ever single time he or anyone like him comments on such trivialities this way. Is this how Election '08 is going to be covered from now on, is this how it's going to be? Because really, we should just give it up and declare crazy John McCoot pres'nit already. What's the point of campaigning at all, or even DISCUSSING any real issues. It's all about the ORANGE JUICE! How could I have forgotten?

Here's the clip of Tweety at his best:

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 39

Oh, Christ, here we go again. Hillary has once again resorted to assisting John McCain in trying to take down Obama. Once again, she's wrong. Obama was speaking at a campaign rally in Indiana, saying that people were bitter and fed up with politicians saying that everything will be better someday. The key word that the McCoot campaign and their surrogates in the Clinton campaign cherry-picked from Obama's rally was "cling." That people cling to guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiment in tough times. This is so close to the truth it hurts. And it hurts people like Clinton the most because she feels the same way, probably more so. Her contention that people that "she has met" in Pennsylvania are optimistic, "hard-working" folks and not at all bitter is truly laughable. I know people who live and Pennsylvania and they're not all so "hard-working." As if people in cities like New York and Chicago aren't. Fuck that shit because we work way harder here in the big cities than anyone else. We happen to play harder as well, and yes sometimes that includes sipping a latte or two. Maybe you project too much, Senator Clinton, given you have made a bundle these past eight years and have no reason not to be sunny and optimistic. Obama probably should have chosen a different word, given that our easily-distracted-from-real-news media is so obsessed with any little sleight Obama might have said and somehow thinks this more important than John McCain's dangerous and absurd statements about Al Qaeda training in Iran. But no, we live in lala land and everything that should be front-page news is relegated to page A17 in the "newspaper of record." Who are these so-called "hard-working folks" in Pennsylvania and Ohio and why are they more important than people in Vermont, Maine, Colorado and Illinois? Or than people in New York, LA, San Francisco or Chicago?

Being away from news and politics the past three days, it seems I haven't missed much. Iraq still burns and people are dying, people are struggling here and dying from lack of health insurance, but the media wants to pounce on shit like this story instead. It's truly disgusting.

The Democratic race would be fine if both candidates turned their attention to hitting and defining John McCain before the general election campaign heats up. But no. It seems that Senator Clinton wants to bloody up Obama and assist John McCain in the process no matter what. Is this a way of vetting Obama for the general election? Each day she pulls stunts like this it becomes harder and harder to believe that, and the more she does this sort of thing the harder it is for Obama to recover when he does eventually get the nomination.

Cool Nude Remix

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 29

Harold Ickes. Who the fuck is this douchebag? First of all, the name. Ickes. It's pronounced IK-eez. Yeah, no shit. Fucking arrogant, entitled white people strike again. Now it's Hillary Clinton's adviser and long-time friend Ickes going to the superdelegates and telling them that Jeremiah Wright could be an issue, just so ya know, wink wink nod nod. Fuck you, you icky bastard. Why not just lay it out on the table? What is it that everyone's so afraid of? Well, what the Clinton people are afraid of is that people will think Jeremiah Wright is too "black" for them and won't vote for Obama because of this guilt-by-association bullshit. It's exactly the same bullshit the network media is pushing, and now it's got the Clinton people all scared. Fuck this shit. Let Obama run and let him tell his story. No one can honestly believe that Obama is responsible for what his former pastor has said. This whole fucking episode reveals the inherent racism of Clinton's campaign staff. DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO OBAMA'S ELOQUENT AND GROUNDBREAKING SPEECH ON RACE? DO YOU NOT YET GET THAT WE REALLY DO HAVE TO TALK ABOUT RACE IN THIS FUCKING COUNTRY?!

Not only do the Clintons not understand the positive, electric, organic, inspiring phenomenon that is Barack Obama's candidacy they are actively trying to undermine it. And they have no shame. No. Fucking. Shame. I don't care what the polls say about match-ups with Don McSame at this point. The fact is that a united Democratic Party behind Barack Obama will carry him to the presidency. Period.

Democrats as a party have got to start having debates on the fundamental tenets of American Fascist -- also popularly known as Republican -- philsophy. Especially on matters of foreign policy, i.e. "national security" which is anything but these days. No, John McCain, you are NOT qualified to be president on ANY metric, ESPECIALLY matters of foreign policy and national "defense." It is precisely your views on this topic which relegate you to the loony bin. Your view, Senator, is that every international crisis is to be solved by dropping American bombs on other countries and then invading and occupying them. I'm sorry, but when you break your arguments down to the basics and get down to what the reality of them imply, that is what you are saying. This is nothing short of suicide, and we are seeing it now played out in Iraq. And you want to stay there for the next one hundred to ten million years? Of course, this philosophy of bomb first, ask questions later is boilerplate "Republican" philosophy, isn't it, Senator? And you are merely just following orders from on high up the Bush totem pole aren't you, Senator? You're as much as a maverick as I am King of Antarctica, you warmongering bastard.

But no, the media and Hillary Clinton and John McCoot and George W. Bush would have everybody believe that the only "serious" foreign policy is a pro-war, pro-US empire blame-everyone-else foreign policy. What, you don't believe me? Go turn on CNN and MSNBC and PBS and NPR, National Pentagon Radio, and you'll see who they qualify as Very Serious People talking foreign policy. If they are anti-Iraq War, they are not "serious." If they are pro-war but criticize the "tactics" they are serious. This, despite two-thirds of the country feeling that the Iraq war was a mistake.

With each passing day, Obama gains more delegates than Clinton. And yet it is Obama that gets treated like he's got to "prove" something. Got Racism?

Clinton's shenanigans are nothing short of cowardice. Must act like White men, they say. Everyone will vote for McCain if Obama's the nominee because he is not White enough. Well then, for fuck's sake, let them. Let's see who in November is truly racist, and let's out them. Let's also see if enough racists exist out there to nudge General McCoot into office. If that's the case, if Obama, with all the right remedies that ails this country, in line with all the negative opinion about the Iraq occupation and a plan to get us out, in line with most all of public opinion on almost any given issue - and given the fact that a generic Democrat beats a generic Republican by 15 points in polls - if after all that Americans still vote for a third Bush term and for a crazy old white guy, then you can have your fucking country, American citizens, because I want out. The government can thus commence its Official Fascism and purge all the undesirables from the population. Uh, for all you dense motherfuckers, that would be gays, progressives, intellectuals, certain undesirable African Americans -- you know, the ones that act too "black." Sianara, land of the free, home of the brave. Well, actually, we're not really home of the brave, since everyone is afraid of the latest fake terror threat, gay marriage or of the black pastor of the week. Or all of the above, it doesn't really matter. Everyone is just afraid.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 28

So today we have Senator Clinton going on the air in North Carolina, Indiana and Montana saying that she doesn't know why Obama and his supporters don't "want to prevent people from voting" in upcoming elections. This, exactly two days after Obama himself explicitly stated that Hillary Clinton can campaign as long as she wants and that he's just fine with it.

Incredible.

Here's the video:

America Suicide Watch: Day 2,642

Part of me just wants Hillary to get the nomination after all. Why not? Then I could just sit back and watch the slow implosion of the Democratic Party right along with Hillary Clinton and her band of thugs. I mean, it wouldn't be the end of the world, would it? The break-up of the Democratic Party would then mean we could then have real choices. Yeah, we'd lose a few elections, yeah, we'd be going the way of the Soviet Empire. But think about it: not just one party, but several parties representing genuine progressive change, represented by genuine liberals and progressives. One one side you would have the "Republican" Party, all monolithic and standing for nothing but economic royalism, American imperialism and exceptionalism, and racist protectionist policies - all of which vast majorities of Americans reject. This "Republican" Party would have as members at that moment a big plurality of voters, yes, and achieve many successful election cycles. But now faced with real choices would not quite a lot of them flock to other parties in the realization that no, they do not have to choose from a lesser of two "evils" but can pick and choose from a variety of very viable parties representing very viable alternatives? Because we know the very fascist, get-in-line, all-or-nothing "Republican" Party is simply incapable of breaking apart. They just won't do it. Democrats, on the other hand, are a bunch of cats. A Hillary Clinton nomination would be the opportunity of a lifetime to achieve actual political choice in America. Not that I'm optimistic that this will happen, but it's the best chance that it will. I, for one, were Hillary to become the Democratic nominee, would welcome it.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 22

What's the Clinton plan now? Her lies about being under sniper fire in Bosnia certainly don't help the experience meme very much, do they? Hmm. Oh, but bringing up Jeremiah Wright by saying you would have left his church had you been a member really places you on the moral high ground, doesn't it, Senator? To dismiss the African American experience -- Jeremiah Wright's experience -- with such a flippant, mean, simplistic response not only demeans the African American community everywhere but demeans religious choice and insults people's intelligence and their ability to simultaneously disagree with certain ideas while embracing the overall message. Even a pastor of Clinton's former church in D.C., Dean Snyder, has said that it is wrong to attack Wright based on a couple of sound bites, given the experiences he's had as a black man in the segregated 1960's. But no, why would Hillary bother to research the history of Obama's pastor and his church when she can use this story as an opportunity? The word "monster" not only comes to mind here, it forces itself. That would be you and your Tanya Harding squad of thugs, Senator Clinton, you monster. You are finished. History. Done. No one will vote for you in November because you are a lying, scheming power-hungry asshole who resembles a member of the Bush regime with each passing day. You do NOT deserve my vote, Senator, not now, not ever, not for Senator, President or dog catcher. And as for you, Bill Clinton, implying that Hillary and McCain are "true" Americans while Obama is not brings you down right to her level. I pity you now, Mr. President. And to think you were once called America's first black president. This makes me want to vomit.

One wonders what tricks this bitter autocrat and her loyal bunch of knee-capping thugs have up their sleeves. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE (really? you and whose Congress?)! EXPERIENCE (really? where was the sniper fire?)! READY ON DAY ONE (really? by tackling the mortgage crisis through hiring the very same people that helped get us here?)! LOOK AT ME, I'M SO MORALLY UPRIGHT I WOULD PICK ANOTHER CHURCH (go fuck yourself)! LOOK AT HOW PATRIOTIC I AM BY AUTHORIZING WAR IN IRAQ AND IRAN (go fuck yourself)! I'M SO MUCH MORE AMERICAN THAN OBAMA, 'CUZ I AND BILL SAY SO (go fuck yourself)!

As if all of this weren't enough now there is word of one of Hillary Clinton's economic adivers, a one Mr. Roger Altman, owner of a media corporation which owns the tabloids The Globe and National Enquirer. Apparently the Enquirer ran a story implying that Barack Obama was somehow responsible for the murder of the choir director - who was, get this: GAY - of his church. All of this from "unnamed" sources, of course. This story comes on top of other stories alleging Obama had shouting matches with his wife over young girls surrounding him, among other garbarge now fitting Clinton's down-in-the-gutter approach. Roger Altman, as some may rember, was Deputy Treasury Secretary in Bill Clinton's White House, and to some a favorite pick for Treasury Secretary in a Hillary Clinton White House. Oh, but no - he couldn't have had anything to do with these stories, could he?

To hell with the Clintons, I am so through with them it hurts. I now have to navigate my way out of the sewer from the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife, Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter. This is the definition of gut-wrenching. My head is spinning so fast I can hardly see.

As for you, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Congratulations! You are now an honorary White Male Republican. You have joined the ranks of Karl Rove and Dana Perino and Dick Cheney (pronounced shuh-NAY). I am so very happy for you, Senator. Why not go all the way and blow up the only American political party that has any chance of defeating the fascists in our midst? Only the Clintons, who claim they ARE the Democratic Party, could really do that.

[UPDATE]  Speaking of Richard Mellon Scaife, there was Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking to same at his newspaper, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. And not only that she brought up Jeremiah Wright. Congratulations, Senator, for JOINING that vast, right-wing conspiracy. Thank you so very much.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 20

The clock keeps a-ticking - to Pennsylvania. Four weeks to go, another primary releases more delegates. Another Obama endorsement, this one from Governor Bill Richardson. Only one endorsement left that would really count. That's you, John Edwards. What are you waiting for? Florida and Michigan refuse to revote, Jeremiah Wright was right after all and all the Clinton camp can come up with is having James Carville call Richardson's endorsement a betrayal? Betrayal? Is that all they really care about now? No big pro-woman speech to compete with Obama's "A More Perfect Union" in the Women's History Month of March? C'mon, there's still seven days left, Senator. Really? You feel betrayed, by someone who competed against you no less than Obama, whose Iraq policy, getting out and getting out now, couldn't be different from yours? We've seen the face of blind loyalty and its face is the Bush regime. No thank you, Senator.

America Suicide Watch: Day 2,633

The Economy is tanking, war in Iraq and Afghanistan is getting worse and draining our treasury by the hour with no foreseeable benefit, and Americans when polled choose the economic and foreign policy positions held by most Democrats, and resoundingly reject "conservative" ideology. And yet, with zero economic know-how and an endless hell in Iraq proffered by John McCain, this old fuck still polls just about even with either of the two Democratic rivals.

This country is bat-shit insane.

Hillary Clinton Political Suicide Watch, Day 10

I am starting an ongoing daily diary of the stunts Hillary Clinton and her campaign thugs are pulling to try to take down what should otherwise be a very good year for those would want to end eight years of fascist rule, a.k.a. Democrats. In a very short period of time Hillary Clinton has transformed into a mean, ugly white male fascist monster incapable of nothing but attacking her main rival in the Democratic Party with lies, smears and whisper campaigns, all the while fueling the new American Fascist Party headed by current nominee John McCain.

I'm calling this day 10, the first day being the day after the March 4th primaries, when everyone realized in horror the depths that team Clinton had sunk to in order to "win."

Let's take a look at some recent zingers by the likes of Jabba the Hutt Mark Penn and his knee-capping sidekick Howard Wolfson, as well as some unsavory and passive-aggressive assists by newly "free-lanced" surrogate and racist, former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. Yesterday we heard from big fat piece of shit Penn that winning Pennsylvania is an absolute must to win the election. Douchebag, Obama's shown he can win by picking up Virginia, Nevada, Colorado and Missouri, while Hillary loses in New Hampshire. Nice try. Oh, yes, I almost forgot - there was that bitter old white asshole Ferraro spouting off how very lucky Obama was to be black, saying it over and over and over again. And then there's the tale of Hillary picking off superdelegates and Obama pledged delegates, while Obama continues to pick up more superdelegates. What a way to get people to vote for you. What, no big ideas, no nice slogans, no vision for the country, no real progressive agenda? No, of course not, these would be Obama's domain. You just like to talk tough, don't you Senator? You kneecap Obama, Jeff Gillooly-style, then claim you're the victim and it's Obama's fault.

So, I guess this suicide mission continues. Calling Hillary Clinton a political coward at this point seems to be the best thing one could say about her. She's certainly trying on the racist Southern strategy for size and applying it to the even more racist Appalachia. It fits you well, Senator, now maybe you could try channeling Jesse Helms for some more tips on how to blow that dog whistle to scare more white people away from Obama.

We're onto you, Senator. You're days of cheap stunts and racist smears are numbered. We're waiting for you, Senator, and should you cajole and coerce your way to the nomination we are ready to pounce. And pounce hard we will. I have news for you, Senator: you're not going to like it.

To paraphrase a scene in The Shining: "Oh, Hillary?"..."Yes?"..."You got a big surprise coming to you - go check out the future scenario of Clinton versus McCain in the fall of 2008 and you'll see what I mean. Go check it out. GO CHECK IT OUT!" Hysterical laughter ensues.

Hillary Clinton and Elliot Spitzer: The Real Manchurian Candidates

As if her candidacy weren't already poisonous enough for the Democrats' chances to take back the White House, now we have Geraldine Ferraro spouting off about how lucky Obama is that he is black. Yes, Congresswoman Ferraro, you are racist, you bitter old fuck. And no, Obama doesn't need or want you doing any fund-raising for him, as if he needed your "help."

It's as if Hillary Clinton's people have no idea what's at stake. We have a runaway fascist government doing their damnedest to bankrupt the country and shred the Constitution, while this loser does their bidding by effectively saying, oh no, Democrats, look over here at poor ol' victimized me, not at the crimes being committed in our name every day. No, no, Obama is the one we should be scorning, NOT hundred-years in Iraq McCoot or war criminal Chucklenuts. And all you can say, Senator Clinton, is that this is "regrettable?" What, no denouncing and rejecting the Congresswoman altogether, as you have demanded Obama do with never-before-been-seen-with Farrakhan? You small, pathetic power-hungry person. You, Senator Clinton, will one day see the mess you've made, how small you've made yourself by the lies and deceptions you've told to get people like myself to pull that lever for you. You will one day come to realize your betrayal of all those Americans clamoring for real change when all you had to give them was lies and whispering campaigns of your Democratic opponent. When you come to realize what you've done, maybe a conscience somewhere within you will creep up and you can begin to come to terms with the pain you have caused. Maybe, but I'm not counting on it.

There are many women qualified for President I would vote for over Obama, among them Barbar Boxer, Elizabeth Edwards, Kathleen Sibelius. You once had the potential to be on that list, given Obama's imperfect voting record and misstatements about funding the Iraq War. You have proven to be the worse choice, politically to the right of Obama on foreign policy, civil liberties and the environment. Experience? Nope, not when it's the wrong kind. And now this. Maybe you and Elliot Spitzer can get together someday, when you've both been drubbed out of office and out of power, and realize how much you both lost your way. Maybe you've both never had it to begin with, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, because deep within the power-hungry exterior of you both lie intelligent, engaged citizens that want to have an impact on society. And unlike the sociopath we currently have in the White House you both have shown your capacity to at least try to do some good. This is why it's betrayal.

Farewell to you both, Hillary and Elliot. Some day maybe you will realize that it's not about you.

To Hillary Clinton: I'm Through With You

Dear Senator Clinton:

I joined your campaign for the Senate against Rick Lazio in 2000, and volunteered enthusiastically from the summer right up until November. I logged phone calls for you, transcribed speeches you gave upstate, and even got the chance to meet you in person and shake your hand. You impressed me then, and I was happy to see you get elected and serve our state, the state of New York.

I no longer support you. I will not support you in your continued career as New York Senator nor for your candidacy for President of the United States. You have sunk to new lows in your primary contest with Barack Obama. You have used tactics that have made Karl Rove and the rest of the heap of shit that is the Republican Party proud. You are basically one of them now. You have given your bigoted campaign staff and advisers free reign to attack Obama's race (desaturating, darkening and stretching his image in one your detestable lie-athon ads) and lie about his religion. You have allowed this to happen, and therefore you are no better than they are. You have now joined Joe Lieberman, Zell Miller and, as far as I'm concerned, Strom Thurmond in the hall of Democratic traitors who have given aid to or become one of the fascists in our midst - the terrorist organization known as the Republican Party. Congratulations, Senator.

You are a fraud. You are a phony. You are a wolf in sheep's clothing, a White Male Republican in a woman's body willing to destroy everything and everyone to get your way.

I will never vote for you, as President or Senator. All your campaign promises of universal health care, energy independence, blah blah - they mean nothing because you will never be elected President of the United States, you will only succeed in turning two-thirds of the American public against you and you will blow up the Democratic Party, the only effective opposition to the American Fascist Party known colloquially as the "GOP."

I cannot trust you. I do not trust you. I will never trust you. Ever. I loathe you.

Good bye, Senator. Nice knowing you. And yes, you really are a monster.

Stupid Tuesday: The Real Loser Is Critical Thinking

Hillary Clinton's smear tactics and hush campaigns attacking Obama's non-existent Muslimism worked, apparently. Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island voters were largely duped into voting not based on a hard look at each candidate's record or at each candidate's message but by fear-mongering attack ads on the Tee Vee. Clinton took advantage of the uneducated masses in both Ohio and Texas to smear her way to small but important victories. That's the long and short of it as I see it. Obama didn't counterattack forcefully enough because that's not his style quite frankly. The sad outcome of this is that no one is any smarter from this, and Ohio voters, for all their anti-NAFTA bitterness, seem to forget that Bill Clinton, with Hillary's tacit approval, was the one who enacted NAFTA into law. Oops! Jesus these people are dupes. Really. They voted for George W. Bush twice, and if Hillary has anything to say about it she will do enough damage to the eventual Democratic nominee (including herself should she snatch it away from voters) that Ohio will once again vote against their interests this November. Good, going, Hillary. I'm sure you must be really proud of your "victory." As for Obama he now has to go negative against Hillary. He's a somewhat damaged candidate now. They both are.

I guess it's up to the superdelegates to decide this now. They should do the right thing and get behind Obama, and fast. The intra-party ugliness just cannot continue.

Clinton's Path to the Nomination, Part II: The Superdelegates

Under no reasonable scenario will Hillary Clinton, assuming she and Barack Obama contest the nomination through June 7th (the last primary, Puerto Rico), and even including a re-vote of Michigan and Florida, come out ahead in the pledged delegate count or the popular primary vote. The superdelegates, those who aren't "pledged" and not determined from popular vote, will be the ones that decide the nomination. That is a certainty now. The implications for Clinton going forward are huge. Should she somehow pick up and pick off enough superdelegates to push her past the magical 2,025 delegate total needed for the nomination, she will have done so without a lead in the pledged delegate count or the popular vote. This poses huge problems not only for her candidacy but for the Democratic Party as an organization.

Really, Hillary, you want to win this way? By pissing off half of the Democratic electorate and pushing a small but still significant minority to either a) not vote for you in November or b) vote for John McCain, as silly and idiotic such behavior would amount to? Really, Hillary? Because you realize what a handicap this gives you, what with the entire political press establishment, a good portion of Obama supporters and the entire Republican slime machine all looking for ANY and ALL missteps you take. You would have my vote of course, but what does my vote count for you, really, in New York State?

Fine. Bust up the Democratic Party. God knows it needs busting up, what with Democratic capitulation rampant in Congress to every god-damned Constitution-shredding whim of Emperor George W. Bush. And what do we really have to look forward to, Hillary, in your match-up against McCain? Losing? Probably. Losing down-ticket Congressional races to Republicans and "blue-dog" Bush-loving "Democrats" that you love to support (remember traitor Joe Lieberman?) in primaries? This doesn't concern you at all, clearly. Oh, but history. Yes, you'd be making (U.S.) history be being the first female nominee, yada yada. But at what cost? We entered this year with a huge electoral advantage over the Constitution-hating, anti-freedom "Republicans" but if you have anything to say about it you will have none of that. Howard Wolfson? Mark Penn? They were BRILLIANT strategists and tacticians, you'll say. I'm the COMEBACK KID! Look at me, I'm the NAH-MIN-NEEEEEE! Yaaaaay, now let's make history and lose AGAIN in November! Yaaaaay!

Of course there is that off chance that she could win the presidency despite all this. That would, of course, require overcoming mountains of self-doubt among Democratic supporters, which feeds into press stories, which feeds into self-fulfilling prophecies I won't get into. It would require overcoming negaive press narratives and YouTube slime campaigns and a host of as-yet-undetermined "suprises" thrown her way. I hate all of this, of course, maybe that's why I just want her to give up her bid and just be a really good Senator who can replace Harry Reid as majority leader, and go on to do really good things. Maybe I'm dreaming here, I mean she's already shown her propensity to slime Obama, maybe she can take McCoot down just by tiring him out. God knows she's tired me out just being an Obama supporter.

Can we make it to April 22nd and the Pennsylvania primary, Hillary's next "firewall," intact? I'm seriously beginning to doubt it given the intra-party nastiness of this race.

I find myself in the crossfire that's taking place in my head. On one side, I see Obama being the true uniter Bush could never be, and with a progressive agenda to boot, and I see him winning states we haven't won in a generation. On the other side I see Clinton possibly making universal health care a reality, and defeating an antagonistic, misogynistic, self-hating media and political slime machine that puts all past slime machines to shame, and being the first woman POTUS. The problem comes when I face reality and the fact that our media does not cover this race with substance in mind. They seem to be taking turns sliming the candidates, from Clinton to Obama, all the while treating McCain with infant while he goes about lying his way to the Presidency.

What is sad is that the people of Ohio and Texas, at this point at least, don't seem to get any of this, and want the race to continue. Maybe they actually think Hillary can wrap it up by tomorrow morning, and that Obama will give up his bid and endorse her. What the fuck do I know? Maybe it should go on, to Pennsylvania and beyond, to North Carolina, West Virginia, Oregon, Puerto Rico et. al. Maybe I'm just a pathetic worry-wort. The problem is that this race does not occur in a vacuum, that there are things called newspapers and TV and that they shape people's perceptions. And we all know that these things called newspapers and TV are filled with plenty of slime and misinformation that will mar, discourage and otherwise turn many a potential voter away. It's as if the people who make up the political "press corps" just don't think that elections matter, that outcomes don't matter and that all this is just a horse race to witness from the sidelines. To all of you who would feel this way, and are covering the race this way: fuck you. You have no right to be in journalism. Either that or what they're teaching you in journalism classes in universities across America these days is to just read the Drudge Report and ask for a comment. What the fuck?

As much as I hate seeing this self-immolation take town two really good Democratic candidates, the though occurs to me that a possible outcome from this is more viable third parties. The Democratic Party is currently being hijacked in Congress by these so-called "blue-dog" House members who, together with 100% of the Republican membership, act as a pro-Bush majority that is slowly taking away our Constitutional rights. I have heard nothing from either Obama or Clinton on the FISA fight going on, the central issue of which is whether to allow telecom companies such as AT&T to break the law and spy on your phone conversations without a warrant, and then not being able to sue them. This is fascism writ large, and yet this is just how FISA is about to get passed into law. No word on this, potential President Obama or Clinton? The problem is that third parties haven't established themselves much at all even at the state or local level, let alone the U.S. Congress or federal level. So how can we expect a Ralph Nader to ever be a viable candidate? He's the only presidential candidate right now who is unambiguously, uncompromisingly pro-Constitution, anti-corporate and pro-environment, with no asterisks as to how he capitulated to this or that politician. But I and most people will and won't vote for him because he has no chance in hell at becoming president. That in itself is a problem. One that we might just address were the Democratic Party to implode via a brokered convention.

I'm so tired of writing about this. Brokered conventions, third parties, coalition third-party-rich governments, robust Congressional oversight of a power-hungry Executive branch, an intellectually honest corporate media somehow springing to life. Yeah, ok. Our march to fascism continues.