Rhetoric

Can't this man just say, "I'm not interested in being VP, thanks so much" and just leave it at that? Why does he have to give any ammunition to the Obama haters by saying shit like this?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Ohio Governor Ted Strickland – who has often been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama – said Tuesday that if asked, he would “absolutely not” join the party’s presidential ticket this fall.

Strickland, who backed Hillary Clinton during the primary season, told NPR’s Michele Norris that he was taking himself out of the running. “Absolutely not. If drafted I will not run, nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve,” he said, in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered. “So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.”

Obama lost the Ohio primary to Clinton.

The swing state governor, who has endorsed Barack Obama, dismissed the idea that all potential running mates deny interest in the job. “No, I don’t think they all say that. I’ve heard people say, ‘you know, if I was asked, it would certainly be something I would have to consider.’ That does not mean that I am any less committed to helping Barack Obama become the next president,” Strickland said in an NPR transcript of the interview, which is scheduled to air Tuesday night. He is scheduled to join Obama on the campaign trail in Ohio this Friday.

Now, you'd think that people would understand that professionally, it would be absolutely STUPID for John Edwards to run once again as VP to anybody. That's why people like me are clamoring for him to get the Attorney General post.

So what do Hillarytons have to say about this? That it's proof Obama is mediocre and is being reject by the party establishment.

Hilary Rosen became persona non-grata in this technologist's household for her years at the RIAA. She almost single-handedly killed creative freedom of expression thanks to the war she waged against the fair use of copyrighted materials. We really don't like her legacy at all.

So when I heard the former lobbyist had joined the Hillary Clinton campaign, I wasn't shocked. It made perfect sense. The lobbyist and the lobbyist loving politician. WTF.

Yet, grock how the woman grated the crap out of me every time I'd see her on CNN vigorously defending Hillary Clinton's shenanigans on the campaign trail. Last night though, she had a quick appearance during the election coverage and I noticed something different.

People were discussing Hillary Clinton's non-concession speech and you could see that Rosen was really more than pissed, she was truly disappointed. So when I read her post on Wednesday's Huffington Post, I wasn't just blown away for how candid it was. I really got that it was heartfelt and sincere :

Last night was a truly historic moment and Hillary Clinton made history for all the wrong reasons. Instead of conceding to Barack Obama, instead of declaring him the rightful winner and instead of turning her followers' attention to him as the legitimate nominee, she chose to turn the moment into a show of force against Obama.

Jeffrey Toobin of CNN described it as a moment of "deranged narcissism" while Carl Bernstein described it as "another Clinton foundling drama".

What's makes the picture of a derange narcissist worse is the arrogance with which many a defender would describe her "non-concession" speech : that she needs to take her time, that she needs space, that she's earned her right not to concede immediately, that Obama needs to watch out and make sure he doesn't hurt her feelings or slight her or say the wrong thing, etc. etc.

And let's not even get into the psychopathic ruse of claiming she's won 18 million votes in the course of this election.

CNN called the island for Hillary Clinton based on exit polls five hours before the closing of the primaries.

They used exit polls.

To call a win for Clinton.

So what does Terry "am a bigger douchebag than Harol Ickes" McAuliffe say on TV, on CNN, while talking to mini-douchebag Wolfe Blitzer about the Michigan decision and Ickes threat to take their grievances to the convention floor?

Terry "Lord Of Douchebaggeoisty" goes on record as saying that exit polls are flawed and should not been used in deciding Michigan. That what the Rules and Bylaws Committee did was akin to what happened in Florida in 2000 and that in the end, they stole the delegates from Hillary Clinton.

Roland Martin, who's full of awesomeness, just said that McAuliffe needs to make a decision because he had just used exit polls to say that Hillary Clinton can beat John McCain in November.

The Clintonites are just fucking crazy.

Geezus fruggin cryst, the insanity of the Hillary Clinton campaign is just unbelievable.

She has a guy on CNN saying that tomorrow's primary in Puerto Rico is important because it will determine for sure that she is winning the popular vote. Not anybody in CNN has corrected this douchebag and told the audience that Puerto Ricans live in a commonwhealth, not a state and thus they have no executive, no senatorial and no congressional representation in the US government.

What does this mean?

Puerto Rico is a commonwhealth, a "free associated state". PUERTO RICO IS NOT A STATE. Puerto Ricans cannot elect a president. Citizens of the United States do not elect a president. The states are the only ones that get to elect the President of the United States.

This from the US Constitution, Article II, Secion 1 :

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

So stop it, Stop It, STOP IT!

PUERTO RICO'S POPULAR VOTE DOESN'T NOT COUNT!

Can you believe that after Hillary Clinton's assassination remark, her campaign spinned the comment as an attempt by Barack to make her look bad? Yes, Hillary Clinton and all her boot lickers blamed Barack for the words she herself uttered on her own accord not once, not twice but now four times during the course of the campaign.

They blamed him for blowing the thing out of proportion and yet, as I've told many, many people since this happened HOW DARE YOU TELL US THIS IS NOT A BID DEAL! How dare you tell us that putting the words ASSASSINATION and BARACK on the same page is not cause for concern?

Well, the Huffington Post has an amazing chronicle of one of Michelle Obama's campaign stops. This is what happened :

She called on another supporter, whose voice quivered and broke with barely contained emotion as she explained how important it is to her, personally, that our country change course. She explained that she had just returned from Oregon where she campaigned for Obama and attended the 75,000-person rally by the river. She had noticed, she said, that the Secret Service had increased security dramatically for Barack Obama's rallies since the Phoenix rally in January.

The room collectively gasped and murmured, some aghast that these fears were being spoken aloud directly to Barack Obama's wife. Some nodded, concern and fear on their faces. Others shifted on their feet, displaying a range of emotions -- concern, discomfort with the topic, indignation.

This is not a pundit spewing or a campaign boot licker spinning. This was a common woman, who has volunteered to get the man she believes will bring change to this country. This is not a political expert lost in a moment of bobble-head theatrics but a real woman shaken by Hillary Clinton's words.

And yet, with the poise and class that Hillary nor Bill Clinton have, Michelle Obama told this shaken woman and the rest of the audience this :

Yesterday I wrote the following about Hillary Rodham Clinton :

Shameless.

Despicable.

Unfit to be President of the United States.

My words hit the front pages of both Daily Kos and The Moderate Voice. By evening Keith Olbermann had the following to say about Hillary Clinton's latest "gaffe" :

The most important part of the transcript is after the jump :

[ Editorial Note: Now we have the important part of the transcript. ]

This is one of those historic TV moments that people will be talking about for a long time. And let me tell you, I lost it as it was happening. Twitter or not, I was agog at the sight of David Gergen calling out Hillary and Bill Clinton on their racist strategy.

He even went as far as saying that there is a sense the culture is legitimizing the racist language and creating justifications that is allowing Clinton to base her electoral value on the racial composition of those of her voters who wouldnt not vote for Obama.

That's why it's particularly shocking to have seen David Gergen, a former communications advisor to Ronald Regan, say that racism is starting rear its head in ways we've never seen before; and to validate that for votes is counter to the ethos of the Democratic Party.

I mean, she's been talking about sexism in this race and she has complained about some in the last 24 hours.

You know race is really playing an increasing issue. And it also raises the question in my judgment of whether she shouldn't say, you know, if you want to vote against him because he's black, I don't want your vote. I don't want to win that way. This has no place in this primary.

She's raised the issue of sexism in this race and she's complained some about it the in the last 24 hours? Race is playing ... it's an increasing issue. That raises the question in my judgement, whether she shouldn't say, "You know, if you don't want to vote against him because he's black, then I don't want your vote."

And that's not even half of it. There is a powerful back and forth that is not included in this clip. Yet more importantly, CNN doesn't have neither a clip nor a transcript of this exchange (and the omitted one) on their site. There's the moments right before and after this exchange but no transcript for this important moment in US political history.

Goes to show how big media is at odds with it's own influence and power.

Watch this clip and see how David Gergen redeems the whole both republicans and the political analyst profession. To say this solidifies my admiration for him is to put it mildly : My admiration goes back to at least 20 years if not more of watching him do political commentary first on PBS and then on CNN.

WATCHI IT!

Hat Tip to Natalie (aka @natthedem) who twittered the video.

UPDATE!
Now with transcripts!

Is this proof Hillary Clinton is turning into a Zel Miller and joining Joe Lieberman in the Dark Side?

Just like Bush's neo-cons, she defines her own reality :

She's winning ... under the rules of the Republican party:
"The states I've won total 300 electoral votes. If we had the same rules as the Republicans, I would be nominee right now," she said. "We have different rules, so what we've got to figure out is who can win 270 electoral votes. My opponent has won states totaling 217 electoral votes."

She's milking Operation Chaos for all its worth:
... there apparently was a mutual overlap of interests here — the desire of Limbaugh, his fill-in host that day and other conservatives to influence the race and the former President to do whatever it took to get every single vote for Hillary Clinton, even if it meant crossover votes from Republicans who wanted to weaken the Democrats. Crossover, schmossover, weaken Obama, schmeaken Obama — as long as it’s a vote for Hillary…

She likes to play with McCain stupid tax tricks :
"More than 200 economists, including four Nobel prize winners, signed a letter rejecting proposals by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain to offer a summertime gas-tax holiday.

and ...