mjh’s blog

Transcript of Obama’s Speech in Des Moines, Iowa

The Page - by Mark Halperin - TIME

Forging a New Future for America - Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

We face an opponent, John McCain, who arrived in Washington nearly three decades ago as a Vietnam War hero, and earned an admirable reputation for straight talk and occasional independence from his party.

But this year’s Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could out-Bush the other, and that is the contest John McCain won. The Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans that once bothered Senator McCain’s conscience are now his only economic policy. The Bush health care plan that only helps those who are already healthy and wealthy is now John McCain’s answer to the 47 million Americans without insurance and the millions more who can’t pay their medical bills. The Bush Iraq policy that asks everything of our troops and nothing of Iraqi politicians is John McCain’s policy too, and so is the fear of tough and aggressive diplomacy that has left this country more isolated and less secure than at any time in recent history. The lobbyists who ruled George Bush’s Washington are now running John McCain’s campaign, and they actually had the nerve to say that the American people won’t care about this. Talk about out of touch!

I will leave it up to Senator McCain to explain to the American people whether his policies and positions represent long-held convictions or Washington calculations, but the one thing they don’t represent is change.

The REAL John McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars.

This 3+ minute video montage is well worth your time. It’s shocking, even though I was aware of many of these contradictions. As for the blame placed on corporate media, I note that many of those seeming to challenge McCain are in corporate media, whose real failing may be in letting things drop from our attention. peace, mjh

The REAL John McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars.

Turn John McCain’s YouTube Problem into a Nightmare!

The REAL John McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars.

Who Says Elephants Never Forget?

ABQjournal NM: 1st Congressional District Candidates Give Opinions on Iraq War

Joe Carraro, Republican
“We’re in a quagmire, and I really think we needed to have somebody ask the questions before we got in.”

You mean like the millions of Americans who said “NO WAR!” and were willing to take to the streets to make their point? The same people Republicans called traitors and cowards?

ABQjournal NM: 1st Congressional District Candidates Give Opinions on Iraq War

Darren White, Republican
“This is something that I think about every day because of my son (who just completed basic training in the Air National Guard). This thing is a mess. Mistakes have been made, big mistakes, in the execution of the war.”

Darren thinks about the war every day because of his son, not because he wanted to beat-in the heads of protesters before the war began. Yeah, mistakes were made by war-hungry Republicans. Your chance is over, bub.

peace,
mjh

Wars Hard on State Dept., Defense Chief Says : NPR

Let’s just give all the money we have to “Defense” (formerly, the War Department) and let them decide what programs, domestic and foreign, “keep us safe.” It would be efficient.

Duhbya and company have so decimated the system that Defense has to beg for money for State. You can also thank Donni “Big Dick” Rumsfeld and Condi Rice. peace, mjh

Wars Hard on State Dept., Defense Chief Says : NPR

Wars Hard on State Dept., Defense Chief Says

by Michele Kelemen

All Things Considered, May 19, 2008 · Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expressing concern that the State Department has become stretched too thin by the diplomatic demands of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gates is arguing for more resources for Foggy Bottom.

Wars Hard on State Dept., Defense Chief Says : NPR

Which One is the Lesser of Two Evils?

ABQjournal NM: Candidates Clash Over Health Care
By Jeff Jones, Journal Politics Writer

“I’m supportive of our rural health (care)— I’m a product of that. I don’t have any desire to hurt them,” Pearce said. “But what I do desire is to start reining in the people who are literally stealing from the American public.”

ABQjournal NM: Candidates Clash Over Health Care

That’s quite an accusation from Steve Pearce — literal public theft. Who are these thieves? Blackwater, KBR? Are they the doctors Republicans wish to protect from rapacious lawyers? Are they the small business people Republicans claim to revere (while they actually revere only the very biggest corporations)?

This is the fundamental Republican view that infuriates me the most: All taxation is theft. There is no Commonwealth and no common good — every man for himself, every property is private. This extremely destructive view angers me far more than the utter hypocrisy of seeing all public expenditures as theft *except* for the limitless war machine. Pearce would have us look closely at expenditures on public health — I don’t recall him suggesting the same for the billion an hour we piss away in Iraq.

“Here’s one of the differences between Steve and I: I will not vote against the interests of the state of New Mexico to satisfy a narrow ideological agenda,” Wilson said. “He will always vote to supposedly save money, even if it makes no sense— and that’s what he did here.”

She means “me,” not “I.” But, OMG, she really is a liberal! How can any Republican vote for someone with such shifting standards. Flexibility is weakness! Compromise is failure!

peace, mjh

Swing State Project:: NM-Sen: Udall Steamrolls; Wilson and Pearce Neck-and-Neck

By this, Pearce is up over Wilson but Udall is up over each of them. peace, mjh

Swing State Project:: NM-Sen: Udall Steamrolls; Wilson and Pearce Neck-and-Neck

by: James L.

Thu May 15, 2008 at 11:22 PM EDT

SurveyUSA (5/12-14, registered voters, 11/16-18 in parens):

Tom Udall (D): 60 (54)
Steve Pearce (R): 36 (40)
Tom Udall (D): 61 (56)
Heather Wilson (R): 35 (41)
(MoE: ±2.3%)

This race is really starting to look like a lost cause for Republicans.

Here’s the primary head-to-head between Pearce and Wilson:

Steve Pearce (R): 49 (37)
Heather Wilson (R): 46 (56)
(MoE: ±4.8%)

Swing State Project:: NM-Sen: Udall Steamrolls; Wilson and Pearce Neck-and-Neck

[hat tip to R.A.]

The Swamp: McCain paints Obama’s portrait

peace, mjh

The Swamp: McCain paints Obama’s portrait

Defining one’s opponent is a key task of any campaign, and simply put, McCain has had a long head start. As early as Feb. 12–the day McCain and Obama each won primaries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. — McCain suggested Obama was guilty of hollow promises and a messianic self-image.

“To encourage a country with only rhetoric, rather than sound and proven ideas that trust in the strength and courage of free people, is not a promise of hope,” McCain said, alluding to Obama’s speaking skills and campaign theme. And in another jab he added, “I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need.”

Unlike McCain, Obama has been fighting a two-front war, trying to beat back an onslaught from Clinton while taking opening shots at McCain. Recently Obama has started focusing more squarely on the presumptive Republican nominee, attacking his positions on the war and the economy.

But because of the long, bruising Democratic campaign, McCain has gotten an early jump. Day by day, week by week, McCain has been portraying Obama as inexperienced, self-entitled and effete, a candidate coddled by a loving press corps and lacking the judgment necessary for the highest office in the land.

It’s a line of attack likely to last through the fall election.

“We’ll make the case that Barack Obama is a wonderful new voice selling old, discredited ideas, including the most massive tax increase since Walter Mondale ran for president,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior McCain adviser. “It’s a combination of weakness, not being ready to be president and not being able to deliver on the things he says he will deliver on.”

The Swamp: McCain paints Obama’s portrait

The Ordeal

It has been a long 10 days of ordeal.

On the last day of April, I drove to Chaco. I hoped that the predictions of terrible wind would keep the crowds away. It is always windy in Chaco. On one occasion 10 years ago, the wind ripped out all the screws that held one of the canva sides of our popup camper. Years before that, I had to set a tent up as a storm approached. I didn’t have time to stake it out, so I threw everything plus myself into the tent just before the storm hit. The tent blew so much I expect to wake up in another campsite. With the experience of more than two dozen trips over 20 years, I believe I have never experienced wind as bad as this latest trip. Damn! The drive in was a vision of the Dust Bowl, as the dust quickly moved from a lovely pattern swirling  a foot above the road, like vapor over ice, to a complete brown-out with no visibility beyond my windshield. In the campground and everywhere else, the wind scoured every surface like sandpaper. It was fierce. And it got cold. Two weeks after the last frost date, it got down below freezing one night.

Of course, it’s not a pilgrimage without some adversity. Even with almost no hiking, no wildflowers (no rain this year) and long hours in the camper or driving around, Chaco is still my Mecca.

Not twenty-four hours after my return from Chaco, I came down with a cold. The timing was terrible in that I wasn’t sick enough to realize I should cancel dinner plans with friends, so they also got sick a few days later. Merri, too, was sick during this time. Rarely are we both sick at once. While this was in many respects a minor cold, it lingered more than a week and it ruined sleep for both of us.

With nothing better to do, I decided to wipe out one of my computers and install the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. Thus began a nightmare that lasted 6 days and ended just an hour ago when I rolled everything back to the way it was on Cinco de Marko.

The unexpected crisis that ensued from my worse-than-useless desktop peaked late Thursday. Merri and I were both at our limits from the combo of sickness and sick computers when we went out to the Cooperage to see the Asylum Street Spankers of Austin. In spite of the service and the shockingly mediocre but expensive food, and, in spite of the recurring sound system problem, the show was truly delightful. The Spankers are political, acerbic, and great musicians and entertainers.

That was the turning point for me. Not only were music and laughter great tonics, I was actually reassured by the problems I saw around me with the service, the kitchen, the sound system. These were not *my* problems and the show goes on, regardless.

Yesterday, I taught my last class of the semester at UNM Continuing Education. I dreaded teaching all day long on Saturday, especially after this week. But the subject was Advanced (X)HTML and the students were enthusiastic. The first hour or so of the class was the best classroom hour I can remember. It is fitting that I just completed my 20th year teaching at UNMCE (an event unmarked by them).

Now, eight days later than expected, I can begin to post some pictures and my Chaco journal and an account of my battle with Vista-64. Soon. peace, mjh

Republicans Aren’t Learning

Have you seen the commercial in which Steve Pearce puts Heather Wilson with Tom Udall as — gasp! — a liberal? Heather a liberal? That just fucking nuts, Steve. Still, it may be having some effect among Republicans because Heather has responded with a commercial identifying herself as an effective conservative. Of course, the hardcore sees “effective” as synonymous with compromising which equals weak and impure, so any suggestion that she isn’t willing to burn this village to save it may cost her votes.

It’s great to see two Republicans slash and tar each other — it’s a blood sport we don’t often see and further evidence that the Republican party is *doomed* this year. Still, it’s heartening to see them cling to old and no longer effective tactics.

Meanwhile, dim Darren White says he doesn’t want to see health care being managed by the same bureaucrats who screwed up after Katrina. LOL! Those Bush appointees will be gone soon, Sheriff, back to their old jobs at Madison Avenue and the Oil Industry, pockets stuffed with whatever they can loot before then. peace, mjh

Watch Out for Symbols and Analogies

This reminds me of the piece on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, in which Seth Meyers reported that Hillary compared herself to Rocky Balboa, who was “a washed up fighter ultimately beaten by the charismatic black guy. “peace, mjh

The Page - by Mark Halperin - TIME

YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS UP

Hillary Clinton enthusiastically picked a filly named Eight Belles to win the Kentucky Derby and compared herself to the horse. Eight Belles finished second. The winner was the favorite, Big Brown.

Eight Belles collapsed immediately after crossing the finish line, and was euthanized shortly thereafter.

The Page - by Mark Halperin - TIME

PS: The slaughter of Eight Belles was tragic, especially so soon after Barbaro. This is a vicious “sport” akin to boxing or ultimate cage fighting. Sickening.

Well Put

It’s too bad Huckabee is *dangerously* religious. peace, mjh

Huckabee says Obama’s former pastor needs him to lose - International Herald Tribune

“His (Obama’s) campaign is not being derailed by his race, it’s being derailed by a person who doesn’t want him to prove that we have made great advances in this country,” Huckabee told reporters.

Wright has claimed AIDS was created by the U.S. government to kill “people of color” and that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were spurred by the United State’s “terrorism” against minorities at home and abroad.

“Jeremiah Wright needs for Obama to lose so he can justify his anger, his hostile bitterness against the United States of America,” Huckabee said. [mjh: Therefore, Vote for Obama!]

Huckabee on Obama, Wright: ‘Cut some slack to people who grew up on the back of the bus’ | Political Insider

“As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say ‘That’s a terrible statement’ — I grew up in a very segregated South.

“And I think that you have to cut some slack — and I’m going to be probably the only conservative in America who’s going to say something like this, but I’m just telling you — we’ve got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie, you have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant, you can’t sit out there with everyone else. There’s a separate waiting room in the doctor’s office. Here’s where you sit on the bus.

“And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment, and you have to just say, ‘I probably would, too.’”