1%

“My opponent predicted I would win Pennsylvania, he’d win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tie-breaker,” she said.

“Well, tonight, we’ve come from behind, we’ve broken the tie and, thanks to you, it’s full speed on to the White House!” - Hillary, speaking in Indianapolis last night

I hate to pick at that bone Mrs. Clinton... but you were expected to win Indiana. After all, you had the endorsement of Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.

The candidate that 'came from behind' to very nearly snatch Indiana away from you -- that was Barack Obama. A 1% margin of victory? That is a tie. That is just another case of "we'll never really know, will we?"

Because of the strange 'voter purges,' and the particular counties in which they occurred; the reports of ballot shortages, and Rush Limbaugh's 'chaos vote' (which may or may not have come into play in this Republican state,) I'm always going to wonder who really won this primary.

Just add it to growing pile of the questionable election results since the dawning of the 21st century.

Full speed to the White House?

Hillary... you're delusional. What -- on the strength of Rush Limbaugh's 'chaos vote?' By very nearly losing a state you were supposed to dominate?

The Democratic Party would be crazy to pick a candidate that Republicans are so desperate to have for an opponent in the general election. If they were actually willing to cross over and vote for you in the Democratic primary -- to beat a candidate that actually frightens them -- why on earth would the Democratic Party give the Republican Party such an obvious gift?

Think about this Hillary... Obama has a real and steadily growing majority now among Democratic voters. The Republicans are desperate to see you as the Democratic nominee because they believe McCain can whip you; that you will actually empower the Republican base. You're just a temporary Republican darling, Mrs. Clinton. Do you really think they - not to mention Murdoch and Fox News - aren't going to turn on you with a vengeance once the primaries are over?

If the super delegates choose you now, they will be committing political suicide.

Monroe County Representative and super delegate Baron Hill knew who to pick -- and to come out publicly in favor of Obama -- before the primary even took place. He was up for re-election in the same primary. I'm sure he could see the writing on the wall in his home district when Hillary's rally in Assembly hall at IU was about half full. Obama's rally in the same hall was stuffed to the rafters.



Sure Hillary. I'm seeing it. "Full speed to the White House. " If I were you, I'd book yourself onto a White House tour... its time for the Democratic party to pull together and start preparing for the general election.

Bye bye Karl...

The mainstream media has announced the Karl Rove is resigning. From what exactly?

Oh... he's leaving the White House:

The White House said his departure was unrelated to the investigations. In an interview published this morning, Rove told Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul A. Gigot that he had been interested in leaving last year but did not want to go immediately after the Democrats took over Congress, nor did he want to abandon Bush as he fought for his troop buildup in Iraq and an immigration overhaul.

"I just think it's time," Rove told Gigot in comments confirmed by the White House. The Journal said White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten told Rove and other senior aides that if they stay past Labor Day, they would be expected to remain through the end of the second term, Jan. 20, 2009.

"There's always something that can keep you here," Rove said, "and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family."

Rove said he was finished with political consulting and plans to spend much of his time at his house in Ingram, Tex., with his wife, Darby, and near their son, who attends college in San Antonio. He said he plans to write a book about Bush's years in office, a project encouraged by the president, and would like to teach at some point, but has no job lined up for now. He does not plan to work on a presidential campaign nor would he endorse a candidate.

See ya Karl... wherever you pop up next. Because I don't believe for one minute that you are 'retiring to your house in Ingram Texas.'

So -- who's campaign will you be orchestrating this time? Rudi's...? Fred's? Or maybe Jeb's? (Warning: Bush name may not be so viable right now.)

Karl, Karl... we so hate to see you go. Not that we ever 'saw' you anyway, other than that weird little dancing escapade. (Don't give up your day job.)

No - you like working in the background, in the shadows, where you can generate your propaganda spin and pull the strings. Anyone who things you're 'stepping out of the game' is a sucker. But of course -- a sucker is born every minute... right Karl? And guys like you were born to spin them like little sucker-tops.

From the Washington Post:

Rove's influence extended far beyond the politics of electioneering, deep into policymaking. He helped craft the first-term Bush agenda of tax cuts, which succeeded, and the second-term agenda of Social Security private accounts, which did not. More broadly, he provided the intellectual and historic framework for the Bush presidency and hoped to use it to open a new era of Republican political dominance, a project that today looks potentially crippled by the unpopularity of both the president and the Iraq war.

-- snip --

Rove told Gigot that he remains confident Bush will recover politically despite his low approval ratings. "He will move back up in the polls," Rove said. And he said Republicans could still retain the White House next year. The Democrats are likely to nominate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), "a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate," he said, but Republicans have "a very good chance" of beating her.

Rove laughed off his own reputation as the svengali of the Bush presidency. "I'm a myth," he said. "There's the Mark of Rove. I read about some of the things I'm supposed to have done and I have to try not to laugh."

We're all giggling with ya, Karl.

A little GOP giggly entertainment for the road...



"Stormy weather... when we and our Karl... ain't together..."

It appears Senator Leahy isn't quite done with Karl, either in or out of the White House. I guess Senator Leahy is still a little miffed about that small, untidy business with Karl's flouted subpoena.

Senator Leahy - don't be a crab! Karl just wants to retire quietly to his little house in Texas. Don't be partisan, Senator Leahy. (Heh heh.)

From the Good Vermont Senator's website:

Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The Resignation Of White House Deputy Chief Of Staff Karl Rove
August 13, 2007

“Earlier this month, Karl Rove failed to comply with the Judiciary Committee's subpoena to testify about the mass firings of United States Attorneys. Despite evidence that he played a central role in these firings, just as he did in the Libby case involving the outing of an undercover CIA agent and improper political briefings at over 20 government agencies, Mr. Rove acted as if he was above the law. That is wrong. Now that he is leaving the White House while under subpoena, I continue to ask what Mr. Rove and others at the White House are so desperate to hide. Mr. Rove’s apparent attempts to manipulate elections and push out prosecutors citing bogus claims of voter fraud shows corruption of federal law enforcement for partisan political purposes, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its investigation into this serious issue.

“The list of senior White House and Justice Department officials who have resigned during the course of these congressional investigations continues to grow, and today, Mr. Rove added his name to that list. There is a cloud over this White House, and a gathering storm. A similar cloud envelops Mr. Rove, even as he leaves the White House.”

A gathering storm (Shiver.) Are you going to drag his butt into the Senate, Mr. Leahy? Are you guys ready to back this tough talk with some tough action?

Because yes: we see the cloud. It's obscuring the entire horizon now. It just ate our 4th amendment.

Dare we might hope this 'storm' will ever spawn an impeachment tornado? Or are you waiting until the anger out here grows into a Cat 5 hurricane?

Undersecretary of Defense attacks Hillary Clinton

Former Cheney aid and now Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman told Hillary Clinton that her questions about how the US plans to withdraw from Iraq 'boost enemy propaganda.'

Interesting. Do you suppose that this is how Bush plans to use his new executive order? I couldn't figure it out at all, but maybe he's just trying to get his fingers on Hillary's war chest!

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon told Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton that her questions about how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq boosts enemy propaganda....

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," [Undersecretary of Defense Eric] Edelman wrote.

He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines called Edelman's answer "at once outrageous and dangerous," and said the senator would respond to his boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

We live in interesting times. Perhaps a little too interesting.

I like the ones the media hates

Because of the reason the media doesn't like them: they speak the truth.

They don't have huge, corporate bank accounts, fancy jets and lobbyists following them around. They aren't spinning, aren't smirking, aren't hedging; they are taking chances, actually listening, taking action and working for change... not just flying around giving careful speeches and posing for photo ops.

Instead of worrying about making a costly mistake, they are listening to our anger, and spending time connecting with us. They are in the mix, fighting our battles when no one else will listen. Dennis Kucinich stood up and warned Congress -- and us -- that the war would drag on and on if we allowed our government to privatize Iraqi oil. He also brought impeachment charges against Cheney. The man actually understands the Constitution, history and the law.

Meanwhile Chris Dodd is trying to restore our Constitution, apparently with no real hope that his party will do anything at all to punish Bush and Cheney. And Dodd obviously 'gets' the media circus.

I'd love to see these guys in a real debate, with a real moderator. Perhaps on PBS. Perhaps with Katrina van Heuvel or Bill Moyers or Amy Goodman, or Dan Rather or Ted Koppel -- even Bill Maher or Jon Stewart would ask better questions than these mainstream morons. And Stephen Colbert... imagine if he were moderating the Republicans! I'd pay to see that...

The corporate media is now so self-righteous and so smug: like those snobby rich kids that pushed you around in school, anointed 'cool' (i.e. rich) kids, and dissed the rest. Heaven help the smart kid in glasses who actually does his homework. Think back on how they dissed Al Gore, and swooned all over George W. Bush. They told us Bush was such a 'fun guy' and Gore was boring and 'too smart'. They had the gall to actually say, and I will never forget this: that it didn't really matter who was elected anyway. As if it was only American Idol, and not our democracy at stake.

Their debates are shallow and ridiculous, their questions lame, their sensationalism premature, and their ability to judge real character, completely flawed. I like Edwards a lot more now that they are attacking them. Knowing Hillary has Murdoch in her pocket, I refuse to listen when she moves her lips. I don't own any Hillary stock. I won't be receiving dividends.