UNCOUNTED: Lest We Forget...Open Thread Version

Clinton camp denies she's ready to concede

But the AP reports she will admit Obama has enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, effectively ending her bid to be the first female president.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24944453/

Diane,

Great article! Once again, you located something that I had never seen before. (Either I really complimented you or I really insulted myself. (joke tag)

Anyways, I am glad to see that this type of content is more widespread and more available. I think due to the horrible consequences of having GWB and his cloud of doom and corruption more people, including the Republicans, are starting to frown at the idea of not being counted!

But as someone once told me, "When people have had enough pain, they will say, 'ENOUGH!!!'"

I also noted in a previous thread that there are more and more movies about the war, election fraud, and so on. It's almost as if the muzzle is coming off now that people are not afraid of being smeared as 'a liberal' anymore.

Emptywheel has a diary up at Kos that claims that Waxman is closing in on Cheney's role in the Plame-treason.

Obama now has 34 delegates. (Closing in FAST!)

By tonight, he will likely go over what is needed.

In the meantime, ClammyC at Kos has an important diary up about what will happen to the right to privacy (as well as Roe v Wade) if McCain is elected.

I've always maintained that it's not just the threat to Roe v Wade that should matter but it's the general direction of corporatism and extreme activism in their court which is what we need to protect. Roe v Wade is simply a means to garner some extra support for someone who will make sure that more dire consequences are being done behind our backs.

Here's the direct TPM link to the Waxman story.

Just a reminder everyone...(even though I'm here talking to myself as usual!)

The Home page often has deliciously well crafted articles to read and comment on.

Dwahzon and Otter spent a lot of time creating the home page for on-topic discussions for those people who only have time enough for 'fly-byes'.

And the people authoring those essays spend a lot of time crafting them.

So please remember to check it out. If you can't post on the home page, we're still in the process of figuring out where the MT is glitching. But any and all comments on the topic and placed on the home page would probably be appreciated by those who can't really have time to surf the open-thread.

Thanks...

sparrow

Thanks for sharing the Kos diary.

For me, the radical right Supreme Court will uphold the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, and that's not acceptable. Another reason to fight.

Also the reason why I will never drive a Toyota, despite its purported support of the LGBT community, thanks to its crucial role in elevating John Roberts.

AP: Obama has delegates to clinch nomination

MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 10 minutes ago

CHICAGO - Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, citing its tally of convention delegates. He would become the first black candidate ever to lead a major U.S. party into a fall campaign for the White House.

Hillary Rodham Clinton later told New York lawmakers she would be open to being Obama's vice presidential candidate in the latest message from her campaign.

The AP tally was based on public declarations from delegates as well as from another 16 who have confirmed their intentions to the AP. It also included 11 delegates Obama was guaranteed as long as he gained 30 percent of the vote in South Dakota and Montana later in the day. It takes 2,118 delegates to clinch the nomination.

NBC News said it would not confirm Obama as the presumptive nominee until all private commitments by delegates were made public.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24944453/

You're welcome, Ally. The DOMA is certainly one that institutionalizes discrimination, much like the Jim Crow laws institutionalized discrimination against blacks.

Is anyone going into the irc to chat tonight?

If so..and you need help...well speak out so that we know.

sparrow

Expect me around 8-9PM Eastern time (5-6PM here).

sparrow

I am in the chat, you're away, and nobody's there...

I don't want to worry anyone, but McCain's lies have sent me over the edge. I've found a bottle of Mogan David in the house, left over from...

Well anyways, I don't think it's strong enough for me to deal with him.

Ally. Sorry about disappearing from the irc. I had to take an important call.

Obama on right now. Holy Mannoli!!!!!!

I was so afraid we would NEVER see this day.

America has a chance to live on.

(Forgive me, but.........thank you, God.)

This is one of the happiest and most meaningful days of my life. I care about America, and it's promise.

Ally--email sent to you!

I am SO HAPPY the PRIMARY is OVER! 17 months is too long.

From now on, I think we should agree to only 17 hours! Ok days?

Obama's speech

Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.

Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said - because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another -- a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign - through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.

At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.

That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.

We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning - even in the face of tough odds - is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency - an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are Independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn't just about the party in charge of Washington, it's about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.

All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren't the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn't do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - we cannot afford to keep doing what we've been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say - let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.

In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.

Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.

It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.

It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college - policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.

And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians - a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn't making the American people any safer.

So I'll say this - there are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them.

Change is a foreign policy that doesn't begin and end with a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged. I won't stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years - especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.

We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must. It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It's time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home. It's time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda's leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century - terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That's what change is.

Change is realizing that meeting today's threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy - tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn't afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy. That's what the American people want. That's what change is.

Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. It's understanding that the struggles facing working families can't be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation. It's understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.

John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy - cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota - he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for.

Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay the medical bills for a sister who's ill, he'd understand that she can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That's the change we need.

Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand that we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future - an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need.

And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America. That's why I'm running for President.

The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon - that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I've walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I've sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I've worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.

In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.

So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.

So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.

So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom's cause.

So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that's better, and kinder, and more just.

And so it must be for us.

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

I watched tv purposely for the first time since Kerry conceded. I didn't think I could get excited about a candidate again.

sparrow

Got your email! I was getting drowsy/hungry, so I had to leave.

Also... thanks for sharing the Obama speech. He knows how to speak eloquently.

I am going to donate to the MONEY BOMB, register more young voters & minorities who will vote for Obama, try to convince those afraid of CHANGE personally & via telephone & internet.

This is sweet. McC came in 3rd in Montana. Romney 38%, Paul 25%, McC 22% and Huck 15%!!! Two months as the presumptive nominee and McC doesn't win MT. Amazing.

Those of you who worked on the Kerry campaign - I just heard from a friend who was on the floor of the Xcel center in St Paul - said the Obamas came onto the floor to U2's BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

Dear DiAnne,

Thank you for your generous donation of $100.00.

Your gift will be immediately put to work building a campaign to change our
country and our politics for the better.

Looking for more ways to get involved?

Head over to My.BarackObama.com where our growing set of tools puts the future
of this campaign in your hands:

http://my.barackobama.com

On My.BarackObama.com you can...

Happy Day!

Where are you Christy? I know you are long in bed, Monkey, early to bed, early to rise.

All I feel is profound gratitude that a man like Barack Obama was placed in our midst in this very, oh so very crucial time.

Yes, he will make mistakes. Yes, he is inheriting a hell-hole. But he has proven himself, at least to me. He has lived down the slights, the spin, the propaganda, the innuendos, and come out stronger than ever. His speech tonight was nothing less than one of a real leader, a natural born leader, a charismatic leader. Besides being genuine and real, he GETS IT, and I know he has the spine and the intellect and the perserverence to do the best job he can. We should realize how lucky or fortunate (or blessed) we are.

And I do appreciate every single one of you. You have taught me so much. Sorry I was a terd, but it's difficult sometimes to blend two different cultures into one that makes sense. Karen and Richard, if it wasn't for this blog, I wouldn't know one tenth of what I know. I thank you for that, because it sure was "coo-coo making" to watch the propaganda on tv and know that the world wasn't anything like what they were trying to make me believe it was through the media. That makes for sick people, and we really should have compassion for those, too. Instead of anger, maybe we should just have compassion for them, for they know not that they have been used, misled, raped, and deceived.

Obama is one of a kind. Appreciate him, and work your arse off for him. I will. And that's not just talk, I mean it. I think we have been blessed with one of the greatest leaders in all of the history of this great country.

(Thank you John Kerry for all your wisdom and input and support, I know you love us, but for whatever reason it wasn't meant to be for you to step in to the White House. Maybe God just wanted to spare you the job.) You are still our HERO. You will always be FOREVER in our hearts as a genuine concerned leader and one who has tenacity. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you did to support Obama FOR US. There are MILLIONS out there who know WHO you are, what you STAND FOR, and understand and appreciate you and your public service.

For President Obama it's going to be like a Canary trying to drill itself out of a coal mine, trying to clean up the pig pen the present administration has created this country to be. (Who would have EVER thought?) But you know what?

We CAN. Our country was founded on certain standards for critical and genuine reasons.

Obama IS going to win in November, and he will need our support, and because of my particular beliefs, he will have my prayers, but he will also have my energy and my work and whatever money I can send towards the endeavor. I think he is very, very special. May God keep him safe.

(Payback is a bitch. YAY!!!!!!!!!)

I am here watching. I thought I would be dancing right now, but all I can feel is relief.

God bless the Aussies

Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcast Corp. reported June 1 that a legal brief has been sent to the International Criminal Court alleging Howard committed a war crime by sending troops to Iraq. A loose alliance of peace activists, lawyers, academics and politicians is behind the brief, organized by the ICC Action Group, based in Melbourne.

http://www.military.com/news/article/australia-ends-iraq-combat-operations.html

Christy

W, John Howard, Tony Blair, Junichiro Koizumi, and Roh Moo-Hyun all deserve to rot in jail.

Hi you guys,

Sorry I couldn't get in to the IRC tonight. Glad to know you are all kickin' out there....
Past bed time for me, work tomorrow.

Today was a wonderful day.

Barack Obama makes history

BARACK Obama wins the race, but Hillary Clinton refuses to quit.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23808646-5012572,00.html

Number one ... see the best images from a landmark day on the US election trail, when Barack Obama completed a stunning rise to the top and Hillary Clinton was told to accept second place.
http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,23607,5032171-5007150,00.html

Fox News Finally Identifies Karl Rove As McCain Adviser

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/fox-news-finally-identifi_n_104976.html

Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcast Corp. reported June 1 that a legal brief has been sent to the International Criminal Court alleging Howard committed a war crime by sending troops to Iraq. A loose alliance of peace activists, lawyers, academics and politicians is behind the brief, organized by the ICC Action Group, based in Melbourne.

Christy, thanks for that news - I had read some wishful thinking on that subject a while back and had no idea they were actually pushing ahead with it. Good news indeed.

If Hillary won the popular vote, as she shamefully claimed last night, Dubya found WMDs in Iraq.

It's time for a return to intellectual honesty, something the Clintons know precious little about. They lie so often, and so effortlessly, that I suspect they no longer even know the difference between authentic truth and their web of self-promotion and egotism.

Matthew, while I agree about the nonsense still being spouted by Hillary, I really don't care because it's over!!! I only hope like hell that HC doesn't end up as the running mate for Obama. There would be pluses maybe, but there would be an awful lot of negatives because HC wants Washington to run as Washington has over the past few decades. Hard to campaign for change with her practice saying NO CHANGE. She's not ready to give voice to "We The People" for anything other than her popularity.

NOW we can move on to the election proper. I don't think Rove can even help McCain. Especially if Rove's campaigning criminality is exposed and he's in court during this campaign. McCain is so deadly dull that I don't even have to turn the sound down when he speaks, I just nod off into a nap until my subconscious registers sound a little more interesting to attend to.

I found Clinton's speech last night to be absolutely disgusting, with ZERO regard for the party or for the continued damage she inflicts on the actual party nominee.

Her repeated assertions about what makes her the better candidate might as well have come straight from John McCains mouth. I kept saying out loud durinG her valadictorian-like speech, "What the f*ck is she doing? What the f*ck is she doing!?!?"

... and then the kicker... "I'll be making no decisions tonight".

I want THAT line spliced into a new one of those "it's 3 a.m. and the phone rings" ads, with her saying "I'll be making no decisions tonight".

Thouroughly disgusting.

Thankfully, the decision has been made for you Senator, and you could have delivered one of the great speeches in history last night, instead you chose to continue to damage the party nominee, and for that, you may have lost my respect forever.

Tt's really all about you, isn't it?

monkey, I agree with you, too. All of it. But my view is that the very best attention we can give Hillary Clinton from now on is NO ATTENTION! Totally ignore everything that she has to say. It is disgusting. So ignore it. She is disgraceful and if she were a child, her appalling behaviour wouldn't be tolerated. The media is loving every minute of it because it upsets so many people. Give the media that is attending to the Clinton bad-sportsmanship the cold shoulder also. Move on to what is good and hopeful for America and encourage everyone you come into contact with to concentrate on the Obama presidency.

Having said that, I'm reminded that I meant to thank you earlier, NMP. I'm grateful, as a citizen of the world, that you are doing all that you are for yourself, your family, your friends and also for total strangers on the other side of the planet, like me. Thankyou.

From Kos (from Rollingstone):

Worst. Speech. Ever.

6/3/08, 9:25 pm EST

Good God, John McCain gives bad podium.

It’s like watching the out-takes from an Andy Rooney kvetch.

UPDATE:

The cruel reviews are coming in even from Fox:

MORT KONDRACKE: Well, John McCain had better start working on his speechmaking and learn how to use a teleprompter. I mean, the gap, the rhetorical gap between this speech and...Oratorical gap between this speech and John McCain’s was vast. John McCain sounded old. This sounded fresh and new and exciting and visionary. And he was enlisting the country to join him in a great cause. This is our moment, all of that.

~~~~

(My comment)
Of course coming from Fox it wasn't likely that they'd state the other obvious fact...

There was more than one gap from McBush. The other gab was between truth and lies, reality and make-believe.

Yes, he's another Bush!

McBush's lies have started (as I posted above).

McCain is doing the whole Orwellian thing. He actually had the nerve to claim that Obama was in bed with special interests.

Here's from Obama's campaign donation website:

1. I am a United States citizen or a lawfully-admitted permanent resident.

2. I am at least 16 years old.

3. This contribution is not made from the general treasury funds of a corporation, labor organization or national bank.

4. This contribution is not made from the funds of a political action committee.

5. This contribution is not made from the treasury of an entity or person who is a federal contractor.

6. This contribution is not made from the funds of an individual registered as a federal lobbyist or a foreign agent, or an entity that is a federally registered lobbying firm or foreign agent.

7. The funds I am donating are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.

~~~

IN bed with special interests? Yes. The special interests are YOU and I and our KIDS and our NEIGHBORS.

It's nice to finally be considered SPECIAL by any politician. Thanks McBush.

Here's McCain's speech.

When I think of Hillary and Bill, and I can't help thinking of an old NYNEX Yellow Pages commercial from the 80s.

The theme of the commercial was "vanity cases" (and that the preferable place to find a "vanity case" was via the Yellow Pages, as opposed to real life).

The commercial featured a oh so chic young woman, attending a very fashionable event, who after carrying on about herself, concluded with the phrase: "but enough about me. What do you think of my dress".

If only they had a listing for self-absorbed baby boomers in the Yellow Pages...

My friend and colleague Bert/Kayakbiker has the most incredible photos - he was THERE!!!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/4/85417/60492/703/529172
He had someone save his place in the line and this represents diversity.
Take a look & recommend if you like it!!

attaturk's:

"Oh, Go with the Green Background"

"It'll make you look like the cottage cheese in a lime jello salad" Always a good look for an older gentlemen.

The aesthetics of McCain's speech, just mercifully completed before a slightly energized crowd of literally dozens, was awesome in how dreadful it was. No matter what Harold Ford thinks, who was somehow thoroughly moved by lime-jello McCain.

Way too funny.

Freepers review McSameoldshit's speech:

Advertisements [?]
"We need to start a fund for a speech coach for John..."
Posted response: "Why spend money? Just have GW give him some pointers."

"Dammit, another one of those grins at his own lines like he was doing in the first debate. That’s a very annoying habit."

"We are so screwed."

"accepting McLettuce is like being 9 years old and forced to eat your own cooking"

"McCain says we should be able to deliver bottled "hot" water to dehydrated babies...groan."

"My hubby asked “Have you ever heard of getting hot bottled water delivered”? Then he said McCain said that. He can add it to his January win."

"Sad."

"And his speeches are like little bedtime stories. It’s like he is speaking to a bunch of gradeschoolers."

"Now he is attacking Bush.... Unfreaking believable!"

"Why listen at all? You know if he says anything you like it’s lie. The guy’s a politician fer cryin’ out loud.. He’ll say anything his ‘handlers’ tell him to and if it comes out wrong he (and they) will say we’re taking it out of context."

"Agreed, absolutely sickening.....what an idiot....For me, back to The Golf Channel... I hope the are not trying to sell the Medicus.. oh well, better than this idiot."

"Sorry, but this speech by McCain is not very inspiring. Trashing President Bush does not cut it with me. He doesn’t need to talk about “incompetence” he needs to say we saw challenges and overcame them. His claiming success in Iraq for himself is disgusting."

"Who’s more annoying...the speaker or the crowd?"

"OK, that was a pathetic display of McCain supporters. What a weak crowd. Guess they pretty much reflect what we feel!"

"Good grief what a Washington DC JackA$$... F him and F the Republican party. They obviously do not give a Ratt’s A$$ about Conservatives. What a jerk!"

"Are you all sitting here wondering...how did we end up with this man as our nominee? I mean really. He’s dreadful on so many levels. Did he even READ this speech before tonight?"

Just a sample. Hundreds of posts saying pretty much the McSame thing.

"Good grief what a Washington DC JackA$$... F him and F the Republican party. They obviously do not give a Ratt’s A$$ about Conservatives. What a jerk!"

Not My President

~~

Umm..hate to break it to them but McBush IS a conservative! He sure ain't part of the religious base!

Are you guys ready to kick Mumbles McCrazys arse?

YES WE CAN!

McCain just announced live on TV that he sent a letter to Obama requesting that they engage in town hall meetings/debates all over the country.

Ya think he doesn't know where his strengths and weaknesses lie?

June 4, 2008 2:10 AM
kangaroo said:

Thank you, Roo for posting that flattering picture of me last night celebrating......
Only instead of beer I had a glass of Merlot.

"But the issue of race was by no means forgotten. Indeed, for many, the idea of an African-American in the White House for the first time seemed a concept that could potentially presage a profound shift in America’s sense of itself."

"Gerard Baker, the U.S. editor of The Times of London, wrote: “In 220 years a country that has steadily multiplied in diversity, where ethnic minorities and women have risen to the very highest positions in so many fields of human life, has chosen a succession of 42 white men as its leader. For good measure, the vice presidency, the only other nationally directly elected position in the US government, has been held by a succession of 46 white males.”

“But last night, in a tumultuous break with this long history, the ultimate realization of the American dream moved a little closer, and a black man became his party’s nominee for the presidency,” Mr. Baker wrote.

Ségolène Royal, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Socialist rival in last year’s French presidential election, called Mr. Obama’s candidacy “a historic choice.”

“He embodies the America of today and tomorrow,” she said Wednesday. Ms. Royal, who attended an Obama rally in Boston on Feb. 1, said his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq could help mend America’s battered image in the world. “He had a lucid judgment of the war in Iraq.”

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/world/05react.html

McCain just made several sarcastic off the cuff comments in his town hall slamming the French.

To NMP and everyone who is working on this election already, I want to also thank you, and tell you all I am so proud to be on your side. And at your side.

We have been through some bad years, but one day, when we all look back on this, what we will remember most is each other.

When I am scared you give me courage, when I am sad, you give me hope. Until the day I die I will never forget what we mean to each other, and I know already it will be the proudest memories of my life to know I stood shoulder to shoulder with all of you to face down a tyrant.

Terry McAuliffe is freaking deranged.

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1187

June 4, 2008 2:27 AM
kangaroo said:
Fox News Finally Identifies Karl Rove As McCain Adviser

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/fox-news-finally-identifi_n_104976.html

I told you I could smell Rover in the past months, especially the attacks on the pastor and trying to raise fears in people subconsciously. He indeed takes the opponent's strongest traits and tries to use them against him. I think with McCain, he is using his weakest points and trying to make them look like positives, especially with McCain trying to talk Obama into appearing with him at town hall meetings across the country. What's the matter, he can't raise a crowd on his own? Oh, that's right. THEY PAY their crowds.

Well, he's got his work cut out for him this time, how to make a pig's ear look like a silk purse. No wonder they let McCain run. Bozo the Clown could probably do just as good of a job, because all they seem to want is a figurehead in Oz, while they beat the stew out of the opponent and wreak havoc behind the curtain.

That poster was right. McCain really gives bad podium. BahhahaDD.

Not to be a Debby Downer, but now we have to hope and pray there are no new "terror" attacks, and new wars launched before the new administration takes over. The day Dubya is all packed up for the ranch, and gets on the plane and waves goodbye can't come soon enough for me. Now THAT will be a celebration.

Christy said:
Are you guys ready to kick Mumbles McCrazys arse?

YES WE CAN!

HA HA Christy!

I think it's appropriate that we give Smokey the Parrot one more listen....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuKqWEYzhEA

Today's censored NY Times Blog post...

After last night, I fear that the divisions within this party will be with us for the foreseeable future, thanks to one final orgy of Clintonian self-pity and self-absorption.

My candidate, John Edwards, was almost totally frozen out of his fair share of media attention by the presence of the two celebrity candidates - but I didn't see him, or Joe Biden, or Chris Dodd, or Bill Richardson endlessly whine about their treatment. Even Dennis Kucinich, who offered perhaps the most interesting ideas of any candidate, and yet continued to be treated as a joke by the media, exhibited little bitterness. Each accepted the outcome of the process, and with it, the end of their chance to ever become President, with grace and dignity.

If only we could say the same of the Clintons. Even though they had already been given the extraordinary privilege of eight years in the people’s house, and the unflinching support of Democrats of every persuasion when Bill’s personal foibles threatened his Presidency, this couple continues to act if they are now somehow victims – rather than being among the most fortunate human beings of our time. What an ugly couple they truly are – and how glad this lifelong Democrat will be when the Clintons finally feel our pain, and simply go away.

At this point of the campaign, I don't think Hillary's actions last night are as bad as the blogs and pundants are saying. So she didn't actually concede and say "here's my delegates." But she did say that Obama had the right message at the AIPAC meeting. She did talk about the Democratic Party being the party our nation needs right now.

And she hasn't actually said anything dirty about Obama or his campaign. So I think it's a non-issue.

And the fact is that it' keeping the media on her and Obama in an 'undirty' way, and I believe this helps the party right now because McCain can't get his message past them.

The less time the media has to promote McCain's lies about Obama or the Democratic party, the happier I am!

I'm all for that.

CBSNews.com Turns Off Comments on Obama Stories

Today CBSNews.com informed its staff via email that they should no longer enable comments on stories about presidential candidate Barack Obama. The reason for the new policy, according to the email, is that stories about Obama have been attracting too many racist comments.

"It's very simple," Mike Sims, director of News and Operations for CBSNews.com, told me. "We have our Rules of Engagement. They prohibit personal attacks, especially racist attacks. Stories about Obama have been problematic, and we won't tolerate it."

CBSNews.com does sometimes delete comments on an individual basis, but Sims said that was not sufficient in the case of Obama stories due to "the volume and the persistence" of the objectionable comments.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/05/04/publiceye/entry2761854.shtml

I found Clinton's speech last night to be absolutely disgusting, with ZERO regard for the party or for the continued damage she inflicts on the actual party nominee.

Her repeated assertions about what makes her the better candidate might as well have come straight from John McCains mouth. I kept saying out loud durinG her valadictorian-like speech, "What the f*ck is she doing? What the f*ck is she doing!?!?"

As Father Pfleger Says Barak stole Hillarys Thunder, and no one does that to Georgie or Hillary, didn't ya know.

I am starting to think the Aussies will be taking the lead in beginning the long road of accountability. Man I just love Rudd, I can't help myself.

Matilda is walzing home from Iraq, and the Australians are lucky but chastened.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/060308b.html

Sparrow, I hate to disagree...but claiming that you received the most popular votes (as she claimed in last night's speech) in this campaign sends a message to people, especially largely non-political voters who have not been watching this race too closely, that the fix was in, and that Obama did not somehow deserve the nomination. It may even be reinforcing the racial resentment angle that her surrogate Ferraro (who, as was point out somewhere else, literally represented the fictional Archie Bunker's neighborhood in Queens, when she was in Congress) has been attempting to sell all along.

The fact is that Obama leads in the popular vote in any intellectually honest count. The fact is that Obama also leads in earned delegates. The fact is that Hillary refuses to acknowledge the facts of this race, and in doing so, is undermining Obama's legitimacy as a candidate. The fact is that Hillary has a problem admiting when she's wrong - as in her Iraq Resolution votes, when challenged by her constituents (of which I am one, and I take that refusal personally, given that my city lives with a bullseye on it) - and when she's lost, as in now.

Thank you, Roo for posting that flattering picture of me last night celebrating......
Only instead of beer I had a glass of Merlot.

Your welcome TSP

US Military Awards $80 Million Contract To Saudi Indicted By Justice Department

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/04/indicted-saudi-financier_n_105209.html

Feds drop bid to up Siegelman sentence

3 hours ago

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are no longer seeking stiffer prison sentences for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy.

Prosecutors filed a motion this week with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking that their appeals of the sentences be dropped. Their appeal had called for a longer prison term than Siegelman's more than seven-year sentence and Scrushy's almost seven-year sentence.

The latest filing does not say why prosecutors want to drop their appeal.

Prosecutors originally asked that Siegelman be sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and Scrushy to 25 years.

Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted in 2006 of bribery and other charges in a government corruption case.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iOyycR-xFQgu1gmvsLQ4sYcIUf8gD913C3DO7

Matthew,

I think few people are buying Hillary's "popular vote" but they do understand that she did quite well!

And yet, for 24 hours, McCain has tried to say that he's the agent for the 'right' change...and he tried to get some media attention by saying to the media, "At this (stump) speach McCain has some important news..." And the only 'news' about it is that he wants to do townhalls with Obama. (We all know why.)

So while I disagree with you about the complete duplicity of Hillary (and agree with some of your points) I'll remind you of something we both agree upon.

McCain's the true enemy right now. And so is Lieberman. Obama has some conferences planned with Hillary. Obama has taken on McCain head on. And Obama went after LIEberman immediately upon hearing that LIEberman was running some anti-Obama campaigns.

And just to cheer you up...enjoy watching Fox's take on McCain last night. via TPM

BREAKING NEWS:

New York Times: Hillary Clinton suspending campaign, will endorse Obama Friday.

source MSNBC this evening....

Clinton officially conceding on Friday.

And even though she wasn't gracious last night to concede then, at least she made a big effort to promote Obama to the AIPAC this morning. Obama will be a good friend to Israel

Perhaps that's why I'm not as angry as other people are. I think she took care last night to honor the achievements of her supporters. I didn't hear her specifically claim to win the popular vote last night. I heard her mention the large number of supporters who she wanted to make sure wouldn't feel 'dumped' by the wayside. And whether she won the popular vote or not, she did win half of this country over.

And in her favor, McCain tried to make it that Obama won the nomination due to the super-delegates overturning the popular vote, but she did not go onstage and agree.

Joe Rangel, among others, apparently read her the riot act.

Popularity is important - hence I believe the only things that can derail Obama's ascendancy to the Presidency are lies, corruption, bribes and vote tampering on election day. BUT popularity isn't the most important attribute a prospective president can have. We've had the most criminal person on the planet holding the world's most powerful position for 8 years. He was put there twice on the back of all those deviations mentioned. Forewarned is forearmed, they say.

We know what the criminal cowards will do when cornered as they are right now - they'll stop at nothing to discredit Obama. Personally I believe that Obama's groundswell of support is so phenomenal that it will take actual evidence to prove he's a bad person. Or, as some believe happened to enable GW's assault on the world, stage another terrorist attack.

We just have to stay ahead of the fray. And right now, with rats deserting the sinking ship at an ever increasing pace, I think the Republican Party is in the process of bringing itself down.

I WILL HOPE. YES I CAN. YES WE CAN.

And let's also give credit where it is due - to Obama's campaign strategists. Give me Karl Rove, or give me Obama's team? I'll take Obama's strategists any day, thank you. They have been magnificent. Obama isn't working alone. As well as family and friends, his supporters and volunteers, his support is growing daily. His strategists have been careful not to give knee-jerk reactions to anything adverse. Carefully considered responses. Sometimes after days. Other times after minutes it seems. What a team!!

I congratulate all involved. And thank them also.

WallStreet Journal says that Obama people have indicated that they're not likely to pick Hillary as VP but not due to Hillary's actions, but due to the fact that Bill refuses to release his donor list for his library. (So it's HIS secrecy that may cost her.)

Since Obama has made openness a vital part of his message, this is very important!

Yes, Joe Rengal did, but he also was as not beating her up in public for it. He simply said that the NY delegation would be talking to her today!

I will just say that I agree with Matthew and others that she should have been more prepared too concede last night. She had a weekend of warning signs. Yet she did win SD too. But even with that win, as the day went on yesterday and she saw Edwards release his delegates, she should have had the speech prepared. She should have had her chat with team members prior to last night. I will say in her defense that I think had she had that type of discussion ahead of time, we would have seen it leaked into the press and that would have been inappropriate for the voters in those states. She probably didn't want people to jump ship if there was any chance she would win both states.

I know my views are a lot less angry than many expressed here, but I guess, I just dislike Bill Clinton more than I dislike Hillary Clinton.

Who's been a baaaaaaaaaad booooooooy?

OK - sing along, everybody :0)

We are the ones...

I feel really bad for Clinton personally.

She did put up one hell of a fight. And for the manicured type she is one tough nut to crack.

I lost a lot of respect for her during this campaign, and I believe her loss is no one elses fault but her own, but I can not help but feel bad for her tonight. I hope she gets lots of hugs.

It is one hell of a dream to give up on. It can not be easy. And even though she has all these huge faults, I am still glad she is on our side. As a true republican she would be lethal.

Speaking of republicans... HAR HAR HAR! OMFG! Have any of you ever seen a more ridiculous candidate than Mumbles McCrazy?

The man is a walking head trip. If I were republican I would moan in agony every time I saw him. But since I am a democrat I just laugh and laugh instead!

This is gonna be crazy fun to watch him fall.

Hey Rossi and Ally, go check out my new nude. She's Greek!

HeHe!

Calm in the Swirl of History

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/politics/04obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

“I love when I’m shaking hands on a rope line and”— he mimes the motion, hand over hand — “I see little old white ladies and big burly black guys and Latino girls and all their hands are entwining. They’re feeding on each other as much as on me."

He shrugs; it’s that distancing eye of the author.

“It’s like I’m just the excuse.”

I absolutely love Kayakbiker's photos from last night.
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2008/06/i-witnessed-his.html

Now Huffington Post says Hillary has changed her endorsement to Saturday.

Bush's "New Middle East" Revealed

At last the true intent of the Bush Administration's illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq is revealed. The Independent has published leaked details of the long term security deal the administration is trying to force upon the people of Iraq. It is draconian and criminal and it is proof that they never had any lofty intentions to bring freedom to Iraq. They want a slave nation, and we can't let them do it.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bush-s--New-Middle-East--R-by-scott-creighton-080605-7.html

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

- Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963

I got two emails telling me to butt out about Obama (Hillary supporters coming out of the closet) and another that was a forward from someone's wingnut relative (showed African relative and mixed race photos r/t Obama, like they were a bad thing.) I suppose we have to prepare for that and figure out how to best deal with it. Meanwhile, Obama is heading to southern Virginia and part of that is in Appalachia and he has Webb and Warner and more with him.

Then there is this disturbing article about how we could spend 1000 years in Iraq probably, as occupiers.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html
& there is recent (yesterday - Condi, Bush) sabre rattling about Iran. We are not out of the woods.

Kangaroo
Your article is referring to the one I just posted. Creepy idea huh?!

An RNC official told CNN that Republicans would use Clinton’s criticisms of Obama “repeatedly” throughout the general election campaign.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/05/the-rnc-looks-to-exploit-dem-debates/

Now, who did not see that coming?

As I've argued all along, the Clintons opened a door to certain tactics that no Democrat had any business opening up.

The racial resentment door was especially inexcusable. But the Commander-in-Chief door was equally so. Obama is every bit as qualified / inexperienced as was Bill Clinton in 1992. And, all things considered, Clinton did ok as Commander-in-Chief - not perfect, but ok, especially in comparison to Dubya. IMHO, using wedge issues to profit in a political campaign are an exercise in bad citizenship.

I hope that Obama takes up McCain's challenge, in some form or another, so that he gets every opportunity to define himself in American minds – as opposed to leav