June 7, 2008
Let’s come together and elect a Democrat
Now that the Democratic nominating process for president has effectively ended with Barak Obama securing enough delegates to claim the nomination it is time to look back at the primary campaign and forward to the general election. The Democratic Primary was a hard fought primary that in the end showed us the best of what America can be by producing its top two candidates in a woman, Hillary Clinton and a black candidate, Barak Obama.
Never before had a woman or a black had a chance to get this close to becoming the president of the United States. Today, one woman almost got the chance and one black man will get the chance to win and occupy the Oval Office.
During the campaign there were allegations that the Clinton’s were playing the race card and Obama was using sexism to beat Clinton. While each candidate used some questionable tactics at times and there were statements made that were used by the media to create a larger rift between the candidates than might have happened, in the end both Clinton and Obama desire only one thing, that a Democrat occupy the White House in January 2009.
I was attacked recently for a post asking Clinton’s women voters to put aside and bad feelings and help elect Obama. I was called sexist among other things. My attackers missed a couple of things. One, I was an Edwards supporter not an Obama supporter. Two, I am about as sexist as those that attacked me. And three, if Clinton had been nominated I would have written the post aimed at Obama’s black supporters asking them to support Clinton. My one and only goal is to elect a Democrat in November because that is what is best for ALL of us.
So with an exciting primary behind us and a brutal fight with the GOP ahead of us I can only hope that Democrats of different views and desires can come together to help elect Barak Obama.
THE BUSH ECONOMY
Losses and Surge in Oil
Spread Gloom on Economy
Saturday 07 June 2008
by: Peter S. Goodman, The New York Times
The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent – the sharpest monthly spike in 22 years – as the economy lost 49,000 jobs, registering a fifth consecutive month of decline, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The weak jobs report, coupled with a staggering rise in the price of oil – up a record $10.75 a barrel to more than $138 – unleashed a feverish sell-off on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 400 points. The dollar plunged against several major currencies.
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June 6, 2008
BLACKMAILING IRAQ
“They hate us for our freedoms”?
Ha. Ha. Ha.
US Issues Threat to Iraq’s $50 Billion Foreign Reserves in Military Deal
Friday 06 June 2008
by: Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK
The US is holding hostage some $50bn (£25bn) of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely, according to information leaked to The Independent. US negotiators are using the existence of $20bn in outstanding court judgments against Iraq in the US, to pressure their Iraqi counterparts into accepting the terms of the military deal, details of which were reported for the first time in this newspaper yesterday.
Iraq’s foreign reserves are currently protected by a presidential order giving them immunity from judicial attachment but the US side in the talks has suggested that if the UN mandate, under which the money is held, lapses and is not replaced by the new agreement, then Iraq’s funds would lose this immunity. The cost to Iraq of this happening would be the immediate loss of $20bn. The US is able to threaten Iraq with the loss of 40 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves because Iraq’s independence is still limited by the legacy of UN sanctions and restrictions imposed on Iraq since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the 1990s. This means that Iraq is still considered a threat to international security and stability under Chapter Seven of the UN charter. The US negotiators say the price of Iraq escaping Chapter Seven is to sign up to a new “strategic alliance” with the United States.
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Women voters have a clear choice; Barak Obama
There is much debate right now about whether or not Senator Barak Obama can win over the millions of women that we hoping to see the first female president in the form of Senator Hillary Clinton. Many women that support Clinton blame Obama and his surrogates for much of the sexist treatment they feel Clinton received during the primary campaign. The amount of blame placed upon sexism as a reason for Clinton’s loss is ridiculous. Were their moments when the media treated her in a sexist manner? Probably. Was that the reason the Clinton camp ran a poor campaign? No.
Women voters must get beyond their perception that Obama was somehow responsible for the so called sexist treatment of Clinton and focus on what Obama will provide for women versus what Republican John McCain will do for women. Obama will protect a women’s right to choose through what may be several Supreme Court appointments and has a plan for providing universal healthcare. McCain will move to install justices that will seek to remove a women’s right to choose and he believes that the government has no business trying to provide healthcare for all Americans.
Choice and healthcare alone are enough for Clinton’s female supporters to join with Obama but I’ll add one more, Iraq. John McCain intends to keep our sons, daughters, wives, husbands etc. in Iraq for a long time. Barak Obama wants to bring them home.
So to women voters I say this. You can be angry about the perception that Hillary Clinton was treated differently because she is a woman, blame Obama and help elect John McCain, or you can be the smart intelligent women that you are and realize that in the end Barak Obama’s policies are so close to Clinton’s that it would be irrational not to support him.
Hillary and Obama Meet Privately in Washington D.C.
The Associated Press, June 5, 2008
WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton met late Thursday with Barack Obama, a day after saying she would end her quest for the Democratic nomination and endorse the Illinois senator.
A senior Obama campaign official confirmed that Obama delayed his departure from Washington Thursday night to meet with Clinton at her home here.
Earlier, Clinton had disavowed efforts by some supporters who have urged Obama to choose her as his running mate.
“She is not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for her but her,” communications director Howard Wolfson said. “The choice here is Senator Obama’s and his alone.”
Clinton was planning an event in Washington Saturday to thank supporters and urge them to back Obama’s candidacy. But as she was bowing out of the race, supporters in Congress and elsewhere were ramping up a campaign to pressure him to put her on the ticket in the No. 2 spot.
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June 5, 2008
BLACKWATER STORMTROOPERS INVADE SAN DIEGO
Judge allows Blackwater to open San Diego center
By ALLISON HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago
SAN DIEGO – A federal judge Wednesday ordered the city to allow military contractor Blackwater Worldwide to begin using a new counterterrorism training center in a warehouse outfitted with an indoor firing range.
District Judge Marilyn Huff ruled that the company would suffer irreparable harm if it could not begin holding classes there for Navy sailors.Blackwater sued last month to force the city to issue final occupancy permits after the required inspections were already approved, claiming officials upended normal procedures because they feared a political backlash.The city responded that the company misled officials about the nature of the center, which includes a multilevel mock ship built out of cargo containers, to avoid triggering a full review by the city planning commission and a possible City Council vote.
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