From "Head of State"
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/strength.html

"Saturday, May 03, 2008
Strength

I have been watching Sen. Obama during his weeks of adversity.

He has what we need--a transformative national vision, a commitment to a new and unifying politics, and to a long-needed truth in governance and international relations.

He needs to transcend other characteristics.

There is a prickliness--a sense of insult or hurt that, having given an honest message, the message has been distorted--a certain wounded defeatism.

He must rise above this and be strong.

This is the vulnerability of a man long without a father.

In such circumstances, men often become their own father-- accompanied by the grandiosity, limitlessness, precociousness, and willingness to quickly fill in gaps with apparent consistencies that is characteristic of a persona adopted in childhood, too large and too soon--i.e., Bill Clinton;

They too can become the agent of the genuine, intelligent, and heartfelt ideals of their mother-- passed on, rightly, as the intelligent and humane truth of the world, but not buttressed by the daily measuring and inevitable confrontation of those ideals that can come from the presence of a father--the tensile strength. and resilience that causes those ideals to energetically endure in the face of challenge.

Obama has recently shown an underlying hurt and lethargy in reaction to the politics of fear and attack--what has been reported by some as "boredom."

To win--and more important, to reach the goals that he has set out for himself--he must turn away from such disappointment in the reaction of the nation.

He must put forward his energy and strength in the face of distortion to bring the nation to a realization of what matters most at this time.

When he shows such disappointment in reaction to such events, he shows that he cannot stand up to the distortion that will inevitably come, and that he must overcome to reach the point of national transformation.

Barack: There is no place in this campaign for disappointment, wounded defense and hurt. You are taking on the gigantic task of changing the minds of the American people, including those diverted, suspicious thoughts that will inevitably rise from the restraining bonds of our collective past--and, as you know, will be encouraged to do so.

Now is the time for strength--strength of purpose and strength of commitment. Bring people to an image of what can be established and created beyond the trivial, momentary excitement of attack politics. Do not be drawn into the minutiae of a ground war, or into a position of withdrawn and injured hopelessness. A hint of this creates the image of someone who is playing the old game, by the old rules.

You've made this clear in your stump speech: This is your moment. Now--Fully step into it. Bring people to fully realize what they can have, with full energy, commitment, strength and belief: A nation committed to truth in its relation to the people of this and other nations, to the unity of this country rather than to tactical and self-serving division, and to the interests of the many, rather than the few."

Incidentally, this "Head of State" post predicted today's actions by Obama, in the following AP/Telegraph report:

"Michelle Obama: Barack has hit boiling point

Barack Obama is struggling to contain his anger and frustration over the constant barrage of questions about his character and judgment, his wife has revealed.

AP
Michelle Obama told her audience that her husband was 'sick of the battle against Clinton'

Michelle Obama lifted the lid on the irritation felt by the leading Democrat candidate for the White House at the way anti-American outbursts by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, have dogged his campaign.

He is said to be itching to turn all his fire on John McCain, the Republican candidate, who is benefiting most from Mr Obama's protracted tussle with Hillary Clinton.

Mrs Obama told a rally in Durham, North Carolina, on Friday that only her husband's desire to change US politics had helped him to control his feelings: "Barack is always thinking three steps ahead - what do we need to do to make change."

Her husband was thinking "I can't let my ego, my anger, my frustration get in the way of the ultimate goal," she said."

Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/strength.html

Just say Nobama if you want to win in the Fall. Vote smart, vote Clinton.

According to Yahoo political DashBoard http://news.yahoo.com/election/2008/
dashboard Hillary needs 324.5 of the 496
remaining total that is 65.42% Obama needs 172.5 of the 496 total that is 34.77 % I think that the fat lady is about to sing.

DISPATCHES FROM THE GROUND WAR ...

BEN SMITH OF POLITICO.COM REPORTING ...

Charlotte Observer backs Obama

North Carolina's biggest paper backs Obama for his potential to restore decency to politics, and for a list of reasons it doesn't like Hillary:

[W]e're troubled by, to cite a few examples, these aspects of her presidential campaign:

• Many of her supporters seem intent on depicting Sen. Obama as the Jesse Jackson of 2008, a leader who appeals to an ethnic minority but not to the broader electorate needed to win.

• She sometimes exaggerates her influence and experiences, as when she claimed she "helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland" and said she ducked under sniper fire in Bosnia.

• Florida and Michigan were stripped of national convention delegates after breaking party rules by scheduling their primaries too early. The candidates didn't campaign in them. Yet after Sen. Clinton did well in those states, she pushed to change the rules and count the votes. That's a cynical, self-serving effort to corrupt the selection process.

• Her tendency to tell voters what they want to hear is disturbing. Her proposal to suspend the federal tax on gasoline this summer is campaign gimmickry, not leadership. Her assertion that she was a critic of NAFTA from the beginning is simply unbelievable. The record shows she was an ardent advocate of the trade deal.

It is worth noting that the primary in NC and IN and ultimately the election hinge on a bet by two of the candidates that low information voters will believe their preposterous assertions that a "gas tax holiday" will help them pay their fuel bills this summer. Anyone with a high school level education in economics will tell you a gas tax holiday will actually have the effect of raising gasoline prices. The consumer will simply never see a dime and the oil companies will make even higher profits. Not to mention the fact that it might put as many as 300.000 people out of work when the country is reeling from job losses or drive our debt even higher. It is simply impossible to even suggest that such a measure could be introduced much less pass through congress before the end of the summer given nobody but McCain and Clinton support it in congress. We are witnessing an epic and historic clash of old and new politics, one rooted in pander and deception of the past and one with the promise of truth and transparency.My vote is for Senator Obama

I think the person in the audience who made less than 25k per year said it best in her question:

"Call me crazy but I actually listen to economists because I think they know what they've studied."

The crazy thing is that turns outHillary might have made a decent wack job populist. Too bad it is hypocritical posturing. Obama was superb and presidential.

Why can't people see that Hillary Clinton is poison to both the party and the country? Why are so many of my fellow Democrats still happily drinking cyanide-laced punch? Why not re-focus ourselves onto something positive?

Is Hillary Clinton auditioning for McCain's VP as part of GWB's third term?

Economists definitely do not know as much as they think, but completely ignoring their advice has been part of Bush's disastrous policy for the last 7 years.

Iran has no nuclear weapons and is unlikely to have any in the next decade. Israel has over a hundred nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them. Just why is Clinton about to obliterate Iran?

Now, I finally get it.

Hillary is not ...running against...Obama....

But...as an...Alternative...to McCain.

Syah Ouzy, yes, she seems to be doing just this. I can't understand these blue-collar white workers, who lost their manufactoring jobs under Clinton-Bush joined dymnasty, but still want to vote Clintons back. Very self-disrespectful, is it not?

Obama wants to negotiate with Iran, but war-monger Hillary wants to obliterate the Iranians, risking a 3rd World War.
Which do you prefer?

On the gas tax Clinton's statement was just typical Washington politician pandering.

The bottom line with her plan is that consumers will see at most a 17.8 cent per gallon reduction in price -- or the equivalent of about $18 over the course of the summer months. That is assuming that oil companies don't simply raise prices to account for the gas tax waiver, and simply pocket the additional profits.

It's not the "elite" opinion makers who are rebutting Clinton -- it's anyone with basic algebra skills and an understanding of the supply and demand curve. I know, and she knows, that she knows better. Yet she just lies in our faces.

Tobias: Clinton may be a smart politician, but the gas tax BS shows lack of integrity. I have no doubt she knows that is bad policy. Even as politics it is a gamble - but she needs to take a risk in order to win alla Lombardi. It's the ONLY thing, right?

Obama said he tried to use the controversy surrounding Wright's statements "to construct a conversation about issues of race." . . ????!!!!

All the while he's busy race-baiting Hillary's Campaign. The way Obama denigrated so many good people, accusing them of playing race cards has been very divisive for our nation. The way he race-baited Hillary's campaign, accusing them, attacking them about playing race cards. Attacking Bill Clinton, one of the best Presidents in America on black issues; or, Geraldine Ferraro, who has been the point person on so many social programs that benefitted blacks -- how shameful of Obama. His actions have indeed been divisive ( a la Rev. Wright ).

That's no way to have a constructive conversation about race issues.

Senator Obama has lost his halo and he is trying to get it back but once it's faded, it can't be recovered. Tim Russert, self-designated spokesperson for the Obama campaign, tried to help him this morning. You can tell he thinks Obama is mortally wounded by the questions he asked. Russert seemed like he was afraid he was going to hurt Obama's feelings. It was so nauseating ..I can't believe I watched even part of it. It's that kind of press coverage that has made Barack Obama the rock star he used to be. As we all know, those huge rallies (the 35,000 in Philly) did not turn into votes. The young people just wanted to attend a rock concert.

Obama will never win the votes of the white middle class because they just don't like him but even more they don't trust the MSM who have pushed him from the beginning. When has the MSM ever been right about anything? They also pushed George Bush and every day trashed Al Gore and John Kerry. And look at what George Bush has done to our country. We are practically a third world country and would be already if China hadn't loaned us billions of dollars. They'll want that back soon and then we'll be in big trouble. Where were the great econimists then? Telling us to buy bigger houses and to get ARMs because they were such a good deal.

At least Senator Clinton is trying to give publicity to the outrageous profits the oil companies are making and why shouldn't they pay the taxes on the gasoline for a few months. What have the economists like Alan Greenspan done for this country? They've allowed Wall Street insiders to make billions in the last 8 years. Who would listen to them....they know what they're doing alright. It just has nothing to do with the interests of the average tax payer.

barack gets his love and kisses softball questions from timmy on meet the press...
maybehe shined his shoes too. The nbc clowns have done more to set back real coverage of the presidential race than any coverage in history. The N o B ill C linton
network is a disgrace except for Joe Scarborough (minus Meka the fluff tart and Willie PoulterGeist. They should be on Fixed Noise. These two candidates can't win without a ticket with both on it. Hillary/Obama is the best choice, but if she isn't at least on it, he will lose.

Obama's Odyssey has required him to steer very delicately on race issues. I felt his speech was brilliantly positive and realistic. Wright posed a huge contextual problem since Whites don't get that style, and Wright wasn't about to change it. It wouldn't have worked for pragmatist Hillary to take the low road on Wright. Obama did what was necessary, both politically and to promote better race relations.

If my grandmother was still alive, she would say the difference between Hilary and Obama is like chalk and cheese. If you are hungry for positive change and a better American we can be proud of, and turn over to our kids with confidence, satisfy that hunger with cheese (Obama). Or if you prefer eat you can eat the chalk to fill a void and be constipated as a result, like we are now with Bush.

Hillary has solutions and experience and did well this morning on TV. Farmers & truckers benefit greatly (middle class)from a gas tax break that the oil companies would pay for and Obama has no answer? Easy-Vote- CLINTON!

There is increase probability of Israel dropping a nuclear weapon on Iran than Iran dropping nuclear weapon on Israel. Israel is estimated to have over 200 hundred nuclear warheads, Iran estimate having nuclear warheads is none. Thank about it.

Barack Obama has no backbone.

He refused to debate Hillary Clinton because he said he was too busy but has gone on show after show, where he had an interviewer who was biased in his favor.

He has chosen to take interviews with laid back interviewers who ask softball questions as though they are afraid to hurt his feelings or be called racist.

Hillary Clinton on the other hand has taken interviews with those who oppose her and interviewers that will ask hard questions without worrying about her feelings.
She even took questions from the audience. She is strong and the interviewers seem to sense that she can handle a hard interview.

This is why Obama refused the debate. He cannot answer hard questions without prepared answers. This is where you can see the honesty in the candidates.

When you believe what you are saying you have no difficulty answering questions.
You don't have to plan an answer because you just answer with the truth as Hillary Clinton does.
If you don't believe what you are saying it requires alot of thought to figure out what you should say.

Hillary Clinton is the only candidate that actually knows what she is talking about and is therefore able to stand up against popular opinion and speak out for Americans. She has never taken the easy road and said what people want to hear.

She tells you what she thinks, and explains her reasoning in detail. Obama gives inconclusive answers that can be interpreted in many ways.

Hillary Clinton is the best hope for an America of Peace and Prosperity.

Clinton's definition of an "elitist" is anybody with an education beyond sixth grade. What are the income qualifications, though? Averaging less than $10 million per year?

Her favorite word, this week....

Obama hasn't said how he would act with the problem.
If Iran attacks Israel, What would do Obama? maybe talk and talk?

It's too late to continue to want "change" something, when they first should have changed his mentor, guide spiritual and Reverend, so many years ago ...

Go Hillary !!!

Of all the enemies of Black Americans, the most heinous is the coconut. The coconut hates you with a passion that defies reason. Take another look at him. A close look!!!

tom: "elitist" - maybe one of Hillary's classmates with whom I had dinner: a successful surgeon who said many of her class were a lot smarter. Rhodes scholar Bill is elite. Hillary used to be an elitist who dissed women who baked chocolate chip cookies - then she became a politician and baked out of sheer pragmatism.

We cannot see the forest for the trees. Obama is new and fresh which is what we need. We have already seen the Bushs' and the Clintons' and where are we now? They have nothing new to show us. Hillary thinks she can do this all by herself---"I will do this I will do that etc". We need someone who is truthful and straight forward (Obama). We need a clean slate.

Hillary Clinton may just cost the Democratic Party the election. She is divisive, intolerant, and says anything the polls suggest she should. She hasn't made a stand on anything. She supported NAFTA before she became a candidate. Now she says she doesn't. She voted for the war, but now she says she's against it. She claims she didn't read the intelligence estimate. She voted in a willfully uninformed manner - which doesn't bode well for her qualification to be president. Now she wants to make a symbolic gesture by removing the gas tax that pays for our highway infrastructure. That is simply irresponsible, political pandering. Her campaign doesn't pay it's bills on time. Is this the kind of person you want in the Oval Office making decisions about the economy? She lied about her experience, including the famous sniper fire episode. Yet she is relentless in attacking Barack Obama over issues that are not substantive, and her supporters attack him with innuendos, such as calling him a muslim. She lacks integrity. Her experience is a sham. Her attempts to steal a nomination that she has almost no chance of winning are proof that she has put herself before the good of her party and her country. I do not oppose a woman as president, I simply oppose THIS ONE. If she damages her opponent and party too much, the one who benefits from her selfish ambition will be John McCain. If she steals the nomination, the backlash will make her utterly unelectable.

This thread is supposed to be about the proposed gas tax holiday. Getting back to the topic: Senator Clinton does not propose to force oil companies to lower their prices to reflect the tax holiday -- instead they will be free to charge us as much as ever for gas, and pocket the difference. As they can, during the summer peak demand -- they charge what the market will bear. So Exxon makes more profits, Clinton gets another Crown Royal moment, and we get ... that thing between the transmission and the differential.

Can anyone name 1 economist that promotes Hillary's summer tax cut? Unfortunately there are no, because it doesn't make sence. First of all 'let the companies pay the tax' is ridicuously naive! What do companies do with ALL (additional) costs? They allocate it by increasing the price which the consumer pays. That oil companies make billions of dollars is true, but they have always made billions of dollars! The increased US gasoline prices reflect an increased international oil price. Hillary is once again doing anything to win the nomination, and to INDIANA 'Vote Obama 2008' because saving in 3 months a maximum of 18 dollars would cost you guys a loss of thousands of construction jobs.

Of all the perils that Black Americans face there is none so serious and deadly as that or the hatred that the coconut has for us. They hate us with a passion that defies reason. There is nothing under the sun that the coconut would not do to remove Black Americans from the quest for the American Dream. NOTHING!!! Take another very close look at this brother/sister.

We need someone who is truthful and straight forward (Obama). We need a clean slate.
Posted by: rita
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

You have got to be kidding. Truthful and straight forward. Did you see him on Meet the Press? He gave so many contradictory reasons for Rev. Wright it was pathetic. His campaign is all on words. All you hear is that he is taken out of context. Can't this guy simply say what he means and mean what he says. M

The gas tax holiday is a horrible idea and it is such obvious pandering. WE NEED TO FOCUS ON FINDING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES, NOT SAVING PEOPLE A FEW CENTS A GALLON.

At least Senator Clinton is saying in every way that she does feel the pain at the pump for the middle class. All Senator Obama can do is talk about how her plan will not work. My little son was listening this morning to the news and he said, "What does he want to do?" None of us could answer him. He only seems to concur with her plans (let me emphasize "her plans") or critize them. What exactly does he plan to do that is any different than Senator Clinton's long term plan for the oil companies? At least she did not vote for Chenney's energy package like Senator Obama.

If you want $10 a gallon gas, food shortages, water shortages, power shortages, unemployment, a draft, WW III with Iran, death and destruction ...vote for McCain or Hillary.

When the power of love takes over the love of power...only then will we know peace.

A vote for peace is a vote for Obama.

I am taking bets as to what Hillary will come up with to get votes in Kentucky..... It will be interesting. She has pretty much used up everything including amending the Constitution to allow Guam to vote in the general election. She is testing that theory to see if it is popular and then she will promise the same to Puerto Rico. Since low level voters in Indiana don't read, They will never know what a bad idea this gas tax holiday is. We have seen how Hillary intends to fight. A lot like George Bush.
It scares me that so many Republicans including Conservative media is pushing so hard for Hillary to win the primary.
"She will be the best candidate to face McCain in November" they shout. If you believe that I have a piece of swamp land to sell you.

I am amazed that people who don't support Senator Obama are racist but 90 percent of blacks vote for Obama because he is black. If he had inherited the skin tone of his mother's family, the African Americans wouldn't think of voting for him in those numbers. They would want to know a lot more about him. They vote for him because of his skin color. He's not like most of them at all...his childhood was not the same, his education was not the same, his adult life has not been the same.

He is an inexperienced person who seems to be totally lacking in integrity and honesty and we don't know what else will be brought to the surface before November. We do know there's lots of "rumors" floating around on the internet and the press may be waiting to delve into some of those accusations just as they did the Rezko and Jeremiah Wright problems.

A vote for Obama is a vote for McCain. If you think the last 8 years have been great, vote for Obama and you'll get 4 more years of the same via McCain.

I watched Senator Obama this morning on Meet the Press, and he was horrible. He cannot answer a direct question. Tim Russert was so throwing softballs, yet he could not hit anything.

Hillary is a liar; its that simple, and that dead. She said she was named Hillary after the conqueror of Everest; yet he was an obscure beekeper when she was born six years before Edmund Hillary reached the top the world. She promoted NAFTA for her husband when he was President; now she's against it. She was the ultimate policy wonk who listened to economists; now she hates economists. She said she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire that did not exist. She was for the Iraqui war fiasco; now she's agin it. How can the American people support a president who
cannot tell truth from fiction?

I am taking bets as to what Hillary will come up with to get votes in Kentucky..... It will be interesting. She has pretty much used up everything including amending the Constitution to allow Guam to vote in the general election. She is testing that theory to see if it is popular and then she will promise the same to Puerto Rico. Since low level voters in Indiana don't read, They will never know what a bad idea this gas tax holiday is. We have seen how Hillary intends to fight. A lot like George Bush.
It scares me that so many Republicans including Conservative media is pushing so hard for Hillary to win the primary.
"She will be the best candidate to face McCain in November" they shout. If you believe that I have a piece of swamp land to sell you.

All I want, at minimum, is that the NEOCONS are out in November. I worry more about the race factor than the gender factor come November and I can't see why all these Republicans and "newly" registered Democrats in Red states are casting their lot almost exclusively with Barak.
The November election will be on a state by state basis, and about 35% of Barak's pledged delegates are from states that are very "RED"!
Previous to the 2004 election Karl Rove put forth a plan to game the Democrat's nomination process. It featured Red state Democratic primaries/caucuses giving delegates to the nominee who would be most vulnerable in November.
The plan had two problems at the time.
1----It was too late to implement for 2004
2----The Southern Red states with primaries that only allowed registered Democrates ( more than half black ) to vote.

By 2007 problem 1 had been solved in places like Wyoming, Idaho, etc, by getting White Republicans to cast votes for Barak.
Problem 2 was solved by getting a "COLORED" man, Barak, to run! BTW, his ascendency to the Senate was realized only because of scandal investigations, first of his democratic primary opponent, then of his opponent for the Senate. Karl Rove is a master at having his opponents "investigated"!

I don't see these "RED" states going for Barak come November. I hope I'm wrong.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indiana Democratic Primary (May 6) - 72 delegates
North Carolina Democratic Primary (May 6) - 115 delegates
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West Virginia Democratic Primary (May 13) - 28 delegates
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Kentucky Democratic Primary (May 20) - 51 delegates
Oregon Democratic Primary (May 20) - 52 delegates
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Puerto Rico Democratic Primary (June 1) - 55 delegates
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South Dakota Democratic Primary (June 3) - 15 delegates
Montana Democratic Primary (June 3) - 16 delegates
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

404 delgates left to be awarded

What would it take for Hillary to win??

Hillary trails Obama by 137 delegates.

404 delgates left - 137 = 267 /2 = 133.5

404 - 133.5 = Hillary needs 270.5 delegates to essentially tie.

270.5/404 = 66.96%

HILLARY MUST WIN ALL STATES by a margin of 66.96% to Obama's 33.04%, to tie in the delegate count.

Obama gets asked a question and give an answer.
Hillary, not so much.
Sort of:
"I don't care what the economists say. Trust me!" Likely why her attempt at universal health care failed during her husband's administration.
Isn't this woman capable of dialogging?

Clinton made it crystal clear she would not hesitate to attack Iran, should Iran attack Israel. The other question that begs to be answered in a reversed not so much of a hypothetical situation is what would she do if Israel first attacked Iran?

I guess people do not remember how Bill Clinton's actions in the White House did nothing for Al Gore in 2000. I suppose most people do not remember how the Clintons were investigated from the time they announced their run in 92 until they left in 2001 and continue to be investigated in 2008. I guess the media does not think it is worth any coverage when one of Hillary's main campaign workers goes to jail for election fraud. Then there is White Water, her votes supporting the war, and her inflammatory remarks about Iran. Her affiliations with radicals that make anything Obama has been associated with look like kindergarten stuff. I believe she has been everything from a Republican to a Communist or extreme radical supporter to a Democrat. She has run a poor campaign and much like her lame attempt to ram her version of health care down everyone's throat in 93 that was met with disaster I believe that is exactly how she will try and run her administration. She has all of these plans but has anyone bothered to ask Congress what they think. If it is anything like Congress's reaction to her gas holiday I do not expect her to get much support. This means to me that she will be a continuation of the same old politics with Hillary never getting any support from Republicans and probably not much from her own party. In fact her only successes will be much like Bill's were. Republican initiatives like Nafta and welfare reform that were not supported by his own party. This of course led to more jobs being shipped overseas and less or no money when it comes to us taking care of our own right here in this country. I do not think people should live off of the government. But when we got people hurting with high prices, when we got people dying from bridges collapsing, and when we got graduation rates of just 25 % I think we need to seriously think about helping ourselves for a change instead of playing world cop. That is what we got the UN for. 41 used the UN very successfully. I think 43 should have learned something from his old man instead of worrying about outdoing him. McCain is nothing more than four more years of the same thing. Plus there is nothing straight talking about him that I can see. So let's try something new and go for the guy who grew up a lot like a lot of us did. By the way I am one of those supposedly less educated, older white folks.

I listened to Obama this morning on Meet the Press. He wants long term relief. How long have I been listering to that. That is not change. It is the same crap. Long term is now folks. Try something new at least. We don't have time to wait on Obama.

my note to fellow Obama supporters:

consider, please the possibility that

GOING ON NOW, BEHIND THE SCENES there's a sort of "Crunch-Time" Pressure on Obama from Superdelegates who want some things (they shouldn't be given) in return for their votes---

Obama supporters should consider that, as the MSM has over the past week or two--since the recent re-flare-up of the Reverend Wright fabricated controversy, that is--been presenting Obama as being behind and having to play "catch-up" to HRC, the way is open for Super-delegates to try and capitalize on this moment to pressure Obama's campaign to make concessions in return for their announced support.

That's what the inside political players do--wait for moments when a candidate is placed on the defensive and then put the pressure on to yield to their demands for favorable treatment on their pet projects.

To counter that, to help reduce that sort of insider dealing--which is almost by definition directly against the interests of a mojority of ordinary Americans' needs and desires, these latter can redouble their expressions of support for Obama, reiterate that their support hasn't been dampened by the attempts in much of the national and the partisan press to tie public comments by Reverend Wright (which are his right to make and his business, not Obama's, to answer for) to Obama.

'The game is afoot!' as Holmes would say to Watson when time was of the essence and their adversaries were at work.

The public, which Obama is trying to represent, against all the efforts of the Beltway Establishment to prevent his doing so, has an opportunity now to make its support known when it's reasonable to assume that insider political power-weilders are busy taking advantage of a moment of difficulty to hold him up for favors.

Don't silently stand by and allow that.
Circulate this to your friends and family who support the good things that Obama would _like_ to do, if only the system's heavy-weights weren't allowed to prevent him doing them.

Time to fight! The 'crunch' is on because Indiana and Caroline vote Tuesday. That's why insiders are at work _now_ trying to pressure Obama.

Reflect on that and ACT! to help yourselves, to help each other!

I'm glad that poeple are finally beginning to question Obama's motives.Will he bring the Country together like Jimmy Carter or will his policies and followers divide us even further ?? I also question his Patiotism In the light of his wife and his long time connection to his Pastor! I think Hillory is more genuine in her love for this Country.and should be given the chance to prove it.

All you Hillary lovers post your venom here to no avail. There is no way she can win. Do the math. If she won every contest from here on, and won 2/3 of the superdelegates, she still doesn't get there. (But Obama does!)

All you're doing is paving an easier (albeit uphill) path for McCain. So quit the facade of being a Hillary "supporter." All the support in the world aint going to cut it.

I'm not posting this to make anyone feel bad, and I know, many of you have been clinging to the hope that Michigan and Florida will come in and save the day. You know though that the opportunity for that has come and gone. You're just making it easier for her to bloody up the front runner for the Republicans, so perhaps she can run in 2012 as the I told you so candidate.

Take your lumps, sigh, maybe even cry. Then go work your butts off for Obama if you want a Democrat in the Whitehouse next January.

I think the reason why so many young people love Obama is that they are too young to remember the Carter years. Carter was a young, idealistic nice guy and argueably the worst president we ever had. You don't get very far as the leader of a superpower if you base your foreign policy on being Mr. Nice guy. Too bad Obama was raised by his granparents and went to private schools. He missed out on the lesson that chatting with a bully only increases your risk of getting beaten up.

Today Hillary defends her "obliterate Iran" comment
on ABC's Sunday morning program "This Week".
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Obliterate Iran !! Talk about saber rattling...wow. Sounds like Hillary is pandering to the Israeli lobby for votes because the issue has no practical significance for US policy. Israel has enough nuclear weapons to "obliterate" Iran themselves if they so chose. Notice she brings up that Media beaten-to-death mistranslation by Ahmadinejad when he referred to wiping out the regime NOT the people of Israel . Now she has topped him in irresponsible rhetoric by saying she would obliterate the people of Iran.

A presidential candidate who lightly commits to obliterating Iran - and, thus, all the children, parents, and grandparents in Iran -- should NOT get our vote. Obama is the one who has the integrity, judgment and vision to run this country and to repair our world image.

Abigsam: I would rather have no one in the white house than Barack Obama, which come to think of it would be about the same. Anyone who saw him on meet the press with his surrogate campaign manager Tim Russert could see how utterly stupid this man is. Hillary could knock him out with one punch. He is by far the most effeminate man I've ever seen run for president. Good grief. How could any man vote for him?

Hillary knows her history backward and forward! She answered hard questions and came out with positive answers, even when she was questioned about her honesty. God forbid Obama being questioned with hard questions. I turned NBC off my list long ago. Timmy can't stand Hillary but oozes over Obama. What a fluff ball he was today. Can you imagine him sitting, leaning into Hillary and displaying a kind voice while asking her questions? Never!! I have checked the comments and find Cheryl's comment right on the money.

Jake
They, the right wing nuts, ( I believe 6 or 7 of the thirteen managers had affairs themselves) had a $60 million dollar investigation. Nothing too White Water, nothing proven against the Clintons except lying about sex to the grand jury. Not to lie about a sexual affair by a man is pure un-American. Man, read the Starr Report and get your facts straight.
It is hard to tell if you are one of those right win nuts or an Obamanuts. You're about the same. Clueless unless someone tells you how to think.

Clinton:

Gimmick: the holiday tax...more appropriately a Republican trick...double talk. Shame on a Democrat to stoop to that level.

Lies: Sniper fire....three times said.

The right wingers cheer for Clinton......Rush ask that people vote for her.....

She accused the right wingers of a conspiracy against her husband....now she courts their support::situational morality.....a shame not to have moral fortitude.

Obama will bring the country together...will bring the bright side of this country.

Hillary's motto: Have stupid people vote for me. Because only stupid people believe what she is pandering. We will soon see whether smart people, you know those elitist who actually have intelligence and realize the tripe she is peddling is only to get votes. (Chances of any gas tax holiday during a HRC administration:zero)Only in America do we pander to the lowest common denominator. Just look at where it got us the last 8 years. The stupid voted for Dubya and now we entrust them to make the right decision again? Come on people, you know what the right decision is. Stand up on principle and do not vote for HRC, because she is just another pandering, lying Washington politician. Guess what also if gas is 3.62 now, and you subtract 19 cents, you have gas STILL at 3.43, what happens if gas keeps rising? Anyone ask HRC? Where is the break then?

From Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/hillary-says-that-regarding-rev-wright.html

"Sunday, May 04, 2008
Hillary Says That Regarding Rev. Wright, "We Should Move On"

Today, during a Town Hall meeting presented by "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", an extremely poised and articulate Indianapolis voter, Michelle Skinner, a Republican, posed a beautifully targeted question to Clinton:

"Sen. Clinton, my question is: Do you think the discourse, the controversy going on with Rev. Wright, do you think this is relevant to Obama and his policy? Do you think this has accomplished anything or should we drop it, should we move on?"

Clinton: (trapped): "Well, we should definitely move on."

In this case--let's take her at her word.

Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/hillary-says-that-regarding-rev-wright.html

I watched both programs. The attitude of the host toward Clinton could only be described as mean. Totally lack of civility. Clinton stand much higher than her questioner. Tim Russert deserve a suspension by slapping Obama in the wrist and winked several times during the interview. The question is probably submitted by Obama himself.

As of the gas price issue, for the first time, a presidential candidate has speak out against economists in general and return to common sense governance. The advice of economists is the worst one can get about economy. The subjective of economy has nothing to do with real economy: the name is very misleading. I am glad someone get it right at last.

The same people who say the gas tax holiday won't save each individual much money are the same who say we need some such and such tax increase. Heck, it will cost each taxpapyer so little they probably won't even notice it. Well, it adds up. An extra 15 or 20 dollars a month can come in handy for those living paycheck to paycheck.

hazeknut,
Real men vote for Hillary. And like doing it too.

The Morons who think others are stupid in fact the ones who are really stupid. They believe in authority because they are not equipped to think. "Oh, those economists said the gas tax holiday don't work." Let me tell you the probability that an economist get a thing right is less than 50%. The probability of two economists get a thing right is less than 30%. The larger the number of economists, the more chance for them to screw-up.

So I'm wondering why Russert, the Washington Post, NYT, and much of the rest of the East Coast media elite is so all fired anxious to get Obama elected? Because they know Clinton would be a much tougher customer to deal with?

Why any working-class individual would believe that the Clintons, with their 109 MILLION DOLLARS raked in in the last 6 years, would have a better understanding of the economic challenges facing working families than someone like Barack Obama (who has made only a tiny fraction of the Clinton's haul), is beyond me.

When will Americans wise up and stop voting on knee-jerk divisive non-issues, like gun control, abortion, gay marriage, and RACE, and start voting on their own best economic interests instead?

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that someone who has made more than 100 MILLION DOLLARS over the past 6 years is completely out of touch with families living from paycheck to paycheck.

Case in point: Clinton's 'photo opportunity' stunt where she rode along with a worker who was going to a gas station to fill up his truck. Clinton admitted she hasn't had to pay for gas, let alone pump her own, in years and years. She hasn't a clue as to what challenges the economy is presenting for Americans.

Her 'gas tax holiday' ploy is nothing more than that - a political shell game meant to buy votes. But think of the bridge collapse last year in Minnesota and decide for yourself... do we really need to suspend the gas tax to save each driver only $20 or $30 over the course of the entire summer, while taking that money away from our road and bridges maintenance? And how many road workers will be laid off as a result?

The problem isn't that gas prices include a tax; it is that greedy oil companies are making BILLIONS of dollars in profit every quarter. Solve the problem: investigate the price fixing and collusion and fine the oil companies HEAVILY with a windfall profit tax to reduce the price at the pump!

Clinton is just playing Rovian political games to buy votes, and is betting that Americans are dumb enough to fall for it and elect her.

Tim of Meet the Press was so mild and bland in his interview, showed such partiality and preference for Obam, that the show can't be called an "interview" but a chat among friends.

The "interview" was tailored to fit Obama's lack of political experience and vacuous political ideas. There was no effort to press him on issues.

Compare that with Georgy's attack to Hillary masqueraded as interview on This Week. The audience was prohibited to clap even at the end of the program. The whole program was an opportunity for him to inflict on her the most vicious attack to her persona and integrity, calling her a lier right in her face.

But it doesn't matter. Hillary is too intelligent. She always comes across strong, secure in her political knowledge. She kicked georgy's butt; and when you compare her performance to Obama's, she always makes him look naive, inexperienced and superficial.

Now, Obama wants the race to be determined by the superdelegates. First, when Hillary was ahead in the popular vote, he said the delegates were the only one that mattered. When he got more popular votes, then he said the delegates must vote like the people. Now that it's all too close, he goes back to say that it's the delegates or superdelegates that matters.

Just as he said that Rev. Wright was like familiy and then today said "And I--you know, some, some of the reporting that implies that somehow he's my spiritual advisor or mentor, as he himself said, overstated things.", he lies, denies, and flip-flops.

No wonder John Kerry adopted him.

George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Who says America is not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice? God help us from incompetent "uniters" who know how to change Washington.

Subsidizing gas use when gas prices are high and during summer-driving is just stupid.

I studied economics and I know that cutting the gas tax will encourage consumption AND reduce investment in new technologies, making the people WORSE OF in the long run.

What's the solution after people use more gas and have less alternatives to gas? Subsidize cars? An SUV-tax holiday?

Nice try at changing the debate, I hope Obama will keep talking about change in Washington, no more Clintons, no more George Bushes.

THE IRAN ISSUE; US Congress and Senators who voted for the war in Iraq, gave the Iran gov't a free hand to operate inside Iraq. when the bombs were hitting Iraq , the Iran gov.t top leadership and our federal private defense contractors had a smile in their face. Now we have three problems that will affect our national treasury, Iran,Afghanistan and Iraq.

Change Washington!
Throw the bumbs out!

"No more Clintons!
No more George Bushes!"

McClinton, no way.

Obama 08!

Friday, May 2nd 2008, 9:26 AM

Hillary Clinton won the endorsement of the Indianapolis Star, Indiana's largest daily newspaper, in the state's Democratic presidential primary, which is May 6.

The newspaper made the endorsement after interviewing Clinton and Barack Obama, a first-term Illinois senator. In an editorial today, the newspaper said Clinton was "well prepared for the rigors of the White House."

"She is tough, experienced and realistic about what can and cannot be accomplished on the world stage," the newspaper said.

The endorsement praised Clinton's "nuanced positions on how to address the war in Iraq, trade with China and economic expansion" and said she had a "remarkable" depth of knowledge.

The Star said Obama's "inexperience in high office is a liability" even as he offers "an attractive vision for the way things could be."

WHEN ASKED TO NAME JUST ONE, JUST ONE ECONOMIST HILLARY WENT BLANK. THERE IS NOT ONE ECONOMIST WHO BACKS HER CHRISTMAS IN SUMMER GASOLINE BREAK TO GET VOTES.
SHE TREATS CITIZENS AS THOUGH THEY ARE TOO STUPID TO DEMAND THE BACKING OF ECONOMISTS FOR HER CHRISMAS GASOLINE JOB. SHE IS EFFECTIVELY TELLING THEM THAT BEING STUPID AND GULLIBLE IS GOOOOOOOOD. WHEN PRESSED TO NAME JUST ONE ECONOMIST SHE PUT EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK INTO HER ANSWER EXCEPT ONE NAME.. HEY, SHE TELLS HER DUMMY FOLLOWERS"WE DON'T WANT ANY ECONOMISTS RUNNING OUR SHOW." IT' UP TO US TO TRICK THEM INTO VOTING FOR US.

A VOTE FOR HILLARY IS A VOTE FOR STUPIDITY.

This race is over mathematically. The DNC is worried about the 500 or so Clinton black superdelegates who have said if Clinton doesnt quit if she loses NC they will support Obama and push him over the 2025. Why isnt this being reproted by anyone other than FOX.

It's hard to believe an 18 cents a gallon reduction in gasoline prices is going to encourage anyone to consume more or go out an buy an SUV when they don't already have one. It's really more symbolic than anything. It points out that Clinton is willing to use whatever tools she has, however imperfect, as opposed to Obama's pontificating and intellectualizing.

TheTruth: I saw Obama on Meet the Press, also, and if I ever hear another "uh" or "you know", I'm going to go nuts. Contrast that with Hillary Clinton's appearance on "This Week" this morning, which I also saw thanks to Tivo, and the difference is telling. Obama is always searching for the next lie, I mean, word. Hillary speaks with a confidence that comes when one is extremely conversant with the issues.

Gas-tax-holiday?

Sounds like another old-fashioned Washington-insider "solution" like Hillary's 1992 universal health-care reform failure.

Fool me once, Washington, shame on you.
Bush-clinton-Clinton-Bush-Bush-throw the bumbs out!

This country's infrastructure is crumbling from decades of neglect. Having the gas tax in effect during all those years did not prevent the neglect - but it prevented the neglect from being substantially worse! Suspending this vital source of revenue even temporarily will simply accelerate the decline of our overburdened transportation system. We need to keep the tax and focus on finding more efficient ways to use the revenue. If the tax gets suspended, don't go calling your Department of Transportation to complain about squat, because your request for assistance will be DEFERRED, just like the tax revenue.

How can we rationalize rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure when our own is crumbling beneath us, above us, and all around us?

How smart are our elected officials when they willfully ignore the advice of professionals. The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned us of the consequences of disrupting the flow of revenue generated by the tax of gasoline. Perhaps I can give Ms. Clinton a pass for claiming that economists are elitists, because there's a lot of hocus-pocus involved in economics. Not so with engineering. If someone says a bridge needs X amount of dollars to be spent of rehab or else it will fail, then you'd better pay to fix the bridge. It's quite simple. Why the heck should we listen to a candidate who won't heed professional advice? Does she think she's smarter than everybody else? Oh, wait, the elitist is SUPPOSED to be Mr. Obama. I don't want any of these candidates inspecting bridges, but I want one who will hire a professional to tell them what needs to be done, and then to take that person's advice.

O'REILLY INTERVIEWS HILLARY

Bill O'Reilly; Today, I have former First Lady, Hillary Clinton with us. Ms Clinton, could you please tell us why you want to repeal the gas tax this summer?

Hillary; Certainly Bill. It wil save the average poor and middle class American each over $17,500 in taxes this summer based on their net annual income of $189,000.

O'Reilly; That's ridiculous Ms Clinton. The poor and middle class won't even make $189,000 over the span of 10 years. By all professional economist's accounts, your plan will only save the average person $28 dollars this summer.

Hillary; That's ridiculous Bill. Of course poor and middle class families make $189,000 a year. Bill and I make $11,000,000 a year, and that's just what we report. If you include our international scams and our kickbacks from being in Washington, we make close to $85,000,000 per year. So if we can make that much, the average poor family CERTAINLY makes $189,000 every year. Are you trying to say that Bill and I are out of touch with the poor and middle class Americans?!?!?

O'Reilly; Absolutely not Hillary. You sound like you have your finger on the pulse of America. Now Ms Clinton, please tell us why you are most qualified to be the president.

Hillary; Why that's easy. Because I am a war hero.

O'Reilly; You were in the war?

Hillary; What rock have *you* been hiding under. I'm a WAR HERO. Want me to spell that out for you?

O'Reilly; Which war were you in?

Hillary; Pretty much all of them.

O'Reilly; All of them? Okay, describe your heroics.

Hillary; That's easy. First of all, I was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War 2, after I single handedly shot down 5 German dive bombers from a bunker in Normandy.

O'Reilly; But Normandy happened 3 years *BEFORE* you were even *BORN*.

Hillary; I can't explain it either. All I know is the facts speak for themselves. And then during the Civil War I was a high ranking Captain and led a battalion ...

O'Reilly; Excuse me. But what *facts" are we citing here? And the Civil War.. That was during the 1800s... Your *father* wasn't even born!

Hillary; Are you calling me a liar? Are you challenging my credibility here because I am a WOMAN?

O'Reilly; No, no..

Hillary; ARE YOU TRYING TO OPPRESS ME? ARE YOU TRYING TO STIFLE WOMENS VOTING RIGHTS?!? ARE YOU TRYING TO DRAG US BACK TO THE DAYS OF BEING BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT?!?!?!

O'Reilly; You've got this all wrong...

Hillary; ALL RIGHT BUSTER! YOU WANT WAR, YOU GOT WAR! MY HUSBAND HAPPENS TO KNOW A LOT OF POWERFUL PEOPLE IN HIGH PLACES.. AND FOR YOU TO CALL ME A LYING CHEATING DELUSIONAL OLD HAG WHO SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO VOTE IS.. IS.. IS.... SHAME ON YOU BILL O'Reilly!!!!!

Chelsea; Is the interview over with Mommy?

Hillary; Oh shut up chelsea, you don't even have an opinion. Of course this interview's over!! I have NEVER been so insulted... LET'S BLOW THIS JOINT!

O'Reilly; Hey Sean? Why don't we cancel the interview with Bill Clinton next week. Bill and Hillary wanted to use this show to come out of the closet and announce their being conservative Republicans. But now thinking about it, I don't think I want them on our side. They can do more damage as Democrats.

Hannity; You got it boss. Can I cancel Chelsea too? She's a little momma's girl rich b*tch elitist snob. I don't like her.

O'Reilly; I don't like any of them. See if you can get the Terminator back. I like Aaaanold. He's funny.

"Senator Clinton is trying to give publicity to the outrageous profits the oil companies are making and why shouldn't they pay the taxes on the gasoline for a few months."

Doesn't anyone have the time to go look it up and realize that the gas tax is paid by the oil companies NOW -- and that is exactly why it won't work to suspend it, because they don't have to pass those savings on to consumers?

So Hillary wants us to ignore the advice from economic experts on the matter and listen to the people who want short term gratification and do not have a clue about how our economy works.

Well, I think we already have a moron in office, do we need more?

Don't Be a Fool: First of all, the Clintons earned $109m over 8 years and they paid $50M in taxes and gave $10M to charity. They were left with about $50 million, or $6M a year. Not peanuts but I'll bet you're a sports fan and those tall skinny guys who play with balls and sometimes throw them into hoops make 10 times that much. Just to put things in perspective. And apparently you don't get it that Senator Clinton is trying to bring attention to the fact that oil companies are making huge profits while we little guys are paying all the taxes as well as their profits. Why not make them pay for at least the taxes for a few months? So maybe it won't make us rich, it will help some people and for some it would be a lot more than $28, Barack Obama is not good with figures. Come to think of it, he's not good with much of anything.

.18 of your tax dollars at waste (washington waste) will encourage consumption psychologically, from $4.00/gallon to $3.82 a gallon and the time it takes to get there.

What's next, an SUV-tax holiday?

Throw the bums out.
No more Iraq lies, no more Bosnia lies.

North Carolina is a must-win for Clinton, because she's supposed to be catching up, not falling behind!

That became a problem for her when her team led her to 10 losses in a row after Super Tuesday... I wouldn't want to be a clinton staffer now... except for all the money they made off of her...

My name is Raul Pedraza I am a Cuban American U.S. Army veteran, my grandfather Rafael fought in the WW1 in the battle of the Marne, my son Jorge just returned from Iraq after having served proudly in the 82nd Airborne in Tikrit.

I am very proudly married to a wonderful African American woman.

I have absolutely no doubt about Barack Obama's patriotism and find him inspirational and ready to become Commander in Chief. I prefer the candidate of true integrity who can admit a mistake unlike Hillary and her vote for the Iraq war and sniper fire stories. Supporting John McCain will merely let the disastrous results of the George W. years continue to drag us down.

I use my real name in this blog instead of a pseudonym because I am very proud to be supporting Barack Obama for President and wish to dispel a few of the myths that the media continually pours down our throats. No not all Cubans support the Republicans, No not all Latinos favor Hillary over Barack, No not all Army veterans are for John McCain though we do honor his sacrifice it does not make him uniquely qualified to be our leader.

I have contributed all the hard earned dollars legally allowed me to support the man whom I had the great privilege of meeting at an inner city youth center in Miami's Overtown neighborhood.

Barack Obama is the real deal folks and I pray our great nation is smart enough to give us a President of integrity and Intellect two traits sorely missing as of late.

Again my name is Raul Pedraza and I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for President of the Untied States.

Thank you Barack Obama for standing up for my best long term interests. It is not going unnoticed.

!Thank You!

I agree with Obama that the Gas Tax Holiday is just a band-aide solution to a much larger and troublesome issue; we are running out of cheap and plentiful petroleum and there are no immediate solutions. We should have been preparing (making fundamental changes in our energy consumption and production) decades ago!

Instead, we have continued to waste energy; energy that could have been applied towards developing realistic energy alternatives. Indeed, the Oil Party is over and none of our corporate bought politicians have a viable plan!

Clinton is just trying to buy votes; business as usual!

It's noteworthy to mention that Bill Clinton vetoed drilling in ANWR during his presidency!

http://klintons.com

Head of State's post sounds very similar to Obama's entire campaign. This post lacks any substance just like Obama's campaign. Some, understandably, will be lured in to his captivating speeches, and promises of change, but most should look for substance. Obama, just like the other candidates wants America to prosper as a whole, they want no war, they want a booming economy, health care for all it's citizens and an education system that can not be topped. Everyone should agree these things should be on the list of to-do's for any presidential hopeful.
It is how they plan to do it that the people should be voting on. Obama has not elaborated on any of his plans to make these goals happen. In his defense neither have the other candidates. Point being, the luster of his speeches and the substance of his plans do not come from the same part of his brain. Being a good speaker does not a good president make!!

Re: '150 Economists opposing suspension of gas tax for summer. Link here: http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080502_list_gastax.html'

I encourage everyone to read this statement, and exercise a bit of logic when reading it. This letter addresses the McCain proposal, not the Clinton proposal. It is not responsive to the Clinton proposal:

Clinton is not trying to change the market price of oil, but to give people a bit of relief as they adjust to spiraling prices.

Clinton's major initiatives on energy address dependence on foreign oil.

The whole point of Clinton's holiday plan is to provide a little relief immediately.

Her plan would not affect the deficit, and by shifting the tax to oil companies, the road trust fund would not lose any money.

Don't be fooled by the list of 'expert economists' -- many many on that list have an Obama ax to grind and are no more above distorting the facts of Clinton's plan than Obama is.

Economists have politics too!

Barack seems to pause to collect his thoughts before speaking. Hillary seems to shoot from the hip. Shooting from the hip exudes an air of confidence. But you'd better hope you hit your target. I don't think we need more "shoot first and ask questions later" foreign or domestic policy. Thinking before you speak exudes an air of intelligence. Barack knows what can happen when you shoot from the hip (anyone here "bitter"?). Thinking before speaking is not a bad trait if the result is the correct solution. Read my previous comment about HRC. I think she's over-confident. Kinda like Mr. Bush.

JaimiW: Again you're just listening to what the MSM is telling you. Senator Clinton has introduced a bill in Congress that would take away money from the oil companies to pay for the tax relief. Now, it's true that Nancy Pelosi, who is also enamored with Barack Obama and an ardent supporter of same, has said she doesn't want the bill to come to the floor for vote. She doesn't want to embarrass her guy. So we'll just have to get rid of Nancy Pelosi next year if she doesn't reconsider. If she isn't really a Democrat, then we should have someone else as speaker of house. We gave her a chance and she has failed miserably.

a war with iran just might drag in russia and possibly china..i don't think these countries who are very close to iran will just let us do what we want..and how is clinton talking about nafta when she pushed for it to pass.

Goldfarb writes insightfully "'This [issue][the Gas Tax holiday] defines, I think, the difference between myself and Senator Clinton,' Obama said, calling her proposal 'a classic Washington gimmick.'"

Yes, it does. While Obama and Clinton will talk to people face to face, will listen as they are told by work-a-day Americans of real troubles, Barack, as an excuse for his usual inaction, defers to economists who as a group have predicted 10 of the last two recessions, totally missed with a few exceptions like Nouriel Roubini the current housing bubble/crisis, and never saw the last stock market bubble!

Clinton, after listening to the same stories, takes to heart not self-appointed experts, not economists but a leading light of her own party: none other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

From 1929 through 1932, the nation watched four years of no-business-accomplished meetings which produced the same sort of economic pontification and justifications for inaction by Herbert Hoover. This as the greatest economic disaster to visit our nation, The Great Depression, grew worse.

FDR watched this charade, this fraud, this "let them eat cake" approach with its economic, dismal science justifications and knew there had to be a better way, and he told the nation it was past the time for talk, for far off perfect solutions. He was not one, nor were the Amercian people willing to let perfection be the enemy of the good

His message to the country was clear and simple and can be summed up with two quotes:

"But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings."

And

"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. The millions who are in want will not stand idly by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach."

And how did the people of America respond? They elected him to the Office of President FOUR times!

There is now and has been since his election a veritable industry of carping critics and political cynics who have vilified FDR and his New Deal. It is expected of the Republicant Party, the party of Hoover, but it is beyond low brow, beyond the crassest political posturing, when it comes from a presidential candidate from the party of FDR.

But it is the Barack Obama method of operation, the B.O.M.O.

In his blind, ego-driven run for the next highest office that defines his short political career he has thrown under the bus the poor of his Illinois House District who live in decrepit public housing build by Tony Rezko who help Obama buy his $2.3 million dollar mansion, his spiritual mentor of 20 years who has made a small fortune by peddling America-hating pap to Obama, his wife, and some of their fellow congregants, his White grandmother, outing her as a racist, the Clinton administration which is the only twice-elected Democratic president since FDR, and now FDR and the New Deal.

Obama's ego will not be satisfied until the Democratic Party is in rubble around him, but so long as his blind acolytes, mostly the young and African American, bay at the moon at the mere sound of his name, the trill of his voice, Obama's happy.

The simplest way to decide which way to vote is for every American to ask him or herself if they have have witnessed a so-called expert, whether in the field of economics, education, or sport, get it wrong.

The people of Indiana can answer that question by looking to their own history in the area of sport: the sport of high school basketball and the Milan Miracle.

In 1954, the tiny Milan High School Indians (student population 161) took on Muncie Central Bearcats (student population 1,600). The Bearcats had a cheering block in the stands that numbered 500 and were looking for their fifth state title. The Bearcats had more money and louder crowds.

Now, what do you think the experts said about that game?

Well, with the game tied at 30 and only seconds left in the game, Milan's Bobby Plump, normally a hot shooter, was 2 for 10 and had three turnovers as he slowly dribbled up the court, drove to his right and sunk a 14-footer which sunk the dreams of the supposed giant Muncie Central.

But it isn't just sport. Let's look to a windy beach in North Carolina where two young brothers, bicycle builders and salesmen, changed the world.

For thousands of years the experts of each age thought heavier-than-air flight by man was impossible, absolutely impossible. Then came the Wright Brothers with their glider.

After that many of the experts still though that controlled, powered flight by man was a near impossibility. If it was ever to succeed it would take the best engineers and experts to get it done.

But on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, powered, controlled fight took place. Was it the experts in combination with the best aviation engineers who did it?

No, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, neither of whom graduated school and were self-taught bicycle builders claim that honor and changed the world.

Now, Barack because he is so short in political stature, so lacking in political gravitas, needs the so-called experts to give his decisions the veneer of acceptability to the public. Clinton does not. She has a history of taking action for the little guy, the average American. She comes from the FDR wing of the Democratic Party and is prepared to once again change America for the better and for the majority of Americans.

Guam Superdelegate Jaime Paulino Endorses Barack Obama; Delegate Countdown - 275 To Go and with NC and 300 undecided black superdelegates to this baby is over drop the ballons.

I find it interesting that those who support Obama, the candidate who claims to be about unity and change, are so divisive and insulting.

Before it was anyone who didn't support Obama was a racist.
Now it seems the senitment is that anyone who supports Hillary Clinton is stupid.

It seems that they are relying on the statistics that say Hillary recieves more votes from lower income, less educated voters.

That is an elitist point of view.
Lower income and less educated often go hand in hand.
You should not confuse Education with Intelligence.

Higher education is not an indicator of intellect or judgement.

The American people that Obama supporters insult are not racist or stupid.

They are Americans who don't need a degree to be able to see through BS.
They can tell when a person is stuttering over the answer to a question or whether someone is able to answer directly from their heart.

I think a big part of the problem is that some of those better educated, higher income people often have lost touch with the reality of the day to day lives of most Americans.

Hillary Clinton is our best hope.

I could never in good concience cast my vote for Barack Obama. I would feel that by doing so I was turning my back on my country and a majority of our citizens.

Why are people dismissing the gas tax holiday if (like Clintons plan calls for) the oil companies pay for it? What is the elitist BS about 18 cents not being "worth it". We all know that we've driven an extra block to find a gas station that's 2 cents cheaper, an extra 18 cents a gallon makes a difference. The gas tax holiday is perfect if the oil companies pay for it plus, it sets a precedent that says the govt. will tax huge profits when and as it sees fit. Isn't that what us liberals want. If the oil companies respond by increasing the cost then we respond by increasing the tax on their profits. I prefer action and my 18 cents.

The fact that obliterating a country is even acceptable to some of us reflects the tragedy of racism/xenophobia towards the Middle East and should be a testimony to the wicked effects of the decades-long marketing campaign sponsored by the American government and Israeli lobby.

Hillary says that Obama has no plan for the gas issue. She is right in way, for he does not have a plan for just a small short term fix.

He has long spoken about: energy independence, alternate renewable fuels and sources, aimprovement of car efficiency and so on
--that to me sounds like a plan; a long term plan that would work for the long run, and not just long enough to help put a candidate in office.

Hillary says that Obama has no plan for the gas issue. She is right in way, for he does not have a plan for just a small short term fix.

He has long spoken about: energy independence, alternate renewable fuels and sources, improvement of car efficiency and so on
--that to me sounds like a plan; a long term plan that would work for the long run, and not just long enough to help put a candidate in office.

and if anyone here knows the truth..our gas is so high..due to our dollar being worthless..kinda like what Clinton adviser and long time friend mickey kantor video on u tube was talking about when he said the voters in ind. were ..worthless.. white ni##ers

It's fine to answer from one's heart, as long as one's brain knows what the heart is up to. if Hillary is full of heart, let's hope she surrounds herself with people who use their brains. Likewise, if Barack speaks his mind, lets just hope he surrounds himself with some people with heart. You've got to have both, and you've got to use both. (but common sense says that having the brain is more critical). It's a lot easier to find compassionate people than it is to find intelligent ones.

When it comes to Iran, you have to be strong and decisive. You need to show them what the bottom result will be if they attack Israel. You can't say, I will negotiate with Iran if they try to attack Israel. Then you'll send a wrong signal to Iran. Obama is too weak, he's just like Jimmy Carter. I'm afraid he will bring us the Iran mess again.

jlm062002

The difference is that Hillary has a plan for the short term. To give immediate relief to Americans.

AND.... SHE ALSO HAS A PLAN FOR THE LONG TERM ...

She is about taking action now as well as planning ahead for the future.

Obama is all about talking about what he might do, what needs to be done, and no specifics about how he will accomplish anything.

Don't get your facts just from what Obama says, check your facts.

The reason Obama is rallying against the Gas Tax issue is only to take attention away from the issue of Reverend Wright.

wow, now the mathematicians, economists, and democrats for barrack obama are accused of being elitist? what next, the primaries themselves and the voters?

A North Carolina / Indiana will make the media look ridiculous is they try to pain Hillary's failure to catch-up by now as anything but unrealistic.

Here's what those "elitist" economists were actually saying on that link:

"Put simply, suspending the federal tax on gasoline this summer is a bad idea and we oppose it. There are several reasons for this opposition. First, research shows that waiving the gas tax would generate major profits for oil companies rather than significantly lowering prices for consumers. Second, it would encourage people to keep buying costly imported oil and do nothing to encourage conservation. Third, a tax holiday would provide very little relief to families feeling squeezed. Fourth, the gas tax suspension would threaten to increase the already record deficit in the coming year and reduce the amount of money going into the highway trust fund that maintains our infrastructure."

George Stephanapolous is a paid Clinton stooge. Talk about softballs. ABC news is off my TIVO forever. ABC should stand for Anybody But Clinton. If it is Pinocchio's you want we can borrow from China and Dubai and see if Jepeto can ramp up production. A lie is a lie is a lie and Hillary learned from the master her husband bill. Her latest lie is that she has a shot. Only if the martians come down to earth and take Barack Obama back to Mars could she win and then only if the adults in the party don't bring in someone with honesty to replace her under this emergency. Our parties electorate has thankfully already obliterated her chance of the nomination. That is the only obliteration that has happened or will happen if we choose intelligence and integrity over political entitlement and expediency.

redawn |

You are spreading lies....

The youtube video that you are referenceing was all over the news and shown to be a fraud..

It was an old video with a voice over.

It is thought that is was put out by someone in the Obama campaign.

You should offer opinions and share points of view, but spreading lies does not help.

Cheryl,

A higher education does provide and expansion of the mind. It helps you understand issues through countless different view points. You are right that an education does not precede intelligence, however, I do believe that good judgement does follow an expanded period of education, since good judgement (I think) is determined by paying attention to all different view point and possibilities. e.g. who would you rather answer that 3am call, the clerk at 7-eleven, or a person who spent 7 more years in school after high school?

I keep reading these blogs and what always jumps out at me is Obama people accusing others, particularly HRC, as being divisive.

THE MAIN REASON I AM NOT VOTING FOR HIM IS THE SANCTIMONIOUS ATTITUDE OF SO MANY OF HIS FOLLOWERS> They remind me of cult followers. It creeps me out.

Mathematically the race is over if Obama wins only NC. Privately Super D's have told the Clinton camp if she cant beat Obama in NC they will end the race.

Obama speaking in Fort Wayne, Indiana today said about the people in Indiana going through hard times that, "You lose your sense of dignity."

And the response from the crowd?

s i l e n c e

Obama is the most arrogant and elitist politician to come along in a long time. This is absolutely no different than his comments that people are bitter so they "cling" to their guns and religion. Aside from being a snob, the guy is clueless about how most Americans feel -- since most Americans are going through harder and more difficult times ... and they still have their dignity!

Cheryl:

Hillary's supposed gas tax plan is all pandering and she knows she has no chance whatsoever of getting anything through congress just like she has only been able to pass legislation that names libraries. Her colleagues in the Senate know b.s. when they see it and she would never get the 60 votes necessary to pass any windfall anything. It is all hot air out of your girl. I support the honest candidate Barack Obama and not the one who voted for the war and then could not admit a mistake. He will get my vote in Winston-Salem on Tuesday.

Maybe Hillary had post traumatic stress syndrome from avoiding all those sniper bullets. Barack is running away from nothing and Hillary only wants the spotlight when she has calculated what lie to feed us or her resident sheep like Cheryl.

The details of the personal automobiles of the five oil executives that testified before Congress including full registrations

www.webofdeception.com

all you obama lovers, this phony is a racist who spent 20 years behind close door bashing america with rev wright now all of sudden he wants to be the president he trying to give the rev the boot i guess he realize now he does not need him anymore . but the question is, if this traitor become president with no love for the us no experience how you guys think he'd be fighting the terrorist ....HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT....

Mike Lewis - Obama takes softball interviews? You do realize Obama had an interview with Fox news this week, don't you?

Hillary doesn't tell people what they want to hear? Really?

- Was Hillary Clinton a populist when she ran for senate in NY or did she pick up this working class girl bit shortly before blue collar Ohio was set to vote? About a month after she "found her voice" in NH. How many times does someone need to re-invent themselves for you to take notice?

- You have to agree the gas tax thing is 100% gimmick. Gas price is set by supply and demand. If you drop 18 cents off the price of gas, there will be more demand, raising the price 18 cents. We're back where we started, but the money goes to oil companies, not the government. It doesn't really help anyone, but telling people you'll give them money is most certainly, what they want to hear.

- Hillary agreed that Florida and Michigan wouldn't count... until she won them. Then she suddenly thinks "every vote should count". What a hero.

- Hillary says "We need to have a timeout on foreclosures". What does that even mean? Just more "I'll give you money" if you vote for me politics.

This list can go on and on. Just take some snapshots of who she was 10 years ago, 4 years ago, last year, last month, today, and tomorrow. You barely have to look to notice that she will do or say anything, no matter how destructive, for her own political gain.

Honestly - do you think a Lawyer, Governor's wife, 2 term first lady, US senator and multi-millionare who has been living a lifestyle of royalty for the past 20 years understands the plight of the working man? Or do you think she's telling you want you want to hear?

If Obama has any hope of being President he needs to throw his big ugly Racist wife under the Bus alone with his Grandmother and the Rev. Wright. I am sure the Obama cult will believe him when he tells them he just discovery she was an American hating, Racist!

Part of the Obama snow job where he portrayed Rev. Wright's paranoid rants as coming from anger that is the baggage as the legacy of of old white racism, carried by old blacks. Well, there is current-day stuff that is alive and well, carried by the young blacks, that is a lot worse than the racism, sexism and homophobic intolerance of the older generation of blacks. It's called Hip Hop, Gangsta and Street culture. It's full of racism, paranoia, anger, violence, abuse of women, sexism and a whole lot of dysfunctional antisocial expression schemes. The social psychological disordered behavior that Rev. Wright's hate-speech-as-sermons represents and coveys to blacks and supported by Obama is alive and well in the current-day generation in Black America. It's just in a newer more dangerous carnation.

Blacks leaders should start speaking out about taking some personal responsibility for high rate of high school drop out, sexual promiscuity, children born out of wedlock, , absence of male parenting/role models, drugs, crime, incarceration, AIDS, instead of playing the victimhood game and blaming whites for black failures! Until that time there will always be hate mongers & race baiter,s to use them and profit from their plight like the Rev. Wright, Rev. Jessie Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, as well as 10,s of thousands of White and Black Politicians. In fact the whole Democrat party! Hand outs, instead of a hand up, is the means of keeping Blacks down and economic Slaves! Keeping Blacks as an race of victims and believing all of the above is Whitey fault is designed to keep them from progressing instead of a race of achievers! It is in the best interest of Black preachers and Democrat politicians! Blacks will never be lead to the promise land by hate mongering Preachers like Rev. Wright or by bottom feeding Politicians that wants and works to keep Blacks in the Ghetto, on Welfare, and voting Democrat!

Mr. Obama is the one who is wanting to do this the old Washington way. People need relief now now in ten years when Mr. Obama's plan would finally kick in, if at all. Anyone who makes 9 million or so dollars a year can afford to wait. The typical American family cannot afford to wait on Mr. Obama and the Washington crowd. Excuse me but isn't he the one who is for change.

Obama will win NC and since IN is a proportional race Obama will gain another 40 delegates to be about 140 short of the 2025, then 140 black super's will defect Clinton and make history.

It is evident that some of our electorate cannot fathom a truy tranformational leader in our times. After all when most of the electorate has had to suffer through the Bush, Clinton, Bush years they have every reason to be skeptical. Barack Obama will bring change and that is anathema to the lesser educated including many posters here. If you want more of the status quo then vote for Hillary or John McCain the rest of the past loving sheep flock will follow.

I want a great future for our country and a position we can be proud of in the global community, I want Barack Obama period.

Bring on the change we desperately need it NOW.

What would Obama do if Iran nuked Israel? Tell them: "That was not nice. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to punish you. You can't sell your Iranian made Persion rugs in the U.S., until you say you're sorry."

On their way to the Eastern Economic Assoc. meeting in Boston the taxi driver asked some colleagues, "Are you going to the convention?" "Yes." "So...are you some of the 5 percenters?" "What do you mean?" "The 5% of economists who are right!" In the case of the gas tax, we can be pretty sure that those 5% are among the 99.9% who think the gas tax holiday is BS.

jlm062002

I did not mean to say that I was against higher education. I am against the assumption that higher education and intelligence go hand in hand,

I think that it is insulting to say that because someone chooses to do a blue collar job and not go to college makes them less able to make intelligent decisions.

If someone goes to college and studies accounting, that does not make them better equipped to make decisions in all areas, it just makes them better educated about accounting. A psychiatrist who spent many more years in school would still know less about accounting.

And someone who works in a blue collar job for many years will probably have a much better understanding of the things related to whatever field they happen to be in than someone who studies the field in a classroom.

Higher education is not the measuring stick by which we should judge people or the ability of people to make intellectual judgements.

I have known brilliant people who never finished high school, and some highly educated people who had no common sense.

There are many ways that people decide on who they will vote for and it is unfair to criticize someones decision based on thier level of income or education.

possibilities. e.g. who would you rather answer that 3am call, the clerk at 7-eleven, or a person who spent 7 more years in school after high school?
Posted by: jlm062002
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you Obamanites are examples of the educated cultist with 7 yrs. of college experience I'll take that clerk at 7-11 to take that 3 AM call every time. They have experience and have to think for themselves to survive. You educated ones only know what you read or are told.

Cheryl,

An education and world experience aren't mutually exclusive. Why the class warfare?

Hillary has 3 major problems 1. Bill Clinton 2. Angry black superdels 3.Angry party loyalist's. If Obama wins NC and does well in IN there would be no rationalization for her to continue her efforts while damaging the party.

Hillary Clinton has already established that she is willing to turn a blind eye and forgive and stand by her husband regardless of what he does in front of her face or behind her back. Understandably that is Hillary's choice because she is married to Bill. But America is not married to Bill Clinton. Hillary needs to respond to why she expects us to believe that Bill Clinton went behind her back yet again and double crossed her on this Colombia Trade deal. How Bill was able to deposit over $800, 000 into their joint checking account payment from the Colombians and she claims she knew NOTHING about it? What about Mark Penn working for the Colombians as a lobbyist? Hillary Clinton supposedly was against the Colombia Trade deal why then would her husband and her senior staffer go behind close doors without her knowledge and support this deal that could hurt her campaign? That is a direct conflict of interest and impeachable by congress standards if she were the president! Hillary Clinton's willingness to turn a blind eye to the actions of Bill Clinton, Mark Penn and other friends will eventually lead to hurting the American people, yet again. If she keeps turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings of her family, friends and staff and saying stuff like "we disagree on a lot of things!" which is not a real or justifiable answer by any means that the American people deserve. Are the American people going to pay yet again because Hillary Clinton always turns a 'blind eye' favoring family and friends?

I learned a great deal by working on the Clinton/Gore Campaign in 1992, going door to door in New Hampshire and making phone calls on behalf of the campaign. But my real education came in the years following 1992 when I observed how good people were thrown under a bus, continual moral lapses, self inflicted scandals were rationalized and the White House was sold to raise funds. The Clintons became very proficient at getting powerful people to part with their money. Clinton is in fact quoted in a Moyer's PBS special where he tells fat cats that their money buys influence.

"Washington's Other Scandal" with Bill Moyers
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/scandal/etc/script.html

excerpted transcript:
BILL MOYERS: In 1996, a "For Sale" sign was hung on the White House.
Pres. BILL CLINTON: [to contributors] And I think it's okay if your investment gets you influence, but your investment shouldn't get you control.

Since that time the LIES, DECEIT, VOTER FRAUD & MANIPULATION have grown increasingly similar to the NEOCONS who stole the election in 2000. Hillary is running a campaign clearly targeted to the people on the left side of the bell curev and is directly out of the Karl Rove/Lee Atwater/Jessie Helms playbook: scare the hell out of white working class voters. Clinton's wealth in the years immediately preceding her presidential run, wealth derived largely from foreign sources, has sky rocketed. So this begs the question, who owns the Clintons? Make no mistake, once you stop drinking the kool-aid it is rather easy to see that if ever there were "ELITISTS" in the Democratic Party, they are the Clintons. The politics of "TRIANGULATION" which they mastered is the art of appealing to and manipulating to the uninformed, the intellectually undernourished, the working class and lower middle class and whatever ethnic minorities that they need as part of winning coalition while winking to the powerful that they have the little people under control. This is at the heart of CLINTON FRAUD...they think all the little people are dumbsh_ts that can be easily duped. The Clintons are financed he