It is amazing to see the reaction I get when I mention Hillary Clinton and the Presidency. The sample pool (my friends) would probably be fairly similar on an ideological scale, yet the saying really is true: you either love her or your hate her.
My ambivalence stems less from her shifting convictions than from the simple fact that she yet to demonstrate she can lead. All we've seen is a failed Health Care Reform package she did as First Lady. The rest is speeches.
An analogy: if the country is like a company, then Senators are like the legal department. They spend a lot of time shuffling paper, negotiating, courting favors and grandstanding, but at the end of the day, they have little to show for it. They are vitally important, and it's fascinating work, but you wouldn't necessarily pick one of them to run the company. You would pick someone from your Executive Pool, which in this case would be one of the 50 governors of one of our fine states. Governors have to fix budgets, educational systems, welfare, job creation, taxes, immigration, etc. They can't pick one issue and spend two years getting a bill together. They have to act. They are constantly in the press. They have to work with both parties in the state legislature. In general, there is a more executive tone to the job, which is why it is a natural transition to the Executive Branch of the US Government.
Someone please explain this to her.
If Hillary were smart (which she is), she would run for Governor of New York, instead of Elliot Spitzer, and take back the coveted seat for the Democrats. Then we could see her in action.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Hillary and Darfur
Of all the people I've emailed about Darfur (Bush, Rice, Sen. Clinton, Sen. Schumer and Rep. Jarrods), Hillary was the only one who sent a response.
February 23, 2005
Mr. Jonathan Kier
New York, New York
Dear Mr. Kier:
Thank you for sharing with me your concerns regarding the situation in Darfur.
It is important to me to know the issues that are foremost in the minds of my
constituents and I appreciate that you took the time to write to me about this
issue that is of importance to you and to many New Yorkers. I take this
situation very seriously.
We cannot stand by and let atrocities continue. The people of Darfur have been
subject to a genocidal campaign of vicious attacks conducted by the armed
militias of the Janjaweed, with the backing of the Sudanese government. The
concerted acts of these groups have created a humanitarian crisis of astonishing
proportions. We have an obligation to work with our allies and others to help
protect the people of Darfur.
In September, during Senate debate of the fiscal year 2005 Foreign Operations
Appropriations bill, I spoke on the Senate floor in favor of doing all we can to
try to end the genocide in Darfur. In June, I joined more than 50 of my
colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging
him to work to end the atrocities committed by the armed militias operating in
the region; to commit additional resources; to publicly identify those
responsible for the atrocities and impose sanctions; to stabilize the situation through a monitored and enforced ceasefire and unfettered access for humanitarian aid; and to submit a United Nations Security Council resolution for a vote that
would condemn the government of Sudan, demand cooperation in the provision of
humanitarian aid, and authorize peacekeeping.
Also in June, to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of
Sudan and in Chad, I co-sponsored a bipartisan amendment to the Fiscal Year 2005
Department of Defense Appropriations Act that added millions in funding for
international disaster and famine assistance, and migration and refugee assistance
in the region. I am pleased to let you know that the amendment was adopted by
the Senate and this funding was retained in the legislation that was signed
into law.
The United Nations Security Council has adopted resolutions addressing the
situation in Darfur. The United States government should work to ensure these
resolutions have force, and continue its work with our allies to help bring
security and peace to the region and end the suffering of the people of Darfur.
Please be assured that I will continue to work in the Senate to help the people
of the Darfur overcome the dire challenges they face. Thank you again for
contacting me. Please check my website at http://clinton.senate.gov for updates on
this and other important matters being discussed before the United States
Senate.
Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
February 23, 2005
Mr. Jonathan Kier
New York, New York
Dear Mr. Kier:
Thank you for sharing with me your concerns regarding the situation in Darfur.
It is important to me to know the issues that are foremost in the minds of my
constituents and I appreciate that you took the time to write to me about this
issue that is of importance to you and to many New Yorkers. I take this
situation very seriously.
We cannot stand by and let atrocities continue. The people of Darfur have been
subject to a genocidal campaign of vicious attacks conducted by the armed
militias of the Janjaweed, with the backing of the Sudanese government. The
concerted acts of these groups have created a humanitarian crisis of astonishing
proportions. We have an obligation to work with our allies and others to help
protect the people of Darfur.
In September, during Senate debate of the fiscal year 2005 Foreign Operations
Appropriations bill, I spoke on the Senate floor in favor of doing all we can to
try to end the genocide in Darfur. In June, I joined more than 50 of my
colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging
him to work to end the atrocities committed by the armed militias operating in
the region; to commit additional resources; to publicly identify those
responsible for the atrocities and impose sanctions; to stabilize the situation through a monitored and enforced ceasefire and unfettered access for humanitarian aid; and to submit a United Nations Security Council resolution for a vote that
would condemn the government of Sudan, demand cooperation in the provision of
humanitarian aid, and authorize peacekeeping.
Also in June, to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of
Sudan and in Chad, I co-sponsored a bipartisan amendment to the Fiscal Year 2005
Department of Defense Appropriations Act that added millions in funding for
international disaster and famine assistance, and migration and refugee assistance
in the region. I am pleased to let you know that the amendment was adopted by
the Senate and this funding was retained in the legislation that was signed
into law.
The United Nations Security Council has adopted resolutions addressing the
situation in Darfur. The United States government should work to ensure these
resolutions have force, and continue its work with our allies to help bring
security and peace to the region and end the suffering of the people of Darfur.
Please be assured that I will continue to work in the Senate to help the people
of the Darfur overcome the dire challenges they face. Thank you again for
contacting me. Please check my website at http://clinton.senate.gov for updates on
this and other important matters being discussed before the United States
Senate.
Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Activist Judges
In a stunning reversal, the Bush administration is now actively courting activist judges. Not happy with a law that was overwhelmingly approved by the voters (twice), Gonzales & Co. have petitioned the high court to overturn the Oregon's 1997 Death With Dignity Act, which allows doctors to inject lethal doses of a controlled substance to end a terminally ill person's life.
The issue: States' Rights vs. Federal Government. Republicans are traditionally pro-States' Rights (abortion, gun law, age of consent), unless they're not (gay marriage, education or marijuana).
From today's NY Times:
The administration's appeal, Gonzales v. Oregon, No. 04-623, which is now filed under the name of Mr. Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, and which the Supreme Court will hear in October, argues that the Ninth Circuit's decision "stands the proper relationship between the federal and state governments under the Constitution on its head." The brief asked the court "to correct this serious misconception of the relative powers of state and federal governments."
The issue: States' Rights vs. Federal Government. Republicans are traditionally pro-States' Rights (abortion, gun law, age of consent), unless they're not (gay marriage, education or marijuana).
From today's NY Times:
The administration's appeal, Gonzales v. Oregon, No. 04-623, which is now filed under the name of Mr. Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, and which the Supreme Court will hear in October, argues that the Ninth Circuit's decision "stands the proper relationship between the federal and state governments under the Constitution on its head." The brief asked the court "to correct this serious misconception of the relative powers of state and federal governments."
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Red Herring: The Right Wing Media
In case anyone has lost count, allow me to list below the number of scandals involving right wing corruption of the media:
-Valerie Plame: the CIA operative whose name and occupation was linked to the media. This information could only have been leaked by one of 7 people with access to it. The revelation of the name of CIA operative is treason. The informant has yet to be identified.
-Karen Ryan: the reporter who produced videos in which she "mined" the prespecription-drug plan in 2004 and reported on its merits. These reports have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office. Alberto Garcia, another "journalist" was accused of similar bribery, but in Spanish.
-Armstrong Willaims: The Education Department paid commentator Armstrong Williams $241,000 to help promote President Bush's No Child Left Behind law on the air.
- Ketchum Inc. public relations firm: The Education Department has paid Ketchum $700,000 to rate journalists on how positively or negatively they report on No Child Left Behind, and to produce a video release on the law that was used by some television stations as if it were real news.
-Maggue Gallagher: right-wing columnist, vitriolic homophobe, was paid $21,600 in 2002 by the Bush Administration to report favorable on Bush's $300 million initiative encouraging heterosexual marriage as a way of strengthening families.
-Eason Joran: CNN news executive is forced out of his job for saying that the US army may be targeting reporters in Iraq. This is something that was said on a panel, was not recorded, aired or printed anywhere. But the new keepers of Political Correctness have deemed this offense worthy of a shit storm.
-Jeff Gannon: the pseudonymous pseudo-journalist who was given full press credentials at the White House, and was called on during briefings with the express purpose of steering controversial topics out of conversation. He was given credentials one month before his right wing news organization even existed. Turns out he was also associated with male military prostitution. Ironically, he wrote about Kerry as being the First Gay President, for his refusal to support the FMA. Even better, he told the Washington Post this weekend:
"I've made mistakes in my past," he said yesterday. "Does my past mean I can't have a future? Does it disqualify me from being a journalist?" I wonder, did he and his allies show the same mercy to Clinton? Maureen Dowd wrote an inceniary editorial on L'Affaire Gannon in the New York Times, howling at the injustice of being denied a press pass at the start of the first Bush term.
Money quote:
I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?
At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months.
-Swift Boat Veterans: shadowy ties to the GOP.
-Rush Limbaugh: serial husband, drug user, and now Bush envoy to Afghanistan. He will be going to Afghanistan to report on how wonderful life is there. But who is paying for the trip?
All of this amounts to one giant red herring. The GOP loves to invoke the image of the left-wing, elitist media bashing the GOP and not reporting the "truth". It turns out, they have become the most media-entrenched party, with illegal, and potentially treasoness ties to the disemination of propaganda in the modern history of the United States.
-Valerie Plame: the CIA operative whose name and occupation was linked to the media. This information could only have been leaked by one of 7 people with access to it. The revelation of the name of CIA operative is treason. The informant has yet to be identified.
-Karen Ryan: the reporter who produced videos in which she "mined" the prespecription-drug plan in 2004 and reported on its merits. These reports have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office. Alberto Garcia, another "journalist" was accused of similar bribery, but in Spanish.
-Armstrong Willaims: The Education Department paid commentator Armstrong Williams $241,000 to help promote President Bush's No Child Left Behind law on the air.
- Ketchum Inc. public relations firm: The Education Department has paid Ketchum $700,000 to rate journalists on how positively or negatively they report on No Child Left Behind, and to produce a video release on the law that was used by some television stations as if it were real news.
-Maggue Gallagher: right-wing columnist, vitriolic homophobe, was paid $21,600 in 2002 by the Bush Administration to report favorable on Bush's $300 million initiative encouraging heterosexual marriage as a way of strengthening families.
-Eason Joran: CNN news executive is forced out of his job for saying that the US army may be targeting reporters in Iraq. This is something that was said on a panel, was not recorded, aired or printed anywhere. But the new keepers of Political Correctness have deemed this offense worthy of a shit storm.
-Jeff Gannon: the pseudonymous pseudo-journalist who was given full press credentials at the White House, and was called on during briefings with the express purpose of steering controversial topics out of conversation. He was given credentials one month before his right wing news organization even existed. Turns out he was also associated with male military prostitution. Ironically, he wrote about Kerry as being the First Gay President, for his refusal to support the FMA. Even better, he told the Washington Post this weekend:
"I've made mistakes in my past," he said yesterday. "Does my past mean I can't have a future? Does it disqualify me from being a journalist?" I wonder, did he and his allies show the same mercy to Clinton? Maureen Dowd wrote an inceniary editorial on L'Affaire Gannon in the New York Times, howling at the injustice of being denied a press pass at the start of the first Bush term.
Money quote:
I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the "Barberini Faun" is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?
At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months.
-Swift Boat Veterans: shadowy ties to the GOP.
-Rush Limbaugh: serial husband, drug user, and now Bush envoy to Afghanistan. He will be going to Afghanistan to report on how wonderful life is there. But who is paying for the trip?
All of this amounts to one giant red herring. The GOP loves to invoke the image of the left-wing, elitist media bashing the GOP and not reporting the "truth". It turns out, they have become the most media-entrenched party, with illegal, and potentially treasoness ties to the disemination of propaganda in the modern history of the United States.
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