2008 Presidential Elections

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Secret DNCC detention cages discovered in Denver


The freedom loving sheriff of Denver aided and abetted by the city's major, has created a detention pen full of cages just in time for the DNCC. The place is not even a correctional facility --it's is cages inside an abandoned warehouse with no visible water, bathrooms, ventilation or access to phones and lawyers.

Oh, did I mention this detention place full of human cages was supposed to be a secret?


liza's picture

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Oh look! Hipster bigotry manifests itself at the New Yorker

NOTA BENE from Liza : I am really excited to present Andrea Plaid, of The Cruel Secretary and Racialicious fame. I hope she makes cross-posting to our blog a habit.


By now, you’ve seen—and probably commented on--the latest cover.

The Washington Post’s and CNN’s Reliable Sources’ Howard Kurtz said: “I talked to the editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, who tells me this is a satire, that they are making fun of all the rumors,” Kurtz added. (Source)

Bill Burton, The Obama campaign spokesperson, responded: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.” (Source)

Of course, people at Michelle Obama Watch, Daily Kos, Politico, and other blogs have expressed rightful and righteous outrage over the cover.

My current live-in partner, who works at the New Yorker, just couldn’t believe that so many people responded so angrily at the cover at the Daily Kos and other sites. He “wanted to see [my] reaction.” When I emphatically told him that I didn’t find it funny, he said, “You’re so angry.”

“Of course I’m angry. What do you expect? This is my reaction is to your employer doing something so racist.”

“I’m trying to have some fun here.”

Humph, you gotta love hipster bigotry.


Andrea's picture

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Time to call out the Fauxminists and Democrats for McCain

This is what I would do if I had several thousand dollars to spare these days :

1. I would have wire clothes hangers, like the ones dry cleaning stores us, and I'd covered them in dark blue rice paper with the blue and logo of the McCain campaign.

2. The tag line under the logo? "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

3. A second design option would have his fateful words about how he would change the Supreme Court of the United States with the judges like like Roberts and Alito or his dear friend Chief Rhenquist.

4. If I had more money, I'd hang a Supreme Court Justice looking robe from several hundreds of them and deliver them to each and every one of the high-profile Democrats, whereas politicians or funders, who are being assholes about supporting Obama.

Plain and simple message : You support McCain? Kiss equal rights for women away.


liza's picture

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Semiotics in Action : Obama's Presidential Seal

And a big WTF!

We know that Barack Obama is a control freak when it comes to his image (the suits just tells you all you need to know). But honey, this is getting friggin' ridonculous. I mean, they have in Latin, "Yes We Can" (Vero Possumus).

I keep reading that as "Very Possum", so that's how "too much" that seal is.

My question is, who's the semiotician in his PR and communications team.

H/T Dave Winer, via Twitter

Image Courtesy of BarackObama.com at Flickr.


liza's picture

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A black man doesn't need the government's money?

obama opted out of public campaign financing. mccain & conservatives should be happy! he's one less black man on public assistance


— Baratunde Thurston's comment on Twitter, after the news broke out that Obama is not going to use public assistance for his presidential campaign.


liza's picture

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McCain said what about his wife?

The Public Service Administration strikes again with a positively not safe for work (NSFW) video about McCain and his most egregious quote about his wife.

You can find the uncensored video here. The SFW version is here.

Am so ambivalent about the reporting of this incident that, honestly, I won't publish about it here on my blog out of respect for Cindy McCain. I don't see the need to repeat or even make public this incident unless you want to play dirty politics.

I don't care either if you are a so-called progressive like Clift Schechter bringing up the dirt. It's still dirty and still further debases the political process into who gets to digg up and sling more dirt at their contender.

What do you all think?


liza's picture

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Michelle gets her own "War Room"

HOT!

She's not going to wait for the vultures to do the talking about her. Michelle Obama gets her own war room along with a new chief of staff:

Later today, the campaign is set to announce the hiring of Stephanie Cutter, a longtime Democratic strategist who worked as Senator John Kerry’s communications director in 2004, as chief of staff to Mrs. Obama. Ms. Cutter is scheduled to begin soon, with the first task of re-crafting the image of Mrs. Obama, who has come under intense criticism by Republicans and even some Democratic rivals. She also will lead a war room to fight attacks against Mrs. Obama.

At first I found it odd that, given Kerry's slow response to the Swift Boat attacks, his former communications director is working for Ms. Obama. Maybe it makes sense because she's already "been there, done that" and won't let that happen ever again.

Hopefully that's the reason why they hired a former John Kerry staffer. Because she's indeed lived through all the republican's filth and knows now how to handle it.

Think about it, though. Michelle Obama has a war room. She's gonna get her shero on.

How HAWT is that!


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Do you think they hired her just to piss the Clintonistas off?

I can't think of any reason why the Obama campaign would want to hire Patti Solís-Doyle given how grossly she mismanaged the Clinton campaign. Ok, I can understand it : She was after all Ms. Clinton's Chief Of Staff during her 8 years and her connections to the Clintonistas (at least the ones that may still survive) may still be valuable.

Yet I really have a hard time believing that, outside of her street cred as a high ranking Latina in the Democratic Party, she can bring anything new or coherent to the Obama campaign.

Still with her addition to the campaign, not only are they creating buzz, but they're obviously are looking to have more Latino faces in the campaign team. CNN has the latest list of recruits :

Constituency Director: Brian Bond – formerly LGBT Outreach Director at the DNC

National Field Director: Jon Carson – formerly Obama for America Voter Contact Director

Senior Advisor to the Campaign and Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama: Stephanie Cutter


liza's picture

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Al Gore to formally endorse Obama tonight

Is this too little too late?

A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States.

Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.

This moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.

The endorsement will be streamed live tonight at 8:30 p.m. EDT at a rally at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Just go to http://www.BarackObama.com and they'll have a link to the streaming page.

It is the place where John Edwards also announced his endorsement. Am wondering if, due to the demographics of the state the Obama camopaign is putting their eggs in the Michigan basket and leave Florida up for a tossing win.

I am not sure if that is a rogue or dangerous strategy, given Florida's history of stolen elections.


liza's picture

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The real story behind Fox's "Obama Baby Mama" : Michelle Malkin is the racist's teflon


Fox News had Michelle Malkin on yesterday discussing some thing or another having to do with the dark-skinned Filipina's attacks and demonization of presumptive First Lady Michelle Obama. So what does the Fox News editorial team do during the conservative racist baiter's time on TV? They put a banner right under the news bit that read : "Outraged Liberals : Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama".

As Oliver Willis says quite correctly, why not call her a N***r and get it over and done with it? Why not just turn Fox News into what it really is, a race-baiter's dream machine?

Kevin Hayden says' the channel should be fined by the FCC a minimum of $325,000 for publishing hate speech. Even though I agree with Stefania this proves the extreme right is scared shitless at the prospect of seeing the Obamas in the White House, it's still utterly wrong and those bastards should pay every time they pull this shit.

Yet what's most important about all this mess is the other Michelle. La Malkin. Why do you think Fox News has on their payroll a dark-skinned Filipina who is not only their quite giddy and willing cover for the racist rants you pass as news, but also something of a news maker herself?


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I'm Voting Republican


In the immortal words of Team America, fuck yeah! This has got to be one of the best "get out the vote" initiatives I've seen in a long time.

Via Digg and Twitter and cross-posted at Booman Tribune.


liza's picture

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Ted Strickland, douchebag

Can't this man just say, "I'm not interested in being VP, thanks so much" and just leave it at that? Why does he have to give any ammunition to the Obama haters by saying shit like this?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Ohio Governor Ted Strickland – who has often been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama – said Tuesday that if asked, he would “absolutely not” join the party’s presidential ticket this fall.

Strickland, who backed Hillary Clinton during the primary season, told NPR’s Michele Norris that he was taking himself out of the running. “Absolutely not. If drafted I will not run, nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve,” he said, in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered. “So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.”

Obama lost the Ohio primary to Clinton.

The swing state governor, who has endorsed Barack Obama, dismissed the idea that all potential running mates deny interest in the job. “No, I don’t think they all say that. I’ve heard people say, ‘you know, if I was asked, it would certainly be something I would have to consider.’ That does not mean that I am any less committed to helping Barack Obama become the next president,” Strickland said in an NPR transcript of the interview, which is scheduled to air Tuesday night. He is scheduled to join Obama on the campaign trail in Ohio this Friday.

Now, you'd think that people would understand that professionally, it would be absolutely STUPID for John Edwards to run once again as VP to anybody. That's why people like me are clamoring for him to get the Attorney General post.

So what do Hillarytons have to say about this? That it's proof Obama is mediocre and is being reject by the party establishment.


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Twisting a twitt to prove sexism

I was having a short discussion the other day on Twitter about sexism and it seems that Natasha Chart over at MyDD, that bastion of feminism, has taken it out of context to make a point about sexism.

Lovely.

This is the comment I left :

So let me get this straight : You take a comment that was part of a whole conversation about how our culture imposes the tyranny of homogeneity instead of respecting difference and looking at diversity as an asset and you twist it to prove a point about sexism?

that conversation was about how aggressiveness and violence are not necessarily nature. that as a mother of two boys and someone who has taken care of many of my friends girls, i can see how their energies can by nature, be vastly different.

the issue is of holding male energy as the standard of what is good and by assertion, female energy being bad or weak. just as how whiteness is held up as the standard and everything that is not "white" then becomes diminished, poor, disadvantaged, underdeveloped, or plain old not good enough.

but you took that one quote and you built a whole post about how everything about this campaign was sexist attacks that cost Clinton the nomination.

we've had this conversation before online and am going to say it again, it's not the reason why. there's 100 reasons, none having to do with sexism, that cost Hillary Clinton the nomination.

get over it.

and, by the way, this link was sent to me. if you're going to quote me, have the tact next time of emailing me the link.

i take cause with how you present my words here.

there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING wrong not wanting to [be] like men and finding power in that.

I had to use Summize to go back on the twitts of yesterday and find the conversations I was having. I can identify 6 different conversations all revolving around different discussions of sexism.

One of them was with Shannon McKarney of EcoChic, who had this to say :

I wrote that piece last year+believe it more strongly now. Women have to become more "male" to be successful

That's where the whole discussion of homogeneity vs. difference started. That's where I ssaid that I strongly disagree with women needing to be like men to be successful just as I strongly believe this to be one of those sticking points for a lot of feminists of color.

The whole discussion of women vs. men pits oppressed people in many communities of color against each other. Yes, colored men can be sexist and even ruthlessly misogynistic but is that the root of our problems or is it a symptom of a larger structure of violence and exploitation that women and men of color need to unite against?


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Hillary Clinton bows out and endorses Barack Obama

I came in just in time to watch Hillary Clinton give her endorsement to Barack Obama. It was an interesting speech. She never talked about losing, she talked about the disappointment of not getting the nomination. She also didn't talk about Obama's legitimate win, she only mentioned his victory.

I was on Twitter writing about the speech and I have to say I am relieved she finally said the words a lot of us wanted to hear 2 months ago : that is time to come together and support Obama.

I thought it was gracious and I also noticed that she kept on repeating at the end "we need to help elect barack obama our president" , almost as if she repeated it seven times herself she would truly and honestly embrace it.

I was also taken aback by her late realization that she became a woman who ran for president as opposed to being a candidate who happened to be a woman. I've always said that Hillary Clinton never struck me as a feminist, but as one of the millions of middle class white women who benefitted from the equal opportunity policies that came after the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements.

Yet this campaign seems to have made her a born-again feminist :


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Did Rangel made her do it?

Obama met with Clinton last night to discuss party unity and such things. What caught my eye on the CNN report was this bit of news :

Some of Clinton's closest supporters — the nearly two dozen House Democrats from her home state of New York — switched their endorsements to Obama Thursday.

[...]

"We're Democrats. Dammit to hell we fight. When it's over, we come together and go out there to win," said Rangel, the dean of the New York delegation.

The New Yorkers, said Rep. Gregory Meeks, have a duty "to lead this transition" to full party support of Obama.

This meeting was done on Thursday because, based on a Newsday report, almost all the delegation refused to be in the picture when Clinton gives her concession speech on Saturday. Or, as I would like to translate it, they refused to continue their roles of enablers.

Wow!

The New York Clintonistas seemed to have grown more than a pair. I mean, look at that video clip from MSNBC. It speaks volumes.


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Obama and Clinton met in Washington DC last night

This from the improbably named Candy Crowley:

CNN's Candy Crowley confirmed that the two met to discuss plans for "bringing the campaigns together in unity for the party."

Earlier, reporters on Obama's press plane learned that the presumed Democratic nominee for president was not aboard when it departed Virginia, where he had been campaigning. Aides said staff members "scheduled him some meetings" in Washington.

The meeting originally was believed to be at Clinton's D.C. home, but sources later said the two met elsewhere in Washington.

Of course, the power-hungry Clintonistas have to have their VP delusions in, and so it was chronicled :

A group that is urging Obama and select Clinton as his running mate praised the meeting. "We are thrilled to hear that Senators Obama and Clinton are meeting already," said a statement from VoteBoth. "We hope that Thursday night's conversation is a step toward an Obama-Clinton ticket that will unify the party."

A word to the wise : Obama is gracious but not stupid.


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Clintonites make for great GOP anti-Obama ads


There are so many reasons why Hillary Clinton will never be Vice-President that the GOP has made us all a favor and put them all together on the first official 2008 Presidential Election attack ad against Barack Obama.

Thanks Hillary and Bill Clinton and idiotic Democrats, y'all super!


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Dehydrated babies for McCain 2008, w00t!


WTF!

Now I want to know where McCain stands on the issue of hot water, dehydrated babies and bottle production. STAT!


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Brava, Hilary Rosen

Hilary Rosen became persona non-grata in this technologist's household for her years at the RIAA. She almost single-handedly killed creative freedom of expression thanks to the war she waged against the fair use of copyrighted materials. We really don't like her legacy at all.

So when I heard the former lobbyist had joined the Hillary Clinton campaign, I wasn't shocked. It made perfect sense. The lobbyist and the lobbyist loving politician. WTF.

Yet, grock how the woman grated the crap out of me every time I'd see her on CNN vigorously defending Hillary Clinton's shenanigans on the campaign trail. Last night though, she had a quick appearance during the election coverage and I noticed something different.

People were discussing Hillary Clinton's non-concession speech and you could see that Rosen was really more than pissed, she was truly disappointed. So when I read her post on Wednesday's Huffington Post, I wasn't just blown away for how candid it was. I really got that it was heartfelt and sincere :


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Why women lost to Hillary Clinton last night


Hillary Clinton squandered last night the opportunity of a lifetime.

She could have taken that moment to praise her supporters, praised Barack Obama as the rightful nominee of the Democratic Party and put herself as the bridge builder who would bring party unity to the convention floor in Denver and Obama as the new President of the United States in November.

Hillary Clinton had the opportunity to become a sheroe on her last 5 minutes as candidate for the nomination. She had the opportunity to become a larger than life figure, and example of resilience, smart, wit and grace under pressure.

Instead she chose to be the The Bitch.

Bitches have some or all of the following characteristics.


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Hillary Clinton's lost moment

Last night was a truly historic moment and Hillary Clinton made history for all the wrong reasons. Instead of conceding to Barack Obama, instead of declaring him the rightful winner and instead of turning her followers' attention to him as the legitimate nominee, she chose to turn the moment into a show of force against Obama.

Jeffrey Toobin of CNN described it as a moment of "deranged narcissism" while Carl Bernstein described it as "another Clinton foundling drama".

What's makes the picture of a derange narcissist worse is the arrogance with which many a defender would describe her "non-concession" speech : that she needs to take her time, that she needs space, that she's earned her right not to concede immediately, that Obama needs to watch out and make sure he doesn't hurt her feelings or slight her or say the wrong thing, etc. etc.

And let's not even get into the psychopathic ruse of claiming she's won 18 million votes in the course of this election.


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Only 10 more superdelegates to reach "the magic number"

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer twitter alerts are a must for anybody who wants to have the immediate scoop on what's happening with the elections. They just dropped this number : 27 superdelegagtes in one day.

Baratunde rounded up that nugget by twittering that Obama needs only 10 more delegates to reach the "magic number" of 2,118 delegates.

Town Hall is saying that John McCain is calling it for Obama by effectively scheduling a speech tonight. I think Red State beat McCain to it by first, real "Obama is a radical" kind of post.

By the way : I hear, but have not confirmed, that Hillary Clinton only picked up one superdelegate today.


liza's picture

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Two months after losing, is Hillary Clinton finally ready to concede?

AP is saying Clinton is indeed getting ready to concede. Yet word in the blogosphere is that she is not conceding but may be suspending her campaign. Others are betting she's taking it all the way the convention floor for those meager 4 Michigan delegates she claims were "stolen" from her.

Stay tuned. I'll be updating throughout the day.


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Guess why there's a record low turnout in the Puerto Rico primary

And guess why :

BECAUSE PUERTO RICANS KNOW THEY CAN'T VOTE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION.

"Most people in Puerto Rico, I would venture to guess, they are not even aware that there's a primary going on," said Luis Pabón-Roca, a local political analyst.

He said the political atmosphere on the island this week is subdued compared to the fever that sweeps the island before local elections.

Some poll workers in small towns started abandoning the polling stations because turnout was so low, he said.

Part of the reason for the lack of interest, he said, is because voters feel the primary isn't meaningful since Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election.

The Democratic and Republican parties run the primaries and caucuses, and they allow U.S. territories, such as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to take part in the process.

But only the 50 states and the District of Columbia vote in the general election.

El Nuevo Día reports the Board of Elections expected to have 600.000 voters. The Clinton campaign bargained on a million and more. Less than 400.000 people woke up this morning with the primaries in their minds.


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Terry McAuliffe is a douchebag

CNN called the island for Hillary Clinton based on exit polls five hours before the closing of the primaries.

They used exit polls.

To call a win for Clinton.

So what does Terry "am a bigger douchebag than Harol Ickes" McAuliffe say on TV, on CNN, while talking to mini-douchebag Wolfe Blitzer about the Michigan decision and Ickes threat to take their grievances to the convention floor?

Terry "Lord Of Douchebaggeoisty" goes on record as saying that exit polls are flawed and should not been used in deciding Michigan. That what the Rules and Bylaws Committee did was akin to what happened in Florida in 2000 and that in the end, they stole the delegates from Hillary Clinton.

Roland Martin, who's full of awesomeness, just said that McAuliffe needs to make a decision because he had just used exit polls to say that Hillary Clinton can beat John McCain in November.

The Clintonites are just fucking crazy.


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Teleonce in PR is not calling the election for Clinton?

My mother just called me from Lares after just casting her primary vote for ... I don't have to tell you who. She said that the local Univisión station, Noticias Teleonce, have said it doesn't look like Clinton will win the local primary.

Yet CNN here in New YORK is already calling the elections for her based on exit polls.

I'll give updates as I get them from the island.


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BREAKING NEWS : Florida and Michigan get full delegations with half the votes

The Rules and Bylaws Committees rules!

Harold Ickes proved to be a douchebag when he made the threat the Clinton campaign would take their fight all the way to the convention.

With the new decision the candidates need 2118 to get the nomination. With the new numbers CNN is saying that all Obama needs between 20 and 24 more superdelegates to win after the 3 remaining contests.

That's it.

If the Clintons take this to the credentials committee this would prove that they're waging a scorch earth strategy and wouldn't have a problem doing the Republicans job of making Barack Obama lose in November.

And by the way, the despicable screaming mimis in the room were chanting, "McCain, McCain, McCain".

The Clintonites know how to keep it classy.


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Could someone please tell Hillary Clinton the Puerto Rico popular vote doesn't count!

Geezus fruggin cryst, the insanity of the Hillary Clinton campaign is just unbelievable.

She has a guy on CNN saying that tomorrow's primary in Puerto Rico is important because it will determine for sure that she is winning the popular vote. Not anybody in CNN has corrected this douchebag and told the audience that Puerto Ricans live in a commonwhealth, not a state and thus they have no executive, no senatorial and no congressional representation in the US government.

What does this mean?

Puerto Rico is a commonwhealth, a "free associated state". PUERTO RICO IS NOT A STATE. Puerto Ricans cannot elect a president. Citizens of the United States do not elect a president. The states are the only ones that get to elect the President of the United States.

This from the US Constitution, Article II, Secion 1 :

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

So stop it, Stop It, STOP IT!

PUERTO RICO'S POPULAR VOTE DOESN'T NOT COUNT!


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Geraldine Ferraro gets help getting high on archibunkocaine

First off, I really want to know what kind of a hand-off Hillary Clinton promised to Ferraro if she became the nominee and eventual President of the United States. The woman has gone beyond the deep end with her one-woman Oppression Olympics. She is so determined to prove that the Democratic party is littered with women haters that she's hoodwinked some rich women to pay for a "study" that'll prove her point :

In response, a group of women - from corporate executives to academics to members of the media - have requested that the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University and others conduct a study, which we will pay for if necessary, to determine three things.

First, whether either the Clinton or Obama campaign engaged in sexism and racism; second, whether the media treated Clinton fairly or unfairly; and third whether certain members of the media crossed an ethical line when they changed the definition of journalist from reporter and commentator to strategist and promoter of a candidate. And if they did to suggest ethical guidelines which the industry might adopt.

First off, even though I don't agree with her some of her itemizations, Melissa McEwan has the sexism in the media covered. Yet I think it was either Gallup, Rassmussen or Pew who did already studies about whether the candidates have been treated fairly by the media. Guess who actually gets more passes by the media than other candidates? Racism? Oh lord, just go to Baratunde's wiki, please. And last, what a fucking straw man. Hello, let's page Jay Rosen, so he can school you in one or two things about journalism, especially what journalists are really all about.

Here's what I want to know from Geraldine Ferraro, who was in Clinton's finance committe : Where did most of the $100 million go?


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Can you imagine having to talk to your kids about the potential assassination of their father?

Can you believe that after Hillary Clinton's assassination remark, her campaign spinned the comment as an attempt by Barack to make her look bad? Yes, Hillary Clinton and all her boot lickers blamed Barack for the words she herself uttered on her own accord not once, not twice but now four times during the course of the campaign.

They blamed him for blowing the thing out of proportion and yet, as I've told many, many people since this happened HOW DARE YOU TELL US THIS IS NOT A BID DEAL! How dare you tell us that putting the words ASSASSINATION and BARACK on the same page is not cause for concern?

Well, the Huffington Post has an amazing chronicle of one of Michelle Obama's campaign stops. This is what happened :

She called on another supporter, whose voice quivered and broke with barely contained emotion as she explained how important it is to her, personally, that our country change course. She explained that she had just returned from Oregon where she campaigned for Obama and attended the 75,000-person rally by the river. She had noticed, she said, that the Secret Service had increased security dramatically for Barack Obama's rallies since the Phoenix rally in January.

The room collectively gasped and murmured, some aghast that these fears were being spoken aloud directly to Barack Obama's wife. Some nodded, concern and fear on their faces. Others shifted on their feet, displaying a range of emotions -- concern, discomfort with the topic, indignation.

This is not a pundit spewing or a campaign boot licker spinning. This was a common woman, who has volunteered to get the man she believes will bring change to this country. This is not a political expert lost in a moment of bobble-head theatrics but a real woman shaken by Hillary Clinton's words.

And yet, with the poise and class that Hillary nor Bill Clinton have, Michelle Obama told this shaken woman and the rest of the audience this :


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culturekitchen is one of the blog credentialed by the DNCC, not without controversy

I got our letter late last night saying that we finally got credentialed for the 2008 DNCC in Denver. It's a convention that promises to be historic and I want to be there front and center.

You can read the press release and check out the whole list of bloggers at the DNCC's blog.

UNFORTUNATELY the DNCC messed up when they went ahead and decided to pick a blog in New York that not only is not only NOT from the grassroots, but that is owned by people working in corporate media.

It's the reason why I got interviewed by Wired.com on the matter :

"What's amazing is that we've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local candidates along with the other state blogs," says Liza Sabater, publisher of The Daily Gotham, one of the New York state blogs that got the cold shoulder from the DNC officials. "Why would you give (the credentials) to a blog ... owned by a journalist? You're supposed to be supporting independent bootstrapped bloggers, not people who are coming in with influence and access. You're supposed to be giving it to people who are helping you to get candidates elected."


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Olbermann agrees : Hillary Rodham Clinton is unfit to be President of the United States

Yesterday I wrote the following about Hillary Rodham Clinton :

Shameless.

Despicable.

Unfit to be President of the United States.

My words hit the front pages of both Daily Kos and The Moderate Voice. By evening Keith Olbermann had the following to say about Hillary Clinton's latest "gaffe" :


The most important part of the transcript is after the jump :


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5 Clues to The Zel Millerization of Hillary Clinton

Is this proof Hillary Clinton is turning into a Zel Miller and joining Joe Lieberman in the Dark Side?

Just like Bush's neo-cons, she defines her own reality :


She's winning ... under the rules of the Republican party:
"The states I've won total 300 electoral votes. If we had the same rules as the Republicans, I would be nominee right now," she said. "We have different rules, so what we've got to figure out is who can win 270 electoral votes. My opponent has won states totaling 217 electoral votes."

She's milking Operation Chaos for all its worth:
... there apparently was a mutual overlap of interests here — the desire of Limbaugh, his fill-in host that day and other conservatives to influence the race and the former President to do whatever it took to get every single vote for Hillary Clinton, even if it meant crossover votes from Republicans who wanted to weaken the Democrats. Crossover, schmossover, weaken Obama, schmeaken Obama — as long as it’s a vote for Hillary…

She likes to play with McCain stupid tax tricks :
"More than 200 economists, including four Nobel prize winners, signed a letter rejecting proposals by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain to offer a summertime gas-tax holiday.

and ...


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VIDEO : Obama announces majority of pledged delegates


It is not a question of "if" but "when".

Barack Obama is not only the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party but he will be the next president of the United States --and yes, you can quote me on that.


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When crying "MISOGYNY" becomes a campaign strategy

The Black Monkey vs. The White Bitch: This has been a primary rife with what I call The Opression Olympics.The Black Monkey vs. The White Bitch

We must be on the dawn of another primary election. The Clinton supporters are screaming "MISOGYNY" and with it, another chapter in the The Opression Olympics is ready to unfold. And lest one of the big newspapers takes their thunder away, The Huffington Post is there to unleash the "un-bitter" straw(o)man :

Sexism is alive and well in America.

One exit poll I saw had almost twice as many voters having trouble voting for a woman for president than voting for a black man.

Oh kaaaay. Where do I begin? Let's start with the truthiness here : One exit poll I saw had almost twice as many voters having trouble voting for a woman for president than voting for a black man.

Ok, I'll bite : Which exit poll was that? Which company did the exit poll? Which were the questions? Where was the poll conducted? Was it in New York City's Harlem or was it in the heart of Appalachia?

In other words, enquiring minds want to know where is the data and how did you interpret it. Because I am going to bet there has been no poll asking the hard questions like : "Would you vote for a black before you vote for a white woman?"


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John Edwards' explains why he could never endorse Hillary Clinton


John Edwards told us 7 months ago why he would never endorse Hillary Clinton. I had forgotten about this rebuke until I found it looking for a clip of last night's endorsement.

It shows Edwards at the top of his litigation game --brutal yet never a moment emotional lost in the violence of his words. I've watched this now several times and I have to say, it is one of the most breath taking moments in political history.

It is without a doubt what cross many people's minds when the rumor about him getting an Attorney General nod in the Obama administration was floated earlier this year. Rumor or not, I have to say, chalk me in for making it a reality. John Edwards for United States Attorney General would wipe away the tortureful memories of John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales' tenures as USAGs.


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POP QUIZ : What is wrong with Marie Cocco's "Misogyny I Won't Miss"?

"Bitch Is The New Black" squealed Tina Fey on SNL and this black feminist didn't find it at all funny. Actually, I thought the squeal had a tinge to white supremacy in it.

So now we have Marie Cocco at the Washington Post saying this :

Most of all, I will not miss the silence.

I will not miss the deafening, depressing silence of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean or other leading Democrats, who to my knowledge (with the exception of Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland) haven't publicly uttered a word of outrage at the unrelenting, sex-based hate that has been hurled at a former first lady and two-term senator from New York. Among those holding their tongues are hundreds of Democrats for whom Clinton has campaigned and raised millions of dollars. Don Imus endured more public ire from the political class when he insulted the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Would the silence prevail if Obama's likeness were put on a tap-dancing doll that was sold at airports? Would the media figures who dole out precious face time to these politicians be such pals if they'd compared Obama with a character in a blaxploitation film? And how would crude references to Obama's sex organs play?


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UPDATE : EDWARDS TO ENDORSE OBAMA! NOW!

6:42pm

IT'S ON NOW!

6:02 pm

John Edwards is right now with Obama in Grand Rapids Michigan. I'll be liveblogging the endorsement through TWITTER.

Follow me there!

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At 7pm CNN will have the scoop!

What a day for endorsements!


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