Hillary Clinton knew years before she voted for the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein didn't have WMDs -- Bill Clinton lied about Iraq's weapons programs to justify attacking the country in 1998.
Scott Ritter was the outspoken former UN weapons inspector who loudly disavowed the rush to war on Iraq in 2oo2/o3. He knew the claims being made by Colin Powell at the UN were hogwash. He knew the Cheney-Rice-Bush "mushroom cloud" of Rove's imagination was complete nonsense.But years before, Ritter proves the Clintons were engaged in lying for regime change as well. Looking back to early Bill Clinton will help clarify the Hillary of today. We need to know who Hillary is, what she's up to and how she would be as President. Knowing our history will help us convince those "on the fence" that Obama and Michelle need to be--and will be--the family in the White House on my birthday in 2oo9.Here are a couple of good paragraphs. The entire article is a must read.- Bill Howard, Green4Obama | RENObama!+=+=+
I personally witnessed the Director of the CIA under Bill Clinton, James Woolsey, fabricate a case for the continued existence of Iraqi ballistic missiles in November 1993 after I had provided a detailed briefing which articulated the UN inspector's findings that Iraq's missile program had been fundamentally disarmed. I led the UN inspector's investigation into the defection of Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Hussein Kamal, in August 1995, and saw how the Clinton administration twisted his words to make a case for the continued existence of a nuclear program the weapons inspectors knew to be nothing more than scrap and old paper. I was in Baghdad at the head of an inspection team in the summer of 1996 as the Clinton administration used the inspection process as a vehicle for a covert action program run by the CIA intending to assassinate Saddam Hussein.
I twice traveled to the White House to brief the National Security Council in the confines of the White House Situation Room on the plans of the inspectors to pursue the possibility of concealed Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, only to have the Clinton national security team betray the inspectors by failing to deliver the promised support, and when the inspections failed to deliver any evidence of Iraqi wrong-doing, attempt to blame the inspectors while denying any wrong doing on their part.
Great news everyone, Obama is currently miles ahead of Clinton in the front runner votes on ABCNews online poll. Quick vote for him!!! Click on the Link site below!!
http://abcnews.go.com
I've been thinking a lot lately about "moral values." You know what I'm talking about. The "culture wars". The "secularization of America". The fiery rhetoric of Focus on the Family, Jerry Falwell and Bob Jones University. Republicans have had a stranglehold on "moral values" ever since Newt Gingrich stormed into Congress in 1994 with the Contract for America tucked snuggly under his armpit.
We on the Left seem to have forgotten our fight for morality. Instead of affirming our beliefs, we gave "right" to the Right. We demurred and got degraded. We got kicked around the beltway for more than a decade. But now, we have Congress. We're going to put Barack Obama in the White House in 2008. And right here, right now, I call on every liberal to join together and take back moral values.
Don't worry if you're not religious. Morality doesn't reside only in Church. It resides in our living rooms and our history books. It resides in the stories passed from our parents to us, to our children. It resides in our compassion and charity. Morality is not a conservative force. Morality is a human force and, more and more, a progressive necessity.
I dare to you to look at our values and say they aren’t moral. We want to ensure that every American has health care. That's a moral value. We want to give every child a quality education, regardless of how she looks or where he lives. That's a moral value. We want to keep the hand of government out of our libraries, phone lines, mailboxes and bedrooms. That’s a moral value. We want to make sure that money lies not merely in fat pocketbooks but in hardworking American hands. That's a moral value. We want to keep our environment healthy and ensure a good life for future generations. That, my friends, is a most certainly moral value.
We are the Left. We are liberals. We are progressives. We are moral and we are the future. Be proud.
Link to CSBNews.com Obama see Gore as a potential candidate for the White House.
It's ridiculously easy to forget that it is SO early in this process! Every time a new poll comes out and after each story or revelation about one of the candidates I catch myself getting overly excited or upset. And then I remember ~ it's almost 11 months until the FIRST PRIMARY!!! I have to stay focused on small steps forward...maintaining and building momentum...spreading the word...raising money...building a foundation...But that's painfully difficult when you feel so passionately about something. At least for me. After six years of being assaulted and insulted by the incompetence, idiocy, and downright criminal behavior of this administration, I can finally see some light at the end of the Neo-Con tunnel...and I want to run to it NOW!
But let's talk about the recent polls a little bit anyway...it's fun! First and foremost, Barack has gained CONSIDERABLE ground on Hillary - especially among African-Americans. He has cut her lead in half overall, and actually taken over among black voters. This reinforces my belief that the more people know about Obama, the more they'll like him. The "product" sells itself!! Edwards has been pretty stagnant, but no one should underestimate him. And, of course, there's always the possibility that Gore will jump in. I just don't see how ANY of these others even compares to Barack...no worries...
On the other side, Giuliani has increased his lead over McCain. Romney's having trouble despite all the support from the Bush camp...How shocking considering the stellar poll numbers of W.! The Giuliani thing really confounds me. I've been saying and thinking for months that most Republicans, especially Evangelicals, just don't know him well enough yet, and once they find out about his social positions, they'll dump him faster than his ex-wives. But it still hasn't happened! Stay tuned I guess.
The most amazing poll I saw this week was one of several potential match-ups. Obama BEATS BOTH MCCAIN AND GIULIANI IN 1 ON 1 RACES AND HILLARY DOES NOT!!! Granted, they're pretty slim margins, and it's VERY early, but that's pretty amazing! Not to mention motivating...and exhilirating. God, it's fun to be excited about politics again. It's really been a long ABYSS!!
Anyway, I better get to bed so I can get up tomorrow and watch the "over the top" funeral of Anna Nicole Smith. Yeah, they actually said it was going to be "over the top." What's wrong with those people? Do you think they're really stupid? Ignorant? Evil? Greedy? I wonder what it is? Maybe it's just a perfect storm of bad genes and even worse upbringing. Combine that with "medicating" the few brain cells that actually work, and you have Howard K. Stern. At least he has the drugs to partially explain his behavior (birds of a feather...). What's Vergie's excuse?? There, I said it...
Earlier this year, I took my 18 month old daughter to the doctor where she was diagnosed with a severe case of RSV. She was poked and prodded, sent to the hospital for tests and x-rays, then sent back to our pediatrician for treatment. We paid $80 out of pocket for medications that were not covered or for copays, and that was just for what we got for the pharmacy.
The doctor also sent us home with a nebulizer to be used 3 times a day for a week.
Today, I got my EOB stating that the nebulizer would not be covered.
It's frustrating, but really, I can afford to pay the bill so it won't be a lasting issue. But what happens to the people who are living paycheck to paycheck, working to just make ends meet? A bill like this could turn their world upside down.
What if, when my daughter was sick, I couldn't take her to the doctor because I didn't have insurance? I shudder to think about it.
It's not right. And it's time for change.
I support Barack Obama because I believe he wants to make health care a priority. Every American should have it. Not just the rich. Not just the lucky ones who get good insurance through their job.
No child should die from a toothache.
What is wrong with this country when we're too busy arguing about gay marriage to notice that people are dying because we aren't doing what needs to be done to keep people healthy?
It's an abomination. It's an embarrassment.
Great news everyone! According to Yahoo.com Barack Obama is currently leading Hilary Clinton in the black votes by 9 points, which is a huge comeback from last month when Hilary won by 40%.
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Have you ever held a single dry soybean in your hand? What do you think it weighs: one gram? Imagine holding a soybean in your palm and see if you can get a sense of the weight of it. It’s very, very light – hardly noticeable. And yet, this year, somewhere in the Midwest, someone will probably die from the weight of soybeans.
Time to turn my attention to something other than next year's presidential elections. I have decided to leave this blog up because at some point I will return my attention to who should lead this country. Who can repair the mistakes of the corrupt administration of President Geo. W. Bush? Of the top three Democratic contenders Sen. Obama has a decided edge. I respect his opinions on the subjects I have heard or read about. I will say this when I was reading Audacity of Hope I was very impressed with how his mind works. When I got to the chapter on race, I felt like I was reading the words of a president. They are the words of one who knows how to lead. I look forward to the campaigns.
If someone on this site is familiar with the Senator's opinion on medical cannabis please let me know his stance. So for now I will be concentrating on that subject and on just one blog. The blog "Casey's Dream" has been up since about Dec. 8, 2006. Despite being the second or third name on the list if you use Google to find it. my readership is very low. So for now I will be working to improve that and to bring attention to the cause of medical cannabis. I am working to make it legal and prescriptible without interference from the state or federal government. Please stop by and make your voice heard especially if you're a patient in need of the benefit of a Compassionate Use Law.
See you all later this year. To Senator Obama I say, "don't let the bastards get you down". There are a lot if us out there that do want the tone of politics to change radically.
Peace
Crowdsourcing has been all the rage in the tech community the last few months. The term was coined in a June 2006 Wired Magazine article and describes a circumstance where “volunteers and/or low-paid amateurs use their spare time to create content, solve problems or even do corporate R&D.”
Following are some notable examples companies using crowdsourcing:
I find these projects fascinating. Interestingly though, political campaigns have been using crowdsourcing for years to help influence swing voters and get out the vote. Now we just have something to call it. Both in 2004 and 2006, candidates and national committees for both political parties encouraged online volunteers to call friends and/or undecided voters and urge them to vote Democrat or Republican. The tools used are pretty sophisticated.
In many cases, volunteers are given the phone number of undecided voters in their area as well as a script and list of questions to ask when they call. After making the call, volunteers enter data about the voter contact and then are assigned additional voters to reach out to. The Republican National Committee is running a program using this approach this cycle. Some of their volunteers have made thousands of calls.
This cycle the Democratic National Committee is taking a more personal approach. Instead of giving you a list of strangers to call, they are encouraging their volunteers to get in touch with friends and family on behalf of the Party. The focus here is on sending emails instead of making phone calls.
Taking a similar approach, Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont launched a website that focused on sending physical postcards to potential voters. Volunteers used the site to look up friends and family from the Connecticut voter file and then were able to create a personalized postcard that the campaign then mailed to the voter.
Will these crowdsourcing programs have a real impact on the election? Who knows. But I do know that the more personal the connection the more likely it is to have an impact.
As Seth Godin recently wrote in a post about his own annoyance at getting contacted by campaign volunteers and recordings from celebrities, “One call from a friend is worth 100 calls from an Academy-Award winner on tape.”
