hillary

As a loyal Clintonista and New Hampshire resident, I'm trying to get my hands around this idea.  At first it seems ludicrous to try and pull off a write-in.  This is the USA, not some backwater little country, but then I think, maybe the time is right?

As the writers point out, this is the year of the Arab Spring, OWS and even an awakening in Russia.  Perhaps America is ready for revolt.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70623.html

By PATRICK H. CADDELL and DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN | 12/18/11 10:15 PM EST

We argued in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that President Barack Obama should stand down and let Secretary of State Hillary Clinton run as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2012.

We are now calling on Democratic voters nationally — particularly in New Hampshire — to organize a write-in campaign for Clinton. This is something that New Hampshire voters have a long history of doing.

We advocate this Draft Hillary movement not because of the desire to make political mischief — but to put the country on the right course.

It’s clear that Obama has been unable to build consensus and, with the polarizing campaign he is now running, will be unable to govern effectively even if reelected. Only Clinton can commit the Democratic Party — and, indeed, the nation — to a unification and healing process. This could allow Washington, in a bipartisan manner, to finally address the economic and governmental crises that now grip America.

We are facing a crisis of national leadership, so citizens should step up and take charge of their country the way demonstrators in the Middle East did earlier this year. And, stunningly, as the people of Russia are now doing.

It’s time to take the decision about America’s leadership out of the hands of the established powers and return it to the citizens of our country. That opportunity to change U.S. politics will appear in the second week of 2012 in New Hampshire.

To seize this moment two things are required:

First, and most important, ordinary Democrats and independents in New Hampshire should mobilize behind a grass-roots effort to write in Clinton’s name during the Jan. 10 Democratic primary.

Second, a committed group of Democrats with resources and stature needs to help facilitate an authentic citizens’ movement — independent of party structure, Clinton and organized interests — to support a massive New Hampshire write-in campaign and put this before a deeply disaffected electorate.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70623.html#ixzz1gzPkx75K

Can I get my heart into it?  Do I want to?

I still think she is the strongest, smartest leader we could have.  But she has turned me off in many ways the last few years.  If I can wrap my arms around the fact that she is a party animal and some of what she has said and done was under orders, then I can perhaps throw my support behind a fun try at a Write-In vote.

It might mean divorce for me, but then again maybe not.  My little o'bot wife is perhaps a sign that this could work.  She, the staunchest supporter of his O'liness I knew in 2008, she never ever listens to his speeches anymore.  She avoids politcal news and has shut her ears to the disaster that is his Presidency.  Our Vermont o'bot friends who you may recall I had to suffer through the Christmas before the 2008 NH Primary, well I was speaking to one on the phone recently and she flat out told me that Obama is a failure for the Democratice party.

They won't admit their horrendous mistake of 2007/2008, but they know in their hearts they were so very wrong.

This could be interesting.  But like the movements around the world, we'd need a name and it should not include Hillary.  This is about bringing America back to the people.  This is about Occupy Wall Street and the one former candidate who spoke up about a looming financial crisis when nobody would listen.

Take Back The Party, Renew America Now

RUN - Renew USA Now

I like the look of President Barack Obama’s new Middle East envoy, a person with broad experience, the trust of Israelis, growing support among West Bank Palestinians and a fierce personal conviction that a peace accord is essential not only for the parties but for United States national security.

 

The surprise appointment reflects the need to bring maximum heft to U.S. mediation efforts at a time when Obama himself, major international powers and the Palestinian government led by Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad have all set a target of achieving Palestinian statehood by the second half of 2011.
 

You missed the announcement? Well it was made so quietly, more through osmosis than anything, that overlooking the change was easy. So here’s the administration’s Middle East shift: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken charge.

Those are the words of Roger Cohen in the New York Times here

Yes, I did miss it, but I haven't missed the fact that Hillary Clinton is the single shining star of the Obama administration.  While the boys, and a few women, have spent two years taking over Washington and lining the pockets of their friends,  the Secretary of State has done what we all knew she would.  She buckled down and got busy.  She worked and works hard getting things done and rarely tooting her own horn.  Hillary Clinton is a rare thing in politics.

Hillary Clinton is a Doer.  She can make a good speech but her strength is in the doing rather than the bullshit.

I am more confident in peace than I have been in many years.  The reason for my confidence is Hillary Clinton in charge.

h/t to Sharyn for sending me the NYT link.

"Would we be better off under a President Hillary Clinton?"

We knew it was bound to happen and today Dana Milbank has made the obvious comparisons.  When you read this opinion piece, be prepared to get very pissed.  Pissed at the 20/20 hindsight of so much of the 2008 primary campaign.  Why were so many of us able to see the obvious back then, yet supposedly smart journalists were totally blind?

As I sat in the East Room last week watching a forlorn President Obama account for his shellacking, I listened with concern as he described the presidency as a "growth process" and suggested that the midterm setback was somehow inevitable. "You know, this is something that I think every president needs to go through," he said.

 

It brought to mind Hillary Clinton's 3 a.m. phone-call ad from the 2008 campaign, and her withering criticism of Obama: "When there is a crisis . . . there's no time for speeches or on-the-job training." I wondered whether Democrats would be in the fix they're in if they had chosen a different standard-bearer.

<snip>

Clinton, for example, first called for a 90-day foreclosure moratorium in December 2007, as part of a package to fight the early stages of the mortgage crisis with a five-year freeze on subprime rates and $30 billion to avoid foreclosures. But an Obama campaign adviser dismissed Clinton's moratorium, saying it would "reward people for bad behavior."

 

Calls for a moratorium returned a few weeks ago with news of lenders' foreclosure abuses. Polls indicate public support for a moratorium, but Obama ruled it out. It's a safe bet Clinton would have done otherwise.

emphasis mine.  Read the whole piece here.

Via Politico

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn’t expect to be serenaded when she spoke at the National Geographic headquarters on Monday night. But when National Geographic Channel president Steve Schiffman revealed that Tuesday is Clinton's birthday, the gathered audience rallied in a chorus of 'Happy Birthday, Dear Secretary' as a giant cake was wheeled out in front of a blushing former first lady.

"It is a tribute for the more than 60,000 people who work for the State Department," said Clinton, who watched the documentary for the first time on Monday.

Although the film almost unequivocally celebrates U.S. diplomatic policy, Clinton herself (who is described as "Energizer Secretary" in the documentary by a State Dept. adviser) speaks candidly about America's role in creating the conflicts that now challenge the State Department.

"We helped create the Mujahideen," she says in the film. "We have to live with the world we helped to create."

I do believe it's true. 

Watch this great video, and in the words of Uppity, "...go to youtube and tell TEAMHILLARY what a great job they did on this video."  

 www.youtube.com/watch

Then visit here and take the Should Hillary Run poll.

teamhillaryclinton.com/

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo.
I do believe it,
I do believe it's true.

Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Whoooa. Mmmmm.

It's a light and tumble journey
From the East Side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo.

But you can take the crosstown bus
If it's raining or it's cold,
And the animals will love it
If you do.
If you do.

Something tells me
It's all happening at the zoo.
I do believe it,
I do believe it's true.

Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Whoooa. Mmmmm.

The monkeys stand for honesty,
Giraffes are insincere,
And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb.
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages,
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.

ShareThis

It is beginning to get lovely.  Little articles pop up here or there saying Mrs. Clinton should run against Obama for the 2012 nomination.  But as Mediaite said, "this is the first time I can recall seeing it in a serious publication".

Wall Street Journal op-ed by: Pete Du Pont

<snip>

And why would the Democratic Party want to do that? Because the re-election of President Obama is becoming more problematic. The latest Rasmussen Reports polls show the dramatic decline of the presidential approval index, the difference between those who "strongly approve" of Mr. Obama's performance and those who "strongly disapprove." It began at plus 25% when the new president was sworn in, and has steadily declined to minus 13%.

It isn't just the president whose poll numbers are falling fast. According to recent Harris polling, Vice President Biden viewed favorably by 26% of the public and unfavorably by 45%. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does even worse, 20% positive to 49% negative. A June Nevada poll gave Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, 33% approval and 52% disapproval.

But the greatest contrast and most interesting statistic is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's ratings: 45% favorable and only 35% unfavorable.

<snip>

Yes, Bill, and his helpers at Hillary's have been pestering with a new pitch.  Donate to help pay down the remainder of the debt and you may win a day in New York with Bill.  I've spent an hour with him during the last primary and the thought of a whole day seemed worth a small cash gamble.

Funny side note, or not.  The last intern email was signed Hillary Clinton for President.  I'm there if she is.

Go ahead, ruin my odds of winning by donating yourself.  http://contribute.hillarycampaign2008.com/wjc.html

Do you think then maybe by a year from now some Democratic Party bigwigs and money people might be whispering to each other that this arrogant Illinois guy is pulling a Jimmy Carter, constructing a disastrous....

 ...single term that teed up 12 straight years of Republican White House rule?

Well, it turns out, there is another Democrat -- another former senator, in fact -- hanging around now free of political tussles with an enhanced resume burnished on the world stage, thanks to Obama himself.

***

61% now think favorably of the former senator and only 35% unfavorably, both numbers improved from the 56% and 40% she had during the Democratic National Convention in late August of 2008.

***

By comparison, in the same CNN poll, 57% of Americans now think favorably of Obama, down from 78% just before his inauguration; and 41% now think unfavorably of him, more than twice his unfavorable rating of early 2009.

Clinton's numbers also beat all other both Democrats and Republicans in the new poll.

 latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/04/barack-obama-hillary-clinton-sarah-palin.html

The video of the ceremony won't stream so above is Shadi Sadr's Speech.

Secretary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the annual International Women of Courage Awards at the Department of State, which was broadcasted live this afternoon.

THIS BLAST FROM THE PAST could be said about his entire first year in office.  Go Hillary!

h/t - Alegre

Hillary won the New Hampshire Primary.

Polls were about to close at 8 and I as poll manager for the campaign stayed waiting to witness the count. We and the women of NH proceeded to shock the asshat pollsters and I went to an awesome victory party in Manchester

Damn

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development has been rescheduled for 2:30 pm Friday, January 8, 2010.

You will be able to view the speech at this link >> http://www.icpd2015.org/

CNN Story

Hillary Clinton makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Kabul Wednesday in a surprise visit on the eve of the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai.

Clinton went straight into a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, before having dinner with Karzai.

Her first visit to Afghanistan as secretary of state comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, as requested by McChrystal.

Offered up as a question fully intended to create controversy, Carol Costello's Friday morning segment titled Just Sayin', asked the question, Is Feminism Obsolete?

It was actually a well meaning followup to the Palin - Letterman week that was.  But listenning this morning I couldn't help but think that Costello completely missed the point.  Yes we on the intertubes are having a heated debate about who and what is a feminist.  Can you be "pro-life" and be a feminist?  Can you be a goper and be a feminist?  Can you call Obama the New Face of Feminism and be a feminist? (Costello didn't ask that one).

My real gripe.  The recent Letterman - Palin event was not about Feminism, it was about Children and the protection of those children from predators and predatory attitudes.  It was about anyone's children whether they be right, left, commie or nazi.  Children are off limits.

You decide on where they went with the feminist discussion.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/15/clinton.piracy/index.html

Well that sucks.  The bright boyz in the O'Techie group can't make an embed that works.

Here's where you can hear the statement. http://www.state.gov/video/?videoid=19834412001

And before I forget, they now have a text the secretary form.  Ask her questions about this week's island summit.

So today she announced an inniative to stop the piracy.  Full Text

SECRETARY CLINTON: But before I turn to the important issues that we discussed today about Haiti, I’d like to take a moment to discuss an issue that affects us all, and that is the scourge of piracy. The attempted capture of the Maersk Alabama and the attack yesterday on the Liberty Sun off the coast of Somalia are just the most recent reminders that we have to act swiftly and decisively to combat this threat. These pirates are criminals. They are armed gangs on the sea. And those plotting attacks must be stopped, and those who have carried them out must be brought to justice.

.......

ShareThis

I could put it on eBay for a few bucks, or Craigslist even.  I mean, I can't wear it out in public anymore since people will throw pies and call me a PUMA dead ender.

What to do?  Bids?

Josh Green, a columnist at the UC Berkeley student newspaper the Daily Californian "Daily Cal" awarded midterm grades for the Obama administration today:

Obama's first 100 days officially come to an end April 30, but I want to get a jump on all of the other carping analysts and get my grades in now. It's not too early to at least give Obama a heads up on what might appear on his transcript by the time he graduates. He can check it out on eGrades starting on May 1.

 

Obama's first 73 days:

 

ShareThis

Just a hodgepodge of interesting bits floating around the Web the past couple of days.

Amazing inauguration day, Jan 20, 2009, hi-res photo. You can zoom in and scroll around using + and - keys and arrow keys:

Fullscreen Gigapan Viewer

Awesome photo of the Milky Way from Maunakea:

The Obama campaign successfully divided women along with the rest of the country.  I don't know if Hillary is all to blame as Dr. Lynette Long would have us believe or if other forces were at work.  I do know that most women were scared enough by the threat to Roe, or Health Care or some other issue that they went for Obama. 

Many of them like my wife, truly believe in him and for whatever reason do not have women's issues as a priority.  They just don't.

That's an amazing statement for me to make but today I realized the truth.  I am a feminist.

Yes, I'm of the male variety and I'm not gay.  In fact many would consider me a sexist for my woman loving ways but I'll argue with anyone that a love of women and a love of the female form is anything but sexist.

But today it hit me or really it started yesterday while fishing and I finalized the thought today.  Damn.  Fishing is the one thing I do where concentration completely clears the mind of any problems or worries.  But even in the outstandingly beautiful fall weather and good fishing my mind came back to this election.  That's what bama has done.  Ruined my fishing.

This article by Lea Lane is truly awful; it's called, "Do Whatever You Must to Trick Hillary Supporters Into Voting for Barack" -- and it's disgusting.  (The secondary title, btw, is:  "Eat Crow?  Hell Yes, to Win This Election."

Here's the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Here's the first two paragraphs:

As Stated back in March in a Clinton press release.

A friend managed to find this old press release on the Clinton website and I think it contains truths that should not remain hidden.  The site has been fairly well cleaned up so only a geek could have found this one.  Please read on.  His lies were lies then and still lies now.  Since this is a press release I am posting the entire thing.  Blockquoting left out in order to preseve formatting.

I've been wanting to write this for sometime but held off due to my fear of women and more importantly, my fear of offending old friends.

Please don't kick me too hard and promise that if what I say smacks of sexism, you'll educate me rather than hate me.  I'm an old, dirty old, guy and I'm trying to learn but I have a problem with PC and a worse problem with tact.

This post is more an observation than a theory.  It is my view of what happened to Hillary that should never have happened.  Something I hope people learn from should she or another woman run in 2012.

Women, you really are your own worst enemy.

And Joe I really hope that if this is a lead up to you exiting stage left, I hope if offered the Second Choice VP Pick, I hope she gives Barack a big and public.

NO!