And someone should monitor Limbaugh and O'Reilly today to see if they picked up on this remark by Obama:

"...if we think that meeting with the president is a privilege that has to be earned, I think that reinforces the sense that we stand above the rest of the world at this point in time, and I think that it's important for us, in undoing the damage that has been done over the last seven years, for the president to be willing to take that extra step."

No doubt there's a lot of damage to be undone, but suggesting that we don't stand above the rest of the world is probably not the best election strategy.

Lord knows the right wing nuts aren't talking about Dubya making a trip to the heart of darkness 'cause it ain't right for him to be socializing with such kind. That's why his ratings fell to a new low of 19% when he went to Africa. That's all die hard supporters dropping Dear Leader due to his diminishing the "Master Race" by visiting there. At this rate he'll never make Grand Cyclops at the local chapter of the brotherhoods.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

You're right. it seemed like they were in agreement more often than not and I thought walking on eggshells to be civil to one another, other than hillery's jab about xerox. I'm looking forward to the debates once the picks have been made.

Hillary's problem is that she's not Bill.

Randy, that's been a lot of Democrats' problem. Anyone who's tried "the third way" of Clinton's politics quickly discovered that they weren't Bill Clinton. Ask Harold Ford about that one.

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With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

Re: English as a prerequisite for citizenship

They were responding to a question about whether or not a bilingual America is o.k., thus the response that everyone should learn English.

i think a debate next week in ohio

I thought, even hoped, that she would bring on the wonk to expose Obama's lack of depth on policy

That is the problem Neal, Obama doesn't lack policy depth. Ya'll can keep pretending he is some shiny fairy tale, but he is real, his policies are real, and it is a fantasy to believe that he doesn't have a firm grasp on policy.

You disagree with his ideas on Health Care; all well and good, we'll see what the American people say. As for his comments on foreign policy, yes, the Republicans will attack him (and Hillary) on foreign policy, but the truth is we shouldn't hold a Presidential visit as some kind of reward or blessing...waiting for all of our terms of negotiation to be settled before we negotiate is not leadership.

Moreover, he appears to be running a much better campaign operation than Clinton does.

That's for sure.

Most telling to me was Hillary Clinton's quasi-concession at the very end that we need to rally the Democratic Party around Barack Obama.

Here's what I think happened. There's been disagreement in the Hillary camp between Mark Penn who wants to go hard negative and Howard Wolfson who wants to preserve her legacy no matter what. She tried the Mark Penn route with the Xerox comment and got literally booed for it. I noticed her voice got shaky and she looked truly rattled the next 20 minutes like I've never seen her before. Then I think she made peace with it all and realized that the negative route is destructive to her and to the party. She also realized that the math is basically impossible and let out her emotions of empathy in the very. And in a very resigned tone she gracefully passed the torch to Barack Obama.

Learning English is already a requirement for citizenship.

Not if you were born here, it's not. Nor is it one if you're a minor whose parents came here and got citizenship.

[/pedant]

clinton must win ohio primary

but if clinton wins the tx primary then loses
that night in the state senate delegate caucus

does the nomination battle continue till pa?

P.S. Hillary's problem is that she's not Bill. I thought, even hoped, that she would bring on the wonk to expose Obama's lack of depth on policy. Bill would have had him on the ropes in the first ten seconds of the first round, dizzied by a flurry of facts and figures and reeling from pointed questions that reveal a lack of knowledge that can't be read from a card (watch it sometime). Hillary either doesn't have that ability or she just doesn't know how to go in for the knockout punch.

Try being a reporter who's arguing with Bill about, well, anything. He keeps you on your toes, and in the resources double checking.

Hillary has her moments, but I think that as far as this campaign is concerned they've passed.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

We tuned in about 9:18 (near the end) and the first words heard out of Obama's mouth were about Hillary making that big monumental mistake to authorize Bush's war. Boy, is that getting old. Poor Hillary just sits there smiling as best she can while he describes all of Bush's Middle East failures, as if by extension Hillary is responsible for all that.

She should have said something like: Yes, I made a mistake. Like many fine and loyal Americans, I trusted the President of the United States to keep his word not to march to war unless it really had been the last resort, a necessity. My lesson, sadly, was not to trust our current President.

I think both of them understand why Obama has to keep going to that same well, but it's sad for her and I'll be awfully glad when we have a nominee.

Being from the DLC I can see how she and Lieberman...

Reminds me it's been too long since I last visited BartCop. He doesn't currently have the ballerina pic up, though.

Kind of an ominous-sounding Hillary interview conducted this morning in Austin:

(link...)

No one that puts politics before humanity is worthy of being President.

So, if Pres. Obama puts politics before humanity during his first 100 days, you'll be calling for his impeachment?

Please.

Or maybe he would've joined the 21 other Democrats who stood up and voted against the War, instead of trusting Bush's word over that of people like Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold.
Hillary stood with Bush.
Obama stood with Russ.

Fucking facile load of crap. Obama stood on the sidelines. His vote against the war counted just as much as mine, i.e. not at all.

"Maybe" doesn't matter and you know it. "Maybe" is spin.

Let's hear some more about these vaunted principles. Please. Feel free to explain why Obama's record on Iraq while in the Senate is identical to Clinton's and then we can talk "maybes."

ETA: I will support Obama in the general, but it won't be because of his record on the war. If it was, I'd stay home.

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With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

What I don't get is it's OK for Obama people to trash Clinton and call her all kinds of names and criticize her record (which Obama doesn't have), but if a Clinton supporter says one thing, anything, about Obama the attacks come in force.

Last time I checked there was still a primary going on and Democrats are still choosing a nominee. Clinton has not been able to seal the deal, but neither has Obama. If Democrats can't have a civil discussion about the relative strengths and weaknesses of two good candidates, what's the point?

old friend..met him in '81..in '82 beat cissy baker
for congress in the old 4th district.

never have agreed with all his votes & i dont agree with those you site...but he's better than a republican congressman.

i do agree with his support of obama.

ya know that '82 was a interesting year for me

Hamblen Co Tyree for Tennessee volunteer
Tyree running in 08

Helped Bill Nolan who ran for democratic nomination state house

lost to pete drew..who just ran for the 1st commission seat.

Helped Jim Cooper for congress..running this year

met joe armstrong..who won a county commission seat..running this year.

old friends..we all still at it

Yes, he stood with Bush on Iraq and a whole host of other issues

That isn't even half an answer. But I didn't expect you to admit that you got my point.

____________________________

With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

I'm not holding Hillary responsible for the actions of her supporters

I get that. Rather, you berate and browbeat and bully people for supporting her because of her record - and compare that to a record that Obama, frankly, doesn't have.

What Jim Cooper has to do with anything is beyond me

My point is that you support him despite his pathetic policy positions on Iraq because you have some common cause. You don't recognize that?

____________________________

With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

I am not brow beating Clintonistas

Oh? What's the proper dismissive term *I* should use? Should I start referring to you and your sort as Obamaniacs?

____________________________

With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.