crayz.org

For a good, detailed run down of exactly what disgusting, spineless, lying sacks of shit the Democratic FISA flippers are, read this

As Ezra Klein summarizes:

Julian goes through the changes to the bill one by one, and demonstrates what an absurd, and even insulting, farce it's been for the Democrats to call this some kind of victory. They opposed the original FISA bill because it allowed for warrantless surveillance of Americans and legal immunity for telecom companies who turn over information to the government. The revised FISA bill, as Julian explains, allows for warrantless surveillance of Americans and legal immunity for telecom companies who turn over information to the government. So there are two options here: Either the Democrats were lying about why they opposed the bill in the first place, or they're lying about having extracted meaningful concessions on the bill now. Whichever you choose, it's been a shameful, saddening performance.

Obama's statement on the FISA sellout by the Democrats is a real disappointment, and I hope not the start of a trend

It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives – and the liberty – of the American people.

These companies that knowingly broke the law to let the goverment spy on us need to held accountable, not the least because it's our last, best hope of finding out the real extent and nature of the program

The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don’t deserve is another election that’s governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I’ve walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I’ve sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I’ve worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.

In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again....

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America

The speech absolutely must be watched, not just read

It's going to be so great when Obama is finally elected President and all these uneducated racist fucks just have to eat crow for four or hopefully eight years

Yes West Virginia, a black man is going to be running your country. If you needed another reminder that you lost The War of Nothern Agression and that you should stop flying the traitor flag of defeat - this is it

God, fuck these people

OpenLeft has a fascinating look into the means through which Obama - who almost everyone finally acknowledges is the presumptive nominee, a fact which hasn't been in much doubt for months - has consolidated and transformed the base of money and power within the Democratic party, and what the future holds

There's certainly an "all the eggs in one basket" sense to this, but I can't help but allow hope to overwhelm skepticism. Once Obama is elected - which barring a major scandal or some sort of dramatic 9/11-type event I think is a near-certainty - we'll find out for sure. We could again end up with Clinton-style pandering, more "don't ask don't tell", COPA, AUMF, etc. But Obama has shown a surprising willingness to not just passively resist but actively attack this style of politics. He took a stand against the utter buffoonery of the gas-tax holiday and the faux-toughness of Clinton's "we won't talk to dictators" rhetoric, and has consistently used suprisingly nuanced and measured language in discussing policy, a refreshing change from the soundbite platitudes that have dominated for as long as I can remember

All of this gives me hope that if the political winds continue to blow in his direction (and at this point Obama is as much creating those winds as he is riding them) that we could have a real sea-change in American politics. As I said before, I think Obama's actual beliefs are far to the left of the mainstream discourse in the US. Whether he will have (or be able to create) the political capital to enact those beliefs remains to be seen, but I think there's a good chance that he will. Squeaking in with 51% of the vote and facing a GOP Congress, I'd have little hope of seeing major initiatives on our energy use, drug policy, or the Cuban embargo. But with 55% and a Democratic Congress, it might be a very different story

Al Giordano lays out in no uncertain terms what has long been a veiled threat against the Clintons and the Democratic party: going nuclear against the bastards if they consummate this perverse marriage and steal the nomination legitimately won by Obama - by the people:

For us rabble-rousers out here that don’t consider any American political party to be “ours,” that scenario would put Plan B into play. We have no illusions that it has yet been surrendered or that we have yet taken it: Oh, we’d still go to Denver, not to enter the convention hall, but to reduce it to symbolic rubble from the outside.

Call it Plan Jericho: Like Joshua of the Old Testament and his troops who circled the halls of the city, marched around it silently for six days, on the seventh day marched around it seven times more and then, on cue, sounded a horn to end the silence and shout all at once, toppled the walls, entered the city, and “killed” (the Bible says so literally, but this time it will be politically, not mortally) every man, woman and superdelegate – including any imposter they might “nominate” by imposition – that did not participate in the certain walk-out protest that will occur under their scenario and instead chooses to remain inside the hall.

Like Giordano, I see myself not as a Democrat or Republican, but simply as an American and a liberal. I agree with and vote for Democrats often, but have no special commitment to this party. Nor, I suspect, do many of the apathetic or cynical citizens Obama has been able to engage and bring to his side. The Democratic party is not a suicide pact

I also agree this scenario is terribly implausible, if for no reason beyond my faith in some small measure of sanity among the party leaders. Obama could still be found with "a live boy or a dead girl" - and for a time it almost looked like the Wright controversy could rise to that level - but at this late date it's unlikely in the extreme

But if against all odds this race plays out according to everyone's worst fears, there would be utter hell to pay. After standing by during eight years of Bush and Cheney, witnessing the slow-motion spectacle that would be Hillary's smash & grab of the prize she has not earned and does not deserve would be certainly be enough straw to break the backs of a great many Americans

Remember, the last major day of primaries is May 6th; the absolute last June 3rd, leaving two long months prior to the convention. Obama is all but guaranteed to be well ahead in states, votes, and delegates won as voting ends. If this race does not conclude at that time; if Hillary casts off any lingering pretense of fair-play and continues to press on; if the superdelegates and party elders abrogate their duty to the people who provide them their positions... it will by then be long past time to demonstrate the seldom seen power of might and right against those who consider themselves "more equal" than the millions of voters who have made their decision clear

For now it's enough to say: may the best candidate win

Simply amazing:

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

And:

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

And:

We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.”

I've never even imagined a major politician speaking so clearly and candidly about such a sensitive topic. I can't begin to express the amount of disappointment I would feel with this country if we turn our backs on this. Just mind-boggling. Seriously, read it or watch:

In practical terms, tonight's results look a lot like those from Super Tuesday. Both days have been PR wins for Hillary with little to any practical benefit in the race

The math is pretty simple. To be on track to close the pledged delegate gap, Hillary would have needed to pick up 50-60 delegates tonight. Instead it looks like she'll get under 10, possibly as few as one or two. A week from now Hillary is likely to be further behind in delegates than she was going into the March 4 contests. Barring a complete Obama meltdown, she's lost the pledged delegate race, and lost it decisively

It's now incumbent on Hillary to explain to the democratic party and the country exactly how she plans to win the nomination. The options she has left are:

• win the remaining contests by 20-30 point margins (i.e. win 380 of the remaining ~600 delegates)
• win a knife fight at the convention

Which is more plausible is left as an exercise for the reader

Well, everyone seems to be pretty down on Obama's chances for tomorrow, but I'll go out on a limb and say he'll win Texas and win or essentially tie Ohio. I don't think Clinton is going to pick up any delegate lead from those states. Outside New Hampshire, Obama has consistently beaten the polls, and I don't see a good reason why that will stop tomorrow

Hillary is pretty much screwed regardless - this is just for the spread

This race is officially over. MSNBC called Wisconsin for Obama; he's bound to get Hawaii as well. Obama's going to be ahead by well over 150 delegates, and barring a huge scandal there's no way Hillary can make up that gap - her own internal data has got to show the same thing. She would have to win every future race by about 14 points to regain the pledged delegate lead

McCain is already running the general election against Obama. Everyone else already realizes Obama is the presumptive nominee - it's time for Hillary to do the same and drop out

First the earnest Obama entry:

Then the McCain followup:

I honestly do have respect for McCain(although far less than I did five years ago), but he is going to get steamrolled in this election

The Washington Times is running a hit piece on Obama that confirms what I've believed about him for a while: he's a far left guy in disguise. And that's fucking great! Listen to the policies he advocated back in his Illinois Senate race, and which I'd be fairly certain he actually believes:

In terms of legalization of drugs, I think that the war on drugs has been an utter failure, and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws.... If you're convicted of a crime, you should be punished, but that we are sending far too many first-time, non-violent drug users to prison for very long periods of time, and that we should rethink those laws

In a 2003 forum on health care, Mr. Obama said he supported the children of illegal immigrants receiving the same benefits as citizens, "whether it's medical, whether it's in-state tuition." Asked specifically if he included "undocumented" people, Mr. Obama replied, "Absolutely."

In a 2004 video, Mr. Obama told an audience at Southern Illinois University, "I think it's time for us to end the embargo with Cuba "It's time for us to acknowledge that that particular policy has failed."

He talked in depth about how the embargo hurts innocent citizens of Cuba and of how this sort of approach to foreign affairs is related to terrorism

The mandatory minimums take too much discretion away from judges,

Listen everyone, this is kind of a secret, but - Obama is a huge huge liberal. Get him elected and he has a good chance of paradigm-shifting the country to the left to the same extent that Reagan did to the right

Clinton in the debate, responding to a question on dynasty, said that she thinks America is great because everyone gets where they get because of their merits, and then ends with the non-sequitor that "it took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, and it might take another Clinton to clean up after the second Bush"

There's so much insanity in this answer:

• the obvious contradiction between the start and end of her response
• that she would actually believe it a good thing to encourage voting for "a Clinton"
• the idea that there's "equal opportunity" in this country in not an especially common one among liberals

And she still won't fucking admit her war vote was a mistake. She is making the obscene lie that she didn't know she was voting for the war, and didn't know Bush would fuck it up so bad. Everyone knew that

"Right on day one" - wow, that's the fucking best line of the debate