Thursday, January 24, 2008

Clintons Leave no Fingerprints

Excellent analogy and article. The reason they leave no fingerprints is because they are master criminals (Whitewater, Filegate, Chinagate, Travel Officegate, Pardongate, etc., etc.):

First, a quick show of hands: How many of you honestly thought we'd make it through this Democratic presidential primary without a bruising debate over race? Whether or not the Clintons were involved, this conversation is hardly shocking. And before it's over, it will likely grow more intense.

What is surprising, however, is how skillfully, and with how much brilliant calculation, Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband steered the nomination campaign toward these turbulent waters. She's done nothing but win since this debate began and even if she loses on Saturday in South Carolina, she's framed the campaign in a way that lets her live to fight another day. Perhaps even more surprising has been the media's willingness to be played.

Voters Pessimistic About America's Future

The time is now for a political break from the two-party system. The status quo is frightening to contemplate:

Whatever their ideological differences this election year, Americans seem able to agree on one thing: the political landscape being crisscrossed by the 2008 candidates is barely recognizable as the one traveled by George W. Bush and Al Gore a mere eight years ago.

Obviously, Sept. 11 and its aftermath have changed the country in countless and irretrievable ways. But even beyond the emergence of war and national security as pre-eminent concerns, there has been a profound reordering of domestic priorities, a darkening of the country’s mood and, in the eyes of many, a fraying of America’s very sense of itself.

While not universal, that tone pervaded dozens of interviews conducted over the last week with Americans of all political stripes in 8 of the 24 states that hold primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5, as well as with historians, elected officials, political strategists and poll takers. As the candidates fan out to New York and California and here to the heartland, they are confronting an electorate that is deeply unsettled about the United States’ place in the world and its ability to control its own destiny.

We have no say:
Now, Americans feel a loss of autonomy, in their own lives and in the nation. Their politics are driven by the powerlessness they feel to control their financial well-being, their safety, their environment, their health and the country’s borders. They question whether each generation will continue to ascend the economic ladder. That the political system seems so impotent only deepens their frustration and their insistence on results.

As she considers this campaign, Susan C. Powell, a 47-year-old training consultant who lives in a Kansas City suburb, said that what she feels is not so much hopelessness as doom.

“I know plenty of people who are doing worse than they were,” Ms. Powell said, “and nobody’s helping them out. People’s incomes are not keeping pace with inflation. People can’t afford their homes. People in their 30s and 40s, middle-income, and they don’t have jobs they can count on or access to health care. How can we say that we’re the greatest country on earth and essentially have the walking wounded?

Democrats Uneasy with Clintons' Aggression

This is proof for why we need alternative to the two-party system. All this squabbling is going while our economy is crumbling. Does this suggest these people are putting their country first? We face a crisis. The candidates should be working together to come up with solutions, not distracting us with childish arguments. What more proof do you need to show that the two-party system is failure. In fact, the Wall St. collapse is due to these people running the country without the consent of the governed. Since it is the very same corporations that profited from the housing boom, and from those onerous sub-prime loans, that run our nation. The politicians just stood around and refused to stop the profiteers from plundering the economy:

A growing number of U.S. Democrats are expressing concern over the aggressiveness in Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign.

With the New York senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, taking a more active role in her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, much of recent attack advertising has been focused on her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., , the Washington Post reported.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who endorsed Obama last week, criticized Bill Clinton for what he called his "glib cheap shots" at Obama.

"That's beneath the dignity of a former president," Leahy told reporters. "He is not helping anyone, and certainly not helping the Democratic Party."

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who is not aligned with any of the contenders, said party unity was being threatened by the escalating attack ads.

Bloomberg Dismisses Stimulus Package

I added several of the ideas proposed by the NY Mayor to the People's Platform proposal section, also the criticisms of the Federal governments stimulus package:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday the White House and Congress are negotiating a shortsighted economic stimulus package and should focus instead on encouraging immigration and helping strapped homeowners.

"We can't borrow our way out of this. The jig is up," Bloomberg said during a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which honored his environmental efforts.

The billionaire mayor, who is said to be considering an independent presidential bid yet denies that he is a candidate, said the $150 billion stimulus package being hammered out between Democratic and Republican leaders won't be enough.

"There's just one problem: It's not going to make much of a difference because we've already been running huge deficits," Bloomberg said. "If we spend all the money right now, and there is no recovery because of it, then we don't have a second hand to play."

- Read entire article.