Saturday, January 26, 2008

South Carolina Repudiates Clinton Race-Baiting

Could there be a backlash against the Clintons? They used race to divide the people of South Carolina, in other primary states, and it has failed, so far. We won't know until Florida and February 5th whether divide-and-conquer politics will have succeeded or if the Clinton gang self-destructed:

South Carolina (Reuters) - Barack Obama easily won South Carolina's bitterly contested Democratic presidential primary with the aid of heavy black support on Tuesday, dealing a setback to rival Hillary Clinton after a week of political brawling.

Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president, beat Clinton and John Edwards handily in the latest fight in a back-and-forth Democratic nominating battle. Clinton and Edwards were running close for second place, according to exit polls.

South Carolina was the latest test for Obama and Clinton, a New York senator, in their escalating battle for the right to represent the Democratic Party in November's presidential election.

After two consecutive losses, in New Hampshire and Nevada, Obama badly needed a win on Saturday as he headed into the February 5 "Super Tuesday" contests in two dozen states to have a realistic chance of victory.

The high stakes fueled a week of angry accusations, harsh advertisements and increasingly personal jabs between the two candidates, capped by a volley of attacks on Obama from Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Exit polls showed Obama won four of every five black voters in a state where they were expected to be about half of the primary electorate. He also won one-quarter of white votes, higher than many had predicted.

Why we're Needed: World Income Inequality and Globalization

I made this addition to TPP on the issue of world income inequality. The purpose is to point out that globalization and outsourcing have neither benefited America or the rest of the world. There is in fact greater inequality. This in turn creates much of the increased turmoil in the world. In can be argued that 9-11 had in roots economic injustice. A poor world is one in where hatred and ignorance breeds. In Muslim nations power is in the hands of a few (or a dictator) while the great majority suffer. And this poverty is what fuels Jihadism. There is great resentment among the peopl at the fact that Sheiks live in great luxuary, with the help of Western oil companies, while they live in abject poverty. America should side with the people of the world and help promote economic justice. That will lead to greater democracy and fewer threats like al Qaeda. Prior to radical Islamic there was Soviet Communism that also took advantage of poverty and economic inequality:

"In nation after nation, conditions for a majority of people have actually worsened in the last decade, as the gap between those on top and bottom grows. A U.N. report released on August 25, 2005 reported that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, the number of poor people increased by almost ninety million in little more than a decade (from 1990 to 2001). In Latin America, unemployment rose from nearly 7 percent in 1995 to 9 percent in 2002....Despite claims that the globalization of capitalism is raising living standards for all, this 158-page U.N. report, The World Social Situation: The Inequality Predicament, noted that greater economic globalization has gone along with with greater inequality both between and within countries. Even comparatively wealthy nations like the United States, Canada, and Britain have failed to escape this trend."

- Source: The Real Wealth of Nations by Riane Eisler

Clinton Posed with Obama "Slum Lord" in 1990s

Once again the Clintons are caught being hypocrites. The power couple have had a history of posing and taking money from countless numbers of criminals. So when Hillary attacked Obama for his ties to a crook, we shouldn't be surprised that Billary also had met or took money from the same person:

Bill and Hillary Clinton got walloped yesterday when a photograph surfaced showing them posing with an alleged fraudster whom the former first lady had called a "slum landlord" and linked to Barack Obama in Monday's debate.

In the picture, Hillary Rodham Clinton is grinning alongside Chicago builder and Democratic moneyman Antoin "Tony" Rezko - who stands between the Clintons.

Rezko has been indicted on federal fraud charges and goes to trial next month. The charges involve an alleged scam by Rezko to extort payoffs from companies looking to do business with two state boards in Illinois.

Just days ago, Sen. Clinton slammed Obama for his connection to Rezko, after the presidential rivals got in an angry personal exchange about Republican ideas.

"I was fighting against those ideas when you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago," Clinton fumed.

NBC revealed the photo yesterday when Clinton appeared on the "Today" show.

"I probably have taken hundreds of thousands of pictures. I don't know the man. I wouldn't know him if he walked in the door. I don't have a 17-year relationship with him," Clinton said when asked by host Matt Lauer for her explanation.