Global Peace Index: U.S. 97th out of 121 Countries Ranked

It is part of the Bush legacy. But not limited to his disastrous administration. The goal of any society is a peace nation. Our government has failed for decades at making America, and the world, more peaceful:

Iceland tops the ranking of the world's most peaceful, Iraq rated least peaceful. U.S. remains largely unchanged, ranking at 97.

[...]The Index is constructed from 24 indicators of external and internal measures of peace including UN deployments overseas and levels of violent crime. It has won the backing of an influential and distinguished group of supporters including Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Muhammad Yunus as well as the Fulbright Center.

Steve Killelea, founder of the Global Peace Index, said: "The world appears to be a marginally more peaceful place this year. This is encouraging, but it takes small steps by individual countries for the world to make greater strides on the road to peace."

[...]Based on a direct comparison of the 121 countries measured in the GPI 2007 to GPI 2008, a majority of the individual indicators have seen slight improvements. On average, scores for level of organised conflict (internal) and violent crime, political instability and potential for terrorist acts have all improved marginally. In contrast, the world's armed services have grown on average per country, as has the sophistication of its weaponry.

[...]-- Small, stable and democratic countries are the most peaceful - 16 of the
top 20 are western or central European democracies
-- The G8 fared very differently: Japan (5), Canada (11), Germany (14),
Italy (28), France (36), UK (49), United States (97), Russia (131)
-- Iraq is the lowest ranked country on the Index (140)

It is not a moral statement but a scientific analysis of what makes for a more violent world:

The idea for the index came from Steve Killelea, an Australian businessman and philanthropist who wanted to identify just what creates a peaceful country.

He asked the Economist Intelligence Unit to look at a range of variables, from levels of homicides per 100,000 people - which drags down America and boosts Denmark - to corruption and access to primary education.

"The U.S. does so badly because has the highest proportion of jailed people in the world. And it has high levels of homicide and high potential for terrorist attacks," Killelea told The Associated Press. "Its overall score isa reflection of that. The index is not making any moral statements by the ranking."

Forecasters see Weak Economy, Higher Unemployment

Things are not going to get better for quite a while. Fundamentally we have a broken economy. This news also spells bad news for John McCain. A weak economy in the Fall spells defeat for the Republican. It's good news, bad news:

First the good news: The worst of the painful housing slump and the credit crunch might come to an end this year. Now the bad: The economy will weaken further and unemployment will rise.

That's the latest outlook from forecasters in a survey to be released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, also known by its acronym NABE. It will take time for any rays of light to poke through the economic clouds, though.

A growing number of economists believe the country is on the brink of a recession or in one already, dragged down by all the problems in housing, credit and financial markets. Now 56 percent of the economists think the economy has started or will enter a recession this year. That's up from 45 percent in a survey in February. If there is a recession, it probably will be short and shallow, economists said.

Forecasters downgraded their projections for economic growth. They now predict the economy, which grew by 2.2 percent last year, will slow to 1.4 percent this year. That's lower than the 1.8 percent growth projected in February. If the new figure proves correct, it would mark the weakest growth since the last recession in 2001.

Comedian-in-Chief: What's with the Candidates and Comedy Shows

Every time you look up a presidential candidate is on a comedy program. Are we electing a president or a comedian. Being a politician is serious business nowadays. So they should be concentrating on solving the ever growing problems that face our society and world. They should not be spending so much time self-promoting on comedic shows. The reason they are on these programs is because their handlers have told them that it's a good idea to connect with the Youtube generation. But lets face it, the reason they make so many appearances on these programs is that they are clowns after all. We don't take them seriously so why should they:

John McCain is 71 years old, and his age has provided late-night comics with some easy punch lines. On "Saturday Night Live," he joined in.

"I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president?" McCain said. "Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old."

The certain Republican presidential nominee appeared in a phony campaign ad in which he promised to put an end to runaway government spending, claiming he had never sought money for his home state, Arizona.

"Controlling government spending isn't just about Republicans or Democrats," he said. "It's about being able to look your children in the eye. Or in my case, my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren, the youngest of whom are nearing retirement."

"I have the courage, the wisdom, the experience and, most importantly, the oldness necessary," McCain said. "The oldness it takes to protect America, to honor her, love her and tell her about what cute things the cat did."

Too Many Guns: 3 Wounded in LA Church Festival Shooting

What was this scum doing in possession of an assault rifle. No one should own such a weapon. This is another example of what is wrong in our society. There are too many unstable people walking around guns. More guns don't make us safer:

A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a church festival Saturday, wounding his ex-wife and two bystanders before several festival-goers grabbed him, wrestled his gun away and held him for police, witnesses and authorities said.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with people screaming and running for the exit after gunfire rang out on a grassy field where the festival was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish shortly before 11 a.m.

[...]The woman and the man with the leg wound were hospitalized in stable condition. The man with the chest wound was listed in critical condition. None of their names were released.

Meanwhile the politicians pander to the powerful gun lobby, which is responsible for this state of affairs:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned gun owners on Friday that his Democratic opponents Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would threaten their right to bear arms, as he sought to rally conservatives' support in the November election.

The right to bear arms in the Constitution's second amendment is considered sacred by many U.S. gun owners. Both Obama and Clinton tout their support for it, although they also say ways must be found to keep guns from falling into the hands of criminals or those who are mentally ill.

But the Arizona senator accused the two Democrats of giving only "theoretical" support to the second amendment.

"They claim to support hunters and gun owners. But just because they don't talk about gun control doesn't mean they won't support gun control," McCain told a convention of the National Rifle Association.

"If either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is elected president, the rights of law-abiding gun owners will be at risk. They have both voted as senators to ban guns or ban ammunition or to allow gun makers to be sued out of existence," he said.

Obama, an Illinois senator and the front-runner in the battle for the Democratic nomination to run against McCain in November, countered by accusing him of trying to whip up fear about his positions and using the "same playbook" from other elections.

"I think people have the right to lawfully bear arms. I do believe that there is nothing inconsistent with also saying that we can institute some common-sense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago," Obama said while campaigning in South Dakota.

Reasonable gun laws would include strong background checks of those who sought to buy weapons and tracing guns back to "unscrupulous" gun dealers who sold them to people who shouldn't be able to get them, Obama said.

What hypocrisy:

A small but startling sign welcomed the gun lovers who arrived at the National Rifle Association's annual gathering Friday.

"Firearms WILL NOT be allowed in Hall A during the Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum."

Beyond this sign at the Kentucky Exposition Center was a row of 10 metal detectors. They were manned by uniformed Secret Service officers deployed because the scheduled speakers included presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

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The people's platform would seek to create a government that isn't beholden to the powerful NRA. Government should protect us not sell out to those who don't care about America's safety. - http://Peoplat.com

Pot Calls Kettle Black: Bush Compares Obama to Neville Chamberlaine

George W. Bush accused Barack Obama of wanting to appease the terrorists. And here is the kicker, he compared the soon to be Democratic Presidential nominee, to Neville Chamberlaine (see video). This coming from a man who, Pat Buchanan this morning said, is negotiating with the North Koreans, an axis of evil country. How hypocritical is that?

Here is a president who failed to defend us and started a war that has been a blessing to al Qaeda. Bush is directly responsible for the deaths of 6,000 Americans. He has no business criticizing anyone on foreign policy, especially on foreign soil.

The Republicans would rather Bush disappear, especially John McCain. He is poison. And this disgusting speech is only going to backfire on Republicans in the fall. What a joke. What do you call your unwillingless to stand up to the Chinese? America's greatest threat.

Transcript: ABC's Charlie Gibson Interviews Hillary Clinton

Read the entire transcript:

CHARLIE GIBSON: Senator, taking a, a practical and realistic objective, maybe even cold-blooded view of this race, can you win it?

HILLARY CLINTON: Of course I can. And, that's because no one has won it yet. There is no nominee. No one has reached the 2,210 number, which is the, uh, number of delegates needed to win, if you include Michigan and Florida, and both Senator Obama and I agree that we have to include Michigan and Florida, and get their delegates seated. So I think that we've got some additional contests to go. We've got people who are trying to make up their minds, looking at who they believe would be the better president, and the stronger candidate against Senator McCain.

CHARLIE GIBSON: But the math is daunting. It may be after next Tuesday that Senator Obama will have the majority of pledge delegates, and indeed, superdelegates are coming to him in a rather steady flow. Indeed, in the last week, he won more of those than you were able to pick up in West Virginia.

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, he, um, has, uh, to reach what is the, the magic number of 2,210. And, uh, he's not there yet, and we are working hard. We were thrilled by our victory in West Virginia last night. It was a great validation of my message about fighting for people, and, uh, we're going onto Kentucky, and Oregon, and the rest of the contest, and then we'll see what happens with Michigan and Florida, and by, you know, June 4th, we'll have a clearer idea about where everyone stands.

Hillary's Only Argument Left not Valid

Hillary is still running around telling voters that she has a better chance at beating McCain in the Fall. The polls don't show it. Both Clinton and Obama beat McCain by about the same amount--white voters not withstanding. Tonights West Virginia primary will not change that fact. Obama has now surpassed Hillary in superdelegates. Everyday that passes more and more of those non-elected delegates go towards to Obama. At this pace, Obama will have enough to win the nomination sometime in June. Even if Obama doesn't win 1 delegate in the upcoming primaries, which is impossible, he will win probably 30 to 40 delegates, all he needs 2/3rds of the remaining superdelegates.

Conversely, it is nearly mathematically impossible for Hillary to win enough delegates. She needs 320 delegates to win the nomination. There are only 150+ superdelegates left. That means she would have to win all the superdelegates and 65 percent of the delegates in the last remaining primaries. Ain't gonna happen. It's impossible, even if you include Michigan and Florida.

Update:
Just heard a caller on Cspan discuss Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and experience. No one talks about the Governator's qualifications anymore. Hillary for a long time argued that she was qualified to be President and Obama was not. She doesn't bring that up anymore.

Clinton Looking for Dirt to Destroy Obama With

Why is Hillary still in the race? Her hoodlum campaign workers are desperately digging for dirt to use against Barack. Even if it isn't enough to win her the nomination it could destroy his chances at winning in November. This would mean she could run in 2012. The question is whether the Democratic Party will allow her to do that.

Why haven't all the superdelegates come out for Obama? It would seem logical for them to bring this mess to an end--if they want their party to win in the general. Or are these people that naive? It is obvious what Hillary and her people are doing. Before Obama is formally nominated a news story will be leaked to the press that will become a "scandal." How big a scandal? Another Wright controversy? We will have to wait in see. The press will do the work for Hillary. And she will try to pick up the pieces.

It is shameful that the Democratic Party has not denounced these Republican swiftboat tactics coming from a fellow Democrat. This only proves that the party of Jefferson is no different from the party of Lincoln. We need an alternative to this madness.

Is the Government Broke?

The story about state governments not being able to pay for the health benefits and pensions of public employees should be a wakeup call. Given the recession the government will find it hard to pay it's bills. Between the recession, war in Iraq, new medicare prescription program, and retiring baby boomers, we are headed for big trouble. We actually depend on the Chinese government to pay our bills. That is not a good place to be in. The monstrous rulers in that country could decide to bring us to our knees.

The politicians in this country should be blamed. They've brought us to this point. And we can't count on them to get us out. We The People must get us out.

Start now...

Obama, Pay her Bills But Don't Make Hillary VP

There is some talk about Obama paying off Hillary's debt as a way of getting her out of the race. That's ok as long as you don't make her your VP choice. You will regret the decision, Barack.

I realize you would be doing it despite the Clinton's being multi-millionaires. They can afford it. And you would be helping Hillary to payoff loans that went towards destroying you politically. But if you could get this thug out of the race you could get started on running a general election campaign, which Hillary is distracting you from.

Listen to your supporter Senator Edward Kennedy, who thinks making Hillary your VP choice is a bad idea.

- There is an alternative to this crooked political game: The People's Platform.

Transcript: NBC's Brian Williams Interviews Obama

Read the entire interview transcript:

BRIAN WILLIAMS: I asked this at the last democratic debate. Are-- are hedge funds good or bad for America? Is it right for these hedge funds making billions and billions of dollars along with the hedge fund managers?

BARACK OBAMA: Well, I don't think that hedge funds are bad per se. I think they're just one more financial tool. And in that sense, they're useful. But I think that what we've seen are a number of rules that skew in the favor of folks on Wall Street. Private equity funds and hedge fund managers who are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries.

There are some failures in the regulatory regimes that have been set up. For example, I talked today-- that there may be an incestuous relationship between ratings agencies that are determining the quality of investments and the people that they're rating.

So, what we need is stronger market transparency and accountability. That's good for everybody and the marketplace. We have to think about how are we investing to make sure that everybody can compete in this global economy? And that means investing in education and it means investing in things like energy independence. And we've got to rebuild our social safety net, particularly on health care and retirement security, where a lot of ordinary Americans are seeing that security slip away. When that security slips away, they are more likely to turn to things like protectionism that, over time, may constrict economic growth overall.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Who or what do you think is to blame for this current mortgage and credit crisis? Who do we see about that?

BARACK OBAMA: Well, I think there are a lot of folks who ought to take some responsibility. The original idea was a good one, which was that let's see if we can distribute this more broadly and make it easier to provide loans to people who otherwise might be-- not be able to get a mortgage loan.

Over time, what ended up happening was that the appraisers started loosening their standards. The mortgage brokers started playing around with their standards. Then, the people who were buying these securities weren't really checking very carefully to see whether the underlying mortgage could support the loans that were made.

And so, over time, you had everybody I think conspiring to just do what felt good and what was making a lot of money. The problem was that a lot of homeowners were induced to take out loans that they could afford only if home prices continued to go up.

Hillary "Drops a Racial Bomb"

Ok, what is the excuse now for the entire Democratic Party establishment not to denounce Hillary Clinton and for the superdelegates to come out for the Obama. If a Republican had made the same comments they would've been denounced as a racist:

Hillary Rodham Clinton played the race card yesterday as she dismissed Barack Obama as a candidate who will have a hard time winning support from "white Americans."

It was the most starkly racial comment Clinton has made in the campaign, and drew quick condemnation from some Democrats.

She's been on the defensive ever since Tuesday's big loss in North Carolina and narrow win in the Indiana primary - dismissing calls to drop out.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she told USA Today in an interview published yesterday.

[...] Clinton's "white Americans" remark drew a swift rebuke from some superdelegates, and private dismay from several Democrats concerned about reuniting the factionalized party.

Muriel Offerman, a North Carolina superdelegate who has not disclosed her choice, said, "That should not have been said. I think it drives a wedge, a racial wedge, and that's not what the Democratic Party's about."

Asked about Clinton's comments, Massachusetts superdelegate Debra Kozikowsi said, "That's distressing. I'm not even sure how to respond to that."

[...]Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said the New York senator could quit if she is behind after the last primaries on June 3 - a departure from his previous insistence that she'd fight to the August convention.

It is obvious at this point that the Clinton mob is out to destroy Obama in order insure that he doesn't win in November. In that way Billary can run in 2012.

Wash. Times: Once Secret Memos Question Clinton's Honesty

Hillary can't run away from her corrupt past:

A decade before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton admitted fudging the truth during the presidential campaign, federal prosecutors quietly assembled hundreds of pages of evidence suggesting she concealed information and misled a federal grand jury about her work for a failing Arkansas savings and loan at the heart of the Whitewater probe, according to once-secret documents that detail the internal debates over whether she should have faced criminal charges.

Ordinarily, such files containing grand jury evidence and prosecutors' deliberations are never made public. But the estate of Sam Dash, a lifelong Democrat who served as the ethics adviser to Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, donated his documents from the infamous 1990s investigation to the Library of Congress after his 2004 death, unwittingly injecting into the public domain much of the testimony
and evidence gathered against Mrs. Clinton from former law partners, White House aides and other witnesses.

[...]A June 1998 draft indictment of Mrs. Clinton's Rose firm partner Webster L. Hubbell, who followed the Clintons to Washington in 1993 as associate attorney general, said Mrs. Clinton did legal work for Madison "continuously" from April 1985 to July 1986. It also said she represented the thrift before the Arkansas Securities Department for approval to issue preferred stock, helped Madison obtain a questionable broker-dealer license to sell the stock and was actively involved in a failed Madison project known as Castle Grande.

Sore Loser

There is no justification for Hillary Clinton to stay in the race. Therefore, either she is out to hurt Obama so he loses in November and she run again in 2012 or she wants to get herself put on the ticket as VP. Either way its very typically Clinton to do that which is harmful to the Democratic Party. I hope now people will realize that Bill and Hillary are con artists who are out for themselves.

Since those two have appeared on the national scene the Democratic Party has lost control of Congress and lost the Presidency to a Fascist administration. If Barack Obama does give in to the Clinton threat to fight to the convention and puts her on the ticket, he would be making a terrible mistake. Bill and Hillary are poison and would cost him the general election.

Transcript: Obama NC Victory Speech 5-6-08

This could be considered something of a acceptance speech. Barack Obama won for intents and purposes the nomination of his party tonight. Read the entire transcript:

You know, when this campaign began, Washington didn't give us too much of a chance. But because you came out in the bitter cold, and knocked on doors, and enlisted your friends and neighbors in this cause, because you stood up to the cynics and the doubters and the naysayers, when we were up and when we were down, because you still believe that this is our moment and our time to change America, tonight we stand less than 200 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

More importantly, because of you, we've seen that it's possible to overcome the politics of division and the politics of distraction, that it's possible to overcome the same, old negative attacks that are always about scoring points and never about solving our problems.

We've seen that the American people aren't looking for more spin. They're looking for honest answers about the challenges we face. That's what you've accomplished in this campaign, and that's how together we intend to change this country.

(APPLAUSE)

This has been one of the longest, most closely fought contests in American history. And that's partly because we have such a formidable opponent in Senator Hillary Clinton.

Tonight, many of the pundits have suggested that this party is inalterably divided, that Senator Clinton's supporters will not support me and that my supporters would not support her. Well, I am here tonight to tell you that I don't believe it.

(APPLAUSE)

Yes, yes, there have been bruised feelings on both sides. Yes, each side desperately wants their candidate to win. But ultimately this race is not about Hillary Clinton; it's not about Barack Obama; it's not about John McCain.

This election is about you, the American people.

(APPLAUSE)

It's about whether we will have a president and a party that can lead us toward a brighter future.

This primary season may not be over, but when it is we will have to remember who we are as Democrats, that we are the party of Jefferson and Jackson, of Roosevelt and Kennedy, and that we are at our best when we lead with principle, when we lead with conviction, when we summon an entire nation to a common purpose and a higher purpose.

(APPLAUSE)

This fall, we intend to march forward as one Democratic Party, united by a common vision for this country, because we all agree that at this defining moment in our history, a moment when we are facing two wars, an economy in turmoil, a planet in peril, a dream that feels like it's slipping away for too many Americans, we can't afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush's third term.

We need change in America. And that's why we will be united in November.

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!

OBAMA: The woman I met in Indiana who had just lost her job, lost her pension, lost her health insurance, when the plant where she'd worked her entire life closed down, she can't afford four more years of tax breaks for corporations like the one that shipped her job overseas. She needs us to give tax breaks to companies that create good jobs right here in the United States of America.

Hillary Opposed Cutting Gas Tax During her Senate Campaign

Once again Hillary Clinton gets caught in a flip flop. She opposed or remained silent on cutting the gasoline tax that her husband had put into place, back when she was running for the Senate in 2000:

Republican politicians trained their scopes on spiraling gasoline prices yesterday, with Mayor Giuliani blaming the Clinton administration and state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno calling for an end to the state tax on gasoline and diesel fuel.

Giuliani traveled to a gas station in Bedford, Westchester County, where he backed Bruno's call for eliminating the gas tax and took a slap at Vice President Gore by referring to the federal gas levy as the "Gore tax."

In recent days, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, the mayor's Democratic rival in the Senate race, has linked herself with Gore. Polls project the vice president will handily pull more New York votes in November than GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush.

Bruno, citing a growing state revenue surplus, said in Albany that he will fight to wipe out the state tax on gas effective May 1 in a move that would save New Yorkers $200 million this year and more in future years.

In response, Gov. Pataki said he favors cutting the tax but questioned the practicality of Bruno's plan, "given the spending demands that are out there."

"What it means is we will have less money for the spending programs," Pataki said.

He noted that state legislators are up for reelection this year and said there is a tendency for them to try to "be all things to all people."

Bruno, who made his pitch for eliminating the tax without first running it past the governor, topped a plan touted by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, that would eliminate the gas sales tax in New York for two months.

Under the Bruno plan, drivers would save 8 cents a gallon for gas that costs at least $2 a gallon - and some stations, such as the one found by Giuliani, are already there.

The Clinton administration, including Hillary were accused of being elitists just as she is accusing those who opposed the gas holiday:

"The Clinton-Gore administration's energy policy - I think the nicest thing I can say about it is it's unfocused. I think the word 'feckless' would apply," Giuliani said.

"Obviously, President Clinton, Vice President Gore and Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson are out of touch with what is going on in America," the mayor added. "The price is already above $2 a gallon."

Bruno said the state is so flush with new revenue "from the bonuses on Wall Street" that it can easily afford to kill the gas tax.

She called eliminating the gas tax a "serious error":

In the fourth day of her Senate campaign tour through upstate New York, Mrs. Clinton rejected as ''a serious error'' any move to eliminate the gasoline tax, a proposal advocated by her Republican rival, Representative Rick A. Lazio.

''I reject my opponent's proposal of eliminating the gas tax,'' Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference earlier today in Rochester. ''One of the few sources of revenue that we actually get more of than we send to Washington is gas tax money for our transportation needs. It would be hard to imagine how upstate can finish all the work we need to do without the federal help that comes from transportation dollars.''

On the investigation into gasoline prices, Mrs. Clinton said that it was imperative for the commission to ''go beyond where it has already begun to try to figure out why, while fuel costs have gone up over 50 cents in New York, profits for major oil companies have gone up more than 500 percent.''

No economist supports her proposal. And its not because they are elitists but because its a dumb idea:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday dismissed the "elite opinion" of economists who criticized her gas tax proposal, using a term that has dogged rival Barack Obama in recent weeks.

Obama, meanwhile, accused the New York senator of pandering on gas taxes and saber rattling toward Iran as both candidates gave television interviews before primary contests in North Carolina and Indiana. The two are battling to be their party's nominee to face Republican John McCain in November's election.

[...]"I'm not going to put my lot in with economists," Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.

"We've got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans," said Clinton, a former first lady who would be the first woman president.

- [news flash]: Economist Robert Reich, who was the Labor Secretary during the Clinton administration, just called (on the Morning Joe show) the gas tax Holiday proposed by Hillary a "gimmick."

Transcript: Barack Obama on Meet The Press 5-4-08

Read the entire transcript:

MR. RUSSERT: The National Journal says that in 26 of the 29 contests you've been involved in you have lost white voters who do not have college degrees. How do you connect with them? What's wrong?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, first of all, I think we got to give Senator Clinton some credit. I mean, she's a pretty formidable candidate, and she possesses the best brand name in Democratic politics. And her and her husband have been campaigning actively. People have fond memories of some of the work that they did in the '90s. And so the fact that she has won some of those contests in some demographic groups shouldn't be surprising. I mean, I'm the underdog. I, I came into this thing with everybody anticipating that we would be blown away. And if I was worrying about polls and, you know, some of this, some of this analysis, I probably wouldn't have gotten into the race in the first place. What's remarkable is how well we've done.

Now, what I do believe is that it is important for the American people to understand my story and how it connects to theirs. I think it's important for people to understand not only that I was raised by a single mom and, and my grandparents, and the values of hard work and decency and honesty that they've passed on to me, that those are values that are rooted in the heartland of America and small-town America. My, my wife, Michelle, you mentioned earlier, you know, when I think about her father, who worked as a shift worker for the city of Chicago, despite having MS, got up every single day and went to work, was able to raise a family and send his two kids to college and, and support a family of four on a single salary. I think about your father and the fact that, that your dad, Tim, looked nothing like Michelle's dad, but they lived that same American dream and, and they had those same core values. And those are the values of millions of people all across the country. And my job in this campaign is to communicate the fact that not only are those values at the core of what this country's about, not only are those values what make me patriotic, but those are the values that have to be fought for because that American dream is slipping away.

Those same individuals who are like Michelle's dad, who are like my grandparents, who are like your dad, they can't make it now doing the same things that they used to do. No matter how hard they work, they're falling behind. No matter how hard they work, they're at risk of losing their home or losing their pension. That's what this campaign's about, and that's what we've been fighting for, and, and that's why, ultimately, I'm confident not only are we going to win this nomination, but I also believe that we're going to win this general election because that is what the American people understand. Unless we are able to create the kinds of opportunities for ordinary Americans that have been slipping away over the last seven years, with wages and incomes actually going down even during an economic expansion, then, you know, we're not going to pass on the kind of America to our children that we want to.

Hillary's Horse Places 2nd Then Put to Sleep

This is sweet irony:

Tragedy struck the first filly in the Kentucky Derby since 1999, as Eight Belles went down on the track after her second-place finish today, broke two ankles, and was euthanized.

Showing a sisterhood with the female horse, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., during a trip to Louisville this week had said she was going to bet on Eight Belles to win, place, and show.

ABC News' Karen Travers reports that Clinton told supporters in Jeffersonville, Ind., earlier this week, "I hope that everybody will go to the derby on Saturday and place just a little money on the filly for me. I won’t be able to be there this year -- my daughter is going to be there and so she has strict instructions to bet on Eight Belles."

Travers also points out that Eight Belles' trainer, Larry Jones, returned the love. "It looks like it could be the year for the girls," he said. "Eight Belles I’m sure would want to endorse."

The horse Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., picked to show -- Big Brown -- won the Derby.

Maybe after Tuesday's primaries Ms. Clinton's campaign should be put to sleep.

Pentagon Wants to Use Mercenaries to Fight in Iraq

Haven't gone through enough scandals involving contractors in Iraq? Now the military wants to make it worse by using private contractors to train the Iraqi military. Why? Because we don't have enough troops to fight the Iraq quagmire. This is an argument for getting out:

U.S. commanders in Iraq are for the first time seeking private contractors to form part of the small military teams that train and live with Iraqi military units across the country, according to a notice for prospective bidders published last week.

The solicitation, issued by the Joint Contracting Command in Baghdad, says the individuals that a contractor recruits -- who would include former members of the U.S. Special Forces and ex-Iraqi army officers -- will be trained in the United States with military transition teams (MiTTs) and shipped as a single team to Iraq. The recruits will live on Iraqi military bases "under Iraqi living conditions and participate with MiTT special operations and convoy duties," the solicitation says.

Thus far, the MiTTs have consisted of specially trained teams of about 10 to 12 U.S. soldiers led by a field-grade officer that were embedded with Iraqi army units from the division level down to the battalion level. The MiTTs have included officers and noncommissioned officers from different service branches tasked with teaching and mentoring their Iraqi counterparts to make them self-sufficient.

Anthony H. Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and now a scholar with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the new effort as an understandable step, given the current stresses facing the U.S. military.

"There is a lot of pressure on the active Army, and during this transition period where the military is converting to noncombat roles, a shift to contractors as trainers for the expanding Iraqi military is a natural step." He added, however, that the outcome "depends on the quality of those the contractors recruit."

Michael O'Hanlon, a military specialist at the Brookings Institution, said the need for contractors to support the Iraq transition teams is linked to the shortage of such officers in the U.S. Army at a time when it is also expanding. "There are insufficient field-grade officers in our own service, and we need the captains and majors as we increase our own ground forces," he said.

This newest proposal to outsource what has been a military activity comes as military contracting in Iraq undergoes increased scrutiny from Congress.

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Gap Between Rich and Poor Keeps Widening

The so-called economic boom over the last 2 decades have not benefited the great majority of the American people. Although the widening gap precedes the Bush years, this individual born into privilege and great wealth has only made things worse:

There have always been "haves" and "have-nots" in the United States, but over the past three decades, the gap between them has gotten a lot wider, statistics from congressional numbers crunchers show.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, income for the bottom half of American households rose six percent since 1979 but, through 2005, the income of the top one percent skyrocketed - by 228 percent.

[...]About 70 percent of the economy is based on consumer spending, and that's presenting another problem, Greenhouse say: "What we're seeing now is gas prices soaring and debt levels soaring - a lot of Americans are not going out and buying so-called discretionary items like cars and flat-screen TVs, because people have to concentrate on buying food for their families and paying for health insurance and paying for utilities. So, right now, a lot of retail stores are hurting, and in turn, that's hurting a lot of American manufacturers.

"It's not unique to the United States because right now, worldwide, fuel prices are soaring. So, in Europe, in Japan, and the United States, consumers are feeling the squeeze. I think there's more inequality in the United States between the top and the bottom. It's not nearly as bad as in Europe, but I think the people on the bottom and even in the middle here in the United States are being squeezed worse than in many other countries."

What can be done about it?

Possible remedies, Greenhouse says, include enrolling more low income students in college, increasing pay for lower-wage union workers, and revitalizing the manufacturing base.

"A little-known secret is that, over the past seven years, the United States has lost one in five manufacturing jobs," he said. "Those are usually jobs that pay good wages, middle-class wages, usually provide middle-class benefits on health and pensions, and the United States seems not to be paying attention to this huge problem that has lost 3.5 million manufacturing jobs, and I think the government and industry have to work together to figure out how to preserve jobs."

There is a real solution. And that is the overthrowing of the two-party dictatorship that is driving this country into the ground. But that can only been done through the electoral process and by an alternative political movement. Visit the The People's Platform website and learn what you can do.