May 9, 2008
The Best Game in Town: Being a Mom (Kathy Kemper)
Mother’s Day is my favorite day of the year, hands down.
My birthday? Forget about it. Christmas and Thanksgiving are too much work for moms. Mother’s Day is all about me and my favorite thing in the world: being mom to Travis, Kelsey and Christina.
Nothing is better than that. Not Oscar de la Renta, not Jimmy Choo, not talking with Tom Friedman, not teaching Harrison Ford tennis on the White House Court, not shooting par, buying low and selling very high, or even a 1986 first-growth Bordeaux.
I watch my children develop like a sports fan watches and is engrossed in a sporting event. I criticize, I cheer, I get butterflies and love every moment. I watch Kelsey and Christina play varsity basketball — one dishes the ball to her sister, she scores, and I cheer. > Read More
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What's This Behold: The Big Picture (A.B. Stoddard)
Blogs are usually not the place for it, but for today, let us behold the bigger picture.
In the middle of the drama surrounding the Clinton concession-vigil, a profound, historic event has occurred this week, unnoticed and uncelebrated. This was the week it became clear: A political party in our country is poised to nominate an African-American candidate who has an excellent shot at becoming president of the United States.
Through the drama of the horserace, which isn't officially over, no one mentions this fact. Anything can happen; many disruptions could occur before Obama secures his party's nomination. But as long as he holds his delegate lead, it won't be handed to Clinton by the superdelegates. Barring something tragic or earth-shattering, Obama will be nominated on Aug. 28, on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. > Read More
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What's This Pincer Movement (John Feehery)
The Wall Street Journal reports today on the content of computer files closely tying Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez with FARC, a terrorist organization that makes its money running drugs to the United States and kidnapping people inside Colombia: “These documents indicate Venezuela appears to be making concrete offers to help arm the rebels, possibly with rocket-propelled grenades and ground-to-air missiles. The files suggest that Venezuela offered the FARC the use of one of its ports to receive arms shipments, and that Venezuela raised the prospect of drawing up a joint security plan with the FARC and sought basic training in guerrilla-warfare techniques.”
This is the same Hugo Chavez who has been praised repeatedly by Joe Kennedy in television commercials, and who Kennedy called his good friend. Such Hollywood left-wing luminaries as Kevin Spacey have paid visits to Mr. Chavez, giving the dictator even more credibility in the eyes of an unwitting public.
In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to allow a vote on a free trade agreement with Colombia, a slap in the face of this struggling democracy. Pelosi cites concerns with labor and with the plight of unions in Colombia, but her refusal to send Colombia a lifeline works very nicely with the Chavez plan to arm the FARC rebels. It is almost as if it were a pincer movement meant to cut off democracy in a critically important area. > Read More
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What's This The Preacher and the Candidate (Bill Press)
Imagine this scenario: A preacher endorses a candidate for president. Then we learn the preacher has, from the pulpit, made inflammatory and un-American statements. Yet the mainstream media totally ignores the preacher's remarks and never pressures the candidate to repudiate them.
Impossible scenario? That depends on whether the candidate’s name is Barack Obama or John McCain — and whether the preacher’s name is Jeremiah Wright or John Hagee. The media’s remained silent about Hagee, even though his public statements are just as outrageous as anything heard from Jeremiah Wright. > Read More
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What's This To Hill and Back (Bob Franken)
While Hillary Clinton is still going through the motions, there are clear signs that it has started to sink in that divine destiny has not ordained her our next president.
If she was preparing anything but an exit strategy, her campaign advisers would have already had her out there in the hollows, telling the people of West Virginia she had just discovered she was a coal miner’s daughter and that she really did love Tammy Wynette's music.
But, other than her comment in USA Today that she has more appeal to white voters than does Barack Obama, she's kept the pandering to a minimum. Her heart's obviously not in this anymore. Which raises the question: What's next? > Read More
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What's This Hillary’s Baggage … Limbaugh??? (Armstrong Williams)
It is amazing how Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has gone through the Democratic presidential primary with little mention of her controversial past: Whitewater, Vince Foster, Travelgate, cattle futures — the list could go well into next week.
My bringing up these past scandals is in no way meant to smear her name — because, heck, she already did that herself. The point is to remind folks out there that when considering a person for the highest office in the world, one must look at his or her entire background, biography and belief system.
Clinton’s supporters have seemed to zero in on her recent work and forgotten just how much baggage this lady carries. But if she were to find a way to steal this nomination from Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), you can bet that the Republicans will be standing by to unleash her past like a tidal wave. > Read More
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What's This Pathetic: Hillary Plays the White Voter Card (Brent Budowsky)
As part of her continuing campaign for the 2012 nomination and her campaign to elect John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008, Hillary Clinton is closing her sad campaign acting like a right-wing Republican with the latest and most offensive example of race-card attacks.
Possibly because she is tired and letting her guard down, possibly out of sheer desperation combined with blind ambition, Hillary Clinton openly talks about "white people." Bill Clinton speaks to white audiences about "voters like you." Paul Begala says Democrats can't win with only intellectuals and African-Americans. Paul Krugman graces The New York Times with his wisdom about the white vote. > Read More
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What's This May 8, 2008
Clinton's Problems (A.B. Stoddard)
The Hill's Associate Editor A.B. Stoddard talks about the state of Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign and answers viewer questions.
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What's This Operation Chaos (Ron Christie)
I read with interest the prominently displayed article in The Washington Post this morning asserting that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” unfairly led to a narrow victory by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the tight Indiana primary held Tuesday. According to the Post, Limbaugh’s listeners recalled their “illicit pleasure” in voting for Clinton to sully and muddy the waters for Obama.
And this is a news story? How about the robo-calls that Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign allegedly made in several states asking Republicans to vote for him in open primaries? Is it fine for Democrats to ask Republicans to vote for them in open primaries but somehow improper or sinister when the equal but opposite scenario occurs? > Read More
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What's This Eyes Too Big for the Stomach (John Feehery)
As the Democrats look to pack on additional spending on a war supplemental, it appears that the Democratic leadership’s eyes are too big for the Blue Dogs’ collective stomach, causing a bad case of indigestion.
As Mike Soraghan points out in The Hill today, “A small group of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats is threatening to block the emergency war spending bill over a program for veterans’ benefits not offset with tax hikes or spending cuts.”
Now, that sounds like a nice start on the road to rebellion, but let’s not kid ourselves. The Democratic leadership is going to exert enough pressure on these Blue Dogs to make them buckle. They want to get this pork-laden package of spending goods to the president by Memorial Day to ensure that he vetoes it. Does this strategy help the troops? No. But in the view of the Democratic leaders, they get the chance to score some political points. > Read More
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What's This