Dogon Village News Alerts

Politico reports that a top Clinton adviser quit

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:17:58 -0400

Clinton adviser quits over China rhetoric by Lisa Lerer

A top expert on China has resigned as an informal adviser to Hillary Rodham Clintons campaign in the wake of the candidate's increasingly harsh anti-China rhetoric.

Richard Baum, a political science professor at the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA, resigned in light of what he called grossly misguided accusations made by Clinton about China.

As a lifelong Democrat, it saddens me that Senator Clinton has chosen to take the low road in her effort to gain our partys presidential nomination, Baum said in an e-mail to Politico.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Politico.

Clinton recently has ratcheted up her anti-China sentiments, criticizing the country on everything from its human rights violations to its undervalued currency.

Im the only candidate who isnt just talking about cracking down on China but I have a specific plan on how to do it, she told union members at the AFL-CIOs Building Trades National Legislative Conference on Wednesday.

China should be our trade partner not our trade master. Read the full story here

Clinton Caught on Tape Slaming Democratic Activists

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:05:16 -0400

Clinton Slams Democratic Activists At Private Fundraiser by Celeste Fremon, Huffington Post

At a small closed-door fundraiser after Super Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton blamed what she called the "activist base" of the Democratic Party -- and MoveOn.org in particular -- for many of her electoral defeats, saying activists had "flooded" state caucuses and "intimidated" her supporters, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by The Huffington Post.

"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."

Listen to the audio at the Huffington Post

The filthy-lucre trail of Bill and Hillary Clinton

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:32:28 -0400

Dont You Dare Follow The Money! by Joan Swirsky

Its been 34 years since Deep Throat advised Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (as documented in their book, All the Presidents Men) to follow the money in the Watergate case that resulted in President Nixons ignominious resignation.

In rooting out political corruption, that advice still holds, one of the latest examples being the payment schedule that Democrat New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught on tape trying to negotiate with his prostitute of choice.

But Spitzers self-destructive, career-destroying behavior, like Nixons, is small potatoes compared to the filthy-lucre trail of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

In reviewing only a small number of the shady deals both Bill and Hillary have made over the years, it should be clear to any sane American that entrusting Hillary with the U.S. presidency will:

--Threaten our national security.
--Bankrupt our domestic policies.
--Contaminate every treaty and trade deal with questions about their legality.
--Mire our system in four or eight more years of sleazy scandals.

As Grace Vuoto of The Washington Times reminds us: Mrs. Clinton is not the innocent victim of Mr. Clinton's excesses that she pretends to be[she] is and always has been Mr. Clinton's willing accomplice in his scandals." Follow the Clinton trail here

Bill and Hillary the butt of many jokes - Just for laughs

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:18:03 -0400

I've been having a ball reading some of the stories about Hillary and Bill Clinton. It's sad they've sunk so low, but they are good for a few laughs these days. There were so many funny stories on Hillary's imaginary near death experience in Bosnia, her tall tales about bringing peace to Ireland, Bills philandering, and his recent tirade, I had to put a few of them in one post.

Horrigan: Stop the sniping - Hillary was there!Kevin Horrigan, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

God, what bravery. Chelsea was with her, and Hill grabbed her, carrying her in her arms as we ran for shelter. Everyone dived under the Air Bosnia ticket counter, but not Hillary. She grabbed an M-16 from one of the soldiers, right before she slapped him and called him a coward. She said, "Follow me!" and ran back outside.

She rallied everyone, Sinbad the comedian, the Secret Service guys, the Army guys, the mayor of Tuzla, the guy from the Tuzla Chamber of Commerce, some 8-year-old kid who wanted to read her a poem. She got them behind a pile of sandbags. She told the kid, "Feed me!" while she cleared the M-240. Hill opened up, 750 rounds a minute, the kid passing her belts of ammo, sweeping the rooftops 'til the barrel darn near melted. If it hadn't been for Hillary Clinton that day, I wouldn't be here.

Same thing when we went to France that year. Bill took Air Force One to Lyon for a G-7 meeting, but Hill, she insisted on going in with the troops at Omaha Beach. The Germans had us pinned down, but Hillary told everyone to get out from behind the hedgehogs and keep moving. She and Sinbad the comedian shoved a Bangalore torpedo under the wire so we could get up the bluffs. Read the story here

Of snipes and snipers

For so many Hillary supporters, the Bosnia foray, in all its corkscrew landing, belly-crawling, sniper-dodging, derring-do glory, had become the counterpoint to Barack Obama's infuriatingly character-building life story.

Sure, he may have been abandoned by his black father, raised by a single mother and white grandparents, lived in that whatsitsname foreign country and suffered all the indignities of living as a black man in America, but Hillary was a Kunoichi; a First Lady ninja dispatched to the world's hottest spots to do America's stealthiest dirty work.

The old Bosnia story was always prefaced by that bit about how they used to say in the White House that "if a place was too small, too dangerous or too poor, send Hillary," which (despite the triple-barrelled insult to every country she visited without the president) not only gave her an aura of Delta Force bad-guy fighting prowess, it created the sense that while her husband was bimbo-trolling the West Wing and primping for photo-ops, she was doing the really important stuff of secret statecraft. Read the full story here

Watergate-Era Judiciary Chief of Staff: Hillary Clinton Fired For Lies, Unethical Behavior By Dan Calabrese

As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a pattern of lying.

The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation, says Hillarys history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther and goes much deeper than anyone realizes.

Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedys chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifmans 17-year career.

Why?

Because she was a liar, Zeifman said in an interview last week. She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality. Read the full story here

Whats Hillary Clintons Problem? Joan Swirsky

Newspaper articles and TV specials have made most people familiar with the psychiatric disorder called Munchausen-By-Proxy, in which a person (usually a woman) or a parent (usually the mother) makes herself or her child sick by poison, overmedication, smothering, etc. and then reports the dire symptoms to authorities, thereby garnering the attention and sympathy she craves, as well as heroine status for saving herself or her child.

When this bizarre pattern of behavior is observed over time by family members, friends, psychiatric professionals and they confront her with evidence of her pathological behavior, she invariably has one response: They are lying! Sound familiar?

Then there is the psychiatric disorder known as pathological lying, which is the compulsion of disturbed people to resort to lies rather than truth, the better to compensate for their feelings of inferiority. Some of the stories they make up may have a grain of truth, which allows them or in the case of politicians, their surrogates or the media to spin them to advantage. Their lies are always designed to put them in a good light and to resonate with people who also feel like victims. Sound familiar? Read it here

On race, Clinton misses the callDerrick Z. Jackson

It was not 3 a.m., but Hillary Clinton heard the red phone ringing on racism. Without prompting, she began a teleconference interview Thursday with the Trotter Group of African-American newspaper columnists by saying, "There is an ugly perception which has developed that my campaign has tried to or used race as a tactic. And I want to categorically reject that." Read the full story here

Bill Clinton's tirade stunned some delegates

...But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a former Richardson delegate who now supports Hillary Clinton, told Bill how "sorry" she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Richardson a "Judas" for backing Obama.

It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.

"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. Read the full story

Clinton Releases Her Own Delegates

Two Texas callers to Rush Limbaughs radio show in recent days identified themselves as Republicans who, in accord with Limbaughs cunning Operation Chaos effort to prolong Democratic nomination battle bloodletting, caucused for Hillary Clinton. Both callers said they have been selected as Clinton state convention delegates who might become Clinton delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Read the full story here

Shelley Wynter talks politics on CNN

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:12:43 -0400

Conservative radio host Shelley Wynter talks presidential politics on CNN. Wynter is the host of "The Right Side With Shelley Wynter" on WAOK in Atlanta.

Obama snags more superdelegates and takes double-digit lead

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:08:43 -0400

Obama has won more states, delegates, and popular votes. Now that the superdelegates are lining up to support Obama. Bottom line, Obama appears more electable than Hillary Clinton.

Now, according to Associated Press, the Clinton campaign is "warning of damage to the party's chances in November if women -- who make up the majority of Democratic voters nationwide, but especially the older, white working-class women who've long formed the former first lady's base -- sense a mostly male party establishment is unfairly muscling Clinton out of the race."

Isn't Hillary Clinton's strategy to lure the delegates to her side and push Obama out of the race or at least catch up in delegate count? Now that she realizes that she cannot rely on old favors owed to her husband to line up delegates her campaign wants to say she is being pushed out of the race. I guess the strategy is only okay if it works in Clinton's favor. What a sore loser.

Senator Clinton can stay in until the hector has a puppy. That won't change the fact that more people want to see Barack Obama as the Democratic Presidential Candidate.

Obama snags more superdelegates
Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor Boston.com

The trickle of Democratic superdelegates declaring for Barack Obama is turning into more of a gusher, fast closing Hillary Clinton's one lead in the nomination race and ratcheting up pressure on her to defend her candidacy.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is announcing her support this morning. The Wall Street Journal reported today that all seven Democratic US House members from North Carolina plan to come out for Obama in one fell swoop before that state's May 6 primary.

"The Democratic Party is blessed this year with two candidates with many excellent leadership qualities, and I believe each of them would be a strong president. I am endorsing Barack Obama today, because he has inspired an enthusiasm and idealism that we have not seen in this country in a long time," Klobuchar said in a statement issued by the Obama campaign. Read the full story here

Obama takes double-digit lead in new Gallup Poll - Associated Press Report

Barack Obama has opened a 10-percentage-point lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton in Gallup's latest national presidential tracking poll, just about reversing the 11 point lead she held in early February.

Among Democrats surveyed between March 27-29, the Illinois senator showed 52 percent support compared to 42 percent for Clinton. Obama did particularly well in interviewing conducted on March 29, Gallup said. Full Associated Press Article

Hillary Clinton caught on tape AGAIN - this time making racist remark

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:20:01 -0400

Not her pastor, surrogate, or friend, but Senator Clinton herself has "misspoken" in the past making stereotypical remarks. The remarks were made in 2004 and the Senator already apologized. I am amazed that she would comment on Dr. Jeremiah Wright knowing her racist remark is on tape. But she didn't care that her sniper attack was on tape - classic Hillary Clinton. (CNN - Hillary Clinton 'truly regrets' Gandhi joke Remarks called stereotypical, racially insensitive)

Hillary plays in the Republican playground

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:41:28 -0400

Since she has not agreed to do an interview with CNN's Larry King, I have to assume that Hillary Clinton is pandering to the Repubican voters that are switching over during the primaries to make sure she is the Democratic candidate. The Republicans know that the Clinton's withll of their baggage - are easy to defeat.

They don't want to run against Barack Obama because they know the whole country will be in the race. With the massive number of new voters Obama has attracted to the race, there would be no more sure-bet Republican or Democratic states.

The Clinton's will focus on traditional Democratic states and, once the Republican's that flipped for the primary go back to their party, along with a loss of at least 1/2 of the black vote, Hillary Clinton can not win. I believe she knows that and is attempting to position herself for the next presidential race. Appearing on Fox News supports that theory. Read her Fox News transcript

Clinton Fat Cats Hiss at Pelosi

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:04:05 -0400

If people wonder why Hillary and Bill Clinton would stay in the race with a less than five percent chance of winning, they are using old math. With old math, 2+2 doesn't necessarily equal 4. That's why the Clinton's could suggest offering Barack Obama the VP slot.

To start, with old math, black people had to do twice as good to get half as much. With old math, when you're not winning, you simple find a different way to add the numbers. If that doesn't work, find different numbers to add. And if that still does not put you in the winners seat, it's time to take drastic measures.

As Billary said, you can't get in the game and expect not to get tackled. Sen. Obama was prepared to get tackled, however, Sen Obama is too young to understand what a lot of the "old-school" blacks have been preaching- You can still do twice a well but as soon as you get close to your goal all of a sudden the rules will change.

Young black children were taught the twice as good for half as much scenario from birth. As a young black man raised by white grandparents Obama might have missed that tidbit. We all had hope that things had changed. And they have. But not for old-school people like the Clinton's. So, for the past few months the Clinton's have attempted to apply the old math to this election. Since the old math and the kitchen sink strategy has not worked the Clinton's pulled out their trump card which explains why they have been so arrogant about being the winners of this primary. Read on....

Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA) House Speaker and chair of the Democratic National Convention, recently commented, "If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what's happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party."

In response to Pelosi's remarks, ABC.com reports that several Clinton donars "reminded Pelosi that they have given generously to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which helps fund Democratic House races.

"We have been strong supporters of the DCCC." they wrote. "We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters." Clinton Fat Cats Hiss at Pelosi

An ABC News update from ABC News' Political Director David Chalian:

UPDATE: ABC News' Political Director David Chalian reports that a Democratic operative unaffiliated with either campaign and familiar with the reaction to the letter among Members of Congress says, "Members of Congress - who are superdelegates - make up the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee" or DCCC from which the donors seemed to be threatening to withhold funds. Read "More on those Clinton Fat Cats" at ABC News blogs

The audacity of hopelessness.... The long defeat

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:28:36 -0400

The Long Defeat - by David Brooks New York Times

Hillary Clinton may not realize it yet, but shes just endured one of the worst weeks of her campaign...

...In short, Hillary Clintons presidential prospects continue to dim. The door is closing. Night is coming. The end, however, is not near.

Last week, an important Clinton adviser told Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen (also of Politico) that Clinton had no more than a 10 percent chance of getting the nomination. Now, shes probably down to a 5 percent chance.

...No wonder the Clinton campaign feels impersonal. Its like a machine for the production of politics. It plows ahead from event to event following its own iron logic. The only question is whether Clinton herself can step outside the apparatus long enough to turn it off and withdraw voluntarily or whether she will force the rest of her party to intervene and jam the gears. Read the full story here

Hillary's List of Lies - by Dick Morris

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:37:08 -0400

Thanks to Dick Morris, a former political adviser to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and President Bill Clinton, we have a shocking list of Hillary Clinton's "mis-speaks." (from ReaClearPolitics.com) Michelle Malkin of GOPUSA aptly named it "The Clintons' Truth Deficit Disorder."

Hillary simply cannot tell the truth. Heres her scorecard:

Admitted Lies

Chelsea was jogging around the Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 [and had to duck for cover]. (She was in bed watching it on TV.)
Hillary was named after Sir Edmund Hillary. (She admitted she was wrong. He climbed Mt. Everest five years after her birth.)
She was under sniper fire in Bosnia. (A girl presented her with flowers at the foot of the ramp.)
She learned in The Wall Street Journal how to make a killing in the futures market. (It didnt cover the market back then.)
Whoppers She Wont Confess To

She didnt know about the FALN pardons.
She didnt know that her brothers were being paid to get pardons that Clinton granted.
Taking the White House gifts was a clerical error.
She didnt know that her staff would fire the travel office staff after she told them to do so.
She didnt know that the Peter Paul fundraiser in Hollywood in 2000 cost $700,000 more than she reported it had.
She opposed NAFTA at the time.
She was instrumental in the Irish peace process.
She urged Bill to intervene in Rwanda.
She played a role in the 90s economic recovery.
The billing records showed up on their own.
She thought Bill was innocent when the Monica scandal broke.
She was always a Yankees fan.
She had nothing to do with the New Square Hasidic pardons (after they voted for her 1,400-12 and she attended a meeting at the White House about the pardons).
She negotiated for the release of refugees in Macedonia (who were released the day before she got there).

Al Gore for president - not a bad plan B for the Dems

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:06:20 -0400

Cafferty: Gore-led ticket good compromise for Democrats?

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

A Florida congressman is suggesting that a brokered convention for the Democrats could lead to some pretty unexpected results. In other words, forget about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Representative Tim Mahoney says he wouldn't be surprised if someone different is at the top of the ticket. He says a compromise candidate could be someone like Al Gore. Read the full story here

The Clinton Credibility Gap: More Nixon than Gore

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:40:36 -0400

This story about Hillary Clinton's lie about Bosnia is a hoot. It seems Mrs. Clinton can tell as tall a tale as her husband who did not have sexual relations with that women.

By Chip Collis - The Huffington Post

How can you tell Hillary Clinton is lying? Howard Wolfson's lips are moving.

Clinton suffered another daily gotcha when her self-proclaimed GI Jane moment - dashing across the Tuzla tarmac while ducking sniper fire - was revealed to be a typical prosaic airport greeting: a cute kid, flowers, the double air kiss, even a poem! Apparently, it took actual footage for the Clinton campaign to realize that Sinbad wasn't just being funny when he called her a liar last week. I could have told them that; Sinbad hasn't been funny since her husband's first term.

In trying to walk back this latest of Clinton's dalliances with dishonesty, Wolfson was quoted as saying, "it is possible in the most recent instance with which she discussed this that she misspoke, with regards to the leaving of the plane."

To say someone misspoke usually connotes that the untrue statement was made inadvertently. We all do it. "I played golf last Saturday," says I. "No, we went to lunch last Saturday. You played golf on Sunday," says she who is always right. "Oh, yeah, I misspoke, thank you dear. You're the best wife in the world."

Now, if we replay that last vignette Clinton/Wolfson-style, it might go something like this: "I single-handedly foiled an armed bank robbery last Saturday," says I. "No you didn't, you played golf," says she. "Oh yeah, I misspoke."

Did you catch the subtle difference?Read the full story here

Easter the Ressurection

feliciadavis@dogonvillage.com (Felicia Davis) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:53:48 -0400

If Black America and progressive people of faith and good conscience do not defend and restore the legacy of Rev. Wright we will loose the opportunity to bring about the change that we seek. We are reaching to change not the color of politics but the character. Truth is the foundation for the transformation that we seek in the 21st Century. Thus far we (African Americans) are guilty of allowing a false caricature to stand. Defending the Black church and one of our leading men of faith is more critical for the Black community than whether Barack Obama wins the nomination. We have allowed the assault upon our most sacred institution and the only institution that is wholly our own. There is no way that Obama can win the presidency if we dont set the record straight on Reverend Wright. When that is done and the American people see how far the media went to distort the teachings of the Black church, realizes how deeply embedded racism is in American society, and as each individual is challenged to hold a mirror to their own lives and thinkingonly then will we have a chance.

As soon as we push for the truth there will be an effort to move on and this is where we will have to remain vigilant extracting apologies, demanding honors for Rev. Wright, and even challenging the most vocal characters on the far right. If we do this then no matter what happens with the elections We The People Win! Barack Obama is an international leader even if the majority of Americans happen to miss this point.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright inspired Macon, Ga mayoral candidate Robert Reichert

slander@dogonvillage.com (Edrea) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:33:24 -0400

By Travis Fain,

Trinity United Church of Christ
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, shown here with his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, March 10, 2005. Obama on Friday March 14, 2008 denounced inflammatory remarks from his pastor, who has railed against the United States and accused the country of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism.The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a religious mentor of presidential hopeful Barack Obama and the source of racial controversy over some of his remarks, gave two sermons in Macon last fall and is scheduled to return here in October.

In fact, Wright's sermons, at St. Paul AME Church in east Macon, so inspired visiting mayoral candidate Robert Reichert at the time that Reichert drew upon their themes in his inaugural address. In that speech, which many lauded as an attempt to bridge gaps between blacks and whites in the city, Reichert mentioned Wright by name and said the Chicago pastor's messages "have given me courage to share with you some of my innermost thoughts and recent revelations."

Thursday, Reichert said some elements of Wright's Macon sermons "could be construed as racially sensitive" and that circulating video of sermons at Wright's home church are certainly "inflammatory." But Reichert said he'd happily hear Wright speak again, and that "I would urge you to go hear him with an open mind ... and see if he pricks your conscience."

St. Paul AME pastor Ronald Slaughter and one of his chief church members, church CFO Melvin Jones, described Wright as a brilliant man and mesmerizing speaker. The controversy over his remarks has come because the media loves a good conflict and because Obama is a presidential candidate, Slaughter said.

Wright has been heavily condemned since some of the more inflammatory snippets of his sermons circulated on the Internet. Eventually Obama, an Illinois senator and longtime member of Wright's Chicago church, condemned the remarks, but not the man. Obama spoke at length on the topic Tuesday in a speech that focused not only on Wright's remarks but also on race in America.

Perhaps the remark that most offended people was Wright saying black people shouldn't sing "God Bless America" but "God d--- America" for treating its citizens as "less than human."

Said Reichert: "You talk about inflammatory. ... He is really attempting to pose a moral question in some of these situations. What do you think? Do you think 'God bless America' when we do this, when we do that? Or do you think God's going to bring judgment on us for some of this? He is intentionally provocative."

Slaughter said he isn't sure whether St. Paul AME had made a DVD of Wright's Macon sermons, but he also said he wouldn't provide them to The Telegraph if it had. The church did, however, provide photographs of Wright's visit.

Reichert said one of the more provocative moments of Wright's lengthy sermons here was a description of his black grandmother or great-grandmother, a slave, being forced to have sex with a white man. Reichert said Wright made reference to his own light complexion, which didn't come "from standing in the shade." Read the full story here