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Month: May 2008
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Back…
After a long weekend of not feeling well and spotty internet service, as Indiana and North Carolina vote in the latest episode of this never-ending primary…
Here’s some quick highlights:
In his spare time in between campaigning, Mr. Obama is trying to broker a peace deal in the Niger Delta:
Rebels who have stepped up attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry in the last month said on Sunday they were considering a ceasefire appeal by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has launched five attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta since it resumed a campaign of violence in April, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to shut more than 164,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
“The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem,” the militant group said in an e-mailed statement.
Andrew Sullivan has come around to the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket:
The old political adage that you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer therefore seems appropriate. Clinton will not be running for president in 2012 if she is vice-president in 2009. The same could not be said if she were consigned back to the Senate to lick her wounds and plot her future…
There’s also a way for Obama to explain this choice in a way that does not violate — and in fact strengthens — his core message. His model in this should be Abraham Lincoln. What Lincoln did, as Doris Kearns Goodwin explained in her brilliant book, “Team Of Rivals,” was to bring his most bitter opponents into his cabinet in order to maintain national and party unity at a time of crisis. Obama — who is a green legislator from Illinois, just as Lincoln was — could signal to his own supporters in picking Clinton that he isn’t capitulating to old politics, he is demonstrating his capacity to reach out and engage and co-opt his rivals and opponents. Done deftly, picking Clinton could even resonate with Obama’s supporters as a statesmanlike gesture, a sign of the kind of reconciliation he wants to achieve at home and abroad and energize his own party for the fall. It is consonant with his core message: that he can unify the country in a way few other politicians can. It would even help heal the gulf that has opened up between the Clintons and black voters in this campaign. It’s win-win all round.
And the Empire Strikes Barack:
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A “Granita Pact”
I don’t think this is the answer, but Daniel Altman over at the Huffington Post suggests a “Granita Pact” between Clinton and Obama. Interesting – but it would make little sense for either of them.
Why would Ms. Clinton agree to serve for only one term? Her rationale for staying in the race according to John F. Harris and Jim VanderHei of the Politico is that Obama cannot win and would destroy the Democratic Party. Others talk about the insatiable Clinton lust for power. Regardless, without a policy rationale to keep her in the race, it’s hard to see Ms. Clinton encouraging an Obama run ever. The only reasons for her to stay in the race even now are based on either her judgment that Obama cannot win, that he would make a bad president, or that she is determined to gain power no matter what it takes. Otherwise, she would have gotten out of the way.
Mr. Obama, on the other hand, keeps talking about the “fierce urgency of now”. His campaign is based on the premise that now is the moment when America needs a change, a new face, a fresh start, a different kind of politics. In other words, America needs a break from the Clintons and Bushes. For him to agree to another Clinton term when he was winning the race would brand him a typical politician.
Interesting idea. But I don’t see either candidate accepting it. It makes more sense for the Democratic Party than it does for either Clinton or Obama.
#5 on the List is for you Jenn Chan.
[digg-reddit-me]The “DC Madam”, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, was found dead this morning by Florida police near her mother’s home. According to the police, she committed suicide. She was found guilty of money laundering and racketeering just over two weeks ago.
Just a tad bit suspicious.
The Dallas Morning News asks:
As surely as this is a tragic outcome, there are some sighs of relief inside the Beltway this afternoon. Can the conspiracy theories be far behind?
The Associated Press has expended it’s initial bulletin to include these relevant details:
[Her] trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients…
Palfrey faced a maximum of 55 years in prison and was free pending her sentencing July 24.
I give reddit about 30 minutes – at most – until “Dick Cheney killed the DC Madam” headlines appear…
Update: Almost there…
And the awe-inspiring follow-up:
very powerful people… signing in relief
Funnily enough – exactly how she used to make her money
Update II: Really close:
Cheney was CEO of Halliburton during the time of his liaisons with the DC Madam escort firm.
Update III: So freaking close:
Gee, couldn’t see that one coming a mile away… Mess with neocons, commit “suicide”, surprise, surprise.
And Florida’s likely the best place for such a “suicide”, what with the stellar reputation of its police apparatus.
Hopefully she’s got it set up so someone will publish the list to the web upon event of her death.
Update IV: And there it is:
Snaxion is the winner of the “Dick Cheney killed the DC Madam” contest.
Congratulations snaxion!
You win…nothing. Sorry.
Update V: Drudge is now linking to the AP’s new snippet of information:
One of the escort service employees was former University of Maryland, Baltimore County, professor Brandy Britton, who was arrested on prostitution charges in 2006. She committed suicide in January before she was scheduled to go to trial.
Last year, Palfrey said she, too, was humiliated by her prostitution charges, but said: “I guess I’m made of something that Brandy Britton wasn’t made of.”
Andrew Sullivan on the difference between Obama’s and Clinton’s philosophy:
Clinton believes government can save people and she, as the benign representative of government, can bestow equality on minorities. You just have to vote for Democrats, give money to the Democratic party interest groups (like the Human Rights Campaign) and your equality will come eventually (but always later than they say). I prefer an approach that tells gay people that they need to get off their asses, talk to straight people, build their relationships, support their community, empower themselves and win the argument for inclusion and integration. No politician can do that for us. And Obama is one of the few politicians who is honest enough to say so.
Categories
Gas Tax Politics
Tom Friedman of the New York Times on the gas tax proposals:
The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”
Good for Barack Obama for resisting this shameful pandering…The McCain-Clinton proposal is a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious — the energy to do big things in a sustained, focused and intelligent way. We are in the midst of a national political brownout.
Paul Krugman – whose loathing for Barack Obama is one of the mysteries of this campaign – must have had some trouble writing these lines:
John McCain has a really bad idea on gasoline, Hillary Clinton is emulating him (but with a twist that makes her plan pointless rather than evil), and Barack Obama, to his credit, says no…
Oh wait – but he can hedge a bit. Krugman wouldn’t want anyone to think he might actually consider Obama an acceptable candidate because of the vast policy differences they have (a.k.a. two minor ones that have led to about a dozen columns of polemic attacks):
Just to be clear: I don’t regard this as a major issue. It’s a one-time thing, not a matter of principle, especially because everyone knows the gas-tax holiday isn’t actually going to happen.
Obama’s seeking to make some political hay out of this. Once again, he’s betting the American people will pay enough attention to what’s going on to give him credit for doing the right thing.
Suicide…. Riiiiiiight.
I’m sure there are no very powerful people who are signing in relief right now.