Speaking as the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to call in the votes of those disaffected Hillary Clinton primary voters.
Over the past 9 months, President Clinton himself had been a frequent critic of Sen. Barack Obama's experience level. But on Wednesday night, he favorably aligned his experience when he was elected to that of Obama (actually, Obama is older than Clinton was when he became president).
Clinton said, "Last night Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything in her power to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us -- actually that makes 18 million of us!"
A reference to the number of Democratic primary voters who backed Hillary Clinton.
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Democrats Wednesday officially nominated Obama to be their candidate for president, making him the first African-American to lead a major party ticket. Earlier in the day, Sen. Hillary Clinton graciously released her delegates to vote as they wished.
Sen. Hillary Clinton motioned to cut the roll call short saying, "With eyes firmly fixed on the future, and in the spirit of unity with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let's declare together with one voice right here, right now that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president."
"Is there a second?" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California asked the crowd of more than 4,400 delegates.
Delegates then affirmed Obama as their choice with cheers, officially capping a long and hard-fought battle between Obama and Clinton.
Read the CNN.com articles about Bill Clinton's speech and Obama's nomination here and here and here.
plez sez: on to november... this healing should've taken place weeks ago, like on June 4th (the day after Obama secured enough votes to win the democratic nomination)!
plezWorld is glad that the rift is seemingly over... we must set our sights on removing the republicans from the white house.
All of plezWorld is tingling with anticipation. My cell phone is charged up and ready to receive my text message from the Obama Campaign informing me of his vice presidential nominee.
I will MOBILE BLOG that message from my Palm Treo to plezWorld as soon as I receive the text message.
Who will it be?
Gov. Tim Kaine (of Virginia)
Sen. Evan Bayh (of Indiana)
Sen. Joe Biden (of Delaware)
Sen. Hillary Clinton (of New York)
Rep. Chet Edwards (of Texas)
Someone Else (of someplace else)?
All of the talking heads are opining, saying it's going to be Biden.
The only certainty is that the VP nominee will join Sen. Barack Obama in Springfield, IL tomorrow for a big speech at 1 PM EST.
Read the CNN.com article about Obama's short list here.
More Obama vice presidential speculation here and here and here.
plez sez: my crystal ball is looking kind of cloudy this evening and i'm not getting a strong signal (only two bars).
they say that kaine and bayh have already been told it's not them. they say that clinton hasn't even been vetted. and surprise! surprise! chet edwards (who represents the district where george w. bush's ranch is located) claims to have been vetted, but hasn't spoken with Obama!
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Obama has to pick a strong, vocal candidate. he has to pick someone with name recognition and experience. by his own admission, he has to pick someone who can step in as president.
you read it on plezWorld first: it's going to be HILLARY CLINTON.
that's right, he's going to hold his nose... and call in Billary to help defeat mccain in november.
none of the other candidates comes with a built-in nation-wide base. none of the other candidates has received as many votes as clinton. none of the other candidates have a constituency that may feel "dissed" if they ARE NOT picked. and none of the other candidates is married to the last democratic president to be re-elected since FDR!
the only other candidate who comes close to clinton is joe biden, and to my way of thinking, he's a distant second. he has the experience, he has the ability to debate the issues, BUT... didn't he drop out of the presidential race within the first 2 or 3 weeks? clinton ended up with over 18 million votes this year... if Obama and clinton's voters return to the polls in november, there is NO WAY THAT OBAMA CAN LOSE!
i know. i know... what the hell are you gonna do with Bill Clinton? i look at it this way: it's better to win the election, rather than risk losing it because of opposition to the VP candidate's spouse!
The talking heads on television are in a feeding frenzy.
Speculation of infidelity by John Edwards first surfaced during the dawn of the Democratic primary season (in late 2007) with a story by none other than the National Enquirer. The Edwards Camp issued a number of denials and since the story had been broken by a sensational supermarket rag - like the Enquirer - most "reputable" news services let the story wane. And let John Edwards raise money and continue his quest for the Democratic nomination.
Well, the Enquirer came back a few weeks ago with news that this woman that Edwards has been creepin' with was with child... and John Edwards was caught by paparazzi in Los Angeles visiting with Rielle Hunter and his lovechild late one night. Another series of denials. But this time the story stuck.
Edwards has decided to 'fess up... he has taped a segment on Nightline which will be broadcast on ABC on the evening of Friday, August 8, 2008 (yeah, the same night of the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics on NBC). In the interview, Edwards acknowledged the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter, which began after she was hired to make documentary videos for his campaign. But he continues to deny being the father of her child, even though, he has yet to take a DNA test.
A former Edwards campaign aide, Andrew Young, claims he is the father of Frances Quinn Hunter, who was born on Feb. 27, 2008. The Charlotte Observer reported last week that a copy of the infant’s birth certificate did not list the name of the father.
This news is obviously tough on his family. His wife, Elizabeth, is still recovering from a bout with cancer and recall that their teenage son was killed in a traffic accident over a decade ago. Elizabeth Edwards pours out her heart in a post that she wrote on DailyKos.com earlier today:
Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some – most recently – caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences. None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him.
John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.
The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed.
John has spoken in a long on-camera interview I hope you watch. Admitting one’s mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do, and I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame. The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown. But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue. I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John’s conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time.
Read the major news service stories about the Edwards Affair here and here and here.
Read Elizabeth Edwards's post on DailyKos.comhere.
plez sez: my heart goes out to the wife and family as this display of human frailty gets played out in public -- tabloid style.
power. money. two awesome aphrodisiacs that direct the actions of many. john edwards isn't the first presidential candidate who has taken the opportunity to creep with sexy young available women, he won't be the last. think about gary hart's ride to bimini on a boat named "monkey business" with donna rice back in 1988... ah, nothing new here! except, now we have a 24-hour news cycle and if not for that one picture of gary hart, he may still be a player in national politics. think about bill clinton getting his knob polished in the oval office by monica lewinsky; if not for that episode, hillary clinton might be the democratic nominee this year!
the consequences of his actions will probably relegate john edwards to a footnote in this presidential campaign. he was never a big challenge to either Obama or Clinton, but it appeared that he could've played a role in either of their administrations. there was vice president talk. there has been talk of attorney general in a Barack Obama administration. i doubt he'll be in denver for the democratic national convention, where he would've been given time on stage... he'll have to be content to eat humble pie at his big house in north carolina.
this whole sordid episode is kind of creepy, seeing as his wife is still recovering from a second bout with cancer. but it gets worse. it appears that one of edwards's campaign aides, by the name of andrew young, admits to lining up for sloppy seconds and got ms. hunter preggers. YUCK!
"Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again." -Bill Clinton in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife's "number one priority" would be as president. [read more at CNN's Political Ticker].
It is obvious that this slap at Bush 43's ineffectual leadership for the past two terms did not escape the Republicans, as RNC spokesman Danny Diaz quickly responded with the following statement in response to Clinton's comments: "In 2009, a Republican president will be working with our friends and allies abroad to continue to keep our nation safe. The American people expect our leaders — both current and former — to present serious solutions to the very real challenges confronting our nation." [read more at CNN's Political Ticker]
plez sez: come on, folks! it's 11 months BEFORE the election and i'm already tired of the second clinton administration!
what is going on in the mind of bill clinton? does he still think that he can get away with saying ANYTHING?!? or is he suffering from the early stages of dementia? what in the heck would compel W's father go on a world tour with bill clinton to tell the world what the world already knows: that his son is a blubberin' idiot and that W has been screwing everything up for the past 8 years!
i mean, there's a big chasm between hubris and insanity - it seems that bill is mired in it. bill's comment is so loaded with foolishness, that this latest episode (bill's comment and the RNC response) must come in second on the HILLARY HUMILIATION METER to the discovery of that "stained" blue dress.
even though, america has survived 8 years of george w. bush, i know we're not going to sign up for another 8 years of clintonocracy. imagine how much trouble ex-president bill will get in if he's back in the white house! if he is delusional enough to believe that george h. w. bush is going to do a world tour with him to trash his son, then i'm also thinking that he's planning to "party like a rock star" during his second stint at 1600 pennsylvania avenue... hillary won't get any work done (or much sleep) for cleaning up the "mess" bill will be making all over the world (sorta like having an older version of jimmy carter's brother, billy, except he'll actually be living full time in the white house).
and worse yet, we'll have TWO presidents in the white house saying whatever moods hits them, because neither has the moral character or integrity to actually say what they really believe. like hillary saying that she didn't authorize anyone to continually bring up that old news about barack obama's drug use. like bill saying that he wasn't criticizing barack obama when he called him too inexperienced to be president. [read about it at CNN's Political Ticker]
we're only two weeks away from the iowa caucus. there is a great alternative to this clinton mess, and his name is BARACK OBAMA! he is grounded, he has a good sense of self, and he provides the hope and change for this country that the clintons only dream about. let's break the bush-clinton monarchy here, before jeb bush decides to run for president in 2016!
I have been corresponding with one of my fraternity brothers who blogs for the The Detroit News (detnews.com). He recently posted an opinion on Andrew Young's twisted logic for not supporting Barack Obama as the democratic nominee for president. I considered writing something concerning this subject myself, but his thoughts concerning Barack Obama mirror mine, so I present Eric Brown as my guest blogger.
Shame on the Irrelevant, December 8, 2007
I am amazed at how so many so-called leaders of blacks try to make and/or keep themselves relevant today. A little over twenty-four hours ago, former mayor and U.S. Ambassador went on record to state his reasons for not supporting Illinois Senator Barack Obama. In what I find to be one of the most ridiculous statements by Mr. Andrew Young, he said that Mr. [Bill] Clinton is every bit as black as Barack Obama (referencing author Toni Morrison's declaration on the former president). He then went on to say that Bill has probably gone out with more black women than Senator Barack [Obama]. Well, based on the logic of Andrew Young, if ignorance is bliss, then I take it that he is a very happy fella.
The words that came out the mouth of someone that people may still refer to as a leader borders on pathetic. Again, what I see is another black pseudo leader that resentful of the fact that they are not currently in the limelight. I also see a black man that is still beholden to the Clinton's as if masta controls the mental slavery that permeates the thought process of these fallen souls. To have a litmus test referencing and comparing the dating pattern of a former president to someone seeking the office is just downright sad. To suggest that Mr. Obama should wait until the year 2016 to run and that now is not the time is another example of metal slavery controlling the words that somehome makes it way out of the mouth of people these days.
Mr. Young, you truly embarrassed yourself by referencing the fact that you served as one of the many lieutenants under Martin Luther King, Jr. I say that because if he could see how you and others have failed him in his efforts to make this place called the United States better for all, you are surely one that would have been fired for failing to live up to his goals. Your rationale for not supporting the junior Senator from Illinois sounds like sour grapes to me. You are no better than the men of yesteryear that did whatever they could to keep a person of color from living out his/her dreams. You and those like you sicken me with all of this "we shall overcome" bull(manure), when you do everything possible to keep those that look most like you from overcoming. Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star recently wrote about the death of NFL player Sean Taylor and those that caused his demise. He referred to the young men as the "Black KKK". Well sir, you and all of the so-called leaders of the black race that continue to find reasons to discredit Mr. Obama can join that club.
You want to question the senator on the amount of advisors that are black in his camp compared to that of your masta Clinton's wife. Is it because you and members of your posse were not asked to join up to be a part of "Team Obama" reason enough for you to constanly criticize his presidential run? Or is it that you fail to see that masta's wife knows how to manipulate you to get exactly what she wants from you? You people are too stupid to put aside your pride and embrace the best thing you have going for you with regard to a legitimate black presidential candidate. Mr. Obama is no different than your masta was when he first ran for president. I do not recall any of you back in 1992 questioning the age of Bill Clinton. Yes, he was only forty-six at the time of his first presidential run (same as Mr. Barack is now). Neither do I recall any of you worrying about whether or not the masta's kid would be picked on at twelve years of age by others. Barack and [Michelle] Obama have two beautiful daughters that are six and eight years of age respectively and exactly what are your concerns regarding other kids picking on them? I ask you and others that were so involved with the late Martin Luther King, Jr.; was there ever a discussion with regard to his take on "paralysis of analysis"? Is so, then you are truly an embarrassment as you try to analyze the candidacy of Mr. Obama. However, if there was a conversation and you feel the way that you do about Mr. Obama, it tells me that you were with Dr. King for the ride only. Seems as if you are a lieutenant that should have been left behind.
I have no idea what it is going to take to get black people to understand that what we have in Barack Obama is something special. I am not saying that each and every one of us have to support his bid to become our next president. What bothers me more is that I constantly hear reasons that are so illegitimate for not supporting him and the alternative of many blacks is Hillary. So I ask, what exactly is it about her that have earned you people her trust and support? Remember, slavery is over and masta no longer has control over you; that is unless you like being controlled. When statements continue to be made by you leaders of the past as it relates to Mr. Obama, you will continue to stay irrelevant.
Robert Reich was the nation's 22nd Secretary of Labor (under Bill Clinton) and is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He has a blog where he provides insight on his days in the Clinton Administration. Based on that background, his blog has recently taken Hillary Rodham Clinton to task for some of her attacks on her main rival, Barack Obama.
In one entry, he talks about the three types of presidential leadership. The first type of leadership was employed by Bill Clinton and will no doubt be used by Hillary Clinton in the event she makes it to the White House: leading from the "center." Reich writes:
"[P]ollsters try to discover what the public wants, and the president fashions policies that will be most popular. This was Bill Clinton's model, especially after the stunning Democratic defeats of 1994, when he turned much of the apparatus of policymaking over to Dick Morris. But leading by polling isn’t leading; it’s pandering. Most of the public doesn’t know exactly what it wants because it hasn’t had the time to find out."
The second type is leadership by fiat: use of any means to sell an idea to the public and push the policy forward despite evidence that this may not be the correct course of action (think George W. Bush and EVERYTHING he's done for the past seven years). Reich writes:
"George W. Bush hasn't waivered in any of his beliefs, all the evidence to the contrary -- including his certainty that supply-side tax cuts for the rich help the economy and that invading Iraq would bring peace to the Middle East. But leading by fiat isn’t leading, either; it’s bullying. It’s also profoundly anti-democratic. Worse yet, it leads to large errors because a president who’s dogged in pursuit of his goals is often incapable of hearing evidence that reveals those beliefs to be mistaken, as Bush has shown. If the next president chooses this model of leadership, he or she subjects the nation to grave danger."
Of the third type Reich writes:
[It requires] a clear vision and a capacity to make his or her case to the public as strongly as possible, but then to listen carefully to what the public and its representatives say in response. In other words, the next president must be bold but also be willing to modify if facts and conditions change."
This third type of presidential leadership makes plezWorld: think of Barack Obama with his collaborative and non-partisan approach to the country's ills. Others may fear being labeled someone who flip-flops on issues, but it appears that he has the conviction to admit to his mistakes and take corrective action when necessary.
Read the entire Robert Reich blog entry on presidential leadership here.
In another blog post, Robert Reich takes Hillary Clinton to task for her sleazy attacks on Barack Obama's "lack of experience" and his position on policy matters. Her attacks on his plan for Social Security are without basis and Reich feels that Obama's health care plan is more solid than that of [Hillary Clinton]. But Reich saves his most pointed criticism of his boss's wife for her attack on Obama's courage and conviction:
"If there’s anyone in the race whose history shows unique courage and character, it's Barack Obama. HRC’s campaign, by contrast, is singularly lacking in conviction about anything. Her pollster, Mark Penn, has advised her to take no bold positions and continuously seek the political center, which is exactly what she’s been doing."
Read the entire Robert Reich blog entry on Hillary Clinton here.
plez sez: wow! ...and with both barrels!
robert reich has a long-standing relationship with the Clintons, going back to when he and the bill clinton were classmates and Rhodes Scholars at Oxford in the late 1960s. the fact that he has been so close to The Clintons for over 30 years gives credence to his assessment and criticism of hillary clinton. a dear friend decries her integrity and you see that she NEVER gives a straight answer to ANY question, one has to begin to believe what your eyes and ears show you despite what your heart tells you. plezWorld has stated it in the past and it has been substantiated by robert reich: hillary clinton lacks conviction and would be a "pollster president," going whichever way the wind is blowing at the time. she is not the right choice for america.
it appears that primary and caucus voters in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina are beginning to see her for what she is: her big leads in those states have eroded and barack obama has taken the lead in iowa with only a month to go before their caucus.
"Bill Clinton... is a nasty, bad naughty boy." - Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) in January 1999 on Meet The Press talking about the censure and possible impeachment of Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair.
Click here to view the Hardball with Chris Matthews clip about disgraced Republican Senator Larry Craig's arrest, his denials about being gay, and his political future (or lack thereof). Matthews introduces a Meet The Press clip from January 24, 1999 in which the Glory Hole Roving Republican gives a finger-wagging scolding to then-President Clinton.
plez sez: Does it get any sleazier than this?
The Republican Senator who reportedly "came on" to prospective pledges of his fraternity while he was in college, "diddled" at least one Congressional Page in the early 80's, performed fellatio on a man in a men's restroom in Union Station in Washington, DC in 2004, and made lewd sexual advances to a male undercover cop in a men's restroom in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport in June 2007 (for which he pleaded guilty and paid a $575 fine) actually had the audacity to impugn the integrity of Bill Clinton back in 1999!
As for his profuse denials about his sexuality today and in 1982, I will paraphrase from Shakespeare's "Hamlet": "The [gentleman] doth protest too much, methinks."
~ husband ~ father ~ son ~ brother ~ mentor ~ subdivision dweller ~ northern by birth ~ southern by choice ~ raised a black baptist, now guided by the spiritual ~ raised a kennedy democrat, now politically dead center (moderate) ~ raised in a Cadillac Coupe Deville, now hooked on an SUV ~ college educated and still a student of life ~ wild college frat boy and now a settled alumnus ~ intellectual yet fun-loving geek ~ technical and leading edge ~ corporate cog ~ consultant ~ college football saturday devotee ~ and a ramblin' gamblin' helluva engineer (GO JACKETS!) ~
This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine; and they are in no way associated with the views of my employer, family, friends, or associates.
Speaking as the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to call in the votes of those disaffected Hillary Clinton primary voters.
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