Rip Van Winkle Awakens to Discover the Benghazi Select Committee is POLITICAL!

If it were not obvious from the outset, guess what?  The political nature of the Benghazi Select Committee is gaining notice!  Wow!  It has taken only three years and a wasted $4.5 million not to find out what went wrong so that we can prevent similar attacks in the future.  Correct the Record shared this today, for those who need a picture.



But we have known it all along. We knew it less than a month after the attacks when the House Oversight Committee accused State Department officials of a political agenda.

House Tea Party Members In Pursuit Of Hillary Clinton: Examine Your Own Role In Cutting Diplo Post Security

October 7, 2012

Representatives Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz of the House Oversight Committee, on October 2, sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a letter listing attacks in Libya  over the six months prior to the deadly September 11 attack on our Benghazi consulate.
Read on >>>>

Issa Flips The Coin And The Game Is On

October 10, 2012

Today was the first public session of the House Committee Oversight and Government Reform hearings on diplomatic security in Libya.  In closing today’s more than four-hour long session,  chairman Darrell Issa noted that although this is an election year, his committee wants to find out what went wrong in Benghazi in order to prevent it from happening anywhere again.  If you buy that,  I have a bridge for sale.
His admonishing tone, suggesting members of the panel might have an election year agenda,  was startlingly inappropriate.
Read on >>>>>

The Tea Party v. Hillary Clinton: It Never Ends

April 24, 2013

Resoundingly missing from the cover of the Interim Progress Report  on the Benghazi, Libya consulate attack published yesterday by the House Republican Conference is the name Harold Rogers (R-KY), chairman of the House Appropriations committee that twice slashed the State Department’s diplomatic security budget.   That committee was apparently excused from reporting to the conference in the zealous crusade being waged by Tea Party Republicans,  led by Darryl Issa and Jason Chaffetz, to pin blame on then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Issa’s name is listed as a co-author of the report while Media Matters reports that Chaffetz appeared with Megyn Kelly to discuss the report released to great hullabaloo in right-wing circles.
Read on >>>>

Select Committee Dems Call Out Republicans for Turning Political Turrets on Hillary Clinton

July 15, 2015

In astoundingly transparent fashion, the Republicans on the Select Committee on Benghazi have abandoned all
pretense plans for investigating departments and agencies outside the State Department and individuals other than Hillary Clinton.
An article in The Hill today reveals a letter from Select Committee Democrats to their GOP counterparts accusing them of refitting the objectives of the committee from inquiry and prevention into a political weapon aimed at the former secretary of state.  Thank you, Karen Finney, for sharing this because regardless of what “we all knew all along,” here is the evidence. In the end evidence is all that really counts.  It is our only weapon

Read on >>>>

When something like this appears I just wonder what rock people have been sleeping under and how many opioids they took.

Opinions

The Benghazi panel is a scandal of a committee

Seriously?  So not news!

*******************Edited 09/30/15 to add this**********************

 

Att: Carly Fiorina Subj: It was much more than just air miles

This will be the third time I have posted this.  Originally it was a longer response to an Op-Ed by Jennifer Rubin criticizing Hillary's legacy at the State Department.  Because it remains a pretty impressive (I will not say complete)  collection of Hillary's accomplishments as Secretary of State,  I am reposting - this time in response to Carly Fiorina's remarks claiming Hillary accomplished nothing in her travels as top diplomat.  Shame on you, Ms. Fiorina!
(N.B.  This time I left out almost all of the argument against Rubin's pathetic critique.  You can follow the link to the original to see that if you wish.)
***********************************************************************

About Hillary Clinton’s Legacy

Russia: Hillary Clinton and Sergei Lavrov worked exceedingly well together and achieved the very crucial New START treaty.  This was immense,  a great victory for both diplomats and both countries.  Their relationship remained solid throughout her tenure.

>For the first time in its history she completely overhauled the State Department , USAID, and interagency cooperation with her Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).
>For the first time in history she called all of the chiefs of mission together at the State Department for annual conferences.
>She instituted an Office of Global Women’s Issues.
>In June 2009 she  provided benefits to domestic partners of foreign service diplomats for the first time.
>She brought previously neglected countries back to the table with numerous memoranda of understanding and countless business initiatives.
>She kept the alliance between Afghanistan and Pakistan stable despite enormous challenges.
>She reopened the vital supply route from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

>She ensured U.S. access to the vital Manas airstip in Kyrgystan.
>She Salvaged the Turkey-Armenia accords which  she was supposed to simply witness when they suddenly nearly fell apart.
>She brought issues like human trafficking as well as violence against women and LGBT communities to the international table.

These are simply a few things that come to mind, and I probably have left out some important events.  Hillary Clinton has left an indelible mark on the State Department and has brought its operations into the 21st century with her integration of social networking into our outreach to the world.  She has been a tremendously effective Secretary of State and a hero to many, our own troops at war among them.  We can be appreciative of her selfless service and proud of the job she has done.

Hillary Clinton v. The Terrorists: A Brief History

Nothing glamorous here - not even a picture of our always beautiful SOS.

Both the State Department and the United Nations make the calls on terrorists.  When their information indicates that a person or organization has a terrorist agenda,  DOS makes what is called a designation and the U.N, "lists" - i.e. that entity is added to their terrorist list.   State Department designations  are made public in press releases.   Designation sets forth a panoply of legal options against the entity,  none of which are military I should add, as exemplified by this one from October 4, 2012.

Terrorist Designations of Ansar al-Sharia as an Alias for Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

October 4, 2012

---

The Department of State amended the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and E.O. 13224 designations of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula to include the new alias, Ansar al-Shari’a (AAS). The Department of State previously designated AQAP as an FTO and under E.O. 13224 on January 19, 2010.
AAS – which is based in Yemen and is a separate entity from Ansar al-Shari’a in Libya – was established to attract potential followers to shari’a rule in areas under the control of AQAP. However, AAS is simply AQAP’s effort to rebrand itself, with the aim of manipulating people to join AQAP’s terrorist cause. AAS has publicly stated that the particular brand of shari’a they hope to implement is the same as that espoused by the Afghan Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq, a militant umbrella group and designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that includes al-Qa’ida in Iraq.
AAS has taken responsibility for multiple attacks against Yemeni forces. One such attack, which took place in May 2012, killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers in a suicide bombing during a parade. In March 2012, a series of attacks and armed assaults by AAS in southern Yemen killed 100 people, many of whom were Yemeni soldiers.
The consequences of adding the new alias for AQAP include a prohibition against knowingly providing material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, Ansar al-Shari’a, and the freezing of all property and interest in property of the organization that are in the United States, or come within the United States, or the control of U.S. persons. The Department of State took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury.
In addition, today the United Nations 1267/1989 Al-Qa’ida Sanctions Committee listed AAS. As a consequence the group now faces a worldwide assets freeze, a travel ban, and an arms embargo. The actions taken today against AAS support the U.S. effort to degrade the capabilities of its parent organization, AQAP. We are determined to eliminate AQAP’s ability to execute violent attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat their networks.

That is the way it works.  These are the folks listed by the U.N. as of now.   If you go to this website, you can see all the entities designated by the State Department.  Related press releases are here.

Late last month there was great pressure upon Hillary Clinton to delist an Iranian organization known as MEK which she ultimately did delist.

Delisting of the Mujahedin-e Khalq

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

September 28, 2012

---

The Secretary of State has decided, consistent with the law, to revoke the designation of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and its aliases as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under the Immigration and Nationality Act and to delist the MEK as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. These actions are effective today. Property and interests in property in the United States or within the possession or control of U.S. persons will no longer be blocked, and U.S. entities may engage in transactions with the MEK without obtaining a license. These actions will be published in the Federal Register.
With today’s actions, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEK’s past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992. The Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its own members.
The Secretary’s decision today took into account the MEK’s public renunciation of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the MEK for more than a decade, and their cooperation in the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf, their historic paramilitary base.
The United States has consistently maintained a humanitarian interest in seeking the safe, secure, and humane resolution of the situation at Camp Ashraf, as well as in supporting the United Nations-led efforts to relocate eligible former Ashraf residents outside of Iraq.

There were good reasons for this as witnessed by the statement and by this article, however that is not the point of this post. The point is that if you wade through that list of press releases, you see some forty designations by Secretary of State Clinton.  Compared with the previous administration,  where I counted nine, that is huge!  Several of those designations, certainly not all, are Al Qaida related.

With the foreign policy debate coming up,  I wanted to point out that killing Osama Bin Laden hardly amounts to Al Qaida or terrorists in general being "on the run."  If anything they might be multiplying (see Lara Logan on this). Either that or our Hillary is one helluva terrorist hunter.  Possibly both premises are true.  But I thought I would toot a heads-up.   If, on Monday night, anybody tries to tell you the bad guys are gone, don't believe it.  They are not.  Someone in the administration happens to know that, even if the White House,  on the subject of terrorist threats,  claims to know nothing and appears to be telling the truth.  Someone is finding the terrorists and freezing their assets.  If they are on the run, it is from her.

So, OK, I give up.  I will not disappoint my friends, colleagues, comrades in the battle.  Here's our Joan of Arc at Georgetown U. yesterday.

###

Time To Turn Off The Caps Lock

I am sharing this article for two reasons.  First, it states accurately and articulately my personal position on the statements I have been seeing and hearing since the attack in Benghazi three weeks ago from people were not even on the continent of Africa at the time.  If so many people *know* so much, perhaps the government is better off hiring psychics to inform them than sending in the FBI, CIA, and ARB.

Second,  Ms. Kemper alludes to the uncommon tsunami of ill-will and incivility that appears to be sweeping  the electorate.   It stuns me to hear and read some recent remarks from people who claim to have supported Hillary Clinton in 2008.   I see comments that resemble nothing of the tone of Hillary's campaign and everything negative in the way the Obama campaigners approached some of us:  the shouting, the anger, and the insults.  

It is high time for everyone to step back - out of each other's faces, take a deep breath, and think and reflect for a  moment.  It is inappropriate to use the tragedy in Benghazi in any political way.  There is no place for rudeness in discussions. 

This country has been here for 236 years.   Neither of these candidates is the best we have but neither is Satan either.  Neither is going to take this country down.  Make your choice, but if it differs from mine  that does not mean that I am less informed,  less intelligent,  less American than you are.  I simply see things differently.  Your vote - and mine - are precious.  Let's be a little more respectful of each other.  Take a deep breath - and turn off your caps lock.

  October 3, 2012, 11:08 am

Dishonoring Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues

By Kathy Kemper

As a proud, patriotic American, I am embarrassed by the calls that are being made for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice to resign. Not even a month after the murder of our ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans, many are politicizing their deaths rather than honoring their service — hardly the behavior that one would or should expect from the citizens of the nation that leads the free world.
Read more...

Media Reads on a Hillary Run: St. Patrick's Day 2012 Edition

I deliberated long and hard about posting these, and they are not the only examples bouncing around on the web.  In the end, they are Hillary news, so I suppose they merit some attention.

The first one, by Maureen Dowd, appeared days ago.  I first saw it in the New York Times.   This particular publication came from The Seattle Times.  Alluding to remarks HRC delivered last week at the Women in the World Summit,  Dowd postulates thus.

Originally published Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 3:30 PM

A riled Hillary is a formidable foe

The attempt by Republican men to wrestle American women back into chastity belts has not only breathed life into President Obama, writes Maureen Dowd, it has roused and riled Hillary Rodham Clinton — not a wise thing to do.
By Maureen Dowd
Syndicated columnist
Hillary Clinton has fought for women's rights around the world. But who would have dreamed that she would have to fight for them at home?
"Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me," she told an adoring crowd at the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center on Saturday. "But they all seem to. It doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim. They want to control women. They want to control how we dress. They want to control how we act. They even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and bodies.
Read More>>>>

The war on women in this country is genuine. We need our women leaders, and I am sure most American women see Hillary Clinton as the most powerful and vocal of these, particularly on women's issues, but Hillary cannot do it alone.  She needs her army behind her.  Women need to recognize the level of threat to their personal freedom, get mad, and get active.

Men, even those on our side of the aisle,  do not share the sense of urgency Dowd telegraphs.  They put forth her name but... not now.

From The Gothamist.

Hillary Clinton 2016: Pundit Put Likelihood At 99.4%

Secretary Clinton at the 2012 Global Chiefs of Mission Conference yesterday (AP)

Will the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits come back in four years? Game Change authors John Heilemann and Mark "Obama is a dick" Halperin were on Morning Joe this morning predicting that Secretary of State is interested in running for President again.
Heilemann, who covers politics for New York magazine said the chances were "99.4. I think very high," while Halperin, an editor at Time, said, "A little lower. I think that if Joe Biden wins re-election and runs, she's much less likely to run."
Read more>>>>

Then there is Ed Koch, former Mayor of New York, who sometimes pals around with Republicans.  As Politico reports.

Ed Koch pushes Clinton on 2016 run

By BYRON TAU |

3/15/12 5:21 PM EDT

(AP Photo)
Former New York City mayor and Hillary Clinton booster Ed Koch wants to see a Clinton 2016 run, and he made his feelings clear to the Secretary of State at Wednesday's state dinner, according to the New York Times:

Mr. Koch also said he spoke with the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and encouraged her to run for president in 2016.
“I said, ‘Everybody’s running you for president again — count me in!’” he said. “And there were other people there who applauded.”
Read more>>>>>

I have been addressing the issue of the war on women primarily at The Department of Homegirl Security , which is a defense blog,  and not in the context of Hillary making another presidential run.  But in this  particular post,  Falling Short,   I did state a position similar to what Dowd said.  Women leaders, acting as surrogates for Obama on this issue inspire far more confidence in me than he who prefers to lead from behind.  Dowd's questions mirror my own thinking.  She ends her op-ed thus:

Women who assumed that electing Obama would lift all minority boats are beginning to think: Maybe he's not enough.
If the desire of all these conservative male leaders to yoke women is this close to the surface, if they are perversely driven to debase women even though it could lead to their own political demise, then women may require more than Obama.
If women are so vulnerable, they may need one of their own.
Is she inevitable?

It is possible that she is, but generals do not win wars without troops.  She needs her army.  I know you are all still here.  We have been together for almost five years now and never left her side.  Join Americans Elect.  Be a delegate for Hillary because, no, Obama will not be or do enough and we cannot afford to lose this war.

Celebrate Hillary Day: Bring a Friend to Americans Elect!

On this day in 2008, Hillary Rodham Clinton won primaries in Ohio and  Rhode Island.  I thank my friend Christian Kautz for this great picture.

t

Hillary Clinton was the best candidate then, and she remains America's best hope  - better than any declared candidate.today.  We know that our beloved Hillary does not like to look back.  So while we are celebrating her victory of four years ago, we should be doing so by looking ahead into the future that we can form.

We do not have to be limited by the candidates the major parties are putting forth.  Through Americans Elect we can choose our own candidates.  I joined about a month ago and am a delegate for Hillary.  Today, I celebrated "Hillary Day" by recruiting my friend.  Now, she, too is a delegate for Hillary. 

It would be nice if every delegate could recruit one more delegate for Hillary today.  Let's celebrate "Hillary Day" by looking ahead and not back.  Let's bring along friends and family to the Americans Elect online convention in June! 

Let's choose her - again!

Hillary's page at Americans Elect

Note to Democratic Primary Voters in Michigan

According to information given to a poll worker directly from the Michigan Democratic Party, there will be a write-in option on the ballot tomorrow, however, write-in votes will not be counted.  The other two possibilities on the ballot are Barack Obama, of course, and "uncommitted."   Those will be counted.  So, as difficult as it may be, you should probably resist the temptation to write Hillary in and vote "uncommitted" if you oppose Obama as the nominee.  That way you can send uncommitted delegates to Charlotte.

On another note, we need to get 1000 Hillary delegates ( or more!)  from each state at Americans Elect for the online convention in June.  You cannot be validated as a registered voter if you register using fake information.  The site is very secure and trustworthy.  I know the questions are very specific, but they are trying to assure that all delegates are eligible to vote.

Here is the link where you can register.  After you do that, you must go through a few more steps to be a validated voter.

Here is Hillary's page, but to track and support her, you need to start with the link above.



Let's get those numbers up!

Americans Elect Unveiled

About a month ago,  right before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, some of us in the various Hillary Clinton Facebook groups joined Americans Elect.  The registration process was in two phases.  One member of one of the groups then sent word out that to fully participate, after logging in, you needed to complete three additional steps to "fortify" your account (the term AE uses).  I did go through the additional steps and warned  my friends that it is a little scary.  In each of those steps there are statements and you are to choose the one that is true of you.  In every instance, one of the statements is true - not simply true, but very specific.  When you complete the process you receive a message that your account has been fortified and that you have been verified as a registered voter.

Ohhhhhh!!!! The hesitation I heard from my friends!  Who ARE they?  Who is behind this?  How secure is this?  Etc., etc., etc.  Well now we have an answer to those questions.  The answer is both a surprise and should not be all at once.  Lynn Forester de Rothschild appeared Cavuto this week and she is the big name behind this . Really, I should have suspected.  She explained the AE mission and how the site works.  For those who were concerned about security, she was very reassuring.  She did not name him, but the fellow who set up security for ETrade left his job there to work with AE. 



For some reason, always a mystery to me at Wordpress,  the embed code for the clip does not work here, but here is the link.  I encourage you to watch (she mentions our HRC).   I hope that knowing it is Lady Lynn will encourage my Hillary friends to join us at AE and go through the full process to become a Hillary Clinton delegate for the online convention in June!

Link to Lynn Forester de Rothschild on Cavuto discussing Americans Elect.

Media Reads on a Hillary Run: Sunday, January 15, 2012 edition

As they roll in, I continue posting these articles suggesting that our girl take the 2012 plunge. I am not entertaining the switcheroo articles although some arguments are valid. Joe Biden has done a wonderful job as VP, and he is not the problem. The problem is a president without the spine to sweep into office with a grand plan for jobs, to stand up to the GOP (after losing the majority he had in his first two years), or to veto an NDAA bill containing amendments antithetical to the rights of American citizens as stated in the Bill of Rights.

We need a leader with guts - the kind of intestinal fortitude Hillary Clinton manifested when, in 2009, she added the U.S. to the nations reviewed for human rights abuses in the annual Human Rights Report. Obama must have forgotten that little item when he neglected to veto the NDAA.

Clinton backers want her to seek the presidency

Posted Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012

By Anna M. Tinsley

Four years hasn't been long enough to forget.

Some supporters of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid, including Texans, remain bitter over how the last primary turned out, and they want their candidate back on the ballot this year, one way or another.

Petitions are being circulated to encourage Clinton to resign as secretary of state and run for president; write-in efforts are under way to put her name at the top of the ballot.

Read more >>>>

This one encourages discussion and provides a lovely slideshow of the SOS at work.

Should Hillary Clinton Run In 2012 Against Obama?

The Current Secretary of State is looking better than ever. I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I can't help but pay attention to her dramatic make-over. I have done some research and it seems that I'm not the only one wondering if Hillary would dare challenge the current President. I highly doubt she would do something like that, even if she and her team want it so badly.

Obama has fallen from grace so quickly that it would not be surprising if someone challenges him for the Democratic nomination in 2012. Many, including former Vice-President Dick Cheney, have been talking about the big 'mistake' voters did by choosing Obama over Clinton in 2008. In the last Republican Presidential debate, front-runner Mitt Romney called Obama inexperienced and way 'over his head.'

Read more and ring in!!!!!!

Regional Theater in New Hampshire

Many readers here will recall this scripted moment less than fondly.   I call it scripted because although the party tried its best to hide the truth,  many knew at the time, and many more know now,  that what was being televised was not a true and transparent roll call vote.  It is no secret  by now  among Democrats that the actual vote was taken in hotel rooms that morning and that committed Hillary delegates that we sent to cast votes for her were coerced to vote otherwise before Hillary released them.   What we saw here, deplorable as it was to see a valid candidate and the winner of the popular vote on the convention floor, was theater.




Hillary Clinton was escorted onto the convention floor to rescue the party's unity and request a unanimous nomination of Barack Obama.  It was a spectacle, for sure, and not the party's finest moment.

The party seems to have a penchant  for the  theatrical since something appears to be rotten in the state of New Hampshire as this year's primaries commence.  Curtain up!  A swiftly organized write-in campaign for HRC in the New Hampshire primary was launched in early December and was publicized here, at other Hillary blogs, and in myriad Hillary Facebook groups.  We shared and we tweeted no end to get the word out to New Hampshire voters that on the Dem side there was more than one choice.

Tuesday, the 10th was primary day, and by the next morning we saw these results from C-SPAN.  They were posted here on this blog.

Race	Status	Candidate	Votes	Vote %	Del*	Est. % In
New Hampshire Updated 1:59 p.m. EST, Jan 11, 2012 County: Table | Map		Obama	48,970	82%	0	100% reporting
		Total Write-ins	5,908	10%	0

We were informed by the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office that the write-in tallies would be available the next day - today.  You can imagine the shock waves that traveled through the Hillary sites today when that office made these results available.

Presidential Primary Election January 10, 2012 President of the United States - DEMOCRATIC

Suspension of disbelief is possible when the plot is reasonable, but these results are not.  No one voted for HRC?  Democrats wrote in the GOP clown car occupants on the Dem ballot?  No one wrote in  any other Democrats or independents on that ballot?  Smells fishy to me!  So,  many of us had our Hamlet moment today since something indeed is rotten in the state of New Hampshire. The only voters missing are Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, but I guess it is harder for them to register now that ACORN has bitten the dust. Anyway, Shakespearean productions are almost never accompanied by cartoons.

The only other explanation is that the Hillary Clinton write-ins were inscribed with disappearing ink.  We are undaunted, because for our money, the finest moment of that 2008 convention was this.  Yes, Hillary, we will keep going!

 

Writing Hillary In: Part Two The South Carolina Roadblock

Not so fast, it seems!  There IS no write in option.  At the Petition Facebook group,  however, there appears to be a way we can battle this totalitarian one-candidate ballot.

Steve Rosinski

I am asking all Hillary supporters to write to the South Carolina Secretary of State demanding suspension of the 'No Write-in Rule' under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. We are prepared to seek legal recourse if the Secretary is not responsive. If anyone can help with these legal issues, we'd be grateful.

South Carolina Secretary of State: Contact/Feedback

www.scsos.com

Thank you for visiting the online office of the South Carolina Secretary of State. We are working hard to revolutionize the way you do business in South Carolina. Please let us know if you have any feedback, questions or concerns.

Let's all do our part so that our neighbors in South Carolina can write Hillary in should they wish to! 

Seniors Speak Up!

Since I cannot remember which channel I was watching at the time, I cannot find the video, but on one of the morning cable news nets I saw Amy Kremer of Tea Party Express ranting, in a southern belle kind of genteel way, that Mitt Romney does not represent the party and that the Tea Party will resist having this candidate shoved down their throats as it were.  It rang a lot of chimes for me.

In 2008, commencing with the May 31 Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on the votes from Florida and Michigan, and concluding with the most shameful spectacle of a viable candidate who had won the popular vote being walked out onto the convention floor in order to halt a completely staged  "roll call vote,"  Democrats have said the same thing.  Not all Democrats are satisfied with the 2008 candidate who is now the incumbent candidate.  The dissatisfaction was reflected in the New Hampshire primary results yesterday.  Barack Obama drew in appreciably fewer votes than Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.  He won 82% of the Democratic Primary vote there, was opposed by more than a dozen challengers,  none of whom managed to exceed the write-in vote,  which garnered a rough 10% of the total with no bankroll, public speakers, town halls, or physical presence on the ground by a declared write-in candidate.

It is time for the Democratic Party to wake up to a reality, as much as we love Hillary Clinton, and hard as she tried, she was not in 2008 and is not now able to effect unity in a party that she did not tear apart.  The task of unifying the party belonged to Barack Obama who campaigned on a claim that he would unify the entire nation.   He has accomplished neither, and the reason is that he did not heal the wound from which the country was bleeding four years ago.  He did nothing to support homeowners facing foreclosure, unemployed Americans, and students who could not afford tuition.  He responded to the BP oil disaster with paralysis, and chose to waste 18 months pushing a faulty and wanting health care bill when people were suffering from poverty and joblessness.  So, in short, placing HRC on the ballot under the name of a failing and flailing candidate will not effect his reelection.  We will not even entertain such a ridiculous idea which is put forth by those who assure us that it will not happen anyway. (So why even raise it?)


You have to love seniors.  The very experienced who have seen so much and have lived through bad times before  know what it takes to fix things.  They no longer have to worry about pinks slips.  They have faced so much in life that they do not care what they say.  Devil-may-care,  they say what is on their minds.  Here are two of them.

Specter: Dump Obama for Hillary

January 10, 2012|By Tom Infield, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Should President Obama dump Joe Biden as his running mate and replace him with Hillary Clinton?
Arlen Specter was asked that hot-potato question, circulating in some Democratic circles, in a meeting Tuesday with The Inquirer editorial board.
His answer showed that the former 30-year senator hasn't lost his knack for blunt talk - nor, perhaps, his bitterness over what he feels were slights from Obama during his failed 2010 Senate campaign.

Read more >>>>

Here is another senior icon.

Another lefty celebrity says he’s heartbroken and dismayed by Obama

posted at 1:20 pm on January 11, 2012 by Tina Korbe

In a recent appearance on the “Smiley & West” radio program hosted by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, Harry Belafonte lamented the president’s lack of a moral compass — and cautioned other discontents to be wary of the proposition that the president just needs a second term to prove himself. Said Belafonte:

Read more >>>>

I have, over the years of Obama's tenure,  occasionally clashed with younger folks here who have been sure that older people do not "get it."  I beg to differ.  Guys and gals old enough to be my parents have a compendium of knowledge and experience we have yet to gain.  It never hurts to listen to voices of experience.  They, after all, have little to lose at this point, and the young?  Their futures are on the line.  It might serve them well to attend to these voices and ask themselves where their values are:  in fixing what is wrong, or in continuing to prop up the failed and ineffectual candidate that thrilled them with all the texting four years ago.

It was a cheap trick, kids.  I got some of those tweets too when hurricanes ravaged the Gulf Coast.  All he wanted was for my Red Cross donations to go through his website.  Well, I know how to find the Red Cross on my own.  I did not need him to tell me how to arrive there, and he does not know how to get us back to where we need to be.  If  he did, surely he would have made his huge effort by now.

FDR did not win four elections by saying that he needed another term.  He rolled up his sleeves, showed us what was possible, and an impressed and grateful populace gladly reelected him.  No, I did not witness this history,  but I learned from it nonetheless - from folks older than I.  We all should.

Write In Hillary New Hampshire: Preliminary Results

We lack some specifics at the moment, but CNN Politics is reporting the New Hampshire Democratic primary thus with 100% of precincts reporting.

Race	Status	Candidate	Votes	Vote %	Del*	Est. % In
New Hampshire Updated 12:06 p.m. EST, Jan 11, 2012 County: Table | Map		Obama	48,970	82%	0	100% reporting
		Total Write-ins	5,908	10%	0

SO!  While we do not know for whom those write-in votes were cast (we can suppose not for the baker's dozen of challengers on the ballot),  and, oddly, we do not see a total of votes cast with a list of those challengers and their results, we do see that there was a pretty healthy write-in vote.
As a reminder, if she did garner a sizable portion of write-in votes,  HRC  never declared or said a word to imply that she was running, never set her pretty little foot on New Hampshire soil, and did not spend a red cent on this.  This was entirely a grassroots effort.  Imagine if she had assured voters that she was in this to win it.  At a time when this country is in dire need of a hero with a knowledge base and plans to counter the GOP  with its bad plans and the incumbent, who historically lacks plans going all the way back to the 2007 debates,  HRC is what she has always been since that day in 2007 when she declared, the change we need.  

New Hampshire Democrats: Write In Hillary!

In your Democratic primary, you do have more than one choice!



Thanks to Jen, here is your sample ballot.  The last line is where you can write her in.


NH_Democratic ballot_2011

Additional information on the New Hampshire primary can be found here.

Write Hillary In!

With the weekend debates over, New Hampshire voters (and those in other primary states) might be feeling a little hopeless.  The candidates are not inspiring, and the incumbent, for all the boost the media attempts to provide, has proven over almost four years that indeed  the Oval Office is not a training ground. The health care debacle, the dismal economy, the failure to reach across the aisle effectively, the incessant campaigning that never ceased after the last GE coupled with the lack of clarity explaining positions, the list goes on of reasons to regard the incumbent as ineffective.  But there remains a viable alternative.  Democrats, we can take our party back.  In open primaries, independents can hop aboard.

In addition to this action, and to fortify our position, we can join Americans Elect and become delegates there for HRC,  and we can sign the petitions in the sidebar on this page.  Click here to see a video of petition initiator Steve Rosinski  with Neil Cavuto last week.  

My last two cents:  I do not understand the Republican chant that Obama is a "socialist" president.  He has done nothing to protect, in any effective way, the social safety nets established by prior Democratic administrations.  If he remains in the Oval Office any longer, we will see these programs dismantled.  He is the "anti-socialist."  Do not buy that cow.

Let's Get Hillary! Now Is The TIME!

In the old days, typing classes were drilled  to type this phrase:

“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party”

Well, we are the good men and women, and now is the time!  In primary states, starting Tuesday in New Hampshire,  we should all take this unique opportunity not to lie down and let the party walk all over us as they did in 2008 when the RBC disenfranchised legitimate registered voters and the convention shamefully put a candidate on the convention floor to stop the televised (and bogus) roll-call vote.  In primary states, we should write in our preferred candidate.  Iowa demonstrated how caucus states can caucus "uncommitted,"  an example other caucus states can follow.

So as the primary season gears up, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!  Sign the petitions in the sidebar if you feel so inclined.  Join Americans Elect and be a delegate for HRC.   There is plenty to do!  Share with your friends. 

Let's get Hillary Rodham Clinton on the ballot!  

Speak for yourself, dear Hillary!

In early summer of 2008, shortly after suspending her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton established from among the ranks of her campaign, "Hillary sent me."

It was an effort to swing her voters over to Obama, and it might have been successful but for the fact that Obama seemed to think Hillary alone would be enough to garner the votes from her sector.  As it turned out,  it always appeared to Hillary's sector that the effort was hers alone,  and nothing Obama did or said indicated that he really cared at all about those of us who were (and remain) in her corner.

The Strategy of Surrogacy has been one of Obama's hallmarks  going way back before the 2008 convention and has remained his major approach to tasks for which he has little interest or taste.  I, for one, who have spoken from this platform on this topic many times (most recently this; Memo to LGBT Community: Hillary On Your Side – Long Before Yesterday) , did not require this article from last night to explain the strategy to me,  but some may have yet to receive the message.

On gay rights, Obama lets surrogates take the lead

By Mark Landler / New York Times News Service

Published: December 31. 2011 4:00AM PST
Obama’s strategy, administration officials and gay-rights advocates said, reflects two conflicting forces. He recognizes that support for gay rights and same-sex marriage is growing, particularly among young voters.
But he is reluctant in an election year to be drawn into a culture-war issue — one that reliably helps Republicans turn out evangelical voters in their favor.
Read the article >>>>

It seems that with Obama it is never about the true quality of life questions embedded in issues and communities, but rather about how he can get enough votes to sustain his presidency.  If the LGBT community did not get the message when he appeared in NYC the weekend gay marriage was legalized (to a shout-out he responded, "I hear ya!"), I hope they wake up soon.  He hears ya.  He just is not going to take the chance of standing up for you.  That he will leave to his surrogates, this issue, primarily to HRC.

But lest other interest groups think the knight in shining armor will slay any dragons in their defense, please see Taylor Marsh today on that topic.

The Party’s Over

By Taylor Marsh on 01 January 2012

The latest political move against women of all ages came recently when Pres. Obama decided to put politics over science on Plan B, even though it was conclusively proven safe for women, regardless of age. He said he was squeamish about it as a father. What made it worse is that he hid behind Kathleen Sebelius’s skirt, also saying he had nothing to do with the decision.
This kind of cowardice in a grown man is unattractive; in a president it is unacceptable.
Read More >>>>

There was a character in our folklore who leaned on a surrogate.  You may remember this.

 Then they sat down and talked of the birds and the beautiful
Spring-time,
Talked of their friends at home, and the Mayflower that sailed
on the morrow.
"I have been thinking all day," said gently the Puritan maiden,
"Dreaming all night, and thinking all day, of the hedge-rows of
England,--
They are in blossom now, and the country is all like a garden;
Thinking of lanes and fields, and the song of the lark and the
linnet,
Seeing the village street, and familiar faces of neighbors
Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip together,
And, at the end of the street, the village church, with the ivy
Climbing the old gray tower, and the quiet graves in the
churchyard.
Kind are the people I live with, and dear to me my religion;
Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back in Old England.
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it: I almost
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and wretched."
Thereupon answered the youth:--"Indeed I do not condemn you;
Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in this terrible
winter.
Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to lean on;
So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage
Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish the Captain of
Plymouth!" 
  Thus he delivered his message, the dexterous writer of
letters,--
Did not embellish the theme, nor array it in beautiful phrases,
But came straight to the point, and blurted it out like a
schoolboy;
Even the Captain himself could hardly have said it more bluntly.
Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla the Puritan maiden
Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated with wonder,
Feeling his words like a blow, that stunned her and rendered her
speechless;
Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the ominous silence:
"If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very eager to wed me,
Why does he not come himself, and take the trouble to woo me?
If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the winning!"
Then John Alden began explaining and smoothing the matter,
Making it worse as he went, by saying the Captain was busy,--
Had no time for such things;--such things! the words grating
harshly
Fell on the ear of Priscilla; and swift as a flash she made
answer:
"Has he no time for such things, as you call it, before he is
married,
Would he be likely to find it, or make it, after the wedding?
That is the way with you men; you don't understand us, you
cannot.
When you have made up your minds, after thinking of this one and
that one,
Choosing, selecting, rejecting, comparing one with another,
Then you make known your desire, with abrupt and sudden avowal,
And are offended and hurt, and indignant perhaps, that a woman
Does not respond at once to a love that she never suspected,
Does not attain at a bound the height to which you have been
climbing.
This is not right nor just: for surely a woman's affection
Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only the asking.
When one is truly in love, one not only says it, but shows it.
Had he but waited awhile, had he only showed that he loved me,
Even this Captain of yours--who knows?--at last might have won
me,
Old and rough as he is; but now it never can happen."
Still John Alden went on, unheeding the words of Priscilla,
Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, persuading, expanding;
Spoke of his courage and skill, and of all his battles in
Flanders,
How with the people of God he had chosen to suffer affliction,
How, in return for his zeal, they had made him Captain of
Plymouth;
He was a gentleman born, could trace his pedigree plainly
Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury Hall, in Lancashire, England,
Who was the son of Ralph, and the grandson of Thurston de
Standish;
Heir unto vast estates, of which he was basely defrauded,
Still bore the family arms, and had for his crest a cock argent
Combed and wattled gules, and all the rest of the blazon.
He was a man of honor, of noble and generous nature;
Though he was rough, he was kindly; she knew how during the
winter
He had attended the sick, with a hand as gentle as woman's;
Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not deny it, and headstrong,
Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and placable always,
Not to be laughed at and scorned, because he was little of
stature;
For he was great of heart, magnanimous, courtly, courageous;
Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman in England,
Might be happy and proud to be called the wife of Miles Standish!
But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple and eloquent
language,
Quite forgetful of self, and full of the praise of his rival,
Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes overrunning with
laughter,
Said, in a tremulous voice, "Why don't you speak for yourself,
John?"
-From Longfellow's  The Courtship of Miles Standish

Pretty as she is, Hillary is not Priscilla Mullins in this analogy.  We are,  those of us whose vote  Obama expects to snare by sending our Hillary to us with messages that her history shows reflect not his positions but her own.  We are wise to the strategy and tired of the requisite "President Obama and I" in speeches that clearly come from her heart alone.  She is, of course, John Alden, carrying the message for Miles Standish ... who couldn't be bothered or fears the message will alienate some other voting bloc.

Speak for yourself, dear Hillary.  We know your heart! 

Track Hillary Clinton on Americans Elect!

Our friend Brian Augustine found that HRC has been added to Americans Elect .  I signed up and am tracking her.  If you have a little trouble with step 2, be persistent.  I had to do it three or four times before I finally got to step 3.  

Let's all register and start tracking her!  Let's show our Hillary some love!

Note:  I am new to this and not completely sure how it works, so comments from people with helpful information are welcome!

Video: New Hampshire for Hillary 2012 from Boowitch13

Here's a great Christmas gift from Boowitch13.  Her work is always outstanding.  This speaks for itself!  Please share!  Let's do it right this time!

Merry Christmas, Mme. Secretary!

Wishing you a lovely holiday with your family, a restful break, and a happy and healthy 2012.  We love you and hope that this somehow happens. We are right here waiting for you to say the word.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to all my friends here, and all the best for the new year!