Showing posts with label 2008 presidential elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008 presidential elections. Show all posts
Hillary Clinton can't decide if illegal aliens should be granted driver's licenses, Barack Obama's position is predictable and McCain's a disaster.
Is there a presidential candidate who has any clue about border security or illegal immigration?
Bloggers4Borders examines that very question in their weekly video blogburst.
Holding your nose and choosing seems to be the order of the upcoming election day--presidentially, anyhow.
by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
Source: Bloggers4Borders 032408
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Fred Thompson picked up an endorsement today that highlights one problem he doesn't have: his backing by pro-life forces.
West Virginians for Life gave their endorsement to Thompson. The Republican candidate from Tennessee, who has a solid record on the issue, hasn't had to put out any clarifications, explanations or re-statements concerning abortion.
While Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani's stance on the issue continues to raise questions, Thompson has quietly lined up Pro-life endorsements in the early stage of the presidential campaign.
The Mountain State endorsement was another one.
Senator Thompson released the following statement today regarding the West Virginians for Life endorsement of his candidacy for President.
From Christian Newswire:
"I'm deeply appreciative for their endorsement," said Thompson. "In supporting me, those who have worked tirelessly to defend life are supporting a consistent conservative who has stood with them yesterday, who stands with them today, and will stand with them tomorrow."Fred Thompson is pro-life. He believes in the sanctity of human life and that every life is worthy of respect. He had a 100% pro-life voting record in the Senate and believes Roe v. Wade was a bad decision that ought to be overturned.
He consistently opposed federal funding to promote or pay for abortion and supported the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Child Custody Protection Act, and President Reagan's Mexico City policy. While Fred Thompson supports adult stem cell research, he opposes embryonic stem cell research. He also opposes human cloning.
West Virginians for Life is the West Virginia state affiliate for the National Right to Life Committee.
So, Fred Thompson continues to line up grassroots support, all the while some writers continue to write about his "lazy" campaign habits.
His "laziness" apparently doesn't extend to the unborn.
by Mondoreb
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Dennis Kucinich, The Progressive Candidate
by Little Baby Ginn
Dennis Kucinich has been a busy guy, a busy guy indeed. Since 2004 the Democrat Congressman from Ohio has thrown his hat into the Presidential race, married a woman 31 years his junior, introduced legislation to impeach Vice-President Cheney, made calls to impeach President Bush. He introduced another piece of legislation to form a new bureaucracy, The Department of Peace, and was forced to reveal he had an encounter with a UFO.
A visit to the dennis4president website one can contribute twenty bucks to the Dennis Kucinich Grassroots Raffle and win one of their “amazing prizes.” Get a special Edition pocket copy of the US Constitution, or find out how to throw a Dennis Kucinich “House Party!”
A trip to the Official Campaign Store and for twenty three bucks you can purchase a Kucinich for President “Strength Through Peace” Home/Party Kit which includes ten buttons, ten bumper stickers, 10 rally signs, 10 balloons, and 10 lapel stickers.
Times must be hard: didn’t politicians running for office used to offer these things… for free?
From Kucinich’s bio on the webpage:
The oldest of seven children, Dennis was born in 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio to Frank and Virginia Kucinich. The family lived in 21 places, including a couple of cars, by the time he was 17 years-old. One of his most vivid memories was watching his family count out money on an old white counter top to see if they had enough for their bills. He attended Catholic grade and high schools.Kucinich’s public service life began after graduating from Case Western University. He served as a councilman and later Clerk Of Courts. Elected as Mayor of Cleveland at the tender age of 31 his bio relates how he ran on the promise to save the city’s municipally owned electric system.
He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977 on the promise to save the city’s municipally-owned electric system which offered customers significantly lower rates than the private utility. A year later, Cleveland’s banks demanded that he sell the city’s 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to the city.Huh?
The attempted political blackmail failed as did several assassination attempts. He remembered his parents counting out coins on the dresser and refused to sell the people’s power. In an incident unprecedented in modern American politics, the Cleveland banks plunged the city into default for a mere $15 million despite being offered triple collateral to protect the loan.
“The attempted political blackmail failed as did several assassination attempts?”
More from Kucinich’s Political Bio:
The principled stand destroyed his political career. He lost his reelection bid. He was demonized as the mayor who threw Cleveland into default.† Fifteen years later, the citizens of Cleveland - recognizing† he had saved them hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal power bills and also forced the private utility to keep bills low to compete – voted him into the Ohio Senate.†† His campaign signs featured† a light bulb and the expression “Because he was right.”† In 1998 the Cleveland City Council honored Dennis for “..having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city’s municipal electric system.”In 1996 Kucinich’s political career and reputation as a Progressive was back on track. He was elected to the House Of Representatives.
More from the Kucinich Bio:
In 2002 the second great challenge of his elected career occurred.† After analyzing the “evidence” presented by the Administration in its rush to folly in Iraq and actually reading the National Intelligence Estimate, he stepped forward to help lead 125 Democrats in voting against the blank check for the President to wage an illegal, immoral and ineffective war.
Speaking from the floor of the House some 140 times against the war and appearing on over 100 radio and talk shows was a risky political move.† But it did not stop him.† The neo-cons and their complicit friends in media engaged in a frenzy of caustic name calling.
Wait a sec? “The neo-cons and their complicit friends in the media?” So far Kucinich is making Ron Paul look positively… normal. Kucinich’s bio is reading like a melodrama.
More from the Kucinich Bio:
On July 11, 2001, inspired by the strength, leadership and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Christ, Dennis authored and introduced legislation to create a Cabinet level Department of Peace and Nonviolence. Domestically the Department will create programs to deal with domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, gang violence and the root causes of all violence in our society. The legislation is now backed by a national movement.
An extremely ambitious endeavor all these new programs ranging from “domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, gang violence, and the root causes of all violence in our society.”
Of course, someone should point out that yet another Department added to our already bloated bureaucracy funded by strapped taxpayers which addresses problems which are already addressed at the federal, state, and local levels with hundreds of thousands of laws on the books…
On February 3, 2003, Dennis co-authored legislation HR 676 which he had previously proposed to the 2000 Democratic Platform Committee, to create a national health care system, Medicare for All.
Of course some might call this “Universal” Healthcare. “Medicare For All,” paid for by a few. Does this include the estimated 12-15 million “undocumented” workers who receive free healthcare without paying one peso out of pocket?
In 2004, Dennis ran for President on a platform of peace, universal single payer not for profit health care and fair trade conditioned on workers rights, human rights and environmental quality principles, only possible through the cancelling of NAFTA and withdrawal from the WTO. For the second time he presented a plan to the Democratic platform committee for Medicare for all.
Then “peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars” and the “dawning of the age of Aquarius. Aquarius!” Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
In 2005, on May 4th, British born Elizabeth Harper went to Washington, D.C. during her second week in America, to discuss monetary policy with legislators. There she had an eight minute meeting with Dennis in his office. Though neither had known of the other prior to their meeting, each instantly knew they had just met their life partner, though they had barely spoken to each other. They met by chance again three weeks later in New Mexico, declared their love and got engaged. Dennis and Elizabeth were married on August 21st, 2005.
The best of luck to the both of them. More about Elizabeth from the Kucinich site:
You will understand Elizabeth Kucinich better if you answer one question. How many 18 year-olds do you know who leave their comfortable homes to travel alone to India to work with Mother Teresa's charity?† Or another? How many 14 year-olds do you know who have lobbied their national legislature? Or a last one? How many 28-year olds do you know who have traveled to five continents to work on and organize humanitarian projects?
The answer to those questions give a sense of who Elizabeth Jane Kucinich and the dedication to service and social justice that drives her.
Elizabeth is also Kucinich’s 3rd wife and thirty one years his junior, but I digress.
The Issues
Kucinich is clearly against the Iraq War. He voted against it and against funding. He believes in diplomacy. His policy is called, “Strength Through Peace.”
How to Emerge From the Neo-Con and Neo-Liberal Nightmare of the Arrogant Use of Power
“We need to understand the connection between peace and the environment. We know that life on our planet is threatened by the twin threats of global warring and global warming. They are linked, and we have to understand that as we cognize the world as being interconnected and interdependent, we know that resource wars are passe and that the focus on sustainability will create peace.”
--Dennis Kucinich
Lovely sentiments altogether and makes one wonder about Kucinich, that perhaps he’d be better off shaving his head and donning Ghandi robes. Kucinich obviously suffers from a rather blatant Messianic Complex where if one could only teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…
Kucinich on Terrorism:
We cannot hope to end terrorism by killing terrorists. Hatred feeds on violence and killing. I understand this and am here to offer a more practical approach: to reduce poverty worldwide with bold changes in current U.S. policy. NAFTA and the World Trade Organizations have only served to increase global poverty, thus deepening one of the most virulent causes of terrorism.
Yes, of course, it was poverty that drove those men to the acts of 9/11. Well, no, it wasn’t. Bin Laden was never poor and neither were the men who flew those planes into the World Trade Towers. But no one must burst Kucinich’s Progressive Bubble on how to solve terrorism through misconceptions.
Kucinich and Impeaching Bush And Cheney
Kucinich introduced House Resolution 333 to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.
RESOLUTION
Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United
States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of
the United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis-
demeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment
be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of
Representatives of the United States of America in the
name of itself and of the people of the United States of
America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the
United States of America, in maintenance and support of
its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis-
demeanors.
Kucinich’s Encounter With A UFO
Shirley McClaine, the women with more past lives than a Cat revealed in a book yet to be released that on a visit to her home back in the 80’s Kucinich had spied a “gigantic triangular craft, silent and observing him. It hovered for about 10 minutes or so and sped away with a speed he couldn’t comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."
How nice of McClaine to put this information out during a crucial time of Kucinich’s bid for the office of President.
To sum up Kucinich’s views on issues, Kucinich is against the Iraq War, believes terrorism can be solved by pointing the finger of blame squarely at the United States. Bush and Cheney need to be impeached and everyone should have peace.
Sources:
Dennis4President
Impeach Bush
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Who doesn't like a good Dennis Kucinish quote? Congressman and Democrat presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's latest statement on the mental health of President Bush is just the latest in a long line of memorable quotes. We present, for your edification, a dirty dozen.
"We cannot hope to end terrorism by killing terrorists."
--On Dennis 4 President website.
"I am running for President of the United States to enable the goddess of peace to encircle within her reach all the children of this country and all the children of the world.
--Speech, Cleveland City Council (13 October 2003)
"Everyday this Administration sits on the sidelines the chance for a peaceful resolution becomes less likely. Every day this Administration sits on the sidelines more innocent civilians on all sides are dying. Every day this Administration sits on the sidelines America's already poor reputation in the world community gets worse.
The Administration seems content to sit on the sidelines as a full-blown regional war breaks out. What are they waiting for, the Apocalypse?
--On Kucinich For Congress website
"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health."
"There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."
--interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board, 10-30-07.
ON SEPTEMBER 11:
“I believe the best way to honor the memory of those who died on Sept. 11 is to tell the truth of what the administration did in the wake of Sept. 11,” Kucinich said in a statement. “The Bush administration launched a war against Iraq, conflating the true tragedy of September 11 with lies about weapons of mass destruction.”
--on Kucinich for Congress website.
ON THE PATRIOT ACT:KUCINICH's SOURCE OF INSPIRATION:
"The "Patriot Act" is not what American patriots have fought and died for. To allow our Bill of Rights to be nullified without judicial supervision invites tyranny. The Attorney General has been handed unfettered power to wiretap, search, jail, and invade our most sacred right to privacy. The government must not be allowed, without probable cause or warrant, to snoop on our communications, medical records, library records, and student records.
--On Kucinich for Congress website.
"After I lost the [mayoral] election in Cleveland in 1979, I moved to California for a while. I actually remember walking in the area around L.A. known as MacArthur Park, and I was thinking of that song and thinking of the lyrics where they talk about 'Someone left the cake out in the rain. It took so long to make it.' And it goes on, raising the question of whether I'll ever have that recipe again."
–-Real Change.org
"Mr. Speaker, the administration, through senior Air Force officials, wants the U.S. to achieve military supremacy in outer space. Dominating all earth from outer space will have an out-of-world price tag, perhaps more than $1 trillion."DENNIS KUCINICH, WORLD LEADER:
--Speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressional Record (19 May 2005)
Furthermore, I'm also a board member of Parliamentarians for Global Action, which is one of the largest group of parliamentarians in the world, and I meet regularly with world leaders from countries throughout... around the globe.
--Real Change.org
On HILLARY and JOHN EDWARDS' ELECTION-FIXING ATTEMPTS:
"Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what's going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity."
--Telephone interview with CBS News
July 13, 2007
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D. OH) - 7-13-07 - speaking of Edwards' (and Hillary's) attempts to exclude candidates from the televised debates
Dennis Kucinich remarks about the open Microphones on Hillary and Silky Pony.
“Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not,” said Kucinich.
“Imperial candidates are as repugnant to the American people and to our Democracy as an imperial President.”
--From Hillary.com
July 17, 2007
Collected with love by Little Baby Ginn
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
The above video has gotten over 1.4 million hits on Google video and (with it's other part) over a half-million hits on YouTube. It's an anti-Hillary Clinton video by Peter Paul. The rest of this breaking story by New York Daily News:
First came the Orwellian mash up YouTube video that portrayed Hillary Rodham Clinton as Big Brother. Then came a clip of her off-key rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Now, a stinging 13-minute video by a bitter Clinton foe is finding its own Internet audience.
The clip, a preview of a longer film by one-time Clinton donor Peter Paul, has scored more than 1.4 million hits on Google Video and about 350,000 on YouTube during the past week. Its popularity has driven it to the top spot on Google Video over the past two weeks.
Paul is a Hollywood entrepreneur, former partner of Spider-Man creator Stan Lee and convicted felon who has sued the Clintons in connection with a celebrity-packed fundraiser he helped organize for her 2000 Senate race. A California appeals court earlier this month ruled that Sen. Clinton should be dismissed from the suit.
With the fascination about Hillary Clinton and the number who absolutely wouldn't vote for her under any circumstances, the video seems to be proof that there's an enthusiastic anti-Hillary audience among the viewers at Internet video sites.
by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
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It's something that's often heard by second-tier candidates and their followers. "If only we could get our message out, people would be flocking to us". Fair enough. In an effort to help get one man's message out, we took a look at New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
What is Richarson's message? What can we do to help disseminate it?
We looked at dozens of Bill Richardson fund-raising letters and articles and tried to boil down what it was that made Richardson different from the others in the Democrat field. What we came up with was: UFOs, drugs and Iraq 'N' Roll.
The Bill Richardson Fascination with UFOs
There's no denying it: this is one issue that Governor Richardson has completely to himself. There is no one else trying to crowd him on the UFO political spectrum, either from the Left or the Right. While he does strike a chord with a certain crowd of Americans here, is this really a Presidential issue? Richardson's camp certainly thinks it is. And it garnered him some coverage this past weekend.
A look at Bill Richardson's UFO background:
Governor Richardson also served in the Clinton administration after
spending 14 years in the House of Representatives. He served one year as
Ambassador to the United Nations and two years as Secretary of Energy. He
then became a successful governor and participated in numerous foreign
missions. In a foreword to "The Roswell Dig Diaries" published in 2006 by
Pocket Books Governor Richardson wrote:
".....the mystery surrounding this crash (at Roswell) has never been
adequately explained - not by independent investigators, and not by the
U.S. government."
"It would help everyone if the U.S. government disclosed everything it
knows. With full disclosure and our best scientific investigation, we
should be able to find out what happened on that fateful day in July of
1947. The American people can handle the truth no matter how bizarre or
mundane, and contrary to what you see in the movies."
[Above photo: Richardson gets all three of his issues in one sentence when he vows that 'Iraq is not worth the life of one more pot-smoking space alien?']
Richardson's Plan to End the War in Iraq
The Richardson plan to end the War in Iraq can't be faulted for its complexity. Bill would just pack up and leave. al-Qaeda be hanged. In place of the U.S. Army Corps, he'd insert the U.S. dipolmatic corps. Richardson on Richardson ending the War in Iraq:
There are seven components to my plan to end the war and stabilize Iraq, but the most important step, upon which all others depend, is to remove ALL of our troops quickly.So basically, the Richardson Plan for ending the War in Iraq boils down to: we leave, talk nice and everyone lives happily ever after. He should be in the thick of the fight for the Extreme Left portion of the Code Pink vote with this plank.
What we need to do:
1-Remove ALL Troops:
Only when the Iraqis know we are leaving will they start seeing us as partners, instead of occupiers.
[Ed. note-That al-Qaeda will also see us as more of a partner after this step is not mentioned here.
2-Withdraw as Quickly as Possible: We should start redeploying now. The longer we stay, the more people die, the further the situation deteriorates, and the more damage we do both to our military and to our reputation. Only when we are out of this quagmire can we refocus on the real war against Al Qaeda -- the terrorists who attacked us on 9-11, and who are still headquartered along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border -- not in Iraq.
[Apparently, Richardson is privy to info the U.S. Government can't secure.][Members of the Richardson Diplomatic Surge Team?]
3-A Diplomatic Surge: Iraq's crisis is a political crisis. It cannot be solved militarily. We need a surge of diplomacy to bring Iraq's factions together, to engage all of Iraq's neighbors in stabilization, and to put together a coalition of donor nations to aid reconstruction. [Note: As effectively diplomacy is a matter of carrots and sticks, what's the stick here? That the U.S. will re-invade?]
4-De-authorize the War and Fund Redeployment: Last November, the American people voted for the Democrats because they expected them to end the war.
5-Lead a Regional and Global Diplomacy: The hard political work begins as our troops start to leave. We must use the leverage of our withdrawal to bring the factions to the negotiating table.
[Something akin to saying "I'm going to leverage my nose against that bully's fist to get him to quit hitting me".]
6-The United States must lead this effort and involve all of Iraq's neighbors, including Syria and Iran, in a regional conference modeled on the Dayton conference which ended the war in Bosnia. Key objectives of the conference should be assurances of non-interference and the creation of a multilateral, UN-led Muslim peacekeeping force.
7-We must also convene a donor conference of wealthy Arab states to fund Iraqi reconstruction. All of Iraq's neighbors have an interest in preventing Iraq's civil war from spiraling even further out of control, and they should all play a part in stopping the violence.
It's easy to sit on the sidelines and snipe at the proposals of others, but this hodge-podge of Iraqi points, makes one wonder: Who's writing Richardson's material? He better get some help in that department--and fast.
Richardson And (Medical) Marijuana
This is the Richardson issue that DBKP can cheer. Save the money, save the human cost of one portion of the inane War on Drugs? We're not objective on this issue. So, we present a view from a disinterested observer.
More on Richardson's and medicinal marijuana from Washington Post:
SANTA FE, N.M. -- Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, poised to sign a bill making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana, said Thursday he realizes his action could become an issue in the presidential race.So this is Bill Richardson's message in the nutshell. Is this an unfair portrayal? Not if one listens to the candidate's own words.
"So what if it's risky? It's the right thing to do," said Richardson, one of the candidates in the crowded 2008 field. "What we're talking about is 160 people in deep pain. It only affects them."
Richardson has supported the proposal since he first ran in 2002. But he pushed especially hard for it this year, leaning on some Democrats to change their votes after the bill initially failed.
"Give him credit. It's not something you do because you're going to garner great political support for it. It is a bit controversial," said Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington. By the same token, Mann says, it is not likely to hurt him in the Democratic contests.
"If he were to surprise us all and actually win the Democratic nomination, he's got an interesting mix of positions" that would not be undercut by his support of medical marijuana, Mann said.
Bill Richardson's message seems to be a collection of niche messages to niche groups. That's enough to snag the 2-4% support that many polls give him. The mainstream finds his issues wanting.
Some candidates are second-tier for a reason. The problem is not that their message isn't getting out: it's that it is. We said at the beginning of this piece.
"Bill Richarson: UFOs, Drugs and Iraq 'N' Roll."
by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
[images: file photos and e-graphics]
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[image:oswegonews]
by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn
Rudy Giuliani wants to do for the U.S. as president what he couldn't do for New York City as mayor: reduce illegal immigration within three years.
More on a man with a plan by the New York Daily News:
The generally-friendly tone of the article addressed a concern of many in the last paragraph.
If elected president, Rudy Giuliani wants to do for illegal immigration what he did for crime in New York City - reduce it dramatically within as little as three years.
"It can be done. It is not impossible," Giuliani told an Iowa town hall-style meeting on Wednesday night. "You can do this, you can stop them at the border."
To get the job done, Giuliani said he would boost the number of border patrol agents to 18,000 from the current 12,000 - much like he increased the size of the NYPD as mayor - and build a physical and "technological" border along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"If you do this for two or three years, you'll change behavior," Giuliani said. "If people come to the border and figure they can't get in, they'll stop."
Giuliani has been touting his illegal immigration plans since last summer, but his pledge to put a time-limit on dealing with the problem - considered among the most complex on the domestic front - is a more recent addition.
Giuliani - who as mayor was considered among the most immigrant-friendly executives in the country - has stopped short of calling for the deportation of all illegal immigrants, saying deporting 12 million people is an unrealistic goal.So Rudy's joined the chorus of those strawmen-builders who keep addressing a question which has never been brought up by anyone except themselves:
But he has called for the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
"Can we deport all the illegals?"
He's spent considerably less time addressing his record as mayor on this problem and his support of sanctuary laws then on the books and any attempt by city officials to change them.
Giuliani doesn't require a dressing-down on this problem, but the insistent questions remain until he answers them; brushing them aside whenever they are raised or changing the channel won't satisfy those want to know.
The question of an ID card, and whether there will ever be such an animal remains for a later date.
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