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missioncreep

Published Letters: 489
Editor's Choice: 8

Monday, May 12, 2008 08:11 AM

Don't Hate Her Just Because She Can't Hear the Fat Lady

It would have been funnier if they had written it less on the nose and focused more on the voodoo metrics her campaign keeps throwing at the wall with the deluded hope that something will stick.

Just an inch or two off what her campaign is already doing, like trying to sell the importance of certain voter demographics in Puerto Rico would have been good.

It's going to become increasingly difficult to parody Hillary as she continues to spin out on her own, making statements like the one about hard-working white voters (shades of Nixon and his "law and order" pitch to the nation). With wins expected in West Virginia and Kentucky in the coming days, it could look pretty slapstick until Oregon.

Monday, May 19, 2008 08:27 AM
Original article: Gender lessons

Real Lesson Learned

I'm unconvinced that the lesson is that broad (no pun intended), and that any girl in this country will be deterred from pursuing any ambition based on Hillary's presidential bid.

There is a male component in this equation, as well. Hillary was ill-served by Mark Penn and that is where the real lessons will be learned. Whereas Obama has a much better campaign team who mapped out a more successful strategy than not only team Clinton, but all of the other candidates, too. It is a symbiotic relationship that can sometimes bring out the best of the candidate, or bury them.

Would you draw the conclusion that only males can successfully manage other males in a successful campaign strategy? Of course not. Campaigns are large, complex operations with tight schedules and long hours. Once in motion, it's difficult to make staffing changes without suffering some setback.

The stumble in this case has been costly, but certainly not at the price of all women in the country.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 04:04 PM
Original article: "Ugh" of the day

Queasy Does It

I'm glad these are posted somewhere. The polygamist YFZ folks are beginning to improve their PR skills and now we have proof that the State of Texas didn't respond without just cause.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 09:20 AM
Original article: Obama, McCain and abortion

It Won't Alienate the Middle

When we talk about candidates and abortion, I think we're really talking about the Supreme Court. I have no doubt Obama will select much better nominees than McCain.

I suspect there are some Supreme Court judges who would have preferred to retire at some point during the last eight years and, instead, chose to hang in there until there were signs of intelligent life in the oval office.

I was originally for Edwards, switched to Obama and was prepared to vote for Hillary had she been the nominee based entirely on the Supreme Court.

The majority of people in the United States support abortion rights. Until the "Christian" right begins to address the issue beyond waving placards, bombing clinics and shooting doctors, that won't change. Abortion won't stop even if it suddenly became illegal and, ultimately, most of us understand this.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 01:22 PM

I Hope They Break Their Arms Patting Themselves on the Back

I began keeping a journal after September 11, 2001 knowing that this administration would exploit the event. What I hadn't counted on was how complicit the media would become. Around 2003, I stopped watching network news, catching it occasionally on Saturday or Sunday over the last five years.

I watched (or listened, really) to CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and CSPAN and what I discovered was that if you consumed a lot of it, you could follow what was happening. However, who has that many hours they can devote to consuming cable news shows? I was working from my home office so I was able to keep up and make a note of useful information and from where I had heard it. I also read a lot of online print media and blogs and made a note of those, as well.

Arguably, there were fissures developing in 2005 but the dam broke when Stephen Colbert delivered the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. The uproar from the media indicated the guy with the little cable comedy show had hit a very raw nerve. Not too long after, Keith Olbermann delivered his first "Special Commentary" and the ball was rolling.

Jon Stewart's interview with Douglas Feith a couple of weeks ago proved that he is willing to step up to the plate from time to time and do what a serious journalist should be doing. I may not get my news from Stewart and Colbert, but they do provide context.

In fact, the only time I see Brian Williams is when he's on The Daily Show...

Friday, May 30, 2008 09:23 AM

First We Burn the Staw Man

Bill can stop with the conspiratorial suggestions that there is a "cover up" afoot designed to curb Hillary's chances of winning in key states that Democrats will need to win in the general election. (This comment coming near the end of the primary cycle sounds even nuttier than it would have otherwise.)

Hillary is putting personal ambition ahead of the party which has alienated a large number of voters. Also, no one has explained how Hillary will go about picking up the support of the Obama voters should she manipulate the outcome with voodoo mathmatics. (I put this question to a friend of mine who remains a Hillary supporter and she had no answer.)

She wanted to be in the mold of JFK. She alone will make the decision as to whether she ends up as Hubert Humphrey.

To all of the shrill Hillary supporters who believe she has been denied her rightful place as the Democratic nominee, she hasn't. It just simply hasn't happened that way. Twist it however you wish, I think the rest of us can win the general election without you.

Friday, May 30, 2008 06:19 PM

@ RealityCheck

We have no choice but to win it without the embittered Hillary supporters or its effectively four more years of Bush.

But thanks for the good luck wishes anyway. I'll remember it when I'm in the door-to-door trenches in the general. I'm in McCain's home state so it won't be easy.

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