A Liberal Progressive in a Tropical Sea of Red
I found this article in the Christian Science Monitor today, though it was published on the 20th. I found it to be interesting, and, at least in my case, quite true.
I truly believe I am an equal-opportunity employer.
Clinton or Obama? Gender less important to young voters.:
As Obama gains, he whittles Clinton’s lead among baby-boomer women.
A coworker of mine sent me an article today from the DailyKos’s blog. The article is from the “GrassRoots Mom” section on the DailyKos. If you’re on the fence about supporting Obama or Clinton, I suggest you read it, and then MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION.
In essence, the author of the article looked at the Library of Congress’s website about bills that were authored by either senator. The author was swayed to the Obama camp by the veracity of his bills.
And I don’t mean that turncoat, Joe Lieberman, but rather Joe Scarborough from MSNBC.
When I’ve been asked who I support for the Democratic Party’s primary race, I originally backed John Edwards, primarily because of his messages on poverty and healthcare. After Edwards stepped aside earlier this year, I very easily, perhaps too easily, was willing to switch my allegiance to Barack Obama, the senator from Illinois.
But I wasn’t able to put a finger on why.
Was it because Hillary was old-school? Was it because I couldn’t stand her? Certainly not. I hardly know her, so it couldn’t be either of those. In fact, I couldn’t put a finger on why.
While waiting for the bus this morning, I was GoogleNewsing on my BlackBerry, and found this linked article from Joe Scarborough in the Pensacola News-Journal, which, for better or worse, was able to articulate my feelings on the matter quite well.
Now, I have a place in my heart for Bill Clinton, because I think he is one of the best leaders this country has ever had, so I take with a grain of salt what Mr. Scarborough has to say about him; however, if he has, indeed, acted the way it was depicted in the article, I must say that I would be very disappointed. However, the comments about Mr. Clinton notwithstanding, I favored more the comments about Mr. Obama than anything else.
Besides… we’re not voting for Bill Clinton – he can’t run again… and we can’t move this country forward by looking at the rearview mirror.
It’s time for a change in leadership and leadership style. We need someone who is charismatic, who can rekindle the American spirit… someone like Barack Obama.
The New York Times reported yesterday that “Musharraf’s Party Accepts Defeat”.
In the as-free-and-fair-as-they-could-be parliamentary elections that were held in Pakistan, voters handed a stunning defeat to the party of the country’s current president, Pervez Musharraf. But what, exactly, does this mean to the people of the United States?
Our executive administration has repeatedly shown a propensity to rely solely on a “Plan A” without having a viable back-up plan. It’s going to be interesting to see what our fearless leadership will do in light of this recent shoot-down of their “Plan A” plan.
What’s next, George?
Much has been made about hardening the nation’s food supply safety, in order to prevent terrorists from using it as an avenue for attack. A look at the video posted that prompted this recall of 143,000,000 pounds of beef shows that perhaps terrorists are not always from far-off lands, but may be right from our backyards.
The use of cattle that are unable to walk as part of our supply of beef is illegal; yet the agency responsible for monitoring the food supply continues to be underfunded not only by the current administration, but by past administrations as well.
Where does the fault for this particular recall lie? Ultimately with the company that chose to include this particular livestock; however, some fault does lie with those government agencies charged with uncovering events like these before the meat hits our food supply. Unfortunately, it seems that the recipients of much of this beef, while most likely not at risk, are those who can least afford it.
Glad I had the fish for lunch.
SoCal Slaughterhouse at Center of Recall:
(02-18) 03:03 PST Los Angeles (AP) –
An undercover video showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts has led to the largest beef recall in the United States and a scramble to find out if any of the meat is still destined for school children’s lunches.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.
The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the federal agency said. The company provided meat to various federal programs.
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer sai
George W. Bush, before he departed on his final trip to Africa as the President of the United States, called on the House of Representatives to approve a “good bill” to give telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for providing an avenue for the Federal Government to spy on its own citizens. Basically, he wanted the House to approve a similar bill to the Senate, in order to continue the use of the Warrantless Wiretapping begun earlier in his administration.
Below, you’ll see an example of what can happen even when the system in place (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978) gets “accidentally used” beyond its mandate. Just one of many arguments why the Executive Office of the President doesn’t really need anything more than they already have to protect the American People.
FBI Accidentally Received Unauthorized E-Mail Access:
AmishElvis writes “The New York Times reports that ‘glitch’ gave the F.B.I. access to the e-mail messages from an entire computer network. A hundred or more accounts may have been accessed, rather than ‘the lone e-mail address’ that was approved by a secret intelligence court as part of a national security investigation. The episode was disclosed as part of a new batch of internal documents that the F.B.I. turned over to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the group has brought.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
I was pleased to see that the SEIU, one of the largest unions in the nation, and by and large the largest growing union in the nation, has pledged its support for Barack Obama for President in 2008. Sufficiently pleased was I that I actually kicked in a small donation to the Illinois Senator myself.
What makes me like him is his hopefulness, his intellectual capacity, and his ability to move me. Yes, his ability to move me. If you have never heard him speak, I suggest that you take a look at his website and listen to him talk.
While he sounds like a preacher, the content of his speech is nothing of the sort. Listen to what he says… he gets you to think that there must be a better way to run this country than the way it has been run as of late. And I’m writing about more than the Iraq war, or the state of the economy… I’m writing about the divisive nature of politics as it has become in this country – the “Us” versus the “Them”.
Well… all of the candidates have to find a way to differentiate themselves from the current executive. I guess Mitt found this a way to do it.
Bush privately ‘upset’ with Romney.:
According to the Politico’s Mike Allen, conservative columnist Robert Novak will report in his Chicago Sun-Times column tomorrow that President Bush is privately complaining about former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s hard-line stance on immigration:
While President George W. Bush has maintained neutrality among contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, he privately expresses to friends his exasperation with Mitt Romney’s hard-line stance on immigration. Bush is upset that Romney changed his position on the issue, compared to what it had been when he was governor of Massachusetts, at the expense of the president’s immigration reform.
In November 2005, Romney spoke approvingly of Bush’s comprehensive immigration reform effort, calling it a reasonable proposal. Now he regularly bashes it.
I guess he finally went to an optometrist or ophthalmologist.
I know that at his level it’s not really proper to relate to those of us “little people,” but come on…
I know the WSJ isn’t free, and I know that this article on their website probably isn’t free either. But I wanted to note that they are a relatively conservative paper, being from the business field and all, and to see this article’s title come across their wire just warms my heart.
George W. Bush took office in 2001 with budget surpluses projected to stretch years into the future. But it’s almost certain that when he returns to Texas next year, the president will leave behind a trail of deficits and debt that will sharply constrain [From Debt Marks Bush Legacy]
