I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday yesterday. Hopefully most were able to find some time to reflect and contemplate on what Memorial Day is about — honoring and remembering those who have sacrificed far more than the rest of us who can still read and write blogs.
I managed to get in some personal reflection, albeit limited, because all day yesterday my laptop kept venturing into apocalyptic eschatology. However, today it seems to be more indicative of Armageddon. Today has been a constant vacillation between certain death and miraculous resurrections. And each resurrection has indeed been attributable to anything but the mundane, with the of exception of literally, some electrical tape, twist ties, and rubber bands. None of which computer hot shots would normally consider “standard issue.”
So, I’m up for now, which could be anywhere between the next five seconds to maybe even hours. Moreover, I never ceased to be amazed at how engineers can so accurately design a product’s life cycle to end so perfectly just before catastrophic technical failures commence at the expiration of a manufacturer’s warranty. Mine expired exactly one week ago, and that’s not a first. I’ve experienced it numerous times before.
Consequently my technical woes have been an obstacle to seeking out what’s happening in the world around us. Moreover, with all the ups and downs, I haven’t had the opportunity to catch the chattering heads on cable today. Purchasing a new laptop just isn’t feasible or practical today. So, the plan is to try and ameliorate the emergent problems as they arise in the near-term and catch up as quickly as possible until I can discern what is necessary to accommodate the long-term.
I’ve started two to three posts, but have been unsuccessful in getting beyond any drafts. If the Band-Aids hold up sufficiently for the next few hours, I may actually be able to publish something worthwhile.
The power meter is yet again warning me of imminent failure, so I’ll be back as soon as possible.
In a scathing commentary in the Washington Post today, Eugene Robinson aptly captures and characterizes the litany of never-ending absurdities and logic-defying reasons Hillary Clinton routinely cites and changes (daily) as to why she continues her failed candidacy for President of the United States. And seemingly failed is probably a better characterization than just failed.
The third graf is Eugene’s money statement.
If this campaign goes on much longer, what will be left of Hillary Clinton?
A woman uniformly described by her close friends as genuine, principled and sane has been reduced to citing the timing of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination as a reason to stay in the race — an argument that is ungenuine, [sic] unprincipled and insane. She vows to keep pushing, perhaps all the way to the convention in August. What manner of disintegration is yet to come?. . . .
It could be that any presidential campaign requires a measure of blind faith. But there’s a difference between having faith in a dream and being lost in a delusion. The former suggests inner strength; the latter, an inner meltdown.
What Clinton’s evocation of RFK suggests isn’t that she had some tactical reason for speaking the unspeakable but that she and her closest advisers can’t stop running and rerunning through their minds the most far-fetched scenarios, no matter how absurd or even obscene. She gives the impression of having spent long nights convincing herself that the stars really might still align for her — that something can still happen to make the Democratic Party realize how foolish it has been.
Eugene H. Robinson
Many have asked, especially Chris Matthews, what exactly does Hillary want and/or what is she really trying to accomplish? The choices are not clear and are hardly indicative of Clinton’s historically expressed objectives.
Most of the speculation has focused on Hillary seeking a V.P. slot on Obama’s ticket. Until hubby Bill been campaigning for Hillary to be V.P., that rhetoric was echoed primarily by the punditocracy and Hillary supporters. Furthermore, just because Bill is campaigning for a V.P. position, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a Hillary authorized position — Bill tends to do his own thing from time to time.
It’s just my opinion, but I believe it will be a very cold day in Hades before Obama offers Hillary a V.P. slot. The calculating and reprehensible positions Robinson highlights in his piece and the rancor and numerous “illusions” emanated from the Hillary campaign are counter-productive for any potential vice presidential nominee.
At best, only a few know what Hillary wants, which of course presumes she knows herself.
Since I am a quintessential cynic, I firmly believe Hillary has an objective, if not a very calculated plan, but that is nothing more than my personal speculation. Furthermore, I increasingly suspect “the plan” leans more towards some version of a “nuclear option” rather than serving the best interests of the party. Paranoia will destroy ya, but I’m waiting on the Clinton campaign to drop an eleventh-hour bombshell — fabricated or real — that will be impossible to effectively challenge before the first round of ballots at the Democratic convention.
What other options does Clinton have? No superdelegate is going to buy into all these fuzzy math propositions and the recent lunacy of a stolen nomination based on gender.
I don’t buy into the Hillary’s crusade for Michigan and Florida, with the qualifier that it may somehow support a higher priority or objective. She dissed Michigan and Florida months ago, but now has this overwhelming motivation to fight disenfranchisement she fully supported?
But the most compelling item, and potentially flawed notion I have is dismissing what the Washington Pundit Elites said on David Gregory’s show a few weeks ago, especially considering there are no other “winning” alternatives. Obviously, Gregory, Scarborough, Maddow et al. were wrong about Hillary possibly dropping out after Indiana, but that was by no means the full subtext of their message.
As Terry McAuliffe and the unnamed sources indicated, we’ll probably have to wait until mid-June to glean maybe just a hint of what the Gregory crew were alluding to, but I wouldn’t put big bucks on Clinton suspending or withdrawing.
Whatever Clinton’s up to, Eugene Robinson has indeed characterized Hillary’s tactics and equivocating to this point quite accurately.
A very late reminder. Recount is premiering tonight on HBO at 9:00 PM ET. It is an HBO original about the 2000 presidential election of King George II and the drama surrounding the Florida counting of votes.
Most cable companies have channels for East and West coast broadcasts of HBO, so if you missed the first one, you can probably catch the second one. And if you’ve got Tivo, it won’t really matter at all, will it?
It’s supposed to be quite good, although I’ve heard that Al Gore wasn’t pleased with certain aspects of the production. Here’s part of the synopsis from HBO. The main page of Recount is here.
From the trailers I’ve seen, Laura Dern does an outstanding job in her role as Katherine Harris.
Starring Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, Bruce McGill, and Tom Wilkinson, Recount brings viewers behind the scenes at the controversial Florida recount. This illuminating, hugely entertaining film pulls back the veil on the headlines to explore the human drama surrounding the most controversial presidential election in U.S. history.
Mixing news footage and verbatim dialogue into fictionalized re-creations, Recount examines the torturous process that culminated in the Supreme Court decision in Bush vs. Gore. The Republicans, led by charismatic Texan James Baker, seize the initiative as the case is tried in the judicial system and the court of public opinion. The Democrats play catch-up until Ron Klain, Gore’s former chief of staff, takes over and starts matching Baker’s political hardball with tough moves of his own. Mutual respect forms between the two as the fate of the presidency plays out among a colorful cast ranging from the impressive (appellate lawyer David Boies) to the maligned (Florida’s Secretary of State Katherine Harris).
Recount recreates many of the movers and shakers in the Florida fight. Among the Democrats are Ron Klain (Spacey), soldiering on despite being demoted as Gore’s Chief of Staff; Michael Whouley (Leary), Gore’s Chief Field Operative; Warren Christopher (Hurt), the onetime Secretary of State whose passivity eventually yields to Klain’s more forceful tactics; and David Boies (Begley), an appellate lawyer recruited to articulate the Democrats’ message. Republicans include James Baker (Wilkinson), another former Secretary of State with a will to win to match Klain’s; Ben Ginsberg (Balaban), the campaign’s Lead Counsel; Katherine Harris (Dern), Florida’s Secretary of State, remembered as much for her makeup as for her role in determining the winner; and Mac Stipanovich (McGill), a lobbyist with the moniker "Mac the Knife."
As usual, Sen. Clinton did nothing wrong when she made her remarks about the assassination of Robert Kennedy last week – it’s all Barack Obama’s and the media’s fault. That’s what Hillary campaign Communications Director Howard Wolfson said on CBS’s "Face the Nation" this morning.
Moreover, according to Bob Schieffer, moderator of "Face the Nation," Terry McAuliffe said on "Fox News Sunday" today that Obama "inflamed the situation" and does not deserve an apology nor would he receive one. Wolfson firmly agreed with McAuliffe’s purported remarks.
I have not yet found a transcript or video of McAuliffe’s remarks on Fox, but Bob Schieffer confirmed McAuliffe’s remarks as well as Wolfson.
Here’s a transcript of Schieffer interviewing Wolfson. The emphases are supplied to reflect Schieffer’s emphasis in tone. He was obviously shocked and implied disbelief at some of Wolfson’s remarks.
Video to follow soon.
Update I 6:23 PM ET:Here’s the video. Also, I have made minor corrections in the post and the transcript (including addition of Clinton’s remarks in the video clip), and moved the transcript to after the jump.
Update II 7:10 PM ET: More minor corrections to the transcript.
The original post on Olbermann’s comment was somehow accidentally deleted. I can’t remember (or recover) what I might have added to Keith’s commentary, however, it would pale in comparison to the disapprobation Olbermann levied on Hillary Clinton.
Update 5/25, 8:57 PM ET: I found the content of the original post. Here it is for whatever it’s worth:
"Keith Olbermann blasted Hillary Clinton Friday night on Countdown for her comment saying the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968 was one of the reasons why she should remain in the race to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States."
Still catching up on past events — Clinton says she regrets her comments that Robert Kennedy’s assassination was one of the reasons she remains in the Democratic race. No an apology, please forgive me, or I was wrong. And not even to Obama or to the American people — only to the Kennedy’s
“Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June, in 1992 and 1968. And I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That’s a historic fact.
“The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy. And I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever. My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to. I am honored to hold Senator Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate, from the state of New York, and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family. Thank you.”
I’ve been unable to post for health reasons, so I’ll try to catch up on some of the major issues since I last posted.
I know everyone’s already heard about this, but for the record…Topping the list in the Democratic presidential campaign is this increblible remark by Hillary Clinton to the Argus Leader editorial board citing the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968 as one of the reason why she continues her campaign. Her intention is quite clear — stay in the race in case her opponent, Barack Obama, just happens to get assassinated.
Here’s the video. The transcript is after the jump.
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?” she said. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”
Can you imagine the backlash that would have been elicited from Sen. Clinton if Sen. Obama made the same remark? And as Karen Tumulty notes, this is not the first time she’s made the similar association.
(Ed. Note: For record keeping puporses, I’m back-dating this to the date Clinton made the remarks rather than have the post reflect the actual post date.)
Notice how incredibly similar Hillary Clinton’s new ad blaming the Washington punditry (in post below) is to Rudy Giuliani’s ad blaming the Washington punditry when they said he was toast.
New England Cable News reports Sen. Ted Kennedy did not suffer a stroke and is not in any immediate danger. They also gave no indication of how long Kennedy would be there.
Update 10:09 PM ET: I had to remove the video from this site. It’s a tad unconventional, technically speaking, and was too problematic. You can watch it at NECN’s site.
Hillary has had little choice but to adhere to the warnings from Democratic Party leaders that she dial back her rhetoric against Obama. But they never warned her about the media. So, now that she can’t demonize Obama publicly, she’s running a new ad in Oregon, “What’s Right,” and blaming the media.
The Hillary campaign’s slogan for the ad? “In Washington, they talk about who’s up and who’s down. In Oregon, we care about what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Mary Poppins — practically perfect in every way.
Why would anybody ever think that Hillary may have created her own problems, or that Obama was a better candidate, or maybe the media was right or even biased towards Hillary at times?
John McCain may soon be sporting a black eye instead of appearing rejuvenated after his interview with Glamour. Obviously unaware of of Hillary Clinton’s “testicular fortitude,” McCain suggested in the interview that Clinton might be feeling sorry for herself.
The Caucusreports McCain was asked if Hillary had been ‘treated fairly on the campaign trail as a woman.’ ” His response:
You know, I don’t know because I’m not objective enough to make the judgment. I simply don’t know. But I know the one thing that I try to avoid in my campaigns is feeling sorry for myself. It’s easy to do, pick up the paper this morning, read a story that’s negative, ‘Oh, my God, they’re picking on me.’ You just can’t do that. You just can’t do that.
Did he just get himself into a ton of trouble or what? Hillary Clinton is no Cindy McCain — smiling quietly like a Stepford Wife in the background.
God knows, I’m glad Obama did not make that kind of mistake.
My friends, John McCain has a new ad for Iowa, but it may be dated. The ad takes a swipe at Clinton and Obama, claiming “John McCain leads” while the two Democrats continue their slug-fest. McCain must believe the slug-fest is to be continued. Let’s hope he’s very wrong.
Unbelievably, the ad actually promotes John McCain’s gas-tax holiday plan. After all the bad press Hillary received over it, one would think McCain might just let that slide quietly into the past with Hillary taking most of the credit.
I am indeed pleased that Hillary Clinton’s demonization of Barack Obama and political grandstanding has all but disappeared, but at the same time it raises even more questions in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for a return to life as it was a few days ago, but if all the things she said were so important and credible, why are they not equally as important today?
I’m not talking about political processes (viz. MI and FL) or similar issues — they’re self-serving. Instead, I’m referring to issues like that all important gas tax plan Clinton plagiarized from John McCain.
“I believe it is important to get every member of Congress on the record. Do they stand with hard pressed Americans who are trying to pay their gas bills at the gas station or do they once again stand with the big oil companies? That’s a vote I’m going to try to get, because I want to know where they stand and I want them to tell us - are they with us or against us?”
The better question may be, how could one forget it?
So, in just over a week, Hillary went from promoting her do-or-die gas-tax-cut plan every minute of every day to this statement in response to George Bush’s trip to Saudi Arabia this week.
“I don’t think it is a good energy policy to depend upon the kindness of the Saudis … while businesses and individuals are trying to figure out how they’re going to afford nearly $4 a gallon gas and nearly $5 a gallon diesel,” she said. “The impact is really beginning to ripple dramatically through the economy. . . .”
“I think it’s very important that we do something more dramatic than going to have tea with the Saudis,” she said. “The Saudis may decide, well we better do something to help out President Bush, but that’s a short term fix. It is not going to have any long-term consequences. And we just have to take a different approach if we’re going to begin to get serious.”
There is no doubting what answer Clinton would give today if quizzed on the plan she deemed so vital to our nation less than 10 days ago. But what does it say about her credibility when she abandons that all-important plan now that she is not actively trying to destroy Barack Obama (overtly)? Are all those “hard working white Americans” less important today and no longer in need of her soaring rhetoric promoting her flawless solution?
Apparently Sen. Kennedy is stable, which is indeed very good news.
“It appears that Senator Kennedy experienced a seizure this morning,” a statement released by his office in Washington said. “He is undergoing a battery of tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure. Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours.”
At Kennedy’s age, this is not unusual. That doesn’t make it any better, but it’s just realistic. My father went through several episodes of being rushed to the hospital due to the rapid onset of some serious malady that was not readily discernible. The “battery of tests” were almost always done to either determine the problem or clarify the extent of “how bad it was.”
The results 48 hours later were never what really mattered. What did matter was how quickly he could be stabilized and that sepsis was not a factor.
