Mccain is claiming Obama is running for Carter's second term.  Since he is an honest politician I guess he is sincere. Unfortunately he had missed most of the preceding Nixon years. Like Bush, Nixon had shredded the Constitution, run the military into the ground and created conditions for the massive stagflation that followed.
  Inheriting that mess, Carter(not Reagan) laid the foundation of a strong military, put in policies that killed off inflation and restored an honest government. I just wish he had been a better rhetorician.

  Looks like we are about to enter cutesy land again. Every few years there is a movement to designate a villainous country. This is followed by great deal of propaganda followed by an attack on it.
   This seems to be happening with Iran now. In an eerie parallel to Iraq a recent IAEA report on Iran''s nuclear program is being selectively used. The report remains confidential however AP and other large news organizations are reporting the IAEA investigations indicates that Iran is somehow engaged in some sort of nefarious weapons program despite the earlier US  NIE reporting otherwise, a report that was made public.
   If we are to go to war again we should at least make sure that the country is fully informed. During the run up to Iraq war most of our efforts at writing to newspapers and senators came to naught. I am sure a similar effort will yield the same result again.
   We need a leader this time to actually take charge of the issue. I am hoping we can call on Hillary to take up that role. She can take steps to ensure that the Country is fully informed. No one can doubt her desire to contain Iran and she is likely to be influential. I think the first step should be to call upon the IAEA and US state department to declassify the relevant sections of the IAEA report so we can decide the level of threat for ourselves.
   At this stage the only reasonable solution is to accept the reality that the Iranians have mastered the enrichment technology. No bomb is going to remove that ability although it(bombing) may destroy some of the infra structure and in the process kill at least ten thousand Iranians.  I think it is only with the acceptance of this reality can we reach a proper solution. Hillary is the only leader with credibility on this issue and the time to act is now.

Several weeks ago I posted a diary-no to VP. I have changed my mind and I think Clinton should accept and run for the VP slot. I would love to see the media and the Washington establishment have a stroke. I think the media would go crazy trying to reconcile their Clinton hatred with Obama love. That alone would make it worthwhile.

     I respectfully dissent from Ms Rosen's opinion. I am disappointed by Hilary's loss but angered by Obama campaign's attempts to poke us in the eye with a stick even at the end.
  There was no reason for the shameful handling of the Michigan issue.  
  Thee was nothing magical about Tuesday- in other word no auguries had been drawn that Obama needed to crown himself at that particular time. Hillary and her supporters needed  some space and respect. The same speech could have been given  by Obama today or tomorrow or even a week later.  
   At least his supporters should have enough confidence to believe that a few days in June would not affect an election in November. It would have been more important to let Hillary have her day and then take the stage instead of trying to muscle her off.
  Faced with this disrespect there was no reason for Hillary to endorse yesterday.
  I dont think Ms. Rosen should distort Hillary's speech. At no point did Hillary suggest that she wants a bargain for herself on the back of her voters. Some of her supporters went through social hell and do not expect her to abandon us and our agenda.

  I think that the current suspended animation helps Obama. Clearly he has benefited from the media's decision to anoint him. In this regard New Republic has already confirmed what we  witnessed.
    I think until the nomination is fully resolved it is unlikely that the media will help the republican machine propagate their  attacks on Obama  for the fear that it may resurrect the Clinton candidacy which the media uniformly opposes. Witness the extent to which Joe Klein went to cover Obama gaffe on unconditional meetings with Iran.(I think unconditional meetings are fine and I dont buy the Khruschev-Kennedy analogy for the simple reason that Iran is no soviet Union)
   If Clinton was to be completely and definitively out of the picture it is more likely that the republican with their limited resources would try to define Obama and at that stage the media is going to be torn between  their love for Obama and adulation of McCain.
     If the republicans manage to dent Obama in the summer, it is possible that the Supremes may still turn to Hillary at the convention. So  in my analysis the suspended animation helps Obama.
   I also dont see him getting a major bounce once nominated. Despite the faint hope that we nourish for Hillary we are resigned to an Obama nomination and the current polls between Obama and McCain are unlikely to get more favorable for Obama any time soon.

 I am amazed by this continuous claim that a loss of presidency would mean the end of safe abortion in the US. It would be a simple matter to pass a law in Congress legalizing abortions. It may end up with some minor restrictions but there is no reason to believe that the Congress wont be able to pass such a law.
   There are enough interstate commerce implications of abortion that such a law would be constitutional and would pass with enough voes to overcome a veto or it would lead to the end of Republican party.

  I think the last few days have put me at ease the Obama can indeed win. I think McCain has blown his chances in the GE. I always thought that the GOP had so much at stake in the presidency(possible prison terms for some office holders) that they would run a smart campaign.
  McCain had a chance to run away from Bush but he instead embraced him. I think out of Iraq in 2013 was a good attempt in trying to walk back the Bush policies. I am mystified as to the attempts to equate Iran, a developing country, with Soviet union. I doubt if any one would buy it. Hillary was right to point out that we can obliterate them. Invading and occupying a Country is different form attacking and destroying a threat it poses.
   Same thing with Cuba- McCain could have taken a more moderate stance of setting up consular level ties and easier travel for Cuban Americans but is taking a dumb approach that would have worked well politically twenty years ago.
  All this is on the so called area of strength for McCain.
   Had McCain shut up and just quietly fund raised while making anodyne comments it would have been far harder for Obama.
 I continue to believe that Hillary would beat McCain handily but am no longer convinced that Obama will lose.
  I am deeply troubled by the likes of Larry Johnson who have taken stances that are disgusting. On top of the list is the trashing of a the likes of Khalidi whose only fault is that they  offer a learned and authoritative scholarship on the issues affecting West Asia.

   It is interesting to see Sam Nunn being pushed as a VP candidate. Does anyone remember the central role he played is scuttling the gays in the military policy in 1993. He elevated the issue to the great detriment of the progressive agenda,enlisted Powell and other Pentagon brass in sabotaging the Clinton policy. That was a significant factor in the shaky start of a democratic presidency.on  a shaky start.
  One of the earliest backers of Obama is David Geffen who was "deeply offended" that Clinton did not deliver on his promise regarding the gays. I wonder how Sam Nunn will play to that group of Obama supporters.
   Edwards would certainly serve to solidify doctors against Obama even his name as AG will do the trick. Despite all the love he gets from blogs he has never caught on with the public for a reason. His voting and person record does not bear out his current positions.