They scrawled the words "Fuck yeah" on the pages of the Holy Koran and then they shot it full of holes. Last week a few American soldiers in Iraq thought it would be cool to use the Koran for target practice. The US commander on the ground, Major General Jeffery Hammond, has quickly apologized to try to repair the damage. I hope it will be enough, but I seriously doubt that fallout from this act of stupidity by a few soldiers can be contained.
I am reposting the diary I wrote last January about Senator Kennedy. The Senator has had a major impact in my life and the lives of millions of Bengali people. He is of course known in the United States by his great achievements in service of the liberal cause and the common people. However, Ted Kennedy has also made a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world. Today as our thoughts and prayers are with the Senator and his family, I wanted to share with the Daily Kos community another side of this great human being.
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When we were being silenced, he lent us his voice. When we found freedom, he came to us.
I have read with great alarm press reports that the Barack Obama campaign is in discussions to pay off the approximately $25 million campaign debt Hillary Clinton has generated in her increasingly desperate and destructive bid for the Democratic nomination. As one of over 1.5 million loyal contributors to the Obama for America campaign, I want to strongly and unequivocally express to you my opposition to any such plan.
Through the race-stained lens of the Democratic nomination race I am a Brown American. I have many American friends. But today they are apparently White Americans, Black Americans, Brown Americans, Red Americans, and Yellow Americans. I do not have enough buckets to store and segregate my friends of many hues and many colors. Repeatedly and often I mix colors and leave out the qualifier and focus on my American friends.
Tonight on Larry King Live, Christine Pelosi, a Democratic super delegate, indicated that she would endorse the winner of the pledged delegates. For all intents and purposes that is another super delegate vote for Barack Obama.
It is once again time for the familiar parlor game. Tomorrow North Carolina and Indiana go to the polls. The race is no longer about delegates. Barack Obama has an insurmountable lead in elected delegates. The race is about whether Hillary Clinton can convince Democratic party insiders to steal the nomination for her. To achieve that she must destroy Barack Obama as a candidate. Tomorrow is her last chance.
Today Hillary Clinton entered the clueless world of George W Bush. She displayed her "my way or the highway" modus operandi that made her 1990s healthcare foray into such a debacle. Back then she didn't care to listen to healthcare experts, this time she doesn't care to listen to economists.
Hillary Clinton, in a shameless pander, is trying to convince the voters in Indiana and North Carolina that her proposal to suspend the federal gas tax is good for them. It is not. It is good for the oil companies.
Hillary Clinton, in a shameless pander, is trying to convince the voters in Indiana and North Carolina that her proposal to suspend the federal gas tax is good for them. It is not. It is good for the oil companies.
Over the weekend and this morning Barack Obama's former pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright burst back onto the national scene - this time by his own choice and in full context. In doing so he has created the most significant challenge to Barack Obama's quest for the presidency. Jeremiah Wright's reemergence may be fatal to Barack Obama's candidacy.
It is the last weekend before the Pennsylvania primary. Most of the polling has been completed and now all that remains is for the Democrats in Pennsylvania to make their preferences known. In the last month and a half, Barack Obama has shrunk what appeared to be a 20 point Hillary Clinton advantage to about 5 points, according to the latest poll of polls at Pollster.com. According to Pollster, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 47.4% to 42.3% with 10.3% undecided. Because of the large number of undecideds among voters whose demographic favors Clinton, many are saying that this could result in a double digit Clinton win in Pennsylvania. If the results indeed show a double digit Clinton win it would conform to what has been long expected in Pennsylvania. However, my sense is that the results will be much closer.
The Hillary Clinton campaign is very worried about what the right-wing noise machine will do to Barack Obama should he become the Democratic nominee. So, in a friendly show of Democratic solidarity, the Clinton campaign has been digging up and throwing all the right-wing talking points it can find at Barack Obama. The Clinton campaign says that they are doing this now so Obama will be ready for the Republicans in November. The Clinton campaign is so committed to helping out the likely Democratic nominee that they have even prepared a three-page essay containing right-wing attacks on Barack Obama. I thank the Clinton campaign for such foresight and for their due diligence. I have no doubt they are committed to getting Barack Obama elected in November.
There was something very odd about last night's Democratic presidential debate on ABC. Certainly the bulk of the debate was directed at challenging Barack Obama on issues that Hillary Clinton has tried to make hay off in the last month and a half. Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos were not shy about going after Obama with every right-wing talking point available, including a question given to Stephanopoulos by right wing talking head Sean Hannity. But, even with all the attacks thrown at Obama on the excuse that Republicans would attack him with these so the moderators should, there was something very odd about the debate. Last night I could not put my finger on it.
Hillary Clinton's parade of serial exaggerations/lies continued today. In her desperate attempt to appeal to gun owners in Pennsylvania and Indiana, she was out touting her "experience" with guns:
It is ironic that the Hillary Clinton campaign is hitting back hard against Governor Bill Richardson for endorsing Barack Obama. Attack dog James Carville has called Richardson a "Judas" and disloyal. Bill Clinton has said that Richardson told him "five times" he would not endorse Obama. The Clinton campaign is up in arms because they perceive Bill Richardson as somehow disloyal.
The Tennessean newspaper is reporting that Al Gore is poised to endorse Barack Obama at a news conference Wednesday:
Former Vice President Al Gore's office confirms that he will endorse Democratic Senator Barack Obama tomorrow morning. The Senator from Illinois was able to secure the much sought after endorsement on a telephone call with the Vice President last night.
Throughout this race the Clinton campaign has maintained that the superdelegates should use their own judgment in deciding which candidate to back. Clinton has maintained that superdelegates are not beholden to the will of the people. Her thuggish backers have even tried to blackmail Speaker Pelosi and the DCCC - superdelegates - into backing Senator Clinton.
I agree. I think the superdelegates should decide this race. And they should decide it in favor of the candidate who is likely to actually win the presidency - Barack Obama.
