I fully accept and understand that Barack Obama has remained a member in good standing of Trinity Church for twenty years, even though some pretty outrageous things have been said there from time to time from the pulpit. I can also understand why Obama did not always make it a personal priority to loudly confront and counter such statements within that congregation whenever they have been made. Barack Obama differentiated himself from those sentiments by the choices he made in his life beyond that congregation, and he was open about those choices and the values they reflected to the people he knew within it.

As an aspiring politician with national ambitions I could not understand it had Barack Obama joined Trinity Church six years ago, because being a member there now complicates his journey forward, since his membership in Trinity in ways undercuts his chosen message and the mission he has embarked on for service to America. An important element of Barack Obama's political agenda is an effort to help lift America beyond the racial divide that has haunted our nation since its inception. Trinity straddles that divide, and sometimes it deplores that divide more than it transcends it.

The voices of women, who of course make up the largest majority group in America, are featured in two new video ads released by the Hillary Clinton campaign. An appeal to women, and support from women, are both key to Hillary Clinton’s final push in Texas.

The first Ad, named “One of a Million”, presents a collage of Texas women from all walks of life, each giving voice to the issues that concern them, and each pledging to stand up for Hillary in Texas, at both polling booths and caucuses;

“I am one of a million who will stand up, be noticed, be vocal, right here in Texas for Hillary Clinton… So now‘s the time to make a real difference, to make history.”

The ad closes with “Let’s do this for Hillary”, followed by scrolling text explaining in simple terms how to caucus in Texas.

Most core Republican Party special interests, with a partial exception for some elements of the Religious Right, essentially believe in Social Darwinism. They heap high praise on "The Individual" because they usually are, as individuals, heaped high with special privileges. If not they are wealth groupie wannabes. Which is why Mike Huckabee meets with such disdain from the Republican establishment – he sometimes gives a nod toward right wing populism. The Republican establishment prefers an ideological argument that supports "every man for himself", since the members of their establishment start out with big advantages in that scenario. Even IF "a rising tide lifts all boats", the boatless eventually drown, but that is not a yacht owners problem, in a sink or swim world.

The living core of the Democratic Party though celebrates the common good, and our common humanity. It is the Democratic Party that strung America’s social safety net to keep the less fortunate among us from falling through prosperity’s cracks to shatter on the rocks below. And the Republican Party has never ceased their efforts to cut widening hole in that social safety net, stealing the twine that protects the least of us to tie down their own high privileges.

Jon Stewart just took the malicious racial and religious smears that the Right Wing will try to use to bring Obama down and made them viral. He openly injected America's fear of Islamic extremist terrorists directly into the 2008 Democratic Presidential contest, going so far as to throw in a thinly veiled direct comparison between Barack Obama and Adolph Hitler on top of it. And he chose to do so on a mainstream TV network - not the piddly Comedy Channel, when Stewart knew that hundreds of millions of people of every political persuasion, from all walks of live, would intently watch and hear him do so. Here are Stewart's disgusting and repulsive remarks:

No serious political observer ever believed that Ron Paul had a real chance to win the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Ron Paul was always destined to be a spirited also ran. But one thing Ron Paul was clarly able to do was gather a very enthusiastic and determined group of followers around him who were willing to go to extrordinary lengths in their attempt to win Ron Paul the Republican nomination. I decided to review the election results for the Republican contests using February 5th as a snap shot in time baseline, while Mitt Romney was still in the race and Republicans still had 4 contenders actively fighting for the nomination. I wanted to see if there was any noticable difference in how Ron Paul, with his highly motivated core base of support, performed in Primary vs Caucus contests. This is what I found.

It's a funny thought for me to settle on now, with a huge election test looming on Super Tuesday. But it's the one that has slowly been working it's way up from my sub conscious mind, and now that it's arrived I'm looking at it, and it's looking back at me. Over the last six months I have seen an extraordinary amount of very negative adjectives and names attached to Hillary Clinton on political discussion boards. Down right evil words used to describe her, with "unlikable" firmly lodged at the benign end of the available spectrum. But I am not finding her unlikable at all. I am seeing much to admire about Hillary instead.

It occurred to me, how would it effect me if that type of bitter derision and accusatory hatred was aimed toward me every day? And not just by those who I can understand may have good reason to be my enemy, but also by those whose goals and vision for America I too share. A whole lot worse than it has effected her was my very quick and certain answer for myself. And Hillary has been dealing with this, to greater and lesser extents daily for over 15 years. All because she long ago dedicated her life to making a positive difference in other people's lives.

This has become my annual Christmas Day post. May the day come when I feel no need to post this:

Some times the obvious must be stated, and this seems to be one of those times. It may almost be too simple to easily grasp; War doesn't prevent War, Peace does. There may be times when War can not be prevented, but War is most effectively prevented by waging Peace. War inflames hatred, and hatred fuels War. Peace promotes understanding, and understanding furthers Peace. This is a good time to review these basics, because we are steadily moving toward war with Iran, ostensibly to contain nuclear proliferation.

General Clark went well beyond the mainstream Democratic Party in preemptively positioning himself, and those who stand with him, to confront a growing threat to peace, and also to our Party. For those who picked up on Clark’s stance early the lag between him sounding an alarm and more people hearing it has been hard to accept, but as hard as it’s been for the netroots to take that danger in, compared to the institutional Democratic Party they have been relatively quick to respond.

The Labor Day weekend is now here which is traditionally when political campaigns begin in ernest, and it is making me think about what was going on at this time in 2003, and how I was feeling when a somewhat different set of Democrats were competing to become the Party nominee. Wes Clark was the last serious Democrat to enter the Presidential race that year, and he had very little public background with the Democratic Party outside of Arkansas before then, and not very much there either. Given the circumstances, many of us either had to make a quick judgement about trusting and/or supporting Wes Clark back then, or never really found the time to make much of a judgement about him at all given all the other Democrats who were already running.

Labor Day is approaching and George Bush and Dick Cheney are now almost certainly the least popular President and Vice President team in American History. John McCain, the G.O.P. pretender to the throne who once was feared as the only man with sufficient stature and integrity to convince the American public to renew the Republican lease on the White House, has departed center stage after a war vote malfunction stripped bare his passion for the Iraq surge, exposing him as unelectable in the Super Bowl of politics. So the Democrats, with a seemingly strong field of candidates, seem poised to win in 2008. Given the quagmire the G.O.P. now seems stuck in, it’s hard to argue otherwise. Few Democrats do, it’s easier to go with the giddy prevailing wisdom, but cracks that can fracture the veneer of Democratic complacency are hiding in plain sight, where many refuse to see.

Two things the media loves nowadays are sports and reality TV. No wonder they are so enthralled by Presidential contests. What could possibly be better than two fields of high profile celebrities competing in a nonstop horserace over 18 months to win the Super Bowl of Politics? A serious discussion of the critical issues facing both our nation and the world? Nah, doesn’t even come close. Meet the Press was never able to muster the ratings that Survivor has. So it’s no surprise that General Wesley Clark’s potential 2008 run for President gets virtually no mention in the press. He’s not on their chosen island.

For readers of tea leaves, the omens have not been favorable lately for a 2008 Gore Presidential run.  For one thing, the man himself still sounds decidedly less than enthusiastic about the prospect, and there are those supposed semi-insider leaks that say Gore spoke more positively in private about the prospect two months ago than he has of late.  Jimmy Carter seems convinced that Gore won’t run despite having personally urged Al to throw his hat into the ring.  Now there is a report quoting his daughter Kristen saying at a book signing for her second novel that; "He's really not going to get in the race."  

We have come to the near end of a dramatic run of events that have deservedly kept Al Gore’s name (and his mission) centered in the public eye.  Starting with the release of "An Inconvenient Truth", furthered by a campaign that organized many hundreds of simultaneous nation wide viewing parties, followed by "An Inconvenient Truth" winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Al Gore has been on a deeply meaningful and productive roll.  

Some observers perceive a double standard in how the Republican Party of today trumpets the righteousness of President Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence compared to their prior zeal for impeaching Bill Clinton when he was President. Obviously they are missing the point

Subtitle: When Pushers Sell You a First Hit Cheap – Worst Case Scenario.

The Neocons are mobilizing again, this time pushing hard for an American strike on Iran. Few any longer doubt their remarkably tenacious resolve to seek further war, but many seem to doubt that they can sell that program once again, given the deteriorating state of their currently sponsored debacle in Iraq. I was blogging recently on another site where someone threw out the question, "Where would they find the money to pay for another war?" which led me on a journey that brought me to this Diary.  And let me be upfront about it; I decided to throw moderation to the wind with this one. This time my worst fears are given free rein.

The neocons have selected the designated next enemy of the United States, and they are hard at work convincing Americans to fear Iran. The public comments we just heard Joe Lieberman utter about the need to bomb Iran are just the tip of the iceberg. They position populist right wing pitch man Glen Beck on the air nightly at CNN Headline News, ranting about Iran. They pepper Jewish media with polemics about Iran, playing up fears for Israel’s security where few non Jews will notice their efforts. They have multiple front groups widely distribute email warnings about the urgent need to stand up to Iran, playing on every fear of radical Muslims imaginable, playing "the Christian card" without hesitation, while they label Iran our arch enemy at the center of a "clash of civilizations". Republican candidates for President like nothing better than an opportunity to turn their tough act toward Tehran, where they leap frog each other to the heights of belligerency in the name of protecting America, providing cover while they safely back peddle on Iraq.  

America’s omnipresent attention deficit disorder is again on an annual collision course with the lazy hazy crazy days of summer. With more temptations calling our attention than sun drenched hours fill a day; few among us have the patience to sit still for 3 long months of Reruns. Catering to our need for novelty, TV moguls years back bit the bullet and introduced TV’s "Second Season", alive with new characters, new plot lines; and compelling new reasons to tune in for an enhanced summer lineup.

So what’s in store for 2007? Some new Presidential candidates for us to follow, of course. In an era where networks fail to distinguish between their news and entertainment divisions, politics becomes another genre of "Reality TV". "The Race for the White House" may be a popular hit, but its cast of characters hasn’t changed in six months. That’s far too long without new blood. There is a real risk of the ratings falling well before the scheduled Fall roll out of "Rounding the Final Corner."

All the dirty secrets about the disaster the Bush Administration has been for America have been flooding out of the closet of late, but this one is particularly timely now, on the eve of Condi Rice's trip to Egypt:

Iran to Attend Iraq Summit; Rice Says Meeting is Possible
By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
29 April 2007

Iran says its foreign minister will attend a conference aimed at stabilizing Iraq later this week in Egypt. The U.S. Secretary of State will also attend, and says it is possible that she could meet with her Iranian counterpart. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo...

...U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will also attend the conference, said she would not rule out a possible meeting with Mottaki on the sidelines of the summit. She spoke Sunday to the CBS television program Face the Nation.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses the media in Oslo, Norway, 26 Apr 2007

"I would not rule it out," said Condoleezza Rice. "We will be there not to talk about U.S.-Iranian issues, (but) how Iraq's neighbors can help to stabilize Iraq. And I will not rule it out."
http://www.voanews.com/...

It's a big one this time, a really big one. It isn't about electing the right person to office, no matter how high the office. It isn't about changing Congress, no matter how poorly it functions. It's not even about ending the war in Iraq, which now grinds on toward its inevitable bloody end game, sooner than it might otherwise have ended without us. This challenge it's about stopping a war from ever starting; the war with Iran that without our coordinated and concerted efforts may well begin within months.

I have no interest in debating whether there is a rising danger of war with Iran. Anyone who thinks otherwise can find plenty of other people to go play blog with. And, for the moment, anyone who believes planning to attack Iran is the appropriate way to deal with our real or imagined conflicts with that nation is invited to go cheerlead someone else about it. I'll be blunt; I'm writing this to those already convinced convinced that there is an approaching war with Iran, not to nay sayers or skeptics.