Clipmarks | masbury's clips

Last Nebraska superdelegate endorses Obama

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:21:04 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: superdelegate momentum continues apace

Clip Source: www.democraticunderground.com

Final Nebraska superdelegate picks Obama

Source: Omaha World Herald

LINCOLN - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama today picked up another Nebraska superdelegate.

Audra Ostergard said she would back the Illinois senator.

"I have carefully weighed input from Democrats across Nebraska and closely watched results from primaries and caucuses across the country," Ostergard said.

"There are compelling arguments for supporting both candidates, but my decision came down to what's best for our country and for Nebraska. In that regard, I am confident in my decision to endorse Senator Obama. He has a proven ability to activate Democrats in Nebraska ," she said.

Tags: politics

Colombia paramilitaries scandal widens

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:18:53 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: 60 lawmakers being investigated for ties to death squads. Bush pitches special trade relations.

Clip Source: www.democraticunderground.com

Prosecutors on Tuesday arrested Mario Uribe, the president's cousin and political confidant, the latest capture in the scandal which has investigators probing more than 60 lawmakers for suspected links to paramilitary death squads.

His arrest draws the scandal closer to the presidency, fuels doubts over the parliament's credibility and has sparked a debate about reforms in a country where armed gangs and drug lords have long sought to influence politics.

While experts believe Uribe should weather the storm, his cousin's arrest could not have come at a worse time as he seeks a trade deal with U.S. Democrats skeptical over violence against Colombian union leaders and lingering paramilitary influence.

Tags: colombia, uribe, foreign policy, news

British Foreign Minister: Clinton's "obliterate" Iran threat imprudent

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:15:24 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: No kidding. We thought Ahmadinejad was nuts for supposedly threatening the same toward Israel

Clip Source: www.democraticunderground.com

LONDON (AFP) — A British foreign minister said Wednesday that US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's threat to "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel with nuclear weapons was imprudent.

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, a former United Nations deputy secretary-general and the foreign office minister responsible for Asia, questioned the comments by the New York senator, made in an interview broadcast Tuesday.

"While it is reasonable to warn Iran of the consequence of it continuing to develop nuclear weapons and what those real consequences bring to its security, it is not probably prudent... in today's world to threaten to obliterate any other country and in many cases civilians resident in such a country," he said.

Clinton told ABC News:

"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Tags: clinton, politics, foreign policy

"Bishop of Poor" ends 61 years of 1-party rule in Paraguay

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:49:17 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Lugo noted Washington’s sometimes-contradictory role in Latin America, saying, “The United States…has sustained the great dictatorships, but afterward lifted the banner of democracy.” He went on to say Washington must acknowledge a new scenario in which Latin American governments “won’t accept any type of intervention from any country, no matter how big it is.”

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

“Bishop of Poor” Fernando Lugo Wins Paraguayan Election, Ending 61 Years of Conservative Rule

In Paraguay, a former Catholic priest once known as the Bishop of the Poor has been elected president. Fernando Lugo will be the first Paraguayan president since 1946 not to be from the conservative Colorado Party. Lugo won 41 percent of the vote, beating Blanca Ovelar, who received 31 percent. Lugo has pledged to crack down on corruption and channel Paraguay’s wealth into social programs. We go to Asuncion to speak with journalist Michael Fox. [includes rush transcript]

Tags: south america, lugo, paraguay, foreign policy, news

Washington Post: forced drugging of Gitmo inmates

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:00:47 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Despite decades-old ban on use of "mind-altering substances"

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Drugging of Guantanamo Detainees Comes Under New Scrutiny

The Washington Post reports at least two dozen former and current prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere say they have been given drugs against their will or witnessed other inmates being drugged. The allegations have resurfaced after the release this month of a 2003 Justice Department memo that explicitly condoned the use of drugs on detainees. In the memo, former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo rejected a decades-old US ban on the use of “mind-altering substances” on prisoners. Instead, he argued that drugs could be used as long as they did not inflict permanent or “profound” psychological damage. Legal experts and human rights groups say that forced drugging of detainees for any nontherapeutic reasons would be a particularly grave breach of international treaties banning torture.

Tags: guantanamo bay, detainees, torture, politics, war on terror

Uribe cousin tied to death squads in Colombia

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:57:12 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: And Colombia is Bush's paragon of freedom and democracy

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Cousin of Colombia’s President Arrested for Ties to Death Squads

Colombian authorities have ordered the arrest of President Alvaro Uribe’s cousin for suspected ties to paramilitary death squads. Mario Uribe is a former senator who has been one of Alvaro Uribe’s closest allies for years. Uribe’s arrest could hurt Colombia’s bid to secure a free trade deal with Washington. Last night, Mario Uribe attempted to avoid arrest by seeking asylum in the Costa Rican embassy in Bogota, but Costa Rica denied the request. Colombian human rights activist Ivan Cepeda criticized Uribe for trying to avoid being arrested.

Tags: foreign policy, politics

"Impossible" for Obama to lose lead

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:54:33 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: NBC analyst Chuck Todd

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Report: Almost Impossible for Obama to Lose Pledged Delegate Lead

Although Clinton won by ten percentage points in Pennsylvania, she only gained about nine pledged delegates. According to NBC political analyst Chuck Todd, it now appears impossible for Obama to lose his lead in pledged delegates.

Tags: politics, clinton, obama

AP: Sewage spread as test in poor black neighborhood in 2000

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:52:05 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Feds funded experiment on whether sludge might reduce lead poisoning.

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Sludge Tested as Lead Poisoning Fix in Poor Black Neighborhoods

Lawmakers and the NAACP are calling for an investigation into reports that federally funded scientific experiments in 2000 spread sewage sludge on yards in poor black neighborhoods to test if it could fight lead poisoning in children. The Associated Press reported Sunday that researchers spread a mix of human and industrial wastes from sewage treatment plants on the lawns of nine low-income families in Baltimore and a vacant lot next to an elementary school in East St. Louis, Illinois. We speak with John Heilprin, the AP reporter who broke the story. [includes rush transcript]

Tags: race, poverty, science

NY Times: Clinton "demeaning the political process"

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:10:39 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Meanwhile, she threatens annihilation of Iran

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.

Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring

if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”

Tags: clinton, politics

Juan Cole: Clinton fails to pull out big win

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:43:44 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Despite media buzz, it just isn't big enough; "she should stop before more damage is done"

Clip Source: www.google.com

Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania just was not big enough to allow her to hope to win the elected delegate count. She is increasingly using dark and exaggerated rhetoric and 2/3s of Democrats complain that she has gone too negative (less than half say that about Obama). Her exaggerations yesterday extended into the realm of international politics in a most unfortunate way. It seems clear to me that she cannot win the nomination via elected delegates and that she is hoping to win by scaring the super delegates about Obama. This strategy is counterproductive for the Democratic Party and for the country. Clinton needed to win by well into the double digits in Pennsylvania (which is how she began in the polling there months ago) in order to remain credible. 10 points doesn't do it

Obama actually won Texas, which will be a headline in June when all the counting is done there (don't ask). It is over. She should stop before more damage is done.

Tags: clinton, pennsylvania, politics

CLINTON "WINS BIG" IN PA!! Nets a whopping 6 delegates

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:37:35 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Where's the story here? Why do the Media pump it so?

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Results Thread #17

by Hunter

Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:40:49 PM PDT

99% precincts reporting.

Vote% Dels

Clinton 54.7 52 Obama 45.2 46

At popular request, I'm including the decimal pts in this one.

Tags: politics, obama, clinton, vote, primaries

Why primary "popular vote" number robs millions who voted

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:31:38 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Concrete example: Minnesota gets credit for 214K votes, and Missouri gets 822K votes, but they each get 72 delegates. Is Missouri's voice 4 times more important than Minnesota's? [And Iowa gets ZERO in popular vote, as do all the caucus-only states. And guess who the caucus states favored?]

When the Clintons and their surrogates ... argue for the popular vote, they appear at first glance to be making a simple, moral, populist argument, that all votes are equal. Right? That's the implication, and why it rolls off their tongues so easily.

But where is the inherent morality in open versus closed primaries that arbitrarily limit turnout and whether Republicans and independents get to pick the Democratic nominee in some states but not others?"

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Dear Obama Surrogate,

You are going to be on cable news shows in the next two weeks, and you are going to be confronted with the notion of the popular vote being a legitimate measuring stick.

Do not screw this up. Use the three obvious points

Point Number 1: If the popular vote determined the nominee, no candidate would ever go to Iowa or New Hampshire.

Point Number 2: If the popular vote determined the nominee, no state in its right mind would ever hold a caucus, instantly disenfranchising itself

Point Number 3: The arbitrary distinction between who gets to vote in these primaries is nothing like the general election

Texas gets a million more votes than similar overall population New York

(NY = closed, Texas = open)

Overall point: regardless of the fact that Obama will win the popular vote, it is completely illegitimate in this race. THIS IS NOT LIKE POPULAR VOTE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Tags: vote, politics, obama, clinton