All fired up in Portland OR

I took this shot outside the Portland HQ for Barak Obama's campaign. There were several hundred people there to sign up for phones, canvasing, and other such jobs. Congressmen Earl Blumenauer was there as was Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illonois. This was the kick-off of things in Oregon. I would have to say that it was a diverse bunch of people in attendance. Though since Oregon is about 85% white the audience reflected that.
There was a lot of positive energy in the air and Schakowsky and Blumenauer did a good job firing them up. The state wide effort is not just based in Portland either. There were simultaneous events in all the major regions of the State.
I wonder what the Clinton show will look like?

Hurray for Iraq!

The surge was supposed to allow for the Iraqi government to begin the process of reconciliation with Sunni and Shiite citizens. Well the reconciliation appears to be taking the form of more shooting.

Taking a cue from the Bush play book of stupidity, the Iraqi government has decided to takes the gloves off and stop swatting at flies. Instead they are beating the bee hive with their sticks.

Whats it to us? Well they blew up the Basra oil pipline today...again. This cut the crude output in Iraq by 30%. This sent a barrel of light suite crude over $107 today. When you fill up your tank remember that Bush is as much to blame as China for the price you are paying.

Good thing we have an unlimited supply of cash and soldiers who couldn't care less about when they see their families.

The Iraq mess needs to be paid for by the walking cartoon characters who voted for this nonsense.

Clinton is a spoiler

The media spin is that there still is a race between Clinton and Obama. This seems to me not to be the case. Clinton, having only won 14 contests to Obama's 30 and trailing by almost 200 delegates does not seem to be much more than a spoiler now.

But what really showed me who is Presidential material was Obama's speech last week. He took a big negative, did not run away like a coward, and took the matter head on and used it to great advantage. It takes brilliance in order to see the way through such trouble. He and his team seem to me to be the only team running that really has what it takes to lead. McCain and Clinton are not the leaders that Obama is. It is the hight of stupidity to say that because Clinton or McCain have a lot of Washington experience that they would make better Presidents.

History does not shine a good light on "experienced" Presidents. The most experienced President of the 19th century was Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's VP. He was a monumental failure and presider over massive corruption, and was impeached. Lincoln on the other hand, was the least experienced President of that century.

Again in the 20th Century experience is no indicator of greatness. Wilson and Eisenhower were probably the least politically experienced Presidents in the history of the Republic while Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon two of the most experienced.

What makes a President great or a loser is contained in his or her own head and who that head keeps around it. The best man for the job is Barrak Hussain Obama. No other candidate has been so maligned and yet comes through cleaner than before the mud was slung.

Clinton and McCain are the past, of a different age, and unfit to carry the glory of America into the future. If you want a caretaker who will accomplish little, let America drift along without reclaiming her manifest destiny, then by all means vote or McCain or Clinton. If you believe in America then vote for Obama.

VP prospects for Obama

With a delegate lead of almost 100 after the overwhelming victory in Wyoming and Caucuas win in Texas, Obama needs to really be thinking about who his VP coice will be. While Clinton is trying to pretend to be the natural choice, of who I am not quite sure, Obama needs to think beyond the next several contests that he is sure to do well.

The VP should not be another Cheney. Bill Richardson is one name that comes to mind, as does Governor Shwitzer of Montana. Another name that I would recomend would be John Kitzhaber of Oregon. I would stay away from a senator or rep.

Notice I did not mention Clinton. That is because she would be a death scentance to any campaign.

Limbaugh and the right fear Obama

Today Rush, the reactionary idiot not the band, told people on FOX NEWS to vote for Clinton in the open Texas primary. Why? Well he and his kind have spent so many years getting ready to fight the Clinton Wars II, that to face Obama would mean certain defeat. Clearly Limbaugh and his ilk are scared of Obama. If the right-wing-nuts are not scared of Obama then they would not care who is the Democratic nominee. They want Clinton since they have grown up hating that family. It is kind of pathetic if you think about how much effort the right has wasted on the Clintons.

This hatred will be their undoing. Their myopic approach, which of course is their way of seeing most things, to the Presidency has proved both boring and nonsensical. Years ago I said that conservatism is, in the end, worthless since it dooms itself to spin itself into a storm only to tear itself apart.