Right now, it's a rich man's game.  Bush has many alternative energy sources built into his "ranch" house, which most Americans can in no way afford.

What will be done to ensure people can get to work, afford to light and heat their homes, and feed their families?

Obama speaks in generalities and long term plans.  He's also in favor or "clean coal" and nuke energy.  All of which will take a long time to get on line.

The only possible way I could vote for Obama, if he wins, is if it becomes crystal clear that McCain would wage preemptive war on another nation.

The predictions of the mayor intimating that there was a vast reservoir of votes in Gary that would, if his percentages were correct, turn the tide and secure an Obama victory were unethical and calculated.   It was untrue. Late, Fox showed Hillary leading by 21,000 with 90% counted. Then there was a dip at 95% to 17,00 which seemed to give credibility to the mayor's assertions.  But by the time 100% were counted the margin had in fact increased to about 23,000.

He took advantage of the late reporting to, in effect, freeze  the media from calling the race for Clinton, as had CBS.  The fear of being wrong was to some degree understandable.  It is hard to believe that these were the actions of an independent rogue politician.  It is more plausible that he did it with the full agreement, indeed the blessing of the Obama campaign.

This has been a chronic problem in Gary and was even predictable.

Had the votes been assessed earlier, as the several mayor in Clinton towns surrounding Gary
stated they could and should have been, the race would have been called much earlier.  As the Hammond mayor stated, they submitted their vote I believe around 7 PM.  She had to carry virtually every other town in the county, heavily, to offset the admittedly large margin in Gary. The final county number was about 55-45, I believe.

The race would have been called when Clinton still had over a 4 point lead and probably more. The storyline and punditry would have had to be quite different, i.e. "Clinton still alive, splits with Obama."   The fact that Obama later narrowed the gap so much would have been more of  a footnote.  On many other levels, it was insidious.  Once the talking heads had established a position, it was difficult, nay impossible, to take a different tack.  In effect, once the consensus was that Clinton was on the verge of defeat, ego and other considerations sealed her fate.

The final crusher was the demoralizing of the Clinton faithful and the huge collateral impact on her immediate fund raising ability.  An early Clinton victory likely would have energized supporters and led to an impulsive infusion of funds, as happened in Pa.  As it was, by the time the squeeker was called, there was some uncertainty as to whether she would continue.  On numerous blogs, Obama agents came in saying that she had canceled all appearances the next morning.  True or not, it abetted the idea that she might quit.  There are few people that will give, certainly not as generously, to retire a campaign debt as they will to an ongoing energetic campaign.

May 8, 2008

Democratic National Committee

Attention:  Howard Dean

Mr. Dean,

My name is Angelo Peña.  I was a lifelong Democrat that was actually a part of your campaign team back in 2003 and until you ended your run in 2004.  I worked with Jerome Wiley-Segovia in coordinating eleven states here in the south with respect to Latino outreach.

As we near the end of another primary season, I wanted to share with you my deepest regrets over the many failed actions that you have led the party to.  First, the punitive actions towards Florida, when, in fact, it was a Republican legislature that moved up the state's primary date, not the Democrats.   Then, the stunt in Michigan where the candidates removed their names from the ballots just to appease someone's ego (members' of the rules committee that Jerome sits on I guess) so they too be punished for moving up their primary.

Now here we are, with one Barack Obama, who has little if ANY experience to take on the White House when the country is in such horrendous shape, to lead the party and the country off a cliff...all thanks to you, Pelosi, the rules committee and the biggest excluder of all, Donna Brazille.

I am beyond disappointed in you Mr. Dean.  I cannot even bring myself to call you governor anymore, because you don't even act like it.  

If you think that Barack is going to win with just blacks and far liberal voters, guess again.  Moderate and TRULY progressive voters like myself do not take kindly the disenfranchisement of MI and FL to further the illegitimate nomination process that benefits Obama.

You and yours just completely pissed off the woman vote, the Latino vote and working class/white, blue collar vote.

Good luck in your failed task of hoisting Barack into the White House.  I have disavowed the Democratic party and will never look back.  I am now an independent who will not vote straight Democratic ticket ever again.  I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and retained a large circle of contacts after your campaign.  I am going to make it my greatest work in my political life to derail Barack of ANY votes here in Texas and anywhere else my Latinos For Dean campaign had taken me.

And as far as Donna Brazille is concerned, let her know that my parents, my ten aunts and uncles, their spouses, their children, my seven brothers and sisters and their spouses and their children, will NOT be casting their votes for Barack Obama when I am through with them, since she practically admitted the Democrats don't need our vote.

GuaranF***gtee it!

Signed

But creeping in the shadows of these conversations about how Democrats can no longer manage to win the white vote and are only saved from political oblivion by running up big margins among African-Americans is a little disguised assumption that African-American votes are somehow second-rate.  I don't think there's any getting around that.

Huh?  Since when is anyone assuming that the votes of any of the minority groups underneath the Democratic Big Tent are second rate? Did I miss a memo?  That must be a very well disguised assumption to have gotten by me all these years.

"Torture Team": British Attorney Philippe Sands on the White House Role in Sanctioning Torture

The House Judiciary Committee is preparing to hold a series of hearings examining the Bush administration's role in authorizing the illegal torture of prisoners in US custody at Guantanamo and elsewhere. British attorney and author Philippe Sands, author of the new book "Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values," on Tuesday, testified before the House Judiciary Sub-Committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

He said that Bush's admission of knowing about the Principals meetings on torture was an admission of guilt.  He talked about a legal opinion that lawyers who authorize torture are just as culpable as the torturers. And, he said Scalia's reply about torture, that it wasn't "punishment" and therefore was not precluded by the Consitution, was patently false as Scalia knows very well that the Constitution makes signed treaties the law of the land.  

He thinks Yoo should not be teaching is sure charges are being drawn up even now to apply to members of BushCo, and many will find foreign travel difficult to impossible.

We're dropping 100 pound missiles from Predator drones into an incredibly dense urban area.