Update on Breitbart's Derrick Bell non-story.

Media Matters for America is one of the right wing's favourite bogeymen. The reason is simple, they call out the right wingers using their own words.

But this time, they have surpassed themselves with their takedown of the Breitbart silliness about Barack Obama, and the late Derrick Bell. After all, Derrick Bell died back in October 2011, so he's not around to defend himself.

I didn't realise this video was already out and has been since 2008, nor did I know that the first reports emerged in 2007. But then, I can't follow every single media news source on my own.

Doesn't stop me trying though.

Viewpoint Hall Of Shame: Andrew Breitbart

In response to Keith Olbermann suspending Worst Persons In The World again, I'm going to start posting nominations to the Viewpoint Hall Of Shame. Whenever I see something worthy of a "Hall Of Shame" entry, I will blog about it here.

Today's nomination goes to the late Andrew Breitbart. Primarily because he'd acquired the tapes and even though he passed away before they were released, it is just another example of the kind of work that he made famous.

Back in college, Barack Obama praised the first tenured African American law professor at Harvard University, Professor Derrick Bell. The right chooses to portray Bell as a racialist, a radical. Sean Hannity showed the footage on his Fox News show last night, and this morning, Joel Pollak, Editor in Chief of Breitbart.com appeared on CNN to proclaim the bombshell. But Soledad O'Brien, much like myself, couldn't see any bombshell information in that footage.

What Breitbart and the others on the extreme right seem to forget is that life is all about growing, progressing, going forward, not going backwards or standing still. The people who are most looked up to are the ones who moved forward, not backward.

There is growing distrust about official media, corporate media and government information, but that doesn't mean you have to belive the first conspiracy theory that comes along. People who propogate these theories often have something to gain by promoting it. So be equally wary of those who claim that only they have the real knowledge. This smacks of desperation by a right wing media machine that knows the Republican candidates for President this year are the weakest ever. And even Mitt Romney, who is the strongest of the candidates, is seeing himself get weaker and weaker because he is being forced to go further to the right now, at the cost of attracting independents and moderates, the REAL mainstream of American politics, later.

That's why Andrew Breitbart posthumously gets nominated for the Viewpoint Hall Of Shame.

Viewpoint – Republican sour grapes

Obama’s address to Congress: The real keys.

Okay, here is the key points from President Barack Obama’s address to a special joint session of Congress.

1.  Obama proposes that his healthcare reform plan will be deficit-neutral.  In other words, it will not add one cent to the US national deficit.

2.  If you already have health insurance, you will NOT be forced to change your plan.  I repeat, you will NOT be forced to change your plan.

3.  Under Obama’s plan, it will be against the law for coverage to be denied because of a pre-existing condition.

4.  Under Obama’s plan, insurance companies will not be able to drop coverage or water it down when you get ill.

5.  A new insurance exchange will be created for those who change jobs, lose their jobs, and for small business owners.

6.  Tax credits will be provided to those who are most struggling to afford health insurance.

7.  All individuals will be required to have basic health insurance, in the same way that all drivers are required to have car insurance.

8.  The Public Insurance option must be self sufficient like any other business, and rely on the premiums they collect.

9.  Not one dollar of Medicare money will be used to pay for health reform.

10.  Medicare will be protected.

Those are the main points of an almost 60 minute long speech, interupted many times by standing ovations from the left and the right. 

I hate to say it, but knowing the Republican speech was actually written days in advance, long before we knew what was in President Obama’s speech, did seem to render it somewhat meaningless.  The fact that someone, we believe a Republican, shouted out “You lie!” at one point, obviously pointed out that some people in Congress have no intention of accepting any reform, even though the President said accepting the status quo is not an option.

This was a good speech, but I do wonder if the partisanship we have seen over the past month can be put to one side, and politicians actually do what they were elected to do, and that is to solve the real problems that America and the world faces.

Katie Couric: Obama’s Date Night

Watch CBS Videos Online

Katie Couric on Dick Cheney: Give Obama a chance

In her latest edition of her notebook, Katie Couric puts forward the idea that Dick Cheney crossed the line when criticising President Obama for "...making the country less safe...".



The truth is, Dick Cheney's attack was out of line, and pure politicing. The US political system seems to have taken politics to new depths since 2001, and it would seem that some people would like to have it stay down there.

Katie Couric: Presidential Power Lunch

Katie Couric: Bush and Obama should work together on Gaza.

I was pre-occupied yesterday with happening in the UK and Irish broadcast media, so this entry in the notebook by Katie Couric got missed by me when it was initially posted but I'm glad I caught up with it now, cos it is worthy of note, even if it is a mere pipe dream that she proposes.



I just cannot see Bush and Obama getting together on this issue. I have a feeling that Obama is going to be very different when it comes to the Israel/Palestine situation, and I think the Israelis knew that too. That's why the military operations had to be now, because they know when Obama comes into office, they will not have such strong support as they have had from "Dubya". I have to say that I think this may be the last throw of the dice for Israel to get what they want, because they're scared that an Obama administration may just force a settlement on both sides, that neither want, but may have to live with. Israel is trying to get the upper hand now, rather than possibly come of worst in a diplomatic situation.

Bob Schieffer: A political year of the unexpected.

On Sunday's Face The Nation on CBS, Bob Schieffer looked back at where they were 1 year ago, and what had happened since then.


Watch CBS Videos Online

I don't think anybody predicted what happened this year just gone. It was an historic year, and January 20th will be a day to remember, not just for Barack Obama, and America, but for the world at large.

One of the benefits of the Internet.

One of the great things that I find about the internet these days is that it allows you to look back in time to a degree and see just how right or wrong we have been.

Back on December 17th 2006, at the end of another edition of Face The Nation on CBS, Bob Schieffer talked about Evan Bayh, a senator from Indiana. Unfortunately, there's no video, but we do have a complete transcript.

Evan Bayh is a well-regarded, two-term Senator from Indiana but he is not exactly a household name. So when he announced two weeks ago that he was thinking about running for the Democratic presidential nomination, even he knew it was a long shot.

He acknowledged it was a David-versus-Goliath kind of thing, but he remembered that David did pretty well.

True enough, but yesterday Bayh realized why the smart money is usually on the giants — because they are giants — and he quit the race as quickly as he had entered.

"Whether there were too many Goliaths or whether I'm just not the right David, I concluded the odds were longer than I felt I could possibly pursue," he said.

In other words, he took a look, realized he had no chance and decided not to waste his time or the country's.

How refreshing! None of this "I decided I wanted to spend more time with my family," or the catalogue of excuses we've come to expect from usual wanna-bes — or even worse, one of those ego trip campaigns that all involved know is headed nowhere except to get some TV time for the candidate.

Bayh just concluded it wasn't to be and said so.

The one downside is, that is just the kind of straight talk we need more of in politics.

A man so candid about himself and his chances might have had some interesting thoughts on other subjects. In a way, I'm sorry we won't get to hear them.

In a way, what Bob wanted to happen has happened, because Barack Obama has been refreshingly straight when it comes to politics during this 2008 campaign. Now as we approach the time of his inauguration as President, we as citizens of the world, would like to see more politicians be this refeshingly honest and candid.

We haven't seen too much of it from the Republican Party, and something tells me we won't see much honesty from them.

America Votes 2008: The Final Analysis

Well, it's been a long and eventful night, and yes, an historic one. I'd always hoped Obama would win, and always believed he would, but my cynical side kept rearing it's ugly head, saying the Republicans will find a way to steal it, yet again. Thankfully I was proved wrong.

So in the cols light of day in Washington DC, and across the world, we can look back on the night that came before, and reflect on just how it happened. It's a very long reflection, and it begins when the first polls closed.

0000 GMT / 1900 EST / 1600 PST.

Six states closed their polling stations at 7pm Eastern; Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. Of those 6 states only Vermont had been a Democratic state, the others all went with the Republicans.

The first state to called in this election was KENTUCKY. The Bluegrass State is politically Red, for Republican, and this year was no exception, they went with John McCain, by a margin of 58.3% to 41.7% when the votes were finally counted. Kentucky is worth 8 votes in the US Electoral College system, so John McCain took 8 Electoral College votes.

Almost immediately following was VERMONT. Historically it has been a Democratic blue state, and once again, this year was no exception, with the projection being for Barack Obama, and with about 95% of precints reporting as I write this, Obama has secured around two thirds of the vote. Vermont is worth only 3 votes in the Electoral College so Obama took just 3 Electoral College votes.

SCOREBOARD at 0000 GMT:
John McCain: 8
Barack Obama: 3

The other four states at this time were to close to call.

0030 GMT / 1930 EST / 1630 PST

3 states closed their polls at 7.30pm Eastern. North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. None of the states were called at this time. This made a total of 7 states that were too close to call, therefore the scoreboard remained the same.

0053 GMT / 1953 EST / 1653 PST

SOUTH CAROLINA was projected to be another win for John McCain. As I write this now in review 99% of the precincts have reported and McCain has about a 9 percentage point lead over Obama. South Carolina is worth 8 Electoral College votes to John McCain.

SCOREBOARD at 0053 GMT
John McCain: 16
Barack Obama: 3

The remaining 6 states at this time are still too close to call, and the polls are about to close across a third of the country.

0100 GMT / 2000 EST / 1700 PST

16 states closed their polls at 8pm Eastern; Alabama, Connecticut, The District Of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. It meant by this time half the states had closed their polling stations.

PENNSYLVANIA was the big news at this hour. It had been Democratic Blue for the last 4 elections, and it had stayed Democratic, being called for Barack Obama. With 99% of the precincts reporting as I write this, Obama has an 11% lead over McCain, despite having won the vote in only 17 counties, compared to 48 counties for McCain. Mercer County was incredibly tight with McCain beating Obama there by just 2 votes. But it was Barack Obama who claimed the 21 Electoral College votes that Pennsylvania has.

NEW HAMPSHIRE was then called for Barack Obama. It had stayed Democratic and had given Barack Obama another 4 Electoral College Votes.

It was then no surprise at all to find out that ILLINOIS, Barack Obama's home state, was called then for Obama, giving him another 21 Electoral College Votes.

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA then was also called for Barack Obama, giving him 3 more Electoral College Votes.

The next state to be called was MASSACHUSETTS. Like the 4 states before it, it to was called for Barack Obama. This gave him another 12 Electoral College Votes.

Then DELAWARE was also called for Obama, giving him another 3 Electoral College Votes. When the votes were counted, Obama had 61% of the vote, and had the popular vote in 2 of Delaware's 3 counties. It was a pretty comprehensive victory.

The home state of Country Music, TENNESSEE, had voted Republican every election except in 1996. This year was not to be another exception, with the state being called for John McCain, giving him another 11 Electoral College Votes.

MARYLAND was called for Barack Obama, giving him another 10 Electoral College Votes.

CONNECTICUT was called for Barack Obama, adding another 7 Electoral College Votes to the total.
OKLAHOMA was called for John McCain, giving him another 7 Electoral College Votes.

A total of 13 states had been called leaving 12 too close to call at this stage.

SCOREBOARD at 0100 GMT
John McCain: 34
Barack Obama: 84

It's obvious that in this round of calls, the damage was really done. 8 states had been called for Barack Obama, only 2 for John McCain. However, it was the result in only two states that had at this time effectively sealed John McCain's fate already. Pennsylvania and New Hampshire were targets for John McCain if McCain had any realistic hopes of winning, he had to win in those states. He didn't.

0106 GMT / 2016 EST / 1716 PST

We barely had time to pause for breath before MAINE was called for Obama giving him another 4 Electoral College Votes.

Then NEW JERSEY was also called for Barack Obama giving him another 15 Electoral College Votes.

At this stage 10 states were still officially too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0106 GMT
John McCain: 34
Barack Obama: 103

This was already looking like an Obama victory. He had held on to two key battlegrounds, and was already moving ahead of John McCain.

0130 GMT / 2030 EST / 1730 PST

1 state closed their polls at 8.30pm Eastern and that was in Arkansas.

ALABAMA was called for John McCain, giving him another 9 Electoral College Votes.

ARKANSAS was called also for John McCain, adding another 6 Electoral College Votes to his total.

At this point in proceedings, 9 states are still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0130 GMT
John McCain: 49
Barack Obama: 103

McCain may have made up some ground there, but the two states called for him were expected to be Republican. We have yet to see a state switch sides as it were, and when we do, we'll know for certain who is likely to win and lose.

0200 GMT / 2100 EST / 1800 PST

There are 15 states closing their polls. Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. This brings the total number of states who have closed the polls to 41. Only 9 states are still voting at this stage.

First call this hour is MICHIGAN, called for Barack Obama, adding another 17 Electoral College Votes to his total.

Then came MINNESOTA, also called for Barack Obama. That's 10 more votes to his Electoral College total.

WISCONSIN is also called for Obama, 10 more Electoral College Votes.

NEW YORK unsurprisingly was called for Obama, adding another 31 Electoral College Votes. New York has one of the largest Electoral College Vote allocations available.

NORTH DAKOTA is called for John McCain. It's another state to his growing tally but a measley 3 Electoral College Votes, not enough to really begin to make up the gap with Barack Obama.

KANSAS is called for John McCain giving him 6 more Electoral College Votes.

WYOMING is called for John McCain, but like North Dakota, Wyoming only brings him 3 Electoral College Votes.

RHODE ISLAND is called for Barack Obama, that adds another 4 Electoral College Votes to his total.

16 states at this stage are too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0200 GMT
John McCain: 61
Barack Obama: 175

At this point, Obama now only needs 95 more Electoral College Votes to become President-Elect.

0205 GMT / 2105 EST / 1805 PST

Another slight pause to catch our breath before GEORGIA is called for John McCain, which gives him 15 more Electoral College Votes.

15 states, all still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0205 GMT
John McCain: 76
Barack Obama: 175

15 Electoral College Votes is a good pickup for John McCain, but it is almost too little, too late. Remember, New York gave Obama 31 Electoral College Votes. Too much for the small single digit college votes that McCain has mostly picked up tonight. By contrast, Obama has picked up a significant number of double digit college votes.

Now, it's fully expected that McCain will pick up Texas, giving him another 34 college votes, but that can be countered if Obama captures California, which will give him 55 Electoral College Votes, the largest number of votes available in this electoral system.

Still at this point some of the key battleground states have yet to be called. Florida, Ohio and Indiana for example...

0224 GMT / 2124 EST / 1824 PST

OHIO is called for Barack Obama, the first state of the night to politically change hands, having previously been Republican. 20 Electoral College Votes get added to Obama's total.

14 states remain too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0224 GMT
John McCain: 76
Barack Obama: 195

Oh dear! A battleground state just changed hands. Obama needs just 75 Electoral College Votes to put him over the winning line of 270. McCain must now have realised that his chances have evaporated. Despite the fact that Barack Obama isn't over the winning line yet, the gulf that separates Obama and McCain must be obvious to everyone. It's not a matter of if, just when.

0230 GMT / 2130 EST / 1830 PST

WEST VIRGINIA is called for John McCain, but like rather too many states in this election, it gives him just 5 votes in the Electoral College, another single digit haul, rather than the double digit hauls that Obama has mostly taken.

LOUISIANA is also called for John McCain, giving him 9 more Electoral College Votes. Better, but still not enough.

12 states are still currently too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0230 GMT
John McCain: 90
Barack Obama: 195

Okay, so we've had one battleground state change hands. But there are still more to come, and some are considered rock solid Republican territory, like New Mexico...

0238 GMT / 2138 EST / 1838 PST

NEW MEXICO, a usually rock-solid Republican state, is called for Barack Obama! This adds 5 more Electoral College Votes to his total.

TEXAS, another rock-solid Republican state, and this stays Republican, giving John McCain 34 Electoral College Votes. Nice, but Obama still has California to come.

10 states are still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0238 GMT
John McCain: 124
Barack Obama: 200

Surely now, despite the Texas votes, the loss of New Mexico, which wasn't even considered a battleground, has surely done it for John McCain. Can he avoid losing any more states to Barack Obama? Somehow, it doesn't seem likely. Florida still has yet to be called. Don't tell me that won't be called tonight? Still, Obama only needs 7 more Electoral College Votes. California and Florida between them could effectively end it.

0257 GMT / 2157 EST / 1857 PST

Just as we're counting down to the polls closing in 4 states, MISSISSIPPI is called for John McCain, giving him 6 more Electoral College Votes.

9 states are still too close to call.

SCOREBOARD at 0257 GMT
John McCain: 130
Barack Obama: 200

0300 GMT / 2200 EST / 1900 PST

4 states close their polls at this time. Iowa, Montana, Nevada and Utah. All are usually Republican, and if McCain has any hopes left, then he has to hold on to all these states. There may only be 20 Electoral College Votes available between them, but for symbolic reasons, McCain MUST hold them all. Any states taken by Obama would be more symbolically damaging to McCain than it would be in terms of lost Electoral College Votes.

IOWA is the first state to be called, regarded as a battleground in this election, it is called... for Barack Obama! He takes 7 Electoral College Votes from the state.

UTAH is called for John McCain, he gains another 5 Electoral College Votes.

SCOREBOARD at 0300 GMT
John McCain: 135
Barack Obama: 207

4 states that McCain needed to hold onto and he couldn't hold Iowa. Obama needs just 63 Electoral College votes to win.

0330 GMT / 2230 EST / 1930 PST

NEBRASKA calls for McCain, but only awards 3 out of the 5 available votes to him. Only Nebraska and Maine do not have a "winner takes all" policy when it comes to Electoral College Votes.

McCain: 138
Obama: 207

0341 GMT / 2241 EST /1941 PST

SOUTH DAKOTA is called for McCain. Another measley 3 Electoral College Votes. Not really enough.

McCain: 141
Obama: 207

0400 GMT / 2300 EST / 2000 PST

5 states close their polls at 11pm Eastern. California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. With 55 Electoral College Votes for California, Obama should make it over the winning line.

CALIFORNIA was the first state to be called this hour, and it was called for Obama. No surprise here, 55 Electoral College Votes get added to his total.

McCain: 141
Obama: 262

Obama needs just 8 more Electoral College Votes.

WASHINGTON is the next state to be called, and this too, is called for Barack Obama, giving him another 11 Electoral College Votes

Barack Obama is to be the next President of the United States Of America.

McCain: 141
Obama: 273

Cue many scenes of jubilation across America, the concession speech from John McCain and the victory speech from President-Elect Barack Obama. By just before 1am Eastern, 6am GMT, Obama had 338 Electoral College Votes, whilst McCain had only 155.

Congratulations, Barack Obama. Now, the hard work begins.

Campaign to boycott MSNBC over Clinton... from Canada???

Inside Cable News is reporting a story about a website set up to promote a boycott of MSNBC, the cable network, and NBC News over what they see as the unfair treatment that NBC and MSNBC gave New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton during the race for the Democratic Party nomination, a nomination that Barack Obama won.

But a little trip to Whois.net is very revealing, in a strange kind of way.  The site is registered via a company that specialises in hiding the identities of those who register with them.  This leads me to believe that this site is a hit job, put together by someone who has something to hide.

Perhaps it's a hit job by Clinton supporters who dislike Obama, or by Republicans trying to damage Obama by association, or perhaps it was a Fox News or other similar Murdoch organ attacking GE through it's NBC subsidiary and also attacking Keith Olbermann through MSNBC.  Remember there were reports about high level meetings between top brass at Fox News and GE, over the whole Keith Olbermann vs Bill O'Reilly feud.

Whatever it is, the company that it is registered with, called Domain Privacy Group Inc., is based in... Toronto, Ontario, Canada!!! And according to Whois.net, the domain was registered on Super Tuesday, February 5 2008.  The first allegations of bias against Clinton at NBC and MSNBC came on February 7th, two days later!  I smell a rat.  This seems to be a pre-determined plan, which was designed to try and overturn the positive sentiment towards Obama, not just in the media, but in the country.  So far, that campaign, mostly by the likes of Rush Limburger Limbaugh, has failed.

Whoever is behind this, they should do the honourable and decent thing and come clean about it.  Own up to this website.  But I seriously doubt anybody will, cos their motive will be revealed to be dishonourable and malevolent.  This kind of sniping, whether it relates to Obama or the media, in unnecessary, unwarranted, and most of all, a blatant, out and out lie! 

They want you to...

"...FIGHT BACK against the completely unacceptable, unprofessional, reprehensible, over-the-top actions, attitudes and behaviors of MSNBC/NBC and their on-air employees and talking head pundits..."

Take out MSNBC/NBC and replace it with Fox News Channel, and you'd be nearer the mark. 

This kind of hit job is unacceptable, reprehensible, over the top and completely shameless.  It does nothing for political discourse and as for attacking the media, well, what an easy target for you to pick.  Your candidate, Hillary Clinton, was behaving in a manner that was more like a Republican, than a Democrat.  And whoever you are behind this website, if you consider yourself to be a Democratic Party supporter, I urge you to pull your website now.  It does nothing for party unity, and even less for your country.

McCain goes off the deep end!

It seems to be a little early in the election campaign to be ranting like this!  Marc Ambinder reports that John McCain basically told Obama not to be a demagogue!  Well according to the Free Dictionary, a demagogue is...

"...A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace..."

Erm, isn't that what President Bush did?  And isn't that what McCain is trying to do in this election?

Obama is almost the nominee, so why is Clinton still running?

According to the figures on the MSNBC website, Barack Obama needs just 65 delegates to achieve the Democratic Party nomination.

Barack Obama	1,961 delegates
Hillary Clinton	1,784 delegates

The target is 2,026 delegates.  Obama is so close to the nomination.  There's only 3 Democratic primaries to go.  Puerto Rico on June 1 and both Montana and South Dakota on June 3.  Puerto Rico has 55 delegates available whilst Montana has 15 and South Dakota has 16.  That totals 87 delegates.  Whilst Obama is not expected to win 65 out of those 87 delegates, it does appear that the remaining Super Delegates will push Obama over the line.

Pollster.com reports that according to the polls, in Puerto Rico, Clinton holds a 13 point lead, 50% to 37%, with 13% undecided.  That poll however was released back in April, so we have no current polling to tell us what the current situation is.

The last poll done in Montana was pre-2008. and that showed Clinton in a 112 point lead, but only 29% to 17%.  We need more information.

In South Dakota, in a poll released back in April, Obama had the 12 point lead, 46% to 34%, with 10% claiming undecided.

Nationally, Obama has at least a 16 point lead over Hillary Clinton according to the two latest polls.  Gallup puts it at 55% to 39% whilst Zogby puts it at 59% to 33%, a massive 26 point lead.  It seems pretty certain to me.  Barack Obama will be the nominee, and it seems pointless for Hillary Clinton to even try to continue.

Yet, she shows no signs of coming close to admitting defeat.  She almost seems to be in denial.  The trouble is, when a Democratic Party candidate starts acting and sounding like a Republican candidate, then it's time to stop.  Hillary, you started sounding like a Republican about 2-3 weeks ago.  You started acting like a Republican, when you failed to deal with Geraldine Ferraro.

It's time you left the campaign trail behind for 2008, and throw your weight and political influence behind Obama.   Do it for the party, if you can't do it for yourself.

Senator Kennedy has a brain tumour.

CNN and MSNBC are amongst the news sites and networks covering the news that Senator Edward Kennedy (Democrat: Massachusetts) has a malignant brain tumour, according to doctors treating the senator at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

The news has overshadowed the primaries in Kentucky and Oregon today, where a total of 103 delegates are up for grabs.  If Barack Obama manages to win a majority of those delegates, he'll be so close to the winning line that Hillary Clinton will have to admit defeat.

But my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Senator Kennedy and the whole Kennedy clan.  I wish Senator Kennedy all the best.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Obama vs Bush/McCain over talking to Iran.

Bill O'Reilly has a habit of saying things in a way that if you were to read it yourself, you'd think it sounded neutral, but Bill O has a way of making it sound anything but.  In this case, it's Obama vs Bush & McCain over the issue of negotiating with Iran.

 

 

Now, for once, I have to give Bill O some credit for doing a very analytical (mostly) memo.  But as usual, Billy's view is pretty much clearly defined even if he doesn't state it explicitly.

There are two key parts of the memo, which highlight Bill's right-wing sensibilities.  The first is sneakily located just after Bill has played clips from both President Bush and the Obama camp.

"...Now this skirmish is important for all of us. The next president will have to fight Islamic fascism, but the battle plan has to be smart..."

This is a Republican talking point all over.  Unfortunately, the Republican strategy of not negotiating with Iran has done absolutely no good.  And comparing negotiating with Iran to the appeasement of the Nazis that was attempted in the run up to the Second World War, which Bush did in his speech in Israel, is not going to aid the poor view that the world holds about America currently and the Bush administration in particular.

The second key part is right at the end of the memo.

"...Now I'm glad President Bush put this on the table, because Americans have to seriously think about this ongoing terror war, which includes Iran.

Lately, gas prices and health care have somewhat obscured the danger we all face from overseas. But now, it's back in play."

This is simply trying to scaremonger us into voting for McCain and not Obama.  The tactic has worked before, but it will not work again.  By saying that gas prices and health care has 'obscured' the danger, it makes it sound like they are distractions rather than current, everyday, everyperson issues that the administration should be dealing with, rather than obsessing over Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Put simply. Bill O wants McCain to win, not because he actually likes McCain and his so-called Straight Talk Express, but simply because McCain is the least worst option in Bill's view.  Compare this to the likes of Dick Morris and Ann Coulter, whose referencing of The Manchurian Candidate, a film about a former POW who was brainwashed in SE Asia by the Chinese, running for President, makes them appear to be somewhat traitorous to their own cause, especially considering who the Republican candidate is this election year.  Hmm, maybe for 2008, we should consider renaming it "The McCainian Candidate"!!!

Viewpoint Extra: Is it time for Hillary to step aside?

In a follow up to my previous post about Hillary Clinton's presdiential campaign, two stories to bring you. The first comes from NBC's Today show where Andrea Mitchell reports on the differences between the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.



Whilst Huffington Post reports that Hillary's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has switched his allegence from his wife to Barack Obama.

I'm afraid I hear The Dead March being played at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters.

Worst Person In The World: Cindy McCain

Thursday night's honours went to Cindy McCain, the wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Unfortuantely it was not for the revelation on the Today show that her tax returns would not be revealed, but for the statement, made in that same interview that McCain would not be running a negative campaign against Obama. I got news for you, Cindy, he already has!



Dishonourable mention goes to Dick Morris, who channeled Ann Coulter in using an oblique Manchurian Candidate reference against Obama, which given the fact that John McCain is a Vietnam veteran and former POW, leads me down the line of the pot calling the kettle black.

By the way, the interview Cindy McCain gave on the Today show, which they labelled an "Exclusive" is also here.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Obama locks up the nomination.

I've said it once or twice, but Bill O'Reilly and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of things. But I do agree with Bill O on much of what he says in his latest Talking Points Memo, Wednesday night on the Factor. Obama, to all intents and purposes, does indeed have the nomination locked up, and deep down, Hillary Clinton knows it.



I also agree with Bill when he says that the Obama vs McCain race will be intense. And indeed, race will be a factor.

As for VP nominations, I think Barack Obama could do a lot worse than having New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, as his running mate. As for McCain, it is likely that either Senator Lindsay Graham or Senator Joseph Lieberman, the so called "Independent Democrat", will be his running mate.

Viewpoint Special: Is it time for Hillary to step aside?

And now, from Viewpoint, an extra special commentary on the Democratic nomination process.

On Tuesday 13th May, the continuing saga of the Democratic Party nomination process moves to West Virginia. A week later, Kentucky and Oregon. June 1st sees Puerto Rico voting before June 3rd ends the process in South Dakota and Montana. A total of 217 delegates up for grabs.

There are a total of 795 super delegates in this process and so far, 529 super delegates have declared. That leaves 266 super delegates to be declared. Overall, a total of 483 delegates available to Obama and Clinton. Obama only needs 181 delegates whilst Clinton needs 330.

Whilst the maths might say that Clinton can still win this, common sense must be kicking in soon. Clinton needs a combination of pledged delegates and super delegates. Obama mathematically can win the nomination without another super delegate, although in reality, he will need super delegates too. Obama is that much closer to the line and Clinton must realise that soon, the numbers will be against her and there will be no way for her to win.

Hillary Clinton, give up this fight now, you will lose it, without question. What's more, you will have almost single handedly destroyed the Clinton legacy by not knowing that now, IS the right time to bow out. Your chances of winning are slim and you risk doing more damage to the party than anything else. If you truly care about the fact that the Democrats MUST win in November, you should bow out now gracefully and give yourself a chance in 8 years time, to become the nominee again.