The leading Democratic candidates last night said that USA withdrawal from Iraq may not even be complete by 2013.
I'm not kidding
We need a third party. My party isn't doing it.
Update: Jeffrey Feldman offers his insight on how the top3 candidates are looking at Iraq these days. Unfortunately I think he's right.
The death toll in Iraq continues. Three thousand, seven hundred and thirty two American lives have been lost in Iraq to date.
And we are spending about $12B per month financing this war. Imagine where this money should be going.
And our president is now comparing Iraq to Vietnam. Only he is making the case that the problem with Vietnam is that the US left that war too early.
I was telling Lauren tonight that if we had a child in the armed forces in Iraq right now I probably would be go insane. Support our troops. Bring them home.
"Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term" - from the NYT today.
"I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with youBut I still haven't found what I'm looking for"
-- U2
I still haven't found my next presidential candidate.
I need a candidate that isn't afraid to say that Iraq was a mistake
I need a candidate that is pro-choice
I need a candidate that is pro stem cell research
I need a candidate that is pro-gun control
I need a candidate that has a plan to fix our health care system
I need a candidate that cares about the environment
I need a candidate that will treat our educators with respect
And I need a candidate that is fiscally responsible
I guess I'm hoping Al Gore jumps into this race
I suppose I still have time to make up my mind
In the meantime, I'm happy that Comedy Central has created Indecision2008.com. It helps me smile through my endless frustration about the status quo.
I love Stephen Colbert. That guy is a hilarious. His take on Mayor Bloomberg
I'm just catching up on one of my favorite web shows,TPMtv on Veracifer.
Last week Josh sat down with Al Franken. Al is the man. Nice job Josh. Here is part 1.
If you like this one be sure to check out part 2.
(disclosure: Veracifier is part of the NNN family and we are investors in the company)
I've received a fair amount of emails in response to some of my recent politcal posts. I appreciate all of them. I do wish those folks would comment on my blog vs email but that topic is for another day One thing I want to make quite clear. This is my personal blog. And my political views are just that - personal. They don't reflect the views of my firm, spark capital or my partners etc. And I'm not influenced whatsoever by the political orientation of the entrpreneurs that come into my office. I'm sure many of my friends on "both sides of the aisle" would agree with this. Peace :) (Pls excuse any typos, sent from my blackberry)
This is a follow up to my earlier post on the subject
I'm on a plane flying from boston to sf right now. I'm reading the nyt and cannot tell you how bummed I am with my democratic party. (I'm writing this on my blackberry so can't provide any links at the moment)
Two very troubling stories
-democrats have decided to remove a troop withdrawal deadline from the iraq war spending bill. The only folks that seems furious are a few freshman congressmen and good old senator russ feingold (readers of this blog know I'm a huge fan of sen feingold). Thanksfully, Speaker Pelosi also said she wouldn't support this. See page 1.
-the other news in the nyt today is that the democrats, who are now in charge of the House, are not willing to take on tough ethics changes so badly needed and part of the reason why dems were elected in the first place in the midterms. Also page 1.
I'm sick about this.
I'm a democrat. I've been active in various elections and less so in others.
But it's harder and harder to stay on the team.
Sometimes my party feels like republican-lite.
My friend Jason sent me a link to the current article running in the Nation called Hillary Inc.
Worth reading the full piece if you are a struggling democrat looking for a 2008 candidate.
I've copied the first few paragraphs here for your easy reading
In a packed ballroom in midtown Manhattan, Hillary Clinton is addressing hundreds of civil rights activists and labor leaders convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton for his annual National Action Network conference. The junior senator from New York starts slowly but picks up steam when she hits on the economic anxiety many in the room feel. "We're not making progress," she says, her sharp Midwestern monotone accented with a bit of Southern twang. "Wages are flat." Nods of agreement. "This economy is not working!" Applause. She's not quite the rhetorical populist her husband was on the campaign trail, but she can still feel your pain. "Everything has been skewed," Clinton says, jabbing her index finger for emphasis, "to help the privileged and the powerful at the expense of everybody else!"
It's a rousing speech, though ultimately not very convincing. If Clinton really wanted to curtail the influence of the powerful, she might start with the advisers to her own campaign, who represent some of the weightiest interests in corporate America. Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, not only polls for America's biggest companies but also runs one of the world's premier PR agencies. A bevy of current and former Hillary advisers, including her communications guru, Howard Wolfson, are linked to a prominent lobbying and PR firm--the Glover Park Group--that has cozied up to the pharmaceutical industry and Rupert Murdoch. Her fundraiser in chief, Terry McAuliffe, has the priciest Rolodex in Washington, luring high-rolling contributors to Clinton's campaign. Her husband, since leaving the presidency, has made millions giving speeches and counsel to investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. They house, in addition to other Wall Street firms, the Clintons' closest economic advisers, such as Bob Rubin and Roger Altman, whose DC brain trust, the Hamilton Project, is Clinton's economic team in waiting. Even the liberal in her camp, former deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, has lobbied for the telecom and healthcare industries, including a for-profit nursing home association indicted in Texas for improperly funneling money to disgraced former House majority leader Tom DeLay. "She's got a deeper bench of big money and corporate supporters than her competitors," says Eli Attie, a former speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. Not only is Hillary more reliant on large donations and corporate money than her Democratic rivals, but advisers in her inner circle are closely affiliated with unionbusters, GOP operatives, conservative media and other Democratic Party antagonists.
Senator Obama recently joined Twitter following Edwards.
I added him to my network and now following his updates.
I like that he's making statements on twitter instead of just light updates about his whereabouts. I hope he keeps it up.
The NYT op-ed piece today calls out President Bush and the White House on their past and present attacks on those against the war in Iraq.
In particular, the President was even nastier than usual in his recent attacks against citizens against the war. The latest Bush attack cites that people against the war whose children are at risk are too "emotional" to judge things clearly. Ridiculous.
This is making me sick.
I've been a democrat for a long time.
I'm trying to support the party that I've been loyal to forever. After Al Gore won I have been arguing with my friends not to leave the party and help make it stronger.
But my party is letting me down. Big time.
Looks like Senator Clinton wants to keep our troops in Iraq forever. This isn't the answer in my view.
I'm going to meet Sen Obama at a local fund raiser next month. I'm looking forward to it and I hope I feel better about my party afterwards.
But we do need a viable third party. Now more than ever.
Ashcroft built his career around courting the religious right. He is supposed to be the man of ethics, morality, religious conviction, blah, blah, blah.
The WSJ today broke the story that Ashcroft originally contacted XM trying to get a lobbyist contract to sell the merger with regulators. XM said no and then Ashcroft subsequently signed up with the NAB.
This is so ugly.
I'm a father of three. Do I care what my kids do online. Yep. But this effort led by Sen Brownback is a waste of time.
Even worse is what Sen Stevens is trying to do with his Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. Fear mongering at its best. This is from the same long in the tooth Senator that threatened to quit in 2005 when a freshman Senator tried to divert the $452 million in pork barrel Alaska bridge projects and spend some of it on a hurricane-damaged bridge in New Orleans.
At least this makes it easier send my donation checks to the other team.
We record the Daily Show but haven't watched it in awhile. I watched this episode tonight and was able to find the best clip from the show on YouTube.
It's fantastic. JS was on fire the few minutes of this segment. Check it out. Great stuff.
I'm about a 1/3 way thru reading Woodward's book , state of denial. I picked it up at Logan airport before my trip this week.
Its quite detailed and disturbing and fascinating.
I have a feeling I'm going to be depressed after I finish this book.
I'm sure you have all read the results of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
Some highlights:
-2,900 US deaths (I haven't found how many have been injured to date)
-$400B spent so far, will spend $8B/month and estimates now up to $2 trillion for the final cost of this war
-Bush policy of "stay the course" isn't viable
-the commission said there is significant underreporting of the actual level of violence in Iraq
Earlier the week U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said life in Iraqis is worse than with Saddham
Three thousand four hundred and 38 civilians were killed in iraq this month alone.
According to the NYT about 110 iraqi civilians were killed per day in July.
When will this end.
Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad the democrats won the mid term elections. I really am.
At the same time we need new blood and as important we need young blood in government
On the flight home today from nyc I read in The Economist that 7 of the 19 upcoming democratic committee leaders are over 70! One of them has actually been in congress for 51 years.
Suddenly the Who's "my generation" is stuck in my head.
Speaker Pelosi
Those were the two words I was hoping to hear when I read the nytimes this morning. It's a great day and a great start. Besides being the first woman Speaker of the House, I've been a fan of Nancy Pelosi. When I lived in SF I admired her consistent positions supporting hikes to the minimum wage, gun control, eduction, environment and pro-choice advocacy.
But her vote against the Iraq war really won me over and kept my support for the democrats when i was about to look for another party.
Speaker Pelosi. Sounds great to me.
I'm thrilled that Deval Patrick won in our state. Fantastic.
It feels good to see Santorum ousted.
I'm really disappointed that CT put Lieberman back in office. blech.
I'm not counting my chickens but it could be a great night for the Democrats.
We need an opposition party to the current executive branch.
related note: i don't know if it's just my sleepy little town or everywhere but I noticed that they didn't check IDs when i voted today. I just walked up, gave my name and address and I picked up my ballot. Also when I checked in I was able to see the list that had all of my neighbors and their associated political party. Not good at all. Plus more of this stuff makes me uneasy.
I haven't watched 60 minutes in a long time but we still record it on our dvr. Last night we saw the Bob Woodward interview. Woodward is a veteran reporter that uncovered the Watergate scandel.
The 60 minutes interview was very good and also made me sick. The cover up continues. Check out the article below for a recap on the segment.
Bob Woodward: Bush Misleads On Iraq, Tells 60 Minutes About His Book 'State Of Denial' - CBS News
Blogged with Flock
Hopefully we will see a change in MA.
We have had a republican in the governor's office for 16 years.
I'm hopeful.
I'm sure many of you have seen this but if you haven't it's hilarious and unfortunately serious. This is one of those "family values" members of congress. Congressman Westmoreland represents the 8th district in Georgia. Enjoy.
This is a very good sign. I'm optimistic.
Lauren and I both went to Boston College.
I'm really upset that BC has asked Secretary Rice to give the 2006 commencement speech and even worse they are giving her an honorary degree.
I was going to give a donation to BC this year but instead I will send a letter telling them how much I disagree with this decision.
Full article from the Globe here.
In case you didn't see this, you gotta check it out. Steve Colbert roasts GW.
Click below to watch Senator Feingold speech from this week on President Bush and his call for a censure resolution. Love it.
Pres Bush has said publically that 30,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US led invasion.
The LA Times thinks it could be much much higher.
Read the article. Please.
Tragic.
This was in the LA Times last week.
I smiled but it was mostly sad.
Sen Kennedy wrote this article in the Boston Globe today. Please give it a read.
He's right.
Lies, lies, lies, yeah!
Lies, lies, lies, yeah!
They're gonna get you
They won't forget you
They're gonna get you
-Thomson Twins
As many of you know, I am sick about the current administration. The lies are starting to catch up to them. Dick Cheny's Chief of Staff was indicted today. Check out this guy's bio on Wikipedia. Anyone surprised ?
I really hope that the Democrats can get organized and find some real leaders to step up. We have a real opportunity to win back Congress in mid-term.
This article is worth a read. Pretty scary stuff.
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