Thursday, December 20, 2007

Police Mix it up with Citizens outside New Orleans City Hall


Melee erupts over public housing proposed demolition in New Orleans

What is happening in New Orleans re public housing is a terrible travesty. Read the latest below taken from the blog Outside the Beltway. The police did not act in the interest of the people of New Orleans when they pepper sprayed and manhandled people who appeared to be waiting or trying to get into city hall. I believe not enough media attention is being directed toward the inside scoop on what is happening in New Orleans. We forget too soon.

SRaphael

taken from http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/12/new_orleans_to_

The New Orleans city council today defied protestors and voted unanimously to tear down the first of four remaining major housing projects in the city to make way for mixed-income housing that will accommodate some, but not all, of the pre-Katrina public housing population. Needless to say, the self-appointed community activists were displeased:

The scene outside New Orleans’ City Hall boiled on the brink of a riot Thursday as protesters stormed the gate and were met with police spraying mace and firing Tasers. Protesters broke through the gates outside City Hall shortly after 11 a.m.

A woman identified by bystanders as Jamie Bork Laughner, was sprayed and dragged away from the gates.

She was taken away on a stretcher by emergency officials on the scene. Before that, she was seen pouring water from a bottle into her eyes and weeping.

Another woman said she was stunned by officers, and still had what appeared to be a Taser wire hanging from her shirt.

“I was just standing, trying to get into my City Council meeting,” said the woman, Kim Ellis.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Counter



Limbaugh hits bottom knocking Hillary for her age

Rush Limbaugh's column and radio show Dec 18th, starts with the headline.

Limbaugh: "Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare At An Aging Woman?"He goes on to ask... So the question is this: Will this country want to actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?

In addition same day The Drudge column headlines with a picture of Hillary looking quote "old". I am not going to dignify The Drudge Report by showing the picture of Hillary they show.

This thinking is the pits and the most sexist and ageist comment yet. But interesting as I think others have been subtly attacking Hillary for the same dumb reason. I think there is a group out there of both men and women who think Hillary is just not hip enough or good looking enough (double standard) as I mentioned two posts down she doesn't look like a mannequin and now I add concocted out of whole cloth by the Republican image machine looking like somebody's proper Republican wife. And more power to Hillary for being herself. She must be "damn" tired from the campaign and when people are tired they always look older. I doubt most of America listens to anything Limbaugh says but his headline does have a touch of truth which is Americans are obsessed with age. Something to ponder and fight against-blatant ageism directed at a presidential candidate.

By the way, all this focus on the way Hillary looks seems strange to me as I find her good looking in a mainstream kind of way. She does not look like a model though and why should she? Comments!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Hillary Clinton

Truth.com photo




(left) Hillary at steelworkers rally

The Clinton, Obama, Edwards Race in Iowa

My opinion on Hillary Clinton vs. Barak Obama hasn't really changed from the last time I wrote on this topic. Hillary seems ready to lead; Obama has no baggage to hold him down if he does assume higher office. Obama has been described as an agent of change; whereas Clinton is tagged as representing a continuation of the same insider kind of Washington. This is said in spite of the fact Barak has many ex Clinton staffers running and advising his campaign. Since I last wrote, Obama has increased his support and lead in Iowa; Clinton has received an important endorsement from the Newpaper Editors of The Des Moines Register. This endorsement has given new life to Hillary's campaign in Iowa. As for Edwards, he is still a strong contender and may gain from the tough rough ups going between Hillary and Barak, mostly coming from the Hillary camp. Some (Chris Matthews for one) have speculated that the Clintons would rather see an Edwards win in Iowa or even be in second place to Hillary rather than see Barak in first or second place as they think Edwards would be easier to beat in the long run. One poll Matthews quoted shows Edwards the strongest contender against the Republican candidates. I wonder if this represents blue collar voters and Southerners who can identify with Edward's working class roots.


Although it may not be directly attributable to Hillary, mention of Barak's drug using days when he was young and the fact he has a Muslim name and Muslin relatives has been a new constant item in the media. It is not a good move as this kind of attack could come back to haunt the Clinton parties. However, the media has brought up the spectre of Bill "the womanizer"in the White House even if only by quoting a recent poll asking how many out there worry about the Bill factor in the White House. The answer was 15% which seems insignificant which was mentioned by Chris Matthews in a snide way as being an optimistic American type response. Optimistic I guess because that would mean 85% would not worry about Bill having sex (not with his wife) in the White House.

The important thing to me is that a Democrat win and that that Democrat takes the
White House. In the end, I think pragmatism will take over and Hillary will edge out all the other Dems. I am hoping that by then the grassroots will have put enough pressure on Hillary to move her more to the left than she is now. But I suppose that is a pipe dream. My hope is that she will come through with her promised health care plan for every American which Barak is not promising. My hope is that being older herself she will not forget the elderly and their needs.

My hope is Hillary will put an end to the Bush and NeoCon Conquestial attempts to gain more power and oil in the middle east and beyond. The one postion I strongly disagree with her on is her idea of keeping soldiers in Iraq, a U.S. presence in that region, no matter how few, after the major troop personnel have been sent home. I think US troops have been an irritant in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, although I do want US troops and other troops to continue keeping the Taliban forces out of power when and where they can. More effort should be on keeping Afghanistan stable than we are doing now. All the Dems seem to agree with this shift in emphasis from the Bush administration.

By now the message has become loud and clear, Get us out of Iraq. She has not promised to completely vacate soldiers from Iraq but by the time she is elected, the focus on a peaceful solution and how to do it will be clearer. She will I hope act forcefully about helping the environment and not just listen to Al Gore and the global warming experts. Can Obama or an Edwards lead us to these ends more directly than Hillary can? The answer is unclear as both act as though the conservative forces can be sidestepped and ignored in the march toward progress. I think
Hillary needs to ignore more and compromise less if she were to be elected. I think Obama and Edwards have the right instincts. The ignorant and conservative forces need to be ignored when it is possible to do so.

Sometimes I feel my tendency to favor Hillary is a generational choice. I like the fact Hillary is a woman and older. As a participant in the Women's movement all through the seventies, it is hard not to get excited about a woman who is a Democrat running for President. I am not naive enough to think that this alone will make all the difference as a woman who gets that high has already been co-opted by a male world built to serve the interest of males. I also think there is a lot of subtle ageism and lookist negativity directed at Hillary because she looks like she is a late middle aged woman. She doesn't look like a manniquin like some of the Republican candidate wives. I guess what it boils down to is I would be supporting Barak if I really thought he would be better on all the issues than Hillary. I am just not convinced of that and Hillary just seems so damn together. I know she would be good in a crisis. She already is a symbol of someone who has weathered lots of storms. I wonder how many others feel the same way.