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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Samantha Power Resigns But Is Not That Off Base

And Also: The Narrow Margin (the original; the remake was not bad either) is a good film noir and its nice they have the director of The French Connection etc. on the commentary track with the actual director adding some remarks from some interview. BTW, the remake omits the surprise, which is a whopper, though it sorta just lies there. [see comments at imdb site too] Not quite happy with it, so not upset they took it out. A chance to rent such DVDs is more evidence libraries are not a bad little resource.


Let's get the standard stuff out of the way, the stuff that some ["morons" seems intemperate; might have to resign] appear to think has to be tossed in there since they think we are stupid. Calling HC a "monster" to a reporter was stupid, and you can't do that. That's reality. I don't want John McCain as President and won't vote for him in November. If there was any chance a state was close, taking the risk of it going to him is a very bad idea. [But, Nader is a joke by now, and is not a threat in that department.] And, HC is not on par with him, bottom line. It won't be the end of the world or close to it if she became President and some good things will happen if she did.

But, I don't like her. First, the whole thing annoys me. Let's take the bottom line here. Samantha Power is a smart cookie who fights the good fight, but got in trouble with her outspoken side. I don't find that side a negative, though in politics you have to be careful. Fine enough. She blurted out something to a reporter after the stress of a significant Ohio loss (that delegate-wise, really wasn't, but as in sports, letting people stick around -- even if they still have a deficit -- is trouble) and that was dumb. As TPM noted, we can be upset about the injustice of it all, and still know how life works.

But, so sorry, it was also human. Is "new type of politics" supposed to ignore this? Are we to fire everyone who does a dumb thing just to show we are different? Some wonder if firing was necessary, but even if it was, it is damn annoying. It also rankles. HC is a hypocrite and so are her supporters if they take this so far. "Monster?" How about the candidate herself saying the Republican nominee is more qualified (while exaggerating her own) than the current Democratic frontrunner?* How about her husband comparing a win in SC to Jesse Jackson's win there? How about a top aide comparing Obama to Ken Starr? One can go on.

[So, in effect, fire Power not because she was wrong, but because she says a bad word. GG is right, basically -- it's not the reporter's fault that the forest is missed for the trees by a few too many people. This doesn't mean the reporter should be praised or anything.]

Clintonites must be salivating ... of course, doing well by bashing the right wing conspiracy didn't help too well in 2000 (except for maybe Sen. Clinton), did it?. This underlines that -- some of the reality community wishing it away not making it so -- some simply don't like the two candidates basically the same, with some small extra support on one side. TalkLeft has had a continual stream of anti-Obama posts. Tiring stuff, but hey, equal time. Is TPM called Clinton on the "experience" stuff and how she is getting a pass part of those mean male bloggers missing reality too? See various here on the other side, clearly having enough. Rachel Maddow earlier in the week wanted the fight to end somehow, she didn't care how. Yeah, this anti-war sort simply doesn't care who's President, even if one candidate actually opposed the war when it counted. Stop it.

Admit it ... one side is worse here. She and her crew are doing a few too many things that are just a wee bit desperate, and bad for the party in general. The thing for Obama to do is keep an eye on the ball, let people pat him on the head that he is handling things (think of Clinton as one of those people you have pretend to be the other side during debate prep ... a sort of Republican stand-in) since they still think he's soft and keep the lead. How "change" comes from more dirty politics, more "gotchas" and so forth is unclear. Deep down, the hope is that her actions will only help Obama, but the fact what people know is "silly" is deemed necessary makes one a bit wary. The math helps.

Bottom line, recent events make her unqualified to be President. Well, at least of a party that I wish to vote for. I don't want Hillary Clinton to be President. Anyway, I think Power shouldn't have been fired. I respect those who say it had to be done, but they say it in a way that just cries out for another way. So, to the fact someone unworthy forced the situation only underlines what I felt for some time ... I don't want HC to be President.

Her actions makes me say "not now or ever."

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* In the process, helping McCain frame the election. This adds to her campaign's desire to explain away every loss by suggesting the state doesn't really count.

Nice strategy -- if we lose by a state with no wiggle room again, we can always blame it on the other side cheating. 2004 suggested you don't even have to win the national popular vote or honestly have a firm case of a steal to use that line though just conceding right away before being really sure isn't the best option either.