Lanny Davis to guest on NO WE WON’T on Sunday

I got this email from Will Bower this evening:

*Double Header*
— LANNY DAVIS and then RICKI LIEBERMAN to be on “No We Won’t” P.U.M.A. Radio!!
Sunday, July 27th, 8pm EST

PUMAs! I can’t tell you how excited I am for EPISODE ELEVEN of “No We Won’t” P.U.M.A. Radio!

Beginning at 8pm EST, we’ll be hosting one of my (and our) heroes from this campaign season, LANNY DAVIS.  While it’s true that he is currently giving Obama his support, no one was braver or more articulate in supporting Hillary on the campaign trail than was Lanny.  I still consider him our friend.  We look forward to giving him a warm welcome, and to asking him about ways in which we can support the process of having Hillary Clinton’s name placed into nomination at Convention.

But the show doesn’t stop there!  At 9pm EST, we will be welcoming Hillraiser RICKI LIEBERMAN of “ToGetHer4Us” and “The Electability Watch” to discuss her ongoing efforts to make sure that the most electable candidate, Hillary Clinton, is the Democratic nominee.

As always, please be aware that — regardless of what blogtalkradio.com may tell you — the show will begin at 8pm EST Sunday night.

This is a Must-Listen-To episode, folks!   We look forward to meeting up with you again at “No We Won’t P.U.M.A. Blog Talk Radio!”

Will Bower & Sheri Tag
“No We Won’t” P.U.M.A. Radio

Hmmm, what to make of this…?  Lanny Davis was a strong Clinton supporter but he threw his support behind Obama.  Now, I don’t know about you guys but when I say I will not be voting for Obama, I really mean it.  Nothing he has done recently has convinced me to do otherwise.  In fact, the more I think about it, the less I am convinced that voting for Obama would be in my best interests  So, I sincerely hope this is not an attempt of a surrogate to try to change our minds.   When I have my mind set on something, I usually have a good reason for it and I am fairly resistant to persuasion.  It means I have considered all of the pros and cons carefully before I came to the decision.

Let’s put it this way.  My mother has been trying for more than 40 years to convert me to one fundamentalist evangelical brand of Christianity or another.  But as a child, I realized that I wanted no part of it.  She’s managed to convert everyone else in my immediate family and has branched out to some of her sisters and brothers.  I am the holdout and I’ll die before I change my mind.

That’s kind of the way I feel about voting for Obama.  And I’m not being stubborn or immature.  I have completely and rationally thought this thing through and have determined that there is nothing to be gained by electing him and some serious risk if he *is* elected.  So, I don’t want to cut off an avenue of discussion with Lanny Davis that might be productive but, speaking for me only, I would hope he would respect my decision and my intelligence and not try to talk me into the unpalatable and unacceptable.

Just sayin’

KKKarl Rove and Donna Brazile: Perfect Together

[Original photos here and here.]

A commenter at The Confluence found this extraordinary chronology of the relationship between KKKarl and Donna.

If you don’t have an “ah-HA!” moment after you read this, STEP AWAY FROM THE KOOL-AID. It’s obviously causing brain damage.

No wonder Obama is starting to sound like a right-wing Republican. No wonder he is getting such favorable media instead of McCain, the original and traditional Media Darling. No wonder he had so much money at the beginning of his campaign – over $100 million from Bush Pioneers, oil companies, and Republican bundlers. No wonder he won red-state caucuses so handily but often lost the primaries from those same states. (A prime example: The Texas Pri-Caucus. Hillary won the primaries but Obama won the caucuses; thus he claimed victory in the delegate count.) Obama earned more delegates from his Idaho caucus victory than Clinton did from her victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island COMBINED.

They’re Down With OPP!

   I was disappointed to learn that John Edwards was caught with his hand in the nookie jar the other night.  I was originally an Edwards supporter (because Gore didn’t run) and I began supporting Hillary after he dropped out.  Although I now realize Hillary was by far the superior candidate, I still felt kinda sentimental about John. 

Not anymore.  My sympathies are reserved for Elizabeth, along with best wishes for her health.

John Edwards was seen going to the Beverly Hilton to meet Rielle Hunter (aka Lisa Druck) who gave birth to a child allegedly fathered by Edwards.  Even though the story comes from the National Enquirer, I find it credible because it contains specific details rather than anonymous rumors.  The Enquirer was tipped off and staked out the hotel with several reporters, and Edwards was seen entering and leaving.  Edwards’ latest denial is unconvincing.

Normally I wouldn’t touch a topic like this (yeah, right, who am I kidding) but there is an angle I think is worth pondering.  Who tipped off the Enquirer, and why?

Back in 2004, Barack Obama was running in the Illinois Democratic Senate primary against several opponents, and was running second behind Blair Hull, who had a substantial lead, along with money and name recognition.  But when rumors of domestic violence surfaced in the media, Hull had to resign and Obama went on to win the nomination.

The winner of the GOP primary was Jack Ryan, but he also had to resign when juicy details from his divorce from actress Jeri Ryan were disclosed in the media.  The Illinois GOP asked Alan Keyes to take the nomination, but he was little more than token opposition and Obama was elected.

Last summer and fall, Barack Obama was running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.  Edwards was the favorite of many in the so-called progressive blogosphere, having been Kerry’s running mate in 2004 and having positioned himself as a “populist.”  Obama needed to eliminate Edwards in order to turn it into a two-person race and to consolidate the anti-Clinton vote which he and Edwards were splitting.

Suddenly, rumors began to surface about Edwards having an affair, a particularly damaging allegation because Elizabeth Edwards was battling cancer and her condition generated enormous sympathy.  Then, shortly before the Iowa caucuses, the National Enquirer reported that Hunter was pregnant with Edwards’ child.  Edwards denied the allegations and a close friend of his, Andrew Young, claimed he was the father of Hunter’s child.  (Young is married with small children)

How much impact this had on the Iowa caucuses is unknown, but Obama finished in first place, with Edwards narrowly beating Hillary to claim second.  Five days later Edwards finished a distant third in New Hampshire, and shortly before Super Tuesday on January 30, 2008 Edwards announced he was suspending his campaign.

With his campaign suspended he was out of the public eye, and the scandal seemed to go away.  Although he stated he was not going to make an endorsement until the primaries were completed, on May 14th John Edwards (but not Elizabeth) unexpectedly endorsed Obama. 

He initially stated he was not interested in being Obama’s running mate, but on June 15th he walked that back and said he would take the job if it was offered.  There were rumors that he was on Obama’s short list of VP candidates, and his name was also suggested as a possible Attorney General if Obama won.

Senator Obama has shown he does not want any independent sources of power within the Democratic party that are not under his control.  He doesn’t want anyone donating to independent groups like Move On, and he hung Wes Clark out to dry when Clark criticized McCain.  For obvious reasons Obama doesn’t want a strong and experienced running mate (like Hillary) because he will look weak and shallow by comparison.  He has also moved the DNC offices to Chicago in order to place it under his control.

This makes me wonder if the Obama campaign was behind the tip-off to the National Enquirer.  Even though the mainstream media whores are mostly ignoring the story, it is enough to provide an excuse for them to pass on Edwards, even if there were promises made to secure Edwards’ endorsement. (“Gee, John, I know we promised you the VP slot, but with this scandal it’s just not possible now.  Sorry“)

I’m just speculating, but it fits the pattern.  The people at the Enquirer know who tipped them off.  Under the circumstances, the identity of the tipster is at least as important (if not more) than the tip.  And since this is the Enquirer, I don’t think they should try to hide behind “journalistic ethics” or any such crap.  C’mon boys, fess up.  Who told you?

(Cross-posted at Klownhaus)

Obama: Visiting wounded troops? That would be wrong.

In a rare attack of conscious conscience *, Obama changed his plans and dropped a controversial visit to wounded troops at the Rammstein and Landstuhl U.S. military bases in Germany today. At the same time he confirmed growing suspicion that his so-called “Fact-Finding Trip” was little more than an extended campaign photo-op:

From Jake Tapper (covering Der Spiegel)

Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs told ABC News in a statement, “During his trip as part of the CODEL to Afghanistan and Iraq, Sen. Obama visited the combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and had a number of other visits with the troops. For the second part of his trip, the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice. The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.” (emphasis mine)

Thank heaven he came to his senses in time! Can you imagine what McCain would have said if Obama had so inappropriately made that visit? Thank heaven we don’t have to worry about that:

Friday: Pick Your Poison

Ahhh, I *knew* there was a catch to potentially seeing the presumtuous nominee give his victory speech at Invesco Field.  According to the Caucus at the NYTimes, you have to sign up for the Obama package:

Updated Want to score one of the tickets to Senator Barack Obama’s speech next month accepting the Democratic nomination in Denver? You won’t have to pay, but you may have to work for it, according to the Obama campaign.

In an interview with The Denver Post, the deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand indicated that the price of admission to the speech would be a pledge to volunteer and recruit new voters on behalf of Mr. Obama.

“We’re going to ask those 80,000 people in that stadium to march out of there and go with very specific instructions and goals to register millions of new voters,” Mr. Hildebrand told the newspaper.

It’s like a subscription you just want to try out but you find that you have to fork over your credit card number and sign up for 4 years.  You can retract at any time in the next 4 months but I’m guessing they are very persistent in badgering you.  What is it they hold over your head? Well, to score the ticket, a “community credential”, you have to ask for one through your local DNC office. Gotcha! Now, not only do they have a promise from you to work for The Precious but they will be badgering you, sending out Jehovah’s Witness types to bang on your door with tracts. “Brother, we are worried about your eternal soul. You PROMISED to be an activist for Obama and you haven’t put in your time. When can get you to fulfill your PROMISE?” This sounds pretty bad to me. You lose your anonymity locally and we’ve already seen that some Obamaphiles are nasty pieces of work, kicking over tripods and generally harrassing women. I don’t like it.

Superdelegates, you are responsible for what happens at this convention. The longer you allow for the DNC-Obama holy marriage to go on, the harder it is going to be for those of us who reject him to vote for him. We are now up to over 40% of Democrats in the latest CNN polls. Rasmussen gives a generic Democrat a double digit lead over McCain but Obama comes in at a statistical dead head while Hillary and Gore trounce McCain. The media is fawning all over Obama, now, but it hardly matters. The public isn’t buying it. And if we are subjected to ads during the Olympics, we’re going to blame Obama for ruining it.

It’s beginning to feel like you can’t get away from the guy. He’s on every channel, every radio station, every web page. It’s like visiting a country run by a dictator and finding the guy’s picture on every street corner. We don’t want that. It doesn’t make us want to vote for him. The aura of inevitability will not work this year because no matter how repugnant Republicans are, John McCain is about the mildest of the bunch. I’m not voting for him but if he ends up being the lesser of two evils…

As I see it, you need to pick your poison. You can let this farce go on and alienate half your base or you can take the Obama campaign aside and tell them to knock it off. If we go into the convention that is bought and paid for by Obama when the delegate count is this close, if is going to make us dig our heels in even more. The numbers are so close, the states he has won so indignificant next to hers and the differences in their qualifications so striking that to completely shut out the half of the Democratic voters from enfranchisement in the nomination process is going to spell electoral disaster for you in November.

I don’t want to buy a product. I want to elect a president. In 2000, we saw that it’s not enough to say there are no differences between the candidates. Who the president is *does* count. Neither one of these men is as fit to lead as the woman who was shut out. But if one of them should reach the White House and leaves her voters behind with nothing, then it will be on YOUR heads for leaving the rest of your party but with no choice but a big fat sack of “NO!”